Admiral Hipper was ordered by the Kriegsmarine from the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg.[1] Her keel was laid on 6 July 1935,[2] under construction number 246.[1] The ship was launched on 6 February 1937, and was completed on 29 April 1939, the day she was commissioned into the German fleet.[3] As built, the ship had a straight stem, though after her launch this was replaced with a clipper bow. A raked funnel cap was also installed.[4]
Admiral Hipper was 202.8 meters (665 ft) long overall and had a beam of 21.3 m (70 ft) and a maximum draft of 7.2 m (24 ft). The ship had a design displacement of 16,170 t (15,910 long tons; 17,820 short tons) and a full load displacement of 18,200 long tons (18,500 t). Admiral Hipper was powered by three sets of geared steam turbines, which were supplied with steam by twelve ultra-high pressure oil-fired boilers. The ship's top speed was 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph), at 132,000 shaft horsepower (98,000 kW).[1] As designed, her standard complement consisted of 42 officers and 1,340 enlisted men.[5]
Admiral Hipper's primary armament was eight 20.3 cm (8.0 in) SK L/60 guns mounted in four twin gun turrets, placed in superfiring pairs forward and aft.[a] Her anti-aircraft battery was to have consisted of twelve 10.5 cm (4.1 in) L/65 guns, twelve 3.7 cm (1.5 in) guns, and eight 2 cm (0.79 in) guns. The ship also would have carried a pair of triple 53.3 cm (21.0 in) torpedo launchers abreast of the rear superstructure. The ship was to have been equipped with three Arado Ar 196 seaplanes and one catapult.[5] Admiral Hipper's armored belt was 70 to 80 mm (2.8 to 3.1 in) thick; her upper deck was 12 to 30 mm (0.47 to 1.2 in) thick while the main armored deck was 20 to 50 mm (0.79 to 2.0 in) thick. The main battery turrets had 105 mm (4.1 in) thick faces and 70 mm thick sides.[1]
