Graf Zeppelin

13.3

Graf Zeppelin

Aircraft Carrier | Germany | Tier VIII

Tech Tree Position

General

Purchase priceSpecial

Hit Points52,600

Secondary Armament #1

105 mm/65 SK C/33 on a Dop. L. C/31 mount6 х 2 pcs.

Firing Range6.25 km.

Rate of Fire17.91 shots/min.

Reload Time3.35 sec.

HE Shell105 mm Spr.Gr. Kz.

Maximum HE Shell Damage1,200

Initial HE Shell Velocity900 m./s.

Chance of Fire on Target Caused by HE Shell5 %

Secondary Armament #2

150 mm/55 SK C/28 on a Dop. MPL C/36 mount8 х 2 pcs.

Firing Range6.25 km.

Rate of Fire8 shots/min.

Reload Time7.5 sec.

HE Shell150 mm Spr.Gr. L/4.5

Maximum HE Shell Damage1,700

Initial HE Shell Velocity875 m./s.

Chance of Fire on Target Caused by HE Shell8 %

AA Defense

105 mm/65 SK C/33 on a Dop. L. C/31 mount6 х 2 pcs.

. . . Average Damage per Second99.6

. . . Firing Range4.5 km.

37 mm/69 Flak M42 on an LM/42 mount11 х 2 pcs.

. . . Average Damage per Second113.3

. . . Firing Range3.51 km.

20 mm/65 C/38 on a Flak 35 Vierling L/38 mount7 х 4 pcs.

. . . Average Damage per Second44.8

. . . Firing Range2.01 km.

Maneuverability

Maximum Speed32 knot

Turning Circle Radius1 140 m.

Rudder Shift Time13.7 sec.

Concealment

Surface Detectability Range15.71 km.

Air Detectability Range11.06 km.

Battle Levels

12345678910

13.3

Graf Zeppelin

Aircraft Carrier | Germany | Tier VIII

Tech Tree Position

General

Purchase priceSpecial

Hit Points52,600

Secondary Armament #1

105 mm/65 SK C/33 on a Dop. L. C/31 mount6 х 2 pcs.

Firing Range6.25 km.

Rate of Fire17.91 shots/min.

Reload Time3.35 sec.

HE Shell105 mm Spr.Gr. Kz.

Maximum HE Shell Damage1,200

Initial HE Shell Velocity900 m./s.

Chance of Fire on Target Caused by HE Shell5 %

Secondary Armament #2

150 mm/55 SK C/28 on a Dop. MPL C/36 mount8 х 2 pcs.

Firing Range6.25 km.

Rate of Fire8 shots/min.

Reload Time7.5 sec.

HE Shell150 mm Spr.Gr. L/4.5

Maximum HE Shell Damage1,700

Initial HE Shell Velocity875 m./s.

Chance of Fire on Target Caused by HE Shell8 %

AA Defense

105 mm/65 SK C/33 on a Dop. L. C/31 mount6 х 2 pcs.

. . . Average Damage per Second99.6

. . . Firing Range4.5 km.

37 mm/69 Flak M42 on an LM/42 mount11 х 2 pcs.

. . . Average Damage per Second113.3

. . . Firing Range3.51 km.

20 mm/65 C/38 on a Flak 35 Vierling L/38 mount7 х 4 pcs.

. . . Average Damage per Second44.8

. . . Firing Range2.01 km.

Maneuverability

Maximum Speed32 knot

Turning Circle Radius1 140 m.

Rudder Shift Time13.7 sec.

Concealment

Surface Detectability Range15.71 km.

Air Detectability Range11.06 km.

Battle Levels

12345678910

VIII

Special

Graf Zeppelin — German special premium Tier VIII aircraft сarrier.

A high-speed aircraft carrier armed with numerous secondary and dual-purpose guns. She had the most powerful propulsion among all German Navy ships. The carrier was never completed because Germany's shipbuilding program priorities changed during the course of World War II.

Graf Zeppelin was first released for sale worldwide on 21 August 2017. She was not well-received by the player base, and Wargaming removed her from sale after only five days. She was re-worked and will be re-released for sale at a future date; the only ones currently found on live servers were are owned by those who originally purchased her in August 2017.

