Armada Española de 1898

First up a big thank you to Colin Blaxter who has sent me scans of the Andy Callan rules I asked for just yesterday. The blogosphere is full of wonderful people!

The Spanish Navy had, up to 1898, a long and, mostly, illustrious history. The defeat by the Americans and the loss of the last portions of its overseas empire shook the Spanish national psyche to its very foundations. One of the best things to come out of the debacle was The Generation of '98. The defeat also reinforced the idea of The Two Spains which, after much political chaos, would lead to the Spanish Civil War. But all of that is another story.

I built the Spanish ships using the same resources as detailed here: ship stuff. The builds were a bit easier because I had the experiences (or mistakes) to draw on from the USN ships.My favourite bits on all the ships are the gigantic ventilation pipes. There's just something about them that says Turn Of The Century.

Anyways here are the ships:

First is Cristóbal Colón (Christopher Columbus). A Heavy Armoured Cruiser of the Giuseppe Garibaldi class of ships. CC was the flagship of the fleet at the Battle of Santiago.

Cristóbal Colón 1

Cristóbal Colón 2

Cristóbal Colón 3

The Armoured Cruisers of the Infanta Maria Teresa class. There were three ships in this class.

Infanta Maria Teresa 1

Infanta Maria Teresa 2

Infanta Maria Teresa 3

Almirante Oquendo was an Armoured Cruiser of the Infanta Maria Teresa class of ships. 

Almirante Oquendo 

Vizcaya was the third ship in the Infanta Maria Teresa class of ships.

Vizcaya

Also present at the Battle of Santiago were these Torpedo Boat Destroyers: TBD Pluton & TBD Furor. 

Furor

Pluton 1

Pluton 2

Pluton 3

And finally. To try and even up the sides I built the Spanish battleship Pelayo. The Pelayo was en-route to Cuba but was recalled to Spain after the defeat of the Spanish Squadron at Santiago. An interesting what-if scenario would occur if Pelayo had arrived in time to participate. 

Pelayo was the only ship in her class and was given the nickname of 'Solitario' or 'Lonely'. The ship has the look of the iron-clad era especially its main guns being in open turrets and its masts and rigging. Needless to say this is a build for wargaming and not museum display!

Pelayo 1

Pelayo 2

Pelayo 3

As always comments are most welcome.

Hasta luego!

USN Pre-Dreadnoughts

I mentioned yesterday that I'd re-discovered a number of Ironclad/Pre-Dreadnought ships I'd built several years ago. When you consider they'd been jumbled up in a box for most of that time they weren't in bad condition: two broken masts and covered in dust. So, a few drops of glue and a bit of blowing later they were fit for the photographer.

I built them for an, as yet, unfulfilled wargame where the glorious Spanish Navy comes to its senses in time to utterly defeat the Monroe Doctrine wielding (non)colonialists of USA. The fact that the Spaniards were themselves colonialists is neither here nor there.

So, let's start with the USN ships that I got built before, as usual, my grasshopper mind became entranced by yet another period's project. I constructed three battleships. The scale is a nominal 1/1200 and, if I remember correctly, I used Wiki and a site dedicated to the The Spanish American War of 1898. These were really useful for ship plans, capabilities and colour schemes.

I built the ships for both navies from balsa wood, cocktail sticks, dress-maker's pins, coffee stirrers, plastic card, rod & tube, inserts for multi-pin plugs, dowelling and paracetamol tablets. The last wasn't because the builds were causing me headaches. No, the pills resembled the turrets on the USN ships so they were pressed out of their packets and pressed into service. I'd probably use something else if I ever return to the miniature shipyards.

First up is USS Iowa (BB-4). This ship fired the first shot of the Battle of Santiago de Cuba. She was the only ship of her class.

USS Iowa 1

USS Iowa 2

Next ship is USS Oregon (BB-3). This vessel was part of the Indiana-class of battleships.

USS Oregon 1

USS Oregon 2

USS Oregon 3

Finally is the namesake of the Indiana-class: USS Indiana (BB-1). USS Indiana was the lead ship of her class and also the USA's first battleship.

USS Indiana 1

USS Indiana 2

USS Indiana 3

I'm after a copy of Andy Callan's Pre-Dreadnought rules. They were published in, I think, Miniature Wargames, about a million years ago. If anyone can help that would be grand.

Next up: The Spanish!

SCW Naval: Franco's Rebel Fleet

I don't intend to spend a lot of time on explaining the ins and outs of General Franco's rebellious, illegal and piratical navy. All the details for the ships in my collection are listed in the links given in earlier posts on SCW Naval. There are a couple of ships missing. Baleares sister of Canarias for example.

Battleship: Espana

Heavy Cruiser: Canarias

Light Cruiser: Almirante Cervera

Light Cruiser: Navarra

Destroyer: Huesca

Destroyer: Teruel

Gunboats: Dato, Canalejas & Castillo

All models from Navwar's 1/3000 range. I used artistic licence for the gunboats. They're some kind of tiny, crap destroyer possibly from the Ironclads range.

Here's some heroic Republican Air Force, or La Gloriosa, planes on their way to show the rebels the error of their ways:

Chato Aircraft

Mosca Aircraft

Rasante Aircraft

I found this site which details several major and minor naval engagements during SCW. They also provide some simple rules. I'll be doing a play-test or two soon; results and pictures when I have them.

Salud y Républica!

