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About this City Journal

Created by Dreadnought & AP -- this is dedicated to the discussion of the evolution, as a ship type, of the Battlecruiser in the Imperial German Navy.

Entries in this City Journal

Dreadnought
IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS: CUXHAVEN By: Dreadnought & AP Chapter 65: THE PHOTO TOUR 21 EAST BREAKWATER Picking up where we left off, this is an overview of the eastern half of the breakwater. You will note a visiting British squadron anchored along the outer breakwater wall. Unable to find a space where the three British warships could be berthed together, it was thought best to anchor the “guests” just offshore. Anchored just astern of SMS Hindenburg are two of the four Mackensen Class...
Dreadnought
IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS: CUXHAVEN By: Dreadnought & AP Chapter 64: THE PHOTO TOUR 20 BREAKWATER ANCHORAGE Since the Neu Hafen was, more or less, built from scratch – it was better arranged than many of the old, established harbors. Wilhelmshaven, for example, was an “old” harbor, and was more than adequate to handle the early beginnings of the Imperial Navy. But by the end of the 19th Century the docks and basins were becoming crowded with an ever expanding fleet of steel battleships. Later, as the...
Dreadnought
IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS: CUXHAVEN By: Dreadnought & AP Chapter 63: THE PHOTO TOUR 19 MAIN TUGBOAT STATION “Way back in the Day”, SC4 hardly paid any attention to tugboats. In fact, there was only one tugboat set of any note in the game – the distinctly “Japanese” set by “Somy”. All of the “Somy” lots and ships were extremely well done, but the Japanese tugs were rather small and obviously not of European design. When “WofZe” made the gift of a small white steam tug, it opened up a whole range of...
Dreadnought
IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS: CUXHAVEN By: Dreadnought & AP Chapter 62: THE PHOTO TOUR 18 NEU HAFEN INDUSTRIAL ZONE Nestled in a corner, surrounded by docks, piers, and warehouses is a variety of workshops, foundries, and machine shops – all necessary to provide the mechanical support to keep the warships battle-ready. Though the facilities were limited to, more or less, minor repair and maintenance, a surprising amount of work fell under the banner of “minor”. Some naval bases were nothing more than a...
Dreadnought
IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS: CUXHAVEN By: Dreadnought & AP Chapter 61: THE PHOTO TOUR 17 THE EAST BASIN 03 This installment begins at the head of “Pier 2”. This pier is constructed with the same 8x1 base lot as the others. The advantage possessed by “Piers 2 through 6” lay in the construction of one long, continuous pier. Any number of ships, of various sizes, could be accommodated along its length. “Pier 1” was the first set of mooring piers constructed, and it was based on a series of individual docks...
Dreadnought
IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS: CUXHAVEN By: Dreadnought & AP Chapter 60: THE PHOTO TOUR 16 THE EAST BASIN 02 We’ll pick up where we left off – at the head of “Pier 4”. The long piers are pretty much the same as those in the previous chapter. The only real differences are the moored ships and a bit of variety in the dockside activity. In reality, the number of light cruisers assigned to the Hochseeflotte varied according to circumstances – maintenance, special duties, wartime losses, etc, etc. Normally...
Dreadnought
IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS: CUXHAVEN By: Dreadnought & AP Chapter 59: THE PHOTO TOUR 15 The first requirement of any naval base is a good, safe anchorage – strategically well placed. The British were blessed with Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands north of Scotland. While breathtakingly spacious, “Scapa” was extremely remote, the weather was atrocious, and the new anchorage had no facilities worth mentioning. Parliament had authorized money to build a small naval establishment before The Great War, but it...
Dreadnought
IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS: CUXHAVEN By: Dreadnought & AP Chapter 58: THE PHOTO TOUR 14 Every naval base has an ammunition storage facility and the means to distribute the powder and shells to the warships. Some installations are big and some are small – but the one thing they all have in common, is that none of them are ever the same. The size of each facility is determined by the number and size of the warships it will serve, while the layout is usually governed by the available terrain. Some...