Modules

	Hit Points (HP)	Armor (mm)	Armor (mm)	Main Turrets (pcs.)	Secondary Gun Turrets (pcs.)	AA Mounts (pcs.)	Torpedo Tubes (pcs.)	Hangar Capacity (pcs.)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
Graf Zeppelin	52,600	9	100		6/8	7/11/6				0	0

	Speed (knot)	IDS_SHIP_PARAM_SQUADRON_MED_DAMAGE (HP/min)	IDS_SHIP_PARAM_SQUADRON_AMMO_AMOUNT	Hit Points (HP)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
Me 155A	136			1,320		0	0

	Maximum Torpedo Damage (HP)	Speed (knot)	Hit Points (HP)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
Ta 152C-1/R14	5,333	181	1,710		0	0

	Maximum Bomb Damage (HP)	Speed (knot)	Hit Points (HP)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
Ta 152C-1/R14		181	1,650		0	0

	Maximum Speed (knot)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
Propulsion: 200,000 hp	32		0	0

Compatible Upgrades

Slot 1
Slot 2
Slot 3
Slot 4
Slot 5

Player Opinion

Performance

Though never fully finished in real life, Graf Zeppelin comes alive in World of Warships as the first carrier to enter the game from a nation other than Japan or America. Historically, she was the first carrier in the world to utilize catapult launching technology; this trait carries over in-game as she gets planes off her deck faster than any other carrier.

As a Tier VIII carrier, Graf Zeppelin will inevitably face powerful AA ships such as Tier X cruisers Des Moines and Minotaur and will be forced to evade or work around these ships to attack with her bombers. Her planes can be quickly and easily shot down by ships that are built for anti-air; however, they are very fast and can strike swiftly before the enemy has a chance to knock many of them down. In short, the plane durability is very much akin to Tier VIII Japanese counterpart Shokaku. Where Zeppelin differs significantly from Shokaku is in the variety of ways she can be loaded out prior to queuing for a battle: Graf Zeppelin has two flight control module options, each vastly different from the other.

The first squadron configuration features one over-sized fighter squadron with eight (8) planes, and another eight (8) fighters in reserve. Her strike planes are divided into two (2) torpedo squadrons of 5 planes each (with 17 more in the reserve), and one dive bomber squadron of nine (9) planes (and 20 more in her hangar). The cycle time required for the fighters and dive bombers is rather long, while the torpedo bombers rearm and launch in the blink of an eye. This loadout is very balanced, though exterminating enough enemy fighters to achieve air superiority is difficult due to the low fighter reserves.

The torpedo bombers in this configuration have the option of equipping deep water torpedoes, the first planes in the game to have this option. The difference between these regular torpedoes and deep water ones is that the latter are unable to hit destroyers in exchange for having a higher flooding chance once they do hit cruisers, battleships, or aircraft carriers. In practice, deep water torpedoes on aerial drops are fairly pointless, and equipping them deprives Zeppelin captains of the flexibility of targeting enemy destroyers with her potent torpedo loadout.

The second squadron configuration is a bit more specialized, and features two fighter squadrons of five (5) planes each (and 14 more in her hangar) paired with three dive bomber squadrons, also made up of five (5) planes each (plus 33 more ready in reserve). The servicing times are reasonable, and not as unforgiving as the ones for the first loadout. This loadout allows captains to fend off enemy aircraft better, due to both the larger fighter reserves and the advantage of having two squadrons which can be set up for strafes. The focus on dive bombers means that the choice of bombs will dictate what targets can be engaged effectively.

Zeppelin’s HE bombs, like high-tier American HE bombs, pack quite a punch against cruisers and destroyers, while the AP bombs are devastating towards most battleships and cruisers she will face. The AP bombs in particular will frequently surprise opponents who are used to American AP bombs over-penetrating them, as the fuse threshold — the amount of armor they must penetrate in order to trigger the fuse — is significantly less than those found on American bombs. Furthermore, as there is a somewhat large reserve of the bombers, captains can afford to sacrifice some planes to attack certain strategically positioned targets. However, captains must be careful of losing entire squadrons as the respawn time for a lost squadron is quite long. The bomb drop reticle for Graf Zeppelin is very friendly and easy to use: a simple circle, meaning that it the angle they approach a ship from is more-or-less irrelevant. Auto-drops can be as devastating as manual drops; when the manual drop reticle is properly timed against battleships, it's common to land all five or six bombs from the squadron.

