Battleship HMS Culloden WW1

[ArnoldAmbrose]

      When the Iron Duke class battleships commissioned in 1914 they were without doubt the best battleships in the RN, and arguably equal to any in the world at the time. Their ten 13.5-inch guns were superb weapons and although of a slightly smaller calibre to the 14-inch guns of the USN and IJN ships they fired a shell of equal weight, 1400lbs.
       But it was known that both the Americans and Japanese were building battleships with twelve guns, the Japanese had in fact launched one of theirs (IJN Fuso), and Britain was going to have to follow suit, and soon. The quickest way to do this was to repeat the Iron Dukes but with a stretched hull to accommodate the extra turret and this is what they did. As was now the norm four ships were authorized, the name ship HMS Culloden, with sister-ships Queen Elisabeth, Warspite and Valiant. Construction proceeded rapidly with Culloden but the others had to wait until longer slipways became available.
       Not long after, Vickers tested the first prototype of their new 15-inch gun and the RN immediately took an interest. After the second successful test the guns were ordered and while construction of Culloden continued the others were put on hold while the design was altered to accommodate the new weapon. As a result HMS Culloden like HMS Hood five years later was one of a kind. The remaining three ships had two others authorized and became the Queen Elisabeth class.
       HMS Culloden had the same beam but was fifty two feet longer than the preceding class to accommodate the extra turret. This was designated 'P' turret and was sited immediately aft of the funnels and super-fired over 'Q' turret. In nearly all other respects she was a repeat of Iron Duke. The power plant was almost unchanged except two extra boilers were fitted. The extra length allowed increased bunkerage and hence range, and despite the increased displacement her speed was actually 1/2 knot faster, again due to her length. Her tactical radius (turning circle) was slightly larger though.
       HMS Culloden fought at Jutland, and despite her shortened work-up period her gunnery was reportedly very good, her heavy six-gun salvos causing quite a bit of grief to her German adversaries. She was hit twice herself, and took a torpedo but kept her place in the line. The remainder of her war service was rather uneventful as it was for the remainder of the Grand Fleet. After the war she served in the Atlantic and Mediterranean. HMS Culloden was to be disposed of under the terms of the Washington Treaty. Due to her length she was considered for a conversion to an aircraft carrier but this didn't eventuate, and she was scrapped in 1931.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The major modification was to lengthen the hull by 26mm. My preferred method is to use two hulls but on this occasion that wasn't possible, I only had one. So it was a case of cut the hull across at about midships and bridge the required gap. I did similar with the main deck. The superstructure was lowered a little, the reduction spread over three levels. This affected the tripod bracing legs so I replaced those. I also replaced the kit 6-inch guns and casemates with scratchbuilt and omitted the aft-most casemate. In reality it was found to be too close to the water and was useless in any sort of seaway. I replaced the 3-inch AA guns and the barrels of the light surface guns. I replaced the topmast and rearranged some of the boats.
       The full build log can be found:

 

Thank you for your interest. And a special thank you to @Rob S who gave me the idea in the first place. Regards to all, Jeff.

[beefy66]

Another great build and story line to it Jeff a very capable looking ship great extension work.  

 

Stay Safe

beefy

[Ngantek]

Lovely work Jeff as always. Your whatif builds and histories are always fascinating. How have you enjoyed this one compared to your other radical hull butchery projects? What's coming next? I was hoping you'd see a Hotspur reissue from Airfix this year, but sadly that seems unlikely. 

 

Andy

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Thanks very much guys. I quite enjoy doing whiffs. While I try to make them plausible I'm free to be a bit creative while being spared the total accuracy that a model of an actual ship might require.

As for what's next - I really should complete my model of the cruiser HMS Sheffield.

 

       I was pleasantly surprised to hear of the re-release of Iron Duke and Ajax. It probably won't be any good to me as I can't see myself doing another of this kit (I've done three already) and I still have two of the Ajax kits in the stash. I've got plans for one of them but it's a way down the build queue at present. Yes it would be nice to see the Hotspur re-issued too. A simple kit but so very adaptable to a whole bevy of RN ships. I have one of them in the stash also, thanks to my son who managed to track one down for me. I have plans for it down the track - a type II Hunt class, HMS Ledbury. Yes, maybe it's unlikely that Hotspur will be re-issued but a month ago I'd have said the same about the other two. Fingers crossed. 🤞

 

Thanks again for your interest and comments. Best regards, Jeff.

[Bandsaw Steve]

Great work Jeff and a great thread too. 
 

Looking forward to seeing this one on the table at Wasmex this year!

 

👍

[Andy H]

Nice idea, great result and an enjoyable build thread. 😎👍

[Courageous]

Fabulous work Jeff. Very informative thread too. Looking forward to more of your work.

 

Stuart

[Richard E]

It's been a pleasure to follow your build Arnold.

 

It's one of those "WHIFs" which, if it was presented on the display table, a very knowledgeable passer by would confidently recount its complete operational history for you.

[TallBlondJohn]

She does look smart. How about a what-if of the what-if? She wasn't scrapped in 1931, but underwent a Conte Di Cavour style conversion that removed the midships turrets and replaced them with engine to create a baby Hood?

 

I'm thinking an Iron Duke hull (to be re-issued later this year...) with the same plug, Warspite superstructure bits, blank off the 6" battery and lots of 4" guns. I wish I had the time for this sort of stuff.

[Faraway]

Very interesting, and a beautiful model.

