From PeterD: German Asian Squadron 1898 (8 points)

 

SMS Kaiser leads her squadron.

This is a post of make do and mend modelling.  Admiral Von Diedrichs' German squadron based in Tsingtao China (now Qingdao) nearly came to blows with Admiral Dewey's American fleet in Manilla Bay.  It's the lost what if scenario for major European powers intervening in the Spanish American War.  Unfortunately, 1:2400 scale models are not available for Diedrichs' ships.  My Toy Story entry was his flagship SMS Kaiser.  This one will look at his other four ships.  In each case I used Tumbling Dice models for other nations' cruisers. 

First up the protected cruiser SMS Kaiserin Augusta.  For her I noted that the French cruiser Tage was a similar size and had a similar hull shape, but had different funnel and mast arrangements.  She served in the Mediterranean and was involved in some gunboat diplomacy in Morocco and Greece, before being sent to China late in 1897.

Kaiserin Augusta on the left, Tage on the right.  Not too different, I just had to move the foremast back and spread the funnels apart

Next the sister ships Irene and Prinzess Wilhelm, basically older and smaller versions off Kaiserin Augusta.  They escorted Kaiser Bill II's yacht early in their career, before being sent east to China.  I used French Linois class cruisers to represent these two without modifications.  There are differences between the designs, but I decided they were close enough for Government work.  And finally the gunboat Cormoran.  I used a Spanish Isla de Cuba class cruiser for her, it's a reach but it's what I had on hand and at this scale it'll do. 

Irene on the left, a Linois class on the right.  Close enough for me.

I have received some nice comments on my basing, so I thought I'd share my method.  I put my ships on 30x60mm pdf bases (2mm thick) which I get from Warbases or Sarissa.  

1. After priming, I do the base sea colour first using Paynes' Grey, which is actually a dark blue and has tons of uses.   It's an artist colour, so I don't that you'll find in the model paint ranges.   But then again I wouldn't know as I use artists' acrylics as my regular medium.  I then paint the ship completely before returning to the base.  Normally I'll need to touch up where the hull colour has slopped onto the base.  In this case, I have white hulls and wasn't too sloppy so I'll just use the white in the wave patterns. 
2. For the first layer of wave I mix Payne's grey with a bit of white.  You can look at aerial photographs of ship for ideas, but generally there will be a bow wave, some disturbance along the sides and then a quarter wave angling off of the stern.  There isn't really that much colour difference except at the bow and where the screws are, but it gives the effect.  Basically, I'm using colour to represent surface textures and depths.  I will also add general waves around the ship.
3. I then add some white caps using titanium white where I figure they add something.
4. Once everything dries, I use a coat of acrylic glossy medium.  It's a bit nerve wracking to use this the first time as it goes on milky white, which I think shows in the photo.  But it dries to a clear glossy colour.
5. I find Payne's grey gives a good deep water grey blue, but I'd use a different sea colour depending on conditions.  For my Anglo Dutch Wars ships I use a greenish blue and sculpt waves with modelling gel etc to look like a de Velde painting.  For ACW river actions you'll want muddy brown etc. 

Rambling over, I'll claim the 8 points for the 4 ships.  Together with the Kaiser from the weekend, this brings my European Intervention force over the 13 ships required for another Squirrel point.

Squirrels to date

1. Badass Pulp Heroines
2. Women of the Nordic Resistance
3. US Navy Spanish American War
4. European Intervention Spanish American War

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Sylvain: Another great example of your scholarship and craftsmanship in ships! I hope you will soon set up the sea mat and indulge us Reginans with a turn of the century naval game. Génial!

From:PeterD European Coalition Squadron (22 points)

For my second post this week I have a squadron of ships from a European coalition formed in response to American aggressions against the North American colony of a European nation in 1898.  The Long Face Game campaign pack for the Spanish American War allows for Europeans to come to the aid of the Spanish.  There is a coalition squadron that can cross the Atlantic to the Caribbean and an German Asian squadron that can operate in the Philippines.  Historically, Spain was on its own.  However, the German Asian squadron did enter into a long staring match with Admiral Dewey in Manilla Bay.

