Would use of aircraft carriers have made a difference to Nazi Germany?

Question

I have never read about or seen in contemporary films any Nazi aircraft carriers. Did they have any and would they have made a difference? I am assuming they didn't have any because everything they wanted to bomb was within flying distance of Nazi air fields, especially as they moved into conquered countries, so they didn't need them. But, wouldn't aircraft carriers have helped in the battle of the North Atlantic in trying to stop supplies from reaching Britain and Russia from the United States? It seems they placed much too heavy a reliance on just one method, the U boats, which ultimately were defeated by Allied countermeasures. What does anyone here think about this?

Note to Justin: the Germans never established air superiority over Britain, that's why they never invaded the island.

Note to perfectly baked: obviously the Japanese had aircraft carriers, as demonstrated at Pearl Harbor and the British had numerous aircraft carriers, which helped them sink the Bismark, among other things. And no, bombing England had nothing to do with invading them. The bombing during the Battle of Britain was supposed to give Germany air superiority to facilitate the planned invasion, but the Germans lost that one.

Answer 1

Hitler made a LOT of mistakes that were capitalized on by the allies. The Wolf packs were working...until their communications were compromised. Being arrogant to the point of thinking no one could break their code, or capture one of their (I think it was called) Enigma machines was a hard blow. Couple that with the allies changing their strategies all but put them out of business.

With Hitler's history of not maximizing on cutting edge technology the way 20/20 hindsight shows that he should, I don't think he would have built any carriers. Besides, he would have pretty much have had to build them before the war started. One main goal of any war is to knock out the enemy's means of resupplying and also adding new weapons to their inventory. The allies got to the point where they were bombing factories of every type that supported Germany's war efforts. Toward the end of the war, a lot of war supporting factories were in caves and underground. A carrier or battleship can't be built underground. A cave would be out of the question too.

With Hitler trying to grab land, his thinking was probably in line with yours. Also, land means troops and tanks. An air craft carrier would suck up a great deal of their steel resources, and it would take time to build. Also, until the US beat up and beat back the Japanese by using carrier based planes, the battleship was the KING of WAR!

Oh, almost forgot that even Hitler got a taste of what a carrier can do. If I am not mistaken, torpedo planes from British carriers struck the blow to the rudder of the Bismark. Unable to freely manuever pretty much left that mighty ship a sitting duck.

Before the Japanese Navy, and the battleship Bismark were 'ripped a new one', I don't think aircraft carriers were really considered to be the devistating sea going power house that they proved themselves to be. Back then, without planes in the air and proper protection by other war ships, carriers were volnerable. Hitler was more inline with going with the tried and true. When US and British carriers proved the power of the carrier, Hitler was already on his way out. As the saying goes, the show isn't over until the fat lady sings. Well, she had warmed up, and was just waiting on her que to go on stage.

I'm not a fan of Hitler, but the Germans built one hell of a battleship. Just like the Titanic, it was sinkable too. If there had been a Nazi carrier sailing with the Bismark, things probably would have had a different ending. The British and Nazi carriers would have been tangling with each other, and the battleships would be forced to tangle with each other.

One last point....I think if Hitler had just started building a carrier before the war started, it would have violated the treaty (sorry, can't remember the name of the treaty). I think Germany was not allowed to go over a certain tonage with its warships. Of course the Bismark did, and grossly at that. Building a carrier and also planes capable of landing aboard a carrier would have let Hitler's war plans out of the bag prematurely. A ship like the Bismark was questionable, probably until the huge turrents were reported by allied spies.

Very good question!!!

Answer 2

I recall reading that the Nazis tried a goofy scheme to try to convert an iceberg into an aircraft carrier. Aircraft carriers for the Nazis would probably have been a waste. They could establish air superiority over Britain without them. It also takes several years to build an aircraft carrier, hence if they started producing them in 1940 they would not have been available until around 1943. Perhaps if they had started producing them in the early 1930's then they could have made a difference. But few at that time believed that Aircraft carriers were very important so the Nazis concentrated on their battleships.

