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Sunday, March 19, 2006

The F/BB/1918 design is a much better ship

The F/BB/1918 design is vastly superior to its predecessor. The main armament now consists of 8-40cm guns (15.75in) in quadruple turrets, on forward and one aft. The armour basis was increased to 14in, with a 5in deck. The speed was increased to 27 knots and the range to 7,500nm at 15 knots. Also, the Springsharp entries are more complete, and more attention was paid to some important details (sadly, the last designs were not so complete). This is the Springsharp report:
F/BB/1918, France Battleship laid down 1918

Displacement:
 35,708 t light; 37,281 t standard; 40,000 t normal; 42,175 t full load

Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught
 685.00 ft / 685.00 ft x 98.00 ft x 31.00 ft (normal load)
 208.79 m / 208.79 m x 29.87 m  x 9.45 m

Armament:
      8 - 15.75" / 400 mm guns (2x4 guns), 1,952.76lbs / 885.76kg shells, 1918 Model
   Breech loading guns in turrets (on barbettes)
   on centreline ends, evenly spread, 1 raised mount
      16 - 5.51" / 140 mm guns in single mounts, 83.72lbs / 37.98kg shells, 1918 Model
   Quick firing guns in casemate mounts 
   on side, all amidships, all raised mounts - superfiring
      4 - 3.54" / 90.0 mm guns in single mounts, 22.24lbs / 10.09kg shells, 1918 Model
   Anti-aircraft guns in deck mounts with hoists
   on side, all amidships
      16 - 1.85" / 47.0 mm guns in single mounts, 3.17lbs / 1.44kg shells, 1918 Model
   Anti-aircraft guns in deck mounts 
   on side, evenly spread, 8 raised mounts
 Weight of broadside 17,101 lbs / 7,757 kg
 Shells per gun, main battery: 80

Armour:
   - Belts:  Width (max) Length (avg)  Height (avg)
 Main: 14.0" / 356 mm 520.00 ft / 158.50 m 16.00 ft / 4.88 m
 Ends: 5.00" / 127 mm 165.00 ft / 50.29 m 12.00 ft / 3.66 m
   Main Belt covers 117 % of normal length

   - Torpedo Bulkhead:
  3.00" / 76 mm 520.00 ft / 158.50 m 30.00 ft / 9.14 m

   - Gun armour: Face (max) Other gunhouse (avg) Barbette/hoist (max)
 Main: 14.0" / 356 mm 11.0" / 279 mm  14.0" / 356 mm
 2nd: 5.00" / 127 mm 5.00" / 127 mm  5.00" / 127 mm

   - Armour deck: 5.00" / 127 mm, Conning tower: 14.00" / 356 mm

Machinery:
 Oil fired boilers, steam turbines, 
 Geared drive, 4 shafts, 107,116 shp / 79,909 Kw = 27.00 kts
 Range 7,500nm at 15.00 kts
 Bunker at max displacement = 4,894 tons

Complement:
 1,413 - 1,838

Cost:
 £7.173 million / $28.691 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
 Armament: 2,138 tons, 5.3 %
 Armour: 14,904 tons, 37.3 %
    - Belts: 5,276 tons, 13.2 %
    - Torpedo bulkhead: 1,732 tons, 4.3 %
    - Armament: 2,687 tons, 6.7 %
    - Armour Deck: 4,857 tons, 12.1 %
    - Conning Tower: 353 tons, 0.9 %
 Machinery: 3,864 tons, 9.7 %
 Hull, fittings & equipment: 14,802 tons, 37.0 %
 Fuel, ammunition & stores: 4,292 tons, 10.7 %
 Miscellaneous weights: 0 tons, 0.0 %

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
 Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
   54,648 lbs / 24,788 Kg = 28.0 x 15.7 " / 400 mm shells or 8.7 torpedoes
 Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.11
 Metacentric height 5.9 ft / 1.8 m
 Roll period: 16.9 seconds
 Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 55 %
   - Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.78
 Seaboat quality  (Average = 1.00): 1.10

Hull form characteristics:
 Hull has rise forward of midbreak
 Block coefficient: 0.673
 Length to Beam Ratio: 6.99 : 1
 'Natural speed' for length: 26.17 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:  28.00 ft / 8.53 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: 22.60 ft / 6.89 m
 Ship tends to be wet forward

Ship space, strength and comments:
 Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 89.7 %
  - Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 161.3 %
 Waterplane Area: 52,503 Square feet or 4,878 Square metres
 Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 101 %
 Structure weight / hull surface area: 201 lbs/sq ft or 983 Kg/sq metre
 Hull strength (Relative):
  - Cross-sectional: 0.95
  - Longitudinal: 1.49
  - Overall: 1.00
 Hull space for machinery, storage, compartmentation is adequate
 Room for accommodation and workspaces is excellent

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