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Monday, April 18, 2005

The Ger/CB/1911 and Ger/CB/1912 ships were part of a pattern

When I designed the Ger/CB/1911 and Ger/CB/1912 battlecruisers in 1971, I was heavily influenced by the combination of the Richelieu, the Nelson and Rodney, and the Hood. The Hood influence was manifested by inclined side armor. The Richelieu influence was manifested in having all the main battery guns forward. The Nelson and Rodney influence was more subtle, and was more a matter of taking radical steps to reduce the length of the armor belt. I was also very into the idea of having tapered armor belts. The average thickness might be 6 inches, but the thickness would start at 4 inches at the top of the belt and increase to 8 inches below the waterline. My design standards used 8ft heights between decks, so the waterline would often split a deck. There was also an emphasis on deck armor over horizontal armor, as the ships were intended to fight a long range, generally. They also had an extension to the armor belt for the anti-torpedo bulkhead. I did not uniformly use inclined armor, as the distance from the side to the anti-torpedo bulkhead was generally insufficient. A more conventional sandwich of compartments with a anti-torpedo bulkhead set in over 20ft from the side was a better solution to underwater protection.

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