World of Warships - Know Your Ship #12 - Deutschland Class Panzerschiffe

Episode 12 of Know Your Ship! In this educational video I cover the Deutschland Class Panzerschiffe commissioned by the Kriegsmarine before World War 2. They were built in order to appear as if the Kriegsmarine would not violate the Treaty of Versailles that limited the German Navy to ships under 10,000 tons. These "Pocket Battleships" were equipped with cruiser armour but battleship guns. The most famous ship of this class was the Graf Spee captained by Hans Langsdorff which fought at the Battle of the River Plate against three Royal Navy cruisers. Admirals, get to know these pocket battleships of the Kriegsmarine before taking command of them in World of Warships! Enjoy and see you all in battle!
Footage from this video from:
"Top 10 Fighting Ships - Pocket Battleships" - American Heroes Channel
"Timewatch - The Battle of the River Plate" - BBC : www.bbc.co.uk/p...
"German Pocket Battleship Admiral Graf Spee" - Source Unknown - Found at • Video
Video is for purely educational purposes and has not been monetized.
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[@Joisey11]

I am very moved by the historical account of how Hans Langdorf sacrificed his ship, and himself, to save the crew of the Graf Spee and the crews of foreign freighters. The nobility of Hans Langdorf has, sadly, not been emulated by the current generation of world leaders.

[@ichasegaming]

Joisey Very much agreed, we lack these kinds of people nowadays...

[@903lew]

In fairness to everyone involved, nobility such as that was sorely lacked in his time as in this (or, indeed, any).

[@GrasshopperKelly]

903lew which is disappointing...

[@margretfortune1524]

I disagree the Nobility of people still exists, just the current political environment does not allow people of great courage, selflessness and love to reach a place in the hierarchy to display it. Capt. Langsdorff was a great man.

[@maconescotland8996]

Langsdorf was not a Nazi and had a high sense of honour. That aside, he was ordered not to allow the Graf Spee’s radar to fall into British hands.

[@Maddog3060]

Man, I didn't know that stuff about Langsdorff. A real honorable man, he was, and didn't deserve to serve under such dickhead political masters as the Nazis. Gotta write down his name, add it to the list.

[@ichasegaming]

Maddog3060 One of my all time favourite warship captains

[@Aenigmaa]

Well said.

[@xenon5455]

iChaseGaming After the Battle of the River Plate, why didn't Langsdorff make for Buenos Aires?

[@Medysonball]

Maddog3060 I think he's the Rommel equivalent for the navy

[@JoeInCT418]

Another neutral country. His ship was damaged and probably was not able to make its rated speed. By the time he was ready to leave Montevideo, the British cruisers were outside the River Platte mouth, waiting for him. He would have had to run a gauntlet, and 3 to 1 odds did not work in his favor, since the Brits would split up and keep him from concentrating his firepower, having only two main gun forward turrets, so even if each took on one Brit, the third would get him on his blind side. IIRC, his fire control was damaged as well. It was a lose, lose tactical situation, the folly of a capital ship fighting alone. It is the same way lions hunt larger prey, like a water buffalo; they use numbers so that the prey can't run, nor fight all at once. The Graf Spee was doomed at the outset of its voyage by being alone.

[@DSurmumsuckscockforrock]

My grandfather served on the Admiral Scheer :)

[@nicos.3828]

This is no joke, I have the shipsbell of the "Graf Spee" at home. I bought it on an auction and I ll never sell it.

[@ichasegaming]

***** :O omg, I would love to see that o___o

[@nicos.3828]

iChaseGaming Let my try to make a picture and send it to you by whatever media type you prefer.

[@ReddyDutch]

***** Could you post a picture of it on Reddit? I'm sure a lot of people would love to see it in r/worldofwarships!

[@nicos.3828]

ReddyDutch I ll try tomorrow, pls comment again so I dont forget it. xD

[@ReddyDutch]

***** REMINDER ;)

[@Escylon]

Hans Langsdorff, an officer and gentleman. Danke, es war die richtige Entscheidung.

