Marine Modelling – Revisited Re-Issue 4: Some

Marine Modelling – Revisited
The year 2010 saw twenty five years of Marine Modelling International magazine and for the author fifty years of waterline
ship collecting. So here is a chance to re-visit some of those early and not so early articles virtually as they were – minimal
editing/updating apart from the addition of new digital illustrations and the deletion of ‘swapmeet & model news’. Please
remember that reported model availability and any prices quoted were at the time of writing. Each re-issue will attempt to
maintain a theme and this time it is early warships. The two 1993 articles cover similar ground to July 2008 – it is
interesting to see the developments that have occurred.
Re-Issue 4: Some Early Warships
July 1993 – British Ironclads Pt 1............................................................................................................................................. 2
Turret and Mast..................................................................................................................................................................... 2
The Breastwork Monitor....................................................................................................................................................... 2
The Ram................................................................................................................................................................................ 2
The Turret Battleship ............................................................................................................................................................ 3
List: RN ironclads in 1/1250 (Pt 1)....................................................................................................................................... 3
September 1993 – British Ironclads Pt 2 .................................................................................................................................. 3
Turret vs Barbette ................................................................................................................................................................. 4
The first Pre-dreadnought ..................................................................................................................................................... 4
List: RN ironclads in 1/1250 (Pt 2)....................................................................................................................................... 5
List: Some 'foreign' ironclads and pre-dreadnoughts in 1/1250............................................................................................ 5
References and further reading ............................................................................................................................................. 5
July 2007 – Early Aircraft Carriers........................................................................................................................................... 5
Imperial Japanese Navy ........................................................................................................................................................ 5
United States Navy ............................................................................................................................................................... 6
Royal Navy ........................................................................................................................................................................... 7
French Navy.......................................................................................................................................................................... 7
The Models ........................................................................................................................................................................... 8
List: Aircraft Carriers in 1/1200-1250 (* = not yet released) ............................................................................................... 9
January 2008 – Seaplane Carriers of the RN ............................................................................................................................ 9
References and Further Reading ......................................................................................................................................... 11
List: RN (& RAN) Seaplane Carriers 1914 – 1930 (selective)........................................................................................... 11
July 2008 – Pre-1900 Ironclad Battleships ............................................................................................................................. 11
Royal Navy ......................................................................................................................................................................... 12
List: 1/1250 Models of RN ships ........................................................................................................................................ 13
Imperial Russian and Japanese Navies ............................................................................................................................... 13
List: 1/1250 Models of Russian & IJN ships ...................................................................................................................... 14
Other Navies ....................................................................................................................................................................... 14
List: 1/1250 Ironclad Models of other Navies .................................................................................................................... 14
Manufacturers ..................................................................................................................................................................... 14
December 2009 Italian WW1 Dreadnoughts .......................................................................................................................... 15
Dante Alighieri.................................................................................................................................................................... 15
Cavour Class ....................................................................................................................................................................... 15
Doria Class.......................................................................................................................................................................... 17
Models & Colour Schemes ................................................................................................................................................. 17
Table 1 Italian Dreadnoughts of WW1 ............................................................................................................................... 18
Colour scheme: Andrea Doria 1941 – 42........................................................................................................................... 18
Colour scheme: Andrea Doria 1942 – 45............................................................................................................................ 19
Colour scheme: Guilio Cesare 1941 - 42 ............................................................................................................................ 19
Colour scheme: Guilio Cesare 1942 – 45 ........................................................................................................................... 20
Colour scheme: Caio Duilio 1941 - 42 ............................................................................................................................... 20
Colour scheme: Caio Duilio 1942 - 1945 ........................................................................................................................... 21
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References & Further Reading............................................................................................................................................ 21
A Brief History of the ‘Guide to Waterline Model ships’ ...................................................................................................... 21
JULY 1993 – BRITISH IRONCLADS PT 1
The ironclad battleship era in the latter half of the last century has always been of great interest to 1/1200-1250 modellers
and wargamers. With models by Skytrex and from the various continental manufacturers, it is possible to collect a
representative fleet particularly for the Royal Navy. For the purposes of this article then, it is intended to concentrate on the
RN during the period 1869 to 1895, which started with the first installation of the turret in a large ironclad, and almost
simultaneously saw the last of the masted ships, and culminated in the first class of pre-dreadnought battleship. Even in this
limited 26 year period, there were over 20 classes of ship, some of which were limited to a single example, showing just
how quickly naval technology was evolving. Broadside and central battery ships continued to be built during this period but
have been excluded as these types were essentially obsolete by 1870.
Turret and Mast
The first large seagoing ironclad to be fitted with turrets, and also the first to have 12" guns, was HMS Monarch laid down
in 1866 and completed in 1869. The ship retained a full three mast sailing rig which severely limited the arcs of the two
twin turrets. This fundamental incompatibility of turret and mast was overcome in HMS Captain, completed the following
year, by installing the turrets one deck lower than the rigging, but this did result in a very low freeboard of about 6 to 8 feet,
and raised doubts about the vessels stability. HMS Captain
was also the first large ironclad to have twin screws with a
coal fired single expansion steam engine giving a
maximum speed of some 14kts. In September 1870, HMS
Captain capsized during a gale with the loss of nearly the
entire crew. HMS Monarch served until 1905 during
which time the engines were converted to triple expansion
and the sails removed.
With the adoption of turrets rather than broadside or
central battery, these two ships set the pattern for the
future and by the 1870s there were three principal types of
ironclad under development, the breastwork monitor, the
Hai HMS Captain
ram and the turret battleship. Evolution of the latter also
saw the use of barbettes rather than turrets, although the main advance featured in all was the adoption of steam as the sole
form of propulsion in ocean-going capital ships.
The Breastwork Monitor
HMS Cerberus and sister ship Magdala, completed in 1870, were intended for harbour defence in colonial waters and were
the first breastwork monitors. More significantly, the Cerberus was the first British ship featuring centreline turrets fore and
aft with superstructure amidships, and no sails. Having said that, both were given auxiliary sailing rigs for passage to
Australia and Bombay respectively. HMS Cerberus was renamed Platypus II in 1918 and finally sunk as a breakwater at
Melbourne in 1924, where she still lies. The breastwork monitor is characterised by extremely low freeboard and a central
low armoured deckhouse - the breastwork - upon which all superstructure and turrets are mounted. In Cerberus and her
sister ship the breastwork armour was 8" to 9" thick and main armament four 10" MLRs (Magdala refitted with 8" BLs in
1892). The next monitor, HMS Abyssinia, was also built for colonial defence and steamed, without the aid of sail, to
Bombay in 1871, although apparently nowhere else. Her armament was the same as the Cerberus but freeboard slightly less
at just 3' 6".
The fourth monitor, HMS Glatton, was completed in 1872. She was the first RN ironclad with a single turret, in this case
housing two 12" MLR, and also featured the heaviest percentage of armour to displacement yet seen, some 35%, with a 12"
breastwork. She also had "the freeboard of a harbour defence vessel - 3 feet, but the draft of an ocean-going ship - 19 feet"
and was not a great success in service. The Cyclops class of four coastal defence ships, the final monitors, were completed
between 1874 and 1877 and carried four 10" MLR in two turrets and had an 8" breastwork. Together with the Glatton they
had the lowest freeboards of any RN ironclad. All eight monitors were scrapped circa 1903.
