Manufacturer: Scratchbuild (Airfix, Revell)
Scale: 1/600
Additional parts: parts from a Arifix Bismarck, Revell Tirpitz and spare part box
Model build: 1988/89
Kriegsmarine Schlachtkreuzer O
Revell / Airfix / Scratchbuild
1/600
1/600
Schneidheim's Ghost
Made with Suno
Schneidheim's Fury
The North Atlantic howled, a tempestuous welcome for the Schlachtkreuzer O, amed "Schneidheim." Captain Kessler gripped the bridge railing, his weathered face etched with grim determination. Unlike the lumbering H-Class battleships, Schneidheim was a sleek predator, designed for swift, deadly strikes. Its mixed propulsion system, a gamble on German engineering, was Schneidheims greatest weapon. It could stalk merchant convoys on silent diesel engines, then unleash a burst of turbine power for a devastating attack.
Tonight, Schneidheim was on the prowl. Kessler had intercepted a coded message – a British convoy, fat with supplies, was making its way unescorted. A prime target. Under the cloak of darkness, Schneidheim sliced through the waves, its powerful diesels barely a whisper. Dawn revealed a scattered fleet, a dozen freighters lumbering across the horizon. This was it.
Kessler barked the order, fingers flying across the command panel. The familiar roar of turbines filled the air as Schneidheim emerged from the veil of pre-dawn mist. The convoy erupted in chaos. Merchant ships scattered like panicked pigeons, their meager escorts – a pair of outdated destroyers – launching a desperate charge.
Schneidheim unleashed its fury. The main guns, monstrous 38 cm cannons, boomed a thunderous salute. Shells rained down on the nearest freighter, turning it into a blazing inferno. The destroyers, valiant but outmatched, were easy pickings. Schneidheim danced a deadly ballet, twin turrets spitting fire, while dodging their feeble counterfire.
But Kessler knew their success was a double-edged sword. The attack wouldn't go unnoticed for long. He slammed his fist down. "Maximum speed! Time to vanish before the real fight starts." The diesels kicked in again, pulling Schneidheim away just as a bristling silhouette appeared on the horizon – an Allied battleship, a leviathan dwarfing Schneidheim.
A chase unfolded across the vast ocean. The battleship, ponderous but relentless, pounded away with its heavy artillery. Schneidheim, lighter but faster, weaved through a deadly hail of shells. The mixed propulsion system became their savior. Diesels allowed for sharp turns, evading broadsides. Then, just when the battleship seemed to have them cornered, Schneidheim dipped below the horizon, diesel engines humming a lullaby of escape.
Surfacing at dusk, Kessler surveyed the damage – a gaping hole amidships, a testament to the battleship's firepower. But Schneidheim still floated, a testament to its resilience. With a grim smile, Kessler charted a course back to friendly waters. The mission, a success. They'd crippled the convoy and escaped a heavyweight brawl. Schneidheim might not have the heavy armor of the H-Class battleships, but it had proven invaluable – a wolf amidst the lions, a testament to German engineering and daring.
Hunters of the Atlantic — The Story of the Schlachtkreuzer O
In the grand vision of Germany’s Z-Plan, few warships symbolized the ambitions of the Kriegsmarine more vividly than the Schlachtkreuzer O, a class of fast, long-range battlecruisers designed to hunt the shipping lanes of the Atlantic and strike fear into Allied convoys. Conceived as the natural successors to the Panzerschiffe — the famous “pocket battleships” like Admiral Graf Spee — the O-class represented the final evolution of the commerce raider: faster, stronger, and deadlier than anything that had come before.
The Birth of a Raider
By the late 1930s, Germany’s naval leadership recognized the limitations of the Deutschland-class ships. Though successful as commerce raiders, their 28 cm guns and modest speed left them vulnerable to modern cruisers and capital ships. The next generation needed to combine the range of a cruiser, the firepower of a battleship, and the speed of a destroyer.
Thus, in 1938, the Schlachtkreuzer O project was born. Planned as part of the Z-Plan fleet expansion, three ships were authorized — O, P, and Q. Though construction never began, the shipyards of Blohm & Voss, Kiel, and Wilhelmshaven were each assigned one hull.
The O-class was envisioned as a commerce-destroying battlecruiser, optimized for long independent missions deep into the Atlantic. To achieve this, the designers selected a hybrid propulsion system — a combination of diesel engines for cruising and steam turbines for battle speed. This arrangement promised both exceptional range and bursts of high speed — a radical solution unmatched by any other navy at the time.
Design and Capabilities
Displacing 35,000 tons standard and reaching 35 knots, the O-class would carry six 38 cm (15-inch) guns in three twin turrets — the same main battery later used on the Bismarck — along with twelve 15 cm secondaries and a heavy array of 10.5 cm anti-aircraft guns.
The hull form was sleek and elegant, with a long, narrow bow designed for rough North Atlantic seas. Armor protection was lighter than on true battleships, trading resilience for speed — 190 mm on the belt and 80 mm on the deck. Nevertheless, the ships were expected to outrun anything they could not outgun, and outgun anything they could not outrun.
With a range of nearly 20,000 nautical miles, they could reach the Caribbean or Indian Ocean without refueling, operating far from Axis-controlled waters. Their dual propulsion made them ideal for the Kriegsmarine’s doctrine of independent commerce warfare, a modern continuation of the Emden and Graf Spee legacy.
Fate of the Unborn
By the time war broke out in September 1939, the Z-Plan was already collapsing under the realities of total war. Germany’s naval industry was redirected toward U-boat production, and the O-class — still on paper — was quietly shelved.
In April 1940, final design work was completed, but construction never began. Steel allocations were halted, and the shipyards reassigned to more urgent work. The O-class would remain only as a blueprint — a vision of what the Kriegsmarine might have built had peace lasted a few more years.
Had they been completed, the O-class might have been among the most formidable surface raiders ever conceived — fast enough to escape pursuit, powerful enough to annihilate any cruiser escort, and with the endurance to prowl the world’s trade routes.
I started this ship after the completion of the Schlachtschiff H. As I still have two hulls left, I chooose the Airfix 1/600 scale Bismarck as a starting point. The main deck and many parts of the superstructure were made from plastic sheets, while the main guns, command turret and several detail were taken from the Airfix kit and the remaining parts of the two Revell Tirpitz.
As none of the O-class battlecruisers were started, no names were assigned to them. The name "Schneidheim" - which I choose for it - was the result of a not too serieus email discussion. I don't remember all the details, but as far as I remember, Schniedheim was this famous Gestapo officer who fell from a destroyer during Operation Weserübung and was never seen again. Or something like this.... 
5 Images