[@dirkbrueser8185]

Langsdorff was a real Knight, other than the Captain of Cruiser Sydney in WW 1, who has still fired on the Wrack of Emden and killed hundred of sailors unnecessarily.

[@MrCsepregi]

a true hero he saved alot of lives

[@richardjoganah1871]

I love the graf spee battleship so much and one of my favorite warships of all time ,lansdorff was a great man ,I own 4 graf spee models and I want the iteleria admiral scheer model ,your video was very good 😊

[@Riazor1370]

This episode is more drama than fury. Heil Herr Langsdorf.

[@nonamebrand0]

Anyone else find the shots of the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau annoying?

[@ichasegaming]

nonamebrand0 I did :( but can't help it...only so much documentary footage available...

[@billwolfer9358]

yes

[@michaelnaisbitt1639]

nonamebrand0 I did too but since there is a lack of film available I overlooked. it. Some of the guns on the light cruisers fired over a 100 salvos and barrels became. Hot. Still Lansdorf was an honourable and died wrapped in the old German Imperial naval flag not the Swasdica

[@adrianlarkins7259]

I was expecting a detailed description of the Deutschland Class Pocket Battleship, not yet another repeat of the Battle of the River Plate.

[@i_s4800]

panzer schiff does not mean pocket battleship. It means “armoured-ship”, or colloquially, tank-ship.

[@ronankuek8646]

Made cry in my heart...

[@trygveblacktiger597]

Wow that was quiet a history. Interesting i never knew of Langdorf. And yes i find what he did to be more heroic rather than too fight a battle he coulnt win.

[@sleipnirodin2881]

A great man, a great ship, a great and proud GERMAN.

[@wntu4]

Captain Langsdorff was an honorable man, a great human being and thus totally the wrong choice to command that ship or any other warship.

[@823850]

Thanks for doing this superb series!

[@jediknight73]

And frame so light the guns and rough seas would put cracks in the ships frame

[@Terranuvium]

Loved it! Learned some fine background points that I did not know, too.

[@ichasegaming]

Terranuvium Awesome :D

[@c0ldyloxproductions324]

hey a clip from top ten fighting ships, yes i watch a lot of documentaries

[@glock71]

A very nice document, but its not true, that Langsdorf could have outrun Harwoods cruisers. They were all faster than Graf Spee. So he had to engage them, because otherwise they would shadow him and report his position till he was hounded to his death by more powerful RN forces (notably HMS Ark Royal and HMS Renown, which were searching for him too). It is of course true, that he could have tried to evade and lose them at night, but he couldnt have "just turned around and accelerated in the other direction" as the documentary states. Also some of the footage is not of Graf Spee, but of Scharnhorst or Gneisenau (Graf Spee did not have two turrets on the bow). Otherwise very nice, I enjoy those videos a lot, as well as your gameplay footage!

[@ichasegaming]

Jiri Smrz Thank you and good of you to point these things out :)

[@westlock]

_Panzerschiff_ in German means "armoured ship", not "pocket battleship". Anyway, the pocket battleship label that the British invented was really misleading. The Germans themselves appropriately reclassified them as heavy cruisers in 1940.

[@fassvcummins]

a good captain of the Graf spee to save his men then to fight to the last shell

[@joeharney135]

Keep up the good work

[@ichasegaming]

Joseph Harney Thank you :)

[@henryblanton6992]

The members of the Kriegsmarine were not in the habit of rendering the Nazi salute. Captain Hans Langdorf Shot himself while in his full dress uniform. He laid himself upon the German Imperial Naval Standard, NOT the Nazi Flag. He may have had no choice but to join the Nazi Party to continue his duty to his Country, much in the same way of joining any Political Party. General Patton caught some grief for pointing that out.

[@heymickee1]

The German name Panzerschiffe means Armoured ship not Pocket battle ship, Pocket Battleship was a name given to them by the British

[@douglasoak7964]

I think this video should have had more content that you yourself created.

[@thomashockin4128]

I really like this ship!! Would be nice if it was a bit faster though!

[@ichasegaming]

Thomas Hockin Well their design philosophy was be faster than anything stronger and be stronger than anything faster lol :)

[@dimanasaja21]

Thomas Hockin in nf2 this ship's speed about 36 knot

[@thomashockin4128]

Much better!! I thought they said 26 knots on the film!!

