History From Up High — Readers Tweet Google Earth Shots of Major Wartime Landmarks

25 March, 2015

Germany's Prinz Eugen: Warrior of the Atlantic; ghost of the Pacific. (Image source WikiCommons/Google Earth) — Germany’s Prinz Eugen: Warrior of the Atlantic; ghost of the Pacific. (Image source WikiCommons/Google Earth)

FOR A BRIEF TIME, the German warship Prinz Eugen was the scourge of the North Atlantic.

A companion to the legendary Nazi battleship Bismarck, the 16,000-ton Admiral Hipper-class heavy cruiser joined its illustrious cousin in sinking Britain’s HMS Hood on May 24, 1941.

Later, she was dispatched to Norway where she was damaged by an Allied torpedo. During the final year of the war, the refitted Prinz Eugen served as a floating artillery battery in the Baltic where its eight 203-mm guns rained salvos down on Red Army units within range of the coast.

Ninety five ships were subjected to a pair of nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll in 1946. Among them was Nazi Germany's Prinz Eugen. (Image source: WikiCommons) — Ninety five ships were subjected to a pair of nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll in 1946. Among them was Nazi Germany’s Prinz Eugen. (Image source: WikiCommons)

With the fall of Berlin imminent, the ship’s skipper surrendered the vessel to the Allies in Denmark. After the war, the Prinz Eugen was added to the U.S. Fleet and in 1946 dispatched with an assortment of 94 other ships to the South Pacific to take part in nuclear tests at the now famous Bikini Atoll. Having survived two Nagasaki-sized nuclear detonations, the irradiated hulk was towed to Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands where she was scuttled. Much of the rusted out 650-foot-long hull is sits just below the waterline off the shore of the tropical island. In fact, the structure is clearly visible on Google Earth.

MHN follower ‪@jtdockter‪ tweeted us the image of USS Prinz Eugen as she appears today (see top). The photo got us thinking: What are some other landmarks from military history are still visible using Google’s famous satellite image app? We put the question to our 9,000 twitter followers and they responded in full force with some great images. Check them out below.

Military history’s most amazing landmarks as seen from space

https://storify.com/MilHistNow/mhnfromabove