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Chapter 04: Innovation On A Budget
Dreadnought posted a City Journal entry in IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS: CUXHAVEN
SMS Prinz Heinrich – circa 1902 – Moored alongside a fitting-out wharf in Kiel. The big tripod seen behind the aft pole mast is a pair of heavy lifting “sheers” used instead of an expensive cantilever crane. IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS: CUXHAVEN By: Dreadnought & AP Chapter 04: INNOVATION ON A BUDGET Though an excellent warship, SMS Furst Bismarck, the first German armored cruiser, had its’ faults -- chiefly, the cost. The naval constructors of the Kaiserliche Marine were careful men, and not known for their extravagance, nor their waste of money. But the Reichstag was shocked at the increase in cost over the Victoria Louise Class protected cruisers. Admiral Hollman (State Secretary Of The Navy) had been forced into a protracted series of negotiations to make the politicians understand the difference between the thin-skinned protected cruisers and the new armored cruiser. It was also necessary to explain why it was essential for the Kaiserliche Marine to develop a “cruiser killer” to protect the trade routes and colonies. Only then was the money forthcoming -- reluctantly. Hollman’s successor, Alfred von Tirpitz, would be faced with solid opposition in the Reichstag and would have to find a different approach to new construction. SMS PRINZ HEINRICH CLASS SMS Prinz Heinrich -- an artist’s illustration of the period showing her underway at high speed. SMS Prinz Heinrich was another single ship class, and the second armored cruiser built for the Kaiserliche Marine. The new ship was named after Kaiser Wilhelm II's younger brother, Prince Heinrich of Prussia. A career naval officer, the Prince held commands from a lowly torpedo boat to a battleship, and eventually commanded the Hochseeflotte from 1906-1909 -- rising to the rank of Grossadmiral (Grand Admiral) and Generalinspekteur der Marine. The new cruiser was authorized under the 1898 Naval Law – the first naval construction program instituted under the direction of Alfred von Tirpitz, the new State Secretary of the Reichsmarineamt. Immediately upon assuming the office of Naval State Secretary in 1897, Tirpitz realized the current requirement of annual Reichstag approval for naval spending was unworkable. He could make no long-term strategic decisions regarding the composition of the fleet, nor could he guarantee the navy would have enough ships, enough sailors, or even the right ships for the job. To make a very long story much shorter – after a great deal of political maneuvering and considerable “Royal pressure” from the Kaiser -- he was able to get the Naval law of 1898 through the Reichstag. The politicians were now committed, by law, to building a specified number of new ships – of a certain type – within certain fiscal limits – each year. The Naval Law also provided for the automatic replacement of ships lost, retired at 25 years, or stricken as obsolete. There were additional naval laws passed in 1900, 1906, 1908, and 1912, which were negotiated due to rising construction costs or, more often, due to foreign political tensions. Tirpitz could now build a fleet that would never get smaller (automatic replacement), and could only grow -- through guarantied new construction. Tirpitz’ goal was to build a fleet with battle squadrons that were “homogeneous” – built within a given time frame to the same plans – and, therefore, more able to operate together as a fleet. One four-ship-squadron with the same speed, same armor protection, and same gun power could be tactically employed much more effectively than a squadron with four completely dissimilar ships. The Naval laws put an end to long delays between ships, increased the number of new ships to be laid down every year, and effectively put an end to “single ship classes”. (Sounds good – but when dealing with “government money” – there are always strings attached.) SMS Prinz Heinrich – profile plan. The designs for Prinz Heinrich were prepared in the late 1890’s while construction of Furst Bismarck was still underway. The keel was laid down at Kaiserwerft Shipyard in Kiel in December, 1898. She was launched in March, 1900, and commissioned in March, 1902. The naval architects based the new plans on the design of Furst Bismarck, but the new Naval Law imposed fiscal limitations and it was agreed the new ship's size would have to be reduced by about 1,500 tons. Weight reduction was achieved, in part, by thinning the ship's armor. Krupp’s recent development of “cemented armor plate” allowed for thinner and lighter plates that were significantly more effective, so less could be applied to achieve the same level of protection. With the savings in weight on the new armor plate, the belt could actually be extended up to the main deck level, thereby protecting more of the ship’s interior. As in previous designs, the