Chapter 03 -- The Advent Of The Armored Cruiser
The French armored cruiser Dupuy de Lome in the early stages of construction at the Brest Arsenal Shipyard – circa 1888. She was not a large vessel by modern standards, but she would make a big impact on world-wide naval policy.
IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS: CUXHAVEN
By: Dreadnought & AP
Chapter 03:
THE ADVENT OF
THE
ARMORED CRUISER
French cruiser Dupuy de Lome seen after fitting out – circa 1891.
BIRTH OF A CONCEPT
At the same time the German construction plans were mired in indecision, the French were trying to formulate a naval strategy as well. They kept a wary eye on German construction, but their real problem was Great Britain. After more than two centuries of unsatisfactory naval conflict with Britain, the French Treasury bureaucrats, several admirals, and the naval constructors, had come to the conclusion that they could never out-build the British – battleship-for-battleship. Fortunately, the young firebrands in the fleet had long been promoting a revival of the “Jeune Ecole” (the Young School).
This “school” of strategic thought shunned the battleship and espoused the cruiser as the “arm of decision”. The idea was to build a greater number of less expensive, fast, heavily armed cruisers to cover the globe and decimate English trade – a commerce war. The heavily armed French cruisers could destroy any enemy cruisers sent against them, forcing the British to detach battleships from the Home Fleet to deal with the problem. With British battleships scattered all over the globe, the French battle line might hope to achieve parity in home waters – and a crushing victory. The plan did have an elegant, simple subtlety – and certainly appealed to the dashing, young captains of the fleet (who otherwise might never rise to the command of a battleship).
But “protected cruisers” were no longer the best warship for the job. The developments in quick-firing guns, new propellant powders, and armor-piercing explosive shells made some sort of side armor an absolute necessity. The development of the lighter, tougher, face-hardened Krupp steel (and similar armor compounds made by other nations) made it possible by the early 1890’s to reintroduce belt armor as an option. This made the concept of the “armored cruiser” a possibility. And the French naval architects seized it. (If you’re #2 – you’re always looking for an edge!)
THE DUPUY de LOME INNOVATION
The cruiser Dupuy de Lome (named for her designer – Henri Dupuy de Lome) was laid down in 1888. She was intended to be an “experimental” ship, specifically built to incorporate the advancing technologies of modern guns, more efficient engines, and especially the new face-hardened (and lighter) armor. Much trial and error ensued as different types of engines, boilers, guns, and hull forms were tested, accepted, or rejected. Commissioned for “experimental service” in 1890, she would remain largely experimental until stricken in 1910 as obsolete. But she led the way, and proved the problem of balancing speed, armor, and armament could be overcome.
Dupuy de Lome had a full load displacement of 6,800 tons, a length of 400 feet, and her propulsion plant could outrun any contemporary battleship at a top speed of 19.5 knots. She was very fine-lined, with armor of variable thickness distributed throughout the hull. Her armament consisted of two 7.6 inch and six 6.4 inch guns in turrets on the main deck, along with four 17.7 inch torpedo tubes in swivel mounts, two on either broadside.
The entire ship’s side was protected by 3.9 inches of steel, from the weather deck to the bottom edge of the “protective armor deck” (4.5 feet below the waterline). The curved “protective deck” was 1.2 inches thick and did not rise above the waterline. Between the “protective deck” and the boilers, engines, and magazines below, was a “splinter deck” 0.31 inches thick. The space between the two decks could be filled with coal to increase protection from shell fire and shrapnel splinters. The hull below the armored deck was divided into thirteen watertight compartments, with three more above the protective deck. The conning tower was 4.9 inches thick and the turrets had 4 inches. With a cruising radius of 4,000 miles at 12.5 knots, she was ideally suited to the role of a commerce raider – a point the British were quick to recognize.
