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Originally, the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen was to bear the na®e of Admiral Tegetthoff, the victor of Lissa, but finally she was named after Prince Eugene of Savoy, 18th century Field Marshal and Lieutenant-General of the Holy Roman Empire. A near-sister to the Admiral Hipper and the Bliicher, she had an overall length of 654 feet, a standard displacement of 14,800 ^
tons, and mounted eight 8-inch guns in four turrets. Two other ships of her class, the Liitzow and Seydlitz, were never completed.
The Prinz Eugen was laid down in 1936 at the Krupp Germania Werft yards in Kiel. She was launched on 20 August 1938, amidst colorful military ceremonies which included the presence of Ger- ) man Chancellor Adolf Hitler and Grand Admiral Erich Raeder- After nearly two years of fitting out, she was commissioned on 1 August 1940, and during the following months conducted extensive shakedown operations in the Baltic Sea.
In late May 1941, the Prinz Eugen accompanied the battleship Bismarck on her famous sortie into the North Atlantic. On 24 May, the two warships encountered the British battle cruiser Hood and battleship Prince of Wales southwest of Iceland. In the ensuing battle, shells from the Prinz Eugen struck the Hood, setting her afire. Shortly thereafter, a salvo from the Bismarck straddled the Hood, penetrating a magazine. Within seconds, the Hood exploded and sank, leaving only three survivors. Both the Bismarck and the Prince of Wales were damaged in the action-
On 24 May, the Prinz Eugen was detached from the Bismarck to conduct independent raiding operations. After several days without success off the Azores, she put into Brest, France, for drydocking and overhaul. While in the yards at Brest, the Print Eugen was continually harrassed by bombing raids, and a bomb-hit on 2 July 1941 destroyed her damage control center and main gunnery control room, taking the lives of 52 of the ship’s company.
The Prinz Eugen remained in Brest until early 1942, when it was decided that the warships there should return to Germany via a bold dash up the English Channel. On the night of 11 February, the Prinz Eugen and the battle cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, escorted by destroyers and torpedo boats, departed Brest and entered the Channel. At dawn, air cover provided by the Luftwaffe gave additional protection. Although aware of the possibility of a Channel dash attempt, the British were nevertheless completely surprised when the German ships were finally sighted shortly before noon on the 12th. Coastal defense guns, destroyers, patrol boats, and aircraft were thrown into action against the well-defended force, but to no avail. During the day’s action, the Prinz Eugen downed five aircraft and scored hits on the British destroyer Worcester. The Scharnhorst and Gneisenau were damaged by mines, but all of the ships reached German ports on 13 February.
Late in February 1942, the Prinz Eugen began operating in Norwegian waters. While entering Trondheim Fjord on the 23rd, however, she was severely damaged in the stern by a
tpedo from the British submarine Trident. For more than two 4q , t the crippled warship remained in the Fjord, while some eet of her stern were cut away and two temporary rudders | f0^re Stalled. On 16 May, the Prim Eugen departed for Kiel par^n°re complete repairs. Her jury-rigged rudders, operated in hy a manually-powered capstan, responded well and the the p ^ WaS a^e steam at 28 knots. En route to Germany,
. .^nz Eugen and her escorts were attacked by a force of 27 the • torpedo planes, 8 fighters, and 19 bombers. A number of (jrau"craft were downed in the action and none of the torpedoes if opPed found their mark. The Prim Eugen arrived unharmed in Klel on 18 May.
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j- °wing repairs, the Prim Eugen spent several months operat- §c, as a training ship and patrolled northern waters with the ^ rnhorst. Then, in October, 1943, she rejoined the fleet as flag- the Baltic forces. During 1944, the Prim Eugen provided 5l suPP°rt to German Panzer units engaging Russian forces the coastal areas of Lithuania and Latvia. In October of Co])- year> sbe was put out of action for several weeks by a *iQn with the light cruiser Leipzig. Following the accident, jy* 1 'eft the two ships locked together for some 18 hours, the tj.Eugen’s bow had to be replaced. During the remaining fo*hs of the war, the Prim Eugen contined to support ground 8.jCe® along the shores of the Baltic, firing some 5,000 rounds of tg, °b projectiles. During this time, she was in turn frequently en under fire by shore batteries and aircraft, but was never lQUsly damaged.
1^45, the Prim Eugen was surrendered to the British Qe °Penhagen, Denmark. Taken from there to Wilhelmshaven, th rrtlany’ she was eventually turned over to U. S. naval au- Cties. In January 1946, the Prim Eugen sailed for the United Visa es’ operated by 500 of her German crew under the super- Qjl0n of eight American naval officers and 85 enlisted men. ^assified as the IX-300, the Prim Eugen arrived in Boston on January 1946, proceeding from there to the Philadelphia aval Shipyard, after being slated as a target ship for the b mi atomic bomb tests. She was subsequently taken to the Clfic via the Panama Canal.
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^ e aerial and underwater blasts of Operation Crossroads dur- atl8 the summer of 1946 failed to destroy the veteran cruiser, l947She WaS later towed to Kwajalein. There, on 21 December jjj ’ she developed a noticeable list. Hastily towed to Enubuj uan attempt to beach her, she became stranded owing to an jj” °rtunate combination of wind, tide, and insufficient tug- §t.^er- The Prim Eugen capsized and sank on 22 December.
0 ‘ ^°cked on the coral reef, the rusting warship soon will exist y as a memory of a bygone era of surface warfare.
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jj c^°r^ol co-author Paul S. Schmalenbach served in the Prinz Pgen during World War II, first as antiaircraft officer, later as nnery officer. Except where noted, all photographs are from Mr. c,lTnalenbach’s personal collection.
Operating with the Bismarck
12 February 1942 the Channel Dash
Eating lunch at their battle stations Empty brass
Opposite: The Prinz Eugen in the English Channel; note the wet 20-mm. gun mount on the forecastle
Torpedoed
by the HMS Trident
Life in a
Norwegian Fjord
w
1944-1945; Baltic Operations
W;
ar s End for the Prinz Eugen
Bikini: the Prinz Eugen's Final Battle