ship’s “protected armor deck” sloped down and connected to the lower edge of the belt, below the waterline. Unfortunately, the main battery armament was also significantly reduced to save weight and cost. Instead of four heavy guns in two twin turrets, Prinz Heinrich was given two heavy guns in single turrets. They also reduced the secondary battery by removing two guns. And rather than spreading the secondary battery along the hull in casemates and sponsons, they were all mounted in a “central battery” amidships, to reduce the area of hull requiring armor. This weight savings allowed thicker armor to be concentrated in the battery. Additional weight was cut by redesigning the bridge structure. Rather than a raised position for better ship handling and field of view, it was raised just one level above the weather deck and reduced to flat walkways with canvas screens and an enclosed wheelhouse barely big enough for two helmsmen and two officers. The conning tower “battle position” was built into the weather deck beneath the wheelhouse. The heavy “military” masts were discarded in favor of heavy pole masts. SMS Prinz Heinrich – circa 1904. The wooden framing erected above the forecastle deck are temporary supports for large sun awnings. In the picture above, you can clearly see just how spartan the bridge arrangements were, and just how little deck clutter there was on the rest of the ship. You can also get a good idea of that stepped, “slab-sided”, look common to all German armored cruisers. The secondary battery concentrated amidships is in a sort of “pyramid stack”, giving it a stepped (staircase) look. While the hull has an extremely high freeboard, with a forecastle deck raised one level higher, adding to the “slab-sided” look. Though this looks like an unnecessarily large, exposed, hull (big target), the Royal navy dreadnoughts sat even taller in the water. During their frequent sweeps of the North Sea, the British had to be able to endure rough weather – and it was not uncommon to send the light forces (light cruisers, destroyers, and torpedo boats) home, while the battleships plowed ahead. SMS Prinz Heinrich tied up at the Replenishment Pier, taking on stores. As only the second armored cruiser built, she was still a bit of an experiment, and the Reichstag was being difficult with money. The most notable result was the main battery being reduced to single-gun-turrets fore and aft. They are an unusual shape and @AP has modeled all their details very well. Note the placement of the crew in various locations. The crewmen on the platform deck beside the casemated turret guns near the bow – one exiting a bulkhead door – are a special treat for me. That deck is actually the “main deck” level, which is frequently mentioned in the text. Prinz Heinrich was 410 feet on the waterline with a beam of 64 feet, and displaced 8,887 tons. The steel hull was constructed with transverse and longitudinal frames, and incorporated thirteen watertight compartments, with a double bottom extended for 57% of the ship’s length. Her crew comprised 35 officers and 532 enlisted men. Her propulsion plant was three vertical 4-cylinder triple expansion engines, driving three shafts, and powered by fourteen Durr water-tube boilers. The boilers were trunked into two funnels amidships. Strangely enough, the propulsion system was rated at 15,000 IHP (Indicated Horsepower) and should have provided 20 knots – but on sea trials, her engines actually reached 15,694 IHP, but only produced 19.9 knots. Prinz Heinrich was designed to ship 890 tons of coal for normal operations, but could take on a “war load” of 1,590 tons if necessary. This allowed an operating radius of 2,640 miles at 18 knots, or 5,270 miles at a cruising speed of 10 knots. Prinz Heinrich is moored at a Replenishment Pier modified from the PEG seaport “Pier One” set. I added the “WMP Seawalls” on the outer edges to act as wooden “bumpers” for the warships and deleted selected items of the dock cargo to make them more appropriate to the early 1900’s. The “base” of the pier has been completely “re-lotted” with cargo props and the space between the pier and the road has been filled in with 1x1 custom-made lots of concrete pads, trucks, and jeeps. Prinz Heinrich’s main battery consisted of two 9.4 inch SK-L/40 (QF) guns mounted in single turrets, one fore and one aft. They fired a 310 pound shell at 3 rounds per minute out to a range of 18,500 yards and were supplied with 75 rounds each. A secondary battery of ten 5.9 inch SK-L/40 (QF) guns were mounted amidships, six in turreted casemates on either broadside, with the remaining four in turrets in the ship's hull above the casemates. These guns could fire an 88 pound shell at 5 rounds per minute out to a range of 15,000 yards. Each gun was supplied with 120 rounds. The cruiser also carried ten 3.5 inch SK-L/30 (QF) guns for torpedo boat defense. These guns could fire a 15 pound shell at the rate of 15 per minute out to a range of 7,800 yards. Each gun was