[12] Just before Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, the carrier was again moved, this time to Stettin, to safeguard her from Soviet air attacks. [12] Naval historians Robert Gardiner and Roger Chesneau state that the ship was towed out of Stettin in September 1947, but she never arrived in Leningrad; they speculated that a mine sank the ship while she was under tow. She remained in the Baltic for the duration of the war; with Germany's defeat imminent, the ship's custodian crew scuttled her just outside Stettin in March 1945. The first test imitated a FAB-1000 detonation in the exhaust funnel and lesser bombs below the flight deck. She was launched on 8 December 1938, the 24th anniversary of the Battle of the Falkland Islands,[6] and she was christened by Helene von Zeppelin, the daughter of the ship's namesake. The ship seems to stand upright in a depth of 80m. Graf Zeppelin has the distinction of being the only aircraft carrier ever launched by Germany in its entire history. From the top, a Nazi-era drawing of the ship, a sonar picture made this week, and a 1930s photograph of the ship. Most people do not know that the Germans built an aircraft carrier. From the top, a Nazi-era drawing of the ship, a sonar picture made this week, and a 1930s photograph of the ship. At sea, naval experts used a remote-controlled underwater robot and sonar photographic and video equipment to gather digital images of the 260-meter-long (850-foot-long) ship, Zajda said. Graf Zeppelin was the lead ship in a class of two carriers of the same name ordered by the Kriegsmarine of Nazi Germany. Today there are concerns that an estimated 1,500,000 litres of fuel oil still on board will leak in to the Gulf of Gdynia causing an ecological disaster. German aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin was the lead ship in a class of two carriers ordered by the Kriegsmarine. Here is her story. There she languished for the next two years with only a 40-man custodial crew in attendance. Bartosz Zajda said. Raeder was shortly relieved of command and replaced with the Commander of Submarines Karl Dönitz. After Germany's defeat in 1945, the Soviet Union took control of the ship. Die Graf Zeppelin war und ist der einzige Deutsche Flugzeugträger der gebaut wurde ! The carrier would have had a complement of 42 fighters and dive bombers. [14], The converted carrier aircraft were heavier versions of their land-based predecessors and this required a host of changes to Graf Zeppelin's original design: the existing catapults needed modernization; stronger winches were necessary for the arresting gear; the flight deck, elevators and hangar floors also required reinforcement. The story behind Hitler’s showpiece aircraft carrier – The Graf Zeppelin. The power plant was rated at 200,000 shaft horsepower (150,000 kW) and a top speed of 33.8 knot… It would never enter service. [10] Hitler consented to the stop work order, allowing Raeder to have Graf Zeppelin's 15 cm guns removed and transferred to Norway. While en route, she reportedly struck a mine off Finland during a storm. 29 Apr 1940 : The work on carrier Graf Zeppelin was stopped. Reichsmarshall Hermann Göring, head of the Luftwaffe, replied that the already overburdened German aircraft industry could not possibly complete the design, testing and mass production of such aircraft before 1946. It was launched in 1938 but it was never completed and never saw action. The Graf Zeppelin is more than a shipwreck - it's also one of the great mysteries of World War Two. In April 1943 Graf Zeppelin was again towed eastward, first to Gotenhafen, then to Swinemünde and finally to a wharf in the Parnitz River where it remained until the End of the war. Graf Zeppelin B is in all respects save her paint scheme identical to Graf Zeppelin.. Graf Zeppelin B is the only German aircraft carrier available in World of Warships at this point in time. She was the only aircraft carrier launched by Germany and represented part of the Kriegsmarine's attempt to create a well-balanced oceangoing fleet, capable of projecting German naval power far beyond the narrow confines of the Baltic and North Seas. [23] Instead, the Soviets decided to salvage the damaged ship and it was refloated in March 1946. In addition, a Japanese carrier raid on Pearl Harbor had devastated the American battle fleet in December 1941. Graf Zeppelin is the only aircraft carrier in German history. Wreck was found by Polish Navy on 27 july 2006. Over 260m long and 30m wide lays… Aug 13, 2015 - graf zeppelin. WHEN ADOLF HITLER arrived at the shipyard in Kiel on 