[@johnfisher9692]

Thomas Hockin nf2 is completely wrong, the maximum speed of these ships was 26 knots. They were designed to prey on unarmed merchant ships and run from any ships large enough to sink them. Despite Germany violating the Treaty of Versailles which resulted in them being around 20% over the allowed limits ( As become their usual practice, Germany lied about their true displacement) they were over gunned for the role and lacked the armour to let them resist their natural opponents ie: Heavy Cruisers on convoy protection. History shows on occasions where these ships ran into smaller but more numerous cruiser opponents they quickly got chased off.

[@kingcurry6594]

+Dimana saja No - 26 knots.

[@squarepants49]

Wasn't Deutschland changed to Ludzow?

[@SlayingPredatorthelst]

+squarepants49 yes it was named to lutzow not ludzow

[@sarjim4381]

Yes, it was, although the correct spelling is Lützow. This happened in April 1940, partly because Hitler didn't want a ship named after the fatherland sunk and partly because it was a ruse to confuse the British when the Hipper class ship of the same name was transferred to the supposedly neutral Russians.

[@michaelbuckler]

I know the source footage is no-one's fault, but for a piece about Deutschland class armoured ships there are a lot of shots of the Scharnhorst,(or Gneisenau) and the Repulse.

[@ichasegaming]

michaelbuckler You are indeed correct, I think many documentaries take certain liberties with source footage since there might be very little to nothing for a specific class of ship.

[@OhYeaMista]

1:28 & 1:40, not these ships. Not trying to criticize too much, good videos, but it's pretty obviously the wrong ship given the two forward turrets.

[@DanY-mj4gl]

Yeah that was footage of scharnhorst or her sistership

[@tmb4623]

I'm not exactly sure if this should be could a "battleship" but I guess that's why its a pocket battleship

[@sleipnirodin2881]

+The master builder 003 They where "heavy cruiser" in the german kriegs marina. Yup, Cruisers with 11 inchers... [Germans loves big guns and do them like no other country.]

[@JAKB2002]

Its just not worth killing yourself because of something like a ship

[@liamdudeeee]

This is definitely going to be a premium ship if they add it at some point. Not sure what class It would come under. Depends on if they add sub-classes to the game. They sure as shit cant fit even half of the British battleships and battlecruisers in a tier 3-10 tree. Even if they separated it into BBs and BCs they still cant fit all of them.

[@kevinpierce6955]

I bet you they will just be classified as cruisers. I honestly hope one of the deustchland classes is in the tech tree. These will be probably the most unique ships in game. Hopefully tier 5-6 with slightly more ROF than BBs.

[@ferallion3546]

These surface raiders were modern versions of an older class of the pre dreadnought and dreadnought eras warships ship typed as armored cruisers. Essentially heavy cruisers with capital guns and a bit heavier armor but well within the cruiser displacement. The term "pocket battleship" is a political term like "through deck cruiser" or "very large cruiser" to avoid any political repercussions or advance propaganda. Very interesting ship types that persevered through three era.

[@MKIVWWI]

You are right. The term "pocket battleship" was (I believe) a British propaganda term. They were definitely NOT "capital ships" -- but heavy cruisers in all aspects of their design. Heavy cruisers freed from the shackles of the 8" main armament.

[@ferallion3546]

The ship type definitely worked. From a purely technical perspective it would have been interesting to see how they would have fared in actions against heavy cruisers.

[@philpryor7524]

Correctly, these ships were heavy armoured cruisers, with German existing technology able to use triple turrets of 280 Cm guns. A good compromise design, it might well have been copied. The USA soon produced heavy cruisers with three triple Eight inch guns, a reduced battleship setup. But the big fast battleships to follow outflanked and outclassed them. They would have been soon smashed in many subsequent slugging fights. Only another four of five knots would have helped, not available in the early '30's and that available technology. In 1939, they looked very good.

