Hello again!
Thanks everyone! From now on, posts will follow in rapid succession, because I now have all the drawings ready (not done in chronological order) and only need to write up the backgrounds (continuity raises its ugly head...).
14. Dutch prizes part 3: Wiesbaden
Apart from Willem de Zwijger, the Germans also captured the unfinished hulls of two medium-sized light cruisers of 8650 tons each, to be named Eendracht and De zeven Provincien. The original Dutch design called for ten 150/55 Bofors guns in two triple and two twin turrets, no heavy flak, ten 40mm Bofors guns, six 533mm torpedo tubes and two airplanes; with a 100mm belt and 20+25mm decks, they were well protected. Both ships were well advanced, approaching launch readiness on the Rotterdamsche Droogdok and Nederlandse Schepsbouw (Amsterdam) yards. Eendracht was heavily damaged by demolition charges, but De zeven Provincien fell into German hands nearly intact (she was lying alongside the Vrijheid and like the battleship, was captured by German commandoes). The Germans quickly drafted a plan to complete both ships using German equipment; their appearance varied quite visibly from their original dutch guise. Especcialy the arrangement of bridge and command facilities was - despite similar outer shape - totally different. The original triple turrets were still in Sweden, and German 150mm triples were too large for the Dutch barbettes. Thus the Germans had to limit main armament to eight 150/55s. They however managed to squeeze a catapult and three 88mm twin flak mounts into the design, although the magazines of the forward 88mm mounts were placed awkwardly far away forward of the mounts. Eight semi-automatic 37mm guns and twenty 20mm Autocannons were installed. They were the only completed German ships to mount the new SL-9 HA directors which were originally designed for the J-class battleships. The Dutch torpedo tubes were substituted by German ones of the same caliber. For German service, the names Wiesbaden (ex de Zeven Provincien) and Breslau (ex Eendracht) - honouring the tradition of naming light cruisers for ships of that type which were lost in the first world war - were chosen. The Dutch yards who had been building the cruisers also received the contracts for completing them, resulting in many more or less intentional delays. Only the former de Zeven Provincien was ever completed and commissioned as Wiesbaden into the Kriegsmarine in July 1943; she was the last large warship to be completed for the German fleet. During the Battle of the Lofotes in 1944, Wiesbaden looked like this:
After the war, Wiesbaden was returned to her rightful Dutch owners and renamed De Ruyter; she was completely gutted and totally rebuilt in the mid-1950s for further service. When her operation became too expensive for the Dutch Navy, she was sold off to Peru in 1973 under the new name Almirante Grau. There she serves faithfully as flagship of the Peruvian Navy since over 40 years; as of 2015, she is the last active gun cruiser in the world.
Greetings
GD
I'll look over it. I could swear I pasted only C30 guns. Maybe I really should get some glasses.
