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Prinz Eugen - Operation Rheinübung

Russell Eames shares a photo display of his completed Prinz Eugen as she would have been seen during Germany's Operation Rheinübung in World War II.

Prinz Eugen was an Admiral Hipper-class heavy cruiser, the third member of the class of five vessels. She 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. She was named after Prince Eugene of Savoy, an 18th-century Austrian general.

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 Hood and moderately damaged the battleship 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.

Bringing this epic four plus year build to a close, Russell shares a collection of finished pictures of his Prinz Eugen. He mentioned she is modeled as per operation Rheinubung! The sortie into the Atlantic by Bismarck and Prinz Eugen that resulted in the sinking of Biskmarck and Hood in May 1941. He used Trumpeter’s kit, WEM photo etch, Model Master barrels and paints by Colourcoats to complete the model.

You can check out Russell's journey in building his Prinz Eugen here on Model Shipwright here: Prinz Eugen - May 1941