New Gran Colombian Ships for 1908

[The Rock Doctor]

Since I've now posted it to the battlecruiser site, I may as well post it here too...

...if you're faint of heart, hit the "Back" button now before the image downloads.



The Triunfante class battleships are based on a concept that was not supposed to actually be built.  The Armada had intended that the next class of Gran Colombian battleships would be up-scaled Invencibles, with three twin 14" gun turrets.  Sadly, President Alizandro was not pleased with a six gun design when other navies were fielding designs with up to twelve guns (even if they were lighter guns).  As this design (previously designated "Insano" by the Armada design staff) had twelve guns, it got the Presidential Nod of Approval.

On the plus side, it's fast (for Gran Colombia), and has plenty of guns to make the President for Life happy.  On the down side, the torpedo bulkhead is too narrow to be effective adjacent to the forward turrets, the hull is rather fat, and the deck armor is on the lightish side.

A heavy tertiary battery is installed, including four guns for the anti-zeppelin role given the experiences of 1904.  Torpedoes have been omitted, it being considered ill-advised for the battleline to draw close enough to an enemy to use the weapons.

Miscellaneous weight will include a large wireless shack, command facilities, and room for growth.

Triunfante & Porfiado, laid down 1908 (Engine 1909)

Displacement:
   21,625 t light; 22,838 t standard; 24,638 t normal; 26,077 t full load

Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught
   557.74 ft / 557.74 ft x 95.14 ft x 25.00 ft (normal load)
   170.00 m / 170.00 m x 29.00 m  x 7.62 m

Armament:
      4 - 12.01" / 305 mm guns (2x2 guns), 865.70lbs / 392.67kg shells, 1908 Model
     Breech loading guns in turrets (on barbettes)
     on side, all forward
      8 - 12.01" / 305 mm guns (4x2 guns), 865.70lbs / 392.67kg shells, 1908 Model
     Breech loading guns in turrets (on barbettes)
     on centreline, all aft, 2 raised mounts - superfiring
      12 - 5.51" / 140 mm guns in single mounts, 83.72lbs / 37.97kg shells, 1908 Model
     Breech loading guns in casemate mounts
     on side, evenly spread
     12 guns in hull casemates - Limited use in heavy seas
      20 - 3.94" / 100 mm guns in single mounts, 30.51lbs / 13.84kg shells, 1908 Model
     Breech loading guns in casemate mounts
     on side, evenly spread
     12 guns in hull casemates - Limited use in heavy seas
      10 - 1.85" / 47.0 mm guns in single mounts, 3.17lbs / 1.44kg shells, 1908 Model
     Quick firing guns in deck mounts
     on side, evenly spread, all raised mounts
   Weight of broadside 12,035 lbs / 5,459 kg
   Shells per gun, main battery: 100

Armour:
   - Belts:      Width (max)   Length (avg)      Height (avg)
   Main:   11.8" / 300 mm   362.53 ft / 110.50 m   11.71 ft / 3.57 m
   Ends:   3.94" / 100 mm   195.18 ft / 59.49 m   11.71 ft / 3.57 m
   Upper:   5.51" / 140 mm   362.53 ft / 110.50 m   8.01 ft / 2.44 m
     Main Belt covers 100 % of normal length

   - Torpedo Bulkhead:
      0.98" / 25 mm   362.53 ft / 110.50 m   23.98 ft / 7.31 m

   - Gun armour:   Face (max)   Other gunhouse (avg)   Barbette/hoist (max)
   Main:   11.8" / 300 mm   7.87" / 200 mm      11.8" / 300 mm
   2nd:   11.8" / 300 mm   7.87" / 200 mm      11.8" / 300 mm
   3rd:   5.51" / 140 mm         -         3.94" / 100 mm
   4th:   3.94" / 100 mm         -         3.94" / 100 mm
   5th:   0.98" / 25 mm         -               -

   - Armour deck: 2.36" / 60 mm, Conning tower: 11.81" / 300 mm

Machinery:
   Coal fired boilers, steam turbines,
   Direct drive, 4 shafts, 30,000 shp / 22,380 Kw = 20.55 kts
   Range 8,000nm at 10.00 kts (Bunkerage = 3,239 tons)

Complement:
   983 - 1,278

Cost:
   £2.231 million / $8.922 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
   Armament: 1,504 tons, 6.1 %
   Armour: 8,831 tons, 35.8 %
      - Belts: 3,268 tons, 13.3 %
      - Torpedo bulkhead: 317 tons, 1.3 %
      - Armament: 3,254 tons, 13.2 %
      - Armour Deck: 1,777 tons, 7.2 %
      - Conning Tower: 215 tons, 0.9 %
   Machinery: 1,500 tons, 6.1 %
   Hull, fittings & equipment: 9,667 tons, 39.2 %
   Fuel, ammunition & stores: 3,012 tons, 12.2 %
   Miscellaneous weights: 123 tons, 0.5 %

