Names/designations for major weapons and vehicles of a 2017 Third Reich?

Let's start with your bog-standard implausible "Third Reich beats UK, conquers USSR, survives to the present day" scenario. It's not exactly the top economy in the world, but it's not a basket case either. Put it on par with, say, OTL Russia.

In this ATL Year of Our Lord 2017, what would be some likely names and/or designations for the Reich's main weapons and combat vehicles (be they land, sea or air)?

(I know that OTL's Bundeswehr is an easy source of ideas, but let's not dip into that well too much.)
 

BigBlueBox

Banned
Big cat names for tanks would likely still be used (Tiger, Panther, etc.). Ships would likely be named after prominent Nazis. Maybe we'd have an SMS Hitler.
 
Big cat names for tanks would likely still be used (Tiger, Panther, etc.). Ships would likely be named after prominent Nazis. Maybe we'd have an SMS Hitler.

It wouldn't be SMS unless they restored the Kaiser. The Kriegsmarine didn't use a ship prefix.

And what do you mean "still be used"?

Personally, I don't think they'd ever name a ship "Adolf Hitler" probably for the same reason Hitler got paranoid about the name of the cruiser Deutschland. Other politicians definitely, plus maybe re-using some World War I names. Names after generals is always a possibility for ships. Apparently the H-battleships were supposed to be named after medieval German knights and other heroes, so they'd use a few names like that too.

However, if there ever were a German warship named Adolf Hitler, it would probably be a supercarrier (or an attempt at one), although more fittingly perhaps a massive nuclear battleship built in the 60s after Hitler dies which is the largest battleship ever built (realistically they'd probably stick with a "smaller" nuclear battleship although it would probably be about the size of a Yamato class, and they'd probably build at least one nuclear battleship).
 
A nuclear battleship named Adolf Hitler would be the most Third Reich mega(lomania)-project ever. I just need to find a way to work it into my AH trilogy somehow.

Can you tell me more about the possible names for the H-class battleships? I've never come across any speculation on that front (granted, I haven't read an enormous amount about them).

Any more ideas/suggestions/comments/bricks hurled through my windows?
 
Apparently the H-battleships were supposed to be named after medieval German knights and other heroes, so they'd use a few names like that too.

As you've mentioned, (in the "Table Talks", IIRC) Hitler describes how he does not want any ships to be named after him or Germany, but he was open to ships being named after the medieval knight Götz von Berlichingen. The thing about that is that Götz von B isn't just any medieval German knight, as the Wiki article linked there reveals. He's something like the German equivalent of the French knights in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. He's famous for saying Er kann mich am Arsch lecken, "[tell my enemy] he can lick my a**."

I think all vehicles would continue to be named in the Sd. Kfz. series and the Pz.Kpfw. series for tanks, with animal names remaining common. There aren't many deviations from the animal names (and I can't recall which of the non-animal names were even official).

Aircraft would probably continue to be named in the same way, with the manufacturer code and a number, although perhaps they would have changed to a system more like the US one in the 60s-80s. That would use J-numbers for fighters (Jäger), probably K-numbers for bombers (Kämpfer), S-numbers for attack planes (Schlactflugzeuge), etc.

If the old system were retained the numbers would be less and less sequential, as there would be a desire to name similar aircraft after famous ones. More so than in other systems, series of the type 707, 727, 737, etc. would appear, because in German the numbers from 21 to 99 are read backwards compared to English. So successors of the Ju 88 might eventually get to numbers like 838, 848 and so on ("eight hundred eight and thirty, eight hundred eight and forty...)

Warships would follow some older naming conventions, but some new ones would likely start. U-boat captains holding the Knight's Cross would be one source of names; perhaps there would be a switch from numbered destroyers to names like Gunther Prien. There was a pre-war convention of naming civilian ships, but not warships, after Nazis, so I think the names of dead Nazis would be used for KdF passenger ships rather than carriers.

Another category is guided missiles. It's difficult to see Germany developing many guided missiles without designating them in a straightforward way with names like, say, LL-1 (Luft-Luft, Air-Air).
 

FBKampfer

Banned
K71/99 sturmkarabiner (assault carbine)
G57/09 sebsladergewer (self loading rifle)
Mg42/50 Maschinengewehr (machine gun)
SSG03 Scharfschützengewer (sharpshooter rifle)

S.Pz. 94 Ausführung D schützenpanzer (IFV 94 version D)
Panzer 87 Ausführung E Standardpanzer "Löwe III" (Panzer 87 version E standard tank "Lion III")
Panzerhaubitzer 87 "Mammut" (Armored howitzer 87 "Mammoth")

Typ LXII Reader-class Raketekreuzer (A) (Type 62 missile cruiser (nuclear powered))
Typ LXXVIII Raketezerströrer (type 78 missile destroyer)
Typ 528 Unterseeboot (A) (type 528 submarine (nuclear powered)

Großdeutschland-class Flugzeugträger



Ummm..... Hard to say how aircraft would be named, as they're typically named for the manufacturer, and we have no idea what companies would survive to present day.
 
Last edited:
Top