The only aircraft carrier of the Third Reich

Listen to this article Among the films we post on our website, many are shots caught in the lens by our native “cameramen”. However, not many of them come from our, Polish waters. As we, as a country, have nothing to be ashamed of when it comes to diving sites (and in some respects one

ByTomasz Andrukajtis

Published: May 14, 2012 - 21:04

Updated: July 22, 2023 - 05:43

The only aircraft carrier of the Third Reich

Listen to this article

Among the films we post on our website, many are shots caught in the lens by our native “cameramen”. However, not many of them come from our, Polish waters. As we, as a country, have nothing to be ashamed of when it comes to diving sites (and in some respects one can say that we are world leaders), we decided to increase the dose of films from Polish waters.

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During World War II, the German Kriegsmarine had only one aircraft carrier, the Graf Zeppelin. Launched in 1938, she was never really completed (only 90% completed by 1943). Moreover, despite its presence among other Second Reich naval vessels, the Graf Zeppelin was never engaged in a naval battle!

Towed to Szczecin, she was taken over by the Soviets on 25 April 1945. On 17 August 1947 she sank during the tow, most probably as a target ship. The commanding officers of the Stalinist regime wanted to find out how resistant the German ship was to being hit by various shells. Another version says that the Zeppelin was sunk under pressure from the allied forces, who did not want the USSR to have an aircraft carrier in its arsenal.

Source: wikipedia.org
Film: Jerzy Abramowicz

About author

Tomasz Andrukajtis

Editor-in-chief of the DIVERS24 portal and magazine. Responsible for obtaining, translating and developing content. He also supervises all publications. Achived his first diving certification – P1 CMAS, in 2000. Has a degree in journalism and social communication. In the diving industry since 2008.