As a capital ships fan I like exotic subjects also. I've never asked myself why - I just like all these converted cargo ships, painted grey, armed - sometimes with a pretty strange looking superstructure. Just check out any WWI seaplane tender. Even an Imperial Germany Navy "specialist" (me...) can find a very wide range of interesting subjects. There are some special ships on the top of my wish list, including seaplane tenders "Santa Elena" and "Oswald", raiders "Wolf" and "Mowe", minesweeper tender "Ammon" and repair ship " Bosnia ". In fact I point out that we have just two major problems – first of all - the lack of commercially available kits of such ships. Of course it's possible to overcome this limit - just build them from the scratch. In such case we notice the lack of detailed documentation, profiles, camouflage schemes and so on. But, as a fight sports fan, I like to challenge and "knock out" any problems. The final success tastes so good in such a case.


SMS Bosnia
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Last year I finished "Santa Elena" (scratch-built of course) and planned another model, the so called "German WWI auxiliary ships series" - repair ship " Bosnia " and tender "Ammon". After finishing the SMS Sachsen diorama I was still in the right mood and had and extra time, a very rare situation in my case, for another project. I decided to save the "Ammon" diorama for the future. It is a more complex project, as this ship carried 12 F-boats, small minesweepers. During construction of the " Bosnia " I tested new materials and processing. The hull is made of balsa wood with paper sides and deck. Superstructure is of paper with scraps from numerous photo-etch frets, masts -brass and steel rods. The rest is of brass, resin and paper. I used several parts from commercially available photo-etch frets, including doors and hatches, anchors with chain, railing. Rigging is super-thin copper wire. Water is acrylic paint with varnish. A single ship in a Plexiglas case (my usual method) looks so lonely that I decided to add company for my " Bosnia ". First of all - "B 98" which is a modified NNT resin kit with lots of scratch-built details. "Strande", a small repair ship, is a scratch-built item also. I added two boats also, taken from my spare parts box. I used resin boats from Modelkrak kit as a starting point. I want to call your attention to these small subjects - both are standard German WWI long boats class 0 (Barkasse Kl. 0). Each Imperial Navy battleship and battlecruiser carried two boats class 0, which were the biggest in the Navy. I added sails to one boat - I think she's quite pretty.


Supporting Cast
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BosStrand02dm.jpg (7537 bytes) BosB01dm.jpg (9964 bytes) BosB02dm.jpg (8829 bytes) BosR01dm.jpg (5489 bytes)

 

BOSNIA
S/S Bosnia was built by Palmers Ltd, Yarrow-on-Tyne for Hamburg Amerika Line as a cargo ship (7,436 BRT). Her maiden voyage started 22nd March 1899 (from Hamburg to Baltimore ). In 1907. She was converted into a passenger ship (rebuilt by Blohm & Voss), with
accommodations for 2,500 3rd class passengers (9,683 BRT). On the outbreak of the War she was transferred to the Navy and used as a repair ship. Eight 8.8 cm guns were added plus two searchlights on special platforms. In July 1917 she was disarmed. In 1922 she became the S/S Frangestan, but her new career was rather short - in April 1924 she was destroyed by fire in the Red Sea and sunk.

Vital Statistics
Displacement : 18,500 t standard: Dimensions : 151.70 x 17.37 x 8.81 m
Speed : 11 knots (according to Groener)
Armament : 8 x 8,8 cm guns (older ones, not AA used during the War)

B 98
"B 98" was a second B 97 class destroyer, built by Blohm & Voss. A very successful design and busy ship during the War. Check out books or internet sources for more on her career.

Vital Statistics
Displacement : 1,374 t standard / 1,843 t maximum
Dimensions : 98.15 x 9.35 x 3.87 m; Speed : 36.5 knots
Armament : 4 x 10.5 cm guns (after refit, before - 4 x 8.8 cm), 6 TT 50 cm, mines

STRANDE
"Strande" was built by Howaldswerke AG in 1907. She was converted into a cargo ship (100 BRT) in 1924.

Vital Statistics
Displacement : 115 t standard / 160 t maximum
Dimensions : 24.80 x 5.40 x 2.03 m
Speed : 9.5 knots

BARKASSE Kl. 0
Displacement : 4,. t standard
Dimensions : 14 x 3.60 x 1.19 m
Sails : 90.5 m2
Max. capacity : 110 - 115 men
There was also a version with an auxiliary engine – 5.6 t standard, 6.5 knots.

Dariusz Mazurowski

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