H-class (battleship)
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
The H-Class is a six-unit battleship class of the German Navy , which began in 1939 as part of the Z-Plan , but was never completed. According to the plans, the units of the H-class would have been the longest and - after the Japanese Yamato -class - the second heaviest battleships ever built. The ships were supposed to be used against heavy convoy escorts , especially in the oceanic supply war , and therefore had a particularly large radius of action. Since they were to be built as a further development of the Bismarck class , which is known for their firepower and stability , the ships of the H class are sometimes referred to as super battleships; a predicate that is controversial in the scientific literature. Only two H-class ships were still laid down in 1939, but work on them was stopped after the outbreak of war.
Class name
The designation "H" is derived from the naval internal numbering for capital ships, which were given their designation according to the alphabet: After the battleships of the Bismarck class with the designations F and G , H to N followed . No official name proposals are known for the ships; the possible names in circulation for the first ship ( Hindenburg , Friedrich der Große , Großdeutschland ) are rather speculative in nature. In particular, the frequently mentioned Greater Germany is to be regarded as extremely unlikely, as Adolf Hitler always feared the loss of a ship with the name of Germany (see Panzerschiff Deutschland ). Hitler himself mentioned in unofficial discussions that he had suggested the names Ulrich von Hutten and Götz von Berlichingen for the ships.
prehistory
After Germany had regained the freedom to build battleships through the German-British naval agreement of June 18, 1935, the navy immediately began building two full-fledged battleships, the later Bismarck and Tirpitz , whose construction plans had already been drawn up. Together with the battleships of the Scharnhorst class already under construction and the ships of the Germany class , the permitted fleet tonnage was used up to around 30,000 tons. This remaining amount was just enough for the construction of another battleship, which was to be even heavier, especially after the factual failure of the London Naval Conference in 1936 , when the international qualitative restrictions in battleship construction had ceased to exist. The naval management advised on the parameters of the battleship, especially with a view to the Richelieu class just commissioned in France . The H-Class should be able to cope with this in terms of caliber and armor protection. Hitler himself had apparently demanded an increase in the caliber of the main guns compared to the Bismarck in order to achieve a superiority of the German battleships over their potential opponents. The battleships of the H-class should therefore - for the first time in the history of the German Navy - have a caliber of 40.6 cm.
Mission concept
For the six battleships dealt with in the so-called " Heye memorandum ", no specific purpose could initially be formulated, which was due to differences of opinion within the naval leadership, but the representatives of capital shipbuilding were able to assert themselves by including the battleships in the Z-Plan. According to the strategy of the trade war , the ships should also be able to operate against enemy convoys in the Atlantic Ocean . For the first time, an exclusive diesel drive was provided for battleships , which would have given them a particularly long range - comparable to that of the Germany class. The planned installation of torpedo tubes , which were tactically superfluous and could no longer be found on capital ships of the time due to the long fire distances, speaks in favor of a planned use against merchant ships .
Grand Admiral Erich Raeder noted on this subject in his memorandum of September 3, 1939:
"[...] When the English fleet was hunting these German armed forces, which were scattered over the oceans and waging a trade war, two groups of 3 heaviest battleships each with engines and 40 cm guns would have had the task of more or less disbanded the hunt to confront and beat moving English heavy forces. "
Whether the outlined purpose was actually supported by the entire naval management at this point cannot be clarified with any certainty.
Start and end of construction
The heavy units of the Z-Plan were supposed to take a back seat due to their long construction time, but Hitler gave priority to the battleships he favored and ordered their production until 1944. He hoped that the superiority of the battleships would not be a previously existing British unit equal to them) an instrument of power that would keep peace with Britain. On March 4, the German government received a note from Great Britain about their expected total tonnage in 1943. The German-British naval agreement gave Germany enough tonnage to build two more battleships, which were already provided for in the 1938 budget . The order for battleship H was placed on April 14, 1939 .
- The order for battleship H went to the Hamburg shipyard Blohm & Voss, which was in charge of the entire design. The battleship was laid down on July 15, 1939.
After the termination of the fleet contract on April 28, orders for five more units followed on May 25.
- The order for battleship J was given to AG Weser. The keel was laid on August 15 on the slipway V, on which the heavy cruiser Seydlitz had already been built. While the keel was being laid, the slipway was still occupied by the tug Atlantik and the freighter Reihnfels, which shows the time pressure the shipyard was under.
- Battleship K was to be laid down at Deutsche Werke Kiel.
