German cruiser Nürnberg Nürnberg was a German light cruiser of the " Leipzig " class built for the Kriegsmarine . She was named after the city of Nuremberg and had one sister ship , " Leipzig " . " Nürnberg " was laid down in 1934 , launched in December of that year , and completed in November 1935 . She was armed with a main battery of nine guns in three triple turrets and could steam at a speed of . " Nürnberg " was the longest - serving major warship of the Kriegsmarine , and the only one to see active service after the end of World War II , though not in a German navy . In the late 1930s , " Nürnberg " took part in the non - intervention patrols during the Spanish Civil War without major incident . After the outbreak of World War II in September 1939 , she was used to lay defensive minefields off the German coast . She was thereafter used to escort offensive mine - layers in the North Sea until she was torpedoed by a British submarine in December 1939 . She was thereafter used as a training ship in the Baltic Sea for most of the rest of the war , apart from a short deployment to Norway from November 1942 to April 1943 . In January 1945 , she was assigned to mine - laying duties in the Skaggerak , but severe shortages of fuel permitted only one such operation . After the end of the war , " Nürnberg " was seized by the Royal Navy and ultimately awarded to the Soviet Union as war reparations . In December 1945 , a Soviet crew took over the ship , and the following month took her to Tallinn , where she was renamed " Admiral Makarov " . She served in the Soviet Navy , first in the 8th Fleet , then as a training cruiser based in Kronstadt . By 1960 , she had been broken up for scrap . Design . " Nürnberg " was long overall and had a beam of and a maximum draft of forward . She displaced at full combat load . Her propulsion system consisted of two steam turbines and four 7 - cylinder two - stroke diesel engines . Steam for the turbines was provided by six Marine - type double - ended oil - fired boilers . The ship ' s propulsion system provided a top speed of and a range of approximately at using only the diesel engines . " Nürnberg " had a crew of 25 officers and 648 enlisted men . She was fitted with a catapult and a crane to handle two Heinkel He 60 floatplanes , though these were later replaced with Arado Ar 196 models . The ship was armed with nine 15 cm SK C / 25 guns mounted in three triple gun turret s . One was located forward , and two were placed in a superfiring pair aft , all on the centerline . They were supplied with between 1 , 080 and 1 , 500 rounds of ammunition , for between 120 and 166 shells per gun . The ship was also equipped with eight 8 . 8 cm SK C / 32 anti - aircraft guns , eight 3 . 7 cm SK C / 30 anti - aircraft guns , and several 2 cm anti - aircraft guns , though the number of the latter changed over her career . " Nürnberg " also carried four triple torpedo tube mounts located amidships ; they were supplied with twenty - four torpedo es . She was also capable of carrying 120 naval mine s . The ship was protected by an armored deck that was thick amidships and an armored belt that was thick . The conning tower had thick sides . Modifications . After the outbreak of war , the ship was fitted with a degaussing coil to protect her against magnetic mines . In 1942 , the ship ' s aircraft handling equipment and aft torpedo tubes were removed . Throughout the war , her radar suite was upgraded ; in March 1941 , she was equipped with FuMO 21 radar and in early 1942 , a FuMO 25 radar set was installed . The latter was a search radar for surface targets and low - flying aircraft at low range . The FuMO 21 set was replaced by the short - range FuMO 63 " Hohentwiel " 50 - centimeter radar . " Nürnberg " was also fitted with four Metox radar warning receiver s . The ship ' s anti - aircraft battery was improved over the course of World War II . In late 1942 , a pair of Army - variant 2 cm " Flakvierling " quadruple mounts were installed , one on the navigating bridge and the other on top of the aft superfiring turret . In May 1944 , the navy proposed installing several Bofors 40 mm gun s , but most of these weapons were diverted to other uses , and only two guns were installed . One was mounted on the bridge and the other where the catapult had been located . Two Navy - pattern " Flakvierling " s were added ; one replaced the Army model atop the aft superfiring turret , and the other was placed in front of the anti - aircraft fire director . The Army - pattern " Flakvierling " s were moved to the main deck . In December 1944 , another revised anti - aircraft plan was proposed , this time incorporating the new 3 . 