KM Graf Von Roon (CB-1938)

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There was a lot of design work undertaken between the real life Deutschland Class Panzerschiff and the Scharnhorst Class Battleships. In the Germanic States realm, the Panzerschiff can feature 6 x 13.8" in two triple turrets and the Scharnhorst type may go to 9 x 13.8" depending on what I do with the French answer to the Panzerschiff. It will probably get worse before it gets better, and as I dream up more and more different types of vessels that could fit into these realms. Anyway to the Roons.

With the first of the Deutschland class at sea and two more building, the design for ships four to six was to be enlarged to make them more capable, with better staying power. One of the original designs was just an enlarged Admiral Scheer which while better still had many of the same faults. That is the real life situation with the 14,000 ton original Deutschland class. The following are the next generation of raider vessels. These were improved Hipper class with more armour and staying power and a bit of extra unaccounted for displacement.



One of the two new ships was named Ostereich to celebrate the union between the Germanic States and Austria. The two ships building times were speeded up by utilising the spare 12" guns from the rebuilding of the Kaiser class ships. The 12" turrets and guns were refurbished to increase the range of the guns to 32,000 yards. A heavy AA battery of the new 88mm/L56 twin turrets backed with the equally new 37mm Bofors AA guns gave the ships a very good AA capability for either themselves or in support of the aircraft carriers.



By the end of 1942 the silhouette of the ships had changed markedly with radar antennas sprouting everywhere. Radar predictors for the 37mm and radar assistance for the 88mm made those guns even deadlier than they had been before. Only Ostereich made it to 1942, the Graf von Roon having been sunk at the Faroes Gap fleet action in August 1940.

 

These ships should now be the next generation of raider vessels after the previous Admiral Hipper class battlecruisers. The same 21,000 ton allowance would be available, the main change between the ships would be going from twin to triple 12". The role for these ships was to act as the 'wolves' of the Atlantic, falling on convoys, and only retreating when they came across something too big to handle. The main Battlefleet would then take care of the 'too big' problem. I am assuming in the 5-6 years of learning to use high speed diesels in naval vessels that their would be great improvements to allow the use of diesels only for the main propulsion of these ships.



Length CWL: 207,00m
Length 209,05m
Beam: 25m
Draft: 7,7m

Displacement: 18.000 - 19.000 tons

Propulsion: Turbines ca. 70,000 shp - 2 shafts
Speed: ca 26 knots

Armament:
6 x 28cm (2x3)
8 x 15cm (4x2)
10 x 8,8cm (5x2)
8 x 3,7cm (4x2)
8 x 53cm torpedo tubes (2x4)

The next design in the series enlarged the dimensions and displacement again and altered the layout to fit another triple turret aft. The doctrine for these ships would be to flee from any ship or group of ships that could inflict serious damage to the ship. Having six guns aft would increase their chances of escape. Other improvements included the raising of the freeboard by a meter, the fitting of aircraft handling facilities and an even more powerful propulsion system.


Displacement: 20,000 tons standard, 28,400 tons full load
Dimensions: 707.5 x 90 x 27 feet (215.7 x 27.4 x 8.2m)
Machinery: 2 shaft, MAN diesels, 100,000bhp
Speed: 30 knots
Endurance: 18,000 nmi at 15 knots
Armour: 6.7" belt, 3.4" deck, 8.2"/4.1"/3.4" turrets
Armament:
9 x 11" (3x3)
8 x 5.9" (4x2)
8 x 88mm (4x2)
8 x 37mm (4x2)
10 x 20mm (10x1)
Torpedoes: 8 x 21" (2x4)
Aircraft: 2
Crew: 1,400


What eventually got to sea in late 1938 added even more improvements including a new 'Atlantic' bow, redesigned bridge structure to mount the new AA directors.


Displacement: 21,000 tons standard, 30,100 tons full load
Dimensions: 726 x 90 x 27 feet (221.3 x 27.4 x 8.2m)
Machinery: 2 shaft, MAN diesels, 100,000bhp
Speed: 30 knots
Endurance: 18,000 nmi at 15 knots
Armour: 6.7" belt, 3.4" deck, 8.2"/4.1"/3.4" turrets
Armament:
9 x 11" (3x3)
8 x 5.9" (4x2)
8 x 88mm (4x2)
8 x 37mm (4x2)
12 x 20mm (12x1)
Torpedoes: 8 x 21" (2x4)
Aircraft: 2
Crew: 1,400


Last in this series of drawings is the DP Kriegsmarine version where the 5.9" and 88mm are replaced with 5"/128mm dual purpose weapons. The one final thing I do for the next drawing is to change from the 11" to 12" guns. The previous Admiral Hipper Class are armed with 8x12" so I feel going to 9x11" was a backward step. Bigger is better! This is the version that gets to sea for the von Roon class.

Displacement: 26,000 tons standard, 32,100 tons full load
Dimensions: 726 x 90 x 27 feet (221.3 x 27.4 x 8.2m)
Machinery: 2 shaft, MAN diesels, 120,000bhp
Speed: 30 knots
Endurance: 18,000 nmi at 15 knots
Armour: 10" belt, 4.1" deck, 11"/8.2"/5.1" turrets
Armament:
9 x 12" (3x3)
16 x 5.1" (8x2)
10 x 37mm (5x2)
12 x 20mm (12x1)
Torpedoes: 8 x 21" (2x4)
Aircraft: 2
Crew: 1,400
 

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