The 'H' series of battleships was to be part of the Germans 'Z-Plan' an ambitious naval program that would give the Kriegsmarine the following:
10 Battleships
4 Aircraft carriers
3 Battlecruisers
3 Panzershiffs (Pocket battleships to you and me)
12 new Panzershiffs
5 Heavy cruisers
36 light cruisers
68 destroyers
249 U Boats.
It was an ambitious plan that was meant to challenge the naval power of the United Kingdom and by the outbreak of World War II it had in a way begun, 2 of the 10 battleships were approaching completion, 2 Battlecruiser's were in service, 1 aircraft carrier and assorted other ships gave the Germans a small but potent fleet of modern and (for the most part) well designed ships. The next battleships were already laid down the H class ships were to be armed with 16 inch guns and looked for all the world like an enlarged Bismark class ship with an extra funnel, the 'H' ships were a logical development and could have been powerful combatants had they ever been finished.
he H type battleship as designed, note that its obviously just an evolution of the Bismark design, even the placement of the secondary turrets and heavy AA guns is the same.
But in 1940 Hitler asked that design teams look at new warships taking into account the experiences of the war thus far and thus began the growth of the design from the rational into the simply absurd. The H-39s which had already been laid down would be an impressive 56,000 tonnes and 911 feet long but the (H-41) design was 68,800 tonnes and 925 feet (277.8 Meters in Length), the H-42 90,000 tonnes and 1000 feet, the H-43 111,000 tonnes 1082 feet long and the final design the (H-44) was a gargantuan 131,000 tonnes and a staggering 1,131 feet long (or 311.8 Meters in length)!
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A/n: H-44 Grosser Kurfürst (H-44 Großer Kurfürst) is the the battleship at the very top. It is bigger then any other Super battleship, and battleship on picture.
By comparison the Yamato was 72,000 tonnes and 862 feet long and the Iowa class 58,000 tonnes and 861 feet long, the H-44 is both longer and heavier than the Nimitz class aircraft carrier, the largest warship in the world! Amusingly though the Germans higher ups tried to disassociate themselves from these flights of fantasy, the designs from H-42 onwards were so large that there was no slipway in Germany that could take one and the designs were never even seriously considered.
A side view of a 16 inch gun under construction at Krupps, these were to arm the H-39 battleships, but instead saw service as coast defence weapons on the Atlantic Wall.
Guns and Armour
The H-44 design was planned to be armed with eight 20.1 inch guns, the largest naval gun ever made, the blast effect of these massive weapons can only be imagined at and the effect of a hit would be devastating but no such gun was ever constructed as the H-44 design was nothing more than a paper exercise designed to keep the skilled design teams together. If the H-44 had been actually built it would have consumed most of the Reich's steel production for several years. Secondary armament was to be 12 x 5.9 inch guns in three turrets port and starboard which echoes the earlier Bismark design whilst AA guns were to include 16 x 4.1 inch guns and numerous 20 and 37mm guns.
Details for the armour on this monster are hard to find but it would have to be consumate with her caliber of guns.
A H-44 Battleship model scale compared to a Bismark class ship, yes it was really going to be that big. Silly isn't it. (edited to remove the Bismarks swasticas)
Engines
This behemoth's engines were suppose to push her through the waves at 30 knots and the designers did develop an interesting design for the stern to shield the vulnerable rudders in light of the Bismarks lucky hit that crippled her. This involved extending the hull down and running the propellers through channels in the hull rather than have them exposed. Some notes about these ships list them as being designed for both diesel and normal steam turbines with the diesel's used for long range cruising.
Fate
Never laid down, never even seriously considered the H-44 remained a paper project which in hindsight was the best thing the Germans could do other than waste a huge amount of precious resources on this gargantuan white elephant.
