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Monday, December 04, 2006

Reducing the armament to 6-11in guns and the speed to 40 knots

By reducing the armament down to 6-11in, the belt to 5in, and the speed to 40 knots, the size of a very fast battlecruiser can be reduced considerably. The dimensions, including freeboard, are more reasonable and the Standard displacement is down to 36,334 SHP. Since the purpose of the ship is to run down lesser cruisers and sink them, this still seems like a reasonable thing (if an extreme design could ever be considered reasonable). This is the Springsharp report:
GB/CB/1933 11in guns 40 knots, Great Britain Battlecruiser laid down 1933 (Engine 1941)

Displacement:
 35,260 t light; 36,334 t standard; 39,200 t normal; 41,493 t full load

Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught
 887.15 ft / 884.00 ft x 108.00 ft x 32.00 ft (normal load)
 270.40 m / 269.44 m x 32.92 m  x 9.75 m

Armament:
      6 - 11.00" / 279 mm guns (2x3 guns), 665.50lbs / 301.87kg shells, 1933 Model
   Breech loading guns in turrets (on barbettes)
   on side, all forward, 1 raised mount - superfiring
      20 - 4.50" / 114 mm guns (10x2 guns), 45.56lbs / 20.67kg shells, 1933 Model
   Dual purpose guns in turrets (on barbettes)
   on side, all amidships
      32 - 1.57" / 40.0 mm guns (6 mounts), 1.95lbs / 0.89kg shells, 1933 Model
   Anti-aircraft guns in deck mounts with hoists
   on side, all amidships, 4 raised mounts - superfiring
 Weight of broadside 4,967 lbs / 2,253 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 8.00 ft / 2.44 m
 Ends: Unarmoured
 Upper: 4.00" / 102 mm 590.00 ft / 179.83 m 8.00 ft / 2.44 m
   Main Belt covers 103 % of normal length
   Main belt does not fully cover magazines and engineering spaces

   - Torpedo Bulkhead:
  2.00" / 51 mm 590.00 ft / 179.83 m 35.00 ft / 10.67 m

   - Gun armour: Face (max) Other gunhouse (avg) Barbette/hoist (max)
 Main: 7.00" / 178 mm 5.00" / 127 mm  7.00" / 178 mm
 2nd: 3.00" / 76 mm 3.00" / 76 mm  3.00" / 76 mm

   - Armour deck: 4.00" / 102 mm, Conning tower: 7.00" / 178 mm

Machinery:
 Oil fired boilers, steam turbines, 
 Geared drive, 6 shafts, 347,131 shp / 258,960 Kw = 40.00 kts
 Range 7,500nm at 18.00 kts
 Bunker at max displacement = 5,159 tons

Complement:
 1,392 - 1,810

Cost:
 £14.371 million / $57.482 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
 Armament: 621 tons, 1.6 %
 Armour: 9,609 tons, 24.5 %
    - Belts: 1,786 tons, 4.6 %
    - Torpedo bulkhead: 1,528 tons, 3.9 %
    - Armament: 1,444 tons, 3.7 %
    - Armour Deck: 4,678 tons, 11.9 %
    - Conning Tower: 174 tons, 0.4 %
 Machinery: 9,174 tons, 23.4 %
 Hull, fittings & equipment: 15,857 tons, 40.5 %
 Fuel, ammunition & stores: 3,940 tons, 10.0 %
 Miscellaneous weights: 0 tons, 0.0 %

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
 Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
   59,627 lbs / 27,046 Kg = 89.6 x 11.0 " / 279 mm shells or 7.8 torpedoes
 Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.27
 Metacentric height 8.7 ft / 2.6 m
 Roll period: 15.4 seconds
 Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 55 %
   - Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.20
 Seaboat quality  (Average = 1.00): 1.10

Hull form characteristics:
 Hull has a flush deck
   and transom stern
 Block coefficient: 0.449
 Length to Beam Ratio: 8.19 : 1
 'Natural speed' for length: 34.73 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: 0.00 ft / 0.00 m
 Freeboard (% = measuring location as a percentage of overall length):
    - Stem:  36.00 ft / 10.97 m
    - Forecastle (20 %): 30.00 ft / 9.14 m
    - Mid (35 %):  30.00 ft / 9.14 m
    - Quarterdeck (15 %): 30.00 ft / 9.14 m
    - Stern:  30.00 ft / 9.14 m
    - Average freeboard: 30.48 ft / 9.29 m

Ship space, strength and comments:
 Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 108.5 %
  - Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 259.5 %
 Waterplane Area: 63,211 Square feet or 5,872 Square metres
 Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 119 %
 Structure weight / hull surface area: 171 lbs/sq ft or 833 Kg/sq metre
 Hull strength (Relative):
  - Cross-sectional: 0.95
  - Longitudinal: 1.56
  - Overall: 1.00
 Hull space for machinery, storage, compartmentation is adequate
 Room for accommodation and workspaces is excellent

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