The Ram
In parallel with the monitors came just two rams, Hotspur (1871) and Rupert (1874), with surprisingly a further pair
completed over a decade late - Conqueror class (1886/88). Following the Battle of Lisa, there was much misplaced belief as
to the efficacy of the ram and to quote Chief Constructor Reed, who was in office from 1863 to 1870, "the ram will be
deemed the most formidable weapon of attack that man's ingenuity has devised". HMS Hotspur was laid down in 1868 and
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was given a fixed turret with a single 12" MLR and four gun ports in the belief that a revolving turret would not be able to
withstand the shock of impact on ramming. Whereas this was never the put to the test, the ship was substantially
modernised in 1881/83 with a conventional turret and two 12" MLRs, and the original internal breastwork replaced by side
armour. A new secondary armament was also fitted with two 6" BLs plus 3 inchers and machine guns, a very early example
of layered defence. HMS Rupert was given a revolving turret from the outset with two 10" MLRs; breastwork armour was a
substantial 12". HMSs Conqueror and Hero were designed to be small, fast and handy, and were intended to be sufficiently
manoeuvrable such that they could ram contemporaries such as Colossus (see below). They also introduced the Breech
Loader with two 11" in a single turret. The four rams had all been taken out of service by 1908.
The Turret Battleship
Even as the last of the masted turret ships was being completed, the first purely steam powered battleships, Devastation and
Thunderer, were under construction at Portsmouth and Pembroke respectively. To put the latter ships into historical context,
it should be remembered that they were laid down only eight years following HMS Warrior's first sea trials and that
broadside sailing ships, such as the Warrior, continued to be
built into the mid-1870s. Main armament was still two twin
12" muzzle loaders and propulsion single expansion. In
Thunderer 'A' turret carried two 12.5" with a new hydraulic
loading system. Devastation was completed in 1873 and
Thunderer in 1877. A third ship to a similar design, but
introducing the triple compound steam engine, was also built
at Pembroke between 1872 and 1879. This ship, HMS
Dreadnought, was also the last battleship to be armoured
overall. All three survived until the early 1900s.
Built at Portsmouth Dockyard between 1874 and 1881, HMS
Inflexible was modelled on the Italian Duilio and represented
Hai HMS Inflexible
several firsts including electric lighting, submerged torpedo
tubes, and to date the widest beam, thickest armour and, at 16", the heaviest guns. She also saw a return to the beam
mounted turret. When completed she was surprisingly given a sailing rig although this was reduced after just four years.
Another feature of the design was an armoured central citadel which, with aid of cork filled tanks, was designed to remain
afloat even if the unarmoured bow and stern sections were badly damaged. HMS Inflexible was featured in detail in last
December's issue, albeit in 1/96 scale, with some fine colour illustrations which are of equal value to the 1/1250 modeller.
The succeeding Agamemnon class of two completed in 1883, although resembling the Inflexible, represented a significant
development in that sails were excluded from the design. They were also the first battleships to have a secondary gun
battery, albeit only two 6" breech loaders, and the last to have a muzzle loading main armament. Colossus and Edinburgh
were completed in 1886/87 and, although similar in layout to the two preceding classes, were again a major advance being
almost entirely constructed of steel and making general use of compound armour. Two turrets with 12" breech loaders were
mounted just off the centreline and the narrowness of the fore and aft superstructure permitted firing ahead or astern.
Secondary armament was increased to five 6" breech loaders and two 14" torpedo tubes. All five ships survived until the
early 1900s, with HMS Edinburgh the last to go, in 1908, as a gunnery target. Continues next issue with the debate between
turret and barbette concluding with the first Pre-dreadnought battleship. The table lists all known 1/1250 models of Royal
Naval ships as described above.
Name
HMS Captain
HMS Cerberus
HMS Glatton
HMS Devastation
HMS Cyclops
HMS Inflexible
Yr. of Model
1870
1871
1872
1873
1874
1881
Make
Bille, Hai 384
Hai 189
Hai 42
Hai 43/43a, Skytrex
Skytrex
Hai 165
Notes
fully rigged
Victorian livery
List: RN ironclads in 1/1250 (Pt 1)
SEPTEMBER 1993 – BRITISH IRONCLADS PT 2
This issue's waterlines is the second and concluding part of a description of the development of the ironclad battleship in
Royal Navy. Last issue covered the period 1869 to 1885 looking at turret & mast, breastwork monitors, the ram and the
turret battleship, whilst this part covers the next ten years and another seven classes of ship ending with the first class of
what are now called pre-dreadnought battleships. A further seven classes of RN pre-dreadnought, 32 ships in all, complete
the link to HMS Dreadnought herself, with subsequent development from 1906 as already described in last year's May to
July issues. Pre-dreadnoughts of all nations are comprehensively represented in 1/1250 by German manufacturers Navis
and Mercator, and will be looked at in the future, as will the 1850s and 1860s which, for the RN at least, are covered by
Skytrex.
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Turret vs Barbette
All the early turret battleships had featured two gun mounts in 'A' and 'Y' positions, and this layout was reinstated for HMS
Collingwood. This ship was laid down in 1880 and, with superstructure and secondary armament amidships, confirmed the
pattern for most future battleships. The concept of a heavily armoured central citadel was abandoned in favour of an
armoured belt, deck and main guns, such design features once more setting the pattern for the future. One difference,
however, was the use of armoured barbettes rather than turrets, these being simpler to design and offering better elevation
and depression albeit at the cost of no overhead protection for the gun crew. On completion in 1887, HMS Collingwood
was, with twin screws and triple compound steam engines giving nearly 17 knots, the fastest battleship afloat. She was sold
in 1911, having spent her last eight years in reserve. Similar in design to the Collingwood but increasing gun calibre from
12" to 13.5", came the four ships of the Admiral class commissioned during 1888/89. The secondary armament of six 6"
guns was repeated but five, rather than four, torpedo tubes provided. All survived to be scrapped circa 1910/11, with the
unfortunate HMS Camperdown being involved in a collision with HMS Victoria in the summer of 1893, as a result of
which the latter sank. HMS Benbow (completed 1888) was also nominally of the Admiral class but shipped a novel main
armament of two single 16.5" guns in
A and Y barbettes and four additional
6".
The next class to be completed
(1890), comprising Victoria and Sans
Pareil, were unique in a number of
ways. Two different and new calibres
were selected for the main armament
with a twin 16.25" turret, rather than
barbette, for'ard and a single
unprotected 10" aft. The firing arcs of
the turret were also limited to ahead
of the beam. Propulsion machinery
was a return to steam expansion as
last seen in HMS Thunderer, although
the triple expansion was a new
development. HMS Victoria has
Hai HMSs Victoria and Collingwood
become better known through her
loss, in 1893, by collision as already mentioned, but the Sans Pareil lasted until 1907. Later in her career the latter's funnels
were doubled in height giving a distinctive and unusual profile. The successful Dreadnought design of 1872 was essentially
repeated for the Nile and Trafalgar laid down in 1886 and commissioned in 1890/91, although the increase in displacement
to 12,790 tons full load was marked. Again turrets were adopted but with a much more conventional layout of two twin
13.5" in 'A' and 'Y' positions. The secondary armament is interesting, however, in that the medium calibre 6" were discarded
in favour of six 4.7" quick firers, supported by eight 6lbrs, as the first line of defence against fast moving torpedo boats. As
in all subsequent classes, engines were triple expansion steam, and in order to improve performance the original funnels
were almost tripled in height in the mid-1890s. By this time speed had increased to 17kts, compared with 13.5 on
Devastation and nearly 15 on Inflexible.
1889 saw the laying down of the lead ship in the last class of barbette battleship and the one-off turret ship HMS Hood.
