Widar_Thule Players 322 posts Report post #1 Posted September 12, 2017 AUTHENTIC GRAF ZEPPELIN Instead of taking their current approach to representing historic warships, I advocate that WOWS would strive to represent historic ships following an "AUTHENTIC" approach. To be sure, I do NOT mean a "SIMULATOR" or "REALISTIC" approach, but an "AUTHENTIC" approach. For those that do not understand the difference between the concepts: · AUTHENTIC - "Conforming to an original and/or the real world so as to reproduce essential features". · SIMULATOR - "A computer simulation (or "sim") is an attempt to model a real-life or hypothetical situation on a computer under real world conditions". · REALISTIC - "Resembling or simulating real life (conditions)". WOWS is NOT striving to be REALISTIC and I do NOT advocate that WOWS should be REALISTIC. Instead WOWS can and should be AUTHENTIC in their approach to historic ships, because if WOWS is not even that, then one might as well start playing some fantasy space combat game and not a game featuring historic ships whose statistics and performance are based on essential features of the real world historic ships.A ship in WOWS can be both AUTHENTIC and GAMEPLAY BALANCED, the two are not mutually exclusive. THE REASON FOR THIS TOPIC I post this topic for the benefit of the WOWS developers and graphical artists who are involved with the re-design of the WOWS GRAF ZEPPELIN. When looking at the outward appearance and characteristics of the GAMESCOM GRAF ZEPPELIN it becomes clear that the definitive study on the GRAF ZEPPELIN published by author Ulrich H.J. Israel in 1994 titled "Flugzeugträger Graf Zeppelin" has been overlooked by the WOWS developers and graphical artists. That book is probably the best single source on all aspects of the ship and her armament. Because Ulrich Israel his book in is German and there is no English language translation of it I have made an effort to translate and present key parts of that source, combined with other excellent source material from authors such as Siegfried Breyer, Gerhard Koop, Manfred Griehl, Adolf Galland, the detailed book series "Die deutsche Luftfahrt" (which consists of 35 volumes) and many other sources into this single topic. My goal is to provide as much overlooked data on GRAF ZEPPELIN to the WOWS developers as possible in the English language so that it hopefully is used during the re-design process of the WOWS GRAF ZEPPELIN. It is my goal and interest to see GRAF ZEPPELIN, which from a military technological point of view was a truly unique ship, depicted in WOWS in an authentic manner. RELEASE DATE OF THE REDESIGNED WOWS GRAF ZEPPELIN It would be best to NOT AGAIN RUSH GRAF ZEPPELIN TO COMPLETION LIKE WAS DONE FOR GAMESCOM. Instead it is better to take the time to get the ship right and display it in an AUTHENTIC manner before release, because experience shows that WOWS ships rushed to stores are usually never authentically corrected in order not to "hurt" the feelings of customers which have already bought the ship. I have bought the ships during GAMESCOM on release date but I do NO want to see the redesigned GRAF ZEPPELIN rushed to completion again, take the time to get her authentic and right! AUTHENTIC GRAF ZEPPELIN An AUTHENTIC German aircraft carrier GRAF ZEPPELIN in a 1943-1945 configuration, which is the equipment state that WOWS representatives have stated will release the WOWS GRAF ZEPPELIN in, has some unique ESSENTIAL features which should be represented. These features will be described in the following topic. In WOWS increasingly we see more and more concepts to try and come up "national" characteristics for new ships and ship lines to try and make them unique and interesting. For GRAF ZEPPELIN these "national" characteristics do not need to be made up, since the ship really was a unique design, the main points of which will be listed here. One thing to point out before we present the list is about the Hanger Deck space of GRAF ZEPPELIN, since this is usually overlooked when this ship is discussed. The GRAF ZEPPELIN was a very large Aircraft Carrier, the largest purpose built Aircraft Carrier up till 1942 and arguably up till the end of the war. The real world 1943 GRAF ZEPPELIN at 33,550 tons had 5515 m2 of Hanger Deck space, which was double that of the 36,000 tons LEXINGTON (2674 m2 hangar deck space) and the 25,500 tons ENTERPRISE (3195 m2 hanger deck space) had only 58% of the Hanger Deck space that GRAF ZEPPELIN (5515 m2) had. On 30 May 1942 the Supreme Commander of the German War Navy (Erich Raeder) ordered that the Air-Wing (including reserves) of GRAF ZEPPELIN in 1943 was to consist of 48x naval Me 109 G-6 (later designated Me 155 A-1) and 54x naval Ju 87 D-5 (later designated Ju 87 E-1). Given the Hanger Deck space on GRAF ZEPPELIN of 5515 m2 storing up to 102x Aircraft would certainly have been possible. The Hanger Dimensions are hard indisputable facts when you study the Hanger Dimensions of the Hanger Decks of GRAF ZEPPELIN, LEXINGTON and ENTERPRISE. In WOWS the LEXINGTON gets 72x Aircraft, the ENTERPRISE gets 96x Aircraft and the GAMESCOM GRAF ZEPPELIN gets 72x Aircraft. The ENTERPRISE in WOWS gets to use her RESERVE aircraft which were carried on board in a disassembled state, these RESERVE aircraft however the WOWS ENTERPRISE is allowed to use in a naval battle so there is NO reason to not also allow a redesigned GRAF ZEPPELIN to do that as well in WOWS then. Giving a re-designed WOWS GRAF ZEPPELIN the 102x Aircraft (including RESERVES) that were in real life ORDERED for her on 30 May 1942 and which her huge Hanger Deck space could store would be authentic. Balancing could be done for the 102x Aircraft GRAF ZEPPELIN, just as has been done for the 85x Aircraft KAGA and 96x Aircraft ENTERPRISE. Since the Tier 8 Carriers are also often as a result of WOWS Match- Making forced to send their Tier 8 Aircraft against the superb Tier 9 and 10 AAA of Cruisers and Battleships. Having a high number of reserve Aircraft makes both a 85x Aircrft Kaga and a 96x ENTERPRISE fun to play, in like manner a 102x Aircraft GRAF ZEPPELIN will be fun to play which is a good thing for a 50+ real world money ship. Based mainly on the excellent and most probably definitive GRAF ZEPPELIN primary source study published in 1994 by former Fregattenkapitän (Commander) of the DDR Volksmarine Ulrich Israel the following authentic characteristics for a WOWS GRAF ZEPPELIN can be listed. Since the book by Ulrich Israel is in German I have translated some of what is in the book into English to make this information available. Converting the authentic characteristics of the real world GRAF ZEPPELIN into WOWS requires making some compromises in order to let the WOWS GRAF ZEPPELIN both fit in with the other Tier 8 Carriers and still have the a decent balance between authenticity and game play, the following points are such a authenticity/game play balance compromise which would enable a unique and powerful but not overpowered re-design of the WOWS GRAF ZEPPELIN: In 1943 GRAF ZEPPELIN would authentically launch an IN-AIR Carrier-Group (Strike Force) consisting of: 6+8+8 = 22x Fighter-Aircraft (Me 155 A-1) and 8+8+8 = 24x Multi-Purpose-Aircraft (Ju 87 E-1). This authentic data can be translated into WOWS terminology which fits into the current Tier 8 Carrier design. An IN-AIR Carrier-Group for the re-designed WOWs GRAF ZEPPELIN is proposed which consists of 4+4+4= 12x (5+5+5=15x with AIR SUPREMACY Captain's skill) Me 155 A-1 Fighter-Aircraft and 5+5+5=15x Ju 87 E-1 (6+6+6=18x with AIR SUPREMACY Captain's skill) Ju 87 E-1 Multi-Purpose-Aircraft for a total IN-AIR strength of 27x Aircraft (33x with AIR SUPREMACY Captain's skill). This is still less than ENTERPRISE which has 36x IN-AIR Aircraft in WOWS. In WOWS game terminology the authentic GRAF ZEPPELIN 1943 IN-AIR Carrier-Group strength (Strike Force) would translate into 6x Squadrons total: 3x Fighter-Squadrons each with 4x/5x Me 155 A-1 = 12x/15x Me 155 A-1 and 3x Multi-Purpose-Squadrons each with 5x/6x Ju 87 E-1 = 15x/18x Ju 87 E-1. The size of 4x/5x (Me 155 A-1) and 5x/6x (Ju 87 E-1) IN-AIR Aircraft per WOWS GRAF ZEPPELIN Squadron is therefore not fully authentic but as close as possible when compared to the other Tier 8 Carriers in WOWS and as such a game-play compromise. GRAF ZEPPELIN would authentically have launched 5x Squadrons with 8x Aircraft per squadron, and 1x Group-Staff Squadron-Flight with 6x Aircraft. The authentic total launched by GRAF ZEPPELIN: 46x Aircraft. It is proposed that in WOWS the GRAF ZEPPELIN would only launch 27x Aircraft (or 33x Aircraft with the AIR SUPREMACY Captain's skill) in order to fit in with the other Tier 8 Carriers in WOWS. Authentically GRAF ZEPPELIN's 2x Fighter-Squadrons and 3x Multi-Purpose-Squadrons each consisted of 12x Flight-Aircraft and 6x Reserve-Aircraft. It is proposed for WOWS to make that 4x/5x (with AIR SUPREMACY Captain's skill) for the Fighter-Squadrons and 5x/6x (with AIR SUPREMACY Captain's skill) for the Multi-Purpose-Squadrons. Authentically GRAF ZEPPELIN's Group-Staff Squadron-Flight consisted of only Fighter-Aircraft: 6x Flight-Aircraft and 6x Reserve-Aircraft. It is proposed for WOWS to make that 4x/5x (with AIR SUPREMACY Captain's skill) for the Group-Staff Squadron-Flight. GRAF ZEPPELIN's 1943 authentic Total Aircraft strength: 54x Ju 87 E-1 and 48x Me 155 A-1 = 102x Total Aircraft. Of that number 8+8+6= 22x Me 155 A-1 and 3x8= 24x Ju 87 E-1 would authentically be IN-AIR and 26x Me 155 A-1 and 30x Ju 87 E-1 would be ON BOARD. That is the authentic real world data. The proposal for the re-designed WOWS GRAF ZEPPELIN (with the "AIR SUPREMACY" Captain's skill adding one more Fighter/Dive-Bomber Aircraft) is 3x Fighter-Squadrons with 3x4/5 = 12x/15x Me 155 A-1 Fighter-Aircraft IN-AIR with 36x/33x Me 155 A-1 ON BOARD RESERVES and 3x Multi-Purpose-Squadrons with 3x5/6 = 15x/18x Ju 87 E-1 Multi-Purpose-Aircraft IN-AIR with 39x/36x Ju 87 E-1 ON BOARD RESERVES. Since ENTERPRISE in real life had only 58% of the Hanger Deck space of the 8000 tons larger GRAF ZEPPELIN this is both authentic and workable in WOWS. Especially since the smaller ENTERPRISE in WOWS has 96x Aircraft (36x Aircraft IN-Air) and the KAGA has 85x Aircraft in total. So this proposal would give GRAF ZEPPELIN a maximum of 33x IN-AIR Aircraft and 102x Aircraft total, compared to ENTERPRISE with 36x IN-AIR Aircraft and 96x Aircraft total. The Supreme Commander of the German Armed Forces and the Supreme Commander of the German War Navy in 1942 ordered that torpedo bombers would be GRAF ZEPPELIN's main armament (when she was to be commissioned in 1943). The Me 155 A-1 was the naval version of the Me 109 G-6 Fighter-Aircraft and in 1942 it was ordered to supply GRAF ZEPPELIN with 48x of these Aircraft by 1943. It was designed to be launched from the GRAF ZEPPELIN catapults and specified to have foldable wings. The Ju 87 E-1 was the naval version of the Ju 87 D-5 Multi-Purpose-Aircraft (to be used in the roles of Torpedo Bomber, Dive Bomber, Smoke Laying Aircraft, Mine-Laying Aircraft, Reconnaissance Aircraft) and in 1942 it was ordered to supply GRAF ZEPPELIN with 54x of these Aircraft by 1943. It was designed to be launched from the GRAF ZEPPELIN catapults and specified to have foldable wings. Based on the real world information the AUTHENTIC WOWS GRAF ZEPPELIN Air Group setup should DEFINITELY be 3/3/0 (anti-capital-ship) with possible variants being 3/2/1 (all-round) or 3/1/2 (all-round) or 3/0/3 (anti-minor-ship) as alternatives to the authentic 3/3/0. All four options would be interesting to have as permanent options for the ship when the ship is re-released for sale. Releasing GRAF ZEPPELIN with an Air Group which can only fight Capital Ships (Battleships) well is to be avoided, since an Aircraft Carrier like every other ship in WOWS needs to be able to adapt to changing circumstances and Destroyers and Cruisers also need to be be targeted effectively for self-defence. GRAF ZEPPELIN's designed Top Speed in 1943: minimum speed 33.80 knots, maximum speed 34.25 knots. The re-designed WOWS GRAF ZEPPELIN should use these authentic values. GRAF ZEPPELIN was designed to be able to launch and land aircraft AT THE SAME TIME. This was probably the most UNIQUE feature of GRAF ZEPPELIN compared to other WW2 Carriers. If the WOWS programming code does not allow that, then adjust the processing times so that GRAF ZEPPELIN Aircraft can land and launch much faster. GRAF ZEPPELIN was designed to be able to launch 1x Fighter-Squadron and 1x Multi-Purpose Squadron AT THE SAME TIME and in HALF the launching time of other Carriers due to the 2x Compressed Air Catapults. If the WOWS programming code does not allow that, then adjust the processing times so that GRAF ZEPPELIN Aircraft can land and launch much faster. GRAF ZEPPELIN could authentically launch her Aircraft from her 2x Catapults without the need to turn into the wind as practically all WW2 Carriers had to do. This again translates into faster Aircraft launching times because GRAF ZEPPELIN could avoid the time consuming turning into the wind manoeuvres. GRAF ZEPPELIN was designed to be able to land 1x Squadron at a time even when Aircraft are being launched. If the WOWS programming code does not allow that, then adjust the processing times so that GRAF ZEPPELIN Aircraft can land and launch much faster. GRAF ZEPPELIN could have a faster rudder response and smaller turning circle than the GAMESECOM GRAF ZEPPELIN due her the 2x Voiht Schneider Shaft Propellers under the keel which could propel GRAF ZEPPELIN at maximum 4.5 knots IN ANY DIRECTION. The inauthentic 2x German War Flags painted on the Flight Deck of the current WOWS GAMESCOM GRAF ZEPPELIN should be removed and replaced with the authentic BRIGHT YELLOW bars which GRAF ZEPPELIN would have had painted on the Flight Deck. See details below. The wrong camouflage colours and pattern which is used by the WOWS GAMESCOM GRAF ZEPPELIN aircraft should be replaced with the authentic camouflage scheme and colours which the GRAF ZEPPELIN Aircraft would have had. See details below. The wrong Aircraft Markings and Emblems on the WOWS GAMESCOM ZEPPELIN (fighter) aircraft should be replaced with the authentic GRAF ZEPPELIN Aircraft Markings and Emblems. See details below. For the authentic lighting arrangements on GRAF ZEPPELIN I refer to the details below. The re-designed WOWS GRAF ZEPPELIN should get an authentic splinter camouflage scheme which should be similar to that of the 1942-1943 TIRPITZ, with which she was scheduled to operate together from her ordered berth at Faettenfjord, Trondheim in Norway. Images showing relevant TIRPITZ camouflage will be added to the topic. The 1939-era Fi 167 A-0, Ju 87 C-1, Me 109 T-1 were all outdated by 1942 and the German Air Force had no production lines for these aircraft and their outdated engines any more. The Air Force stated in 1942 that they would not build these aircraft and not equip GRAF ZEPPELIN with these aircraft. Instead the 1942-era Me 155 A-1 and Ju 87 E-1 were developed from then current models, weapons and engines. The torpedoes used by the Ju 87 E-1 were the 650-kg 450-mm German Torpedo Typ F 5 b (40 knot speed/2000 meter range) and the Italian Typ F 5 W (W for Whitehead-Fiume) (40 knot/3000 meter range). The main practical differences between the two torpedoes types were mostly Torpedo drop speed and Torpedo drop height. The 1942-era Ju 87 E-1 could be launched from the GRAF ZEPPELIN Compressed Air Catapult with a bomb load of at least 1000 kg (1x 1000 kg or 2x 500 kg), the older 1939-era Ju 87 C-1 would have been launched with 1x 500 kg and 4x 50 kg bombs. GRAF ZEPPELIN Aircraft would not take off under their own power from the Flight Deck as with most WW2 Carriers, but instead they were launched from 2x 21-meter long Compressed Air Catapults at a rate of 8x Aircraft per 3.5 minutes per Catapult at a speed from 0 km/h up to 140/155 km/h in 3 seconds, so 16x Aircraft would be launched in about 3.5 minutes. At the same time Aircraft could still land and be processed down to the 2x Hanger Decks due to the 3x 6.5 ton Elevators which could still be used when Aircraft were launched and landed. This in WOWS translates into faster Aircraft launching times, launching of 2x Squadrons at the same time and landing of Aircraft while launching. This makes the GRAF ZEPPELIN unique in WW2. German Aircraft used a special starter fuel mixture which allowed their Aircraft to heat their Engine Oil etc. temperature ready for flight in about 3 minutes. This saved both Aircraft fuel and precious time. On USA and other Carriers the Aircraft would have to run their Engines for 20+ Minutes in order to heat the Engine Oil etc. up for flight, wasting both valuable time and fuel. The German starter fuel mixture translates in faster WOWS launch times. Since GRAF ZEPPELIN was designed to also be able to operate alone, so in WOWS it would be authentic to give her 15-cm guns the same range as those of Tier 8 BISMARCK and TIRPITZ especially because she is so easy to spot in WOWS. The GRAF ZEPPELIN 15-cm guns were also intended to be used in an Anti-Aircraft role in case of a massed enemy Aircraft attack. The 15-cm guns would then be used in "Zonenschießen" (=Zone Fire) via "Sperrfeuer" (Barrage Fire). It would be authentic to let the re-designed GRAF ZEPPELIN use her 15-cm guns also in an Anti-Aircraft role. In WOWS the GRAF ZEPPELIN Commander can only be used on GRAF ZEPPELIN since there will be no other German Carriers in WOWS. It would make sense to therefore make that a Unique Commander, a possible name candidate is "Helmuth Brinkmann" the Commander of PRINZ EUGEN. In real life Captain (Kapitän zur See) Helmuth Brinkmann was chosen to command GRAF ZEPPELIN. The GAMESCOM WOWS GRAF ZEPPELIN has 2x Shields on the bow and an Eagle on the stern. In wartime not one single German War Navy ship went to sea with these, they were removed and kept ashore and were only to be used in peace time. So since WOWS is an arcade wargame the 2x Shields on the bow and Eagle on the stern should be removed. The Me 155 A-1 was armed with 1x MG 151/20 and the Ju 87 E-1 was armed with 2x MG 151/20. This was a 20-mm 750 RPM auto-cannon which could take down a fighter with only 3-5 direct hits. This weapon and the ammunition it used was harder hitting than any weapon used on the Carrier Fighters of other nations at the time and that should be taken into account when determining Damage Per Second for the Me 155 A-1 and Ju 87 E-1. Another key issue is that the Me 155 A-1, like the Me 109 G-6, would have all the armament in the nose. With nose armament is it much easier to hit an enemy target and fire accurately, that translates into higher DPM than wing mounted armament like on practically all USA fighters for example. Another key issue which translates into higher Hit Point Values for German Aircraft is that the 1942-era Me 155 A-1 and Ju 87 E-1 German Carrier Aircraft (like USA Carrier Aircraft) had both armour plating and self-sealing fuel tanks, while practically all Japanese Carrier Aircraft did not have this. Even the 1939-era Me 109 T-1 and Ju 87 C-1 had armour plating and self-sealing fuel tanks. GRAF ZEPPELIN had an armoured flight deck as well as some other interesting armour arrangements which I will add here when I have time to do so (To be continued...). GRAF ZEPPELIN RELIABLE SOURCES AND AUTHORS Spoiler When it comes to GRAF ZEPPELIN there is probably no reliable single better source on the ship than the book written by German author Ulrich H.J. Israel which is available only in German titled "Graf Zeppelin – Einziger deutscher Flugzeugträger". In order to determine the details of an AUTHENTIC German Aircraft Carrier GRAF ZEPPELIN design there are few sources which show the complete picture of the complicated history of the ship. As a result of this and especially so in the English language many errors and misconceptions about the GRAF ZEPPELIN continue to exist and be repeated. The best authors concerning the GRAF ZEPPELIN are the expert German naval authors Siegfried Breyer, Gerhard Koop and Ulrich H.J. Israel which have all retired and/or passed away. The book by Ulrich Israel is by far the most detailed and complete single source on GRAF ZEPPELIN and it is not available in English. Especially Ulrich Israel has collected so many details into his GRAF ZEPPELIN study that his book is easily the best single source on GRAF ZEPPELIN and really a must read in order get a near complete picture of GRAF ZEPPELIN. What has complicated matters for the above mentioned authors, and this is especially so for authors who are limited to the English language, is that the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) and Kriegsmarine (German War Navy) archives were purloined by several countries such as Great Britain, the USA, the USSR and France from 1945 onwards and that these countries therefore had parts of what had been a complete, well organized and maintained German archive collection up till 1945. An important post-1945 GRAF ZEPPELIN source available in German in "the West" was the information supplied by Dipl.-Ing. Wilhelm Hadeler who played a key role in the actual design and development of the GRAF ZEPPELIN. The majority of the archives of the OKM (Oberkommando der Kriegsmarine, Supreme War Navy Command) including the Amt Kriegsschiffbau (Warship Construction Department) were in those parts of Germany that were occupied by the USSR in 1945. The USSR purloined the OKM archives in the areas which they occupied in 1945 and moved them to the USSR where they were extensively studied as is evident from remarks in Cyrillic on the original German documents. Especially the documents pertaining to GRAF ZEPPELIN contain detailed and dated Cyrillic comments which make clear that the design and development of the GRAF ZEPPELIN were studied in detail well in to the 1950s by employees of the "Head Administration Warship Construction" and "Head Staff of the Soviet War Fleet" according to Ulrich Israel. Ulrich Israel was born in 1932 and was a "Fregattenkapitän" ("Commander" in the RN / USN) in the "Volksmarine" (People's Navy) of the DDR (German Democratic Republic a.k.a. Communist Germany) until 1990 when the "Volksmarine" was dissolved due to the unification of the BRD (FRG) and DDR (GDR). Ulrich Israel mentions that in 1988 the government of the USSR, led by Gorbatschow, decided to transfer purloined German Naval Documents together with other purloined German military historical Archive material to the DDR/GDR and they were then immediately transported there as well. In December of 1988 a transport arrived from the USSR with several thousands of Documents, Photographic Collections, Blue Prints and other Archival material in Potsdam in the DDR/GDR. The personnel of the DDR/GDR Military Archives then started a process of extensive and time consuming ordering and archiving of the material supplied. Part of the Naval Documents supplied contained GRAF ZEPPELIN Construction Specifications, Calculations, Construction Data and Protocols (Memorandums) as well as personal notes of the Construction Staff of GRAF ZEPPELIN and its head Dipl.