.jpg) Seydlitz in May 1942, before conversion work began
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Nazi Germany | |
| Name | Seydlitz |
| Namesake | Friedrich Wilhelm von Seydlitz |
| Builder | Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau, Bremen |
| Laid down | 29 December 1936 |
| Launched | 19 January 1939 |
| Fate | Scuttled incomplete, 29 January 1945 |
| General characteristics (as cruiser) | |
| Class and type | Admiral Hipper-class cruiser |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 210 m (689 ft 0 in) overall |
| Beam | 21.80 m (71 ft 6 in) |
| Draft | Full load: 7.90 m (25.9 ft) |
| Installed power | 132,000 shp (98,000 kW) |
| Propulsion |
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| Speed | 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph) |
| Complement |
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| Armament |
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| Armor |
|
| Aircraft carried | 3 aircraft |
| Aviation facilities | 1 catapult |
| General characteristics (as aircraft carrier) | |
| Displacement | Design: 17,139 t (16,868 long tons; 18,893 short tons) |
| Length | 216 m (708 ft 8 in) overall |
| Draft | Full load: 6.65 m (21.8 ft) |
| Armament |
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| Aircraft carried | 20 aircraft |
Seydlitz was a heavy cruiser of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine, fourth in the Admiral Hipper class, but was never completed. The ship was laid down in December 1936 and launched in January 1939, but the outbreak of World War II slowed her construction and fitting-out work was finally stopped in the summer of 1940 when she was approximately 95 percent complete. The unfinished ship remained pier-side in the shipyard until March 1942, when the Kriegsmarine decided to pursue aircraft carriers over surface combatants. Seydlitz was among the vessels chosen for conversion into auxiliary aircraft carriers.
Renamed Weser, the ship was to have had a complement of ten Bf 109 fighters and ten Ju 87 divebombers. Work lasted from 1942 to 1943, but was not completed, and the incomplete vessel was towed to Königsberg in early 1944. She was eventually scuttled there in 1945 as the Soviet Red Army approached the city. The wreck was seized by the Soviets and was briefly considered for cannibalization for spare parts to complete her sistership Lützow for the Soviet Navy. This plan was also abandoned, and the ship was broken up for scrap.