8 December, 1938, he was accompanied by Field-Marshal Goering and Great-Admiral Raeder, several hundred other invited guests and all the shipyard’s employees and their families. She was the only aircraft carrier launched by Germany in an effort to allow German naval projection beyond the narrow confines of the Baltic and the North Seas. [18], On 5 December 1942, Graf Zeppelin was towed back to Kiel and placed in a floating drydock. [16], The German naval staff hoped all these changes could be accomplished by April 1943, with the carrier's first sea trials taking place in August that year. [8], According to Soviet records, on 19 March 1947, the Council of Ministers decreed the destruction of former German ships. Named in honor of Graf (Count) Ferdinand von Zeppelin, the ship was launched on December 8th 1938 but was not completed and was never operational. Upload, livestream, and create your own videos, all in HD. 24 bombs and projectiles later, she was still afloat. Graf Zeppelin would have carried 42 aircraft as designed: 12 navalized Junkers Ju 87 "Stuka" dive bombers, 10 Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters, and 20 Fieseler Fi 167 torpedo bombers. Storia Prima della guerra. Measurements match the carrier’sZajda said a number of characteristics of the wrecked ship exactly matched those of the Graf Zeppelin, including the ship's measurements and a device that lifted aircraft onto the launch deck from a lower deck. Graf Zeppelin - first and last Hilter's aircraft carrier. The wreck of the Graf Zeppelin was found in July 2006 about 55km north of Wladyslawowo (Poland) at 55,3N18,42E. 12 Jul 1940 : Graf Zeppelin was towed to Gotenhafen (Gdynia), occupied Poland. The aircraft carrier is used during the six years of war, as a military equipment warehouse without ever being completed. The ship's whereabouts had been a mystery since the end of World War II. Graf Zeppelin was not completed and was never operational due to shifting construction priorities necessitated by the war. Here is her story. The Graf Zeppelin was Germany's only aircraft carrier during World War II. The carrier would have had a complement of 42 fighters and dive bombers. It seemed she might well see completion after all, but by late January 1943 Hitler had become so disenchanted with the Kriegsmarine, especially with what he perceived as the poor performance of its surface fleet, that he ordered all of its larger ships taken out of service and scrapped. Polish navy finds wreck of Graf Zeppelin Poland's navy said Thursday that it identified a sunken shipwreck in the Baltic Sea as almost certainly being … GRAF ZEPPELIN (*) Diving on the wreck requires special permission issued by the Maritime Authority. In April 27, 1945, the Graf Zeppelin was scuttled by the Germans to prevent it from falling into the Russian army hands, as the Russians were getting close quickly. The first ship to be sunk, Lützow, was sunk off Swinemunde on 22 July 1947. She was not well-received by the player base, and Wargaming removed her from sale after only five days. Germany laid down its first carrier in Dec 1936, and launched the Graf Zeppelin two years later. 142 likes. Starting in the mid-1930s, the Reichsmarine began design studies for a new type of aircraft carrier to meet the requirements of the revitalized German fleet; by 1936, these concepts had developed into the Graf Zeppelin class, the first member of which was laid down for the renamed Kriegsmarine in December of that year. 13 May 1942 "The analyses of the sonar pictures and the comparison to historical documents show that it is the Graf Zeppelin," Zajda told The Associated Press. They suspected it could be the Graf Zeppelin because of its size, and passed on their information to the navy. A torpedo fired by the destroyer Slavny penetrated the unprotected hull section below the bow elevator; Graf Zeppelin sank 25 minutes later. Graf Zeppelin was launched by Deutsche Werke Kiel in Kiel, Germany. 19 Sep 1939 : The construction of Graf Zeppelin was halted temporarily as Erich Raeder and Hermann Göring competed for resources. This number was later increased to sixteen. (Se også artikler, som begynder med Graf Zeppelin)Graf Zeppelin var navnet på det hangarskib, som den tyske krigsmarine påbegyndte bygningen af i 1936 samtidig med et søsterskib og to øvrige planlagte. On the order of Adolf Hitler, work was stopped in 1943, despite the progress of construction at over 90% completed. Graf Zeppelin was propelled by four screws with a diameter of over 14 feet each. The German aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin was the lead ship in a class of two carriers of the same name ordered by the Kriegsmarine of Nazi Germany. Video of the only German aircraft carrier of WWII. [19][20] On 30 January 1943, all major work on the ship ceased, though some limited, temporary work continued until March. Graf Zeppelin was first released for sale worldwide on 21 August 2017. 