German and Italian Aircraft Carriers of World War II

German and Italian Aircraft Carriers of World War II PDF Author: Ryan K. Noppen
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472846745
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 49

Book Description
This fully illustrated study details Germany and Italy's failed development of World War II aircraft carriers, and the naval aviation ships that the two Axis powers sent into action in their place. The quest for a modern aircraft carrier was the ultimate symbol of the Axis powers' challenge to Allied naval might, but fully-fledged carriers proved either too difficult, expensive or politically unpopular for either to make operational. After the Anglo-German Naval Agreement of 1935, Hitler publicly stated his intention to build an aircraft carrier, the Graf Zeppelin, which was launched in 1938. A year later, the ambitious fleet-expansion Z-Plan, was unveiled with two additional aircraft carriers earmarked for production . However, by the beginning of World War II, Graf Zeppelin was not yet completed and work was halted. Further aircraft carrier designs and conversion projects such as the ocean liner Europa and heavy cruiser Seydlitz were considered but, in January 1943, all construction work on surface vessels ceased and naval resources were diverted to the U-boat Campaign. This book explains not only the history of Germany's famous Graf Zeppelin fleet carrier and German carrier conversion projects but also Italy's belated attempt to convert two of her ocean liners into carriers. It considers the role of naval aviation in the two countries' rearmament programmes and describes how ultimately it was only Italian seaplane carriers and German ocean-going, catapult-equipped flying boat carriers that both Axis powers did eventually send into combat.

German and Italian Aircraft Carriers of World War II

German and Italian Aircraft Carriers of World War II PDF Author: Ryan K. Noppen
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 147284677X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 49

Book Description
This fully illustrated study details Germany and Italy's failed development of World War II aircraft carriers, and the naval aviation ships that the two Axis powers sent into action in their place. The quest for a modern aircraft carrier was the ultimate symbol of the Axis powers' challenge to Allied naval might, but fully-fledged carriers proved either too difficult, expensive or politically unpopular for either to make operational. After the Anglo-German Naval Agreement of 1935, Hitler publicly stated his intention to build an aircraft carrier, the Graf Zeppelin, which was launched in 1938. A year later, the ambitious fleet-expansion Z-Plan, was unveiled with two additional aircraft carriers earmarked for production . However, by the beginning of World War II, Graf Zeppelin was not yet completed and work was halted. Further aircraft carrier designs and conversion projects such as the ocean liner Europa and heavy cruiser Seydlitz were considered but, in January 1943, all construction work on surface vessels ceased and naval resources were diverted to the U-boat Campaign. This book explains not only the history of Germany's famous Graf Zeppelin fleet carrier and German carrier conversion projects but also Italy's belated attempt to convert two of her ocean liners into carriers. It considers the role of naval aviation in the two countries' rearmament programmes and describes how ultimately it was only Italian seaplane carriers and German ocean-going, catapult-equipped flying boat carriers that both Axis powers did eventually send into combat.

The Italian Navy in World War II

The Italian Navy in World War II PDF Author: James J. Sadkovich
Publisher: Praeger
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 424

Book Description
This revisionist history convincingly argues that the Regia Marina Italiana (the Royal Italian Navy) has been neglected and maligned in assessments of its contributions to the Axis effort in World War II. After all, Italy was the major Axis player in the Mediterranean, and it was the Italian navy and air force, with only sporadic help from their German ally, that stymied the British navy and air force for most of the thirty-nine months that Italy was a belligerent. It was the Royal Italian Navy that provided the many convoys that kept the Axis war effort in Africa alive by repeatedly braving attack by aircraft, submarine, and surface vessels. If doomed by its own technical weaknesses and Ultra (the top-secret British decoding device), the Italian navy still fought a tenacious and gallant war; and if it did not win that war, it avoided defeat for thirty-nine, long, frustrating months.

Aircraft Carrier Impero

Aircraft Carrier Impero PDF Author: Davide F. Jabes
Publisher: Fonthill Media
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 290

Book Description
From 1941, Italy had been developing a top-secret project to install guided rocket weapons aboard aircraft carriers. Campini Capron s revolutionary guided rocket weapon, the DAAC, which would later become Hitler s Henschel HS-117 Schmetterling ( Butterfly ), was the selected projectile. Classified intelligence on the V-1 flying bomb and other aircraft projects were acquired and then discarded when Ansaldo s naval architect, Lino Campagnoli (1911 1975), issued plans for the Impero battleship to be transformed into a modern fleet carrier. Previously unpublished documentation reveals how the last of the four state-of-the-art Littorio-class battleships, which was in advanced completion (hull components and engines installed), was destined for conversion into a modern aircraft carrier. This is an exhaustive historical review of the Impero and Regia Marina s (Royal Navy) developments as well as the dramatic story of the lack of co-operation and strategic insight with Regia Aeronautica before and during the war (1922-1943). Also, a final evaluation of the revolutionary Pugliese anti-torpedo system, based on unpublished German and Russian documentation, is assessed.