- Battleship L was to be laid on keel in September 1939 in the Kriegsmarinewerft Wilhelmshaven, which specially built several building docks.
- Battleship M was to be laid down again at Blohm & Voss in the specially constructed dry dock Elbe 17 .
- Battleship N was to be laid down again in October 1939 at the AG-Weser in a building dock that was also specially built for this purpose, although construction was delayed.
But that didn't happen. On September 30, 1939, Grand Admiral Erich Raeder ordered the construction of the units to be stopped because the focus of the naval armament had now been placed on the submarines . Only the heavy units, which were well advanced under construction, were still to be completed. At this point in time, more than 1,000 t of material had been used for H. 3,500 tons were in progress and 12,000 were on order. With battleship J the numbers can no longer be determined. The construction contracts for the battleships K, L, M and N, which had not yet started, were gradually canceled in 1939/40 and H and J canceled in the course of 1941.
Although these ships were no longer to play any strategic role, the priority assigned to them had consequences: not a single other unit could be started from the other units that were provided for in the Z-Plan. The construction of the lighter ships, especially the submarines, had to be postponed until later. The H- class contributed indirectly to the weakness of the German naval forces in the first years of the war.
At the time of the construction stop, seven of the eight 40.6-cm guns for the first H-class ship had already been completed by Krupp (three more were added during the war). Three of them were set up in the Calais area in 1943 (see also: German situation in Normandy in 1944 ) in concrete bunkers as coastal guns. Three were captured and destroyed by US troops from the landside following Operation Overlord in the fall of 1944. Eight were taken to Northern Norway to protect the approach to the important ore port of Narvik - one of which was lost during shipping.
Armament and equipment
The 40.6 cm guns in four twin turrets represented the most powerful armament ever designed for a battleship of the National Socialist Navy: A bullet weighing 1,030 kg could be fired at a maximum range of 36,800 m, which was still at 27,400 m could penetrate armor of 345 mm. The rest of the armament of the ships essentially corresponded to that of the Bismarck class, only the lightweight 2.0 cm anti-aircraft gun had a significantly larger number of tubes from the outset. The 10.5 cm guns were to be installed in a new type of tower ("Flakturm 1937"). The units of the H-class were - with the exception of the British single ship HMS Vanguard , which was only completed after the end of the war - the only battleships planned during World War II that still adhered to the concept of the twin tower for heavy artillery. All other contemporary capital ship designs provided for triple, some even quadruple turrets. The twin setup had proven itself very well in World War I, towers with only two guns were considered more reliable and less prone to failure than those with three or more guns. The possibility of using a total of four (two in front, two aft) instead of just three turrets (two in front, one aft) was also considered a tactical advantage in battle.
The armor of the H-Class essentially corresponded to that of the Bismarck -Class in terms of thickness and arrangement , was even a little thinner in some places (side armor on Bismarck : 320 mm; side armor of the H-Class: 300 mm), but extended in the maximum side thickness of 300 mm over almost its entire extent and was not - as with Bismarck and Tirpitz - strongly tapered towards the lower end. In addition, the ships should have a thicker embankment and an additional 25 mm thick armored bulkhead along the longitudinal axis of the ship deep in the hull, which was not present on the two previous ships. The fact that the armor thickness had not been increased significantly was primarily due to the need to restrict the size and draft of the ship, as German warships had to be maneuverable in relatively shallow harbors and in the Kiel Canal . With a total weight of 20,570 t, the armor accounted for around 36.4% of the structural displacement ( Bismarck class: 40%). In contrast to the previous capital ships of the Kriegsmarine, the outside of the armor should be flush with the ship's side and not protrude over it; this should be achieved by new welding and plating techniques and improve the flow properties of the hull.
The unusual arrangement of the on-board aircraft system on the H-class ships was particularly interesting: the two hangars, each of which could accommodate two Arado 196 float planes, were attached to the far end of the superstructure, and the catapult required for take-off was directly under the tubes of the aft turret "Dora". In order to be able to take off an aircraft, the tubes of this tower had to be raised to the maximum straightening angle, which would have been extremely obstructive in a battle. In addition, this arrangement would have made the permanent availability of an aircraft almost impossible, because 25% of the heavy artillery would have been blocked. It is therefore assumed that the Arados were only a temporary solution for the H-Class battleships and that retrofitting with helicopters (cf. Flettner Fl 282 ) was planned.