Having shattered the “glass ceiling” of balancing speed, armor, and guns, Dupuy de Lome was, in fact, the first modern armored cruiser. She vaulted onto the World’s naval stage while other powers were still building “protected cruisers”. And – despite a few performance issues – she did impress many foreign navies.
Dupuy de Lome – circa 1895.
France’s European rivals instantly saw the possible havoc that could be wreaked on the global shipping lanes by such a ship. They just as quickly came to the conclusion that deploying battleships to protect the trade routes would not be cost-effective – and might even fail due to their slow speed. The only possible answer to a commerce-raiding armored cruiser, was to build your own armored cruiser – preferably -- bigger, faster, and meaner. Designers the world over worked long nights producing designs as fast as possible. Japan, Russia, Italy, and of course, Great Britain – who had the most to fear from commerce raiders. Even the United States built 15 armored cruisers between 1891 and 1906, of which, the Tennessee Class are regarded by naval analysts as the best of their type ever built.
USS Tennessee, armored cruiser, 1906 – 14,500 tons – 504 feet length – 22 knots – 4x10 inch – 16x6 inch – 4x21 inch torpedo tubes (submerged).
USS Tennessee – profile plan.
ARMORED CRUISERS OF THE IMPERIAL GERMAN NAVY
SMS Furst Bismarck – 1900. The first armored cruiser commissioned into the Kaiserliche Marine.
Meanwhile, back in Berlin, the various departments of the Imperial Navy Office were watching the developments in France with keen interest. The construction of Dupuy de Lome was hardly “top secret” and all the necessary information could be gathered quite easily by an embassy naval attache. The disturbing part was the implications of all that information.
A squadron of fast, heavily armed, French commerce raiders could not only cause havoc on German trade routes, but they could also bombard colonial ports, and possibly attack wireless transmission stations. And – the not so obvious bad news -- the Kaiserliche Marine did not have a cruiser capable of confronting such a threat.
The newest “protected cruisers” in the Hochseeflotte were simply no match for Dupuy de Lome or the cruisers that would follow her. Admiral Hollman, State Secretary of the Naval Office, realized the other naval powers were no more prepared to deal with the French cruiser than Germany. Very soon, a building frenzy of bigger, more powerful cruisers would begin in Britain, Russia, and Italy. And Germany, hampered by a financially reluctant Reichstag, would also have to begin building these big cruisers – not only to protect their colonies and trade routes, but to keep pace with rival navies. These large cruisers, if not employed in commerce raiding, would find their way into the battle fleet soon enough.
So the armored cruiser came to the Kaiserliche Marine – unexpected, unwanted, and – quite possibly – unfunded.
SMS FURST BISMARCK
Armored cruiser Furst Bismarck laying at anchor – circa 1900. Note that she has tied off to a mooring buoy, or “barrel buoy” described in the preceding chapter.
Armored cruisers from this period were sometimes bigger, and often more expensive, than the existing pre-dreadnought battleships. This was largely due to increases in gun caliber, the additional side armor, and the larger propulsion plants needed for high speeds. This was very nearly the case with the Kaiserliche Marine’s first armored cruiser – SMS Furst Bismarck. Despite considerable political opposition in the Reichstag, the ship was approved in 1896, and construction began at the Kaiserliche Werft in Kiel.
SMS Furst Bismarck – profile plan.
Furst Bismarck was, as something of an experiment, a single ship class. It was not uncommon when designing a radical departure from previous ships, for the Kaiserliche Marine to build one, evaluate it, and then decide where to go from there. But the main reason was because the Reichstag kept a strangle-hold on the purse strings, and they hardly ever authorized more than one or two warships at a time.
SMS Furst Bismarck is being nudged into her berth at mooring points in the West Loch. A Nordwind Class tug is approaching from the left, and a Passat Class from the bottom. Furst Bismarck was a big and powerful cruiser for her day – in excess of 10,000 tons – and the Kaiserliche Marine would have none bigger until the Scharnhorst Class. The breakwaters are by “Uki” and the mooring points are by “Mattb325”. The two tugs are scratch-built by @AP. And this magnificently crafted, textured, and detailed armored cruiser is the scratch-built carftsmanship of @AP.