allowed 250 rounds. Prinz Heinrich was also fitted with four 17.7 inch torpedo tubes -- one on the stern in a swivel mount, one submerged in the bow, and one submerged on either side abreast the forward gun turret. Prinz Heinrich is, simply put, one of “AP’s” scratch-built “works of art”. The details of the ship have been carefully researched from text records, ship’s plans, and numerous photographs. The “slab-sided-look” to these ships is especially noticeable on this one. (Prinz Heinrich has already been posted to the STEX for those who wish to download.) The new armored cruiser was plated with Krupp “cemented armor”. The armor belt was 3.9 inches thick in the “central citadel” of the ship, protecting the barbettes, magazines, and machinery spaces, and tapered to 3.1 inches at the ends. The belt was backed by 4 inches of teak planks. Unlike Furst Bismarck, the bow and stern were left unarmored. (The naval architects were, apparently, trusting the “protected armor deck” below the waterline to counteract any damage taken on the ends of the ship. A reasonable assumption. But the problem of keeping the bow “watertight” – would come back to haunt them – with catastrophic results.) The “protective armored deck” was 1.6 inches thick and connected to the bottom of the belt by 2 inches of sloped armor. The forward conning tower had 5.9 inch sides with a 1.2 inch roof. The aft control position was only protected against splinter and shrapnel damage with half-inch plating. The main battery turrets were given 5.9 inch sides with a 1.2 inch roof, while the secondary turrets received 3.9 inches of armor. The casemated guns were protected by a 3.9 inch armored strake with 2.8 inch gun shields. This shot shows Prinz Heinrich’s streamlined hull form to good effect. And you can see the long, “flush” weather deck that runs from the forecastle break to the aft turret. Prinz Heinrich served with the fleet in home waters for just four years, from 1902 to 1906, when she was “Flagship – Scouting Forces”, and mainly occupied with fleet training. In August, 1902, she escorted Kaiser Wilhelm II’s yacht Hohenzollern during a trip to meet Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, in Reval. Prinz Heinrich also participated in the fleet training activities of 1903, including a visit to Spain from 7 May to 10 August, during which she made a port call in Vigo, Spain from 20 to 30 May. On January 25, 1904, the Kaiser ordered Prinz Heinrich to be loaded with medical supplies, food, clothing, medical staff, and a special landing party, to go to the assistance of the Norwegian town of Alesund in the aftermath of a fire that caused extensive destruction. The Kaiser had often enjoyed the hospitality of the small village during his Norwegian vacations and wished to repay their kindness. The ship was “laid up” from early 1906 to mid-1908, largely due to budgetary constraints. There was always a shortage of operating funds for the growing fleet, and, there was a chronic shortage of enlisted men to man the ships – because they had to be paid. She was reactivated in 1908 as a gunnery training ship, and in 1912, underwent modernization. In 1914, conversion into a permanent training ship began, with the work completed just before the outbreak of World War I. Mobilized for active war service, initially with III Scouting Group of the Hochseeflotte, Prinz Heinrich was used in the North Sea for coastal defense and patrols – mostly guard ship duty in the Jade Bay and Ems River. In December, 1914, she sortied with the fleet in support of the raids on Scarborough, Hartlepool, and Whitby. During the raid on Hartlepool, 15-16 December, 1914, Prinz Heinrich, the armored cruiser Roon, and a flotilla of torpedo boats, were assigned to the "scouting van” of the Hochseeflotte, commanded by Admiral Friedrich von Ingenohl. The battle fleet was providing distant cover for Konteradmiral Franz von Hipper’s battlecruisers, which were conducting the raid. Hipper had put to sea at 03:00 and it had been heavy going all night. The seas were running high with long rollers coming in from the north. Even the big battlecruisers were taking water over the bow. The weather had closed in and the fast moving raiding force ran in and out of belts of drizzling rain and fog. The weather was no better as Ingenohl and the battle fleet approached the area south-east of Dogger Bank. At this point, during the pre-dawn darkness on the 16th, the German battle fleet of fourteen dreadnoughts and eight pre-dreadnoughts came within a dozen miles of an isolated squadron of six British battleships – followed a few miles behind by four battlecruisers. A lively skirmish erupted between the rival destroyer screens across a wide arc of darkened, fog-shrouded, ocean. Gunfire rumbled like thunder and the night sky was lit by the muzzle flashes of quick-firing cannon. The widespread fighting and confusion in the rain and darkness convinced von Ingenohl he was faced with the entire Grand Fleet. Under strict orders