Hitler's Showpiece Aircraft Carrier Found

[derby378]

A Polish oil firm working in the Baltic Sea has found the remains of the "Graf Zeppelin," Hitler's first -- and last -- aircraft carrier. The ship sank for good sometime after World War II, but exactly where and why is an enduring mystery of the early Cold War.

Divers working for the Polish oil firm Petrobaltic on Monday discovered the rusting hulk of Nazi Germany's only aircraft carrier, the Graf Zeppelin, sunk in mysterious circumstances by the Soviets after World War II. Its exact location had been a riddle for almost 60 years.

Experts in the Polish Navy, using robots and sonar, confirmed on Thursday that the wreckage really was the Graf Zeppelin. The 260-meter (850-foot) ship had been a showpiece of Hitler's navy, but it never went into battle. Intended to carry 42 planes, the vessel was begun in 1936, launched in 1938, but never finished before German troops had to scuttle it in 1945. It was "a grandiose technical achievement," military historian Ulrich Israel told SPIEGEL ONLINE, "mainly when you consider that the Germans had no examples to work from to build such a carrier."

Hitler started the war before the German navy finished building its prestige ship. His planners gave priority to building U-Boats, and the Graf Zeppelin had to be towed to Gdansk, where it was used for storage. The Germans finally anchored it in a shallow stream feeding the Oder, where troops blew holes in its hull before they fled the invading Red Army. The Soviets renovated the ship, and moved it -- but how it met its final end is still the subject of controversy.

http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,428857,00.html

[Ezlivin]

1. "Mission Accomplished" said a banner affixed to it

How apropos.

[halobeam]

2. Is it in front of my nose or what? Where does it say that?

I did read full article.. I must be missing something... ???

[TexasProgresive]

3. I think that was

:sarcasm: :banghead:

[Posteritatis]

6. Nah, just the "bring Dubya into EVERYTHING" reflex. ;) (n/t)

[dipsydoodle]

4. That sure is

the funniest thing I've seen all week. Well done :rofl:

[TankLV]

10. It's amazing how some things can survive for years underwater!

Simply amazing!

Thanks for the laugh of the day for me.

[smtpgirl]

12. I think they should "park" that carrier on the White House Lawn!!

[Sherman A1]

5. Cool!

As an amatuer history buff, I think it's kinda nifty. If they do decide to do some research on the ship, might prove interesting.

[reichstag911]

7. Maybe they'll find some...

...of the paperwork from Thyssen about the (Walker/Bush-controlled) Union Bank Corporation's Nazi-financing activities. :eyes:

[yellowcanine]

8. If it were in Iraq, Bush would claim it was Saddam's WMDs.

[ConcernedCanuk]

9. Quite the boat, considering the times -

.
.
.

http://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,673139,00.jpg

Until this week, all that remained of the "Graf Zeppelin" was a scale model -- shown here in a Bremen museum in 1998.

http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,grossbild-673139-428857,00.html





1938-47

Graf Zeppelin / PO-101

The Flugzeugträger A (Carrier A) was laid down on 28th December 1936 at the Deutsche Werke shipyard, Kiel. On the 08th December 1938, Flugzeugträger A was launched as the Graf Zeppelin with a projected completion date of late 1940.

Having had little experience with carrier construction, German designers and engineers were slowed by construction and design problems. This, added with Görings reluctance to allow a separate air arm other than the Luftwaffe, eventually halted construction of the aircraft carrier in April 1940. Graf Zeppelin, now laid up, had her artillery removed for use in coastal defences before she was towed to Gotenhafen.

In 1942 work was restarted on the carrier (having being moved back to Kiel in December 1942), as it was obvious at this time that the kriegsmarine needed a ship of this type to support its major surface units. Graf Zeppelin was approximately 85% complete when work was once again halted in early1943 (work being stopped on Hitler’s orders after the Kriegsmarines poor performance during the Battle of the Barents Sea, 31st December 1942). In April 1943 she was moved to Stettin where she remained until she was scuttled in shallow water on 25th April 1945.

After the German surrender, Russian forces raised the Graf Zeppelin (at this stage the carriers fate becomes clouded, but what follows is believed to be the most accurate), renaming her the PO-101 (floating base 101) on the 03rd February 1947. On the 14th August 1947 she was towed to Swinemünde and loaded with aerial bombs. She was then used as a target and destroyed by shells, bombs and finally tordedoes on the 16th August 1947.

Contributed by Carl Proctor

http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/german.htm

[sidpleasant]

11. What planes would have flown off it?

As far as I know the Germans didn't have any airplanes with folding wings (essential for efficient storage) or catapult - capable. They built the carrier but what did they intend to use for it's aircraft complement?

There might be a good alt - history novel in this: what would have happened if the Nazis had managed to get this thing into the North Atlantic in 1940?

[petronius]

13. From other sites, it appears that they were going to use redesigned

JU-87 Stukas and old-model ME-109s. Inter-branch jealousy (Goring didn't want another air arm) pretty much killed the project, partly becasue Goring would only give the navy outdated aircraft. Also, it would have only had 40 planes, half (at most) as many as similarly-sized U.S. carriers...