Dutch BBL

[Joe C-P]

Got myself back into action with a "quick" build that actually took much longer than it should have. I really need to move the time-eater (i.e. the computer on which I am typing this) off the hobby table.





Off the coast of Norway, Scharnhorst's lucky hit on Duke OF York's radar installation left the battleship temporarily blind, and despite heroic efforts the unit could not be repaired.

Knowing his battle cruiser was severely outgunned, Scharnhorst's captain made for Norway. Unfortunately a small error in navigation, due to battle damage combined with darkness, closing weather and the threat of pursuit, caused the ship to near the coast off course, and instead of entering a fjord deep enough to hide, the warship drove headlong into a shallow cove, grounding at speed.

The ship's crew reacted immediately to their predicament, attempting to lighten the ship and back off. But they had entered near local high tide, and soon it was obvious the ship was well and truly stuck. Assessment also found underwater damage, caused by the shelling of Royal Navy vessels, exacerbated by the grounding, and soon much of the lower hull was flooded.

Reluctantly the captain sent a coded message to Berlin explaining his situation, careful not to reveal his position. He then offered his formal resignation and turned the ship over to his second-in-command.

Reaction in Berlin was... excited. Hitler engaged in one of his usual calm, cool reactions, ordering the captain home immediately to face trial, declaring "he is not fit to sail a rowboat!" In Britain, once the message was decoded, the crypto staff enjoyed a laugh, one that spread as word passed up to Downing Street.

The following days found reconnaissance aircraft searching the Norwegian coast, until the battle cruiser was found. German fighters had been deployed to defend the stricken vessel, while German naval personnel went over the ship and the surrounding waters to see what could be done to recover it.

No practical means of recovery were possible in the end. Tow vessels would have been too easily intercepted by the Allied naval and air forces, and the Royal Air Force managed to get enough bombers through the fighter cover to harass the recovery efforts. It was decided to strip Scharnhorst instead, sending all useful parts back to Germany to equip Gneisenau and other ships.

The Royal Air Force photographed these efforts, and intelligence properly deduced that the ship was unsalvable. Just in case, an RN sub laid a minefield outside the cove, which did manage to sink on lighter carrying away equipment from the stricken warship. Other parts were sent overland, some intercepted and destroyed en route by the Norwegian partisans.

The former terror of the Norway convoys joined the other former northern terror, Tirpitz, as an impotent hulk, shorn of all but main weapons and as much equipment as could be recovered. By the end of the war the ship was almost forgotten. However, Norway needed her coast cleared, so the RN swept the minefield, and the hull was surveyed, and found to be repairable. Without the threat of attack it was possible to tow the ship off the rocks.

The Netherlands, having ordered a similar vessel before the war, and in need of ships, put in a claim as reparations, along with the Gneisenau. The Allies agreed, and in gratitude to the people of the Netherlands the ship was sent to the US for repair and upgrade.

Watervliet arsenal had created 11" shells for the now-retired USS Columbia (the former raider Deutschland, captured early in the war) so the main armament was well supplied. The secondary armament was replaced, with the four twin 15cm mounts receiving US 5"51s, and the four single mounts US 3". 3 quad 40mm and a few 20mm replaced the other AA weapons, with Mk 51 directors, and US SG and SK-2 radars the center of a modern electronics fit.

The ship was rechristened HNLMS Soerabaia, taking the name of a coast defense ship lost during the war. She followed her namesake by being sent to the Dutch East Indies, and there she was painted in the light gray, using leftover IJN supplied, with reflective and cooling white atop the turrets, the bridges, and the former hangar, which was converted to a training room.

[sandiego89]

Nice!  I like the colors.  I see you converted the hangar, but maybe a float plane (or helicopter depending on the time frame) might be a nice touch- the big aircraft/boat cranes look lonely 

-Dave

[Hobbes]

Nice build, and a fun backstory too 

[Captain Canada]

Looks great, and defo a nice little story ! And I agree, needs a boat or a chopper 

[NARSES2]

Nice model and a really neat backstory. I like the idea of the Dutch getting her as reparations

[Joe C-P]

I shall add some boats, you are right, the cranes look lonely.

This is meant to be in the late 1940s, so I'm limited in the number of helicopter types.