She was named after the famed “Iron Chancellor”, Prince Otto von Bismarck. The design was a scaled-up version of the previous Victoria Louise Class protected cruisers, with nearly twice the displacement and a significantly more powerful armament. If you examine previous pictures in this chapter, you will readily see the profiles of Hansa and Furst Bismarck are remarkably similar. When faced with new challenges, or “rush jobs”, German naval architects invariably went back to their nearest successful design and altered it to suit the situation. Believe it or not, this method was quite successful and produced a more homogeneous fleet with highly reliable warships. The new cruiser would be quite capable of operations with the Hochseeflotte, but was primarily intended for trade protection and support of the Asian and Pacific colonies. The increase in guns and armor would allow Furst Bismarck to deal with rival armored cruisers, while making her a lethal threat to the smaller “protected” and “unprotected” cruisers she might encounter. She was, for all intents and purposes, meant to be a “cruiser killer”.
In this view of Furst Bismarck, you can see the fine lines of her new hull form. Along the side of the hull, between the rows of port holes, you can see the slight “tumblehome” of her hull (captured expertly by AP). The tumblehome narrows the wider lower hull into a smaller upper deck area – a feature commonly found in warships of the late 1800’s. This provides a wider hull at the waterline and increases her stability and value as a gun platform.
Furst Bismarck was 412 feet long at the waterline, with a beam of 67 feet, and a displacement of 10,690 tons. She was steel-framed, both transverse and longitudinal, with a hull composed of a single layer of wooden planks, covered by Muntz Metal sheathing extending three feet above the waterline. Interestingly, the lower portions of the ship, from stem to stern, were covered with bronze plating. The hull had 13 watertight compartments with a double bottom running 59% of the ship’s length.
The armored cruiser was driven by three vertical-stroke, four-cylinder, triple-expansion engines, powered by four Thornycroft boilers (built under license by Germaniawerft) and 8 cylindrical boilers, with a total of 32 fire boxes. Needless to say, she shipped a large compliment of stokers. She was given the new triple screw arrangement for maximum power output and achieved, with maximum effort, 18.7 knots on trials. Electrical needs were met by five generators providing a total of 325 kilowatts at 110 volts.
Another view, from the bow. Again, you can see the “tumblehome” along the hull as well as the efficient layout of the “weather decks” – making use of every square inch of the reduced upper deck area. The beautiful little Sophia Class paddle tug, at left, is pulling a “double tow” of lighters loaded with various crates and boxes of “ship’s stores”. Once again, the tow lines between the tug and the lighters would be much longer in the “real world” – but I chose to shorten the towing hawsers for in-game visual appearance.
The big cruiser’s main battery consisted of four 9.4 inch, SK-L/40 guns, mounted in twin turrets, one fore and one aft, “book-ending” the central superstructure. The “C/98” turrets were hydraulically operated and of an unusual, but interesting, elongated-oval shape with a very low silhouette. Produced by Krupp, the guns used a brass-cased powder charge to fire a 310 pound shell out to approximately 18,500 yards (10.5 miles). The rate of fire was three rounds per minute with magazine space for 78 rounds per gun.
I think I need to explain the “SK-L/40” designation at this point – you will be seeing many such designations as we go along. The “L/40” refers to the caliber and length of the gun tube. The “SK” is an abbreviation for “schnelladekanone”, which loosely translated means “fast loading gun” – or what the naval scholars call a “quick-firing” (QF) gun.
