![]() ![]() Tirpitz and Bismarck were built to attack and disrupt commerce shipping, and the carrier's air groups could find enemy commerce ships and defend the battle cruiser from air attack and allied warships if needed. The operating plan was the German carrier would be part of a commerce raiding fleet, providing many needed tasks that were otherwise lacking in the Kriegsmarine Naval arrangement. The carriers were conventional in appearance, and were intended to be supported by squadrons of Me109's and Ju87 aircraft adapted for carrier duty. Nazi Germany's first and only carriers were proposed as part of the Z plan for the buildup of the fleet. In 1935, Adolph Hitler announced that his country would construct aircraft carriers to strengthen the Kriegsmarine, the German Navy. ![]() The purpose of the aircraft carrier was to provide commerce-raiding capital ships and cruisers with mobile air cover during operations. In reality, with a full loaded displacement of 38,000 tons, the Graf Zeppelin was only slightly smaller than the massive American CV-2 Lexington, which was the larger carrier in the world at the outset of the War.Īlthough Grossadmiral Raeder was a "battleship admiral," he believed the development of a carrier force was necessary to compete on the open seas with the British Fleet. ![]() The Graf Zeppelin had a nominal displacement of 19,500 tons, to comply with arms control restrictions, suggesting a small vessel not much larger than the diminuitive American CV-4 Ranger. As the sole German vessel in this class it deserves special consideration. The Graf Zeppelin was the first and only German aircraft carrier, however it was never completed or used. Graf Zeppelin was a German aircraft carrier of the Kriegsmarine, named like the famous airship in honour of Graf (Count) Ferdinand von Zeppelin. ![]()
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