What-If C.S.S. Bismarck 1869

[Gorg]

Hy folks,
when in 1863 the prussian chancler Otto von Bismarck brought his King Wilhelm I. to send an ambrassador to Richmond and aksed if the CSA needed wapons, ammulutions or some Army Corps. In this moment the Union stopped imimdeadly the rolling war campaines and in the peace conference of Agincourt started in December 1863. Then in 1864 CSA and USA made an "the one and ever lasting peace", cleared their borderlinequestions, accepeted each other and so the land was parted.

The Prussian Navy gave instructers to the C.S.N. and the Krupp factory bought the Dahlgren Company in 1865. So Dahlgren-Krupp was now the one and only naval yard in the CSA.
So the idea of a rivergoing coast fleet was born and the improvised ships of the wartime CSN were layed up and new ships were build. A very beginning was the small habour defender C.S.S. Bismarck a well protected heavyly armed battleship.


Drawing & scatches will follow!


Have fun!
Gorg

[Gorg]

first drawings are at the moment in work. But she got heavier than I thought and a little bit shorter as in the first hand drawings. But so she'll be a very much better artillery platform - and I can keep the main guns barrels shorter, too.
To be honest: She is more a fortification afloat than a coastal battleship . As she will be at anchor in front of a harbour entrance she got fit with mushroom anchors.
At the moment I'd like to build her on a diorama as placed ready for action.

Armament & Protection:

• heavy ram
  two 22" breach loading 155t guns in single turrets with rabbit ear telescope
  four 55mm steam-powered revolving guns in single turrets
  four 40 mm fish torpedo tubes in single turrets
  3.5ft of compound armour and hammock in nets
  quadrant cork banks
  anti fish torpedo net between boats&booms
  screw protection grills

Colourshemata:

• Hull: Moccabrown
  lower superstructure: Orange-/Leatherbrown
  upper superstructure: yellow-creme
  funnel top (above superstructure): white-creme
  lining between levels; bordeaux line with a yellow-white outline
  underwater: dark green seperated by a thin white line
  Ventilators/Searchlights: as superstructure outside inside bordeaux - lattice yellow-creme
  Masts: following the colour shemata with a yellow-white top (with black smoke band)
  Boats/Davits/Booms/Derricks: Moccabrown outside (inside white-creme)
  Semaphore arms: 2 red & 4 yellow-black

This are the first ideas I cought, when I thgought to mix a typical contemporary colouring with a camouflage effect to hide the minder against the dark coastline and the light southern sky.

Photos will follow a.s.a.p.

[James Hood]

And perhaps, because CSS raiders had been so successful, jointly-designed light cruisers would have been a logical next step, with a parallel role of trade protection.

[Gorg]

And perhaps, because CSS raiders had been so successful, jointly-designed light cruisers would have been a logical next step, with a parallel role of trade protection.

...yes that would be a nice thing to plan...

But now the scan of my actual progress on the "drawingtable":

scanner doesn't work!

[James Hood]

Hmm.

And extrapolating, with the Germans/CSA having a strong alliance and the Germans anchorages on the west side of the codfish pond, would:

? Britain
? France
? Spain

Start making "big nice" with the USA and starting the "late 19th century" arms race sooner?

[Guest]

Hi all does any one have a set of English instructions for a academy kit of the Bismarck 1/350 scale as i have spoiled mine Kit No is 1453, any help will be appreciated.
Yours David

[Timmy C]

David, you're posting in the wrong thread - you're looking for the WWII Bismarck, whose thread is here: viewtopic.php?f=47&t=4696