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Sunday, May 27, 2007

The GB/BB/1910 design study

I have a photograph, dating from the early 1970's in ballpoint pen, that shows a scale drawing of a battleship concept that I had. The ship sacrificed gun power for speed and protection. The armament was 8-12in/50 BLR and 12-6in/50 QF guns. There were no specifications, just the drawing:

The armament I listed is what I think was intended. I assume that the ship would be fairly fast. I was able to achieve 26 knots. I started to use coal-fired boilers, but I am sure that the original was intended to use all oil. I went ahead and changed the boilers to oil-fired. This is the Springsharp report:
GB/BB/1910, Great Britain Battleship laid down 1910

Displacement:
 22,117 t light; 23,102 t standard; 25,200 t normal; 26,879 t full load

Dimensions: Length (overall / waterline) x beam x draught (normal/deep)
 (607.00 ft / 600.00 ft) x 100.00 ft x (28.00 / 29.44 ft)
 (185.01 m / 182.88 m) x 30.48 m  x (8.53 / 8.97 m)

Armament:
      8 - 12.00" / 305 mm 50.0 cal guns - 914.66lbs / 414.88kg shells, 90 per gun
   Breech loading guns in turret on barbette mounts , 1910 Model
   3 x Twin mounts on centreline ends, evenly spread
  1 raised mount aft - superfiring
   1 x Twin mount on centreline, aft deck forward
      12 - 6.00" / 152 mm 50.0 cal guns - 114.33lbs / 51.86kg shells, 150 per gun
   Quick firing guns in casemate mounts , 1910 Model
   8 x Single mounts on sides, forward deck forward
  8 hull mounts in casemates- Limited use in heavy seas
   4 x Single mounts on sides, aft deck forward
  4 hull mounts in casemates- Limited use in heavy seas
 Weight of broadside 8,689 lbs / 8,689 kg

Armour:
   - Belts:  Width (max) Length (avg)  Height (avg)
 Main: 11.0" / 279 mm 365.00 ft / 111.25 m 8.00 ft / 2.44 m
 Ends: 4.00" / 102 mm 235.00 ft / 71.63 m 12.00 ft / 3.66 m
 Upper: 9.00" / 229 mm 365.00 ft / 111.25 m 8.00 ft / 2.44 m
   Main Belt covers 94 % of normal length

   - Torpedo Bulkhead:
  2.00" / 51 mm 365.00 ft / 111.25 m 28.00 ft / 8.53 m

   - Gun armour: Face (max) Other gunhouse (avg) Barbette/hoist (max)
 Main: 11.0" / 279 mm 7.00" / 178 mm  11.0" / 279 mm
 2nd: 5.00" / 127 mm 3.00" / 76 mm  5.00" / 127 mm

   - Armour deck: 3.00" / 76 mm, Conning tower: 11.00" / 279 mm

Machinery:
 Oil fired boilers, steam turbines, 
 ERROR: Revise drives, 4 shafts, 70,088 shp / 52,285 Kw = 26.00 kts
 Range 5,600nm at 15.00 kts
 Bunker at max displacement = 3,777 tons

Complement:
 999 - 1,300

Cost:
 £2.011 million / $8.042 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
 Armament: 1,705 tons, 6.8 %
 Armour: 8,409 tons, 33.4 %
    - Belts: 3,020 tons, 12.0 %
    - Torpedo bulkhead: 756 tons, 3.0 %
    - Armament: 2,158 tons, 8.6 %
    - Armour Deck: 2,270 tons, 9.0 %
    - Conning Tower: 204 tons, 0.8 %
 Machinery: 2,896 tons, 11.5 %
 Hull, fittings & equipment: 9,823 tons, 39.0 %
 Fuel, ammunition & stores: 3,083 tons, 12.2 %
 Miscellaneous weights: 0 tons, 0.0 %

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
 Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
   46,919 lbs / 21,282 Kg = 54.3 x 12.0 " / 305 mm shells or 7.7 torpedoes
 Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.28
 Metacentric height 7.8 ft / 2.4 m
 Roll period: 15.0 seconds
 Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 69 %
   - Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.43
 Seaboat quality  (Average = 1.00): 1.37

Hull form characteristics:
 Hull has low quarterdeck ,
   a ram bow and a cruiser stern
 Block coefficient (normal/deep): 0.525 / 0.533
 Length to Beam Ratio: 6.00 : 1
 'Natural speed' for length: 24.49 kts
 Power going to wave formation at top speed: 53 %
 Trim (Max stability = 0, Max steadiness = 100): 50
 Bow angle (Positive = bow angles forward): -4.00 degrees
 Stern overhang: -3.00 ft / -0.91 m
 Freeboard (% = length of deck as a percentage of waterline length):
    Fore end,  Aft end
    - Forecastle: 28.00 %,  28.00 ft / 8.53 m,  27.00 ft / 8.23 m
    - Forward deck: 30.00 %,  27.00 ft / 8.23 m,  26.00 ft / 7.92 m
    - Aft deck: 5.00 %,  26.00 ft / 7.92 m,  26.00 ft / 7.92 m
    - Quarter deck: 37.00 %,  18.00 ft / 5.49 m,  19.00 ft / 5.79 m
    - Average freeboard:  23.77 ft / 7.24 m

Ship space, strength and comments:
 Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 84.5 %
  - Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 206.1 %
 Waterplane Area: 40,907 Square feet or 3,800 Square metres
 Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 114 %
 Structure weight / hull surface area: 170 lbs/sq ft or 830 Kg/sq metre
 Hull strength (Relative):
  - Cross-sectional: 0.93
  - Longitudinal: 1.97
  - Overall: 1.00
 Hull space for machinery, storage, compartmentation is adequate
 Room for accommodation and workspaces is excellent
 Good seaboat, rides out heavy weather easily

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