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CHAPTER 08 -- THE MUNITIONS PIERS
Dreadnought posted a City Journal entry in IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS WILHELMSHAVEN
Chapter 09: THE MUNITIONS PIERS We have toured the receiving and support facilities of the “Munitions Complex” and examined the storage area of the “Bunker Complex”, but those are, more or less, ancillary systems. The actual delivery of shells and powder to the warships is the paramount function of any munitions replenishment facility. The battleships of the “Dreadnought Era”, though immense in size and incredibly complex in their mechanics, were nothing more than mobile, seaborne, gun platforms. They were designed to deliver their massive artillery into battle – and survive. The ship’s crew, the hull, armor, and engines would position the all-important guns where they could do the most damage. That was their entire purpose for existing. HMS Barham (1915) of the Queen Elizabeth Class of fast battleships, mounting eight 15 inch guns in four twin turrets. Dreadnoughts carried anywhere between eight and fourteen main battery guns, mounted in as few as three, and as many as seven armored turrets. The guns ranged, mostly, from 11 inch (28cm) to 16 inch (40cm), and the shells fired by these massive rifles (on average) could weight anywhere from 675 pounds to 2,200 pounds. The sheer weight of the projectiles, combined with the threat of their “bursting charge”, made handling and loading them “risky business”. HMS Agincourt (1914) mounting fourteen 12 inch guns in seven twin turrets. Standards differed widely among the various navies of the world, but ammunition stowage aboard a battleship was a critical element in the success or failure of any given class of warship. The more big guns mounted on a hull – the greater the ammunition that would have to be stored in heavily armored magazines deep in the bowels of the ship. It is worth noting that “magazines” were divided into “Shell Rooms” and “Powder Magazines” due to the different handling characteristics. Powder charges were a much more hazardous proposition. Some battleship “Shell Rooms” stored 100 rounds per gun tube, while others carried up to 150 rounds. A bit of quick math means an eight-gun warship could stow between 800 and 1,000 rounds, while a fourteen-gun battleship would be packing between 1,400 and 2,100 shells. Using an average of 250 pounds of powder as a “firing charge” for each and every shell – that meant an eight-gun ship stowed 200,000 pounds of Cordite, while a fourteen-gun battleship required 525,000 pounds. Needless to say, one careless act – resulting in a single spark – could have catastrophic results. Interior of a German 11 inch gun turret in action -- right half. After throwing all those numbers around, I should explain that at a firing rate of two rounds per gun, per minute – one hour of continuous firing would exhaust, or seriously deplete a ship’s magazines. Note the shell in the foreground, about to be rammed into the gun tube, and the cased powder charges in front of the sailor to the right. SMS Konig engaging the enemy at Jutland, 1916. The munitions loading piers in the “Imperial Dockyard Wilhelmshaven” are inspired by a set of streamlined and efficient piers at the US Navy Munitions Station on Luna Point in California. That installation uses a rail line on gracefully curved trestle piers extending out into the water. Since the game pieces are incapable of reproducing those willowy curves, and the in-game trestle bridges have their own drawbacks, I opted for building causeways out to the loading pier platforms. The object, once again, was to provide safety through a degree of separation between the installations ashore and the actual handling piers offshore. An explosion while unloading the rail cars would be devastating. The loading platforms at the end of the causeways would be swept clean of people and structures and could result in heavy damage to the warships, themselves. An accident occurring during the loading of shells and powder into the ship’s magazines would be unimaginable. History is replete with horrific examples of exploding magazines. The causeways were made using the NBVC Marina Set. You may recognize the loading piers from my previous entry; “The Long Quay”. These are the same piers – and were originally re-purposed specifically for use as the munitions piers. I later decided to use them as the “long quay” as well. These are PEG “SNM” Destroyer Piers (two of them) re-lotted end to end and positioned to provide a pier 16 tiles long with ONLY an 8x1 “plop” footprint. Again – do as much as you can with what is available