Posted on Feb 27, 2018
Hitler Wanted a Huge Battleship and Aircraft Carrier Fleet. Here's Why It Never Happened.
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WWII World War Two
Germany
Shipbuilding
Military History
Strategy
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Thanks for sharing the background PO1 Tony Holland The Kriegsmarine certainly built very large Battleships
1. KMS Scharnhorst and KMS Gneisenau were the first step of the project.
2. KMS Bismarck and KMS Tirpitz represented the next step in the evolution, and were designed in explicit rejection of the limitations of the Washington Naval Treaty. Although they carried only 8 15” guns, the Bismarcks displaced nearly 50,000 tons, well in excess of treaty limits.
3. Plan Z also envisioned a broader array of support vessels. The three Panzerschiff (“pocket battleships) represented an effort to circumvent the Treaty of Versailles, creating powerful, effective, long-range raiding units instead of the coastal defense battleships that the Allies expected.
Admiral Graf Spee was a Deutschland-class "Panzerschiff" (armored ship), nicknamed a "pocket battleship" by the British, which served with the Kriegsmarine of Nazi Germany during World War II. The two sister-ships of her class, Deutschland and Admiral Scheer, were reclassified as heavy cruisers in 1940.
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. LTC Orlando Illi LTC (Join to see) LTC Ivan Raiklin, Esq. Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Capt Seid Waddell Capt Jeff S. CPT Jack Durish MSgt Robert C Aldi SFC Stephen King MSgt Danny Hope SGT Gregory Lawritson Cpl Craig Marton SP5 Mark Kuzinski SGT (Join to see) Maj Marty Hogan
1. KMS Scharnhorst and KMS Gneisenau were the first step of the project.
2. KMS Bismarck and KMS Tirpitz represented the next step in the evolution, and were designed in explicit rejection of the limitations of the Washington Naval Treaty. Although they carried only 8 15” guns, the Bismarcks displaced nearly 50,000 tons, well in excess of treaty limits.
3. Plan Z also envisioned a broader array of support vessels. The three Panzerschiff (“pocket battleships) represented an effort to circumvent the Treaty of Versailles, creating powerful, effective, long-range raiding units instead of the coastal defense battleships that the Allies expected.
Admiral Graf Spee was a Deutschland-class "Panzerschiff" (armored ship), nicknamed a "pocket battleship" by the British, which served with the Kriegsmarine of Nazi Germany during World War II. The two sister-ships of her class, Deutschland and Admiral Scheer, were reclassified as heavy cruisers in 1940.
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. LTC Orlando Illi LTC (Join to see) LTC Ivan Raiklin, Esq. Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Capt Seid Waddell Capt Jeff S. CPT Jack Durish MSgt Robert C Aldi SFC Stephen King MSgt Danny Hope SGT Gregory Lawritson Cpl Craig Marton SP5 Mark Kuzinski SGT (Join to see) Maj Marty Hogan
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CPT Thomas Cofield
The Deutschland Class were actually designed and two out of the three were actually built before Hitler came to power. They were designed to replace three of the pre-dreadnought battleships that Germany kept after WW1. Germany exploited the right to replace those ships as they wore out with ships that, at the time, were somewhat revolutionary. In the end they weren't as effective as envisioned though. Battlecruisers like the Repulse Class and the HMS Hood could outgun them and were faster and the more modern KgV battleships that arrived in 1940 were as fast and protected against the Deutchland class's 11 inch guns. Still, at the time they caused something of a panic since they could easily outgun any cruiser in the Royal Navy and outrun the older Queen Elizabeth, Revenge or Nelson class BBs of the Royal Navy. What they did do was keep the Royal Navy's Battlecruisers in service and delayed the overhaul of the Repulse and the Hood. Revenge got a full makeover but the other two BCs didn't. It is thought that this delay might have been partially responsible for the Hood's loss against the Bismark and Prinz Eugen. It's hard to say though. Ultimately none of the three Deutschland class ships really lived up to expectations. Graf Spee did have a short but wild ride in 1939 before blowing herself up. Deutschland didn't do much of anything. Hitler had the name changed to Lutzow after the Graf Spee was sunk. The Admiral Scheer did the best of the group but still didn't live quite up to expectations as a surface raider. But of all the ships in the Kriegsmarine she had the best overall service record and did the most damage, in the end, to the Allied cause.
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What a counter-conclusion; "And even if Germany had prevailed in World War II, Plan Z would have left the Reich with a battleship heavy, carrier light force that would have matched up poorly with the modern U.S. Navy. "
If Germany had prevailed in WWII, the US Navy would not have been a match because the US would have lost the war.
prevail - verb
past tense: prevailed; past participle: prevailed
prove more powerful than opposing forces; be victorious.
If Germany had prevailed in WWII, the US Navy would not have been a match because the US would have lost the war.
prevail - verb
past tense: prevailed; past participle: prevailed
prove more powerful than opposing forces; be victorious.
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