Chapter 06: Evolution Of The Armored Cruiser
SMS Roon and SMS Yorck riding at anchor in the Kieler Hafen – circa 1907.
IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS: CUXHAVEN
By: Dreadnought & AP
Chapter 06:
EVOLUTION OF THE
ARMORED CRUISER
As the construction years 1902-1903 approached, the Reichsmarineamt continued to negotiate with the Reichstag over building funds in the forlorn hope they might be able to secure an increase. Tirpitz was keenly aware of the new armored cruisers being laid down by various foreign navies – and most especially – the numerous British armored cruisers entering service. Prinz Heinrich had been a step backward in the evolution of armament and protection, and the Prinz Adalbert’s had been little better. Many in the Naval High Command felt they could enter a conflict on even terms with any Continental navy, but in the case of Britain, they might be overwhelmed by sheer numbers of cruisers. And since they could not build more ships than Britain – they must build better ships. But the Reichstag could not be moved, and the follow-on class of cruisers would have to be designed with marginal improvements at best.
ROON CLASS ARMORED CRUISERS
Armored cruiser SMS Roon anchored in Hampton Roads during the Jamestown Exposition celebrations of 1907.
Under the auspices of the Second Naval Law of 1900, two cruisers were designed in 1901 and laid down in 1902 and 1903. SMS Roon was funded under the provisions of the replacement terms of the law, and was temporarily named Ersatz Kaiser since the old ironclad was to be scrapped. Roon was later christened in honor of Generalfeldmarschall, Count Albrecht von Roon (1803-1879) and laid down first at the Kaiserwerft, Kiel. SMS Yorck was laid down later, at Blohm & Voss, Hamburg. The Roon Class was, indeed, an incremental improvement upon their predecessors, the Prinz Adalbert Class. The only item of interest was a slightly longer hull to accommodate the addition of two boilers. But there was, actually, so little difference between the two classes that they could only be told apart by their funnels – the Roons had added a fourth funnel to accommodate the exhaust from the increase in boilers.
SMS Yorck making a transit of the Kaiser Wilhelm I canal – circa 1907.
The Roon Class ships displaced 9,382 tons, were 419 feet in length, and made only 21.1 knots on trials. They were built with the standard transverse and longitudinal framing, with a hull of riveted steel plates, and consisted of twelve watertight compartments and a double bottom running 60% of the ship’s length. The hull form was identical to the Prinz Adalbert Class, and like them, the Roon’s were good sea boats and stable gun platforms. When the coal bunkers were full, the ships had only a gentle pitch or roll motion and responded quickly to helm orders. The cruisers were manned by 35 officers and 598 enlisted men.
SMS Roon Class – plan Profile.
Roon and Yorck retained the same propulsion plant as the preceding class, but were powered with sixteen coal-fired Durr water-tube boilers with a total of 48 fire boxes. The boiler uptakes were trunked into four funnels. During this particular period of naval architecture, the technology usually produced multiple funnels on ships with high horsepower and greater speed. Kaiser Wilhelm II fancied himself something of a naval architect, and frequently dashed off a sketch of a cruiser or battleship and asked the design office to put together a study. It was widely known he was overly fond of designs with multiple funnels – the theory being that more funnels made the ship look “faster”. (I believe the French hold the “funnel record” for their 1907-1908 Edgar Quinet Class of armored cruisers – 6 funnels.) In any event, the ships were designed with the addition of two boilers, and the designers hoped to boost the speed of the new ships by up to 5 knots. But the engineering calculations were flawed, and Roon only reached 21.1 knots on trials. Yorck’s internal arrangements were slightly altered before launch, resulting in only 20.4 knots. (This was a reoccurring problem with ships launched a year apart. The last ship is always modified during construction, thereby adding weight – usually resulting in slower speed.)
SMS Roon 01
In the picture above, SMS Roon has just returned from a long Atlantic training cruise with a shipload of Naval Cadets. With most of the fresh food long ago consumed, Kapitan zur See Karl Zimmermann requested immediate replenishment. Here you see a Nordwind Class tug (left) and a Passat Class tug (right) nudging the cruiser into her berth to take on stores. The Nordwind is an older (1890’s) seagoing tug commonly found doing harbor, river, and inshore work with larger ships. The Passat Class is an improved version built by a division of the Norddeutscher Line. The Passat’s more powerful engines are capable of handling large warships and dealing with Norddeutscher’s big ocean liners in the nearby Hamburg terminal. The Imperial Navy leases civilian tugs and crews because it’s cheaper than building them, and manning them with sailors would reduce the trained manpower available to the fleet (a continual problem). The cruiser, tugs, lighters, and mooring dolphins are the splendid work of @AP.
