Shipbucket

Thanks to everyone, here the next one:

Due to the heavy damage the cruiser had sustained in Norway, Admiral Hipper was left in disrepair for 1943. With all capital ships reduced to second-line duties, the effort to repair the generators and boiler room was not deemed worth it. The decision to repair the cruiser came in March of 1944 and Admiral Hipper was transferred to Gotenhafen (Gdynia) where first repairs began with the intention to have the cruiser ready in November, but ultimately, she would remain in dock until January 1945.

Nice work! I'm guessing just one more and the Hippers are officially complete?

emperor_andreas wrote:Nice work! I'm guessing just one more and the Hippers are officially complete?

Then the never-built will come i guess.

Great work!
Looking forward to never-weres!

Beautiful series DG

Top notch work as always! Can I just ask what the two pairs of ovals are on the bow below the waterline?

emperor_andreas wrote:Nice work! I'm guessing just one more and the Hippers are officially complete?

It ain't over until I say it's over!

Syzmo wrote:Top notch work as always! Can I just ask what the two pairs of ovals are on the bow below the waterline?

Sonar equipment

By May 1944 some repairs and improvements had been done to Admiral Hipper: The main mast now carried the big version FuMO-26 radar, and the light AA had been improved with 40mm Bofors and 20mm twins. Spending the rest of 1944 in dock, the war got worse every day. In January 1945, despite still having two months’ worth of repairs ahead, Admiral Hipper was put on alert and ready to leave within 18 hours on January 19th. This time limit was reduced to 3 hours by January 22nd and ammunition was brought back onboard. However, the cruiser was still far from combat ready, only one seaplane was available and only the two forward AA-rangefinder were operational. The order to evacuate came on January 29th and Admiral Hipper left Gotenhafen at around 16:00, together with T36 and over 1700 refugees on both ships. While driving west, Admiral Hipper witnessed the attack on the passenger liner Wilhelm Gustloff by the Soviet submarine S13. Captain Henigst could only order his cruiser to move on, as Admiral Hipper with her crippled engine rooms would be an easy target and left T36 behind to assist with the rescue operations. On February 2nd Admiral Hipper arrived in Kiel in the Deutsche Werke docks to continue her repairs.

Very nice work!

And so the top weight continues to grow.

Excellent work. I'm not terribly familiar with the ships by this point in the war so its good to see how they would have looked. The increasing lack of sources as you progress further into the war makes this an even greater achievement.

More great work!