Yesterday, Dmitry Nagiyev "loaded" us a little with his participation in a movie about a state security officer crawling through the forest... This is over, a very important moment in the history of the Great Patriotic War... but still, I propose to pay attention to another topic.
Here are two selections in Yandex for the Petropavlovsk cruiser.

First source:

(before purchase - “Luttsov”, until 10/2/1940 cruiser “L”), from 09/19/1944 “Tallinn”, from 03/11/1953 “Dnepr”

She was laid down on August 2, 1937 at the Deshimag AG Wesser shipyard in Berlin. Launched on July 1, 1939. The unfinished cruiser was purchased by the USSR at the end of 1939 for 106.5 million marks in gold. Initially, in Soviet documents it appeared under the name cruiser “L”.

On May 31, 1940, German tugs brought the Kyrgyz Republic to the concrete wall of plant No. 189 in Leningrad. The plant began completing construction of the cruiser, which on September 25, 1940, by order of the People's Commissar of the Navy, was given the name "Petropavlovsk".

Despite the fact that the Germans in every possible way delayed the supply of machinery and weapons for the cruiser, and then completely recalled the engineering and technical personnel who installed the equipment, by the summer of 1941 the ship was already 70 percent ready. However, none of its premises were finally completed. Of the ship's weapons, only the 1st and 4th 203 mm turrets and 1x2 - 37 mm and 8 - 20 mm anti-aircraft guns were installed. The cruiser had no speed, but even in this state the cruiser could already fire. On August 15, 1941, the Soviet naval flag was raised on the Petropavlovsk. By this time the crew numbered 408 people. On September 7, 1941, when Nazi troops approached Leningrad, Petropavlovsk, like all ships of the Red Banner Baltic, began to provide artillery assistance to the ground forces. He opened artillery fire for the first time and did not stop it for eleven days.

On September 11, 1941, during live firing on the 22nd round, a shell explosion in the channel tore off the barrel of the left gun of turret No. 1.

Every day the intensity of the fighting increased. On the night of September 17, "Petropavlovsk" fired continuously at enemy troops. But, despite heavy losses, enemy units came close to Leningrad. On the morning of September 17, Nazi artillery began to shoot at the stationary cruiser at a distance of three kilometers with direct fire. Unable to maneuver, the ship that day received 53 direct hits from 210-mm shells. Through holes up to 30 square meters in area, water began to penetrate into the hull. Slowly flooding, “Petropavlovsk” was fastened to the left side and after 6 hours, trimmed to the bow, it lay on the ground.

A year later, on September 17, 1942, the cruiser was raised and towed to the wall of plant No. 189. With the help of caissons, the workers of the Baltic plant repaired the holes, restored the main and auxiliary mechanisms, fire, drainage and drainage systems of the cruiser. At the same time, the ship's artillery was put into operation. In December 1942, the Petropavlovsk again entered service as a floating battery and was towed to the iron wall of the Trade Port, from where it opened fire on German troops on December 30, 1942.

In 1944, the cruiser took part in lifting the siege of Leningrad. On January 15, 1944, both turrets of the cruiser, in the first hours of the offensive, fired 250 shots at the positions and fortifications of the Nazis on Voronya Gora, in Dudergof, communications centers at Krasnoye Selo and Novye Vilozi, and enemy observation and command posts in Kirgof. For ten days in a row the heavy cruiser crushed the enemy's defenses. They conducted 31 artillery fires and fired 1,036 203-mm shells.

After the war, several options for completing the cruiser were considered, but none of them were implemented. The cruiser was returned to the Baltic Shipyard, in January 1949 it was reclassified as a light cruiser, and on March 11, 1953 - as a non-propelled training ship and renamed Dnepr " In December 1956, it was reorganized into the floating barracks "PKZ-112". By order of April 4, 1958, it was excluded from the lists of the Navy and during 1959-1961 it was cut into metal at the Vtorchermeta plant.

Second source: “Another warship bore the name Petropavlovsk. It was the German cruiser Lützow, laid down in 1936 at the Deutschland shipyard in Bremen. In February 1940, the USSR signed an agreement on its acquisition. In the spring of 1940, Lützow "without weapons was delivered from Germany to Leningrad. Here at the Baltic Shipyard it was being completed on September 25, 1940, the ship was renamed "Petropavlovsk" By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the work was not completed, and it was decided to use it as a floating battery. On September 7, 1941, the cruiser opened fire on German troops approaching Leningrad on September 17, after heavy damage inflicted by German artillery, the Petropavlovsk lay on the ground. During the year, rescue work was carried out on the damaged cruiser, and in September 1942 the ship was recovered. delivered to the dock of the Baltic Shipyard. In January 1944, the cruiser took part in breaking the siege of Leningrad.

Since the battleship Marat was returned to its previous name Petropavlovsk in 1943, the cruiser received the name Tallinn. The ship was not completed, its hull was used as a training ship, then as a floating barracks, and in 1958 it was expelled from the fleet."

I would like to draw your attention to the following points:

a) the dates and place of laying (construction) are different, but in both cases - 1936 or 1937!!! Maybe the cruiser "Luttsev" was an old project - no, the best cruiser in the world!

b) February-March 1940, just the time when the decision was made to shoot Polish soldiers; in March 1940, the Finnish company ended (Germany and Finland were allies), the goal of the Finnish company was to “knock out” Sweden, the factory of the German military-industrial complex, from the game, with In this case, the official ally of the Soviet Union, Great Britain is in a critical situation - completely blocked from the sea by the German fleet and begs Stalin for help and is ready to take off its “last shirt” just to persuade “Koba” to enter the war against Germany. Moreover, the first convoys from Britain to Arkhangelsk began to arrive even before the start of the war in 1941 - this is when vandalism began there - they sent park fences to be melted down...

c) traditional leapfrog with renaming “Petropavlovsk” (until 1921*) - “Marat” (until 1943) - “Petropavlovsk”, respectively, this “Petropavlovsk”, which is “Luttsov”, became “Tallinn” because that previous name was already taken , ... swept through all the ships (first rank)* in the Baltic and Black Sea fleets - why rename dozens of ships in the middle of a war?

