World War I German destroyers

Garlicdesign

Post subject: Re: World War I German destroyers

Posted: February 4th, 2016, 8:38 pm

Posts: 1064
Joined: December 26th, 2012, 9:36 am
Location: Germany

Hello again!

While I'm at it...

Large German torpedo craft (Part 1)

1. Destroyers for Argentina
The German Navy held a firm belief that torpedo craft must first and foremost be small and maneuverable; toughness and heavy armament were considered secondary attributes. But if foreign customers wanted larger ships than the German Navy was willing to accept, German yards were more than willing to provide them. Of the twelve thousand-tonners ordered by Argentina in 1910, two each were built at Schichau and Krupp Germania, respectively; they were the only four destroyers of that programme that were actually delivered to Argentina. All four were good for 35 knots and carried a powerful armament of US origin, consisting of four 102mm guns on the centerline and four single 533mm torpedo tubes mounted singly at the ship's sides. They were delivered in 1912. The Schichau Boats - named ARA Cordoba and ARA La Plata - were somewhat larger; with their ram bow and their foremast stepped forward of the charthouse, they looked deceptively old-fashioned, although their performance was fully high-end for their time.

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The Germania boats received the names Catamarca and Jujuy. Apart from their more modern appearance, they performed identically. They are generally credited with only 27 knots by most sources, but given their size and designed hp, that seems to be either a typo or refers to the speed they were still capable of in their dotage during WWII.

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2. Zerstörer 1914
In 1911, the Vulkan Yard at Stettin supplied the plans for a 1.300-ton destroyer to Russia; this Vessel - the famous Novik - became the prototype for Russia's entire World War I era destroyer fleet (allready drawn by Golly). To speed up their huge programme of destroyer construction and to avoid bottlenecks, the Russians ordered some of the machinery plants for their new destroyers abroad, particularly in Germany. When the war erupted, the Germans seized a number of plants (sources vary about whether they had four, six or eight sets under construction; Conway states four Navy(Parsons) turbine sets being built by Blohm&Voss and two AEG(Curtis) turbine sets installed in two Vulcan-built ships). The Blohm&Voss yard offered to design a powerful destroyer type around these engines, using a version of Novik's plans adapted to German requirements. In late 1914 and early 1915, eight destroyers were ordered, six from Blohm&Voss (B97, B98, B109, B110, B111 and B112) and two from Vulcan (V99 and V100). They were built very rapidly, none of them needing more than a year to complete. The Blohm&Voss and Vulcan ships were generally much alike, differing in sundry details. They received four 88/45 guns and six 500mm torpedo tubes, arranged as on the 1911 and 1913 torpedo boats; they were stronger than other German torpedo craft, but still weaker than similarly sized British, US and Russian destroyers. All were delivered to the Navy in the typical black torpedo boat livery.

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Unlike all other German torpedo craft - even the huge 1916 type 2000-tonners were labeled Torpedo Boats - these ships were dubbed Torpedobootszerstörer (torpedo boat destroyer). Consequently, the colouring regulations for torpedo boats did not apply to them, and they were repainted in the grey livery of large surface combatants soon after delivery. B97 and B98 had trouble with insufficient capacity of their ventilation system and were rebuilt with different ventilators amidships. B98's arrangement was more satisfactory and repeated in B109 through 112. All six fought at Jutland with no losses. At that time, they had their bridges raised for better visibility, and their forefunnels raised to keep the bridges free of smoke.

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V99 and V100 worked as advertised from the start and needed no refit. V99 perished in a surface engagement with Russian forces including the destroyer Novik; her weaker gun armament and her inexperienced crew put her at a decisive disadvantage. V100 operated together with the B97s, including action at Jutland.

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After Jutland, they were rearmed with four 105mm guns; only now were they fully competitive to contemporary foreign destroyers. Their bridgework received additional strengthening, and their foremasts were raised and received a new rig. The searchlights were moved to new positions as well.

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All except B97 were scuttled at Jutland, salvaged and broken up; B97 served in the Italian Navy under the Name Cesare Rossarol till 1939.

3. Requisitioned Argentine destroyers
The Argentine Navy sold four British built destroyers to Greece in 1912 for use in the Balkan wars (some sources claim they were rejected as unsatisfactory, which I think is dubious given the high regard these vessels were held in by the Greeks). The Argentines were obviously very content with their four German built destroyers, because they ordered four more from Krupp Germania as replacements; they were given the same names as the British-built destroyers (ARA Santiago, San Luis, Santa Fe and Tucuman). They were considerably larger than the Catamarcas at nearly 1.200 tons, but designed for the same armament.

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All were nearing completion in July 1914 and requisitioned by the German Navy. They received the same armament as the B97-class and also were delivered in black, which they quickly replaced with grey liveries.

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All four fought at Jutland, suffering no losses. Like the B97s, they had their bridges and forefunnels raised by that time.

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The later modifications were also the same as applied to the B97s. All four were scuttled at Scapa flow.

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Greetings
GD

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