In this broadside view of Furst Bismarck you get a good view of the uniquely-shaped main battery turrets fore and aft, as well as the secondary casemated turrets arranged in the forward and aft superstructure, as well as in the typical “pyramid arrangement” amidships. The two large “tower masts” are referred to as “military masts”, and though different in every navy, they were a common feature at the turn of the century. If you look closely, you will even see “AP’s” creative placement of the crew – they are “closed-up” at their “sailing stations”. This shot also gives you a close-up of the paddle tug Sophia and her tow.
The secondary battery was twelve 5.9 inch SK-L/40 (QF) guns in turreted casemates. They fired armor-piercing shell at a rate of 5 rounds per minute, out to a range of 15,000 yards, with magazine storage for 120 shells per gun. They were pedestal mounted and manually trained and elevated.
Torpedo boat defense was provided by ten 3.5 inch SK-L/30 (QF) guns mounted in both casemates and pedestal mounts with shields – all manually operated. These smaller guns could throw out a blizzard of shells, at 15 rounds per minute, to a range of 7,500 yards.
The “hitting power” was rounded out with six 17.7 inch torpedo tubes, with a total of 16 torpedoes. One tube was a swivel mount on the stern, two were submerged on either broadside, and the sixth was submerged in the bow.
This is a close-up of Furst Bismarck’s bow. Note the detail built into something as simple as the anchor chains and capstans and even the small boats secured on either side of the bow. The degree of work on the main battery turrets is amazing. The heavy, segmented, gun barrels are depicted accurately, rather than simply glossed-over as a “gun”. The amount of detail on the roof of the main battery turret is meticulous. The slightly weathered look of the hull and upper works is fantastic – even the tone and texture of a weathered Teak deck that has been “holy-stoned” for countless hours.
One of the most significant advances over the protected cruiser was Furst Bismarck’s armor scheme. And -- the inclusion of an “armored belt” was the radical step forward from previous classes. “Krupp Steel” was used throughout which was, as mentioned earlier – pound for pound -- tougher and more shot resistant than other armor of the period.
Furst Bismarck’s belt was an amazing 7.9 inches thick amidships, tapering to 3.9 inches at bow and stern. Most foreign cruisers started with a 4 inch belt that tapered to 0.75 inches at the ends, and usually only covered the center portion of the ship – leaving most of the forecastle and stern portions unprotected. Behind the midships portion of the new cruiser’s belt, the designers placed additional 3.9 inch plates to cover critical areas – turret barbettes, magazines, boilers, and engines. The main protected armor deck (at the waterline) was 1.2 inches thick, with 2 inch sloping sides. The forward conning tower had 8 inch sides and a 1.6 inch roof, while the aft conning tower had 4 inch sides with a 1.6 inch roof. The main battery turrets were 8 inches on the sides with 3.9 inch roofs, while the 5.9 inch gun turrets had 3.9 inch sides and 2.8 inch gun shields. All casemated guns were protected with 3.9 inch shields.
A stern close-up. Since Furst Bismarck was destined to be the flagship of the East Asiatic Squadron, she had been designed with “flag-officer” quarters beneath the fantail deck. Note the admiral’s private stern-walk wrapped around the hull. Since some of you may be wondering about the word “Furst” in the cruiser’s name – loosely translated, it means “Prince”. As in -- Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schonhausen, Duke of Lauenburg -- (In German -- Otto Furst von Bismarck, Graf von Bismarck-Schonhausen, Herzog zu Lauenburg.)
In a nutshell, Furst Bismarck had, roughly, three times the armor protection of her contemporaries! While this might sound like a good thing, we have to go back to a basic and recurring problem in ship design; the need to balance guns, armor, and speed. We could get into a very long and complicated discussion about balancing a warship design – but it all comes down to the weight of the materials in each of the three categories. It’s all about the weight. If you “invest” too heavily in one category – you must reduce the weight in the other two categories.
The excessive amount of armor in Furst Bismarck may very well account for the fact that she could only make 18.7 knots at maximum effort. In 1900 that might be acceptable – but by 1910 – it would be a liability in combat. It is almost certain her disappointing speed trials resulted in less armor and more speed in the follow-on classes of armored cruisers. By 1909, SMS Blucher would be capable of 25.4 knots.
