S.M.S. „Oldenburg“ – the German armored corvette

In 1881 the basis of the German navy consisted of four battleships of the "Saxony" class, put into service in 1878-1883. All of them were built in German shipyards according to the fleet expansion plan, created in 1873 by the then Chief General of the Admiralty - Lieutenant Albrecht von Stoch. They complemented the "Proisen" and "Kaiser" class ships, that were built earlier and are still in service. The plan provided for the construction of two more reserve ships, but in the budget year 1879/1880 the Reichstag refused to finance their construction and in others only the building of a smaller, armored "E" class corvette was approved. In the autumn of 1883 the keel of this ship was laid at the "Wulkan" shipyard in Szczecin, the hull was launched on December 20, 1884 and it entered service at the end of the following year. It was one of the first all-metal ships, built in Germany, the hull divided into 12 watertight compartments, 60% of the length of the hull had a double bottom. Although "Oldenburg" had the advantage of artillery, compared to ships of the "Saxony" type, but due to its low speed, it mostly did not help, but hindered the actions of the escadre.

A fairly complex, well designed and richly detailed model, suitable for intermediate to advanced modelers. Antiquarian publication.