Both Roon and Yorck had a main battery of four, now-standard, 8.3 inch SK-L/40 (QF) guns mounted in twin “DrL C/01 turrets -- hydraulically operated -- one fore and one aft. A total of 380 armor-piercing shells were carried. The standard secondary battery was adhered to, with ten 5.9 inch SK-L/40 (QF) guns in casemates and turreted-casemates, arranged amidships in the usual “slab-sided pyramid” configuration. For torpedo boat defense, fourteen 3.5 inch SK-L/35 (QF) guns were mounted amidships, on either beam, in casemates and open mounts with shields. Unfortunately, the casemate guns continued to be placed a deck too low and were frequently awash.
This close-up shows the detail built into the models. The tug Nordwind (left) is conspicuous in having an open bridge and no wheelhouse. This was common in early harbor tugs. And if you look closely, you can see the big towing winch and hawser bollards on the fantail. The Passat (right) shows a much more modern version, with a more powerful towing rig and an enclosed bridge. Both tugs have twin funnels indicating more boilers and more horsepower. Note the level of detail on SMS Roon – the planks in the deck – individual portholes – the thwarts in the small boats – superb rigging – even the soot stains on the funnels – and all historically accurate, right down to the spray shields on the bridge wings.
In this view you get a good look at the Replenishment Pier. It is a “PEG-Pier One Seaport modified to conform a bit better to the “period” naval harbor. I took the individual sections and placed WMP-seawalls on the outer portions. The seawalls greatly resemble timber caissons and make good “bumpers” for the big ships. I deleted some of the cargo that was too modern and replaced it with props more suitable for the time period. In the top left you see a Midgard Class harbor tug standing by to warp a lighter full of barrels into the pier once it’s vacant. The lighters, mooring dolphins, tugs, and cruiser are all by “AP”.
SUBMERGED TORPEDO TUBES -- ??
This is an excellent and rare view of a bow mounted submerged torpedo tube. The ship is SMS Scharnhorst in the floating dry dock at Tsingtao, China. You can see the opening for the torpedo tube in a “notch” in the hull below the ram bow. Obviously you, more or less, had to “aim the ship” to aim the torpedo.
As was customary for ships of the period, the Roons had four 17.7 inch torpedo tubes submerged in the hull -- one in the bow and stern, and one on each broadside (typically just forward of the “A turret” shell handling room). The standard torpedo of the Kaiserliche marine was the “C/03” – carrying a 325 lb warhead – a suitable size for the era. The torpedoes, however, left something to be desired. At a speed of 31 knots, the torpedo was much more likely to hit a target that would not have time to take evasive action. But the speed shortened the fuel burn time, and it was only good for about 1,300 yards. To close a target to less than thirteen hundred yards might be acceptable to a torpedo boat captain -- with nerves of steel – but it was totally unacceptable to a cruiser captain. The torpedo could be set to a longer range of about 3,200 yards at 26 knots – but the longer the range – the more doubtful the result. So the question becomes -- why would you put submerged torpedo tubes on cruisers or battleships? Neither of those ships would close a similar ship to such close range – unless the target ship was already too badly damaged to represent a threat. In which case, it would be better to send a torpedo boat to finish off the target than to pull a battleship out of the battle line, or a cruiser from the screening force. Besides the dubious reasoning for submerged torpedo tubes in heavy ships, their presence aboard the big ships would later be revealed as potentially deadly liabilities.
https://i.imgur.com/lNXcO8Q.png[/im
Roon Class armored cruisers – armor distribution diagram. The darkened areas show where the Krupp armor has been placed to protect the ship. Perhaps more importantly, it shows you where the armor has NOT been placed. As you can see, there are large portions of the ship, both above and below the waterline, with NO armor. These are the areas designers so casually refer to as “the unarmored portions of the ship”.