Since harbors are crowded and bustling with activity, they are difficult places to maneuver big warships. And all large ships find that shallow water effects their rudder control. Consequently, you see Furst Bismarck (a diagonal model) being moved toward the Munitions Replenishment Basin by a Passat Class tug, escorted by two Nordwind Class to assist with difficult turns. On the left, you see groups of lighters and sailing luggers tied-up at mooring “dolphins”. Tugs, lighters, luggers, mooring dolphins, and the excellent cruiser -- are courtesy of “AP”.
Her hull was launched in September, 1897, and her “fitting-out” work began. (See previous chapters for “fitting-out” details.) In early March 1900, while the shipyard was completing the job, the ironclad SMS Sachsen accidentally collided with the new cruiser, slightly damaging her stern. The accident delayed the start of sea trials until 19 March. Initial testing revealed Furst Bismarck to be an excellent sea boat in heavy weather and very quick to answer the helm. But she did have an excessive roll in beam seas and her massive propulsion plant set up a heavy vibration at high speed. There was a need for alterations to the ship, but the Chinese Boxer Uprising had broken out in late 1899, and the East Asiatic Squadron needed reinforcements. The alterations would have to wait.
Here you see a close-up of Furst Bismarck’s bow. Notice the placement of the officers and crew. They are at their “sailing stations”. You have an excellent view of the “tumblehome” built into the hull design and masterfully portrayed by “AP’s model work. Another area in which he excels, are the gun turrets. Note the detail on the roof – the round sighting hood in the center, the two square exhaust fans, and the individual riveted armored roof plates. The canvas jackets where the gun tubes enter the turret form a seal to protect the turret interior against smoke and gases when firing. Each of the 9.4-inch barrels has three progressively smaller segments – just as they were manufactured at the Krupp gun works. And they are not just “little sticks” poking out of the turret – they’ve got girth and “heft” – just as in real life. The lower picture is a bit blurry – but you can see the impression of power in those gun barrels.
OPERATIONAL HISTORY
At the end of June, 1900, Furst Bismarck slipped her moorings and steamed out of Kiel on what would become an eight year tour of duty in the Far East. She stopped to coal in Gibralter, and again at Port Said, made the transit of the Suez Canal, and coaled before leaving, at Port Tewfik. She anchored for a day or two off Perim Island, at the southern end of the Red Sea, to allow the crew to recuperate from the effects of heat exhaustion, then put in at Colombo (Ceylon) before pressing on to Singapore. Arriving in Singapore on 4 August, Furst Bismarck received orders to escort the troop ships Frankfurt and Wittekind to Tsingtao, where Vice Admiral von Bendemann transferred his flag aboard.
The next few weeks were spent awaiting additional troop ships and warships from Germany, including a “Detached Division” of the four pre-dreadnought battleships of the Brandenburg Class. Eventually, the German Empire would contribute 17,000 soldiers and 24 warships to the “Eight Nation Alliance”. The force ultimately fielded 70,000 men and 250 warships to fight the “Boxers”. Among that ground force was a sizable Royal Navy contingent commanded by Captain John Rushworth Jellicoe. The young captain was seriously wounded during the fighting and was appointed a “Companion of the Order of the Bath” by Her Majesty Queen Victoria – and awarded the “Order of the Red Eagle with Crossed Swords” by His Imperial Majesty Kaiser Wilhelm II. More about Captain Jellicoe later.
Furst Bismarck participated in troop landings, bombardments, the blockade of the Yangtze, and dozens of other tasks and duties. By July, 1901, the fighting had nearly ceased and the East Asiatic Squadron returned to its normal peacetime footing. In September, the Chinese signed the “Boxer Protocol”, ending all fighting. But the experience convinced the Reichsmarineamt (Imperial Navy Office) of the importance of logistics in projecting naval power over great distances, and a maritime transport department was created in 1902.
