Knowles, Daniel Graf Zeppelin

The Story of Hitler's Aircraft Carrier

During the Second World War, the battleship, the most important vessel in any navy, was superseded by a new achievement in shipbuilding: the aircraft carrier. This was to change naval warfare forever. However, when thinking about the Kriegsmarine during this period, it is often overlooked that Germany had also embarked on the construction of an aircraft carrier. The Graf Zeppelin was designed in the late 1930s and was the largest ship ever built in Germany. As the lead ship of its class, it represented the Kriegsmarine's efforts to build a balanced ocean-going fleet capable of projecting German naval power across the oceans. Although it was 85 per cent complete when war broke out in September 1939, the Graf Zeppelin became a white elephant, a ship full of promise but ultimately disappointing. Hitler's war came too soon for the Kriegsmarine, and construction of Germany's only aircraft carrier was never completed. Graf Zeppelin: The Story of Hitler's Aircraft Carrier tells the full story of the Kriegsmarine's monumental efforts and ultimate failure to crown the German fleet with the most coveted asset in the navy: an aircraft carrier.