How many kinds of aircraft carriers were in world war 2?

Answer 1

Germany had no operational carriers, although the keel had been laid for one late in the war. The "Graf Zeppelin" was begun, but never completed, even though a squadron of Stukas and Messerschimdt fighters were adapted for carrier use (tail hooks and rubber rafts added). A caterpult system was purchased from Italy. The war ended and the USSR claimed the carrier hull as a war prize. Germany was not a sea power and had only limited ambitions to ever compete in this arena. It could never rival the British as a naval power. Hitler was aware of this and didn't want resources wasted on a ship program. Their Nazi naval efforts were mainly to create havoc in the shipping lanes and keep the Royal Navy at bay by using submarines, of which they manufactured over 1,000.

Answer 2

The answer is 'yes'. According to 'Jane's Fighting Ships of World War II'; 2 were laid down in 1936 under the naval programme of that year. They were the 'Graf Zeppelin' and the 'Peter Strasser. Only one, the 'Graf Zeppelin' was completed. It was photographed from the air, fitting out, alongside a quay at Kiel in July 1940. It is then believed to have proceeded to Gdynia in Poland. Length was 820 1/2 feet, beam was 88 1/2 feet and draught was 18 1/2 feet. She was built to take 40 aircraft. I can find no record of involvement in any action and she obviously did not survive the war as Jane's has to guess at some items such as the superstructure. As the Russians advanced through the Baltic States the Germans carried out a lot of withdrawals by sea and suffered large naval losses which don't appear to have been well documented. It's possible that the 'Graf Zeppelin' was one such casualty but that is only a presumption! I will try to find out more. And more input: Having done a lot more research, scrub the supposition at the end of my first submission. Rivalry between Goering, who delayed the development and production of the necessary aircraft, and Raeder gave rise to delays and the ship was only about 90% completed. She was removed to Gdynia in 1940 as a safer location to be laid up. She was used to store the fine fittings removed from other German warships to reduce the risk of fire during combat. Fear of Soviet bombing caused her to be removed again, this time to Stettin. In 1942 she was returned to Kiel for more work but other priority work caused more delays so in April 1943 she was returned to Stettin for good and as Raeder was removed from office (at his own request) work never resumed again. She was scuttled in shallow water in April 1945 but was refloated by the victorious Soviets the following spring and eventually towed to Leningrad in 1947.She appears to have been damaged on the way and could not be repaired so she was towed into deep water in 1947 and used for target practice by Soviet ships and aircraft. She did not sink easily. The wreck of the Graf Zeppelin has never been located.

Answer 3

Luftwaffe was the German Wehrmacht's aerial defense force. During the entire period of second world war Germany produced a total of 119,871 aircraft for use by Luftwaffe. Germany lost a large number of these aircraft during the war.

Answer 4

During World War 2, Nazi Germany only had 1 aircraft carrier called the Graf Zeppelin. Nazi Germany did have plans to build at least 12 different types and sizes of Aircraft Carriers but they didn't have Time or the Resources needed to completed any of them.

Answer 5

Fleet Carriers (Examples: USS Lexington, USS Enterprise)

Light Carriers ( USS Princeton, USS Independence)

Escort Carriers (USS Gambier Bay, USS Bismarck Sea)

Answer 6

Fleet carriers averaged about 70 to 90 planes per carrier.

Answer 7

Approximately 10.