The Graf Zeppelin was Germanys only aircraft carrier in World War II - but it was never completed and never saw action. The ship was laid down on December 28th 1936 at Deutsche Werke shipyard in Kiel as Flugzeugträger "A" and was launched two years later on December 8th 1936. It was projected that the ship would be completed by the end of 1940 - but this never happened. An interesting detail is that in 1935, a German commission visited Japan to inspect the carrier Akagi to gain information about aircraft carrier specific construction details.
In April 1940 the construction was stopped as the focus of Germanys naval construction changed to U-boats and the work on all incomplete major surface ships was stopped. The already installed guns were used for coastal defenses in Norway and the ships was transferred to Gotenhafen.
In 1942 it got obvious that the German Kriegsmarine would need aircraft carrier for further actions of the major surface units and therefore the construction of the Graf Zeppelin was resumed. It was projected to complete the ship by the winter of 1943. The planned naval base for the carrier was Drontheim, at the south end of the Faettenfjord. At the same time, several cruise ships like the Potsdam , Gneisenau , Europa and the Prinz Eugen class cruiser Seydlitz were planed to be converted to aircraft carriers. In December of 1942 the Graf Zeppelin was again transferred to Kiel to continue the construction, but after the the battle of the Barents Sea against the convoy JW51B, the construction of all major surface units was finally stopped, at this time, the carrier was completed about 80%.
The file contains all the sounds and pcx files. Model is not my own creation. Wyrmshadow provided the animation files and Ares de Borg did the sounds. I merely put the pieces together and cleaned up the model for CivIII and added some what if pieces. A big thanks to everyone that helped out!
In April 1940 the construction was stopped as the focus of Germanys naval construction changed to U-boats and the work on all incomplete major surface ships was stopped. The already installed guns were used for coastal defenses in Norway and the ships was transferred to Gotenhafen.
In 1942 it got obvious that the German Kriegsmarine would need aircraft carrier for further actions of the major surface units and therefore the construction of the Graf Zeppelin was resumed. It was projected to complete the ship by the winter of 1943. The planned naval base for the carrier was Drontheim, at the south end of the Faettenfjord. At the same time, several cruise ships like the Potsdam , Gneisenau , Europa and the Prinz Eugen class cruiser Seydlitz were planed to be converted to aircraft carriers. In December of 1942 the Graf Zeppelin was again transferred to Kiel to continue the construction, but after the the battle of the Barents Sea against the convoy JW51B, the construction of all major surface units was finally stopped, at this time, the carrier was completed about 80%.
The file contains all the sounds and pcx files. Model is not my own creation. Wyrmshadow provided the animation files and Ares de Borg did the sounds. I merely put the pieces together and cleaned up the model for CivIII and added some what if pieces. A big thanks to everyone that helped out!
