Summary and Top 4 Points: The Graf Zeppelin, Germany's first aircraft carrier, was laid down in 1936 but never entered service due to internal disputes, skepticism, and war priorities. -Designed ...

Erich Raeder had high hopes for the Graf Zeppelin. He originally wanted the carrier to house anywhere between 50 to 60 reconnaissance planes and boast a complement of eight 8-inch guns.

The Graf Zeppelin became the first to achieve Eckener’s vision, ferrying thousands of passengers in luxurious accommodations across the Atlantic, mostly between Germany, Argentina, and Brazil.

First conceived by Messerschmitt as a carrier-borne fighter, the Me 155 morphed into a high-speed attack plane and later a ...

Graf Zeppelin departed from Lakehurst on its epoch-making global journey on Aug. 7, 1929, while a brass band serenaded the airship with the all-too-appropriate tune “There’s a Long, Long Trail.” ...

The Graf Zeppelin landed back in Lakehurst, N.J., the morning of Aug. 29, 1929. Flying time for the around-the-world flight was 12 days, 12 hours and 13 minutes.

The LZ130 Graf Zeppelin II was built as a flying model to a scale of 1:36. Since there was no kit for something that large, John Mellberg had to create his own plans.

Hearst proposed having the Graf Zeppelin, then the world’s largest airship, fly to the North Pole for a meeting with a submarine that would travel under the ice.

Graf Zeppelin was scuttled in 1945, raised by the Soviets, and sunk as a target in 1947. In the end, the need to develop operational experience with carriers may have posed the most difficult ...