*) In connection with the uprising of sailors dissatisfied with the policies of the Bolsheviks.

Please note that in many sources, home-grown military historians substitute photos of another type of LIGHT cruiser like "Mikhail Kutuzov" (see below) as photos of "Petropavlovsk" (aka Lyuttsov - HEAVY cruiser).

And now I’m openly “turning on the fool” and in the next post I publish excerpts from foreign economic agreements between the USSR and Germany. That's where the "berries" will be.

*) Corrected following a clarification question from a reader.

"Lutzow"

The last of the laid down German heavy cruisers met a most strange fate. After its launch, which took place 2 years after its laying, on July 1, 1939, its completion slowed down significantly. The reason was the lack of labor and the first failures of the German industry, which had hitherto worked like clockwork. The turbine blades arrived with significant delays, which slowed down the installation of all main mechanisms. But the fate of the ship was decided not by technology, but by politics. On August 23, 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact, which provided, in particular, for intensive economic exchange. The USSR supplied large quantities of food and raw materials, intending to receive modern military equipment in return. In accordance with Stalin's quite reasonable considerations: “A ship purchased from a supposed enemy is equal to two: one more from us and one less from the enemy,” special attention was paid to attempts to purchase large warships. Almost all units of the German fleet were debated, but in reality the Germans had to give up only one - the Lutzovs. This choice once again shows that heavy cruisers were of least interest to Hitler, who was already embroiled in a war with strong naval opponents and had lost hope of achieving naval parity with Britain in traditional balanced fleets. So the loss of a ship, not very suitable for individual raider actions due to its power plant, could not greatly affect the plans of the German fleet, which was clearly incapable of a direct collision in battle with the English. On the other hand, the USSR received one of the most modern and technically advanced cruisers, although in an unfinished state.

On February 11, 1940, an agreement on the purchase of Lüttsov was signed. For 104 million Reichsmarks, the USSR received a ship that had the upper deck completed, which had part of the superstructures and bridge, as well as two lower main-caliber turrets (however, the guns were installed only in the bow). This, in fact, is where the story of the German heavy cruiser Lützow ends and the story of the Soviet combat vessel begins, which first received the designation “Project 53”, and from September 25, the name “Petropavlovsk”. This story deserves a separate book. We will briefly note only the most important points. On April 15, the “purchase” left the Deshimag shipyard with the help of tugs and on May 31 was towed to Leningrad, to the Baltic Shipyard. To continue the work, an entire delegation of 70 engineers and technicians, under the leadership of engineer-rear admiral Feige, arrived with the ship. Then the game with dishonest intentions began. According to German-Soviet plans, it was supposed to put Petropavlovsk into operation by 1942, but in the fall the work slowed down noticeably - due to the fault of the German side. The war with the Soviet Union had already been decided, and the Germans did not want to strengthen the enemy. Deliveries were initially delayed and then stopped altogether. The explanations of the German government consisted of numerous references to difficulties in connection with the war with England and France. In the spring of 1941, Rear Admiral Feige went to Germany on “sick leave,” from which he never returned. Then the rest of the specialists began to leave; the last of them left the Soviet Union on June 21, just hours before the German attack. It is not surprising that by the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the heavy cruiser was only 70% ready, and most of the equipment was missing. The guns were only in the low bow and stern turrets supplied with the ship; In addition, several light anti-aircraft guns arrived from Germany (one twin 37-mm mount and eight 20-mm machine guns were installed). Nevertheless, the plant workers and the team led by Captain 2nd Rank A.G. Vanifater made every effort to bring the cruiser to at least a conditionally combat-ready condition. On August 15, the naval flag was raised on the Petropavlovsk and it joined the Soviet fleet. In accordance with its condition, the cruiser was included in the detachment of newly built warships of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet. By this time, the first level of the superstructure, the base of the bow and stern bridges, the chimney and the temporary lower part of the rear mast rose above the hull.

When the enemy approached Leningrad, work was found for the 8-inch guns of the new unit. On September 7, Petropavlovsk opened fire on German troops for the first time. Obviously, the Germans decided at one time that shells without guns were not too dangerous, and supplied all the ammunition, inflicting a double blow on themselves, reducing the ammunition reserve for their heavy cruisers and making it possible to fire from the four guns of the Soviet ship with virtually no restrictions. During the first week alone from the moment Petropavlovsk joined forces against troops, it fired 676 shells. However, on September 17, a shell from a German battery hit the hull and disabled the cruiser’s only source of energy - generator room No. 3. The team not only had to abort the shooting; she turned out to be helpless against the fire from subsequent hits, since the supply of water to the fire mains stopped. During the unfortunate day of September 17, the helpless ship received about 50 hits from shells of various calibers. A lot of water entered the hull and on August 19 the cruiser sat on a pound. It was saved from capsizing only by the embankment wall, onto which the Petropavlovsk leaned on its side. The team suffered 30 casualties, including 10 killed.

