Plan Z
Encyclopedia
Plan Z was the name given to the planned re-equipment and expansion of the Nazi
German Navy (Kriegsmarine
) ordered by Adolf Hitler
on January 27, 1939. The plan called for a Kriegsmarine of 10 battleship
s, four aircraft carrier
s, three battlecruiser
s, 3 old panzerschiffe
, 12 new panzerschiffe
, five heavy cruiser
s, 36 light cruisers M Class
, 24 light cruisers typ spähkreuzer
, 68 destroyer
s, 90 torpedo boat
s and 249 U-boat
s by 1945 that was meant to challenge the naval power
of the United Kingdom
.
, the German armed forces became subject to the stipulations of the Treaty of Versailles
. For the navy, this meant it was restricted to six pre-dreadnought battleships, six cruisers, 12 destroyers and 12 torpedo boat
s. The first major ship to be built after the war was the light cruiser
. This was followed by a further three light cruisers of the K-class
; , and , and a further two ships that were modified versions of the K-class, and .
no more than 10000 LT (10,160.5 t). In response to this, the panzerschiff concept was created. This ship type was designed primarily as an offensive commerce raider, with the proviso that it be "stronger than faster enemies" (cruisers) and "faster than stronger enemies" (battleships). This led to the , a ship with six 11 in (279.4 mm) guns and a speed of 28 kn (54.9 km/h; 34.1 mph). Two further units — and — followed. These were called "pocket battleships" in the outside world.
The panzerschiff concept was by no means new. The same "stronger than faster, faster than stronger" design concept was the basis of the battlecruiser
that was widely built prior to World War I
. In combat, the battlecruiser was sometimes put into the same lines as battleships, where it could no longer use its superior speed to stay out of trouble. British battlecruisers suffered high losses during the Battle of Jutland
and the class as originally conceived was considered obsolete by military planners. Although the British completed already under construction, it was greatly modified and up-armoured. The Washington Naval Treaty
classified battlecruisers in the same category of capital ship as fast battleships because that reflected post-World War I naval thinking. However, changes in technology, especially diesel-power plants, re-invigorated the concept, primarily for commerce raiding, allowing the Germans to build ships that evaded the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles
on capital ship construction, while being smaller, better armored and still faster than their World War I counterparts. The new designs were widely lauded around the world. In reality they displaced more then 10,000 t. Designed as they were to implement the envisaged likely German war strategy of commerce raiding while avoiding engagements with heavy capital ships, no other major naval power, with differing strategies and needs, copied them. The British with their dependence on seaborne trade did not require commerce raiders. Their needs were for commerce protection, and they built warships suitable for that task. Other major navies did likewise.
became the Chancellor of Germany. He withdrew from the stipulations of the Treaty of Versailles and began the systematic re-building of the armed forces. The prestige brought by the Panzerschiffe led to two improved vessels, Panzerschiffe D & E to be ordered - these became the and , which were larger than their predecessors, with nine instead of six guns. At the same time, studies were made into the construction of two even larger vessels. These were initially going to be panzerschiffe with 13 in (330.2 mm) guns, but with the improvements to the French
fleet at the time, the new ships were redesigned as full Schlachtschiffe (battleships).
, in the event of war with Great Britain. He asked the Kriegsmarine to provide plans for such a fleet. Subsequently, it was decided to embark on a large-scale re-building of the German Navy, and the plans X, Y and Z were proposed.
Within the Kriegsmarine, two opposing viewpoints emerged as to the direction of the re-building of the navy:
It was pointed out that in order to carry out commerce raiding in the Atlantic Ocean
, German ships would have to pass through the North Sea
, which was likely to be filled with British
battleships. So, the large fleet option was chosen.
Plan Z was a combination of a strong battle fleet capable of challenging the British and a big U-boat fleet for commerce raiding. The plan was initially focused on building large surface ships. If war broke out early in the plan, before the large ships were nearly operational, the large ship building program would be halted. This happened in reality when war started in September 1939. The U-boat production was then given priority and the large ship program was stopped.
In the short time from the introduction of Plan Z on January 27, 1939 up to the beginning of war with the United Kingdom on September 3, 1939 only two of the plan's large ships, H class battleships, were laid down (a third one was only days from receiving its keel). At the time components of the three battlecruisers were in production.