Construction of the former continued until 1894 by which time the first true pre-dreadnought, HMS Majestic, was also on
the ways. HMS Royal Sovereign and her six sisters, and the Hood, had a similar armament of four 13.5" in two twin mounts
with a secondary 6" battery and ten to sixteen 6pdr quick firers. Although to a similar design, the installation of turrets in
the Hood required the main deck to be one level lower which resulted in poor sea-keeping qualities. It was probably for this
reason that HMS Hood spent much of her career in the Mediterranean, ending her days as a sunken blockship at Portland.
HMS Royal Sovereign was completed in May 1892, some twelve months before the Hood, and therefore could be said to
have introduced steel armour with a mix of compound and steel used on both belt and barbettes/turrets. Most of the Royal
Sovereigns had been paid off by 1914, with HMS Revenge continuing in service until 1917 albeit under the name
Redoubtable from 1915. She was sold in 1919, the last barbette battleship in the Royal Navy. As in earlier, ships the turrets
on HMS Hood were to a circular design although the modern oblong box shape was only a short time away.
The first Pre-dreadnought
Ignoring the 10" gunned 2nd class battleships Barfleur, Centurion and Renown completed between 1894/95, the next major
class, also numerically the largest battleship class ever built, were the nine Majestics commissioned between 1895 and
1898. They were the last RN battleships with twin funnels side-by-side but in terms of technical development represented a
number of major advances. Gun size was reduced to 12" but the gun itself was superior in performance to earlier weapons.
The two turrets were to a modern design, with sloping armour, and mounted on steel barbettes. By this time the word
barbette was taken to mean the base for a turret, rather than a gun mount as before. Another innovation, introduced with the
sixth in class HMS Mars and gradually extended to all but two, was the use of oil sprayed on coal to aid combustion. Two
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ships were also provided with a different gun mounting (Whitworth BIII) permitting reloading from all angles of train.
HMS Majestic was sunk by a U-boat in 1915, but the remainder survived in a variety of roles until 1919-21.
The two tables list firstly all known 1/1250 models of Royal Naval ships as described above, and secondly a representative
selection of models of equivalent foreign vessels from the entire period 1865 to 1895.
Name
HMS Collingwood
HMS Victoria
HMS Nile
HMS Mars
Year
1887
1890
1890
1895
Make
Hai 167
Hai 170
Mercator 251
Navis 114
Notes
short funnels
tall funnels
Majestic class
List: RN ironclads in 1/1250 (Pt 2)
Name
Preussen
Duilio
Bayern
Lepanto
Italia
Hoche
Sinop
Re Umberto
Pelayo
Texas
Navarin
Worth
Nationality
German
Italian
German
Italian
Italian
French
Russian
Italian
Spanish
American
Russian
German
Ld.dn.
1872
1872
1875
1875
1875
1880
1883
1883
1884
1886
1886
1889
Model
Mercator 105
HL 150
Mercator 100
HL 149
Hai 168
Mercator 370
Hai 166
Hai 196
HL
Hai 194
Mercator 307
Navis 14
Notes
four 10" in two centreline turrets, steam, fully rigged
2 twin 17.7" turrets, echelon amidships, compound
six 10" in two barbettes, single expansion
fast/no armour, 2 twin 17" barbettes, 4 funnels
as Lepanto but six funnels, both compound steam
2 13.2" in turrets, single 9.7"s in beam barbettes
6 12" in barbettes, 1st warship with triple expansion
four 13.5" in barbettes, compound steam
barbettes, single 12.6" fore & aft, single beam 11"
two single 12" in turrets en echelon amidships
two twin 12" in circular turrets fore & aft
six 11" in three 'modern' turrets
List: Some 'foreign' ironclads and pre-dreadnoughts in 1/1250
References and further reading
Battleships and Battlecruisers of the RN since 1861, Cdr. B.R. Coward RN; British Battleships, Oscar Parkes; Conways
1860-1905 and for the illustrations alone The RN at Malta Volume 1 1865 to 1906 published by Maritime Books.
JULY 2007 – EARLY AIRCRAFT CARRIERS
For this issue we are going to trace the early development of the aircraft carrier both in full size and of course in waterline
miniature form. There are plenty of interesting ships and, for once, an abundance of models from which to choose. Three
main Navies were involved in this particular ‘arms race’, namely the Royal Navy (RN), the United States Navy (USN) and
the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). The French also built a carrier which beats the somewhat arbitrary cut-off of ‘completed
before 1930’ which has been adopted for the article.
Imperial Japanese Navy
The IJN’s Hosho (which translates as ‘Flying Phoenix’), was the first ship in the world to be designed and built from
scratch as an aircraft carrier. The 9,494 ton, 542 ft vessel was completed in December 1922 and featured a conventional
island superstructure to starboard. This was removed in 1923 and in 1934 the funnels, which previously could be swung
between the vertical and horizontal were fixed in the latter position. Employed largely in a support role, the Hosho
survived the war even being modified in 1944 with an extended flight deck both fore and aft. Her normal aircraft
complement was 15 with a reported
maximum of 21.
The first big IJN carrier, completed in 1927,
was the Akagi. Laid down in 1920 as a
battle-cruiser of the ‘Amagi’ class she
became subject to the restrictions of the
Washington Navy Treaty and eventually was
converted into a 34,364 ton carrier with
capacity for 60 aircraft. On completion she
had, perhaps uniquely, three flight decks: the
Trident IJNS Hosho 1051a 1941
usual main deck and two smaller ones
stepped down forward. In fact the smaller centre deck, intended for take-offs only, was never used. A small island was
soon added and is clearly visible in pictures of the ship in her first years. Modernised in 1938, the main flight deck was
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extended the full length of the ship, the 2 smaller decks removed and an island superstructure fitted mid-ships to port.
During the war she took part in the Pearl Harbour attack and was sunk at the Battle of Midway in June 1942. A
combination of the Washington Treaty and earthquake damage to the Amagi resulted in the ‘Kaga’ class battleship Kaga
being completed as a large 33,693 ton aircraft carrier in 1928. She joined the fleet in 1930 and with three flight decks
adopted
the
same
overall
appearance
as
the
Akagi.
Modernised in 1935 she was given
a conventional single flight deck
and an island to starboard; aircraft
capacity was 60. Quite why one
ship has the island to port and the
other to starboard is not clear and
this experiment was repeated in
the later ‘Soryu’ class; subsequent
IJN carriers opted for islands to
Konishi Akagi
starboard as did most other navies
of the era.
United States Navy
The USN’s first carrier was converted from the 11,000 ton fleet collier USS Jupiter and commissioned as CV1, the USS
Langley in March 1922. Armament
was four 5” guns and aircraft
complement 55 when stowed in
dismantled form in the holds. Craned
to an open space beneath the flight
deck, aircraft would be assembled then
moved by lift to the flight deck. In
1937 a 200ft section of the flight deck
forward was removed and she became
a seaplane tender. She was sunk in the
Java Sea in February 1942.
Mountford USS Langley
CV2 and CV3 respectively were the
USS Lexington and USS Saratoga and were
built using two incomplete battle-cruiser
hulls which again became subject to the
Washington Naval Treaty. At 39,000 tons
full load they were big ships able to carry
some 90 aircraft. Both were launched in
1925 and on commissioning had a heavy
cruiser armament of eight 8” guns (four
twins); these were removed before the war
when eighteen 20mm AA guns were fitted.
USS Lexington was lost at the Battle of the
Delphin USS Langley circa 1941
Coral Sea in April 1942. The USS Saratoga
continued until 1946 when she suffered the indignity of being used as a target at the Bikini Island nuclear tests, receiving
during the war considerable
additional AA guns, both 5”
twins, 40mm (25 quads) and
20mm.
