During World War II, the German Navy gave people a more or less tragic feeling, almost all of the surface ships of the German Three were "lone wolves at sea", and anyone who did not face more than 3 British capital ships alone was embarrassed to show off with their peers when they returned to port.
In fact, this is not to say how high the mass of the German ships is, but the overall strength of the German Navy is not as good as that of the British, so it has to use this "guerrilla warfare at sea" method to confront the British army.
Bismarck lone wolf at sea
All German warships at that time were born to break the fight, basically sacrificing firepower and strengthening speed and protection capabilities. Many people feel that the German naval guns are small, in fact, this is normal, people did not have to use it against the capital ship, it was enough to sink the merchant ship.
Previously I myself have talked about the Scharnhorst-class battlecruisers, the battleships Bismarck, the heavy cruisers of the Admiral Hipper class, but these are not representative.
Count Spee
To say which German three battleships are the most representative, I think it should be the German-class pocket battleship, and the most legendary battleship in this class is the Count Spee.
1. R&D background
Affected by the Treaty of Versailles, Germany could only keep eight old non-dreadnought battleships, and if it wanted to build new battleships, it had to wait until these eight old ships were 20 years old.
In addition, the "old European hooligans" also imposed restrictions on new German warships, which must be within 10,160 tons in tonnage, and the caliber of the main gun must not exceed 280 mm.
After 1923, the Germans finally survived to allow the construction of new ships, but at that time Germany was suffering from the economic crisis, and this plan was not officially put on the agenda until 1925.
Count Spee
The German Navy required that the new warships must be able to suppress the treaty-type heavy cruisers of the time, and travel faster than ordinary battleships, preferably up to 26 knots.
At that time, Germany had not signed the Anglo-German Naval Agreement with Britain, so this class of battleships was still limited by the treaty. After constant screening, the Germans finally chose the design scheme of the German-class pocket battleship.
The Count Spee, who has just gone to sea
The Deutschland-class pocket battleships were originally planned to be built in five, but only three were actually built, and the Count Spee was its third ship. At that time, the signing of the Anglo-German Naval Agreement allowed Germany to break through the Treaty of Versailles, so it did not make much sense to build the remaining two.
The remaining two Deutschland-class pocket battleships were converted into battle cruisers, later the two Scharnhorst-class battlecruisers.
Scharnhorst
2. Basic data
The Count Spey is 187 meters long, 21.71 meters wide, has a draft of 7,25 meters, a standard displacement of 12294 tons, a full load displacement of 16460 tons. In terms of size alone, the Count Spee was slightly larger than the average heavy patrol, after all, it was still within the limits of the treaty, and the German designers could not do anything.
In terms of firepower, the Count Spee was armed with six 283 mm guns, mounted on two triple turrets, one in the bow and one in the stern. The shells fired from this type of gun weighed 304 kg and had a range of 30,000 yards.
Structural diagram of the German-class battleships
The sponsons are armed with eight 150 mm single-barreled secondary guns. In terms of anti-aircraft fire, it was armed with 16 37-mm anti-aircraft guns and 20-mm anti-aircraft guns.
To strengthen air defense, Count Spee was also armed with eight 88-mm anti-aircraft guns and six 105-mm anti-aircraft guns, which the other two sister ships did not have. So the Count Spee was the most combat-ready of the German-class pocket battleships.
In addition, the Count Spee did not get rid of the bad habit of the Germans of "large ships loading torpedoes" and equipped the deck with two quadruple 533-mm torpedo tubes.
Count Spee
It turned out that the large ship An torpedo was a big failure, and it was useless except to increase the probability of the hull being detonated. Even though the Count Spee was known as a pocket battleship, its maneuverability was not enough to allow it to adjust its position and release torpedoes.
The Earl Spey is also equipped with two Ar-196 seaplanes to assist it in the search for sea targets.
Although the Count Spee was the first German ship equipped with radar, Germany's radar technology was not very advanced, and the detection range was only 15 kilometers, but the radar system still played a large role in the early days of the war.
Aradau Ar-196 seaplane
For protection, the main side gunwale armor is 140 mm, and 40 mm of mine protection armor is also installed. The thickness of the armored deck was from 40 to 70 mm, and the waterline part was 60 mm.
The front shield of the main gun turret was 140 mm, the gun mount - 125 mm, and the conning tower - 150 mm. In general, the Earl Spee's protection against the heavy cruiser's 203mm main gun was certainly not much pressure, but it was probably more likely to be killed when bombarded with conventional battleships or battle patrols.