144 likes. [2], On 16 November 1935, the contract for Flugzeugträger A (Aircraft carrier A)—later christened Graf Zeppelin—was awarded to the Deutsche Werke shipyard in Kiel. Using remote-controlled underwater robots, they concluded that they were "99% certain" it was Graf Zeppelin. Er kam aber nie zum einsatz . It was launched on Dec. 8, 1938, but never saw action due to Hitler's disenchantment with his navy and political squabbles in the Nazi high command. At full combat load, she would have displaced 33,550 long tons (34,090 t). This classification required that she would be destroyed or sunk in deep water by 15 August 1946. extraordinary wreck. For alternative betydninger, se Graf Zeppelin. It was planned to be the first aircraft carrier of the German fleet. The German aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin after launching in December 1938. The aircraft carrier is used during the six years of war, as a military equipment warehouse without ever being completed. Graf Zeppelin was scuttled in 1945, raised by the Soviets, and sunk as a target in 1947. [17] One pilot, who was unable to see the carrier due to haze, dropped his bomb instead on the estimated position of the German battleship Gneisenau. She fell and sunk by the Soviets at the end of the war. Now responsible for defending Norway's long coastline and numerous port facilities, the Kriegsmarine urgently needed large numbers of coastal guns and anti-aircraft batteries. The second in the series was a single FAB-1000 explosion above the flight deck. Tier IV German Aircraft Carrier Rhein. The Graf Zeppelin-class aircraft carriers were four German Kriegsmarine aircraft carriers planned in the mid-1930s by Grand Admiral Erich Raeder as part of the Plan Z rearmament program after Germany and Great Britain signed the Anglo-German Naval Agreement. [a] A 60 mm (2.4 in) thick armored deck was located under the deck to protect the ship's vitals from aerial attacks. [12], In April 1943 Graf Zeppelin was again towed eastward, first to Gotenhafen, then to the roadstead at Swinemünde and finally berthed at a back-water wharf in the Parnitz River, two miles (3 km) from Stettin, where she had been briefly docked in 1941. [14], But daunting technical problems remained. At the launching ceremony, Hermann Göring gave a speech. ‘Enormous impact’ on war unrealizedHewitt said the carrier could have had "an enormous impact" on the war, likely wreaking havoc on Britain's convoy lanes in the North Atlantic. More than half a century after it mysteriously disappeared, the Graf Zeppelin was recently rediscovered by the Polish oil company Petrobaltic in the Baltic Sea near Gdansk. Three Royal Air Force Avro Lancaster heavy bombers from 106 Squadron were dispatched against the German aircraft carrier, each one carrying a single "Capital Ship" bomb, a 5,600 lb (2,540 kg) device with a shaped charge warhead intended for armored targets. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. [7] By the end of 1939, she was 85% complete, with a projected completion by the middle of 1940. British carriers had crippled the Italian fleet at Taranto in November 1940, critically damaged the German battleship Bismarck in May 1941 and prevented battleship Tirpitz from attacking two convoys bound for Russia in March 1942. WARSAW, Poland — Poland's navy says a sunken shipwreck in the Baltic Sea is almost certainly Nazi Germany's only aircraft carrier, the Graf Zeppelin, which disappeared nearly 60 years ago. Here is her story. Sink in 1947 on Baltic Sea. It was subjected to five series of controlled explosions of 180 mm (7.1 in) shells and FAB series bombs. "We knew that there was something lying on the seabed near our oil fields because fishermen kept losing their nets there," he said. A torpedo fired from an Elco PT boat exploded in the anti-torpedo bulge but did not penetrate the belt armor. [3] Later during the construction process, the aerial complement was reworked to consist of thirty Ju 87s and twelve Bf 109s, and the Fi 167s were removed altogether. By VANESSA GERA, AP Polish Navy Commander Dariusz Beczek holds up images of the Graf Zeppelin. Apr 30, 2017 - Image result for graf zeppelin interior carrier Graf Zeppelin was scuttled in 1945, raised by