Unlike the capital ships previously built for the Navy , the H-Class should have had two chimneys instead of one.
drive
The propulsion concept was unusual and an absolute novelty for battleships: For the first time, a propulsion system consisting exclusively of diesel engines was planned for capital ships. Twelve double-acting nine - cylinder two - stroke diesel engines of the type M9Z 65/95 ( cross-head in - line engine , bore 65 cm, stroke 95 cm) from MAN with a total nominal output of 150,000 hp were supposed to drive the three propellers. After the positive experiences with the diesel engines (longer range, easier maintenance compared to steam turbines ) in the armored ships of the Germany class, it was generally wanted to equip almost all new ships of the Z plan with diesel engines. From a speculative point of view, the drive would probably have been successful, even if it had not solved the wartime economic problem of the fuel supply - despite the significantly reduced consumption compared to turbine systems.
War economy aspects of the H-Class
If the Navy had completed the six H-Class battleships by 1944 as planned, their supply of fuel would have become a serious problem in times of peace and especially in times of war. Neither the German capacities were sufficient for the production of synthetic fuel, nor was it possible to generate enough foreign currency to purchase sufficient quantities of oil from abroad to keep all six ships ready for use together with the other units of the Z-Plan. Finally, during the war, an oil boycott by the western allies would quickly have dwindled the reserves of the Kriegsmarine and kept the German navy in its ports. The Z-Plan and in particular the construction of the H-Class were therefore dependent on Germany gaining direct or indirect access to or control over foreign oil resources.
Overall, the conception of a German battle fleet, as it had been operated since the 1920s, was not based on the requirements and circumstances. Germany could not have afforded a battle fleet like the one Great Britain had; keeping them operational would have been impossible.
The concept of the super battleship
The extraordinarily good reputation of the Bismarck- class has contributed significantly to the fact that the even larger and heavily armed units of the H-class were and are often referred to as super battleships. In fact, however, the ships could hardly have claimed any real leadership in one area of their equipment: contemporary battleships from other nations were similarly fast or faster, better armed in terms of quality and quantity, or had stronger armor protection. In addition, the German warships - the H-Class would have been no exception - had significantly less powerful radio measuring equipment than the opposing British and US American battleships. The exceptionally large sailing range of 19,000 nautical miles alone would have been an advantage over other capital ships in individual cases, even though the American Iowa class achieved similar values. Overall, the term "super battleship", which keeps appearing for the H-Class, is hardly justifiable.
The following comparison table with the most modern and most powerful battleship types in the United States and Great Britain, as well as with the ships projected there at the same time as the H-Class, but never completed, makes this clear:
| Type class | Length over all | width | Main armament caliber / number of tubes | Armor thickness (maximum) | Power / speed | Displacement | Operational range |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H ( German Empire )
.svg){kind=small} |
277.8 m | 37.2 m | 40.6 cm / 8 | 385 mm | 165,000 hp / 30 kn | 62,500 t | 19,000 nautical miles / 16 kn |
Yamato class (Japan)
 |
263.0 m | 38.7 m | 46.0 cm / 9 | 410 mm | 150,000 hp / 27 kn | 67,000 t | 7,000 nautical miles / 16 kn |
Iowa (United States)
 |
270.4 m | 33 m | 40.6 cm / 9 | 439 mm | 212,000 hp / 33 kn | 52,000 t | 16,600 nautical miles / 15 kn |
Lion (United Kingdom) (not completed)
 |
239.4 m | 32 m | 40.6 cm / 9 | 381 mm | 130,000 hp / 30 kn | 47,600 t | 16,500 nautical miles / 10 kn |
Montana (United States) (not completed)
.svg){kind=small} |
280.6 m | 36.8 m | 40.6 cm / 12 | 457 mm | 212,000 hp / 28 kn | 70,900 t | 15,000 nautical miles / 15 kn |
Sovetsky Soyuz (Soviet Union) (not completed)
.svg){kind=small} |
269 m | 38.9 m | 40.6 cm / 9 | 420 mm | 210,000 hp / 28 kn | 62,536 t | 7,680 nautical miles / 14 kn |
Further developments H-41 to H-44
During the war, further design studies were carried out with the aim of further developing the H-Class. At no point was the focus of the question as to whether the successor to the H-Class should still be built, but merely how they should be designed. The growing threat to these ships from air attacks should be countered by constantly increasing armor protection and the associated increases in size:
- Project H-41 provided for reinforced armored decks and an increase in caliber to 42 cm, which made an increase in displacement to over 74,000 t necessary. In order to be able to continue to achieve a speed of 30 kn, a mixed drive consisting of diesel and turbine system would have been used.
