Z-Plan H-Class Superbattleships

Z-PLAN H-CLASS SUPERBATTLESHIPS

H39-H44

(1939-1946)

By Rob Arndt

The Z-Plan was Nazi Germany’s fleet building program started shortly before World War II.

In the mid 1930s, a major discussion about a new fleet program started in Germany. There were two major options of what kind of program should be chosen. One plan was focused on a large submarine fleet and a relatively small surface fleet for coastal protection (this plan was preferred by the U-Boot faction in the Kriegsmarine command) while the other was a mixed fleet of various surface ships and a much smaller U-Boot fleet, quite similar to the Imperial Navy in World War I or the British Royal Navy. In the end, the latter plan was chosen as the new fleet building program, after several modifications it was called the "Z-Plan".

According to this plan, the German Kriegsmarine would have grown to about 800 units, consisting of 13 battleships and battle cruisers, 4 aircraft carriers, 15 Panzerschiffe, 23 cruisers and 22 so-called "Spähkreuzer" which were basically large destroyers. In addition,

many smaller vessels would have also been built.

Those ships would have been built between 1939 and 1946; in this time, the personnel strength of the Kriegsmarine should have been enlarged to 201,000 men and over 33 billion Reichsmarks should have been spent for construction of the new units.

However, these ambitious projects never were realized. It is questionable whether the German industry would have had the resources for such a monumental construction program and that the other European nations would have just stood still and not react to this program.

The realization of the Z-Plan started on January 29th, 1939. Two H-Class battleships were laid down yet three months later Germany quit the fleet treaty with Britain and the propaganda dream of "No more war against Britain" was gone.

Four months later, Germany openly attacked Poland and work on all Z-Plan projects was stopped. During the next months, all incomplete ships of the Z-plan were scrapped and the material was used to build additional submarines.

1939 H39 design, possibly to be named “Hindenburg”

What H39 would have looked like upon completion

The H44 design was the final result of the designs for a battleship which started with the H39. Again enlarged in size and armor protection, the armament and engines did not change compared with the previous design, the H43, reducing the maximum speed to 30 kn. It was never intended to build a ship like the H44, it was a design study to see how a battleship had to be designed to be protected against all known threats.

Realistic fictional depiction of H44 dwarfing the Tirpitz to the left

Do-216 aircraft above H44 Superbattleship "Götz von Berlichingen" or "Ulrich von Hutten

GENERAL H-CLASS BATTLESHIP DATA SHEET

Dimensions

Size (Max):

62,496 tons

Length (Total):

277.8 m

Length (Waterline):

265.8 m

Beam:

37.2 m

Draft:

10.2 m

Crew:

Weapons

40,6 cm SK L/47:

8

15,5 cm L/55:

12

10,5 cm L/45 C/32:

16

3,7 cm L/83:

16

2 cm FlaMG L/65:

24

53,3 cm Torpedoes:

6

Aircraft

Arado Ar 196:

4

Armor

Deck:

120 mm (max)

Belt:

220- 300 mm

Command Tower:

350 mm

Turrets:

385 mm (max)

Engines

Shafts:

3

Engines:

12

Type:

MAN 9 cylinder Diesel

Performance

Total Performance:

16,5000 shp

Speed:

30.0 knots

Range:

19,000 miles at 16 knots

STRANGE VEHICLES OF PRE-WAR GERMANY & THE THIRD REICH
(1928-1945)