Dreadnought
IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS: CUXHAVEN By: Dreadnought & AP Chapter 57: THE PHOTO TOUR 13 In this chapter, we will take a look at the destroyers berthed along the east quay of the Inner Basin. Historically, the scouting forces of the Hochseeflotte consisted of the 1st and 2nd scouting groups. There were other scouting groups – light cruisers and torpedo boats -- but they were assigned to work with the battle fleet and were home-ported in Wilhelmshaven. The 1st Scouting Group, the battlecruisers – and the...
Dreadnought
IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS: CUXHAVEN By: Dreadnought & AP Chapter 56: THE PHOTO TOUR 12 THE DRY DOCK Not all harbors have dry docks. There are large and busy harbors around the world that are strictly dedicated to commerce -- but well established ports are usually found with a government naval installation, and possibly a private maritime construction yard. Either of them will almost always have one or more reasonably modern dry docks and possibly more than one floating dry dock of medium to large size....
Dreadnought
IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS: CUXHAVEN By: Dreadnought & AP Chapter 55: THE PHOTO TOUR 11 THE INNER BASIN Most large harbors have something similar to an “Inner Basin” – especially in military/naval anchorages. This is a designated area where difficult or lengthy tasks are performed. These tasks could include repairs to a ship’s hull in a dry dock, or a simple bottom cleaning and painting job, also requiring a dry dock. Installation of new weapons systems – guns, or perhaps, fire control devices. Capital...
Dreadnought
IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS: CUXHAVEN By: Dreadnought & AP Chapter 54: THE PHOTO TOUR 10 THE REPAIR AND REPLENISHMENT DOCKS Repair and replenishment of warships was an everyday task, and they were – perhaps – the two most important duties aboard ship. Regularly scheduled maintenance was necessary to keep these huge steel machines functioning smoothly, but there was always the unanticipated break-down to deal with. If you stop to think about the systems on a battleship or battlecruiser – electrical,...
Dreadnought
IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS: CUXHAVEN By: Dreadnought & AP Chapter 53: THE PHOTO TOUR 09 THE REFUELING DOCK Coal was still “King” in the early days of the 20th Century. It was used to power factories, run electric power plants, and heated most homes or “flats” (apartments). Mass transportation could not have existed without coal: locomotives thrived on it and ships of all sizes devoured it. But the discovery of “Crude Oil” in Pennsylvania in 1859, and Azerbaijan (Russia) somewhat later, was the...
Dreadnought
IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS: CUXHAVEN By: Dreadnought & AP Chapter 52: THE PHOTO TOUR 08 THE COALING DOCKS In this chapter, we will pick up our tour where we left off. But first, I thought I’d re-orient you with the map tile (picture above). On the extreme left (west) of the picture is “Battery Scharnhorst” – and just around the corner is the Neu Hafen (main Cuxhaven anchorage). Just inside the entrance to the breakwater are the coaling and fuel oil replenishment docks. Easing into the harbor is the...
Dreadnought
IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS: CUXHAVEN By: Dreadnought & AP Chapter 51: THE PHOTO TOUR 07 BATTERY SCHARNHORST On the night of 11 November 1940, the Royal Navy launched 21 Fairey “Swordfish” biplanes from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious. Each of the “flying stringbags” carried either a bomb or an aerial torpedo and the attack formation took a heading for the main Italian naval base of Taranto. By the time the sun rose the following morning, the British had successfully executed the...
Dreadnought
IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS: CUXHAVEN By: Dreadnought & AP Chapter 50: THE PHOTO TOUR 06 THE WEST LOCH – Part 06 This chapter will wrap-up our tour of the West Loch – with a look at the permanent berths along the breakwater. There are, basically, two types of harbors in the world – “natural” and “man-made”. The natural harbor is just that – a terrain feature created by nature that is large enough and deep enough to accommodate large ships, while sheltering them from the ill-effects of stormy seas....
Dreadnought
IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS: CUXHAVEN By: Dreadnought & AP Chapter 49: THE PHOTO TOUR 05 THE WEST LOCH – Part 05 This chapter will cover some of the activity out in the roadsted of the West Loch. Like most harbors -- even small ones – there are assigned berths, usually around the edges of the open water areas. Out in the open waters there will always be mooring buoys for ships temporarily assigned to the squadron, just arrived and needing replenishment before berthing, or those preparing to sail. This...
