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[raflaunches]

Hi everyone


Normally I’m interested in Royal Navy warships of the WW1 and Victorian era but I’m expanding upon my usual building interests. Despite being a Japanese battlecruiser Kongo was built in the UK by Vickers at Barrow-in-Furness in 1911 and shared similar characteristics to HMS Tiger or the other way around!
I’m discovering that you can get drawings and plan profiles of Kongo mainly in 1944 but I’m more interested in her as built before all the bulges and massive superstructure rebuilds. Any ideas has to where I could locate a set of GA drawings or even waterlines for the original as built Kongo from 1911-1914? I have a beautiful 1/700 scale model of Kongo 1914 but it’s only a waterline model and it has peaked my interest in foreign navies but built in Britain. Many thanks 

[John R Haynes]

Thought Profile Morskie or similar did a booklet of this .
I did see many years ago the Builders Model in Vickers offices that is now in the Dock Museum in Barrow. Vickers wanted me to restore this very large  model with a timber hull that had split right down the middle but I declined as I could not manage the weight of moving this .

[raflaunches]

Hi John


Thanks for the info, I’ll see if I can contact the Barrow Museum regarding the builders model. The majority of profile Morskie and similar booklets seem to only concentrate on the final version of Kongo in 1944 which is a shame as in my opinion the earlier vessel was a far better looking warship.

[tonyH]

Hi Nick, good to see the international trend!
According to Nat Archives, the bulk of Vickers files seem to be split between RMG and Cumbria Archives in Barrow who certainly hold the bulk of the armaments/submarine files. The catalogue alone for that part of the Cumbria files is a very large excel file. Also, a copy of The Engineer from 1912 has a photo of Kongo shortly after launch and also an artists impression of the finished article. Let me know if they'd be of use and I'll e-mail them.

Now I've found that powerboats are positively dangerous in my hands and once I've finished the PCS that I bought from Stan I've the drawings for this little one to contend with back in my comfort zone.
Have fun
Tony
PS, I wonder whether Kiyo (Backerther) has any ideas?

[raflaunches]

Hi Tony


Many thanks for the info- I would be most grateful for the pictures from The Engineer. I’ve liked the look of Kongo from 1914 for sometime and she appeals as most fittings would be very similar to RN items but with the added twist of being Japanese. And whilst I like the look of Tiger I have seen a 1/96 scale model on Facebook recently I would like to consider a similar design but a bit different.
The Koningin Wilhelmina looks fantastic, a vessel that’s probably never been modelled in this country but she does look incredibly pretty. Love the Victorian/Edwardian era of warships for their looks and diversity. Look forward to seeing your progress on her.
Cheers


Nick

[Umi_Ryuzuki]

You can try contacting Miyukikai in Japan.
They list plan - 105 Kongo 1938

http://www2.odn.ne.jp/miyukikai/sub2.htm

If you can email them, I would recommend typing out your request, then copying the text to
google translate and then copying the translation below your original text. Just to give you a
better chance at getting a reply.
 Hard to say when the website was last updated.. 
 

[raflaunches]

Hi Umi


Many thanks for the recommendation, looks like they do some interesting plans of other warships too including Baden. May have to check my copy of Baden to see if it’s by Miyukikai as I seem to remember it looks very similar to their type of plans.
It’s certainly worth a go to see if they have earlier plans of Kongo.

[Colin Bishop]

Nick,

I am also very interested in warships tof the WW1 era.

If you haven't already got it then I found Gary Staff's book on German Battlecruisers of WW1 to be absolutely fascinating.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00XIMPBDS/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

But you may be able to get it cheaper.

Re Tiger and Kongo - they shared various design attributes although I think Tiger as completed was the better looking ship. She was also very tough - see Drachinfel's video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wc2o5c61VbQ

The turret disposition on Tiger and Kongo was a great improvement on the Lion class in giving much greater arcs of fire. At that time the position of the sughting hoods on the turrets prevented the superimposed ones firing directly over the lower mounting.

Colin

[tonyH]

Here's the model. Whether it's still in place but this from the Barrow Museum Archives and tps://collections.dockmuseum.org.uk/mwebcgi/mweb?request=advanced;_tkeyword=kongo;_>1091=1910;dtype=d which are a further 25 pics. of Kongo in build.
Tony

[raflaunches]

Hi Colin


Completely agree, Tiger is the prettier of the two ships and she was an incredibly tough ship. I’ve watch Drachinfel’s videos on a regular basis as he provides some excellent pictures and information on each subject.
The German battlecruiser book is one of my favourites to read through and it opened my eyes that it was written with a balanced view against their British equivalent. I wish that a respected researcher and author would do a similar book regarding the German battleships or cruisers to the same standard as they are poorly written about in English.

[raflaunches]

Hi Tony


Many thanks for the picture and of course your email with the files on the Barrow collection. I’m going to attempt to contact the museum to see what they have on the subject and maybe some extra photos of the model if it’s still on display.

[raflaunches]

Dave Wooley shared some pictures on Facebook for me of the builders model of Kongo from a couple of years ago:

[Akira]

I found this on Amazon in the States. You might try there across the pond.
The Kongô Class Battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy: Volume 1 – Kirishima Technical and Historical Development 1911 to 1942     Paperback –

[Akira]

I would add that there are four editions to the book series. Two for the development of the class and two for individual ships.

[Umi_Ryuzuki]

These are also good references. I have one for the Kagero, and it came with some sheet plans.
 
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Japanese-Battleship-Kongo-Super-Drawings/dp/8361220151/ref=sr_1_1?crid=31CSJVO35B3R3&keywords=Japanese+Battleship+Kongo&qid=1679588529&sprefix=japanese+battleship+kongo%2Caps%2C210&sr=8-1

[Geoff]

I believe that the Kagero book whilst excellent shows Kongo in its WW2 configuration. My memory tells me for WW2 the hull was lengthened at the stern by about 10 to 15 meters. This was done to improve the coefficient of the hull, length being an important factor given the addition of the bulges. Fundamentally its easier to drive a longer ship through the water than a fatter one so the ratio of length to beam is important.


Cheers


Geoff

[raflaunches]

Hi Umi


They are excellent books to which I’ve managed to get all three so far. The third volume is about Kongo which is where the picture showing her stern walk name characters came from in the other thread asking about Kongo written in hiragana.
As Geoff says the 3D drawings book is of her in 1944 as she was sunk but they can be helpful for other features.

[Geoff]

Ha,


I just caught that the museum pictures are of two different models, Kongo and Erin! Anyone else catch that?


Cheers


Geoff

[ballastanksian]

How are things going with your Kongo research Nick?