Graf Zeppelin’s fighters have sufficient firepower to reliably strafe down enemy planes and are the fastest fighters of Tier VIII carriers. They are somewhat fragile, however, and captains should avoid dogfights with other enemy squadrons if possible; the fighters will routinely lose in straight up dogfights against other enemy fighters at Tier VIII due to their low average DPS. In such cases, a well-timed strafe to escape the fighter lock can save the squadron from complete devastation at the cost of one plane.

Another unique feature is that Graf Zeppelin has access to the Hydroacoustic Search  consumable, with identical stats to same-tier non-German cruisers. While its practical use is debatable, it does allow for some interesting possibilities and shouldn't be discounted. Additionally, her secondary firepower is astonishing for an aircraft carrier, even surpassing that of Bismarck. While captains should not rely on her secondaries alone to fend off an attacking ship, they are more than capable of doing excellent damage against lighter units that wander too close.

Graf Zeppelin is a very comfortable carrier to play, and offers captains more variety in offensive strike power than any other aircraft carrier currently in the game.

Pros:

• Ability to choose between AP and HE bombs.
• Balanced loadout with both fighters and attack planes.
• Secondary armament provides decent protection from close-in attacks, a very big pain for most ships if fully built for secondaries.
• AP bombs can devastate enemy battleships, cruisers, and carriers.
• HE bombs can devastate enemy destroyers.
• Fighters are Tier VII, which allows them near-guaranteed benefits from the Dogfighting Expert commander skill.
• Adequate anti-aircraft suite for self-defense.
• User-friendly targeting reticle for dive bombers.

Cons:

• As a Tier VIII aircraft carrier, captains may face off against large amounts of high tier AA.
• Unable to train captains for any other carriers, and requires a specialized German captain to perform well.
• No torpedo bombers FID Typ 8 Mod. 2, making it very difficult to deal with enemy destroyers effectively without using HE bombs.
• Poor base surface detectability range at 16.2km.
• Has weak fighters compared to other Tier VIII carriers, especially if you take the 1-2-1 loadout for more strike power.
• AP bombs are somewhat unpredictable to land hits due to circular drop pattern.

Research

As a Premium ship, Graf Zeppelin doesn't have any upgrades to research.

Optimal Configuration

Upgrades

The recommended upgrades for Graf Zeppelin are as follows:

• Slot 1: Air Groups Modification 1 *
• Slot 2: Damage Control System Modification 1 
• Slot 3: Air Groups Modification 2 *
• Slot 4: Damage Control System Modification 2
• Slot 5: Concealment System Modification 1 

Upgrade Slot 1 provides two viable options. Air Groups Modification 1 is highly recommended to improve her weak fighters, but some players may choose to specialize in anti-aircraft duties or the secondary battery to defend against attacking aircraft and ships. For either specialization, Auxiliary Armaments Modification 1 should be equipped.

Upgrade Slot 3 provides options for different roles and specializations. Air Groups Modification 2 is highly recommended to increase the ammunition and hit points (HP) of fighter aircraft. Some players may choose to mount Flight Control Modification 1 in order to get planes airborne faster. For specialization in anti aircraft duties or the secondary battery, either AA Guns Modification 2 () or Secondary Battery Modification 1 () should be mounted, depending on the desired specialization.

Commander Skills

Graf Zeppelin is in a unique position as far as her Commander Skills go. The Graf Zeppelin features a fearsome secondary armament sure to surprise any ships that venture too close in the hopes of an easy kill. So, choosing Commander Skills that increase the performance of her secondaries is certainly a viable way to go.

