The evolution and gestation of American battleship designs occurred in noticeable stages. After a 25year absence in designing modern warships from the coastal
monitors of the American Civil War, the navy didn’t trust American designers to design a battleship equal to those of other navies, so USS Maine (originally rated as an
armored cruiser) and USS Texas were built to purchased British designs. Neither was equal to contemporary Royal Navy designs but after the long hiatus in warship
construction, US shipbuilding yards and facilities had to be further developed to build totally modern designs. When it came to producing modern US designed
battleships, another obstacle was Congress and the great distrust the legislative body had in large battleships. Congress considered a large navy and especially large
battleships the tools of colonialism. Accordingly the first classes of US designed battleships were intentionally designed for coastal operations and coastal defense
missions.

This led to the second stage of American battleship construction, the low freeboard coastal battleships. The Indiana class was heavily armed and armored but the low
freeboard limited their use in the open ocean, in spite of USS Oregon’s world cruise. The following single ship Iowa class raised the freeboard somewhat but not
enough for true Blue Water operations. The two ship Keasarge class kept a low freeboard but introduced its own innovation. To save weight and still keep a four gun
broadside for the secondary guns, the two gun 8-inch positions were sited on top of the two main gun turrets that had to be trained with the main guns, as they were
incapable of independently training in a different direction from the main guns. The following Illinois class was still limited by the Congressional mandate “seagoing
coastline battleships” the USN design committee contemplated that not design feature of this class would seriously impair good seagoing and sea-enduring qualities. Still
the three ships of the Illinois had the same length and beam as the Keasarges. The eight-inch gun secondary, a feature of all USN designed battleships up to the Illinois
class was deleted in favor of a battery of a casemate mounted uniform battery of 6-inch guns. All of these classes were designed to have a maximum 12 to 24 hour full
speed of 14 to 15-knots. All of these classes were designed and laid down before an event, which would forever change the capital ship design emphasis for the USN.
The Spanish-American War forever changed the world role of the USA and the USN warship designs. The short war with spectacular naval victories at Manila Bay
and Santiago, left the USA with colonies acquired in the peace treaty with Spain. It didn’t matter that in both battles USN forces were far superior than their Spanish
opponents, from hence forth designs were no longer legislatively limited to coastal battleships. It didn’t matter that prior to the war Congress opposed blue water
battleship designs in that they were tools of colonial empires, once the United States became the Imperial Republic with colonies in the Pacific Ocean, she needed
warships capable of working in any ocean. This led to the third evolution of the American battleship. All classes of predreadnought battleships after the Illinois class
would have sufficient freeboard for worldwide operations.

The three ship Maine class of 1898 was the first beneficiary of this change in outlook and policy. Originally this class was to be a repeat of the Illinois class but
requirements were rewritten to provide a better deep water capability. The first thing changed was the maximum speed, as the Maine class were required to be
capable of 18-knots, the same as the best battleships as other navies. Krupp armor was adopted, which provided the same resistance but with lesser weight than the
previous designs and the ships went back to a 12-inch main gun battery instead of the 13-inch guns carried from Kearsarge through the Illinois classes. Hull length
was increased by 30-feet from the preceding Illinois class. All of this allowed for a far roomier and ocean capable design with higher freeboard, a more powerful
power plant and greater range thanks to increased coal bunkerage. The secondary battery increased to sixteen 6-inch/50 guns mounted in casemate positions, as in
the Illinois class.
The next design incorporated combat lessons from the Spanish-American War. In 1899 Congress happily passed an appropriations bill for three new battleships (BB-
13 through BB-15) fiscal 1900 plan. In 1900 Congress passed another appropriation for two more battleships (BB-16 & BB-17) fiscal 1901 plan. All five were to be
at a trial displacement of 13,500-tons and of “the highest practical speed and great radius of action”, in very marked contrast to prewar appropriation bills. At the
Battle of Santiago only one shell from the main guns of the engaged American battleships had struck a Spanish ship. In marked contrast the 8-inch gun secondary
batteries had been very effective. As a consequence of this lesson, the next design would see the return of the 8-inch secondary gun battery. This was the central
design characteristic upon which the design revolved. The design board met to consider the requirement but opinion was divided into two camps.

