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Friday, December 02, 2005

Is this really feasible? the GB/CB/1927

I had the idea, last night, that the next step would be to have an 18in-gunned battlecruiser in the same design series as the rest of the recent designs. This seems too good to be true, to me. The displacement is not that great, given the armament and speed (32 knots). True, I am not trying for the sort of range that American ships in the Pacific war had, where we would want a 15,000nm range. This is a 32-knot ship with 8-18in BLR, 16-6in QF, 6-4.7in AA, and 40-2pdr AA guns. The armour basis is a substantial 15in with a 7in deck and 5in torpedo bulkhead. The ship has a long forecastle and soft ends. The lower belt is thicker than the upper belt. I retained a thick CT, even though I don't really believe that it is needed. Everyone still had them at this date, so this design does, as well. This is the Springsharp report:
GB/CB/1927, Great Britain Battlecruiser laid down 1927

Displacement:
 63,705 t light; 66,289 t standard; 71,800 t normal; 76,208 t full load

Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught
 917.45 ft / 915.00 ft x 116.00 ft x 33.00 ft (normal load)
 279.64 m / 278.89 m x 35.36 m  x 10.06 m

Armament:
      8 - 18.00" / 457 mm guns (4x2 guns), 2,916.00lbs / 1,322.68kg shells, 1927 Model
   Breech loading guns in turrets (on barbettes)
   on centreline ends, evenly spread, 2 raised mounts - superfiring
      16 - 6.00" / 152 mm guns (8x2 guns), 108.00lbs / 48.99kg shells, 1927 Model
   Quick firing guns in turrets (on barbettes)
   on side, evenly spread, 4 raised mounts
      6 - 4.70" / 119 mm guns in single mounts, 51.91lbs / 23.55kg shells, 1927 Model
   Anti-aircraft guns in deck mounts with hoists
   on side, evenly spread, 2 raised mounts
      40 - 1.57" / 40.0 mm guns (10x4 guns), 1.95lbs / 0.89kg shells, 1927 Model
   Anti-aircraft guns in deck mounts 
   on side, evenly spread, 6 raised mounts
 Weight of broadside 25,446 lbs / 11,542 kg
 Shells per gun, main battery: 80

Armour:
   - Belts:  Width (max) Length (avg)  Height (avg)
 Main: 15.0" / 381 mm 600.00 ft / 182.88 m 8.00 ft / 2.44 m
 Ends: Unarmoured
 Upper: 10.0" / 254 mm 600.00 ft / 182.88 m 8.00 ft / 2.44 m
   Main Belt covers 101 % of normal length

   - Torpedo Bulkhead:
  5.00" / 127 mm 600.00 ft / 182.88 m 32.00 ft / 9.75 m

   - Gun armour: Face (max) Other gunhouse (avg) Barbette/hoist (max)
 Main: 15.0" / 381 mm 11.0" / 279 mm  15.0" / 381 mm
 2nd: 4.00" / 102 mm 4.00" / 102 mm  4.00" / 102 mm
 4th: 1.00" / 25 mm       -         -

   - Armour deck: 7.00" / 178 mm, Conning tower: 15.00" / 381 mm

Machinery:
 Oil fired boilers, steam turbines, 
 Geared drive, 4 shafts, 239,713 shp / 178,826 Kw = 32.00 kts
 Range 8,500nm at 18.00 kts
 Bunker at max displacement = 9,919 tons

Complement:
 2,192 - 2,851

Cost:
 £21.676 million / $86.702 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
 Armament: 3,181 tons, 4.4 %
 Armour: 26,785 tons, 37.3 %
    - Belts: 5,151 tons, 7.2 %
    - Torpedo bulkhead: 3,552 tons, 4.9 %
    - Armament: 5,836 tons, 8.1 %
    - Armour Deck: 11,688 tons, 16.3 %
    - Conning Tower: 558 tons, 0.8 %
 Machinery: 7,567 tons, 10.5 %
 Hull, fittings & equipment: 26,172 tons, 36.5 %
 Fuel, ammunition & stores: 8,095 tons, 11.3 %
 Miscellaneous weights: 0 tons, 0.0 %

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
 Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
   110,280 lbs / 50,022 Kg = 37.8 x 18.0 " / 457 mm shells or 19.0 torpedoes
 Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.12
 Metacentric height 7.8 ft / 2.4 m
 Roll period: 17.5 seconds
 Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 51 %
   - Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.68
 Seaboat quality  (Average = 1.00): 1.03

Hull form characteristics:
 Hull has rise forward of midbreak
   and transom stern
 Block coefficient: 0.717
 Length to Beam Ratio: 7.89 : 1
 'Natural speed' for length: 34.43 kts
 Power going to wave formation at top speed: 54 %
 Trim (Max stability = 0, Max steadiness = 100): 50
 Bow angle (Positive = bow angles forward): 4.00 degrees
 Stern overhang: -2.00 ft / -0.61 m
 Freeboard (% = measuring location as a percentage of overall length):
    - Stem:  35.00 ft / 10.67 m
    - Forecastle (20 %): 29.00 ft / 8.84 m
    - Mid (67 %):  29.00 ft / 8.84 m (21.00 ft / 6.40 m aft of break)
    - Quarterdeck (15 %): 21.00 ft / 6.40 m
    - Stern:  21.00 ft / 6.40 m
    - Average freeboard: 26.84 ft / 8.18 m

Ship space, strength and comments:
 Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 81.7 %
  - Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 210.1 %
 Waterplane Area: 90,257 Square feet or 8,385 Square metres
 Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 107 %
 Structure weight / hull surface area: 220 lbs/sq ft or 1,073 Kg/sq metre
 Hull strength (Relative):
  - Cross-sectional: 1.00
  - Longitudinal: 1.05
  - Overall: 1.00
 Hull space for machinery, storage, compartmentation is excellent
 Room for accommodation and workspaces is excellent

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