page_title: Hansjürgen Reinicke
section_title: Command of Prinz Eugen
hierarchical_section_title: Hansjürgen Reinicke / World War II / Command of Prinz Eugen
caption_attribution_description: English: USS Prinz Eugen (IX-300), a former German heavy cruiser, ready for target duty in the operation Crossroads a-bomb tests, 14 June 1946. Deutsch: Der schwere Kreuzer Prinz Eugen ankert im Atomtestgebiet beim Bikini-Atoll.
context_page_description: Hans-Jürgen "Hansjürgen" Rudolf Reinicke was a Kapitän zur See, commander of heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, in Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during the Second World War and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.
  Reinicke was born in Frankfurt and grew up in the German Empire. He joined the Reichsmarine after World War I in 1922. After a period of training on surface vessels and assignments on torpedo boats he served in various admiralty staff positions during the Spanish Civil War and in the first years of World War II. In this function, he was involved in the conceptual planning of Operation Sealion, the never attempted amphibious landing of German forces in England. Reinicke was chief of staff to Vizeadmiral Otto Ciliax during the Channel Dash, the transit of the ships of the Brest Group through the English Channel. In the last year of the war he was given command of Prinz Eugen. Prinz Eugen, stationed in the Baltic Sea, supported the German fighting retreat in the coastal region of the Eastern Front.
  Following the German surrender in 1945, Prinz Eugen was handed over as a war prize to the United States.
context_section_description: Reinicke took command of the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen on 5 January 1944. Prinz Eugen operated north of Utö in the Archipelago Sea from 7–28 June 1944, demonstrating a show of force during the retreat of German forces from Finland. Reinicke lead Prinz Eugen in its next actions on 19 August under control of the Second Task Force later renamed to Task Force Thiele. Prinz Eugen steamed into the Gulf of Riga and bombarded Tukums from a distance of 25,000 metres (27,000 yd). The ship fired a total of 265 rounds from its 20.3 cm (8.0 in) SK L/60 guns. In parallel, the destroyers Z25, Z28, Z35 and Z36 and the torpedo boats T23 and T28 attacked further targets.
  Prinz Eugen left Gotenhafen on 10 October to support the defensive land battles in the vicinity of Memel. In the timeframe 10–12 and 14–15 October Prinz Eugen bombarded 28 different targets and expended 1,196 20.3 cm rounds. These actions are supported by the heavy cruiser Lützow and the destroyers Z25, Z35 and Z36. While on the return voyage to Gotenhafen on 15 October, Prinz Eugen inadvertently rammed the light cruiser Leipzig amidships north of Hela. Both ships remained wedged together and were separated on 16 October. Prinz Eugen was immediately moved to the shipyard in Gotenhafen where she received a new bow. Already on 14 November Reinicke was able to take her on sea trials.
  Kurt von Schuschnigg, son of the former Chancellor of the Federal State of Austria Kurt Schuschnigg, served as an officer cadet on Prinz Eugen under the command of Reinicke. According to his account, Von Schuschnigg met Reinicke, whom he described as a "decent man who was certain to come out of this war badly" in a one-to-one conversation. Von Schuschnigg also witnessed the execution by firing squad of another cadet on Prinz Eugen who had been sentenced to death for cowardice in the face of the enemy. The cadet had fallen asleep while on active duty, and according to German military law at the time, this was punishable by death.
  Reinicke took Prinz Eugen on their next war patrol on 20 November. Along with the torpedo boats T13, T16, T19 and T21, Prinz Eugen bombarded the Soviet forces on the Sworbe Peninsula for two days. Reinicke had to take Prinz Eugen back to Gotenhafen for a scheduled service of her 20.3 cm (8.0 in) SK L/60 guns. The maintenance was completed on 15 January 1945.
  Supported by the destroyer Z25 and torpedo boat T33, Reinicke led Prinz Eugen in the bombardment of Soviet forces in Samland near Königsberg from 29–31 January. The objective was to support the XXVIII Army Corps under command of General der Infanterie Hans Gollnick in its breakout attempt from the bridgehead at Cranz. The ship fired 871 20.3 cm rounds of ammunition at Soviet forces, however, the advance of the 2nd Belorussian Front could not be stopped. Beginning on 10 March, Prinz Eugen supported the defensive land battles in the area of Danzig, Gotenhafen and finally Hela. In total Prinz Eugen fired 2,025 20.3 cm and 2,446 10.5 cm rounds in these battles. The heavy cruiser was partially supported by Schlesien and as of 25 March by Lützow. The German forces were evacuated from Hela in mid-April 1945 and Prinz Eugen then patrolled the sea lanes near Rügen. She was ordered to head for Copenhagen on 19 April where she arrived on 20 April. Reinicke, for his services and leadership of Prinz Eugen during these battles, received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) on 21 April 1945.
  Once there, Prinz Eugen was decommissioned at 16:00 on 7 May and together with the light cruiser Nürnberg were turned over to Royal Navy control the following day. Reinicke himself had left the ship on 1 May. The Prinz Eugen was awarded as a war prize to the United States on 13 December. The cruiser was commissioned into the US Navy on 5 January 1946 as the unclassified miscellaneous vessel USS Prinz Eugen with the hull number IX-300. A composite American-German crew, including Reinicke, under the command of US Navy Captain Arthur H. Graubart took the ship to Boston where they arrived on 23 January. Among the 
caption: USS Prinz Eugen, before the atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll
exif: {}