Re: Heavy Cruisers: Prinz Eugen
Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2020 6:26 am
Admiral Hipper Class Heavy Cruiser USS Prinz Eugen pictured in the Panama Canal on her way to an atomic test on March 15th 1946.
On May 27th, 1945, Prinz Eugen was escorted by HMS Dido and HMS Devonshire To Wilhelmshaven.
On December 13th 1945, Prinz Eugen was awarded as a war prize to the United States, which sent the ship to Wesermünde. The United States did not particularly want the Cruiser, but it did want to prevent the Soviet Union from acquiring it.
Her U.S. commander, Captain Arthur H. Graubart, recounted later how the British, Soviet and US representatives in the Control Commission all claimed the ship and how in the end the various large prizes were divided in three lots,Prinz Eugen being one of them. The three lots were then drawn lottery style from his hat with the British and Soviet representatives drawing the lots for other ships and Graubart being left with the lot for Prinz Eugen.
She was commissioned into the US Navy as the unclassified miscellaneous vessel USS Prinz Eugen with the hull number IX-300. A composite American-German crew consisting of 574 German officers and sailors, supervised by eight American officers and eighty-five enlisted men under the command of Graubart, then took the ship to Boston, departing on January 13th 1946 and arriving on January 22nd.
After arriving in Boston, she was extensively examined by the United States Navy. Her very large GHG passive sonar array was removed and installed on USS Flying Fish for testing. American interest in magnetic amplifier technology increased again after findings in investigations of the fire control system of her.The guns from turret Anton were removed while in Philadelphia in February 1946.
On May 1st 1946 the German crewmen left the ship and returned to Germany. Thereafter, the American crew had significant difficulties in keeping the ship's propulsion system operational—eleven of her twelve boilers failed after the Germans departed.She was then allocated to the fleet of target ships for Operation Crossroads at Bikini Atoll.
On May 27th, 1945, Prinz Eugen was escorted by HMS Dido and HMS Devonshire To Wilhelmshaven.
On December 13th 1945, Prinz Eugen was awarded as a war prize to the United States, which sent the ship to Wesermünde. The United States did not particularly want the Cruiser, but it did want to prevent the Soviet Union from acquiring it.
Her U.S. commander, Captain Arthur H. Graubart, recounted later how the British, Soviet and US representatives in the Control Commission all claimed the ship and how in the end the various large prizes were divided in three lots,Prinz Eugen being one of them. The three lots were then drawn lottery style from his hat with the British and Soviet representatives drawing the lots for other ships and Graubart being left with the lot for Prinz Eugen.
She was commissioned into the US Navy as the unclassified miscellaneous vessel USS Prinz Eugen with the hull number IX-300. A composite American-German crew consisting of 574 German officers and sailors, supervised by eight American officers and eighty-five enlisted men under the command of Graubart, then took the ship to Boston, departing on January 13th 1946 and arriving on January 22nd.
After arriving in Boston, she was extensively examined by the United States Navy. Her very large GHG passive sonar array was removed and installed on USS Flying Fish for testing. American interest in magnetic amplifier technology increased again after findings in investigations of the fire control system of her.The guns from turret Anton were removed while in Philadelphia in February 1946.
On May 1st 1946 the German crewmen left the ship and returned to Germany. Thereafter, the American crew had significant difficulties in keeping the ship's propulsion system operational—eleven of her twelve boilers failed after the Germans departed.She was then allocated to the fleet of target ships for Operation Crossroads at Bikini Atoll.