7 cm FlaK 43 gun , of which there were to be eight , along with two " Flakvierling " s and ten 2 cm twin mounts . Germany ' s wartime situation by the end of 1944 prevented these changes from being made , however . Service history . " Nürnberg " was laid down in 1934 at the Deutsche Werke shipyard in Kiel . She was launched on 6 December 1934 and completed in less than a year , being commissioned on 2 November 1935 . The ship thereafter worked up in the Baltic Sea until April 1936 , when she joined " Köln " and " Leipzig " for a training cruise into the Atlantic . At this time , she was made the flagship of the reconnaissance forces of the German Navy . The three cruisers then returned to the Baltic for additional maneuvers . " Nürnberg " participated the non - intervention patrols during the Spanish Civil War of 1936 – 39 . On her initial deployment in 1936 , she flew the flag of " Konteradmiral " Hermann Boehm . Over the course of the conflict , " Nürnberg " conducted four patrols off Spain , but did not encounter any belligerent forces , with the exception of a claimed attack by an unidentified submarine south of the Balearic Islands on 16 July 1937 . In September 1937 , " Nürnberg " took part in fleet maneuvers with the heavy cruiser s " Admiral Graf Spee " and " Deutschland " , the light cruisers " Leipzig " and " Karlsruhe " , and several destroyers . The first three months of 1938 were spent in the Baltic , after which " Nürnberg " went into dock for a periodic refit . In June , she went on a training cruise to Norway and returned to Germany the following month . In August , she was present at the fleet review held in Kiel for Adolf Hitler and the visiting regent of Hungary , Miklós Horthy . " Nürnberg " joined the fleet that was sent to Memel in March 1939 to seize the region . After completing the occupation , " Nürnberg " joined " Admiral Graf Spee " , " Leipzig " , and " Köln " for a training cruise to the Mediterranean Sea , which included several stops in Spanish ports . After returning to Germany in May , she resumed training in the Baltic . World War II . At the outbreak of World War II on 1 September 1939 , " Nürnberg " was assigned to the blockade force that was intended to prevent the Polish Navy from escaping the Baltic . Despite the Germans ' efforts , several Polish destroyers and submarine s escaped to Britain , where they continued the war . On 3 September , " Nürnberg " and the rest of the cruisers were withdrawn to the North Sea to lay a series of defensive minefields to protect the German coastline . She returned to the Baltic for training exercises in October . The following month , she was transferred back to the North Sea , where she was tasked with escorting destroyers laying minefields off the British coast . On 4 – 6 December , the ship conducted a mining operation off Kristiansand , Norway . On 13 December , while escorting a group of destroyers returning from a mine - laying operation off the British coast , the Royal Navy submarine launched a spread of torpedoes at the German flotilla . Two torpedo tracks were spotted heading toward " Nürnberg " , and the ship turned hard to port in an attempt to evade them . One passed harmlessly ahead of the ship , but the second struck her in the bow . " Nürnberg " reduced speed to to allow her crew to inspect the damage , when three more torpedo tracks were spotted to port . The ship immediately accelerated to full speed and turned to starboard ; the torpedoes exploded in the cruiser ' s wake . The hit caused some minor flooding and minimal damage , but her watertight bulkheads held . The Germans spotted " Salmon " and briefly engaged her with " Nürnberg " s rearmost main battery turret , but to no effect . " Nürnberg " thereafter got underway at a speed of and made for port . unsuccessfully attacked the damaged cruiser the following day , just before she entered the Kiel Canal at Brunsbüttel . After arriving in Kiel , " Nürnberg " went into drydock at Deutsche Werke for repairs , which lasted until April 1940 . In early June 1940 , " Nürnberg " s commander , " Kapitän zur See " ( " KzS " ) Otto Klüber , was informed that the ship would not participate in Operation Juno , a sortie by the battleships " Gneisenau " and " Scharnhorst " . Instead , she was transferred to Norway , departing Kiel on 10 June under the escort of the torpedo boats " Falke " and " Jaguar " . On 12 June , the torpedo boats were sent to Stavanger for fuel , and in the meantime , " Nürnberg " steamed a zig - zag course at to evade any submarines that might be in the area . The following day , the 2nd Minesweeper Flotilla took over her escort duty off Trondheim . On 17 June , " Nürnberg " reached Narvik , which was to be her base for the next month . During this period , one of her Arado Ar 196 floatplanes unsuccessfully attacked a British submarine . This was the only action the ship saw while in Norway . On 25 July , " Nürnberg " and several destroyers and torpedo boat s escorted the damaged battleship " Gneisenau " , which had been torpedoed