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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
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Photo # NH 95455:  Launching ceremony for the German heavy cruiser Seydlitz, at Bremen, 19 January 1939

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- SHIPS of the GERMAN NAVY --

Seydlitz (Heavy Cruiser, launched 1939 but not completed)

Seydlitz, a 14,240-ton modified Admiral Hipper class heavy cruiser, was built at Bremen, Germany. Launched in mid-January 1939, she was nearly complete by June 1942 when her construction was stopped. Plans to rebuild her as an aircraft carrier resulted in the removal of her guns and most of her superstructure by the first months of 1943, but no further progress was made on the conversion. The threat of allied bombing raids resulted in the ship being towed from Bremen to Königsberg in March and April 1944. In December 1944, while tied up at that East Prussian port, Seydlitz was reclassified as a hulk. The relentless advance of the Soviet Armies toward Königsberg caused German authorities to scuttle the cruiser's hull in late January 1945. Her remains were scrapped by the Soviets in the 1950s.

This page features all the views we have related to the German heavy cruiser Seydlitz.

If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

Photo #: NH 95455

Seydlitz
(German heavy cruiser)

Launching ceremony, at the Deschimag Shipyard, Bremen, Germany, on 19 January 1939.
This ship was not finished, though she was 95% complete when construction stopped in mid-1942.
Note her "clipper" bow and the many umbrellas carried by onlookers.

The original print came from U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence files.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 135KB; 550 x 765 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 91659

Deschimag Shipyard, Bremen, Germany


Fine screen halftone reproduction of a British Royal Air Force reconnaissance photograph of the Westhaven basin, taken 8 May 1942.
Ships present include the nearly complete heavy cruiser Seydlitz (launched in 1939 but never finished) -- marked by arrow -- and three destroyers.
The destroyer alongside Seydlitz is probably Z-34, which had been launched on 5 May, three days before the photograph was taken. Her machinery spaces are still open and no guns appear to be on board.
The other two destroyer, moored side-by-side at the head of the basin, are probably Z-32 (1942-1944), inboard with smokestacks in place, and Z-33 (1943-1946, later Soviet Provornyy), outboard with smokestacks not yet installed.

The original print came from U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence files.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 141KB; 620 x 765 pixels

 


If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


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Page made 26 January 2003