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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
Introduction: After a two-year-hiatus, the IMPERIAL DOCKYARD series has returned with a new map and harbor named “CUXHAVEN”. This is a continuation of my City Journal dealing with battleships and the era in which they flourished. The plan is to publish a new chapter every two weeks. “Cuxhaven” will, primarily, highlight the battlecruisers of the Imperial German Navy – how they came to be – their evolution – and their operational history. The Imperial battlecruisers were brilliant in their conception,...
Dreadnought
Turret “Albert” of SMS Helgoland. Even though the Helgoland Class mounted 12-inch rifles, this picture gives you a good idea of the size of a main battery turret compared to the seaman standing at left. The turret is massive and squat, with heavy and menacing guns. Just beneath the gun barrels, you can see the skylights opening above the crew quarters in the forecastle. The armored covers are raised to the vertical position, while the hinged glass lids are opened to allow air to circulate. IMPERIAL...
Dreadnought
SMS Hansa – Victoria Louise Class – a lithograph circa 1900. IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS: CUXHAVEN By: Dreadnought & AP Chapter 02: PROTECTED CRUISERS: A BRIEF EXPERIMENT Beginning in the 1860’s, the navies of the world transitioned from wooden-hulled warships to ironclads, then again to steel hulls. All the basic rules of naval construction were suddenly in constant flux. And not only ship’s hulls were changing. The cannon arming the ships began to change more in two decades than they had in the...
Dreadnought
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...
Dreadnought
Palmer’s Shipbuilding & Iron Company, Ltd. -- Jarrow, Scotland – circa 1905. It is difficult to see much through the smoke, and steam, and early morning gloom. But this would have been a common sight along the River Tyne (“Tyneside”) in the early decades of the 20th Century. Highly visible are the unmistakable funnels and tripod masts of a pre-dreadnought battleship. Note the “spotting tops” on both masts. Just one of many British shipyards. IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS: CUXHAVEN By: Dreadnought & AP Chapter 14:...
Dreadnought
Forward gun turret of SMS Goeben, at anchor in the Bosporus -- circa 1914. IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS: CUXHAVEN By: Dreadnought & AP Chapter 20: PURSUIT OF THE GOEBEN SMS Goeben – circa 1914: 22,979 tons – 27.5 knots – 10x11-inch guns – 12x5.9-inch guns – 4x19.7-inch torpedo tubes – belt armor 11 inches. The early afternoon of 28 June 1914, found SMS Goeben and her consort, the light cruiser Breslau, riding at anchor on the placid Mediterranean waters off Haifa. Normal shipboard routine prevailed,...
Dreadnought
A beautiful painting of SMS Seydlitz lying at anchor in Schillig Roads on a foggy morning early in 1917. Note the new “Carley Floats” mounted on the main battery turrets. As an item of interest, the stern anchor pictured weighs approximately 8 tons. IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS: CUXHAVEN By: Dreadnought & AP Chapter 21: GROSSE KREUZER “J” - 1910 SMS Seydlitz – circa 1913 – lying moored to a buoy in the Kieler Hafen. Seydlitz had supremely graceful lines while presenting a low profile with a squat and...
Dreadnought
SMS Scharnhorst - 1908 – Photographed during her speed trials. IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS: CUXHAVEN By: Dreadnought & AP Chapter 07: THE LAST OF THE ARMORED CRUISERS Once the Oberkommando der Marine faced the fact that Admiral Tirpitz (Secretary Of State for the Navy) was building a fleet to be used against Great Britain, the whole course of strategic thinking changed. The design for the next class of armored cruisers was well under way, when the naval architects received a directive in mid-1904. The...
Dreadnought
IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS: CUXHAVEN By: Dreadnought & AP Chapter 16: THE NAVAL ARMS RACE & VON der TANN AT WAR Long before this political cartoon appeared in a 1909 edition of “Punch Magazine”, practically all of Europe had been engaged in a somewhat low level arms race of one sort or another. The Italians were suspicious of the French and Austrians. The Austrians watched the Italians and the Russians. The French watched the Austrians, eyed the Italians with suspicion, remained wary of the British,...
Dreadnought
Italian pre-dreadnought battleship Regina Elena – a 4 ship class -- 13,807 tons – 22 knots – 2x12-inch guns – 12x8-inch guns – belt armor 9.8 inches. They were the fastest battleships in the world when launched, and are sometimes referred to as the precursor of the battlecruiser concept. IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS: CUXHAVEN By: Dreadnought & AP Chapter 08: THE ITALIAN, THE FIRST LORD, DREADNOUGHT, & THE UNEXPECTED. Vittorio Cuniberti – 1854 - 1913. A Naval Engineer in the Regina Marina (Italian Navy)....
Dreadnought
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...
Dreadnought
The British 12th Destroyer Flotilla charging into the attack. IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS: CUXHAVEN By: Dreadnought & AP Chapter 38: THE LONG JOURNEY HOME Around 02:00 1 June, the half-light of dawn had begun to flicker in the east when the British 12th Destroyer Flotilla spotted a line of battleships to starboard. Captain Stirling, leading in HMS Faulkner, had under his command 14 of the most modern and powerful destroyers available to the Grand Fleet. The big ships were quickly identified as four...
Dreadnought
SMS Lutzow -- circa 1916 – at sea in heavy weather. IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS: CUXHAVEN By: Dreadnought & AP Chapter 25: SHORT-LIVED AND UNLUCKY SMS Lutzow – late 1915 – at cruising speed. With the laying of Derfflinger’s keel on 30 March 1912, the last of the new “Grosse Kreuzer” authorized under the Fleet Law Amendment of 1906 was under construction. Any future building would have to be done under the terms of the “replacement” clause of the Naval Laws. Under this provision, older cruisers (20 years)...