by a British submarine , from Trondheim , Norway , to Kiel . The flotilla arrived in Kiel on 28 July . On 8 August , " KzS " Leo Kreisch replaced Klüber as the ship ' s commander . " Nürnberg " spent the rest of the year in the Baltic . The Italian Admiral Mavagini visited the ship while she was in Gotenhafen in September . A short refit was conducted at Deutsche Werke in October and November . On 15 February 1941 , she was reclassified as a training cruiser and assigned to the Fleet Training Squadron , along with the other surviving light cruisers . These ships were tasked with training the crews for the U - boat arm , which was expanding rapidly to wage the Battle of the Atlantic . At the start of this period , many of her crewmen were themselves transferred to the U - boat fleet . After the outbreak of war with the Soviet Union in June 1941 , " Nürnberg " was reassigned to the Baltic Fleet , which was centered on the new battleship " Tirpitz " . After it became clear that the Soviet Baltic Fleet did not intend to sortie , the German ships were dispersed . " Nürnberg " returned to her training duties for the remainder of the year . Another refit was conducted in January 1942 ; during this period , her aircraft equipment and aft torpedo tubes were removed , and her light anti - aircraft armament was increased . Allied air raids caused some damage , which delayed her return to service until 23 August . She thereafter conducted sea trials until October , after which she was deployed to Norway . On 11 November , " Nürnberg " left Gotenhafen , bound for Trondheim . She arrived there on 18 November , and remained there until she was transferred to Bogen Bay outside Narvik on 2 December . There , she joined the fleet in being , which was , again , centered on " Tirpitz " . " Nürnberg " saw no action during this period . On 27 April 1943 , " Nürnberg " left Narvik for German waters via Trondheim . After arriving in Kiel on 3 May , she had her machinery overhauled . After the work was completed in late May , she was assigned to the Training Squadron in the Baltic . Frequent crew changes kept the ship at a very low state of readiness . She remained in this duty through 1944 , and she saw no action . She was not assigned to the shore bombardment units that supported the retreating German Army on the Eastern Front , unlike most of the other ships of the Training Squadron . At the start of 1945 , she was assigned to mine - laying duty in the Skaggerak , and was based in Oslo , Norway . She completed only one mine - laying operation , Operation Titus , on 13 January . The forces assigned to the operation included two destroyers , two torpedo boats , and a mine - layer ; " Nürnberg " herself carried 130 mines . Severe fuel shortages prevented any further operations . On 24 January , she steamed to Copenhagen , where she remained until the end of the war , as she had only of synthetic fuel oil aboard . On 5 May 1945 , she received the ceasefire order , and on 22 May , the British cruisers and arrived to take over " Nürnberg " . Post - war service . On 24 May , " Nürnberg " and the heavy cruiser " Prinz Eugen " sailed from Copenhagen under escort by " Devonshire " , " Dido " , and several other warships . The flotilla arrived in Wilhelmshaven on 28 May , and the German vessels remained there while their fates were determined at the Potsdam Conference . The Allies eventually decided to award " Nürnberg " to the Soviet Union . To prevent the Germans from scuttling their ships as they had done in 1919 , the Allies formally seized the vessels on 19 December , while " Nürnberg " was in drydock . That day , the ship ' s Soviet crew came aboard . On 2 January , the Soviets took their seized warships , which also included the target ship , " Hessen " ' s radio - control vessel " Blitz " , the destroyer Z15 " Erich Steinbrinck " , and the torpedo boats " T33 " and " T107 " , to Libau in present - day Latvia . The Soviet Navy examined the ship in great detail after she arrived in Libau . The cruiser was then renamed " Admiral Makarov " and assigned to the 8th Fleet , based in Tallinn . In late 1948 , she became the flagship of the 8th Fleet , under the command of Vice Admiral F . V . Zozulya . In the early 1950s , three new s entered service , which prompted the Soviet Navy to withdraw " Admiral Makarov " from front line duties . She returned to her old job as a training cruiser , this time based in Kronstadt in mid - 1954 . During this period , most of her light anti - aircraft armament was removed , and new radars were installed . Her ultimate fate is unclear ; she appears to have been placed out of service by May 1959 , and was scrapped some time thereafter , reportedly by mid - 1960 . Nevertheless , she was the longest - surviving major warship of the Kriegsmarine , and the only one to see active service after the end of the war .