Thiaria: Other People's ships

Hello everyone!

@ace: Thanks for the feedback. As for the bridge shape, existing plans and photographs of the real Callenburgh/Hiddes-class all show the bridge to have that height, with forward vision from the portholes blocked by the radar on the 40mm mount. As designed, the radar seems not to have been part of the 40mm mounts, but the pictures that show the radar also still show the aft director. Thus, the radar on the Zoutman is a retrofit, with the HA director left in place. The bridge had an open upper level, which was quite cramped forward where the LA director was mounted in a tub. The forward part of the bridge was quite streamlined; my interpretation takes stramlining just a small step further.
http://www.modelbouwtekeningen.nl/10110 ... weers-1941
http://www.maritiemdigitaal.nl/index.cf ... =103008741
http://www.vriendenkring-mmi.nl/index_b ... ers-2.html

But now to something completely different:

13. Dutch prizes part 2: Claus van Beveren
The Netherlands had ordered four modern superdreadnoughts in 1913, one from Krupp Germania in Kiel, the other three to a German design from domestic yards. The German-built ship was canceled and broken up in 1914, and one of the three Dutch-built units was also axed during the first world war, but construction of the other two proceeded slowly, till both were commissioned in the early twenties under the names Willem de Zwijger (named for Prince William 'the Silent' of Orange) and Vrijheid (Freedom). They were hybrids between true battleships and battlecruisers, having relatively thin vertical protection (250mm), but high speed (24 knots) and powerful armament (eight 356mm/50 Bofors guns, sixteen 150mm/45 Krupp Guns and twelve 75mm/50 Cockerill guns). As commissioned, they had two high tripod masts fore and aft; with their flush-decked hull with a very pronounced sheer forward, they clearly resembled contemporary German battlecruisers:

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In service, the aft fire control position was nearly always covered in smoke from the aft funnel and pretty useless. The turbines, which were imported from Sweden in Willem de Zwijger and from Switzerland in Vrijheid, were another source of trouble, and the boilers, locally made in the Netherlands from low-quality wartime production material, were prone to corrosion. Both ships were mechanically unreliable and needed much maintenance, with Vrijheid's Zoelly turbines being even worse than Zwijger's de Laval turbines. A major modernization effort launched in 1929 eliminated both tripods in favour of a heavy tube mast forward; the superstructure was much enlarged to accomodate modern command, communications and fire control gear (the latter was however not yet available). The ships were also completely re-engined, with new Yarrow-Werkspoor boilers and license-built Brown-Curtis turbines. The forefunnel was moved aft, and the aft funnel was eliminated entirely. The number of 75mm guns was cut to eight, but all eight received HA mounts, and HA rangefinders were fitted for the first time. Two airplanes were carried, but no catapults. After this modernization, Vrijheid looked like this:

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Like the heavy cruisers Amsterdam and Rotterdam, the battleships were alternately deployed to the Netherlands East Indies for two-year periods. They had their new fire-control gear installed in their first R&R in 1933 and 1935, respectively, and the airplanes were swapped for a more modern type. In 1938, a further major refit was authorized. All 150/45 and 75/50 guns were landed, and eight 150/55 Bofors guns in twin turrets and eight 105/50 Bofors HA guns, also in twin mounts, were installed. Sixteen 40mm Bofors autocannons in eight twin mounts completed the flak equipment. Two catapults were mounted amidships in a similar way as originally planned on the totally modernized Italian battleships, with the turntable way aft and the forward part swiveling outboards on retractable rails. This refit was implemented on Willem de Zwijger in 1937 through 1938, and she returned to Java in January 1939.

