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Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Moderate Dimensions

The Dreadnought really put to rest the "moderate dimensions" theory. The 1894 Brassey's The Naval Annual makes the case for moderate dimensions. I have written about this before, but perhaps I have a new perspective. The argument is that in the age of sail, they didn't build all 100 gun ships. Instead, the majority of battleships were 74's. That is the crux of the argument. The problem is that from the 1880's on, smaller ships had thinner armor and smaller guns. With the coming of the Dreadnought, the disparities had become so great that everyone could see the uselessness of building smaller battleships. It also eventually killed off the conventional coast defense battleship. There was still a place for monitors of the sort used in the war, but they were not intended to fight other ships. They were strictly for shore bombardment, for which they were a reasonable solution.

Another solution to moderate dimensions is to use armored cruisers in the line of battle. That was done by the Japanese in 1904 to 1905 out of necessity. They had loss two battleships to mines, and all they had to give their battlefleet numbers were armored cruisers. Most only had 8in guns, so they were much less capable than ships with 12in guns. That was not really a viable solution, either. It was a measure only made reasonable by the poor performance of the Russians.

Jutland: May 31-June 1, 1916

This is the anniversary of the start of the Battle of Jutland. The initial encounter was between British and German destroyers and then light cruisers from the Battle Cruiser Fleet and the German Scouting Force. For the British, it was a lost opportunity to end the war at sea. Frank Fox disagrees, and thinks that Jellicoe did just fine. All he had to do was to keep from losing. I still disagree in that winning would have freed up resources and possibly speeded the end of the war.

For the Germans, they found out that sacrificing gunpower for armor was a poor choice. The British found out the hard way that they had problems with unstable propellant for their guns and that their AP shot were ineffective. They also found out that they had timid leadership. The same man who marred the Dreadnought's design by putting the foremast behind the first funnel, as a way to better handle boats, was risk adverse. In the low visibility conditions in the North Sea, seeing what was happening was difficult.

Monday, May 30, 2005

Now that I think of it, "The Anatomy of the Ship" series is one place to learn about the details that I need

I only have three of the Anatomy of a Ship series for 20th Century ships. I have the Dreadnought (2nd Edition), the Hood, and the Takao volumes. I almost forgot that I had the Hood. The Takao is perhaps the best of the lot, but it is the Japanese and it is World War II era.

My first attempt at the very large GIF drawing: Ger/CS/1905

I just finished my first very large (1 pixel = 2 inches) GIF drawing. I have a new drawing of the Ger/CS/1905 design. This is the JPEG reduced version. It has a link to the big GIF.

A really extravagant version of the Ger/CB/1915A design

I thought that it would be interesting to see how one of the more extravagant designs that I did in 1971-1972 worked, given my new understanding about how to specify guns. The ship is quite long, being 962ft on the waterline. The beam is 110ft. I had hoped, back in the early 1970's, that the standard displacement could be as low as 47,550 tons. The armament is 6-16.5in guns in two triple turrets forward. The secondary armament is in twin mounts, and consists of 20-5in QF guns. The belt is 12in and the deck is very thick at 7in. The A/T bulkhead is a very thick 3in. I had hoped for 40 knots, but the best that I seem to be able to do is 38 knots, which is still extremely fast for a large ship. The belt is quite short and is inclined outward. This is the Springsharp report:
Ger/CB/1915A, Germany Battlecruiser laid down 1915 (Engine 1937)

Displacement:
 55,480 t light; 57,398 t standard; 60,234 t normal; 62,502 t full load

Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught
 962.94 ft / 961.00 ft x 110.00 ft x 37.00 ft (normal load)
 293.50 m / 292.91 m x 33.53 m  x 11.28 m

Armament:
      6 - 16.50" / 419 mm guns (2x3 guns), 2,425.00lbs / 1,099.96kg shells, 1915 Model
   Breech loading guns in turrets (on barbettes)
   on centreline, all forward, 1 raised mount - superfiring
      20 - 5.00" / 127 mm guns (10x2 guns), 62.50lbs / 28.35kg shells, 1915 Model
   Quick firing guns in deck mounts with hoists
   on side, evenly spread, 6 raised mounts
 Weight of broadside 15,800 lbs / 7,167 kg
 Shells per gun, main battery: 80

Armour:
   - Belts:  Width (max) Length (avg)  Height (avg)
 Main: 12.0" / 305 mm 495.00 ft / 150.88 m 17.00 ft / 5.18 m
 Ends: Unarmoured
   Main Belt covers 79 % of normal length
   Main belt does not fully cover magazines and engineering spaces

   - Torpedo Bulkhead:
  3.00" / 76 mm 495.00 ft / 150.88 m 29.00 ft / 8.84 m

   - Gun armour: Face (max) Other gunhouse (avg) Barbette/hoist (max)
 Main: 12.0" / 305 mm 7.00" / 178 mm  10.0" / 254 mm
 2nd: 2.00" / 51 mm       -         -

   - Armour deck: 7.00" / 178 mm, Conning tower: 9.00" / 229 mm

Machinery:
 Oil fired boilers, steam turbines, 
 Geared drive, 8 shafts, 435,684 shp / 325,020 Kw = 38.00 kts
 Range 7,500nm at 15.00 kts
 Bunker at max displacement = 5,105 tons

Complement:
 1,922 - 2,499

Cost:
 £7.533 million / $30.130 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
 Armament: 1,841 tons, 3.1 %
 Armour: 18,116 tons, 30.1 %
    - Belts: 4,448 tons, 7.4 %
    - Torpedo bulkhead: 1,593 tons, 2.6 %
    - Armament: 2,321 tons, 3.9 %
    - Armour Deck: 9,456 tons, 15.7 %
    - Conning Tower: 298 tons, 0.5 %
 Machinery: 12,076 tons, 20.0 %
 Hull, fittings & equipment: 23,447 tons, 38.9 %
 Fuel, ammunition & stores: 4,754 tons, 7.9 %
 Miscellaneous weights: 0 tons, 0.0 %

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
 Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
   75,935 lbs / 34,444 Kg = 33.8 x 16.5 " / 419 mm shells or 8.9 torpedoes
 Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.16
 Metacentric height 7.6 ft / 2.3 m
 Roll period: 16.8 seconds
 Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 56 %
   - Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.61
 Seaboat quality  (Average = 1.00): 1.12

Hull form characteristics:
 Hull has a flush deck
 Block coefficient: 0.539
 Length to Beam Ratio: 8.74 : 1
 'Natural speed' for length: 31.00 kts
 Power going to wave formation at top speed: 57 %
 Trim (Max stability = 0, Max steadiness = 100): 50
 Bow angle (Positive = bow angles forward): 3.00 degrees
 Stern overhang: 0.00 ft / 0.00 m
 Freeboard (% = measuring location as a percentage of overall length):
    - Stem:  37.00 ft / 11.28 m
    - Forecastle (20 %): 31.00 ft / 9.45 m
    - Mid (50 %):  31.00 ft / 9.45 m
    - Quarterdeck (15 %): 31.00 ft / 9.45 m
    - Stern:  31.00 ft / 9.45 m
    - Average freeboard: 31.48 ft / 9.60 m

Ship space, strength and comments:
 Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 107.8 %
  - Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 224.3 %
 Waterplane Area: 73,018 Square feet or 6,784 Square metres
 Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 106 %
 Structure weight / hull surface area: 209 lbs/sq ft or 1,022 Kg/sq metre
 Hull strength (Relative):
  - Cross-sectional: 0.95
  - Longitudinal: 1.48
  - Overall: 1.00
 Hull space for machinery, storage, compartmentation is adequate
 Room for accommodation and workspaces is excellent

Sunday, May 29, 2005

I really want to try a GIF ship drawing in the "Delta Alpha" style (Updated)

I have been looking at The Never Were Catalog, in particular, the "Fictional" folder. There are a number of examples, apparently done by "Delta Alpha", such as the H.M.A.S. Endeavor, a cruiser-minelayer. I have been really impressed by the detail and accuracy that can be achieved at this scale (whatever it is). I would like to try my hand at it, to see what I might be able to do. One issue is that the only tool that I have seems to be MS Paint. I've evaluated another GIF editor (that costs a modest amount), but it seems balky. The scale of the GIF drawing I am looking at seems to be 1 pixel = 2 inches, or 6 pixels = 1 foot.

Saturday, May 28, 2005

This is really good stuff: Battleships & Knights

The largest of these drawings are top of the line. They are on "The Never Were Catalog". They are part of Lidia and Stefano's site "Battleships & Knights". I guess that their policy is to post material, and wait to see if someone objects. If they do, it is removed. I've long known that when you draw large, you can make really good looking drawings. The drawings that I was impressed by are the extremly large GIF drawings (approximately 3200 x 930 pixels). They are in the "Fictional" folder.

Another run at the GB/BB/1914 battleship design

My friend Cliff's concept for a 1914 battleship looked like a WWII-style ship. The design is flush-decked with a tower mast. The speed was 25 knots with 9-18in/45 and 20-5in/50 QF guns. I kept the same dimensions, except the displacement must be greater by a large increment. The dimensions are 800ft x 120ft x 31ft. The armor basis is 18in with a modified "all-or-nothing" scheme. The upper belt is thin, regrettably. That is partly mitigated by the thick deck (7in). This is the SpringSharp report. A great difference is that the guns are specified correctly. This is the corresponding photo:

This is the SpringSharp report:
GB/BB/1914, Great Britain  Battleship laid down 1914 (Engine 1921)

Displacement:
 51,522 t light; 53,984 t standard; 56,799 t normal; 59,051 t full load

Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught
 801.08 ft / 800.00 ft x 120.00 ft x 31.00 ft (normal load)
 244.17 m / 243.84 m x 36.58 m  x 9.45 m

Armament:
      9 - 18.00" / 457 mm guns (3x3 guns), 3,150.00lbs / 1,428.82kg shells, 1914 Model
   Breech loading guns in turrets (on barbettes)
   on centreline ends, majority forward, 1 raised mount - superfiring
      20 - 5.00" / 127 mm guns (10x2 guns), 62.50lbs / 28.35kg shells, 1914 Model
   Quick firing guns in deck mounts with hoists
   on side, all amidships, 4 raised mounts - superfiring
 Weight of broadside 29,600 lbs / 13,426 kg
 Shells per gun, main battery: 80

Armour:
   - Belts:  Width (max) Length (avg)  Height (avg)
 Main: 18.0" / 457 mm 525.00 ft / 160.02 m 8.00 ft / 2.44 m
 Ends: Unarmoured
 Upper: 8.00" / 203 mm 525.00 ft / 160.02 m 8.00 ft / 2.44 m
   Main Belt covers 101 % of normal length

   - Torpedo Bulkhead:
  3.00" / 76 mm 525.00 ft / 160.02 m 28.00 ft / 8.53 m

   - Gun armour: Face (max) Other gunhouse (avg) Barbette/hoist (max)
 Main: 18.0" / 457 mm 7.00" / 178 mm  15.0" / 381 mm
 2nd: 2.00" / 51 mm       -         -

   - Armour deck: 7.00" / 178 mm, Conning tower: 12.00" / 305 mm

Machinery:
 Oil fired boilers, steam turbines, 
 Geared drive, 4 shafts, 95,043 shp / 70,902 Kw = 25.00 kts
 Range 6,500nm at 15.00 kts
 Bunker at max displacement = 5,067 tons

Complement:
 1,839 - 2,391

Cost:
 £6.552 million / $26.210 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
 Armament: 3,437 tons, 6.1 %
 Armour: 21,011 tons, 37.0 %
    - Belts: 4,754 tons, 8.4 %
    - Torpedo bulkhead: 1,632 tons, 2.9 %
    - Armament: 4,562 tons, 8.0 %
    - Armour Deck: 9,681 tons, 17.0 %
    - Conning Tower: 382 tons, 0.7 %
 Machinery: 3,273 tons, 5.8 %
 Hull, fittings & equipment: 23,801 tons, 41.9 %
 Fuel, ammunition & stores: 5,277 tons, 9.3 %
 Miscellaneous weights: 0 tons, 0.0 %

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
 Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
   92,857 lbs / 42,119 Kg = 31.8 x 18.0 " / 457 mm shells or 15.9 torpedoes
 Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.13
 Metacentric height 8.2 ft / 2.5 m
 Roll period: 17.6 seconds
 Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 77 %
   - Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.87
 Seaboat quality  (Average = 1.00): 1.54

Hull form characteristics:
 Hull has a flush deck
 Block coefficient: 0.668
 Length to Beam Ratio: 6.67 : 1
 'Natural speed' for length: 28.28 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: 0.00 ft / 0.00 m
 Freeboard (% = measuring location as a percentage of overall length):
    - Stem:  31.00 ft / 9.45 m
    - Forecastle (20 %): 26.00 ft / 7.92 m
    - Mid (50 %):  26.00 ft / 7.92 m
    - Quarterdeck (15 %): 26.00 ft / 7.92 m
    - Stern:  26.00 ft / 7.92 m
    - Average freeboard: 26.40 ft / 8.05 m
 Ship tends to be wet forward

