German aircraft carrier I ( 1942 ) The German aircraft carrier I was a planned conversion of the transport ship " Europa " during World War II . The loss of the battleship " Bismarck " and near torpedoing of her sistership " Tirpitz " in May 1941 and March 1942 , respectively , spurred the Kriegsmarine to acquire aircraft carriers . " Europa " was one of several vessels selected for conversion into auxiliary aircraft carriers . As designed , the ship would have had an air complement of 24 Bf 109 T fighters and 18 Ju 87 C Stuka dive - bombers . Conversion planning began in May 1942 , and had the conversion been finished , she would have been the largest German aircraft carrier , longer even than the purpose - built s . The work was canceled in November 1942 , however , after design problems , including serious instability and structural weaknesses , proved to be irreconcilable . No work was done on the ship , which was eventually seized by the US Army and used as a troop transport following the end of the war . Design . The carrier " I " was a conversion proposal for the transport ship " Europa " . The ship was launched on 16 August 1928 and entered service on 19 March 1930 for the German Norddeutscher Lloyd shipping company . Starting in 1939 , the ship was used as a floating barracks ; the ship was requisitioned by the " Kriegsmarine " for use in the planned Operation Sea Lion , but the operation was abandoned when the " Luftwaffe " failed to achieve air superiority in the Battle of Britain . Following the loss of the battleship " Bismarck " in May 1941 and the near torpedoing of her sistership " Tirpitz " in March 1942 , the " Kriegsmarine " was convinced of the need to acquire aircraft carriers . Several vessels were selected for conversion , including the incomplete heavy cruiser " Seydlitz " and several passenger liners . Planning for the conversion of " Europa " into an auxiliary aircraft carrier was started in May 1942 . The ship would have been faster and larger than any of the other ships Germany intended to convert into auxiliary carriers . However , a number of design problems emerged as the drawing up of the conversion plan progressed . Her speed and capacity advantages were offset by several serious practical problems . These included structural weakness , caused by the need to recess the hangar deck into the primary structural deck ; instability , normally resolved by adding bulges ; and high fuel consumption . Another significant obstacle was the unwillingness of Hermann Göring , the commander in chief of the " Luftwaffe " , to provide the " Kriegsmarine " with sufficient aircraft and pilots . By the time the design was completed in November 1942 , these problems had proved impossible to rectify , and so the project was abandoned . As a result , no construction work began . After the end of the war , " Europa " was seized by the US Army and commissioned as a troop transport under the name " AP 177 " before being transferred to France , where she resumed her commercial duties . General characteristics and machinery . " I " was long at the waterline , and long overall , which was approximately longer than the s . The ship initially had a beam of , but bulges added during the design process to help stability increased the beam to . The ship had a draft of as designed , but the conversion would have increased it to . " I " displaced at the designed weight , and up to at maximum displacement . The ship ' s hull was divided into 16 watertight compartments and was equipped with a double bottom . The percentage of the length of the hull the double bottom extended is unknown . The ship ' s flight deck was long and wide . There was a single hangar that was long , wide forward , and wide aft . No armor was to have been added to the ship during the conversion process . The ship was propelled by four sets of Blohm & Voss geared turbines that drove four shafts , each with a four - bladed screw that was in diameter . The turbines were powered by 24 double - ended narrow water tube boilers that produced up to 21 atmospheres of pressure . The engines were rated for , and provided a top speed of . At the maximum speed , the ship could steam for ; at a cruising speed of , the cruising range doubled , to . The ship was designed to store up to of fuel oil , but total fuel bunkerage was . " I " had only one rudder . The electrical power plant comprised four diesel generators that provided 520 kilowatts and two emergency generators that provided 100 kW each . The total power output was 2 , 280 kW at 230 volts . Armament . The ship was to have been armed with twelve L / 65 anti - aircraft guns in six twin mounts , three forward and three aft of the island and funnel . These guns had a total of 4 , 800 rounds , or 400 rounds per gun . The 10 . 5 cm guns fired two types of projectiles : a high explosive shell and a incendiary round . Both types of ammunition used a single propellant charge : the RPC / 32 charge . The guns could elevate to 80 degrees , and could hit targets flying at . When the guns were used to engage surface targets , they could hit targets away , at an elevation of 45 degrees . There were also to have been twenty anti - aircraft guns , also in double mounts . These guns were placed along both sides of the flight deck , and had a total of 40 , 000 shells . The 3 . 7 cm guns fired high - explosive shells at a rate of fire of about 30 rounds per minute , and a muzzle velocity of 1 , 000 m / s ( 3 , 281 ft / s ) . The guns could elevate to 85 degrees and hit targets flying at , although the tracers were limited to . The anti - aircraft battery was rounded out by twenty - eight to thirty - six guns in the usual " Flakvierling " quadruple mounts , supplied by a store of up to 72 , 000 rounds . These guns fired at a rate of 480 shells per minute cyclic , but were limited in practice to around 200 rounds per minute . The shells were fired at a muzzle velocity of between 800 – 835 m / s ( 2 , 625 – 2 , 740 ft / s ) , depending on the type of shell fired . The effective ceiling of the guns was at 85 degrees elevation . The ship was designed to carry 18 Ju 87 " Stuka " dive - bombers and 24 Bf 109 . The Ju 87s were to have been the " E " variant , which was a navalized version of the Ju 87D , and were modified for catapult launches and were equipped with arresting gear . The Bf 109 fighters were a navalized version of the " E " model , designated as Bf 109T . Their wings were longer than the land - based model to allow for shorter take - off .