First up the German Battleships Wörth (with VizAdmiral flag) and Brandenburg. These were half of the German Navy's first class of pre dreadnought battleships.  This pair survived into WW1, but were disarmed and converted to accommodation ships during the conflict. Their two   two ships were sold to Turkey in 1910 and had had more "interesting" late careers.  They lost a couple of battles to the Greek fleet in the Balkan Wars, and one was torpedoed by a British submarine during the Gallipoli campaign.  The Germans had no great connection with the Spanish, but were also keen to pick up any colonial crumbs that might fall their way.

Next two Austrian sister ships,  the protected cruisers Kaiser Franz Josef I and Kaiser Elisabeth named after the ruling Kaiser and his wife (there's an entertaining rabbit hole to fall down looking into the succession to Franz Josef).  The Habsburgs were closely connected to the Spanish royal family and wanted to help.  But they needed other nations' support, which in the end wasn't coming.   Another Austrian cruiser stumbled onto the end of the Battle of Santiago and nearly got attacked by the US Navy.

Then we move onto the French Navy, with the battleship Charles Martel, the armoured cruiser Bruix and the protected cruisers Linois and Lavoisier.   French naval designs were specularly bizarre in this period with exaggerated ram bows and tumbled home, odd turret placements and heavy military masts.  Sylvain likened spar torpedos to Space Orb weapons, and I think these ships are one that the Imperium could have produced.  I'm not sure but I've heard that absinthe makes the brain grow softer.  Tumbling Dice do fine model ships, but I don't think that 1;2400 really does these justice, so have include pictures of the Charles Martel and Bruix.

Charles Martel nose on, showing the tumblehome and fierce face military masts.  Note the Quick firers in the fighting top, wouldn't want to work those in a fight.

Bruix at anchor, note the shape of the bow and the general Steampunk look.

The flat grey shows off the Charles Martel's lozenge turret arrangement.  Russian ships with similar tall superstructures were lit up by Japanese quick firers at Tsushima.

Finally the Italians, the armoured cruiser Marco Polo and the protector cruisers Umbria and Lombardia.  The Marco Polo was considered under armed and the two protected cruisers a bit slow.  Umbria was stationed in South America in 1896, losing half her crew to yellow fever.

I make that eleven ships (two German, two Austrian, four French and three Italian), good for 22 points and just short of a full squirrel.  I have the German Asian squadron on the work bench to flesh out the squirrel. 

From DaveD . Peters second bite of the cherry today . That’s an interesting assortment of ships indeed l agree the French certainly have a dystopian steampunk vibe about them . Put them on a flight stand and they would not look out of place .22 it is .

From:PeterD Spanish American War Merchant Ships (12 points)

A collection of merchantmen and transports for my first post this week.  These are all from the excellent Tumbling Dice 1:2400 scale Age of Battleships range.  The US Navy used a lot of merchant men for its war effort against Spain.  Some were bought and incorporated into the US Navy (as Armed Merchant cruisers, transports or Armed yachts) but most were just hired out for the duration.

Leonidas of the Charlie ("Affirmative") line and Pompey of the Echo ("I am altering to starboard") line.  Sounds like these to have things worked out nicely.

 

I've not tried to represent any particular ships here but did them up as fairly generic vessels which I gave names selected from actual ships used  in 1898.  I went for classical names to make them useable serving for a bunch of fleets, and because I was born on the Ides of March.

Alexander of the Juliet ("I am on fire") line and Caesar of the Lima ("Stop Immediately") line.  Doesn't look good for the first but the second seems likely to keep clear of trouble.

For identification, I gave each ship a flag selected from among the International maritime signal flags.  These all have meanings beyond their alphabetic use and I'm sure than Admiral Paul will confirm what each is indicating.  I have seen pins based on theses flags and their meaning  meant to worn on nights drinking at the sailing club, where they take on whole new meanings.