Later pre-war ships beyond
the scope of this article were
the one-off USS Ranger
(1933) and the three strong
Yorktown class.
Delphin USS Saratoga
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Royal Navy
The RN’s first aircraft carrier was a conversion of the ‘large light cruiser’ HMS Furious. In early 1917 she was given a
flight deck forward; towards the end of 1917 a further flight deck was fitted aft with taxiways either side of the
superstructure and funnel. A more extensive conversion adding a full flight deck took place between 1921 and 1925.
Tonnage was 28,500 full load and aircraft capacity 33. She was re-armed in 1939 giving good service until 1944 when she
was retired.
HMS Argus was the former liner
Conte Rosso converted to a flush
deck carrier circa 1917. She was
given bulges in 1925-26 and after a
further refit in 1936-38 withdrawn
from front-line service. Full load
tonnage was 17,000 with about 20
aircraft embarked.
During the early 1900s two
battleships were under construction
for the Chilean Navy in Great
Navis HMS Argus
Britain; Almirante Latorre, the more
advanced of the two joined the Grand Fleet as HMS Canada whilst the incomplete Almirante Cochrane was purchased in
1917 and taken to Portsmouth dockyard for conversion to a 26,880 ton carrier. The ship entered RN service as HMS Eagle
in 1923 carrying 21 aircraft.
She was sunk by the U73 in
August 1962 in the western
Mediterranean.
HMS Hermes was the first
RN carrier designed and built
from the outset as an aircraft
carrier. She was launched in
1919 and completed in 1924
– a little more haste and she
Neptun HMS Hermes
could have beaten the Hosho
as the first in the world! On
just 13,000 tons, initially she could carry about 20 aircraft but this was reduced to 15 when a second lift was installed; by
1939 this was down to 12 which usually were
all torpedo-bombers.
HMS Hermes was
overwhelmed by aircraft from the IJN carriers
Akagi, Hiryu and Soryu in April 1942. A
fascinating book ‘Hermes Adventure’ by R.
Morgan (published 1985) describes a diving
expedition to the ship in the 1980s.
Two more ‘large light cruisers’, HMSs
Courageous and Glorious, were converted to
aircraft carriers in 1924-28 and 1924-30
respectively. On a full load (post-conversion)
Argonaut HMS Glorious
of 26,500 tons they could carry 48 aircraft. As
carriers both were very successful, however
HMS Courageous was lost to submarine attack (U29) in September 1939 and her sister-ship to the gunfire of the battlecruisers Gneisnau and Scharnhorst in June 1940.
This group of six ships represented the end of the first phase of to some extent experimental construction – all the lessons
learnt were reflected in the next ship (HMS Ark Royal) and of course the subsequent ‘Illustrious’ class.
French Navy
Although not one of the main players the French also completed a carrier in 1927. This was a conversion based on an
incomplete battleship of the ‘Normandie’ class. On 28,400 tons the Bearn carried 40 aircraft of which 10 could be ranged
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on deck at any one time. By 1939 she was deemed too slow for fleet duties later becoming an aircraft transport surviving
at Toulon as an accommodation well into the 1960s.
The Models
Apart from some really obscure items, all 1/1200-1250 models of the thirteen ships mentioned above are given in the table.
Various manufacturers past and present are identified – these can be grouped into the traditional 1/1200 kits makers namely
Clydeside (Cl), Ensign, Superior (Su) and Mountford, of which the latter also offer models completed and painted as can
be seen in the picture of USS Langley. Superior is an American make; both Clydeside and Ensign were UK made white
metal kits and may still be found at swap-meets. Mountford are a relative newcomer and are starting to transition into the
arguably more popular – certainly more common – 1/1250 scale. Apart from Konishi (Ko), the others are continental
1/1250s: Trident (T), Neptun (N) (and painted (T)), Hai,, Delphin (D), Hansa (S), Argonaut (AR), Navis (NM) and Wiking
(WM). Of these Hai, Neptun, Navis and Argonaut are in current production although the latter’s RN carriers are not
available at present; given that the same ships are produced by Neptun (and to a better standard) it seems unlikely that they
will be re-issued. Both the Navis models currently available are to the original more basic standard although HMS Furious
is part of the re-issue programme with the new catalogue number NM120aN. The new improved model when it is released
will show the ship in 1918 and so should have flight decks fore and aft. Apart from S 411 USS Langley, the Hansa models
listed are re-issues of the earlier Delphins produced after Hansa acquired the older range; quality can be gauged from the
photograph. Wiking were one of the first manufacturers to resume production after the war – perhaps in the 1950s; their
HMS Courageous is shown and was probably produced in the late 1960s. Konishi are a 1/1200 range made in Japan and
quite difficult to obtain; their Akagi is illustrated. The Neptun version is readily available and being catalogued as ‘1939’
will be post-modernisation with the full flight deck.
Ship
Model(s)
Notes
IJNS Hosho
T 1051, Su
T 1106
T 1051a, N 1219*
T 1107
as in 1922
1936
1941
1944
IJNS Akagi
T 1065
N 1217
Cl 97, Ko 17, Su
1935
1939
1942
IJNS Kaga
N 1218
Cl 94, Hai 47
1939
1942
USS Langley
S 411, Su, Ensign, Mountford
D 88, S 411/1
1922
1937 (as a seaplane tender)
USS Lexington
D 92, S 406
AR 202
N 1316
1927
1939
1940
USS Saratoga
D 100, S 407, Su
AR 203
N 1317
1942
1944
1945
HMS Furious
NM 120
NM120aN*
AR 99, Su, WM
N 1117
1917 (early)
1918
1939
1941
HMS Argus
NM 180
N 1125*
1918
1941
HMS Eagle
AR 51
N 1116, N 1116(T)
1937
1942
HMS Hermes
D 115
N 1115
AR 127
1924
1938
1939
HMS Courageous
WM
N 1119
AR 105
1928
1939
1940
HMS Glorious
AR 100, N 1118, N 1118(T)
1939
-8-
FNS Bearn
T 1100, Su
N 1410
1928
1938
List: Aircraft Carriers in 1/1200-1250 (* = not yet released)
JANUARY 2008 – SEAPLANE CARRIERS OF THE RN
2008 looks pretty encouraging on the swap-meet front with nine such get-togethers currently planned at various locations
up and down the country. Collectors are strongly urged to attend their local meetings and if you make it to those at Theale,
Gosport or Wellow please come and say hello. Not
being a dealer I don’t have a table so will most likely
be found crouching over one taking a closer look at all
those models. Having literally (at the time of writing)
just come back from Theale (Oct 07) there was as ever
a wide range of new and second-hand models for
display and there is certainly no substitute for seeing
the ships at close range. The range of prices is huge
from just a few pounds to a hundred of more for some
of the ‘show piece’ items; the vast majority lie
between these extremes.
This issue’s main subject, suggested by a lively
discussion at Theale, is the early seaplane and aircraft
HMS Ark Royal
carriers of the Royal Navy; an interesting subject
technically and one which brings in a variety of
ships and a number of model manufacturers.