from Kaiser Wilhelm II to avoid risking the fleet unnecessarily, von Ingenohl chose to break off the engagement and set course for Wilhelmshaven. The irony of the whole thing was that this is exactly what the German strategy had called for. The raid was designed to lure a small portion of the Grand Fleet into an engagement with the main body of the Hochseeflotte where it could be destroyed, and thereby reduce Britain’s numerical superiority. But that is another story – for another day. Here you see the “box-like” forward superstructure designed to keep water “over the bow” from flowing back over the ship. Notice the weathered look to the turret roof. The forward bridge is a “minimalist”, round, armored conning tower, and the midships weather deck accommodates the funnels, ship’s boats, boat cranes, and an alternate compass platform aft of the boats. (Many warships of this era had specially built compass platforms – mostly wooden – to partially alleviate problems with “compass deviation” in steel warships.) In the “after-action” discussions in Wilhelmshaven, it was decided the twelve-year-old Prinz Heinrich had no place in operations against the powerful and more modern British Grand Fleet. Accordingly, on 12 April 1915, III Scouting Group was detached from the Hochseeflotte and transferred to Kiel. Prinz Heinrich and her older sisters could do good work in the Baltic Sea against the less numerous and hardly modern Russian Baltic Fleet. Prinz Heinrich patrolled the central Baltic and supported offensive minelaying operations for the most part. In May, 1915, she provided gunfire support for the assault on Libau, and shelled Russian positions during the Battle Of The Gulf Of Riga, in August. Cruiser warfare set the tone for most of the war in the Baltic. Hit-and-run raids, minelaying sorties, shipping convoys, bombardments, and mostly nuisance raids were the usual fare. German cruisers had to be wary at all times. Though the Russians were not “strategically brilliant”, once they located an enemy and engaged – they were tenacious. In this type of cutthroat warfare, the armored cruisers took the place of battleships and provided support and muscle for the lighter cruisers and destroyers. Prinz Heinrich was frequently at sea in support of one operation or another, and the support was needed. The Russians did have some good armored cruisers, and when aggressively handled, they could be real trouble. And if that were not enough to contend with, there was always a British submarine or two lurking about in the Baltic. Due to severe crew shortages in the fleet in late 1915, Prinz Heinrich had her crew reduced, and was ultimately decommissioned and disarmed in March 1916. She then served in a variety of secondary roles. For a time she even served as the “station flagship” for the Commander-In-Chief, Baltic Forces – His Royal Highness, Admiral Prince Heinrich. She was finally sold and scrapped in 1920. With Prinz Heinrich, the forecastle deck and fantail were rather short, and in this ship, the rear control position (aft conning tower) is a cramped, box-like structure on the quarter deck. Note the sailors climbing the ladder to the quarter deck. Ships of this period quite often carried a large number of ship’s boats and steam launches. They were used for errands, and transporting crew and small goods from ship to shore, and numerous boats were a good thing when “abandoning ship”. “Carley Floats” (an American invention) were quite common in the Royal Navy beginning around 1905, while the Kaiserliche Marine devised a variant of their own around 1910. The general opinion was that Prinz Heinrich was a good sea boat with gentle motion, quick to the helm, but like Furst Bismarck, suffering from excessive roll in a beam sea. And though well received, she was not without her critics; Vizeadmiral Hopman referred to her as ”...cheap, but bad”. No doubt, the Vizeadmiral was unhappy with the initial design choices made in the interests of cost-cutting. But then, any admiral would rather have four big guns than just two. On the other hand, naval analysts and historians have compared the ship favorably with foreign contemporaries such as the French Desaix, Russian Bayan, and Italian Giuseppe Garibaldi. But the Imperial Naval High Command was right about one thing; when analysts measure her against the Grand Fleet armored cruisers, she still comes out a poor second. Though she only served four years in the High Sea Fleet, she did good service over a long life, and her design proved to be quite influential. All subsequent German armored cruisers were developments of the Prinz Heinrich “template”. In fact, if you study the basic armor scheme pioneered in Prinz Heinrich, and compare it to successive designs, you will find those same basic elements over and over. With the exception of a few “flourishes”, the basic armor placement pattern is always the same and is, more often than not, simply scaled up in thickness to meet changing technologies. In actual