A ship history : Admiral Hipper

From the Washington Naval Treaty to the end of the Second World War.
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Antonio Bonomi
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A ship history : Admiral Hipper

Post by Antonio Bonomi »

Ciao all,

here the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper :

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Ciao Antonio :D
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Antonio Bonomi
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Camouflages

Post by Antonio Bonomi »

Ciao all,

here some more references :

http://www.forum.marinearchiv.de/viewto ... 6532#16532

Ciao Antonio :D
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marcelo_malara
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Post by marcelo_malara »

Antonio, just a question I ´ve been discussing with a friend: weren´t the Germans heavy cruisers rather thin skinned?
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Antonio Bonomi
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German Heavy cruisers

Post by Antonio Bonomi »

Ciao Marcelo and all,

just to make sure I got the question correctly.

What do you mean with exactly with ' thin skinned'.

Can you explain me in more details.

Thanks.
Ciao Antonio :D
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marcelo_malara
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Post by marcelo_malara »

The armour was thinner than contemporary cruisers.
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Antonio Bonomi
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Admiral Hipper vs other cruisers protection

Post by Antonio Bonomi »

Ciao Marcelo and all,

OK, now I am sure I got exactly your point.

YES, the Admiral Hipper class cruisers did not spend too much percentage of their tonnage on the armour.

This cruiser class was entering service on 1939, so it was designed according to the Washington agreement.

Vertical protection was only 80 mm ( Zara was 150 mm, Tone was 127 mm, Algerie 102 mm, New Orleans 127 mm, British County class was 76 mm only ).

Horizontal protection was only 60+30 mm ( Zara was 70 mm, Tone was 40 mm, Algerie 76 mm, New Orleans 76+51 mm, British County class 76 mm ).

But to evaluate those ship overall you need to consider all the percentages of their tonnage and not only the armour, but the guns, machinery, autonomy, etc etc ....

Admiral Hipper class is not considered to be the ' best ' Washington class cruiser design result, .. probably the Zara and the New Orleans were better balanced, .. but here the discussion will become very complicated.

Every country designed and unbalanced their cruisers specifications according to their needs, .. Germany went this way, big, large not much protected heavy cruisers armed with 12 torpedo tubes.

Ciao Antonio :D
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MJQ
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Re: Camouflages

Post by MJQ »

Antonio Bonomi wrote:Ciao all,

here some more references :

http://www.forum.marinearchiv.de/viewto ... 6532#16532

Ciao Antonio :D
Superb drawings Antonio!! I just picked up the HP Hipper - these will be very useful!

Question - what are the primary camouflage colors?
Martin
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Antonio Bonomi
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Admiral Hipper camouflage schemes

Post by Antonio Bonomi »

Ciao Marty and all,

many thanks :oops: :oops:

You are right, I should have added the precise reference colours, but I hope all the interested persons will be not shy and just ask like you do.

The base was RAL 7001 Light Grey.

The Dark Grey camo patters were on RAL 7024.

For Yellow RAL 1003 and Red RAL 3010 ( Top Turrets ).

Surely on the Op. Rosselsprung camo the bow and the stern were painted white RAL 9002.

Here my model for reference :

http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery ... index.html

.... so you can also see the swastika's position and dimensions ( bigger the white circle and thinner the swastika than standard for Admiral Hipper, just like the Gneisenau ones )

Ciao Antonio :D
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marcelo_malara
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Post by marcelo_malara »

Antonio, what surprised me is that as Germans warships were always known for their protection, this was not carried on to the cruisers.
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Antonio Bonomi
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German Heavy Cruisers

Post by Antonio Bonomi »

Ciao Marcelo and all,

YES, you are right in this case.

But I think that those guidelines were supposed to be only for battleships, not cruisers.

Ciao Antonio :D
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Antonio Bonomi
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Admiral Hipper Norway camouflages

Post by Antonio Bonomi »

Ciao all,

following the 5 camouflages Admiral Hipper changed while in Norway.


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Ciao Antonio :D
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Antonio Bonomi
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Hipper camo story ...

Post by Antonio Bonomi »

Ciao all,

here some more inputs on Admiral Hipper Atlantic camouflage evolutions,... soon I will be able to post them all,....

http://www.shipmodels.info/mwphpBB2/vie ... 422#142422

http://home.swipnet.se/~w-11578/hms_liverpool.htm

http://forum-marinearchiv.de/smf/index. ... 0.html#new

Ciao Antonio :D
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Gary
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Post by Gary »

Another thing about Hipper is that she didnt have a separate Secondary and AA battery.
She used the twin barrel 4.1 inch High angle weapon for anti aircraft and anti ship shooting.
All the other large German ships had seprate 5.9 inch and 4.1 inch batteries for surface/air attack shooting.
God created the world in 6 days.........and on the 7th day he built the Scharnhorst
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Antonio Bonomi
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Some good news,...

Post by Antonio Bonomi »

Ciao Gary and all,

YES, you are right,..here you can find something good about Hipper class ships, ..

http://forum-marinearchiv.de/smf/index.php?topic=4305

Enjoy,.. a gift to everybody,..... free of charge,..and a special thank to Abram for hsi hard work,...

.... as working with me can be really hard, .... :lol: :lol: :lol:

Ciao Antonio :D
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Gary
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Post by Gary »

Was Hipper one of the largest (tonnage) CA's of her time?
God created the world in 6 days.........and on the 7th day he built the Scharnhorst
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