The **** H-44 Battleship design - *****

[sharlin648]

Background and design

 

The 'H' series of battleships was to be part of the Germans 'Z-Plan' an ambitious naval program that would give the Kriegsmarine the following:

 

10 Battleships

4 Aircraft carriers

3 Battlecruisers

3 Panzershiffs (Pocket battleships to you and me)

12 new Panzershiffs

5 Heavy cruisers

36 light cruisers

68 destroyers

249 U Boats.

 

It was an ambitious plan that was meant to challenge the naval power of the United Kingdom and by the outbreak of World War II it had in a way begun, 2 of the 10 battleships were approaching completion, 2 Battlecruiser's were in service, 1 aircraft carrier and assorted other ships gave the Germans a small but potent fleet of modern and (for the most part) well designed ships.  The next battleships were already laid down the H class ships were to be armed with 16 inch guns and looked for all the world like an enlarged Bismark class ship with an extra funnel, the 'H' ships were a logical development and could have been powerful combatants had they ever been finished.

 

http://www.chuckhawks.com/hclass.jpg

The H type battleship as designed, note that its obviously just an evolution of the Bismark design, even the placement of the secondary turrets and heavy AA guns is the same.

 

But in 1940 Hitler asked that design teams look at new warships taking into account the experiences of the war thus far and thus began the growth of the design from the rational into the simply absurd.  The H-39s which had already been laid down would be an impressive 56,000 tonnes and 911 feet long  but the H-41 design was 68,800 tonnes and 925 feet, the H-42 90,000 tonnes and 1000 feet, the H-43 111,000 tonnes 1082 feet long and the final design the H-44 was a gargantuan 131,000 tonnes and a staggering 1,131 feet long!

 

By comparison the Yamato was 72,000 tonnes and 862 feet long and the Iowa class 58,000 tonnes and 861 feet long, the H-44 is both longer and heavier than the Nimitz class aircraft carrier, the largest warship in the world!  Amusingly though the Germans higher ups tried to disassociate themselves from these flights of fantasy, the designs from H-42 onwards were so large that there was no slipway in Germany that could take one and the designs were never even seriously considered.

 

http://www.navweaps....52_skc34_uc.jpg

A side view of a 16 inch gun under construction at Krupps, these were to arm the H-39 battleships, but instead saw service as coast defence weapons on the Atlantic Wall.

 

Guns and Armour

 

The H-44 design was planned to be armed with eight 20.1 inch guns, the largest naval gun ever made, the blast effect of these massive weapons can only be imagined at and the effect of a hit would be devastating but no such gun was ever constructed as the H-44 design was nothing more than a paper exercise designed to keep the skilled design teams together.  If the H-44 had been actually built it would have consumed most of the Reich's steel production for several years.  Secondary armament was to be 12 x 5.9 inch guns in three turrets port and starboard which echoes the earlier Bismark design whilst AA guns were to include 16 x 4.1 inch guns and numerous 20 and 37mm guns.

Details for the armour on this monster are hard to find but it would have to be consumate with her caliber of guns.

 

 

A H-44 Battleship model scale compared to a Bismark class ship, yes it was really going to be that big.  Silly isn't it. (edited to remove the Bismarks swasticas)

 

Engines

 

This behemoth's engines were suppose to push her through the waves at 30 knots and the designers did develop an interesting design for the stern to shield the vulnerable rudders in light of the Bismarks lucky hit that crippled her. This involved extending the hull down and running the propellers through channels in the hull rather than have them exposed.  Some notes about these ships list them as being designed for both diesel and normal steam turbines with the diesel's used for long range cruising.

 

Fate

 

Never laid down, never even seriously considered the H-44 remained a paper project which in hindsight was the best thing the Germans could do other than waste a huge amount of precious resources on this gargantuan white elephant.

 

http://www.german-na...t/h44_do216.jpg

 

What might have been but fortunately never was, a H-44 at sea.

[Skygunner]

sharlin648, on 08 December 2012 - 09:41 AM, said:

Fate

Never laid down, never even seriously considered the H-44 remained a paper project which in hindsight was the best thing the Nazi's could do other than waste a huge amount of precious resources on this gargantuan white elephant.

Of course they were never considered.   H-44 is something known as a "Design Study"  sorta like some of the Tillman Maxium Battleships.  They are not designed in order to be built, but in order to see what a ship would look like to have a particular set of features.  H-44's purpose was to show what it would take to protect a ship from all known weapons. H-44 is what the settled on,  to which I'd be inclined to agree.  Not invincible at all (no ship is)  they would be quite hard to destroy.

From the design study, you then scale down,  reuse, or remove features in later designs.   So  for H-44,  say they really liked the armoured deck schematic, they could incorporate it on the next design.  Opposite say they actually built a small section to test how it would work, and found that it was not very effective,   thus they leave it off the next design all together.

At least, that's how design studies are also supposed to work in theory.


Germany also did the same with the designers of Graf Zeppelin.   I have  a few files for about 12 unproduced, some never to be,  german carriers designed for the sake of keeping the designers brains on carriers and off of anything else (including frontline fighting).   Putting it on paper to see how it would work, then improving on it from there.  

