the figure. As launched, Blücher was long overall, had a beam of and a maximum draft of . The ship had a design displacement of and a full load displacement of . Blücher was powered by three sets of Blohm & Voss geared steam turbines that drove three propellers. The turbines were supplied with steam by twelve ultra-high pressure oil-fired boilers. The ship's top speed was at . As designed, her standard complement consisted of 42 officers and 1,340 enlisted men. Blüchers primary armament was eight SK L/60 guns mounted in four twin gun turrets, placed in superfiring pairs forward and aft. Her anti-aircraft battery consisted of twelve L/65 guns, twelve guns, and eight guns. She had four triple torpedo launchers, all on the main deck next to the four range finders for the anti-aircraft guns. Blüchers armored belt was thick; her upper deck was thick while the main armored deck was thick. The main battery turrets had thick faces and 70 mm thick sides. The ship was equipped with three Arado Ar 196 seaplanes and one catapult. Blucher never had more than two seaplanes on board, and en route to Oslo one had to rest on the catapult as one of the hangars was used for storing bombs and torpedoes. Service history Blücher was ordered by the Kriegsmarine from the Deutsche Werke shipyard in Kiel. Her keel was laid down on 15 August 1936, under construction number 246. The ship was launched on 8 June 1937, and was completed slightly over two years later, on 20 September 1939, the day she was commissioned into the German fleet. The commanding admiral of the Marinestation der Ostsee (Baltic Naval Station), Admiral Conrad Albrecht, gave the christening speech. Mrs. Erdmann, widow of Fregattenkapitän (Frigate Captain) Alexander Erdmann, former commander of who had died in the ship's sinking, performed the christening. As built, the ship had a straight stem, though after her launch this was replaced with a clipper bow increasing the overall length to . A raked funnel cap was also installed. Blücher spent most of November 1939 fitting out and finishing additional improvements. By the end of the month, the ship was ready for sea trials; she steamed to Gotenhafen in the Baltic Sea. The trials lasted until mid-December, after which the ship returned to Kiel for final modifications. In January 1940, she resumed her exercises in the Baltic, but by