The first aircraft launch from an RN ship took place
on HMS Hibernia in January 1912 with the first
launch whilst underway from HMS Africa a few
months later in May. Following trials in 1913 with
the old cruiser HMS Hermes, the Admiralty decided
to press ahead with a more specialised ‘seaplane
carrying ship’. An uncompleted merchant ship – a
bulk coal or grain carrier – was taken in hand for
Navis HMS Ark Royal
substantial modifications. A 150 ft hangar plus
workshops were installed with a sliding hatch for deck access. Two cranes were used to hoist the aircraft up for deck
launch or to lower them into the water and were also able to lift aircraft back on board. Named HMS Ark Royal, the 7450
ton (full load) ship was completed in December 1914. Typically 5 seaplanes and two land planes were carried; the former
could be lowered to the sea or use trolleys for deck take-offs. The land planes such as Sopwith Tabloids would launch from
HMS Engadine
HMS Empress
the deck but recover to an airfield ashore. She served
throughout the war and during the 1920s, being re-named HMS Pegasus in 1934. Sold to Panama as Anita 1 in 1946 her
conversion back to a merchant role was abandoned and she was scrapped in 1949.
The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was established in July 1914 and the following month three circa 2000 ton fast cross
– channel steamers were requisitioned from the South East & Chatham Railway Co., becoming respectively the seaplane
carriers HMSs Empress, Riviera and Engadine. The initial conversions undertaken at Chatham Dockyard involved clearing
the aft deck area and fitting cranes and a large canvas hangar (for 2 seaplanes) although contemporary photographs of HMS
Riviera show a smaller second hangar forward (for one seaplane) and it is understood that all three were so equipped.
During 1915 the canvas hangars were removed and each was fitted with a steel hangar aft, the work being completed by
-9-
Cunard at Liverpool; so modified they could carry 4 to 6 seaplanes. All three served during WW1 and HMS Engadine
became famous for her participation in the Battle of Jutland when a seaplane from the ship, operating with the Admiral
Beatty’s battlecruisers, sighted the German Fleet. Due to communications difficulties, the information unfortunately failed
to reach the Admiral. In 1919 all were returned to merchant service.
Given the small size of the cross channel steamers the Admiralty decided in late 1914 to proceed with a more ambitious
conversion intended for fleet operations. About to be scrapped was the old 12,884 grt Cunard liner Campania – she was
bought in November and towed to Cammell Laird for conversion. Despite her aging engines which should perhaps have
been replaced she gave good service and in August 1915 achieved the first successful deck take-off using wheeled floats.
As can be seen from the illustration the conversion was comprehensive although experience soon confirmed that the 120
foot flight deck was not long enough. The fore
funnel was then split into two uptakes and the
flight deck extended by 80 feet. Her Jutland fame
is that she apparently missed the signal to raise
steam and managed to avoid the battle altogether.
She was lost during a gale in the Firth of Forth in
1918.
Outside the main stream of these developments but
Navis HMS Engadine
worth passing mention are the German
merchantmen Änne Rickmers (4083 grt) and
Rabenfels (4678 grt) which were both seized at Port Said on the outbreak of war in 1914. With minor modifications they
became respectively HMSs Anne and Raven II, operating mainly with French aircraft and aircrew in the Mediterranean &
Red Sea/Indian Ocean.
In January 1915 the Isle of Man Steam Packet Co
steamer Ben-My-Cree (2651 grt) was acquired and
in addition to the canvas hangar a short flying off
deck was fitted forward; this proved unsuccessful
and was removed in May. HMS Ben-My-Cree was
the first ship to launch an air torpedo strike
although she was later sunk as a result of Turkish
artillery fire in January 1917. In March 1915 the
ferry Viking (1957 grt) was hired from the Isle of
Navis HMS Campania
Man Steam Packet Co and fitted with a steel hangar
and flying off deck. This time the latter was successful and the ship was purchased in November becoming HMS Vindex.
The ship was returned to her former owners in 1920 but served
again a troopship during WW2.
In April 1916 the Manxman (2048 grt) (Midland Railway Co) was
acquired again receiving hangar aft and flying off platform
forward. For seaplanes the latter required the use of small
wheeled trolleys. HMS Manxman was the first to be capable of
operating land planes – Pup fighters – from the platform. HMS
Manxman was bought by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Co in
1920 and became a radar training ship in WW2 which correlates
with my Father’s memory of receiving his radar training at the Isle
of Man circa 1943.
HMS Nairana
Requisitioned in January and February 1917 respectively were the
Nairana and Pegasus; the latter was the 2459 grt former passenger ship SS Stockholm which became HMS Pegasus in
August 1917. Both were given a 95 foot flying off platforms forward for use with their embarked land planes. HMS
Pegasus was operational until 1923 when she was re-rated
an aircraft tender; broken up in 1934 the name Pegasus was
then transferred to the former old Ark Royal as already
mentioned. On HMS Nairana (3547 grt) the large derricks
aft were intended to permit recovery of seaplanes whilst
underway; she served with the Grand Fleet and in the White
Sea in 1919 before being sold in 1920 to the Tasmanian
Steamship Co. Surviving until 1951 she was scrapped as
‘beyond economic repair’ after running aground in
Melbourne.
HMS Pegasus
- 10 -
Unlike all the above, the last two conversions were of warships although these were intended to operate land planes from
the outset. In early 1917 the 19,513 ton ‘large light cruiser’ HMS Furious was given a flight deck forward; as suggested by
trials on the flush-decked carrier HMS Argus this proved insufficient and between November 1917 and March 1918 a
further flight deck was fitted aft with taxiways either side of the superstructure and funnel. At this point she really moves
beyond our scope of early carriers. In August 1917 the 9,750 ton heavy cruiser HMS Cavendish was taken in hand for
modification receiving a landing deck aft and a large hangar and launching deck forward (see illustration). Commissioned
in 1918 as HMS Vindictive she unfortunately ran aground in the Baltic in summer 1919; following extensive repairs at
Portsmouth she was eventually converted back to a cruiser in 1923-24. The hangar and flight deck forward were retained
and a catapult fitted, the first on a cruiser. In 1926 she deployed to the Far East with six Fairy IIIDs embarked. Returning
to the UK in 1928 with all aircraft handling facilities were removed and she was placed in reserve. In 1937 she was demilitarised and converted into a training ship and again in 1939 into a repair ship; she was finally scrapped in 1946. For
completeness perhaps the final seaplane carrier was the purpose built HMAS Albatross – completed in 1929 she was
eventually transferred to the RN; typically carrying 6 Walrus seaplanes she served in WW2 later becoming a repair ship.
References and Further Reading
For further reading ‘Aircraft Carriers of the Royal and Commonwealth Navies’ by David Hobbs (published by Greenhill
Books in 1996) is strongly recommended. All the ships are detailed and most impressively each of the mercantile
conversions including the 2 ex-German ships are illustrated. Also mentioned are HMSs Brocklesbury and Killinghome
these being railway paddle steamers used without modification as seaplane carriers in 1916 -17. For online pictures of
many of these ships try www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/sea_plane_carriers.
The table provides a list of the more significant ships
mentioned above and indicates the rather few models (7
out of 13) that are available by catalogue number and
the year depicted by the particular model. The
manufacturers concerned, all German/Austrian, are
Navis (NM), Hai (H), Anker (A), Argonaut (AR) and
Star (R) (R for Star because traditionally the ‘S’
catalogue abbreviation is used by, wait for it, Hansa; in
their case the ‘S’ stands for schiff, the German for
ship). Navis, Hai and to a lesser extent Argonaut are in
Star HMAS Albatross
current production. Hai were originally issued as kits
(see illustration) requiring quite a bit of work to clean and build; these days they come ready assembled. Both Anker and
Star and discontinued but may yet, with luck, be found at swap-meets. A picture of the Navis model of HMS Furious 1917
may be found in last July’s Waterlines where the story of the early aircraft carrier across all the main Navies continues
making this article a prequel..