[@sergarlantyrell7847]

3:05 Well there is one big flaw with that mentality, and I mean literally BIG. The battleship HMS Hood. 45,000 tons of steel, capable of 31kts and able to run down and easily overpower effectively an upgunned cruiser doing 28kts.

[@DCNo9]

Hood wasn't 45,000 tons of steel. Hood displaced 41,000 tons and at most would have been 20,000 tons of steel. Also, Hood was a Battlecruiser, not a Battleship. She certainly had a higher top-speed than the Deutschland Class though.

[@sergarlantyrell7847]

DCNo9 she was 47,429 tonnes (deep load). Okay, is this better... >45,000 tonnes of steel etc.? At the time the admiralty didn't have a designation for fast battleship (which is what she would have been classified by using modern terminology) you wouldn't call the iowa class a battlecruiser (a much longer and therefore faster south dakota) but that's basically exactly what the admiral class was (a much longer and therefore faster Queen Elizabeth class). Just look at 2 of the royal navy's battlecruisers for yourself... The renown class with 6in of belt armour (same as the des monies, but with battleship guns) making her a battle cruiser and not in the same league as the admiral class with 1ft belt armour (same as the Warspite, with the same 8x15" guns)... Making the hood, in terms or both armour and armament, comparable to a contemporary battleship and nothing like a cruiser (other than her speed, but again, the same is true of the iowa class)

[@DCNo9]

@ser garlan tyrell You'll get more accurate specs from www.hmshood.com/ship/hoodspecs1.htm rather than Wikipaedia. My point is/was, that whilst HMS Hood may have displaced 41,000 tons (where 1 ton = 20 x cwt and 1 cwt = 8 stones/112 lbs) the amount of steel would have been roughly half of her diplacement. Her deep load displacement is with full stores of ammo, fuel, etc. I also think this is the wrong video to debate if Hood was a Battlecruiser or Battleship. The Deutschland Class was to my thinking, a heavy cruiser/light battlecruiser. 11" guns were close to WWI era Battleship main armour (13.5") and given most WWII heavy cruisers carried 8" guns, this class outgunned all Allied cruisers at the time. I concur that had Hood and any of this class of ship (or even all three together) met in battle, Hood would most likely have wrecked it/them. However given the flaws with the WWI RN Battlecruiser design, that led to so many losses at Jutland and the fact Hood carried these flaws when taking on Bismarck and Prinz Eugen, then it's not a stretch too far to imagine an 11" shell plunging through Hood's flawed defences and suffering a magazine explosion as per the Battle of the Denmark Strait.

[@sergarlantyrell7847]

DCNo9 your article agrees with me; in 1920 configuration she was 41,125 long tons or 41,785 tonnes (light load) and 46,680 long tons or 47,429 tonnes (deep load). Are you sure you're not converting from the American "short ton" as it's the default one google will use if you try to convert? I didn't start the argument about battleship or battlecruiser, I merely referred to her as a battle ship. I agree about the Deutschland class though, really a battle cruiser, but even then, a rather poorly armed one, though more than enough to take on other cruisers of the time. The 3 Deutschlands being together at sea would have been unlikely given their commerce raiding mandate. But even if they were hood would have displaced more than the 3 put together and would have had the weight of broardside in her favour too. And while the 11" guns would have frightened the bejezus out of any merchanman lone cruiser, they would have struggled against the belt of hood and while plunging fire would have still been a thing, I'm not sure how much knowledge the Germans had of her weaknesses at the time. And while they technically had the range on hood, no battleship guns have scored a hit on a battleship over about 23km away (incidentally that was by the same family of guns as was fitted to hood, which were noted for their accuracy and reliability). I would have thought at that point the German captains would have laid smoke and made like and banana and split! Letting 2 escape while hood chased down the 3rd.

[@babehunter1324]

It was a ship of this class the one that got attacked by Katiuskas when mistaken for the Canarias Cruiser?

[@Karagianis]

to be fair, 11" guns aren't really battleship size guns. They're very big for a cruiser, but even Drednought had 12" guns, and the standard for thier day was around 15" for battleships.