The Petropavlovsk remained in a completely unfit state for a year. Only on September 10 of the following year, 1942, was it possible to completely restore the waterproofness of the hull, and on the night of September 16-17, it was brought into the dock of the Baltic Shipyard. Work continued throughout the next year, and already in 1944, the three remaining 203-mm guns began to speak again (the left gun in the bow turret was completely disabled in 1941). The cruiser took part in the Krasnoselsko-Ropshinskaya offensive operation, firing 1036 shells in 31 shellings. Its final commissioning was marked up, so saving guns and ammunition no longer made any sense. On September 1, “Petropavlovsk” was renamed “Tallinn”. The war was drawing to a close, but there were no changes in the fate of the long-suffering ship. After the victory, a fundamental opportunity arose to complete the work begun five years ago, since Soviet shipbuilders got their hands on the damaged and unfinished Seydlitz. However, prudence prevailed and the alien, already outdated cruiser was never completed. It was used for some time as a non-self-propelled training vessel, and then as a floating barracks (on March 11, 1953, it was renamed "Dnepr", and on December 27, 1956 it received the designation "PKZ-112").

On April 3, 1958, the former "Lutzow" was excluded from the lists of the fleet and towed to the ship's "graveyard" in Kronstadt, where during 1959-1960 it was dismantled for metal.

Why him? Probably due to his “unluck” - I like the “Lutzow” very much as a ship, but even in model reincarnations he was unlucky - the only existing model released by Heller is incredible in its wretchedness. In addition, I always wanted to have a “pickpocket” in my collection, but “Spee” seemed painfully hackneyed, and besides, I didn’t like its tower-like superstructure purely visually. I wanted to try myself in deep conversion - I’ll be honest: I’m tired. The project lasted almost 2.5 years.

A little history

The ship is the lead in a series of German “pocket battleships” that appeared as a result of the restrictions of the Versailles Treaty, according to which post-war Germany could not have more than 6 ships in the battleship class, and newly built units could not exceed 10,000 “long” tons in displacement, and the caliber of guns limited to 280 mm (11 in). A total of three units were built: "Deutschland", "Admiral Scheer" and "Admiral Graf Spee".
"Deutschland" (future "Lutzow"), was laid down on 02/09/1928, launched on 05/19/1931 at the Deutsche Werke shipyard in Kiel.

During the interwar period, he performed representative functions and “showed the flag.” Since 1933 - flanker ship of the German Navy. In 1934-1936. made visits to Scotland and Scandinavia, made a transatlantic crossing to South America, and cruised in the North and Central Atlantic with the Admiral Scheer.
The Spanish Civil War, which began in 1936, called for "pocket battleships" to serve the Iberian Peninsula. On July 19, the German squadron, which included, in particular, the Deutschland and the Admiral Scheer, set off for the shores of Spain, where they took part in the evacuation of 9,300 foreigners. Then the ship began to be plagued by misfortunes. On the evening of May 29, on the roadstead of the island of Ibiza, it was subjected to an air strike by Republican aviation and received 2 bomb hits. One bomb hit near the bridge and exploded between the decks, and the second fell next to the third stern 150 mm gun. A strong fire broke out in the space between decks. 23 sailors were killed, 73 were injured, many received burns. The ship itself had to urgently return to Germany for repairs.
In March 1939, with Adolf Hitler on board, he took part in the occupation of Memel (Klaipeda).

He met the beginning of the war at sea - on August 24, 1939 he went out for raiding into the Atlantic, to a position south of Greenland. But his successes in this field were more than modest: he sank only two ships versus eleven from the Spee (the English Stonegate and the Norwegian Lorenz W. Hansen) with a total capacity of about 7,000 tons, and in November 1939 he returned to Germany.
In 1939, the battleship Deutschland was renamed the heavy cruiser Lützow, but this did not bring him any luck. In November 1939, he went to the Skagerrak to intercept merchant ships, but to no avail.

The opportunity to show himself came during the invasion of Norway on April 9, 1940. There he acted as part of a group intended to occupy Oslo along with the heavy cruiser Blücher, the light cruiser Emden, 3 destroyers and several small ships.

But as we all know, everything did not go according to plan - the Norwegians absolutely did not want to give up without a fight and during the operation the Blucher was sunk; "Lutzow", in turn, received three hits from 280-mm shells. The central gun of the main caliber bow turret was disabled and a fire broke out on the ship. After the capture of Oslo, the damaged “pocket battleship” was ordered to urgently return to Kiel. But the path home also turned out to be thorny: on the night of April 10-11, at about 2 a.m., he was attacked by the English submarine Spearfish and was hit by a torpedo. The hull behind the stern tower broke (in fact, the stern was half torn off), 4 compartments were flooded; the ship took on about 1,300 tons of water. The ship was towed to Kiel, where it remained for repairs for more than six months. Already on July 9, 1940, during the bombing of Kiel, a bomb hit the ship. After repairs, it was actually ready for action only by the beginning of 1941. It was assumed that in July 1941 the Lutzow would set off on a new Atlantic raid, but this did not happen. During this repair, the appearance of the ship changed significantly: a beveled “Atlantic” stem appeared, one of the bow anchor ports on the port side was welded, and a demagnetization system was installed along the sides.

On June 13, the Beaufort was again attacked by British torpedo bombers and was hit in the middle of the hull. Two engine compartments and one of the compartments with couplings were flooded. "Lutzow" lost speed, took on 1000 tons of water and received a threatening list - about 20°. Again to Kiel for repairs - until January 1942.
During Operation Rosselsprung in July 1942, he was supposed to operate against the famous convoy PQ-17, but ran into an uncharted rock before leaving Bogen Bay, and was forced to return to Narvik. The Atlantic raid planned for the summer was canceled again.