-Ing. Paul Küchler who was in charge of Aircraft Carrier Construction at the time of GRAF ZEPPELIN. None of this information was available in "the West". After 1990 the DDR Archives were combined with those of the BRD, which allowed Ulrich Israel to create a more complete picture of GRAF ZEPPELIN and publish his unique GRAF ZEPPELIN study in "the West". Ulrich Israel has compiled his fairly unique and complete GRAF ZEPPLIN study by using the documents returned by the USSR in 1988 and combining them with data from the BRD Archives, the "Kriegstagebuch der Seekriegsleitung" (KTB der Skl, War Diary of the Sea War Command), with the archive files and collections of the "Wissenschaftlichen Instituts für Schiffsfahrts- und Marinegeschichte (Scientific Institute for Shipping and Naval History), the collected memorial data from former German Naval- and Air Force members, the collections and archives of the MKF (Naval Aviator Comrade's Association) and the MLK (Naval Airship Aviator Comrade's Association). Siegfried Breyer, Gerhard Koop and Ulrich Israel are authors which have all studied German primary source material for their books, unlike many English language naval authors, and this is especially so the case for Ulrich Israel's book on GRAF ZEPPELIN. WOWS AND ULRICH ISRAEL'S GRAF ZEPPELIN STUDY Spoiler It is safe to assume that the WOWS developers have access to the original German OKM (Oberkommando der Marine, Supreme Command Navy) archival material which was purloined in 1945, then copied and studied by the USSR Navy. It is therefore safe to assume that the German OKM archival material is used by WOWS developers to construct the 3-D models of German warships in WOWS. The blueprints of those German ships only contain part of the history of these ships however and in the case of GRAF ZEPPELIN the composition of the Air Component of the ship is something which cannot be readily determined from studying Blue Prints. And that is where the book by Ulrich Israel becomes a key source since it contains many details on that aspect. As a result the data in Ulrich Israel's book is a must consult source for anyone interested in GRAF ZEPPELIN and it should also be for WOWS developers who are trying to represent the ship in WOWS. As such I advise the WOWS developers to GET A COPY OF THE BOOK "Flugzeugträger Graf Zeppelin" by "Ulrich H.J. Israel" and incorporate the data from that book into the WOWS GRAF ZEPPELIN in order to represent her in an AUTHENTIC manner. CHARACTERISTICS OF AN AUTHENTIC 1943 GRAF ZEPPELIN An AUTHENTIC German aircraft carrier GRAF ZEPPELIN as she was scheduled to be commissioned on 1 April 1943 and scheduled to be ready for operations from December 1943 at the earliest and Spring 1944 at the latest some ESSENTIAL features which will be discussed in detail below as well as other relevant data. EDIT: PROPOSED WOWS GRAF ZEPPELIN AIR COMPLEMENT AND AIRCRAFT DATA Spoiler In this section the specifications for the new Aircraft for the re-designed WOWS GRAF ZEPPELIN are proposed based on the AUTHENTIC 1943+ GRAF ZEPPELIN but translated to WOWS terminology. This concerns the introduction of the 1942-designed Me 155 A-1 and Ju 87 E-1 which were the Aircraft GRAF ZEPPELIN would have been equipped with in 1943+. The Me 155 A-1 was a naval version of the Me 109 G-6 and the Ju 87 E-1 was a naval version of the Ju 87 D-5. The authentic total number of Aircraft which in 1942 were ordered to be used by Aircraft Carrier GRAF ZEPPELIN was 102x Aircraft (including reserves). This consisted of 48x Me 155 A-1 Fighter-Aircraft and 54x Ju-87 E-1 Multi-Purpose-Aircraft. Of these Aircraft an initial order of 220x were ordered to be produced in 1943, consisting of 115x Ju 87 E-1 and 105x Me 155 A-1. Had the GRAF ZEPPELIN been completed in 1943 it is likely that more than 220x of these Aircraft would have been scheduled for production since another 4x Auxiliary Aircraft Carriers were also ordered to be completed in 1943-1944 which also would have needed Aircraft (on 30 May 1942 each Auxiliary Carrier was ordered to be equipped with 24x Me 155 A-1 and 12x Ju 87 E-1 for example) as well as for additional land based training units and reserves for the Auxiliary Carriers. The authentic total number of 102x Carrier Aircraft for GRAF ZEPPELIN is therefore proposed as the total number of Aircraft on board for the re-designed WOWS GRAF ZEPPELIN. The real world ENTERPRISE hanger capacity (3195m2) was only 58% that of the much large real world GRAF ZEPPELIN (5515m2), in other words the real world GRAF ZEPPELIN had a much larger Aircraft Hanger Deck capacity than the real world ENTERPRISE. In WOWS the ENTERPRISE gets 96x total Aircraft, so the much larger GRAF ZEPPELIN having 102x Aircraft is not only authentically correct but also not a great difference from the WOWS ENTERPRISE and therefore cannot be considered either out of bounds or overpowered in WOWS. It is authentic that the GRAF ZEPPELIN would have mainly used the Multi-Purpose-Aircraft Ju-87 E-1, which was designed in 1942 for use on GRAF ZEPPELIN from 1943+, in the torpedo bomber role, since this was ordered by both the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces and the Supreme Commander of the War Navy. Since the Ju 87 E-1 was designed to be used as a Multi-Purpose-Aircraft it could be used as a Torpedo-Bombing, Dive-Bombing, Reconnaissance, Smoke-Laying and Mine-Laying Aircraft. The GRAF ZEPPELIN which would have been completed in 1943, was ordered in 1942 to have an Carrier Air Group in 1943+ which consisted of: - 1x Group-Staff-Squadron-Flight and 2x Fighter-Squadrons all to be equipped with the Me 155 A-1 = 3x Fighter-Squadrons equipped with the Me 155 A-1. - 3x Multi-Purpose-Squadrons all to be equipped with the Ju 87 E-1. The Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces (Hitler) and the Supreme Commander of the War Navy (Raeder) in 1942 both stated and ordered that the GRAF ZEPPELIN was to mainly use Aircraft armed with Aerial Torpedoes and that the ship would be useless without them. The Ju 87 E-1 was specifically developed to be able to use Aerial Torpedoes. Therefore the proposed authentic Carrier-Air-Group for the re-designed WOWS GRAF ZEPPELIN is: - 3x Fighter-Squadron / 3x Torpedo-Bomber-Squadron - 3x Fighter-Squadron / 2x Torpedo-Bomber-Squadron / 1x Dive-Bomber-Squadron - 3x Fighter-Squadron / 1x Torpedo-Bomber-Squadron / 2x Dive-Bomber-Squadron - 3x Fighter-Squadron / 0x Torpedo-Bomber-Squadron / 3x Dive-Bomber-Squadron The GAMESCOM GRAF ZEPPELIN is equipped with old outdated 1938-1939 designed Aircraft (the Me 109 T-1 and Ju 87 C-1) which the German War Navy High Command and Reich Air Force Ministry (RLM) in 1942 specifically ordered only to be used for training but not on combat operations by GRAF ZEPPELIN from 1943+ because they were outdated/obsolete and they could also no longer be produced because no production facilities for the old engines, weapons and airframes existed. Instead the new Me 155 A-1 and Ju 87 E-1 were to be used which were naval version of the then current Me 109 G-6 and Ju 87 D-5. In WOWS the Tier 8 Carriers currently have these max. number of IN-AIR Aircraft Carrier Air Groups: - SHOKAKU has 4x5+2x4= 28 max. IN-AIR Aircraft - LEXINGTON has 4x7= 28x max. IN-AIR Aircraft - ENTERPRISE 6x4+2x5= 34 max. IN-AIR Aircraft. Following the example of the ENTERPRISE the minimum Aircraft for a Tier 8 Premium Carrier can be 6x6=30x Min. Aircraft and 6x4+2x5= 34 max. IN-AIR Aircraft in combination with the AIR SUPREMACY Captain's skill which add 1x Fighter and 1x Dive Bomber to each Fighter/Dive-Bomber Squadron. In order to conform to the current IN-AIR Aircraft numbers used by the existing Tier 8 Aircraft Carries it is proposed to use the 5-Aircraft per Squadron setup of the GAMESCOM GRAF ZEPPELIN for the Ju 87 E-1 Torpedo-Bomber and Dive-Bomber Aircraft Squadrons and 4x for the Fighter-Aircraft Squadrons. Instead however of the 5x Squadrons of the GAMESCOM GRAF ZEPPELIN it is proposed to use the authentic 6x Squadrons which GRAF ZEPPELIN would have used in 1943+. So it is proposed that the re-designed GRAF ZEPPELIN will be equipped with 3x4= 12x Fighter Aircraft and 3x5= 15x Torpedo-Bomber and Dive-Bomber Aircraft giving a default IN-AIR strength in WOWS of 12+15= 27x Aircraft. The maximum number of Aircraft in the Air with the Level 4 "AIR SUPREMACY" Captain skill would then increase the IN-AIR strength of the re-designed GRAF ZEPPELIN to 3x5= 15x Fighter-Aircraft and a maximum of 3x6= 18x Dive-Bomber Aircraft, making 33x max. IN-AIR Aircraft. So summing that up, the re-designed WOWS GRAF ZEPPELIN would then have: - Minimum number of IN-AIR Aircraft of 27x Aircraft - Maxumum number of IN-AIR Aircraft of 33x Aircraft In the following data overview the GAMESCOM GRAF ZEPPELIN Aircraft are also mentioned, but the GAMESCOM Me 109 T and Ju 87 are old outdated 1938-1939 era Aircraft while the Tier 8 Carriers SHOKAKU, LEXINGTON and ENTERPRISE are equipped with modern 1942-1944 era Aircraft in WOWS. This is not only badly balanced in WOWS but also unauthentic. Since the authentic GRAF ZEPPELIN in 1943 would have gone to sea with the 1942-designed Me 155 A-1 Fighter and Ju 87 E-1 Multi-Purpose-Aircraft (Torpedo-Bombing, Dive-Bombing, Reconnaissance, Smoke-Laying and Mine-Laying Aircraft) it is proposed to also give the re-designed GRAF ZEPPELIN Carrier Aircraft which also are from the same era (1942-1944) as those on the other Tier 8 Carriers in WOWS. All the data on the Japanese and USA Carrier Aircraft used by the Tier 8 Carriers in WOWS listed below is the current data of these Aircraft, no changes are proposed to any Japanese or USA Carrier Aircraft the proposal only concerns changes to German Carrier Aircraft for the re-designed GRAF ZEPPELIN. The Japanese and USA Carrier Aircraft data listed below is only there for comparison purposes. It is interesting to remark that the Tier 8 Japanese Carrier SHOKAKU in WOWS is equipped with "Kawanishi N1NK5-A" Tier 8 Fighter-Aircraft which in real life were never produced and of which purportedly only one or two prototypes existed in July 1945 which were destroyed by the USAAF in a bombing raid. TIER 8 AIRCRAFT CARRIER GRAF ZEPPELIN If we make an attempt to model the real world technical data of the 1942-era Me 155 A-1 (naval Me 109 G-6) and Ju 87 E-1 (naval Ju 87 D-5) into WOWS data without making the Me 155 A-1 and Ju 87 E-1 overpowered in the process, the following WOWS stat data setup can be proposed, which is still competitive performance-wise compared to the stats of the current USA and Japanese Tier 8 Carrier Aircraft in WOWS. With the underneath stats the Me 155 A-1 and Ju 87 E-1 would fit in with the other Tier 8 Aircraft, without making them overpowered but still giving them distinct 1942-era aircraft characteristics. The 1942-era German Carrier Aircraft have these suggested characteristics: German Me 155 A-1 (Tier 8+ Fighter-Aircraft) (=Me 109 G-6 naval version) Note: This is the proposed 1942-ERA new Fighter-Aircraft for the re-designed 1943-1944 GRAF ZEPPELIN. First Naval Service: 1943 (scheduled) WOWS Speed in knots: 175+9% = 191 (9% more than Me 109 T-1) WOWS Damage per second in HP/min: 61+4% = 63 (4% more than Me 109 T-1) WOWS Hit points: 1580+4% = 1643 (4% more than Me 109 T-1) WOWS Ammunition loadout: 41+129% = 94 (129% more than Me 109 T-1) This is based on: Real world Cruise Speed in knots: 281 (9% more than Me 109 T-1) Real world Gun Armament Weight of Fire in kg/sec (product of rate of fire with weight of round): 2.46 (4% more than Me 109 T-1) Real world Muzzle power in kilowatts: 640 (21% more than Me 109 T-1) Real world Maximum Machine Gun Ammunition in seconds: 20 (60% less than Me 109 T-1) Real world Maximum Cannon Ammunition in seconds: 16 (129% more than Me 109 T-1) German Ju 87 E-1 (Tier 8+ Dive-Bomber-Aircraft + Torpedo-Bomber-Aircraft) (=Ju 87 D-5 naval version) Note: This is the proposed 1942-ERA new Dive-Bomber-Aircraft and Torpedo-Bomber-Aircraft for the re-designed 1943-1944 GRAF ZEPPELIN. First Naval Service: 1943 (scheduled) WOWS Speed in knots: 135+8% = 146 (8% more than Ju 87 C-1) WOWS Hit points: 1580+4% = 1643 (4% more than Ju 87 C-1, same 4% increase as Me 155 A-1) WOWS Rear Gunner Damage per second in HP/min: 15+100% = 30 (100% more than Ju 87 C-1) This is based on: Real world Cruise Speed in knots: 186 (8% more than Ju 87 C-1) Real world Twin 7.92 mm Rear Gunner Machine Guns (100% more than Ju 87 C-1) When the above proposal is compared to the GAMESCOM 2017 GRAF ZEPPELIN Aircraft, then the above proposed Me 155 A-1 and Ju 87 E-1 will only offer a comparatively minor but still noticeable improvement stat wise over the current GRAF ZEPPELIN PRE-WAR 1939-era Aircraft, the stats of which are listed underneath for comparison purposes. German Me 109 T-1 (Tier 8 Fighter-Aircraft) (=Me 109 E-4 B/N naval version) Note: This Aircraft is for comparing data only, it is PROPOSED NOT TO USE THIS PRE-WAR 1939-ERA AIRCRAFT ON THE RE-DESIGNED 1943-1944 GRAF ZEPPELIN. First Naval Service: 1940 WOWS Speed in knots: 175 knots WOWS Damage per second in HP/min: 61 WOWS Hit points: 1580 (same number of Hit Points as Ju 87 C-1) WOWS Ammunition loadout: 41 This is based on: Real world Cruise Speed in knots: 257 Real world Gun Armament Weight of Fire in kg/sec (product of rate of fire with weight of round): 2.37 Real world Muzzle power in kilowatts: 530 Real world Maximum Machine Gun Ammunition in seconds: 50 Real world Maximum Cannon Ammunition in seconds: 7 German Ju 87 C-1 (Tier 8 Dive-Bomber-Aircraft) (=Ju 87 B-1 naval version) Note: This Aircraft is for comparing data only, it is PROPOSED NOT TO USE THIS PRE-WAR 1939-ERA AIRCRAFT ON THE RE-DESIGNED 1943-1944 GRAF ZEPPELIN. First Naval Service: 1940 WOWS Speed in knots: 135 knots WOWS Hit points: 1580 (same number of Hit Points as Me 109 T-1) WOWS Rear Gunner Damage per second in HP/min: 15 This is based on: Real world Cruise Speed in knots: 173 Real world single 7.92 mm Rear Gunner Machine Gun TIER 8 AIRCRAFT CARRIER ENTERPRISE Grumman F6F-5 (T7 Fighter-Aircraft) WOWS Cruise speed in knots: 166 WOWS Damage per second in HP/min: 56 WOWS Ammunition loadout: 72 WOWS Hit points: 1560 WOWS Aircraft per Squadron Flight: 5 WOWS Processing time in seconds: 6.6 First Naval Service: 1944 Grumman TBF-1C (T7 Torpedo-Bomber-Aircraft) WOWS Max. torpedo damage in HP: 9867 WOWS Cruise speed in knots: 133 WOWS Hit points: 1510 WOWS Aircraft per Squadron Flight: 5 WOWS Processing time in seconds: 7 First Naval Service: 1943 Douglas SBD-5 (T7 Dive-Bomber-Aircraft) WOWS Max. bomb damage in HP: 7500 WOWS Cruise speed in knots: 137 WOWS Hit points: 1430 WOWS Aircraft per Squadron Flight: 5 WOWS Processing time in seconds: 5.4 First Naval Service: 1943 TIER 8 AIRCRAFT CARRIER LEXINGTON Vought F4U-1 (T8 Fighter-Aircraft) WOWS Cruise speed in knots: 169 WOWS Damage per second in HP/min: 63 WOWS Ammunition loadout: 61 WOWS Hit points: 1700 WOWS Aircraft per Squadron Flight: 6 WOWS Processing time in seconds: 5.8 First Naval Service: 1942 Grumman TBM-3 (T8 Torpedo-Bomber-Aircraft) WOWS Max. torpedo damage in HP: 9867 WOWS Cruise speed in knots: 136 WOWS Hit points: 1710 WOWS Aircraft per Squadron Flight: 6 WOWS Processing time in seconds: 7.3 First Naval Service: 1944 Curtiss SB2C-1C (T8 Dive-Bomber-Aircraft) WOWS Max. bomb damage in HP: 10800 WOWS Cruise speed in knots: 140 WOWS Hit points: 1680 WOWS Aircraft per Squadron Flight: 6 WOWS Processing time in seconds: 6.7 First Naval Service: 1943 TIER 8 AIRCRAFT CARRIER SHOKAKU Kawanishi N1NK5-A (T8 Fighter-Aircraft) WOWS Cruise speed in knots: 171 WOWS Damage per second in HP/min: 70 WOWS Ammunition loadout: 38 WOWS Hit points: 1660 WOWS Aircraft per Squadron Flight: 4 WOWS Processing time in seconds: 6 First Naval Service: 1946 (estimate) Nakajima B6N2 (T8 Torpedo-Bomber-Aircraft) WOWS Max. torpedo damage in HP: 8567 WOWS Cruise speed in knots: 148 WOWS Hit points: 1720 WOWS Aircraft per Squadron Flight: 4 WOWS Processing time in seconds: 6.25 First Naval Service: 1943 Yokosuka D4Y2 (T8 Dive-Bomber-Aircraft) WOWS Max. bomb damage in HP: 4600 WOWS Cruise speed in knots: 161 WOWS Hit points: 1610 WOWS Aircraft per Squadron Flight: 4 WOWS Processing time in seconds: 5 First Naval Service: 1943 GRAF ZEPPELIN FLIGHT DECK PAINTING Spoiler The Flight deck painting for the GRAF ZEPPELIN was also detailed in the design documents. - The rear of the Flight Deck would have a 2-meter wide "HELLGELB" (=BRIGHT YELLOW) transverse bar. - On the Flight Deck there would be a "HELLGELB" (=BRIGHT YELLOW) central landing sight bar which was 350-mm from the center of the ship, the bar would be 200-mm wide was to be painted along the full length of the Flight Deck. - The two sides (port and starboard) of the Flight Deck would EACH have one 400-mm wide "HELLGELB" (=BRIGHT YELLOW) bar, which would run all the way from the back "HELLGELB" (=BRIGHT YELLOW) transverse bar until the area where the deck rails branched (just ahead of the funnel), the outside of these bars would be 7700-mm from the center of the ship. - The front end of the Flight Deck would have a 5-meter wide transverse "HELLGELB" (=BRIGHT YELLOW) bar. EDIT: GRAF ZEPPELIN FLIGHT DECK LIGHTING Spoiler The Flight Deck lighting setup for the GRAF ZEPPELIN was detailed in the design documents. - To indicate the landing area two GREEN deck lights were installed behind each other at the end of the Flight Deck behind "Bremsseile I" (Arresting Cable I) on the port side and 11-meters from the center of the ship, this installation was used for both day and night landings. - On the Flight Deck the deck landing lighting to indicate the edge of the aircraft-rollable area was marked on port and starboard with each seven RED individual lights at 26 meter intervals. - The end of the Flight Deck had a RED light-bar which ran along the full width of the Flight Deck edge from port to starboard. - Within and outside of the side-way approach lines in front of each Arresting Cable (Brake Cable) BRIGHT YELLOW light bars were integrated in the Flight Deck, so that the Arresting Cables could always be BRIGHT YELLOW lit and seen and in every condition, even at night. - The start end of the 2x Compressed Air Catapults each had a WHITE starting light which was integrated in the Flight Deck. - On the deck of the forward Deck House (housing the bridge etc.) 4x right-angle bar lamps (in other words inverted V shaped bar lamps) were installed in a straight line behind each other to indicate the prevailing wind conditions, the crest of the angle lights pointed forward (in other words the base of the inverted V shaped lamps pointed towards the front of the ship). Depending on the prevailing winds either 1, 2, 3 or all 4 angle lights would be lit allowing the aircrew of airborne aircraft to instantly see the prevailing wind conditions. EDIT: GRAF ZEPPELIN AIRCRAFT CAMOUFLAGE AND COLOURS Spoiler The Air Force determined the colours and camouflage pattern to be used on the GRAF ZEPPELIN aircraft: - top view a two-pattern camouflage pattern with RLM 72 (GRAUGRÜN/GREY GREEN) and RLM 73 (GRÜNBLAU/GREEN BLUE), - bottom view RLM 65 (HELLBLAU/LIGHT BLUE). EDIT: Examples of RLM Colours used by the Luftwaffe from 1941 onwards can be found here: https://imgur.com/a/bdpug https://imgur.com/a/kSPXk EDIT: GRAF ZEPPELIN AIRCRAFT UNIT EMBLEM Spoiler According to author Barry Ketley in his book "Emblems of the Luftwaffe 1939-1945" only the Träger-Stuka-Staffel 1. of Trägergeschwader 186 used the "Hagenhelm" symbol on their Ju 87 Aircraft and white and black Aircraft Identification (for example Aircraft Identification J9+DH in black except for the letter D in white). According to author Ulrich Israel the helm is a "Hagenhelm" which was not necessarily meant to only represent the Helm worn by Hagen in the Nibelungen Saga, but was chosen also because the commander of the I. (Stuka) Gruppe of 186 (T) was named Major Walter Hagen. Major Hagen commanded the mixed Ju 87 and Me 109 equipped II. Gruppe of 186 (T) from 01 November 1938 to 10 September 1939, after which Major Hagen commanded the newly raised I. (Stuka) Gruppe of 186 (T).Images of the "Hagenhelm" Emblem of Träger-Stuka-Staffel 1. of Trägergeschwader 186.https://imgur.com/a/PeyOJ Images of Ju 87 of (former) Träger-Stuka-Staffel 1. of Trägergeschwader 186 with the "Hagenhelm" Emblem on the engine cowling.https://imgur.com/a/4ts9M https://imgur.com/a/oiXU3 According to Barry Ketley the Träger-Stuka-Staffel 2. of Trägergeschwader 186 seems to have used a "Blue Anchor on a Red Eagle" symbol on their Ju 87 Aircraft. https://imgur.com/a/rhcFl According to Barry Ketley the Träger-Jagd-Staffel 4. of Trägergeschwader 186 used a"Penguin" symbol on their Me 109 Aircraft. https://imgur.com/a/VERew The Träger-Jagd-Staffel 5. of Trägergeschwader 186 used a "Witch" symbol on their Me 109 Aircraft and red and black Aircraft Identification (for example "Red 13" with black outline). Image of the "Witch" Emblem of Träger-Jagd-Staffel 5. of Trägergeschwader 186. https://imgur.com/a/G15px Image of "Red 13" a Me 109 of Träger-Jagd-Staffel 5. of Trägergeschwader 186 with the "Witch" Emblem.https://imgur.com/a/lodM4 Close up image of "14" a Me 109 of Trägergeschwader 186 with the "Witch" Emblem.https://imgur.com/a/bvWWq EDIT: GRAF ZEPPELIN AIRCRAFT IDENTIFICATION MARKINGS Spoiler Proposed Aircraft Identification Marking for the WOWS GRAF ZEPPELIN Ju 87 E-1: J9 + DH (The D in WHITE, indicating 1. Staffel (1. Squadron) After July 1939 the following aircraft marking system was used for Trägergeschwader 186 Aircraft: the first Ju 87 E-1 Multi-Purpose-Aircraft in the 1. Staffel (1. Squadron) of Trägergeschwader 186 (Carrier-Wing 186) would be marked with these hull markings: J9 + DH The meaning of this: the J9 stands for Trägergeschwader 186, the D (painted WHITE) stands for fourth Aircraft in the Staffel (=Squadron, A=1st Aircraft and L= 12th Aircraft), the H stands for the Staffel (=Squadron, in this case the 1. Squadron). According to author Barry Ketley in his book "Emblems of the Luftwaffe 1939-1945" only the Träger-Stuka-Staffel 1. of Trägergeschwader 186 used the "Hagenhelm" symbol on their Ju 87 Aircraft and white and black Aircraft Identification (for example J9+DH in black except for the letter D in white). Author Ulrich Israel explained that the helm is a "Hagenhelm" which was not necessarily meant to only represent the Helm worn by Hagen in the Nibelungen Saga, but was chosen also because the commander of the I. (Stuka) Gruppe of 186 (T) was named Major Walter Hagen. Major Hagen commanded the mixed Ju 87 and Me 109 equipped II. Gruppe of 186 (T) from 01 November 1938 to 10 September 1939, after which Major Hagen commanded the newly raised I. (Stuka) Gruppe of 186 (T). Images of the "Hagenhelm" Emblem of Träger-Stuka-Staffel 1. of Trägergeschwader 186. https://imgur.com/a/PeyOJ Images of Ju 87 of (former) Träger-Stuka-Staffel 1. of Trägergeschwader 186 with the "Hagenhelm" Emblem on the engine cowling. https://imgur.com/a/4ts9M https://imgur.com/a/oiXU3 Proposed Aircraft Identification Marking for the WOWS GRAF ZEPPELIN Me 155 A-1: 13 (The 13 in RED outlined in BLACK, indicating 5. Staffel (5. Squadron) After July 1939 it is likely that the Me 155 A-1 would have followed the regular Fighter Aircraft identification system. The first Me 155 A-1 Fighter-Aircraft in the 5. Staffel (5. Squadron) of Trägergeschwader 186 (Carrier-Wing 186) then be marked with these hull markings: 13 in RED outlined in BLACK. The meaning of this: the 13 stands for the thirteenth Aircraft in the Staffel, the 13 (painted RED) stands for the Staffel (=Squadron, in this case the 5. Squadron). According to Barry Ketley the Träger-Jagd-Staffel 5. of Trägergeschwader 186 used the "Witch" symbol on their Me 109 Aircraft and red and black Aircraft Identification (for example "Red 13" with black outline). Image of the "Witch" Emblem of Träger-Jagd-Staffel 5. of Trägergeschwader 186. https://imgur.com/a/G15px Image of "Red 13" a Me 109 of Träger-Jagd-Staffel 5. of Trägergeschwader 186 with the "Witch" Emblem. https://imgur.com/a/lodM4 Close up image of "14" a Me 109 of Trägergeschwader 186 with the "Witch" Emblem. https://imgur.com/a/bvWWq All Aircraft Identification Markings would generally be painted black except for the Individual Aircraft Number. The Individual Aircraft Number in the Staffel (=Squadron) which was, as mentioned earlier, registered with a letter in the case of the Ju 87 (A=1st Aircraft and L= 12th Aircraft) and a number in case of the Me 109/Me 155, would be in painted in different colours: GREEN for the "Gruppen Stab" (Group-Staff), WHITE for 1. Staffel (=Squadron), RED for 2. Staffel (=Squadron), YELLOW for 3. Staffel (=Squadron) in every Gruppe (=Group). GRAF ZEPPELIN AUTHENTIC AIR COMPONENT 1943 Spoiler A Carrier-Wing 186 (Trägergeschwader 186) which on 30 May 1942 was ORDERED to have 102x Aircraft (=normal ship complement including reserves), consisting of: 54x naval Ju 87 D-5 (called Ju 87 E-1) and 48x naval Me 109 G (called Me 155 A-1). This was the aircraft complement which GRAF ZEPPELIN would have had in 1943 as ordered by the Supreme Commanders of the Armed Forces, the Navy and the Air Force and recorded in the War Diary (Kriegstagebuch) of the Seekriegsleitung (Sea War Command). The crews of the Ju 87 D-5 Träger-Mehrzweckstaffeln (Carrier-Multi-Purpose-Squadrons) were ordered to receive a Mehrzweckausbildung (Multi-Purpose-Training), which meant that they were trained to conduct Reconnaissance, Stuka (Dive Combat), Torpedo- and Smoke (laying) operations. GRAF ZEPPELIN HANGER DIMENSIONS AND CAPACITY Spoiler That the GRAF ZEPPELIN (Upper Hanger Deck: about 6.5 meters high, about 15.5 to 16 meters wide, about 185 meters long, Lower Hanger Deck: about 6.5 meters high, about 15.5 to 16 meters wide, about 170 to 172 meters long) in 1943 could support the 102x Aircraft (including reserves) that were ORDERED for it in 1942 cannot be doubted. 