What happened to the German warships left at the end of World War II?
Short answerThey were divided among Allied navies, tested, scrapped, or buried, and difficult German machinery reduced the value of several otherwise capable hulls.
NotesSurviving German warships had several different postwar fates. France, Italy, the Soviet Union and later German services used some vessels, while Britain quickly gave up others with troublesome machinery. Their boilers embodied precise engineering but could be temperamental in service, reducing the value of otherwise useful hulls. Admiral Scheer remained buried beneath redeveloped ground, and submarines were found in Hamburg's buried Elbe II bunker. Prinz Eugen went to the Operation Crossroads atomic tests, while the United States already possessed more capable cruiser designs of its own.