Both Roon and Yorck were armored with Krupp Cemented steel. The waterline belt was 3.9 inches amidships, tapering to 3.1 inches at bow and stern – a much better choice than leaving the ends unarmored. (Even a waterline near miss by a 12 inch gun could cause serious splinter damage and flooding.) The belt was further backed by 2.2 inches of teak planking to reduce splinter damage. The side armor around the casemates and casemated turrets was also 3.9 inches. The protected armor deck ranged from 1.6 to 2.4 inches, with the thicker areas covering the magazines, boilers, engines, and steering gear – with sloping sides of 2 inches connecting to the bottom of the belt. The forward conning tower was 5.9 inches, while the aft control position was only plated with 3.1 inches as protection against shell splinters. The main battery turrets were 5.9 inches with a 1.2 inch roof, while the secondary turrets were plated with 3.9 inch sides and 3.1 inch gun shields. This was, on balance, a better distribution of armor than in recent designs – and certainly as good as could be expected with a 9,300 ton displacement.
Another view of the tug Midgard standing by a covered lighter and two lighters stacked with barrels. Deck hands from the tug have crossed over to the covered lighter and are busy making the outboard lighter fast to the others. “AP” has made Midgard to look just as she should – an old working lady that has seen better days, but still gets the job done. Note the weathered look of the hull and the worn canvas of the wheelhouse roof. Her yellow funnel has gone dingy from coal soot, and her decks are worn and stained from years of working. She is a perfectly proportioned, working, “piece of art”. The lighters are patterned after hundreds of such vessels found in European rivers and harbors, in one form or another, even to this day. We looked through dozens of pictures as well as drawing inspiration from the craft we saw in real life. And “AP” has faithfully recreated them for Sc4. This shot even gives you an excellent view of the mooring dolphins.
Of the two ships, SMS Yorck commissioned first, in November of 1905, and upon completion of sea trials, was assigned to 1st Scouting Group of the Hochseeflotte in March, 1906. In April of 1906, SMS Roon joined 1st Scouting Group as well, and the following month Vizeadmiral Gustav Schmidt hoisted his flag aboard her. She served as flagship 1st Scouting Group for the next two years. With the exception of a 1907 Atlantic crossing by Roon to participate in the United States’ Jamestown Exposition, the two cruisers were pretty much occupied with the routine of peacetime training exercises. Sometimes it was scouting group training, or Atlantic cruises with portions of the battle fleet, and there were always the annual Fall Fleet Maneuvers. Roon was decommissioned in September 1911, her duties being taken over by the new battlecruiser SMS Moltke. In March 1913, during a training exercise, the torpedo boat S-178 attempted to “cut the line” (Crossing from one side of the battle line to the other by cutting between the big ships.). The tiny ship misjudged the speed and distance and Yorck rammed and sank her. The armored cruiser was decommissioned shortly thereafter, with her crew being transferred to commission SMS Seydlitz.
A full length close-up showing the hull lines and details of Roon’s superstructure.
Overview of Replenishment Pier and Roon – different angle. The landscape to the right of the picture is a combination of 1x1 “custom-made” Tree Filler Lots, MMP work, and “Heblem Sands”. The Tree Filler Lots have a mish-mash of various tree props from my “prop-box”, but the MMP work is almost entirely by @Girafe – his stuff is the BEST!
Close-up detail – bow.
Close-up detail – stern.
Here you see VizeAdmiral Gustav Schmidt transferring his flag from SMS Roon to SMS Yorck. Roon has been detached for her voyage to the United States, and Yorck will be serving as 1st Scouting group flagship until her return. Here you can see the Admiral’s steam launch tied off at the boat boom and the off-watch crew is paraded on the forecastle deck. The Admiral and Kapitan zur See Arthur Tapken are saluting, and just behind the Admiral is the ship‘s Navigation Officer, Leutnant Erich Raeder. Shortly, a signal gun will be fired from amidships and the Admiral’s flag will be broken-out at the masthead.
Another view from astern.
SMS Yorck moored at a “barrel buoy” just off the dry docks of the Howaldtswerk Shipyard in the Kieler Hafen – circa 1910.