Ship space, strength and comments:
 Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 77.0 %
  - Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 201.3 %
 Waterplane Area: 74,760 Square feet or 6,945 Square metres
 Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 103 %
 Structure weight / hull surface area: 239 lbs/sq ft or 1,166 Kg/sq metre
 Hull strength (Relative):
  - Cross-sectional: 0.96
  - Longitudinal: 1.45
  - 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

What do you think? a new take on Cuniberti's Ideal Battleship for the British Fleet

This is a good as I have done for Colonel Cuniberti's Ideal Battleship for the British Fleet. Obviously, the specifications described in his 1903 article in All the World's Fighting ships aren't achievable. This is the closes that I have come. The secret seems to be in better specifying the 12in guns. I was able to achieve the 24 knot speed with a 10in armor basis. I did have to increase the beam, draft, and displacement, but I was able to use coal-fired boilers. I did feel like I was cheating, in that I used the slider in SpringSharp to correct the recoil and stability issues. This is my favorite photoart piece of the ship:

This is another view:

This is the corresponding SpringSharp report:
Ideal Battleship, Great Britain Battleship laid down 1904 (Engine 1914)

Displacement:
 18,486 t light; 19,326 t standard; 20,590 t normal; 21,601 t full load

Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught
 524.50 ft / 521.50 ft x 86.00 ft x 30.00 ft (normal load)
 159.87 m / 158.95 m x 26.21 m  x 9.14 m

Armament:
   4 - 12.00" / 305 mm guns (2x2 guns), 850.00lbs / 385.55kg shells, 1904 Model
   Breech loading guns in turrets (on barbettes)
   on centreline ends, evenly spread
   4 - 12.00" / 305 mm guns (2x2 guns), 850.00lbs / 385.55kg shells, 1904 Model
   Breech loading guns in turrets (on barbettes)
   on side, all amidships, all raised mounts - superfiring
   4 - 12.00" / 305 mm guns in single mounts, 850.00lbs / 385.55kg shells, 1904 Model
   Breech loading guns in turrets (on barbettes)
   on side ends, evenly spread
   12 - 3.00" / 76.2 mm guns in single mounts, 13.50lbs / 6.12kg shells, 1904 Model
   Quick firing guns in casemate mounts
   on side, evenly spread
   12 guns in hull casemates - Limited use in heavy seas
   6 - 1.85" / 47.0 mm guns in single mounts, 3.17lbs / 1.44kg shells, 1904 Model
   Quick firing guns in deck mounts
   on side, evenly spread
 Weight of broadside 10,381 lbs / 4,709 kg
 Shells per gun, main battery: 70

Armour:
- Belts:  Width (max) Length (avg)  Height (avg)
 Main: 10.0" / 254 mm 340.00 ft / 103.63 m 8.00 ft / 2.44 m
 Ends: 6.00" / 152 mm 181.50 ft / 55.32 m 8.00 ft / 2.44 m
 Upper: 7.00" / 178 mm 185.00 ft / 56.39 m 8.00 ft / 2.44 m
   Main Belt covers 100 % of normal length
   Main belt does not fully cover magazines and engineering spaces

- Torpedo Bulkhead:
  1.00" / 25 mm 340.00 ft / 103.63 m 25.00 ft / 7.62 m

- Gun armour: Face (max) Other gunhouse (avg) Barbette/hoist (max)
 Main: 10.0" / 254 mm 6.00" / 152 mm  9.00" / 229 mm
 2nd: 10.0" / 254 mm 6.00" / 152 mm  9.00" / 229 mm
 3rd: 10.0" / 254 mm 6.00" / 152 mm  9.00" / 229 mm
 4th: 4.00" / 102 mm       -         -

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

Machinery:
 Coal fired boilers, steam turbines,
 Direct drive, 4 shafts, 47,330 shp / 35,309 Kw = 24.00 kts
 Range 5,400nm at 12.00 kts
 Bunker at max displacement = 2,275 tons (100% coal)

Complement:
 859 - 1,117

Cost:
 £2.035 million / $8.142 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
 Armament: 1,319 tons, 6.4 %
 Armour: 6,238 tons, 30.3 %
    - Belts: 2,052 tons, 10.0 %
    - Torpedo bulkhead: 315 tons, 1.5 %
    - Armament: 2,567 tons, 12.5 %
    - Armour Deck: 1,143 tons, 5.5 %
    - Conning Tower: 162 tons, 0.8 %
 Machinery: 2,006 tons, 9.7 %
 Hull, fittings & equipment: 8,924 tons, 43.3 %
 Fuel, ammunition & stores: 2,104 tons, 10.2 %
 Miscellaneous weights: 0 tons, 0.0 %

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
 Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
   25,858 lbs / 11,729 Kg = 29.9 x 12.0 " / 305 mm shells or 4.0 torpedoes
 Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.01
 Metacentric height 4.1 ft / 1.3 m
 Roll period: 17.8 seconds
 Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 48 %
   - Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.90
 Seaboat quality  (Average = 1.00): 1.16

Hull form characteristics:
 Hull has rise forward of midbreak
 Block coefficient: 0.536
 Length to Beam Ratio: 6.06 : 1
 'Natural speed' for length: 22.84 kts
 Power going to wave formation at top speed: 53 %
 Trim (Max stability = 0, Max steadiness = 100): 40
 Bow angle (Positive = bow angles forward): -2.00 degrees
 Stern overhang: 3.00 ft / 0.91 m
 Freeboard (% = measuring location as a percentage of overall length):
    - Stem:  24.00 ft / 7.32 m
    - Forecastle (20 %): 24.00 ft / 7.32 m
    - Mid (74 %):  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: 21.92 ft / 6.68 m
 Ship tends to be wet forward

Ship space, strength and comments:
 Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 103.0 %
  - Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 155.1 %
 Waterplane Area: 30,881 Square feet or 2,869 Square metres
 Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 99 %
 Structure weight / hull surface area: 192 lbs/sq ft or 935 Kg/sq metre
 Hull strength (Relative):
  - Cross-sectional: 0.91
  - Longitudinal: 2.43
  - Overall: 1.00
 Hull space for machinery, storage, compartmentation is adequate
 Room for accommodation and workspaces is excellent

Since I'm redoing Springsharp designs, here is the Ger/CS/1905 scout cruiser

The main difference about this attempt at the Ger/CS/1905 design is that I have the armament located correctly in the design. It seems a necessity, now that I know how to do it. I was able to keep the draft from getting too great, although it still is, due to the need to get adequate structural strength. The dimensions are 370ft x 38ft x 13ft. The displacement is only 2,240 tons, which is too low. The intended normal displacement is 2,480 tons. The speed is not quite what I wanted, as it is just 35 knots, not 36. The cruising speed and range are too low, but the only way to do better is to have a better SHP/ton for the machinery. I'm already skewing the date to get it. At about 45SHP/ton, it is still much below the maximum output achieved by the British super-destroyer Swift, which could produce 60SHP/ton, and in the same time period as this design. This is the Springsharp report:
Ger/CS/1905, Germany Scout Cruiser laid down 1905 (Engine 1931)

Displacement:
 2,127 t light; 2,189 t standard; 2,240 t normal; 2,282 t full load

Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught
 370.84 ft / 370.00 ft x 38.00 ft x 13.00 ft (normal load)
 113.03 m / 112.78 m x 11.58 m  x 3.96 m

Armament:
      1 - 4.00" / 102 mm guns in single mounts, 32.00lbs / 14.51kg shells, 1905 Model
   Quick firing gun in a deck mount with hoist
   on centreline forward
      2 - 4.00" / 102 mm guns in single mounts, 32.00lbs / 14.51kg shells, 1905 Model
   Quick firing guns in deck mounts with hoists
   on side, evenly spread
      2 - 4.00" / 102 mm guns in single mounts, 32.00lbs / 14.51kg shells, 1905 Model
   Quick firing guns in deck mounts with hoists
   on centreline, all aft
 Weight of broadside 160 lbs / 73 kg
 Shells per gun, main battery: 160
 2 - 18.0" / 457.2 mm above water torpedoes

Armour:
   - Belts:  Width (max) Length (avg)  Height (avg)
 Main: 2.00" / 51 mm 135.00 ft / 41.15 m 15.00 ft / 4.57 m
 Ends: Unarmoured
   Main Belt covers 56 % of normal length
   Main belt does not fully cover magazines and engineering spaces

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

Machinery:
 Oil fired boilers, steam turbines, 
 Direct drive, 4 shafts, 58,875 shp / 43,921 Kw = 35.00 kts
 Range 2,000nm at 10.00 kts
 Bunker at max displacement = 93 tons

Complement:
 162 - 211

Cost:
 £0.273 million / $1.093 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
 Armament: 20 tons, 0.9 %
 Armour: 198 tons, 8.9 %
    - Belts: 188 tons, 8.4 %
    - Torpedo bulkhead: 0 tons, 0.0 %
    - Armament: 11 tons, 0.5 %
    - Armour Deck: 0 tons, 0.0 %
    - Conning Tower: 0 tons, 0.0 %
 Machinery: 1,300 tons, 58.0 %
 Hull, fittings & equipment: 608 tons, 27.1 %
 Fuel, ammunition & stores: 113 tons, 5.1 %
 Miscellaneous weights: 0 tons, 0.0 %

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
 Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
   529 lbs / 240 Kg = 16.5 x 4.0 " / 102 mm shells or 0.3 torpedoes
 Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.47
 Metacentric height 2.3 ft / 0.7 m
 Roll period: 10.6 seconds
 Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 51 %
   - Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.15
 Seaboat quality  (Average = 1.00): 1.02

Hull form characteristics:
 Hull has rise forward of midbreak
 Block coefficient: 0.429
 Length to Beam Ratio: 9.74 : 1
 'Natural speed' for length: 19.24 kts
 Power going to wave formation at top speed: 69 %
 Trim (Max stability = 0, Max steadiness = 100): 50
 Bow angle (Positive = bow angles forward): 2.00 degrees
 Stern overhang: 0.00 ft / 0.00 m
 Freeboard (% = measuring location as a percentage of overall length):
    - Stem:  24.00 ft / 7.32 m
    - Forecastle (20 %): 22.00 ft / 6.71 m
    - Mid (36 %):  22.00 ft / 6.71 m (14.00 ft / 4.27 m aft of break)
    - Quarterdeck (15 %): 14.00 ft / 4.27 m
    - Stern:  14.00 ft / 4.27 m
    - Average freeboard: 17.04 ft / 5.19 m

Ship space, strength and comments:
 Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 194.2 %
  - Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 153.7 %
 Waterplane Area: 8,822 Square feet or 820 Square metres
 Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 58 %
 Structure weight / hull surface area: 34 lbs/sq ft or 166 Kg/sq metre
 Hull strength (Relative):
  - Cross-sectional: 0.45
  - Longitudinal: 2.09
  - Overall: 0.52
 Hull space for machinery, storage, compartmentation is cramped
 Room for accommodation and workspaces is excellent

Another cut at the GB/BB/1906 design

Given what I learned yesterday, I updated my design for the GB/BB/1905 (Britannia class). My friend Cliff assumed that he would need to sacrifice gunpower in exchange for thicker armor and higher speed. This is in the series that has all oil fuel early, and has greater machinery power output. The only reason that the displacement is higher is due to the thick deck armor. The dimensions are 680ft x 87.7ft x 28ft. The armament is 6-12in/45 and 8-6in/50 QF. The armor basis is 13.75in, although it is on an "all-or-nothing" basis. The designed speed is 24 knots. Needless to say, it turned out quite nicely. This is the Springsharp report:
GB/BB/1906, Great Britain Battlecruiser laid down 1905 (Engine 1912)

Displacement:
 23,604 t light; 24,448 t standard; 27,099 t normal; 29,219 t full load

Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught
 680.00 ft / 680.00 ft x 87.70 ft x 28.00 ft (normal load)
 207.26 m / 207.26 m x 26.73 m  x 8.53 m

Armament:
      6 - 12.00" / 305 mm guns (3x2 guns), 850.00lbs / 385.55kg shells, 1905 Model
   Breech loading guns in turrets (on barbettes)
   on centreline ends, majority forward, 1 raised mount - superfiring
      8 - 6.00" / 152 mm guns (4x2 guns), 100.00lbs / 45.36kg shells, 1905 Model
   Quick firing guns in turrets (on barbettes)
   on side, evenly spread
 Weight of broadside 5,900 lbs / 2,676 kg
 Shells per gun, main battery: 90

