1928 German Battlecruiser Design

In the mid 1920’s the Reichsmarine was able to replace its obsolete ships. The designs of the warships Adolf Hitler would inherit were those approved by Vice-Admiral Hans Zenker, the Reichsmarine’s commander from 1924 to 1928. These included the 6 K class light cruisers, as well as the revolutionary panzerschiffe. The panzerschiffe were dubbed treaty cruiser killers by many foreign observers, but Zenker knew their limitations and intended them merely as commerce raiders, to be used against the sea lanes that would connect France and Poland, Germany’s perceived enemies in future wars.

Zenker did have an idea for a treaty cruiser killer though. She was to mount 8 12 inch guns, 12 5.9 inch guns (in the same triple turrets of the new light cruisers), and she was to displace 17,500 tons standard, the minimum size for a capitol ship prescribed by the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922. She would have two triple torpedo mounts on deck, and at least a pair of twin mounts for use against aircraft. She would use steam turbines like the last imperial battlecruisers, instead of the diesel engines of the panzerschiffe design. This would mean greater speed, 34 knots, but less endurance. Her armor scheme would be the same as a panzerschiffe.

Two of these ships were envisioned, but they were reliant upon the Versailles Treaty being nullified. Zenker believed that if the Reichstag negotiated with Great Britain the main gun caliber could be increased from 11 to 12 inches, and the standard displacement for German ships could be increased from 10,000 to 17,500 tons standard. Ultimately this design never came to fruition. Zenker pushed too hard for a treaty so he could build these new ships and the Reichstag replaced him with Erich Raeder. When Hitler came to power he was able to negotiate the treaty Zenker had envisioned resulting in the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau.

This design closely resembles the German premium cruiser available in Navyfield, so I have given him the same name, Moltke. Here is the original plan, followed by my drawing.

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Kinda like a super-Deutschland...nice!

-Matt

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MS State Guard - 08 March 2014 - 28 January 2023

The Official IJN Ships & Planes List

#FJB

A very cool ship and a very cool drawing! Cruiser Killers are deffinetly one of the cooler ship types around, IMO, to bad so few actually got into being.

i think some windows should be reduced if not converted to loop hole.
This would comply more with your sources and be nicer (i think).

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JE SUIS CHARLIE

Very fine drawing. Keep up the good job!

A really good drawing. I didn't even knew such a design existed. Thank for bringing it to my attention. However, I have a few points of criticism.

-Aircrafts: Designed in 1928, this ship would have most likely carried He-60.
-Heavy AA: Your line drawing shows that the cruiser would have carried the 88mm L/75 C/25 in twin mount C/25. This was a newly-developed heavy AA to replace the 88mm SK L/45 singles that had been used previously. The L/75 C/25 would have been used on all newly-constructed cruisers, including this one (It was not until the trials on Köln showed that the design was unsatisfying. The old WW1-era singles remained in use until the late thirties)
-Light AA: As far as I know, light AA on german ships (20 and 37mm) was not introduced until the mid-thirties.
-Boats: There are new models available.
-Coloring: Your main turrets could use a little bit more shading and the top of the funnels yould be darker, but I think that comes down to personal preference.

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On a minor note: There were only three K-cruisers, not six.

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Any help and source material is always welcome.

Beautiful! Any chance of seeing a later refit?

Syzmo, it's awesome! When done, may I 'borrow' it for my AU as one of the Turkish capital ship designs? I've been trying to brainstorm something suitable for some time...

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My Avatar:Петр Алексеевич Безобразов (Petr Alekseevich Bezobrazov), Вице-адмирал , царская ВМФ России(1845-1906) - I sign my drawings as Ari Saarinen

This is my first attempt at drawing a ship from the keel up, so keep the feedback coming. I've done a little more work today based on your suggestions so far. Feel free to modify this for your own use. Here are the variations so far. Anyone with more of an understanding of German technology please correct my likely errors with dates and equipment.

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Clipper bow just edited into the last picture.

You could try to put an Atlantic Bow (or clipper) into post-1939 drawings, a-la-Scharnhorst for example.

Shipbucket

1928 German Battlecruiser Design

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