Germany - Interwar Capital Ship Proposals

[DG_Alpha]

A little something I felt like doing over the weekend:

Design Study I/10
Germany began early to look for a suitable design that could fill the battleship slot set by the Versailles Treaty. The first studies were made in 1920 in preparation to replace the oldest ship, Preussen. France was considered the main enemy with her main ships armed with 305mm and 340mm guns and the German answer was monitor-esque ship with two 380mm twin turrets but weak durability as well (Design II/10). The alternative was this heavy cruiser design: Armed with four 210mm twin turrets, medium armor and high speed, appearing essentially like an up-scaled early Emden.

This design was not convincing for the navy as well, as it lacked the necessary firepower for a battleship. Several years would pass until the final design of the famous ‘Panzerschiffe’ came to be.

Technical data:
Length: 176m
Width: 18,8m
Draft: 6,5m
Speed: 32kn (80000HP, two shafts, oil-fired boilers)
Armor: belt 80-100mm, deck 30mm
Weapons:
-4x2x210mm main artillery
-4x1x88mm flak
-4x2x500mm torpedos



The design also made an appearance recently as the basis for the German Yorck-class in World of Warships.

[emperor_andreas]

Awesome!

[Krakatoa]

Interesting ship DG_Alpha. Essentially no better than any of the other 10,000 ton cruiser designs for the Treaty cruisers.

[Gollevainen]

Nice. Are you planning to do the other proposals that led into Panzerschiffes?

[smurf]

"Essentially no better than any of the other 10,000 ton cruiser designs for the Treaty cruisers."
Interesting comment, Krakatoa.
Technically, because the design used the standard German 8.2in/210mm gun, it was a capital ship under Washington rules, though actually very like treaty cruisers.
Depending on how much 80 - 100mm armour was carried, 1/10 would probably come out at somewhat over 10,000tons, as did the Counties when reconstructed with a 4in belt in 1935/6.
"Article XII No vessel of war of any of the Contracting Powers, hereafter laid down, other than a capital ship, shall carry a gun with a calibre in excess of 8 inches (203 millimetres)."
Of course Germany was not one of the Washington "contracting powers", but governed by the Treaty of Versaiiles.

[eswube]

Very interesting.

And I second Gollevainen's question about other pre-Panzerschiff design proposals?

[maomatic]

Fantastic work!
It would be nice to see some more early "Ersatz-Preußen" designs.

[Hood]

Very nice work, never seen this design before so this has been an educational thread.

In an AU sense, it makes an interesting what-if for what a Hawkins-rival might have looked like if the Great War had not happened.

[Tempest]

Very interesting

[DG_Alpha]

Very well, by popular demand:

Design Study II/10
The design mentioned before was the monitor-design. A ship of 124m length, it was armed with two 380mm twin turrets and a collection of smaller weapons (contrary to popular belief, the Treaty of Versailles did not limit the gund caliber, but the Germans assumed that the allies would probably veto anything that would go over 280mm, the gun caliber of the remaining pre-dreadnoughts). This design offered the demanded firepower, but lacked in speed and durability.

Technical data:
-length: 124m
-width: 21,4m
-draft: 6,8m
-speed: 22kn (25000HP, two shafts)
-armor: belt 200mm, deck 30mm
-weapons:
-2x2x380mm main artillery
-2x2x150mm secondary artillery
-2x1x88mm flak
-2x500mm torpedos (underwater tubes)