Armour:
   - Belts:  Width (max) Length (avg)  Height (avg)
 Main: 13.8" / 349 mm 450.00 ft / 137.16 m 18.00 ft / 5.49 m
 Ends: Unarmoured
   Main Belt covers 102 % of normal length

   - Torpedo Bulkhead:
  1.50" / 38 mm 450.00 ft / 137.16 m 26.00 ft / 7.92 m

   - Gun armour: Face (max) Other gunhouse (avg) Barbette/hoist (max)
 Main: 13.8" / 349 mm 7.00" / 178 mm  13.8" / 349 mm
 2nd: 3.38" / 86 mm 3.00" / 76 mm  3.38" / 86 mm

   - Armour deck: 4.50" / 114 mm, Conning tower: 6.75" / 171 mm

Machinery:
 Oil fired boilers, steam turbines, 
 Direct drive, 4 shafts, 50,984 shp / 38,034 Kw = 24.00 kts
 Range 7,500nm at 15.00 kts
 Bunker at max displacement = 4,771 tons

Complement:
 1,055 - 1,372

Cost:
 £1.746 million / $6.983 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
 Armament: 756 tons, 2.8 %
 Armour: 11,235 tons, 41.5 %
    - Belts: 4,749 tons, 17.5 %
    - Torpedo bulkhead: 649 tons, 2.4 %
    - Armament: 2,182 tons, 8.1 %
    - Armour Deck: 3,524 tons, 13.0 %
    - Conning Tower: 131 tons, 0.5 %
 Machinery: 2,033 tons, 7.5 %
 Hull, fittings & equipment: 9,581 tons, 35.4 %
 Fuel, ammunition & stores: 3,494 tons, 12.9 %
 Miscellaneous weights: 0 tons, 0.0 %

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
 Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
   64,484 lbs / 29,249 Kg = 74.6 x 12.0 " / 305 mm shells or 11.7 torpedoes
 Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.10
 Metacentric height 4.9 ft / 1.5 m
 Roll period: 16.7 seconds
 Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 93 %
   - Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.63
 Seaboat quality  (Average = 1.00): 1.86

Hull form characteristics:
 Hull has rise forward of midbreak
 Block coefficient: 0.568
 Length to Beam Ratio: 7.75 : 1
 'Natural speed' for length: 26.08 kts
 Power going to wave formation at top speed: 43 %
 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:  31.00 ft / 9.45 m
    - Forecastle (20 %): 27.00 ft / 8.23 m
    - Mid (67 %):  27.00 ft / 8.23 m (19.00 ft / 5.79 m aft of break)
    - Quarterdeck (15 %): 19.00 ft / 5.79 m
    - Stern:  19.00 ft / 5.79 m
    - Average freeboard: 24.68 ft / 7.52 m

Ship space, strength and comments:
 Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 59.9 %
  - Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 189.4 %
 Waterplane Area: 42,328 Square feet or 3,932 Square metres
 Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 127 %
 Structure weight / hull surface area: 151 lbs/sq ft or 737 Kg/sq metre
 Hull strength (Relative):
  - Cross-sectional: 0.95
  - Longitudinal: 1.57
  - 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

Friday, May 27, 2005

I just redid the GB/CB/1905 with what I learned today (Updated)

I just tried my friend Cliff's design for the GB/CB/1905 fast battlecruiser, without raised gun mounts. I hadn't realized that the "above freeboard" number was for indicating raised guns. It turns out that is apparently how you are suposed to designate superfiring guns. You probably don't know about the GB/CB/1905 design, which I have written about repeatedly, and have my original drawings at Kentishknock.com. The armament is 4-12in/45 guns and 9-6in guns. The design has a 4in belt with a 2.5in deck, as presently defined. The A/T bulkhead is 1.5in. The result is very close to Cliff's original concept. My only fudge is raising the SHP/ton for the machinery above what SpringSharp is willing to concede for 1905. Well, my other fudge is to use oil fuel, but that was Cliff and my decision for our ships: to use only oil fuel. I also believe that a higher SHP/ton was achievable in 1905. The British were simply not prepared to accept the higher SHP/ton for large ships, because they opted for reliability rather than performance. They could do more, as the Swift could produce 60 SHP/ton from a plant designed in 1905-1906. I updated the design lengthen the belt to cover the machinery spaces completely. This is the SpringSharp report:
GB/CB/1905, Great Britain Battlecruiser laid down 1905 (Engine 1912)

Displacement:
 22,095 t light; 22,830 t standard; 25,400 t normal; 27,456 t full load

Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught
 770.00 ft / 770.00 ft x 85.00 ft x 27.00 ft (normal load)
 234.70 m / 234.70 m x 25.91 m  x 8.23 m

Armament:
      4 - 12.00" / 305 mm guns (2x2 guns), 850.00lbs / 385.55kg shells, 1905 Model
   Breech loading guns in turrets (on barbettes)
   on centreline ends, evenly spread
      4 - 6.00" / 152 mm guns in single mounts, 108.00lbs / 48.99kg shells, 1905 Model
   Quick firing guns in deck mounts with hoists
   on side, all forward
      5 - 6.00" / 152 mm guns in single mounts, 108.00lbs / 48.99kg shells, 1905 Model
   Quick firing guns in deck mounts with hoists
   on side, all aft
 Weight of broadside 4,372 lbs / 1,983 kg
 Shells per gun, main battery: 90

Armour:
   - Belts:  Width (max) Length (avg)  Height (avg)
 Main: 4.00" / 102 mm 650.00 ft / 198.12 m 18.00 ft / 5.49 m
 Ends: Unarmoured
   Main Belt covers 130 % of normal length

   - Torpedo Bulkhead:
  1.50" / 38 mm 650.00 ft / 198.12 m 26.00 ft / 7.92 m

   - Gun armour: Face (max) Other gunhouse (avg) Barbette/hoist (max)
 Main: 9.00" / 229 mm 6.00" / 152 mm  9.00" / 229 mm
 2nd: 2.00" / 51 mm       -         -

   - Armour deck: 2.50" / 64 mm, Conning tower: 9.00" / 229 mm

Machinery:
 Oil fired boilers, steam turbines, 
 Direct drive, 4 shafts, 155,302 shp / 115,855 Kw = 33.00 kts
 Range 7,500nm at 15.00 kts
 Bunker at max displacement = 4,626 tons

Complement:
 1,005 - 1,307

Cost:
 £2.105 million / $8.421 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
 Armament: 554 tons, 2.2 %
 Armour: 5,821 tons, 22.9 %
    - Belts: 1,882 tons, 7.4 %
    - Torpedo bulkhead: 938 tons, 3.7 %
    - Armament: 811 tons, 3.2 %
    - Armour Deck: 2,023 tons, 8.0 %
    - Conning Tower: 168 tons, 0.7 %
 Machinery: 6,192 tons, 24.4 %
 Hull, fittings & equipment: 9,528 tons, 37.5 %
 Fuel, ammunition & stores: 3,305 tons, 13.0 %
 Miscellaneous weights: 0 tons, 0.0 %

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
 Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
   33,592 lbs / 15,237 Kg = 38.9 x 12.0 " / 305 mm shells or 4.1 torpedoes
 Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.31
 Metacentric height 6.4 ft / 1.9 m
 Roll period: 14.2 seconds
 Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 66 %
   - Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.32
 Seaboat quality  (Average = 1.00): 1.31

Hull form characteristics:
 Hull has rise forward of midbreak
 Block coefficient: 0.503
 Length to Beam Ratio: 9.06 : 1
 'Natural speed' for length: 27.75 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:  31.00 ft / 9.45 m
    - Forecastle (20 %): 27.00 ft / 8.23 m
    - Mid (67 %):  27.00 ft / 8.23 m (19.00 ft / 5.79 m aft of break)
    - Quarterdeck (15 %): 19.00 ft / 5.79 m
    - Stern:  19.00 ft / 5.79 m
    - Average freeboard: 24.68 ft / 7.52 m

Ship space, strength and comments:
 Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 125.2 %
  - Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 205.4 %
 Waterplane Area: 43,730 Square feet or 4,063 Square metres
 Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 112 %
 Structure weight / hull surface area: 142 lbs/sq ft or 695 Kg/sq metre
 Hull strength (Relative):
  - Cross-sectional: 0.97
  - Longitudinal: 1.27
  - Overall: 1.00
 Hull space for machinery, storage, compartmentation is cramped
 Room for accommodation and workspaces is excellent
 Good seaboat, rides out heavy weather easily

The Red Admiral showed me a thing or two

The Red Admiral, from WesWorld, sent me his SpringSharp report for a Super Lion design. He also asked me why my gun layouts were strange (all superfiring). I studied his design and experimented with SpringSharp. I also am embarrassed to admit that I hadn't realized that you were supposed to change the shell weight to what you really wanted, not just accept the default value. This is my revised Super Lion SpringSharp report, which is still strange, but is better than what I had (I hope):
Super Lion (Alternative), Great Britain Battlecruiser laid down 1912

Displacement:
 34,512 t light; 36,219 t standard; 39,566 t normal; 42,243 t full load

Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught
 750.00 ft / 750.00 ft x 100.00 ft x 32.00 ft (normal load)
 228.60 m / 228.60 m x 30.48 m  x 9.75 m

Armament:
     4 - 15.00" / 381 mm guns (2x2 guns), 1,920.00lbs / 870.90kg shells, 1912 Model
   Breech loading guns in turrets (on barbettes)
   on centreline, evenly spread, 1 raised mount
     2 - 15.00" / 381 mm guns (1x2 guns), 1,920.00lbs / 870.90kg shells, 1912 Model
   Breech loading guns in a turret (on a barbette)
   on centreline amidships
     4 - 15.00" / 381 mm guns (2x2 guns), 1,920.00lbs / 870.90kg shells, 1912 Model
   Breech loading guns in turrets (on barbettes)
   on centreline, all aft, 1 raised mount - superfiring
     16 - 4.00" / 102 mm guns in single mounts, 32.00lbs / 14.51kg shells, 1912 Model
   Quick firing guns in casemate mounts
   on side, evenly spread
 Weight of broadside 19,712 lbs / 8,941 kg
 Shells per gun, main battery: 80

Armour:
  - Belts:  Width (max) Length (avg)  Height (avg)
 Main: 7.00" / 178 mm 530.00 ft / 161.54 m 17.00 ft / 5.18 m
 Ends: 4.00" / 102 mm 220.00 ft / 67.06 m 17.00 ft / 5.18 m
   Main Belt covers 109 % of normal length
   Main belt does not fully cover magazines and engineering spaces

  - Torpedo Bulkhead:
  1.50" / 38 mm 530.00 ft / 161.54 m 27.00 ft / 8.23 m

  - Gun armour: Face (max) Other gunhouse (avg) Barbette/hoist (max)
 Main: 9.00" / 229 mm 6.00" / 152 mm  8.00" / 203 mm
 2nd: 9.00" / 229 mm 6.00" / 152 mm  8.00" / 203 mm
 3rd: 9.00" / 229 mm 6.00" / 152 mm  8.00" / 203 mm
 4th: 2.00" / 51 mm       -         -

  - Armour deck: 2.50" / 64 mm, Conning tower: 9.00" / 229 mm

Machinery:
 Oil fired boilers, steam turbines,
 Direct drive, 4 shafts, 149,039 shp / 111,183 Kw = 30.00 kts
 Range 7,500nm at 15.00 kts
 Bunker at max displacement = 6,024 tons

Complement:
 1,402 - 1,823

Cost:
 £3.866 million / $15.462 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
 Armament: 2,173 tons, 5.5 %
 Armour: 9,175 tons, 23.2 %
    - Belts: 3,219 tons, 8.1 %
    - Torpedo bulkhead: 794 tons, 2.0 %
    - Armament: 2,454 tons, 6.2 %
    - Armour Deck: 2,483 tons, 6.3 %
    - Conning Tower: 225 tons, 0.6 %
 Machinery: 5,943 tons, 15.0 %
 Hull, fittings & equipment: 17,221 tons, 43.5 %
 Fuel, ammunition & stores: 5,054 tons, 12.8 %
 Miscellaneous weights: 0 tons, 0.0 %

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
 Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
   44,820 lbs / 20,330 Kg = 26.6 x 15.0 " / 381 mm shells or 5.6 torpedoes
 Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.14
 Metacentric height 6.4 ft / 1.9 m
 Roll period: 16.7 seconds
 Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 52 %
   - Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.84
 Seaboat quality  (Average = 1.00): 1.03