At the beginning of the war the large ships ordered before Plan Z were 1 aircraft carrier, 4 battleships, 3 heavy cruisers and 6 light cruisers which were either ready for action or would be ready in the next months. 1 aircraft carrier, 2 heavy cruisers and 3 light cruisers were in early of stages of construction.
With the outbreak of World War II
work on the H class battleships, the battlecruisers and even on some cruisers and the two aircraft carriers laid down before Plan Z was introduced was halted, because these large and expensive construction projects would require too much of war essential materials and the materials were diverted to the construction of U-boats.
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
German Navy (Kriegsmarine
Kriegsmarine
The Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...
) ordered by Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
on January 27, 1939. The plan called for a Kriegsmarine of 10 battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
s, four aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
s, three battlecruiser
Battlecruiser
Battlecruisers were large capital ships built in the first half of the 20th century. They were developed in the first decade of the century as the successor to the armoured cruiser, but their evolution was more closely linked to that of the dreadnought battleship...
s, 3 old panzerschiffe
Deutschland class cruiser
The Deutschland class was a series of three panzerschiffe , a form of heavily armed cruiser, built by the Reichsmarine officially in accordance with restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles...
, 12 new panzerschiffe
Kreuzer P Class
The P class was a German Navy group of twelve heavy cruisers; they were the successor to the Deutschland class cruisers. Design work began in 1937 and continued until 1939; at least nine designs were considered. The final design was armed with six quick-firing guns in two triple turrets, as in the...
, five heavy cruiser
Heavy cruiser
The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range, high speed and an armament of naval guns roughly 203mm calibre . The heavy cruiser can be seen as a lineage of ship design from 1915 until 1945, although the term 'heavy cruiser' only came into formal use in 1930...
s, 36 light cruisers M Class
M Class cruiser
The M Class cruiser was a class of light cruisers planned, but never built, by the German Navy before World War II. The ships were designed for commerce raiding in the Atlantic Ocean...
, 24 light cruisers typ spähkreuzer
Spähkreuzer 1938
Spähkreuzer was the type of a planned class of large destroyers or reconnaissance cruisers of the German Kriegsmarine....
, 68 destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
s, 90 torpedo boat
Torpedo boat
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval vessel designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs rammed enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes, and later designs launched self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes. They were created to counter battleships and other large, slow and...
s and 249 U-boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
s by 1945 that was meant to challenge the naval power
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
Post-Versailles
Following the end of World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the German armed forces became subject to the stipulations of the Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
. For the navy, this meant it was restricted to six pre-dreadnought battleships, six cruisers, 12 destroyers and 12 torpedo boat
Torpedo boat
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval vessel designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs rammed enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes, and later designs launched self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes. They were created to counter battleships and other large, slow and...
s. The first major ship to be built after the war was the light cruiser
Light cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small- or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck...
. This was followed by a further three light cruisers of the K-class
German K class cruiser
The Königsberg class was a class of light cruisers of the German Reichsmarine and Kriegsmarine, consisting of three ships named after German cities: Königsberg, Karlsruhe, Köln...
; , and , and a further two ships that were modified versions of the K-class, and .
Panzerschiff
The Treaty also stipulated that Germany could replace its pre-dreadnought battleships as needed, but with vessels that displacedDisplacement (ship)
A ship's displacement is its weight at any given time, generally expressed in metric tons or long tons. The term is often used to mean the ship's weight when it is loaded to its maximum capacity. A number of synonymous terms exist for this maximum weight, such as loaded displacement, full load...
no more than 10000 LT (10,160.5 t). In response to this, the panzerschiff concept was created. This ship type was designed primarily as an offensive commerce raider, with the proviso that it be "stronger than faster enemies" (cruisers) and "faster than stronger enemies" (battleships). This led to the , a ship with six 11 in (279.4 mm) guns and a speed of 28 kn (54.9 km/h; 34.1 mph). Two further units — and — followed. These were called "pocket battleships" in the outside world.
