- Yes.
- No.
- As a techtree ship.
- As a premium ship.
- As a squadron ship.
- As an event ship.
- I said “No” in the first question.
Hello ladies and gentlemen, today I want to suggest an unfinished WW2 cruiser the Germans had captured from the Netherlands.
This is the Eendracht-class light cruiser, KH 2!
An illustration of KH 1 and 2 cruisers
Source: “Die deutschen Kriegsschiffe 1815 - 1945, Band 2” book, by Erich Gröner
HNLMS Eendracht (Which would become KH 2) under construction in the Netherlands on 30th of April 1940, a little over one week before the German invasion of the Netherlands. This is the state the Germans found the cruiser hull in
Source: Foto's
I’ve made a video about the Dutch Eendracht / De Zeven Provinciën-class cruiser a couple years ago, and in it I also talk about when the Germans captured the hulls. Be sure to give it a watch!
A quick things I want to mention:
Why am I suggesting specifically KH 2, and not KH 1?
That is because the only photos I’ve been able to find of the Eendracht-class cruisers while they were still under construction, are those of HNLMS Eendracht / KH 2.
The sister ship KH 1 was also planned as specifically a training cruiser. It most likely would have had the same armaments as KH 2, but this combined with the lack of photos oh KH 1 made me choose KH 2 specifically to suggest here.
History
Spoiler
The story of KH 2 starts in 1937, where the Dutch started to design a new light cruiser class for the Navy. This new class, named the Eendracht-class, was going to be a state of the art class of light cruiser, and it would have had all the latest technologies of the 1930’s.
Two ships of the class were going to be made, and two different dockyards were tasked with build the ships, those being “Wilton Fijenoord” and “Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij”.
- The ship at Wilton Fijenoord was named “De Zeven Provinciën”, which when captured by the Germans would become “KH 1”.
- The ship at the Rotterdam Dry Dock Company was at first named “Kijkduin”, only to then be renamed to “Eendracht”, and when captured by the Germans would become “KH 2”.
Construction on the ships was going very well, but this would ofcourse come to an abrupt stop when Germany invaded the Netherlands on the 10th of May 1940.
Germany would take over the Netherlands, and there in the docks they found the two cruiser hulls. “De Zeven Provinciën” was around 25% finished, and the “Eendracht” around 12%. Not wanting to let such a brand new cruiser design go to waste, it was decided to keep them and continue construction on the two hulls. The two hulls were renamed to KH 1 and KH 2, KH meaning “Kreuzer Holland” which translates to “Cruiser Holland”.
However further construction on the ships wouldn’t go very well. The two cruisers were given very low priority and work on them was extremely slow. A new German re-design of them had been made, which would give the ships Germans weapons, floatplanes, cranes and torpedoes. It was planned that the proposed German mains guns for the ship would come from the unfinished M-class light cruisers and the H-class Battleships (Which used the same turrets as the M-class for it’s secondaires).
However by the end of the second world war, both ships were still not even close to being finished. On the pre-war and post-war photos of the ship we can see that KH 2 still hadn’t even had her hull completely finished yet.
Fate
Spoiler
During the liberation of the Netherlands in May 1945, both hulls were found undamaged. The first concern was to conserve the hulls. KH 2 was renamed back to Eendracht, and construction on her would continue, but now to a brand new re-design that the Dutch would make, taking lessons learned from the war and new technologies into account.
This is a photo of the Eendracht (What used to be KH 2), which is now renamed to De Ruyter. Here we see that the deck is now finished and the hull is ready to be finished according to the new design.
Source: HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën C-802, history and plans – Battleships & KnightsAt this point the Eendracht-class was no more. After the re-design the Eendracht-class was renamed to De Zeven Provinciën-class.
Design
Spoiler
KH 2 was 185,7 metres long, had a beam of 17,25 metres and a draft of 11,65 metres, and the displacement mentioned by German sources was 8,350 tons. This displacement matches the original empty displacement for the Eendracht-class. Whilst the full displacement is not mention by German sources, the Dutch sources stated 10,795 tons at full displacement for the original Eendracht-class.
The ship was planned to bbe able to reach 32 knots.The main weaponry of the ship was eight 15 cm/55 SK C/28 guns. These were mounted in four twin Drh L. C/34 turrets, which would have been taken from the unfinished M-class light cruisers and H-class battleships.
The guns had a firerate of around 6 - 8 rounds per minute.
Ammunition for the 15cm guns consisted of APC, HE and Illumination shells
A 15 cm Drh L. C/34 turret, now being used as a coastal defence turret
Source: File:150mm doubleturret stevns.jpg - Wikimedia CommonsThe secondairy guns consisted of twelve 3,7 cm/83 SK C/30 guns in six twin Dopp LC/30 turrets. I must point out that I have not found any sources specifically say that the 3,7 cm guns would have been the SK C/30 onces. But looking at the time when the Germans captured the hulls and made the re-design, the more powerfull 3,7 cm Flak M42 was not available yet. And also since the main guns for the ships were taken from the unfinished M-class cruisers, the same might have been planned for the secondairy guns. And again the M-class was going to use the SK C/30 aswell, so the SK C/30 makes the most sense to me.
