Prototype Flaktraeger
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Hello fellow captains, i present my next work in progess ship.
Flusi 1 “Krischan der Grosse”
Shipyard: RDM (Rotterdam)
Displacement: 112 t
Measurements: L = 38,50 m, W = 5,90 m, d = 1,50 m
Speed:18-19 kn
Armament:
1 x 1 – 88/45 SK C/30, 1 x 1 – 37/83 SK C/30, 2 x 4 – 20/65 C/38
later
2 x 1 – 88/45 SK C/30, 1 x 1 – 37/83 SK C/30, 1 x 4 – 20/65 C/38The “Flusi 1” – “Krischan der Grosse” was a “Flaktraeger” build for the Luftwaffe during 1941, to provice low level anti air support for costal areas and harbors. The Name “Flusi 1” is misleading, because a “Flugsicherungsschiff” (literal translation “air traiffic control ship”) was not used for anti air duty, but to proivde air for seaplanes, so another name might have been a better choice.
The Flaktraeger was armed with one 8.8cm, one 3.7cm gun and two quad 2cm guns, all except the 8.8cm gun were (horizontally) leveled, so they could be used during rough seas (to some extend i guess). The Luftwaffe used old BMW aircraft engines with a total output of about 2000hp to power the ship. Those engines were one of the major drawbacks of the ship, especially the maneuverability was bad at low speeds and the risk of fire was higher than with diesel engines the Kriegsmarine used on their ships. While its understandable to reuse the old engines the Luftwaffe should have known better, after they had problems when they used aircraft engines for the Siebel Ferries.
The Luftwaffe intended to build 100 of these ships, but after the problems with the prototype the number was reduced to 30 and later the order was canceled. During 1943 the Kriegsmarine got involved in the further development of the ship, some sources even claim, that the ship might have been transferred to the Kriegmarine. One of the changes was, that the aircraft engines should be replaced with diesel engines, it is possible that this was done at the end of 1943 and the beginning of 1944, but the changes were not documented. A known change to the design that can be confirmed by existing photos is, that the aft quad 2cm gun was replaced with a second 8.8cm gun. On a plan of the ship that was found, which incorpates the engine changes and the replaced aft gun, the ship is called “Flusi 2”.
The ship was sunk by allied bombers early in 1944, there are 2 location mentioned where the ship was sunk one is “Antwerpen” and the other is “Bergen aan Zee”.sources:
“Die Schiffe und Boote der Deutschen Seeflieger” by Jung, Wenzel, Abendroth
De Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij – RDM archive (some more sources are quoted here)So far the ship is still a work in progress, but its almost done (i’m pleased with the result after 1 day).
There are some details missing, like some liferafts that i might add, i will not add railing though (to fragile for tabletops imo). The armament isn’t glued on (obviously), because i haven’t decided. I might change the weapons to “real” 8.8cm guns and the quad 2cm and 3.7cm are Kriegsmarine mounts, which the Luftwaffe didn’t use (see Warlords Siebel ferry).The first pictures (first post) show the construction of a hull (i went the “paper ship” route again after it worked well for the sperrbrecher. But this time i filled the frame with modeling material to get a smoother hull. The rest of the ship is plastic card and rods.
When the model is done i will add some pictures of the painted ship.This time you had been faster. đ Krischan der GroĂe is on my to do list too. Your vessel looks very good.
Well done.It was on my “Radar” for a Long time.
Since 1977 Schiffe und Boote ……. by my old (unfortunately deceased) friends Dieter Jung and Arno Abendroth some new information surfaced. Including a WW II time made wooden large scale model. It shows the two 8.8 cm version. Made by famous Wiking toy company in Berlin like many other âErkennungsmodelleâ for Luftwaffe. Some 40 cm long. It is now in a private collection in Berlin, unfortunately not mine.
Before the finding only pics of that model existed in Bundesarchiv, together with a plan.
Flugsicherungsschiffe did what we call today Search and Rescue. (literally more like flight securing / safety, Germans and that strange languageâŠ.) They had cranes to get damaged seaplanes out of the water.
Krischan was a tradition name in that job. Krischan I- III had been built 1934/35. In addition to rescue work II and III carried stores of fuel and weapons. III had even a torpedo servicing room.In 1977 the only known naming of that Flugsicherungsschiff in a document was from 1941 about Transports for Seelöwe. It named that Flugsicherungsschiff between SiebelfÀhre and I-Transporter. It compared the AA capacity of Siebel and Flusi. The Siebel being inferior in seaworthiness.
The interesting part is: âEin Musterfahrzeug ist vorhanden / A prototype existsâ It also says that an order for 100 was reduced to 30.
The builder is now known. Rotterdamsche Droogdok started building in 1940 as Number 242. It went into test service in November 1942. But was never taken officially into Luftwaffen service!And some handwritten notices surfaced. Some guy in Reichsluftfahrtministerium had suggested a series of cheap Flugsicherungsschiffe, using old plane engines and low quality âWalzeisenâ instead of high quality ship building steel. Fast building in occupied countries. The later naming âFlaktrĂ€gerâ was an advert to make that vessel more desirable.
But it was a failure. In autumn 1943 Oberingenieur Docter from Kriegsmarine was asked to visit it, he was expert for Schnellboote in construction branch of KM. He was asked for suggestions about conversion to Diesel engines. The known plan shows that Diesel version with the name Flusi 2. But that second vessel was never begun.
All known pics of the vessel are undated, together with the 2x 8,8 cm on the plan that caused a wrong armament history. The notes tell a different story. In fact the second 8,8 cm AA was removed 43 and replaced by the second Flakvierling. It also got a modern mast and the name Krischan der GroĂe was removed, the name Flusi 1 was not painted on the vessel.
here is the preliminary Ship Card
Attachments:
Just an update, the basics are done. When the weapons are painted and mounted the boat will be weathered. I don’t know if i will use a SiebelfĂ€hre for some 8.8s (and the 3.7, which seems to be no naval mount).
OR i will use what i have (the 3″ guns of the KM Weapon set), which might look close enough.Attachments:
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