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Sunday, July 10, 2005

A German 1912 battleship design study

I believe this to be a German battleship design study, not British. My friend Cliff ultimately decided to build battleships with 9-15in guns in 1912, and I decided to build battlecruisers instead of battleships. Cliff had gone so far ahead of what I had been thinking of doing, that I had radically reshape my plans. This design study was what I had originally been considering building. The battleship would have had 9-12in/50 and 8-6in/50 QF guns. The armour basis was 13in. I have assumed that it would be a wide slab, and "all-or-nothing". The speed was 25 knots. They would have been good ships, although they would have been underarmed. This is the Springsharp report:
Ger/BB/1912, Germany Battleship laid down 1912

Displacement:
 26,324 t light; 26,904 t standard; 29,000 t normal; 30,677 t full load

Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught
 650.00 ft / 650.00 ft x 100.00 ft x 28.70 ft (normal load)
 198.12 m / 198.12 m x 30.48 m  x 8.75 m

Armament:
      9 - 12.00" / 305 mm guns (3x3 guns), 864.00lbs / 391.90kg shells, 1912 Model
   Breech loading guns in turrets (on barbettes)
   on centreline ends, majority forward, 1 raised mount - superfiring
      8 - 6.00" / 152 mm guns in single mounts, 108.00lbs / 48.99kg shells, 1912 Model
   Quick firing guns in deck mounts with hoists
   on side, evenly spread
 Weight of broadside 8,640 lbs / 3,919 kg
 Shells per gun, main battery: 0

Armour:
   - Belts:  Width (max) Length (avg)  Height (avg)
 Main: 13.0" / 330 mm 425.00 ft / 129.54 m 17.00 ft / 5.18 m
 Ends: Unarmoured
   Main Belt covers 101 % of normal length

   - Torpedo Bulkhead:
  2.00" / 51 mm 425.00 ft / 129.54 m 27.00 ft / 8.23 m

   - Gun armour: Face (max) Other gunhouse (avg) Barbette/hoist (max)
 Main: 13.0" / 330 mm 9.00" / 229 mm  13.0" / 330 mm
 2nd: 2.00" / 51 mm       -         -

   - Armour deck: 4.00" / 102 mm, Conning tower: 13.00" / 330 mm

Machinery:
 Oil fired boilers, steam turbines, 
 Direct drive, 4 shafts, 63,604 shp / 47,448 Kw = 25.00 kts
 Range 5,600nm at 15.00 kts
 Bunker at max displacement = 3,774 tons

Complement:
 1,110 - 1,444

Cost:
 £2.184 million / $8.734 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
 Armament: 1,080 tons, 3.7 %
 Armour: 11,150 tons, 38.4 %
    - Belts: 4,081 tons, 14.1 %
    - Torpedo bulkhead: 849 tons, 2.9 %
    - Armament: 2,618 tons, 9.0 %
    - Armour Deck: 3,338 tons, 11.5 %
    - Conning Tower: 264 tons, 0.9 %
 Machinery: 2,536 tons, 8.7 %
 Hull, fittings & equipment: 11,557 tons, 39.9 %
 Fuel, ammunition & stores: 2,676 tons, 9.2 %
 Miscellaneous weights: 0 tons, 0.0 %

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
 Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
   60,694 lbs / 27,531 Kg = 70.2 x 12.0 " / 305 mm shells or 11.0 torpedoes
 Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.08
 Metacentric height 5.8 ft / 1.8 m
 Roll period: 17.4 seconds
 Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 91 %
   - Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.69
 Seaboat quality  (Average = 1.00): 1.82

Hull form characteristics:
 Hull has rise forward of midbreak
 Block coefficient: 0.544
 Length to Beam Ratio: 6.50 : 1
 'Natural speed' for length: 25.50 kts
 Power going to wave formation at top speed: 48 %
 Trim (Max stability = 0, Max steadiness = 100): 50
 Bow angle (Positive = bow angles forward): -1.00 degrees
 Stern overhang: -1.00 ft / -0.30 m
 Freeboard (% = measuring location as a percentage of overall length):
    - Stem:  32.00 ft / 9.75 m
    - Forecastle (20 %): 30.00 ft / 9.14 m
    - Mid (67 %):  30.00 ft / 9.14 m (22.00 ft / 6.71 m aft of break)
    - Quarterdeck (15 %): 22.00 ft / 6.71 m
    - Stern:  22.00 ft / 6.71 m
    - Average freeboard: 27.52 ft / 8.39 m

Ship space, strength and comments:
 Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 69.2 %
  - Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 215.1 %
 Waterplane Area: 45,112 Square feet or 4,191 Square metres
 Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 117 %
 Structure weight / hull surface area: 175 lbs/sq ft or 854 Kg/sq metre
 Hull strength (Relative):
  - Cross-sectional: 0.92
  - Longitudinal: 2.09
  - Overall: 1.00
 Hull space for machinery, storage, compartmentation is excellent
 Room for accommodation and workspaces is excellent
 Ship has slow, easy roll, a good, steady gun platform
 Excellent seaboat, comfortable, can fire her guns in the heaviest weather

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