Laid down: 18/4/28
Commissioned: 8/10/31
Full Load Displacement: 8,250 tons
Draft: 18.7 ft
Speed: 32 knots
Range: 5700 nautical miles at 19 kts
Armor: 50mm sides, 40mm deck
Armament: 9x 150 mm (120-166 rpg), 6x 88mm (400 rpg), 8x 37mm (1200 rpg), 12x 533mm torpedo tubes, 120 mines, 2 floatplanes.

Leipzig spent the first two months of the war at Kiel undergoing a minor refit followed by trials and training in the Baltic. On November 7, 1939 she was damaged in a collision with the training ship Bremse, but was quickly repaired at Kiel. On November 18 and again the next day the Leipzig was used to escort back destroyers from mine-laying off the coast of England. She joined the pocket battleship Lutzow and light cruiser Koln to conduct shipping sweeps of the Skagerrak from November 21 to the 25.

While escorting destroyers back from another minelaying operation on December 13, a torpedo from the British submarine Salmon heavily damaged Leipzig. The cruiser evaded another British submarine while crawling back to Brunsbuttel. Repairs were completed at Kiel on December 1, 1940, but Leipzig was converted into a training ship having a maximum speed of 24 knots and two boiler rooms turned into cadet accommodations.

Leipzig remained on active duty, however. On June 10, 1941 she joined the light cruiser Emden and five destroyers to escort the pocket battleship Lutzow through the Skagerrak on its way to Norway. On September 23 she departed Swinemunde with Emden and, after refueling at Pillau, arrived at Libau the next day. From there the two cruisers departed on the 25 with three torpedo boats. The next day the Leipzig fired 327 rounds at Soviet units on the Sworbe Peninsula. On September 27 she hurled another 320 rounds, facing return fire from Soviet coastal defenses. Later the same day Leipzig used 153 rounds to beat off an attack by four Soviet MTBs. She also avoided an unsuccessful attack by the Soviet submarine Sch 317 before returning to Libau.

Leipzig arrived back at Kiel on September 29 and began a refit that lasted until October 20. Ten 20mm guns were added to her AA outfit and six torpedo tubes were removed. Leipzig was used for training during 1942 and then decommissioned on March 4 1943. That August, she was recommissioned in her training role.

In 1944 her remaining torpedo tubes were removed. On October 15, Leipzig was heavily damaged in a collision with the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen. Leipzig was towed to Gdynia and again decommissioned. In March of 1945 she was used to shell approaching Soviet troops and on March 28, was made seaworthy enough to be moved to Denmark. There she was surrendered to the Royal Navy after the war.

More WWII German Light Cruisers

Introduction
Emden
Konigsberg
Karlsruhe
Koln
Leipzig
Nurnberg