German cruiser Leipzig

Leipzig, circa 1934
History
Germany
Name	Leipzig
Namesake	Leipzig
Laid down	28 April 1928
Launched	18 October 1929
Commissioned	8 October 1931
Fate	Scuttled July 1946
General characteristics
Class and type	Leipzig-class cruiser
Displacement	Full load: 8,100 t (8,000 long tons; 8,900 short tons)
Length	177 m (580 ft 9 in)
Beam	16.3 m (53 ft 6 in)
Draft	5.69 m (18 ft 8 in)
Installed power	6 × water-tube boilers 60,000 PS (44,000 kW) (turbines) 12,400 PS (9,100 kW) (diesels)
Propulsion	2 × steam turbines 4 × diesel engines 3 × screw propellers
Speed	32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph)
Range	3,900 nmi (7,200 km; 4,500 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	26 officers 508 enlisted men
Armament	9 × 15 cm (5.9 in) SK C/25 guns 2 × 8.8 cm (3.5 in) SK L/45 anti-aircraft guns 12 × 50 cm (20 in) torpedo tubes 120 mines
Armor	Belt armor: 50 mm (2 in) Deck: 30 mm (1.2 in) Conning tower: 100 mm (3.9 in)
Aircraft carried	2 × Arado 196 floatplanes

Leipzig was the lead ship of her class of light cruisers built by the German navy. She had one sister ship, Nürnberg. Leipzig was laid down in April 1928, was launched in October 1929, and was commissioned into the Reichsmarine in October 1931. Armed with a main battery of nine 15 cm (5.9 in) guns in three triple turrets, Leipzig had a top speed of 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph).

Leipzig participated in non-intervention patrols during the Spanish Civil War. In the first year of World War II, she performed escort duties for warships in the Baltic and North seas. While on one of these operations in December 1939, the ship was torpedoed by a British submarine and badly damaged. Repairs were completed by late 1940, when she returned to service as a training ship. She provided gunfire support to the advancing Wehrmacht troops as they invaded the Soviet Union in 1941.

In October 1944, Leipzig collided with the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen; the damage was so severe that the navy decided complete repairs were unfeasible. The ship was patched up to keep her afloat, and she helped to defend Gotenhafen from the advancing Red Army in March 1945. She then carried a group of fleeing German civilians, reaching Denmark by late April. After the end of the war, Leipzig was used as a barracks ship for minesweeping forces and was scuttled in July 1946.