At the end of December 1942, he took part in Operation Rainbow (Regenbogen) against convoy JW-51B, together with the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper and 6 destroyers under the command of Admiral Kümmetz. The battle was a series of short skirmishes. "Admiral Hipper" was damaged by the British cruisers "Sheffield" and "Jamaica", the German destroyers "Frederick Eckoldt" and "Beitzen" were sunk, the British had a destroyer ("Esheites") and a minesweeper sunk; the convoy was practically undamaged. The result of this operation was an order from Hitler prohibiting the further active use of large warships.

Subsequently, "Lützow" formally remained in service, being in Narvik - with a reduced crew, and at the end of September 1943, the "pocket battleship" moved to Germany and was put into regular repairs and modernization, which took place until March 1944 in Liepaja ( Libau). It was assumed that after modernization it would become a purely training vessel.

Since the autumn of 1944, the “pocket battleship” Lützow was used mainly to support the retreating German ground forces on the eastern front.
In April 1945, "Lutzow" was in Swinemünde. In the middle of the month he was attacked by British aircraft. Close explosions of the 5.5-ton Tallboys (there were no direct hits) caused such damage to the ship that its hull gradually filled with water, and the Luttzow sat on the ground at a shallow depth. Its guns continued to take part in defensive battles against Soviet troops.

On May 4, 1945, when the Germans left Swinemünde, the Lützow was blown up by the crew; the body was completely burnt out.

But in the end, he did not even manage to die with dignity: in the spring of 1946, Soviet rescuers raised the ship, and on September 26, the Lützow was finally sunk in the central part of the Baltic Sea on July 22, 1947, after several high-explosive bombs were detonated on it. His last photo:

This is the unenviable and somewhat useless fate of this ship, although depending on how you look at it, it did less evil.

Why him?

Probably due to his “unluck” - I like the “Lutzow” very much as a ship, but even in model reincarnations he was unlucky - the only existing model released by Heller is incredible in its wretchedness. In addition, I always wanted to have a “pickpocket” in my collection, but “Spee” seemed painfully hackneyed, and besides, I didn’t like its tower-like superstructure purely visually. I wanted to try myself in deep conversion - I’ll be honest: I’m tired. The project lasted almost 2.5 years.

Assembly

The model represents the ship in 1942, at the time of Operation Rosselsprung, which it never took part in. This period was chosen because of its interesting camouflage.
Literature used (what I remember):
1) Pocket battleships of the Deutschland class by Gerhard Koop and Klaus-Peter Schmulke
2) Marine-Arsenal, Die Panzerschiffe der Kriegsmarine special band 2, by Siedfried Breyer
3) Marine-Arsenal, Panzerschiff “Deutschland”, by Siedfried Breyer
4) Kagero, The heavy cruiser “Lutzow”
5) Momografie morskie 7, 9
6) Gunpower 17 German naval artillery 1

An incredible amount of different things were purchased from the aftermarket. I don't remember everything exactly:
1) Set on Spee from Eduard
2) Set on Spee from Ka-models
3) German radars from Flyhawk (FH350061)
4) Machines from Flyhawk 3.7 cm and 2 cm (FH353001 and FH353002)
5) 20 mm four-barreled anti-aircraft guns (VTW35056) and a set of German searchlights (VTW35058) from Veteran
6) All kinds of trunks from Master Model
7) Resin life rafts (I don’t remember from whom)

The construction process is more or less laid out in the forum thread; I won’t go into much detail here. I’ll just say that the only things that are native to the model are the body and the plane, and even then, both have undergone modifications. The rest is all homemade from Evergreen plastic of varying thicknesses. Main battery turrets, 150 mm and torpedo tubes were poured out of resin, which was of course not very successful, but for the first time it was ok. I used Vallejo paints, Vallejo ready-made washes, and Satin Vallejo varnish. I’m extremely pleased with everyone - after Humbrol it’s just some kind of holiday. I can’t say anything good about the Academia model itself; I haven’t checked it for compliance with the prototype (Spee). In terms of quality - incredible firewood - I have never seen worse. I also used the boats from the kit - I had to cover them with a tarpaulin, as it was not possible to finish the interior. The boats have undergone extensive refurbishment. I'll post some photos of the process:
Beginning: cutting out the Lützow hull from the solid Spee massif:

Superstructure everyday life:

Pipe passions:

Artillery and crane works:

On one weekday in April 1958, port tugs turned the huge hull of a decommissioned cruiser with its bow towards the Sea Canal and slowly led it to the last berth - to the Kronstadt Ship Cemetery. The bright spring sun gently warmed the sides, was reflected in numerous portholes, the remains of the dismantled superstructures cast bizarre shadows on the deck, where, from under the torn off ball paint, in places the armor of the “Wotan” brand gleamed dimly. The combat service of one of the most unusual ships of the Soviet Navy has ended.

In the early 30s, most of the leading naval powers entered the so-called “cruising race” - the construction of well-armored cruisers that did not fall under the restrictions of the “Washington Agreements”. On March 16, 1935, Adolf Hitler announced the denunciation of the peace treaty signed by defeated Germany after the end of the First World War, and began hastily arming the Third Reich. The Kriegsmarine leadership was clearly aware that it would not be possible to catch up with the main potential enemy at sea - Great Britain in terms of the number and power of surface combat ships. Therefore, instead of building monstrously expensive and resource-intensive dreadnoughts, the Germans developed the concept of building heavy cruisers and “pocket battleships” capable of long voyages and operations as single raiders. Officially, Germany was not constrained by the framework of the “Washington Treaty” in the tonnage of ships and the caliber of artillery, however, in order not to irritate the leading Western states, the Fuhrer and the head of the Kriegsmarine, Grossadmiral Erich Roeder, officially announced plans to build 5 cruisers of the “Admiral Hipper” type with a displacement of 10,000 tons with main caliber guns of 150 mm. The development of this type of vessel began in the fall of 1934, but when the plan was implemented, it became clear that it was not possible to keep within the stated framework. The installation of lighter “one hundred and fifty millimeters” did not lead to a large reduction in tonnage, but it significantly reduced armor penetration parameters; questions also periodically arose regarding the choice of the type and methods of mounting the main power plant; a lot of other minor, but no less significant, technical problems remained unresolved. Completely disregarding various agreements and restrictions, the Reich leadership made a Solomonic decision to build ships with a displacement of 15-20 thousand tons, to return to the classic caliber of 203 mm with an arrangement of two guns in 4 gun turrets, the minimum thickness of the main belt armor being 80 mm. The lead ship of this project (symbol "cruiser H") was laid down in July 1935 at the Bloom and Voss shipyard in Hamburg; in August, Deutsche Werke in Kiel began construction of the second ship from the same series (cruiser G), The third order (cruiser J) was taken over by the Germania company, owned by the Krupp family. The fourth (K) and fifth (L) cruisers began to be assembled at Deshimag AG Wesser in Bremen in December 1936 and August 1937, respectively.