Dreadnought
SMS Moltke – guns blazing with a “bone in her teeth” (a pronounced bow wave) as she charges along at 27 knots – tactical #3 in the battlecruiser line during the “Death Ride”. Moltke, under utmost speed was capable of 28 knots, but by this time of the day, the German warships were suffering the effects of inferior coal. The low grade coal did not fully burn and the fire boxes were filling up with “clinkers”. The problem was especially acute on the smaller light cruisers and torpedo boats. (Willy Stower) ...
Dreadnought
SMS Moltke underway -- circa 1912. IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS: CUXHAVEN By: Dreadnought & AP Chapter 18: MOLTKE AT WAR “Grosse Kreuzer G” (SMS Moltke) after launch, in the fitting-out basin at Blohm & Voss Dockyards, Hamburg. This is an excellent view of the stern superfiring turrets. The main and secondary batteries have been fully mounted. On 7 April 1910, the finished hull of “Grosse Kreuzer G” was launched and duly christened “SMS Moltke”. The arduous process of “fitting-out” a warship of this...
Dreadnought
SMS Blucher – circa 1908. Though good photographs of her are scarce, this is a fairly good starboard quarter view. IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS: CUXHAVEN By: Dreadnought & AP Chapter 11: THE HYBRID CRUISER "Hy-brid”: Etymology -- Known in English since 1601, but rare before 1850’s. From the Latin hybrida, a variant of hibrida. (biology) Offspring resulting from cross-breeding different entities, e.g. two different species or two purebred parent strains. (non-biologic) Something of mixed origin or...
Dreadnought
HMS Lion (flagship 1st Battlecruiser Squadron) On her way to a fateful rendezvous north of Dogger Bank, 23 January 1915. Note a screening destroyer in foreground. IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS: CUXHAVEN By: Dreadnought & AP Chapter 13: DEATH OF A HYBRID Panzerkreuzer of 1st Scouting Group at sea. The ship on the left is SMS Derfflinger. Note the rough seas and the heavy clouds of funnel smoke that would be visible for miles. In early January 1915, German light forces patrolling the Dogger Bank discovered...
Dreadnought
SMS Derfflinger -- circa 1916 – post-Jutland. The distinctive heavy tripod mast was added after the battle. In this unusual photograph, we see the battlecruiser at anchor in Schillig Roads under a heavily overcast sky – possibly a storm moving in from the North Sea. The composition of the picture provides an almost perfect silhouette of the warship – showing her long, low, and graceful lines to advantage. IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS: CUXHAVEN By: Dreadnought & AP Chapter 23: THE “IRON DOG” COMETH SMS...
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
British light cruisers and destroyers putting to sea. IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS: CUXHAVEN By: Dreadnought & AP Chapter 12: PULLING THE LION’S TAIL The staff of “Room 40” in the early days of the Great War. Hard to believe they could cause the Imperial Navy so much trouble, isn’t it? On 13 December 1914, the British code-breakers in “Room 40” of the Admiralty began to notice an increase in German wireless traffic in Wilhelmshaven. Unbeknownst to the Germans, the British Naval Intelligence Services had...
Dreadnought
SMS Scharnhorst, flagship, Imperial East Asiatic Squadron – moored to a buoy off Tsingtao, China – circa 1911. Note the old freighter at a pier to left, and notice the deployed boat booms on either side of the cruiser. The signal halyards are “dressed” for some “occasion” – but it’s impossible to make out the message. You can also see the shutters on the torpedo boat defense guns, in the bow casemates, are partially open to circulate air up forward. IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS: CUXHAVEN By: Dreadnought & AP ...
Dreadnought
Hochseeflotte at anchor in the Kieler Hafen – circa 1912. IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS: CUXHAVEN By: Dreadnought & AP We have, so far, discussed the design, construction, and operational histories of the Imperial German battlecruisers. We are now about to see how they were handled by the Admirals and Captains, and how they preformed when put to the ultimate test – the Battle Of Jutland. I give you fair warning that this may be somewhat confusing. I have never yet examined a clear and concise – detailed –...
Dreadnought
Here we see the crew of SMS Von der Tann taking aboard provisions in preparation for sailing. In the early 1900’s this was a common sight in Imperial naval bases. Shore-based bakeries would provide fresh bread daily to the naval barracks where the crews were billeted when in port, and were also tasked with sending ships to sea with a fresh-baked supply. Admittedly, the delivery and handling systems were a bit primitive in those days, but German “Brown Bread” (sometimes called “Black Bread”) was – and still...
Dreadnought
SMS Derfflinger as she appeared when she came out of the repair docks – after the Battle of Jutland in 1916. The veteran battlecruiser underwent a refit and modernization at the same time the battle damage was repaired. The first thing to go was the anti-torpedo net system – they proved useless against modern torpedoes and were a liability in battle. The forward pole mast has been replaced with the distinctive heavy tripod mast and large fire control foretop -- setting her apart from her sister ships....
Dreadnought
SMS Goben as she would have appeared on her sea trials -- circa 1912. IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS: CUXHAVEN By: Dreadnought & AP Chapter 19: CRUISING THE SUNNY MEDITERRANEAN HMS Lion – circa 1912: 26,270 tons – 28 knots – 8x13.5-inch guns – 16x4-inch guns – 2x21-inch torpedo tubes – belt armor 9 inches. Having made the decision to build “Grosse Kreuzer H – 1909” as a “twin” to SMS Moltke, it saved considerable time and money, lightened the workload in the Design Bureau, and allowed the construction...
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