Hull form characteristics:
 Hull has rise forward of midbreak
 Block coefficient: 0.577
 Length to Beam Ratio: 7.50 : 1
 'Natural speed' for length: 27.39 kts
 Power going to wave formation at top speed: 54 %
 Trim (Max stability = 0, Max steadiness = 100): 50
 Bow angle (Positive = bow angles forward): 0.00 degrees
 Stern overhang: -2.00 ft / -0.61 m
 Freeboard (% = measuring location as a percentage of overall length):
    - Stem:  31.00 ft / 9.45 m
    - Forecastle (20 %): 25.00 ft / 7.62 m
    - Mid (73 %):  25.00 ft / 7.62 m (17.00 ft / 5.18 m aft of break)
    - Quarterdeck (15 %): 17.00 ft / 5.18 m
    - Stern:  17.00 ft / 5.18 m
    - Average freeboard: 23.32 ft / 7.11 m

Ship space, strength and comments:
 Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 112.4 %
  - Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 171.6 %
 Waterplane Area: 53,685 Square feet or 4,987 Square metres
 Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 103 %
 Structure weight / hull surface area: 223 lbs/sq ft or 1,090 Kg/sq metre
 Hull strength (Relative):
  - Cross-sectional: 0.96
  - Longitudinal: 1.48
  - Overall: 1.00
 Hull space for machinery, storage, compartmentation is cramped
 Room for accommodation and workspaces is excellent

The British repeatedly thought of building a 5in gun for destroyers and secondary armaments

Prior to the First World War, and even during the war, the British had hoped to build a 5in gun for use on capital ships and destroyers. They had such a caliber in the 1880's, for use on their scout cruisers. In the run up to the war, building the 15in gun was higher priority, so it was never built. There were persistant stories that a 5in gun was under development, but it never was actually constructed. In the end, a commercial 4.7in gun was available, so that was used instead. Meanwhile, the Americans adopted the 5in gun, and eventually, so did the Japanese. In the 1930's, the British revisited destroyer guns and guns for secondary armaments on capital ships. At one point, a 13cm gun (5.1in) was seriously considered. The Germans and French were using such guns, so there was some reason to consider adopting it. For capital ships, the British initially went with the totally inadequate 5.25in DP gun. The 5.25in gun was barely DP, as the elevation was marginal and the shell too heavy. They turned to the 4.5in DP gun for capital ship modernization. The Renown, Queen Elizabeth, and Valiant received them. By the time the Battle class destroyers were designed, the 4.5in gun seemed like the best choice. Apparently one reason that the British never developed a 5in gun was that they were concerned about the shell weight. Their experience in World War One was that large guns were inappropriate for small ships, as they had difficulty in manhandling large shells in a seaway.

Thursday, May 26, 2005

This is a small "Super Lion" design

My smallest Super Lion design in the early 1970's was for a 750ft-long ship with a 100ft beam. I did another version which was practically Vanguard size. My actual Springsharp design has a greater displacement and I added 4in QF guns to have 16, as that is a more reasonable anti-torpedo boat armament than only 12-4in QF. I went with a uniform 7in belt between the end barbettes. The ends are 4in, as I could not justify going with "All or nothing" for the Super Lion. The design has a "Tiger" look, with three equally spaced funnels and a tripod foremast. This is the Springsharp report:
Super Lion (Alternative), Great Britain Battlecruiser laid down 1912

Displacement:
 33,775 t light; 35,317 t standard; 38,186 t normal; 40,481 t full load

Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught
 750.00 ft / 750.00 ft x 100.00 ft x 31.00 ft (normal load)
 228.60 m / 228.60 m x 30.48 m  x 9.45 m

Armament:
      10 - 15.00" / 381 mm guns (5x2 guns), 1,687.50lbs / 765.44kg shells, 1912 Model
   Breech loading guns in turrets (on barbettes)
   on centreline ends, majority forward, all raised mounts - superfiring
      16 - 4.00" / 102 mm guns in single mounts, 32.00lbs / 14.51kg shells, 1912 Model
   Quick firing guns in casemate mounts 
   on side, all amidships, all raised mounts - superfiring
 Weight of broadside 17,387 lbs / 7,887 kg
 Shells per gun, main battery: 80

Armour:
   - Belts:  Width (max) Length (avg)  Height (avg)
 Main: 7.00" / 178 mm 530.00 ft / 161.54 m 17.00 ft / 5.18 m
 Ends: 4.00" / 102 mm 220.00 ft / 67.06 m 17.00 ft / 5.18 m
   Main Belt covers 109 % of normal length
   Main belt does not fully cover magazines and engineering spaces

   - Torpedo Bulkhead:
  1.50" / 38 mm 530.00 ft / 161.54 m 27.00 ft / 8.23 m

   - Gun armour: Face (max) Other gunhouse (avg) Barbette/hoist (max)
 Main: 9.00" / 229 mm 6.00" / 152 mm  8.00" / 203 mm
 2nd: 2.00" / 51 mm       -         -

   - Armour deck: 2.50" / 64 mm, Conning tower: 9.00" / 229 mm

Machinery:
 Oil fired boilers, steam turbines, 
 Direct drive, 4 shafts, 145,842 shp / 108,798 Kw = 30.00 kts
 Range 6,500nm at 15.00 kts
 Bunker at max displacement = 5,164 tons

Complement:
 1,365 - 1,775

Cost:
 £3.822 million / $15.287 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
 Armament: 2,173 tons, 5.7 %
 Armour: 9,445 tons, 24.7 %
    - Belts: 3,218 tons, 8.4 %
    - Torpedo bulkhead: 794 tons, 2.1 %
    - Armament: 2,735 tons, 7.2 %
    - Armour Deck: 2,478 tons, 6.5 %
    - Conning Tower: 220 tons, 0.6 %
 Machinery: 5,815 tons, 15.2 %
 Hull, fittings & equipment: 16,341 tons, 42.8 %
 Fuel, ammunition & stores: 4,411 tons, 11.6 %
 Miscellaneous weights: 0 tons, 0.0 %

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
 Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
   42,167 lbs / 19,127 Kg = 25.0 x 15.0 " / 381 mm shells or 5.3 torpedoes
 Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.04
 Metacentric height 5.4 ft / 1.7 m
 Roll period: 18.0 seconds
 Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 51 %
   - Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.99
 Seaboat quality  (Average = 1.00): 1.02

Hull form characteristics:
 Hull has rise forward of midbreak
 Block coefficient: 0.575
 Length to Beam Ratio: 7.50 : 1
 'Natural speed' for length: 27.39 kts
 Power going to wave formation at top speed: 53 %
 Trim (Max stability = 0, Max steadiness = 100): 50
 Bow angle (Positive = bow angles forward): 0.00 degrees
 Stern overhang: -2.00 ft / -0.61 m
 Freeboard (% = measuring location as a percentage of overall length):
    - Stem:  32.00 ft / 9.75 m
    - Forecastle (20 %): 26.00 ft / 7.92 m
    - Mid (73 %):  26.00 ft / 7.92 m (18.00 ft / 5.49 m aft of break)
    - Quarterdeck (15 %): 18.00 ft / 5.49 m
    - Stern:  18.00 ft / 5.49 m
    - Average freeboard: 24.32 ft / 7.41 m

Ship space, strength and comments:
 Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 114.6 %
  - Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 183.3 %
 Waterplane Area: 53,576 Square feet or 4,977 Square metres
 Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 99 %
 Structure weight / hull surface area: 212 lbs/sq ft or 1,035 Kg/sq metre
 Hull strength (Relative):
  - Cross-sectional: 0.97
  - Longitudinal: 1.32
  - Overall: 1.00
 Hull space for machinery, storage, compartmentation is cramped
 Room for accommodation and workspaces is excellent

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

Springsharp for small, fast combatants

I keep forgetting that you don't need to have a "composite strength", in Springsharp, of 1.0 or better for small, fast combatants. I have been wrestling with the design for a fast gunboat from 1915 that wants to have a length of 275ft, 3-5in QF guns, and a 36 knot speed. I cranked the machinery date way up to attempt to get a reasonable machinery weight, although it is still too high at 567 tons. Getting reasonable seakeeping, stability, and recoil numbers, along with adequate hull strength is a major challenge. Springsharp 3.0 is supposed to make the situation better. This is my Springsharp report. I would welcome suggestions about how to make it better. Obviously, the form is distorted by the what it took to get the right combination of hull strength and seakeeping. The draft is too great, by a good deal, for such a small ship:
GB/PG/1915, Enter country Enter ship type laid down 1915 (Engine 1945)

Displacement:
 1,203 t light; 1,245 t standard; 1,302 t normal; 1,347 t full load

Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught
 275.80 ft / 275.00 ft x 29.00 ft x 16.00 ft (normal load)
 84.06 m / 83.82 m x 8.84 m  x 4.88 m

Armament:
      3 - 5.00" / 127 mm guns in single mounts, 62.50lbs / 28.35kg shells, 1915 Model
   Quick firing guns in deck mounts with hoists
   on centreline ends, majority forward, all raised mounts - superfiring
 Weight of broadside 188 lbs / 85 kg
 Shells per gun, main battery: 150

Machinery:
 Oil fired boilers, steam turbines, 
 Geared drive, 2 shafts, 54,722 shp / 40,822 Kw = 36.00 kts
 Range 1,500nm at 15.00 kts
 Bunker at max displacement = 102 tons

Complement:
 107 - 140

Cost:
 £0.243 million / $0.974 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
 Armament: 23 tons, 1.8 %
 Machinery: 754 tons, 57.9 %
 Hull, fittings & equipment: 425 tons, 32.7 %
 Fuel, ammunition & stores: 99 tons, 7.6 %
 Miscellaneous weights: 0 tons, 0.0 %

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
 Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
   227 lbs / 103 Kg = 3.6 x 5.0 " / 127 mm shells or 0.2 torpedoes
 Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.21
 Metacentric height 1.1 ft / 0.3 m
 Roll period: 11.6 seconds
 Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 50 %
   - Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.68
 Seaboat quality  (Average = 1.00): 1.01

Hull form characteristics:
 Hull has rise forward of midbreak
 Block coefficient: 0.357
 Length to Beam Ratio: 9.48 : 1
 'Natural speed' for length: 16.58 kts
 Power going to wave formation at top speed: 74 %
 Trim (Max stability = 0, Max steadiness = 100): 50
 Bow angle (Positive = bow angles forward): 2.00 degrees
 Stern overhang: 0.00 ft / 0.00 m
 Freeboard (% = measuring location as a percentage of overall length):
    - Stem:  23.00 ft / 7.01 m
    - Forecastle (37 %): 20.00 ft / 6.10 m
    - Mid (50 %):  20.00 ft / 6.10 m (12.00 ft / 3.66 m aft of break)
    - Quarterdeck (15 %): 12.00 ft / 3.66 m
    - Stern:  12.00 ft / 3.66 m
    - Average freeboard: 16.44 ft / 5.01 m

Ship space, strength and comments:
 Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 200.6 %
  - Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 122.0 %
 Waterplane Area: 4,839 Square feet or 450 Square metres
 Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 44 %
 Structure weight / hull surface area: 31 lbs/sq ft or 152 Kg/sq metre
 Hull strength (Relative):
  - Cross-sectional: 0.38
  - Longitudinal: 6.37
  - Overall: 0.51
 Hull space for machinery, storage, compartmentation is extremely poor
 Room for accommodation and workspaces is excellent

