Graf Zeppelin found

[Aggie08]

Divers find Hitler's aircraft carrier - World - Times Online

what would germany have put on this bad boy? I seem to remember tail-hook equipped me109s was an option?

 

[mosquitoman]

Ju87s, Md109Ts and there was one other thought of

 

[Soundbreaker Welch?]

Nice news report. Hitler should have used it to his own benefit. Oh wait, that means used to our damage.

Seeing some German planes on an aircraft carrier would have been interesting. The Corsair would have gotten to try out something new.

 

[Gnomey]

Yep, has it been confirmed?

And there is already a thread on it... http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/ww...-may-have-been-found-4647.html?highlight=graf

 

[Aggie08]

Aww, and the thread is prettier than mine too.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

They would have used Bf-109T as well as Fi-167s and Ju-87s. The Bf-109Ts were allready built and ended up going to Norway.

A good book on the Bf-109T is

Sea Eagles by F. L. Marshall.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

the corsair would never get a shot at the jerry fighters, the RAF and Royal Navy would have been all over it like CC over gay porn, they had neither the experience or tactics for carrier warfare and giving it the big guns as well as it being a carrier was one of it's biggest problems from day one........

 

[plan_D]

If the Graf Zeppelin would have become operational after the Corsair had come into service, it may well have been a target for them. I am refering to FAA Corsairs, of course.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

I think the Royal Navy would have had the priority against the GZ. Im with Lanc and pD on this. The Brits had eneogh carriers in the area and could have handled it just fine on there own.

 

[plan_D]

The Bf-109T was no match for the Corsairs and Hellcats in FAA service. It would have been hunted and destroyed. By the time the Zeppelin was in use, the U.S carrier planes would have been operating in force on the Royal Navy carriers. And they were the best in the world...

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

she might even've fallen to an RAF tallboy given the right time frame.......

 

[plan_D]

Possibly, but there's too many options of attack for Britain to simply state that one aircraft type would have gotten it. The Corsairs would have made mincemeat out of the Bf-109T.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

The Bf-109T was no match for the Corsairs and Hellcats in FAA service. It would have been hunted and destroyed. By the time the Zeppelin was in use, the U.S carrier planes would have been operating in force on the Royal Navy carriers. And they were the best in the world...

Very true. I sometimes wonder though what it would have been like if the GZ would have entered service with a different type of aircraft compliment.

For instance fighter cover: Fw-190s.

Fw-190s would have been a match for anything. Would have been interesting. Either way it would not have mattered, one German carrier still would have been taken to the bottom in similar fashion as the Bismark.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

that's if it made it as far as the Bismark anyway, the British would've been pretty keen to see she never made it into the atlantic, which poses the next question, do you think she would've braved the Channel dash or take the north sea route?.......

 

[plan_D]

Depends entirely on the current war situation at the time, and the time of year. With heavy weather and overcast, they would have probably attempted on the Channel if it was pre-1943. But other than that it would be North Sea.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

N. Sea would be my guess.

 

[Gnomey]

N. Sea would be my guess.

I'd agree with that, would be too risky taking her through the channel even if there was bad weather covering her.

 

[Hunter368]

I'd agree with that, would be too risky taking her through the channel even if there was bad weather covering her.

Yup she would never had made it.

 

[plan_D]

That assumption was made by the Royal Navy which led to the 'Channel Dash' being a success for the Kriegsmarine. Don't be so quick to think that a ship couldn't slip through the Channel. It was heavy weather, and cloud cover, that stopped the RAF causing any damage to the Kriegsmarine during the 'Channel Dash'. Even with the covering Luftwaffe, the RAF got through but couldn't find the targets.

 

[MP-Willow]

Anyone able to confirm that the finding is the GZ?

As for the aircraft, they and the ship would not have made it out. The Navy needed a lot to try and come lose to the British, USN, and the Japs. If they would have managed the carrier from the start as a priority then they might have had hope.

A question for you all: The German's looked at the A6M the IJN developed why not use that on the GZ? Would that have made any difference? If the Germans had been developing carriers like the Japs, and used the A6M what would the Atlantic have looked like?