1943 full load 33,550 ton GRAF ZEPPELIN had 5515 m2 of Hanger Deck space, which was double that of the full load 36,000 ton LEXINGTON (Hanger Deck: 20.7 meters width x 129.2 meters long = 2674 m2 hangar deck space) and the full load 25,500 ton ENTERPRISE (Hanger Deck: minimum height about 5.25 meters high, about 19.2 meters wide, about 166.42 meters long = 3195 m2 hanger deck space) had only 58% of the Hanger Deck space that GRAF ZEPPELIN (5515 m2) had. These are hard indisputable facts when one studies the Hanger Dimensions of the Hanger Decks of GRAF ZEPPELIN, LEXINGTON and ENTERPRISE. In WOWS the LEXINGTON get 72x Aircraft, the ENTERPRISE gets 96x Aircraft and the GAMESCOM GRAF ZEPPELIN gets 72x Aircraft. The ENTERPRISE in WOWS gets to use her RESERVE aircraft which were carried on board in a disassembled state, these RESERVE aircraft however the WOWS ENTERPRISE is allowed to use in a naval battle so there is NO reason to not also allow GRAF ZEPPELIN to do that as well in WOWS then.Giving a re-designed WOWS GRAF ZEPPELIN the 102x Aircraft (including RESERVES) that were in real life ORDERED for her on 30 May 1942 and which her huge Hanger Deck space could store would be authentic. NO OUTDATED 1939-ERA Me 109 T, Ju 87 C Spoiler The 1939-era Me 109 T-1 and 1939-era Ju 87 C-1 could NOT be produced by the German Air Force in 1942 because the Engines and Production lines for these Aircraft no longer existed and these Aircraft were outdated by 1942. ln 1942 German War Navy and Air Force primary source documents it is quite clearly stated that the 1943 GRAF ZEPPELIN would NEVER have gone to sea with the 1939-era Me 109 T-1 and Ju 87 C-1 Aircraft. The remaining 1939-era Me 109 T-1 and Ju 87 C-1 Aircraft would only be used for Aircrew Training in 1942+ however but NOT on operations. So the WOWS GRAF ZEPPELIN which displays the ship in her 1943 configuration should NOT be equipped with the 1939-era Me 109 T-1 and Ju 87 C-1 Aircraft which the WOWS Developers equipped GAMESCOM GRAF ZEPPELIN with in August 2017. NO OUTDATED 1939-ERA Fi 167 Spoiler The 1939-era Fieseler Fi 167 Merhzweckflugzeug (Multi-Purpose-Aircraft) was a Carrier Aircraft biplane which was also outdated by 1942 and no production line for this Aircraft was in existence in 1942, so the RLM (German Air Ministry) in 1942 reported they would not build the outdated aircraft. The Fi 167 could NOT be launched from the 2x Compressed Air Catapults on GRAF ZEPPELIN, this Aircraft would also NEVER have gone to sea with GRAF ZEPPELIN in 1943. GRAF ZEPPELIN AUTHENTIC IN-AIR STRIKE FORCE Spoiler The 1943 GRAF ZEPPELIN "Trägergruppe" (Carrier-Group) was designed to have: - a 1x Gruppenstab (=1x Group Staff of Squadron size) and - 5x Staffel (5x Squadrons). The designed IN-AIR strength (Strike Force) was 8x Flight-Aircraft per Staffel (=Squadron) and 6x Flight-Aircraft for the Gruppenstab (Group-Staff). Each Staffel (=Squadron) in real life would have 12x Flight-Aircraft of which 8x would be IN-AIR 4x Flight-Aircraft would remain "ready" on board of GRAF ZEPPELIN and additionally each Staffel (=Squadron) would have 6x RESERVE Aircraft. So each Staffel (=Squadron) in total had x12Flight + 6xReserve = 18x Total-Aircraft. The Air Group aboard GRAF ZEPPELIN would also have a Gruppenstab (Group Staff) which would have an IN-AIR strength of 6x Flight-Aircraft and 6x RESERVE Aircraft. So the Gruppenstab (Group Staff) consisted of 6xFlight + 6xReserve = 12x Total-Aircraft. The real world GRAF ZEPPELIN would have each Staffel (=Squadron) always take off with 8x Aircraft according to primary source documents and the 2x Compressed Air Catapults were specifically setup for launching 2x8 = 16x Aircraft per catapult in 3.5 minutes. The 2x Compressed Air Catapults of GRAF ZEPPELIN would in real life EACH launch 8x Aircraft per Staffel (=Squadron) in 3.5 minutes and 6x Squadrons in total. When translating the above real world data into a workable WOWS terminology format it is proposed that each Squadron in WOWS would have to consist of a maximum of 5x to 6x Aircraft IN THE AIR. So in WOWS with the "AIR SUPREMACY" Captain's skill a maximum of 6x Ju 87 E-1 and 5x Me 155 A-1 per Squadron should be able to be launched more or less at the same time by an authentic GRAF ZEPPELIN, since the 2x Compressed Air Catapults were designed to both launch one Squadron of Ju 87 E-1 and one Squadron of Me 155 A-1 at the same time. EDIT: AIR FORCE ORDERED FIRST PRODUCTION SERIES OF 220x NEW Me 155 A-1 and 115x NEW Ju 87 E-1 CARRIER AIRCRAFT IN 1942 Spoiler In July 1942 the RLM (German Air Ministry) scheduled x220 new Me 155 A-1 Carrier Fighter-Aircraft and 115x new Ju 87 E-1 to be built and ready in 1943 for GRAF ZEPPELIN. Of that number 102x Carrier Aircraft would be part of the GRAF ZEPPELIN Air Complement (including reserves). Based on that the following conclusion can be drawn 335-102 = 233x Carrier Aircraft would be not deployed and ashore in 1943. The 335x Carrier Aircraft were the first scheduled production series of new Carrier Aircraft for 1942. One cannot draw the conclusion that no more than 335x new Carrier Aircraft would be built for GRAF ZEPPELIN, since this was only the first scheduled production series ordered by the RLM. Of that first production series of 335x new Carrier Aircraft to be completed in 1943 Author Ulrich Israel reports that of that number 115x were going to be a Ju 87 E pre-production series since that was ordered in July 1942 and which would have been completed in 1943. It can be determined that 335-115= 220x Me 155 A-1 were ordered to be built by the RLM in July 1942 to be completed in 1943. The development of new Aircraft generally followed the same procedure. First a design was drawn up and to test parts or all of it an older unused prototype Aircraft was rebuilt to incorporate the whole new design or parts of it to speed up the design process. After an Aircraft design was completed it was more or less the standard procedure to first build a pre-production series, called a 0-series (Null-series) which would be tested and further improved based on the test results. Sometimes in order to save time older aircraft were recalled to the Factory and rebuilt to 0-Serie standards instead of building fully new 0-series Aircraft. This in fact had happened with the 1939-era Ju 87 C-0 (which were 10x rebuilt Ju 87 B-1 models) and the Me 109 T-0 (which were 10x rebuilt Me 109 E-3 models) for example. When the 0-series successfully completed tests the design would be finalized and redesignated 1-serie which would be the "real" design cleared for mass production. So the Ju 87 E-0 would be followed up by the Ju 87 E-1 and the Me 155 A-0 would be followed up by the A-1. Additionally the 0-serie Aircraft would be recalled ot the Factory and converted to 1-serie standards. This exact procedure was followed with the 1939-era Ju 87 C-0 and C-1 and the Me 109 T-0 and T-1. In other words, the 335x Carrier Aircraft were the pre-production series of Me 155 A-1 and Ju 87 E-1 Aircraft ordered in 1942 to be completed in 1943. No more Carrier Aircraft were ordered in 1943 because the completion of the GRAF ZEPPELIN was halted on 02 February 1943. To sum it up, in July 1942 the RLM ordered a series of 335x pre-production Carrier Aircraft, consisting of 115x Ju 87 E-1 and 220x Me 155 A-1 Carrier Aircraft which were to be completed and delivered in 1943 for use by GRAF ZEPPELIN. Since 102x Carrier Aircraft (including reserves, consisting of 54x Ju 87 E-1 and 48x Me155 A-1) were ordered to be the 1943 GRAF ZEPPELIN Air Complement (Carrier Group) on 30 May 1942, that left a total of 233x Carrier Aircraft (61x Ju 87 E and 172x Me 155 A) available ashore in 1943. EDIT and CORRECTION: This section has been edited and corrected because further research has meanwhile made clear that a total of 335x Carrier Aircraft were in fact ordered in 1942 by the German Air Force for GRAF ZEPPELIN. In 1942 it was 220x Me 155 A-1 which were ordered to be built and delivered in 1943, and 115x Ju 87 E-1 were also ordered in 1942 to be built and delivered in 1943. So the total Carrier Aircraft ordered in 1942 to be built and delivered in 1943 was 220 + 115 = 335x Carrier Aircraft. Of that total 48x Me 155 A-1 and 54x Ju 87 E-1 were to be the Air Complement of GRAF ZEPPELIN for 1943-1944 (so 102x Aircraft in total). The rest (233x Carrier Aircraft, about 70% of the total number of 1943 Carrier Aircraft) would be strategic reserve and training aircraft. WOWS GRAF ZEPPELIN SQUADRON SETUP Spoiler Based on the information from the War Diary of the Sea War Command ("KTB der Skl") the GRAF ZEPPELIN in 1943 would have had IN-AIR (= Carrier Strike Force): - 1x "Gruppenstab" (1xGroup-Staff Squadron-Flight) with 6x Me 155 A-1, - 3x Mehrzweckstaffel (Multi-Purpose-Squadrons) with 3x8= 24x Ju 87 E-1 and - 2x Jägerstaffel (Fighter-Squadrons) with 2x8 = 16x Me 155 A-1. So out of the 30 May 1942 ordered 102x Aircraft a total of 46x Aircraft would be IN-AIR (= Carrier Strike Force) with the remaining 56x Aircraft being ON BOARD. The ON BOARD Aircraft would consist of 26x Me 155 A-1 and 30x Ju 87 E-1 remaining on GRAF ZEPPELIN. Based on the real world information the AUTHENTIC WOWS GRAF ZEPPELIN Air Group setups should be of 6x Squadrons. Of that number there would be 3x Fighter-Squadrons and 3x Multi-Purpose-Squadrons. Proposed are these Carrier-Air-Group setups in WOWS (Fighter/Torpedo-Bomber/Dive-Bomber): 3/3/0 (anti-capital-ship), or 3/2/1 (all-round), or 3/1/2 (all-round) or 3/0/3 (anti-minor-ship). All four would be viable and interesting to choose from as a permanent option for the ship when the ship is re-released for sale. In WOWS terms (with the "AIR SUPREMACY" Captain's skill adding one more Fighter/Dive-Bomber Aircraft) that would translate into 3x Fighter-Squadrons with 3x4/5 = 12x/15x Me 155 A-1 Fighter-Aircraft IN-AIR with 36x/33x Me 155 A-1 ON BOARD RESERVES and 3x Multi-Purpose-Squadrons with 3x5/6 = 15x/18x Ju 87 E-1 Multi-Purpose-Aircraft IN-AIR with 39x/36x Ju 87 E-1 ON BOARD RESERVES. GRAF ZEPPELIN AUTHENTIC ORGANIZATION OF CARRIER-GROUP Spoiler The War Diary of the Sea War Command (KTB der Skl) records that: On 25 August 1942 "Luftwaffe" (Air Force) Generalmajor Hans Ritter who was "Befehlshaber der Marineflieger" (=Commander of Naval Aviators) and also "Inspekteur der Seeflieger" (=Inspector of Sea Aviators) and also the "Gen.d.Lw." (General der Luftwaffe) who was detached to the Ob.d.M. (Oberbefehlshaber der Kriegsmarine, Supreme Commander of the War Navy) ordered that until 01 March 1943 at the latest for use on board GRAF ZEPPELIN there was to be formed a "Trägergruppe" (Carrier-Group) consisting of: - 1x "Gruppenstab" (1x Group-Staff Squadron-Flight with 6xFlight + 6xReserve = 12x naval Me 109 G-6 Fighter-Aircraft (Me 155 A-1)), - 3x "Träger-Mehrzweckstaffeln" (3x Carrier-Multi-Purpose-Squadrons with 3x 12xFlight + 6xReserve = 54x naval Ju 87 D-5 Multi-Purpose-Aircraft (Ju 87 E-1), - 2x "Träger-Jagd-Staffeln" (2x Carrier-Fighter-Squadrons with 2x 12xFlight + 6xReserve = 36x naval Me 109 G Fighter-Aircraft (Me 155 A-1), - a "LT-Betriebszug" ("Lufttorpedo-Betriebszug" meaning Aerial Torpedo Operations Platoon for maintenance, service and loading of Aerial Torpedos). That makes 102x Aircraft total for GRAF ZEPPELIN (= 6+36+24 = 66x FLIGHT-Aircraft and 6+18+12 = 36x RESERVE-Aircraft, 66+36 = 102x Aircraft TOTAL). On 25 August 1942 Ritter also ordered that until 01 May 1943 at the latest a "Trägerergänzungsgruppe" (Carrier-Supplementation-Group) was to be formed. The "Trägerergänzungsgruppe" (Carrier-Supplementation-Group) was to consist of: - 1x "Gruppenstab" (1x Group-Staff Squadron-Flight), - 1x "Träger-Mehrzweckstaffel" (1x Carrier-Multi-Purpose-Squadron), - 1x "Träger-Jagd-Staffel" (1x Carrier-Fighter-Squadron). Additionally a "Trägerfliegerkommando" (Carrier Aviator Command) was ordered to be formed to command and control the GRAF ZEPPELIN "Trägerfliegergruppe" (Carrier-Aviator-Group) from the ship. GRAF ZEPPELIN 1942-ERA Ju 87 E-1 MULTI-PURPOSE-AIRCRAFT Spoiler The 1942-era Ju 87 E-1 was designed as a "Träger Mehrzweckflugzeug" (Carrier Multi-Purpose-Aircraft) and was to carry out the roles of: - torpedo bomber, dive bomber, long range reconnaissance aircraft, smoke laying aircraft (!!!) and aerial sea-mine laying aircraft. The 1942-era Ju 87 E-1 was not a "Sturzkampfflugzeug" (Dive-Combat-Aircraft) like the 1939-era Ju 87 C-1 was, the Ju 87 E-1 main naval anti-shipping weapon was ordered to be the aerial torpedo. The 1939-era Ju 87 C-1 was only equipped with 3x MG 17 7.92-mm 1200 RPM machine guns, while the 1942-era Ju 87 E-1 was equipped with 1x MG 81 Z 7.92-mm 3200 RPM machine gun (rear gunner) and 2x MK 151/20 20-mm 750 RPM auto-cannons. The Ju 87 C-1 and Ju 87 E-1 both could carry 2x 300-liter drop-shaped auxiliary jettison able fuel containers (Krafstoffzusatzbehälter) for increased range. The 1939-era Ju 87 C-1 could only carry up to 1000 kg of bombs, while the 1942-era Ju 87 E-1 could carry up to 1800 kg of bombs. At least one prototype of the Ju 87 E-1 was produced in 1942 which (according to Manfred Griehl) was a Ju 87 D-1 rebuilt to Ju 87 E-1 specifications, series production of the Ju 87 E-1 (based on the Ju 87 D-5) would have started in 1943. The Ju 87 E-1 was also developed to be able to use "Starthilfsraketen" (Start-Aid-Rockets, called Rocket-Assisted-Take-Off-Gear), this was mainly to enable the Ju 87 E-1 to take-off under overload conditions from the planned 4x Auxiliary Aircraft Carriers which did not have Compressed Air Catapults like GRAF ZEPPELIN. According to Ulrich Israel a total of 115x Ju 87 E-1 were scheduled to be built in 1943. Primary source documentation lists the amount of Luftminen (Aerial Mines, meaning naval mines dropped by parachute) the GRAF ZEPPELIN was also to be equipped with on operations. There were generally two types of these used, Luftmine A (LMA, 500-650 kg) and Luftmine B (LMB, 1000 kg), these weapons too were to be carried and dropped by the Ju 87 E-1. The Luftminen (Aerial Mines) were effective both on land and at sea.The Ju 87 C-1 and Ju 87 E-1 were both designed to be launched from the GRAF ZEPPELIN Catapults. GRAF ZEPPELIN 1943 AERIAL TORPEDO TYPES FOR Ju 87 E-1 Spoiler The main anti-ship weapon ordered for GRAF ZEPPELIN in 1942 by both the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces (Hitler) and the Supreme Commander of the Navy (Raeder) was the torpedo bomber, meaning the Carrier Multi-Purpose-Aircraft Ju 87 E-1 with 650-kg 450-mm Torpedoes (either the German torpedo Typ F 5 b (40 knot speed/2000 meter range) or the Italian Typ F 5 W (W for Whitehead-Fiume) (40 knot/3000 meter range). The main practical differences between the two torpedoes types were mostly Torpedo drop speed and Torpedo drop height. The Ju 87 E-1 (of which at least one was built by adapting an Ju 87 D-1 to Ju 87 E-1 standards in 1942 according to author Manfred Griehl) was equipped with a Torpedo Reflex Visier (To-Revi), Torpedokommandogerät (ToKG, Torpedo Command Device) and Torpedo Carry and Launch Device PVC 1006 B. These were first installed for testing on a left-over Ju 87 D-4 prototype in 1942, when testing of the naval torpedo equipment for the Ju 87 E-1 began on the "Torpedoabwurfplatz" (=Torpedo Testing Grounds) Hexengrund/Oxhöft (Germany) and in Grosseto in (Italy). Testing of the Ju 87 with aerial torpedoes continued throughout 1943 even after the GRAF ZEPPELIN completion was halted on 02 February 1943. GRAF ZEPPELIN 1942-ERA Me 155 A-1 FIGHTER-AIRCRAFT Spoiler The 1942-era Me 155 A-1 was designed as a "Träger Jagdflugzeug" (Carrier Fighter-Aircraft) which was to be based as much as possible on the then current Me 109 G production version, which was by the end of 1942 the Me 109 G-6. The Me 109 G-6 was ordered after 30 May 1942 to be adapted for Aircraft Carrier use by adding these features: foldable wings, detachable wing extensions, manually mountable wings, arresting cable hook, Catapult support mountings, fixed tail wheel, upper wing spoilers and sea rescue equipment. The 1942-era Me 155 A-1 had the ETC 500/IXb bomb rack which allowed the Me 155 A-1 to either carry a 500-kg bomb or a 300-liter drop-shaped auxiliary jettison able fuel container (Krafstoffzusatzbehälter) for increased range. The 1939-era Me 09 T-1 only had the ETC 250 bomb rack which allowed the Me 109 T-1 to either carry a 250-kg bomb or a 300-liter drop-shaped auxiliary jettison able fuel container (Krafstoffzusatzbehälter) for increased range. The 1939-era Me 109 T-1 was only equipped with 2x MG 17 7.92-mm 1200 RPM machine guns and 2x MG FF 20-mm 540 RPM auto-cannons, while the 1942-era Me 155 A-1 was equipped with 2x MG 131 13-mm 900 RPM machine guns and 1x MK 151/20 20-mm 750 RPM auto-cannon. The Me 155 A-1 was ordered to be designed and produced after 30 May 1942 and the RLM (Reich Air Ministry) ordered it to be based on the then current Me 109 G model in design and production in order to not disturb regular Me 109 G production with substantial variant changes to the then current G design. The then current Me 109 G design after May 1942 was the Me 109 G-6. The 1942-era Carrier Me 109 project went through various name changes in 1942, it was first called Me 109 ST (Spezial Träger Flugzeug = Special Carrier Aircraft) then Me 409 then Me 155 A-1. By the end of 1942 the Me 155 A-1 design was almost complete and production would have started in 1943. EDIT: HIGH-ALTITUDE FIGHTER Me 109 H, Me 155 B, BV 155 Spoiler The Me 155 B was a high altitude fighter design, which was later renamed Me 109 H. Later this high altitude fighter project was handed over to the company of Blohm and Voss and they turned the Me 155 B into the BV 155. The BV 155 high altitude fighter designs have NOTHING to do with the Me 155 A which was a Carrier fighter design (source: "Die deutsche Luftfahrt" (=German Aviation) volume 17, a book series started by Dr. Ludwig Bolkow who was a key Messerschmitt Aircraft Designer who worked on the Me 109 H and Me 155 B. Bolkow together with Messerschmitt and Blohm after 1945 started the MBB Aviation Factory which today is called Airbus (Germany). GRAF ZEPPELIN 1943 MAIN ARMAMENT: TORPEDO BOMBERS Spoiler On 11 April 1942 the War Diary of the Sea War Command mentions that the War Navy Supreme Commander Raeder states that the GRAF ZEPPELIN has no operational value if she is not equipped with torpedo bombers. On 13 April 1942 the Sea War Command War Diary records that the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces (Hitler) in a meeting with the Supreme Commander of the War Navy (Raeder) remarks that above all else GRAF ZEPPELIN is to be equipped with torpedo bombers. So GRAF ZEPPELIN was to mainly use (the Ju 87 E-1 with) aerial torpedoes for naval operations (against enemy naval vessels), that also makes clear that (the Ju 87 E-1 with) dive bombs were of secondary importance. Both Supreme Commander's made clear that without torpedo bombers the GRAF ZEPPELIN would be of no value and that these torpedo bombers were absolutely imperative for the ship. The GRAF ZEPPELIN would in 1943+ not go to sea without torpedo bombers. The above is documented in the War Diary of the Sea War Command (Kriegstagebuch der Seekriegsleitung). GRAF ZEPPELIN 1943 Ju 87 E-1 BOMB LOAD Spoiler The 1939-era Ju 87 C-1 which could carry 1000 kg of bombs was planned in 1939 to typically use 1x 500 kg bomb and 4x 50 kg bombs on Catapult launch from GRAF ZEPPELIN. When being Catapult launched with that bomb load the Ju 87 C-1 had a weight of 4330 kg. The 1942-era Ju 87 E-1 could carry 1800 kg of bombs which allowed it be launched with a higher bomb load from GRAF ZEPPELIN. The two Compressed Air Catapults on GRAF ZEPPELIN allowed aircraft launches of up till 5800 kg, so the Ju 87 E-1 could take off with a bomb load of at least 1000 kg (1x 1000 kg or 2x 500 kg), which seems more appropriate for 1943. GRAF ZEPPELIN COMBINED LAUNCHING AND LANDING Spoiler The GRAF ZEPPELIN was uniquely designed to be able to execute three Aircraft processing operations AT THE SAME TIME and in a very short amount of time, which was quite unique for a WW2 Carrier. The GRAF ZEPPELIN could AT THE SAME TIME: Catapult launch aircraft, process (=refuel/rearm/elevate transport) aircraft and land them. This was probably THE most unique design feature of GRAF ZEPPELIN. The 2x Compressed Air Catapults (called "Schleuder" meaning