When the three ships of the 1900 fiscal year were approved, the board considered various combinations of secondary arrangement. Some designs incorporated the
newly produced 7-inch gun casemates, four 8-inch guns in a second story of the two main gun turrets, as in Keasarge, four twin 8-inch gun turrets arranged as in
Indiana and Iowa, and four 8-inch gun turrets, two atop the main gun turrets and two in waist positions with a 6-inch casemate battery. Vote after vote was taken
and no consensus could be reached. By May 1900 Congress had approved the fiscal 1901 battleships and it was proposed that the 1900 year ships be built with
eight separate turrets and 1901 year ships be built with superimposed turrets with no waist turrets. The chief constructor, Rear Admiral Phillip Hichborn, insisted
that all five be built to a common design. At the time, in spite that the Kearsarge and Kentucky had been completed most were in favor of the two-story turrets,
oblivious to the facts that they were very restricted to being trained on the same targets as the main guns and difficulty in correcting fire because the shell splashes
of the 12-inch shells and 8-inch shells were difficult to distinguish from one another at combat range. On January 24, 1901 the chief of the Bureau of Ordnance
advocated the two superimposed turrets but two, rather than four twin gun waist turrets. Ten of the twelve members agreed and only Chief Constructor, Rear
Admiral Hichborn, objected to the superimposed turrets. The matter was settled when the Secretary of the Navy approved the majority opinion. Interestingly, within
a few years all of the members who wanted superimposed turrets were violently opposed to them when their restrictions became manifest.
Originally the three ships of the fiscal 1900 were to be New Jersey (BB-13) to be built by Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News, VA, Nebraska (BB-14) to
be built by Moran Brothers, Seattle, WA and Georgia (BB-15) to be built by Bath Iron Works, Bath, ME, while the two ships of the fiscal 1901 plan were to be
Virginia (BB-16) to be built by Fore River Ship and Engine, Quincy, MA and Rhode Island (BB-17) to be built by Fore River Ship and Engine, Quincy, MA.
Instead, Virginia and New Jersey swapped names so that USS Virginia would be built in the State of Virginia. All dimensions and displacement leaped above those
of the Maine class. Waterline length was 435-feet compared to 388-feet in Maine, beam 76-feet 2.5-inches compared to 72-feet 2.5-inches and normal
displacement of 14,948-tons compared to 12,508-tons. Indicated Horsepower (IHP) of the Virginias was 22,841ihp vs 15,841ihp in the Maines with a maximum
speed of 17-knots for 12 to 24 hours vs the 16-knots of the Maine class. The Virginia class had an armament fit of four 12-inch/40 Mk III (2x2), eight 4x2 eight-
inch/45 Mk VI, twelve 6-inch/50 12x1 Mk VII guns and four 21-inch submerged torpedo tubes (added as an initial alteration). The armor arrangement was turret
face 12-inches for main guns and superimposed turrets and 6.5-inches for waist secondary turrets. Barbette armor was 10 to 7.5 inches for main gun turrets and 6-
inches for the waist turrets. Belt armor was 11 to 8-inches and casemate armor 6-inches. The armor design of belt and casemate armor caused a problem with
replenishing coal. There were no openings in the casemate armor allowing coal replenishment on the main deck. Instead coal sacks had to be raised to the 01 deck
and poured through scuttles at that higher level, through temporary canvas chutes to the bunkers. Accordingly coal replenishment was more arduous and time
consuming than in previous design. The conning tower had 9-inch armor and the armor deck was 3 to 1.5-inches with 3-inches on the slope to the hull sides.
Another war lesson incorporated into the design was the reduction of combustible wood to the highest degree possible.