SCW Naval: Republican Battleship

Finally for La Armada Republicana we have its sole battleship Jaime Primero. As in earlier blog entries this site was extremely useful: SCW Battleships.

España Class

Ships	Jaime Primero (Republican Navy), España (Nationalist Navy), Alfonso XIII (Sunk pre-war)
Displacement	15,700 tons normal, 16,400 full load
Dimensions	Length: 139.90 m. (459' 2'') Beam: 24 m.(78' 9'') Draft: 7.70 m. (25' 6'')
Machinery	4 Screws, Turbines Parsons, 12 Boilers Yarrow of coal 20,000 HP.= 19.5 knots.7,500 milles/10 knots
Armament	As built: 8x305mm (12'') / 50cal. 20x101.6mm (4'') / 50cal .-2x47mm AA - 2 machine guns. España 1937:12 x101.6mm- 4x88 mm - 2x20 mm and several machine guns Jaime I 1937: 20 x101.6mm- 2x76 mm. - 4x47 mm and several machine guns
Armor	V= 230-150-75 mm (9''-6''-3'') H=50-25 mm. (2''-1'') Turrets= 250 mm (10'')
Crew	850

Jaime Primero 1937
Laid down: 5 February 1912. Launched: 21 September 1914. Completed: September 1921. Sunk: 17 June 1937.

Jaime Primero 1

Jaime Primero 2

Next time the Franco fleet.

Welcome to new blog follower Brian Carrick who runs a smashing blog on collecting toy soldiers, well worth a look.

TTFN!

SCW Naval: Republican Cruisers

While researching and building the opposing fleets I found these two sites invaluable: SCW Warships 1 & SCW Warships 2.

Two of the cruisers featured were the mainstay of the the Republican naval effort as far as heavy units were concerned. These were Libertad & Mendez Nunes. These two were involved in many of the war's engagements and proved their worth time and again against the heavier guns of Canarias & Baleares. Of which, more later.

It has also become apparent that many Spanish ships were based upon RN designs, although with some modifications. It also seems that numbers of British naval engineers remained at various Spanish naval bases, eg El Ferrol & Cartagena, for the duration of the war. It would appear that they assisted both sides in repairs and maintenance.

Cervera Class

Ships	Libertad (ex-Príncipe Alfonso) and Miguel de Cervantes (Republican Navy), Almirante Cervera (Nationalist Navy)
Displacement	7,975 tons standard, 9,240 full load
Dimensions	Length: 176.62 m (579' 6'') Beam: 16.61 m (54' 6'') Draft: 5.03 m (16' 6'')
Machinery	4 Screws, Turbines Parsons, 8 Boilers Yarrow 80,000 HP.= 33-34 knots. 4,950 miles/15 knots
Armament	8x152 mm (6'') /50 cal (3 double mounts and 2 single mounts) -4x101.6 mm (4'') /45 cal. AA -2x47mm AA -12 torpedo tubes - 533.4 mm (21'') (4 triple mounts)
Armor	V=75-50 mm H=25 mm
Crew	566

These light cruisers were designed after the British "E" class ( Emerald and Enterprise), though differences in armament arrangement, funnels, torpedoes and other details made them considerably superior to their Royal Navy counterparts. 

Good ships, their main disadvantage being the main guns in opened mounts, oddly in two single and three double mounts. Handsome, fast and well armed for their displacement, at the beginning of the war they were among the most valuable assets for either navies.

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Libertad 

Laid down: 24 November 1922. Launched: 3 January 1925. Completed: 20 September 1927. Retired : 2 January 1970

Libertad 1

Libertad 2

Miguel de Cervantes 

Laid down: March 1926. Launched: 18 May 1928. Completed: 14 February 1930 Retired: 1 July 1964.

Miguel de Cervantes 1

Miguel de Cervantes 2

Méndez Núñez Class

Ships	Méndez Núñez (Republican Navy ), Blas de Lezo
Displacement	4,780 tons standard, 6,045 full load
Dimensions	Length: 140.80 m (462') Beam: 14.02 m (46) Draft: 4.72 m (15' 6'')
Machinery	4 Screws, Turbines Parsons, 12 Boilers (6- fuel and 6-coal) Yarrow 43,000 HP.= 29 knots. 5,000 miles/13 knots
Armament	6x152 mm (6'') /50 cal. -4x47 mm. AA -4 machine guns AA -12 torpedo tubes 533.4 (21'') mm.(4 triple mounts)
Armor	V= 75-50 mm (3''-2'') H=25 mm (1'')
Crew	320

Méndez Núñez

Laid down: 1915. Launched: July 1922. Completed: September 1924 Retired : 8 February 1964.

The Méndez Núñez had a sister ship named Blas de Lezo who accidentally sank in 1932. Both these cruisers were based on the British "C" class, but better armed. Over the entire life Méndez Núñez maintained a mixed combustion machinery that handicapped her performance.

Mendez Nunez 1

Mendez Nunez 2

I've included images of Blas de Lezo, sunk 1932, with a view to a 'what if?' campaign. Given the Nationalist preponderance of heavy units, and my own bias, she will be Republican.

                          

Blas de Lezo 1

Blas de Lezo 2

All the ship models are from Navwar Naval Vessels Pg18 and are all 1/3000 scale.

Welcome to new blog followers QuantrillRoy who has done some top work in modelling and FLW. Hello also to Geordie who runs another boss blog! I now follow them, and so should you!

All the best!