The panzerschiff concept was by no means new. The same "stronger than faster, faster than stronger" design concept was the basis of the battlecruiser
Battlecruiser
Battlecruisers were large capital ships built in the first half of the 20th century. They were developed in the first decade of the century as the successor to the armoured cruiser, but their evolution was more closely linked to that of the dreadnought battleship...
that was widely built prior to World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. In combat, the battlecruiser was sometimes put into the same lines as battleships, where it could no longer use its superior speed to stay out of trouble. British battlecruisers suffered high losses during the Battle of Jutland
Battle of Jutland
The Battle of Jutland was a naval battle between the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet during the First World War. The battle was fought on 31 May and 1 June 1916 in the North Sea near Jutland, Denmark. It was the largest naval battle and the only...
and the class as originally conceived was considered obsolete by military planners. Although the British completed already under construction, it was greatly modified and up-armoured. The Washington Naval Treaty
Washington Naval Treaty
The Washington Naval Treaty, also known as the Five-Power Treaty, was an attempt to cap and limit, and "prevent 'further' costly escalation" of the naval arms race that had begun after World War I between various International powers, each of which had significant naval fleets. The treaty was...
classified battlecruisers in the same category of capital ship as fast battleships because that reflected post-World War I naval thinking. However, changes in technology, especially diesel-power plants, re-invigorated the concept, primarily for commerce raiding, allowing the Germans to build ships that evaded the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
on capital ship construction, while being smaller, better armored and still faster than their World War I counterparts. The new designs were widely lauded around the world. In reality they displaced more then 10,000 t. Designed as they were to implement the envisaged likely German war strategy of commerce raiding while avoiding engagements with heavy capital ships, no other major naval power, with differing strategies and needs, copied them. The British with their dependence on seaborne trade did not require commerce raiders. Their needs were for commerce protection, and they built warships suitable for that task. Other major navies did likewise.
Nazi rise to power
In 1933, Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
became the Chancellor of Germany. He withdrew from the stipulations of the Treaty of Versailles and began the systematic re-building of the armed forces. The prestige brought by the Panzerschiffe led to two improved vessels, Panzerschiffe D & E to be ordered - these became the and , which were larger than their predecessors, with nine instead of six guns. At the same time, studies were made into the construction of two even larger vessels. These were initially going to be panzerschiffe with 13 in (330.2 mm) guns, but with the improvements to the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
fleet at the time, the new ships were redesigned as full Schlachtschiffe (battleships).
The plan
In 1938 Hitler decided to build a fleet capable of challenging the Royal NavyRoyal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
, in the event of war with Great Britain. He asked the Kriegsmarine to provide plans for such a fleet. Subsequently, it was decided to embark on a large-scale re-building of the German Navy, and the plans X, Y and Z were proposed.
Within the Kriegsmarine, two opposing viewpoints emerged as to the direction of the re-building of the navy:
- a large battle fleet capable of taking on the most powerful opponents (Britain and France)
- a large force of U-boats and medium-sized warships such as the panzerschiffe for destruction of the enemy's commercial shipping.
It was pointed out that in order to carry out commerce raiding in the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
, German ships would have to pass through the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
, which was likely to be filled with British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
battleships. So, the large fleet option was chosen.
Plan Z was a combination of a strong battle fleet capable of challenging the British and a big U-boat fleet for commerce raiding. The plan was initially focused on building large surface ships. If war broke out early in the plan, before the large ships were nearly operational, the large ship building program would be halted. This happened in reality when war started in September 1939. The U-boat production was then given priority and the large ship program was stopped.
In the short time from the introduction of Plan Z on January 27, 1939 up to the beginning of war with the United Kingdom on September 3, 1939 only two of the plan's large ships, H class battleships, were laid down (a third one was only days from receiving its keel). At the time components of the three battlecruisers were in production.
At the beginning of the war the large ships ordered before Plan Z were 1 aircraft carrier, 4 battleships, 3 heavy cruisers and 6 light cruisers which were either ready for action or would be ready in the next months. 1 aircraft carrier, 2 heavy cruisers and 3 light cruisers were in early of stages of construction.
With the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
work on the H class battleships, the battlecruisers and even on some cruisers and the two aircraft carriers laid down before Plan Z was introduced was halted, because these large and expensive construction projects would require too much of war essential materials and the materials were diverted to the construction of U-boats.