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

My latest attempt at Colonel Cuniberti's battleship is a failure

I thought that employing some of the methods that I saw in The Red Admiral's X4 design would help Colonel Cuniberti's Ideal Battleship work in Springsharp, but I failed miserably. My design is too large for what was reasonable:
Ideal Battleship, Great Britain Enter ship type laid down 1904 Displacement: 25,462 t light; 26,497 t standard; 28,450 t normal; 30,013 t full load Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught 544.00 ft / 542.00 ft x 96.00 ft x 30.00 ft (normal load) 165.81 m / 165.20 m x 29.26 m x 9.14 m Armament: 4 - 12.00" / 305 mm guns (2x2 guns), 864.00lbs / 391.90kg shells, 1904 Model Breech loading guns in turrets (on barbettes) on centreline ends, evenly spread, all raised mounts 4 - 12.00" / 305 mm guns in single mounts, 864.00lbs / 391.90kg shells, 1904 Model Breech loading guns in turrets (on barbettes) on side, evenly spread, all raised mounts 4 - 12.00" / 305 mm guns (2x2 guns), 864.00lbs / 391.90kg shells, 1904 Model Breech loading guns in turrets (on barbettes) on side, all amidships, all raised mounts - superfiring 12 - 3.00" / 76.2 mm guns in single mounts, 13.50lbs / 6.12kg shells, 1904 Model Quick firing guns in casemate mounts on side, evenly spread 12 guns in hull casemates - Limited use in heavy seas 6 - 1.85" / 47.0 mm guns in single mounts, 3.17lbs / 1.44kg shells, 1904 Model Breech loading guns in deck mounts on side, evenly spread, all raised mounts Weight of broadside 10,549 lbs / 4,785 kg Shells per gun, main battery: 75 Armour: - Belts: Width (max) Length (avg) Height (avg) Main: 9.00" / 229 mm 380.00 ft / 115.82 m 8.00 ft / 2.44 m Ends: 6.00" / 152 mm 141.50 ft / 43.13 m 8.00 ft / 2.44 m 20.50 ft / 6.25 m Unarmoured ends Upper: 5.00" / 127 mm 280.00 ft / 85.34 m 8.00 ft / 2.44 m Main Belt covers 108 % of normal length Main belt does not fully cover magazines and engineering spaces - Torpedo Bulkhead: 1.00" / 25 mm 380.00 ft / 115.82 m 24.00 ft / 7.32 m - Gun armour: Face (max) Other gunhouse (avg) Barbette/hoist (max) Main: 9.00" / 229 mm 6.00" / 152 mm 9.00" / 229 mm 2nd: 9.00" / 229 mm 6.00" / 152 mm 9.00" / 229 mm 3rd: 9.00" / 229 mm 6.00" / 152 mm 9.00" / 229 mm 4th: 2.00" / 51 mm - - - Armour deck: 2.00" / 51 mm, Conning tower: 7.00" / 178 mm Machinery: Coal fired boilers, steam turbines, Direct drive, 4 shafts, 60,214 shp / 44,920 Kw = 24.00 kts Range 4,000nm at 12.00 kts Bunker at max displacement = 3,516 tons (100% coal) Complement: 1,094 - 1,423 Cost: £2.842 million / $11.367 million Distribution of weights at normal displacement: Armament: 1,319 tons, 4.6 % Armour: 6,930 tons, 24.4 % - Belts: 1,976 tons, 6.9 % - Torpedo bulkhead: 337 tons, 1.2 % - Armament: 3,017 tons, 10.6 % - Armour Deck: 1,458 tons, 5.1 % - Conning Tower: 141 tons, 0.5 % Machinery: 6,021 tons, 21.2 % Hull, fittings & equipment: 11,192 tons, 39.3 % Fuel, ammunition & stores: 2,988 tons, 10.5 % Miscellaneous weights: 0 tons, 0.0 % Overall survivability and seakeeping ability: Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship): 26,264 lbs / 11,913 Kg = 30.4 x 12.0 " / 305 mm shells or 3.4 torpedoes Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.01 Metacentric height 4.8 ft / 1.4 m Roll period: 18.5 seconds Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 54 % - Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.78 Seaboat quality (Average = 1.00): 1.08 Hull form characteristics: Hull has rise forward of midbreak Block coefficient: 0.638 Length to Beam Ratio: 5.65 : 1 'Natural speed' for length: 23.28 kts Power going to wave formation at top speed: 56 % 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 %): 26.00 ft / 7.92 m - Mid (67 %): 26.00 ft / 7.92 m (18.00 ft / 5.49 m aft of break) - Quarterdeck (18 %): 18.00 ft / 5.49 m - Stern: 18.00 ft / 5.49 m - Average freeboard: 23.36 ft / 7.12 m Ship space, strength and comments: Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 130.1 % - Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 165.2 % Waterplane Area: 39,419 Square feet or 3,662 Square metres Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 96 % Structure weight / hull surface area: 200 lbs/sq ft or 975 Kg/sq metre Hull strength (Relative): - Cross-sectional: 0.93 - Longitudinal: 1.96 - Overall: 1.00 Hull space for machinery, storage, compartmentation is cramped Room for accommodation and workspaces is excellent

Monday, May 23, 2005

"The Red Admiral" showed me his Springsharp design for the "X4"

I learned some things from "The Red Admiral", who plays the Italians in the WesWorld. One important thing that I hadn't thought of is dividing the main armament up into groups and defining heach one separately. In Springsharp 2.1, that is the only way achieve a degree of fine control. Some other things that you can do to reduce the weights and keep displacement and power in check is to have an upper and lower belt, with the upper belt potentially being shorter. Other steps to take are to reduce the cruising speed to as low as 10 knots and the range to as low as 4500 nm in large ships. That way, you can use the historically accurate coal-fired boilers, and not cheat on the date (at least too much) for th engines.

Sunday, May 22, 2005

My attempt at an X4 design is pretty sad

The X4 was supposed to be 623ft x 83ft x 27.5ft, carry 10-12in, 8-4in, and 18-3in guns, and have an 11in belt with a 25 knot speed. This is the best that I can do, seemingly, and it is unsatisfactory, due to the size. Perhaps someone who knows Springsharp better could make it work as originally specified:
X4 Design, Great Britain Battleship laid down 1906 (Engine 1908)

Displacement:
 22,949 t light; 23,946 t standard; 26,650 t normal; 28,813 t full load

Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught
 623.00 ft / 623.00 ft x 88.00 ft x 28.00 ft (normal load)
 189.89 m / 189.89 m x 26.82 m  x 8.53 m

Armament:
      10 - 12.00" / 305 mm guns (5x2 guns), 864.00lbs / 391.90kg shells, 1906 Model
   Breech loading guns in turrets (on barbettes)
   on centreline, evenly spread, all raised mounts
      8 - 4.00" / 102 mm guns in single mounts, 32.00lbs / 14.51kg shells, 1906 Model
   Quick firing guns in casemate mounts 
   on side, all amidships, all raised mounts - superfiring
      18 - 3.00" / 76.2 mm guns in single mounts, 13.50lbs / 6.12kg shells, 1906 Model
   Quick firing guns in casemate mounts 
   on side, evenly spread, all raised mounts
 Weight of broadside 9,139 lbs / 4,145 kg
 Shells per gun, main battery: 90
 3 - 18.0" / 457.2 mm submerged torpedo tubes

Armour:
   - Belts:  Width (max) Length (avg)  Height (avg)
 Main: 11.0" / 279 mm 430.00 ft / 131.06 m 8.00 ft / 2.44 m
 Ends: 5.00" / 127 mm 193.00 ft / 58.83 m 17.00 ft / 5.18 m
 Upper: 8.00" / 203 mm 430.00 ft / 131.06 m 8.00 ft / 2.44 m
   Main Belt covers 106 % of normal length

   - Torpedo Bulkhead:
  1.50" / 38 mm 430.00 ft / 131.06 m 25.00 ft / 7.62 m

   - Gun armour: Face (max) Other gunhouse (avg) Barbette/hoist (max)
 Main: 11.0" / 279 mm 6.00" / 152 mm  10.0" / 254 mm

   - Armour deck: 2.50" / 64 mm, Conning tower: 10.00" / 254 mm

Machinery:
 Coal fired boilers, steam turbines, 
 Direct drive, 4 shafts, 61,982 shp / 46,238 Kw = 25.00 kts
 Range 7,500nm at 12.00 kts
 Bunker at max displacement = 4,867 tons (100% coal)

Complement:
 1,042 - 1,355

Cost:
 £2.245 million / $8.980 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
 Armament: 1,142 tons, 4.3 %
 Armour: 8,460 tons, 31.7 %
    - Belts: 3,401 tons, 12.8 %
    - Torpedo bulkhead: 597 tons, 2.2 %
    - Armament: 2,402 tons, 9.0 %
    - Armour Deck: 1,868 tons, 7.0 %
    - Conning Tower: 192 tons, 0.7 %
 Machinery: 3,443 tons, 12.9 %
 Hull, fittings & equipment: 9,903 tons, 37.2 %
 Fuel, ammunition & stores: 3,701 tons, 13.9 %
 Miscellaneous weights: 0 tons, 0.0 %

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
 Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
   33,389 lbs / 15,145 Kg = 38.6 x 12.0 " / 305 mm shells or 5.0 torpedoes
 Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.00
 Metacentric height 4.2 ft / 1.3 m
 Roll period: 18.1 seconds
 Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 61 %
   - Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.81
 Seaboat quality  (Average = 1.00): 1.22

Hull form characteristics:
 Hull has rise forward of midbreak
 Block coefficient: 0.608
 Length to Beam Ratio: 7.08 : 1
 'Natural speed' for length: 24.96 kts
 Power going to wave formation at top speed: 50 %
 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:  30.00 ft / 9.14 m
    - Forecastle (37 %): 23.00 ft / 7.01 m
    - Mid (67 %):  23.00 ft / 7.01 m (17.00 ft / 5.18 m aft of break)
    - Quarterdeck (15 %): 17.00 ft / 5.18 m
    - Stern:  17.00 ft / 5.18 m
    - Average freeboard: 22.06 ft / 6.72 m

Ship space, strength and comments:
 Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 98.2 %
  - Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 153.2 %
 Waterplane Area: 40,384 Square feet or 3,752 Square metres
 Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 109 %
 Structure weight / hull surface area: 170 lbs/sq ft or 828 Kg/sq metre
 Hull strength (Relative):
  - Cross-sectional: 0.96
  - Longitudinal: 1.38
  - Overall: 1.00
 Hull space for machinery, storage, compartmentation is adequate
 Room for accommodation and workspaces is excellent
 Good seaboat, rides out heavy weather easily

I'm trying to get the X4 design to work in Springsharp

The X4 design was a fast battleship with an 11in armor basis and a 25 knot speed. The armament was similar to the Dreadnought with 10-12in guns. Springsharp doesn't have a good facility for specifying the armament layout in detail, although I expect that to be fixed in Springsharp 3.0. At my level of understanding about how Springsharp works, the X4 design fails. I can do some ridiculous things about inflating the beam and displacement all out of proportion, and get a viable Springsharp design, but it is not anything like the real design from 1906.

The problem with the color GIF drawings is that in internal arrangement is not modeled

My earlier GIF drawings had two advantages. One, I followed Frank Fox's advice about always making an inboard profile, showing machinery and magazines, before doing an outboard profile. The other is that the resolution was greater, so details could be more accurate. The downside is that they were too large to show directly on a blog page. They have to be converted to JPG and reduced to fit.

Saturday, May 21, 2005

The fast British battleship design for 1906

I now have a drawing that seems more or less like what a fast battleship for 1906 might look like. The GB/BB/1906 Fast design is 590ft long, carries 8-12in/45 BLR and 16-4in QF guns and has a 1oin armor basis. The speed is the same as that planned for the Invincibles, being 25 knots. I realized that Colonel Cuniberti's Ideal Battleship for the British navy was another example of an early fast battleship design.

I don't have a drawing to this scale for Colonel Cuniberti's battleship, but this is the photo that I like the best:

Colonel Cuniberti's fast battleship was intended to make 24 knots and to make the design work, I had to sacrifice armor to achieve his desired gunpower. I also had to let the design grow quite large. The recoil and stability issues required it.

Brassey's The Naval Annual 1894

I have written on this subject before, but I highly recommend Brassey's Naval Annual as interesting and informative reading. I bought the 1894 volume because it has ship information relevant to the Sino-Japanese War. In the spirit of the times, there was little official secrecy. That came with the start of the Anglo-German naval race. There must have been secrets before that, but in the 1880's and 1890's there was an openness about technical information that we have not seen since. I consider myself fortunate to have an original copy of this Brassey's issue, albeit one that has been repaired. The advantage over the less costly paperback reprints is that the text and artwork are the original size and are more readable and higher quality. Still, the reprints from Elibron Classics are great. Because of them, I have a copy of the original issue from 1885. I would like to own a copy of all that they have, especially the 1897 edition, as it should have the ships for the Spanish-American War. The 1913 edition has been reprinted in the past as a hardback. For similar reasons, it is good, as it has WWI-related information. The original 1919, 1920, and 1921 volumes are also good sources of information about the aborted naval building race that was terminated by the Washington Naval Treaty. The Purdue University Library had them, when I was there quite a long time ago. In particulary, the major caliber gun data is useful for those of us who want to design our own ships.

A feature of Brassey's are the drawings and illustrations. In the 1894 edition, there are no photographs, only paintings or whatever they are that are reproduced. There are also plan and profile drawings of many ships. They vary from crude, diagrammatic pictures to detailed drawings obiously done from the plans. For example, there is an excellent set of drawings of the Japanese fast cruiser Yoshino. There are also decent drawings showing the planned configuration of the Maine, then classified as an armored cruiser. Those sorts of drawings are superior to the sort of thing published in Jane's prior WWI.

Friday, May 20, 2005

So what would it take for a 1906 fast battleship?

