KM Breslau (CLA-1943/44)
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Based on the Scout cruisers (SP1-3) and large Destroyers (Z52+) Germany was contemplating in the period 1942/43 to be built to act as escorts to the Capital ships with long range. These ships were to be diesel engined to provide the long range necessary. Armed with a 128mm (5") twin dual-purpose gun system with radar control. The tertiary AA guns were a newly developed 57mm automatic weapon, again these were radar controlled. A pair of quadruple or quintuple torpedo tubes rounded out the armament.
I like these ships as never weres, they have a blend of size, armament and
usefulness as good as the bigger Dido and Atlanta types.
These ships were built to escort the big Vaterland class carriers, but when the
two of those were cancelled in 1941 the last two of the six of this class were
also cancelled. These ships were extensions of the destroyer
family rather than true cruisers.
| Displacement | 3850 tons standard, 5250 tons full load |
| Length | 498 ft |
| Breadth | 50 ft |
| Draught | 17 ft |
| Machinery | 3 shaft, Diesel engines, 80,000bhp, |
| Speed | 38 knots |
| Armour | 2" side, 2" deck |
| Armament | 8 x 5.1" (4x2) 4 x 57mm (4x1) 20 x 20mm (4x4, 4x1) |
| Torpedoes | 8/10 x 21" (2x4/5) |
| Complement | 450 |
| Notes | Breslau (1943) Berlin (1943) Bonn (1944) Bremen (1944) SP-5 Cancelled 1941 SP-6 Cancelled 1941 |
1944 Type Z52/CLA1-6
The uncompleted Z 52 would have had an impressive radar outfit. The gunnery
radar FuMO 231 Euklid was to be combined with the 3D stabilized bridge director,
carrying a 1.5m diameter parabolic dish antenna. The twin 130mm DP gun turrets
would have been the first genuine radar controlled armament in a German warship.
Other radar equipment is uncertain, the larger antenna having dimensions of 2m x
4m although FuMO 21 was by this time obsolete; the antenna on the foremast was
either for a FuMO 63 Hohentwiel-K or a FuMB 6 Palau.
While the above is listed as a destroyer the design is
very similar to the AA cruiser of my own design. Though from the looks of the
armament it is armed with 2 x twin 5.9" fore and aft, and a twin 4.1" AA in
superfiring positions. A clumsy arrangement, much better with dual purpose guns.