With Hitler's rise to power, the close economic and military cooperation that had existed between the young Soviet state and the Weimar Republic began to decline. In order to defuse the tension between the two powers, the USSR began to look for ways of rapprochement with Germany by concluding a number of trade and economic contracts. As a result of the efforts made, on April 9, 1935, the “Agreement between the government of the USSR and the government of Germany on additional orders of the USSR in Germany and the financing of these orders by Germany” was signed. In accordance with it, the Soviet side received the right to place orders to German industrialists for 200 million marks under the guarantee of the Reich government. These orders were supposed to be equipment for factories, machines, apparatus, electrical products, equipment for the oil and chemical industries, vehicles, laboratory equipment, etc. This also included technical assistance. In reality, with this loan, the USSR received from Germany factory equipment and other goods worth 151.2 million marks. Deliveries of Soviet goods to cover the loan were to begin at the end of 1940 and end in 1943.

On August 19, 1939, a few days before Joachim von Ribbentrop’s visit to Moscow to sign the famous “Non-Aggression Pact,” the Soviet government received an agreement in principle from the German side to allocate another loan in the amount of about 200 million marks, providing, among other things, , the possibility of purchasing the most modern weapons in Germany. At the end of September, to get acquainted with the latest models of German military equipment, a representative delegation of 48 people arrived in Berlin, including not only diplomats, but also many leading experts in the field of tank building, aircraft manufacturing and other industries. The delegation was headed by People's Commissar I.F. Tevosyan. Following Stalin's very reasonable decision that "A ship purchased from a supposed enemy is equal to two: one more from us and one less from the enemy," special attention was paid to attempts to acquire large warships. Many options were considered, but the German side was reluctant to make concessions and after lengthy negotiations, Germany gave up only one ship - the heavy cruiser Lützow, being built at the Bremen shipyard. As a result, the Soviet Union received, albeit at 50% readiness, a completely modern combat unit. And so on February 11, 1940, an agreement was signed to purchase “Luttsov”, which received the name “Project 53” from the Soviet side, for 104 million marks. On April 15, the “purchase,” accompanied by two sea tugs, slowly rolled away from the outfitting wall of the Deshimag company and on May 31 moored in Leningrad at the berth of the Baltic Shipyard No. 189. Together with the cruiser, a team of German engineers and technicians arrived, numbering about 70 people under the leadership of Rear Admiral Otto Feige.

According to German-Soviet plans, the final commissioning of the cruiser was scheduled for 1942, however, the planned work schedules suddenly began to be violated due to the disruption of supplies of equipment and materials by the German side, as well as facts of direct failure to fulfill their duties and deliberate red tape of German technical specialists. Soviet and Russian historiography has repeatedly stated that the Germans deliberately agreed to cheat. The war with Soviet Russia was practically decided, and Germany clearly had no intention of helping arm its future enemy. Numerous witnesses and eyewitnesses point to deliberate sabotage on the part of the Germans. Deputy shop manager of the Baltic Shipyard B.P. Favorov, in his book of memoirs “On the stocks under fire,” writes the following: “So, gradually, day after day, the work on the ship was delayed, the planned deadlines were missed. Such tactics of representatives of German companies, naturally, led us to believe that all this was being done with a certain intent, in order to delay the completion and commissioning of the cruiser as much as possible. The calculation was this: without the Germans, we ourselves, they say, would not be able to cope with the completion of the Lyuttsov. He is echoed by former petty officer S.Ya Prikot, who served on the ship as a boiler operator until July 1941: “The Germans did not deliver a number of important parts. For example, the joints on pipelines are corrugated. And the steam pressure there was 52 kg. It was impossible to produce such joints in a short time at our factories. And don’t give steam! This means the ship is unable to move. One pump for feeding the boilers was not supplied, the pump was from an old cruiser, we discovered this, and the pump was sent back to Germany. The new one was never installed. So they did it deliberately." Documentary evidence from the German side suggests the opposite. For example, the official in charge of Soviet-German economic relations, German Foreign Ministry official Karl Julius Schnure, in a memorandum prepared for his superiors dated May 15, 1941, reported the following: “The construction of the cruiser “L” in Leningrad continues according to plan, German supplies are arriving on schedule" (State security bodies of the USSR in the Great Patriotic War.) T.1. The day before. Book 2. “January 1 - June 21, 1941.” The Germans quite rightly explained the interruptions in supply that occurred by objective reasons: the ongoing war with England, which caused difficulties with materials, the flow of which was urgently redirected to the needs of the front, and the shortage of qualified labor due to the massive conscription of industrial workers into the army.

