Ok, so you picked KM, and want to play a carrier!
First off, you will get to use 4 different ships, although you may only have 3
in harbor (one is a remodel).
Following the Hipper CA line, you get the Seyditz at lvl 55. Next ship is the Graf
Zeppelin at level 67, which you can remodel into the GZII at level 80. The last CV is
the Europa, currently at lvl 98.
Alot of players say go BB first, and make a 2nd BO to be the CV ship-line captain. I
went CV first with no problems; it's a personal choice. I think it's a good idea if you
accidentally leveled a BO with low potential and are having a frustrating time seeing
shells.

By the time you get to Seyditz, you will need:

3 Fighter pilots (rookie->fighter at lvl 40)
2 Divebomber pilots (rookie->DBer at lvl 46)
1 Torpedo pilot (rookie->TBer at lvl 48)

Optional:
1 Medic (2nd seaman->medic lvl 25)
1-2 more fighters
1 seaman

They are separate branches on the sailor tree, unlike the US and UK (which
they upgrade TB->DB)
Base stats for all should be minimum 11 aircraft 11 fighter or bomber. Also, all sailors
help if they have good repair or restore (min.+10).
Medic needs best potential (+15) and good repair/restore.
Seaman needs well rounded ( the original 14.10.10.10.....sailors are great)

First CV: Seyditz cost 2.4 million creds! Save up.
Good for shared XP games and CV hunts
Can mount very good AA or self-defense guns.
Low on plane space, best set-up is about 2/3 plane space as fighters.
Pack some belt/deck (.4 inch) 6-10 bulk and rest bulge. This will minimize crew death
from cannon/bomb/torp fire.
If you dont want to use AA/guns, put the seaman/medic/restorers in gun slots.
Dont forget torps/bombs; carry your # of planes X 3 (so 5 DB's I'd load 15 bombs)
You may want to load X4 bombs if you plan on playing alot of CV hunt; this is only
game mode I've ever run out of ammo. Don't forget guns in CV hunt.


When loading the planes to launch, I used a 4/3 or 2/2/3 set-up. Loading a single
pilot to 7 planes takes alot longer, and you risk losing 1/4 of your total planes if that
sortie goes down!
So I would have 2 pairs of fighters to kill enemy scouts.. don't send them to attack
enemy fighters until you get to tier 2 planes. Being so slow, you have to keep an
eye out so you can intercept enemy bombers early.
Most important thing about Seyditz is LEARNING how to keep your planes alive
(lowering them to draw enemy fighters into friendly AAW, lower them manually when
returning etc. etc.) Baby-sit your planes now when you need to, and it will make you
a better CV user later!

When you finally get to GrafZeppelin at level 67, you should have a very good
handle on playing CV. You also should have no problem buying it since CV pays a
TON of credits. Remember to rotate your pilots as they level, so they all get to the
tier 2 planes at the same time. You can only load the planes that your lowest pilot
on board can use, or don't bother carrying him.
Graf has very decent plane space
Very good gun slots
Use the same armor as Seyditz
On graf I went with 4 fighter pilots and 2 DB, or 3Ftr/2DB/1TB. When loading planes
I used a 4/4 , 4/4, 3/5 method; That gets you 8 fighters out on the first round, then
8 DBers, then 3 more fighters and a wave of 5 TB's. Of course battle situations may
require you to switch types of planes up; but generally don't load a full 8 on one
pilot, it takes too long.

At level 80 you can remodel the Graf; you won't be able to buy another and have
both in your harbor.
The Graf2 has a pretty useless gun suite; definitely go restorer/medic/seaman in
these 2 slots.
Same armor style to prevent crew death, same plane and ammo load (2/3 of total
space as fighters, and X3 bombs for each bomber plane.)
I used a 3/3/3 or a 4/5, but by the time you're here you don't need me to tell you
how to get things working good!

Europa is hardly worth the grind, as you still only have 7 support slots, and just one
more launch.
It does have some "fun" gun slots to play around with, especially for CV games.In
GB, if you are playing CV right, micro-managing 3-6 flights of planes, you dont
have time to be an AA boat.

Any additions, questions or complaints let me know.