Dreadnought
IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS: CUXHAVEN By: Dreadnought & AP Chapter 48: THE PHOTO TOUR 04 THE WEST LOCH – Part 04 In this chapter we take a look at the north end of the West Loch. The overview below shows the north tug station, a “rail stop” behind it, and a lighter basin. This is the north tug station. We already discussed all the component parts and tugboats in previous chapters, but you will notice the station is different from the south tug station. Again, this station is constructed from 1x2 and 1x1...
Dreadnought
IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS: CUXHAVEN By: Dreadnought & AP Chapter 47: THE PHOTO TOUR 03 THE WEST LOCH – Part 03 In this chapter we will explore the Repair Docks in the West Loch. While major work requiring heavy lift capacity, or dry docks, could only be carried out in the Neu Hafen, it was deemed expedient to provide workshops, machine shops, and a foundry to accommodate the day-to-day maintenance needs that could be handled by the crews. This image presents an overview of the larger area of the...
Dreadnought
IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS: CUXHAVEN By: Dreadnought & AP Chapter 46: THE PHOTO TOUR 02 THE WEST LOCH – Part 02 In this chapter we will take a close look at the birthing arrangements of the screening destroyers of the 3rd Scouting Group. First – let me deal with a small historical issue. If you have been following the story line of the CJ, you will be aware the Kaiserliche Marine did not have destroyers – strictly speaking. During The Great War Era, the Royal Navy viewed hostile torpedo boats as a...
Dreadnought
IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS: CUXHAVEN By: Dreadnought & AP Chapter 45: THE PHOTO TOUR BEGINS 01 The previous chapters have been narrowly focused on the evolution of battlecruisers in the Kaiserliche Marine. The sheer length of the text precluded any serious investigation of the map tile on which the warships were displayed, so I thought it was time we checked out the Imperial Dockyard: Cuxhaven – all by itself. I hoped you would find the history of the warships of interest – but I have the feeling you may...
Dreadnought
A view of Von der Tann’s aft main battery turret. The work detail appears to be cleaning a canvas tarp – and some of them seem quite happy to have their picture taken -- circa 1912. IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS: CUXHAVEN By: Dreadnought & AP Chapter 44: IN THE FINAL ANALYSIS The 2nd Battlecruiser Squadron of the Battlecruiser Fleet – HMAS Australia (flagship, Admiral Pakenham) leading, followed by HMS Indefatigable and HMS New Zealand – circa 1915. Possibly departing Cromarty for squadron training. ...
Dreadnought
Laid down in 1912 for the Imperial Russian Navy, the Borodino Class battlecruisers would have been contemporaries of the Ersatz Yorck Class. At 32,500 tons, with twelve 14-inch guns, the Borodino’s were slower and considerably less well armored than the German ships, but could have been formidable opponents. Borodino (seen here on the builder’s slip) was eventually launched, but the October Revolution of 1917 put an end to her construction, and she was finally scrapped in 1931. IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS:...
Dreadnought
During the early decades of the 20th Century, this would have been a common sight in any of the industrialized nations of the world. Dreadnought battleships and battlecruisers were the largest and most mechanically complex moving objects on Earth – the most deadly that modern science could devise – and only rich and powerful nations could afford such baubles. So immense it took three or four years to build -- by thousands of workmen with heavy machines and specialized tools, who virtually hand-crafted each...
Dreadnought
SMS Hindenburg lying at anchor in Schillig Roads – circa late 1917. IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS: CUXHAVEN By: Dreadnought & AP Chapter 41: THE THIRD SISTER Just two weeks after SMS Lutzow’s keel was laid, the first meeting to discuss “Grosse Kreuzer – 1913” was held on 31 May 1912. Chief Architect Burkner presented several proposals for improvements to the Derfflinger Class Panzerkreuzer. It was, of course, standard practice for German battlecruisers to be laid down a year apart, even when they were...
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