# A question for those World War II history buffs **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 6, 2003, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-those-world-war-ii-history-buffs/199936 "2003-09-06T15:47:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Not\_In\_Anger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3ab097/32.png) [@Not\_In\_Anger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_In_Anger)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-those-world-war-ii-history-buffs/199936/21 "2003-09-06T22:07:59Z")
Germany had a land-based capabilty to reach Britain by air, which was the country they considered their only relevant opponent. Britain also had a vastly superior navy, which is required to support and defend carriers. Germany didn’t develop carriers simply because they had neither motive nor opportunity. They certainly could have. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-those-world-war-ii-history-buffs/199936/22 "2003-09-06T22:13:39Z")
The Luftwaffe was basically a tactical air force, and never came close to having any long range capabilities. Their operational long-range bomber, the Fw-200, was adapted from an airliner and was not really tough enough for military heavy use. It was primarily used for maritime patrol. While a Ju-390 _did_ make a test flight to New York City and back, it was too little too late. As with the answer to the OP, the Nazi military was created to fight the people right next door and they never really developed strategic weaponry. ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-those-world-war-ii-history-buffs/199936/23 "2003-09-06T22:16:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by detop \* > \*\*The two _Panzer General_ games had US invasion scenario with various problems, but the reward should go to 3W with their game _SS Amerika_, come on, an **air-droppable** Herman Goering panzerdivision ? \*\* The [Herman Goering](http://www.angelraybooks.com/books/jjfpub/0004jj.htm) was officially designated as a Fallschirm (Parachute) panzer division. Purely honorific, it wasn’t going to be airdropped anywhere. Perhaps the designers at 3W didn’t catch on to this.😉 ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-those-world-war-ii-history-buffs/199936/24 "2003-09-06T22:39:33Z")
That’s was my guess also, unfortunately, in another one of their games _Tomorrow the World_, they repeated the same mistake. ---
**Author:** ![Not\_In\_Anger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3ab097/32.png) [@Not\_In\_Anger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_In_Anger)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-those-world-war-ii-history-buffs/199936/25 "2003-09-06T22:49:57Z")
I don’t refine my opinion. The Germans were within 30 miles of the coast of Britain. They would use carriers for what, exactly? ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-those-world-war-ii-history-buffs/199936/26 "2003-09-06T23:00:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Not In Anger \* > \*\*I don’t refine my opinion. The Germans were within 30 miles of the coast of Britain. They would use carriers for what, exactly? \*\* U-Boat crewman’s barracks. That’s what a lot of their passenger liners ended up as. ---
**Author:** ![bernse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-those-world-war-ii-history-buffs/199936/27 "2003-09-06T23:04:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dogface \* > \*\*Why does everybody remember the never-built “Amerika” but never remember the B-36 Peacemaker? \*\* Speak for yourself. I’ve got a model of a Peacmaker sitting on my entertainment center. ---
**Author:** ![bernse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-those-world-war-ii-history-buffs/199936/28 "2003-09-06T23:08:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Not In Anger \* > \*\*I don’t refine my opinion. The Germans were within 30 miles of the coast of Britain. They would use carriers for what, exactly? \*\* Well, the world encompasses more than the British Isles. ---
**Author:** ![bernse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-those-world-war-ii-history-buffs/199936/29 "2003-09-06T23:15:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dogface \* > \*\*Why does everybody remember the never-built “Amerika” but never remember the B-36 Peacemaker? \*\* BTW - What do you mean _never built?_ The Me-264 prototype flew several times, although never for a bombing run to New York. ---
**Author:** ![Not\_In\_Anger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3ab097/32.png) [@Not\_In\_Anger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_In_Anger)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-those-world-war-ii-history-buffs/199936/30 "2003-09-06T23:24:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bernse \* > \*\*Well, the world encompasses more than the British Isles. \*\* I don’t think Hitler and his crew ever deigned to consider anyone but Britain as a serious opponent. Otherwise they would never have invaded USSR (duh???) or joined Japan in declaring war on USA (duh???) for no apparent reason. The world was a little different in 1942 and I don’t think people in those times even contemplated how different. ---
**Author:** ![bernse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-those-world-war-ii-history-buffs/199936/31 "2003-09-06T23:33:40Z")
Well, **NIA** , you may want to check your “?” key. You asked: > [@](#): > > They would use carriers for what, exactly? And I told you why. They had larger goals than just Britain. Regardless, considering they actually worked on building the _Graf Zeppelin_, and contrary to your infinite wisdom, they apparantly thought they had a use for at least one. ---
**Author:** ![zipper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/5f8ce5/32.png) [@zipper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zipper)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-those-world-war-ii-history-buffs/199936/32 "2003-09-06T23:45:43Z")
I know this is off the original subject, but Not In Anger raised a question. I remember reading some ware that Hitler did not want war with England. After war broke out in 1939 Hitler tried to negotiate some kind of peace in Sweden or Norway, but Churchill would not go for it. ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-those-world-war-ii-history-buffs/199936/33 "2003-09-06T23:49:00Z")
