Shipbucket

After the Kriegsmarine's failure to destroy convoy JW 51B (the failure to inflict any damage at all), Hitler orders all surface ships scrapped and the Kriegsmarine to focus on U-Boats. Admiral Raeder resigns to save the surface fleet from ignominious destruction, and Donitz is appointed to command the Kriegsmarine.

SS-Generaloberst Paul Hausser sees an opportunity to extend Waffen-SS control to the Kriegsmarine, the least Nazi of the service branches. He sends SS-Obergruppenfuhrer Emil Mazuw to Berlin to convince Hitler. Mazuw is director of the SS Wunderwaffe program, and a former naval officer. He proposes fitting surface ships with rockets and missiles, giving them the capability to smash down Allied aircraft, strike England from unexpected directions, and annihilate Royal Navy battleships from well outside gun range.

Hitler agrees and appoints him as the first SS-Generaloberst zur See in charge of the Raketenkreuzer program. He selects Lutzow for its long range and minimal stack exhaust. Donitz, however, is deeply concerned. He insists that a career naval office should command the ship. He appoints Kapitan zur See Gregor Schuss to command Lutzow. At the change of command ceremony, Hitler changes the name of the ship back to Deutschland and calls her the terror of the seas. Donitz pulls Kapitan Schuss aside and gives him three missions: 1) Restore Hitler's faith in the Navy and resist the SS, 2) Evolve the Navy to take advantage of the new weapons and become relevant again, and 3) Save Germany from the Soviet enemy.

The ship is fitted with twin Rheintochter missile launchers in place of the after gun turret. Both after gun directors are also replaced with an Egerland fire control radar system (FuMG 74 Kulmbach and FuMG 76 Marbach). The torpedoes are removed from the fantail and replaced with a hangar (like Bismarck's) and a flightdeck for two Flettner Fl 282 V3 helicopters. The helicopters can carry a single fixed MG17 machine gun and one Ruhrstahl X-4 missiles or one rack of R4M rockets. The Arado catapult is replaced with a trainable launcher consisting of a ramp and warmup shed (Soviet SSN-1 or SM-51-1A launcher) for radar-homing (FuG 218 antler antennas) V-1 missiles. The forward mast has FuMO 26 and FuMO 81 radars fitted, and the forward gun turret has racks along the sides for 21cm Wurfgranate 42 rockets.

Kapitan Schuss embarks on an aggressive training program. During testing Generaloberst Mazuw is entertaining a group of Nazi officials. Schuss summons the Rockets Officer (who is leaning towards the SS) to explain the system to him. After a while the Kapitan stops him and asks why the rocket has not launched since he can see the target drone. The Leutnant glances back nervously and begins making his excuses to leave and check on the systems. The Kapitan stops him and calls for the gunnery officer. By now he has attracted the attention of the Generaloberst and the officials he is entertaining. He demands to know why the guns have not started firing against the drones. The gunnery officer (who is staunchly Kriegsmarine and opposed to the SS) awkwardly explains that only one of his guns is manned since this is a test of the rocket systems and the gun is only manned in case the drone fails and threatens to crash into the ship. The Kapitan explodes in fury and orders the Gunnery Officer to be confined to his cabin. He then sounds Battle Stations and conducts a test of the radar-directed anti-aircraft gunnery.

The Kapitan removes the Gunnery Officer and turns him over to the Gestapo. The Kapitan does not blink and eye and immediately summons the wardroom. He tells them that cowardice and complacency will not be tolerated while Germany stands under threat. In private he tells his executive officer that he had to make an example of one officer to shock the wardroom and gain the Generaloberst's trust.

