the Baltic, she and the cruiser Emden provided artillery support to advancing German ground forces during Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. In September, she supported the invasion of the Baltic islands in the West Estonian archipelago. While bombarding Soviet positions on Moon Island, Leipzig was attacked unsuccessfully by the Soviet submarine Shch-317. In late September, the ship joined the German Baltic Fleet, centered on the battleship Tirpitz; the fleet was tasked with blocking a possible Soviet attempt to break out of the Baltic. Leipzig returned to Kiel in October, and conducted maneuvers with the heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer. Leipzig became the flagship of the training fleet in 1942; she spent the year performing training duties. Leipzig was decommissioned briefly in March 1943, and recommissioned on 1 August. She was in need of an overhaul, however, and the work significantly delayed her return to operational status. Furthermore, an outbreak of meningitis killed two crewmen and created an additional delay. Leipzig returned to escort duties in the Baltic in mid-September 1944. Her first operation covered troop transports between Gotenhafen and Swinemünde in company with Admiral Scheer. On 14 October, Leipzig departed Gotenhafen, bound for Swinemünde, to take on a load of mines. In a heavy fog, she collided with the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, which was steaming at . At the time of collision, Leipzig was switching from her diesel cruise engines to her steam turbine main engines, a process of first uncoupling the diesels from the shafts and then coupling turbines to the shafts, which left the ship temporarily without propulsion, drifting out of her fairway into the path of Prinz Eugen which was moving the opposite direction. Prinz Eugen struck Leipzig on her port side, just forward of her funnel, cutting her nearly in half - the forward point of the clipper bow of Prinz Eugen actually stuck out beyond the starboard side of Leipzig. The collision destroyed the number 3 (port) engine room, flooded a second engine room and killed or wounded 39 crewmen. The ships remained stuck fast for over a day, after which Leipzig was towed back to Gotenhafen.} The damage was so severe that repairs were deemed impractical, especially considering Germany's pressing military situation by late 1944. Only repairs to keep her afloat in the harbor were effected. Leipzig provided fire support to the defending German forces in March 1945, while Soviet Red