USS Prinz Eugen (IX-300)

Heavy Cruiser USS Prinz Eugen (IX-300)

Prinz Eugen was an Admiral Hipper-class heavy cruiser that served with Nazi Germany’s Kriegsmarine during World War II. The ship was laid down in April 1936, launched in August 1938, and entered service after the outbreak of war, in August 1940.

Prinz Eugen saw action during Operation Rheinübung, an attempted breakout into the Atlantic Ocean with the battleship Bismarck in May 1941. The two ships destroyed the British battlecruiser HMS Hood and moderately damaged the battleship HMS Prince of Wales in the Battle of the Denmark Strait. Prinz Eugen was detached from Bismarck during the operation to raid Allied merchant shipping, but this was cut short due to engine troubles. After putting into occupied France and undergoing repairs, the ship participated in Operation Cerberus, a daring daylight dash through the English Channel back to Germany. In February 1942, Prinz Eugen was deployed to Norway, although her time stationed there was curtailed when she was torpedoed by the British submarine Trident days after arriving in Norwegian waters. The torpedo severely damaged the ship’s stern, which necessitated repairs in Germany. Upon returning to active service, the ship spent several months training officer cadets in the Baltic before serving as artillery support for the retreating German Army on the Eastern Front.

After the war, Prinz Eugen was given over to the U.S. Navy and briefly became USS Prinz Eugen (IX-300). She survived both two atomic bomb blasts at Bikini Atoll in 1946, with only a broken main mast to show for it. Prinz Eugen survived the blasts, but she became frightfully radioactive.

After the tests, Prinz Eugen was towed to Kwajalein Atoll where she ultimately capsized and sank in December 1946. The wreck remains partially visible above the water approximately two miles northwest of Bucholz Army Airfield, on the edge of Enubuj.

Photographs of Prinz Eugen under German control can be found here.