![]() ![]() ![]() Germany now has a class of large "Fleet" carriers to go with the other gunships that the "Z-Plan" had envisioned. In "Grand Fleet" the rough edges of the beginnings of naval aviation for the Kriegsmarine have been smoothed over by the time the Graf Zeppelin class of aircraft carriers is completed. (A drawing of the "real" Graf Zeppelin, studded with light cruiser guns, is used for the story of Pommern.) Realistically, though, the original Graf Zeppelin paled in comparison to the USS Enterprise, another 1938 ship of similar (roughly 19,000) tonnage, in everything but speed. Still, the British had done wonders with the seemingly antiquated aircraft operating from old WW I converted large cruisers like Furious and especially the larger, more modern armored carriers like Illustrious. The aircraft slated for her were of world standard but mere mediocre conversions of land planes, and too few in number to be very effective. A few more like her, plus some good escort ships, may have made a credible threat to the Royal Navy. Though handy to have, the Graf Zeppelin by herself would have added little to the weak navy of the Third Reich. If she had completed on time, perhaps she could have sortied with Bismarck and Prinz Eugen and fended off the crucial air attack that crippled the Bismarck and led to her demise. The Graf Zeppelin languished with half-hearted effort to build her, and she was never completed. Germany's second-in-command, Hermann Göring, was the architect of the world's most powerful and advanced Air Force, but he sadly neglected his Naval Air Arm. The real Graf Zeppelin (19,000 tons standard) was launched with much fanfare in 1938, heralding a potential new era of the Kriegsmarine that included a Fleet air component to bring it up to the standards of the world's air-minded navies. ![]()
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