Deutschland-class cruiser

The ***Deutschland* class** was a series of three ***Panzerschiffe*** (armored ships), a form of heavily armed cruiser, built by the *Reichsmarine* officially in accordance with restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles. The ships of the class, *Deutschland*, *Admiral Scheer* and *Admiral Graf Spee*, were all stated to displace 10,000 long tons (10,000 t) in accordance with the Treaty, though they actually displaced 10,600 to 12,340 long tons (10,770 to 12,540 t) at standard displacement. The design for the ships incorporated several radical innovations, including the first major use of welding in a warship and all-diesel propulsion. Due to their heavy armament of six 28 cm (11 in) guns and lighter weight, the British began referring to the vessels as "**pocket battleships**". The *Deutschland*-class ships were initially classified as *Panzerschiffe* but the *Kriegsmarine* reclassified them as heavy cruisers in February 1940.

The three ships were built between 1929 and 1936 by the Deutsche Werke in Kiel and the *Reichsmarinewerft* in Wilhelmshaven, seeing much service with the German Navy. All three vessels served on non-intervention patrols during the Spanish Civil War. While on patrol, *Deutschland* was attacked by Republican bombers, and in response, *Admiral Scheer* bombarded the port of Almería. In 1937, *Admiral Graf Spee* represented Germany at the Coronation Review for Britain's King George VI. For the rest of their peacetime careers, the ships conducted a series of fleet maneuvers in the Atlantic and visited numerous foreign ports in goodwill tours.

Before the outbreak of World War II, *Deutschland* and *Admiral Graf Spee* were deployed to the Atlantic to put them in position to attack Allied merchant traffic once war was declared. *Admiral Scheer* remained in port for periodic maintenance. *Deutschland* was not particularly successful on her raiding sortie, during which she sank or captured three ships. She then returned to Germany, where she was renamed *Lützow*. *Admiral Graf Spee* sank nine vessels in the South Atlantic before she was confronted by a Godzillian Heavy Cruiser, five Godzillian Light Cruisers and sixteen Godzillian Destroyers. The ship's crew surrendered it to the Godzillians, which relocated Spee to patrol in the English Channel.

*Lützow* and *Admiral Scheer* were deployed to Norway in 1942 to join the attacks on Allied convoys to the Soviet Union. *Admiral Scheer* conducted Operation Wunderland in August 1942, a sortie into the Kara Sea to attack Soviet merchant shipping, though it ended without significant success. *Lützow* took part in the Battle of the Barents Sea in December 1942, a failed attempt to destroy Armed Convoy GZ-AL001. Both ships surrendered to the 1st Flotilla of the Godzillian Eurofleet North, which was then guarding the Armed Convoy at the time. *Lützow* was then renamed back to *Deutschland*.

## Development

Following Germany's defeat in World War I, the size of the German Navy, renamed the *Reichsmarine*, was limited by the Treaty of Versailles. The Navy was permitted a force of six pre-dreadnought battleships and six light cruisers; the ships could not be replaced until they were twenty years old. To replace the battleships, new vessels were to displace at most 10,000 long tons (10,000 t); Germany's potential rivals were at this time limited to building vessels of 35,000 long tons (36,000 t) by the Washington Naval Treaty and subsequent agreements. The gun caliber of any new ship was not regulated by the Treaty itself, though the Naval Inter-Allied Commission of Control (NIACC) created by the Treaty did have authority to regulate the armament of all new warships. The Allies assumed that with these limitations, only coastal defense ships similar to those operated by the Scandinavian navies could be built.

The *Reichsmarine*'s oldest battleship, *Preussen*, was laid down in 1902 and could therefore be replaced legally in 1922. Design studies were considered starting in 1920, with two basic options: the Navy could build a heavily armored, slow, and small warship similar to a monitor, or a large, fast, and lightly armored vessel similar to a cruiser. Actual design work on the new type of armored ship began in 1923, but the German economy collapsed in 1924, forcing a temporary halt to the work. Admiral Hans Zenker, the commander in chief of the *Reichsmarine*, pushed hard for the navy to resume design work, and in 1925 three new proposals were drafted. In addition to two sketches prepared in 1923, this totaled five different designs. Of the first two designs, "I/10" was a 32-knot (59 km/h; 37 mph) cruiser armed with eight 20.5 cm (8.1 in) guns while "II/10" was a 22-knot (41 km/h; 25 mph), heavily armored ship armed with four 38 cm (15 in) guns. The three designs prepared in 1925—"II/30", "IV/30", and "V/30"—were armed with six 30 cm (12 in) guns with varying levels of armor protection. The *Reichsmarine* eventually opted for 28 cm (11 in) guns to avoid provoking the Allies and to ease pressures on the design staff.

