British Armoured Cruisers: Duke of Edinburgh-Class

Thank you, graham. Very prudently thought!

_________________
My Avatar:Петр Алексеевич Безобразов (Petr Alekseevich Bezobrazov), Вице-адмирал , царская ВМФ России(1845-1906) - I sign my drawings as Ari Saarinen

Thanks so much, graham for sharing your collection of pictures of the Powerfuls! Those will enable me handsomely to draw a very detailed and (I hope) agreeable portrait of that ships' class!

The Lucky One!

While the Black Prince steadfastly and inexorably sailed to a tragic meeting with Fate, her sister, the Duke of Edinburgh, appeared to enjoy a charmed war. Being the class leader, she displayed a number of important differences, such as the positioning of the midships SL-platforms, hawsepipes on funnels etc. Also, when launched in 1906 she had about 5ft shorter funnels, but by 1910 they had been raised, both to increase the boiler pressure and improve the working conditions on the fore compass platform, atop the pilot-house.

At the outbreak of the war, she and her sister formed part of the 1st Cruiser Squadron in the Mediterranean, under the unimaginative and lethargic Rear Adm. Troubridge, a man who not only carried a huge responsibility on his shoulders, but also a renowned name (Nelson's favorite frigate captain, Thomas Troubridge, was a direct ancestor of his!). Alas, during the tense early weeks in Aug., 1914 he failed both, by letting the German Mediterranean Squadron, consisting of the battle cruiser SMS Goeben and light cruiser SMS Breslau, and under the command of the wily, and industrious Konter Admiral Wilh. Souchon, slip out of his hands, thereby precipitating the Osmanlis to enter the war on the side of the Central Powers. Later she was detached to the Red Sea to intercept German merchant shipping, where she had some success.

At Jutland, the Duke of Edinburgh was third in line, abaft the flagship HMS Defence and the Warrior. Sometime during the early contact with the enemy battle cruisers, about 6 pm, her sister seems to have lost contact with the rest of the 1 Cruiser Squadron (Rear-Adm. Hon. Sir Robert Arbuthnot), but the Duke went in, blazing her guns at the crippled SMS Wiesbaden, and most charmingly escaped miraculously without a single casualty, the admiral's stupenduous death charge against the entire German battle-line.

Being the sole survivor of the squadron she was re-attached to the 2nd CS and remained with it for the reminder of the war. Having already been rebuilt wth her 6" secondary battery completely suppressed and plated over, and six of those guns remounted on her upper deck, between the wing 9.2" turrets, she was again taken in hand by the yard in May 1917, when flash-tight doors were fitted to her ammunition hoists, additional armour added to the crowns and deck, and also a tripod-mast erected to support a larger f/c installation (which, in the end, was never fitted!), and, finally, two more 50 cal. 6" were fitted in embrasures on the focs'le deck beneath the bridge structure were fitted.

So, here she is: HMS Duke of Edinburgh as commissioned in 1906. The unofficial Coat of Arms, or Ship's Badge features the personal monogram or cipher of The Prince Alfred Ernst Albert Herzog von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha, Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Kent and Earl of Ulster, Admiral of the Fleet (1844-1900); CinC Channel Fleet (1883-84); CinC Mediterranean Fleet (1886-89) and CinC Plymouth (1890-93); being the second son of H. M. Queen-Empress Victoria he also had the sad distinction of being one of Britain's foremost forgotten admirals, one who took his duties and profession most seriously. The monogram is crowned by a ducal crown and the ship's name band is beneath the cipher:

[ img ]

bezobrazov wrote:

(Nelson's favorite frigate captain, Thomas Troubridge, was a direct descendant of his!)

Surely it must be the other way around.

Anyway, the boats could use a bit off attention again, plenty of double black to go around.
I'm not really sold on the top-masts and spars. Again double black just isn't how it's done.
I you move the Jig Boom down one pixel you'll get rid of the double black line there.
And why the double black lines in the casemates?
Aside from that it's a very good drawing.

_________________
“Close” only counts with horseshoes, hand grenades, and tactical nuclear weapons.
That which does not kill me has made a grave tactical error

Worklist

Source Materiel is always welcome.

I meant ancestor - of course! My bad typo! I'll change that. As for the other stuff, I'll take a look into those!

To round up the Dukes, I want to present the Duke of Edinburgh in her last guise. No longer suitable for fleet work, and showing signs of a hard life, the Duke has been rebuilt to bring her up to an acceptable standard. Already in March 1916 her secondary battery was removed; the casemate openings plated over flush with the hull, except the aftermost, recessed one, which was just closed in. In May 1917, the ship was taken in hand by the yard to have legs fitted to her mast, making it a tripod, in anticipation of the 15ft range finder to be installed in her control top (which never, as it were, materialized.) also numerous other changes and improvements are being made, the most important one is the fitting on each side of her forward superstructure of a pair of 6" 50 cal. mounts in casemates, thus bringing her secondary battery up to eight 6" 50 cal.; two shy of her original complement.

Now the ship is being utilised for the tedious but ever so important North Atlantic convoy route escort, based in Halifax, Canada; Queenstown, Ireland and even Madeira, Portugal. That's why her bridge structure has been built up and 'roughened' up. The vast expanse of tarps will provide frozen tars and officers a modicum of protection! She's now almost entirely lost her inate beauty; instead she exudes a kind of tough business-like look.
For two drudging years she and her consorts plough the inclement North Atlantic, bringing in vital supply for the Entete's supreme effort in crushing the Kaiser's victorious armies on the Western Front. As the United States enters the war, in May, 1917, she and her rugged, care-worn siblings will be a welcome sight by American GIs crossing the Big Pond for the first time in their life! With her impressive battery of 9.2" guns and, now efficiently workable 6" guns, no German or Austro-Hungarian surface raider would dare to challenge the convoys! As for the subs, the presence of the big cruisers certainly deters, since they provide a fast and truly menacing protection for the small sloops detailed and engaged in finding and sinking the German subs!

In other words: although relegated to a secondary role, without much glory or fanfare to be expected, the old ironclad performs a most vital role in the overall Entete war effort.

Now, behold the Duke of Edinburgh as she appeared during her last two service years (As usual credit for badge goes to KimWerner):

[ img ]

Thanks to the kindness and generosity of KimWerner, I've been able to update the drawings of the HMS Black Prince to include her coat-of-arms.

Very good. I wish I had this much talent. Again Very Nice Drawing.

Once more I have had the honor to update the Black Prince and Duke of Edinburgh, this time adorned with the new unofficial, but nonetheless incredibly beautiful badges provided by kind courtesy of KimWerner.

I finally got around to redo the whole boat-deck of the DofE:s. As I did that, I discovered that the underwater hull needed some alterations and additions, so have now taken care of all that. I drew an entirely new steam pinnace and steam cutter with whaleboats etc. I plan on posting them in the parts thread as soon as I get it cleaned up on one sheet. After that they would be available both for British and Japanese as well as any Vickers-Elswick designed ships of the period ca. 1900-1930.

Shipbucket

Who is online