Shipbucket

Awesome...destroyers now!

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MS State Guard - 08 March 2014 - 28 January 2023

The Official IJN Ships & Planes List

#FJB

Sorry Emperor Andreas - I went back to the big boys toys for the next one.

Battleship Teiwaz (God of war):

The six Hindenburg Class were designed to act as a group to defeat any fleet that may have been arrayed against them. The Bismarck/Scharnhorst Classes would act as raiders and once any large ships came against them they would fall back on the Hindenburgs for large fire support. Only two ships of the 6 were completed, the name ship Hindenburg and the Teiwaz.

At this stage you have the opportunity to Select a Scharnhorst type with 9x13.8", or a Scharnhorst/Bismarck Type with 8x16.

The Hindenburgs are a step up in size and armament with a main armament of 9x16.5" (420mm). Twenty, in ten twin turrets, of 5" guns make up the heavy AA while 16x37mm are the lighter AA guns. I have moved the aircraft launching arrangement back to the centre of the ship, the same as the earlier classes. Speed was kept at 30 knots the same as the previous classes, but to get the mixed diesel and turbine machinery to produce the 200,000shp required was quite an effort with two huge funnels required to exhaust all the gasses. The diesels were to produce a maximum of 20 knots while the turbine machinery was brought on line for full power runs.



This is the as designed version of 1938. A bit later I will do an 'As completed' version with updated equipment, radar etc.

KM Teiwaz, as completed 10/1943.

(I had a couple of hours free so Teiwaz got built) The Teiwaz was completed in 10/1943 and accepted for service after a months workup in the Baltic. Transferred to Norway the ship was just in time to sail with the Scharnhorst (9x13.8") to intercept convoy JW-55B. The Allies were unaware that the Westphalia had arrived in Norway and the convoy covering force was large enough to deal with the Scharnhorst, but woefully inadequate to face a brand new Hindenburg Class battleship.

The forces:
German - Teiwaz (9x16.5"), Scharnhorst (9x13.8"), SP1 and SP2 (8x5", 10xTT), 4 x Z17 DD (6x5", 8xTT)
British - Duke of York (10x14"), Norfolk and Cumberland (8x8"), Sheffield (12x6"), Jamaica, Nigeria, Trinidad (12x6"), a mix of 16 DD's from LM to S class DD's.

Conditions were horrendous, snow and sleet with heavy seas. This gave the Germans the edge as it grounded any aircraft the British forces may have had aboard any carrier that was with the escorts. It may also have grounded the Luftwaffe but as the air and naval arms of the German forces barely talked to each other it was no loss to the Kriegsmarine forces.




So I have set the scene, tell me what happens next?

Awesome job!

Oh, and by 'destroyers now' I meant "Now we've got destroyers appearing...sweet!"

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MS State Guard - 08 March 2014 - 28 January 2023

The Official IJN Ships & Planes List

#FJB

Since I had some spare time this afternoon I completed the 1943 drawing of Westphalia and added it to the post above.

Nice work, but I think some of your Radars are the 'translucent' example versions from the parts sheet instead of the 'solid'actual part.

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My worklist
Any help and source material is always welcome.

I need to 'black' them in? I did wonder why it was 'ghosty'.

To keep Emperor Andreas happy, back to another destroyer.

The V116 class were the largest destroyers completed during WW1. The German Navy kept one as the leader of the rag-tag band of destroyers they were allowed to keep after the Versailles Treaty. For all its life the Drache was used as a Destroyer Leader. Big and fast they had the distinction of having the heaviest armament on a destroyer. But that was not really an advantage. The 5.9" gun was not a gun that did well on a destroyer. Lots of hull movement in any sort of seaway made handling the big 50kg shells difficult. Loading was slow and cumbersome, which impacted rate-of-fire which was much slower than even the light cruisers. With the introduction of the dual purpose weapons from 1935 onwards, hope was at hand for the Drache. 1937 and the ship is taken in hand for refit. The 5.9" are removed and replaced with the single open 5" which were lighter and allowed a bit of extra topweight to fit a few extra AA guns. Two single 37mm were mounted aft of the aft funnel while two single 20mm were added around the bridge.

Looks like Scharnhorst will survive North Cape! Awesome work on both BB and DD!

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MS State Guard - 08 March 2014 - 28 January 2023

The Official IJN Ships & Planes List

#FJB

Yes Emperor Andreas, the Scharnhorst may survive North Cape. What I see as the biggest imponderables are what the Allied response is once the appearance of the Teiwaz is reported. Do they go into full retreat mode, reversing the convoy and using the forces at hand to cover the convoy. What the battle will hinge on in my opinion will be the handling of the British cruisers and destroyers. That is where the British hold the advantage. The heavy weather also helps mask the radar signature of the destroyers and it will be difficult to track them.

For the Germans to get through to the convoy they will have to run their ships through the gauntlet of the British destroyers with shoals of torpedoes to avoid. The Germans do not have enough destroyers / cruisers of their own to slice through the British screen and clear a way for the two big ships to menace the British battleship and convoy. A couple of torpedo hits on the German capital ships would prove disastrous for the Germans and could lead to both ships being lost. What are the Germans willing to lose to get at the convoy.

Is it possible for the convoy to be ordered to scatter? Another PQ17. I would not think so. Every man from Admiral Tovey down would probably mutiny and fight.

They could order the convoy to reverse course en mass, but not disperse. Of course, there would probably be chaos in a storm like this, so that might not be the best course of action either.

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MS State Guard - 08 March 2014 - 28 January 2023

The Official IJN Ships & Planes List

#FJB