My design for the two ironclad battleships I wanted to model for my Schwarzenberg Navy is based on two related designs that were built by AG Vulcan of Stettin for the Imperial German and Imperial Chinese Navies.
The Sachsen-class ironclads consisted of four ships (Sachsen, Bayern, Württemberg, and Baden) and they were designed to form part of the coastal defences of Germany. They were expected to operate from fortified naval bases from which they would sally forth to break any naval blockade of the German coast or to counter any enemy landings.
The were well armed, and when build they had a main armament of six 10.2-inch/26cm guns in a paired barbette mounting forward and the remainder in a central casemate. They entered service in the late 1870s/early 1880s and were rebuilt in the 1890s when their armour was enhanced and their machinery replaced with more modern engines and improved boilers.
When the Imperial Chinese Navy decided to add some ironclads to its fleet, one of the designs it was offered was an improved version of the Sachsen-class. It was originally intended that there would be twelve ships in the Dingyuan-class, but only two (Dingyuan and Zhenyuan) were built.
They were well armed, and had a main armament of four 12-inch/30cm guns mounted in a pair of hooded barbettes that were situated en echelon forward. These hoods looked like turrets, but were in fact cylindrical shields with roofs.
During the Sino-Japanese War, both ships took part in the Battle of the Yalu River on 17th September 1894, where they suffered considerable damage. In early 1895 they were in action again against the Imperial Japanese fleet. On this occasion Dingyuan was hit by a torpedo, run aground to stop her sinking, and later blown up, and Zhenyuan surrendered. She was subsequently recommissioned into the Imperial Japanese Navy as Chin Yen and rearmed. As Chin Yen, she took part in the Russo-Japanese War as a second-class battleship and coastal defence ship. She was later used as a target and scrapped in 1912.
My design was based on the Dingyuan-class, but with a single hooded barbette forward, thus:
When foreshortened or 'cartooned', the design looked like this:
I have begun building my two models and hope to finish them in a couple of days.
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Hello there Bob,
ReplyDeleteThat is a very neat design old chap and is sure to upset the Burgundians!
I am looking forward to seeing them built and in action in due course - are you adding cruisers etc at some point?
All the best,
DC
David Crook,
DeleteCheers! I wanted a design that looked as different as possible from the Burgundian ships, and that was as ‘Germanic’ in style. I toyed with using the Siegfried/Odin-class coastal defence ships as the basis of my design, but in the end I opted for this German/Chinese hybrid.
I hope to add more ships (e,g., cruisers, gunboats, torpedo boats) in the future, but I want to build a small battleship for the Khakistani Navy first.
All the best,
Bob
BOB,
ReplyDeleteNicely thought out design for your cartoon version Ironclad- very interesting history of the ships. I'm not to sure though I think that there a couple of Ironclads which have survived to this day and on display throughout the world. Cheers. KEV.
Kev Robertson (Kev),
DeleteWhat I found surprising was the fact that the Chinese chose a German design and builder rather than a British or French one.
Incidentally, the Chinese have actually built a replica of the Dingyuan, and it is on show as part of a Sino-Japanese War museum at Weihai in China (https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g297459-d1814201-Reviews-Dingyuan_Warship_Tourist_Area-Weihai_Shandong.html).
All the best,
Bob
Looking forward to your ship building and launch…
ReplyDeleteTradgardmastare,
DeleteThey should be 'launched' in a couple of days, and 'commissioned' soon afterwards.
All the best,
Bob
These are interesting hull designs, they look like they should be relatively easy to make.
ReplyDeleteMr. Pavone,
DeleteI am hoping that they will be relatively easy to build from scratch.
All the best,
Bob
Hello Bob, these German ships Dingyuan and Chin Yen were quiet formidable at the time and the Japanese navy despite its best efforts had failed to sink them at battle of Yalu River 1894 they infact inflicted a lot of damage on the Japanese fleet.
ReplyDeleteI am looking forward to see the new Schwarzenberg capital ships they will indeed be excellent rivals to the Burgundian battleships. Quinn
Glory to Ruritania (Quinn),
DeleteIt is testament to how well built they were that they were able to absorb quite considerable damage as well as inflict it upon the Japanese ships. The Japanese had no compunction about incorporating the surviving ship in their fleet, and even modernised her.
All the best,
Bob