When it came time for the next battleship design, Congress was experiencing a degree of buyer’s remorse. There was a faction that believed too much money was
being spent on battleships and armored cruisers. Each design had been larger and more expensive than the last. The frugal faction wanted the Navy to go back to
battleships of the size of Oregon and armored cruisers the size of Brooklyn. Rear Admiral Alfred Mahan preached that it was far better to have more battleships of
a standard type, rather than fewer larger battleships. He preached that battleships fought along with other battleships in a squadron and fleet and that it was all
important that they have similar specifications. Further he believed than more battleships of the same specifications was better than fewer superior battleships. The
frugal faction seized upon Mahan to back up their position. On March 3, 1901 it came time for the new Naval Appropriations Act but Congress did not approve any
battleships or armored cruisers. Instead, they stipulated that the Navy submit their plans the following December, along with the answers to many Congressional
questions. Meanwhile the Navy had reached agreement on the general characteristics of the new design but were stalled over the secondary armament. One Bureau
wanted to mount twenty of a new 7-inch/45 gun and another Bureau wanted sixteen 8-inch/45. Another group wanted twelve 8-inch mounted similarly to the
Virginia Class but with an additional twin gun turret on each side and twelve 6-inch guns placed in hull casemates. The final design mounted four 12-inch in
centerline turrets, eight 8-inch in four twin turrets with two turrets on each side, twelve 7-inch in hull casemates and twenty 3-inch/50 guns with six in hull
casemates, six in 01 level casemates and the rest in the superstructure in open mounts.
Congress approved construction for two ships of the new design but by December 1901 there was a new President, Theodore Roosevelt. Teddy was not satisfied
with only two new ships. Actual appropriations for the new ships was on July 1, 1902 with a 16,000-tons displacement, up 2,500-tons from the Virginia design.
Another stipulation was that one of the ships had to be built in a Federal Yard, rather than private firm. Previous battleships (excluding Texas and the first Maine)
had been built by private firms and Congress wanted to see if a government yard could be as efficient and perhaps cheaper at building a battleship. This was the
birth of the Connecticut Class, the largest and best predreadnought class of battleship for the USN. Connecticut BB-18 was ordered from the New York Naval
Yard and Louisiana (BB-19) was ordered from Newport News Shipbuilding.  Displacement was 16,000-tons normal with 17,666-tons full load. They were 456-
feet 4-inches (139.09m) oa in length, beam 76-feet 10-inches (23.42m), and a draft of 24-feet 6-inches (7.47m). The power plant comprised twelve Babcock &
Wilcox boilers supplying steam to two vertical triple expansion engines, developing 16,500 ihp and turning the two shafts for a maximum speed of 18-knots. The
armor of Harvey process steel had a main belt of 11-inch with an upper belt and end bulkheads of 6-inches, tapering to 7-inch and 4-inch respectively at the last
49-feet fore and aft ends. The main belt ran 5-feet below and 4-feet 3-inches above waterline a length of 192-feet. Turrets had 12 (face)to 8-inches (sides and
rear) of armor (2.5-inches on the crowns) with secondary 8-inch gun turrets and 7-inch gun casemates 7-inch to 3.75-inches of armor. The conning tower had 9-
inch armor. The armored deck had 3-inches on the ends and sloping sides and 1.5-inches on the flat crown. In addition to the 12-inch/45, 8-inch/45, 7-inch/45
and 3-inch/50, the pair were equipped with twelve 3-pdr and four 1-pdr rapid firing light guns (Connecticut had only two 1-pdr). The ships proved good sea
boats, although the hull casemate guns were wet and the bow 3-inch guns almost unusable because the ram bow tended to throw up huge spray at any speed.

