Pocket Battleships of the Deutschland Class

Warships of the Kriegsmarine

Gerhard Koop, Klaus-Peter Schmolke

• Publisher: Seaforth Publishing
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781848321960
• eBook ISBN: 9781473846715
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Military & Maritime History
• Index: History

A concise, authoritative, heavily illustrated summary of this class of German WWII-era warships, covering their design histories and careers.
 
The Deutschland class included three ships of a design so revolutionary that it defied conventional categories. Deutschland (later renamed L ützow), Admiral Scheer, and Admiral Graf Spee were simply termed Panzerschiffe (armored ships) by the Germans, but they were known to their opponents by the far more evocative term Pocket Battleships.
 
Part of a six-volume series on the German Navy's WWII-era warships written by Gerhard Koop and illustrated by Klaus-Peter Schmolke, this book contains an account of the development of the Deutschland class, a detailed description of the ships with full technical details, and an outline of their service, heavily illustrated with plans, battle maps, and a substantial collection of photographs.

Contents

Foreword

Introduction

Data

Armour

Armament

Fire Control and Radar

Machinery

Refits

Scale Plans

Panzerschiff Deutschland

Panzerschiff Admiral Scheer

Panzerschiff Admiral Graf Spee

Conclusions

Bibliography

Index of Ships

Foreword

The three Panzerschiffe – ‘armour-clad ships’ – of the Deutschland class were the first heavy units to be built by Germany after World War I, and they replaced obsolete pre-dreadnought battleships of the Imperial Navy under the provisions of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles.

The name-ship, Deutschland, aroused worldwide interest when she appeared. It had been the purpose of the 1922 Washington Treaty ratified by the victorious sea powers – France, Italy, the United States, Great Britain and Japan – to curtail the massive naval construction programmes pursued by the latter three nations; unintentionally, Deutschland overturned the accord and gave impetus to a new naval arms race. As Germany’s traditional enemy, France reacted to the ‘menace’ with the new Dunkerque class battleships. Mussolini saw a threat to Italian security from the French and laid down a new class of battleships, to which France responded in turn. Britain was content to look on, but the United States laid down new capital units principally as a precaution in view of Japan’s grandiose naval plans.

Of the many beliefs current at one time or another about the Panzerschiffe, the most ludicrous was the allegation voiced at the Nuremberg Trials that the six scheduled, three completed ‘pocket battleships’ were deliberately designed to spearhead the conquest of the world: rather, they were ships of a hybrid type engineered to fill certain naval roles whilst apparently complying with the letter of the Versailles Treaty, under which it was otherwise impossible for Germany to build a modern, combat-worthy battleship within the tonnage limitations. The design was completely successful even though the hull shape, the arrangement of the armament and, above all, the propulsion machinery were revolutionary in concept.

Pocket Battleships of the Deutschland Class is a companion to two earlier volumes featuring the Bismarck and Scharnhorst classes. It explains the development stage, provides a detailed review of the important facts and figures and recounts the career history of each vessel separately, supplemented by documentary references, War Diary extracts and combat reports. The text concludes with a critical epilogue. Also provided are detailed sketches, technical tables and a comprehensive selection of photographs not previously published in this compact form, many of which appear in an English-language publication for the first time.

Without the support and assistance of helpers this book could not have been compiled. Valuable references, advice and supporting documents were provided by Werner F. G. Stehr, A. Didrichs and S. Breyer. F. Bavendamm assisted me where necessary with the reproduction of photographs. To all go my grateful thanks.

All plans and sketches were prepared by Klaus-Peter Schmolke unless otherwise stated. Photograph sources were the Town Archive, Wilhelmshaven; the MAN Archive; A. Klein; Renard, Kiel; Urbahns; the U-boat Archive, Cuxhaven; Command Naval Base, North Sea; Marine/Kriegsmarine Werft, Wilhelmshaven; Deutsche Werke, Kiel; the RAF, RN and USN; and PK, Koop Collection/Gally/Klein. Most of the photographs come from my private collection, which comprises the comprehensive stock of photographs bequeathed by the former photographer at the Wilhelmshaven Naval Yard; and from private albums purchased by me from, or from reproductions made from albums lent to me by, former crew members of the three ships.

Gerhard Koop

Introduction

At Jutland in 1916 the German High Seas Fleet proved its hitting power against a superior enemy force, but thereafter it was practically reduced to insignificance. In his diary entry for 7 October 1918, the Fleet Commander-in-Chief, Admiral Hipper, stated that the overriding priority for the Navy was the prosecution of the U-boat war. The duty of the Fleet was to protect the mines weeping formations and the North Sea U-boat bases. This would be achieved by having the Fleet in home waters. Thus the great ships eked out a miserable existence in port or at some secluded anchorage, the monotony broken once or twice by minor forays. The majority of crews, subjected to a negative influence under a leadership riddled with outmoded notions of class, grew to think of themselves as idlers and loafers, and fell an easy prey to the political whisperings of the time. The growing dissatisfaction came to a head with the first mutinies, which were put down ruthlessly. But the mob still seethed with discontent.

Whilst the German Army was bleeding to death in the West, the Fleet remained inactive. Political agitation continued: the naval blockade was starving a war-weary German population into surrender. When the United States was still neutral President Wilson had put forward an alluring 14-point programme for peace. Despite the risk that entering negotiations with the Entente might be interpreted at home as weakness — the United States had since sided with Germany’s enemies – the German Government approached the US President as an intermediary in the misguided expectation of obtaining an end to hostilities on fair terms.

In October the situation for Germany was increasingly desperate: on 9 November 1918, at Supreme HQ, Admiral Scheer advised the Kaiser that he could no longer rely on the loyalty of the Fleet. The German Reich accepted an Armistice with conditions which came into effect on 11 November 1918. The Navy was hit very hard. All U-boats, and the most modern sixteen capital ships, eight light cruisers and fifty torpedo-boats of the High Seas Fleet had to be surrendered to the victorious powers. In German...

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