[@ichasegaming]

Karagianis Well, the Germans did use smaller battleships guns when compared to the British during WW1 :P

[@rhettmeyers474]

Karagianis It wasn't a true battleship for reasons discussed in the video, as well as others. Its 11" guns are quite large considering its displacement. The only real battleships they ever made were the Bismarck and Tirpitz.

[@BlackeyeLP]

+Rhett Meyers the pen was ok due the high muzzle velocity

[@SkyForceOne2]

Sadly, none of this will affect an arcade-game like World Of Speedboats

[@Nox1234567891011]

Cyvan World Of Speedboats ahhhhhhhhh hahaahhaahhaha

[@SkyForceOne2]

silent66556 I dont like WoT nor WoWa.

[@NickBingham01]

+Cyvan Good for you! Have a gold star for having an opinion on something, so special!

[@SkyForceOne2]

Nick Bingham it was his interpetation towards my comment. and he was wrong. so i had to correct him. "Have a gold star" for leaving unnecessary comments, dude! :)

[@NickBingham01]

Cyvan Fuckin' sweet, gold star!

[@iraqvet87]

any chance of the Deutschland class actually making it into the game? Would love to see her as well as the HMS hood, but I assume they would both be difficult to place in a class

[@ichasegaming]

+Adam Campbell Not sure, would be nice to see her. Might be a unique premium?

[@harderstylesunited920]

YOU won't have to wait long now

[@TurKlack]

I have a question...Was in that time the idea of making a ship that can hold Fighter planes and Battleship turrets? ...Like a... Battlecarrier or something like that? It would be able to take two roles in the sea war. Sinki8ng ships with his guns and providing air support or defense with the fighters...I mean it's just theory but i think it would be possible. The problem would be that it's absolutly massive.

[@ichasegaming]

TurKlack Well the Japanese did try hybrids with their Ise class battleships. As for full on battleship-carriers, it was found to be a very unfeasible idea :P

[@TurKlack]

Ok.

[@Joisey11]

The Japanese tried, to disappointing results.

[@TurKlack]

I red the wiki post. Sounds more like they tried to let the ship evolve. But i mean making it from start to end. The idea, the form, making, building. I have something in mind like in the Middle the typical Carrier landing field and 3 Cannons on each side. Can u imagine what i mean?

[@Joisey11]

With the Ise class, it was a conversion borne of desperation, when the Japanese lost too many carriers and didn't have the industrial base to replace them. It basically involved removing everything behind the Pagoda style superstructure and replacing it with a short flight deck. Of course by then they were out of trained pilots too, so it didn't matter much. The Americans derided the ships as "hermaphrodites".

[@JAKB2002]

HE KILLED HIMSELF OVER A FRICKIN SHIP?? SERIOUSLY?! cmon!!

[@peterson7082]

Natalia Bogdanova His ship would of been interned into the Uruguayan navy, then later sent to the allies so to avoid the ship to the allies he would need to sink it due to the ships moderate damage and the waiting british cruisers so he like most admirals/captains in the Kreigsmarine committed suicide for the Reich (orders by Hitler)

[@espenliebak6292]

When will this ship arrive in WOWS?

[@uscgtankerwhitmore8777]

could you find the H class German heavy battleship?

[@ichasegaming]

Uscgtanker Whitmore Not much info there...I'll see what I can find

[@claypidgeon4807]

The Kongou-class were faster AND better-armed.

[@Jostipi]

Will they include this class in the game?

[@SlayingPredatorthelst]

+Jostipi from the latest cruiser pictures no it's a pity because this is my favorite class of ship

[@michaeljordon704]

Was the KMS Deutschland or the KMS Admiral Scheer more used by the Nazis in WWII

[@thitsugaya1224]

They should have built a dozen of them instead of the next to useless battleships and battlecruisers.

[@josefstalin1789]

The Graf Spee and the other ships werent a useful design...

[@michaeldobson8859]

The closest to the truth as I’ve seen about the Graph Spee story.

[@Brantoc]

Thinking Tier 3?

