Heavy Cruisers: Prinz Eugen

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ivorthediver
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Re: Heavy Cruisers: Prinz Eugen

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Great shots again , many thanks Dennis .
"What Ever Floats your Boat"
timlewin
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Re: Heavy Cruisers: Prinz Eugen

Unread post by timlewin »

here is a rare photo from the Malins collection, and in the book "Away Seaboat" showing The Eugen surrendering to HMS Savage, here is the extract from the book ;-

Duty done, our task force under command of Devonshire then sailed for Copenhagen, where the only remaining large German ship, the cruiser Prinz Eugen, had surrendered and had to be escorted to the main German Naval Base of Wilhelmshaven, then in the British occupied zone.

Having in mind she might emulate the scuttling of the German High Seas Fleet after W.W.I while on passage, Savage and another destroyer were stationed on either beam with our torpedoes trained on the cruiser as a deterrent. However, it turned out that their sole thought was to get home safely and as we went up the Jade River, Savage was detailed to lead Prinz Eugen through the outer tidal locks into the naval base, the sides of which were lined with masses of German sailors obviously intending to give the last surviving large unit of their Fleet a right royal reception. While I am not very proud to recall it now, we were at the time so disgusted and incensed that such a welcome should be given to a surrendered ship, I deliberately took Savage through that lock at high speed, or a much higher speed than normal, so creating a considerable series of waves that thoroughly wet the feet of, and caused quite a commotion among the welcoming spectators. It could be said this was a most discourteous, dangerous and even stupid thing to have done, but I was by then an able and experienced ship handler and it gave enormous satisfaction not only to myself but to all my officers and ship’s company. Thus we went on through several more basins creating considerable havoc among the U-Boats and other craft moored in them, wires snapped and crews lined up on deck had to jump for safety. In the end I nearly met my Waterloo when the passage between two basins was spanned by a swing bridge, which a frantic little man was slowly opening with a wheel, while I equally frantically was trying to avoid a collision. It was all great fun at the time and at least let them know the Royal Navy had arrived, in any case there was no German Admiral who could tick me off for proceeding at an immoderate speed and causing so much damage in confined waters.
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designeraccd
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Re: Heavy Cruisers: Prinz Eugen

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A interesting insight to the last days of PRINZ under the German flag....... :) DFO
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ivorthediver
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Re: Heavy Cruisers: Prinz Eugen

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timlewin wrote: Mon Jan 07, 2019 9:41 am here is a rare photo from the Malins collection, and in the book "Away Seaboat" showing The Eugen surrendering to HMS Savage, here is the extract from the book ;-

Duty done, our task force under command of Devonshire then sailed for Copenhagen, where the only remaining large German ship, the cruiser Prinz Eugen, had surrendered and had to be escorted to the main German Naval Base of Wilhelmshaven, then in the British occupied zone.

Having in mind she might emulate the scuttling of the German High Seas Fleet after W.W.I while on passage, Savage and another destroyer were stationed on either beam with our torpedoes trained on the cruiser as a deterrent. However, it turned out that their sole thought was to get home safely and as we went up the Jade River, Savage was detailed to lead Prinz Eugen through the outer tidal locks into the naval base, the sides of which were lined with masses of German sailors obviously intending to give the last surviving large unit of their Fleet a right royal reception. While I am not very proud to recall it now, we were at the time so disgusted and incensed that such a welcome should be given to a surrendered ship, I deliberately took Savage through that lock at high speed, or a much higher speed than normal, so creating a considerable series of waves that thoroughly wet the feet of, and caused quite a commotion among the welcoming spectators. It could be said this was a most discourteous, dangerous and even stupid thing to have done, but I was by then an able and experienced ship handler and it gave enormous satisfaction not only to myself but to all my officers and ship’s company. Thus we went on through several more basins creating considerable havoc among the U-Boats and other craft moored in them, wires snapped and crews lined up on deck had to jump for safety. In the end I nearly met my Waterloo when the passage between two basins was spanned by a swing bridge, which a frantic little man was slowly opening with a wheel, while I equally frantically was trying to avoid a collision. It was all great fun at the time and at least let them know the Royal Navy had arrived, in any case there was no German Admiral who could tick me off for proceeding at an immoderate speed and causing so much damage in confined waters.
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Had I been there he would have not paid for a drink that night .......exactly what i would had done been given the chance .
Excellent TIM..... and thank you for letting us in on this event :D :D
"What Ever Floats your Boat"
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ivorthediver
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Re: Heavy Cruisers: Prinz Eugen

Unread post by ivorthediver »

designeraccd wrote: Mon Jan 07, 2019 3:15 pm A interesting insight to the last days of PRINZ under the German flag....... :) DFO
Truly.... a great ship to see but .......yet sadly not one of ours to deploy .....such is the path of life and its many idiosyncrasies ;)
"What Ever Floats your Boat"
designeraccd
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Re: Heavy Cruisers: Prinz Eugen

Unread post by designeraccd »

Her earlier near sister, ADMIRAL HIPPER, did not have a very "lucky" or useful career in the Kreigsmarine. Here are a few photos of her in Norway. DFO
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Brian James
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Re: Heavy Cruisers: Prinz Eugen

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Kreigsmarine Admiral Hipper Class Heavy Cruiser Prinz Eugen pictured at Copenhagen on her surrender to the Royal Navy, May 9th, 1945.
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designeraccd
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Re: Heavy Cruisers: Prinz Eugen

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Three more showing her in Copenhagen just b4 surrender, plus another in USN hands............DFO
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designeraccd
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Re: Heavy Cruisers: Prinz Eugen

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More rather unknown pictures of PRINZ EUGEN.............. :) DFO
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designeraccd
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Re: Heavy Cruisers: Prinz Eugen

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The "lucky" PRINZ EUGEN wasn't quite so lucky when a RN sub, HMS TRIDENT, effectively blew her stern off when she was transiting to Norway. After the repairs that could be done in Norway she was hand steered back to Germany for permanent a new stern assembly! :o DFO
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