Ship
Ark Royal
Engadine
Riviera
Empress
Campania
Ben-My-Cree
Vindex
Manxman
Nairana
Pegasus
Furious
Vindictive
Albatross
Cat #
NM 184
NM 185
Year
1914
1915
Notes
Ex bulker
cross Channel Steamers requisitioned in Aug 1914
NM 186
1916
H 361
NM 120
A 18
AR 67, R 108
1917
1917
1917
1928
Ex liner
requisitioned in Jan 1915
requisitioned in Mar 1915
requisitioned in Apr 1916
short-sea steamers requisitioned in early 1917
NM 120a in 1918
A 09 as in 1937, A 06 as in 1940
RAN, built 1920s
List: RN (& RAN) Seaplane Carriers 1914 – 1930 (selective)
JULY 2008 – PRE-1900 IRONCLAD BATTLESHIPS
Collectors of early warships will be pleased to see the latest batch of releases in the ‘Hai’ 1/1250 waterline series which
includes six Royal Navy (RN) ships plus one each from the navies of Japan, USA and Italy. The ‘early’ referred to here is
pre-1900 and this is a period addressed by just a handful of model manufacturers. Major warships built at this time are now
known as ironclads and led to the development of those primitive battleships typically with two twin turrets (one each fore
- 11 -
and aft) which began to appear in the late 1890s. Many of these were built by the various navies of the world (the RN and
Imperial German Navy between them had 70) but all were eclipsed at a stroke by HMS Dreadnought in 1906. Although it
is not known precisely when the term was introduced, these intermediate ships, the building of which continued until about
1910, were then classified as pre-dreadnoughts giving us retrospectively three generic battleship types: ironclad, predreadnought and dreadnought. In the Royal Navy the first ironclad was HMS Warrior and the last dreadnought HMS
Vanguard.
The purpose of this article is to survey the ironclad battleship and the first of the pre-dreadnoughts in miniature. For further
reading about the real ships the following titles are suggested: covering all the Navies and the principal reference for this
article is ‘Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905’; the RN receives detailed coverage in ‘British Battleships
1889 – 1904’ by R. Burt & ‘Battleships and in Battlecruisers of the RN since 1861’ by B. Coward and lastly for USN
enthusiasts there is ‘American Battleships 1886 – 1923’ by Reilly & Scheina.
In considering early battleships it is
impossible to avoid mentioning the
Battle of Tsushima which took place
between the Russians and Japanese,
and this is well described in ‘The Fleet
that had to die’ by Richard Hough. In
brief the story is the that units of the
Russian Baltic Fleet under Admiral
Rozhdestvensky sailed from Libau in
October 1904 to replace losses
incurred during the Russo-Japanese
war in the Far East.
After a
remarkable seven month voyage the
Mercator Tsesarevich
Russians encountered the Japanese
Fleet commanded by Admiral Togo
near the island of Tsushima on 27th May 1905. Togo with his more modern and balance fleet crossed the ‘T’ of the
Russians inflicting a major defeat and Rozhdestvensky was killed. Harassed throughout the night by torpedo boats and
coming under renewed attack the following day, the surviving battleships, commanded by Rear-Admiral Nebogatoff
surrendered. Of the entire Russian fleet, two destroyers and a light cruiser managed to reach the Russian port of
Vladivostock whilst a further six smaller ships were interned at neutral ports. Japanese losses were 3 torpedo boats. The
Russian Fleet comprised the obsolete ironclads, Sissoi Veliki (completed 1896), Navarin (1896), Imperator Nikolai I (1891)
& Osliabia (1901), unsuitable coast defence ships Admiral Ushakov (1895), Admiral Seniavin (1896) & General Admiral
Graf Apraxin (1899) and ‘modern’ ironclads Imperator Alexander III (1903), Kniaz Suvorov (1904), Orel (1904) &
Borodino (1904) plus 3 armoured cruisers, 6 light cruisers and 10 destroyers. The Japanese Fleet comprised the predreadnoughts Fuji (1897), Asahi (1900), Shikishima (1900) & Mikasa (1902), plus 8 armoured cruisers, 7 light Cruisers
and 65 torpedo boats/destroyers.
Royal Navy
The table lists the models to be found of
the RN’s pre-1900 battleships from HMS
Warrior to HMS Mars of the Majestic
class. The latter were not quite the first
RN pre-dreadnoughts (this being HMS
Empress of India in 1893) but the first
pre-dreadnought for which a waterline
model has been issued. Built in response
to French developments in the form of the
‘Gloire’, HMS Warrior may be found,
carefully restored, in the dockyard at
Portsmouth. The pace of development
Optatus HMS Warrior
was rapid during this period and included the reluctant removal
of sails and rigging and abandonment of broadside fitted guns
for turrets and barbettes, with the former finding eventual
favour.
All this can be traced in the table which is
chronologically ordered. HMS Warrior was broadside armed;
HMS Captain was the 2nd to have turrets (first was HMS
Monarch in 1869), HMS Devastation the first not rigged for
sailing and purely steam powered.
- 12 Mercator HMS Nile
With HMS Alexandra in 1877, the Navy could not quite abandon the sailing rig but at least the guns were in a central
battery. Five years later and HMS Ajax was completed with turrets and no thought of sails & rigging. HMS Collingwood
in 1887 had her main armament in barbettes but was a prototype for the future with main armament grouped fore and aft.
HMS Victoria and her sister ship HMS San Pareil were a retrograde design with main armament forward and a limited
field of fire. HMS Nile (1891) was the first to exceed 12000 tons and to be equipped with a secondary armament of quick
firing guns. A ship’s appearance can change over the years and ‘As In’ indicates the year depicted by a particular model;
those shown with an ‘N’ in the catalogue number are the new releases. Some variations are Hai 43a which has a
brown/black colour scheme (rather than grey) and Hai 165a which has a reduced rig with the ability to carry sail removed.
HMS Mars is available in grey (NM114) or Victorian livery (NM114s).
Ship
HMS Warrior
Royal Oak
Ocean
Captain
Glatton
Devastation
Thunderer
Alexandra
Inflexible
Ajax
Collingwood
Victoria
San Pareil
Nile
Mars
Model
Opt 3
Opt 2
Opt 4
Hai 384
Hai 42
Hai 43N/43a
Hai 43Nb
Hai 596
Hai 165N/165aN
Hai 597
Hai 167
Hai 170N
Hai 170aN
M 251
NM 114
As In
1861
1863
1865
1870
1872
1873
1877
1877
1882/1885
1883
1887
1890
1891
1891
1897
List: 1/1250 Models of RN ships
Imperial Russian and Japanese Navies
Coverage of the Imperial Russian and Japanese navies is quite good, the main reason for this being the Battle of Tsushima.
The cut-off date for the table of models has been extended slightly and it’s revealing that none of the Russian ships can
truly be categorised as pre-dreadnoughts. The listing for the IJN has similarly been extended (otherwise only two ships
would feature) and all but one are pre-dreadnoughts contributing in no small way to the outcome of this one-sided battle.
With the demise of Mercator, Russian ships from the battle are starting to appear in the Navis range with most ships
depicted as in 1904 rather than when completed. A couple of exceptions are Slava in 1917 which is NM 612N and
Tsessarevitch, also in 1917, which is NM 613N. The new release here is IJNS Fuso by Hai.