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When the Japanese invaded the Dutch East Indies, Willem de Zwijger became flagship of the ABDA force, consisting of her, the Australian battlecruiser Tiger, and a total of eleven cruisers - five heavy and six light - from four Nations (Netherlands, USA, India and Australia). The Japanese and Kokoans had the Japanese battleship Mutsu, the Kokoan battlecruiser Konishi plus eight heavy cruisers (four Japanese and four Kokoan) and five light cruisers (one Japanese and four Kokoan). Neither side had significant carrier support. When these fleets met in the battle of the Java Sea, the Axis quite effortlessly gained the upper hand; it was the first Allied experience at the receiving end of Japan's deadly 609mm Long Lance torpedoes, and it proved to be painful. Seven of eleven allied cruisers were sunk, among them all four Dutch ships, and Willem de Zwijger was heavily damaged by gunfire from Mutsu. She would certainly have perished, but Mutsu had to come to the aid of the severely distressed Haguro, which was under fire from HMAS Tiger, and Willem de Zwijger could limp away. She was brought to the USA in July 1942, but repairing her had no great priority, and it took the Americans till December of that year to get started. They did a thorough job, however, and reconstructed her along the lines of USS Tennessee, California and West Virginia. She retained her still relatively new engines, but had her whole superstructure razed and replaced with an all-new US style superstructure with the latest fire-control and radar gear. Eight 127mm DP twin turrets and twelve 40mm Bofors quad mounts replaced the old secondary and anti-air armament. Horizontal armour was strenghtened to a total of 140mm on two decks, and the turrets and magazines also received massive additional armour. The hull was bulged to restore flotation and improve underwater protection, and speed dropped from 24 to 21 knots. When Willem de Zwijger returned to service in April 1944, she looked like this; she carried a Northrop N3PB aircraft at that time:

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The battleship deployed to European waters and was attached to the British Home Fleet; on two abortive sorties in mid-1944 she both times nearly came into shooting range of her sister, which served on the opposite side. She provided fire support in September 1944 for the allied Invasion in Normandy, then returned to Northern waters and escorted three convoys to Arkhangelsk; at that time, the Germans no longer tried to intercept these. Willem de Zwijger was present at the liberation of Rotterdam in July 1945 and belonged to the allied fleet that accepted the surrender of the last intact German fleet unit at Copenhagen in October 1945. After VE day, she returned to the Far East via New York and Panama. She came too late for Leyte, but operated off Okinawa and shot down a dozen Japanese airplanes, receiving a Kamikaze hit aft that wrecked her catapult and crane and nearly broke her stern off. By the time she was repaired, the war was nearly over; she was at Tokyo Bay for the Japanese surrender, then returned to the Netherlands. She deployed back to Java in 1947, but was not actively employed against the Indonesian independence movement and eventually returned to the Netherlands, where she paid off into reserve in 1950. She never was commissioned again for budgetary reasons and went to the breakers in 1958.

Her sister Vrijheid was docked at Amsterdam in February 1939 to receive the same refit. When the Netherlands were occupied, work was well advanced; the new secondary barbettes were already installed. The ship was to be blown up, but German special forces infiltrated the dockyard, overwhelmed the caretaker crew and disabled the demolition charges. After a German engineer team surveyed the ship, it was determined that it could be brought into German service within 18 months, and she was towed to Bremen for refit in September 1940. She received German 150/55 secondaries and 105/65 heavy AA guns in lieu of the originally planned Swedish guns, a single catapult instead of the planned twin catapult arrangement and the pre-fabricated tube mast that was originally planned for a refit of Admiral Graf Spee, which eventually never occurred. German light AA, fire control gear and radar was installed. Her hull, which had an icebreaker bow, received additional ice strengthening. When the refit was completed in August 1942, five months behind schedule, she carried 16 semi-automatic 37mm guns and 36 20mm guns in seven quad and eight single mounts. She was named Claus von Bevern, after the 17th century Dutch naval mercenary Cornelis Claes van Beveren, who was the first commander in chief of the Elector of Brandenburg's fleet; a trials ship bearing that name had recently been mined and sunk in the Skagerrak. After working up in the Baltic, the Bevern deployed to Norway, never to return. Upon arrival in Trondheim, she looked like this:

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After a turbulent time in Norway (see history post), she was eventually sunk by British airplanes during her return to Germany in December 1944.

Greetings
GD

Shipbucket

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