- The H-42 and H-43 included further reinforcements in side and horizontal armor and a caliber of 48 cm, which would have increased the ship to 96,000 and 118,000 t respectively, which in turn required more powerful machinery.
- H-44 was a draft that, in addition to further armor reinforcements, provided for an increase in the main armament to 8 × 50.8 cm. Such a ship would have been 345 m long and would have displaced 131,000 t.
| design | H-39 | H-41 | H-42 | H-43 | H-44 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| displacement | 56444 T | 68800 T | 90,000 T | 111,000 T | 131,000 T |
| Length over all | 277.8 m | 282 m | 305 m | 330 m | 345 m |
| width | 37 m | 39 m | 42.8 m | 48 m | 51.5 m |
| Draft | 10 m | 11.1 m | 11.8 m | 12 m | 12.7 m |
| Main armament | 8 × 40.6 cm | 8 × 42 cm | 8 × 48 cm | 8 × 48 cm | 8 x 50.8 cm |
| Secondary | 12 × 15 cm and 16 × 10.5 cm |
12 × 15 cm and 16 × 10.5 cm |
12 × 15 cm and 16 × 10.5 cm |
12 × 15 cm and 16 × 10.5 cm |
12 × 15 cm and 16 × 10.5 cm |
| Flak | 16 × 3.7 cm and 12 × 2 cm |
32 × 3.7 cm and 12 × 2 cm |
28 × 3.7 cm and 40 × 2 cm |
28 × 3.7 cm and 40 × 2 cm |
28 × 3.7 cm and 40 × 2 cm |
| torpedo | 6 x 53.3 cm | 6 x 53.3 cm | 6 x 53.3 cm | 6 x 53.3 cm | 6 x 53.3 cm |
None of these projects was ever picked up as a real construction project. They were purely academic simulation games that were supposed to comment on the rapid development in warship building. The enormous amounts of steel and other metals that would have been necessary to build such giants would have pushed the German war economy to the limits of what was possible and led to restrictions on more central armaments projects such as aircraft and tank construction. From around the beginning of 1943, surface ships played only a minor role in the planning of the Navy. In addition, the question arises as to the strategic value of these designs: ships the size of H-44 would hardly have been useful in operational terms, as they would not have been able to maneuver sensibly in the German Bight .
literature
- Siegfried Breyer: Battleships and battle cruisers 1905–1970 . JF Lehmann, Munich 1970, ISBN 978-3-88199-474-3 .
- Jost Dülffer: Hitler, Weimar and the Navy. Reich policy and naval building 1920–1939 . Droste Verlag, Düsseldorf 1972, ISBN 3-7700-0320-9 .
- Michael Salewski : The Germans and the Sea. Studies on German naval history in the 19th and 20th centuries . Ed .: Jürgen Elvert, Stefan Lippert. Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 978-3-515-07319-6 .
Web links
- H-Class on german-navy.de (English)
Remarks
- ^ Siegfried Breyer / Gerhard Koop: The German Navy 1935-1945 (Volume 4), Augsburg 1998, p. 101.
- ^ A b Henry Picker (Ed.), "Hitler's Table Talks in the Führer Headquarters", Ullstein, Frankfurt / M. - Berlin 1989, p. 411
- ↑ Werner Jochmann (Ed.), “Adolf Hitler. Monologues in the Führer Headquarters 1941–1944 ”, Orbis, Munich 2000, p. 402
- ^ Michael Salewski: The German Naval Warfare 1935-1945. Bernard & Graefe Verlag 1985, ISBN 3-7637-5168-8
- ↑ Breyer, Koop: p. 121.
- ^ Siegfried Breyer: Capital ships 1905-1970 England / Germany ISBN 3-7637-5145-9
- ↑ Breyer, Koop: p. 124.
- ^ Breyer / Koop: Die deutsche Kriegsmarine 1935–1945 (vol. 4), Augsburg 1998, p. 101.
- ^ Considerations based on Siegfried Breyer / Gerhard Koop: Die deutsche Kriegsmarine 1935–1945 (volume 4), Augsburg 1998.
- ↑ Breyer, Koop (Volume 4): p. 101.
- ↑ The armor thicknesses mentioned do not refer to the turret armor, some of which were even stronger. However, due to the fact that they did not protect the ship and its buoyancy as a whole, but only individual parts of it, they have no comparative value here.
- ↑ Erich Gröner: The German warships 1815-1945: general register . 1990, ISBN 978-3-7637-4809-9 .