Sorry for the bad photo.  Hector of the Delta ("I am having trouble manouvering") Line and Brutus of the Foxtrot ("I am disabled and require assistance") line.  This one likely won't end well.  Good thing that there's no vessels from the Bravo ("I am carrying dangerous goods") line nearby.  Hector is a side wheeler and I have found photos of similar vessels serving in 1898 (heck some served at Dunkirk in 1940).

The US Navy needed a big fleet of transports because of the wide scope of its operations, including:

• Maintaining coal supply at it's Caribbean bases of Key West and Miami
• Blockades of Spanish ports in Cuba and Puerto Rico.
• Amphibious landings on Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines and Guam
• Setting up a forward coaling base at Guantanamo once they got troops ashore.
• Keeping its Asiatic squadron and land forces supplied from across the Pacific (Dewey had no base before Manilla).

That's a long list of achievements for a Navy fighting its first overseas war, even without worrying about an enemy fleet.

That is 6 ships at 2 points a hull for a total of 12.  I am going to group these merchants with my US Navy ships posted earlier to claim another squirrel point.

From DaveD , my first substitute minion task , I am pleased to see one from Peter . Lovely little collection of transport you have there l must say . I like the back story on the ship names .  That a tidy little 12 points for you sir .

From PeterD: USNavy 1898 (20 points)

Over the last couple of Challenges, I've been putting together the fleets for the Spanish American War in the hopes of one day doing a campaign.  This was inspired by a visit to Admiral Deweys' USS Olympia in Philly.

She pretty much sells the Pre-Dreadnought period for me.

I am down to filling in the gaps stage, and so here's some US Navy ships that were left in the lead pile.  These are all 1:2400 scale by Tumbling Dice, who do a nice range of well detailed ships for this era.

First up some heavies, the Battleship USS Massachusetts and the Monitors USS Terror and USS Amphitrite.  Massachusetts was a first rate man of war, but missed the big action at Santiago as she was off coaling at the time.  The monitors were pretty much left overs for the USN, they were laid down in 1874 but not completed until twenty years later.  Plus they had to be finessed past a miserly congress as being rebuilds of earlier Civil War era monitors.  They were slow, outdated and very poor sea boats, but they took part in the Spanish American War.  Both ships took part in the Bombardment of San Juan Puerto Rico, but had to be towed there by more modern ships.  They then were used to blockade Cuban ports.  They were miserable ships to work on, but least their crews didn't have to endure the crossings of the Pacific that two sister ships took.

USS Monadnock crossing the Pacific.  No need to swab the barf off the quarterdeck, the Pacific will take care of that.

The early US battleships were also low freeboard but not as low as the monitors.

Next up the Montgomery class cruisers USS Detroit and USS Marblehead and the Armed Merchant Cruiser USS St Paul.  The Montgomerys were built as peace cruisers, meant to police the Caribbean and show the flag.  They had a light armament and only a thin armoured deck, but had roomy accommodations for long cruises.  All three served in the SAW, Detroit being at the bombardment of San Juan and Marblehead bombarding Cuba and taking part in the capture of Guantanamo Bay. The USS St Paul was a trans-Atlantic liner taken over and armed by the US Navy and was commanded by Captain Sigsbee, previously of the ill fated USS Maine.   She was on blockade duty off Cuba and Puerto Rico and fought a duel with a Spanish destroyer off San Juan. 

While sisters, the Columbia had four funnels and the Minneapolis had two.  They were originally designed with three each, so I wonder if it was a delivery SNAFU.

Finally three protected cruisers.  The sisters USS Columbia and USS Minneapolis were built as commerce raiders and designed to look like passenger liners.  They were very fast, and had decent protection but were very lightly armed to maximize speed and range.  They became white elephants when the US Navy changed its role from that of wolf, preying on other nations (i.e. British) shipping to sheep dog controlling the sea lanes and protecting US shipping.  The USS New Orleans was an Elswick cruiser purchased from the builders just before the SAW.  Originally Brazil ordered a class of four cruisers, but only received one.  They sold one to the Chileans and the US snapped up the other two to keep them out of Spanish hands.  Only the New Orleans was ready in time for the war, but she was a fine ship and had an active war. 

