By Dariusz Mazurowski
1/700 SMS Santa Elena Seaplane Tender (Scratchbuilt)
“Santa Elena” - WWI German seaplane tender 1/700 scratchbuilt model by Dariusz Mazurowski
Former HSDG (Hamburg-Südamerikanische Dampfschifffahrts-Gesellschaft) merchant ship “Santa Elena” was converted into a seaplane tender in 1915. Equipped with two hangars, she was able to carry four seaplanes (in some cases even six, according to numerous sources). As the biggest German WWI seaplane tender, “Santa Elena” has had a very active career also, including famous “Operation Albion” in 1917. After the War she was taken over by France, converted into merchant ship again and renamed to “Linios”. Captured in 1940 by Italy and renamed to “Orvieto”, former famous seaplane tender was active as a troopship. In 1943 the ship was taken over by Germany and sunk a year later during air attack.
“Santa Elena” vital statistics :
launched - november 1907, Blohm & Voss, Hamburg
conversion - 1915, Kaiserliche Werft, Danzig (Gdansk -
my hometown BTW)
dimensions :
length - 137,3 m
beam - 16,7 m
draught - 7,0 m
displacement - 13 900 tons
maximum speed - 11 (or 12, according to some sources) knots
armament :
2 x 88 mm AA guns
4 seaplanes
crew - 122
However I prefer battleships and battlecruisers, I'm an admirer of seaplane tenders (and auxiliary cruisers...) also. But - can you say “no” to this strange looking warship, with box-like hangars and vintage biplanes ? I cannot....
Since there is no kit on the market and I doubt if any producer will release one in the nearest future,I've been forced to build my “Santa Elena” from the scratch. Due to lack of documentation I thought this would be rather a difficult task. I've started with just a basic plan and a couple of vintage photos - so looking back I should say that the whole analysis phase took much more time than a building process ! But... yes, it was a very exciting adventure and I'm convinced I'll do it again in the future. There're so many other exotic WWI items to build...
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Dariusz
Mazurowski
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