German cruiser Seydlitz
Seydlitz was a
heavy cruiser of the German navy, fourth in the
Hipper class, but was never completed. The keel was laid on
29 December 1936 at
DeSchiMAG shipyards in
Bremen, and the ship was launched on
19 January 1939. At the outbreak of
WWII the cruiser was only two thirds completed. The
Soviet Union sought to buy her, along with her also unfinished sister
Lützow, but the request was turned down. With the emphasis of the naval building program shifting to submarines, work on the ship suffered lengthy delays. In August 1942 it was decided to convert the ship, by then 90% completed, into an
aircraft carrier. This required substantial reconfiguration, and the increasing scarcity of materials forced work to cease in January 1943.
Seydlitz was towed to
Königsberg where she was scuttled on
10 April 1945.Raised by the Soviets in 1946 and renamed Poltava, she is believed to have been scrapped in the 1950's decade.
* Sisterships completed and seeing service in WWII were
Admiral Hipper,
Blücher and
Prinz Eugen.
*
List of World War II ships*
List of Kriegsmarine ships*
List of naval ships of Germany*
List of ship launches in 1939*
List of shipwrecks in 1945
