Donald Featherstone’s NAVAL WAR GAMES: FIGHTING SEA BATTLES WITH MODEL SHIPS was published in 1965 and I bought my copy in the late 1960s.
One battle that stood out at the time was the one described in the chapter devoted to fighting naval wargames set during the later nineteenth century. It was fought using rules written by Walter Gurney Green and saw the fictional Empire of Scandinavia take on the Empire of the Baltic … and win (just!) after a flurry of ships ramming each other.
The ships involved were as follows:
The Empire of Scandinavia
- Battleship Denmark: 4 x 12.5-inch Rifled Muzzle-loading guns; 20-inch armour; 12 knots
- Battleship Sweden: 4 x 12.5-inch Rifled Muzzle-loading guns; 20-inch armour; 12 knots
- Battleship Hotspur: 1 x 10-inch Rifled Muzzle-loading gun; 3 x 64-pounder Rifled Muzzle-loading guns; 10-inch armour; 12 knots*
- Battleship Huascar: 2 x 10-inch Rifled Muzzle-loading guns; 3 x 64-pounder Rifled Muzzle-loading guns; 10-inch armour; 12 knots*
The Empire of the Baltic
- Battleship Latvia: 2 x 12.5-inch Rifled Muzzle-loading guns; 2 x 64-pounder Rifled Muzzle-loading guns; 18-inch armour; 10 knots
- Battleship Lithuania: 2 x 12.5-inch Rifled Muzzle-loading guns; 2 x 64-pounder Rifled Muzzle-loading guns; 18-inch armour; 10 knots
- Battleship Devastation: 4 x 10-inch Rifled Muzzle-loading guns; 14-inch armour; 14 knots*
- Battleship Dreadnought: 4 x 10-inch Rifled Muzzle-loading guns; 14-inch armour; 14 knots*
- Screw-sloop Crown Prince: 28 x 11-inch Smoothbore Muzzle-loading guns; No armour; 10 knots
Some of the ships were based on real warships (indicated above by *) and the others were imaginary designs. I’ve long hankered after recreating this battle … and it might be a nice little project for me to undertake in the near future.
The ‘real’ ships that took part
- HMS Hotspur
- Huascar
- HMS Devastation
- HMS Dreadnought
The fleets in action
The Empire of Scandinavia's fleet (the light grey ships) under attack by ships of the Empire of the Baltic's fleet (the dark grey ships).
Both sides engage each other at short range. The Hotspur was heavily damaged but managed to torpedo and sink the Latvia and Lithuania. She was then sunk by a torpedo fired by the Crown Prince.
Bob,
ReplyDeleteThis really brings back memories – the first wargame book I ever saw or read, borrowed from the library where I found it by chance in, I guess, 1965 or 1966. It inspired the first (with actual rules that is) real wargames I ever fought. In fact, I still have the small fleet of galleys I built to the design on page 53. Though not historically realistic I still think that the individual oars make them look better than most more modern versions.
It also reminds me how useful fuse wire proved to be for the modeller, and in those days almost every house would have a supply. It seems that one can still buy it, but maybe not the 10amp version I used for oars.
Of course, the back cover of “Naval War Games” told me of the existence of Don’s “War Games” and, once I’d scraped the 21 shillings together, and waited the month or so for my order to be processed via the local bookshop*, I started to learn about land wargames and found a new use for the Airfix Infantry Combat Group, my 1/72nd scale military vehicle kits and all the ACW figures.
I later decided that I couldn’t just keep renewing the library loan of "Naval War Games" and saved up the 30 shillings for my own copy, and both books still take pride of place on my wargaming bookshelves.
* I suspect that many younger readers don’t realise just how slowly the book business operated in the days before Amazon turned the market upside down.
All the best,
Mike
Mike Hall (Mike),
DeleteWow! That is a great memory to have! I am very pleased that you eventually bought - and still have - a copy of the book.
I also built balsa wood models based on the suggested designs in the book, but mine were lost years ago. I also used fuze wire and bits of stretched plastic sprue when scratch building or making conversions … but I never got around to using Plasticine and banana oil!
My first complete wargame armies (i.e. ones that had balanced forces for both sides) were created using Airfix ACW figures although I did have both the early British and German World War II sets as well as a number of ROCO and Airfix military vehicles.
I used to love visiting bookshops … but nowadays, other than Waterstones, they seem to be as rare as hen’s teeth. I do, however, enjoy visits to Baggins Book Bazaar (https://www.bagginsbooks.co.uk/) in Rochester, Kent, and the Falconwood Transport Bookshop (https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/falconwoodtransportbookshop) in Welling, Kent whenever the opportunity arises.
All the best,
Bob
A very interesting post Bob, not a book in my collection but it should be I think! I would be very interested if you do turn this into a project, very doable and very entertaining I would think
ReplyDeleteDonnie McGibbon,
DeleteI think that John Curry’s ‘History of Wargaming’ Project sells a reprint of the book.
I will certainly be adding more ironclads to my Belle Époque collection … and these models will provide inspiration for me to do so.
All the best,
Bob
BOB,
ReplyDeleteIt would be good to obtain plans of the Ironclads to build 1/1200th scale models- so far I have not found any plans. Regards. KEV.
Kev Robertson (Kev),
DeleteSome plans are easier to find than others. For British ships, I tend to rely on scanning in plans from Oscar Parkes’ definitive book about British battleships and rescaling them. I do have an extensive library of books about ironclads etc., and can generally find some sort of plan or side view to help me put together a ship model.
All the best,
Bob
I just want to second Bob’s recommendation of Parkes “British Battleships”. It – naturally – is mostly limited to British ships but there are plans of a few foreign vessels when they are significant in the development of battleship design. Its great virtue is its comprehensive coverage from Warrior onwards and that it contains so many plans, where most other books just give old photographs. Its downside is the cost, though there have been more recent editions (some new and revised) which you can probably get off Abe Books for £50 or so - but I can’t speak to their quality as such titles are sometimes based on scans of the original’s diagrams and images and the quality is degraded.
DeleteMost of my other books concentrate on photographs rather than plans. though there are some good plans in Brown’s “Warrior to Dreadnought” and Friedman’s “British Battleships of the Victorian Era”. I’m sure that Bob could provided you with a much more comprehensive list of recommendations.
Mike
Mike Hall (Mike),
DeleteExamples of other books I have include a very good book about the Ottoman Navy (THE OTTOMAN NAVY 1828 - 1923) and a comprehensive study of the French Navy from 1859 to 1914 (FRENCH WARSHIPS IN THE AGE OF STEAM 1859-1914).
All the best,
Bob