Germany - Admiral Hipper class Heavy Cruiser

[emperor_andreas]

Deutschlands, the "Twins", and even Bismarck & Tirpitz...I for one would love to see the many intricate camo schemes of Tirpitz done with a DG_Alpha level of awesomeness.

[DG_Alpha]

Thanks to everyone for the cooments and for the trust in my abilities. I hope not to disppoint in the future.

Returning to active duties, Admiral Hipper, once again together with Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and escorted by destroyers Z20 Karl Galster, Z10 Hans LodyZ15 Erich Steinbrinck and Z7 Hermann Schaemann, participated in operation Juno, with the target to relief German troops in Narvik. For that, the fleet should attack the British naval base at Harstad. The operation was severely hampered by bad intelligence and interference from land-based command operations. Finding Harstad abandoned, the fleet set out to intercept the retreating British fleet. The ships encountered and sunk were the sub-hunter Juniper, the tanker Oil Pioneer and the troop transport Orama (the hospital ship Atlantis was not engaged). When Scharnhorst and Gneisenau had their famous encounter with Glorious, Admiral Hipper was too far away to take part in the battle. The ships retrieated to Trondheim on June 11th, 1940.

Except for an escort mission for Gneisenau, Hipper stayed in Trondheim fjord until July 25th. Hipper then left for a commerce raiding mission in the arctic waters, which was not very successful, but nonetheless brought valuable experiences with the onboard planes and sea-refueling. It also showed the technical flaws of the class: The machinery was prone to breakdowns and the communication and intelligence installations could be improved. After that, Admiral Hipper returned to Germany for another stay in the drydocks.

Leaving Kiel on September 24th under the command of her new commander, Captain Meisel, Admiral Hipper headed for the Atlantic for her new duty as commerce raider. Kriegsmarine command had high expectation for the cruiser, as in theory, she would perform well against convoys with her superior firepower and speed. The presence of the cruiser in the Atlantic would also bind Royal Navy units away from the Isles in preparation for Operation Sealion.The first attempt to reach the Atlantic ended in failure when Admiral Hipper’s engines broke down and had to limp back to Kiel. After another stay in the drydocks during October, another attempt started on November 25th. Supported by supply ships Dithmarschen, Friedrich Breme and Thorn headed for the northern route around Britain, beginning Operation Nordseetour (Noth Sea Tour).

Admiral Hipper reached Hjeltfjord on December 1st, where she received an new dark blue-grey camouflage paintjob. For the Atlantic operations, the aft mast had been reinforced as well and equipped with another observing platform on top, waterbombs had been added astern. A degaussing cable had been added since the Invasion of Norway as well.

[Bombhead]

Well,well what a cracker. When you see a drawing like that I think we should re-institute drawing of the month.

[emperor_andreas]

Incredible work! Is it just me or does this thread seem to get better with every drawing posted?

[Colosseum]

Really excellent stuff.

[eswube]

Awesome work!

[Syzmo]

That camouflage... Well done again!

[BCRenown]

It truly is an exceptional drawing from the waterline up, but why the bright red bottom?

[Gollevainen]

Well,well what a cracker. When you see a drawing like that I think we should re-institute drawing of the month.

Glad that atleast someone remembers those contests of epicness from the past. But today I fear DG's Hippers would be same sort of instant winners as Lazer's ice-breakers used to be back then.

Also, nice drawing, and great colors (and use of them)

[Charybdis]

Awesome. That's all I can say.