WW1 German Destroyers

An example of the German Torpedo boat V1 to V6 of the 1911 vintage

The only destroyer available from Stonewall in their WW1 German range is described in the catalogue as a 'T Class Torpedo boat'. The sole Royal Navy example os of the M class. I wanted to establish exactly what type the German vessel reporesents as T as a description is pretty vague - and anybody that knows anything about German destroyers of the period will understand my frustration!

I pulled out my trusty copy of the 1914 edition of Janes and also Conway's Fighting Ships 1906 to 1921 and think I may have just about worked out exactly what the model is supposed to represent. A class of 24 ships split into two groups of 6 and one of 12 and built around 1911/12. The numbers for these (the Germans numbered their destroyers rather than naming them for the most part) are V1 to 6, G7 to 12 and S13 to 24. The letters indicate the yard in which the ship was built and so V is Vulcan, G is Germania and S is for Schichau. The class as whole weighed in at around 700 tons loaded with a speed of around 32 knots. They were armed with a pair of 3.4" guns and 4 torpedo tubes.

My German navy for the period will feature 16 of these whilst Fezia will have 12. I currently have the Fezian component under the brush and so once they are completed I will post pictures accordingly.

It has given me a minor dilemma though in that I want to use some earlier torpedo boats as well as these more modern types. I could make use of some of the models available from Viking Forge from the Russo-Japanese War range but these will not come cheap. An idea I am considering though is to use large 1/3000th scale destroyers as earlier types. The size differential will ensure that they are recognisable as different types. A visit at some point to Navwar may well be in order or I may even take a look at the range available from Skytrex. The Skytrex (Davco) range features models that are more 'chunky' so will fit in with the Stonewall models far more readily.

I am now in the 'monitoring of the tracking number' phase of the Stonewall order (delivery should be tomorrow - I hope!) and so I will be able really attack the project in earnest shortly.

Mixing scales within a collection? Whatever next!