slingshots literally) allowed for faster aircraft launches than practically any other carrier in WW2 in combination which was aided even futher by the 3x equal size 6.5 ton weight Aircraft Elevators. GRAF ZEPPELIN AIRCRAFT LAUNCHING Spoiler Aircraft on GRAF ZEPPELIN would NOT take off from the back of the flight deck under their own power as was the case on many WW2 carriers. The GRAF ZEPPELIN had 2x KL 5/1-4 (each about 21-meter long) Compressed Air Catapults at the front end of the flight deck which would "fire off" aircraft from a speed 0 Km/h up to a speed 155 Km/h from a Catapult "Startwagen" (=Starter Car). Catapult launched aircraft did not need to actually take off on their own power and on their wheels (undercarriage) from the flight deck as was the case on many WW2 carriers. One such Compressed Air Catapult could launch 8x aircraft in 3.5 minutes (one Aircraft launch every 26 seconds), the 2x Catapults were to be used almost simultaneously so that 16x aircraft would be launched in about 3.5 minutes (basically 2x Aircraft launched every 26 seconds), which was 2x full Squadrons. One Catapult would launch 8x Me 155 A-1 and the other Catapult would launch 8x Ju 87 E-1 aircraft due to the different Catapult Starter Cars and the different launch settings required for these two different aircraft types. Each Catapult had 10x starter cars (8x launch and 2x reserve). From the start of the launching procedure by the operator to the completion of the take-off normally 3 seconds were needed (according to the handling instructions): 1,5 seconds for retardation in the system and 1,5 seconds for the acceleration of the Starter Car and Aircraft. After the launch of the aircraft the Catapult went back into starting position and the Starter Car was transported down to the Hanger Decks for the next use via an aslant elevator which was mounted at the top of the Flight Deck. Aircraft would only take-off from the flight deck under their own power on their own wheels (undercarriage) if BOTH Catapults were out of commission, if that was the case the front end of the flight deck with the Catapults was to be fully covered to even the height of Catapult front end of the Flight Deck to the rest of the Flight Deck. GRAF ZEPPELIN CATAPULT LAUNCHING PROCEDURE Spoiler The truly unique launch processing of aircraft on GRAF ZEPPELIN was designed to be quite fast because it used a semi-automatic elevator-rail system. Aircraft mounted on a Starter Car on the Catapult were to be launched ("fired off"). The Catapult Starter Cars would after launch of an Aircraft be automatically transported via automated "Schrägaufzuge" (=aslant-elevators) and a "Schienen" (=rail) system mounted underneath the Flight Deck to the 2x Hanger Decks where they were then mounted on "Vorsetzwagen" (=Placement Cars) mounted in Hanger Deck rails. Aircraft on the Hanger Deck would be hoisted by Hanger Deck Cranes onto the Starter Cars which were mounted in the Placement Cars which then railed the Aircraft-mounted-on-the-Starter-Car to the elevators. The Placement Cars would then be rolled back on the Hanger Deck rails from the elevators to the Hanger Deck for re-use. Then the Aircraft-mounted-on-the-Starter-Car would be elevated to the Flight Deck by the elevators. On the flight deck the Aircraft would be rolled onto the Catapult via the Starter Car "Deck Schienen" (=Deck rails). On the Hanger Decks a minimum of 8x Ju 87 E-1 and 8x Me 155 A-1= 16x Aircraft would always be mounted on the Starter Cars for emergeny launches. No aircraft carrier of WW2 had such a fast semi-automatic Aircraft launch system like this. Every single component of this system had been extensively tested from 1938 to 1944 in the "Erprobungsstelle See" (=Trials Center Sea) in Travemünde which was built specially for the 8x planned Aircraft Carriers and planned 4x Auxiliarry Carriers of the German War Navy. GRAF ZEPPELIN ELEVATORS Spoiler The large 3x Aircraft Elevators (called "Hebebühne" by the designers, literally "Elevator Stage") on GRAF ZEPPELIN were each all the same size and could each transport 6.5 tons of weight. They were positioned in such a way that the Elevators would allow both launchings and landings AT THE SAME TIME. This was unlike many other WW2 carriers which either did not have 3x large heavy weight Elevators or had them positioned in such a way that take-offs and landings could not be executed AT THE SAME TIME. So 3x fully loaded bomber aircraft could simultaneously be brought both on/off the Fligh Deck via the 3x 6.5 ton Elevators if necessary, something which not many (if any) carriers of WW2 could do. This also allowed for faster aircraft processing on GRAF ZEPPELIN than on many other WW2 carriers which had only 1x or 2x large high weight carrying elevators like seen on many carriers in other navies in the WW2. GRAF ZEPPELIN's octagonal (eight-sided) shaped Elevators were almost circular shaped because the circle is a structurally strong shape which better protects a structure (like a deck etc.) from concussion etc. damage when hit than for example a square shaped elevator, another design consideration the GRAF ZEPPELIN designers incorporated (many USA, GB and Japanese carriers had square shaped elevators for example). GRAF ZEPPELIN SPECIAL AIRCRAFT STARTER MIXTURE Spoiler In order to fast launch aircraft without going through the regular time consuming engine warming up procedure the German Air Force used a special starter fuel mixture. After landing an Aircraft would receive a special fuel mixture (with Oktan (Octane) 80, 87 or 100 fuel) which was added to the Engine Oil. This fuel mixture reduced the viscosity and as a result the Engine Oil was kept fluid in the Aircraft in cold conditions. This allowed the Aircraft Engine to be ready for flight operations in about 3 minutes. This method was developed before WW2 at the Air Force "Erprobungsstelle" (TrialCenter) in Rechlin and used during WW2 by the German Air Force. After about 30 minutes of flight the fuel mixture in the Engine Oil was only about 4% and after about 2 hours it had evaporated fully. This starter fuel mixture would have given the GRAF ZEPPELIN a huge advantage over USA, Japanese etc. Aircraft Carriers which on average needed to have their Carrier Aircraft run their engines for about a minimum of 20+ (!!!) minutes to let the Engine Oil reach the temperatures required for take off and flight. GRAF ZEPPELIN NO TURNING IN THE WIND Spoiler The GRAF ZEPPELIN 2x Compressed Air Catapults could launch aircraft with side wind only or even with no wind, it was not necessary to turn the GRAF ZEPPELIN into the wind to launch her aircraft like on practically all WW2 Aircraft Carriers. That gave the GRAF ZEPPELIN a great tactical advantage of practically all WW2 Carriers which could only launch aircraft by turning the bow of the Carrier into the wind. Again this translates into faster Aircraft launch procedures since consant time consuming course changes were not necessary for GRAF ZEPPELIN for launching aircraft. GRAF ZEPPELIN AIRCRAFT ARMING AND FUELLING Spoiler The GRAF ZEPPELIN flight procedures stated that the arming of aircraft with ordnance (MG/Cannon ammunition, torpedoes, bombs, mines, smoke devices etc.) would only be done on the Hanger Decks. Fuelling the Aircraft would be on the Hanger Decks and refuelling would also be done on the Flight Deck. GRAF ZEPPELIN PROVEN TECHNOLOGY AND TRAVEMÜNDE Spoiler The naval aviation technology for GRAF ZEPPELIN was tested and proven technology, even though the ship was never commissioned. That this was possible was due to "Erprobungsstelle See" (TrialCenterSea) in Travemünde (Germany). All GRAF ZEPPELIN aviation technology components, such as the Carrier Aircraft (Ar 96, Ar 195, Ar 197, He 50, Fi 167, Me 109 and Ju 87), Compressed Air Catapults, arresting equipment (hooks, cables etc.) flight deck operations, hanger deck operations, landing operations, etc. etc. which were to be used by GRAF ZEPPELIN were extensively tested from 1938 to 1945 in the "Erprobungsstelle See" ("E-Stelle See" =Trial Center Sea) in Travemünde. The "E-Stelle See" in Travemünde was built in 1937 by the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) specifically for naval aviation testing and training for the 8x planned Aircraft Carriers (so including GRAF ZEPPELIN) and the planned 4x Auxiliary Carriers of the German War Navy. The TrialCenter had several catapult test installations including the KL 5/1-4 catapults which were installed on board of GRAF ZEPPELIN. The Catapults at Travemünde could be swung in different directions, with no-wind, side-wind, back-wind, front-wind etc. for testing. At Travemünde there was also a 5000 m2 large circular concrete airfield which was mounted on a turn able platform which itself had a 5.4 meters diameter. The 5000m2 airfield runway on the turn-able platform was divided into five areas the size of the flight deck of GRAF ZEPPELIN (the outline of the 24 meter wide GRAF ZEPPELIN flight deck was painted on the five runways which each angled at 30 degrees) and equipped with the same landing cables and equipment which were installed on GRAF ZEPPELIN in order to test and train for carrier landings and establish the timing and procedures for such. Since the platform on which the five runways rested was turn-able the runways and the landings could be tested under all wind conditions (front, side, rear etc.), meaning the runways could be swung into the wind, sideway to the wind, rear to the wind etc. Each landing was filmed with a Stereo – Zenith Camera which recorded 4 frames per second and the landings were measured with a special acceleration measuring device, a Siemens Oszillograf and an automated Stopwatch. It was in Travemünde that the launch time required for KL 5/1-4 Catapult launches (3.5 minutes for 8x Aircraft per Catapult) was established after testing. The landings and testings of Carrier equipment and Aircraft took place from 1938 to 1945 for sure, so they continued testing etc. in Travemünde even after GRAF ZEPPELIN had her construction halted for a second time in February 1943. Thousands of Carrier landings were tested at Travemünde from 1938 to 1944. For example, from 10 March 1938 to 15 December 1938 in 9 months a total of 915 cable landings with Carrier Aircraft were performed and from 05 May 1942 to 15 April 1943 over a period of 11 months a total of 1354 carrier cable landings were performed at Travemünde. The Carrier Aircraft tested from 1938 to 1944 in Catapult starts, Carrier landings etc. were the Ar 96, Ar 195, Ar 197, He 50, Fi 167, Me 109 and Ju 87. GRAF ZEPPELIN ARRESTING CABLES Spoiler The GRAF ZEPPELIN had 4x electro-magnetic arresting cables (called "Bremsseile" in German) which was fairly unique since practically all other navies used pneumatic- or hydraulic arresting cables. Figures from the thousands of Carrier landings carried out at E-Stelle See (Trial Center Sea) Travemünde made clear that the arresting cables performed well and the tests both supplied data and helped estabilish GRAF ZEPPELIN flight procedures. The normal average brake/landing distance for all tested aircraft and at all aircraft weights was only generally 20 to 35 meters per aircraft. The maximum allowed brake/landing distance was 40 meters with aircraft weighing from 4850 kg to 5800 kg coming in at 135 to 140 Km/h. Since the flight deck of GRAF ZEPPELIN was at least 244 meters long and only 21 meters were needed by the two Compressed Air Catapults for aircraft launches and about a normal maximum of 35 meters for carrier landings was needed, that leaves the majority of the Flight Deck (244-21-35= 188 meters) available for aircraft processing on the Flight Deck. The highest possible landing weight the cables could withstand was 5800 kg from a landing aircraft at a speed of 135 to 140 Km/h. The GRAF ZEPPELIN initially was to get 8x landing arresting cables, this was then reduced to 4x arresting cables after testing. The continued testing at Travemünde made clear that on average 1 in 10 landings would miss the 4x landing cables on the flight deck so the designers were advised by Travemünde testers to also install an extra fifth cable on GRAF ZEPPELIN to catch the 1 in 10 incorrectly landing aircraft with the fifth arresting cable. The Aircraft Crews were instructed to aim for the second arresting cable when landing. The average landing processing on GRAF ZEPPELIN as tested and perfected at Travemünde test center allowed landings which took 1.58 minutes (in one such test there were 24 landings in 38 minutes in Travemünde testing) in that 1.58 minutes time frame the following took place per aircraft: the landing approach, cable brake landing, cable releasing and (subsequent) rewinding of the landing cables, resetting the landing cables, rolling away of the aircraft to the flight deck elevator. The cable braking on average applied a force of 2.6 to 3.2 g and the maximum measured was 4 g. GRAF ZEPPELIN ARRESTING CABLE TESTING Spoiler Extensive Catapult testing was done at E-Stelle See (Trial Center Sea) Travemünde supplying interesting data, for example Ju 87s were fired off from the catapult KL 5/1-4 model which was installed on GRAF ZEPPELIN where the Ju 87 had a bomb load of 1x 500 kg bomb and 4x50 kg bombs with a total aircraft weight of 4330 kg and speed of the Ju 87 with 600 kg of bombs on launch was around 140 Km/h (so from 0 to 140 Km/h on the 21 meter catapult) and the crew experiencing 4.37 g while being launched (fired) from the catapult with such a bomb load. The maximum launch weight of the aircraft for the KL 5/1-4 catapult in 1939 was about 5300 kg, from 1942 onwards the KL 5/1-4 catapult was constantly further improved and refined to further increase maximum aircraft launch weights. GRAF ZEPPELIN 1943 TOP SPEED Spoiler The minimum speed of GRAF ZEPPELIN in 1943 should be 33.80 knots. GRAF ZEPPELIN was designed in 1935 to reach a speed of 36 knots with 4x 50,000= 200,000 horsepower turbines. GRAF ZEPPELIN was designed to be able to outpace any captital ship then in existence or then under construction with her 200,000 horsepower turbines. A minimum of 35 knots was still expected to be attained in 1939 after the weight of the ship was increased due to design improvements. In 1942 additional improvements of the ship even further increased the weight by 2,780 tons, as a result of this the ship would have still been able to reach close to 34 knots according to the designers. The WOWS designers seem to have missed that information and gave the GAMESCOM GRAF ZEPPELIN a speed of only 32 knots even though there was no warship built in Europe in WW2 which had 200,000 horsepower turbines except for GRAF ZEPPELIN. The GRAF ZEPPELIN designers calculated that the extra 2780 tons in 1942 (which included fuel increase from 5380 m3 to 6500 m3, better anti-torpedo protection, better stability and weight distribution etc.) would improve the range from 6500 sea miles at 19 knots to 7800 sea miles at 19 knots and reduce the top speed from 35-36 knots down to 34.25 to 33.80 knots. So the designers calculated that the GRAF ZEPPELIN with the additional 2,780 ton increase to 33,550 tons would still be able to reach a minimum of 33.80 knots in 1943. The primary source trial maximum speed data of other German warships after commissioning makes clear that most German warships were in real life faster than their design speed (for example TIRPITZ was according to the authorative authors Siegfried Breyer and Gerhard Koop designed to reach at least 29 knots, but she easily reached about 31 knots on speed trials on more than one occasion, same for BISMARCK). On speed trials TIRPITZ and BISMARCK both reached about 31 knots (30.8 knots) and they exceeded their designed horsepower plant considerably.The Battleship TIRPITZ (163,026 actual horsepower) and the Battleship BISMARCK (150,170 actual horsepower) were each equipped with 3x nominal 46,000 horsepower (138,000 nominal horsepower) turbines and were estimated to be able to at least steam at 29 knots, they exceeded their designed horsepower and speeds considerably as was the case with practically all German designed capital ships in the 1930s and 1940s. So there is no reason to not give the WOWS 1943 GRAF ZEPPELIN a minimum speed of 33.80 knots and a maximum speed of 34.25 knots as the designers had calculated. GRAF ZEPPELIN VOIHT SCHNEIDER SHAFT PROPELLORS Spoiler The GRAF ZEPPELIN quite uniquel had 2x Voiht Schneider (shaft) propellors each having 450 horsepower which were UNDERNEATH the ship hull and which could be extended and retracted behind closable doors. These 2x Voiht Schneider propellors could move GRAF ZEPPELIN at maximum 4.5 knots speed in ANY direction, they were intended to let the ship navigate canals and narrow waters without the use of a tug boat. In an emergency at sea these Voiht Schneider propellors could technically also be used to turn the ship faster giving her a smaller turning circle radius than the GRAF ZEPPELIN has in WOWS and a smaller turn circle radius than other ships with the length and draught of a ship the size of GRAF ZEPPELIN. GRAF ZEPPELIN OPERATING ALONE Spoiler GRAF ZEPPELIN was a Carrier which was designed to be able to operate ALONE if necessary, that means without a fleet of ships surrounding and protecting her. This is quite unlike any other Carrier of WW2. This is also the reason for her 15-cm armament, this allowed her to be able to fight off fast enemy destroyers and fast light cruisers in an emergency. In WOWS it would therefore be appropriate to give the WOWS GRAF ZEPPELIN the same 15-cm gun range as BISMARCK and TIRPITZ since these used the same 15-cm guns and since these are also Tier 8 ships. GRAF ZEPPELIN 15-CM ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUNS Spoiler Author Ulrich Israel, using primary source documentation, clearly describes how the the 15-cm guns were also to be used in an Anti-Aircraft role if GRAF ZEPPELIN was attacked by massed enemy Aircraft. The 15 cm guns would then be used in "Zonenschießen" (=Zone Fire) via "Sperrfeuer" (Barrage Fire). GRAF ZEPPELIN 1943 OVERPOWERED Spoiler Would all this real world GRAF ZEPPELIN design data if incorporated into the WOWS GRAF ZEPPELIN make her a unique and powerful carrier in WOWS? Sure it would do that and that would be authentic because she was designed to be just that and completed to 95% by February 1943. If GRAF ZEPPELIN is instead turned into a weak carrier to not upset fans of Japanese, British and USA carriers and if GRAF ZEPPELIN will again not have any of her essential and technically unique design characteristics and again like the GAMESCOM GRAF ZEPPELIN be without the 54x Ju 87 E-1 Multi-Purpose-Aircraft and 48x Me 155 A-1 Fighter-Aircraft then WOWS developers might as well leave her out of WOWS all together since an authentic GRAF ZEPPELIN has technical features which NO other WW2 aircraft carrier had. The ship was unique in more than one way. Powerful is not the same as overpowered. GRAF ZEPPELIN AUTHENTIC 1943+ HULL CAMOUFLAGE PATTERN Spoiler The camouflage pattern that the GRAF ZEPPELIN would have had would have been similar to that of TIRPITZ and other German Capital ships stationed in Norway. The War Diary of the Sea War Command (KTB der Skl) states on 28 June 1942 that GRAF ZEPPELIN is to be stationed in the Faettenfjord near Drontheim (Trondheim) and on 01 October 1942 the same source mentions that it is to be determined if she can also be stationed at Alta-Fjord. The same source makes clear that GRAF ZEPPELIN is to operate together with the German Battleships in Norway. GRAF ZEPPELIN DESIGNATED COMMANDER Spoiler A unique Commander of GRAF ZEPPELIN in WOWS, a ship which will be part of no Carrier line and which therefore will have a Commander only of use on this ship, would be a helpful addition. According to author Ulrich Israel, in his GRAF ZEPPELIN study, Captain (Kapitän zur See) Helmuth Brinkmann who was the commander of the PRINZ EUGEN was the man chosen to command the GRAF ZEPPELIN. GRAF ZEPPELIN NATIONAL FLAG ON FLIGHT DECK Spoiler The GRAF ZEPPELIN should have either no Flag painted on the Flight Deck OR have it painted behind the transverse BRIGHT YELLOW bars at the front and end of the Flight Deck, for details on the transverse BRIGHT YELLOW bars see the "GRAF ZEPPELIN FLIGHT DECK PAINTING" section above. The WOWS GAMESCOM GRAF ZEPPELIN not only has the wrong aerial recognition flag painted on the Flight Deck but is does not have the BRIGHT YELLOW bars which GRAF ZEPPELIN would have had. The German War Navy (Kriegsmarine) painted only the National Flag (Nationalflagge) on the decks of their warships, on GRAF ZEPPELIN these would conflict with the BRIGHT YELLOW bars and so either would have to be painted behind these BRIGHT YELLOW bars or not at all. The German War Navy generally only painted a plain BRIGHT RED flag with a WHITE circle with a BLACK swastika inside it painted on the deck both fore and aft. The swastika in WOWS is usually replaced with a BLACK Iron Cross. The WOWS GAMESCOM GRAF ZEPPELIN also has the wrong flag painted on the Flight Deck, namely the German Reich War Flag also called War Ensign, this flag was NEVER painted on the decks of German War Navy ships, instead only the National Flag was used by the Kriegsmarine (War Navy). GRAF ZEPPELIN - NO NATIONAL EAGLE ON STERN Spoiler Many German War Navy warships had a large national eagle mounted on the stern of the warship before war began in September 1939. All warships which had such eagles on the stern were ordered to remove them in port at the outbreak of war. The WOWS GRAF ZEPPELIN should not have a stern eagle because the ship would not have had used that in wartime. GRAF ZEPPELIN - NO NAME PLATE ON SHIP Spoiler Practically all German War Navy warships had a name plate with the name of the ship on it but these were used only in peace time. When war began in September 1939 the name plates were removed from all warships to not betray the identity of the warship in port and in combat. As such the WOWS GRAF ZEPPELIN should also not have name plates since they would not have been used in wartime. GRAF ZEPPELIN - NO COAT OF ARMS ON BOW Spoiler Practically all German War Navy warships had a coat of arms on a shield which were generally mounted on the port and starboard side of the bow in peace time. When war began in September 1939 the coat of arm shields on the bow of warships were removed to not betray the identity of the warship in port and in combat. All ships which had such coat of arms on the bow were ordered to remove them in port when war broke out in September 1939. As such the WOWS GRAF ZEPPELIN should not have bow coat of arms since the ship would never had that in wartime. MG 151/20 AUTOCANNON ON Me 155 A-1 AND Ju 87 E-1 Spoiler The Me 155 A-1 was to be armed with 1x MG 151/20 20-mm auto-cannon and the Ju-87 E-1 with 2x MK 151/20 20-mm which each fired 750 RPM (rounds per minute, meaning 12 rounds per second). After evaluating combat data the German Air Force determined that it took normally about 15-20 direct hits (=about a 1-2 second burst from a single MG 151/20 20-mm cannon) to take down a 4-engine heavy B-17 bomber and 3-5 