List of Battleships of the Burgundian Royal Navy (Principia Moderni IV Map Game)

While the Burgundian Royal Navy (Kinnigleche Marine) had been constructing ships it called “battleships” as early as the 1860s, such as the central battery ironclad SMS Somme or the turreted ironclad SMS Verwoester, this list only follows the steel-hull battleships authorized under and after the 1888 “New Navy Program”, intended to secure the Kinnigleche Marines position as the premier world naval power in the wake of the Commonwealth War.

Austrasien-class
Preliminary work on what would become the Austrasien-class began in 1886. At the time, the most powerful units in the Burgundian Navy were the Monarch-class ironclad battleships, with the similarly designed Skagerrak-class, and while they were considered fine designs, rising tensions between the Dominion of Borealia and British Arcadian states - and the resultant tensions between Burgundy and the United Kingdom - underlined the need for an improved warship. The breakout of the Commonwealth War later that year meant the new designs wouldn’t see action.

Nevertheless, the Battle of Sicily, and the subsequent Battle of Wilmington, proved highly influential to the Austrasiens. The poor seakeeping of the Monarchs resulted in the freeboard of the new battleships. This meant that the turrets that had been mounted on warships such as the Verwoester-, Medway-, and Skagerrak-class were impossible, as the top weight would’ve reduced their stability to dangerous levels, and they were instead mounted with open barbettes.

The Austrasien-class carried the same 14” K L/30 C/80 (often shortened to 14”/30 C/80), that was carried on the preceding ironclad battleships. This was due to delays experienced in the designing of the 11” guns that were planned to succeed it. The secondary armament, ten 6”/40 guns, was a marked improvement over the 4” and 4.5” batteries carried on the Monarchs and Skagerraks. Their armored citadel, a compound armor of mixed iron and steel, measured 18” on the sides and 14” on the fore and aft ends. The Austrasiens were powered by a pair of three-cylinder, vertical triple expansion steam engines, each driving one propeller shaft, allowing a top speed of 17 knots.

Austrasien was built at the Royal Shipyards (Kinnigleche Werft) in Hoorn under construction number 18. Namur and Herzog Philippe de Gutt were built at the AG Weyland shipyard in Dunkerque under the construction number 207 and 314. Köln was built by Carnegie Eisenwerken in Antwerp under the construction number 82. Kales was also built in Antwerp, though by Blohm & Wolff under the construction number 139. Metz andGraf Roosevelt were built the the Royal shipyard in Ostend under the construction numbers 89 and 284. Loutrengen was built at Frederik Krupp Belgicawerft in Amsterdam under the construction number 114.

Holland-class
Designed almost concurrently alongside the Austrasien-class, the Holland-class were initially conceived as short-range brawlers, they were revised as the full capabilities of the 11” K L/40 C/90 rifles became apparent. Able to pierce more armor at longer ranges than the 14”/30 guns on the Austrasiens, it was decided to lengthen the ships to allow a third turret to be mounted amidships, bringing as many heavy guns on enemy ships as possible. Although it was found that during firing, the central turret caused not inconsequential blast damage to the nearby superstructure, and the concept was abandoned after the ships were constructed.

The four ships, like the preceding Austrasiens, carried its guns in barbettes. However, the Hollands introduced the concept of enclosing the guns in an armored gun house, a construction that would come to be given the term “turret”, replacing the heavy housings that were originally called such.

Measuring 380 feet long, and with a beam of 64 feet, the four ships displaced on average 11,000 tons. They were armed with six 11” K L/40 C/90 rifles, mounted in three twin gun turrets. Two of these guns were emplaced in an amidship turret, a feature not previously utilized. Due to the necessity of creating an effective area of movement, the Hollands sacrificed some of its secondary armament to accommodate it. As such, it carried only eight 6”/40 guns to the Austrasiens ten. Its armored citadel measured 16 inches thick, thinning to 10 inches at the fore and aft ends. Powered by two sets of three-cylinder, vertical triple expansion steam engines, they were capable of a top speed of 17 knots.

Holland was built at the Royal Shipyards (Kinnigleche Werft) in Emden under the construction number 217. Herzog Jean de Furchtlos was built at Krupp Belgicawerft in Amsterdam as construction number 68. Jaymaika was built by Haussmann-Wilton-Fijenoord in Rotterdam under construction number 121. Ostfriesland was built by Carnegie Eisenwerken in Antwerp under construction number 99.

Vaud-class
In 1891, it was decided amongst the Burgundian Admiralty to expand the battleship fleet with ships based on the Austrasien type (the three-turret Holland type was rejected due to blast damage dealt to the superstructure by the midship turret). Returning to the two-gun, two-turret arrangement, initially only three were ordered, however the escalation of the naval arms race happening at the time cause an additional six to be authorized.

Four-hundred twenty-one feet long and 75 feet wide, the ships displaced on average about 16,000 tons, they were among the largest ships constructed in the nineteenth century. They carried the same 11”/40 C/90 guns mounted on the Holland, also within armored gun houses. Its secondary battery consisted of 12 6”/40 rifle, six per broadside, to ward off enemy light units. As they were the first Burgundian battleships to be built with Harvey armor, they were able to carry a thinner armor belt (9” compared to the previous average of 16”) while not having to sacrifice any level of protection. Powered by a pair of three-cylinder, vertical triple expansion steam engines, the Vauds were capable of 16 knots.

Most of the Vaud-class had their armament mounted in pear-shaped barbettes, with type-BII ammunition hoists. These allowed for all-around loading of the guns from the supply of ammunition within the turret, but they had to return to the centerline to load from the internal magazines. SMS Vaud and SMS Kleff, the last two ships to be laid down, held circular barbettes and type-BIII hoists, which rotated with the turret, allowing all-round loading of the guns even from the internal magazines.

Vaud, Tréier, and Rethel were built at the Royal Shipyards in Hoorn under the construction numbers 57, 101, and 143. Kinnig Wëllem de Gestreng was built at the Royal Shipyards in Ostend under the construction number 292. Kleff, Gülich, and Kamerijk were built at the Royal Shipyards in Emden under the construction numbers 77, 14, and 238. Kinnig Robert de Friddenstifter was built by AG Weyland in Dunkerque under construction number 81. Keesar Otto de Klug was built at Blohm & Wolff in Antwerp under construction number 307.