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Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Another attempt at a super-fast battlecruiser

I thought it might be interesting to see what could be achieved with a very fast (my "super fast") light battlecruiser. The design is "light" in the sense that the armament has only four large caliber guns. Given my expertise with Springsharp, a 38 knot ship is very achievable, with the favored armament of 4-17in BLR and 16-QF guns. I have a very 1923-ish AA armament with 4-4.7in AA and 24-2pdr AA guns. The armor basis is 8in. The result is quite reasonable, if you accept that this is an acceptable thing to do:
GB/CB/1923, Great Britain Battlecruiser laid down 1923 (Engine 1945)

Displacement:
 37,977 t light; 39,287 t standard; 41,500 t normal; 43,271 t full load

Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught
 873.06 ft / 867.00 ft x 95.00 ft x 33.00 ft (normal load)
 266.11 m / 264.26 m x 28.96 m  x 10.06 m

Armament:
      4 - 17.00" / 432 mm guns (2x2 guns), 2,456.50lbs / 1,114.25kg shells, 1923 Model
   Breech loading guns in turrets (on barbettes)
   on centreline ends, evenly spread
      16 - 4.00" / 102 mm guns (8x2 guns), 32.00lbs / 14.51kg shells, 1923 Model
   Quick firing guns in deck mounts with hoists
   on side, all amidships, 4 raised mounts - superfiring
      4 - 4.70" / 119 mm guns in single mounts, 51.91lbs / 23.55kg shells, 1923 Model
   Anti-aircraft guns in deck mounts 
   on side, all amidships, all raised mounts - superfiring
      24 - 1.57" / 40.0 mm guns (6x4 guns), 2.00lbs / 0.91kg shells, 1923 Model
   Anti-aircraft guns in deck mounts 
   on side, all amidships
 Weight of broadside 10,594 lbs / 4,805 kg
 Shells per gun, main battery: 80

Armour:
   - Belts:  Width (max) Length (avg)  Height (avg)
 Main: 8.00" / 203 mm 760.00 ft / 231.65 m 12.00 ft / 3.66 m
 Ends: Unarmoured
   Main Belt covers 135 % of normal length
   Main belt does not fully cover magazines and engineering spaces

   - Torpedo Bulkhead:
  1.00" / 25 mm 760.00 ft / 231.65 m 32.00 ft / 9.75 m

   - Gun armour: Face (max) Other gunhouse (avg) Barbette/hoist (max)
 Main: 8.00" / 203 mm 6.00" / 152 mm  8.00" / 203 mm
 2nd: 2.00" / 51 mm 1.00" / 25 mm  2.00" / 51 mm

   - Armour deck: 2.00" / 51 mm, Conning tower: 8.00" / 203 mm

Machinery:
 Oil fired boilers, reciprocating cruising steam engines plus steam turbines, 
 Geared drive, 8 shafts, 308,750 ihp / 230,327 Kw = 38.00 kts
 Range 6,500nm at 15.00 kts
 Bunker at max displacement = 3,984 tons

Complement:
 1,453 - 1,889

Cost:
 £12.310 million / $49.241 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
 Armament: 1,324 tons, 3.2 %
 Armour: 7,563 tons, 18.2 %
    - Belts: 2,919 tons, 7.0 %
    - Torpedo bulkhead: 900 tons, 2.2 %
    - Armament: 1,356 tons, 3.3 %
    - Armour Deck: 2,181 tons, 5.3 %
    - Conning Tower: 207 tons, 0.5 %
 Machinery: 12,787 tons, 30.8 %
 Hull, fittings & equipment: 16,302 tons, 39.3 %
 Fuel, ammunition & stores: 3,523 tons, 8.5 %
 Miscellaneous weights: 0 tons, 0.0 %

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
 Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
   33,396 lbs / 15,148 Kg = 13.6 x 17.0 " / 432 mm shells or 3.4 torpedoes
 Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.23
 Metacentric height 6.8 ft / 2.1 m
 Roll period: 15.3 seconds
 Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 53 %
   - Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.56
 Seaboat quality  (Average = 1.00): 1.06

Hull form characteristics:
 Hull has a flush deck
   and transom stern
 Block coefficient: 0.534
 Length to Beam Ratio: 9.13 : 1
 'Natural speed' for length: 33.71 kts
 Power going to wave formation at top speed: 59 %
 Trim (Max stability = 0, Max steadiness = 100): 50
 Bow angle (Positive = bow angles forward): 5.00 degrees
 Stern overhang: 3.00 ft / 0.91 m
 Freeboard (% = measuring location as a percentage of overall length):
    - Stem:  35.00 ft / 10.67 m
    - Forecastle (20 %): 30.00 ft / 9.14 m
    - Mid (50 %):  30.00 ft / 9.14 m
    - Quarterdeck (15 %): 30.00 ft / 9.14 m
    - Stern:  30.00 ft / 9.14 m
    - Average freeboard: 30.40 ft / 9.27 m

Ship space, strength and comments:
 Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 156.3 %
  - Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 231.9 %
 Waterplane Area: 58,956 Square feet or 5,477 Square metres
 Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 95 %
 Structure weight / hull surface area: 179 lbs/sq ft or 873 Kg/sq metre
 Hull strength (Relative):
  - Cross-sectional: 0.95
  - Longitudinal: 1.48
  - Overall: 1.00
 Hull space for machinery, storage, compartmentation is cramped
 Room for accommodation and workspaces is excellent

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