Following the outbreak of war in July 1914, both ships were mobilized and assigned to 3rd Scouting Group which was attached to the Hochseeflotte. The 1st Scouting Group sortied on a raid against Yarmouth in November, and the Hochseeflotte sailed as distant support. Roon and Yorck were scouting ahead of the main battle fleet. The ships arrived back off Wilhelmshaven on the night of 3 November, but encountered heavy fog, making it impossible to take visual bearings – thus preventing them from being able to locate the swept channels through the defensive minefields. Rather than risk the channels, the fleet anchored in Schillig Roads to await daylight. Around 03:30, Yorck’s Kapitan zur See Pieper thought visibility had improved sufficiently, and began preparations to get underway. The Harbor Pilot refused to attempt passage through the minefields under the still foggy conditions, but Pieper proceeded regardless. At 04:10 Yorck struck a mine and started to turn away, striking a second mine. The cruiser went down quickly and the coastal defense battleship Hagen was only able to pick up 381 men – including Pieper. A cruiser and 252 men were lost. Needless to say, Pieper was court-martialed and served two years in prison for his negligence and disobedience to orders.
A view of the starboard side. If you examine the stern, you’ll see the “Admiral’s Walk” just beneath the flag. Both Roon and Yorck were built for service as “flagships”. In the stern of the ship, on the main deck, there are additional cabins for the Admiral’s staff (usually 11), and just aft of them, right in the stern, there are spacious accommodations for the admiral. There is room for his desk and working space, comfortable chairs for visitors, a large table for dining with staff or ship’s officers, a smaller private sleeping compartment, and private facilities for bathing and other – uuuh – necessary things. (Admiral’s must preserve their dignity at all times.) If he just wants to stretch his legs, or get some fresh air, he can step through a watertight door onto the “Admiral’s Walk”. Most admirals try not to disturb the smooth operation of the ship. An admiral appearing on deck is a bit like a sudden thunder-clap. Men drop what they’re doing and jump to attention – young officer’s knees begin to shake – and everything within his sight comes to a screeching halt. The “Admiral’s Walk” is a lot less disturbing – and much more private for the admiral.
In December 1914, Roon participated in the Bombardment Of Scarborough, Hartlepool, and Whitby as flagship 3rd Scouting Group. They were to provide a reconnaissance screen for the main battle fleet acting in support of the bombardment force. A British battle squadron from the Grand Fleet, with the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron, had been sent to intercept the raiders, but missed the bombardment force and very nearly stumbled into the main body of the Hochseeflotte. Roon actually made contact with the British destroyers Lynx and Unity, but no shots were exchanged. Shortly thereafter, Admiral von Ingenohl ordered the battle fleet to disengage and set course for Wilhelmshaven.
Another view of Yorck. That’s a scratch-built “Jupiter Class” collier on the right – more about her in the next chapter. But you can get a fair appreciation of the elaborate detail “AP” has built into her. Notice the two funnels placed side-by-side – a rare sight on seagoing ships.
Soon after that operation, it was decided the older cruisers of the 3rd Scouting Group were too slow and lightly armored to face the guns of the Grand Fleet, and they were assigned to Reconnaissance Forces Baltic. Roon participated in the bombardment of Libau on 7 May, then took part in sorties into the central Baltic as far north as Gotska Sandon on five different occasions in May and June, 1915. In July she fought in the Battle Of The Aland Islands, engaging the Russian armored cruisers Bayan and Rurik and several light cruisers and destroyers. The Russians hit Roon several times, and being outnumbered, she and Lubeck were forced to retire. The cruiser also participated in the series of actions in the Gulf Of Riga Campaign, later in the year.
Close-up detail of Yorck – bow angle.
But cruiser losses were mounting in the Baltic – especially from Russian mines – and most especially from the activity of British submarines. In January, 1916, it was decided the older cruisers were too poorly protected against mines and torpedoes, and Roon was ordered to Kiel and decommissioned on 4 February. In November, 1916, she was disarmed and converted to a training and accommodation ship – a function she preformed until 1918. In November of 1920, she was stricken from the Naval Register and scrapped the following year.
THE GERMAN PARADOX
HMS Achilles – a Warrior Class armored cruiser - 1906.
