Heavy Cruiser Prinz Eugen

Книга на английском языке
This Naval History Special Edition is about the German heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen. Prinz Eugen, one of three Admiral Hipper-class heavy cruisers, won distinction for several reasons. She participated in several famous operations, most notably as a companion to the battleship Bismarck in her doomed sortie into the North Atlantic in May 1941, and as part of the German task flotilla that forced the English Channel in February 1942. She survived mine, submarine, air, and surface attacks. She nearly wore out the barrels of her 20.3-cm (8-inch) main batteries supporting the German army against the inexorable Soviet advance into the Reich, participating in dozens of bombardment actions that are all but forgotten today. She was largest German warship to make it through the war intact and postwar became a commissioned vessel in the U.S. Navy. She weathered two atomic bomb tests largely undamaged, finally foundering at a remote Pacific atoll through neglect.
This Naval History Special Edition covers the design and career of Prinz Eugen and seeks to give context to her history with discussions of what similar designs were intended to do and how they fared. The performance of Print Eugen’s sisters, particularly Admiral Hipper, is particularly important in this regard. Prinz Eugen’s career offers an excellent window into many of the challenges that faced the German navy during World War II and insight into the strategic imperatives that dictated how Germany used its always-outnumbered surface fleet. Prinz Eugen was an innovative if not always successful design, but she succeeded when given a task. Her story is well worth telling.

Contents
Introduction and Chronology
Germany and Treaty Cruisers Prinz Eugen and Her Peers
Prinz Eugen Design, Specifications, and Construction
Prinz Eugen Readies for War, and Germany’s Naval Strategy
Operation Rheinubung
With Bismarck and Alone in the North Atlantic, May 1942
Sojourn in Brest, June 1941-February 1942
The Channel Dash The German Navy Plays the British Lion for a Sphinx, February 1942
Norwegian Interlude Prinz Eugen Damaged in Northern Waters, February-May 1942
Prinz Eugen Repaired and in the Training Squadron Cruisers at War in Operation Rainbow, May 1942-January 1944
Bombardments and Actions in the Baltic Sea from January 1944 to War’s End
Under Two Flags USS Prinz Eugen (IX 300), the Atomic Bomb Tests at Bikini Atoll, and After