There was growing resistance in Congress to the ever increasing size of battleships. Just as there was a debate in the Royal Navy between fewer but larger
battleships versus smaller but more battleships, the USN and Congress went through the same debate, For the 1902 program, the navy did not advance any
particular program, allowing the cut back on the Navy crowd in Congress to not vote on any new construction, Finally, the Navy said they wanted three more of
the Connecticut battleships and another large armored cruiser of 14,500-tons. The House of Representatives passed a bill in accordance with Navy wishes. In the
Senate opposition was especially strong. The Senate passed a bill, which authorized three battleships similar to the coastal battleship Oregon and one armored
cruiser similar to Brooklyn. This would have been a massive retrograde move. A Conference Committee met to reconcile the two bills. The final result authorized
three more Connecticuts, dropped the armored cruiser, and added two smaller battleships of 13,000-tons, which became the Mississippi BB-23 and Idaho BB-24.
The Mississippi Class were basically shorter versions of the Connecticut Class and were the last predrednought designs of the USN, however they were not the
last predreadnought battleship to be laid down, as the next year’s appropriations included the last Connecticut. The three more of the class, Vermont BB-20,
Kansas BB-21 and Minnesota BB-22 and the two Mississippis were authorized on March 3, 1903, while the sixth and last of the Connecticut Class, New
Hampshire (BB-25) was authorized on April 27, 1904, to become the last USN predreadnought.
On May 1, 1905 the New York Shipbuilding Company in Camden, New Jersey laid down the New Hampshire. She was launched June 30, 1906 and commissioned on
March 19, 1908. The New Hampshire was slightly different from her sisters. All doors in the armored transverse bulkheads below the armored deck were eliminated,
additional armor was placed over the magazines, the magazines were arranged to provide 20% greater ammunition storage, barbette armor was increased to 11-inches
and she was built with torpedo tubes, instead of having them installed later. From the start the New Hampshire could be distinguished by her funnels, which had
prominent aprons on them halfway down the funnels, not found on the others.  Her first mission was one of the many she would have in the Caribbean. On June 20,
1908 she transported the Marine Expeditionary Regiment to Colon, Panama, which was reached on June 26. The New Hampshire made her first foreign visit in July at
the Tercentenary Celebration of Quebec, Canada. A short refit was conducted at the New York Navy Yard from October, 15, 1908 to January 31, 1909. From there she
steamed to join the Atlantic Fleet off of Cuba. Although New Hampshire was not in the Great White Fleet, she was present when Teddy Roosevelt reviewed the Great
White Fleet upon its return from its world cruise on February 22, 1909 at Hampton Roads.  She went back to Cuba to serve with the Special Services Squadron from
May 12 to July 6, 1909 and in the fall attended the Hudson-Fulton Celebration at New York City from September 22 to October 5, 1909. She didn’t leave New York until
January 7, 1910 when she returned to the Atlantic Fleet operating out of Guantanamo Bay. In 1910 both of the military masts were replaced by cage masts at the
Portsmouth Navy Yard. The control tops on the cage masts varied among the members of the class. New Hampshire had a large square control top on the foremast and
a circular top on the main mast. The hull casemate 3-inch gun positions were removed. On November 1, 1910, as part of the Second Battleship Division, she left
Hampton Roads bound for Cherbourg, France and Weymouth, England. She left Weymouth on December 30, 1910 bound again for Guantanamo Bay, the winter
training site for the Atlantic Fleet. In the spring of 1911 the New Hampshire with the Second Battleship Division went to the Baltic with stops at Copenhagen, Denmark;
Stockholm, Sweden; Kronstadt, Russia; and Kiel, Germany. The summer was spent in Fleet operations off the New England coast. The next refit was at the Norfolk
Navy Yard from December 23, 1911 to March 24, 1912.