That is nine 1:2400 scale ships for 18 points.  I hope to get increase that total over the 25 point squirrel threshold in the net couple of weeks.

 

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Sylvain: Very impressive description and very impressive painted miniatures! The information you provide make these ships feel more real. I like your oversized flags and I will give you 2 bonus points for that for a total of 20 points. Bravo!

From PeterD Gliding to Gluttony (30 points)

Once again photos show my painting flaws and need for touch ups.

Exiting Treachery, I am using this Bad Squiddo Krystyna Skarbek figure  to take me back out to Gluttony.  Skarbek was a Polish SOE operative who at one point kidnapped a Gestapo Chief.  Again read her bio.  She skied in and out of occupied Poland several times and that's how she's been sculpted.  The Bad Squiddo site has her in a very nice nordic sweater with I couldn't possibly match, but I added a yoke and trim to get some of the effect.  She's stylishly attired for Telemarking at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, interrupted by some serious espionage.

Last fall my wife asked if I'd be interested in seeing a touring musical about Women in WW2 that was playing live at Darke Hall, a local theatre.  I said sure and it turned out to be based on the lives of the female SOE operatives in the Bad Squiddo range.  It's called the Invisibles, Agents of Ungentlemanly Warfare and is worth seeing if it comes to your town.  it was quite funny watching the play and going, wait a second I've painted her!  

This may be a reach, but I am going to try claiming a Spanish American War collier for my Gluttony post.  I am hoping that have a Minion who is a ranking Flag Officer will help my case, as I'm sure he'll understand the logistics involved.  (Laying it own a bit thick?) 

These are two 1/2400 scale ships from Tumbling Dice from their Age of Battleships range.  There is the collier USS Nanshan, still in merchant livery and the cruiser USS Newark in peacetime white and buff (so much nicer than wartime grey).   My pitch here is that late Victorian era warships had a tremendous appetite for coal, particularly if their machinery was in poor nick.  

The Spanish Armada had a bad time getting coal for its far off squadrons.  Cervera's squadron arrived in the Caribbean in desperate need after a Trans-Atlantic voyage.  They were refused coaling rights in Martinique and had to go to Curacao to top up.   Later at the Battle of Santiago, the Cristobal Colon would have gotten away if she hadn't run out of good coal and had to resort to inferior stuff.  Camara's squadron was sent east to recapture Manilla but had similar troubles getting coal in Egypt.

On the US side, coal logistics took careful management.  Dewey's squadron had the Nanshan attached to prevent such troubles and he needed to dispatch a gunboat to escort her before attacking at Cavite.  For the Cuban blockade, they set a temporary coaling port when captured Guantanmo and used a whole fleet of hired colliers to keep the fleet on station.

Points wise I am hoping for

• 5 pints for Krystyna
• 4 points for the two 1/2400 ships
• 20 points for Gluttony

For a total of 29 points.

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Well a Spanish Collier was certainly a treasure worth a fat prize money haul (an eighth of which was payable to the Admiral I will remind you, no matter how far away he was!). Thanks for that, I'll bump this up to 30 points so you can pay the man his dues!

And I agree: NEWARK looks lovely in White and Buff - suits her lovely lines and far more reminiscent of the times!

- Paul

From PeterD: Spanish American War Ships 1:2400 (10 points)

First post for me in my nth challenge (n>10).  My painting always begins on Boxing Day, and first up was this collection of left overs from Challenge XIV.  They were primed and based but I never made any further progress.  None of these vessels were at battles at Santiago or Manilla, but all played a role in the war.

First up we have two American ships, USS Maine and USS Charleston.  The Maine's contribution to the war was blowing up in Havana Harbour, thereby giving Mr Hearst a cassus bellum for the war.  At the time the US blamed this on a Spanish mine, but the evidence points more to a coal fire that set off a magazine.  The Maine was classified as an armoured cruiser with four 10" guns in the fashionable Victorian layout of turrets en echelon.  She served less than three years before self destructing.  I've seen what if scenarios with her facing South American navies.

