M-class light cruiser
By 1938, Nazi Germany began planning naval expansion programs that were intended to counter Great Britain. Plan Z, as it was called, proposed a two-pronged approach; a battle fleet was to keep Royal Navy capital ships busy, while cruisers and Panzer-ships were to raid merchant convoys. The M-class light cruisers were planned as scouts for these convoy raiding groups. Their design thus reflected their intended role, featuring mediocre firepower and armour, but higher speed and much longer range than the existing Konigsberg and Leipzig class cruisers. Like most other Kriegsmarine ship designs, these cruisers would’ve carried twin-turrets in superfiring position fore and aft. A floatplane catapult and hangar provided scouting capabilities, while a mixed diesel-turbine powerplant was used to increase range.
A total of six ships were planned, with the last two ships slightly enlarged to increase the protection of the powerplants. Construction of the first two began in 1938, but both were scrapped in 1940 with the outbreak of WW2, as it became obvious that Germany could not afford the resources nor the time to build them. Since German ships and their respective class are not named and only given single-letter designations before completion, this class would only be known as ‘M’.
M级轻巡洋舰是纳粹德国海军在二战爆发前设计的一型轻巡洋舰。 该舰主要是为了攻击英国商船舰队和提供侦察支援而设计，因此它有较高的速度和航程，但火力和装甲与老一代的巡洋舰相比没有进步。两艘M级巡洋舰在1938年开始施工，但是由于二战的爆发导致材料短缺，M级的建造工作在1940年被取消。
no mods needed
Specifications
Length: 187m
Beam: 20m
Speed: 37 knots from 82,000 horsepower driving 3 shafts
Weapons
4x twin 6-inch/15cm main gun
2x twin 10.5cm dual-purpose secondaries
4 x twin 3.7cm AA
10 x 20mm AA
2x quadruple torpedo launchers
Armor
50mm belt
32mm deck
