A superbly illustrated study of the major warships of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine. While the Kriegsmarine's capital ships became less important to Hitler following the outbreak of war, these vessels played a key role in projecting power in northern waters in the opening years of the war, disrupting Allied shipping and supporting operations.World War II turned out to be the swan song of the heavy cruiser design. In the Kriegsmarine, although some 22 Panzerschiffe ("armored ships" - a form of heavily armed cruiser) were planned across four different designs, only three Deutschland-class ships (Deutschland/Lützow, Admiral Scheer and Admiral Graf Spee) and three Admiral Hipper-class cruisers (Admiral Hipper, Blücher, and Prinz Eugen) were ever completed. The Royal Navy's equivalent vessels comprised the A Type (13 County-class ships built in three distinct sub-classes: Kent, London and Norfolk), and the B Type, comprising the two York-class heavy cruisers (HMS York and HMS Exeter). These opposing heavy cruisers engaged in a global game of cat and mouse during the opening years of the war. This book will cover the contacts between the two sides at the Battle of the River Plate in December 1939 (Admiral Graf Spee vs HMS Exeter), HMS Berwick's clash with Admiral Hipper off the Canaries (December 25 1940), Operation Rheinübung/Battle of the Denmark Strait in May 1941 (involving Prinz Eugen, HMS Suffolk, HMS Norfolk, HMS London and HMS Dorsetshire), and Operation Rösselsprung (1942) against convoy PQ-17 (Admiral Hipper, Deutchsland/Lützow and Admiral Scheer vs the RN Heavy cruisers in the two covering forces).