fact, Prinz Heinrich provided the basis of all German capital ships designed over the next forty years, including World War II’s KM Bismarck and the outlandish battleships of the H-Classes. NEXT TIME…… AN ILL-FATED LOT But – before you go…… This is our new “prop-pack” offering…...Volume 04: Maritime Cranes. AND -- Let’s take a moment and look at some of the landscape. I have experimented with various types of landscape over the years – heavily forested – minimalist vegetation – no landscape – all with complete dissatisfaction. I have never been able to look at a map and put “just a little” flora and fauna on it. I finally settled on what has been referred to as “painting” the landscape. It’s a lot more work, but does produce a satisfying appearance. I have also experimented with various coastal landscapes, and wanted something new for this map. Fortunately for me, @MissVanleider did some really great “pioneering” work with sand dunes and the Poseidon Terrain Mod – which I have adapted to my own terrain style. This is the shoreline south of the West Loch anchorage. Starting on the right of the picture, there are some low hills with a few trees on top, but most of them are concentrated in low spots or the “valleys” between the hills. They blend into a thicker belt of timber running along the tops of the beachfront bluffs. Rather than create a series of sand dunes along the shore, I opted to create something like a sandy, eroding, cliff face. From there down to the shore there is progressively less vegetation, mostly low scrub, with just a few deciduous trees – and a lot of dead ones. The sandy areas are encroaching on the trees and gradually killing them off. The bulk of my landscaping MMP’s are the work of @Girafe – simply put, they are uniformly excellent. This is one of my favorite coastal features – a rocky point jutting out into the water. It is known locally as “Gull’s Rock” – for obvious reasons. Notice how, when applied, the Poseidon sand “brush” highlights the bare slopes of the bluff face and shows the shadows of low spots where they occur naturally. Notice, near the top of the picture, the indentation in the bluff face, accented by low vegetation along the bottom – the “terrain brush” is perfect for bringing out the shape of the land. In this close-up, you can see a mass of different MMP work grouped together around the rocks. It seems like a lot of different MMP’s jammed together – but when it is blended together it creates a very natural look. Even the seagulls like the place…… Another view of “Gull’s Rock” and the sandy bluffs behind. The heavily forested belt behind the bluffs was built with a variety of custom-made 1x1 “Tree Filler” lots, then trimmed out with MMP’s to make it all blend together. As we move north along the beach, the sandy areas begin to thin out a bit and are replaced with grassy areas where the sand has not taken over as yet. In this spot, a small belt of trees still extends down to the water’s edge. Notice the indentation in the bluff face near the top of the picture. Part of the trick to making realistic bluffs is to make sure the faces are “irregular” in shape. Making the bluffs in a straight line would look awful. And if you want the indentations and high spots to show up well – you might make the bluffs at least 15 meters in height. Anything lower will result in a “dune” rather than a bluff or hill. This is a close-up showing an indentation in the bluff line. Notice how a minimum of “ground cover” has been placed running down the slope to accentuate the effect. Too much vegetation will blot out the visual shadow effect of the terrain brush. Along the shore, a patch of non-sandy shoreline has been “painted’ with “Heblem Sands” and gravels. In this shot, the sandy bluffs merge back into the semi-wooded beachfront and the heavily forested area below the West Loch Replenishment Piers. The ground cover gets heavier as it nears the lighthouse and merges with the thick forest. My THANKS to @MissVanleider for her excellent tutorial and inspiration. MANY THANKS to @Barroco Hispano for his generously given time and talent creating so many beautiful warships for this series. MY SPECIAL THANKS to my partner -- @AP -- for volunteering his considerable talents and valuable time in providing so many beautiful and highly detailed models that have added so much variety, originality, and “life” to the dockyards. Without his talent, imagination, and hard work – this series would not have been possible. 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 https://community.simtropolis.com/forums/topic/761469-simtropolis-shipyard/?tab=comments#comment-1766496- 6 Comments
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CHAPTER 13 -- SHORE BILLETING
Dreadnought posted a City Journal entry in IMPERIAL DOCKYARDS WILHELMSHAVEN