Ship
Novgorod
Imp Nickolai 1
Model
Hai 41
M304
As In
1874
1889
Sinop
Navarin
Sissoi Weliki
Seniavin
Hai 166
M 307, NM 614N
M 306, NM 616
M310
1890
1896, 1904
1896, 1904
1894
Apraxin
M 310a
1896
Poltava
M 308
1899
Oslibia
Retvizan
M 305
M 303
1901
1901
Potemkin
Tsessarevitch
Ushakov
Osliabia
Orel
M 309
M 301, NM 613N
NM 618
NM 615N
M 302
1903
1903
1904
1904
1904
Borodino
IJNS Fuso
IJNS Fuji
NM 612aN
Hai 603a
NM 216
1904
1894
1897
Notes
Coastal defence ship, circular; two 11” guns in a barbette
Barbettes/turret ship; surrendered after Tsushima becoming the
IJNS Iki
Barbette ship with six 12” guns
Turret ship; sunk Tsushima
Small battleship; scuttled after Tsushima
Coastal defence ship; surrendered at Tsushima becoming the
Mishima
Coastal defence ship; surrendered at Tsushima becoming the
Okinoshima
Ironclad battleship; sunk at Port Arthur later becoming IJNS
Tango
Ironclad battleship; sunk Tsushima
Ironclad battleship; sank in Port Arthur 1904; raised to become
IJNS Hizen
Ironclad battleship; the famous mutiny ship
Ironclad battleship; survived until 1922
Coastal defence ironclad; sunk at Tsushima
Ironclad battleship; sunk at Tsushima
Ironclad battleship; surrendered at Tsushima becoming the IJNS
Iwami
Coastal defence ironclad; sunk at Tsushima
Central battery ironclad; scrapped 1910
Pre-dreadnought; British built. At Tsushima; scrapped in 1948
- 13 -
IJNS Asahi
NM 214
1900
IJNS Hatsuse
NM 215
1901
IJNS Mikasa
NM 213N
1902
Pre-dreadnought; British built. At Tsushima; sunk by USS
Salmon 1942
Pre-dreadnought; British built. Mined 1904; sister ship
Shikishima
Pre-dreadnought; British built. At Tsushima; preserved as
museum ship
List: 1/1250 Models of Russian & IJN ships
Other Navies
Models of the ironclads of various other Navies are listed in the third table; Hai 169N and 194N are the new releases. This
was a time of significant development and many unusual features can be found on these ships. Henri IV was perhaps the
first battleship with super-firing turrets albeit it aft
only and the higher turret was a secondary gun. Italy
certainly set the pace with Duilio carrying four 17.7”
guns in two twin turrets & being the first with purely
a military mast (i.e. not rigged for sails). On
completion half-sisters Italia and Lepanto with their
barbette mounted 17” guns were the largest (approx
15,500 tons) and fastest (about 18 kts) warships in the
world. After the Worth came the first of 20 German
Mercator Orel
pre-dreadnoughts with the Kaiser class. In the USN both Texas and
Maine were rated as 2nd class battleships carrying respectively two 12”
guns (single turrets amidships) and four 12” (single turrets, two a side);
1st class battleships USSs Oregon & Iowa adopted the conventional two
turret arrangement with one fore and one aft. The successors to the USS
Iowa were the pre-dreadnoughts USS Kearsage and USS Kentucky
which unusually mounted a secondary gun turret (twin 8”) on each of
the main 13” gun turrets; these were completed in 1900 after which a
further 19 pre-dreadnoughts were built for the USN, the last of which
was completed in 1908.
Ship
Gloire
Hoche
Henri IV
Preussen
Bayern
Friedrich der Grosse
Worth
Formidabile
Duilio
Italia
Lepanto
Re Umberto
Pelayo
Texas
Maine
Oregon
Iowa
Navy
France
France
France
Germany
Germany
Germany
Germany
Italy
Italy
Italy
Italy
Italy
Spain
USA
USA
USA
USA
Main Guns
broadside
turret/barbette
turret
turret
barbette
turret
turret
broadside
turret
barbette
barbette
turret
barbette
turret/ 12” guns
turret/ 10” guns
turret/ 13” guns
turret/ 12” guns
Model
Opt 7
M 370
Opt 8
M 101
M 105
Opt WDS-K-1/1a
NM 14
Hai 607
HL 150
Hai 168
HL 149
Hai 169N
HL 121
Hai 194N
NM 318N
NM 317
NM 316
Mercator Hoche
As In
1860
1890
1903
1876
1882
1891/1896
1893
1862
1880
1885
1887
1893
1888
1895
1895
1896
1897
List: 1/1250 Ironclad Models of other Navies
Manufacturers
The manufacturers which feature in the tables are ‘Hai’, ‘HL’,
‘Optatus’, ‘Mercator’ (M), and ‘Navis Modelle’ (NM). Of these
HL and Mercator are no longer active and the latter were covered in
detail in the January 2007 issue.
Listed by Mercator but
seemingly never released were HMS Abyssinia (1870 monitor,
- 14 Hai Italia
catalogue # M 253) and HMS Centurion (1891 2nd class
battleship designed for Far East service, M 252). The Hai
range is huge and still expanding, and includes ships of all
nations and eras from modern Japanese missile destroyers to
the ironclads mentioned here.
Originally they were
available mainly as white metal kits but these days tend to
be sold as completed models. Quality is reasonable but not
as good as the Optatus range; this comprises about 50
different models with the only other British vessels being
‘Q-R’ class destroyers circa 1942 and the liner Britannic in
two versions, as built in 1874 and in 1900.
Hai Sinop
Navis specialise in the period 1895 to 1920 and there are very few warships not be found – countries covered are Japan,
Germany, USA, Great Britain, Austria-Hungary, Italy, France
and Russia with nearly 400 models catalogued of which
almost half are British. Over the years the models have been
re-worked and the very latest have the ‘N’ suffix to their
catalogue numbers. Examples of this can be found in the
tables. Hai have adopted the same approach with their 2008
re-issues.
DECEMBER 2009 ITALIAN WW1 DREADNOUGHTS
Once again it is some second-hand models unexpectedly bought at a Theale Swapmeet which provides the inspiration this
month. Being a very keen battleship collector (180 at the last count) an opportunity to complete two classes with models by
a different manufacturer was too good to miss, the newcomers being Neptun’s small Italian battleships Conte di Cavour and
Caio Duilio. Keeping the Littorio Class in reserve for another ‘Waterlines’, there are just three class of Italian
dreadnought, and only six ships, to
consider.
Dante Alighieri
The Dante Alighieri was the first
Italian dreadnought battleship and
the first in the world designed (if not
completed) with main armament
triple turrets. She was laid down in
June 1909 (four years after HMS
Navis Dante Alighieri
Dreadnought) and completed in
1913. Her main armament was
twelve 12” guns supplemented by twenty 4.7” plus smaller; speed was about 22 knots. On completion she was
experimentally equipped with a Curtiss seaplane. Post WW1 changes were limited to a new heavy tripod fore mast in 1923
and a seaplane on the third turret in 1925. Deemed unsuitable for major modernisation she was removed from the Navy list
in 1928 and scrapped thereafter.
Cavour Class
The next group were the three strong
Cavour class all laid down in 1910 and
completed 1914-15. About the same
time Italy attempted unsuccessfully to
increase their battlefleet by the purchase
of two Argentinian battleships under
construction in the USA. The Cavour’s
main armament was thirteen 12” with
eighteen 4.7” and thirteen 3”; speed from
Parsons turbines was 22 knots. Extra 3”
AA were added on the turrets as can be
Navis Guilio Cesare
seen in the Navis model. The Leonardo
da Vinci was sunk due to an internal explosion, possibly caused by Austrian saboteurs, in 1916 at Taranto; completely
upside down she was re-floated three years later with the intention of bring her back into service. It took two years to right
- 15 -
the ship and in 1923 the decision was taken to abandon the project and she was scrapped in the 1920s. The other two ships
received minor changes post-war and by 1926 both had been taken out of service. During WW1 the Italian battlefleet had
been deployed mainly in the Adriatic against the
Austro-Hungarian Navy and at war’s end the
latter’s dreadnought Tegetthoff was ceded to Italy
as reparation for the loss of the Leonardo da
Vinci.