I thought that I should try a British fast battleship for 1906, to be built instead of the Invincible class battlecruisers. I thought that the design could get by with 8-12in/45 BLR and 16-4in QF guns and a speed of 25 knots. Coal-fired boilers seemed to be a necessity, as that date. The armor basis would be 10in. With coal-fired boilers, the size really is too large. I wrestled with it for a while, even trying oil-fired boilers. The dimensions ended up as 590ft x 85ft x 27ft. The Washington Naval Treaty Standard Displacement ended up as 20,290 tons. The normal displacement is too great at 23,200 tons. That was what it took to achieve this with the technology level that was available, except accepting higer power output machinery (22.8 SHP/ton), which is a huge concession. This is the Springsharp report:
GB/BB/1906 Fast, Great Britain Battleship laid down 1906 (Engine 1912)

Displacement:
 19,449 t light; 20,290 t standard; 23,200 t normal; 25,528 t full load

Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught
 590.00 ft / 590.00 ft x 85.00 ft x 27.00 ft (normal load)
 179.83 m / 179.83 m x 25.91 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, all raised mounts - 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, all amidships, all raised mounts - superfiring
 Weight of broadside 7,424 lbs / 3,367 kg
 Shells per gun, main battery: 90
 2 - 18.0" / 457.2 mm submerged torpedo tubes

Armour:
   - Belts:  Width (max) Length (avg)  Height (avg)
 Main: 10.0" / 254 mm 380.00 ft / 115.82 m 17.00 ft / 5.18 m
 Ends: 4.00" / 102 mm 190.00 ft / 57.91 m 17.00 ft / 5.18 m
   20.00 ft / 6.10 m Unarmoured ends
   Main Belt covers 99 % of normal length

   - Torpedo Bulkhead:
  1.00" / 25 mm 380.00 ft / 115.82 m 25.00 ft / 7.62 m

   - Gun armour: Face (max) Other gunhouse (avg) Barbette/hoist (max)
 Main: 10.0" / 254 mm 6.00" / 152 mm  10.0" / 254 mm
 2nd: 2.00" / 51 mm       -         -

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

Machinery:
 Coal fired boilers, steam turbines, 
 Direct drive, 4 shafts, 57,970 shp / 43,246 Kw = 25.00 kts
 Range 6,500nm at 15.00 kts
 Bunker at max displacement = 5,238 tons (100% coal)

Complement:
 939 - 1,221

Cost:
 £1.816 million / $7.265 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
 Armament: 928 tons, 4.0 %
 Armour: 7,152 tons, 30.8 %
    - Belts: 3,285 tons, 14.2 %
    - Torpedo bulkhead: 352 tons, 1.5 %
    - Armament: 1,983 tons, 8.5 %
    - Armour Deck: 1,357 tons, 5.8 %
    - Conning Tower: 175 tons, 0.8 %
 Machinery: 2,543 tons, 11.0 %
 Hull, fittings & equipment: 8,826 tons, 38.0 %
 Fuel, ammunition & stores: 3,751 tons, 16.2 %
 Miscellaneous weights: 0 tons, 0.0 %

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
 Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
   35,613 lbs / 16,154 Kg = 41.2 x 12.0 " / 305 mm shells or 5.4 torpedoes
 Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.03
 Metacentric height 4.1 ft / 1.3 m
 Roll period: 17.5 seconds
 Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 64 %
   - Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.83
 Seaboat quality  (Average = 1.00): 1.27

Hull form characteristics:
 Hull has rise forward of midbreak
 Block coefficient: 0.600
 Length to Beam Ratio: 6.94 : 1
 'Natural speed' for length: 24.29 kts
 Power going to wave formation at top speed: 52 %
 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 %): 25.00 ft / 7.62 m
    - Mid (67 %):  25.00 ft / 7.62 m (17.00 ft / 5.18 m aft of break)
    - Quarterdeck (15 %): 17.00 ft / 5.18 m
    - Stern:  17.00 ft / 5.18 m
    - Average freeboard: 22.52 ft / 6.86 m

Ship space, strength and comments:
 Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 87.7 %
  - Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 169.5 %
 Waterplane Area: 36,668 Square feet or 3,407 Square metres
 Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 118 %
 Structure weight / hull surface area: 164 lbs/sq ft or 802 Kg/sq metre
 Hull strength (Relative):
  - Cross-sectional: 0.95
  - Longitudinal: 1.63
  - Overall: 1.00
 Hull space for machinery, storage, compartmentation is adequate
 Room for accommodation and workspaces is excellent
 Good seaboat, rides out heavy weather easily

So, what could a fast battleship alterative to the Lion looked like?

Suppose the British had decided to build a fast battleship instead of the Lion class. In fact, they could have built 4 fast battleships instead of the 21 knot battleships and the two battlecruisers. I kept the armament down to 8-13.5in and 16-4in guns, along with 4-21in TT submerged. The armor basis is 11in, and the speed is 27 knots. They would have totally outclassed the Germans. The angle is the machinery weight, which is 22.4 SHP/ton. I stayed with coal-fired boilers as that is what they were using except for destroyers. Here is the Springsharp report:
GB/BB/1909 Fast, Great Britain Battleship laid down 1909 (Engine 1911)

Displacement:
 26,987 t light; 28,160 t standard; 32,404 t normal; 35,799 t full load

Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught
 700.00 ft / 700.00 ft x 94.00 ft x 31.00 ft (normal load)
 213.36 m / 213.36 m x 28.65 m  x 9.45 m

Armament:
      8 - 13.50" / 343 mm guns (4x2 guns), 1,230.19lbs / 558.00kg shells, 1909 Model
   Breech loading guns in turrets (on barbettes)
   on centreline ends, evenly spread
      16 - 4.00" / 102 mm guns in single mounts, 32.00lbs / 14.51kg shells, 1909 Model
   Quick firing guns in casemate mounts 
   on side, all amidships
 Weight of broadside 10,354 lbs / 4,696 kg
 Shells per gun, main battery: 90
 4 - 21.0" / 533.4 mm submerged torpedo tubes

Armour:
   - Belts:  Width (max) Length (avg)  Height (avg)
 Main: 11.0" / 279 mm 465.00 ft / 141.73 m 17.00 ft / 5.18 m
 Ends: 5.00" / 127 mm 235.00 ft / 71.63 m 17.00 ft / 5.18 m
   Main Belt covers 102 % of normal length

   - Torpedo Bulkhead:
  1.50" / 38 mm 465.00 ft / 141.73 m 27.00 ft / 8.23 m

   - Gun armour: Face (max) Other gunhouse (avg) Barbette/hoist (max)
 Main: 11.0" / 279 mm 7.00" / 178 mm  11.0" / 279 mm
 2nd: 2.00" / 51 mm       -         -

   - Armour deck: 2.50" / 64 mm, Conning tower: 11.00" / 279 mm

Machinery:
 Coal fired boilers, steam turbines, 
 Direct drive, 4 shafts, 88,383 shp / 65,934 Kw = 27.00 kts
 Range 7,500nm at 15.00 kts
 Bunker at max displacement = 7,639 tons (100% coal)

Complement:
 1,206 - 1,569

Cost:
 £2.584 million / $10.336 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
 Armament: 1,294 tons, 4.0 %
 Armour: 9,906 tons, 30.6 %
    - Belts: 4,456 tons, 13.8 %
    - Torpedo bulkhead: 697 tons, 2.2 %
    - Armament: 2,376 tons, 7.3 %
    - Armour Deck: 2,136 tons, 6.6 %
    - Conning Tower: 241 tons, 0.7 %
 Machinery: 3,946 tons, 12.2 %
 Hull, fittings & equipment: 11,842 tons, 36.5 %
 Fuel, ammunition & stores: 5,416 tons, 16.7 %
 Miscellaneous weights: 0 tons, 0.0 %

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
 Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
   50,616 lbs / 22,959 Kg = 41.1 x 13.5 " / 343 mm shells or 7.0 torpedoes
 Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.15
 Metacentric height 5.9 ft / 1.8 m
 Roll period: 16.2 seconds
 Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 78 %
   - Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.69
 Seaboat quality  (Average = 1.00): 1.55

Hull form characteristics:
 Hull has rise forward of midbreak
 Block coefficient: 0.556
 Length to Beam Ratio: 7.45 : 1
 'Natural speed' for length: 26.46 kts
 Power going to wave formation at top speed: 49 %
 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:  31.00 ft / 9.45 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: 26.52 ft / 8.08 m

Ship space, strength and comments:
 Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 91.1 %
  - Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 195.4 %
 Waterplane Area: 46,180 Square feet or 4,290 Square metres
 Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 115 %
 Structure weight / hull surface area: 169 lbs/sq ft or 826 Kg/sq metre
 Hull strength (Relative):
  - Cross-sectional: 0.95
  - Longitudinal: 1.65
  - Overall: 1.00
 Hull space for machinery, storage, compartmentation is adequate
 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

Thursday, May 19, 2005

1885 was a turning point

After 1885, there really was a great techological advance that continued to the end of the Century. In 1885, the British navy looked on the 17-knot Scout and her sisters as "ocean-going torpedo boats". They were already too slow for that role. Not very much earlier, 17 knots seemed fast. Soon, quite large ships would be able to exceed 20 knots. The French were leaders in building fast torpedo boats, which tended to lead the way and to drive the British to do better. The Scout was designed by Nathanial Barnaby as a "torpedo cruiser", a type intended to accompany the fleet and deliver torpedo attacks. You might think of them in the defensive role, as well, although they seem to have had 5in BLR guns, not QF.

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

A variant GB/CA/1912 armored cruiser with triple turrets

I tried several variants of the GB/CA/1912 armored cruiser concept. My first thought was to have a main armament of 9-9.2in/50 guns in triple turrets. The result seemed to be under-gunned, so I went with 12-9.2in/50 and 12-6in/50 QF guns . The 9.2in guns are in triple turrets with the 6in guns in casemates. The size is rather larger than I would like, but to obtain 30 knot speed with a 6in belt and 2.5in deck, size is what is needed. This is the Springsharp report:
GB/CA/1912B1, Great Britain Armored Cruiser laid down 1912 (Engine 1917)

Displacement:
 18,295 t light; 19,127 t standard; 20,985 t normal; 22,471 t full load

Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught
 650.00 ft / 650.00 ft x 79.00 ft x 27.00 ft (normal load)
 198.12 m / 198.12 m x 24.08 m  x 8.23 m

Armament:
      12 - 9.20" / 234 mm guns (4x3 guns), 389.34lbs / 176.60kg shells, 1912 Model
   Breech loading guns in turrets (on barbettes)
   on centreline ends, evenly spread, 3 raised mounts - superfiring
      12 - 6.00" / 152 mm guns in single mounts, 108.00lbs / 48.99kg shells, 1912 Model
   Breech loading guns in casemate mounts 
   on side, all amidships
   12 guns in hull casemates - Limited use in heavy seas
 Weight of broadside 5,968 lbs / 2,707 kg
 Shells per gun, main battery: 120

Armour:
   - Belts:  Width (max) Length (avg)  Height (avg)
 Main: 6.00" / 152 mm 430.00 ft / 131.06 m 17.00 ft / 5.18 m
 Ends: 4.00" / 102 mm 200.00 ft / 60.96 m 17.00 ft / 5.18 m
   20.00 ft / 6.10 m Unarmoured ends
   Main Belt covers 102 % of normal length
   Main belt does not fully cover magazines and engineering spaces

   - Torpedo Bulkhead:
  1.00" / 25 mm 430.00 ft / 131.06 m 23.00 ft / 7.01 m

   - Gun armour: Face (max) Other gunhouse (avg) Barbette/hoist (max)
 Main: 8.00" / 203 mm 4.00" / 102 mm  7.00" / 178 mm
 2nd: 2.00" / 51 mm       -         -

   - Armour deck: 2.50" / 64 mm, Conning tower: 8.00" / 203 mm

Machinery:
 Oil fired boilers, steam turbines, 
 Direct drive, 4 shafts, 103,026 shp / 76,857 Kw = 30.00 kts
 Range 7,500nm at 15.00 kts
 Bunker at max displacement = 3,345 tons

Complement:
 871 - 1,133

Cost:
 £1.796 million / $7.183 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
 Armament: 746 tons, 3.6 %
 Armour: 5,746 tons, 27.4 %
    - Belts: 2,359 tons, 11.2 %
    - Torpedo bulkhead: 366 tons, 1.7 %
    - Armament: 1,264 tons, 6.0 %
    - Armour Deck: 1,626 tons, 7.8 %
    - Conning Tower: 131 tons, 0.6 %
 Machinery: 3,777 tons, 18.0 %
 Hull, fittings & equipment: 8,026 tons, 38.2 %
 Fuel, ammunition & stores: 2,690 tons, 12.8 %
 Miscellaneous weights: 0 tons, 0.0 %

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
 Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
   26,981 lbs / 12,238 Kg = 69.3 x 9.2 " / 234 mm shells or 3.6 torpedoes
 Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.12
 Metacentric height 4.3 ft / 1.3 m
 Roll period: 15.9 seconds
 Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 54 %
   - Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.65
 Seaboat quality  (Average = 1.00): 1.08

Hull form characteristics:
 Hull has rise forward of midbreak
 Block coefficient: 0.530
 Length to Beam Ratio: 8.23 : 1
 'Natural speed' for length: 25.50 kts
 Power going to wave formation at top speed: 54 %
 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 %): 25.00 ft / 7.62 m
    - Mid (67 %):  25.00 ft / 7.62 m (17.00 ft / 5.18 m aft of break)
    - Quarterdeck (15 %): 17.00 ft / 5.18 m
    - Stern:  17.00 ft / 5.18 m
    - Average freeboard: 22.52 ft / 6.86 m
 Ship tends to be wet forward

Ship space, strength and comments:
 Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 115.0 %
  - Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 175.2 %
 Waterplane Area: 35,165 Square feet or 3,267 Square metres
 Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 109 %
 Structure weight / hull surface area: 148 lbs/sq ft or 723 Kg/sq metre
 Hull strength (Relative):
  - Cross-sectional: 0.96
  - Longitudinal: 1.40
  - Overall: 1.00
 Hull space for machinery, storage, compartmentation is cramped
 Room for accommodation and workspaces is excellent

Andrew Toppan has a good summary of dreadnoughts

Andrew Toppan, at Haze Gray & Underway has a nice summary of dreadnoughts, worldwide. He has them divided by country. He also has a useful photo gallery on his site that goes way beyond dreadnoughts.

