Destruction of the Pocket Battleships. Graf Spee, Battle of the River Plate.
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- Опубликовано: 8 сен 2024
- The Treaty of Versailles placed a limit of ten thousand tons on new German ships. At the time other nations were building battleships three times this displacement. Presented with this problem, German engineers developed a novel solution: they designed the pocket battleship, a warship of relatively small size, with heavy armaments that could crush any non battleship vessel and use its speed to avoid any confrontation with a battleship. This in theory would mean the pocket battleships were unbeatable. The outbreak of war would prove reality to be quite different however.
The Treaty of Versailles drastically limited the size of the post world war one Kriegsmarine, under the Treaty, Germany could replace their old battleships but the new vessels had a limit of ten thousand tons. The most powerful vessel within these restrictions the designers could come up with was the Deutschland class. The three warships of the Deutschland-class were built between 1929 and 1936. The trio violated the weight restriction of 10,000 tons, tipping the scales at 12,500 tons. For the first time on a ship of this scale the hull was welded instead of riveted, a smoother surface meant less drag and a 15% weight saving. Another weight-saving measure was the use of diesel-centric propulsion which gave them a speed of 28 knots. They had an armoured belt of nearly 4 inches and deck armour of 2 inches. Each ship carried 6 11-inch guns housed in two 5.5 inch armoured turrets. Ships of other nations with similar displacement had only 8-inch guns, hence the term pocket battleship given to these vessels. Additionally they had 8 5.9 inch secondary guns and 8 torpedo tubes. Two Arado Ar 196 floatplane aircraft were carried aboard and launched from a catapult held amidships. These aircraft provided the vessel with the required eye in the sky and could attack with bombs and depth charges if required. The aircraft could then be recovered from the water via a crane. They were the first German vessel to be equipped with an early form of shipborne radar known as Seetakt.
Although design and start of construction had been undertaken during the Weimar Republic, by march 1933 Hitler had come to power and was present during the launch of two out of the three ships. By January 1936, all three had been commissioned into the German navy. They set out on various propaganda tours to show the world the might and ingenuity of Nazi Germany. The Graff Spee even visited Britain on a goodwill cruise in 1937. Although they had become a show of prestige for the Nazis, the truth of the pocket battleships was quite different. The British navy had a number of fast, 15 inch gunned battleships that the pocket battleships could neither out run, nor out fight. They even proved inferior in Comparison to heavy cruisers being constructed by other nations at the time. Take the USS Wichita for example. Launched just three years after the Graff Spee. Not only was she 4 knots faster but she was far more heavily armoured. With the Deutschland-class having their pre-war aura of invincibility shattered, the Kriegsmarine reclassified them as Heavy Cruisers. By late January 1943, Hitler had lost complete faith in the Deutschland concept after their use in commerce raiding had proved a failure and wanted the two remaining ships scrapped. After pleading with Hitler to spare the ships, the admiralty persuaded him that the vessels could be converted into aircraft carriers. plans were prepared, but the overall cost and duration of this project meant it was dropped and both ships, on the whole, spent the rest of their career idle in port. By early April 1945 both ships had been sunk by RAF Lancaster bombers in Kiel harbour. A miserable end to the legend of the pocket battleship.
Excellent video. Brief, to the point, accurately informative. The "pocket battleships" were supposed to be able to outrun anything they couldn't outgun, but the Rodney's were already faster and launched earlier. The USS Wichita (CA45), whose advantages are well presented here, beat the Germans using a smaller hull only a year after the last Deutschland launched. The Italians launched the Littorio's in 1937. Even Japan with its 4 Mogami's in their final form had superior speed and armor with slightly inferior armament (not considering torpedoes - Japan had the best in the world by far) in 1937. The German's were wagging their dog from the git-go; telling the world how superior they were military while the world knew this wasn't so.
Yes! Exactly right! Thank you! I still play the Graff Spee in World of War Ships! My wife bought her for me LOL!!!
the "Deutshland" class was 5 knots faster than Rodney and Nelson. Graf Spee was launched 3,5 years before Wichita, and about 1100 tons heavier in standard displacement. The US cruiser had a greater maximum thickness of its armour belt, but it covered a much smaller area of the ship. CA 45 had a 4-5 knot higher top speed, but the "pocket battleships" had a faster acceleration. The firepower of the German ship was a lot greater, its 283mm shell was more than double the weight, and had a much higher velocity than the US 8" weapon, the bursting charge was also several times more powerful. With a more aggressive commander Graf Spee would defeat any allied cruiser, unless they manage to run away.
@@niclasjohansson4333 😅😊o
@@niclasjohansson4333 Here's the thing though - they were lightly armored enough to be meaningfully damaged by cruisers. And British cruisers used lighter shells than the Americans.
