Prinz Eugen in 1945

No chance on so many levels not the least that the operational theatre for the ship was the Baltic which for the most part was a German lake, the only difference in this scenario is that the Germans would have sunk it instead of the allies.

But if you dont believe me just see how hard it is to get from the Baltic to the Atlantic without passing by a lot of WW2 German territory which includes Luftwaffe proving grounds, Uboat production facilities and training schools, Missile development facilities and last but not least Germany's largest naval port.
 
Guys
She was in the Atlantic, with her brother Bismarck. if KGV and the old girl Rondey could sink bis. Then Rondey, KGV, Norfolk, Renown and Repulse, could get in a net around PE. get two towline on and shes been like a fish on a hook..
Nikki
 
MontyB,
why no? It would have funn, have you ever seen a fish on hook? And if she tryed wigglen with KGV and rondey there, let them to get on each side of her? or is that a bad idea?
NIKKI
 
03USMC,
i guess part of me just didnt went her sink.. But she is and i know that, but the what ifs are always fun.. And i guess i just took this one over the top..
NIKKI
 
NASAAN101 said:
03USMC,
i guess part of me just didnt went her sink.. But she is and i know that, but the what ifs are always fun.. And i guess i just took this one over the top..
NIKKI
Click to expand...

Well the good news is that it didn't sink, you can go and stand on parts of it without getting your feet wet and one day I hope to do that.

What if's are fun I will give you that but they need to be kept within the bounds of reality if they are to be discussed seriously.

I have always found the Prinz Eugen an interesting ship (I built a 12 foot replica of it for my senior year engineering project at high school) more so than the ships that over shadowed it in the region such as the Bismark, Hood, Prince of Wales or Tirpitz and I am not sure why given that it really wasnt an outstanding ship in terms of naval achievements, oddly enough the only other ship that matches it for me is HMS Warspite and it was outdated before the war began but it had a phenomonal career.
 
MontyB,
From what i read she lays in water between 65-to-100-feet. But she one i'd like to fine as an RC model. She's a cool, ship. i wonder if her Fisrt CO Helmuth Brinkmann, ever heard about her, when she surrendered to British Royal Navy forces in Copenhagen on May 8th, 1945! And what he was thing about, you know? Did he ever do a TV interview or no?
Nikki
 
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Umm it capsized on a reef at Kwajalein atoll the Prinz Eugen's stern now lies on the reef with the rudder and two of the propeller shafts above the surface of the water (the port prop was removed in 1978 and taken to the German Naval Memorial at Laboe. in Germany). The bow is 100 ft. deep, suspended over the still deeper floor of Kwajalein Lagoon.
 
You guys have to wonder if her Fisrt CO Helmuth Brinkmann, ever heard about her, Getting surrendered to British Royal Navy forces in Copenhagen on May 8th, 1945! And what he was thing about, you know? Did he ever do a TV interview or no?
Nikki
 
NASAAN101 said:
Guys
Then Rondey, KGV, Norfolk, Renown and Repulse, could get in a net around PE. get two towline on and shes been like a fish on a hook..
Nikki
Click to expand...
No.
The most they would do is board her to look for any secret code-books, and any new radar equipment, then they would sink her.
She was only a heavy cruiser, the RN had enough heavy cruisers, they didn't need her.
 
redcoat,
Look, Dont get me wrong ok, i care about PE ok, i always well, she a great cruiser, But i know her short falls, One of her biggest is her engines and bouiler, and i know that ok. But if you look against Dido and Devonshire the two ships take her back to gremany, she couldve handle herself against both of them, Her main Eight 8 inch / 60 calibre guns,, she from what i read, hit hood twice and POW three time, in the fight in Denmark stairts..
NIKKI
 
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Hi, sorry to gatecrash your thread, but you guys seem like the right people to help me.

I'm looking for a detailed history of the Prince Eugen as I have been told that it was my grandfather who captained her after her surrender/capture.

I know nothing about the ship and have recently become interested in my family history which has led me to try to find some sort of account which mentions my grandfather in relation to the Prince Eugen.

My dad has a booklet and some photographs that were presented to my grandfather, but unfortunately, the letter which accompanied the presentation was thrown away by my grandfather :-(

Can you guys recommend any good books which I ought to refer to?

My grandfather was James Phillip O'Connor.

I would be grateful for any information that can be spared :smile:
 
Cinnamon said:
Hi, sorry to gatecrash your thread, but you guys seem like the right people to help me.

I'm looking for a detailed history of the Prince Eugen as I have been told that it was my grandfather who captained her after her surrender/capture.

I know nothing about the ship and have recently become interested in my family history which has led me to try to find some sort of account which mentions my grandfather in relation to the Prince Eugen.

My dad has a booklet and some photographs that were presented to my grandfather, but unfortunately, the letter which accompanied the presentation was thrown away by my grandfather :-(

Can you guys recommend any good books which I ought to refer to?

My grandfather was James Phillip O'Connor.

I would be grateful for any information that can be spared :smile:
Click to expand...

These should give you some information:

*Breyer, Siegfried/ Koop, Gerhard "Von der Emden bis zur Tirpitz" Bernard & Graefe Verlag 1995. Technical design history of the German combat fleet.


*Breyer, Siegfried "Marine Arsenal Band 19, Schwerer Kreuzer Prinz Eugen" Podzun Verlag 1992. Excellent paperback with technical data, capsule history, photographs and a superb centerfold plan.


*Busch, Fritz Otto "Prinz Eugen im Ersten Gefecht" Bertelsman 1943. Propagandistic narrative of Operation Rheinubung by official Kriegsmarine reporter assigned to PG. Some very interesting photos.