Recommended Commander Skills
Cost (points)	Endurance		Attack		Support		Versatility
1	Priority Target Situational Awareness indicator will show the number of opponents currently aiming at you with main battery guns.	Preventative Maintenance -30% to the risk of incapacitation of main turrets, torpedo tubes, steering gear, engines.	Expert Loader -50% to reload time when shell type is switched.	Air Supremacy -5% aircraft restoration time. ★★★	Direction Center for Fighters +1 fighter to carrier fighter squadrons or catapult fighters.	Improved Engine Boost +10% Aircraft engine boost time.	Incoming Fire Alert Indicator of long-range enemy artillery fire.	Last Gasp Completely restores the engine boost for the last attack flight of the carrier's planes.
2	High Alert -10% to reload time of Damage Control Party consumable. ★	Jack of All Trades -5% to reload time of all consumables. ★	Expert Marksman +2.5 deg/sec to traverse speed of guns with a caliber up to 139mm. +0.7 deg/sec to traverse speed of guns with a caliber above 139mm.	Torpedo Acceleration +5 knots to torpedo speed. -20% to torpedo range.	Smoke Screen Expert +20% to the radius of the smoke screen.	Improved Engines +2.5% Squadron speed.	Adrenaline Rush -0.2% to reload times of all types of armament for each 1% of total health lost. +0.2% squadron speed for each 1% of total health lost.	Last Stand The ship remains able to move and maneuver while the engine or steering gears are incapacitated.
3	Basics of Survivability -15% to time of repair, fire extinguishing, and recovery from flooding.	Survivability Expert +350 ship HP for each ship tier. +15 aircraft HP for each ship tier. ★	Torpedo Armament Expertise -10% to reload time of torpedo tubes. ★★	Aircraft Armor Reduces continuous damage to aircraft in all AA defense zones. -10% continuous damage.	Basic Firing Training -10% to reload time of main battery guns with a caliber up to and including 139mm and all secondary battery guns. +10% to continuous damage from AA guns. ★★	Superintendent +1 additional charge to all consumables mounted on a ship.	Demolition Expert +2% chance of HE shells causing a fire on target. +1% chance of rockets causing a fire on target. +5% chance of HE bombs causing a fire on target.	Vigilance +25% to detection range of enemy torpedoes.
4	Manual Fire Control for Secondary Armament Tightens dispersion of shells from secondary batteries. -15% for Tier I-VI ships. -60% for Tier VII-X ships. Manually selected target only. ★★	Fire Prevention -10% to the risk of fire. The maximum number of fires on a ship is reduced to three.	Inertia Fuse for HE Shells +30% to the armor penetration capacity of HE shells. -1% chance of fire on target caused by shells <=139mm. -3% chance of fire on target caused by shells >139mm.	Sight Stabilization Speeds up the aiming of a carrier's aircraft. +5% attack aircraft aiming speed. +5% torpedo bomber aiming speed. +10% dive bomber aiming speed.	Advanced Firing Training +20% to firing range of main battery guns with a caliber up to 139mm and all secondary battery guns. +15% damage/sec. within the explosion radius of shells fired from long-range AA defenses. ★★	Massive AA Fire Instantaneous Damage +100%. Priority AA sector cooldown +50%.	Radio Position Finding Shows the direction to the nearest enemy ship. The enemy is alerted that a bearing has been taken.	Concealment Expert -10% to the detection radius of all ships and aircraft. ★★
Key: ★★★ - Extremely Useful       ★★ - Frequently Useful       ★ - Occasionally Useful      No stars - Meh     Χ - Not recommended

Consumables

Graf Zeppelin can equip the following consumables:

• Slot 1: Damage Control Party 
• Slot 2: Hydroacoustic Search 
• Slot 3: Defensive AA Fire 

Shelling out credits (or doubloons) for Damage Control Party II () will prove useful for captains trying to take advantage of Graf Zeppelin’s secondary battery guns, while Defensive AA Fire II () may be useful if players find themselves subjected to repeated attacks by the enemy carrier.

Camouflage

As a Premium ship, Graf Zeppelin comes included with Type 10 camouflage that lowers her detection radius, reduces the accuracy of incoming shells, and increases the amount of experience she earns.

Signals

As a premium aircraft carrier, Graf Zeppelin can mount only four signal flags simultaneously. Captains using high explosive bombs should mount India X-Ray () and Victor Lima () flags for a boost to their fire chance. November Echo Setteseven () flags are recommended to boost the ship’s anti-aircraft damage. Captains can also mount November Foxtrot () and India Yankee () flags for increased survivability. Lastly, economic and special flags can be used to increase the ship’s credit and experience gain per battle.

