1927 Programme Surrey Class & 1929 Programme Heavy Cruisers

[Blackbuck]

Mhmm. The Y scheme is rather nice looking.

[superboy]

WOW , Splendid work!

[eswube]

Splendid work!

[Hood]

Well this is the final Easter present and one that is exclusive!

After our offsite email exchanges on the history of the Surrey Class, Smurf went hunting in the archives for plans sent to the dockyards before these ships were cancelled for some long-lost confirmation of what these ships would have really looked like. Up to now all we had to go on was the drawings in Sturton's article and the 1929 Modified Surrey drawn by Friedman. Against the odds, the hunch paid off and the staff at NMM Archives found some rigging plans. Smurf ordered copies and obtained permission for me to use them to draw the Surrey Class.

So with sincere thanks to Smurf and the NMM, I have finally drawn what is the most probable appearance of the Surrey Class as they were designed. The plan I was using is dated November 1928. It shows all rigging details and many other details. A close-up of the bridge plans revealed a few minor last minute changes (another searchlight forwards and the addition of a potato store by the saluting guns.



Using the above drawing, I've redone the 1929 Modified Surrey taking cues from Friedman's sketch. We know the legends were almost identical so its probable both classes would have been very similar except for the quad MGs replacing the pom-poms and the Exeter-style bridge.

[maomatic]

Fantastic work, Hood!
Always great to see some rare never-weres.

[BB1987]

Impressive.

[Krakatoa]

Great drawings Hood, another thread to get inspiration from.

[emperor_andreas]

Very nice work!

[rifleman2]

superb drawings

[Cybermax]

Fine looking cruisers (and drawings!).