However, work to commission the ship continued. In the bow and stern turrets, 203 mm guns were installed in standard places, 20 and 37 mm anti-aircraft guns arrived from Germany, and the necessary power equipment was gradually put into operation. Despite the massive departure of German specialists and the lack of necessary parts, the plant workers and team, led by Captain 2nd Rank A.G. Vonifatiev, made every effort to bring the cruiser into combat-ready condition. By June 22, 1941, the cruiser was 70% ready; by this time, the first level of the superstructure, the bow and stern lower towers, the base of the navigation bridge, the chimney and the lower part of the main mast rose above the hull. Sea trials were scheduled for August. "Petropavlovsk" was staffed 100% by officers and 60-70% by foremen and sailors, the total crew number was about 1000 people.

On the night of June 21-22, the ship's crew was alerted: it was announced that it was necessary to receive and place on the cruiser 50 people from the sunken destroyer "Gnevny". Exhausted people began to descend from the arriving trucks, many half-naked, some could not walk on their own, and their comrades led them by the arms. In response to questions from the alarmed sailors about what happened, one of the new arrivals briefly exhaled: “War...”.

From the first days, the Baltic Fleet was actively involved in the fight against the invaders. In Leningrad, by order of the People's Commissar of the Navy N.G. Kuznetsov, on July 5, 1941, the headquarters of the Naval Defense of Leningrad and the Ozerny region was organized, Rear Admiral F.I. Chelpanov was appointed commander. Energetic measures were taken to equip additional coastal battery positions, accelerate the commissioning of warships undergoing repairs, and form marine detachments. Two companies of Petropavlovsk soldiers joined the ranks of the Marines. Petty Officer S.Ya. Prikot recalled it this way: “So, we decided to mothball the cruiser. Prepare the main caliber for firing; electromechanical specialists will go to the front. And immediately in the courtyard they read out: “...List of the battalion of the cruiser “Petropavlovsk”. The battalion commander is Lieutenant Commander Socheykin. Three steps out of formation! First company: company commander, senior engineer-lieutenant Schaefer. Three steps out of formation! First platoon. Platoon commander Lieutenant Ershov!...” This is literally how the order was read to us, and this is how everyone left. "First squad, platoon commander - Sergeant Major Prikot!" He went out and stood up. My sailors and subordinates were also read out. Twelve people under my command. Everyone knew each other, so they stuck together. From the next day we went to the factory, preserved the cruiser, filled everything with oil, and attached tags. And in the evening - with training rifles to the Kirov Palace, to the place where they went to dances - for land training. This lasted until July, about twenty days. And after that they issued: 2 light machine guns for 12 people in the squad, everyone else, except the squad commander, received SVT rifles plus grenades. As a squad commander, my PPD is the same as the Finnish one.” Of course, sending highly qualified specialists, on whose training the fleet had spent many years, as privates into the infantry was the height of wastefulness, but the Soviet command had no choice: the enemy was rushing towards Leningrad. Only the gunners and a few sailors from the various ship services necessary to maintain the life support of the ship remained on the cruiser. The ship's power plant was hastily installed, the completion of the shell feeding mechanisms and other necessary work continued to conduct successful artillery fire. On August 15, 1941, the naval flag of the RKKF was raised on the cruiser, which received the name “Petropavlovsk”, and, in accordance with its condition, the ship was included in the detachment of Red Banner Baltic Fleet ships under construction along with the destroyers “Opytny”, “Strogiy” and “Stroyny”.

Rice. The destroyer "Experienced" fires at the enemy

The city defense headquarters decided to transfer the Petropavlovsk to a firing position in the Coal Harbor area. Since the cruiser did not have high superstructures, it was possible to camouflage it relatively well: the ship’s hull was “lost” among various coastal structures. The ship was brought to the pier and connected to the coastal power plant, because by the beginning of the active phase of the battles for the city, the ship’s reduced crew had managed to fully commission only one diesel generator station.

When the Germans approached Leningrad in early September, work was found for the cruiser's 203 mm guns. Artillery observers were sent ashore in advance, and on September 7 the cruiser received its first target designation: a large concentration of German troops and equipment was noted in front of the front of the 21st NKVD division. The Petropavlovsk guns opened fire for the first time, sending 122 kilogram shells at the enemy. The Germans rushed about and began to retreat in panic. New goal: a train with troops is unloading in the area of ​​the Uritsk station. The cruiser's Krupp guns roared again. Within a few minutes the train was destroyed. Probably, the soldiers of the 36th motorized division of the Wehrmacht would be quite surprised to learn that they were being destroyed by the former German cruiser Lützow using German guns and German shells. In total, in the first week of fighting, the cruiser fired 676 shells, causing significant damage to the troops of the 18th German Army, in particular, Petropavlovsk very effectively conducted counter-battery warfare, its fire thwarted several attempts by German troops to break through the defenses in the area of ​​​​the railway to Leningrad and in the shortest possible time ways to enter the city. As Fleet Admiral N.G. recalled in his book “On the Course to Victory” Kuznetsov: “The unfinished cruiser Petropavlovsk greatly annoyed the Nazis with its artillery fire.” On September 11, an accident occurred on the ship: during live firing, on the 22nd shot, a shell explosion in the barrel bore tore the barrel of the left gun of turret No. 1. When inspecting the scene of the incident, a defect was discovered: a shell on the barrel that had been carefully repaired and painted over by the Germans. Deliberate sabotage or manufacturing defect? An exact answer is unlikely to ever be obtained. On September 10, the troops of Army Group North reached the shore of the Gulf of Finland, which gave them the opportunity to more carefully adjust the fire of their long-range artillery, and field guns to shoot right through the main waterway between Kronstadt and Leningrad - the Sea Canal. Enraged by the successful actions of the Petropavlovsk sailors, the Germans decided to destroy the cruiser at any cost. A series of air raids followed, which were successfully repelled by the ship's anti-aircraft gunners. However, from the dropped bombs, which, although they did not cause “ex-Lutzov” any harm, the port buildings covering him from enemy eyes caught fire, and the supplying coastal power substation was disabled. The position of the cruiser, deprived of power and now in direct visibility of the enemy, became threatening. The ship's commander, Captain 3rd Rank A.K. Pavlovsky, urgently called tugboats, but in the meantime the cruiser continued to fire all night.

