Manufacturer: Revell / Scratchbuild
Scale: 1/570
Additional parts: Scratch build parts
Model build: ~1990
Kriegsmarine Flugzeugträger-Schlachtschiff Odin
Revell / Scratchbuild
1/570
1/570
The Odin's Hour
The biting wind whipped across the flight deck of the Odin, a monstrous hybrid of battleship and aircraft carrier. Hans, a seasoned sailor, shivered as he secured the last of the Me109T fighters. The ship, a marvel of German engineering, was a testament to the desperation of the Reich.
"Another day, another convoy," muttered Karl, a grizzled veteran of the Luftwaffe, now a naval aviator. He glanced at the distant horizon, where the Allied convoy RA-53 was making its way through the icy waters of the Barents Sea.
"The Admiral's plan is audacious," said Peter, a young, eager pilot. "If we can cripple their convoy, it'll be a major blow to the Allies."
As the first wave of aircraft launched, the Odin's massive guns roared to life, their shells arcing towards the British cruisers protecting the convoy. The ship shuddered with the recoil, and the crew, hardened by war, braced themselves against the shock.
Meanwhile, high above the Barents Sea, the German planes swooped down on the Allied convoy. The sky erupted in a cacophony of explosions as bombs rained down on the merchant ships. Peter, flying a Fi 167, dove towards a heavily laden freighter. He lined up his sights and released the bomb. The explosive charge detonated, sending a plume of smoke and debris into the air.
"Direct hit!" Peter exclaimed, his voice filled with excitement.
As the German planes returned to the Odin, they were met by a barrage of flak from the Allied ships. Karl, flying a Me 109T, weaved through the deadly fire, his aircraft taking several hits.
"Damn it!" Karl cursed, his voice filled with frustration. "We're taking heavy losses."
Despite the heavy losses, the German planes continued to harass the Allied convoy. The British cruisers, though powerful, were no match for the relentless attacks. One by one, the merchant ships were sunk, their cargo spilling into the icy waters.
The battle raged on, a chaotic dance of steel and fire. The Odin's aircraft, though outnumbered, inflicted heavy damage on the Allied convoy. But the British cruisers, with their superior armor and firepower, proved to be a formidable opponent.
A direct hit to the flight deck sent shockwaves through the ship. The fire erupted, threatening to consume the entire deck. The crew, working with desperate urgency, fought to contain the blaze.
"We can't let this ship go down," Hans yelled, his voice filled with determination. "Not after all we've been through."
As the flames were finally extinguished, the Odin limped back to port, a battered but unbroken vessel. The dream of a German aircraft carrier dominating the seas had been shattered, but the spirit of the crew remained undeterred. They had faced the enemy, and they had survived.
Before the outbreak of WW2, Germany started with its fleet-building program, the so called "Z-Plan". With this, the Germany navy should have been massively increased by the end of the 1940s. However, the start of WW2 changed everything, only a few ships had been started to build and those constructions were stopped a short time later.
The war made the plan obsolete, however new ideas were needed to increase the German surface fleet - and this was called "Plan X".
One component of "Plan X" was the construction of aircraft carriers. While the Graf Zeppelin and its sister ship Peter Strasser" were still under construction, the need for additional ships was seen. This led to the construction of the aircraft carrier „Manfred von Richthofen”, but there was more.
At the outbreak of the war, a widely unknown third ship of the Bismarck-class was completed by about 45%. Construction as a battleship was stopped, instead the idea was bornd to modify it into a hybrid carrier – battleship at the front, carrier at the stern.
While the forward part with its two 38cm gun turrets and command tower looked very similar to the original Bismarck design, the backward part contained a hangar with an angled flight deck on top. The original steam engines were replaced by 10 MAM 9-cyl diesel engines giving the ship a speed of 28 kn.
Besides the four 38cm guns, the ship was equipped with 2x3m7 cm and 6 x 2 cm AA guns and four torpedo tubes. In 1944, it was equipped with two Rheintochter R1 twin SAM launchers while some additional light AA guns were added as well.
After the ship’s completion in November 1942, it was first outfitted with contemporary aircraft like Me109T, Fi167 and Ju87.
Trials and training took place in the Baltic Sea, Odin’s first operation started in March 1943 when the ship was sent to Norway and departed from the Alta-Fjord to operate against allied convoy RA-53 in the Barents Sea.
During this operation, where aircraft of the Odin were able to sink three of the thirty allied transport ships. Four other transports were sunk by U-Boats, one got lost during bad weather.
However, during this operation, the flaws of its design were clearly shown. The anti-air armament was much too light, the Odin had problems to intercept British reconnaissance aircraft with its anti-aircraft guns, so they had to be shot down by the ships Me109T fighters.
During the engagement, the Odin run into the British cruiser group escorts protecting the convoy. Consisting of the Belfast, Cumberland and Norfolk, the Odin was able to score several heavy hits on Cumberland and Norfolk, forcing the ships to retreat. On the other side, two hits by the Belfast o damaged the flight deck which prevented further air operations. The ship was too vulnerable to get into gun-range with enemy units, this could knock out the air component too easily.
After repairs in Trondheim, the Odin participated in other minor operation against allied convoys and was mainly used to provide air cover for other naval units. It never engaged the allied ships with its main guns.
In early 1944, Odin was relocated to the Baltic Sea and was mainly used as a testbed for developing carrier aircraft operation. Until 1945, the ship saw Me262T, Go229T, Me110, Flettner 282 and FA223 on its flightdeck in this role, providing useful data for further aircraft development.
In early 1945, the ship started operating against advancing Russian troops with its 38cm guns, the aircraft could provide artillery spotting, dive bomb attack and overhead air cover.
Running out of fuel and ammunition, the Odin was in Gotenhafen at the end of the war, where the ship was scuttled in the harbor. Raised by the Soviets, the ship was refloated and towed towards Leningrad in 1947 but on its way the ship sprung a leak near Tallinn and sank in the Baltic Sea where it still rests today.
After building the Hindenburg H-class battleschip and the Schneidheim O-class battlecruiser, I looked at the spare parts and wondered what to make from them. There was one Revell 1/570 Tirpitz hull left, plus some superstructure parts of the Tirpitz kit.
After several ideas, I finally came up with the hybrid warship: The forward part would be a more-or-less normal Bismarck/Tirpitz, while on the afterward par, there would be a hangar with an flight deck.
The hangar and flight deck were made from pastic sheets, for the superstructure I took the remaining parts of the Revell and Airfix Bismarck and Tripitz kits I had, plus some parts that were left when building the CVL Seydlitz.
Most difficult thing was to build the aircraft, as I wanted to have quite a mix of them on board, including some untypical ones. They were build form pastic parts, paper and I think they should be recognizable.
I used a "Tirpitz-Style" camo painting for the model.
11 Images