M-class (light cruiser)
 |
||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
.svg){kind=small}
The M-Class was a planned class of light cruisers of the German Navy , which was canceled at the beginning of the Second World War .
planning
In the spring of 1936, planning began for a new class of light cruisers. All light cruisers built earlier were unsuitable for their intended task in the trade war because of their insufficient range. That is why the new M-Class ships should have a larger operational radius.
Like the earlier cruisers, the ships were to have a combined propulsion system with diesel engines for long-distance travel at medium speed and additional turbines for high speed in combat. For their size, these ships would not have been very heavily armed or armored compared to Allied units (such as the British Town-class ). This was primarily due to the fact that the requirement for a long range with simultaneous high speed could only be met through weight savings. After the first four units ( M , N , O and P ), two improved units (Q and R) were planned, which should achieve an even greater operational range and whose air defense should be significantly reinforced.
Class name
The term "M" is derived from the marine internal numbering for Kreuzer from receiving their Baubezeichnung according to the alphabet and by the cruisers the Admiral Hipper class with the designations G , H , J , K and L was followed.
construction
The Z-Plan provided for 14 of these ships, construction should begin in 1939 and be completed by the end of 1948. The construction time was estimated at 2.5 years per ship.
The orders for the first four ships were placed on May 28, 1938, the construction orders for the cruisers Q and R followed on August 8, 1938.
By the spring of 1939 the first three ships ( M , N , O ) were laid down. After the outbreak of the Second World War , construction was stopped for all three units in September 1939. After the successful French campaign , there were considerations in the summer of 1940 to start building the ships again. In the end, however, the three hulls still lying on the pile were scrapped by 1943.
From 1939 to 1941 there were investigations in the Kriegsmarine about whether the M-class cruiser could serve as the basis for the construction of light aircraft carriers or flight deck cruisers . When a new aircraft carrier construction program was started in Germany in 1942, the M cruisers were no longer included.
technical description
Weights
The preliminary weight compilation reflects the planning status at the beginning of May 1939.
| designation | Weight [t] |
|---|---|
| Hull | 2,470 |
| Armor (without rotating armor) | 1,000 |
| Main machines | 2,375 |
| Auxiliary machines | 520 |
| Artillery armament | 950 |
| Torpedo u. Aircraft armament | 95 |
| equipment | 500 |
| Reserve 2% | 100 |
| Type displacement | 8,010 |
| 1/2 oil normal | 500 |
| 1/2 feed water | 100 |
| Construction displacement as a fleet cruiser | 8,610 |
| 1/2 oil, water, other | 700 |
| Ship fully equipped as a fleet cruiser | 9,310 |
| Oil loading for long journeys | 600 |
| Maximum ship weight | 9,910 |
Armor
The armor accounted for about 12.5% of the type displacement. The weight was distributed among other things on a belt armor with a thickness of 50 mm and an armored deck with 20 mm, which was 35 mm thick in the embankments.
Armament
The main artillery was eight 15 cm SK-C / 28 guns with a maximum barrel elevation of 40 ° and electrical lateral and vertical direction in four double turrets (double rotating L. C / 34). Two each should be installed in front of and behind the superstructure, whereby the inner towers would have been arranged in such a way that they could overshoot the outer towers (so-called elevated end position). They were the same guns as the Bismarck's medium artillery , but the turrets were lighter.
For air defense, there were four 8.8 cm SK-C / 32 guns in two double mounts (Double L. C / 32), four 3.7 cm SK C / 30 in double mounts (Double L. C / 30 ) and four 2 cm Flak C / 30 in single mounts (MPL C / 30). Since the use was to take place far out on the ocean, especially in cruiser warfare , and the threat to carrier-based aircraft had not yet been recognized at the time of planning, this small number of anti-aircraft guns was considered sufficient.
A set of four torpedo tubes were provided amidships in niches on port and starboard . In addition, there was the possibility of using 120 mines . There was a catapult for the use of two Arado Ar 196 aircraft .
units
- Cruiser M, N, O, P
M and N keel laying at the Deutsche Werken Kiel, construction stopped on September 21, 1939. O and P keel laying planned for the Deutsche Werken Kiel.
- Cruiser Q, R
Keel laying planned for Schichau-Werke in Gdansk .
literature
- Siegfried Breyer / Gerhard Koop: From Emden to Tirpitz. Volume 1, Wehr & Wissen Verlag, Koblenz / Bonn 1981, ISBN 3-8033-0316-8 , pp. 111/112, 137 and 145/146.
- MJ Whitley: German cruiser in World War II. Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-613-01207-3 , pp. 57 to 62 and 198
- MJ Whitley: Cruiser in World War II. Motorbuch Verlag, ISBN 3-613-01842-X , pp. 48/49.
Web links
- The M-Class on Navypedia
Individual evidence
- ↑ BA-MA-RM-20-881; Shipbuilding plan type issues January 18, 1937 - June 5, 1941; Naval Command Office AV s 8000/38 Gkds. Berlin December 23, 1938 Betr. New building plan "Z" - pronunciation of the offices
- ↑ BA-MA-RM-20-1913; General questions of type for battleships, ironclads and cruisers 1939-40; Office for Warship Building B.Nr. AV 308/39 g.Kds .; Berlin May 5th. 1939.