Since you can't beat it, you will definitely have to run. The Earl Spee reached a speed of 26 knots when fully loaded and 28 knots in light load. At that time, the main ships of the British Navy were still Nelson-class and Queen Elizabeth-class battleships, and it was no problem for the Earl Spee to throw them off.
Queen Elizabeth-class battleships
In general, the overall strength of the Count Spee was not strong due to the restrictions imposed by the treaty. However, at that time, it was still capable of guerrilla warfare at sea, and with the development of the British George V class battleships, the speed advantage of this class of battleships no longer existed.
However, many people are not used to calling it a battleship, but calling it an armored cruiser, in fact, the hull is indeed an armored cruiser, but it is pressed on the main gun of the battleship.
In the naval battle game World of Warships, the Deutsches class is also on a technological line of cruisers.
Deutschland-class armored cruisers in the game
Three, one dozen and three are not afraid
On the eve of the outbreak of World War II, the commander of the German navy Raeder considered that once the war began, the British Navy would definitely block the German warships in the harbor like World War I, so he sent the Count Spee and the Deutsche overseas in advance in order to attack the British transport ships in the event of war.
After the outbreak of World War II, the Count Spee lived up to expectations, cruising the Atlantic Ocean and sinking Allied transport ships with a total displacement of 50,000 tons, including several oil tankers.
British merchant ships
In order to counter the German Navy's tactics of breaking diplomatic relations, the British formed transport ships in order to facilitate escort. In addition to this, the British mobilized 3 aircraft carriers, a battle cruiser, two heavy cruisers to search for the Count Spee.
The British also deployed two heavy cruisers, Sussex and Heropshire, and two light and heavy cruisers on the east coast of South America, to form the G Fleet, commanded by Commodore Harwood. The entire Atlantic Ocean has been laid by the British, waiting for the Count Spee to enter the net.
At the time, the mouth of the La Plata was an important node on the British transport route, which Harwood considered to be the preferred target of the Germans, and the Cumberland in the G fleet had to remain in port for repairs due to damage sustained by a previous storm.
Heavy cruiser HMS Camberland
Harwood led the remaining three cruisers to the mouth of the La Plata River, but Harewood guessed the Germans' intentions, and in the early hours of December 13, the two armies met.
Commander Langsdorf of the Count Spee mistook the British fleet for an escort formation, thinking it was nothing more than two destroyers and 1 light cruiser.
Although Langsdorf later discovered that he had misjudged, he was undaunted and prepared to fight one against three.
Heavy cruiser Exeter
At 6:18, Lonsdorf ordered the fire to be fired, and the British also opened fire two minutes later. The British heavy cruiser Exeter bore the brunt of the battle, which lasted less than 10 minutes, and Exeter had already been hit by two 11-inch main guns. One of them pierced one of the Exeter's main gun turrets, causing an explosion.
The other two British light cruisers could only approach the Earl Spey at speed, trying to help the Exeter share the firepower. But the Count Spee, after all, was used to suppress the cruiser, and the British did not take advantage of the slightest.
The British ship fired
By 6:38, the two former main guns of the Exeter had been completely destroyed, and the light cruiser Ajax was severely damaged, leaving only the light cruiser Achilles to fight.
At this time, the Count Spee was also hit by an 8-inch shell, causing a fuel leak. Langsdorf had to order a retreat, and Harwood could only order the Achilles to continue tracking and, if possible, to attack with torpedoes at night.
Lonsdorf
Eventually the Count Spey sailed into Montevidia, the capital of neutral Uruguay, and the German Embassy in Uruguay immediately brokered diplomatically. However, the Uruguayan government was pro-British and demanded that the Count Spey leave the port immediately.
The British also released smoke bombs, claiming that the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, the battlecruiser Prestige, and three cruisers had arrived off the coast of Montevideo.
The Germans are still honest people, and Lonsdorf immediately passed the news to Raeder, who gave him two options, rush out, escape as much as possible, or swear in the harbor.
Raeder
Considering that the Count Spee's ammunition and fuel were already insufficient, and that rushing out of port would be tantamount to suicide, Lonsdorf chose the latter. So the warship, laden with honor, sank itself off the coast of Uruguay.
The entire crew of the Count Spee was arrested by Uruguay on the charge of "violating neutrality" and handed over to Argentina. Langsdorf's choice saved the entire crew of the Count Spee.
The Count Spey sinks
But he himself never intended to survive, and two days after the sinking of the ship, Lonsdorf wrapped the battle flag of the Count Spee around him, pulled out his pistol and ended his life.
This hunter on the Atlantic became history together with the Count Spee, and as for Lonsdorf, whether he was magnificent or deserved it, the benevolent and the wise saw the wise.
Here is a brief discussion of the history of war, thank you for your attention.