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Wednesday, November 08, 2006

I am further feeding my obsession with big, fast ships

Perhaps no one but me is interested in the big, fast battlecruisers. I wanted to see if we could have a fast ship that is more reasonable, meaning that there are four propellor shafts, not six. That means reducing the displacment, which requires other compromises. My latest "GB/CB/1921 Very Fast" can make 36 knots and has to twin 14in turrets forward. The belt is 8in and the deck is 3in. What I am particularly pleased with is that seakeeping is 1.06 and the roll period is a very nice 16.4 seconds. Much of this is possible due to the short citadel of 460ft. This ship also requires lightweight machinery, having machinery that is 36 SHP/ton. This is the Springsharp report:
GB/CB/1921 Very Fast, Great Britain Battlecruiser laid down 1921 (Engine 1937)

Displacement:
 31,143 t light; 32,294 t standard; 34,000 t normal; 35,365 t full load

Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught
 838.38 ft / 836.00 ft x 95.00 ft x 29.00 ft (normal load)
 255.54 m / 254.81 m x 28.96 m  x 8.84 m

Armament:
      6 - 14.00" / 356 mm guns (2x3 guns), 1,372.00lbs / 622.33kg shells, 1921 Model
   Breech loading guns in turrets (on barbettes)
   on centreline, all forward, 1 raised mount - superfiring
      12 - 5.50" / 140 mm guns (6x2 guns), 83.19lbs / 37.73kg shells, 1921 Model
   Quick firing guns in turrets (on barbettes)
   on side, all amidships, 2 raised mounts - superfiring
 Weight of broadside 9,230 lbs / 4,187 kg
 Shells per gun, main battery: 90

Armour:
   - Belts:  Width (max) Length (avg)  Height (avg)
 Main: 8.00" / 203 mm 460.00 ft / 140.21 m 8.00 ft / 2.44 m
 Ends: Unarmoured
 Upper: 4.00" / 102 mm 460.00 ft / 140.21 m 8.00 ft / 2.44 m
   Main Belt covers 85 % of normal length
   Main belt does not fully cover magazines and engineering spaces

   - Torpedo Bulkhead:
  2.00" / 51 mm 460.00 ft / 140.21 m 28.00 ft / 8.53 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: 4.00" / 102 mm 4.00" / 102 mm  4.00" / 102 mm

   - Armour deck: 3.00" / 76 mm, Conning tower: 9.00" / 229 mm

Machinery:
 Oil fired boilers, steam turbines, 
 Geared drive, 4 shafts, 257,953 shp / 192,433 Kw = 36.00 kts
 Range 6,400nm at 15.00 kts
 Bunker at max displacement = 3,072 tons

Complement:
 1,251 - 1,627

Cost:
 £7.789 million / $31.157 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
 Armament: 1,154 tons, 3.4 %
 Armour: 8,057 tons, 23.7 %
    - Belts: 1,916 tons, 5.6 %
    - Torpedo bulkhead: 953 tons, 2.8 %
    - Armament: 2,003 tons, 5.9 %
    - Armour Deck: 2,982 tons, 8.8 %
    - Conning Tower: 203 tons, 0.6 %
 Machinery: 7,149 tons, 21.0 %
 Hull, fittings & equipment: 14,782 tons, 43.5 %
 Fuel, ammunition & stores: 2,857 tons, 8.4 %
 Miscellaneous weights: 0 tons, 0.0 %

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
 Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
   42,777 lbs / 19,403 Kg = 31.2 x 14.0 " / 356 mm shells or 5.2 torpedoes
 Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.14
 Metacentric height 5.9 ft / 1.8 m
 Roll period: 16.4 seconds
 Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 53 %
   - Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.58
 Seaboat quality  (Average = 1.00): 1.06

Hull form characteristics:
 Hull has rise forward of midbreak
 Block coefficient: 0.517
 Length to Beam Ratio: 8.80 : 1
 'Natural speed' for length: 28.91 kts
 Power going to wave formation at top speed: 56 %
 Trim (Max stability = 0, Max steadiness = 100): 50
 Bow angle (Positive = bow angles forward): 4.00 degrees
 Stern overhang: -2.00 ft / -0.61 m
 Freeboard (% = measuring location as a percentage of overall length):
    - Stem:  34.00 ft / 10.36 m
    - Forecastle (20 %): 28.00 ft / 8.53 m
    - Mid (76 %):  28.00 ft / 8.53 m (20.00 ft / 6.10 m aft of break)
    - Quarterdeck (15 %): 20.00 ft / 6.10 m
    - Stern:  20.00 ft / 6.10 m
    - Average freeboard: 26.56 ft / 8.10 m

Ship space, strength and comments:
 Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 118.8 %
  - Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 220.0 %
 Waterplane Area: 53,732 Square feet or 4,992 Square metres
 Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 108 %
 Structure weight / hull surface area: 184 lbs/sq ft or 896 Kg/sq metre
 Hull strength (Relative):
  - Cross-sectional: 0.97
  - Longitudinal: 1.36
  - Overall: 1.00
 Hull space for machinery, storage, compartmentation is cramped
 Room for accommodation and workspaces is excellent

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