From April 23 to May 2, 1912 Hew Hampshire attended the 100th anniversary celebration of the admission of Louisiana into the Union, held at New Orleans. That
summer she hosted her first midshipman cruise from Annapolis. In December 1912 she represented US interests off Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Another refit
was had at Norfolk from January 1 to April 5, 1913. A second midshipman cruise started in June but was cut short when New Hampshire was dispatched to Vera Cruz,
Mexico because on troubles there. This mission ran from June 14 to December 23, 1913. However, New Hampshire was back at Vera Cruz from April 15 to June 21,
1914 to support the US occupation of the city. She then returned to Norfolk for another refit from June 27 to October 4, 1914. She repeated the training cycles of
operations off New England in the summer and operating out of Guantanamo Bay in the winter. For a little over a month she was again at Veracruz before returning to
Norfolk on September 30, 1915. Another overhaul occurred from October 25, 1915 to April 11, 1916. New Hampshire was placed in reserve at the Philadelphia Navy
Yard on September 30, 1916. She was not there for long because on December 2, she left for the Dominican Republic again because of more difficulties there. This time
the commanding officer of New Hampshire took over the offices of the Dominican Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Justice of Education because the
incumbents had fled in the fighting. She remained at Santo Domingo for two months during which she landed a force of sailors at San Pedro de Macaris to relieve
Marines on police duty for three days. Another overhaul at Norfolk started on March 23, 1917 and New Hampshire was still there when war was declared against
Germany. In May 1917 twelve of the 3-inch/50 surface action guns were removed. Her first mission in the war was as gunnery and engineering training ship. On
September 15, 1917 she was part of the escort for a troop convoy to France. In March 1918 six of the 7_inch guns were landed, as well as four more 3-inch/50 surface
action guns.  She performed escort duty for the rest of the war and on November 11, 1918 was steaming home when the war ended. On December 24, 1918 she
started the first of her four round trips to Brest, France returning troops from Europe. When her last trip ended on June 22, 1919, New Hampshire had transport 8,542
soldiers. New Hampshire was inactive in the Philadelphia Navy Yard from June 24, 1919 until May 19, 1920 but she was then recalled to duty for a last hurrah. Her last
summer midshipman cruise took her from Annapolis to Honolulu, Hawaii to cruise in the Pacific. She was back at Philadelphia on September 11 but had two more
missions in store. From October 11, 1920 until January 12, 1921 New Hampshire was flagship for Rear Admiral Harry Knapp, senior naval officer off of Haiti. On
January 17, 1921 she was back at Norfolk and on January 25 left, carrying the body of the Swedish Foreign Minister to Stockholm, which was reached on February 14.
This was her last mission and she returned to Philadelphia on March 24, 1921. New Hampshire was still there when on May 21, 1921 the New Hampshire was
decommissioned. With the Washington Treaty, the ship was to be scrapped. She was sold for scrap on November 1, 1923, which was accomplished by February 20,
1925.
Combrig 1:700 Scale USS New Hampshire – Many things can motivate a modeler to build a specific ship, especially one that is off the beaten path. For me the
Combrig New Hampshire had two strong attractions. For one, it was the fact that the New Hampshire was a member of the most powerful class of USN
predreadnought battleships and in fact she was the last predreadnought laid down for the USN. Secondly, was the fact that I had a remote connection to the New
Hampshire. Years ago I was collecting the various editions of Brassey’s Naval Annual, which was the first popular naval resource, first published in an annual format
in 1886, long before Jane’s Fighting Ships appeared. Having purchased The Naval Annual 1915, I was happily surprised when I opened the book to the inside cover.
There was a label that clearly named the first owner of this volume. It was the United States Navy. The label proudly stated that this volume was not to be removed
from the USS New Hampshire. I had lucked into the volume carried in the library of the battleship during World War One and perhaps up to when she was stricken. I
was therefore delighted when Combrig released a model of the kit. Of course, the Combrig New Hampshire portrays her fit as completed, not in her World War One
fit with cage masts. On one of my trips to Freetime Hobbies, that glorious bastion of modeling and the sole US importer of Combrig kits, I spotted the Combrig New
Hampshire and quickly snapped it up. The Combrig kit is cast in crisp, hard gray resin. The crisp resin can be susceptible to shipment damage and my copy did have
a small portion of the forecastle bulkhead broken. When I get a kit with this type of shipment damage my usual remedy is to replace the damaged portion with resin cut
from the resin casting sheet. You can of course use a commercial plastic strip but the resin is thinner and easier to work into the correct shape. Other than this the
model was free from damage or casting voids.

