Großdeutschland (1815-1947)

[eswube]

Great series!

[Hood]

Lovely additions, always good to see good-looking German light cruisers.

[Imperialist]

Eichhorn Class (1915)

Hello once again, going to dump my finished drawings in this thread in the time I have before I start my new job in a few weeks. Starting off, are the three ships of the Eichhorn-class of battlecruisers (analogous to the Derfflinger class in our timeline): SMS Eichhorn, SMS Knesebeck, and SMS Zieten. They were built as a response to the three British Empire's Lion-class battlecruisers built and completed just before the start of the 1st Great War: HMS Lion, HMS Leopard, and HMS Tiger. The Eichhorn's were the last major battlecruisers in commission before the conflict kicked off (although Zieten was commissioned a few months after the start of the war), and were significant improvements in terms of armament over the previous Schwerin-class, being armed with eight 32cm SK L/50, fourteen 15cm SK L/45 (Eichhorn had twelve), and ten 8.8cm SK L/45 (Zieten had eight). Speed was 27 knots, with armored belt protection extending all the way from the bow to the stern (30cm tapering to 10cm, with 17cm upper), and the turrets were adequately protected with 28cm on the faceplates. This would be enough to survive the punishment that they would face throughout the course of the war time and again, as they faced off against elements of the British Grand Fleet.

I have depicted the ships throughout their services lives (as opposed to OTL, where they were sunk or scuttled), they instead manage to soldier on until the 2nd Great War comes about, and below I have shown them in varying configurations as the years have passed; I've had to come up with my own AU parts for my AA guns, as well as trying a new look for Zieten as refitted, as I quite liked the bridge design of the M-class, which was my only justification to draw it in a similar fashion.

Hope you enjoy! I'll update this thread throughout the couple weeks I have before I disappear once again for a bit...

SMS Eichhorn (1915)

SMS Eichhorn (1922)

SMS Eichhorn (1932)

SMS Eichhorn (1941)

SMS Eichhorn (1943)

SMS Knesebeck (1915)

SMS Knesebeck (1924)

SMS Knesebeck (1937)

SMS Knesebeck (1942)

SMS Zieten (1916)

SMS Zieten (1925)

SMS Zieten (1938)

SMS Zieten (1945)

[Imperialist]

Charlotte Class (1898)

Named after Friedrich Wilhelm III's three daughters, the Charlotte-class were the last protected cruisers built for the Reichsmarine. Armed with a single 21cm SK L/40 in fore and aft turrets, as well as having four 17cm situated in turrets located amidships, but oddly enough also had four 15cm in casemates - not quite a uniform secondary battery - and twelve 8.8cm SK L/35s in both casemate and pivot mountings.

Pre-war, the Charlottes' were part of the German East Asia Squadron (Ostasiengeschwader) and had a key part during the Boxer Rebellion by suppressing the Qing-held Taku fortifications and blockading them. By the time the 1st Great War came about, the ships were already considered obsolete, even after their modernizations in the early 1910's, and were mainly relegated to either training duties or barracks ships soon after the outbreak of the war. They were eventually scrapped after the cessation of hostilities early on in the 1920's.

SMS Charlotte (1898)

SMS Frederica (1910)

SMS Alexandrine (1912)

[emperor_andreas]

Very nice work!

[Imperialist]

Rheinland Class (1904)

The penultimate class of pre-dreadnoughts for the Reichsmarine, the Rheinland's were a class of 5 ships (Rheinland, Posen, Hessen, Pommern, and Brandenburg) which were meant to try to bridge the gap between the British Grand Fleet and itself in the early 20th century. Technically semi-dreadnoughts, they were armed with four 28cm SK L/40 in twin turrets situated fore and aft, as well as eight 21cm SK L/40 in four turrets amidships, which would have been used to supplement engaging the enemy capital ships (provided they somehow got into range!) but mostly to deter lighter elements such as cruisers. Tertiary and quaternary armament comprised of eight 15cm SK L/40 and up to sixteen 8.8cm SK L/35s, making for a heavy anti-destroyer battery indeed.

Together with the later Schlesien-class pre-dreadnoughts, they made up of the core of the Kaiser's navy in the pre-war era for a short time, until the arrival of the (then) brand-new HMS Dreadnought, which made them obsolete practically overnight. However, they still had a place in the fleet and would find themselves deep in combat with elements of the Royal Navy in various clashes, including the battles of Helgoland Blight, as well as numerous naval actions in the North Sea. Post-war, the type were laid up in reserve mainly to provide fleet training for cadets, however two (Hessen and Pommern) were converted into target ships, while the rest were scrapped in the early 30's - after serving as barracks ships for some time.

SMS Rheinland (1904)

SMS Rheinland (1913)

SMS Rheinland (1923)

SMS Rheinland (1930)

SMS Posen (1925)

SMS Posen (1929)

SMS Hessen (1933)

SMS Pommern (1937)

SMS Brandenburg (1927)


Edit: Fixed minor errors 09/01/2022

[Leaveittoleo]

I adore the barracks and target ship fits, I think they came out dope, and I like seeing the more common fate of ships historically.