Admiral Graf Spee

The **Admiral Graf Spee** is a Deutschland-class Panzerschiff (German for armored ship, original designation) also known as a pocket battleship (British designation) or heavy cruiser (later German designation), from Wilhelmshaven Maritime High School. Thea Kreutzer currently commands the ship, with Wilhelmina Friedeburg serving as deputy-captain.

## Description

The Admiral Graf Spee combines the firepower of a battleship with the speed and maneuverability of a cruiser, making it a deadly foe in the high seas. She uses battleship sized turrets on a large heavy cruiser hull. At almost 29 knots, the Graf Spee is one of few ships that can match the Harekaze's speed.

The ship, however, suffers from a design flaw. An exposed fuel pipe at midships supplies the day boiler with heated oil from the donkey boiler. A well-placed hit, even by the Harekaze's main battery, can sever this lifeline and render the Admiral Graf Spee dead in the water.

Like all training vessels in Haifuri, most systems aboard the ship are highly automated, allowing a skeleton crew to operate it effectively.

## History

The Admiral Graf Spee was chosen as Wilhelmshaven Maritime High School's representative in maritime exercises with Yokosuka Girls' Marine High School this year. En route to the rendezvous point the crew were infected by the Ratt virus with the exception of Wilhelmina, who was ordered to escape and find help by Thea Kreutzer before she too fully succumbed to the virus.

During the battle with the Harekaze, Wilhelmina fled on a fast craft to escape the Graf Spee, now taken over by the virus. After being blown out of the water, she was rescued by Akeno. A hit at the Graf Spee's screw shaft forced it to slow down, giving time for the Harekaze to escape.

After an antibody for the virus had been created, the Harekaze began its counterattack, starting with the Admiral Graf Spee. It maintained its course during the entire match despite incoming torpedoes from the Harekaze to prevent the destroyer from getting a clear shot at its weak point. Nevertheless, the Harekaze drew fire from the Admiral Graf Spee, allowing a raiding party to board the ship undetected. Eventually, all the crew members were cured. Wilhelmina returned to the Admiral Graf Spee, which left for Seeadler Harbor for repairs and resupply.

The Admiral Graf Spee returned as part of a battle group led by Instructor Furushou during the final battle with the battleship Musashi to stop the spreading of the virus, which included the battleship Hiei, destroyers Maikaze and Hamakaze, and the Littoral Combat Ship Tenjin. It drew the Musashi's fire, allowing the Harekaze to get into position to save the crew of the Musashi.

## Historical Description

The Admiral Graf Spee was launched on the 30th of June, 1934 as the third Deutschland-class Panzerschiff. She was used for commerce raiding and was badly damaged at the Battle of Rio de la Plata. She went to Montevideo in Uruguay and her crew stayed there while her officers scuttled the ship. She sunk on the 17th of December, 1939.

## Name

The ship is named after Vizeadmiral Maximilian Johannes Maria Hubert Reichsgraf von Spee, mostly just Maximilian Reichsgraf von Spee. He was well known for his success at the Battle of Coronel. He was born the 22. June 1861 in Kopenhagen and died in 1914 near Port Stanley together with his flagship the heavy cruiser SMS Scharnhorst. He commanded the German East Asia Squadron containing the two heavy cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau as well as the three light cruisers Leipzig, Nürnberg and Emden. All ships except Emden were sunk at the 8. December 1914 and over 2200 German sailors died. Also his two sons Otto and Heinrich died.

## Trivia

* The Baltic Sea camouflage that the Graf Spee has did not appear on her historical counterpart, rather it was used on other Kriegsmarine ships like the Prinz Eugen and Bismarck had in 1941.
* The Admiral Graf Spee is one of the most known ships of Germany in the Second World War due to its success in commerce raiding and its eventual scuttling at Battle of Rio de la Plata.
* The original design concept of the Admiral Graf Spee was highly influenced by the German limitations due to the Treaty of Versailles, following the First World War. Germany wanted a battleship, but wasn't allowed to build modern battleships as other nations did.
* Her design concept was very simple: to outgun any ships she can't out run, and out speed ships that can outgun her. This ideal however was partly flawed as there were some warships such as the Admiral class - Hood and Renown class that outmatches her in both speed and fire power. But most ships were slower or lighter armed.
* The Black-White-Red on the deck at the bow of the Admiral Graf Spee is similar to the German Empire Flag and the flag of Prussia. It was used from as the national flag of the German Empire from 1871-1919 and 1933-1935. It was never used on the original Admiral Graf Spee. But in this timeline it is possible that Germany is still a kingdom and still uses this flag.