Naval History Forums

No, I have only the one Hadeler book. Improper weight calculations caused GZ to have a natural list of 4.5 degrees. This was noticed only after the project had been restarted, and an asymmetric bulge was added to fix the problem. It also increased bunkerage, I believe, and enhanced torpedo protectio...

Yes, the catapults were designed to launch a total of eighteen planes. I have the same sources you've listed, along with Whitley and the 2008 Warship International article. (I've got a copy of Hadeler's Fluzeugschiffe, but it's printed in Fraktur, and my eyes threaten to bleed every time I look at i...

You are correct that the catapults effectively restrict the forward end of the flight deck to a mere 10m or so. You are incorrect that the wingtips are not a matter of concern, unless the Germans unerringly lift both wheels from the deck simultaneously. We can ignore the requirement of simultaneous ...

You could build a small castle on the flight deck, and the Fi 167 could take off over it, I think. But it would be ridiculous to build a small castle on the flight deck, and it was ridiculous to foul the front end of the flight deck with protrusions of any sort. With them there, the distance for rol...

Neither the Ju-87C nor the Fi-167 were dependent on catapult launch. The Bf-109T was the purpose of the catapult trollies, allowing the Bf-109 to retract it's landing gear during catapult launch. I doubt that it was dependent on catapult, either. That misses the point, doesn't it? Obviously these p...

It would have to be a small strike. How many launches could the catapults perform before they had to be recharged?

There's a good book that covers the general topic of naval cooperation between the Germans and Japanese, Reluctant Allies. The Japanese were kind enough to give the Germans a tour of Akagi...then took the ship in hand for a complete reconstruction. Some further exchanges took place, but the Germans ...

How many decades of practice did the Germans have in fighter interception from a carrier platform? And in launching and recovering anti-ship strikes from a carrier?

But he's catching on pretty quickly. Relatively quickly. Sorta.

Fingers crossed...!

Hornfischer's new book details USS Washington's engagement with Japanese battleships in the Solomons. Fought at near max range with radar controlled gunnery. The KMS ships, if caught at night, would have a problem with the USN BBs, I think. Actually, Washington's gunfire was at short to medium rang...

Hyperwar, I find, is MUCH too US-centered for my taste. That makes no sense to me. There's a lot of German material at this site, so it doesn't suit my tastes...? There's tons of good stuff at Hyperwar etc. Is there any chance of moving from html toward pdf? Seeing the document itself is often help...

I agree with you, and I've found nothing but complimentary descriptions of the Fieseler. However, someone somewhere had made the decision to stick with Stukas as the only attack aircraft, so it was an administrative matter, not one of aircraft design. I'm not sure why the decision was made, perhaps ...

The I./JG 77 was active with 109T's by 1941. About a dozen Fieseler torpedo planes were built, but they would not have served aboard GZ.

You're confusing the completion of construction with readiness for operations. There's no possibility of getting the ship ready in 1941.

How many replenishment ships were lost during Bismarck's operation? After that, the Germans didn't plan a single sortie for their turbine warships. They did plan one for a pocket battleship, but after her torpedo damage, they gave up on that, too. Only the armed merchantmen continued raiding sorties...