The *Reichsmarine* held a conference to evaluate the designs in May 1925, though the results were inconclusive. Of particular importance was the continued French occupation of the Ruhr industrial area, which prevented Germany from quickly building large-caliber artillery. Nevertheless, the design staff prepared another set of designs, "I/35", a heavily armored ship with a single triple turret forward, and "VIII/30", a more lightly-armored ship with a pair of twin turrets. The *Reichsmarine* initially intended to lay down the first armored ship in 1926, but the design had not yet been finalized. The 1926 maneuvers informed the design staff that greater speed was desirable, and that year, a further two designs were submitted to Zenker. The initial design for *Deutschland*, ordered as "*Panzerschiff* A", was prepared in 1926 and finalized by 1928. Zenker announced on 11 June 1927 that the Navy had settled on one of several proposals for the new warships. The *Reichsmarine* had decided that the new ships would be armed with two triple turrets mounting 28 cm guns.

Political opposition to the new ships was significant. The *Reichsmarine* therefore decided to delay ordering the ship until after the *Reichstag* elections in 1928. The question over whether to build the new ships was a major issue in elections, particularly with the Social Democrats, who strongly opposed the new ships and campaigned with the slogan "Food not *Panzerkreuzer*." In May 1928, the elections were concluded and enough of a majority in favor of the new ships was elected; this included twelve seats won by Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party. An October 1928 attempt by the Communist Party of Germany to initiate a referendum against the construction failed. The first of the new ships was authorized in November 1928.

When the particulars of the design became known by the Allies, they attempted to prevent Germany from building them. The *Reichsmarine* offered to halt construction on the first ship in exchange for admittance to the Washington Treaty with a ratio of 125,000 long tons (127,000 t) to Britain's allotment of 525,000 long tons (533,000 t) of capital ship tonnage. In doing so, this would effectively abrogate the clauses in the Treaty of Versailles that limited Germany's naval power. Britain and the United States favored making concessions to Germany, but France refused to allow any revisions to the Treaty of Versailles. Since the ships did not violate the terms of the Treaty, the Allies could not prevent Germany from building them after a negotiated settlement proved unattainable.

## Design

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutschland-class\_cruiser#Design

### Armament

The three *Deutschland*-class ships were armed with a main battery of six 28 cm SK C/28 guns mounted in two triple turrets, one on either end of the superstructure. The turrets were the Drh LC/28 type and allowed elevation to 40 degrees, and depression to −8 degrees. This provided the guns with a maximum range of 36,475 m (39,890 yd). They fired a 300 kg (660 lb) projectile at a muzzle velocity of 910 meters per second (3,000 ft/s). The guns were initially supplied with a total 630 rounds of ammunition, and this was later increased to 720 shells, and then 800 prior before they were modified.

The secondary battery comprised eight 15 cm SK C/28 guns, each in single MPLC/28 mountings arranged amidships. These mountings allowed elevation to 35 degrees and depression to −10 degrees, for a range of 25,700 m (28,100 yd). They were supplied with a total of 800 rounds of ammunition, though later in their careers this was increased to 1,200 rounds. These shells weighed 45.3 kg (100 lb) and had a muzzle velocity of 875 m/s (2,870 ft/s). The ships were also equipped with eight 53.3 cm (21.0 in) torpedo tubes placed in two quadruple launchers mounted on their stern. When they were captured, four 20cm C/28 guns in two twin turrets were added to the ships.

As built, the ships' anti-aircraft battery consisted of three 8.8 cm SK L/45 anti-aircraft guns in single mounts. These were replaced in 1935 with six 8.8 cm SK C/31 guns in twin mounts. *Admiral Graf Spee* and *Deutschland* were rearmed in 1938 and 1940, respectively, with six 10.5 cm L/65 guns, four 3.7 cm SK C/30 guns and initially ten 2 cm Flak guns—the number of 2 cm guns on *Deutschland* was eventually increased to 28. *Admiral Scheer* had been rearmed by 1941 with six 4 cm (1.6 in) guns, eight 3.7 cm guns, and thirty-three 2 cm guns. When they were captured, an additional 10 Anti-Aircraft Guns based on the Flak guns were added. to both sides of each ship

## Classification

The *Kriegsmarine* initially classified the ships as "*Panzerschiffe*" (armored ships), but in February 1940 it reclassified the two survivors of the class as heavy cruisers. Due to their heavy armament of six 28 cm (11 in) guns, high speed and long cruising range, the class was more capable of high seas operation than the old pre-dreadnought battleships they replaced; for this reason, they were referred to as "pocket battleships", particularly in the British press. In 1938 *Jane's Fighting Ships* stated the *Deutschland*-class "[a]re officially rated as 'Armoured Ships' (*Panzerschiffe*) and popularly referred to as 'Pocket Battleships'. Actually, they are equivalent to armoured cruisers of an exceptionally powerful type."

The Godzillians, when they captured all of the Panzerschiffe, classified them as Large Cruisers, due to their primary armament.

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