Recommended Signal Flags
Combat
Juliet Charlie -100% to the risk of magazine detonation.	Juliet Yankee Bissotwo -20% to flooding duration. ★	India Yankee -20% to fire duration. ★★	Hotel Yankee -20% to damage received when ramming the enemy. +50% to damage dealt when ramming the enemy.	Victor Lima +1% chance for HE bombs and shells with a caliber above 160mm causing a fire. +0.5% chance for bombs and smaller shells causing a fire. +4% chance of torpedoes causing flooding. ★★★	India X-Ray +1% chance for HE bombs and shells with a caliber above 160mm causing a fire. +0.5% chance for bombs and smaller shells causing a fire. +5% to the risk of your ship's magazine detonating. ★★★
Juliet Whiskey Unaone +15% chance of causing flooding. +5% to the risk of your ship's magazine detonating.	Mike Yankee Soxisix +5% to secondary battery maximum firing range. -5% to maximum dispersion of secondary battery shells. -5% to secondary battery loading time. ★	November Echo Setteseven +5% continuous AA damage at all ranges. +5% damage from flak bursts. ★★	Sierra Mike +5% to the ship's maximum speed. ★	November Foxtrot -5% reload time on all consumables. ★★	India Delta +20% to the amount of HP recovered when Repair Party  is used.
X-Ray Papa Unaone +10% action time of a Smoke Generator .	Sierra Bravo +10% action time of Hydroacoustic Search  -10% reload time of Defensive AA Fire .

Note: Use of the Juliet Charlie signal makes detonation impossible.

Gallery

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  An AP bomb from Graf Zeppelin’s air wing finds the Mogami’s citadel.

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  A German dive bomber returns to base after dropping its' ordinance on an enemy Yamato.

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Historical Info

Graf Zeppelin, 1939

Construction

Builder: Deutsche Werke; Kiel, Germany

Laid down: 28 December 1936

Launched: 8 December 1938

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Specifications

Displacement: 28,090 tons, standard

Length: 250.00m

Beam: 31.50m

Draft: 7.20m

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Machinery

16 La Mont boilers

4 Brown-Boveri turbines

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Performance

33 knots at 200,000 shaft horsepower

8,000 nautical miles at 19 knots

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Armor

Main belt: 60-100mm

Flight deck: 20-45mm

Torpedo bulkhead: 20mm

Armoured deck: 40-60mm

Transverse bulkheads: 60-80mm

Casemates: 20-30mm

Superstructure: 17mm

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Armament

Secondary

16 (8 x 2) 150mm/55 C28 low-angle guns

12 (6 x 2) 105mm/65 C33 high-angle guns

Anti-Aircraft

22 (11 x 2) 37mm/83 C33 guns

7 (7 x 1) 20mm/115 C30 guns

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Aircraft

Total

42 aircraft

2 compressed-air catapults

Fighters

Twelve (12) Bf 109T

Bombers

Thirty (30) Ju 87C

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Complement

1,760 men (est.)

The launching of Graf Zeppelin, 8 December 1938.

Design History

Flugzeugträger A — later christened Graf Zeppelin — was the culmination of the efforts mustered by the German Armed Forces to produce a native aircraft carrier to field in their reborn navy. The endeavor started in 1933, when the Kriegsmarine first seriously considered building a carrier; due to the circumstances Germany found herself in following World War I, there was a notable gap between her naval aviation capabilities and those of other navies. The project was further made difficult as aircraft technologies were rapidly shifting during the 1930s, and because — more inherently — the Kriegsmarine did not have any carrier doctrine to speak of. The Luftwaffe — a contributor to this joint venture — was also unenthusiastic, as they did not have any planes to spare for the Navy, nor did they have experienced pilots in naval aviation. Regardless, by 1934 the Kreigsmarine drafted the first designs and handed them over to Deutsche-Werke AG to finalize plans and begin construction.

The proposal by the Kriegsmarine called for a ship of 22,000 tons that could make 35 knots speed and carry 50 planes. In accordance with the Anglo-German Naval Agreement, two ships of such size would keep them below 50 percent of British carrier tonnage.