Chapter 13: Shore Billeting The phrase “shore billet” is common maritime parlance – “shore” referring to land, while “billet” can mean either a place of lodging, or a “job” or “duty”. If an officer transfers from a warship to administrative duties ashore – then he could be said to have secured a “comfy shore billet”. If the same officer is assigned a room in the “Bachelor Officers Quarters”, his room could also be called his billet. For our purposes, “billet” will refer to on-shore living arrangements for crews of the Kaiserliche Marine. Pictured above is a “1000 Mann Kaserne” (barracks) built on the Wilhelmshaven base prior to The Great War. Not much has been written about these buildings in English texts, but it can be assumed there was a “mess hall” in part of the basement or ground floor, with other small areas designated for building administrative purposes. Beyond that, it was merely a gigantic barracks house – a “no frills” hotel. Some are still in use today. The picture below is a period postcard of the same “kaserne” showing a detachment of armed sailors. With “Gunboat Diplomacy” being what it was during the “Colonial Period”, it paid to train sailors in close-order drill, and the use of small arms, machine-guns, and light artillery. Often, a warship was the only show of force that could respond if the natives got restless. The postcard, in itself, is a matter of some interest. When young Wilhelm II ascended the Imperial Throne, having read Alfred Thayer Mahan’s “The Influence Of Sea Power Upon History” – he decided he must have a great navy. Being King of Prussia (as well as German Kaiser) he already had the finest army in Europe. (The joke circulating in diplomatic circles was...”Most kingdoms have an army – but the Prussian Army has it’s own kingdom!”) And Wilhelm being Wilhelm, insisted His navy must be superior to that of “Uncle Bertie” (England’s Edward VII). In 1887, Wilhelm met Korvettenkapitan Alfred Tirpitz who shared the Kaiser’s admiration of Mahan. One thing led to another, and by 1896 Tirpitz had been promoted and given the post of Secretary of the Imperial Navy. Tirpitz, backed by the Throne, began the quest for a navy that would become the second largest in the world. As in most nations, it was not easy to get battleship money out of the Reichstag. After all, what did a farmer in Silesia care about a battleship? So a massive public relations campaign was undertaken to change hearts and minds. Among the tactics employed, was the formation of a “Navy League”. (Much like a college “Alumni Booster Club”.) These naval “fan clubs” sprang up all over Germany and among the perks handed out to members were these postcards. They bore pictures of various warships, Naval personalities, and dockyard scenes. The cards could also be purchased at newsstands and tobacconists and were collected and traded much like today’s “Baseball Cards”. Even the British saw the value of boosting public support and similar cards were included with the purchase of a pack of “Players Cigarettes”. This photo of HMS Iron Duke was used in that series. But information about the buildings is scarce. Aerial photographs (rare in those days) yield little data. And after more than a hundred years, and extensive WW II bombing, it is almost impossible to determine where the buildings were located or how they were laid out. But with 37 major warships and numerous smaller craft home-ported in Wilhelmshaven, they were key to the operation of the fleet. The various barracks would have housed upwards of 50,000 men when the warships were at anchor. Unlike other navies, German sailors did not “live” in their ships. When at sea the men lived a “sailor’s life” and the only room they could call their own was big enough to swing a hammock. Even the big ships were dimly lit, cramped, often damp and frequently “wet”, with poor ventilation. Messing arrangements aboard ship had changed little from the days of Nelson and hygiene was a matter best left to the imagination. Geography mandated they would largely operate in the North Sea – notorious for fog, wind, squalls, and eternally choppy seas. The only way to maintain any sort of good morale was to billet the crews ashore when not on active operations. Lacking any solid information, and working in an already crowded map tile – I chose to represent this vital aspect of the fleet / harbor with a specific set of piers and a “rough” barracks arrangement. Behind the warship piers, the barracks buildings are laid out on three sides of a rectangle with a “parade” area. The closest thing I could find to a German Naval Barracks was the “Union Club - Sydney” by @mattb325. Though much smaller than the kaserne, the lot is attractive with architecture reminiscent of the period, and has a “utilitarian – military” feel. Obviously, I could not accommodate 50,000 men, so I built a billeting area sufficient to illustrate the concept. In this close-up, you can see water towers placed for water supply and fire prevention. The small office, center bottom, is occupied by “support staff” assigned to the facility. They would be responsible for ordering supplies, equipment, bedding, laundry services, and victuals. The formations