Graf Zeppelin was projected at roughly 33,500 tons, 861 feet long, 103 feet wide, and with a draft of 24 feet. Its range of 8,000 nautical miles at 19 knots made it a large, long-range design. The 1939 air group combined ten Bf 109T fighters, thirteen Ju 87C dive bombers, and twenty Fi 167 biplane torpedo bombers. A later proposal retained the total of forty-three aircraft but replaced that mixture with fifteen Me 155 fighters and twenty-eight Ju 87E dive-bomber and torpedo aircraft. The changing composition shows how German carrier aviation was still defining its aircraft, strike method, and doctrine while the ship remained incomplete.
Notable Point · 36:23-38:07
Graf Zeppelin's scale and changing air group
Graf Zeppelin was a 33,500-ton, long-range carrier whose planned forty-three-aircraft group shifted from fighters, dive bombers, and biplane torpedo bombers to a simpler later mix.