köln circa 1936
köln took part in operation weserübung, invasion of norway, in april 1940. assigned group 3, tasked assault on bergen, along sister königsberg. reached harbor unscathed, königsberg not lucky; badly damaged norwegian coastal guns. köln nevertheless supported german infantry ashore main guns. after port secured, returned germany, along pair of destroyers. in late 1940, went drydock further modifications. degaussing coil installed, along helicopter landing platform on top of turret bruno . thereafter served testbed flettner fl 282 helicopter, task performed until 1942.
while still conducting experiments fi 282 in september 1941, köln provided gunfire support ground troops attacking soviet positions on dagö in gulf of riga. bombarded soviet positions on ristna. joined battleship tirpitz, admiral scheer, nürnberg, , several destroyers , torpedo boats formed baltic fleet, intended block soviet warships fleeing eastern baltic. no soviet vessels attempted so, however. on 13 july, soviet submarine shch-322 tried attack köln, cruiser s escorts forced soviet submarine break off attack.
köln sunk in wilhelmshaven @ end of war
toward end of 1941, transferred north sea, , went drydock last major modification. consisted of installation of fumo 21 radar set on forward command center roof. in july 1942, köln departed germany join growing naval presence in norway, though saw no major action there. on 13 september, , heavy cruisers admiral scheer , admiral hipper , 2 destroyers attempted attack convoy pq 18. while en route narvik altenfjord, flotilla attacked british submarine hms tigris, torpedoes passed behind german ships. convoy instead attacked u-boats , long-range bombers, sank thirteen freighters. returned germany in january 1943, decommissioned in kiel on 17 february. sent drydock in 1944 overhaul prepare return combat duty; completed 1 july. cruiser served briefly training ship before escorting german merchant vessels in norway. while en route kristiansand on 7 july, ship laid defensive minefield in skagerrak. , 3 destroyers laid minefield on 14–15 july, before steaming trondheim.
on night of 13–14 december, köln attacked british bombers in oslofjord; several near misses caused damage propulsion system required repair in germany. departed norway on 23 january 1945 in company admiral hipper , destroyer, , arrived in kiel on 8 february. proceeded wilhelmshaven, again attacked allied bombers repeatedly. on 30 march, b-24 liberators eighth air force attacked harbor; köln hit , sank on keel. since guns remained above water, ship used artillery battery defend city advancing allied forces. served in capacity until end of war in may. partially dismantled in situ after end of war, , raised in 1956 scrapping.
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