Since many resources were being invested in project, the Kriegsmarine was keen to ensure the survivability of the vessels. Uncharacteristic of typical German ships of this size, she was divided into multiple narrow compartments to mitigate loss to flooding. Also uncharacteristic of most carriers, she had armor installed, roughly equal to that of a cruiser. Additionally, Graf Zeppelin had a very novel system installed for fire-suppression: all the fuel systems were buffered with pressurized gasses. The non-liquid systems were filled with dry gas, and pipes carrying petroleum were jacketed with tubing filled with inert gas. Graf Zeppelin also had torpedo bulges installed for better protection and weight balance late in the design phase.

To reach the top speed wanted in the design sketches, engineers concluded that it would require an engine output of over 200,000 shaft horsepower; no ship in built by the navies Europe had that much power at the time. To accomplish such a feat, engineers estimated that it would take no less than four turbines to do so, with each turbine being fed by four boilers. Each group of boilers would be placed in their own fire-room for better management. In addition, a novel feature implemented into Graf Zeppelin was the Voith-Schneider cyclorotors. Designers understood that a vessel of such size would not be able to maneuver on rudder alone in ports and canals. Accordingly, they installed two cyclorotors under the forward keel of the ship; they could be extended in order to aid in low-speed maneuverability, and then retracted back into the hull when not in use. (In modern vessels, bow thrusters fill a similar role.) Similarly, in 1939, her straight bow was replaced by a “clipper” bow to increase seaworthiness.

Just like the navies of America and the Japan, the German Kriegsmarine fell into the belief that aircraft carriers should be able to protect themselves in surface combat. As such — in conjunction with her aforementioned armor package — Graf Zeppelin mounted sixteen 150mm guns in eight twin-armored casemates all along her bow. Since these guns could only service low-angles, she had another twelve 105mm guns installed in six twin-turrets fore-and-aft of the island superstructure. In addition, she had a complement of 20mm and 37mm anti-aircraft guns.

Unlike aircraft carriers of other nations, planes could not take off from the flight deck unassisted; they had to be launched off two prominent steam pressure catapults built into the forward end of the flight deck. As the catapults used large launching sleds to hurl the aircraft off deck, there was a complex retrieval system built right underneath the flight deck to re-position the sleds back at the start for reuse. In theory, this allowed the aircraft carrier to launch eight planes in under four minutes. The catapults would be fed via three elevators that worked between two hangars. As German aviation programs could not diversify for both Air force and Navy needs, the mainstay of the aviation complement onboard Graf Zeppelin would be naval versions of the Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter and the Junkers Ju 87 dive-bomber.

Service History

Despite all the efforts put into her design and construction, Graf Zeppelin would never come into being as the first completed aircraft carrier of the Axis powers of Europe. Finally laid down in 1937 — following the Anglo-German Naval Treaty of 1935 where Germany successfully negotiated for the right to build aircraft carriers — the fate of Graf Zeppelin and her unnamed sister ship would be argued over by three men: Grand Admiral of the Kriegsmarine Erich Raeder, head of the Luftwaffe Hermann Göring, and Admiral Karl Dönitz. Raeder was the driving force behind the addition of aircraft carriers to the Kriegsmarine, following visitations to see Japan’s powerful carrier force earlier in the 1930’s. An aircraft carrier would require aircraft, however, and this would require an establishment of a Fleet Air Arm, leading to the short-lived Trägergruppe (or "Carrier Group"). This, however, would be under the split jurisdiction of the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe, and Göring jealously fought off any attempts that would undermine his complete control of every military aircraft in Germany's inventory. Dönitz, an influential admiral himself, knew that the greatest successes enjoyed by the Kaiserliche Marine was at the hands of their U-boats, and believed that Germany could never muster a naval force to contest the Royal Navy on the surface; he pushed to have resources that would be expended on any aircraft carriers shifted elsewhere.

