"Przebudowa KPZ Furst Bismarck" Topic

"This time I am presenting the conversion of the German armored cruiser Furst Bismarck into an "assault landing craft" – a ship that is to be able to transport a certain number of soldiers with equipment to the immediate vicinity of the shore and land them there. The ship was selected among the large ships of the German fleet disarmed in 1915-16 as the one with perhaps the largest hull interior volume. To fulfill its new role, it received 2 cranes and 4 motor boats in the stern part for transporting soldiers, as well as a relatively spacious superstructure with rooms for transported soldiers and their weapons and equipment. In addition, equipment stores were located in the hull, in place of the stern ammunition chambers, and accommodation for some soldiers was provided in existing cabins – because the ship's crew was significantly reduced. I estimate the ship's transport capacity at approximately 1,000 soldiers and equipment. The ship retained partial armament – including the bow turret of 240 mm guns and 6 150 mm guns. Additionally, it received 4 88 mm anti-aircraft guns. The basic armor layout has been preserved, which is important in the context of counteracting enemy landings. I assume that the ship could have participated in the landing on the Moonsund Islands in 1917, perhaps in some surprising place, e.g. after forcing the entrance to the Gulf of Riga, i.e. the Irben Strait…"

Springsharp

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Also…

Lotniskowiec Indomitable

Same Blog

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Armand

Interesting ships. These both seem to be speculative conversions of the ships.

Furst Bismarck was an old, armored cruiser that spent the First World War as a torpedo training ship, and later as a training ship for submarines and zeppelins.

This projected conversion of the battlecruisers seems to be based on the actual, historical conversion of the battlecruiser Glorious to an aircraft carrier. It isn't clear whether or not conversion of the British battlecruisers might have actually been discussed in the Admiralty. Wikipedia says that Chile considered buying them after the end of the Great War, which could make for some interesting "what if" scenarios.

I had never thought of speculating about such conversion of ships. This goes far beyond mulling over whether or not equipping the KGVs with three triple turrets would have been a good idea. It could be an interesting hobby. It makes me wonder if there are actually drawings of Churchill's proposed conversion of one or more "R" class battleships to super armored, hopefully bomb proof vessels.

Grelber

Thanks.

Armand