A second rocket test goes dramatically wrong when the rocket explodes immediately after launch, setting the ship on fire and destroying the radars. The Kapitan personally leads the damage control efforts, saving the ship (by preventing the fire from reaching the V-1 missile in its launcher) and limiting the damage to the equipment. The Generaloberst summons the entire Raketenkreuzer program staff to account for the failure. He praises the Kapitan for his dedication and self sacrifice, but the Kapitan deflects the praise, explaining that his damage control teams failed and need more training. The Generaloberst then turns on the scientists and engineers and threatens to have them executed for their failure which he thinks is a defect in the rockets. The Kapitan, however, asks how the radars could affect the rockets. The scientists and engineers discuss it for a while before agreeing that the high energy radars (mounted closer to the rockets than in shore-based anti-aircraft batteries) would set off the explosives and propellants in the rocket. They also come up with an engineering solution to turn off the radars immediately after the intercept solution is calculated and sent to the launcher. As they leave the meeting, the executive officer asks why the Kapitan risks angering the Generaloberst by disagreeing with him publicly. They are interrupted by a scientist who taps the Kapitan on the shoulder. The scientist thanks him, and the Kapitan replies, "Don't thank me. Just get my ship working."

The Generaloberst is summoned to Berlin, and when he returns he seems chastened and subdued. The Fuhrer has a personal interest in the Raketenkreuzer program and holds Mazuw personally responsible for the failures and continued delays because of his lack of knowledge and oversight. He is ordered to stop being a politician and start being a general. The Kapitan uses this opportunity to solidify the Generaloberst's trust in him and wrest back some more control of his ship.

The first V-1 missile test goes very well, and they destroy the target ship, a captured Soviet cruiser Chernova Ukraina. The Generaloberst is pleased, but the Kapitan points out that the missiles cannot be reloaded rapidly and not at all in combat. He emphasizes to the entire crew the importance of accurate and rapid gunnery.



That's Part 1 of the outline. Part 2 will be operation off Norway.
At some point this will all get fleshed out with dialogue and a lot more character. The intention is to take this all up to the end of the war and the sinking of the ship (which do not happen at the same time).

https://imgur.com/a/8hMDB

Soooo...my artistic abilities start and stop with 'ctrl+c' and 'ctrl+v'. Nothing is to scale...or very detailed. Overall very rough, but this is what I envision it looks like. Be gentle with me.

Take your torches and pitchforks, we have work to do boys!

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Nobody expects the Imperial Inquisition!

Yes we have

first it's Ctrl+V, Ctrl+P is for printer



If you can copy and past and make it look okay that way, then you already know the basic of drawing, to be better at it, you have to challenge yourself and learn from errors.

first error to learn from is: since you are a new member, a beginner, you should post in the beginner section of the forum... the name says it self.

second: don't use photobucket, it's a f*** photohost, they do not allow full size picture to be posted around. use something else, like IMGUR.com, they allow full size photo/drawings

You can't see it, but I facepalmed. Enthusiasm only goes so far.

Sorry if we killed your enthusiasm, we're a dedicated community and we value accuracy and quality very high.
If you're indeed no longer looking to pursue this project though, I'd like to invite you to start off with drawing a small real ship, which will make you build all the basic skills you need to draw SB drawings and teach you a bit about real ships along the way.
How about the Type 24/Wolf-class for a first one?

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w o r k l i s t :
Hatsuyuki-class Escort Ships . . . <3

Nothing wrong with enthusiasm, it give you a motivation to improve your skills. Practice, practice and one more time practice. Start with something less ambitious, perfect your skills, learn new things and tricks. Don't lose enthusiasm in the process.

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Nobody expects the Imperial Inquisition!

The idea of putting rocketry aboard German ships in an alternate universe setting is not new. 'Ashley' did a series of what if ships a few years ago.

One of the things you need to think about is the ship type you would use. The older the ship converted the less time it has in service. Using Deutschland completed in 1933, then converting it 1945-46, you would only have 6-7 years before it was due for renewal.

Have a think about using the 'Seydlitz' uncompleted heavy cruiser hull of the Prinz Eugen class which had been earmarked to be converted to a CVL but never completed. That would give you a brand new hull to work with and last as long in service as you could want (if your AU allows that).

It does take a long time before your skills will match the artists in Shipbucket. Took me 18 months to start getting it right, and I am still redrawing some of my horrible initial efforts at drawing - hacking in SB scale. Some of my early drawings still make me shudder!