Between the forward bridge and the aft control position, lies the midships section of the cruiser. Here you can see how the area has a “sunken” deck, with elevated “cat-walks” leading to gun positions, accessing the ship’s boats, and connecting the bridge forward with the aft control position. You also have an excellent view of the 5.9-inch secondary battery, deployed in two ocher colored turrets and two casemated turrets below and amidships. This was the beginning of that “slab-sided” look that came to be standard in all German armored cruisers.
The largest part of Furst Bismarck’s tour in the Far East was an endless string of port calls in Tokyo, Yokohama, and Kobe, with regular dry-docking in Nagasaki to repair the leaky stern that had been damaged in the fitting-out basin. More port calls to the Russian concession in Port Arthur, with side trips to Sydney and Melbourne, Australia. And the occasional formal diplomatic call to Hong Kong and Singapore to celebrate King Edward VII’s birthday, or by Royal Navy invitation to attend social functions. There was a formal diplomatic call at Tokyo where Vice Admiral Geissler (then commanding) was received by Emperor Meiji. A tour of East Asian ports even included a rare visit to the Dutch East Indies in 1902. When necessary, the big cruiser would lay at anchor off a port or river mouth (Yangtze) to protect German nationals and their property, if there was unrest ashore. At the same time, the warship conducted regular drills and participated in group training exercises. Furst Bismarck won Kaiser Wilhelm II’s Schiesspreis (Shooting Trophy) four years in a row. In 1903 a special squadron visit was paid to the Russian Pacific Fleet based in Vladivostok, in honor of the Tsar’s birthday.
This is a close-up of Furst Bismarck’s stern detail. The thick military mast with the large “fighting top” is a feature common to several navies at the turn of the last century. They quickly fell out of favor as naval technology advanced and the excessive weight of metal could be put to better uses. Note the red and green cones on the signal halyards. These are used to indicate to the next ship astern the position of the rudder on this ship. The green cone raised indicates a turn to starboard – red raised, to port. In their current position, they indicate rudder amidships. You will see these cones in many photographs of the period. You can clearly see the fine detail of the searchlight atop the aft control position. In the right of the picture, you can even see two seamen “larking-about” on the admiral’s stern walk. Risky business, that.
Early 1904 saw tensions running high between Russia and Japan over their disputed interests in the Korean Peninsula. Orders from the Admiralstab (Admiralty Staff) directed the East Asiatic Squadron to remain strictly neutral in the event of hostilities. Small cruisers were sent to Port Arthur and Chemulpo to evacuate German and Austro-Hungarian nationals, and war finally broke out in February. After the engagement in the Yellow Sea, on August 10th, the damaged Russian battleship Tsesarevich and cruiser Novik managed to reach Tsingtao, where they were interned for the remainder of the Russo-Japanese War. The rest of 1904 was spent by Furst Bismarck and the squadron enforcing the internment of the Russian ships, while destroying Russian naval mines endangering German shipping.
Early 1905 saw riots in China, forcing most of the squadron to remain in Chinese ports until March. All ships were recalled to Tsingtao as the Russian Second Pacific Squadron approached the area, but normal routine was resumed after the Russians were annihilated at the Battle Of Tsushima. In August, a floating dry dock had been completed in Tsingtao, and Furst Bismarck underwent repairs in October. In December the squadron embarked on a tour of the southern East Asia Station, but the cruise had to be cut short due to unrest in Shanghai, necessitating Furst Bismarck's presence. The ship sent a landing party ashore, along with men from the gunboats Jaguar, Tiger, and Vaterland. They patrolled the city center and protected the German consulate, but took no active role in the unrest.
