Prinz Eugen
As the Soviet Army pushed the Wehrmacht back on the Eastern Front, it became necessary to reactivate "Prinz Eugen" as a gunnery support vessel; on 1 October 1943, the ship was reassigned to combat duty. In June 1944, "Prinz Eugen", the heavy cruiser "Lützow", and the 6th Destroyer Flotilla formed the Second Task Force, later renamed Task Force Thiele after its commander, "Vizeadmiral" August Thiele. "Prinz Eugen" was at this time under the command of "KzS" Hans-Jürgen Reinicke; throughout June she steamed in the eastern Baltic, northwest of the island of Utö as a show of force during the German withdrawal from Finland. On 19–20 August, the ship steamed into the Gulf of Riga and bombarded Tukums. Four destroyers and two torpedo boats supported the action, along with "Prinz Eugen"s Ar 196 floatplanes; the cruiser fired a total of 265 shells from her main battery. "Prinz Eugen"s bombardment was instrumental in the successful repulse of the Soviet attack.