I think that **NIA** ’s question is a valid one. According to [this](http://warships.web4u.cz/indexlode.php?language=E&stat=GER&typ=CV&trida=Graf+Zeppelin) site, the Graf Zeppelin would have carried only 40 planes (about half the complement of an Essex-class carrier). Since Nazi Germany was essentially a continental power, pursuing building the ship during WWII would just have been another waste of limited resources. Now, if Germany had waited before starting the war that the Kriegsmarine plan Z had been fulfilled, it would have been another story ! ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-those-world-war-ii-history-buffs/199936/34 "2003-09-06T23:53:37Z")
Well, for a word in defence of the [A9/A10](http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/a9a10.htm) rocket, it _would_ have had a pretty good “guidance system” for the final stage of the flight…a pilot. :eek: The A9’s pilot would have been equiped with an ejection seat…but he’d be ejecting at low supersonic speeds; 2,000 miles away from home; and either into the ocean off of the coast of New York, or over the territory of a country he just flew a nuke into. So even if he survived the landing, he’d either get lynched by the enraged citizenry, or if he’s lucky, captured by the U.S. military and tortured for information. And that’s assuming that he didn’t land downwind of the bomb, and get a lungfull of fallout. Or he doesn’t burn up reentering the atmosphere. Or that the A9’s engine doesn’t explode after the A10 stage’s seperation. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-those-world-war-ii-history-buffs/199936/35 "2003-09-06T23:58:07Z")
…and, if anyone’s interested, here’s a previous thread on [Germany’s “invasion plans” for America, circa 1900.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=114014&highlight=megalomania) ---
**Author:** ![Ryan\_Liam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ryan_liam/32/3965_2.png) [@Ryan\_Liam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryan_Liam)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-those-world-war-ii-history-buffs/199936/36 "2003-09-07T00:01:02Z")
what would these ICBMs look like? ---
**Author:** ![Not\_In\_Anger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3ab097/32.png) [@Not\_In\_Anger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_In_Anger)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-those-world-war-ii-history-buffs/199936/37 "2003-09-07T00:03:39Z")
Germany’s plan for inading Amerikka, circa 1900, involved having Mexico invade US. haha. They weren’t as stupid as all that. They in fact modeled Lebenstraum exactly on the American model. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-those-world-war-ii-history-buffs/199936/38 "2003-09-07T00:04:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bernse \* > \*\*Well, **NIA** , you may want to check your “?” key. > > You asked: > And I told you why. They had larger goals than just Britain. > > Regardless, considering they actually worked on building the _Graf Zeppelin_, and contrary to your infinite wisdom, they apparantly thought they had a use for at least one. \*\* They did, but it wouldn’t have done them any good considering they were fighting both Britian and the Soviet Union and couldn’t seem conquer either one. The carriers weren’t going to help them againest several million pissed off Russians coming westward and if the Germans couldn’t fight their way across the English Channel, effectivly fighting the US on the other side of the Altantic was far beyond their abilities. Hitler also had plans for some kind of Super Battleship that would have been just as effective as the Graf Zepplin(Read: Not at all.) Remember what happened to the Bismark? ---
**Author:** ![Barks\_dog\_food](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c68b51/32.png) [@Barks\_dog\_food](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barks_dog_food)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-those-world-war-ii-history-buffs/199936/39 "2003-09-07T00:12:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ringo \* > \*\*While a Ju-390 _did_ make a test flight to New York City and back, it was too little too late. \*\* I did some reasearch and this story comes from William Green’s “War Planes of the Thrid Reich”. Unfortunatly the evidence for this flight is less then convincing. In [this](http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=no&lr=lang_en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&threadm=3f57b628.1043719%40news.pacific.net.au&rnum=1&prev=/groups%3Fq%3D%2522Well%252C%2Bthe%2Btype%2Bof%2Bweapon%2Bsystem%2B(submarine%2Bwith%2Baircraft)%2522%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3DUTF-8%26hl%3Dno) google thread they discuss this. The short version is : The plane with the projected range was a reconaisance version that couldn’t have carried any bombs. There is no benefit from flying to New York over flying the same distance in circles. In fact you have a greater chance of losing the plane because you would have to fly over allied territory and would have no place to land if something went wrong. ---
**Author:** ![bernse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-those-world-war-ii-history-buffs/199936/40 "2003-09-07T01:10:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by HPL \* > \*\*They did, but it wouldn’t have done them any good considering they were fighting both Britian and the Soviet Union and couldn’t seem conquer either one. \*\* I don’t think many people here would argue that considering the way the war ended up going that Nazi Aircraft Carriers would have been of much good them. On the contrary, all that material and labor would have certainly been better used somewhere else. That doesn’t change the fact that the Germans did indeed try to build one for whatever reasons, and it was largely completed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-those-world-war-ii-history-buffs/199936.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-those-world-war-ii-history-buffs/199936.md?page=3)