A large carrier for a modest air group

Graf Zeppelin is compared with the slightly later HMS Illustrious to test what Germany’s additional displacement bought. It needed sixteen boilers, four shafts, and 200,000 shaft horsepower against Illustrious’s six boilers, three shafts, and 111,000 shaft horsepower. The German carrier’s intended 33.8-knot speed and long cruising range were paper advantages, but its complement was about 420 people larger for only a modest designed increase in aircraft capacity. Its flight-deck protection was also lighter than the armored hangar arrangement described for Illustrious. Even British carriers of similar or smaller deep displacement could ultimately operate substantially larger air groups through deck parking and wartime adaptation. Graf Zeppelin spent much more tonnage and machinery for modest gains in speed and aircraft capacity.