700,000 tons, roughly 2000' long and mounting Gustav guns at 31.5". Its 12 secondary 9" guns could be the primary guns on a heavy cruiser. Thought of this when browsing the "Modern Nazi Germany" thread.
After the Nazi victory over Russia in late 1942, surrender under mild terms of the British Empire in 1943 after the second Battle for Britain and little involvement from the US for lack of a Pearl Harbor attack (I am shooting from the hip here), the Fuhrer demanded the implementation of plan Z. Originally intended to challenge the naval power of the UK, these plans were expanded even more to ensure total supremacy of the seas.
Aircraft Carriers were beginning to show greater promise, however Hitlers love for battleships resulted in orders being put forward for 8 battleships of the H44 class and 1 battleship of the Der Fuhrer class.
Constant revisions to the H44 class resulted in construction being delayed greatly on the first 3 hulls and at one point construction was halted as better, faster jet planes proved that a fast moving fighter could sink a large ship during tests of new cruise missile type weapons in 1946. Still, Der Fuhrer saw its hull laid down and a full year of construction put into the ships gigantic hull before being delayed.
With Hitlers sudden death from complications with drug use and possible foul play, a period of economic and military reform would see the Nazi old guard pushed out of power and Germany move towards a system of governance resembling modern OTL Singapore more than anything else.
With a mild conflict in the pacific proving the strength of Carriers, it was decided that only one H44 class would be completed as it was already far along in construction. The remaining two hulls would be converted into carriers. Z-plan became C-plan because I am un-original and soon Germany pushed for a carrier fleet of 12 super carriers ranging from 90,000 to 120,000 tons and covering a half dozen different classes (few ships were similar to each other due to many hull conversions and changes.
Then we come to Der Fuhrer, now renamed 'Odin' because I am still un-original. The hull was already laid on the gigantic 700,000 ton ship, though little other work was done. Finally it was decided that 'Odin' would become a massive new aircraft carrier. By 1957, the huge new ship finally rolled down the slip way and ran over Ireland by accident.
So with this revised ship, what sort of capabilities can we expect from such a gigantic carrier. I would expect somewhere in the area of 500 -800 possible aircraft, somewhere in the area of 15k crew. Would it keep any of its guns? I would expect it to have some anti-aircraft weapons that would be pretty insane.
Another question is a upgrade later in its life. I expect this white elephant will start out with a couple of world tours, then after five years never leave the dock. At first it would be a naval academy in its own right, but later it would become a training ship with a skeleton crew.
Suddenly, in 1993, it is decided to give the ship a full remake as part of some fiscal stimulus package of sorts. New AA systems, new radar and tracking, new advanced nuclear reactors and a completely new compliment of crew and aircraft. Finished in 1996, the new reactors make the ship far less expensive to operate and remove the need for so much fuel.
When I figure out how to do a Shipbucket in photoshop I might actually take a swing at this.
After the Nazi victory over Russia in late 1942, surrender under mild terms of the British Empire in 1943 after the second Battle for Britain and little involvement from the US for lack of a Pearl Harbor attack (I am shooting from the hip here), the Fuhrer demanded the implementation of plan Z. Originally intended to challenge the naval power of the UK, these plans were expanded even more to ensure total supremacy of the seas.
Aircraft Carriers were beginning to show greater promise, however Hitlers love for battleships resulted in orders being put forward for 8 battleships of the H44 class and 1 battleship of the Der Fuhrer class.
Constant revisions to the H44 class resulted in construction being delayed greatly on the first 3 hulls and at one point construction was halted as better, faster jet planes proved that a fast moving fighter could sink a large ship during tests of new cruise missile type weapons in 1946. Still, Der Fuhrer saw its hull laid down and a full year of construction put into the ships gigantic hull before being delayed.
With Hitlers sudden death from complications with drug use and possible foul play, a period of economic and military reform would see the Nazi old guard pushed out of power and Germany move towards a system of governance resembling modern OTL Singapore more than anything else.
With a mild conflict in the pacific proving the strength of Carriers, it was decided that only one H44 class would be completed as it was already far along in construction. The remaining two hulls would be converted into carriers. Z-plan became C-plan because I am un-original and soon Germany pushed for a carrier fleet of 12 super carriers ranging from 90,000 to 120,000 tons and covering a half dozen different classes (few ships were similar to each other due to many hull conversions and changes.
Then we come to Der Fuhrer, now renamed 'Odin' because I am still un-original. The hull was already laid on the gigantic 700,000 ton ship, though little other work was done. Finally it was decided that 'Odin' would become a massive new aircraft carrier. By 1957, the huge new ship finally rolled down the slip way and ran over Ireland by accident.
So with this revised ship, what sort of capabilities can we expect from such a gigantic carrier. I would expect somewhere in the area of 500 -800 possible aircraft, somewhere in the area of 15k crew. Would it keep any of its guns? I would expect it to have some anti-aircraft weapons that would be pretty insane.
Another question is a upgrade later in its life. I expect this white elephant will start out with a couple of world tours, then after five years never leave the dock. At first it would be a naval academy in its own right, but later it would become a training ship with a skeleton crew.
Suddenly, in 1993, it is decided to give the ship a full remake as part of some fiscal stimulus package of sorts. New AA systems, new radar and tracking, new advanced nuclear reactors and a completely new compliment of crew and aircraft. Finished in 1996, the new reactors make the ship far less expensive to operate and remove the need for so much fuel.
When I figure out how to do a Shipbucket in photoshop I might actually take a swing at this.
