Sunday 8 February 2015

The High Seas Fleet at Jutland....A Review

At long last the final models for the German High Seas Fleet at Jutland are finished - at least as far as the capital ships are concerned anyway. Some 21 dreadnoughts and 6 pre dreadnoughts were deployed for the battle with the battle cruiser Lutzow and the pre dreadnought Pommern being lost. The models are for the most part in metal from Stonewall Miniatures although the pre dreadnoughts and the three 11" armed battle cruisers - Seydlitz, Moltke and Von der Tann - are all resin from Panzerschiffe in the US of A. So without further ado (and following on from the earlier Royal Navy version of the same) I would like to present the German High Seas Fleet capital ships as organised in their Jutland formations.

High Seas Fleet - Vice Admiral Reinhard Scheer, Chief of the Fleet


Battle Squadron 3 - Rear Admiral Behncke, Chief of Squadron

Fleet Flagship - S.M.S. Friedrich der Grosse
Flag - S.M.S. Konig
S.M.S. Grosser Kurfurst
S.M.S. Markgraf
S.M.S. Kronprinz
Flag - S.M.S. Kaiser
S.M.S. Prinz Regent Luitpold
S.M.S. Kaiserin


Battle Squadron 1 - Vice Admiral Ehrhard Schmidt, Chief of Squadron

Flag - S.M.S. Ostfiesland
S.M.S. Thuringen
S.M.S. Helgoland
S.M.S. Oldenburg
Flag - S.M.S. Posen
S.M.S. Rheinland
S.M.S. Nassau
S.M.S. Westfalen


Battle Squadron 2 - Rear Admiral Mauve, Chief of Squadron

Flag - S.M.S. Deutschland
S.M.S. Pommern
S.M.S. Schlesien
Flag - S.M.S. Hannover
S.M.S. Schleswig-Holstein
S.M.S. Hessen

Scouting Group 1 - Vice Admiral Hipper - Chief of Scouting Forces

Flag - S.M.S. Lutzow
S.M.S. Derfflinger
S.M.S. Seydlitz
S.M.S. Moltke
S.M.S. Von der Tann

So there you have it. The capital ships as organised for the Battle of Jutland, May 1916. It has been a labour of love I can tell you and I am rather pleased to have gotten this stage of the project completed. The cruisers and destroyers are to follow but I will have the rest of the year to get them dealt with. I have a few of the cruisers already painted and have a sizeable amount of the RN destroyers already so I am confident that all will be ready for next year. The plan now is to focus on the rules and also turn mu attention to something land based - at least until the 18th of June anyway....;-)

13 comments:

Ray Rousell said...

Very impressive!!!

Paul O'G said...

Now that was a fleet review well worth waiting for my friend - well down indeed!

Robert (Bob) Cordery said...

David,

Very, very impressive! You have made tremendous progress towards completing your Jutland project.

All the best,

Bob

TamsinP said...

What a wonderful array of capital ships. Excellent work David :)

Jonathan Freitag said...

Outstanding fleet collection!

David Crook said...

Hi Raymondo,

Cheers old chap! I am looking forward to the next phase of the project but want to gets some land action in first. Besides, the rules need some serious attention first.

All the best,

DC

David Crook said...

Hi Paul,

You are too kind old chap!

They have come out rather nicely for such modest detailed castings - and I can't wait to get he rest of the collection tackled. I need a small break from naval matters though - just to recharge the batteries. In any event I need to spend some time on the rules aspect first.

All the best,

DC

David Crook said...

Hi Bob,

Glad you like them! The next steps will be easier from a painting perspective although they will make up for the amount of effort required in terms of quantity.

On with the rules next though (and something 1815 related)!

All the best,

DC

David Crook said...

Hi Tamsin,

You are too kind! Coming from you I will take that as high praise indeed...;-)

I have a heap of escort types - light cruisers and destroyers as well as the RN armoured cruisers - to tackle next but this will be over the course of the year. Right now though, I need a break from painting 50 shades of grey....;-)

All the best,

DC

David Crook said...

Hi Jonathan,

Many thanks and you should see them deployed on the table top!

All the best,

DC

Corporal_Trim said...

Beautifully done, David. You can justifiably take pride in such an assembly of ships.

Regards,
Steve

David Crook said...

Hi Steve,

That is very kind of you to say so. As far as models go they are pretty basic but as gaming pieces are just right. On with the cruisers and destroyers next though!

All the best,

DC

Geordie an Exiled FoG said...

Lovely Stuff :)