The Charleston was a protected cruiser built in the USA based on a design purchased from the English arms manufacturer Armstrong's.  She had a pair of 8" guns with 6" secondaries.  She was sent to capture Guam in 1898 with a convoy of  with three transports full of troops .  On arrival she unleashed a bombardment on the ancient fort.  In return, a boat of Spanish officials arrived asking if they could borrow powder in order to return the salute.  Turns out no one had told them that there was a war on.  A bloodless surrender was soon arranged.  Shortly after the end of the war,  she struck a rock and sank while operating against Philippine forces.

Next up a trio of vessels from the Armada Espanol.  The most fearsome is the battleship Pelayo, a French build similar to the Marceau class but with a shallower draft and lacking the towering Grand Hotel superstructure.  Her 11" guns are in the French lozenge fashion, aimed at increasing end on firepower at the cost of broadside firepower.  She was hastened out of a refit (with her old secondaries removed and without her new ones) and sent off as flagship of a squadron to recover the Philippines.  They got as far as the Suez Canal before they heard of the disaster at Santiago and recalled to defend Spain itself.  Pelayo served for a long time before finally firing in anger during the Rif War in 1909.

Finally a couple of small and pretty useless ships.  The Marques del Duero was a gunboat sunk at Manilla Bay.  The Isabel II was a small cruiser of the ill fated Velasco class which served in actions off San Juan Puerto Rico.  She was named for Queen Isabel II, who reigned from 1833 until her ouster in 1868.  The less said about the Spanish Royal family the better.

These are 1:2400 castings from Tumbling Dice, who make some lovely ships in many offbeat periods.  In past Challenges, these are worth 2 points a hull for a total of 10 points.

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Great work on these tiny ships and interesting history of the period Peter. I enjoyed our Cuban breakout scenarios using your collection and it will be nice to have some more models for variety for future engagements.

- Curt

From PeterD: Manilla Bay 1898 (14 points)

A slow week again for me (teaching an overload course and wife's birthday) but a few things made it off the workbench.  A few more ships from my ongoing Spanish American War naval project, mostly Spanish and mostly from the Battle of Manilla Bay 1898.

The Spanish squadron in the Philippines was a collection of obsolete cruisers in a pretty dodgy state of maintenance and training.  They gave Dewey's American squadron little opposition but with some proper preparations and work, things might have been tougher for the US Navy.  Dewey had the easier challenge in battle but had a host of other issues to deal with.  His squadron was operating thousands of miles from a US port and had to shepherd colliers and other support ships.  He also had to stare down the German Asiatic squadron which anchored in  Manilla Bay and deal with Phillipino rebels that the US Government was preparing to throw under the bus once the Spanish were out of the way.  

The Reina Christina was an Alphonso XII class unprotected cruiser and flies the flag of Admiral Motojo.  She was the best of the Spanish squadron at Manilla and went down fighting.   This class of ships was named for member of the Spanish Royal Family and both the ships and royalty had pretty sad careers.  Christina was the Queen Regent in 1898, widow of Alphonso XII (who died in 1885 at the age of 27 from TB and dysentery) and mother of Alphonso XIII (born posthumously in 1886 and deposed in 1931).  Her sister ships were named for Alphonso XII and his first wife Reina Mercedes who died at age 18 from typhoid fever after 6 months of marriage.  The Alphoso XII was immobile in Havana harbour in 1898, but her crew helps the crew of the USS Maine after she was sunk.  The Reina Mercedes traded shots with the US Navy at Santiago, but was too sow to take part in the the breakout,  She was sunk as a block ship to deny the Americans access to the port.

The Castilla was an even older unprotected cruiser.  She served against the Tagalog Revolt but was thoroughly worn out by 1898.  Her machinery gave only a very slow speed and she in the early days of the war was found to have a serious leak that could only be patched with cement around her propellor shaft, immobilizing her.  The Christina had to tow her into position.