direct hits to take down a fighter. This was possible because the MG 151/20 used explosive ammunition called "Minengeschoß" (aka „mine shell“). The German regular 20 mm Minengeschoß had a High Explosive (HE) filling of 18-20 g of PETN, while typical contemporary 20 mm shells of other nations had merely 6-10 g of explosives. The Minengeschoß had slightly delayed detonators, allowing the shell to pass through target’s outer cover without explosion, then triggering the explosive in a moment, when two-thirds of shell were already past the outer skin. Subsequent explosion of large HE filler then caused pieces of target’s construction to be literally torn away, making a large gaping holes and seriously affecting aerodynamics and controls of the target. Additionally another Minengeschoß would be able to enter the hole made by previous shell, and explode deeper in the target aircraft construction, further increasing damage effect and compromising target’s structural integrity. The MG 151/20 autocannon was thus able to tear wings off or severely damage control surfaces and wires by only a handful of hits. Minengeschosse were particularly effective against fuel tanks, tearing them open and often setting the highly flammable aviation fuel on fire. Minengeschoß was issued as a standard high explosive ammunition to all existing German 20-mm cannons. This hard-hitting MG 151/20 auto-cannon gave German Aircraft equipped with it (Me 155 A-1, Ju 87 E-1) heavier firepower than practically all other Carrier Aircraft of other nations which is not quite the case in the WOWS GAMESCOM GRAF ZEPPELIN however. COLLECTION OF RELEVANT DATA ON WOWS TIER 8 CARRIER AIRCRAFT Spoiler The data on the German Carrier Aircraft Ju 87 C-1, Me 109 T-1, Ju 87 E-1 (= naval Ju 87 D-5), Me 155 A-1 (= naval Me 109 G-6) listed in this section comes from several sources, among them books by the Authors: Ulrich Israel, Manfred Griehl, Herbert Ringlstetter, Eric Brown, Tony Wood, Bill Gunston, A.J. Barker, Siegfried Breyer, Gerhard Koop and the absolutely massive 35-volume book series "Die deutsche Luftfahrt". Few of these sources present the exact same values for these aircraft, the values presented generally come from the most credible of the above mentioned sources. One key thing to stress in advance of looking at the aircraft data is that Japanese Carrier Aircraft in general had practically NO Armour protection for the Aircraft and the Aviator, they practically also had no self-sealing fuel tanks due to which their aircraft would easily be set on fire when hit. All German and practically all USA Carrier Aircraft were generally designed to have Armour protection and self-sealing fuel tanks GREATLY increasing their durability. The Armour protection and self-sealing fuel tanks in WOWS should have an impact on Hit Points per Squadron. The GAMESCOM GRAF ZEPPELIN has Aircraft with very few hit points as became clear when using the ship on the LIVE Server when she was released during GAMESCOM 2017. This should be corrected and the Aircraft should be changed from the 1939-era Ju 87 C (T) and 1939-era Me 109 T because the 1943+ GRAF ZEPPELIN was ordered to be equipped with the 1942-era Me 155 A-1 (= naval Me 109 G-6) and 1942-era Ju 87 E-1 (= naval version Ju 87 D-5). Another remarkable observation is that the German Carrier Aircraft on the GAMESCOM GRAF ZEPPELIN have a much lower speed than they should have based on the real world performance of these Aircraft. Equipping a 1943+ WOWS GRAF ZEPPELIN with 1939-era Carrier Aircraft (Ju 87 C and Me 109 T) as has been done with the GAMESCOM GRAF ZEPPELIN should NOT be also done with the re-designed WOWS GRAF ZEPPELIN. Instead she should have the Me 155 A-1 as a Fighter-Aircraft and the Ju 87 E-1 as a Multi-Purpose-Aircraft as was planned and ordered for her in 1942+. The Ju 87 E-1 and Me 155 A-1 were equipped with the hard hitting MG 151/20 20-mm auto-cannon with explosive ammunition which was the hardest hitting Aircraft Armament used by any fighter in 1942-1943 until the introduction of the German 30-mm auto-cannon. German Me 109 T-1 (Tier 8 Fighter-Aircraft) (=Me 109 E-4 B/N naval version) Designed: 1939 First Naval Service: 1940 Engine: DB 601 N Engine type: Inline Take-off HP: 1175 Foldable wings: no Max. wing span in m: 11.08 Length in m: 8.76 Height in m: 2.60 Wing Area in m2: 17.50 Wing loading in kg/m2: 176 Flight weight in kg: 2250 Max. take-off weight in kg: 3080 Top Speed in km/h: 575 Top Speed in knots: 310 Cruise Speed in km/h: 475 Cruise Speed in knots: 257 WOWS Speed in knots: 175 knots Climb rate in m/sec: 16 Range in km on internal fuel: 700 Service ceiling in m: 10500 Max bomb load in kg: 500 Armament: Front-Nose - 2x MG 17 – 7.92 mm 1200 RPM machine guns (2x 1000 rounds) = 50 seconds of ammunition Front-Wings - 2x MG FF – 20 mm 540 RPM auto-cannons (2x 60 rounds) = 7 seconds of ammunition German Me 155 A-1 (Tier 8+ Fighter-Aircraft) (=Me 109 G-6 naval version) Designed: 1942 First Naval Service: 1943 (scheduled) Engine: DB 605 A Engine type: Inline Take-off HP: 1475 Foldable wings: yes Max. wing span in m: +/- 9.92-11.08 Length in m: 8.94 Height in m: 2.50 Wing Area in m2: +/- 16.02-17.50 Wing loading in kg/m2: +/- 176-199.8 Flight weight in kg: 2680 Max. take-off weight in kg: 3221 Top Speed in km/h: 635 Top Speed in knots: 343 Cruise Speed in km/h: 520 Cruise Speed in knots: 281 WOWS Speed in knots: not in WOWS Climb rate in m/sec: 17 Range in km on internal fuel 650 Service ceiling in m: 12000 Max. bomb/drop-tank load in kg: 500 Armament: Front-Nose - 2x MG 131 – 13 mm 900 RPM machine guns (2x 300 rounds) = 20 seconds of ammunition Front-Nose - 1x MG 151/20 – 20 mm 750 RPM auto-cannon (1x 200 rounds) = 16 seconds of ammunition German Ju 87 C-1 (Tier 8 Dive-Combat-Aircraft) (=Ju 87 B-1 naval version) Designed: 1939 First Naval Service: 1940 Engine: Jumo 211 D Engine type: Inline Take-off HP: 1200 Foldable wings: yes Max. wing span in m: 13.02 Length in m: 11.0 Height in m: 4.25 Wing Area in m2: 31.3 Wing loading in kg/m2: 85 Flight weight in kg: 2760 Max. take-off weight in kg: 5840 Top Speed in km/h: 340 Top Speed in knots: 184 Cruise Speed in km/h: 320 Cruise Speed in knots: 173 WOWS Speed in knots: 135 knots Climb rate in m/sec: 5.55 Range in km on internal fuel: 580 Service ceiling in m: 7000 Max bomb load in kg: 700 max, 500 usual Armament: Front-Wings - 2x MG 17 – 7.92 mm 1200 RPM machine guns (3x 1000 rounds) = 50 seconds of ammunition Rear-High - 1x MG 15 – 7.92 mm 1050 RPM machine gun (3x 900 rounds) = 51 seconds of ammunition German Ju 87 E-1 (Tier 8+ Multi-Purpose-Aircraft) (=Ju 87 D-5 naval version) Designed: 1942 First Naval Service: 1943 (scheduled) Engine: Jumo 211 J Engine type: Inline Take-off HP: 1400 Foldable wings: yes Max. wing span in m: 15.0 Length in m: 11.0 Height in m: 3.80 Wing Area in m2: 31.7 Wing loading in kg/m2: 105 Flight weight in kg: 3940 Max. take-off weight in kg: 6600 Top Speed in km/h: 420 Top Speed in knots: 227 Cruise Speed in km/h: 345 Cruise Speed in knots: 186 WOWS Speed in knots: not in WOWS Climb rate in m/sec: 4.36 Range in km on internal fuel 820 Service ceiling in m: 7500 Max bomb load in kg: 1800 Armament: Front-Wings - 2x MG 151/20 – 20 mm 750 RPM auto-cannons (2x 500 rounds) = 40 seconds of ammunition Rear-High - 1x MG 81 Z 7.92-mm 3200 RPM twin machine gun (1x 1600 rounds) = 30 seconds of ammunition USA Grumman F6F-5 (Tier 7 Fighter-Aircraft) Designed: 1943 First Naval Service: 1944 Engine: R-2800-10-W Engine type: Radial Take-off HP: 2000 Foldable wings: yes Max. wing span in m: 13.06 Length in m: 10.24 Height in m: 3.99 Wing Area in m2: 31.03 Wing loading in kg/m2: 184 Flight weight in kg: 5770 Max. take-off weight in kg: 6930 Top Speed in km/h: 620 Top Speed in knots: 334 Cruise Speed in km/h: 310 Cruise Speed in knots: 167 WOWS Speed in knots: 166 Climb rate in m/sec: 16 Range in km on internal fuel: 1520 Service ceiling in m: 11370 Max bomb load in kg: 1814 Armament: Front-Wings - 6x M2 AN/M2 – 12.7 mm 850 RPM machine guns (6x 400 rounds) = 28 seconds of ammunition USA Grumman TBF-1C (Tier 7 Torpedo-Bomber-Aircraft) Designed: 1941 First Naval Service: 1943 Engine: R-2600-8 Engine type: Radial Take-off HP: 1700 Foldable wings: yes Max. wing span in m: 16.51 Length in m: 12.19 Height in m: 5.00 Wing Area in m2: 45.5 Wing loading in kg/m2: 113 Flight weight in kg: 4580 Max. take-off weight in kg: 7214 Top Speed in km/h: 436 Top Speed in knots: 235 Cruise Speed in km/h: 233 Cruise Speed in knots: 126 WOWS Speed in knots: 133 Climb rate in m/sec: 7.3 Range in km on internal fuel: 1955 Service ceiling in m: 7830 Max bomb load in kg: 908 Armament: Forward-Wings - 2x M2 AN/M2 – 12.7 mm 850 RPM machine guns (2x 600 rounds) = 42 seconds of ammunition Rear-High - 1x M2 AN/M2 – 12.7 mm 850 RPM machine guns (1x 400 rounds) = 28 seconds of ammunition Rear-Low - 1x M1919 AN/M2 – 7.62 mm 1200 RPM machine gun (1x 500 rounds) = 25 seconds of ammunition USA Douglas SBD-5 (Tier 7 Dive-Bomber-Aircraft) Designed: 1942 First Naval Service: 1943 Engine: R-1820-60 Engine type: Radial Take-off HP: 1200 Foldable wings: no Max. wing span in m: 12.66 Length in m: 10.09 Height in m: 4.14 Wing Area in m2: 30.19 Wing loading in kg/m2: 140.6 Flight weight in kg: 4245 Max. take-off weight in kg: 4853 Top Speed in km/h: 410 Top Speed in knots: 221 Cruise Speed in km/h: 298 Cruise Speed in knots: 161 WOWS Speed in knots: 137 Climb rate in m/sec: 8.6 Range in km on internal fuel: 1795 Service ceiling in m: 7780 Max bomb load in kg: 1020 Armament: Forward-Wings - 2x M2 AN/M2 – 12.7 mm 850 RPM machine guns (2x 360 rounds) = 25 seconds of ammunition Rear-High - 2x M1919 AN/M2 – 7.62 mm 1200 RPM machine guns (2x 1000 rounds) = 50 seconds of ammunition USA Vought F4U-1 (Tier 8 Fighter-Aircraft) Designed: 1941 First Naval Service: 1942 Engine: R-2800 Engine type: Radial Take-off HP: 2000 Foldable wings: yes Max. wing span in m: 12.49 Length in m: 10.16 Height in m: 4.90 Wing Area in m2: 29.2 Wing loading in kg/m2: 156 Flight weight in kg: 4074 Max. take-off weight in kg: 6354 Top Speed in km/h: 617 Top Speed in knots: 333 Cruise Speed in km/h: 293 Cruise Speed in knots: 158 WOWS Speed in knots: 169 Climb rate in m/sec: 15.8 Range in km on internal fuel: 1633 Service ceiling in m: 11250 Max bomb load in kg: 0 Armament: Forward-Wings - 6x M2 AN/M2 – 12.7 mm 850 RPM machine guns (6x 390 rounds) = 28 seconds of ammunition USA Grumman TBM-3 (Tier 8 Torpedo-Bomber-Aircraft) Designed: 1943 First Naval Service: 1944 Engine: R-2800-20 Engine type: Radial Take-off HP: 1900 Foldable wings: yes Max. wing span in m: 16.51 Length in m: 12.48 Height in m: 4.70 Wing Area in m2: 45.52 Wing loading in kg/m2: 178 Flight weight in kg: 4783 Max. take-off weight in kg: 8115 Top Speed in km/h: 442 Top Speed in knots: 239 Cruise Speed in km/h: 237 Cruise Speed in knots: 128 WOWS Speed in knots: 136 Climb rate in m/sec: 10.5 Range in km on internal fuel: 1610 Service ceiling in m: 9170 Max bomb load in kg: 907 Armament: Forward-Wings - 2x M2 AN/M2 – 12.7 mm 850 RPM machine guns (2x 600 rounds) = 42 seconds of ammunition Rear-High - 1x M2 AN/M2 – 12.7 mm 850 RPM machine guns (1x 400 rounds) = 28 seconds of ammunition Rear-Low - 1x M1919 AN/M2 – 7.62 mm 1200 RPM machine gun (1x 500 rounds) = 25 seconds of ammunition USA Curtiss SB2C-1C (Tier 8 Dive-Bomber-Aircraft) Designed: 1942 First Naval Service: 1943 Engine: R-2600-8 Engine type: Radial Take-off HP: 1700 Foldable wings: yes Max. wing span in m: 15.16 Length in m: 11.18 Height in m: 5.16 Wing Area in m2: 39.2 Wing loading in kg/m2: 132 Flight weight in kg: 5000 Max. take-off weight in kg: 7500 Top Speed in km/h: 475 Top Speed in knots: 257 Cruise Speed in km/h: 254 Cruise Speed in knots: 137 WOWS Speed in knots: 140 Climb rate in m/sec: 9.1 Range in km on internal fuel: 1875 Service ceiling in m: 8870 Max bomb load in kg: 925 Armament: Forward-Wings - 2x HS.404 M1 – 20 mm 700 RPM auto-cannons (2x 200 rounds) = 17 seconds of ammunition Rear-High - 2x M1919 AN/M2 – 7.62 mm 1200 RPM machine guns (2x 1000 rounds) = 50 seconds of ammunition Kawanishi N1K5-A (Tier 8 Fighter-Aircraft) Designed: 1945 (estimate) First Naval Service: 1946 (estimate) Engine: HA-43-11Ru Engine type: Radial Take-off HP: 2200 Foldable wings: yes (estimate) Max. wing span in m: 11.99 Length in m: 9.44 Height in m: 3.96 Wing Area in m2: 23.50 Wing loading in kg/m2: 207 Flight weight in kg: 4860 Max. take-off weight in kg: 4860+ Top Speed in km/h: 612 Top Speed in knots: 330 Cruise Speed in km/h: 386 Cruise Speed in knots: 214 WOWS Speed in knots: 140 Climb rate in m/sec: 13.88 Range in km on internal fuel: 1700 Service ceiling in m: 12000 Max bomb load in kg: 500 Armament: Forward-Nose - 2x Type 3 – 13.2 mm 800 RPM machine guns (2x 240 rounds) = 18 seconds of ammunition Forward-Wings - 4x Type 99 Mark 2 – 20 mm 480 RPM auto-cannons (4x 225 rounds) = 28 seconds of ammunition Note: Purportedly at the end of WW2 in July 1945 at least one prototype of the Kawanishi N1K5-J Shiden KAI 5, Model 25 (High-Altitude Interceptor version) with a Mitsubishi HA-43 (MK9A) radial engine (2,200 takeoff hp) existed and was destroyed in an air-raid by USAAF Bombers before the first flight could take place. So the N1K5-J High-Altitude-Interceptor prototype was purportedly never even completed in 1945. There seems to be no reliable information on a N1K5-A Carrier-Aircraft version even existing, the letter "A" indicating an Aircraft Carrier version. So the above information is based on questionable information on the never completed N1K5-J design. A 1945-era N1K5-A Carrier-Aircraft version according to the information I have found can be considered fictitious and arguably it should not have been included in WOWS on a Tier 8 Aircraft Carrier (SHOKAKU) to face 1939-to-1944 era Carrier Aircraft from other nations. The N1K4-A also only existed in prototype form only, and also was not completed and did not go into serial production. Nakajima B6N2 (Tier 8 Torpedo-Bomber-Aircraft) Designed: 1942 First Naval Service: 1943 Engine: HA-32-25 Engine type: Radial Take-off HP: 1850 Foldable wings: yes Max. wing span in m: 14.89 Length in m: 10.87 Height in m: 3.80 Wing Area in m2: 37.2 Wing loading in kg/m2: 139.78 Flight weight in kg: 5200 Max. take-off weight in kg: 5650 Top Speed in km/h: 481 Top Speed in knots: 260 Cruise Speed in km/h: 333 Cruise Speed in knots: 179 WOWS Speed in knots: 148 Climb rate in m/sec: 9.58 Range in km on internal fuel: 3046 Service ceiling in m: 9040 Max bomb load in kg: 800 Armament: Rear-High - 1x Type 97 – 7.7 mm 900 RPM machine guns (1x 300 rounds) = 20 seconds of ammunition Rear-Low - 1x Type 97 – 7.7 mm 900 RPM machine guns (1x 300 rounds) = 20 seconds of ammunition Nakajima D4Y2 (Tier 8 Dive-Bomber-Aircraft) Designed: 1942 First Naval Service: 1943 Engine: AE1P Engine type: Inline Take-off HP: 1381 Foldable wings: no Max. wing span in m: 11.49 Length in m: 10.22 Height in m: 3.68 Wing Area in m2: 23.60 Wing loading in kg/m2: 163.00 Flight weight in kg: 3835 Max. take-off weight in kg: 4353 Top Speed in km/h: 580 Top Speed in knots: 313 Cruise Speed in km/h: 426 Cruise Speed in knots: 230 WOWS Speed in knots: 161 Climb rate in m/sec: 14.00 Range in km on internal fuel: 3426 Service ceiling in m: 10720 Max bomb load in kg: 618 Armament: Forward-Nose - 2x Type 97 – 7.7 mm 900 RPM machine guns (2x 400 rounds) = 27 seconds of ammunition Rear-High - 1x Type 1 – 7.92 mm 1000 RPM machine gun (1x 582 rounds) = 35 seconds of ammunition JAPANESE NAVY WANTS TO BUY GRAF ZEPPELIN IN 1942 Spoiler The War Diary of the Sea War Command (KTB der Skl) on 16 June 1942 records that the German Naval Attache in Tokio reports that the Japanese War Navy requests to buy the GRAF ZEPPELIN. The Sea War Command (Skl) informs the Japanese liaison officer attached to the Skl that the GRAF ZEPPELIN will not be ready for operations before the middle of 1943 and that she is to be used by the German Sea War Command on operations, without giving further details than that (to the Japanese liaison officer). AERIAL TORPEDOES AND THE BRITISH, JAPANESE AND GERMAN WAR NAVIES 1941+ Spoiler The War Diary of the German Sea War Command (KTB der Skl) on 07 June 1941 records that the German Naval Attache in Tokio reports on remarks made by British Naval Officers to Japanese Naval Officers. According to these British Naval Officers Germany had, next to a number of other errors which benefitted England, made several errors on Maritime matters especially by: - Not creating an independent Naval Air Force (Arm), - Underestimating Torpedo Aviators (with which Germany could have sunk at least 3x times as much English shipping as with bombs) and - By halting the construction of the German Aircraft Carriers. Especially the last point leads to several statements in the War Diary which explain why the construction of the German Aircraft Carriers was halted and the remark that the Sea War Command is well aware of the importance of German Aircraft Carriers in an anti-merchant shipping role. Note: I will for now not translate the many reasons described in the War Diary mentions for halting construction of the German Aircraft Carriers. What this War Diary entry points out above all else is that both the German, British and Japanese Navy were quite aware that torpedo carrying aircraft are the best weapon against naval vessels (ship) and not bomb carrying aircraft. GERMAN AND JAPANESE NAVY COOPERATION 1940+ Spoiler After the signing of the Tri-Power Pact (Axis Berlin-Rome-Tokio) on 27 September 1940 the Japanese Navy permanently kept a staff of 20-30 Naval Officers in Germany to study German Technology in the War Industry etc. and to take part in Trials. Germany supplied Japan with high technology, like radar, blue prints for high performance engines etc. and in return Japanese Naval Officers were made available to the German War Navy to answer questions with regard to Japanese Aircraft Carrier Construction and the Organization of Flight procedures on board Japanese Carriers. GRAF ZEPPELIN DETAILED HANGER DECKS ANALYSES Spoiler The maximum possible hangar capacity of GRAF ZEPPELIN is something not grasped by many authors and students of the ship. From 1935 to 1943 the planned GRAF ZEPPELIN Air Component underwent many changes and one of the initial difficulties the designers of the ship had was that the Luftwaffe (Air Force) in 1935 could not supply Carrier Aircraft dimensions when the ship was being designed in 1935 because the German Military Air Industry and German Air Force was almost non-existent at that time. When GRAF ZEPPELIN was designed in 1935-1936 there were no German Carrier Aircraft in existence. So the GRAF ZEPPELIN designers had to estimate the dimensions of the future German Carrier Aircraft that were actually going to be stationed on the ship in 1940. As a result the designers made a pessimistic estimate of what the huge ship, the largest purpose designed and built Aircraft Carrier up till 1942 and even arguably in WW2, could carry and that is where the at least 40 to 60 estimate comes from. This estimate was conservative to remain on the safe side and without the designers having access to reliable dimensions of any real world aircraft that the Luftwaffe (Air Force) would be apply to supply in the future for GRAF ZEPPELIN. The GRAF ZEPPELIN design was large enough to be able to adapt to changing circumstances as can bee seen from the dimensions of GRAF ZEPPELIN. The reason no German Carrier Aircraft existed in 1935-1936 was because Anglo-French weapon inspectors from 1918 to 1932 had been seeing to the dismantling of German Military Aviation and Military Aviation Engine Factories. The factories which were to supply the aircraft for GRAF ZEPPELIN were busy being created from 1935-1936 and Carrier Aircraft were not their top priority. At that time the Luftwaffe (Air Force) and the German Military Aircraft and Military Aircraft Engine industry were in the process of being setup and created. The GRAF ZEPPELIN was by any standards a very large Aircraft Carrier (262.5 meters long, 31.5 meters wide, displacement of 33,550 tons). As stated GRAF ZEPPELIN was easily the largest purpose designed and built aircraft carrier in the world up till 1942 and arguably up till 1945. The LEXINGTON, SARATOGA, AKAGI and KAGA were also very large Aircraft Carriers, but they were not purpose designed and built as Aircraft Carriers like GRAF ZEPPELIN was, instead they were converted Battle Cruisers except for KAGA which was a converted Battleship. The GRAF ZEPPELIN had quite large hangers but the planned Air Component to be stationed on the ship was kept relatively small in 1937-1939, leading many to believe that the ship could not house many aircraft. The huge dimensions of the hangers make clear that this is in fact not true. Author Siegried Breyer relates the following GRAF ZEPPELIN minimum Hanger dimensions: - Upper Hanger Deck: about 6.5 meters high, about 15.5 meters wide, about 185 meters long. - Lower Hanger Deck: about 6.5 meters high, about 15.5 meters wide, about 170 meters long. Note: Some sources state a width of 16 meters for the Upper and Lower Hanger Deck and a length of 172 meters for the Lower Hanger Deck. Taking the most conservative figures that gives the following minimum square meters of Hanger Deck space for GRAF ZEPPELIN: - Upper Hanger Deck: 15.5 meters width x 185 meters long = 2876.5 square meters - Lower Hanger Deck: 15.5 meters width x 170 meters long = 2638 square meters In total GRAF ZEPPELIN had a minimum of 5514.5 square meters of Hanger Deck space divided over two Hanger Decks. Comparing GRAF ZEPPELIN's two Hanger Decks with the LEXINGTON Aircraft Carrier, which had only ONE Hanger Deck as was the design practice on USA Aircraft Carriers, is insightful. LEXINGTON when built in 1927 had these Hanger Deck dimensions: - Hanger Deck: minimum height about 6.4 meters high, about 20.7 meters wide, about 129.2 meters long. That gives LEXINGTON the following minimum square meters of Hanger Deck space: - Hanger Deck: 20.7 meters width x 129.2 meters long = 2674.44 square meters. Comparing the totals is insightful: - GRAF ZEPPELIN has 5514.5 square meters of Hanger Deck space divided over two Hanger Decks. - LEXINGTON has 2674.44 square meters of Hanger Deck space on one Hanger Deck. That means that GRAF ZEPPELIN had more than 2x or DOUBLE (206.19%) the Hanger space of LEXINTON. Even when one accepts a purported claim of 3114.9 square meters of Hangar space on LEXINGTON that is still substantially less than the minimum 5514.5 square meters of Hanger Deck space on GRAF ZEPPELIN. LEXINGTON and her sister ship SARATOGA were the two largest USA Aircraft Carriers in WW2. The 1945 MIDWAY was larger than GRAF ZEPPELIN and also larger than the LEXINGTON and SARATOGA, but MIDWAY was commissioned on 10 September 1945 so she was too late to actually participate in WW2. The YORKTOWN-class USA Aircraft Carriers when built in 1937 had these Hanger Deck dimensions: - Hanger Deck: minimum height about 5.25 meters high, about 19.2 meters wide, about 166.42 meters long. That gives the YORKTOWN-class the following minimum square meters of Hanger Deck space: - Hanger Deck: 19.2 meters