Information about the Krischan II

[wireandpaper]

While I ordered my Sloop Starling, I also bought the Krischan II in 1/250 that I have been wanting for some time. It qualifies as an aircraft ship kit with the Falke/Bussard, Ballard and Akitushima for those like me that likes planes and ships! I will post a detailed review in reviews later. But does anyone have information about this ship? Very difficult to find online.

[Ätherwellen]

after a small search all that comes up is a german wikipedia article, Flugsicherungsschiff – Wikipedia

and a post on a blog about the job the ship had
air traffic control ship (Flugsicherungsschiff) - Bloges.wiki

some general information
HMA

and a video description says the following
The “Flusi 1” – “Krischan der Grosse” was a “Flaktraeger” build for the Luftwaffe during 1941, to provide low level anti air support for coastal areas and harbors. The Name “Flusi 1” is misleading, because a “Flugsicherungsschiff” (literal translation “air traffic control ship”) was not used for anti air duty, but to provide air for seaplanes, so another name might have been a better choice.
The Flaktraeger was armed with one 8.8cm, one 3.7cm gun and two quad 2cm guns, all except the 8.8cm gun were (horizontally) leveled, so they could be used during rough seas (to some extend i guess). The Luftwaffe used old BMW aircraft engines with a total output of about 2000hp to power the ship. Those engines were one of the major drawbacks of the ship, especially the maneuverability was bad at low speeds and the risk of fire was higher than with diesel engines the Kriegsmarine used on their ships. While its understandable to reuse the old engines the Luftwaffe should have known better, after they had problems when they used aircraft engines for the Siebel Ferries.
The Luftwaffe intended to build 100 of these ships, but after the problems with the prototype the number was reduced to 30 and later the order was canceled. During 1943 the Kriegsmarine got involved in the further development of the ship, some sources even claim, that the ship might have been transferred to the Kriegmarine. One of the changes was, that the aircraft engines should be replaced with diesel engines, it is possible that this was done at the end of 1943 and the beginning of 1944, but the changes were not documented. A known change to the design that can be confirmed by existing photos is, that the aft quad 2cm gun was replaced with a second 8.8cm gun. On a plan of the ship that was found, which incorporates the engine changes and the replaced aft gun, the ship is called “Flusi 2”.
The ship was sunk by allied bombers early in 1944, there are 2 location mentioned where the ship was sunk one is “Antwerpen” and the other is “Bergen aan Zee”.

More can probably be found if i look through more of the pages on google

[michik]

Hi, Pablo,
I can probably provide you with all the information you like: I know a bit about that particular ship, and I meet Michael Bauer, the designer of the kit, on a regular basis here in Munich. Only, my bed is calling at the moment, so you have to wait some hours!

Two notes, however:
- Flusi I/Krischan der Große is a totally different ship
- Krischan was the nickname of Friedrich Christiansen, and that's where the name Krischan for the various vessels originates from

Michi

[wireandpaper]

Thank you very much Ätherwellen and Michi,
Very interesting the info that you provided. There is a full chronology of the Krischen/Gunther Plüschow in the HMA reference. Nevertheless, there is conflicting information on the armament. The model provides 2x20mm and 1X37mm guns. Some sources mention 1X37mm, 1x20mm, or 2x20mm. There is no diagram of their placement (I am not complaining just curious where to place the guns).
And thank you in advance for the additional help!

[michik]

Ok, I've checked my references, but unfortunately there's not much more information available.

The wikipedia article gives a good impression, what those ships were for. Jung, Wenzel, Abendroth: "Schiffe und Boote der deutschen Seeflieger 1912–1976" mentions that Krischan II/Günther Plüschow was able to store avgas and ammunition, but its capacity was, of course, only very limited.
There's one point, however, where the wiki article goes totally wrong: Those ships never ever were owned by the navy but at first by the Ministry of Aviation and (after its official founding) by the air force.

AFAIK, the HMA entry is the most comprehensive in terms of her curriculum vitae. The specifications are the same in all available sources. The HMA also provides a 30MB document about the follow up Krischen III/Bernhard von Tschirschky, which is quite interesting in itself. But above all there is a second photo of Krischan II on page 109.

There seems to be no definite knlowledge about the armament. Gröner mentions one 2cm AA gun, and the HMA article gives even a date for that, so that is probably documented.
Jung, Wenzel, and Abendroth, on the other hand, mention a 3,7cm gun, but they don't mention the particular model nor the date when it was installed, so this is a bit weak. However, it is absolutely possible that the AA armament was upgraded during the war.
Both mention only single guns. Therefore, the only possible place is in front of the bridge (after the war in the Soviet navy, and renamed Prut, she had two guns on port and starbord between the bridge and the smoke stack - see attached picture).

It's a bit vain to speculate about the guns, though: The model depicts the Krischan II as in 1935, when she was unarmed, anyway!

That's about it - unfortunately, this ship was nothing spectacular nor did she have a particularily dramatic life. Therefore, there is only little information available.


Finally:
Michael Bauer's original construction report
another construction report

[wireandpaper]

Thank you Michi.
It seems that the two links are duplicated.
With all this info, now I have a better grasp of the use of this class of ships.
By the way the model includes the hull for when it was renamed Gunther Puschow at the service of the Luftwaffe.