During the late 1920s there were studies into two
new battleship designs (23,000 tons with six 15”
and 35,000 tons with the same armament)
although only the latter was progressed eventually
becoming the much larger Littorio class with nine
15”. As an interim measure it was decided in
1932 to modernise very thoroughly the two
Cavour Class in what amounted to a virtual
rebuild. This included new engines (for 28
knots), underwater protection, armour and of
course armament; the latter comprising ten 12.6”,
Guilio Cesare 1921
twelve 4.7” eight 3.9” plus smaller AA guns.
Aircraft catapults were fitted amidships but removed before the ships entered service in 1937
Along with 14 cruisers and
numerous destroyers the two
Cavours engaged units of the
British Mediterranean Fleet
(battleships HMS Warspite,
Malaya, & Royal Sovereign,
aircraft carrier HMS Eagle, 5
cruisers & 14 destroyers) off
Calabria in July 1940. Heavily
out-gunned,
the
Italian’s
withdrew after a 15” hit on the
Guilio Cesare. The Conte di
Delphin 145 Guilio Cesare
Cavour was sunk at Taranto in
November 1940 and although salvaged was never returned to service being finally scrapped by 1952.
The Guilio Cesare survived the war to be transferred to the Soviet Navy as Z11 in 1949; she was re-named the Novorossiisk
and was based in the Black Sea and can be
seen in the Russian Section of Janes Fighting
Ships in the early 1950s. Depending on your
source of information she was either laid up or
sunk by a mine in 1955.
Conte di Cavour
- 16 -
Doria Class
The last WW1 Italian
dreadnoughts were the two
ships of the Doria Class.
They
were
improved
versions of their immediate
predecessors
with
a
repositioned fore mast, the
same main armament (but
centre turret one deck lower)
and heavier secondary guns
Navis Andrea Doria
of 6” calibre (sixteen fitted).
In 1925 seaplanes were
provided plus from 1926 a catapult on the forecastle. Both were laid up in 1932 prior to their rebuild between 1937 and
1940, similar in principle to the
Cavours but with a different secondary
armament of twelve 5.3” and ten 3.5”.
In
August
1940
the
newly
commissioned Caio Duilio joined the
two Cavours and the brand new 15”
gunned battleships Littorio and Vittorio
Veneto in an attempt the intercept
British units transiting between
Delphin 77 Caio Duilio
Alexandria and Gibraltar. No contact
was made, nor in a similar sortie the
following month. Caio Duilio was torpedoed at Taranto but had been repaired by May 1941. With Conte di Cavour still
under repair in Trieste (where she was later damaged yet again), the other three were moored at Malta following the
Armistice in September 1943, remaining there until June 1944; the two Dorias became initially training vessels in the postwar Italian Navy.
Between 1947 and 1953 they took turns as the CinC’s flagship before going into reserve and finally to scrap. Andrea Doria
was the last surviving Italian battleship, albeit a training and accommodation ship in her last few years – she was scrapped
in 1961-62.
Models & Colour Schemes
The table lists 1/1250 models by Navis (NM) and
Neptun (N) with, in effect, duplicates by Wiking
(WM), Delphin (D) and Superior (SU), the latter in
1/1200. Apart from Neptun, the models are generic
class representatives so a collector could buy multiple
examples if an entire class was wanted. Wiking and
Delphin are long discontinued but although interesting
are not to the same level of detail as the later Neptuns
(see pictures for a comparison between ‘D’ & ‘N’).
Andrea Doria 1950
Many years ago Modelworld Magazine featured some
wonderful articles on how to convert the Casadio
Littorio 1/1200 plastic kit into the much smaller
battleships of either the Cavour or Duilio classes –
this I duly did but sadly the resulting models have
long gone replaced in the collection by the
versions pictured here. Pre 1939 the ships were
overall light grey with metal portions of decks dark
grey and wooden sections unpainted. In 1940
most wooden decks were painted dark grey.
During the Calabria battle the Italian Air Force
managed to bomb their own ships so red & white
oblique stripes were added on the forecastle and
occasionally quarterdeck of many ships.
N1502 Caio Duilio
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Camouflage (disruptive patterns really) began to be applied in March 1941 with Littorio the first battleship so treated and
Caio Duilio following in April. Immediately after the war ships had light grey upperworks and a dark grey hulls, returning
to overall light grey circa 1950. The superb colour profiles featured this month are from the long out of print ‘Orizzonte
Mare’ series published by Edizione Bizzarri in Rome nearly 40 years ago.
Completed
1913
Modernised
n/a
Model (as in)
NM503 (1913)
1914
1933-37
Leonardo da Vinci
Conte di Cavour
1914
1915
n/a
1933-37
NM502 (1914)
D145 (1938)
(NM502)
(NM502)
N1503 (1938),
WM (1938)
SU I102 (1938) (1/1200)
Doria Class
Andrea Doria
1916
1937-40
Caio Duilio
1916
1937-40
Dante Alighieri
Cavour Class
Guilio Cesare
NM 501 (1916)
SU I101 (1940) (1/1200)
D77, N1502 (both 1940)
Table 1 Italian Dreadnoughts of WW1
Colour scheme: Andrea Doria 1941 – 42
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Colour scheme: Andrea Doria 1942 – 45
Colour scheme: Guilio Cesare 1941 - 42
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Colour scheme: Guilio Cesare 1942 – 45
Colour scheme: Caio Duilio 1941 - 42
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Colour scheme: Caio Duilio 1942 - 1945
References & Further Reading
For technical information Conways All the Worlds Battleships and Aldo Fraccaroli’s Italian Warships of WW1 and WW2
(2 volumes); for a far more detailed operational history of the ships ‘Italian Battleships of WW2’ by Erminio Bagnasco &
Mark Grossman and The Battle for the Mediterranean by Macintyre..
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ‘GUIDE TO WATERLINE MODEL SHIPS’
The first issue of the guide was compiled in 1990 and was based on a series of eight articles published in Marine Modelling
magazine during 1989. In producing a booklet it was possible to include much additional detail and to provide listings for
certain manufacturers whose ranges were out of production and whose
models would therefore not be listed in dealers’ catalogues. Issue 1 then
contained listings for Eagle*, Ensign, Hornby Minic/Rovex*, Airfix*,
Casadio*, Triang*, Delphin, Hansa, Star and Wiking. Issue 2 (which
appeared in 1996) repeated those asterisked and added full lists for Len
Jordan Models, Pedestal, Fleetline and Nelson. With UK collectors in mind,
all British models produced by a further eighteen manufacturers were listed
in tables.
Issue 3 appeared in 1999, followed five years later by Issue 4 which was
available on CD only but added a digital photo library. Issue 5 in 2008/09
heralded the pdf download version with many new images. With all issues
most entries are reviewed and of course new manufacturers added.
Courtesy of Marine Modelling International (see www.traplet.com, then
'Online shop', then 'Marine Modelling', then 'Books') Issue 6 (2010) is the
first for many years to find its way into print. With new models constantly
appearing (and going out of production) it can only be a snapshot at the time
of writing so please refer to the monthly MMI-Waterlines column for all the
latest news and that extra level of detail re ships and models. Issue 6 was last amended in January 2010.
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