Two member of the ill fated Velasco class of small cruisers.  Tow of the class had been lost at sea prior to the war and three more members were sunk at Manilla Bay including Velasco herself.  She was immobilized on the day of battle (are you sensing a theme here?) with her boilers ashore and under repair.  Isabel II was at San Juan Puerto Rico in 1898 where she took part in two actions against the US blockaders.  She served in the Armada until 1907.  Isabel II was the mother of Alphonso II and had a troubled reign from 1833-1868.  Her succession caused the Carlist Wars (the other side was lead by an uncle who refused to accept a Queen), and she was deposed by a revolution in 1868.  She lived until 1904 but had abdicated while in exile in favour of her son.   

Finally some pretty good little ships.  USS Petrel was a gun boat that fought at Manilla Bay and further against against first the Spanish and then the Philippinos.  Very useful in the brushfire colonial campaigns of the day.  And another flotilla of two Spanish destroyers, which were modern designs for 1898.  

Thats's 7 1;2400 scale ships (all Tumbling Dice castings) at 2 points per hull for a total of 14 points.  I  should have something more substantial next week.

I really like these little ships, Peter, and the background story you have given us. It seems that the Spanish ships had as little luck in life as the royals they were named after... The smoke effect definitely enhances these models, your Spanish-American War fleets are progressing quite admirably. Excellent work, 14 points added!

Martijn

From PeterD: Protected Cruisers for Maritime (34 points)

If there were two subject areas on the Library Map that you could bet money on me visiting it would have History and Maritime.  So here's the second of these with a selection of 1:2400 scales ships for the Spanish American War, all of which fought at Manilla Bay in 1898.  All the toys are produced by Tumbling Dice, who do good castings with excellent service.

First up is a set of four Protected Cruisers for the US Navy.  Protected cruisers were a late 19th century development when navies were looking for speed with firepower at the cost of armour.  Early armoured cruisers had decent armour belt protection but the weight was so high that they were no faster than the battleships that they were to scout for.  A protected cruiser did away with the armour belt and substituted a armoured deck that would hopefully shield the engines and lower hull from the effects of shellfire.  British Arms magnate Lord Armstong's Elswick yard produced these as a popular option for smaller navies looking for prestige ships.

USS Boston was one the the first three cruisers for the US Navy using a home grown design heavily influenced by the Chilean Esmeralda.  Commissioned in 1887 she carried her two 8" guns in barbettes that were slightly offset to supposedly increase end on fire.  She was slow and slow firing by 1898 standards.

What's a barbette you ask?  Here's a picture from her sister ship Altanta.  The barbette was an armoured cylinder that protected the training and loading mechanism of the gun but provided no protection the the men serving the weapon.  Note the blue jacket fully exposed above the waist. 

These early ships came from a time when navies were loathe to abandon sails.  Boston carried an impressive full rig, but I've assumed that this would be downsized for combat.

  

The USS Baltimore was US built but used a design purchased from Armstong's.  Her 8" and 6" guns were broadside mounted but the crew had decent gun shields protecting them.

When I was adding ship labels I noticed that I had the Raleigh mounted differently from the other ships so that her table is on the starboard side instead of the port side.

USS Raleigh was a smaller ship commissioned in 1894.  She had mainly 5" guns which was the largest rapid fire gun available to the US Navy at the time plus a slow firing 6" on the foredeck.  She is credited with firing the opening shot at Manilla Bay. 

USS Olympia is a first class protected cruiser and one of the best cruisers afloat in 1898.  She carries four 8" guns in proper turrets and flies the flag of Commodore (soon to be Admiral) Dewey.  Dewey was a giant in the US navy pre WW1 and quite a character (see his bio here).  Most importantly, Olympia is still afloat and I visited her in September.

Look beyond my moose travelling companion and you can see where Dewey stood on the open deck while shell and shot whizzed past him.