Given all of the various factors involved, Raeder’s ambitions of adding a total of four aircraft carriers to the Kriegsmarine would ultimately prove impossible. Nevertheless, construction of Graf Zeppelin and her sister Flugzeugträger B proceeded uninterrupted until the outbreak of World War II in 1939, halting construction as wartime resources were spent elsewhere (and Raeder still battled Göring politically). In late February 1940, the frustrated Raeder ordered Flugzeugträger B to be broken up and scrapped, although Graf Zeppelin was spared this fate, rusting in a drydock at Kiel. Her sixteen 150mm secondaries were transferred to coastal installations in recently conquered Norway in April 1940 with Hitler’s approval. She first went to sea in July 1940 to be transferred to Gotenhafen, Germany (now Gdynia, Poland) where she continued to languish in port without any progress. She moved again to Stettin in November 1941 to stay out of Russian air strike range, where she was used as a floating warehouse by the Kriegsmarine. Following the successful Japanese carrier strike on Pearl Harbor, Raeder had the ammunition to finally gain approval from Hitler to continue construction on Graf Zeppelin on 13 May 1942. Construction continued slowly from then on, moving back to a floating drydock in Kiel come December 1942. In late January 1943, however, Hitler had become disenchanted with the Kriegsmarine and ordered all large surface ships to be scrapped. In the political chaos that followed, Raeder was relieved as the head of the Kriegsmarine by Dönitz. Dönitz managed to convince Hitler to withdraw his order to scrap most surface ships, but agreed to halt the construction of all large capital ships. Thus, in February 1943 Graf Zeppelin’s construction was halted for the last time. In April, she was towed to a wharf near Stettin, where she sat for two years with a 40-man skeleton crew.

In April 1945, as Soviet forces drew near, her crew flooded and detonated the ship in port, bringing an end to Germany’s only purpose-built aircraft carrier to ever near completion. Her life was not yet over, however. In March 1946, in violation of agreements with the Allied powers, the Soviets re-floated Graf Zeppelin. She was towed out of Stettin in the summer of 1947 — believed to be headed for the Soviet Union — with her flight deck loaded with containers. What happened after this point is not fully known. Western historians state that she struck a mine off the Gulf of Finland, and was scrapped after her damaged wreck was dragged to Leningrad. Soviet records indicate that she briefly made port in Swinemünde, then was towed out of harbor on 16 August 1947 and used as a target hulk for bombs, shells, and torpedoes. In 2006, her wreckage was discovered in 80 meters of water north of Władysławowo, Poland, confirming the final resting place of the Kriegsmarine's lone aircraft carrier.

Historical Inaccuracies

• Graf Zeppelin’s stat card depicts the ship had it been completed in 1945; the Bf 109T was in service until the summer of 1944. The aircraft was also outdated by 1942 and newer planes were sought when work on the aircraft carrier resumed that same year.
• The 37 mm Flak LM/42 anti-aircraft gun entered service in autumn 1943; construction on Graf Zeppelin ceased in early 1943. The 37 mm Flakzwilling 30 was originally intended for the ship.
• Actual planned aircraft capacity was 42; twelve Bf 109Ts & thirty Ju 87Cs. This was later revised to thirty Bf 109Ts and twelve Ju 87 D-4s.
• The Ju 87C was also a torpedo bomber.

Historical Gallery

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  The wappen (coat of arms) of Graf Zeppelin.

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  The keel for Graf Zeppelin in December 1936.

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  Graf Zeppelin after her launching on 8 December 1938.

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  Graf Zeppelin moored at Stettin in mid-1941.

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  Another view of Graf Zeppelin in 1941.

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  Projected recognition drawing of Graf Zeppelin had she been completed in September 1942.

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  Graf Zeppelin in drydock in March 1943.

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  Graf Zeppelin in 1947 at Swinemünde, prior to her sinking as a target ship.

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  Bow view of a model of Graf Zeppelin, at the Aeronauticum in Nordholz, Germany.

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  Sidescan sonar survey of the wreck of Graf Zeppelin.

References

• Chesneau, R., Gardiner, R. (1980). Conway’s All the World’s Fighting Ships: 1922-1946. London UK: Conway Maritime Press.
• Breyer, S. (1989). Graf Zeppelin: The German Aircraft Carrier. West Chester. PA: Schiffer Publishing Ltd.
• SANTI Expedition to Graf Zeppelin
  

Ships of Germany

Aircraft Carriers