I believe that what Admiral Fisher really wanted as a fast battleship

The more I read about Admiral Fisher, the more that I think that what he really wanted was a fast battleship. His favorite pre-dreadnought was the 2nd Class battleship Renown, for example. As early as 1902, if not before, he had concluded that the ideal capital ship would be a fast armored cruiser. The "Perfection" design reflected his ideas circa 1902. That evolved into the "Unapproachable" design by 1904.

The majority opinion at the time, affected by lessons from the Russo-Japanese War, was that you needed the biggest guns on your capital ship, and no one but Fisher was willing to only have an armored cruiser. Captain Bacon apparently was the one who suggested putting 12in guns on an armored cruiser, and the battlecruiser was born.

By 1912, Admiral Fisher had the "Super Lion" concept. It never really became a design, except in my Springsharp report, drawings, and photos. He assumed that to get speed, you needed to sacrifice armor. Down deep, he also assumed that you needed to settle for fewer guns, in order to achieve speed. The Renown, Repulse, Courageous, Glorious, and Furious reflected that belief. I had thought that the reason for the Renown and Repulse had only 6 guns was because of availability, but apparently, it was actually a conscious decision. My friend Cliff and I had made a similar error when we designed ships for our building programs, back in 1971. We also made a similar error to Colonel Cuniberti in that we assumed that we could achieve what we wanted on what now seems to be too small a displacement.

Long term, it was obvious that he was right in believing that the future was with the fast capital ship. That was what was exclusively built after the Nelson and Rodney. After that, a slow fast battleship made 27 knots. The G3 battlecruisers were really the ideal fast battleship, except that the design was marred by the mindset that wanted to do strange things that compromised military characteristics in order to squeeze a bit more out of a particular size ship. The Nelson and Rodney were similarly marred by the same issue. They ended up being underweight by a wide margin that could have been used to give them a conventional gun layout.

I expect that the armament layout for the "Perfection" armored cruiser was similar to one of my two photos

I don't believe that John Robert's description of the "Perfection" armored cruiser concept for 1902 explicitly described the armament layout. He just indicated that the layout allowed for 10-gun fire forward, presumably as well on the broadside and aft. In reality, it would only be a paper capability, due to blast effects. The layout in Dr. Oscar Parkes' book British Battleships is for a flush-decked ship with two 7.5in twin turrets, side-by-side on the forecastle and the quarterdeck. Amidships, one level above the weather deck, are twin turrets on each side. Also at that level, in the superfiring position are twin 9.2in turrets, forward and aft. The alternative arrangement is with three 7.5in turrets on each side, with the center turret superfiring. Forward and aft are the 9.2in turrets. My photo shows a raised forecastle with the latter arrangement, while the former has a flush deck, as in Dr. Parkes' drawing.

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Fisher's "Perfection" armored cruiser from 1902

Mr. William H. Gard did the design work for Admiral Fisher for a fast armored cruiser in 1902. John Roberts writes about it in Battlecruisers. I did a Springsharp report for a ship similar to the Perfection:
  • 540ft x 76ft x 26ft
  • 25 knots maximum, 15 knots cruising speed
  • 4-9.2in, 12-7.5in, and 16-4in QF guns
  • 6in belt
  • 6in 9.2in gun turrets
  • 4in 7.5in gun turrets
  • the QF guns in the superstructure protected by 2in armor
  • 2.5in deck armor
  • 1in anti-torpedo bulkhead
  • range 6,000 nm
This is the Springsharp report:
Perfection, Great Britain Armored Cruiser laid down 1902 (Engine 1910)

Displacement:
 13,570 t light; 14,312 t standard; 16,000 t normal; 17,351 t full load

Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught
 542.00 ft / 540.00 ft x 76.00 ft x 26.00 ft (normal load)
 165.20 m / 164.59 m x 23.16 m  x 7.92 m

Armament:
     4 - 9.20" / 234 mm guns (2x2 guns), 389.34lbs / 176.60kg shells, 1902 Model
   Breech loading guns in turrets (on barbettes)
   on centreline ends, evenly spread, all raised mounts
     12 - 7.50" / 191 mm guns (6x2 guns), 210.94lbs / 95.68kg shells, 1902 Model
   Breech loading guns in turrets (on barbettes)
   on side, all amidships, all raised mounts - superfiring
     16 - 4.00" / 102 mm guns in single mounts, 32.00lbs / 14.51kg shells, 1902 Model
   Quick firing guns in casemate mounts
   on side, evenly spread, all raised mounts
 Weight of broadside 4,601 lbs / 2,087 kg
 Shells per gun, main battery: 150

Armour:
  - Belts:  Width (max) Length (avg)  Height (avg)
 Main: 6.00" / 152 mm 360.00 ft / 109.73 m 17.00 ft / 5.18 m
 Ends: 5.00" / 127 mm 100.00 ft / 30.48 m 17.00 ft / 5.18 m
   80.00 ft / 24.38 m Unarmoured ends
   Main Belt covers 103 % of normal length

  - Torpedo Bulkhead:
  1.00" / 25 mm 360.00 ft / 109.73 m 25.00 ft / 7.62 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: 4.00" / 102 mm 3.00" / 76 mm  4.00" / 102 mm
 3rd: 2.00" / 51 mm       -         -

  - Armour deck: 2.50" / 64 mm, Conning tower: 10.00" / 254 mm

Machinery:
 Oil fired boilers, steam turbines,
 Direct drive, 4 shafts, 45,971 shp / 34,294 Kw = 25.00 kts
 Range 6,000nm at 15.00 kts
 Bunker at max displacement = 3,039 tons

Complement:
 710 - 924

Cost:
 £1.224 million / $4.896 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
 Armament: 575 tons, 3.6 %
 Armour: 4,863 tons, 30.4 %
    - Belts: 1,887 tons, 11.8 %
    - Torpedo bulkhead: 333 tons, 2.1 %
    - Armament: 1,212 tons, 7.6 %
    - Armour Deck: 1,294 tons, 8.1 %
    - Conning Tower: 137 tons, 0.9 %
 Machinery: 1,900 tons, 11.9 %
 Hull, fittings & equipment: 6,232 tons, 39.0 %
 Fuel, ammunition & stores: 2,430 tons, 15.2 %
 Miscellaneous weights: 0 tons, 0.0 %

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
 Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
   25,082 lbs / 11,377 Kg = 64.4 x 9.2 " / 234 mm shells or 4.2 torpedoes
 Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.02
 Metacentric height 3.4 ft / 1.0 m
 Roll period: 17.2 seconds
 Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 69 %
   - Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.81
 Seaboat quality  (Average = 1.00): 1.37

Hull form characteristics:
 Hull has a flush deck
 Block coefficient: 0.525
 Length to Beam Ratio: 7.11 : 1
 'Natural speed' for length: 23.24 kts
 Power going to wave formation at top speed: 52 %
 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:  24.00 ft / 7.32 m
    - Forecastle (20 %): 22.00 ft / 6.71 m
    - Mid (67 %):  22.00 ft / 6.71 m
    - Quarterdeck (15 %): 22.00 ft / 6.71 m
    - Stern:  22.00 ft / 6.71 m
    - Average freeboard: 22.16 ft / 6.75 m
 Ship tends to be wet forward

Ship space, strength and comments:
 Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 91.3 %
  - Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 165.1 %
 Waterplane Area: 27,976 Square feet or 2,599 Square metres
 Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 121 %
 Structure weight / hull surface area: 143 lbs/sq ft or 700 Kg/sq metre
 Hull strength (Relative):
  - Cross-sectional: 0.93
  - Longitudinal: 1.93
  - Overall: 1.00
 Hull space for machinery, storage, compartmentation is adequate
 Room for accommodation and workspaces is excellent
 Good seaboat, rides out heavy weather easily

The start of the German armored cruiser program after 1906

The British disrupted their rivals by changing the rules on warship building. The last pre-Dreadnought armored cruisers built in Germany were the archaic-looking Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. They had military masts, four funnels, and most of their armament in casemates on the broadside. British misinformation seemed to indicate that they would build armored cruisers with a uniform 9.2in gun armament. This was seriously contemplated, the last design study being for a ship with 16-9.2in guns. Since the Germans wanted to respond as quickly as possible, they laid down the Blücher with 12-8.2in guns and a 24 knot speed in February 1907. The Blücher had the same armament layout as the new German dreadnought battleships, in the so-called lozenge arrangement with two wing turrets on each side and one turret at each end. The pre-Dreadnought mindset that infused the naval administrations could largely not think about more modern alternatives. The American response to all big gun rumblings was to build the diminutive Michigan and South Carolina. These were built on a pre-dreadnought hull with a modern armament layout: 8-12in guns in superfiring twin turrets. When the Germans finally realized that the British were building armored cruisers with 8-12in guns, they responded with the Von der Tann, with 8-11in guns and capable of as much as 27 knots. The Germans were able to achieve cross-deck firing, albeit over limited arcs. The Von der Tann was greatly superior to the Invincibles, although she suffered from too light an armament. The 11in/45 guns was much less capable than the 12in/45. The main feature where the Von der Tann excelled was that she had a 10in belt, while the Invincibles and Indefatigables only had 6in belts. The follow-on German ships still had only 11in guns, although they were 50 calibers in length. It was not until the superb Derfflinger was laid down that they had a world-beater. The Derfflinger was the first modern fast battleship. She still suffered from an inferior armament, but in every other way was better than her British counterparts. The WWII German capital ships were simply extrapolations of the Derfflinger with more modern technology.

Monday, May 16, 2005

I discovered this site from Sitemeter: www.battleships.ru

While checking referring links from Sitemeter, I noticed a reference to this site: www.battleships.ru. Their Kniaz Suvorov 3D model is very impressive.

Sunday, May 15, 2005

The GB/CL/1914 drawing

This is drawing is for my modified design for the GB/CL/1914 cruiser.

The dimesions are 580ft x 60ft x 22ft. The armament is 8-7.5in/50 BLR in twin mounts, 8-4.7in/50 QF, and 4-21in TT in twin mounts. The armor basis is 4in. The maximum speed is 30 knots and the cruising speed is 15 knots. The displacement is pretty large: 11,112 tons, normal.

