Amazon Ad

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

A really super heavy cruiser for 1923

I am not sure what to think of 10in guns on a heavy cruiser, but I tried them on a 1923 design to be built if there were no Washington Naval Treaty. This is another flush-decked ship with triple turrets for the main armament. The armament in this case is like other 1923 ships, in that it is the start of a modern approach with DP guns for the secondary armament. The armament is 9-10in BLR, 8-4.7in DP, and 36-2pdr AA in quad mounts. There are no torpedo tubes. The armour basis is 6in with a thick 3in deck. There is also a 1in torpedo bulkhead. The range has grown to 7,500nm at 15 knots. The maximum speed has moved up to 33.5 knots, thanks to the transom stern. This is the Springsharp report:
GB/CA/1923, Great Britain Heavy Cruiser laid down 1923

Displacement:
 20,042 t light; 20,746 t standard; 22,400 t normal; 23,723 t full load

Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught
 718.10 ft / 714.00 ft x 75.00 ft x 25.00 ft (normal load)
 218.88 m / 217.63 m x 22.86 m  x 7.62 m

Armament:
      9 - 10.00" / 254 mm guns (3x3 guns), 500.00lbs / 226.80kg shells, 1923 Model
   Breech loading guns in turrets (on barbettes)
   on centreline ends, majority forward, 1 raised mount - superfiring
      8 - 4.70" / 119 mm guns (4x2 guns), 51.91lbs / 23.55kg shells, 1923 Model
   Dual purpose guns in turrets (on barbettes)
   on side, all amidships, all raised mounts - superfiring
      36 - 1.57" / 40.0 mm guns (9x4 guns), 2.00lbs / 0.91kg shells, 1923 Model
   Anti-aircraft guns in deck mounts 
   on side, evenly spread
 Weight of broadside 4,987 lbs / 2,262 kg
 Shells per gun, main battery: 90

Armour:
   - Belts:  Width (max) Length (avg)  Height (avg)
 Main: 6.00" / 152 mm 620.00 ft / 188.98 m 16.00 ft / 4.88 m
 Ends: Unarmoured
   Main Belt covers 134 % of normal length

   - Torpedo Bulkhead:
  1.00" / 25 mm 620.00 ft / 188.98 m 23.00 ft / 7.01 m

   - Gun armour: Face (max) Other gunhouse (avg) Barbette/hoist (max)
 Main: 6.00" / 152 mm 4.00" / 102 mm  6.00" / 152 mm
 2nd: 1.00" / 25 mm 1.00" / 25 mm  1.00" / 25 mm
 3rd: 1.00" / 25 mm       -         -

   - Armour deck: 3.00" / 76 mm, Conning tower: 6.00" / 152 mm

Machinery:
 Oil fired boilers, steam turbines, 
 Geared drive, 4 shafts, 141,351 shp / 105,448 Kw = 33.50 kts
 Range 7,500nm at 15.00 kts
 Bunker at max displacement = 2,977 tons

Complement:
 915 - 1,190

Cost:
 £5.488 million / $21.950 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
 Armament: 623 tons, 2.8 %
 Armour: 6,196 tons, 27.7 %
    - Belts: 2,387 tons, 10.7 %
    - Torpedo bulkhead: 528 tons, 2.4 %
    - Armament: 944 tons, 4.2 %
    - Armour Deck: 2,235 tons, 10.0 %
    - Conning Tower: 103 tons, 0.5 %
 Machinery: 4,724 tons, 21.1 %
 Hull, fittings & equipment: 8,499 tons, 37.9 %
 Fuel, ammunition & stores: 2,358 tons, 10.5 %
 Miscellaneous weights: 0 tons, 0.0 %

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
 Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
   29,961 lbs / 13,590 Kg = 59.9 x 10.0 " / 254 mm shells or 3.6 torpedoes
 Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.15
 Metacentric height 4.2 ft / 1.3 m
 Roll period: 15.3 seconds
 Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 52 %
   - Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.62
 Seaboat quality  (Average = 1.00): 1.04

Hull form characteristics:
 Hull has a flush deck
   and transom stern
 Block coefficient: 0.586
 Length to Beam Ratio: 9.52 : 1
 'Natural speed' for length: 30.33 kts
 Power going to wave formation at top speed: 57 %
 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:  30.00 ft / 9.14 m
    - Forecastle (20 %): 24.00 ft / 7.32 m
    - Mid (50 %):  24.00 ft / 7.32 m
    - Quarterdeck (15 %): 24.00 ft / 7.32 m
    - Stern:  24.00 ft / 7.32 m
    - Average freeboard: 24.48 ft / 7.46 m

Ship space, strength and comments:
 Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 122.2 %
  - Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 201.1 %
 Waterplane Area: 40,261 Square feet or 3,740 Square metres
 Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 109 %
 Structure weight / hull surface area: 139 lbs/sq ft or 679 Kg/sq metre
 Hull strength (Relative):
  - Cross-sectional: 0.97
  - Longitudinal: 1.28
  - Overall: 1.00
 Hull space for machinery, storage, compartmentation is cramped
 Room for accommodation and workspaces is excellent

No comments:

Amazon Context Links