on the parade represent a large “ship’s company” as well as smaller formations for “divisions” and “sections”. Occupying the center of the parade is the “Administration Building”, re-purposed from the “Bathing Pavillion” by @mattb325. It is very similar to buildings still found on many of the surviving German Army “Kasernes” (bases). Germans are well known for their administrative talents and would most certainly have had a “billeting officer”, complete with staff and clerical support. The building also provides an “open mess” for the officers of the various ships. Next to the flagpole is a statue of the Navy’s “patron saint” – Wilhelm II. On the left side of the parade, you see two ship’s companies mustered and a small supply warehouse. Usually, when the fleet was at anchor, one of the old pre-dreadnoughts would act as a guard ship off the mouth of the Jade – with accompanying cruisers acting as outlaying scouts. Just offshore of Wilhelmshaven would be a “half-battle-squadron” (four battleships) with steam up as a “response force” should the guard ship require help. This “response” duty would be rotated among the fleet. The remainder of the fleet would be tied up at various mooring points with their crews assigned to barracks. The men would rise early, tidy barracks, breakfast, and march to their ships to relieve the “night harbor watch” before beginning their daily shipboard duties. At the end of the day, the crews returned to barracks, had their evening meal, and tended to more personal duties. Some of the men might be allowed a few days leave to go home, while others might be granted overnight “liberty” for a brief run in Wilhelmshaven town. The piers were re-lotted from the PEG “SNM Destroyer Piers” and have been dressed-out with various buildings and props. Left to right -- HMS Iron Duke, Benbow, Monarch, Thunderer, and USS Idaho. HMS Iron Duke was named in honor of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington – famously referred to as “The Iron Duke”. She joined the fleet in 1914 and became the “Fleet Flagship” of Adm. John Jellicoe in August of that year. Iron Duke was the name ship, and lead ship, of a class of four dreadnoughts – Benbow, Marlborough, and Emperor of India – which were remarkably similar in appearance to the previous King George V and Orion Classes. To her right is one of her classmates, HMS Benbow (Admiral John Benbow, 1653 – 1702). You may notice a difference between the picture shown earlier and the model in this picture. The picture shows Iron Duke with two thin funnels abaft the bridge – as she appeared during her career. The model shows Iron Duke with a single large funnel as she would have appeared after a planned 1929 modernization. In the end, treaty obligations would require her retirement in 1931, so the modernization was never carried out. Iron Duke was armed with the standard MK V, 13.5 inch, 45 caliber gun – ten of them in twin, centreline turrets – two superfiring forward, two superfiring aft, and one amidships. The aircraft catapult on the midships turret was actually installed after WW I. You can see the compact nature of the forward superstructure, in sharp contrast to earlier British battleships with complicated, sprawling deck houses. This class had an enlarged topmast structure designed to hold sighting and ranging equipment as well as gunnery control devices. Note the large optical rangefinder mounted at the rear of “A” turret. Almost every warship has an “aft control position” in the rear superstructure. Should the command center on the ship’s bridge (forward superstructure) be destroyed or become uninhabitable (fire), control can be switched to the aft position and the battle continued. On top of the aft superstructure, you will note yet another large rangefinder – this one wired into the ship’s gunnery control system. The two large rangefinders at the rear of the after turrets would be used in “local control mode” if the master system malfunctioned or became disabled. The curious structure hanging off the ship’s stern is the “Admiral’s Walk” – a quaint fixture dating to the Age of Sail. In Nelson’s day, exceptionally large three-decked ships-of-the-line (rare in number) were built with a “stern walk” (balcony) attached to the ornately carved stern. This “stern walk” went along with a spacious suite of cabins – one for sleeping and another that doubled as a “day cabin” and dinning room. These “posh” quarters were invariably inhabited by an admiral commanding a fleet, or possibly a squadron commodore. In this case, John Jellicoe, Admiral Commanding the Grand Fleet, could pace his stern walk in privacy rather than cause a commotion on the main deck. The small hatch near the gun muzzles led down to a companionway and the door to his suite. The four rectangular objects nearer the fantail are skylights opening over his cabins. Another controversial aspect of shore billeting has been argued by friend and foe, and historians alike, and the root cause of the argument comes