I don't like how single mounts work for the GB/CL/1914, so I've revised the design

I have a drawing for the GB/CL/1914, in its original form, and don't like how much space single mounts take, when they are all on the centerline. I've revised the design to use twin 7.5in mounts. That is the only change, for now. This is the new Springsharp report:
GB/CL/1914 A2, Great Britain Cruiser laid down 1914 (Engine 1921)

Displacement:
 9,578 t light; 9,983 t standard; 11,112 t normal; 12,016 t full load

Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught
 582.98 ft / 580.00 ft x 60.00 ft x 22.00 ft (normal load)
 177.69 m / 176.78 m x 18.29 m  x 6.71 m

Armament:
      8 - 7.50" / 191 mm guns (4x2 guns), 210.94lbs / 95.68kg shells, 1914 Model
   Breech loading guns in deck mounts with hoists
   on centreline ends, evenly spread, all raised mounts - superfiring
      8 - 4.70" / 119 mm guns in single mounts, 51.91lbs / 23.55kg shells, 1914 Model
   Quick firing guns in deck mounts with hoists
   on side, all amidships, all raised mounts - superfiring
 Weight of broadside 2,103 lbs / 954 kg
 Shells per gun, main battery: 150
 4 - 21.0" / 533.4 mm above water torpedoes

Armour:
   - Belts:  Width (max) Length (avg)  Height (avg)
 Main: 4.00" / 102 mm 400.00 ft / 121.92 m 17.00 ft / 5.18 m
 Ends: 3.00" / 76 mm 100.00 ft / 30.48 m 17.00 ft / 5.18 m
   80.00 ft / 24.38 m Unarmoured ends
   Main Belt covers 106 % of normal length

   - Gun armour: Face (max) Other gunhouse (avg) Barbette/hoist (max)
 Main: 2.00" / 51 mm       -         -
 2nd: 1.00" / 25 mm       -         -

   - Armour deck: 2.00" / 51 mm, Conning tower: 5.00" / 127 mm

Machinery:
 Oil fired boilers, steam turbines, 
 Geared drive, 4 shafts, 70,580 shp / 52,652 Kw = 30.00 kts
 Range 7,500nm at 15.00 kts
 Bunker at max displacement = 2,033 tons

Complement:
 540 - 703

Cost:
 £1.141 million / $4.563 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
 Armament: 263 tons, 2.4 %
 Armour: 2,316 tons, 20.8 %
    - Belts: 1,314 tons, 11.8 %
    - Torpedo bulkhead: 0 tons, 0.0 %
    - Armament: 84 tons, 0.8 %
    - Armour Deck: 864 tons, 7.8 %
    - Conning Tower: 54 tons, 0.5 %
 Machinery: 2,430 tons, 21.9 %
 Hull, fittings & equipment: 4,569 tons, 41.1 %
 Fuel, ammunition & stores: 1,534 tons, 13.8 %
 Miscellaneous weights: 0 tons, 0.0 %

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
 Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
   15,933 lbs / 7,227 Kg = 75.5 x 7.5 " / 191 mm shells or 1.8 torpedoes
 Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.12
 Metacentric height 2.9 ft / 0.9 m
 Roll period: 14.8 seconds
 Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 80 %
   - Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.94
 Seaboat quality  (Average = 1.00): 1.60

Hull form characteristics:
 Hull has rise forward of midbreak
 Block coefficient: 0.508
 Length to Beam Ratio: 9.67 : 1
 'Natural speed' for length: 24.08 kts
 Power going to wave formation at top speed: 54 %
 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:  28.00 ft / 8.53 m
    - Forecastle (20 %): 26.00 ft / 7.92 m
    - Mid (67 %):  26.00 ft / 7.92 m (18.00 ft / 5.49 m aft of break)
    - Quarterdeck (15 %): 18.00 ft / 5.49 m
    - Stern:  18.00 ft / 5.49 m
    - Average freeboard: 23.52 ft / 7.17 m

Ship space, strength and comments:
 Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 89.8 %
  - Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 180.4 %
 Waterplane Area: 23,357 Square feet or 2,170 Square metres
 Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 120 %
 Structure weight / hull surface area: 108 lbs/sq ft or 527 Kg/sq metre
 Hull strength (Relative):
  - Cross-sectional: 0.92
  - Longitudinal: 2.25
  - Overall: 1.00
 Hull space for machinery, storage, compartmentation is adequate
 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

A British first class cruiser for 1914: GB/CL/1914 with 7.5in guns

I thought that a substantial British cruiser for use on the high seas would be useful to back up the smaller 6in gun cruisers. My design for the GB/CL/1914 has 8-7.5in BLR, 8-4.7in QF, 4-21in TT, and a 4in armor basis. The speed is 30 knots maximum with a 15 knot cruising speed. The range is modest, but adequate 7,500 nm. This is the Springsharp report:
GB/CL/1914, Great Britain Cruiser laid down 1914 (Engine 1921)

Displacement:
 9,476 t light; 9,879 t standard; 11,004 t normal; 11,904 t full load

Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught
 582.98 ft / 580.00 ft x 60.00 ft x 21.00 ft (normal load)
 177.69 m / 176.78 m x 18.29 m  x 6.40 m

Armament:
      8 - 7.50" / 191 mm guns in single mounts, 210.94lbs / 95.68kg shells, 1914 Model
   Breech loading guns in deck mounts with hoists
   on centreline ends, evenly spread, all raised mounts - superfiring
      8 - 4.70" / 119 mm guns in single mounts, 51.91lbs / 23.55kg shells, 1914 Model
   Quick firing guns in deck mounts with hoists
   on side, all amidships, all raised mounts - superfiring
 Weight of broadside 2,103 lbs / 954 kg
 Shells per gun, main battery: 150
 4 - 21.0" / 533.4 mm above water torpedoes

Armour:
   - Belts:  Width (max) Length (avg)  Height (avg)
 Main: 4.00" / 102 mm 400.00 ft / 121.92 m 17.00 ft / 5.18 m
 Ends: 3.00" / 76 mm 100.00 ft / 30.48 m 17.00 ft / 5.18 m
   80.00 ft / 24.38 m Unarmoured ends
   Main Belt covers 106 % of normal length

   - Gun armour: Face (max) Other gunhouse (avg) Barbette/hoist (max)
 Main: 2.00" / 51 mm       -         -
 2nd: 1.00" / 25 mm       -         -

   - Armour deck: 2.00" / 51 mm, Conning tower: 5.00" / 127 mm

Machinery:
 Oil fired boilers, steam turbines, 
 Geared drive, 4 shafts, 70,767 shp / 52,792 Kw = 30.00 kts
 Range 7,500nm at 15.00 kts
 Bunker at max displacement = 2,024 tons

Complement:
 536 - 698

Cost:
 £1.137 million / $4.549 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
 Armament: 263 tons, 2.4 %
 Armour: 2,342 tons, 21.3 %
    - Belts: 1,315 tons, 12.0 %
    - Torpedo bulkhead: 0 tons, 0.0 %
    - Armament: 94 tons, 0.9 %
    - Armour Deck: 880 tons, 8.0 %
    - Conning Tower: 53 tons, 0.5 %
 Machinery: 2,437 tons, 22.1 %
 Hull, fittings & equipment: 4,435 tons, 40.3 %
 Fuel, ammunition & stores: 1,527 tons, 13.9 %
 Miscellaneous weights: 0 tons, 0.0 %

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
 Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
   15,928 lbs / 7,225 Kg = 75.5 x 7.5 " / 191 mm shells or 1.8 torpedoes
 Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.14
 Metacentric height 3.0 ft / 0.9 m
 Roll period: 14.7 seconds
 Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 78 %
   - Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.93
 Seaboat quality  (Average = 1.00): 1.57

Hull form characteristics:
 Hull has rise forward of midbreak
 Block coefficient: 0.527
 Length to Beam Ratio: 9.67 : 1
 'Natural speed' for length: 24.08 kts
 Power going to wave formation at top speed: 55 %
 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:  28.00 ft / 8.53 m
    - Forecastle (20 %): 26.00 ft / 7.92 m
    - Mid (67 %):  26.00 ft / 7.92 m (18.00 ft / 5.49 m aft of break)
    - Quarterdeck (15 %): 18.00 ft / 5.49 m
    - Stern:  18.00 ft / 5.49 m
    - Average freeboard: 23.52 ft / 7.17 m

Ship space, strength and comments:
 Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 90.8 %
  - Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 185.0 %
 Waterplane Area: 23,770 Square feet or 2,208 Square metres
 Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 118 %
 Structure weight / hull surface area: 105 lbs/sq ft or 511 Kg/sq metre
 Hull strength (Relative):
  - Cross-sectional: 0.92
  - Longitudinal: 2.10
  - Overall: 1.00
 Hull space for machinery, storage, compartmentation is adequate
 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

Saturday, May 14, 2005

The GB/CL/1912 overseas cruiser drawing

I finally got the GB/CL/1912 drawing in shape to post. I used the photo to get the drawing where it needed to be. I may do more later, but this is my first cut.

A fast, lightly protected British battlecruiser design, circa 1919-1920

One concept that was discussed after the end of the war, about 1919 0r 1920, was a ship to match the early design for the American battlecruisers. This would have been 850ft x 104ft, with 8-15in and 16-6in guns. The speed would have been 33 knots, so the side armor was to be on the order of 5in. I just attempted a Springsharp design for such a ship. The main problem with what is needed is Springsharp is the size (too big):
GB/CB/1919 Fast, Great Britain Battlecruiser laid down 1919 (Engine 1927)

Displacement:
 39,824 t light; 41,602 t standard; 44,453 t normal; 46,733 t full load

Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught
 851.15 ft / 850.00 ft x 104.00 ft x 32.00 ft (normal load)
 259.43 m / 259.08 m x 31.70 m  x 9.75 m

Armament:
      8 - 15.00" / 381 mm guns (4x2 guns), 1,687.50lbs / 765.44kg shells, 1919 Model
   Breech loading guns in turrets (on barbettes)
   on centreline ends, evenly spread, all raised mounts - superfiring
      16 - 6.00" / 152 mm guns (8x2 guns), 108.00lbs / 48.99kg shells, 1919 Model
   Quick firing guns in turrets (on barbettes)
   on side, all amidships, all raised mounts - superfiring
      6 - 4.70" / 119 mm guns in single mounts, 51.91lbs / 23.55kg shells, 1919 Model
   Anti-aircraft guns in deck mounts with hoists
   on side, evenly spread, all raised mounts
      32 - 1.57" / 40.0 mm guns (8x4 guns), 1.95lbs / 0.89kg shells, 1919 Model
   Breech loading guns in deck mounts 
   on side, evenly spread, all raised mounts
 Weight of broadside 15,602 lbs / 7,077 kg
 Shells per gun, main battery: 100

Armour:
   - Belts:  Width (max) Length (avg)  Height (avg)
 Main: 5.00" / 127 mm 590.00 ft / 179.83 m 18.00 ft / 5.49 m
 Ends: 4.00" / 102 mm 240.00 ft / 73.15 m 18.00 ft / 5.49 m
   20.00 ft / 6.10 m Unarmoured ends
   Main Belt covers 107 % of normal length

   - Torpedo Bulkhead:
  2.00" / 51 mm 590.00 ft / 179.83 m 27.00 ft / 8.23 m

   - Gun armour: Face (max) Other gunhouse (avg) Barbette/hoist (max)
 Main: 9.00" / 229 mm 5.00" / 127 mm  8.00" / 203 mm
 2nd: 2.00" / 51 mm 2.00" / 51 mm  2.00" / 51 mm

   - Armour deck: 4.00" / 102 mm, Conning tower: 9.00" / 229 mm

Machinery:
 Oil fired boilers, steam turbines, 
 Geared drive, 4 shafts, 218,578 shp / 163,059 Kw = 33.00 kts
 Range 8,500nm at 15.00 kts
 Bunker at max displacement = 5,132 tons

Complement:
 1,529 - 1,989

Cost:
 £8.723 million / $34.891 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
 Armament: 1,950 tons, 4.4 %
 Armour: 11,761 tons, 26.5 %
    - Belts: 2,870 tons, 6.5 %
    - Torpedo bulkhead: 1,179 tons, 2.7 %
    - Armament: 2,903 tons, 6.5 %
    - Armour Deck: 4,565 tons, 10.3 %
    - Conning Tower: 243 tons, 0.5 %
 Machinery: 6,900 tons, 15.5 %
 Hull, fittings & equipment: 19,213 tons, 43.2 %
 Fuel, ammunition & stores: 4,629 tons, 10.4 %
 Miscellaneous weights: 0 tons, 0.0 %

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
 Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
   58,092 lbs / 26,350 Kg = 34.4 x 15.0 " / 381 mm shells or 7.5 torpedoes
 Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.05
 Metacentric height 5.8 ft / 1.8 m
 Roll period: 18.1 seconds
 Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 57 %
   - Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.92
 Seaboat quality  (Average = 1.00): 1.13

Hull form characteristics:
 Hull has rise forward of midbreak
 Block coefficient: 0.550
 Length to Beam Ratio: 8.17 : 1
 'Natural speed' for length: 29.15 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:  33.00 ft / 10.06 m
    - Forecastle (20 %): 31.00 ft / 9.45 m
    - Mid (67 %):  31.00 ft / 9.45 m (23.00 ft / 7.01 m aft of break)
    - Quarterdeck (15 %): 23.00 ft / 7.01 m
    - Stern:  23.00 ft / 7.01 m
    - Average freeboard: 28.52 ft / 8.69 m

Ship space, strength and comments:
 Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 103.6 %
  - Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 221.2 %
 Waterplane Area: 61,694 Square feet or 5,732 Square metres
 Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 108 %
 Structure weight / hull surface area: 210 lbs/sq ft or 1,025 Kg/sq metre
 Hull strength (Relative):
  - Cross-sectional: 0.96
  - Longitudinal: 1.33
  - Overall: 1.00
 Hull space for machinery, storage, compartmentation is adequate
 Room for accommodation and workspaces is excellent

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