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Airfix 1/600 Prinz Eugen # 05203V
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£22.49
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£24.99
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This detailed 1:600 scale naval ship kit allows you to recreate the German heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, featuring 151 plastic components and offering two genuine paint schemes.
Designed for modellers aged 8 and up with a skill level of 3, this kit provides an engaging project of one of the Kriegsmarine's distinguished warships.
Key Features
- 1:600 scale model with 151 plastic components
- Skill level 3 - intermediate build complexity
- Two genuine paint schemes included
- Suitable for ages 8 years and above
- Part of the Battle of Bismarck collection
- Second World War German heavy cruiser
History
Prinz Eugen was sent into the North Atlantic alongside the Bismarck to target convoys heading to Great Britain.
During the Denmark Strait battle, she inflicted damage on both HMS Hood (later sunk by Bismarck) and HMS Prince of Wales, before making her way to Brest in occupied France.
The heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen was named after Prince Eugene of Savoy, an 18th-century Austrian general.
As part of the Admiral Hipper-class heavy cruisers, she was a formidable ship equipped with eight 20.3cm guns in four twin turrets, twelve 10.5cm anti-aircraft guns, and twelve 53.3cm torpedo tubes.
Commissioned in August 1940, Prinz Eugen became one of the Kriegsmarine's most effective surface raiders.
Her most notable action occurred in May 1941 when she joined Bismarck on Operation Rheinübung, aimed at disrupting Allied convoy routes in the Atlantic.
During the subsequent encounter in the Denmark Strait, Prinz Eugen's precise gunnery played a role in the devastating attack on HMS Hood, while her shells also hit HMS Prince of Wales.
After the battle, she managed to evade British forces and reached the safety of Brest, while Bismarck continued alone to her tragic end.
Following repairs and further missions in the Atlantic and Baltic, Prinz Eugen survived the war, surrendered to the Allies in Copenhagen in May 1945, and was later given to the United States Navy as a war prize.
She was used in the Operation Crossroads atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll in July 1946, surviving both explosions before eventually capsizing in December 1946, where her wreck remains today.
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The Prinz Eugen was a formidable heavy cruiser of the German Navy, commissioned in 1940 as part of the Admiral Hipper-class.
Named after Prince Eugene of Savoy, one of Austria’s greatest military commanders, the ship combined powerful armament with impressive speed and endurance, making it one of the most capable surface combatants in the Kriegsmarine.
Armed with eight 20.3 cm (8-inch) guns in four twin turrets, along with a strong anti-aircraft battery and torpedo tubes, Prinz Eugen was designed to engage both enemy cruisers and merchant shipping.
Her robust armour protection and advanced fire-control systems made her a dangerous opponent in open-sea engagements.
Prinz Eugen is perhaps best known for her role in Operation Rheinübung in May 1941, where she sailed alongside the battleship Bismarck on a mission into the North Atlantic to attack Allied convoys.
During the operation, she took part in the Battle of the Denmark Strait, contributing to the destruction of HMS Hood. Unlike Bismarck, Prinz Eugen managed to evade British forces and later continued independent raiding operations.
Throughout the war, the cruiser served in both the Atlantic and Baltic theatres.
In the later stages of the conflict, she was heavily involved in shore bombardment missions, supporting German troops on the Eastern Front as Soviet forces advanced.
Remarkably, Prinz Eugen survived the war largely intact and was surrendered to Allied forces in 1945.
She was subsequently transferred to the United States Navy and used in the Operation Crossroads nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll in 1946.
Although she survived both atomic explosions, the ship was eventually too contaminated and damaged to be salvaged, finally capsizing and sinking later that year.
Today, the wreck of Prinz Eugen remains partially visible above the water at Bikini Atoll, serving as a haunting reminder of both naval warfare and the dawn of the nuclear age.
