World War II Aircraft Carriers of Germany - German Aircraft Carrier Graf Zeppelin, Italian Aircraft Carrier Aquila, German Aircraft Carrier I (Paperback)

Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: German Aircraft Carrier Graf Zeppelin, Italian Aircraft Carrier Aquila, German Aircraft Carrier I, Italian Aircraft Carrier Sparviero, Flugzeugtrger B, German Cruiser Seydlitz. Excerpt: The Flugzeugtrger B ( Flugzeugtrger is German for aircraft carrier) was the sister ship of the Kriegsmarine 's only launched aircraft carrier, the Graf Zeppelin . The contract to build the ship was awarded to the Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft in Kiel in 1938, with a planned launch date on July 1, 1940. The hull was never launched, however, as construction stopped on September 19, 1939. Scrapping of the uncompleted carrier was started on February 28, 1940, a process taking four months. The Kriegsmarine never named a vessel before it was launched, so it was only given the designation "B" ("A" was the Graf Zeppelin 's designation before launch). Had it been completed, the aircraft carrier could have been named Peter Strasser in honour of the World War I Luftschiffer (Airship Fleet) Chief Commander Peter Strasser . But this name was never confirmed. References (URLs online) See also (online edition) A hyperlinked version of this chapter is at Graf Zeppelin was the only aircraft carrier launched by Germany during World War II and represented part of the Kriegsmarine 's attempt to create a well-balanced oceangoing fleet, capable of projecting German naval power far beyond the narrow confines of the Baltic and North Seas . Construction was ordered on 16 November 1935 and her keel was laid down on 28 December 1936 by Deutsche Werke at Kiel . Named in honor of Graf (Count) Ferdinand ...