*Busch, Fritz Otto "Schwerer Kreuzer Prinz Eugen" subtitled "Die Geschichte des Froehlichen Schiffes" Sponholz, 1958. An anecdotal history by former official Kriegsmarine reporter assigned to PG. Some photos.



*Busch, Fritz Otto "Schwerer Kreuzer Prinz Eugen 1941-1942" subtitled "Britische Jagd auf ein deutsches Kriegsschiff" Erich Pabel Verlag 1986. Narrative of unsuccessful RAF air strikes against the Prinz Eugen.


*Coker, P.C. "Building Warship Models" 1974 Cokercraft. Highly illustrated book featuring photographs and drawings of model ships and model ship building techniques. Includes centerfold plan of Prinz Eugen. A classic.


*Friedman, Norman "Battleship Design and Development 1905-1945" Mayflower books 1978. Technical aspects of heavy warship design understandable to the layman.


*Groener, Erich "Die Deutsche Kriegsschiffe 1815-1945 Band 1, Panzerschiffe, Linienschiffe, Schlachtschiffe, Flugzeugtraeger, Kreuzer, Kanonenboote" Bernard & Graefe Verlag, 1992. The standard historical reference on the ships of the German Navy.



*Hansen, Hans Juergen "The Ships of the German Fleets, 1848-1945" Arco Press 1973. Pictorial history of the rise and fall of the German navy. Includes a sharp color photo of Prinz Eugen's A&B turrets.


*Herzog, Bodo "Die Deutsche Marine im Kampf 1939-1945" Podzun Verlag, 1969. Excellent general pictorial of the Kriegsmarine.



*Hodges, Peter "The Big Gun" subtitled "Battleship Main Armament 1860-1945". Good guide to naval artillery.



*Humble, Richard "Hitler's High Seas Fleet" Ballantine 1974. Basic text on the German navy.



*Koop, Gerhard/Schmolke, Klaus Peter "Die Schweren Kreuzer der Admiral Hipper-Klasse" Bernard & Graefe Verlag, 1992. Illustrated technical historical overview of the Kriegsmarine's heavy cruisers. (Also published in English Translation by Naval Institute Press.)


*Koop, Gerhard/Schmolke, Klaus Peter "Vom Original zum Modell, die Schweren Kreuzer der Admiral Hipper-Klasse" Bernard & Graefe Verlag, 1993. Softcover pictorial companion to the above. Includes some nice technical drawings and (dubious) camouflage schemes



*Potter, J.D. "Fiasco" Heinemann 1970. Excellent history of the Channel Dash.



*Schmallenbach, Paul, "Die Geschichte der deutschen Schiffsartillerie" Koehlers Verlag 1968. Broad history & commentary of German naval artillery, written by Prinz Eugen's Artillery officer.


*Schmallenbach, Paul, "Kreuzer Prinz Eugen unter 3 flaggen" Koehler Verlag, 1978. The official history of Prinz Eugen, written by the 1st Artillery Officer and based on ship's logs and interviews. Well-illustrated, well-narrated and accurate. By far the best book on Prinz Eugen.



*Schmallenbach, Paul, "Warship Profile #6, Kriegsmarine Prinz Eugen" Doubleday & Company 1970. Illustrated booklet from this classic series, dense with technical and historical information. Excellent.



*Sowinski, Lawrence "Warship Pictorial Prinz Eugen" in "Warship Volume III" Naval Institute Press 1979. Excellent dockside photographs from the US National Archives.


All links came from this website...
http://www.prinzeugen.com/PGIND.htm
 
hey Cinnamon,
no, that fine. This thread started out about her in 1945, and just starting grow in to other topics on her.. She was such a cool cruiser! Sleek, fast, powerful as far as cruisers go, and on top of all of that. just a balanced cruiser. even through she an Achilles' heel which was her boiler, she was still i nice cruiser. and all that.
NIKKI
 
Guys,
There is an add on here: If Prinz Eugen was able to escape from Dido, Devonshire, Iroqoois, Savage? How would she fair again the 10 heavy weights of the US Navy: North Carolina, Washington, South Dakota Indiana, Massachusetts, Alabama, Iowa, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Missouri and that's only if she had the legs to get out to Japan or would they (Dido, Devonshire, Iroqoois, Savage) trap her long before then? What you guys thing and explain it to me ok.. IF she did get out there(Pacific), I didnt went her getting in to a fight with these 10 ships. but could they (North Carolina, Washington, South Dakota Indiana, Massachusetts, Alabama, Iowa, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Missouri) Corner her and what would happened then and EXPLAIN it to me? my think with them just trapping her, and either, the four Iowa's take her back to britain, or the ten take her to a US Naval Base!
Nikki
 
You still don't get it do you :x

They wouldn't even attempt to capture the ship, they would just sink it as quickly as possible.

You seem to think the Prinz Eugen was some sort of wonder ship, she wasn't.
All she was, was a pretty looking heavy cruiser, nothing more.
 
Because you are looking at things and disregarding the realities of the time, today we can look at ships like the Prinz Eugen with a somewhat impartial attitude and regard them solely for their achievements and and engineering but 65 years ago it was nothing more than an enemy warship and had it for some reason chosen to fight on alone (although god knows why it would) it would have been hunted down and destroyed, plain and simple.

On the brighter side if you want to see the Prinz Eugen just follow the link below to Google earth and you will see the upturned hull off Enubuh atoll...

http://maps.google.co.nz/maps/ms?hl...621,167.683173&spn=0.004178,0.004823&t=h&z=18
 
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