width x 166.42 meters long = 3195.26 square meters. Comparing the totals is insightful: - GRAF ZEPPELIN has 5514.5 square meters of Hanger Deck space divided over two Hanger Decks. - YORKTOWN, HORNET, and ENTERPRISE have 3195.26 square meters of Hanger Deck space on one Hanger Deck. That means that GRAF ZEPPELIN had 1.72x or 172.58% of the Hanger space of the three YORKTOWN class USA Aircraft Carriers (YORKTOWN, HORNET, and ENTERPRISE). In other words the YORKTOWN-class had a Hanger Deck space of only 57.94% that of GRAF ZEPPELIN. The YORKTOWN-class initially typically had on board about 72x aircraft (18x SBD-2 Dauntlesses, 18x SBD-2 Dauntlesses, 18x F4F-3 Wildcats, 18x TBD Devastators) with a Hanger Deck space of only 57.94% of GRAF ZEPPELIN. There is no doubt that GRAF ZEPPELIN with her huge 5514.5 square meter Hanger Deck space could accommodate a greater number of aircraft than arguably any pre-1945 WW2 USA aircraft carrier. LEXINGTON had one Catapult, but that Catapult could only assist seaplanes in taking off to a maximum of 89 km/h, compared to the two powerful Compressed Air Catapults on GRAF ZEPPELIN which could launch fully loaded Fighter, Dive Combat and Torpedo Bomber Carrier Aircraft at speeds of up to 155 km/h every 26 seconds without the need for GRAF ZEPPELIN to turn into the wind due to the power of the Compressed Air Catapult system. Only five launches were made with the LEXINGTON Catapult before it was removed in 1936. Practically no USA aircraft carriers until the early 1950s, that is more than 15 years after GRAF ZEPPELIN was designed, had Catapults which functioned like the GRAF ZEPPELIN ones, which could actually completely force launch aircraft at up to 155 Km/h and up to a maximum of 5800 kg so that the Aircraft did not have to use the flight deck as a runway. Practically all 1930s and 1940s USA Aircraft Carriers had their aircraft use the flight deck as a runway to take off from, limiting the use of the flight deck to either take offs or landings but not both at the same. GRAF ZEPPELIN had two powerful Compressed Air Catapults which had been thoroughly tested which would have allowed the ship to launch and land Aircraft at the same time. GRAF ZEPPELIN could launch aircraft this way in the 1930s a good 15 years before comparably powerful Catapults were introduced in other navies LEXINGTON was purportedly originally designed to carry a maximum of 78x Carrier Aircraft (which until the 1940s were mostly small lightweight biplane aircraft) of which 36 could be bombers. The US Navy developed the practice of tying up spare disassembled aircraft at the top of the hanger. These spare aircraft could however NOT be readied and flown before being thoroughly assembled first, something which would not happen during a naval battle. In 1936 LEXINGTON purportedly had about 79x assembled Carrier Aircraft on board and about 30x spare disassembled Carrier Aircraft making it a total of 109 aircraft. All of the 1936 aircraft were mostly small and lightweight biplane aircraft however. The maximum number of aircraft on board LEXINGTON/SARATOGA depended on the dimensions and weight of the aircraft used. The small and lightweight biplane aircraft of 1936 took up little space and weight. By 1941 the Carrier Aircraft had mostly been replaced with monoplanes and they were both heavier and larger, thus limiting the number of aircraft carried on board LEXINGTON/SARATOGA. Examples of LEXINGTON/SARATOGA Carrier Aircraft complement: - LEXINGTON December 1941: 65 (including disassembled reserve aircraft) - SARATOGA December 1941: 66 (including disassembled reserve aircraft) - SARATOGA mid-1942: 90 (including disassembled reserve aircraft) - SARATOGA early-1945: 70 (including disassembled reserve aircraft) On the basis of all available data it can be easily calculated that the GRAF ZEPPELIN, which had more than DOUBLE (206.19%) the Hanger Deck space of LEXINGTON, could easily have housed well over 80-100+ Carrier Aircraft in her two very large hangers decks if required to do so. Especially since the Me 155 A-1 Fighter-Aircraft and Ju 87 E-1 Multi-Purpose-Aircraft were designed with foldable wings. GRAF ZEPPELIN COMPARED TO USA AIRCRAFT CARRIERS FROM 1936 TO 1945 Spoiler Arguably no purpose designed and built USA Aircraft Carrier in WW2 exceeded the dimensions, size and displacement specifications of the 1935-designed GRAF ZEPPELIN up till 1945. The first purpose designed and built USA Aircraft Carrier which definitely exceeded the dimensions, power plant and displacement etc. specifications of the 1935-designed GRAF ZEPPELIN was the 10 September 1945-commissioned post-war MIDWAY. GRAF ZEPPELIN (Purpose designed and built Aircraft Carrier, May 1942 Configuration) - Designed: 1935-1936 - Commissioned: Never (On 30 May 1942 a final completion date of 01 April 1943 and a Commission date of 01 August 1943 were reported by the Skl) - Displacement: 33,550 tons at full load - Length 262.5 meters - Beam 31.5 meters - Draft: 8.5 meters - Installed power: 220,000 horsepower - Speed: 33.8 knots (34.25 maximum) - Range: 8,000 nautical miles at 19 knots - Hangar space: 5,514.5 square meters LEXINGTON/SARATOGA (Battle-Cruisers converted to Aircraft Carriers) - Designed: 1922 (as Aircraft Carriers) - Commissioned: 1927 - Displacement: 36,000 tons at full load - Length: 270.7 meters - Beam: 32.8 meters - Draft: 8.4 meters - Installed power: 180,000 horsepower - Speed: 33.25 knots - Range: 9,910 nautical miles at 10.7 knots - Hangar space: 2,674.44 square meters Note: LEXINGTON and her sister ship SARATOGA were arguably the two largest USA Aircraft Carriers in WW2. The MIDWAY was larger than GRAF ZEPPELIN and also larger than the LEXINGTON and SARATOGA, but MIDWAY was commissioned on 10 September 1945 so she was too late to actually participate in WW2. RANGER (First purpose designed and built USA Aircraft Carrier) - Designed: 1930 - Commissioned: 1934 - Displacement: 17,577 tons at full load - Length: 222.5 meters - Beam: 24.4 meters - Draft: 6.8 meters - Installed power: 53,500 horsepower - Speed: 29.3 knots - Range: 10,000 nautical miles at 15 knots YORKTOWN (Purpose designed and built USA Aircraft Carrier) - Designed: 1931-1934 - Commissioned: 1937 - Displacement: 25,500 tons at full load - Length: 230 meters - Beam: 25 meters - Draft: 7.9 meters - Installed power: 120,000 horsepower - Speed: 32.5 knots - Range: 12,500 nautical miles at 15 knots - Hangar space: 3195.26 square meters. ESSEX (Purpose designed and built USA Aircraft Carrier) - Designed: 1938 - Commissioned: 1942 - Displacement: 33,000 tons at full load - Length: 249.9 meters - Beam: 28.3 meters - Draft: 8.4 meters - Installed power: 150,000 horsepower - Speed: 32.7 knots - Range: 20,000 nautical miles at 15 knots MIDWAY (Purpose designed and built USA Aircraft Carrier) - Designed: 1940 - Commissioned: 1945 - Displacement: 45,000 tons at full load - Length: 295 meters - Beam: 37 meters - Draft: 10 meters - Installed power: 212,000 horsepower - Speed: 33 knots GRAF ZEPPELIN ARMOUR ARRANGEMENT Spoiler The armour layout of the ship will be detailed when I have time for it. To be continued… 15 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Widar_Thule Players 322 posts Report post #2 Posted September 12, 2017 IMAGES CONCERNING TEXTURES FOR THE RE-DESIGNED GRAF ZEPPELIN The following images are part of an authenticity based proposal for the unique camouflage pattern which is going to be supplied by WOWS to the original buyers and keepers of the GAMESCOM GRAF ZEPPELIN. The proposal is based on what an authentic GRAF ZEPPELIN would have looked like in 1943 based on data from credible authors on the subject of camouflage (Robert Gehringer, Dieter Jung, Arno Abendroth, Norbert Kelling et al) and specifically on the GRAF ZEPPELIN (Ulrich Israel et al). PROPOSED GRAF ZEPPELIN CAMOUFLAGE PATTERN - FAETTENFJORD, NORWAY Spoiler The excellent 5-volume book series "Battleship Tirpitz/Schlachtschiff Tirpitz" by Robert Gehringer provides some excellent information on the camouflage pattern used by the Battleship TIRPITZ during the time she was based at Faettenfjord near Drontheim (Trondheim) in Norway in 1942. The GRAF ZEPPELIN was scheduled to be berthed at Faettenfjord as well when she would have become operational, so she would have followed the camouflage patterns similar to TIRPITZ with which she would have operated in the northern North Atlantic. The following images shows one of the camouflage patterns that TIRPITZ used which on the port side was made to represent a British Battleship. It is noteworthy that the German War Navy (Kriegsmarine) camouflage guideline stated that the bow and stern of ships was to be painted WHITE because extensive testing had showed this in the northern North Atlantic made the length of the actual bow and stern difficult to determine by enemy observers under certain light conditions. For that reason almost all German capital ships in Norway had a WHIITE bow and stern. If the WOWS graphics designers want to make both an unique and authentic camouflage pattern for the re-designed WOWS GRAF ZEPPELIN which would be made available only to the buyers and keepers of the GAMESCOM GRAF ZEPPELIN than this sort of camouflage pattern would be a very good candidate: https://imgur.com/a/xiLAC GRAF ZEPPELIN MODEL - EXAMPLE BRIGHT YELLOW FLIGHT DECK BARS Spoiler The model maker Ralph Liedtke who made a fine model of GRAF ZEPPELIN, has followed the primary source BRIGHT YELLOW Flight Deck bar/stripe data which has been provided by author Ulrich Israel in his book "Flugzeugträger Graf Zeppelin". All the BRIGHT YELLOW bars/stripes on the Flight Deck of this model are authentic, except for the BRIGHT YELLOW Elevator border painting. So this model shows an authentic copy of the transverse BRIGHT YELLOW bars and the Flight Deck bars which follow the length of the Flight Deck up to the main mast. Ulrich Israel makes no mention of BRIGHT YELLOW ordered to be painted around the borders of the 3x Elevators, so that appears to be an unauthentic interpretation of Ralph Liedtke. The GRAF ZEPPELIN would have had no Coat-of-Arms Shields on the bow and no Name Plate during wartime, the model of Liedtke has both these but in wartime they would have been removed. https://imgur.com/a/WoDa9 https://imgur.com/a/uNsp8 https://imgur.com/a/0ifLt https://imgur.com/a/UlVc0 https://imgur.com/a/X29FF https://imgur.com/a/TUvj6 https://imgur.com/a/gX7B7 GRAF ZEPPELIN MODEL - EXAMPLE BRIGHT YELLOW FLIGHT DECK BARS AND NATIONAL FLAG Spoiler The WOWS graphic designers decided to paint two unauthentic flags on the Flight Deck of the GAMESCOM GRAF ZEPPELIN because those two flags are German War Flags. That is unauthentic since the German War Navy only painted the German National Flag on the deck of warships. IF the WOWS graphic designers are going to again paint flags on the Flight Deck of the re-designed GRAF ZEPPELIN then it should authentically be a plain BRIGHT RED German National Flag with a WHITE circle and a BLACK Cross (= Iron Cross in WOWS) inside the white circle. The German National Flag might have been painted on the deck of the GRAF ZEPPELIN for aerial recognition since that was also done on practically all German War Navy (Kriegsmarine) ships, the BRIGHT YELLOW bars/stripes on the Flight Deck would however certainly been imperative for flight operations. If flags would have been painted on the GRAF ZEPPELIN then It is likely that these flags would have been painted behind the transverse BRIGHT YELLOW bars which were at the front and end of the Flight Deck. This model gives an impression of what a flag behind the BRIGHT YELLOW bars could have then looked like: https://imgur.com/a/A0Vy2 EDIT: IMAGE OF 1./I./186 (T) EMBLEM FOR 1943 GRAF ZEPPELN CARRIER AIRCRAFT Spoiler Starting in 1938 the Trägergeschwader 186 (=Carrier-Wing 186) for GRAF ZEPPELIN was raised, and it consisted of 2x full strength Trägergruppen (=Carrier-Groups) numbered I. and II. which each had 3x Träger-Staffel (Carrier-Squadrons) numbered 1. to 6. In late 1939 the 6x Squadrons were at full strength. According to author Barry Ketley in his book "Emblems of the Luftwaffe 1939-1945" only the Träger-Stuka-Staffel 1. of Trägergeschwader 186 used the "Hagenhelm" symbol on their Ju 87 Aircraft and white and black Aircraft Identification (for example Aircraft Identification J9+DH in black except for the letter D in white). According to author Ulrich Israel the helm is a "Hagenhelm" which was not necessarily meant to only represent the Helm worn by Hagen in the Nibelungen Saga, but was chosen also because the commander of the I. (Stuka) Gruppe of 186 (T) was named Major Walter Hagen. Major Hagen commanded the mixed Ju 87 and Me 109 equipped II. Gruppe of 186 (T) from 01 November 1938 to 10 September 1939, after which Major Hagen commanded the newly raised I. (Stuka) Gruppe of 186 (T).Images of the "Hagenhelm" Emblem of Träger-Stuka-Staffel 1. of Trägergeschwader 186.https://imgur.com/a/PeyOJ https://imgur.com/a/j1ia5 EDIT: PHOTOGRAPHS OF EMBLEM AND MARKINGS ON Ju 87 OF 1./I./186 (T) Spoiler Images of Ju 87 of (former) Träger-Stuka-Staffel 1. of Trägergeschwader 186 with the "Hagenhelm" Emblem on the engine cowling. The Träger-Stuka-Staffel 1. Emblem is faintly visible and mounted just ahead of the canopy on the engine cowling. Also noteworthy is the first part of the Aircraft identification markings, which reads "J9" this was denotes that the Aircraft belongs to Trägergeschwader 186. https://imgur.com/a/4ts9M https://imgur.com/a/oiXU3 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Widar_Thule Players 322 posts Report post #3 Posted September 12, 2017 EDIT 2020: AUTHENTIC GRAF ZEPPELIN MOD FOR WOWS When the "Carrier Rework" and the resulting "Action Carriers" were introduced in February 2019 my earlier "RTS Carriers" mod titled AUTHENTIC GRAF ZEPPELIN (of which version 2.0 was the latest version, which can still found in this archived post below) became defunct. I thoroughly reworked the mod but have until now not published it anywhere. Due to some requests about the updated version of the mod I recently published the "Carrier Rework" version of the AUTHENTIC GRAF ZEPPELIN mod on the NEXUS. The much improved AUTHENTIC GRAF ZEPPELIN mod can as a result now be found here on the NEXUS: https://www.nexusmods.com/worldofwarships/mods/1 The THULE AUTHENTIC GRAF ZEPPELIN MOD FOR WOWS is an artistic and authentic/historical mod for the game World of Warships. The mod files have been created by the mod author ONLY for the purpose and reason of study, historical interest/accuracy and authenticity and the mod is NOT intended for any other reason or purpose than that. The default ("vanilla") presentation of the German Aircraft Carrier GRAF ZEPPELIN in the game World of Warships (WOWS) is unauthentic/wrong in several key aspects. The THULE AUTHENTIC GRAF ZEPPELIN mod corrects some of those aspects and generally follows the authentic (historical) data provided by credible authors/historians on the subject. The THULE AUTHENTIC GRAF ZEPPELIN mod replaces some of the default WOWS GRAF ZEPPELIN files with more authentic/historically accurate files that are based on data from credible authors/historians. The mod shows the GRAF ZEPPELIN as she would have looked in late 1943 had she been stationed in Norway in the Faettenfjord near Drontheim (Trondheim). One of the reasons for this mod, is to assist WOWS Developers in adding the authentic Flight Deck Markings and Lights, Squadron Aircraft Emblems and Individual Identification Markings to their default ("vanilla") WOWS GRAF ZEPPELIN ship model in order to make their default ("vanilla") ship model more AUTHENTIC. The mod files have been created by the mod author ONLY for the purpose and reason of study, historical interest/accuracy and authenticity and the mod is NOT intended for any other reason or purpose than that. If you do NOT like study and authenticity/historical accuracy then this mod is NOT for you and do NOT download it. The "RTS Carrier" version 2.0 - as well as even lower numbered versions - of the AUTHENTIC GRAF ZEPPELIN mod are defunct and archived below. EDIT 2018: AUTHENTIC GRAF ZEPPELIN MOD FOR WOWS (Archived) Spoiler The textures of the WOWS GRAF ZEPPELIN are unauthentic/wrong in several key aspects. There exists an AUTHENTIC GRAF ZEPPELIN mod that corrects some of those aspects and which generally follows the authentic (historic) data provided by author Ulrich Israel in his book "GRAF ZEPPELIN" and author Barry Ketley in his book "EMBLEMS OF THE LUFTWAFFE 1939-1945".The AUTHENTIC GRAF ZEPPELIN mod replaces the default ("vanilla") WOWS GRAF ZEPPELIN textures with more authentic/historically accurate textures based on data from credible authors/historians.MOD DISCLAIMER: One of the reasons for this mod, is to assist WOWS Developers in adding the authentic YELLOW Flight Deck Markings, Squadron Aircraft Emblems and Individual Identification Markings to their default ("vanilla") WOWS GRAF ZEPPELIN textures in order to make their default textures more AUTHENTIC. The mod textures have been created by the mod author for reasons of authenticity/historical accuracy ONLY, and NOT for any OTHER reasons. If you do NOT like authenticity then this mod is NOT for you and do NOT download it. The AUTHENTIC GRAF ZEPPELIN mod can be downloaded here: Latest mod version: v2.0 Published: 05 July 2018 This texture mod generally will work with all previous and future versions as well as the current version of WOWS. The current version of WOWS as of this writing is: 0.7.6 Mod download link: http://www.mediafire.com/file/kygcs6ozrwbnx4x/res_mods_-_Authentic_GRAF_ZEPPELIN_-_v2.0.7z/file This is likely the final version of this texture mod which should be compatible with both the current and all future updates of WOWS. What is new in version v2.0 of the mod: - The Unauthentic Default "EAGLE GRAF ZEPPELIN" red, white and black coloured Camouflage type pattern that WOWS has supplied exclusively to the original August 2017 GAMESCOM buyers of the GZ has been altered and replaced by the mod and transformed into a unique and authentic "graphite grey", "fog grey" and "grey white" "splintered" camouflage pattern variant of the regular "TYPE 10 GRAF ZEPPELIN" Camouflage type pattern. - All jagged edges in the GZ hull Camouflage pattern that existed in previous versions of the mod have been reworked so that the Camouflage pattern now presents an overall seamless and smooth appearance, this applies to both the "Eagle GZ" and "Type 10 GZ" Camouflage patterns of the mod. - The 10.5 cm and 15 cm gun camouflage colouring has been altered to better fit the overall authentically coloured camouflage pattern of the mod v2.0 version of both the "Eagle GZ" and "Type 10 GZ" Camouflage patterns. - The Flight Deck details and marking colouring have been significantly improved over that of previous versions of the mod. - The Junkers Ju 87 C-1 and Messerschmitt Me 109 T-1 aircraft camouflage colouring and aircraft marking details have been further improved over that of previous versions of the mod (note: the aircraft improvements of v2.0 are not visible in the aircraft images underneath). What has been improved/added in all versions of this mod: - The Unauthentic Default "TYPE 10 GRAF ZEPPELIN" Camouflage pattern has been edited to make the colours more authentic and conforming to the Kriegsmarine colour camouflage guideline. According to 1942-1945 Kriegsmarine "Denkschrift: Das Tarnen von Schiffen ("Guideline: The camouflaging of ships"), written by Korvettenkapitän Walther Dechend in 1942, ships operating in the North Atlantic would typically use a "splintered" camouflage pattern with large irregular shaped areas which were painted in the colours: "Grauweiß, Graphitgrau, Nebelgrau, mittel Blaugrau, Schwarzblau" (grey white, graphite grey, fog grey, medium blue grey, black blue). According to that Guideline the colours of white and black were to be used "under NO circumstances" and the bow and stern should NEVER be painted in dark colours. In the mod the colours of the Unauthentic Default "TYPE 10 GRAF ZEPPELIN" Camouflage pattern have been altered to more Authentic colours to loosely follow the Kriegsmarine Guideline: Black has been replaced with "graphite grey", white replaced with "fog grey" and green replaced with "grey white". - The Ju 87 C-1 and Me 109 T-1 camouflage colours and Aircraft identification markings have been altered to conform to what the Luftwaffe had determined would be used for the Aircraft of the GRAF ZEPPELIN when she would become operational. This is based on the information provided by author, naval historian and retired Freggattenkapitän Ulrich Israel (DDR Volksmarine) in his 1994-published book "GRAF ZEPPELIN", which was the result his 7-year study of primary source documentation. In the mod the Ju 87 C-1 and Me 109 T-1 are painted in the Naval Camouflage Colours and Pattern which were used for Luftwaffe Aircraft that operated over the North Atlantic, this consisted of a two-colour camouflage pattern on the top of the Aircraft painted in RLM 72 (GRAUGRÜN/GREY GREEN) and RLM 73 (GRÜNBLAU/GREEN BLUE), and the bottom of the Aircraft painted in RLM 65 (HELLBLAU/LIGHT BLUE). In the mod the colours and markings of the Me 109 T-1 and Ju 87 C-1 have been altered to represent these Aircraft as they would have looked aboard GRAF ZEPPELIN. The Me 109 T-1 has the authentic "witch" insignia and identification used by "Träger-Jagd-Staffel 5." of "Trägergeschwader 186". The Ju 87 C-1 has the "Hagenhelm" insignia and identification used by "Träger-Stuka-Staffel 1." of "Trägergeschwader 186". So in the mod the Ju 87 C-1 now belongs to 1.(St)/I./186 (T) and the Me 109 T-1 now belongs to 5. (J)/II./186 (T). - National Stern Eagle. - Appropriate wood coloured GRAF ZEPPELIN Name plate on the stern of the ship. - Flight Deck now has authentic Yellow Lines/Bar Markings on the Flight Deck, National Identification. Unauthentic Default "EAGLE GRAF ZEPPELIN" Camouflage Pattern – Portside view Note: The Authentic GRAF ZEPPELIN mod replaces this Unauthentic Default "EAGLE GRAF ZEPPELIN" Camouflage Pattern with an Authentic one. Portside view - Northern Lights https://imgur.com/a/m8ZU5xB Unauthentic Default "EAGLE GRAF ZEPPELIN" Camouflage Pattern – Starboardside view Note: The Authentic GRAF ZEPPELIN mod replaces this Unauthentic Default "EAGLE GRAF ZEPPELIN" Camouflage Pattern with an Authentic one. Starboardside view - Northern Lights https://imgur.com/a/a0rLh7w Authentic "EAGLE GRAF ZEPPELIN" Camouflage Pattern – Portside view Note: The Authentic "EAGLE GRAF ZEPPELIN" Camouflage Pattern in this mod is a variant of the "TYPE 10 GRAF ZEPPELIN" Camouflage Pattern with authentic colours and with a slightly altered "splinter" scheme on port and starboard. Portside view - Northern Lights https://imgur.com/uxCrMVc Authentic "EAGLE GRAF ZEPPELIN" Camouflage Pattern – Starboardside view Note: The Authentic "EAGLE GRAF ZEPPELIN" Camouflage Pattern in this mod is a variant of the "TYPE 10 GRAF ZEPPELIN" Camouflage Pattern with authentic colours and with a slightly altered "splinter" scheme on port and starboard. Starboardside view - Northern Lights https://imgur.com/a/djEKnue Unauthentic Default "TYPE 10 GRAF ZEPPELIN" Camouflage Pattern – Harbour view Note: The Authentic GRAF ZEPPELIN mod replaces this Unauthentic Default "TYPE 10 GRAF ZEPPELIN" Camouflage Pattern with an Authentic one. Dunkirk Harbour view https://imgur.com/a/Sko7hfO Authentic "TYPE 10 GRAF ZEPPELIN" Camouflage Pattern – Harbour view Dunkirk Harbour view https://imgur.com/a/uiULo Black Sea Harbour view https://imgur.com/a/iAx9e Hamburg Harbour view with Airship LZ 127 GRAF ZEPPELIN, Barque PADUA and Ocean Liner CAP ARCONA https://imgur.com/a/qIv8w Hamburg Harbour view with Barque PADUA, Ocean Liner CAP ARCONA and Airship LZ 127 GRAF ZEPPELIN https://imgur.com/a/4u7em New York City Harbour view https://imgur.com/a/n5QjT Authentic "TYPE 10" Camouflage Pattern – Portside view Portside view - Northern Lights https://imgur.com/a/tw0N3 Authentic "TYPE 10" Camouflage Pattern – Starboardside view Starboardside view - Northern Lights https://imgur.com/a/fxs3C Authentic Flight Deck Markings – Bow view Bow view - Northern Lights https://imgur.com/a/3vDzb Authentic Flight Deck Markings – Stern view Stern view - Northern Lights https://imgur.com/a/nvt0L Authentic Luftwaffe Naval Aircraft camouflage scheme Front view – Black Sea Harbour https://imgur.com/a/9C6uH Top view – Black Sea Harbour https://imgur.com/a/yaREp Top view – Hamburg Harbour https://imgur.com/a/Fp22m Authentic Junkers Ju 87 C-1 with markings of 1.