Graf Zeppelin may have been found

[Hunter368]

Yes, sadly, we never will know just how close WW2 Germany had come to having a functional aircraft carrier...

Does it matter she would of been bombed / torpedoed into a million pieces.

 

[HealzDevo]

I agree she would have been a big target but still in a flotilla she could have been useful having fighters and also the destroyer and cruiser screen able to throw up a lot of flack to make things difficult for those that were going to bomb her. Also to torpedo something you first have to find it, and estimate speed, range etc. Some sort of dazzle paint would make it very difficult to torpedo...

 

[ChrisMAg2]

I agree she would have been a big target but still in a flotilla she could have been useful having fighters and also the destroyer and cruiser screen able to throw up a lot of flack to make things difficult for those that were going to bomb her. Also to torpedo something you first have to find it, and estimate speed, range etc. Some sort of dazzle paint would make it very difficult to torpedo...

The RAF always knew where GZ was (atleast from 1943 on). It was constantely monitored, only never bombed, as GZ never was a real threat. Intelligence always stated GZ "non-operational".
And nothing of that size can be consealed from aerial spotting just by applying what ever kind of a paintjob. But it can be made unobvious, if well integrated in the surrounding. There are examples in the PTO for that. The Germans were aware of this and therefore only made little attempts to camo GZ. They relied strongly on the strong AA-armament, which was installed. But that was never a danger for a i.e. PR Mosquito.
Also -as it was always mainly inside ports- it was always secured wtith anti-torpedo nettings. Torpedos were never an option anyway. If ever GZ would have become operational, the RAF would propabely gone for "Tallboys" like on "Tirpitz".

 

[Henk]

Well I think if she were completed before the war she cold have done something, but as we all know the Kriegsmarine were not ready for the war when it started. It did not have enough to take on the RN. I am just waiting for a expedition on the GZ and the pictures taken there will show us the state she is in and give us some idea of how far she was from completion.

 

[ChrisMAg2]

...I am just waiting for a expedition on the GZ and the pictures taken there will show us the state she is in and give us some idea of how far she was from completion.

Very doubtful! As said earlier, she was stripped of almost everything -that could be used elswhere- before she was sunk! Also there is quite some damage from the bombing and shelling...

 

[Henk]

Yes, but I do not mean her equipment, her structure, like the bridge area and her deck.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Well I think if she were completed before the war she cold have done something

Not really, she would have been hunted like the Graf Spee and the Bismark.

 

[HealzDevo]

I wasn't saying the paint-job would have concealed the Graf Zeppelin, I was suggesting that such a scheme would have made it harder to successfully torpedo or bomb by providing a false image of which way the ship was going, once it became operational... So far as I know the system was successful in WW1 and WW2, in making torpedo attacks difficult. Note I am not saying impossible... This is not entirely a camo job, this is more about making it difficult to attack when under way...

 

[Henk]

Well Adler if the Kriegsmarine were ready for the war I think it could have taken the Atlantic from the RN, but the US could have put a stop to that.........

 

[Smokey]

Apparently Doenitz asked Hitler to build 300 U boats which he calculated could starve the UK into surrender, but Hitler refused and instead built U boats and battleships

 

[Henk]

Well the German Navy were far from raedy for the war. Most of the U-boats were coastel boats and the heavy guns the navy had were way to less to have a impact or make any of a impact on the RN, but if the BoB were a success it would have been lights out for the UK.

 

[HealzDevo]

Yes, exactly, Hitler would have needed to extinguish the UK as the UK was sending in agents and saboteurs to destroy railways and cause chaos and thus the Resistance would have been more easily broken with the UK in Germany's grasp. It would also have dented morale for the Resistance as there would be a lot of difficulty in getting supplies to the Resistance as the US which is assumed to be the last of the major Allies is too far away to be effective. It also makes it that much harder for the US to mount an invasion of Occupied Europe as there is no convenient friendly base from which to launch troops. Thus they would have to come all the way from the US which is a long way to launch an invasion into a place where the weather can be very uncertain... Australia is too far away as well and probably spending the bulk of its time and money on fighting off Japan... Also I don't think the US can sustain two major wars at once, as it was supported the whole way through by the Allies. There are stories that I have heard that say that the Australians would break through on their side, and then they would say that they better go and help the Americans and send some troops to help them break through. Therefore with Britain crushed, it could be supposed that Hitler would have gained time to work out how to invade America should his heart desire it. Don't forget that an Allied invasion with the US and what troops Australia could spare would be operating at long range, thus it would be a logistical nightmare keeping the invasion supplied adequately at those ranges as the U-Boats would be strangling the supply routes to Europe in places such as near Britain and France and all the way along the European Coast...

 

[Henk]

Think if taht would have happend I think the US will fly in and ship in there troops into Africa to be able to take it from the Germans and thus invade from the bottom, but the RN would have destroyed there navy and leave the Germans with nothing.

 

[kiwimac]

Hopefully they'll raise her and perhaps restore her for a museum piece.

kiwimac

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

I agree she would have been a big target but still in a flotilla she could have been useful having fighters and also the destroyer and cruiser screen able to throw up a lot of flack to make things difficult for those that were going to bomb her. Also to torpedo something you first have to find it, and estimate speed, range etc. Some sort of dazzle paint would make it very difficult to torpedo...

she would be no harder a target than any battleship, yes the fighters would give extra cover but our carriers far outnumbered this one, even if she made it to the atlantic which is difficult enough we would've hunted her down like we did the Bismarck, you don't get much past the world's greatest naval nation, especially not the new boys.........

 

[Henk]

True.

 

[HealzDevo]

Perhaps. It is a debatable point what would have happened since it never became operational...

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Well Adler if the Kriegsmarine were ready for the war I think it could have taken the Atlantic from the RN, but the US could have put a stop to that.........

The Graf Zeppelin? How the hell was the Graf Zeppelin going to take the Atlantic away from the RN? One aircraft carrier and a few Battleships against the Royal Navy?

Seriously...

 

[johnbr]

For a whale they where working on her sister but they cut her up when she was about 70 present done.

 

[Henk]

The Graf Zeppelin? How the hell was the Graf Zeppelin going to take the Atlantic away from the RN? One aircraft carrier and a few Battleships against the Royal Navy?

Seriously...

No mate I meant if the whole Kriegsmarine were ready for a war against the RN they could have taken the Atlantic, not only the Graf Zeppelin.