For other warships of the same name, see SMS Prinz Eugen.
As USS Prinz Eugen, before the atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll
History
Nazi Germany
Name
Prinz Eugen
Namesake
Prince Eugene of Savoy
Builder
Germaniawerft
Laid down
23 April 1936
Launched
22 August 1938
Commissioned
1 August 1940
Decommissioned
7 May 1945
Fate
Surrendered 8 May 1945, transferred to US Navy
United States
Name
USS Prinz Eugen
Acquired
13 December 1945
Commissioned
5 January 1946
Decommissioned
29 August 1946
Identification
Hull number: IX-300
Fate
Towed to Kwajalein Atoll after Operation Crossroads nuclear weapons tests; capsized 22 December 1946
General characteristics
Class and type
Admiral Hipper-class cruiser
Displacement
Normal: 16,970 t (16,700 long tons)
Full load: 19,050 t (18,750 long tons)
Length
212.5 m (697 ft 2 in) overall
Beam
21.7 m (71 ft 2 in)
Draft
Full load: 7.2 m (24 ft)
Installed power
132,000 shp (98,000 kW)
Propulsion
3 × Blohm & Voss steam turbines
3 × propellers
Speed
32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph)
Complement
42 officers
1,340 enlisted
Armament
8 × 20.3 cm (8 in) guns
12 × 10.5 cm (4.1 in) SK C/33 guns
12 × 3.7 cm (1.5 in) SK C/30 guns
8 × 2 cm (0.79 in) C/30 guns
12 × 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 Arado Ar 196
Aviation facilities
1 catapult
Notes
Figures are for the ship as built
Prinz Eugen (German pronunciation:[ˈpʁɪntsɔʏˈɡeːn]) was an Admiral Hipper-class heavy cruiser, the third of a class of five vessels. She served with Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. The ship was laid down in April 1936, launched in August 1938, and entered service after the outbreak of war, in August 1940. She was named after Prince Eugene of Savoy, a distinguished 18th-century general in the service of the Holy Roman Empire. She was armed with a main battery of eight 20.3 cm (8 in) guns and, although nominally under the 10,000-long-ton (10,160 t) limit set by the Anglo-German Naval Agreement, actually displaced over 16,000 long tons (16,257 t).
Prinz Eugen saw action during Operation Rheinübung, an attempted breakout into the Atlantic Ocean with the battleship Bismarck in May 1941. The two ships destroyed the British battlecruiser Hood and moderately damaged the battleship Prince of Wales in the Battle of the Denmark Strait. Prinz Eugen was detached from Bismarck during the operation to raid Allied merchant shipping, but this was cut short due to engine troubles. After putting into occupied France and undergoing repairs, the ship participated in Operation Cerberus, a daring daylight dash through the English Channel back to Germany. In February 1942, Prinz Eugen was deployed to Norway, although her time stationed there was curtailed when she was torpedoed by the British submarine Trident days after arriving in Norwegian waters. The torpedo severely damaged the ship's stern, which necessitated repairs in Germany.
Upon returning to active service, the ship spent several months training officer cadets in the Baltic before serving as artillery support for the retreating German Army on the Eastern Front. After the German collapse in May 1945, she was surrendered to the British Royal Navy before being transferred to the US Navy as a war prize. After examining the ship in the United States, the US Navy assigned the cruiser to the Operation Crossroads nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll. Having survived the atomic blasts, Prinz Eugen was towed to Kwajalein Atoll, where she ultimately capsized and sank in December 1946. The wreck remains partially visible above the water approximately two miles northwest of Bucholz Army Airfield, on the edge of Enubuj. One of her screw propellers was salvaged and is on display at the Laboe Naval Memorial in Germany.
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Global Information
Nazi Germany
United States