German cruiser Admiral Hipper - Definition

The German heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper fought as part of the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. She was named after Admiral Fritz Ritter von Hipper, commander of the German reconnaissance forces during the Battle of Jutland in 1916.

Hipper was the first ship of her class: like her sister ships, Prinz Eugen and Blücher, she was built in the mid-1930s. She was laid down at Blohm & Voß in Hamburg on 6 July 1935, launched on 6 February 1937 and commissioned on 29 April 1939

Hipper took part in the German invasion of Norway (Operation Weserübung) on 9 April 1940, successfully entering the harbour of Trondheim (Norway's third largest city, roughly half way up Norway's west coast). The troops carried on board Hipper occupied the city in the early hours, flying the Nazi flag on the city's old Kristiansten fortress and other municipal buildings before most of the inhabitants had even awoken.

She was blown up at Kiel shipyard on 3 April 1945.

External link

• Hipper technical data (http://www.german-navy.de/kriegsmarine/ships/heavycruiser/admiralhipper/index.html) – From German naval history website german-navy.de (http://www.german-navy.de)