the Soviets, and sunk as a target in 1947. It is more than a shipwreck, it is also one of the great mysteries of World War II. [15] Changes in naval technology dictated other alterations as well: installation of air search radar sets and antennas; upgraded radio equipment; an armored fighter-director cabin mounted on the main mast (which in turn meant a heavier, sturdier mast to accommodate the cabin's added weight); extra armoring for the bridge and fire control center; a new curved funnel cap to shield the fighter-director cabin from smoke; replacing the single-mount 20mm AA guns with quadruple Flakvierling 38 guns (with a corresponding increase in ammunition supply) to improve overall AA defense; and additional bulges on either side of the hull to preserve the ship's stability under all this added weight. According to German historian Erich Gröner, after the Soviets raised the scuttled ship, they towed her to Leningrad. "They are proud and happy, because it was the discovery of a lifetime.". While exploring the Baltic Sea in 2006, a Polish oil firm stumbled upon the remains of Germany’s first – and last – aircraft carrier at 80 meters depth off the coast near Gdansk. Most people do not know that the Germans built an aircraft carrier. The Polish oil company Petrobaltic discovered the shipwreck on July 12 on the sea floor about 60 kilometers (38 miles) north of the port city of Gdansk. Scuttled then bailed. The power plant was rated at 200,000 shaft horsepower (149,140.0 kW) and a top speed of 33.8 knots (62.6 km/h; 38.9 mph). Launched in 1938, she was 85% complete when work on her was suspended due to the Kriegsmarine's shifting priorities in the Atlantic that aimed to improve coastal defenses. DESCRIPTION In November 1935 there was an order for the ship "A', later called "Graf Zeppelin" … Graf Zeppelin was launched by Deutsche Werke Kiel in Kiel, Germany. Sunk by the Rusian Army in Baltic sea front to Poland coast. Graf Zeppelin had a projected cruising radius of 8,000 nautical miles (14,816.0 km; 9,206.2 mi) at a speed of 19 kn (35.2 km/h; 21.9 mph). She would have had a crew of 1760 officers and enlisted men, plus flight crews. It is more than a shipwreck, it is also one of the great mysteries of the Second World War. While there, she was used as a storage depot for Germany's hardwood supply. The location of the wreck of the Graf Zeppelin had been a mystery for more than half a century . "We are 99 percent sure — even 99.9 percent — that these details point unambiguously to the Graf Zeppelin," Dariusz Beczek, the navy commander of the survey vessel, ORP Arctowski, said after returning to port Thursday morning. Graf Zeppelin B is in all respects save her paint scheme identical to Graf Zeppelin.. Graf Zeppelin B is the only German aircraft carrier available in World of Warships at this point in time. The Aircraft Carrier Graf Zeppelin, Warrington, England. I am sorry, but the video es very bad because the… The German aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin was the lead ship in a class of two carriers of the same name ordered by the Kriegsmarine of Nazi Germany. Smoke billowing from the carrier's funnel confirmed the charges had gone off, rendering the ship useless to her new owners for many months to come. [24], The exact position of the wreck was unknown for decades. The Graf Zeppelin was Germany's only aircraft carrier during World War II. [25][26], Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}55°31′03″N 18°17′09″E / 55.51750°N 18.28583°E / 55.51750; 18.28583, Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in April 1945, Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1947, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=German_aircraft_carrier_Graf_Zeppelin&oldid=1009815587, World War II aircraft carriers of Germany, Wikipedia articles with WorldCat-VIAF identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, 1939 proposal: 12 fighters & 30 dive bombers, This page was last edited on 2 March 2021, at 12:24. On 12 July 2006, the research vessel RV St. Barbara, a ship belonging to the Polish oil company Petrobaltic, found a 265-meter-long (869 ft) wreck 55 km (34 mi) north of Władysławowo, which they thought was most likely Graf Zeppelin. A Polish Navy officer holds images of the Graf Zeppelin and sonar pictures of the wreck At this point, the story of the one-and-only German aircraft carrier becomes somewhat murky. USS Macon (ZRS-5) was a rigid airship built and operated by the United States Navy for scouting and served as a "flying aircraft carrier", designed to carry biplane parasite aircraft, five single-seat Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawk for scouting or two-seat Fleet N2Y-1 for training. On Aug. 16, 1947, Soviets used the ship for target practice, filling the hold with munitions before practicing dive bombing techniques on it. The wreck was discovered by a Polish survey ship in July 2006. Poland's navy said Thursday that it identified a sunken shipwreck in the Baltic Sea as almost certainly being Nazi Germany's only aircraft carrier, the Graf Zeppelin — a find that promises to shed light on a 59-year-old mystery surrounding the ship's fate. SANTI Diving Expeditoin - BALTIC '2010. 