Code - 3MGER2

£49.95  

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Description - GERMAN Z PLAN OF 1939 In the months before the outbreak of the Second World War, Grand Admiral Raeder, head of the German Kriegsmarine, submitted a plan for the expansion of the German Navy to be ready for war by 1944/1945. This plan was submitted to Hitler at the regular Fuehrer conferences on Naval Affairs, and the initial plans were rejected by him. However, as time went by an outline was finally accepted, although the exact numbers of each class and type of ship varied from time to time. For this reason many of the references to the Z Plan in English sources quote very different numbers of vessels – this does not necessarily mean that they are “wrong”, merely that they are looking at the plan as proposed at different times. Whilst the plan was specific in the classes of the larger vessels involved, it was always envisaged that light cruiser and destroyer classes would evolve as the plan progressed. To this end we have made two assumptions, namely that the additional 6 scout cruisers would take the form of the Spahkreuzers laid down in 1941, and that the 68 destroyers would follow the form of the 56 destroyers built, laid down or ordered for the Navy, Z-1 to Z-56, and that the remaining 12 destroyers would have followed the design of the 1945 destroyer project. No numbers were ever allocated to the 1945 destroyers and it may well be that a more modest design would have prevailed by the time they were laid down. Finally, we have avoided including Battleships of the late war projects, H-41 to H-44 as although the H class were likely to have been completed to the slightly better armoured, and thus slower, H-41 design, the later variants were simply design projects not realistic building plans. Prior to being launched, German warships were not named, but referred to as, in the case of Bismark, Battleship F. We therefore do not know the names of any of the ships not launched, though Peter Strasser has been suggested for Aircraft Carrier “B”. The names Friedrich Der Grosse and Grossedeutschland for Battleships H and J (The letter I is not used) appears to be mere speculation on the part of British sources, and the latter would appear most unlikely in view of the renaming of the Pocket Battleship Deutschland as the Lutzow. After Z-22, the Kriegsmarine reverted to their earlier custom of not naming vessels smaller than light cruisers and even Z-1 to Z-22 were usually referred to by their Zerstorer number. Contents:- 8 Battleships N3102 x 1 N3102A x 1 N3101 x 6 5 Battlecruisers N3152 b x 2 N3151 x 3 2 Aircraft Carriers N3201 x 2 3 “Pocket” Battleships N3153 N3153B x 2 5 Heavy Cruisers N3301 x 3 N3302 x 2 23 Light Cruisers N3308/9/11 x 1 N3310 x 3 N3307A x 11 N3307 x 6, 68 Destroyers N3504 x 16 N3503 x 6 N3502 x 17 N3502C x 1 N3502D x 1 N3501 x 5 N3501A x 5 N3500A x 5 N3500 x 12