down to one simple qualifier – size. HMS Dreadnought (above) ushered in the ”Dreadnought Era”, and mounting ten 12” guns on an 18,120 ton hull, put her top of the “A List” predators. She was a big ship, but she had to be big. Britain possessed the largest colonial empire on Earth and the Royal Navy protected colonies and guarded sea lanes in all the misbegotten corners of the world. British warships had to be big enough and strong enough to withstand Hurricanes and Typhoons. They had to pack enough firepower to meet whatever foe they might encounter, with thick armor belts to ensure survival. Their engines had to be tough and reliable to go places where dry docks did not exist and salvage tugs were scarce. And they had to carry thousands of tons of coal to operate where coaling stations were few and far between. But they also had to feed and house up to a 1,500 man crew – because “Jack Tar” lived aboard his ship. It had been that way since the days of Drake and Hawkins. It was said a man might come aboard as a cabin boy of ten or twelve years and never set foot on land again. Royal Navy captains routinely anchored far enough offshore to discourage would-be deserters from “making a swim for it”. So British warship design had to strike a delicate balance between sea-keeping, heavy guns, massive engines, thick protective armor, large coal bunkers, and room enough to berth the crew. Bigger guns meant less weight for armor. Bigger ships meant more surface area requiring armor. It was a balance rarely achieved. SMS Deutschland (above) was among the last class of pre-dreadnoughts delivered to the Kaiserliche Marine. But by the time she was commissioned (1906), Dreadnought had already made her obsolete. After a mad scramble, Adm. Tirpitz and the naval design office produced a dreadnought design to compete with the British – the Westfalen Class. Dreadnought and Westfalen were of roughly equal displacement and length. Westfalen was slightly wider in beam, but 2 knots slower, and she had two more guns, but only 11 inch. It would, a first glance, seem that Westfalen was out-classed – but she had subtle advantages that were not immediately apparent. Germany had few overseas colonial possessions, and her potential enemies were close at hand – Russia, France, and Great Britain. Consequently, she only had to deploy battle squadrons to the English Channel, North Sea, and Baltic Sea. German ships did not need to store huge amounts of coal to cover long distances, nor did they require excessive freeboard to keep the seas in the stormy Atlantic or vast Pacific. Though the crew spaces were cramped, the battlefleet was never expected to be at sea for more than a few days, so – as in decades past – the crews were housed in barracks ashore. Two simple factors – time and distance – allowed for smaller ships with lower target profiles. Painted the proper color, these ships might “disappear” into the North Sea haze. Cutting crew spaces to the bare minimum reduced the weight of steel necessary for a larger ship with better living quarters, and the savings could be put to better uses. German capital ships all tended to be a bit wider in the beam, and this made for a more stable gun platform as well as allowing for better underwater protection. Coal bunkers could be strategically placed to absorb battle damage that might otherwise cripple the ship. German ships were almost excessively sub-divided into smaller compartments, resulting in less flooding from battle damage, while shells tended to explode against outer bulkheads without reaching the heart of the ship. And the weight saved with a smaller ship could be applied to more armor plate over a wider area of the hull. So size, enabled by shore billeting and nearby combat zones, provided a considerable advantage. The Battle of Jutland, as a whole, proved that Imperial German capital ships were capable of sustaining massive amounts of damage while remaining in the fight. SMS Baden, the last battleship delivered to the Kaiserliche marine, was surrendered in January, 1919, and survived “The Great Scuttle” in June of that year. The British towed her to Invergordon and investigated the ship from top to bottom, examining armor, underwater protection, watertight bulkheads, and the speed and ease of working the main armament. Later they would use her as a gunnery target to test their shells against the German’s best armor arrangement. Their expert, Commander W.M. Phipps Hornby, pronounced...”considered as a fighting machine, Baden was markedly in advance of any comparable ship of the Royal Navy". If any further proof of superior design is needed, KM Bismarck’s armor scheme is a direct scale-up from Baden. And we all know it was nearly impossible to sink her. I cannot say it often enough -- MANY THANKS to @Barroco Hispano for his detailed, and beautifully textured warship 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 ! NEXT WEEK…...Torpedo Boats.- 2 Comments
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