British cruisers often ran on packs.
The Deutschlands could destroy a cruiser, yes. But apparently not quickly and only if the cruiser chose to stay in range, because they were much faster.
The Deutschlands were designed at a time when radio was a thing and could not outrun or force a confrontation with cruisers.
The RN had three battlecruisers that didn't have a Kriegsmarine to otherwise occupy them, so they could be called in by cruisers training the Deutschlands.
So it was overbuilt for a raider, in a big fleet battle they get torn up just like a cruiser, and their guns weren't meaningful enough in a fleet battle.
New Zealand 🙏 were in a battle with the Germans in 1939 long before pearl harbor respect for a small country willing to fight
Graf Spee and her sisters were Heavy Cruisers but they were remarkable ships that were ahead of their time. The Diesel engines gave tremendous range and could change speed at a moments notice. The 11 inch guns were just monstrous hence the "Pocket Battleship" nickname. They were probably the best ship for what Germany needed.
they went classed until feb 1940 has heavy cruisers
Oddly enough, the “Pocket Battleships” were the same length as the DDG 1000 “Zumwalt” class in the US NAVY. Also 3 ships in both classes.
They only had 3 inch Armour, not 4 inch. The pocket battleship name was an invention of the British newspapers. The Germans were fully aware that they were closer to being heavy cruisers than anything else.
While you are right that the armored belt was 3.1 inches thick, behind the belt is an armored bulkhead of 0.8 inch thickness, which acts as splinter protection. This gave them overall side protection of a fraction under 4 inches. Yes the Germans were fully aware of their limitations. But that was not what they projected to other nations, hens the press having the impression that they where small battleships.
What ever you might think of the ships you can’t fault the bravery of all the crews involved!
Excellent. But the pronunciation of “Graf Spee” grates on the ears.
These ships were designed before the reality of naval air power was fully understood. As a matter of fact, hand to hand they could beat any cruiser then in service, but were not supposed to fight three at the same time, whatever class they might be. Luck also played a role in the River Plate battle, in two matters: first, the pocket battleship didn't began firing full armour piercing rounds, but semi-armour piercing ones. This tactical error meant that much less damage was done in Exeter than could have been done otherwise, and so, the british were lucky once. Then twice, as none of the eight rounds that hit Exeter had hit a vital place. Anyway, after a courageuos fight, Exeter was after all defeated. Had the proper grenades being used, and a single one hit a magazine or engineering space the follow up battle would be quite different. Also the highly successfull mission in the Atlantic by Admiral Scheer was not even mentioned, so, after all, the video left a lot to be desired. After 1941, and the growing influence of Coastal Command in the North Atlantic waters, the basic idea of commerce raiding by surface ships was turned meaningless. What about a revised version?
There are several errors. 1) The British did not score "60 hits" on the Graf Spee. That was an initial report by a non-military British envoy, who circled the ship in a small boat when it arrrived in port. He erroneously counted shell fragment scars as hits. Many of the British shells exploded on impact with the water, and their shell fragments were thought to be shell hits. This caused a momentary panic in the Admiralty, when they thought they had a problem with their shells. 2) Using both US Naval War College and Royal Navy War College methodologies, the two Leanders were superior to Graff Spee at ranges less than 21,000 yards. With Exeter, by the N2 law, the British force should have sunk Graf Spee in about 30 minutes of fire, taking less than 25% damage. The sad fact is that the British botched the battle. The only reason it was declared a victory was that Churchill was under pressure at the Admiralty after the loss of a CV, BB and ARC, and was desperate to declare a victory.
A great story and mighty ship.
The Germans called them heavy cruisers. The British gave the name pocket battleships because of their 11"guns.
the Germans never called this class 'Pocket battleships', they were a class of cruiser, that was a name given by the press, and her guns are not battleship size guns nor her armour battleship armour
Actually they should have both put into service to accompany Tirpitz and destroy escorts to hit the Murmansk convoys.
They didn't have the speed required for the role expected of them.
Nice.
Spanish: Rio de la Plata- River of Silver.
Real german title. Panzer schipffe
60? or was it 16 hits?
The failure of intelligence contributed to the PB failures. Commerce raiders were an ideal role, and it is arguable that the RN would send battleships to counter them. The Bismarck was a different matter. 😮
The RN was well aware of the importance of shipping. Minus the Bismarck, the RN didn't have a lot to occupy their battlecruisers.
I'd argue it's terrible for commerce raiding. Overpowered and too slow, yet not well enough armored against cruisers.
A Lancaster heavy bomber actually became good at sinking ships?? Dude that thing was versatile!
Are weak armor sucked could of had 9 or 10 inch
And just how do you think that could be achieved on a 10,000ton maximum displacement? And it's could have had, not could of had.