On September 17, the heavy 210 mm howitzers of the 768th motorized division of the Wehrmacht rained down the first shells on the stationary ship. The Petropavlovsk gunners tried to respond, but the Germans saw the target perfectly and shot very accurately. Almost one of the first shells knocked out generator room No. 3 - the last remaining source of energy and the ship was completely de-energized. The cruiser turned into a defenseless target, which enemy artillery began to mercilessly beat. During the day, Petropavlovsk received more than 50 hits from shells of various calibers, mostly 210 mm, which is quite enough to sink almost any ship. A fire broke out on the cruiser, which was impossible to put out due to numerous damages in the fire mains. Sea water began to flow through the holes. The team hastily left the sinking ship, having previously evacuated all the wounded. On September 19, having taken on a huge mass of water, the warship sat down on the ground, leaning heavily on the side of the quay wall. The crew lost 10 people killed and 30 wounded. However, the cruiser did not give up. At night, observing all precautions, the remaining members of the team boarded the ship along with the arriving specialists from ship repair plant No. 189. They secretly dismantled the anti-aircraft weapons, which were extremely necessary for equipping the ships of the Ladoga military flotilla.

The difficult situation at the front forced the Soviet command to further reduce the crew; another company of marines was formed from Petropavlovsk sailors and hastily sent to the front line, to land on Peterhof.

The city defense headquarters decided not to abandon the shot cruiser to the mercy of fate; it was decided to carry out work to lift and tow it to a safe place. A small crew and EPRON specialists fought for a year to save the ship. It was especially difficult for people in winter: cold, hunger, and even the front line of the German troops was only three kilometers away. Noticing the slightest movement in the area where the ship was forced to stay, the Germans opened massive artillery and mortar fire. While maintaining all measures of light and noise masking, an unprecedented struggle was going on in the flooded rooms of the cruiser. Baltic sailors pumped out water from the compartments with weak portable pumps, divers sealed holes outside the hull, mechanics restored pipelines and electrical wiring. Things went faster when ship specialists managed to “revive” part of the ship’s pumps. And on September 10, 1942, an iron colossus 212 meters long and 22 meters wide finally surfaced. It became possible to repair the damage in the part of the hull that abutted the pier; by morning a patch had been put in place, and cement boxes were installed over the holes. It was beginning to dawn, the Germans could notice that the warship had come to life and bombard it with shells again, so the order was given to open the kingstons and sink the cruiser again.

The next attempt was repeated a few days later. Powerful ship pumps quickly pumped out almost 1,600 tons of water; a tug quietly creeping up picked up the steel giant and quickly dragged it into the Neva. However, here too, failure awaited the Red Navy: within a year the fairway had changed greatly and the cruiser ran aground. The refloating work continued until dawn, and in the morning the familiar picture was again before the eyes of German observers: the tilted cruiser calmly stood in its original place. On the moonless night of September 17, 1942, another attempt to save the ship was successful. In the morning, the dumbfounded Germans saw an empty pier, and the securely moored Petropavlovsk was already standing at the pier of the Baltic Shipyard.

In December 1942, repairs on the ship were completed, and the day before the new year, 1943, the cruiser was towed to the iron wall of the Trade Port, from where it again opened fire on the enemy. "Petropavlovsk" was included in the 2nd artillery group of the fleet, which also included the battleship "October Revolution", the cruisers "Kirov" and "Maxim Gorky", as well as several destroyers. The cruiser's artillery was commanded by Senior Lieutenant Y.K. Grace. The guns of the warship continued to smash the enemy, providing assistance to the ground forces. German technology did not let us down; the fire was extremely accurate. “Enemy CP at height 112 (east of Krasnoe Selo). Two direct hits on a concrete pillbox. The corner of the pillbox was demolished and the top ceiling was destroyed. There are 31 craters within a radius of 100 meters. The shooting of the cruiser "Petropavlovsk" - testifies in the book "Soviet surface ships in the Great Patriotic War" by G.I. Khorkov. "Petropavlovsk" took part in the Krasnoselsko-Ropshinskaya offensive operation, firing 250 shells on the first day, January 15, 1944. From January 15 to 20, this number increased to 800 with a factory guarantee of barrel “survivability” of 300 shots. And in just 31 shellings, 1036 shells were fired at the enemy. The guns of the crippled ship were not too spared: it accounted for about a third of the firing carried out and the shells fired by the 2nd artillery group of the fleet, especially since the Germans, for some reason, supplied almost double ammunition before the war. “According to reports from coastal observation groups and our troops, the actions of the Petropavlovsk artillery turned out to be very effective. On January 19 alone, the cruiser-battery was credited with 3 guns, 29 vehicles, 68 wagons and 300 killed enemy soldiers and officers,” V. Kofman quotes the KBF report in the book “Princes of the Kriegsmarine.” But gradually the front moved away, and firing became more and more difficult. The ship fired its last salvos on January 24, 1944. This ended the Petropavlovsk's combat service. On September 19, 1944, the cruiser was renamed Tallinn.

