On 25th April 1945, the only German aircraft carrier ´Graf Zeppelin´ was captured by the Red Army in Stettin (now Szczecin, in Poland). However, shortly before she was significantly damaged by the Germans themselves who detonated explosives inside the ship.
Construction of the first German aircraft carrier began in the mid-1930s. The ship was laid down on 28th December 1936, in Deutsche Werke shipyard in Kiel, and named ´Graf Zeppelin´, after Count Ferdinand Zeppelin, the German aviation pioneer and airship designer. It was expected she would be the leading ship of the Graf Zeppelin-class that was expected to consist of four similar carriers.
The carrier was launched on 8th December 1938, christened by Helene von Zeppelin, the daughter of Count Zeppelin.
On the outbreak of the World War II, ´Graf Zeppelin´ was reported to be 85% ready. Her air wing, Trägergruppe 186, was already formed and began with initial trainings. At that time the schedule envisaged the completion of the first aircraft carrier in the middle of 1940, followed by the second ship by the end of 1941.
However, it was the final success of the German aircraft carrier programme. In July of 1940, ´Graf Zeppelin´ was towed from Kiel to Germany-occupied Gdynia in Poland (then re-named Gotenhafen). There, she was used as storage for hardwood and timber. With the German invasion on the Soviet Union, the carrier was towed to Stettin and after a few months towed back to Gdynia. All the time being just a huge and expensive storage for timber. Eventually, in December of 1942, ´Graf Zeppelin´ was towed back to Kiel and placed in a drydock.
In January of 1943, Adolf Hitler ordered to abandon all ongoing projects related to the surface ships and to move all the resources for submarine fleet. Shortly after, ´Graf Zeppelin´ was moved from Kiel to Gdynia, then Swinemünde (today Świnoujście, in Poland) and finally Parnitz (today Parnica) channel in Stettin.
There, on 25th April 1945, ´Graf Zeppelin´ was captured by the Red Army. However, shortly before, the carrier was significantly damaged by the Germans who detonated explosives inside the ship. The damage was so heavy that the Soviets classified ´Graf Zeppelin´ as beyond any repair.
Eventually, she was destroyed in August of 1947.
More information about the first, and only, German aircraft carrier, can be found in our article from December of 2023 – 8 December 1938 – German aircraft carrier ´Graf Zeppelin´ is launched.
Cover photo: ´Graf Zeppelin´ photographed on 8 December 1938, soon after launch at the Deutsche Werke Shipyard, Kiel (NH 78303 – courtesy of the Naval History & Heritage Command, cropped)
