KMS Admiral Scheer - Greatest Surface Raider, Buried Underground 

Mein Freud. You served in the German Navy. I served in the RAN. Our forebears fought each other as professionals in their respective forces. Today we are brothers

Crikeyb,poor old bugger must have been a wee bit uncomfortable.

Awesome to see a video about _my_ great grandson's ship. (Just kidding). These ships would've been far more effective if the war has begun in the mid 1930s, before the advent of fast battleships that could fairly easily run them down.

Two interesting books: "Big Guns in the Atlantic", by Angus Konstam "Pocket Battleship-The Story of the Admiral Scheer", by Theodore Krancke and Jochen Brennecke Note that Theodore Krancke was in command of Admiral Scheer, during the 1940-41 cruise.

@@Thorr-kl6jl Have Pocket Battleship, amazing book probably the closest thing I read that I felt I understood what my Great Grandfather did on Scheer

...as all of the Kriegsmarine big ships were....Their designers had exquisite taste.

Hey. Do you know that there is an recent paper about a geoelectrical survey of Kieler scientists? They give a short history about the ship and it’s current situation. If you are interested I could send you the paper.

@@heikot.3843 I believe I've read that report, which found that the wreck was partially cleared after the war, with the bow removed up to the forward engineering spaces and the stern removed to the beginning of the armor belt, with the remaining midships section cleared down to the waterline and subsequently buried. I have heard that at least one of her main battery turrets was removed, as well as some of her machinery, but a fair bit of the Admiral Scheer should still be buried there in Kiel under 3 to 5 meters of dredge spoil including at least her after main turret. Interestingly, a drainage ditch over the site today was rumored to follow the outline of the capsized hull, which the survey shows to be accurate.

@@doktorjohann4883 Yes, that's exactly the perfect summary of the article. Unfortunately, I don't know any more about the condition of the wreck or a report on the scrapping. Or rather, I don't think there's much about it. However, I can imagine that there might be the possibility of newspaper articles from Kiel newspapers in the archive, for example.

Thanks guys!

are you drunk or what is your problem?

You must be very intelligent.

The Kormoran was a German merchant ship armed for raiding and she sustained an amazing battle in the Indic ocean with an Australian cruiser, the Sydney. Even though the odds were against the Kormoran, she succeeded in sinking the warship. Unfortunately all hands went down with the Sydney, and the Kormoran herself was badly damaged so the crew decided to scuttle her and they reached the Australian mainland.

@walterseaman2556 Let's alter that. Kormoran was an Armed Merchant Cruiser almost as heavily armed as Sydney and in the circumstances of the action better placed. Her primary advantages were her secondary armament which swept Sydbey's decks preventing the tubes, 4-inch and A/A plus the torpedo tubes. Her initial direct hits on the bridge, wireless room and gun direction also turned the tide. Oh, and a very professional CO in Dettmers who dis everything right.

@@andrewstackpool4911 - All things considered, the Sydney was a real warship, whose armor was thicker than that of a raider...You mention as an advantage the kormoran's secondary armament, but what about the cruiser's ? It couldn't be inferior to the enemy's....The only possible excuse might be to concede that the Germans had better gunners so their broadsides were more effective.

@@walterseaman2556 Sydney couldn't use it as Kormora 's 20mm and machine guns sprayed thecdecks literally killing every man there. They also took.out the aircraft, starting fires there The four-inch secondaries on Sydney were open not in turrets as were her A/A. And her armour was certainly not strong enough to resist 6-inch HE rounds at point blank range. Look at the damage to Graf Spee from 6-inch rounds. Plus nothing would withstand a 53cm torpedo. She was turned into an inferno below deck of fire, smoke, water ingress and noxious gas. And note both forward turrets were taken out early. It was only the after guns that finally struck Kormoran. The Germans' accounts of the dying cruiser are horrific. At the end, a flickering light on the horizon that went out.

@@walterseaman2556The Germabs got the first salvoes away with Sydney boresighted. Their first rounds took out the bridge, wheelhouse, wireless and director. That would also have taken out other vital areas. A and B turrets soon after and then just a mayhem with every weapon they had. Meanwhile the torpedo destroyed the fo'c'sle area. The bow was found broken off.

Convoys were often protected by older battleships or battle cruisers such as HMS Renown. Scharnhorst, a far more capable ship, declined combat with a convoy so equipped, she even scuttled off when HMS Newcastle, a light cruiser appeared. So more German cruisers in the Atlantic would make no real difference. The German navy were outnumbered in all classes.

The hippers were not even considered by the time the 3 Deutschlands were build

@@NashmanNash The decision to over ride the Washington Naval Treaty and use the eleven inch gun was made after the design board rejected the cruiser design that became the Hipper.

@@bullettube9863 No. Germany was not bound by the washington naval treaty anyway.That's why there were no caliber restrictions There was some thought given to a vessel with 8 21cm guns(this having NOTHING to do with the Hippers),before the decision came down to either a coastal battleship with 38cm guns,or the design that later became the Deutschland. Design work on "Washington compliant" cruisers was not something the Reichsmarine saw any real point in

@@NashmanNash Sorry but Germany was bound by the Washington Treaty because the other countries signing the treaty ordered Germany to follow it. Of course the weight limits were not followed because Germany resented being told what to do. I know many people think it was Hitler and the Nazies who began the military buildup but it all began before the Nazies took over.