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Thursday, November 24, 2005

A battleship-cruiser in the spirit of my alternate series

This design is somewhat reminiscent of actual plans for a fast battleship shortly after the dreadnought was built. I wanted 25.5 knots and 8-12in guns. The belt is 10in, which is better than most battlecruisers built by the British. The design is much more potent than the sad little Invincibles with a 6in belt. The deck armour is light, but that does not seem to have had too much affect on the survivability in Springsharp. This is the Springsharp report:
GB/BB/1906, Great Britain Battleship laid down 1906

Displacement:
 19,732 t light; 20,502 t standard; 21,700 t normal; 22,658 t full load

Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught
 575.00 ft / 575.00 ft x 80.00 ft x 27.00 ft (normal load)
 175.26 m / 175.26 m x 24.38 m  x 8.23 m

Armament:
      8 - 12.00" / 305 mm guns (4x2 guns), 864.00lbs / 391.90kg shells, 1906 Model
   Breech loading guns in turrets (on barbettes)
   on centreline ends, evenly spread, 1 raised mount aft - superfiring
      16 - 4.00" / 102 mm guns in single mounts, 32.00lbs / 14.51kg shells, 1906 Model
   Quick firing guns in casemate mounts 
   on side, evenly spread, 8 raised mounts
 Weight of broadside 7,424 lbs / 3,367 kg
 Shells per gun, main battery: 80
 4 - 18.0" / 457.2 mm submerged torpedo tubes

Armour:
   - Belts:  Width (max) Length (avg)  Height (avg)
 Main: 10.0" / 254 mm 490.00 ft / 149.35 m 16.00 ft / 4.88 m
 Ends: 5.00" / 127 mm   85.00 ft / 25.91 m 16.00 ft / 4.88 m
   Main Belt covers 131 % of normal length

   - Torpedo Bulkhead:
  1.50" / 38 mm 490.00 ft / 149.35 m 26.00 ft / 7.92 m

   - Gun armour: Face (max) Other gunhouse (avg) Barbette/hoist (max)
 Main: 10.0" / 254 mm 7.00" / 178 mm  10.0" / 254 mm
 2nd: 4.00" / 102 mm 4.00" / 102 mm  4.00" / 102 mm

   - Armour deck: 2.00" / 51 mm, Conning tower: 10.00" / 254 mm

Machinery:
 Oil fired boilers, steam turbines, 
 Direct drive, 4 shafts, 60,658 shp / 45,251 Kw = 25.50 kts
 Range 4,500nm at 12.00 kts
 Bunker at max displacement = 2,156 tons

Complement:
 893 - 1,162

Cost:
 £2.022 million / $8.086 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
 Armament: 928 tons, 4.3 %
 Armour: 7,372 tons, 34.0 %
    - Belts: 3,459 tons, 15.9 %
    - Torpedo bulkhead: 707 tons, 3.3 %
    - Armament: 1,780 tons, 8.2 %
    - Armour Deck: 1,258 tons, 5.8 %
    - Conning Tower: 168 tons, 0.8 %
 Machinery: 3,939 tons, 18.2 %
 Hull, fittings & equipment: 7,493 tons, 34.5 %
 Fuel, ammunition & stores: 1,968 tons, 9.1 %
 Miscellaneous weights: 0 tons, 0.0 %

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
 Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
   23,588 lbs / 10,699 Kg = 27.3 x 12.0 " / 305 mm shells or 3.3 torpedoes
 Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.12
 Metacentric height 4.4 ft / 1.3 m
 Roll period: 16.0 seconds
 Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 58 %
   - Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.67
 Seaboat quality  (Average = 1.00): 1.15

Hull form characteristics:
 Hull has rise forward of midbreak
 Block coefficient: 0.612
 Length to Beam Ratio: 7.19 : 1
 'Natural speed' for length: 23.98 kts
 Power going to wave formation at top speed: 53 %
 Trim (Max stability = 0, Max steadiness = 100): 50
 Bow angle (Positive = bow angles forward): -2.00 degrees
 Stern overhang: -2.00 ft / -0.61 m
 Freeboard (% = measuring location as a percentage of overall length):
    - Stem:  27.00 ft / 8.23 m
    - Forecastle (20 %): 23.00 ft / 7.01 m
    - Mid (67 %):  23.00 ft / 7.01 m (15.00 ft / 4.57 m aft of break)
    - Quarterdeck (15 %): 15.00 ft / 4.57 m
    - Stern:  15.00 ft / 4.57 m
    - Average freeboard: 20.68 ft / 6.30 m

Ship space, strength and comments:
 Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 125.0 %
  - Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 150.8 %
 Waterplane Area: 34,007 Square feet or 3,159 Square metres
 Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 96 %
 Structure weight / hull surface area: 149 lbs/sq ft or 730 Kg/sq metre
 Hull strength (Relative):
  - Cross-sectional: 0.96
  - Longitudinal: 1.47
  - Overall: 1.00
 Hull space for machinery, storage, compartmentation is cramped
 Room for accommodation and workspaces is excellent

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