Finally a trio of smaller ships.

USS Concord was a Yorktown class gunboat, useful for diplomatic missions!

Two members of the ill fated Velasco class, small cruisers with no armour and light guns.  Both (plus the Velasco herself) were sunk at Manilla Bay.  Two more members of the class were lost in storms. 

Summing up that 7 ships in 1:2400 scale at two points a hull plus 20 for the Maritime section nets me a total of 34 points.

This is my third section covered and my updated map is as follows.

Ah, we’re going out to sea again! And your second post of the day no less.  Good to see some pre-dreadnought ships, especially from a little known conflict like the Spanish- American War. They are looking fine, Peter, and I like the smoke effect and the flags. Also, the original photos and the historical background really enhance this submission. Well done! 34 points it is.

From PeterD - The Battle Santiago For Overdues and Returns (58 points)

WARNING:  This post is 25 years in the making, has lots of naval and personal history and I am too verbose at the best of times.  

In February 1998 I relocated from Halifax NS to Regina SK.  I spent the first two months in a sublet apartment with almost no furniture until my wife and toddler daughter joined me in April.  At loose ends with my evenings and weekends I bought an Xacto knife, sandpaper and some bass wood and started carving Pre-Dreadnought battleships for the Spanish American war.   I got some work done and then my family arrived, we moved into a new house and you know the rest....

In early 2011, I set up a blog and my second post featured my 1:1200 scratch built ships from this project which I had begun working with again.  Venturing onto the internet allowed me to meet gamers who lived within 2km of me, and my fleets made it on table in 2012.   I am not sure what happened but I'll ascribe it to real life.

In September, 2023 I went to Philly for Society of Actuaries exam meeting.  During some time off I went to visit USS Olympia, Admiral Dewey's flagship from Manilla Bay.  This time I think the bug took up permanent residence.  Fleets were ordered in 1:2400 scale from Tumbling Dice as I no longer have the patience for scratch building.  And my veterans came out for another test game.

OK, initial blather over, let's move on to the models.  Fast service from Tumbling Dice meant that I these arrived and were assembled and primed in time to get initial paint on during my wife's book club in November and then December hit and they sat.  So yes full disclosure, these were started prior to the Challenge but Curt tell's me that Overdues and Returns allows for that.  So I represent the full fleets from there battle of Santiago 1898.

First up is the US Navy with USS Texas, USS New York and USS Brooklyn leading the way.  I will note that the US Navy painted all of their ships grey for the war, but I've represented them in their much spiffier white and ochre peace time livery.

• Texas was built as a second class battleship to counter South American navies.  She was the first major warship built in the US for many year and construction was delayed as industry tooled up.  Therefore while her design was au courant when ordered in 1886 it was passe on completion in 1895 such was the speed of naval development.  She was considered slow and underarmed but gave a good fight at Santiago.
• No such worries with the Armoured Cruisers New York (ACR2 completed in 1893) or Brooklyn (ACR2 completed in 1896) which had a good balance of speed, protection and firepower. 
• New York was the flagship of Admiral Sampson in 1898.  She almost missed the battle at Santiago, as she was taking Sampson off to see his Army equivalent the ex CSA General Wheeler and only arrived at the very tail end.  She had a long service with two name changes to free up names for new construction and was finally decommissioned in 1932 in Cavity, where she was scuttled in 1941.
• Brooklyn had her turrets in a schwacky French-style lozenge arrangnement and was the flagship of Commodore Schley in 1898.  Schley had his moments during the war but was senior officer when Spanish came out to fight.  He narrowly avoided ramming the Texas, but sank the entire Spanish squadron with Brooklyn doing much of the heavy lifting.  There was a bun fight between Sampson and Schley after the war over who did what,

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Next up three American Battlewagons, USS Indiana (BB1), USS Oregon (BB3) and USS Iowa (BB4).