Jon

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Thank you very much everyone, greatly appreciated.

 

4 hours ago, TallBlondJohn said:

I'm thinking an Iron Duke hull (to be re-issued later this year...) with the same plug, Warspite superstructure bits, blank off the 6" battery and lots of 4" guns.

       Actually I've sort-of done this with two models. I've done a Repulse model which I named HMS Reliant, with Warspite's superstructure and Belfast's twin 4-inch guns replacing the kit's triple mountings. I was going to name her HMS Retribution but to me that sounds more like a battleship's name. A whiffed 'R' class in the future perhaps?

       The other was my second build of the Iron Duke kit. The scenario was that a sister-ship HMS Benbow wasn't scrapped, and just before WW2 was reactivated as a heavy convoy escort. For this model I replaced the midships Q turret with an extra boat deck and replaced the 6-inch casemate guns with twin 4-inch, from Ajax kits this time. Her AA outfit was modest but her intended area of operations (initially anyway) was mid-Atlantic, as a deterrent against surface raiders.

       Both are in a What-if thread:   https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235099969-arnoldambrose-whiffed-ships/

And TBJ, if you can find the time then give one a go. But they can be a bit addictive. 🙂

 

Regards, Jeff.

[TallBlondJohn]

I've seen your Reliant and Benbow (and all your other builds) - and I thought this is your chance to do something similar, but on steroids. Though the RN would have been better spending the money on rebuilding Hood, another one you need to do (and I do have that on my build list, I've got necessary the KGV and Hood kits in the stash).

[robgizlu]

Jeff - Great job on that hull join and Great end result - Kudos!

Rob

[ArnoldAmbrose]

34 minutes ago, TallBlondJohn said:

I do have that on my build list,

Gidday, I'll look forward to seeing her. And I've got one more kit of her too so I guess I've got no excuse not to. But she'll have to wait her turn in the build queue. 🙂 Do you have any idea when you'll do your version? By mentioning KGV I'm assuming you'll fit her out with 5.25s. Regards, Jeff.

[TallBlondJohn]

1 minute ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

Gidday, I'll look forward to seeing her. And I've got one more kit of her too so I guess I've got no excuse not to. But she'll have to wait her turn in the build queue. 🙂 Do you have any idea when you'll do your version? Regards, Jeff.

 Sadly it'll probably be ten years or so. Total mojo fail right now and I build slowly. I retire in 5 years and after doing all the Airfix WW1/WW2 ships out of the box I'll do a few WHIFs - rebuilt Hood, 15" Gneisenau, 8 x 8" Belfast ("HMS Erin") and a Super-Colony cruiser ("HMS India"?) with 9 x 8" in three triple turrets on about 15,000 tons (Belfast hull obviously).

 

You've built all my other ideas which rather spoils the fun! 😉

 

[ArnoldAmbrose]

3 minutes ago, TallBlondJohn said:

You've built all my other ideas which rather spoils the fun!

       Sorry about that, it was never my intension. I can certainly hold off on HMS Hood (I've got many other ships I want to do), I only bought the kit because I saw her and took the opportunity while she was available. Your HMS Erin and HMS India look interesting ideas, which I'll leave to you. 15-inch Gneisenau? I was thinking of doing her also this year or next. But it would be a Revell 1/570 kit that my son and daughter found for me a few years ago with this conversion in mind. I hope that doesn't spoil your fun either. Sorry. I've been waiting for a Whiff GB here to do her but they never reach or survive the bunfight, and being a Revell kit I can't do her in any ATF GBs. If we both do her it will be interesting to compare notes. Other whiffs I've got planned is to convert a Suffolk into a light carrier, USS Independence style and a twelve gun HMS Nelson. But she's at least two years off or more. And speaking of Nelson whiffs - I did a 2A1 version of her recently as you probably know. Others have done her too, before me, but I still enjoyed doing her.

       I've also got some other conversions in mind but they're actual ships, not whiffs. The carrier HMS Eagle and an 'R' class battleship off Warspite hulls and another carrier, HMS Glorious off a Repulse hull. I hope none of these intrude on your plans and ideas.

       I can highly recommend retirement, I've been retired two years now. If you're suffering Mojo loss (and I do too, on occasion) do you have any smaller kits to kick-start your enthusiasm? I've found that helps in the past.

Best regards, Jeff.

[Rob S]

On 2/2/2024 at 4:12 PM, ArnoldAmbrose said:

      And a special thank you to @Rob S who gave me the idea in the first place. 

 

 

Aw thank-you so much Jeff.  Much appreciated but it must be Me thanking you for such a magnificent and entertaining build.  It certainly gives me some motivation to hurry up and get back to trying to move on with my HMS Tiger.   Although if my work in progress photos accidently give others great ideas like this then it is great compensation for me being distracted and never being able to finish anything. 

 

 

And if truth be told I'm distracted again not by the already mentioned possibility of converting the Academy ex-Otaki 1:600 USS Enterprise to an America or Kitty Hawk but by using the long-long leftovers of two Airfix Repulses (from making a short-short "R" Class Battleship - and I know of your preference to do that using an Airfix Warspite similar to that one in that 1:350 Thread) to make the ultimate "Never Was but so easily (well maybe not SO easily given the issues with 18 inch guns let alone 20 inch guns!) could Have Been" HMS Incomparable.  

 

Thanks again and more power to you.  

 

[mick]

great work