Amazon Ad
Tuesday, November 30, 2004
I would be willing to run ship designs through my program
Sunday, November 28, 2004
Danger Spaces and Immune Zones
Saturday, November 27, 2004
B/H as a factor in propulsion
Friday, November 26, 2004
More about the Trento
The Italian Trento class works like it should
I find myself very gullible with respect to ship speeds
Wednesday, November 24, 2004
Some in the British navy were ready to adopt superfiring guns in 1905
Retrograde influences on British warship design from 1903 to 1927
Monday, November 22, 2004
Tony DeGiulian at NavWeaps had some suggestions for sources
Sunday, November 21, 2004
Fire Control Directors
Cruiser guns
Saturday, November 20, 2004
The Atlanta class cruisers (CL-51)
Motor ships
Friday, November 19, 2004
Battleship-Cruisers
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
The reality is that ship sizes were limited by a number of factors
Tuesday, November 16, 2004
The DreadnoughtProject.org website
A Question: how much should ship characteristics be constrained by date?
Monday, November 15, 2004
Japanese Cruisers: SHP/ton of machinery weight
- Tenryu 59,844 SHP 1042.9 tons 57.38 SHP/ton 1919
- Kuma 91,229 SHP 1588.1 tons 57.445 SHP/ton 1920
- Nagara 92,670 SHP 1630.3 tons 56.84 SHP/ton 1922
- Yubari 61,336 SHP 1056.5 tons 58.056 SHP/ton 1923
- Aoba 103,003 SHP 2173.7 tons 47.386 SHP/ton 1927
- Haguro 132,568 SHP 2689.5 tons 49.29 SHP/ton 1929
- Mogami 154,266 SHP 2477.3 tons 62.27 SHP/ton 1935
- Kumano 153,698 SHP 2358.1 tons 65.18 SHP/ton 1937
Sunday, November 14, 2004
Now, let's design the cruiser analog to the "moderate dimensions" battleship
The "Moderate Dimensions" trap
Lord Brassey, and many others got caught up by the "Moderate Dimensions" trap. The argument stems from the knowledge that in sailing naval warfare, you didn't build a fleet of 100 gun ships, you built a fleet with a few 100 gun ships and many 74 gun and 64 gun ships. Logically, they thought the same idea should hold true in navies of ships built of steel and powered by steam. The counter argument is that you will end up with small ships, simply by the passage of time, as your latest ships will dwarf those built 5 years earlier. The biggest ships are the best armed and best protected, and nothing else can stand up to them. So don't build small, more lightly armed ships, as they are a waste, and will be defeated.
I've fallen into the moderate dimensions trap, myself, in that I'm interested in a smaller battleship, built to 1921 standards, with 9-15in/45 guns and 16-5.5in/50 guns. The speed would be 24 or 25 knots with a 32,500 ton displacement. The ship would be suitable for convoy escort and operations in secondary theaters. They could still put up a credible fight against stronger ships, although they would be unable to fight the really big ships with 18in or larger guns.