42w Most Relevant is selected, so some comments may have been filtered out. On 14 August Graf Zeppelin was towed into Swinemunde harbor, and two days later to its final position. A Polish firm searching for oil first detected the wreck in the Baltic Sea, 55km (34 miles) offshore. Polish navy Cmdr. There have been a few times during my life as a diver that I have had the opportunity to dive an extraordinary wreck. Day6 Diving on wreck AIRCRAFT CARRIER `Graff Zeppelin` (2x) 60m deck 87m seabed. Remained unfinished till the end of the war and then sunken by Russians. Krysztof Grabowski, a spokesman for Petrobaltic, said one of his company's ships discovered the wreckage July 12 after taking measurements of water depth in their undersea oil fields. Construction of the ship was delayed since Deutsche Werke was working at capacity, and the slipway needed for Graf Zeppelin was occupied by the new battleship Gneisenau, which was launched on 8 December 1936. Eventually, two torpedoes finished her off and sent her down her watery grave. As designed, Graf Zeppelin was to be fitted with eight 15 cm SK C/28 guns for defense against surface warships. "Technically, it's impossible to pull it out of the water," Zajda said. After the wreck was located, the Polish Navy began a two-day survey of the wreckage to confirm its identity. She currently sits at Tier VIII. The ship's propulsion system consisted of four Brown, Boveri & Cie geared turbines with sixteen oil-fired, ultra-high-pressure LaMont boilers. The last torpedo scored the fatal hit that finished the destruction of carrier. The story behind Hitler’s showpiece aircraft carrier – The Graf Zeppelin. The ship's propulsion system consisted of four Brown, Boveri & Cie geared turbines with sixteen oil-fired, ultra-high-pressure LaMont boilers. 12 Jul 1940 : Graf Zeppelin was towed to Gotenhafen (Gdynia), occupied Poland. The Graf Zeppelin was Germanys only aircraft carrier in World War II. Its construction was ordered on November 16, 1935, and its keel was laid down December 28, 1936 by Deutsche Werke of Kiel. Graf Zeppelin - Diving Hitler's Aircraft-Carrier Appeared in DIVER November 2015 'A few times in my diving life I've had the chance to dive an extraordinary wreck,' says VIC VERLINDEN. As such she differs greatly from all the other carriers present and gives her own unique flavor in-game. The carrier's heavy flak armament of twelve 10.5 cm guns had already been diverted elsewhere. [13], By the time Raeder met with Hitler for a detailed discussion of naval strategy in April 1942, the usefulness of aircraft carriers in modern naval warfare had been amply demonstrated. While exploring the Baltic Sea in 2006, a Polish oil firm stumbled upon the remains of Germany’s first – and last – aircraft carrier at 80 meters depth off the coast near Gdansk. Though Admiral Dönitz eventually persuaded Hitler to void most of the order, work on all new surface ships and even those nearing completion, including Graf Zeppelin, was halted. Another believed he had scored a direct hit on Graf Zeppelin, but there is no known record of the ship suffering any damage from a bomb strike that night. The Aircraft Carrier Graf Zeppelin, Warrington, England. Wreck of the only one German aircraft carrier of WWII. New sonar images and photographs of the gigantic wreck discovered in the Baltic Sea suggest it is indeed that of Hitler's first and only aircraft carrier, the "Graf Zeppelin." She was the only aircraft carrier launched by Germany and represented part of the Kriegsmarine 's attempt to create a well-balanced oceangoing fleet, capable of projecting German naval power far beyond the narrow confines of the Baltic and North Seas. At 6pm on 25 April 1945, just as the Soviets entered Stettin, commander Wolfgang Kähler radioed the squad to detonate the explosives. [5] Work started on Graf Zeppelin on 28 December, when her keel was laid down. It was Germany´s only aircraft carrier during World War Ii. [21] When Red Army