While the Kaiserliche Marine was commissioning the two Roon Class armored cruisers into the Hochseeflotte, the Royal Navy was just beginning to commission the new Warrior Class of armored cruisers. The British had started in the 1890’s with a clear strategy of protecting their sea lanes with a swarm of armored cruisers. By 1900, they had decided the cruisers had to be big enough, and powerful enough, to preform either alone on foreign duty stations, or in support of the battle fleet. (Most other navies preferred smaller and lighter cruisers on colonial stations.) By 1906, the British had 29 armored cruisers in service or laid-up in reserve, with the most powerful vessels assigned to the Home Fleet. The exact number of armored cruisers in the Home Fleet varied considerably -- due to maintenance, training tasks, and detached temporary duty -- but it was usually eight.
Across the North Sea, it was also around 1906, that reality set in. The Kaiserliche Marine finally came to the unalterable conclusion that Britain was going to be their principal enemy in any future war in Europe. And Tirpitz was building a fleet that could either be used as a political tool, or an instrument of war. It was really rather obvious – at least to the British.
Germany was allied by treaty to both the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy – so their fleets could be ruled out as an enemy. The Russian fleet was still in a shambles after the Russo-Japanese War. The French would have to devote most of their naval strength to holding the Mediterranean against Austria and Italy – and protecting their colonial possessions nearest to Europe. AND – Germany was confident the Army could be counted upon to deliver victory in a European land war. So that leaves only Britain – and that would be a naval war any way you played it.
The Hochseeflotte had already commissioned 15 pre-dreadnought battleships by 1906, and were building more. But their armored cruisers were, perhaps, more indicative of the entire naval situation. And if you were in the Imperial Naval Office, or a seagoing officer, the simple arithmetic was enough to drive you to drink. The Kaiserliche Marine possessed only six armored cruisers, with two more on the building slips – and one of those was permanently stationed in the Far East. Cruiser to cruiser – the Imperial fleet was outnumbered 5 to 1. But that wasn’t the worst of it.
It took several years for the Imperial Naval Office to face the reality that they shouldn’t be building cruisers designed for foreign duty stations, rather than for specific use against Britain’s Home Fleet. Foreign duty cruisers were usually smaller, slower, and lighter-gunned – because they weren’t likely to run into a battleship, or even two enemy cruisers at the same time. But part of the dilemma went back to -- not enough ships – not soon enough – and all as cheaply as possible.
The new Naval Laws had guaranteed one new cruiser per year – but the Reichstag had demanded a cost ceiling on all ships – and Tirpitz had provided them. The State Secretary of the Navy had surely been aware that costs would rise with each successive ship. Two ships in the same class, laid down one year apart, often resulted in a higher cost for the second ship. But Tirpitz also knew the Reichstag didn’t want to hear that. So he “low-balled” the original negotiations. Rather than continuing to fight for more money, Tirpitz instructed the naval constructors to stay within a few thousand Goldmarks of the original estimates.
This pinch-penny approach to ship design and construction had far-reaching consequences. The first two classes of pre-dreadnought battleships had been armed with 9.4-inch guns!! The last class, Braunschweig, had made the jump to 11-inch guns – but were still smaller than those mounted in other navies. Naval analysts have long complained that German ships were notoriously under-gunned – and with good reason. Later, Tirpitz would balk at the idea of going to 12-inch guns – largely due to the cost. It cost thousands of Goldmarks for a single gun tube. So increasing the number of guns added cost to the ship. The increase to 11-inch guns had cost tens of thousands to design, build, test, and perfect the new gun. When the time came to seriously consider a 12-inch gun to oppose Britain’s 13.5-inch weapon – the cost would have to be deducted from other design features of the ship. Or – Tirpitz would have to go to the Reichstag and beg for the money. The general result – especially in cruisers -- was to avoid more guns, and keep them small and inexpensive.
Speed was another disparity between British and German cruisers. The average Royal Navy cruiser could make 23 knots. The “fast” German cruisers were only capable of 20 or 21 knots. Germany could build bigger engines – they were good at that. But bigger engines meant they needed more room, and that meant a longer hull. The bigger engines needed more boilers to provide steam – more room – and an even longer hull. And an even higher cost – more money from the Reichstag.
Underwater protective measures against mines and torpedoes were nonexistent. (This point is also true of the British.) There was precious little known about the effects of mine explosions on ship’s hulls – and even less was understood about the lethal qualities of torpedoes. Building in extra armor protection, or inner hull void spaces to absorb the blast, was little understood and would have added considerably to the cost. There is an old anecdote told about Jackie Fisher (probably untrue) that when asked about defense against mines, he simply said...”Don’t run over the bloody things!”