Germany didn't intend to lose the war. They were producing, and designing up until the very end,  same for Japan.

[Crag_r]

Pretty sure i already made a topic on the H class  :Smile_trollface:

[sharlin648]

Didn't spot that, ahh well. Still it passed my time in my break at work :p

[lockenpower]

stahp writing "nazi"

[sharlin648]

Edited to remove the N word, didn't know it was a no no.

[nixxxie]

Where was this N-word :) ? This forum is going weirder and weirder...

 

And you still smuggled one swastika on the last pic  :Smile_trollface: .

[sharlin648]

*attacks Nixxie with a fire extinguisher, a foam one* :P

[nixxxie]

*counters the extinguisher with foam Iron Dome rocket*

[sharlin648]

Curses foiled again!

[Carrier_Enterprise]

What's wrong with the word Nazi? Yes it did some very bad things but it's still just a noun..,.

[sharlin648]

I am not sure if its a word not to be said on the forums or not, so just in case I edited it.

[Ariecho]

Please change the title to German H-44 ... We already had too many threads about assimilating all Germans to Nazis, calling Japanese "Japs", etc ...

[mr3awsome]

The word itself is fine. It's using it in an inappropriate context that is not approved of or endorsed

[Ariecho]

Crag_r, on 08 December 2012 - 10:49 AM, said:

Pretty sure i already made a topic on the H class  :Smile_trollface:

Yes, and I made one as well about Germany concept ships.

[Jager_Panther1]

A small part of me wanted them to build the H-44...

[nixxxie]

Ariecho, on 08 December 2012 - 02:58 PM, said:

Please change the title to German H-44 ... We already had too many threads about assimilating all Germans to Nazis, calling Japanese "Japs", etc ...

Yea, that's because we have too many history revisionists...

Please change the title to Marsian H-44...
:Smile_trollface:

[Ariecho]

nixxxie, on 08 December 2012 - 03:21 PM, said:

Yea, that's because we have too many history revisionists...

Please change the title to Marsian H-44...
:Smile_trollface:

And blanket statements are usually the "solve-it-all" answer of those who don't know too much...

[nixxxie]

Ariecho, on 08 December 2012 - 03:27 PM, said:

And blanket statements are usually the "solve-it-all" answer of those who don't know too much...

Here's non-blanket statement for you:

You, Americans, haven't faced enemy on your home land since Civil War, and even then it was all yourselves that did it to you. So, it is easy for you to feel compassion and forgive wrongdoers for harm done to someone else.

[Ariecho]

nixxxie, on 08 December 2012 - 03:51 PM, said:

Here's non-blanket statement for you:

You, Americans, haven't faced enemy on your home land since Civil War, and even then it was all yourselves that did it to you. So, it is easy for you to feel compassion and forgive wrongdoers for harm done to someone else.

I'm French ... :Smile_sceptic:

On a side note, we have tried for many months to keep this forum friendly to people of any nationality, no matter on which side their ancestors fought in any previous war.  I would personally appreciate if you wanted to keep it this way.  Your decision is up to you.

[sharlin648]

Terribly sorry for any offence caused, it was not meant as a blanket statement. i'd edit the title if I could :(

[nixxxie]

PS: since it's offtopic, i'll keep it in spoilers:

 

 

 

Oh, i mistaken your nationality because of location in your profile. So i missed there, but i'll still keep this for someone else  :Smile_playing: .

So, sorry for this mistake.

 

 

I am friendly towards Germans and any other nationality. I don't hate anyone present. But i strongly oppose any approach to history that offends victims, on any side of any military conflict. And that would be this denial-style language  when it comes to naming perpetrators.

If anyone feels bad about his/her nationality, i can do nothing about that. And i do not encourage for anyone to feel bad. I understand, that some people may have problems with their ancestors and what said ancestors did and that itself proves good for such people. And if someone feels bad because he/she thinks to be wrongly accused - well, i won't accuse anyone wrongly, facts are just facts.

 

 

And i am always open to discussion about history if any facts are unclear  :Smile_glasses: . IDK if any thread of this kind will be supported on this forum, though. So, maybe we should continue this via private messages?

 

 

[nixxxie]

sharlin648, on 08 December 2012 - 04:31 PM, said:

Terribly sorry for any offence caused, it was not meant as a blanket statement. i'd edit the title if I could :(

Can't you? It should be doable with "edit post". Please, don't forget what to change to. :Smile_trollface:

Don't feel bad, such discussions are valuable, as are any others about history  :Smile_bajan2: .

[Ariecho]

sharlin648, on 08 December 2012 - 04:31 PM, said:

Terribly sorry for any offence caused, it was not meant as a blanket statement. i'd edit the title if I could :(

You can edit the title if you want.  You just need to go to your original post, then use Edit and then Use full editor.  You will have the option to change the title then.

[Jager_Panther1]

Ariecho, on 08 December 2012 - 04:09 PM, said:

I'm French ... :Smile_sceptic:

On a side note, we have tried for many months to keep this forum friendly to people of any nationality, no matter on which side their ancestors fought in any previous war.  I would personally appreciate if you wanted to keep it this way.  Your decision is up to you.

from Quebec, France or somewhere else...