in the game. This is a closer shot of the bottom end of the line of piers. There is a wide variety of work in progress – tugs docking battleships, trains coming and going, cranes unloading ordnance, and sailors all over the place. Note the ordnance train arriving from the upper left corner. This worked out well with the lighting duplicating the “pool effect” common to the pitch blackness out on the water. The USS Michigan is being nudged into her berth to begin taking on ammunition. The large cranes on the pier will hoist the big shells and crates of powder charges aboard once the railroad crane has unloaded them from the waiting boxcars. The USS Wyoming is taking on her first consignment of shells. Wyoming is one of two dreadnoughts in the US Navy mounting six twin turrets – the most ever carried by a US warship. It is easily seen that the extra turrets in this design contributed to her wide-beamed appearance with very short bow and fantail tapering. Here, USS Mississippi is being eased into the pier by three steam tugs. (Tugs courtesy of @WolfZe) She is one of the New Mexico Class and was often referred to in the US Navy as a “standard battleship”. This nomenclature springs from the fact that a number of classes were designed and built during and after WW I that were remarkably similar in appearance and performance characteristics. Note that she is equipped with a graceful “clipper bow” rather than the straight stem of earlier dreadnoughts. SMS Baden has “made fast” to the pier and her Captain grows impatient waiting for his ordnance train. Baden was sister ship to SMS Bayern – the last dreadnoughts delivered to the Kaiserliche Marine prior to the 1918 Armistice. Note the fine railroad crane (SM2), also waiting the train. Shells are already being lowered to the deck of RM Kronprinz – Konig Class - 1932. This ship (explained in a previous chapter) is derived from a “design study” conducted by the Riech’s Marine of the Wiemar Republic. Note the strong resemblance to the original “Konig Class” of 1914. Last, but not least – SMS Fiederich Carl has made secure at her berth, and Kapitan Zur See Wolfgang Hoepner is furious that his ordnance train has been delayed. He is senior to the commander of Kronprinz and should not be made to wait. Friederich Carl is another warship derived from a “design study” (explained in previous chapter), this one conducted in 1940-1941 by the Kriegsmarine. Here are several views (day and night) from other angles that will help bring out the details. Finally, we have the USS South Carolina, name ship of the class, under a “short tow” as she pulls away from the munitions piers. She was put on a “short” hawser in order to move her out of the tight confines of the munitions loading area. Two steam tugs are hauling her forward, while two more aft will act as a brake. The port side tug is still paying out hawser and will drop back shortly. With only about 10 feet of water under her keel, the battleship is slow to gain momentum, slows down easily if not under tow, and answers her helm only with great difficulty. In a shallow harbor, tugs are a necessity. South Carolina was the first dreadnought battleship in the US Navy. If Congress had not delayed the 1905 Naval Appropriations Bill, she might have been the first in the world. But Britain laid down the keel of HMS Dreadnought and launched her in less than a year – two months ahead of South Carolina’s keel laying ceremony. But South Carolina was an attractive ship in her own right. All her main battery guns were on the centreline with superfiring turrets fore and aft. Her upper decks were clear of clutter and free of unnecessary structures – and even her bridge was positively spartan. The lattice-work cage masts and tall, capped funnels gave here a unique silhouette. Compact, with a 12 inch gun punch, she was a good beginning. As always, I cannot adequately express my thanks to @Barroco Hispano for making his warship models available to me. These are a wondrous piece of skill and craft – each one finely detailed, realistically colored, and textured with the genius of an “Old Master”. Even if you don’t read the text, you have surely gotten your money’s worth looking at his “works of art”. MANY THANKS! If you enjoyed anything you saw – please punch the “like” button so I will know. A comment would be even more informative. And please feel free to "Follow" this thread if you find it of interest. Comments and critiques requested and gratefully accepted. All questions answered promptly to the best of my ability. THANK YOU for your visit ! Next time…...The Coaling Complex.- 4 Comments
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