Erich Loewenhardt

The second ship of the Graf Zeppelin class, aircraft carrier B, was laid down in Kiel in 1938 after the first one had been launched. Her construction proceeded at a slow pace, as the builders aimed to address all the teething problems encountered during the construction of the first ship in the series. By the time World War II broke out, all parts of the carrier's hull up to the armored deck had been completed; however, the German leadership made the decision to complete only those ships that were in the advanced stages of construction. As a result, the order for the second aircraft carrier was canceled in September 1939, and the ship herself was scrapped on the slipway in early 1940.