German carriers

[Marmat]

Seydlitz Class

Rather than any sort of large Fleet or North Sea type carrier, I'm leaning more towards a hermaphroditic cruiser/carrier i.e. the Seydlitz Class Commerce Raider:

Displacement: 14,200 tons
Armament: 2 x 2 8" Main, Light AA
Aircraft: 18 Scout-bombers, or 12 Scout-Bombers, 8 Fighters
Speed: 30+ knots
Propulsion: 12 MAN diesel engines, 3 propellers, 80,000 HP
Range: 8,900 nautical miles (16,500 km; 10,200 mi) at 20 knots

This isn't mine, I'm sure there are some members that will recognize Craig Burke aka Admiral Furashita's handiwork. I merely added a fighter complement, and substituted a modified Deutchland's diesel propulsion system for range, and fuel availability.

Look's real nice, don't it??

[Carl Schwamberg]

That would be a bit more survivable in the North Sea, Arctic, Baltic, or Biscay than the Graf Zepplin or the low budget lashup I proposed. Low striking power as well. The air group is sort of a small one shot affair. With a full load of fighters it would be effective at chasing off ASW & reconissance aircraft.

[Marmat]

Yep, ...

That would be a bit more survivable in the North Sea, Arctic, Baltic, or Biscay than the Graf Zepplin or the low budget lashup I proposed. Low striking power as well. The air group is sort of a small one shot affair. With a full load of fighters it would be effective at chasing off ASW & reconissance aircraft.

... its fighters would prove effective against CAM ship fighters too. Later, when the KM had a legitimate Fleet to consider, it could provide Fleet recon. with limited strike capability. Later still, it could be rebuilt with a through deck, employing a larger compliment to operate with Fleet carriers.

[TacCovert4]

Definitely better than an either-or setup. However, it's going to be horribly vulnerable to British Cruisers because of its large flight deck area being a shell magnet that'll take its aircraft out of the action pretty quickly. Better to arm it with only a couple of scout fighters and mostly torpedo bombers....you want to take out surface opposition quickly before they get within range to start beating on you. Especially important if you're commerce raiding and you're the only support you'll have. Plus torpedo bombers will make short work of a convoy, maybe before you're even in range of your surface guns.

[Marmat]

Problem,

Definitely better than an either-or setup. However, it's going to be horribly vulnerable to British Cruisers because of its large flight deck area being a shell magnet that'll take its aircraft out of the action pretty quickly. Better to arm it with only a couple of scout fighters and mostly torpedo bombers....you want to take out surface opposition quickly before they get within range to start beating on you. Especially important if you're commerce raiding and you're the only support you'll have. Plus torpedo bombers will make short work of a convoy, maybe before you're even in range of your surface guns.

I would've included torpedo bombers, but couldn't. The problem wasn't torpedo aircraft, it was the torpedoes themselves. The Luftwaffe had no air dropped torpedo, period. The KM had experimented with a Norwegian design, then when it finally became obvious to Goring that he was missing something, the KM research and the team doing it, was sent to the Luftwaffe. The Luftwaffe was able to "borrow" some Italian torpedoes, but a German airdropped torpedo (F5B), still based on that Norwegian design, didn't come out until the end of 1941.

[Kevin Kenneally]

Germany was very smart to abandon the Aircraft Carrier.

The small Kriegsmarine should have built more BCs and heavy cruisers; to continue to keep the British fleet occupied in home waters.

The use of submarines should have been emphasized before the war to strangle the British commerce trade. If Wolf-packs could have been effective from Oct 1939 through September 1940, the British would have capitulated. The Home Defense was not prepared to feed the entire nation at that time and the summer harvest would have only lasted until December 1940.

German's blew it trying to fight a World War with politically correct Rules of War on the High Seas.

[marktwain]

assuming that 800 panzer four tanks equal

The Japanese wouldn't have sold two carriers to Germany. They needed what they had for their planned expansion. It also would have taken them too long to build replacements.

The discounted price of the Akagi ( Built in 1920 , & an equivelent value is negotiated for the Kaga, Japan can , in 1939, overwelm the chinese forces with armor & moblie infrantry/.

Thsi then requires that Germany prospone WW2 to 1941-42, which raises all sorts of interesting possibilities...an attack on France with new Panzer iv's? A negotiated alliance with Poland, then an invasion of the Soviet union - with no western front?