Rice. Heavy cruiser Seydlitz in Pillau

After the war, several options for completing the ship were considered, one of which was very original. In 1945, in Pillau Bay (now Baltiysk, Kaliningrad region of the Russian Federation), Soviet troops captured the cruiser Seydlitz, which was blown up by the Germans. An opportunity has arisen, using one ship as a “spare parts warehouse” to bring the job started 5 years ago to its logical conclusion. However, having considered all the options, the Navy command considered the costs of restoring a foreign and already obsolete cruiser excessive. In addition, the hybrid power plant installed on this type of ship turned out to be difficult to operate and repair, and did not meet the requirements of post-war domestic shipbuilding.

After the war, the Tallinn began to be used as a non-propelled training vessel until March 11, 1953, when it was once again renamed the Dnepr. The cruiser was turned into a floating barracks, in which the crews of warships being repaired at the Leningrad docks lived. The next wave of renamings was not long in coming; on December 27, 1956, the former combat ship received the name PKZ-112.
On April 3, 1958, the former "Lutzow" was excluded from the lists of the fleet.

In some works of modern authors on this topic, one often encounters censure of the USSR government for the purchase of an unfinished cruiser, saying that the price is too high, and the money spent could have bought or built something more necessary. This judgment shows only one thing: their superficial knowledge of the realities of the outbreak of the war. In the 30s, out of malice or incompetence, now listed as an “innocent victim of Stalin’s repressions,” Marshal Tukhachevsky, who was directly responsible for armaments, by a strong-willed decision concentrated the efforts of the design bureau and directed the funds and capacities of weapons factories to the implementation of various fantastic ideas such as “universal anti-tank anti-aircraft guns" or air guns with a caliber of 250 mm. He stopped the development of long-range artillery, and by the beginning of the war the USSR approached with only a few field guns firing at a distance of over 30 km. The artillery systems that were then part of the Leningrad Front had a maximum firing range of 20-25 km, standard German guns of infantry and motorized divisions confidently hit targets at 25-30 km. It turned out that the Germans could raze the city to the ground with complete impunity using artillery alone. However, it turned out that the fleet blocked in the Marquis Puddle in September 1941 turned out to be the savior of Leningrad: for example, the guns of pre-revolutionary battleships could send a heavy projectile at a distance of up to 44 km. Eight-inch "Luttsova" fired at 33.5 km, which made it possible to effectively conduct counter-battery combat against any type of German guns. During the war, the cruiser fired more shells at the enemy than any other ship of the Baltic Fleet, thereby saving many thousands of lives of Soviet soldiers and civilians of the heroic city on the Neva that had no monetary equivalent.

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Unfinished German heavy cruiser Lützow while being towed to the USSR

On September 17, 1942, Soviet sailors and workers of the Baltic Shipyard carried out a unique operation to covertly raise the heavy cruiser Petropavlovsk, which was sunk by German artillery exactly a year ago, on September 17, 1941, during the first assault on Leningrad.

Right under the noses of the Nazis, the Petropavlovsk was raised and towed up the Neva to a safe place. Using caissons, ship repair workers welded together the ship's hull, which had received holes from 53 direct hits from 210-mm shells, and restored the main and auxiliary mechanisms, fire, drainage and drainage systems of the cruiser. At the same time, the ship's artillery was put into operation. Already at the end of December 1942, Petropavlovsk, under the command of Captain II Rank S. Glukhovtsev, again opened fire on Nazi fortifications.

The heavy cruiser Petropavlovsk, originally named Lützow, was laid down on August 2, 1937 at the Deshimag AG Wesser shipyard in Berlin and launched on July 1, 1939. At the end of 1939, the ship was only 70% ready and was sold to the USSR for 106.5 million gold marks. On May 31, 1940, German tugs brought the ship to the Baltic Shipyard shipyard, which began its completion. Despite the fact that the Germans, not wanting to strengthen their future enemy, delayed in every possible way the supply of mechanisms and weapons for the cruiser, and then completely recalled the engineering and technical personnel who installed the equipment, by the summer of 1941 the ship was almost finished, although not a single one none of its premises were finally completed. Of the ship's armament, only the 1st and 4th 203 mm gun turrets and 1x2 - 37 mm and 8 - 20 mm anti-aircraft guns were installed. The cruiser had no speed, but even in this state it could already fire. On August 15, 1941, the Soviet naval flag was raised on the Petropavlovsk. By this time its crew numbered 408 people. On September 7, 1941, when Nazi troops approached Leningrad, Petropavlovsk, like all ships of the Red Banner Baltic, began to provide artillery assistance to the ground forces.

German heavy cruiser Lützow during its inspection by the Soviet selection committee

On September 11, 1941, during live firing on the 22nd round, a shell explosion in the channel tore off the barrel of the left gun of turret No. 1. The intensity of the fighting increased every day. On the night of September 17, "Petropavlovsk" fired continuously at enemy troops who came close to Leningrad. On the morning of September 17, Nazi artillery began to shoot at the stationary cruiser with direct fire from a distance of three kilometers. Unable to maneuver, the ship that day received 53 direct hits from 210-mm shells. Through holes up to 30 square meters in area, water began to penetrate into the hull. Slowly flooding, “Petropavlovsk” was fastened to the left side and after 6 hours, trimmed to the bow, it lay on the ground.

After the rise, the cruiser returned to the Baltic Navy. In 1944, the cruiser took part in lifting the siege of Leningrad, when she crushed the enemy’s defenses for 10 days in a row. They conducted 31 artillery fires and fired 1,036 203-mm shells.

On March 11, 1953, the cruiser was reclassified as a non-self-propelled training ship and renamed "Dnepr", and at the end of the 50s it was scrapped.

Floating barracks "Dnepr" (former cruiser "Petropavlovsk/Tallinn") in the mid-50s.

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