The six turrets were placed in two groups, three turrets at the front above the bridge, and three turrets at the rear.
A 3,7 cm Dopp LC/30 turret
Source: File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101II-MN-0945-08, Schulboot "Drache", Doppelflak.jpg - Wikimedia CommonsSomething that is not mentioned anywhere is the planned use of any 20mm autocannons for the ship. I’m very certain that the ship would have been given these if it had been finished, but for this suggestion the ship simply doesn’t have any.
Something the ship does have are two tripple torpedo launchers. These were located towards the rear of the ship, with one launcher on either side of the ship. While not specifically mentioned anywhere, these would most likley have been German Torpedo tubes firing G7a torpedoes.
An floatplane catapult was also planned for the ship. The catapult was mounted on the middle of the ship, just behind the smoke funnel. The aircraft planned for use was the Arado Ar 196 floatplane, and the ship would have carried two of them onboard. Sadly I could not find specifically which variant of it was planned. The most likely one would be the Ar 196 A-4, which was the model exclusively operated by the German ships.
Protection of the ship is unclear to me, but it most likely would have been the same as the original Dutch design. The ship’s lower belt (The waterline belt) was 75mm thick, while the upper belt was 50mm. Further inside the ship the citadel was 30mm thick on the sides and top, and 20mm on the bottom. Lastly the deck was 20mm thick.
One thing I do want to mention is that one source lists the belt armour at 75 - 100 - 75. Which means 75 at the front, 100 at the middle and 75 at the rear. Now I do not know if this was a mistake by the author of the source, or if that it is actually accurate and the Germans planned to give the ship a 100mm belt on the middle. Either way take it with a grain of salt, I just thought it be important to mention.
Specifications
Spoiler
Armour plan of the Eendracht-class cruiser, which would most likely not have been changed for KH 2
Source: | Nationaal ArchiefLength: 185.7 m
Width: 17.25 m
Depth: 11.65 m
Standard Displacement: 8,350 Tons
Full Displacement: 10,795 Tons [1]
Engine: 2 x Parsons-De Schelde steamturbines, 6 x Yarrow boilers (78.000 hp)
Max speed: 32 knots
Armour:
Upper Belt: 50 mm
Lower Belt: 75 mm [2]
Citadel: 30 mm
Deck: 20 mm
Barbettes: 75 mm
Ammunition elevators: 60 mmForward Conning Tower: 30 mm
Aft Conning Tower: 15 mm15 cm turrets (Front - Sides - Rear): 80 - 20 - 35 mm
Armaments:
- 4 x 2 15 cm/55 SK C/28 guns (In Drh L. C/34 twin turrets)
- 6 x 2 3,7 cm/83 SK C/30 guns (In Dopp LC/30 twin mounts) [3]
- 2 x 3 533mm Torpedo tubes (G7a torpedoes) [4]
- 1 x floatplane catapult, fitted with two Arado Ar 196A-4 floatplanes [5]
[1]: This displacement is taken from the original Dutch design.
[2]: One German source states 75 - 100 - 75. Meaning 75mm at the front, 100 at the middle and 75 at the rear.
[3]: Specific gun model is not stated by sources, the SK C/30 is simply the most likely option.
[4]: Specific torpedo models are not stated by sources, the G7a is simply the most likely option.
[5]: Specific Ar 196 variant is not stated by sources, the A-4 model is simply the most likely option.
Ingame
Spoiler
I think the KH 2 would be a very cool premium / squadron / event vehicle for the German Naval Tree. It’s a very unheard of ship which makes it very unique, but as far as how powerfull it is it’s quite mediocre. This unique yet odd title makes it a perfect ship to add outside of the researchable techtree if you ask me.
Compared to the existing German light cruisers ingame, the KH 2 has stronger armour, and is also a little bit bigger. However KH 2 does lack very much in secondairy guns. All other German cruisers have large caliber secondairy guns that can attack aircraft at a longer distance, while KH 2 only has it’s mediocre 37mm guns.
On top of that KH 2 has less main guns then the other cruisers, while still having the same rate of fire. So all in all KH 2 can be seen as a downgrade compared to the other light cruisers. This is again a reason why I think this ship would work well as a simple premium, squadron vehicle of event vehicle.
KH 2 just after the Netherlands was liberated, showing us that the German hadn’t made much progress during the war
Source: HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën C-802, history and plans – Battleships & Knights
And there we go, that was the German licht cruiser KH 2!
Make sure to vote in the poll above, and put a comment down below! See you next time!
Sources
Spoiler
Main sources:
- “Die deutschen Kriegsschiffe 1815 - 1945, Band 2” book, by Erich Gröner
- “Schepen van de koninklijke Marine in woord en beeld, Hr. Ms. De Zeven Provinciën” article, by Chris Mark
Secondairy sources:
Photos:
Blueprints: