Hanover-class cruiser

89,698 shp (69,888 kW)

12 x 8.8 cm SK C/31 anti-aircraft guns

12 x 3.7cm Flak 18 autocannons

10 x 2cm C/30 autocannons

8 x 53.3 cm torpedo tubes

120 x mines, 1 stern rail

180 x depth charges, 1 stern rail, 2 side throwers

Barbettes: 155 mm (6 in)

Turrets: 203mm (8 in)

Conning tower: 203 mm (8 in)

Torpedo bulkhead: 25 mm (1 in)

The ***Hanover-class cruisers*** were a single-ship class, one of several types of broadly similar armored ship (German: *panzerschiff*) that were designed and constructed in parallel following the German withdrawal from the naval restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles and the collapse of the subsequent Anglo-German Naval Agreement negotiations in 1935. *Hanover* was reclassified as a heavy cruiser (German: *schwerer kreuzer*) by the Kriegsmarine when the panzerschiff designation was retired in 1940. Alongside Seeadler and Wilhelmshaven , *Hanover* participated in multiple merchant raiding missions throughout WWII however, her service was rather limited due to a multitude of issues with her design.

## Background

With the collapse of the Anglo-German Naval Agreement negotiations in 1935, the Kriegsmarine put out a request for panzerschiffe designs to their domestic ship producers. Due to the Kriegsmarine never being able to produce a balanced fleet to counter Britain, it was viewed that producing as many surface raiders in a similar vein to the vaunted *Deutschland class* could help starve or atleast disrupt Britain and her allies. Rather counter productively, instead of producing ships of a single class, the procurement for this program ended up producing a group of single ship classes which led to logistical issues, alongside some of the terribly flawed designs themselves.

## Design

In a stark comparison to the rather compact nature of *Seeadler* and *Wilhelmshaven, Hanover* was a rather long ship at 234m, only a meter shy of the *Scharnhorst class battleships*. It is rather confusing after the earlier structural strength issues of the *Königsberg-class cruisers,* the designers of *Hanover* completely ignored the lessons learned and produced a ship that was even more structurally questionable. The only thing more questionable than the hull strength of the ship was the reason why the Kriegsmarine accepted and proceeded to build this design. With a length to beam ratio of 15.33:1, it is thought that the designers saw the length to beam ratio of the *Königsberg-class cruisers* as more of a challenge rather than a lesson.

## Armament

The armament of Hanover contained many strange facets. The main and secondary guns themselves were the same type mounted on the *Scharnhorst-class battleships* and *Königsberg-class cruisers* respectivelyhowever, the mountings themselves had the middle guns removed as weight saving measures.

Similarly to the *Deutschland-class*, the torpedo armament had issues with it's upkeep and use in a stern sea due to the low stern however with *Hanover,* this issue was exacerbated heavily. The torpedo tubes were placed in cutouts below the main working deck, this resulted in the mounts frequently being unusable in even a mild sea or at higher speeds. On her sea trials, the port torpedo tube was washed overboard and subsequently lost.

*Hanover* was also equipped with stern mine rails similar to the *Konigsberg-class* however the strangest and most questionable addition to the ship is a full anti-submarine warfare suite consisting of two depth charge projectors and a stern rail. While the novel value of being able to engage enemy submarines seems valuable to a merchant raider, the large size and likelihood of damage during said engagement makes this addition rather dangerous due to the depth charges, which the Kriegsmarine found out the hard way in *Hanover's* service.

## Protection

Insert witty and not tired Fisher meme here