For a kit of a predreadnought battleship, the hull of the model is rather large. The hull sides and deck is packed with detail. The hull side detail starts with the bow with
two angled horse shoe anchor hawse fittings on each side. Behind the anchor hawse at deck edge are anchor washboards, that were used as anchor beds in an era
before stockless anchors. The washboards have small platforms that jut outboard from the hull. Two rows of portholes are on the hull sides of the forecastle. Other
treats are casemate sponsons for the 3-inch tertiary guns that also jut outboard from the sides and have gun shutter detail and barrel locater holes. Lastly there is the
start of a line of exhaust scuttles that start at the bow and end at the stern. The long amidships portion of the hull has the six casemates for 7-inch guns on each side.
These are curved casemate shields inside crisply cut insets. They do not have locater holes for the gun barrels, which means you will need to drill a locater hole for
each barrel. This will take some moderate degree of work since Combrig resin is so hard. Above these casemates on the 01 level are three 3-inch tertiary gun
positions, represented by closed gun shutters with barrel locater holes. Flanking these positions are barbettes for the 8-inch gun turrets, which slightly overhang the hull
sides. The armored belt is sharply delineated. The rear hull picks up on the two rows of portholes but has two 3-inch tertiary casemates on each side.
There is even more deck detail. The deck planking detail is finely done but lacks butt end detail. On the forecastle, there are four deck anchor hawse openings with
raised horse collar fittings and smooth anchor chain run plates. A very thin bulkhead rises on either side of the cutwater. Just in front of the main gun barbette is a
feature common with USN predreadnoughts. This is a raised structure for the chain locker. In front of that are three coamings on center line with two windlasses
outboard. A series of twin bollard fittings and open chocks run along each side at deck edge. Four open deck access fittings are present with inclined ladder treads
going down inside the hull. There are quite a number of locater holes for various deck fittings. As the forecastle deck ends with the 01 level superstructure there are
closed deck access fittings with skylight window details. Also, there is a locker on each side of the superstructure. The finely done coal scuttles start on the forecastle.
These coal scuttles are also found in the circular cut out decks for the secondary gun turrets and throughout the amidships 01 deck. The 01 deck is dominated by the
base structures for the three funnels. Four more of the open deck access fittings are found on the 01 level. A small deckhouse on a raised base with closed door
hatches with porthole detail are on each side of this base is found between the first and second funnels. A skylight fitting is found between the second and third funnels.
There are six outlines for separate parts for the superstructure. At the forward end is the position for the conning tower base, outboard are locater plates for deck
winches and boat cranes and aft is the position for the aft superstructure. Between this position and the third funnel are four skylights arranged in an asymmetrical
pattern. Finally the 01 deck has locater holes for J-cowl ventilators and other fittings. The quarterdeck has detail similar to the forecastle with two open deck access
fittings, a series of skylights on centerline, winch base plates, the last of the coal scuttles, bollards, open chocks, and coamings.

As usual with Combrig, the smaller resin parts are cast in three formats, larger pieces separately on a casting plug, thin parts on a sheet and smaller parts on runners.
