War in the Atlantic

Deutschland was the lead ship of her class of heavy cruisers (often termed a pocket battleship) which served with the Kriegsmarine of Nazi Germany during World War II. Ordered by the Weimar government for the Reichsmarine, she was laid down at the Deutsche Werke shipyard in Kiel in February 1929 and completed by April 1933.

Prinz Eugen was an Admiral Hipper-class heavy cruiser, the third member of the class of five vessels. She served with the German Navy (Kriegsmarine) during World War II. The ship was laid down in April 1936, launched in August 1938, and entered service after the outbreak of war, in August 1940.

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The Konigsberg was a German light cruiser that was operated between 1929 and April 1940, including service in World War II. She was the lead vessel of her class and was operated by two German navies, the Reichsmarine and the Kriegsmarine.

Admiral Scheer was a Deutschland-class heavy cruiser (often termed a pocket battleship) which served with the Kriegsmarine of Nazi Germany during World War II. The vessel was named after Admiral Reinhard Scheer, German commander in the Battle of Jutland.

Nurnberg was a German light cruiser of the Leipzig class built for the Kriegsmarine. She was named after the city of Nuremberg and had one sister ship, Leipzig. Nurnberg was laid down in 1934, launched in December of that year, and completed in November 1935.

SMS Schlesien was one of five Deutschland-class pre-dreadnought battleships built for the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) between 1904 and 1906. Named after the German province of Silesia, Schlesien was laid down at the Schichau-Werke shipyard in Danzig on November 19th, 1904, launched on May 28th, 1906, and commissioned on May 5th, 1908.

The German destroyer Z1 Leberecht Maass was the lead ship of her class of four destroyers built for the German Navy (initially called the Reichsmarine and then renamed as the Kriegsmarine in 1935) during the mid-1930s.

Z24 was one of eight Type 1936A destroyers built for the Kriegsmarine (German Navy) during World War II. Completed in 1940, the ship spent the first half of the war in Norwegian waters. She was very active in attacking the Arctic convoys ferrying war materials to the Soviet Union in 1941-1942, but only helped to sink one Allied ship herself.

SMS Schleswig-Holstein was the last of the five Deutschland-class battleships built by the German Kaiserliche Marine. The ship, named for the province of Schleswig-Holstein, was laid down in the Germaniawerft dockyard in Kiel in August 1905 and commissioned into the fleet nearly three years later.

Z16 Friedrich Eckoldt was a Type 1934A-class destroyer built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine in the late 1930s. It was named after Kapitanleutnant Friedrich Eckoldt (1887-1916), the commander of torpedo boat V 48, who was killed when his boat was sunk during the Battle of Jutland on May 31st, 1916.

Pinguin was a German auxiliary cruiser (Hilfskreuzer) which served as a commerce raider in World War II. Pinguin was known to the Kriegsmarine as Schiff 33, and designated HSK 5. The most successful commerce raider of the war, she was known to the British Royal Navy as Raider F.

Admiral Graf Spee was a Deutschland-class heavy cruiser (originally termed Panzerschiff or armoured ship, sometimes referred to as "pocket battleship") which served with the Kriegsmarine of Nazi Germany during World War II.

SMS Koenig was the first of four Koenig-class dreadnought battleships of the Imperial German Navy (Kaiserliche Marine) during World War I. Koenig (Eng: "King") was named in honor of King William II of Wurttemberg.

SMS Blucher was the last armored cruiser built by the German Empire. She was designed to match what German intelligence incorrectly believed to be the specifications of the British Invincible-class battlecruisers.

SMS Goeben was the second of two Moltke-class battlecruisers of the Imperial German Navy, launched in 1911 and named after the German Franco-Prussian War veteran General August Karl von Goeben.

SMS Westfalen was one of the Nassau-class battleships, the first four dreadnoughts built for the German Imperial Navy. Westfalen was laid down at AG Weser in Bremen on August 12th, 1907, launched nearly a year later on July 1st, 1908, and commissioned into the High Seas Fleet on November 16th, 1909.

SMS Scharnhorst was an armored cruiser of the Imperial German Navy, built at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg, Germany. She was the lead ship of her class, which included SMS Gneisenau.

Z21 Wilhelm Heidkamp was one of six Type 1936 destroyers built for the Kriegsmarine (German Navy) in the late 1930s. Completed a few months before the start of World War II in September 1939, the ship served as a flagship throughout her career.

SMS Moltke was the lead ship of the Moltke-class battlecruisers of the German Imperial Navy, named after the 19th-century German Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke. Commissioned on September 30th, 1911, the ship was the second battlecruiser of the Imperial Navy.

SMS Markgraf was the third battleship of the four-ship Konig class. She served in the Imperial German Navy during World War I. The battleship was laid down in November 1911 and launched on June 4th, 1913.

Z5 Paul Jacobi was a Type 1934A destroyer built for the Kriegsmarine in the mid-1930s. The ship was being refitted when World War II began on September 1st, 1939, and was tasked to inspect neutral shipping for contraband goods in the Kattegat until early 1940.

The German destroyer Lutjens was the lead ship of her class, a modified version of the American Charles F. Adams class, built for the Bundesmarine (West German Navy) during the 1960s.

SMS Lutzow was the second Derfflinger-class battlecruiser built by the German Kaiserliche Marine (English: Imperial Navy) before World War I. Ordered as a replacement for the old protected cruiser Kaiserin Augusta, Lutzow was launched on November 29th, 1913, but not completed until 1916.

Deutschland (A59) was a naval ship of the Bundesmarine, the West German Navy. She was constructed and used as a training cruiser ("Schulschiff") in peacetime and planned for multi-role missions in the event of war: troop ship, hospital ship, minelayer, and escort.

Orion (HSK-1) was an auxiliary cruiser of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine which operated as a merchant raider during World War II. Built by Blohm & Voss in Hamburg in 1930/31 as the freighter Kurmark, she was requisitioned by the navy at the outbreak of World War II and converted into the auxiliary cruiser Orion, commissioned on December 9th, 1939.

SMS Kronprinz was the last battleship of the four-ship Konig class of the German Imperial Navy. The battleship was laid down in November 1911 and launched on February 21st, 1914. She was formally commissioned into the Imperial Navy on November 8th, 1914, just over 4 months after the start of World War I.

SMS Braunschweig was the first of five pre-dreadnought battleships of the Braunschweig class built for the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy). She was laid down in October 1901, launched in December 1902, and commissioned in October 1904. She was named after the Duchy of Brunswick (German: Braunschweig).

Komet (German for comet) (HSK-7) was an auxiliary cruiser of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine in the Second World War, intended for service as a commerce raider. Known to the Kriegsmarine as Schiff 45, to the Royal Navy she was named Raider B. After completing one successful raid in the South Pacific, she was sunk by British a motor torpedo boat in October 1942 whilst attempting to break out into the Atlantic on another.

Z31 was a German Type 1936A (Mob) destroyer, which was completed in 1942 and served with the Kriegsmarine during the Second World War. She was constructed in Germany as part of Plan Z, and commissioned April 11th, 1942. She spent much of the war in Arctic and Norwegian waters, taking part in the Battle of the Barents Sea on December 31st, 1942. She survived the war, and was passed on to the French Navy as a war prize, serving under the name Marceau until 1958.

SMS Von der Tann was the first battlecruiser built for the German Kaiserliche Marine, as well as Germany's first major turbine-powered warship. At the time of her construction, Von der Tann was the fastest dreadnought-type warship afloat, capable of reaching speeds in excess of 27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph).