The Atlantic Fleet's flagship was the aircraft carrier Zeus, the first Sovereign-class aircraft carrier of the German Navy. Originally, after the Sovereign-class aircraft carriers entered service, they had not been assigned to the various fleets immediately, but had remained directly under the Naval Ministry. It was only after the United States showed increasingly obvious intentions of entering the war that the German Naval Ministry assigned the first four Sovereign-class aircraft carriers to the Atlantic Fleet, in order to strengthen its power and meet the threat posed by the American Navy.
Including reserve aircraft, a Sovereign-class aircraft carrier could carry a total of 120 carrier-based aircraft. Apart from the Nordic God-class aircraft carriers still under construction, no aircraft carrier anywhere in the world could compare with them. Furthermore, the Sovereign-class aircraft carriers had angled decks, further improving the efficiency of carrier-based aircraft takeoffs and landings. It could be said that the Sovereign-class aircraft carriers utterly crushed the American Navy's Essex-class aircraft carriers in overall combat strength.
The addition of four Sovereign-class aircraft carriers had greatly increased the Atlantic Fleet's strength. Admiral Rolf Kars, Commander of the Atlantic Fleet, confidently believed that even if the American fleet came in force, the Atlantic Fleet alone could rely on the land-based aircraft stationed in the Azores to hold off its attack. With a bit of luck, they might even inflict grievous casualties on the American fleet. Now that the Home Fleet and Mediterranean Fleet were also on their way, the German Navy held an even greater advantage in these waters.
"Commander, based on the distance and our fleet's speed, the Mediterranean Fleet will reach the waters south of the Azores in two days. The Home Fleet has farther to travel and will probably need five to six days to arrive," said Lieutenant General George