Admiral Graf Spee Battleship for FSX

This part of the German naval army within the Second World War is, without a doubt, one of the most impressive ships that they had at the time. Given the limitations set upon Germany by the Treaty of Versailles, these ships were limited to being just 10,000 tons and carrying 11” guns for firepower. Despite these limits and holds upon German military capacity, they were able to create some flagship warships that would make a significant and telling contribution in the upcoming war, despite the Germans eventually losing.

To make up for the limitations set upon the German navy, they used electrical arc wielding to construct the warship instead of going for the more typical rivets. This saved a lot of weight in the design as steel plates no longer overlapped. Using typical German engineering conventions, this created a hugely versatile warship that was lighter than her opponents but equally as potent in battle. By using Diesel fuel, also, they reduced a lot of the weight that allowed for the ship to be made equally as impressive as its Allied counterparts without any of the typical weighting problems that Germany was now strictly hampered by.

Along with the Bismarck, the Graf Spree stood at the top of the table in terms of warship efficiency in the German military. Battling back against these limitations on the warship, it was able to fight back against these problems as listed above and, once the war commenced, created a significant problem for the Allies. It was engaged in many battles including the commerce raiding on the Allied supplies, where it sunk an impressive nine merchant ships.

Eventually, the ship was tracked down the River Plate by Allied forces looking for revenge, and a bloody battle ensued on the seas. The Graf Spree took significant damage throughout the battle, and eventually docked in the neutral port of Montevideo. However, it was forced to leave the port within a 72-hour timeframe thanks to international laws and the ship was considered to be too badly damaged to be any more use to the German crew. Instead of risking the lives of his entire crew, the captain of the ship decided to scuttle the warship instead.

Despite its massive cost of 82m Reichsmark to actually put together, the warship was one of the most conventionally powerful in the limited and hamstrung German navy and during its battles, gave an incredibly good account of herself. The Vessel itself was named after the Admiral of the First World War, Graf Maximilian von Spee, who died during the Battle of the Falklands Islands in 1914.

Following her loss to the German navy, it’s sisters in battle the Deutschland and the Scheer, were re-classified as what is known as a heavy cruiser instead of the conventional name that they carried when first constructed. Although the German navy lost the war convincingly in the end, it served as a key part of the German resistance on the seas against overwhelmingly difficult odds.

Specifications

• Known as a Ship Class Deutschland, this was a “pocket battleship” for the German naval forces

• It took 4 years to finish the building of the shop, where it lasted for just three years (1936-1939)

• The warship itself was 610ft in length, 71ft by beam and had a 24ft draft, making it pretty large by WW2 standards

• It had 8 MAN Diesel engines, also, making a significant difference to the pulling power and strength of the ship

• With a power output of 52,050 SHP, this was an incredibly strong warship that was capable of plowing through even the most arduous waters

• It could hit speeds of around 28 knots, too, giving it a fairly decent speed although still a bit slower than many of the Allied warships

• It’s crew was an impressive 1,150, making sure that the warship had enough men to keep it safe and sound

• 2 Arado 196 seaplanes sat on the warship, allowing for quick and simple reconnaissance and exit when necessary

• 6 11” guns, 8 5.9” guns, 8 21” torpedo tubes were included to ensure that this warship had a significant amount of firepower behind it as much as anything else

Key Features

• The warship itself has been recreated in the most stunning detail, using high-end textures to bring the ship to life and make it seem more lifelike and engaging than any of the ships included within the basic FSX installation

• Completely controllable, too – you’ll have full access to its movement, its destination and also its extremely powerful weaponry

• 2 models are included inside to make sure that you can get a different look whilst you take to the seas. With five variants of each, a lite and pro version, you also get plenty of variety in the style of the warship that you are using

• A 3D virtual cockpit has been added in for extreme control and strength over the aircraft, allowing you to manage everything through the virtual cockpit and the three fire consoles, meaning that you will have complete control over the whole ship entirely

• You’ll have complete control over everything from the speed and reverse engine to the turns, lights, anchor position and usage, doorways, gangways, turrets and parade flags

• Take full control of the turrets and the torpedo launchers to carry out untold damage on whatever you actually intend to hit with his catastrophically powerful warship

• Moving parts that move around naturally thanks to specific animations being created from the start. This includes things such as rudders, throttles, gauges, switches, doors, gangways, turrets, fire consoles, search reflectors, torpedo launchers and torpedoes themselves as well as active flags that move around in the wind for extra effect

• Documentation included to help you get used to each aircraft with the absolute minimum of fuss – this makes it so much easier for you to start managing and preparing the aircraft in the way that a professional captain would have in the past, giving you every last detail