Saturday, November 13, 2004
The obvious thing to do now would be to try and make a Capitani Romani-style ship
I'm working on a small cruiser design
Friday, November 12, 2004
The 5.1in/50 gun
Maximum penetration: 13.33 inches Elevation Range Belt Deck 1.9 deg 4100 yards 8 in 3.6 deg 6400 yards 6 in 7.1 deg 9800 yards 4 in 12.8 deg 13300 yards ... 1 in 18.6 deg 15600 yards 2 in 27.1 deg 17900 yards ... 2 in 47.7 deg 19300 yards ... 3 in Maximum range = 19500 yards at 42.5 deg elevation
The 7.5in/50 gun performance
There is a striking difference between the 7.5in/50 gun firing a light projectile at high velocity and a heavy projectile at a lower velocity. This is what the performance looks like for the 200 lbs AP Shot at 2948 ft/sec:
Elevation Range Belt Deck 1.3 deg 3500 yards 14 in 2.1 deg 5100 yards 12 in 3.2 deg 7100 yards 10 in 4.9 deg 9400 yards 8 in 6.6 deg 11300 yards ... 1 in 8.0 deg 12600 yards 6 in 14.5 deg 17200 yards 4 in 16.7 deg 18400 yards ... 2 in 25.9 deg 22100 yards ... 3 in 35.4 deg 24400 yards 2 in 36.6 deg 24600 yards ... 4 in Maximum range = 25200 yards at 44.5 deg elevation
This is the gun with a velocity of 2691 ft/sec and a shot weight of 240 lbs:
Elevation Range Belt Deck 1.1 deg 2500 yards 16 in 1.9 deg 4200 yards 14 in 3.0 deg 6200 yards 12 in 4.7 deg 8500 yards 10 in 6.0 deg 10100 yards ... 1 in 7.2 deg 11400 yards 8 in 11.6 deg 15200 yards 6 in 15.0 deg 17400 yards ... 2 in 21.2 deg 20700 yards 4 in 22.4 deg 21200 yards ... 3 in 30.7 deg 24000 yards ... 4 in 40.1 deg 25700 yards ... 5 in 48.1 deg 25800 yards 2 in Maximum range = 26000 yards at 44.7 deg elevationI find it pretty amazing how more potent the gun is with the heavier shot.
The 7.5in/50 gun
Thursday, November 11, 2004
A moderate-sized heavy cruiser design with 9-7.5in/50 guns
Wednesday, November 10, 2004
Details about the GB/CL/1921d type
A light cruiser for trade protection (1921-style)
Tuesday, November 09, 2004
The GB/CA/1921c1 armored cruiser design
My revised 9.2in gunned armored cruiser
Monday, November 08, 2004
This is too big a ship for the armament
A triple 9.2in/50 turret
A 1921 "armored cruiser"
Sunday, November 07, 2004
The slower heavy cruiser design
Saturday, November 06, 2004
A fast, 1921-style heavy cruiser
Friday, November 05, 2004
Tweaking the GB/CL/1921 Design
Thursday, November 04, 2004
My rationale for high-speed ships is for strategic mobility
Wednesday, November 03, 2004
Warship Speed in the early 20th Century
I have mixed feelings about the utility of speed in warships during the period from 1903 to 1945. For one thing, the period is not uniform. From the 1920's on, airpower had become a major factor. Prior to 1914, airpower was essentially a non-factor in operations.
During that time, the tactical value of speed was clear. The more speed, the greater the tactical advantage. After 1918, not all navies agreed on the importance of speed. In Britain, they were about ready to only build fast battleships (called battlecruisers, but heavily armored and gunned). In the U.S., the authorities dismissed the value of speed and were ready to build 32 knot cruisers rather than emulate the Japanese. The Japanese retained their mania for speed. The Nagara class were intended to be 36-knot ships. The original intent for the "10,000 ton cruisers" was for them to be 35-knot ships. They retained that desire right up until 1941. Having fast cruisers gave them ideal companions for fast aircraft carriers.
Monday, November 01, 2004
Specs for my 1921 super destroyer
Continuing my obsession with radical ship designs is my GB/DL/1921 super destroyer. The idea is that construction would have commenced in 1921.
- Year: 1921
- Length: 376.0 ft
- beam: 40.0 ft
- Hull depth: 26.0 ft
- Design displacement: 2840.0 tons
- Cp: 0.66
- Cm: 0.82
- Machinery Wt. Basis: 66.0 SHP/ton
- Hull Wt. Basis: 3.00 x 10^-3
- FreeboardForward: 25.0 ft
- FreeboardAmid: 13.0 ft
- FreeboardAft: 15.0 ft
- Designed SHP: 75000.0
- Designed Speed: 36.0 knots
- Board Margin: 50.0 tons
- Electrical Power KW: 300.0
- Main Batt Gun Type: 4.7in/50
- Main Batt guns: 5.0
- Main Batt Mount Type: shield
- Normal Fuel: 200 tons
- Extra Fuel for Deep Load: 250 tons