KMS Hindenburg from "The Final Act"

Been going through this forum in awe and realized I should contribute this.

In "The Final Act" by John Watson, a third Bismarck Class battleship is completed in secrecy in the final months of the war, she is meant to sail on a one way mission to Washington

Realism note: this is a bit far fetched, but apparently it could have been done

Quotes about the ship

Quote:

"...the side armaments-there should have been six small turrets holding the 5.9 inch guns and eight smaller ones with 4.1 inch guns-had never been fitted, there were eight blister turrets containing the 37mm anti-aircraft guns"

Quote:

"the four 15-inch guns she carried in her two forwards turrets were ample to do the job"

Quote:

"Bach could see the thickened armour-plate belt running along the sides of the hull; no scuttles-portholes-weakened the structure. The ship must be as dark as hades"

Quote:

"just a stripped down ship for the job"

Quote:

"the vessel has no boilers or turbines, needs too much crew.We stripped out the two outer shafts as well;we left just the one shaft and we managed to lay our hands on two large diesels....it will only do 12 knots rater than the design speed of 30 knots"

Quote:

"we armoured heavily just in case.The side belts are 14.2 inches and the decks are 12.6 inches,thicker over the magazines and engine rooms.This is more than the Bismarck had....Oh, and we piled on some extra below the waterline.Torpedoes,you know. thats why she's a bit slow"

So from this and reading the book, I gleaned this

From Wikipedia

Quote:

Name: Bismarck
Namesake: Otto von Bismarck
Ordered: 16 November 1935
Builder: Blohm & Voss, Hamburg
Laid down: 1 July 1936
Launched: 14 February 1939
Commissioned: 24 August 1940
Fate: Sunk, cause disputed, 27 May 1941 in the North Atlantic, at 48°10′N 16°12′W
General characteristics
Class and type: Bismarck-class battleship
Displacement: 41,700 tonnes standard
50,900 tonnes full load
Length:
251 metres (823.5 ft) overall
241.5 metres (792.3 ft) waterline
Beam: 36.0 metres (118.1 ft) waterline
Draft:
9.3 metres (30.5 ft) standard
10.2 metres (33.5 ft) full load
Propulsion:
12 Wagner high-pressure boilers;
3 Blohm & Voss geared turbines 150,170 shaft horsepower (111.98 MW);
3 three-blade propellers, 4.70 metres (15.42 ft) diameter
Speed: 30.1 knots (34.6 mph; 55.7 km/h) during trials (one work claims a speed of 31.1 knots (35.8 mph; 57.6 km/h)[1]
Range: 8,525 nautical miles (9,810 mi; 15,788 km) at 19 knots (22 mph; 35 km/h)
Complement: 2,092: 103 officers 1,989 men (1941)
Armament:
8 × 380 mm/L52 SK C/34 (15 in)(4×2)
12 × 150 mm/L55 SK-C/28 (5.9 in)(6×2)
16 × 105 mm/L65 SK-C/37 / SK-C/33 (4.1 in)(8×2)
16 × 37 mm/L83 SK-C/30 (1.5 in)
12 × 20 mm/L65 MG C/30 (0.79 in)
8 × 20 mm/L65 MG C/32 (8×4) (0.79 in)
Armour:
Belt: 145–320 millimetres (5.7–13 in)
Deck: 110–120 millimetres (4.3–4.7 in)
Bulkheads: 220 millimetres (8.7 in)
Turrets: 130–360 millimetres (5.1–14 in)
Barbettes: 342 millimetres (13.5 in)
Conning tower: 360 millimetres (14 in)
Aircraft carried: 4×Arado Ar 196 A-3, with 1 double-ended catapult

Quote:

Name: Hindenburg
Namesake: Paul von Hindenburg
Ordered: 1936?
Builder: Blohm & Voss, Hamburg
Laid down: 1938-1939?
Launched: 19th of April,1945
Commissioned: 19th of April,1945
Fate: Scuttled in Greenland, Sunk in Chesapeake bay
General characteristics
Class and type: Modified Bismarck-class battleship
Displacement: 41,700 tonnes standard
50,900 tonnes full load
Length:
251 metres (823.5 ft) overall
241.5 metres (792.3 ft) waterline
Beam: 36.0 metres (118.1 ft) waterline
Draft:
9.3 metres (30.5 ft) standard
10.2 metres (33.5 ft) full load
Propulsion:
2 Large Marine diesels
1 three-blade propellers, 4.70 metres (15.42 ft) diameter
Speed: 12 knots, 5-6 in very heavy seas
Range: ?
Complement: less than 250 men and 18 officers
Armament:
4 × 380 mm/L52 SK C/34 (15 in)(2×2)
16 × 37 mm/L83 SK-C/30 (1.5 in)

Armour:
Belt: >355 millimetres (14.2in)
Deck: >315 millimetres (12.6 in)
Bulkheads: 220 millimetres (8.7 in)
Turrets: 130–360 millimetres (5.1–14 in)
Barbettes: 342 millimetres (13.5 in)?
Conning tower: 360 millimetres (14 in)?
Aircraft carried: None

I suppose I'll start with a Bismarck design and strip it down until we get our result!

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Ehm. You do know that the Hindenburg was reserved for the H-39 right?

For the rest i would like to see it, bring up the fun! Good luck.

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Yeah, I gathered that at that point they probably knew they would never have a H-39 though, also the name is changed to "Der Fuher" Prior to launch but the captain was not supportive of the Nazi regime and changed it back to Hindenburg just before launch

It will look like the budget Bismarck from hell since it was made by unskilled slave labor

Just a quick question.If Hindenberg was scuttled off Greenland how did the ship end up sinking in Chesapeake bay

In the book, the Hindenburg was scuttled in 1945, then (long story cut short), pulled from the shallow inlet and towed to Chesapeake bay in 2000 and capsized there.

Have you read the Iron Man by the same author ?

Yes, Good book, but I don't own it or can find it anywhere. (The Stalin may be on my to do list later on though if I can get my hands on it)

I've got the book if you want it.

No, I'm good. Thanks for offering though.

But maybe in the future,some details from the book? Thanks anyway!

How prolific is this author? I did a quick Google/Amazon search, ended up finding him on British Amazon only, and apparently he wrote these two books and that was it. Apparently he's a retired real estate agent?

Shipbucket

KMS Hindenburg from "The Final Act"

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