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Friday, December 30, 2005

A new thread: American battleships

This starts a new design thread. Again, the thread starts in 1914. This time, the ship is an American battleship design: US/BB/1914. I must confess to being throughly conventional. I had thought of only having a 9-14in gun main armament, but I went with 12-14in, instead. The result seemed pretty reasonable. This is the Springsharp report:
US/BB/1914, United States Battleship laid down 1914

Displacement:
 28,781 t light; 30,331 t standard; 32,600 t normal; 34,415 t full load

Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught
 600.00 ft / 600.00 ft x 96.00 ft x 29.00 ft (normal load)
 182.88 m / 182.88 m x 29.26 m  x 8.84 m

Armament:
      12 - 14.00" / 356 mm guns (4x3 guns), 1,372.00lbs / 622.33kg shells, 1914 Model
   Breech loading guns in turrets (on barbettes)
   on centreline ends, evenly spread, 2 raised mounts - superfiring
   Main guns limited to end-on fire
      16 - 5.00" / 127 mm guns in single mounts, 62.50lbs / 28.35kg shells, 1914 Model
   Quick firing guns in casemate mounts 
   on side, all amidships, 4 raised mounts - superfiring
      4 - 5.00" / 127 mm guns in single mounts, 62.50lbs / 28.35kg shells, 1914 Model
   Anti-aircraft guns in deck mounts with hoists
   on side, all amidships, all raised mounts - superfiring
 Weight of broadside 17,714 lbs / 8,035 kg
 Shells per gun, main battery: 90
 10 - 21.0" / 533.4 mm above water torpedoes

Armour:
   - Belts:  Width (max) Length (avg)  Height (avg)
 Main: 13.0" / 330 mm 390.00 ft / 118.87 m 17.00 ft / 5.18 m
 Ends: Unarmoured
   Main Belt covers 100 % of normal length

   - Torpedo Bulkhead:
  4.00" / 102 mm 390.00 ft / 118.87 m 28.00 ft / 8.53 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 2.00" / 51 mm  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, 37,714 shp / 28,135 Kw = 21.00 kts
 Range 6,000nm at 15.00 kts
 Bunker at max displacement = 4,083 tons

Complement:
 1,212 - 1,576

Cost:
 £3.908 million / $15.633 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
 Armament: 2,214 tons, 6.8 %
 Armour: 12,595 tons, 38.6 %
    - Belts: 3,803 tons, 11.7 %
    - Torpedo bulkhead: 1,616 tons, 5.0 %
    - Armament: 3,525 tons, 10.8 %
    - Armour Deck: 3,365 tons, 10.3 %
    - Conning Tower: 286 tons, 0.9 %
 Machinery: 1,453 tons, 4.5 %
 Hull, fittings & equipment: 12,519 tons, 38.4 %
 Fuel, ammunition & stores: 3,819 tons, 11.7 %
 Miscellaneous weights: 0 tons, 0.0 %

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
 Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
   46,932 lbs / 21,288 Kg = 34.2 x 14.0 " / 356 mm shells or 8.6 torpedoes
 Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.03
 Metacentric height 4.9 ft / 1.5 m
 Roll period: 18.1 seconds
 Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 79 %
   - Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 1.17
 Seaboat quality  (Average = 1.00): 1.58

Hull form characteristics:
 Hull has rise forward of midbreak
 Block coefficient: 0.683
 Length to Beam Ratio: 6.25 : 1
 'Natural speed' for length: 24.49 kts
 Power going to wave formation at top speed: 45 %
 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:  26.00 ft / 7.92 m
    - Forecastle (20 %): 24.00 ft / 7.32 m
    - Mid (67 %):  24.00 ft / 7.32 m (16.00 ft / 4.88 m aft of break)
    - Quarterdeck (15 %): 16.00 ft / 4.88 m
    - Stern:  16.00 ft / 4.88 m
    - Average freeboard: 21.52 ft / 6.56 m
 Ship tends to be wet forward

Ship space, strength and comments:
 Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 82.8 %
  - Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 137.1 %
 Waterplane Area: 45,472 Square feet or 4,224 Square metres
 Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 98 %
 Structure weight / hull surface area: 200 lbs/sq ft or 976 Kg/sq metre
 Hull strength (Relative):
  - Cross-sectional: 0.94
  - Longitudinal: 1.69
  - 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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