In fact Bluecher was not sunk by the 28cm guns. She received two 28cm hits (AA-Commandpost and aircraft-hangar) and around 20 hits from 15cm guns. This caused a huge fire midships but didn't lead to the sinking. After this, Bluecher was finally hit by two 45cm Whitehead torpedos. The engine-rooms were flooded and the ship capsized.
The germans had three Hipper-class ships in service (Admiral Hipper, Bluecher, Prinz Eugen) and two more in construcion (Seydlitz and Luetzow). The construction of Seydlitz was later stopped and a redesign to an aircraft-carrier was planned. Before Germany declared war to Russia, unfinished Luetzow was sold to them and the Panzerschiff Deutschland received this name.
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