(St)/I./186 (T) Port view – Black Sea Harbour https://imgur.com/a/OX7q1 Starboard view – Black Sea Harbour https://imgur.com/a/SR62R Authentic Messerschmitt Me 109 T-1 with markings of 5. (J)/II./186 (T) Port view – Black Sea Harbour https://imgur.com/a/dv4us Starboard view – Black Sea Harbour https://imgur.com/a/Jjztw Authentic Luftwaffe Naval Aircraft camouflage scheme Top view Ju 87 C-1 – Northern Lights https://imgur.com/a/DQn3C Side view Me 109 T-1 – Northern Lights https://imgur.com/a/ZXJFt Authentic Ship Name plate and Eagle – Stern view Hawaii Harbour view https://imgur.com/a/o85qF 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Widar_Thule Players 322 posts Report post #4 Posted September 12, 2017 EDIT 2020: This whole topic was published in response to the "GRAF ZEPPELIN rework" that took place from late 2017 to early 2018 and many of the remarks posted refer to the "RTS Carrier" version of the GRAF ZEPPELIN that was replaced by the "Action Carrier" version of the GRAF ZEPPELIN that was released in February 2019 as a result of the Carrier rework that was implemented with version 8.0. As such this topic is in need of a serious rewrite which I might undertake if I time permits. Until then I will post some data in this topic that I have posted in other topics on the EU/NA forum on the subject of the current German Carriers and which one way or another impact on the GRAF ZEPPELIN or the WOWS GRAF ZEPPELIN. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Widar_Thule Players 322 posts Report post #5 Posted September 12, 2017 The choice of aircraft for the German Carrier line in WOWS is not authentic. The impression is that the WOWS historical research department had great difficulty in ascertaining both the German Carrier Aircraft that were designed in Germany and the actual German Carrier designs that were made. Fortunately there is no need to reinvent the wheel because good books have been written by authors that have spent decades researching this subject. The impression is that the WOWS research department missed these sources and it is greatly advised that the WOWS research department consults these sources to create an accurate representation of German Carrier Aircraft from 1926-1945. These two sources described the German Carrier Aircraft in detail and I advise the WOWS Development team to take note of them: - "Flugzeugträger Graf Zeppelin" (1994) by Ulrich H.J. Israel (the best and most complete single book on all aspects of the Aircraft Carrier GRAF ZEPPELIN and her Aircraft), this book: Spoiler The professional historian and author Ulrich Israel spent close to ten years of research on this subject, using the unique primary source data he had access to as a high ranking naval officer in the navy of former Communist Germany. - "Flugzeugträger Graf Zeppelin" (2007) by Richard Wagner and Manfred Wilske (contains rare valuable primary source data on the GRAF ZEPPELIN, her Aircraft and unique rare comparative Carrier Aircraft data), this book: Spoiler The authors Wagner (a naval aviatior and officer in the West German Navy) and Wilske (a naval propulsion engineer) of the latter book have spent almost 30 years of research on this subject. They have collected an impressive amount of many primary source documents, and even met and interviewed Wilhelm Hadeler (arguably THE key lead designer of the real world GRAF ZEPPELIN) during the course of their research and collected and used 1:300 and 1:100 original design blueprints of the GRAF ZEPPELIN in order to create a near-perfect 1:100 scale model of the GRAF ZEPPELIN. The origins of German Carrier Aircraft The GRAF ZEPPELIN was designed in 1935-1936 and at that time no German Carrier Aircraft actually existed that were going to be used aboard the GRAF ZEPPELIN Aircraft Carrier class. The design team behind the GRAF ZEPPELIN rightly assumed that the Carrier Aircraft that existed in Germany in 1935-1936 were considered to be going to be obsolete by the time the GRAF ZEPPELIN would be completed in 1941 and even more so for the seven sister ships of the GRAF ZEPPELIN that were going to be built and completed after the GRAF ZEPPELIN based on the latest and final version of the naval shipbuilding "Z Plan". Naval engineer and designer Wilhelm Hadeler and the design team of which he was part were given the task to create a Fleet Aircraft Carrier design that would be able to modernized and used at least over a 20 to 25 year period after completion. The GRAF ZEPPELIN was scheduled to be completed in 1941 so that means the design had to be able to modernized at least until 1960 to 1965. In order to do that a large "reserve" was built into the design by Wilhelm Hadeler based on his documentation. The "reserve" came in the shape of building the largest purpose-built Aircraft Carrier in the world by 1935/1936 standards with the largest hanger capacity of any Carrier then in existence anywhere. There was a major reason for that: the Carrier Aircraft that were going to be used in 1941 on the GRAF ZEPPELIN did not yet exist, their dimensions and weight had to be estimated. Hadeler rightly assumed that they would continu to greatly increase in dimensions and weight. And as a result everything, from the two huge hangers to the elevator size to the maximum catapult size and the maximum elevator lift weight, was increased by a huge amount in order for the GRAF ZEPPELIN design to be able to handle large and heavy aircraft that at the time did not even exist and to allow for substantial modernizations of the "island" on the Flight Deck. That foresight turned out to be spot on. Germany had only started to seriously reconstruct the military and the military industry in 1935-1936 from a more or less totally disarmed state due to a long period of military inactivity that had started in 1918/1919 when Germany had disarmed. Wilhelm Hadeler in his design studies dating back to 1933 wanted the GRAF ZEPPELIN Aircraft Carrier class to be able to be equipped with at least 60 Aircraft, all with foldable wings like the later Fi 167. The design, development, production and testing of Carrier Aircraft started in earnest in 1935 and lasted right up till 1945. The effort invested in German Carrier Aircraft was decreased but not stopped in 1940 but interestingly from 1941 onwards till the end of the war the development and testing of both Carrier Aircraft and their armament continued unabated! Author Ulrich Israel lists these German Carrier Aircraft for the period of 1926-1935: - Heinkel HD 23 as Carrier Fighter (1926) Spoiler - Heinkel HD 38 al as Carrier Fighter (1929) Spoiler - Heinkel He 50 B as Carrier Dive Bomber (1935) Spoiler The dimensions of these early German Carrier Aircraft as well as of contemporary Japanese, British and USA Carrier Aircraft were used as a basis by Wilhelm Hadeler et al and extrapolated to what they would most likely be in 10 to 20 years (so heavily increased in dimensions, weight etc.). And these German Carrier Aircraft for the period of 1938-1939: - Arado Ar 195 as Carrier Multi-Purpose Aircraft (1938) Spoiler - Arado Ar 197 as Carrier Fighter Aircraft (1938) Spoiler - Fieseler Fi 167 as Carrier Multi-Purpose Aircraft (1939) (Torpedo Bomber, Level Bomber, Mine Layer, Smoke Layer, Reconnaissance) Spoiler And these German Carrier Aircraft for the period of 1941-1942: - Junkers Ju 87 C-1 as Carrier Dive Bomber (1941) Spoiler - Messerschmitt Me 109 T-1 as Carrier Fighter (1941) Spoiler And these German Carrier Aircraft for the period of 1943: - Junkers Ju 87 E (naval Ju 87 D-5) as Carrier Multi-Purpose Aircraft (1942) Spoiler - Messerschmitt Me 155 A as Carrier Fighter (1943), (several authors have reached the conclusion that the Me 155 A was redesignated Me 209 V5 in 1943 after Admiral Dönitz had ordered that GRAF ZEPPELIN was not to be completed) Spoiler The Naval Aviation Arm of the Luftwaffe was composed of veteran naval aviators and naval officers that had transferred to the Luftwaffe on 1 January 1935 when all naval aviation personnel and equipment became part of the Luftwaffe. These now former Naval Aviators had no animosity towards the Navy and worked together well together with their Naval officer colleagues right up till 1945. GRAF ZEPPELIN would have been completed in 1941, a second completion date would have been 1943. In 1939-1940 the Luftwaffe Naval Aviation Arm had selected the Ju 87 and Me 109 for use aboard GRAF ZEPPELIN in 1941 and rejected the Fi 167 biplane for use aboard the GRAF ZEPPELIN. The Navy preferred the Fi 167 in the role of Reconnaissance, Smoke Layer and Torpedo Bomber over the Ju 87 C, but the Luftwaffe Naval Aviation Arm had the final say in the matter and preferred the Ju 87 C, so the Ju 87 C-1 was chosen to equip the GRAF ZEPPELIN in 1941 together with the Me 109 T-1 when she was to be commissioned. Authors Wagner and Wilske have divided the German Carrier Aircraft designs into four phases. Phase I: Definition, from 1935-1937 Phase II: Design, development and construction, from 1937-1939 Phase III: Testing, from 1939-1942 Phase IV: Reorientation, from 1942 till 1945 These Carrier Aircraft adaptations were part of Phase I: Definition, from 1935-1937 The Luftwaffe considered Carrier Aircraft of such importance that of all the prototypes that were in existence of land base Aircraft from 1935-197 at least two Aircraft had to be adapted for use on Carriers! These Aircraft were adapted for Carrier Aircraft use: - He 50 (three were adapted with Carrier arrester gear) Spoiler - Ar 197 (2 prototypes, one of which was in Rechlin) Spoiler - Ar 195 (3 prototypes) Spoiler - He 112 (two prototypes) Spoiler - He 118 (2 Aircraft of the pre-production 0 series) Spoiler - Bf 109 / Me 109 (6 prototypes) Spoiler - Fi 167 (3 prototypes) Spoiler - Ju 87 (2 prototypes of the B-0 pre-production series) Spoiler - Avia B.534 (3 Aircraft) Spoiler The Carrier Aircraft had to be selected to fill these roles: - Carrier Trainer - Carrier Fighter / Fighter-Escort - Carrier Dive Bomber - Carrier Level Bomber / Torpedo Bomber / Reconnaissance Aircraft / Smoke Layer / Mine Layer The Luftwaffe had determind that for each role at least two and a maximum of three competitor designs were to be selected. The Carrier Aircraft adaptations listed under Phase I were selected for Phase II: Design, development and construction, from 1937-1939 By 1938 the very large purpose built Naval Aviation Test Center at Travemünde (Erprobungsstelle SEE Travemünde, or E-Stelle SEE Travemünde for short) as well as the production of Carrier adapted Aircraft had reached the level of completion required for trials and tests to be commenced in detail of all the aircraft listed in Phase I. These Carrier Aircraft adaptations were part of Phase III: Testing, from 1939-1942 At the end of 1938 the Luftwaffe had selected these Aircraft for Carrier related use: Carrier Trainer: He 50 T-1 and He 50 T-2 Spoiler A downgraded export version of the He 50 was made and designated He 66, this was sold to Japan including the right to build it under license. The Japanese firm of Aichi then started construction of the He 66 under the designation D1A1, followed by the D1A2 which were used on Japanese Carriers up till 1940. Carrier Trainer: Ar 197 Spoiler Carrier Fighter: Bf 109 T-1 (redesignated Me 109 T-1 on August 1938) Spoiler Carrier Torpedo Bomber / Level Bomber / Reconnaissance: Fi 167 Spoiler Carrier Dive Bomber: Ju 87 C-1 Spoiler Carrier Aircraft for general testing and trials: Ar 195 with arrestor gear Spoiler Carrier Aircraft for general testing and trials: Fi 165 with arrestor gear (interestingly the Fi 165 actually landed on a British Aircraft Carrier after WW2) Spoiler By 1939-1940 the Luftwaffe had selected these Carrier Aircraft for the GRAF ZEPPELIN: - Junkers Ju 87 C-1 as Multi Purpose Carrier Aircraft (1941) (Dive Bomber, Torpedo Bomber, Level Bomber, Reconnaissance, Smoke Aircraft) Spoiler - Messerschmitt Me 109 T-1 as Carrier Fighter (1941) (Fighter and Escort Fighter) Spoiler Note: the Ju 87 C did not yet have mountings for a torpedo in 1940, these were developed and tested in 1941-1942. These Carrier Aircraft adaptations were part of Phase IV: Reorientation, from 1942 till 1945 Carrier Trainer: Ar 96 T Spoiler Carrier Fighter: Me 155 A (several authors have reached the conclusion that the Me 155 A was redesignated Me 209 V5 in 1943 after Admiral Dönitz had ordered that GRAF ZEPPELIN was not to be completed) Spoiler Carrier Torpedo Bomber / Dive Bomber / Level Bomber / Reconnaissance: Ju 87 E (naval version of the Ju 87 D) Spoiler By 1942 the Luftwaffe had selected these Carrier Aircraft for use aboard GRAF ZEPPELIN: - Junkers Ju 87 E-1 as Multi Purpose Carrier Aircraft (1942) (Dive Bomber, Torpedo Bomber, Level Bomber, Reconnaissance, Smoke Aircraft) Spoiler - Messerschmitt Me 155 A-1 as Carrier Fighter (1943) (Fighter and Escort Fighter), (several authors have reached the conclusion that the Me 155 A was redesignated Me 209 V5 in 1943 after Admiral Dönitz had ordered that GRAF ZEPPELIN was not to be completed) Spoiler In 1939/1940 the Aircraft companies of Fieseler and Arado were contracted to develop Carrier Aircraft that were to replace the Ju 87 C in 2-3 years. There are indications that Junkers (JFW) was also contracted for this purpose. These Carrier Aircraft were developed by Arado, Fieseler and arguably Junkers from 1939/1940 onwards: - Arado E 240 V3 (Torpedo Bomber, Dive Bomber) Spoiler The third prototype of the Ar E 240, called Ar E 240 V3 (V3 for "Versuchsmaschine 3" which can be roughly translated as Prototype 3 in english) was used for the Ar E 310. For all intents and purposes the Ar E 310 was equal to the Ar E 240 V3, the main difference being that the Ar E 310 was the designation for the Carrier Aircraft adapted variant of the Ar E 240 V3. - Arado E 310 (Torpedo Bomber, Dive Bomber) Spoiler - Fieseler P19 (Torpedo Bomber, Multi Purpose Aircraft) Spoiler - Fieseler P 22C (Torpedo Bomber, Multi Purpose Aircraft) Spoiler - Junkers EF 82 (Dive Bomber) Spoiler Next to that the German Luftwaffe had developed and built the world's first production series helicopters. A German Navy order is on record that states that Flettner Fl 282 helicopters were to be stationed aboard GRAF ZEPPELIN to be used in the anti-submarine role. At that time the Fl 282 were already being used in the anti-submarine role. The following helicopters existed and were tested for Luftwafe Naval Aviation purposes: - Flettner Fl 265 Spoiler The Fl 265 helicopter was first tested for naval purposes aboard the Light Cruiser KÖLN on a helicopter platform mounted on an aft main gun turret on 18 June 1941 and served as a testbed for helicopter technology. - Flettner Fl 282 Spoiler The Fl 282 was for all intents and purposes a modern helicopter, in September 1942 the E-Stelle SEE in Travemünde started the first tests aboard the ship GREIF which was fitted with a helicopter platform. Thereafter more tests were done aboard the mine-layer ship DRACHE in the Mediterranean. North of Crete from the middle of November 1942 till the end of January 1943 more tests were conducted that focused on locating submarines. On 30 June 1943 a total of 14 ships were selected that were to be equipped with the Fl 282, most of them were submarine hunter ships. In March 1944 the ship ELSASS was adapted for helicopter use, the ship operated in the Baltic Sea from Pillau in eastern Germany. In 1943 the Italian Navy ordered one Fl 282 for use aboard the Italian Aircraft Carrier AQUILA. The Flettner Fl 282 Kolibri (Humming Bird) as well as the much larger Focke-Achgelis Fa 223 Drache (Dragon) helicopter entered series production during the war and formed the basis for all post-war helicopters. The most likely 1944-1945 Carrier Aircraft for the GRAF ZEPPELIN are: - The Carrier version of the Arado E 240 V3 which was designated Ar E 310 (as Multi Purpose Carrier Aircraft (Dive Bomber, Torpedo Bomber, Level Bomber, Reconnaissance, Smoke Layer, Mine Layer) and replacement for the Ju 87 E-1 Spoiler Spoiler The third prototype of the Ar E 240, called Ar E 240 V3 (V3 for "Versuchsmaschine 3" which can be roughly translated as Prototype 3 in english) was used for the Ar E 310. For all intents and purposes the Ar E 310 was equal to the Ar E 240 V3, the main difference being that the Ar E 310 was the designation for the Carrier Aircraft adapted variant of the Ar E 240 V3. - Messerschmitt Me 155 A-1 as Carrier Fighter (Fighter and Escort Fighter), (several authors have reached the conclusion that the Me 155 A was redesignated Me 209 V5 in 1943 after Admiral Dönitz had ordered that GRAF ZEPPELIN was not to be completed) Spoiler - Flettner Fl 282 Kolibri as Carrier Helicopter (Anti Submarine Helicopter) Spoiler Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Widar_Thule Players 322 posts Report post #6 Posted September 12, 2017 Instead of conventional torpedoes I propose the "Bomben Torpedo" for the German Carriers, at least for all German Carriers from at least Tier 8 and 10. BOMBEN TORPEDO Here is some data on the "Bomben Torpedo". The late 1944/1945 torpedo weapon of choice would have been the "Bomben Torpedo 1400" or BT 1400 for short. Fw 190: Spoiler Some sources state that the BT was used by Fw 190 F-8 of 11. Staffel (Squadron) / Kampfgeschwader 200 (Bomber Wing 200) against Remagen Bridge and against shipping. Some sources state that Fw 190 F-8 / R-16 equiped with BT 700 flew night attacks against British ships from Stavanger airfield in Norway. Me 110: Spoiler Data on the "Bomben Torpedo" Purported source: German Explosive Ordnance Vol. 1: Bombs, Rockets, Grenades, Mines, Fuzes & Igniters Data can be found here: http://ww2data.blogspot.com/2019/05/german-explosive-ordnance-concrete.html "BT (Bomben Torpedo) General: The aircraft torpedo is an expensive, complicated weapon. The proportion of explosive weight is low. Mass production is lengthy and expensive. In addition, present day performance of torpedo engines limit the speed and range of the projectile. Both of these items are essentials for accuracy and safety from anti-aircraft fire. A relatively simple weapon would result were the torpedo engine and the control gear omitted. If this simplified weapon were launched so that the greater portion of the distance to the target was covered through the air, as with an ordinary bomb, the initial speed of the launch would be retained over nearly all the range. The projectile would enter the water just short of the target and carry on in the direction of its flight in air by reason of its momentum in the same was as does a torpedo. To prevent it from going too deep before detonation, a relatively flat angle of entry into the water is necessary. Such a weapon was developed in Germany during the closing months of the war, and it was called the Bomben Torpedo. It combines the characteristics of the bomb to travel a long distance in a short time interval with the characteristics of a torpedo in that underwater travel eliminates range errors. Details: The BT was developed in four sizes: 200kg, 400kg, 700kg, and the 1400kg. They all incorporated the same general shape and construction, and were entirely of steel. They were constructed in three pieces; the warhead (two sections) and the tail section. The forward section of the warhead was in the shape of a truncated cone, and the after section of the warhead was cylindrical. The transverse fuze pocket was located in the cylindrical section just aft the point where the two sections were welded together. The suspension lug T-type, was secured to the warhead just forward of this weld at the center of gravity. Tail Section: The tail section was also in the shape of a truncated cone. There were three very large fins placed 120 degree apart at the after end of the section. This type of tail provided excellent stability for the bomb while it was in the air. The tail section was secured to the after section of the warhead in such a manner that when the missile struck the water, it was jettisoned. Early in the experiments, a BT 1000 was worked on and this missile had a rocket motor inside the tail section. This idea was soon dropped as it proved impractical for the missile. Underwater Behavior: The bomb must in no event ricochet off the water, not even in flat angles of entry, but must continue without deviation of its path of entry. It is known that with ogival noses, as seen in the illustration of the BT 1400, a bomb will ricochet off the water when it strikes at a flat angle. By using a flat nose, as seen in the illustration of the BT 700, or better yet by using a spoiler plate, this ricochet at flat angles is definitely avoided. The front surface of the spoiler plate is made in the form of a section of a sphere of radius, equivalent to the distance between the surface of the spoiler plate and the bomb's center of gravity. As the flow of force is practically perpendicular to the upper surface of the body when it is awash, the resulting flow of force must go through the center of gravity and thus it causes no turning moment. A spoiler plate with the same diameter as the bomb, however, has a high water drag. The ideal situation is to have the size of the plate less than the greatest caliber of the bomb body and so shaped that only the spoiler plate and no other part strikes the surface of the water at flat angles of entry." -------------------- Purported source Luftwaffe document: L.Dv. 4200. "Dreamk" partly and roughly translated the document. Data can be found here (in German): http://michaelhiske.de/Wehrmacht/Luft/Luft/LDV_4200/SERIE_S/INDEX_S.HTM "L.Dv. 4200 (July 1944) Vormerkblatt Preliminary note: In contrast to those of the BT 200, 400 and 700, the body of the BT 1400 consists of thin-walled sheet steel. In order to ensure that the explosive in the BT body detonates properly before being smashed, a deformation head with built-in special tip holder connects to the baffle plates. The air tail is blown off electrically-pyrotechnically when it hits the water. ...... Usage The BT 700 will initially be used by the Fw 290 against aircraft carriers, merchant ships, light and heavy cruisers, etc. No direct, but special underwater hits should be achieved under the ship. The BT 400 is used against sea point targets such as light cruisers, merchant ships, etc. by the Fw 190. No direct, special underwater seam hits should be achieved with it, if possible under the ship. The BT 200 is used against small sea point targets such as landing craft, submarines etc. first by the Fw 190. No direct, but special underwater seam hits should be reached, if possible under the ship. ...... The BT is a mine bomb made of cast iron without self-propulsion and is used over a long airway and a short underwater path. It consists of the bomb body with the detonator socket and the tail unit to stabilize the BT during the airway. The requirements, high willingness to enter at angles of impact of 10 - 90 ° and straight line continuation of the direction of movement when water enters through a water path of 60 - 80 m, are met by the special shape of the BT and the baffle plate attached to the front of the truncated cone. The air control unit consists of 3 guide surfaces offset by 120 ° to each other, of which the one pointing downwards can be folded up sideways in order to gain sufficient ground clearance for loading and take-off. The tail surfaces protrude beyond the caliber diameter. The air control unit is attached to the support arm of the BT body with a predetermined breaking screw made of aluminum. When the water enters, the breaking screw breaks so that the tail unit detaches from the BT body and does not affect the watercourse. Raising the BT on the air tail is prohibited! The rear centering ring of the BT, on which the tail unit is pushed, must be kept rust-free by greasing. [For the BT200 and BT400,] the support arm for the tail assembly is initially available in two versions. In the BT 200 C1/ BT 400 C1 (older version), it is welded to the base plate of the BT body, stiffened by three angle plates. In the new, final version of the BT 200 C2/ BT 400 C2, the support arm is housed in the tail unit. Operation If the BT 200 C2 enters the water approx. 