There are ten parts cast separately, the six turrets, three funnels and aft superstructure base. The main gun turrets have deep openings for the barrels and a host of
features on the crowns. This detail includes three cupolas on the forward edge of the crown, two large ventilation doors halfway back and a turret access hatch at the
rear of the crown. The four 8-inch gun turrets are basically smaller versions of the 12-inch gun turrets with the same crown details. The three funnels are identical with
prominent aprons halfway down the funnels (found only on New Hampshire) and at their bases. The top of the funnels have sufficient depth to portray that they are
hollow. The base for the aft superstructure is a deckhouse with square window detail on each side and circular locater circle for the mainmast on the top. Fourteen
parts are found on the thin wafer of resin, although two of the parts (bridges) are used on a sistership of New Hampshire and not the New Hampshire. There are three
large bridge/navigation decks with wooden plank detail. One is the main bridge level forward and the navigation deck above that and an aft bridge deck. As usual for
Combrig, deck edge railing is shown as a solid bulkhead to represent canvas covered dodgers on railing. I’m tempted to remove these bulkheads and replace them with
photo-etch railing, which is an easy substitution. The main bridge deck has two open rectangles (once the resin film is removed) for inclined ladders and a conning
tower with vision slits. The upper navigation deck has an opening for the fore military mast and locater holes for searchlights. The aft bridge deck has a small
deckhouse with square window detail, mainmast opening, a raised observation platform and two ventilator holes. The base for the forward bridge and fore mast is on
the sheet. The forward superstructure also has a large chart house with square windows that fits on the bridge and navigation position overhead are also on the sheet.
Smaller parts include five mast platforms, three for the fore mast and two for the mainmast. There is one more part whose location I could not find. It appears like a
kidney shaped searchlight platform but I couldn’t find the attachment location in the instructions. It may be used  on a sistership in lieu of one of the mast platforms as
the part has a cutout designed to fit on one of the masts.
There are 22 resin runners in the kit. One runner has the two military masts. The part for the mainmast is significantly longer than the fore mast and is two widths. The
two boat cranes are on a runner. They have good detail with pulleys, detailed head and relief exterior beams. The very detailed crane bases are on another runner shared
with a deckhouse and aft conning tower. The gun barrels occupy three runners. One has the 12-inch and 8-inch barrels, one has the 7-inch barrels and the last one has
the 3-inch barrels. A fourth runner has open 3-inch guns on pedestals with the block as well as the barrel. Ten ventilators with J shape cowls are on a runner. Theses
are in two sizes. Eight very detailed deck winches are on a runner. Eight binocular mounts are on a runner. If you don’t like brass boat chocks, there is a runner with
nothing but resin boat chocks. A long runner has a mixture of subjects. Included are boat davits, two different types of small ventilator cowls, anchors, binnacle, speed
annunciator, and others. Two more anchors are on a runner. The ship’s boats are on ten runners. Two have steam powered launches with cabins and funnels. The
others have a variety of open boats from whaler to dinghy in size.

A medium size brass photo-etch fret is included with multiple parts. Many of these are the support arms for the different superstructure platforms/decks. They come in
three different patterns. Along the same lines are numerous support gusts for mast platforms and other structures. Don’t confuse the funnel grates with the mounts for
some open 3-inch guns. There are three funnel grates and ten 7 legged gun mounts on the fret. Other parts for the open 3-inch guns are shields, shoulder brace, base
plates, and pivots. One of the most important items is the open window bridge face. Two flying boat decks are included. The cranes get block and tackle and bow
anchor cranes/davits are in the mix. Other parts include the ship’s wheel; anchor chain; boat chocks; and inclined ladders. No railing is included in the fret. So you will
need to get 3rd party railing.

The sheets of instructions are included, of which two are back printed. As usual page one features a scale profile and plan with rigging shown on the profile. These
drawings are very helpful in attaching the various parts on the model. The history is in Russian but the specifications are in English. Page two shows all of the resin
parts. Page three has a brass photo-etch laydown, five subassembly modules and a template for cutting masts, yards and other parts not included in the kit. The
subassembly modules show assembly of the main gun turrets, 8-inch gun turrets, boat cranes, bow anchor davit/crane and open mount 3-inch guns. Page four starts
hull assembly with boat, boat gear and cranes attachment. Page five concludes with everything else. There is a lot going on here, so take your time so you won’t miss
anything.
Send the Granite State to sea! The Combrig 1:700 scale USS New Hampshire BB-25 is a lovely kit of the last USN predreadnought battleship. She is different from her
sisters of the Connecticut Class to give you variety in your fleet. The kit has very fine resin parts, a good brass photo-etch fret but no photo-etch railing.
Steve Backer
______________________