Armor protection on British cruisers was not exactly “first-rate” -- largely due to the need to achieve higher speed. And cruisers were never meant to be armored like a battleship. But the average British cruiser weighed-in about 4,500 tons heavier than their German counterparts. Part of that was the propulsion plant, but a sizable chunk went to armor. The British waterline belt averaged 6 inches to the German’s 3.9 inches. AND – more armor requires more horsepower to attain the speed – and yet more armor to cover the longer hull needed for the engines and boilers. It was a vicious circle – one thing just naturally led to another.
SMS Roon – leading ship of the 3rd Scouting Group (scouting group astern – out of picture) as she follows the Hochseeflotte on one of the early sorties in 1914. Roon’s scouting group will form the rear guard of the battle fleet. The 1st Scouting Group is in the van (lead) of the fleet – and the 2d Scouting Group is deployed as “the point”.
The upshot of the whole thing was that virtually all of the Imperial Navy’s armored cruisers were no match for the big British cruisers operating in the North Sea. During the early months of The Great War at sea, the armored cruisers were formed into the 3rd and 4th Scouting Groups and went about their assigned duties as the scouting screen for the lumbering battleships of the Hochseeflotte. The 1st Scouting Group was composed of more modern vessels and became the offensive arm of the battle fleet. In early 1915, all the old armored cruisers were transferred to the Cruiser Force Baltic where they could still do good work against the Russians. And they fought bravely and well – but eventually, their vulnerability to mines and torpedoes in the narrow sea forced the Oberkommando der Marine to withdraw them from active service in 1916.
The Prinz Adalbert and Roon Class armored cruisers were the oldest to go to war in 1914, and they brought to mind an interesting side note on the early months of the war. Britain’s ultimatum to Germany expired at midnight on 4 August 1914, and within a matter of days the British Expeditionary Force (B.E.F.) of one cavalry and four infantry divisions was landed on French shores. They were ordered to concentrate along the Belgian border near the town of Maubeuge. No one had the least idea of what awaited them as they marched toward their assembly area, and the story of the B.E.F.’s heroic struggle to halt the German Juggernaut has become legendary. But by November 1914, the British had settled in to defend the area around Ypres, Belgium. This was still the time before trenches dominated the battlefield. Private Herbert de Hamel belonged to “The London Scottish”, a “territorial” regiment (reservists). They were recruited from the clerks, bookkeepers, and accountants of “The City” – the business district of London……
“...the Germans advanced at a steady walk, falling as they came. Fire spat out from their line of rifles – no sounds – no shouts – only their crackling rifles. Bullets cut through the hedge in front of us – slapped into the earthen bank behind us – and all the while we fired back. We fired as fast as we could and aimed each shot. We wiped the sweat from our eyes – and shot. Shells from the German’s 77mm guns fell among our fellows, threw dirt on everyone – and we kept shooting. But after a while, there were no more Germans walking toward us……”
The following morning the London Scottish were still there – blackened with powder smoke, covered in mud and dirt, their kilts in tatters – but the Germans had been stopped. Among the wounded was a shipping clerk named Ronald Colman – hit in the ankle by shrapnel -- and lamed. Though he limped thereafter, the wound saved his life and he was invalided home – unfit for further duty. But he learned to walk so the limp was almost unnoticeable and went on to become one of Hollywood’s greatest movie stars – as did three of his regimental mates – Basil Rathbone, Herbert Marshall, and Claude Rains. War is full of ironic bits – even a few for you old movie buffs out there...
NEXT TIME……
LAST OF THE GERMAN
ARMORED CRUISERS
AND…
WE HAVE TWO PROP PACKS FOR YOU...
Volume 06 – Prinz Adalbert Class Armored Cruisers
Volume 07 – Furst Bismarck Class Armored Cruisers
MANY THANKS to @Barroco Hispano for his generously given time and talent creating so many beautiful warships. There are some really beautiful models coming up.
A SPECIAL “THANKS” to my partner -- “@AP” -- for his considerable talents and valuable time. The Cuxhaven Series would have been utterly impossible without him.
I DO HOPE you are enjoying these chapters – 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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