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Tempest
Post subject: Mackensen Class BattlescruiserPosted: August 25th, 2016, 7:27 pm
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I've not done anything to the drawing, I've done some house keeping with my 'German Capital Ship Design Studies of The First World War' thread and I've decided that Mackensen didn't really fit considering its about design studies. I will however be drawing a version based on the original model.


Mackensen Class Battlecruiser
These would have been handsome ships with tripod foremasts and twin funnels, reminiscent of the Derflinger class after their refit. They would have differed from previous battlecruisers in having a full-length forecastle deck and returned to twin instead of tandem rudders. An innovation at the time was the incorporation of a bulbous bow, which was introduced in the US Navy a few years earlier; the Imperial Navy was second in the world to adopt this feature on a capital ship, another special feature was that the searchlights sited at the beam could be retracted below deck. The lead ship of the Mackensen class (Ersatz Viktoria Louise) was ordered as part of the peacetime construction programme in 1913. By the Spring of 1915, six more ships had been ordered, thus totalling seven battlecruisers. The final estimated cost for the construction of a Mackensen class battle cruiser was RM66 million.


The main armament consisted of four 35cm (14in) SK L/45 twin turrets along the centreline. In general, the turrets and mountings were similar to the 38cm (15)in Drh L C/1913 of the Bayern class but had improvements including greater elevation and were scaled down in size. The secondary armament included fourteen 15cm L/45 single guns, eight 8.8cm AA guns, and five 60cm underwater torpedo tubes.


Due to ever growing concerns about Great Britain increasing their armament to 15in on their next classes of ship, in 1917 it was decided to redesign the last three planned units, in order to install a heavier 38cm (15in) armament; this became the Ersatz Yorck class. The Imperial Navy decided to complete the four battlecruisers in the most advanced stage of construction in accordance with the original design.


None of the Mackensen class was completed due to the change of priorities assigned to U-boat construction.


Mackensen
[ img ]


On 30 January 1915 the keel of Mackensen was laid down at Blohm & Voss, Hamburg. Mackensen's completion was planned for July 1918 but because of a shortage of dockyard workers, the launching was delayed by a year and only took place on 21 April 1917. The ship was christened by the wife of Feldmarschall von Mackensen. Only a thousand workers were allocated to Mackensen and so work on the new battlecruiser progressed slowly. At the time of the armistice, approximately 14-15 months of work remained before completion.


On 17 November 1919 Mackensen was struck from the list of warships and on 21 October 1921 was sold to the Hamburg firm Fa Kubatz for breaking up. This work proceeded in Kiel, Hamburg from 1922.


After the war, the possibility of converting him and the other two hulls into oilers, using U-boat diesel engines had been considered but discarded as uneconomic.

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Last edited by Tempest on May 1st, 2017, 2:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Krakatoa
Post subject: Re: Mackensen Class BattlescruiserPosted: August 25th, 2016, 7:42 pm
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That is a great drawing of a ship that would have been great if only the Germans could have got it to sea.

First thing I do in any German based AU is to complete the Mackensen and keep it as fleet Flagship.

Well done Tempest.


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Garlicdesign
Post subject: Re: Mackensen Class BattlescruiserPosted: August 26th, 2016, 7:53 pm
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Hello again

Excellent, much better than the first one in the German Capital Ship Projects thread. Seems my 1/700 resin model is of excellent quality, because she looks exactly like your drawing.

Greetings
GD


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emperor_andreas
Post subject: Re: Mackensen Class BattlescruiserPosted: August 27th, 2016, 2:32 pm
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VERY nice work!

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seeker36340
Post subject: Re: Mackensen Class BattlescruiserPosted: August 30th, 2016, 9:28 pm
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Krakatoa wrote:
That is a great drawing of a ship that would have been great if only the Germans could have got it to sea.

First thing I do in any German based AU is to complete the Mackensen and keep it as fleet Flagship.

Well done Tempest.
In my AU she gets a major modernization to primarily serve with the carrier task forces


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