20 m before the destination, "mV ignition" takes place via the mV ignition circuit of the AZ (28) C / 0.35 after 0.12 seconds under the ship . In the event of unwanted direct ship hits, "oV ignition" occurs immediately via the break ignition circuit of the AZ (28) C / 035 If the BT 400 C2/ 700 C2 enters the water approx. 25 m before the destination, "mV ignition" takes place via the mV ignition circuit of the AZ (28) C / 0.35 after 0.18 seconds under the ship , In the event of unwanted direct ship hits, "oV ignition" occurs immediately via the break ignition circuit of the AZ (28) C / 0.35. 4th identification The BT body is painted beige gray. BT 200 C or BT 200 C2, BT 400 C or BT 400 C2, BT 700 C or BT 700 C2 is stenciled on the body in black. 5th packaging A BT 700 is packaged for transport on the BT 700 carriage. The air control units are delivered separately from the BT bodies in triangular slatted frames and stored there until they are attached. " Spoiler How it was to be delivered can be seen in the image underneath: Spoiler The caption under the above image reads: "Hit situation/location when dropping a total of five BT (Bomben Torpedos) at a 10 Degree Angle at a longitudal spread of 100 meters." "Wasserlaufbahn" means direction of travel through the water (after delivery of the BT). The BT could be used both against ground and sea targets, when used against sea targets it was both effective when it hit the target ship above the water and under water, greatest damage and effect of course was under water. As you can see from the drawing underneath the BT 200 could easily detonate beneath a 25 meters wide ship at 11 meters of depth where it would do the most damage when coming in at an angle of 10 degrees. Spoiler The above image shows key data of the BT 200, BT 400, BT 700 A, BT 700 B, BT 1000, BT 1400, BT 1850. The BT 1850 was reportedly used against Remagen bridge. "Länge" means length, "Durchmesser max." means maximum diameter, "Sprengstoff" means explosive and "Gewicht" means weight. --- The BT has several key advantages over a conventional torpedo: 1.) It was much easier and faster to produce and required less rare materials than a conventional aerial torpedo, one key thing in this respect is that the BT did not need the whole complex propellor propulsion system that was used in conventional aerial torpedoes. 2.) The BT had a much larger warhead than a conventional aerial torpedo, and thus had considerably more explosives than a conventional aerial torpedo. The reason for that was because the space normally taken up by the whole complex propellor propulsion system in a conventional aerial torpedo was free to be filled with explosives in the BT because the BT did not have propellor propulsion. The BT relied solely on kinetics for delivery and target impact. 3.) A conventional aerial torpedo required the aerial torpedo delivery aircraft (the Torpedo Bomber) to fly in a predictable straight line at a comparatively low airspeed compared to a dive bombing or glide bombing attack. That made the conventional Torpedo Bomber not only a fairly easy target for enemy Fighter Aircraft but also for Flak gunnery which became increasingly more automated and effective towards the end of the war. The BT however offered the BT delivery aircraft (the BT Bomber) much better protection because the BT delivery aircraft could come in fast and from a dive or glide bombing attack angle and even taken evasive maneuvers up to the last seconds before delivery of the BT. That made the BT delivery aircraft a more difficult and unpredictable target for enemy Flak and Fighter Aircraft and offered the BT Aviator and the BT delivery aircraft better chances of survival and as a corollary diminished the chance of the target (ship) to evade or prevent the attack by the BT delivery aircraft. 4.) The delivery of the BT was more or less akin to a conventional glide/dive bombing attack, and as a result it was markedly easier for an aviator to learn how to deliver, and actually deliver a BT than it was for conventional aerial torpedo. Additionally, due to the comparatively short range at which the BT was dropped from the target (ship), the chance of a BT hit on the target (ship) was greatly increased, especially compared to much lower chance to hit of a conventional aerial torpedo. 5.) The target (ship) of a BT attack could not easily evade a BT attack because of the speed of the BT delivery aircraft, the speed of the BT, the comparatively short range at which the BT was dropped from the target (ship) and the unpredictable and fast approach run of the BT delivery aircraft. Evading conventional aerial torpedoes was comparatively easy as the record of WW2 shows. Most conventional aerial torpedoes dropped missed their target ship in WW2. Not only were the conventional aerial torpedo aircraft comparatively slow and locked into a dangerously predictable straight line attack pattern, but the aerial torpedoes could be fairly easily spotted and evaded before they reached the target ship. Conventional aerial torpedo attacks had most chance of hitting the target when at least six or more Torpedo Bombers came in from two or more different directions at the same time on the same target, the so-called cross pattern torpedo attack. This required time to setup and a lot of training and co-ordination which translated in increased training times for Naval Aviators before they even had a chance to become proficient in aerial torpedo attacks. Additionally the conventional aerial torpedo first had to reach the required depth after being dropped and then the propellor propulsion had to propell the aerial torpedo to the ship. The BT did not have that problem, it came in very fast due to kinetic energy and there was not enough time and space for the target (ship) to take evasive action to prevent being hit by a BT that was correctly released on target. The BT attack could be executed by an individual aircraft attacking from almost any angle and as a result the BT did not require a complex co-ordinated cross attack pattern by six or more BT delivery aircraft all coming in at the same time on the same target like was necessary with a conventional aerial torpedo attack. 6.) The BT could purportedly be dropped in such a way that it detonated underneath the enemy ship (keel) where the damage done due to the nature of an underwater explosion would be much larger and where the armour of most battleships was weakest. The effectiveness of a BT detonating underneath a target ship was quite considerable due to the much larger warhead of the BT compared to that of a conventional aerial torpedo. The keel of a ship is both its spine and its achilles heel and the BT could purportedly be used to target it. 7.) The BT could purportedly be used against both ground and naval targets without the need to change either the detonator or the warhead in flight or on the ground. That gave the BT delivery aircraft a flexibility (due to being able to target both ground and naval targets, as well as being effective when hitting a ship both above and under the waterline) and made the BT all-round capable, something the conventional aerial torpedo was not because that could only be used against naval targets (ships) and only under the waterline. 8.) The conventional aerial torpedoes used during WW2 have a limited maximum speed that is more or less dictated by the propulsion system with which a conventional aerial torpedo is equipped. The BT however purportedly does not have this limitation because its speed is the result of kinetics. The speed of the BT is purportedly decided by the speed of the BT delivery aircraft and the weight of the BT. So the faster the BT delivery aircraft flies when dropping the BT and the heavier the BT it delivers is (BT 200, 400, 700, 1000, 1400, 1850), the faster the BT will be. So for example a BT 700 dropped by a Fw 190 F-8 flying at top speed will be slower than a BT 700 dropped by a Ta 152 C-1 flying at top speed, because the Fw 190 F-8 has a lower top speed than the Ta 152 C-1. Based on German wartime official documentation regarding the real world ordnance available to and used by the Me 109, Ju 87, Fw 190 and Ta 152 series, I propose to use these Aircraft and this ordnance setup for the new German Carriers in WOWS from Tier 6 upwards: Tier 6 Carrier WESER (1941 era equipment) · Me 109 T-1 (See VI below) with 2x2 HE 210 mm "Wurfgranaten 42" (Projector Grenades 42) (See I below) · Ju 87 C-1 (See VII below) with 1x 500 kg AP Bomb (See II below) and 4x 50 kg HE Bombs (See III below) · Ju 87 C-1 (See VII below) with 1x "LT 5" (See V below) Tier 8 Carrier PARSEVAL and the Tier 6 Premium Carrier LOEWENHARDT (1943 era equipment) · Me 155 A-1 (See VI below) with with 2x2 HE 210 mm "Wurfgranaten 42" (Projector Grenades 42) · Ju 87 E-1 (See VII below) with 1x 500 kg AP Bomb (See II below) and 2x 250 kg HE Bombs (See IV below) · Ju 87 E-1 with 1x "LT 5" (See V below) Tier 10 Carrier RICHTHOFEN and the Tier 8 Premium Carrier GRAF ZEPPELIN (1945 era equipment) · Ta 152 C-1/R11 (See VIII below) with 2x6 = 12x "Panzerblitz 2" Armour Piercing 88 mm rockets that could penetrate 180 mm of steel armour · Ta 152 C-1/R11 (See VIII below) armed with 1x 500 kg AP Bomb (See II below) and 2x 250 kg HE Bombs (See IV below) As for the 1944/1945 torpedo bomber armament there are two options based on official wartime Luftwaffe documentation: · Ta 152 C-1/R14 (See VIII below) armed with a 780 kg "LT IB" short torpedo or an 850 kg "LT IB" long torpedo, this torpedo was fielded in early 1944 · Ta 152 C-1/R15 (See VIII below) armed with a "BT 1400" (1400 kg "Bomben Torpedo", or Bomb Torpedo) (See IX below) I propose the BT 1400 for the Tier 10 Carrier RICHTHOFEN and for the Tier 8 Premium Carrier GRAF ZEPPELIN as an ordnance variant. Notes (I) 2x1 or 2x2 rockets in the 21 cm "BR-Gerät" ("Bord-Raketen-Gerät", or on-board rocket device) or R-2 ("Rüstsatz 2", or Ordnance set 2). These devices allowed the firing of the 21 cm "Wurfgranaten 42" (Projector Grenades 42) of the 21 cm "Nebelwerfer 42"' (Nebel Rocket Launcher 42). On the Me 109 Aircraft series these devices were first mounted on the 1943 Bf 109 G-6 Aircraft. Rudolf Nebel was a WW1 fighter pilot, rocket and space pioneer/engineer that invented the Nebel Rocket Launcher that was named after him. (II) 1x 500 kg "PC" ("Panzersprengbombe, Cylindrisch") "Paulina" - Armour Piercing High Explosive Bomb, Cylindrical (III) 4x 50 kg "SC" ("Sprengbombe, Cylindrisch") - High Explosive Bomb, Cylindrical (IV) 2x 250 kg "SC" ("Sprengbombe, Cylindrisch") - High Explosive Bomb, Cylindrical (V) A 650-kg 450-mm Torpedo. This is either the German torpedo "Typ F 5 b" (40 knot speed/2000 meter range) or the Italian "Typ F 5 W" (W for Whitehead-Fiume) (40 knot/3000 meter range). The main practical differences between the two torpedoes types were mostly Torpedo drop speed and Torpedo drop height. (VI) The Carrier Aircraft Me 109 T was produced in limited numbers up till 1941. The Me 155 A-1 was the Carrier version of the 1943 produced Me 109 G-6 Aircraft. Knowledgeable researchers have suggested that it is highly likely that the 1943 Me 209 V5 prototype Aircraft was the 1942/1943 Me 155 A-1 design. The Me 209 V5 bore no resemblance whatsoever to the earlier Me 209 V1 till V4 prototype Aircraft and the Me 209 V5 was presented in 1943 without any prior work having been done on it, making it highly likely that it was in fact the cancelled 1942/1943 designed Me 155 A-1 that was being presented as the 1943 Me 209 V5 instead. The Me 209 V5 design and its specifications have remarkable similarities with the Me 155 A-1 design specifications. (VII) The Carrier Aircraft Ju 87 C was produced in limited numbers up till 1941. The Ju 87 E-1 was the Carrier version of the 1943 produced Ju 87 D-5. At least one Ju 87 E-1 prototype has been confirmed to have been built and tested. (VIII) The Ta 152 C-1 was a medium altitude fighter and fighter bomber equipped with the Daimler Benz DB 603 L engine, it was not equipped with a pressurized cockpit and could operate up till 11.5 km, it had the same wings and wingspan as the Fw 190 series but considerably superior performance. The Ta 152 C-1 was designed in such a way that it could use all ordnance that was used by the Fw 190 series. About nine Ta 152 C prototypes were built and tested from 1944 onward. Ta 152 C-1 production was scheduled to start in February 1945 and mass production in March 1945 in four factories. Photographic evidence makes clear that Ta 152 C-1 production was started but to date it has not been possible to determine how many were actually produced. Production of at least two series Ta 152 C-1 has been confirmed. The Ta 152 C-1 aircraft is not to be confused with the Ta 152 H-1 high altitude fighter equipped with a Junkers Jumo 213 A engine, that was equipped with a pressurized cockpit and could operate up till 13.9 km, it had a different wing and a considerably larger wingspan than the Ta 152 C and Fw 190 series. About twelve Ta 152 H prototypes were built and tested from 1944 onward. Ta 152 H-1 production was scheduled to start in November 1944 and mass production in January 1945 in three factories. Production of at least 35 production Ta 152 H-1 has been confirmed. There is no publicly available evidence that the Ta 152 was ever designed to be used as a Carrier Aircraft. The Ta 152 C-1/R14 and R15 were designed however to carry aerial torpedoes. The Ta 152 C-1/R-14 was designed to carry either a 780 kg "LT IB" short torpedo or an 850 kg "LT IB" long torpedo. The Ta 152 C-1/R-15 was designed to carry a "BT 1400" (1400 kg "Bomben Torpedo", or Bomb Torpedo). (IX) The BT 1400 was a 1400 kg passive torpedo weapon called "Bomben Torpedo" ("BT", or Bomb Torpedo). The BT was airdropped from a low height and relative short distance from the target, would enter the water and travel the short remaining distance through the water solely driven by its kinetic energy. It was designed in 1943, developed and tested in 1944 and found to be considerably more effective than conventional torpedoes of WW2. It was as a result chosen as replacement for all conventional torpedoes. Mass production of the BT started in late 1944 but was disrupted when allied troops occupied BT production facilities in Molsheim (Elsass). Suggested sources for the above information are: - "Der Flugzeugträger" (1968) by Wilhelm Hadeler (unique book written by the lead designer of the Aircraft Carrier GRAF ZEPPELIN that also covers her design) - "Flugzeugträger Graf Zeppelin" (1994) by Ulrich H.J. Israel (the best and most complete single book on all aspects of the Aircraft Carrier GRAF ZEPPELIN and her Aircraft) - "Flugzeugträger Graf Zeppelin" (2007) by Richard Wagner and Manfred Wilske (contains rare valuable primary source data on the GRAF ZEPPELIN, her Aircraft and unique rare comparative Carrier Aircraft data) - "Freedom of the seas" (2010) by Stephen Burke and Adam Olejnik (contains rare valuable primary source data on the GRAF ZEPPELIN, but alas also some errors and useless superfluous theories and speculations) - "STUKA" (1993) by Helmuth Mahlke (a book by a WW2 veteran and ranking naval aviation officer in the WW2 GRAF ZEPPELIN Ju 87 Air Group) - "Focke-Wulf Fw 190 / Ta 152" (1997) by Manfred Griehl and Joachim Dresssel (a book on the Fw 190 series and the Ta 152 series by experts on the subject) - "Focke-Wulf Ta 152" (1999) by Dietmar Harmann (a book on the Ta 152 series by an expert on the subject) - "Messerschmitt Bf 109 T" by Francis Marshall (2002) (the most detailed book on all aspects of the Me 109 T) - "Die deutsche Luftfahrt" Volume/Band 1 (1980) by Wolfgang Wagner (a book on all Focke Wulf Aircraft designed by Kurt Tank et al) - "Die deutsche Luftfahrt" Volume/Band 4 (1983) by Rüdiger Kosin (a book detailing German Fighter Aircraft from 1918 till 1982) - "Die deutsche Luftfahrt" Volume/Band 17 (1992) by Hans Ebert, Johann B. Kaiser and Klaus Peters (a book on all Messerschmitt Aircraft designed by Willy Messerschmitt et al) The book on the Ta 152 series written by Dietmar Harmann as well as his other earlier two books on the Fw 190 series includes official documentation on all the ordnance that the Fw 190 series up till the Ta 152 used, this book: Spoiler Some example of primary source data from that book. The whole Ta 152 series (note the Ta 152 C-1 / R15 with the BT 1400): Spoiler Data on the single-engined fighters dated 1 October 1944, the Ta 152 listed are the pre-production series (the C-0 with DB 603 L and C-0 with DB 603 E engine, H-0 and E-0 with Jumo 213 E engine), the C-1 and H-1 production versions had better performance data: Spoiler Focke-Wulf design drawing for torpedo armed Fw 190 F 16 / R-14 and Ta 152 C-1 / R-14: Spoiler Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Widar_Thule Players 322 posts Report post #7 Posted September 12, 2017 Reserved. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
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Widar_Thule Players 322 posts Report post #14 Posted September 12, 2017 Reserved. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
[SHAFT] viceadmiral123 Players 1,221 posts 29,485 battles Report post #15 Posted September 20, 2017 tl;dr anyone? 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kane87 Players 26 posts 9,100 battles Report post #16 Posted October 2, 2017 Awesome post +1 for the details (y) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
[2DQT] RUSSIANBlAS Players 8,241 posts Report post #17 Posted October 8, 2017 On 20/09/2017 at 10:14 PM, viceadmiral123 said: tl;dr anyone? That GZ needs to be buffed to be the best for it's tier and to be OP... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
[THESO] SV_Kompresor Beta Tester, Players, In AlfaTesters 5,868 posts Report post #18 Posted October 8, 2017 Jesus christ man 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mangrey Beta Tester, Players 740 posts 20,955 battles Report post #19 Posted October 14, 2017 Nice post there mate ! Mang Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Timberjac ∞ Beta Tester 1,593 posts 9,545 battles Report post #20 Posted October 24, 2017 Very nice work... impressive documentation effort. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
[NEKO] hoonigan22 [NEKO] Players 5 posts 6,230 battles Report post #21 Posted December 2, 2019 Does this work as a „Skin“ for the Graf Zeppelin B, too? PS: Very, very nice work! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
[SB] MadGunna Players 142 posts 1,625 battles Report post #22 Posted December 3, 2019 Well done man! Might even buy the Graf purely for this mod. Impressive work. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
[UAC] Filipin00 Players 662 posts 2,569 battles Report post #23 Posted December 3, 2019 1 hour ago, MadGunna said: Well done man! Might even buy the Graf purely for this mod. Impressive work. I'm pretty sure that mod is outdated...look at the latest version it was updated for. Also it doesn't have JU-87s and bf 109s anymore. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
[NAN0] HaachamaShipping Players 8,474 posts 10,052 battles Report post #24 Posted December 3, 2019 1 hour ago, MadGunna said: Well done man! Might even buy the Graf purely for this mod. Impressive work. To get a port queen, because the ship is crap? 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Widar_Thule Players 322 posts Report post #25 Posted December 3, 2019 @hoonigan22 No my mod would have to be expanded to include the GRAF ZEPPELIN B because it probably is a separate ship with its own textures. I would have to look into it to see what can be done about it. I assume it would not be that much work, but until I have time to look into it I cannot say for sure. @MadGunna @Filipin00 The AUTHENTIC GRAF ZEPPELIN Mod version 2.0 published in this topic in 2018 could be used before the "Carrier Rework", so up till 31 January 2019. In February 2019 I made a new "Carrier Rework" version of the AUTHENTIC GRAF ZEPPELIN mod that has about 20 major improvements/additions over version 2.0 but I have not published that version anywhere yet. Someone "copied" some parts of my version 2.0 mod, without asking me for permission or posting a credit remark by the way, and published it on the North American WOWS forum. The main "copied" elements of my mod by this individual on the WOWS NA forum are some Me 109 (witch-on-a-broom emblem and "red" 13 identification) and Ju 87 related parts (identification J9+DH) and changing the colours of the ship camouflage from green-and-black into shades-of-grey. I will see if I can make the time available to publish the "Carrier Rework" version of the mod. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
