Kagero SMS Viribus Unitis, Super Drawings in 3D

[Shar2]

SMS Viribus Unitis

Kagero Super Drawings in 3D

In 1907 the navy of the dualist, multinational Austro-Hungarian Empire placed an order for a new class of warships, whose design was based on the “all big gun” concept pioneered by HMS Dreadnought. Eventually four Tegetthoff class vessels were laid down, including the flagship Viribus Unitis, Tegetthoff, Prinz Eugen and Szent Istvan.
The last warship of the class was not completed until well into World War I. The vessels’ careers were not especially eventful. They spent most of their service lives as a “fleet in being” anchored in a well-protected port of Pola with only occasional trips to the Fažana Channel (well-screened by Brijuni Islands) for gunnery practice. During the war the ships were manned mainly by reservists, while the most promising and experienced members of their crews were detached to serve onboard submarines or torpedo boats, or assigned to land-based units. The second ship of the class ended her career in rather dramatic circumstances, which is why she perhaps deserves a more detailed treatment.


Launched in late June 1911, Viribus Unitis had an overall length of 152 metres (498 ft 8 in), a beam of 27.9 metres (91 ft 6 in), and a draught of 8.7 metres (28 ft 7 in) at deep load. She displaced 20,000 tonnes (19,684 long tons) at load and 21,689 tonnes (21,346 long tons) at deep load. She had four Parsons steam turbines, each of which was housed in a separate engine-room. The turbines were powered by twelve Babcock & Wilcox boilers. The turbines were designed to produce a total of 27,000 shaft horsepower (20,134 kW), which was theoretically enough to attain her designed speed of 20 knots (23 mph; 37 km/h), but no figures from her speed trials are known to exist. She carried 1,844.5 tonnes (1,815.4 long tons) of coal, and an additional 267.2 tonnes (263.0 long tons) of fuel oil that was to be sprayed on the coal to increase its burn rate. At full capacity, she could steam for 4,200 nautical miles (7,800 km) at a speed of 10 knots (12 mph; 19 km/h).

When completed the ship mounted twelve 305-millimetre (12 in)/45-calibre K 10 guns in four triple turrets. Her secondary armament consisted of twelve 15-centimetre (5.91 in)/50 K 10 guns mounted in casemates amidships. Twelve 66-millimetre (3 in)/50 K 10 guns were mounted on open pivots on the upper deck above the casemates. Three more 66-mm K 10 guns were mounted on the upper turrets for anti-aircraft duties. Four 21-inch (530 mm) submerged torpedo tubes were fitted, one each in the bow, stern and on each broadside; twelve torpedoes were carried.
With their series of books in the 3D format, Kagero never fails to deliver. This particular publication on the Austro Hungarian battleship not only provides a superb history of the ship, one which I knew very little, if anything about before reviewing this book. Since there really isn’t much in the way of history to this ship therefore it only takes the first five pages to cover it and includes the following:-

• Design
• Naming of the ship
• The Only Overseas Cruise
• Archduke Ferdinand’s Final Voyage
• Helping the Goeben
• Bombardment of Italy’s East Coast
• The Empire of Many Governments
• First Signs of Collapse at Pola
• Viribus Unitis Under the Red Ensign
• The Navy of the National Council
• Assault of the Flagship
• The Remains

The rest of the fifty nine pages are filled with beautifully rendered 3D drawings covering every part of the ships structure, weapons, boats and sundry equipment. The drawings are really clear and perfect for the maritime modeller to see all the useful details that could help make that masterpiece that we all strive for. Kagero have recently made the decision not to include the full colour pullouts and plans that the rest of the series had. Instead you can order them, now rolled rather than folded, can be ordered from the Kagero website. Apparently the folded ones weren’t easy to frame? Whilst this is a shame, they have included several overall A4 views of the ship and the centrefold covers the full A3 size, showing the ship anchored at sea, which is beautiful rendition, in fact it’s one of the best I’ve seen. The last ten pages of the 3D renderings, give closer details for the turrets, ships boats, boat cradles, ships cranes, the bridge structure and rather unusually the propellers. The most useful sections are those drawings that show how the anti-torpedo nets were hung from the poles along the sides of the ship, as these would have been similar throughout the worlds fleets from that period.

Conclusion
Following the now tried and tested formula that Kagero have made their own, this book is superbly produced and with the unusual subject matter will become a must have for any maritime modeller or historian. With only the Combrig kits available, it may have a lesser role in the modelling field, but with the later release of a Top Drawings title, also from Kagero, it may come in handy for a scratch builder. Highly recommended.

Review sample courtesy of

[Panzer Vor!!!]

The sister ship Sms Szent Istvan was filmed slowly capsizing after being torpedoed by a Italian torpedo boat

On you tube if you wish to see it