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SMS Battleship Posen Kagero Super Drawings in 3D The last ship of the first class of German “Dreadnought” battleships was Ersatz Baden/Posen. The keel for Posen was laid on 11 June 1907 at the Germania Dockyard in Kiel and launching followed on 12 December 1908. The President of the Prussian province of Posen, von Waldow, gave the christening speech and the christening was performed by Fürstin (Princess) Johanna von Radolin. Posen was named after the Prussian Province from 1772 to 1919, and today is known as Poznan province in Poland. On 28 April 1910 Posen was transferred from her construction yard to Kiel Imperial Dockyard and on 31 May was commissioned for the first time. The first pre-trials began on 18 July 1910. The ship sailed during most of the First World War, in the North Sea. The main battle she was in was the Battle of Jutland where she hit another German ship which then sank. The ship served with her three sister ships for the majority of World War I. She saw extensive service in the North Sea, where she took part in several fleet sorties. These culminated in the Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916, where Posen was heavily engaged in night-fighting against British light forces. In the confusion, the ship accidentally rammed the light cruiser SMS Elbing, which suffered serious damage and was scuttled later in the night. The ship also conducted several deployments to the Baltic Sea against the Russian Navy. In the first of these, Posen supported a German naval assault in the Battle of the Gulf of Riga. The ship was sent back to the Baltic in 1918 to support the White Finns in the Finnish Civil War. At the end of the war, Posen remained in Germany while the majority of the fleet was interned in Scapa Flow. In 1919, following the scuttling of the German fleet in Scapa Flow, she was ceded to the British as a replacement for the ships that had been sunk. She was then sent to ship-breakers in the Netherlands and scrapped in 1922. This latest release from Kagero flows the now familiar format, but has to be one of the thickest titles released so far, with quite a long section on the history of the ship, covering fifteen pages, including:- The construction outline General characteristics of the hull Armour Armament Machinery and propulsion Fire control Operational history The next sixty six pages are taken up with the wonderfully rendered 3D drawings that this series has become known for. Although with this release quite a bit of the lower hull is also shown which is a bonus particularly the torpedo tubes, rudder and propellers. The renderings show every part of the ship both in wide angle and close up which show some amazing detail not seen in other publications. With the ship covered there are also numerous drawings of individual bits of equipment, including some fabulous drawings of the main turrets, their mechanisms and ammunition. Other equipment included in this section is the secondary armament, ships aircraft, engines, boats, and rangefinders. The book also includes a single A1 sheet with a side view of the ship in 1:350 below a similar view, but opened up showing the entire interior. On the reverse there are twenty seven cross sections from stern to bow. Conclusion As we’ve come to know what to expect from this series I can’t really say much more, other than if you’re a maritime fan you really should have them all in your reference library. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of