[@kimmy_jams9495]

Say germans are really clever

[@warshipnavalhero9596]

Wow Langslof felt defeat. He was a christian to. just wow

[@AudieHolland]

*+WarshipNaval Hero* He was a warrior first and foremost. And when all was lost and it was due to his fault, the honorable thing would be to fall on his own sword. The German officer mentality differed little from the samurai of feudal Japan. If dishonored, they would perform Seppuku (or Harakiri if no seconds were available or if they wanted to punish themselves even more). German officers who knew they had failed, shot themselves.

[@DerLoladin]

Panzerschiffe = Pocket Ship....you aren't even trying.

[@ichasegaming]

DerLoladin actually Panzerschiffe = Armoured Ships. They were termed pocket battleships by the media.

[@konigstiger8518]

iChaseGaming You're right it does mean armored ship. Panzer is multiple things but it does not mean "pocket".

[@DerLoladin]

iChaseGaming That is what I ment with my comment. But yes, of course armoured Ships is the right term, however, it makes me doubt the value of this documentation if they use this media term rather than the proper term. (Still, I'm wondering who got the idea to name them "pocket ships"...)

[@ichasegaming]

DerLoladin I think the media looked at the fact that these ships were the size of cruisers but carried battleship guns and termed them pocket battleship

[@AudieHolland]

*+iChaseGaming* is entirely correct. Noone else noticed that Panzerschiffe is plural. Singular would be Panzerschiff.

[@apieceofdirt4681]

Make no mistake, he wasn’t a Nazi with a conscience. He chose this battle. He wanted it. Historians have also said Langsdorf was arrogant. He thought of basically killing 2 birds with one stone; take prisoners only to let them go to tell the tale of how generous a captain he was at the same time doing his job as a navy man. His daughter is delusional. The best thing he could do was the only thing left to do and that was to take his own life.

[@thedoc2102]

Why do the producers of the video keep showing film of the Scharnhorst class Battlecruser, do they think that the viewers are as stupid as they are about WWII battleships? The Deutschland class was one of the worst classes of ship ever produced, totally incapable of achieving the goals set for them. Hitler was a madman who didn't understand naval warfare at all.

[@espenliebak6875]

Haha what have u smoked?

[@DanY-mj4gl]

@@espenliebak6875 well he's right, the deuschland CA was quite an inneffective design, a ship clearly too small for it's caliber, virtually no armor, and not even achieving the main objective of it's design; superior speed. In fact the renown and the other British battlecruisers were all faster than the deuschland. And the nelson and rodney class are just a tad slower.

[@babalonkie]

How can you hide from the enemy... by disguising your ship as another enemy vessel? Logic?

[@ichasegaming]

Babalonkie Uhh, it's possible that by pretending to be a larger ship, other smaller warships might give you a pass. Not only that, but if a major unit was spotted, it would also divert many enemy resources to chase an imaginary target :P

[@babalonkie]

iChaseGaming Germany declared war... Every British ship would of sent messages to others and called for assistance or just relayed location info for RN. There is no way any British vessel would of ignored any enemy vessel at that time. It just screams of inconsistency...

[@borkoalkoholtariiisk]

He disguised his ship as her other sister ships to make the British think that there are other German ships in the area,not just one lone raider.Not to make his hiding easier,but more of a make them halt and do nothing if they doesn't have the required ships to fight the Germans.Atleast thats what i think he was doing.

[@peloi111]

Babalonkie It is clear you lack knowledge in naval warfare & strategy. Read some books and look particularly at warship camouflage; a good example to start with might be the Bismarck, even watching the movie Master of Commander helps :)

[@babalonkie]

Phatos Musik I am going by information received. The commentator stated it disguised himself as another German combat vessel. Germany is a enemy at the time. There is difference between camouflaging yourself as a whaler than a enemy ship. I already know allot the Bismark, and its story is a quick anticlimax. So your "lack of knowledge" can go where the sun don't shine.

[@santiago22vz]

la pronunciación de uruguay en ingles da cáncer :v

[@santiago22vz]

es como si dijeran yhuruguay xD

[@CorrectUser]

+santiago gonzalez Tu pedantismo sobre pronunciacion me da cancer?

[@santiago22vz]

que como dicen Uruguay me da cáncer no dije nada malo que ofendiera a nadie

[@kt-limbo]

He was a coward.