Dampfschiff

Dampfschiff DS Esmeralda (Panzerkreuzer der Marine von Chile)

Dating

Modell 20. Jh.; Vorbild 1896

Persons

Armstrong, Whitworth & Co Ltd., Hersteller/in Vorbild

Description

Panzerkreuzer Esmeralda, Chile 1896 Bauwerft: Armstrong & Co., Elswick, England Einsatz: bis 1927 (Umbau 1910) Verdrängung: 7000 BRT Länge: 133 m Antrieb: 2 Dampfmaschinen (Dreifach-Expansion) 11 900 kWi (16 000 PSi) 2 Schrauben Geschwindigkeit: 43 km/h (23 Knoten) Bauart: Panzerung mit 15-cm-Stahlplatten Bewaffnung: 2 Geschütze 20 cm, 16 Geschütze 15 cm, 3 Torpedorohre, mitgeführtes Torpedoboot Besatzung: 500 Mann Massstab: 1:48 Geschenk: Stadt Luzern, Baudirektion

Signature / Inscription

Signatur / Beschriftung: Beschriftung: "Esmeralda"

Object type

Object (three-dimensional)

Geography

Territorium: Kap Hoorn, Chile, Südamerika

Material / Technique

Blockmodell, Holz; Beschläge Messing, Beschläge Messing, teilweise versilbert

Dimensions

300 x 50 x 100 cm ca. 30 kg

Inventory number

VHS-7564

Legend

Heavy seas off Cap Horn Cape Horn, the southernmost tip of South America, was until the middle of the 19th century avoided by seamen whenever possible. A continuous succession of law-pressure fronts results in frequent, violent storms. From 1850 onwards, however, with mounting traffic between the east and west coasts of the United States, and later with the beginning of the ore- and guano-trade with Chile, voyaging around Cape Horn became the order of the day. On these longs runs the sailing ships maintained their supremacy until well into the twentieth century. Thanks to industrial production techniques – hull and masts were of steel, rigging of cables – windjammers, such as “Ville de Mulhouse”, for example, were capable of successfully meeting the challenge of the heavy seas off Cape Horn. The countries on the Cape Horn route, Chile and Argentina, consequently found themselves in a strategically important position and both possessed relatively large navies. The pocket battleship “Esmeralda” of the Chilean fleet was one of the most powerful cruisers of its day. This epoch came to end with the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914. Builder’s models A centuries-old practice in shipbuilding has been the construction of models as display and study objects. These models are known as builder’s models and they are generally constructed in minute detail, for the modelmaker has all the building plans at his disposal. In the office the shipping companies or the dockyard sale-rooms these models testify to the size, importance and works capacity of the firms concerned. Builder’s models were usually built to a standard scale: 1:48 in England, 1:50 in France. This tradition, however, became obsolete in the twentieth century when ships increased enormously in size. Today, the scale used for these models is 1:100, 1:150 or even smaller. The style of the models changed also in the course of time. So, for example, we find the warship models at the turn of the century showing a fantasy colour scheme very different from that of the prototypes: the guns and the metal fittings are gold- an silver-plated, the wooden parts often simply lacquered instead of being given a coat of paint. This kind of finish gave the models a luxurious appearance and at the same time made it easy to recognize the arrangement and kind of armament.