• Indiana was lead ship of her three ship class, the others being Oregon and Massachusetts (which was off coaling and missed the battle).  They were designed for coastal defence and thus smaller than contemporary European designs and had low freeboard.  But they were well armoured and packed a punch with 4*13" main guns, 8*8" intermediates plus light guns.  They were overarmed and there was a lot of blast interference between the 13" and 8" guns. 
• Oregon was the most famous member of the trio.  Built in California she relocated 14,000 nautical miles around Cape Horn to the Caribbean in 66 days.  This level of efficiency probably scared the pants off of European navies, while the length of the voyage lead to the building of a canal by a certain Roosevelt.  She chased the Colon for over an hour until the Spanish ran out of decent coal. 

Last of the American are some light ships.

• USS Vixen and USS Gloucester were armed yachts, taken over by the navy, stripped of their finery and armed with light quick firers.  Gloucester was formerly owned by J P Morgan.  They were useless against big ships but shot up the Spanish destroyers.  While most of the Tumbling Dice models are really nice, I am not a huge fan of these casts as they don't yachty enough.  I may try to fine substitutes.
• The USN didn't build destroyers until the 20th Century but employed torpedo boats during the war.  USS Ericsson was part of the Santiago blockade but went off with Sampson to meet the army.  The rules I plan to use (Long Face Games Broadside and Salvo), represent torpedo craft in flottillas instead of individual ships so I've grouped them two per base.

Now over to the Armada Espanol (yes that it still the official name).

First up are the three armoured cruisers of the Infanta Maria Teresa class, all of which were sunk at Santiago.  These were standard armoured cruisers if slightly under armoured and influenced by the Royal Navy's Orlando class..  The biggest problem was the hopeless state of efficiency in the Armada.  

• The Infanta Maria Teresaflies the flag of Admiral Cervera who commanded the squadron.  She was named for a Spanish Princess who was the first wife of Louis XIV and thus green grandmother of Louis XV.
• The Almirante Oquendo was named for the Admiral who lost the battle of the Downs in 1639.   Other Oquendos had prominent roles in the 1588 Armada.  If your Spanish (or Scottish) you celebrate valiant losers.
• The Vizcaya was named for the Biscay region.  She had the misfortune to visit New York on a friendly tour just after the destruction of the Maine and without knowing what happened.  She was slowed considerably by a dirty bottom in need of a scrub (this brings back memories of saving with my dad).

• Cristobal Colon was a member of the Italian Garibaldi class cruisers, and was named for some guy who figured he found China.  Half sisters served in the Italian, Argentine and Japanese navies.  They were fine ships but Colon sailed without her 10" main guns due to a bun fight with the makers.   She nearly escaped at Santiago but her supplies of good coal ran out and she couldn't maintain a decent speed.
• Reina Mercedes was on station at Santiago when Server arrived from the Canaries.  Named for the first wife of King Alfonso XIII (she died six month after their wedding), she was old slow and not much use at anything.   Too slow to join Cervera's planned escape she did trade shots with the US Navy during the siege and was eventually sunk as a block ship in the harbour entrance. 

• While most of the Armada was old and cranky, they had some shiny new destroyers ordered from the UK.   Cervera sailed from Europe with three destroyers, of which the Furor and Pluton were sunk at Santiago.  Terror and engine troubles in transit and ended up in Puerto Rico where she traded shots with American blockaders.
• I can't find any records of Spanish torpedo boats in combat in 1898, but they had quite a few and there's always what ifs.

Blather over and a project well under way after 25 years.   I'll have ships from the Pacific side of operations later in the Challenge.  

Points wise I make it 19 ships in 1:2400 at 2 points per hull is 38 points plus a 20 point room bonus for Overdues and Returns.

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Excellent work and interesting history Peter, but better yet a wonderful bit of personal lore on your first efforts as well.

These look terrific and I very much look forward to seeing them on the tabletop. While these little models certainly look the business, I do appreciate the clear labelling and sturdy basing. I will do my best not to break off any funnels or masts in our next game, which would be a better fate than my poor Griffin and Flagellants, (ahem) I'll say no more. ;P

Well done!

- Curt