Answer 3

The whole german rearmament program called for a quick rearmament and an early war, otherwise germanys neighbours would have caught up.This left no time and ressources for longtime projects such as a carrier fleet.
The reason why germany relied on submarines only has a lot to do with WWI.One of the reasons for the conflict between UKand germany prior to the war was the german naval rearmament program which endangered british naval superiority.However, it quickly became clear that germany could never built a fleet even half the size of the british, and during the war, the whole fleet was entirely useless.German WWII officers were influenced by the experiences of WWI and saw it as a fact that british naval power could not be matched.The only part of the navy that had had some success in WWI were the submarines.
In WWII, Hitler had a likin for certain types of military, despite their real effectiveness.Submarines supported the Nazi idea of heroic warriors that fought against overwhelming odds.As written above, Raeder supported the idea of more traditional naval warfar,. but Doenitz, head of submarine fleet, quickly gained popularity due to events such as Scapa Flow.

As written above, there was one carrier, but it was never finished.It wouldn't have made a difference bc after the battle of britain, germany was very short on aircraft and pilots.Furthermore, a carrier needs a battle group around it and germany was far from having enough ships for that.Allied air superiority was so dense that submarines had to dive immediately after leaving port, any surface vessel would have been destroyed quickly.

Answer 4

The Germans were working on an aircraft carrier just before the war started, the Graf Zeppelin. It was never completed. When Erich Raeder was relieved of command and replaced by Karl Doenitz work on the carrier which was 95% complete was stopped, and it was stripped of all armament and the hull was used to store hard wood for the Kriegsmarine.

It's doubtful that one carrier would have made much of a difference in the war. Britain had such overwhelming naval superiority that one ship would not have made any difference. The US had only one carrier in the Atlantic, USS Ranger. Britain had a few, but it was nothing like the number of carriers in the Pacific.

Answer 5

The Nazis did have some (not many) aircraft carriers, but they were small, heavy, gas-guzzlers compared to the modern carriers. They were underutilized due to their- reliance on their very effective submarine fleet, vulnerability when refueling/resupplying, unwillingness to add a battlefront in the Americas. I don't think that more, or even better, carriers would have made a difference and here is why... After the attack on Pearl Harbor and the USA entered WWII they were galvanized to bring down the Nazi and Japanese Empires by any means necessary. Even if the Nazis were somehow successful in preventing supplies from reaching the UK and Russia the Allies would simply have changed their strategy. Ultimately, what brought down the Nazis was their crazed dictator and his implementation of anti-Jew laws. If Hitler had valued the great German-Jewish minds he would have had the A-bomb, at the very least. The Nazi regime fell apart not just because of Allied military might but because Hitler's mental (and possibly physical) condition deteriorated allowing him to make increasingly poor decisions, and preventing him from being able to united the Axis. This however, does not diminish the bravery and sacrifice of the Allied forces. We are all grateful to those who lost their lives in defense of freedom. Those who struggled through WWII were truly the best generation our world has ever seen.

Answer 6

I don't believe any country had or even has aircraft carriers, other than the U.S. Would it have made a difference? I don't think so. If they had them, that would've meant less money spent elsewhere, and as it was, the Axis could've won WWII. The victory went to the probable, the ones who just got the better roll of the dice. I mean, the U.S. struggled throughout the war. It was only a few crucial breaks here and there that made the difference, such as the capture of a German U-boat.

Germany did invade Britain, though, didn't they? London was bombed. I recall that. They just never sent in any soldiers on foot. (This is portrayed in the movie, "The Chronicles of Narnia")

Answer 7

Hitler never realized that air superiority was crucial! He never listened to his more able generals! He choose civilian targets in England rather than focusing his forces against military air bases and shipping in the Atlantic. One long range bomber did make it to NYC and then turned north and went as far as Albany, NY before returning home but they didn't drop any bombs. They were to demonstrate that Germany could bring the war to the US! If the Germans perfected mid air refueling earlier they would have been able to attack any position world wide,and carriers would not be needed!

Answer 8

I was going to say no, but I read saturn's answer and had to say yes. After the Japanese bombed pearl harbor, they could have done alot more damage, but our surviving aircraft carrier disporportionately distracted teh Japanese. Doolittle's raid did little damage to the japanese, but our ability to attack japan scared tehm enough to pull some of their aircraft to defend japan and slow the Japanese advance. If the Germans have carriers, teh AMericans would spen alot more resources defending our huge coastlines rather than an offensive attack.

Answer 9

aircraft carriers could have brought the war to the usa. that would have been a mess. anything could have happened. usa troops tied up at home, no invasion of europe. probably a negotiated peace with hitler in power.

germany didn't see the usa coming. no need to prepare for that war. british navy sunk most of german navy before war. hitler just wanted to conquer europe.....in 1939

Answer 10

It may have prolonged the war, however the Nazi wouldn't have been able to match the United States carrier production nor could they match the number of pilots the U.S. was training.