World War I Seaplane and Aircraft Carriers

World War I Seaplane and Aircraft Carriers PDF Author: Mark Lardas
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472813790
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 52

Book Description
In 1910 the first aircraft was successfully launched from a small wooden platform on a stationary ship. Just four years later, seaplane-carrying warships were being used to launch the first naval air raids, and by 1918 the first aircraft carrier to feature a full-length flight deck was in service. High quality artwork and historical photographs help author Mark Lardas tell the fascinating story of the pioneering years of naval aviation, covering such historic clashes as the Japanese siege of Tsingtao, the British raid against German Zeppelin bases at Cuxhaven and the Battle of Jutland, which saw the first airplane take part in a naval battle. Through detailed analysis he explores their development from hastily adapted merchant ships to the launch of HMS Argus, the first aircraft carrier to have a full-length flight deck, and shows how they paved the way for the aircraft carriers of the future.

Italian Battleships of World War II

Italian Battleships of World War II PDF Author: Mark Stille
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
ISBN: 9781849083805
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 48

Book Description
Often overlooked as a naval power of WWII, Italy's Regia Marina was, upon the declaration of war against France, the fourth largest navy in the world. Despite its numbers, the Italian fleet was made up of largely obsolete vessels, none being equipped with radar, and had a reputation for having inadequately-trained crews. Added to these drawbacks, the Italian commanders did not enjoy the discretion of command at sea that their counterparts in the service of other nations did, being directed closely by the Supermarina (Italian Naval Headquarters). Despite these obstacles, and the heavy losses inflicted upon the fleet by the Royal Navy while in harbour at Taranto, the battleships of the Italian Navy enjoyed a good reputation for being well-designed, and served with courage and determination at Punto Stilo/Calabria, Sirte, Cape Spartivento, and Cape Matapan. Mark Stille details, with the aid of many stunning photographs, including several from the Italian Navy's own archives, the battleships of one of the forgotten navies of WWII.

Without Wings

Without Wings PDF Author: Stephen Burke
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781425122164
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
Launched in 1938, and measuring over a quarter of a kilometre in length, the aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin was the largest ship ever built by Nazi Germany. She was to operate the most modern carrier aircraft in the western world, and as such was feared by Great Britain's Royal Navy. Planned as one of four carriers, the premature start to World War II ensured that the others never materialised, leaving the Graf Zeppelin as Germany's sole aircraft carrier. Afloat and 85 per cent complete as the war began, a combination of steel and manpower shortages, conspired to have the necessary work needed to complete her suspended. Moved to the waters of occupied Poland as protection from Allied bomber attacks, she languished there for a number of years before the strategic importance of such a ship was recognised and work on her once again began under direct orders from Adolf Hitler. Considered a greater threat to British sea power than Germany's massive twin battleships Bismarck and Tirpitz, many in the Royal Navy had concerns that Britain's powerful but largely aging surface fleet was ill prepared to cope with the German carrier. Surviving an attack by the RAF, she would eventually meet her end after receiving multiple bomb and torpedo hits in an orchestrated attack by Soviet ships and aircraft. Once on the seabed, she lay largely forgotten in post war Europe until the discovery of her wreck in June 2006, lying deep in the Baltic Sea. Drawing on previously unpublished documentation taken from numerous eyewitness accounts, this narrative tracks the incredible tale of Germany's sole aircraft carrier. A leviathan that could have altered the outcome of World War II, perhaps even making Germany the victor long before America had entered into the war.

Graf Zeppelin

Graf Zeppelin PDF Author: Jürgen Prommersberger
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781544206066
Category : Aircraft carriers
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
GRAF ZEPPELIN - THE ONLY GERMAN AIRCRAFT CARRIERThe German aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin was the lead ship in a class of two carriers of the same name ordered by the Kriegsmarine. She was the only aircraft carrier launched by Germany 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 on Graf Zeppelin began on 28 December 1936, when her keel was laid down at the Deutsche Werke shipyard in Kiel. Named in honor of Graf (Count) Ferdinand von Zeppelin, the ship was launched on 8 December 1938, and was 85% complete by the outbreak of World War II in September 1939. Graf Zeppelin was not completed and was never operational due to shifting construction priorities necessitated by the war. This book describes the history of Graf Zeppelin and includes many pictures from the different construction stages. You can join us for a walk below the deck as well and you can see the fitting out of a major warship there.
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