This is another fine view of the detailed craftsmanship of the stern main battery turret and an excellent view of the two aft 5.9-inch guns in their turrets. There is a nice view of the stern detail outboard of the hull and the admiral’s stern walk. And, again, the “tumblehome” of the hull is clearly visible. The skylights in the fantail are located above the spacious quarters of the flag officer commanding the squadron.
The next few years passed much as the others had – with the exception that these were largely peaceful. Furst Bismarck, as the largest ship on station, kept busy with port calls, diplomatic trips, “state” calls on Heads Of State, onboard tours for foreign dignitaries, the occasional spell in the floating dry dock at Tsingtao, and simply “showing the flag”. The presence offshore of a large cruiser always reminded a foreign ruler that peace was more desirable than a dozen of these steel beasts blockading his coastline and shelling his ports.
At last, in early 1909 Furst Bismarck received orders to return to Germany for repairs. The ship had been overseas for just over eight years, and the amount and scale of work necessary could not be accomplished in Tsingtao’s floating dock, nor was it financially practical to do it in a dry dock anywhere in Asia. On April 8th, with an Army band playing ashore, and her crew manning the side, the big cruiser slipped her mooring buoy and steamed south into the Yellow Sea. On the 29th, she paused long enough to rendezvous in Colombo with the “new flagship” of the East Asiatic Squadron arriving from Germany – the new armored cruiser SMS Scharnhorst. Furst Bismarck arrived in Kiel on 13 June, and decommissioned on 26 June.
This is another view of the midships area showing how the ship’s boats are stowed. You will also notice the many portholes in the ship’s hull. Since Furst Bismarck was designed to operate on foreign stations, they would most likely be in the tropics, so ventilation of the interior spaces would be of critical importance. Portholes were permitted in thinner-skinned cruisers, but only in certain positions aboard heavily armored capital ships – usually the thinly-armored bow and stern sections. Portholes were an instant indicator of thin armor plate on a warship.
In 1910, Furst Bismarck was taken into Kiel’s Kaiserliche Werft Shipyard for an extensive modernization. Part of the work included conversion into a torpedo training ship. The work lasted four years, and was completed after the outbreak of WW I. Recommissioned on 28 November, 1914, she was used as a training ship due to her low combat value. Decommissioned once again in December of 1918, she served as a floating office until stricken from the Naval Register in 1919. She was sold for scrap and broken up in 1919-1920.
At the time of her conception, there was a general lack of enthusiasm at higher command levels for the construction of Furst Bismarck. Admiral Hollman, the State Secretary of the Naval Office at the time, more or less accepted the dominance of the Royal Navy at sea. And he was well aware of Britain’s many shipyards, so he saw no need to compete with them. But he also understood Germany’s colonial possessions and trade routes had to be defended against marauding enemy cruisers. So -- despite significant political opposition in the Reichstag, the funds were appropriated and the Imperial Navy’s first armored cruiser was built. Fast enough for her day, Furst Bismarck had traded her speed potential for heavy guns and an impressive armor suite. But her true contribution was in providing design and building experience – and another step up the ladder of evolution.
NEXT TIME……
INNOVATION
ON A
BUDGET
MY MANY THANKS to @Barroco Hispano for his generously given time and talent providing so many beautiful warships for this series.
MY SPECIAL THANKS to my partner and “maritime advisor” -- @AP -- for his considerable talents, valuable time, imagination, and hard work in providing so many beautiful and highly detailed models.
If you enjoyed anything you saw – please punch the “like” button so I will know. A comment would be even more informative.
Comments and critiques requested and gratefully accepted. All questions answered promptly to the best of my ability.
THANK YOU for your visit…...
You may wish to visit these CJ’s as well……
SERIES I:
IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS: WILHELMSHAVEN
SERIES II:
IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS: CUXHAVEN
Appearing – Work In Publication
SERIES III:
IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS: BREMERHAVEN
Appearing -- ???
And please feel free to drop in at…
THE SIMTROPOLIS SHIPYARD
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