Spahkreuzer

History: Although called Spahkreuzer - Reconnaissance Cruiser - those ships were basically large destroyers capable for Atlantic Operations. Based on traditional destroyer design, several project studies started in 1938 to develop a large destroyer of the size of a CL. Like most German CLs, those ships were planed to get a mixed propulsion system, geared turbines for high speed and diesel engines for long cruises. It was planed to use this ships in combinations of the new battleships of the Z-Plan in the North Atlantic where the Spahkreuzer should be the eyes of a larger battle fleet.

With the lessons learned by the first naval actions in World War II, the plans for the Sp?hkreuzer were modified several times, after the "Spahkreuzer 38" later designs were called "Spahkreuzer 39" and "Spahkreuzer 40" which had improved range, armor protection and a float plane on board.

The first three ships (SP1, SP2, and SP3, formerly named Z40, Z41, Z42) were ordered in February 1941 at the Germania Shipyard in Kiel. In December of 1941, the engines for the next three ships (SP4, SP5, SP6) were ordered too, but not the ships themselves.

Type: Cruiser

Primary Country: Germany is a Western European country with a landscape of forests, rivers, mountain ranges and North Sea beaches. It has over 2 millennia of history. Berlin, its capital, is home to art and nightlife scenes, the Brandenburg Gate and many sites relating to WWII. Munich is known for its Oktoberfest and beer halls, including the 16th-century Hofbräuhaus. Frankfurt, with its skyscrapers, houses the European Central Bank.