forces neared the city in April 1945, the ship's Kingston valves were opened, flooding her lower spaces and settling her firmly into the mud in shallow water. a page dedicated to the World War 2 German aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin. Graf Zeppelin remained afloat, and Admiral Yury Rall ordered a torpedo strike. The ship's whereabouts had been a mystery since the end of World War II. The third, the fourth and the fifth series imitated penetration of FAB-100, FAB-250 and FAB-500 bombs at flight deck, hangar deck and gun battery deck levels. These bombs were placed in cutouts in their target decks to imitate the effects of dive bombing. GRAF ZEPPELIN was a German aircraft carrier of the Kriegsmarine, named like the famous airship in honour of Graf (Count) Ferdinand von Zeppelin. A Polish firm searching for oil first detected the wreck in the Baltic Sea, 55km (34 miles) offshore. The second carrier — never launched — bore only the title "Flugzeugträger B", but might, if completed, have been called Peter Strasser. They were planned after a thorough study of Japanese carrier designs. Flugzeugträger Graf Zeppelin (projected appearance) The Graf Zeppelin was Germanys only aircraft carrier in World War II - but it was never completed and never saw action. Graf Zeppelin was armed with separate high and low angle guns for AA and anti-ship defense at a time when most other major navies were switching to dual-purpose AA weapons and relying on escort ships to protect their carriers from surface threats. The Polish navy says it is almost certain that it has located the wreck of Nazi Germany's only aircraft carrier, the Graf Zeppelin. German aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin was the lead ship in a class of two carriers ordered by the Kriegsmarine.She was the only aircraft carrier launched by Germany during World War II and represented part of the Kriegsmarine ' s attempt to create a well-balanced oceangoing fleet, capable of projecting German naval power far beyond the narrow confines of the Baltic and North Seas. She was not well-received by the player base, and Wargaming removed her from sale after only five days. The Graf Zeppelin was Germanys only aircraft carrier in World War II. news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060...NlYwM5NjQ- By VANESSA GERA, Associated Press Writer Thu Jul 27, 10:07 AM ET WARSAW, Poland - Poland's Navy said Thursday t Hadeler planned on getting the two inner shafts and their respective propulsion systems operational first, giving the ship an initial speed of 25–26 knots, fast enough for sea trials to commence and for conducting air training exercises. Construction on Graf Zeppelin began on 28 December 1936, when her keel was laid down at the Deutsche Werke shipyard in Kiel. Work on this design began a bit after the beginning of the construction of the Graf Zeppelin. Dariusz Beczek holds up images of the wreck and of the Graf Zeppelin, which was last seen 59 years ago. The engine consisted of four Brown, Boverie & Cie turbines, located in three engine compartments.The engine power was about 200,000 horsepower (147 MW), and yielded a maximum speed of 35 knots. Training of carrier pilots at Travemünde would also resume. 23 minutes after the last hit, the Graf Zeppelin sunk. Wreck Likely That of Nazi Aircraft Carrier. There, she was used as a store ship for timber. Its construction began on 28 December 1936 in Kiel. Raeder, anxious to secure air protection for the Kriegsmarine's heavier surface units, informed Hitler that Graf Zeppelin could be finished in about a year, with another six months required for sea trials and flight training. ", "Nobody really knows that much about her," Hewitt told the AP by telephone. The Soviet Union raised the ship in March 1946, and she was ultimately sunk in weapons tests north of Poland 17 months later. Instead, he proposed converting existing aircraft (again the Junkers Ju 87 and Messerschmitt Bf 109) as a temporary solution until newer types could be developed. [11], In July 1940, Graf Zeppelin was towed from Kiel to Gotenhafen (Gdynia) and remained there for nearly a year. POLISH divers have discovered the rusting wreckage of Nazi Germany’s only aircraft carrier, the Graf Zeppelin, solving one of the most enduring maritime riddles of the Second World War. Named in honor of Graf (Count) Ferdinand von Zeppelin, the ship was launched on 8 December 1938, and was 85% complete by the outbreak of World War II in September 1939. Graf Zeppelin had a waterline armor belt that was 100 mm (3.9 in) thick in the central area of the ship.