The Admiral Hipper was the lead ship of five heavy cruisers of the Kriegsmarine, of which three were completed. The Hipper class was born as a result of the Anglo-German Naval Agreement, which lifted the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles. Laid down at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg in 1936 and commissioned three years later, Admiral Hipper and her sister ship Blücher were assigned as the lead ships of the invasion of Norway in April 1940, during which Blücher was sunk by Norwegian coastal guns. After participating in convoy raiding in the Atlantic in 1942, Hipper would take part in the Battle of the Barents Sea on New Year’s Eve that year, during which she suffered moderate damage. However, due to the overall failure of the Kriegsmarine to intercept Allied convoys, Hitler ordered all surface ships to be decommissioned in order to focus on U-boat campaigns. Recommissioned a year later, she would be used to evacuate refugees from the advancing Red Army. After being severely damaged by a British bombing raid on the Germaniawerft shipyard in Kiel on 9 April 1945, Admiral Hipper was scuttled by her crew on 3 May, just five days before the end of hostilities in Europe.

Introduced in Update 1.91 "Night Vision", Admiral Hipper is a well-rounded heavy cruiser with overall good characteristics. The ship is clad with multi-layered armour and has a large crew count that allows her to take damage. Hipper’s key features are her eight 203 mm high-velocity cannons, which have high penetration as well as outstanding accuracy and decent rate of fire, allowing her to take on any targets she will face. The Hipper is not without weaknesses, however. The ship's high centre of gravity often causes the ship to list while turning, reducing agility as well as throwing off aim. The ship is also prone to taking fire damage, especially when being hit by several HE shells.