German cruiser Blücher

Blücher while on trials
History
Nazi Germany
Name:	Blücher
Namesake:	Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher
Laid down:	15 August 1936
Launched:	8 June 1937
Commissioned:	20 September 1939
Fate:	Sunk in the Battle of Drøbak Sound on 9 April 1940
General characteristics
Class and type:	Admiral Hipper-class cruiser
Displacement:	Design: 16,170 t (15,910 long tons; 17,820 short tons) Full load: 18,200 long tons (18,500 t)
Length:	203.20 m (666 ft 8 in) overall
Beam:	22 m (72 ft 2 in)
Draft:	Full load: 7.20 m (23.6 ft)
Propulsion:	3 × Blohm & Voss steam turbines 3 × three-blade propellers 132,000 shp (98 MW)
Speed:	32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph)
Complement:	42 officers 1,340 enlisted men
Armament:	8 × 20.3 cm (8.0 in) guns 12 × 10.5 cm (4.1 in) guns 12 × 3.7 cm (1.5 in) guns 8 × 2 cm (0.79 in) guns (20 × 1) 6 × 53.3 cm (21 in) torpedo tubes
Armor:	Belt: 70 to 80 mm (2.8 to 3.1 in) Armor deck: 20 to 50 mm (0.79 to 1.97 in) Turret faces: 105 mm (4.1 in)
Aircraft carried:	3 aircraft
Aviation facilities:	1 catapult

Blücher was the second of five Admiral Hipper-class heavy cruisers of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine, built after the rise of the Nazi Party and the repudiation of the Treaty of Versailles. Named for Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, the Prussian victor of the Battle of Waterloo, the ship was laid down in August 1936 and launched in June 1937. She was completed in September 1939, shortly after the outbreak of World War II. After completing a series of sea trials and training exercises, the ship was pronounced ready for service with the fleet on 5 April 1940.

Assigned to Group 5 during the invasion of Norway in April 1940, Blücher served as Konteradmiral Oskar Kummetz's flagship. The ship led the flotilla of warships into the Oslofjord on the night of 8 April, to seize Oslo, the capital of Norway. Two old 28 cm (11 in) coastal guns in the Oscarsborg Fortress engaged the ship at very close range, scoring two hits. Two torpedoes fired by land-based torpedo batteries struck the ship, causing serious damage. A major fire broke out aboard Blücher, which could not be contained. After a magazine explosion, the ship sank, with major loss of life. The wreck remains on the bottom of the Oslofjord.

Blücher was ordered by the Kriegsmarine from the Deutsche Werke shipyard in Kiel. Her keel was laid on 15 August 1936, under construction number 246. The ship was launched on 8 June 1937, and was completed slightly over two years later, on 20 September 1939, the day she was commissioned into the German fleet. The commanding admiral of the Marinestation der Ostsee (Baltic Naval Station), Admiral Conrad Albrecht, gave the christening speech. Frau Erdmann, widow of Fregattenkapitän Alexander Erdmann, former commander of SMS Blücher, performed the christening. As built, the ship had a straight stem, though after her launch this was replaced with a clipper bow increasing the overall length to 205.90 meters (675.5 ft). A raked funnel cap was also installed.