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Friday, February 09, 2007

An anachronisitic armoured ram, the Belleisle

I thought that I would see what could be done with the Belleisle and Orion sort of ship. I made an anachronistic design from the Belleisle, that has turrets and 4 quick-firing guns (6pdr). The belt is a substantial 12in, although, like the original, the speed is too low. All I was able to achieve was 17 knots. The range is a meager 3,000nm at 11 knots. This is the Springsharp report:
Belleisle, Great Britain Armoured Ram laid down 1910

Displacement:
 4,337 t light; 4,567 t standard; 4,870 t normal; 5,112 t full load

Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught
 257.00 ft / 254.00 ft x 52.00 ft x 21.00 ft (normal load)
 78.33 m / 77.42 m x 15.85 m  x 6.40 m

Armament:
      4 - 9.20" / 234 mm guns (2x2 guns), 389.34lbs / 176.60kg shells, 1910 Model
   Breech loading guns in turrets (on barbettes)
   on centreline ends, evenly spread
      4 - 2.24" / 57.0 mm guns in single mounts, 5.65lbs / 2.56kg shells, 1910 Model
   Quick firing guns in deck mounts with hoists
   on side, all amidships, all raised mounts - superfiring
 Weight of broadside 1,580 lbs / 717 kg
 Shells per gun, main battery: 150
 2 - 18.0" / 457.2 mm above water torpedoes

Armour:
   - Belts:  Width (max) Length (avg)  Height (avg)
 Main: 12.0" / 305 mm 160.00 ft / 48.77 m 10.00 ft / 3.05 m
 Ends: 6.00" / 152 mm   94.00 ft / 28.65 m 10.00 ft / 3.05 m
   Main Belt covers 97 % of normal length
   Main belt does not fully cover magazines and engineering spaces

   - Torpedo Bulkhead:
  0.50" / 13 mm 120.00 ft / 36.58 m 16.50 ft / 5.03 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 1.00" / 25 mm  2.00" / 51 mm

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

Machinery:
 Coal fired boilers, complex reciprocating steam engines, 
 Direct drive, 2 shafts, 6,893 ihp / 5,142 Kw = 17.00 kts
 Range 3,000nm at 11.00 kts
 Bunker at max displacement = 545 tons (100% coal)

Complement:
 290 - 378

Cost:
 £0.382 million / $1.528 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
 Armament: 197 tons, 4.1 %
 Armour: 2,187 tons, 44.9 %
    - Belts: 1,085 tons, 22.3 %
    - Torpedo bulkhead: 37 tons, 0.8 %
    - Armament: 466 tons, 9.6 %
    - Armour Deck: 543 tons, 11.2 %
    - Conning Tower: 56 tons, 1.1 %
 Machinery: 460 tons, 9.4 %
 Hull, fittings & equipment: 1,494 tons, 30.7 %
 Fuel, ammunition & stores: 533 tons, 10.9 %
 Miscellaneous weights: 0 tons, 0.0 %

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
 Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
   7,045 lbs / 3,195 Kg = 18.1 x 9.2 " / 234 mm shells or 2.0 torpedoes
 Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.01
 Metacentric height 1.9 ft / 0.6 m
 Roll period: 15.8 seconds
 Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 51 %
   - Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.59
 Seaboat quality  (Average = 1.00): 1.09

Hull form characteristics:
 Hull has a flush deck
 Block coefficient: 0.615
 Length to Beam Ratio: 4.88 : 1
 'Natural speed' for length: 15.94 kts
 Power going to wave formation at top speed: 59 %
 Trim (Max stability = 0, Max steadiness = 100): 47
 Bow angle (Positive = bow angles forward): -3.00 degrees
 Stern overhang: 3.00 ft / 0.91 m
 Freeboard (% = measuring location as a percentage of overall length):
    - Stem:  17.00 ft / 5.18 m
    - Forecastle (20 %): 14.00 ft / 4.27 m
    - Mid (50 %):  14.00 ft / 4.27 m
    - Quarterdeck (15 %): 14.00 ft / 4.27 m
    - Stern:  14.00 ft / 4.27 m
    - Average freeboard: 14.24 ft / 4.34 m
 Ship tends to be wet forward

Ship space, strength and comments:
 Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 102.0 %
  - Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 83.1 %
 Waterplane Area: 9,792 Square feet or 910 Square metres
 Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 104 %
 Structure weight / hull surface area: 98 lbs/sq ft or 477 Kg/sq metre
 Hull strength (Relative):
  - Cross-sectional: 0.87
  - Longitudinal: 3.56
  - Overall: 1.00
 Hull space for machinery, storage, compartmentation is adequate
 Room for accommodation and workspaces is cramped

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