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
   Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
     30,343 lbs / 13,763 Kg = 35.1 x 12.0 " / 305 mm shells or 4.4 torpedoes
   Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.14
   Metacentric height 6.0 ft / 1.8 m
   Roll period: 16.4 seconds
   Steadiness   - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 70 %
         - Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.62
   Seaboat quality  (Average = 1.00): 1.55

Hull form characteristics:
   Hull has rise forward of midbreak
   Block coefficient: 0.650
   Length to Beam Ratio: 5.86 : 1
   'Natural speed' for length: 23.62 kts
   Power going to wave formation at top speed: 45 %
   Trim (Max stability = 0, Max steadiness = 100): 45
   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:      26.25 ft / 8.00 m
      - Forecastle (20 %):   23.95 ft / 7.30 m
      - Mid (55 %):      23.95 ft / 7.30 m (16.08 ft / 4.90 m aft of break)
      - Quarterdeck (15 %):   16.08 ft / 4.90 m
      - Stern:      16.08 ft / 4.90 m
      - Average freeboard:   20.59 ft / 6.28 m

Ship space, strength and comments:
   Space   - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 84.5 %
      - Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 160.0 %
   Waterplane Area: 40,652 Square feet or 3,777 Square metres
   Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 103 %
   Structure weight / hull surface area: 178 lbs/sq ft or 868 Kg/sq metre
   Hull strength (Relative):
      - Cross-sectional: 0.94
      - Longitudinal: 1.71
      - Overall: 1.00
   Hull space for machinery, storage, compartmentation is adequate
   Room for accommodation and workspaces is excellent
   Ship has slow, easy roll, a good, steady gun platform
   Excellent seaboat, comfortable, can fire her guns in the heaviest weather

[Korpen]

I LOVE turret farms!
Agincourt is by far my favorite WW1 battleship.  ;D

[The Rock Doctor]

I've contemplated having a following class with the same four-turret arrangement at each end of the ship, but sixteen 12" guns may be stretching it. 

[Korpen]

I've contemplated having a following class with the same four-turret arrangement at each end of the ship, but sixteen 12" guns may be stretching it. 

NO!
Go for it! Navalism needs more turrrent farms!

And the deck armour is not light, remember that you need pretty extreme ranges for a shell to hit the deck without first penetrating the upper belt.

[Desertfox]

My heart... THUNK

Did you consider the more conventional Minas Gerais arrangement?

I like her and in fact am planning to build (in the 20's) a 16 gun Heavy Cruiser!

http://www.combinedfleet.com/furashita/kamina_f.htm

[P3D]

Two turrets for heavier frontas fire, while the forecastle is too high to fire the guns head-on?

[The Rock Doctor]

Ought to explain why the armament's arranged as it is.  I've got the tech allowing superfiring guns with sighting hoods - so they can't fire within 30 degrees of the axis of the ship.

This armament allows four guns to shoot forward in pursuit, without interference with superstructure or other main batteries.  Ten guns can fire to the beam (two forward, eight aft).  Optimally, closing the target at a shallow angle may allow all twelve guns to bear, though the more distant forward turret will be crossdecking.  The downside is that only two guns can shoot straight aft, but you can't have everything.

Minas Gerais - not really.  I wanted something...different.

Forecastle - good point, and fixed easily enough.

[The Rock Doctor]

Looking further, the raised stem is 0.7 m higher than the forecastle, not the ~2.5 m shown in the drawing.  So the design is fine, but the pic needs revising. 

Which is good, as it allows me to avoid the "wet forward" warning.

[Carthaginian]

Looking further, the raised stem is 0.7 m higher than the forecastle, not the ~2.5 m shown in the drawing.  So the design is fine, but the pic needs revising. 

Which is good, as it allows me to avoid the "wet forward" warning.

'Wet Forward' isn't a big deal in the Gulf/Caribbean; we only have about 3 months a year that we really and truely have to worry about that kind of weather.

Richmond is VERY concerned about this ship, however... she's quite the leviathon.
The CSN is worried they might have to build a couple more Nuevo Leon's to keep up; this ship throws more steel per broadside, and has slightly better survivability. Only upside is that the Nuevo Leon is more heavily armored, especially against plunging fire.

[The Rock Doctor]

Wetness isn't a huge issue in the Caribbean unless I'm out in hurricane weather - which I'd prefer to avoid.  However, I've tried to ensure - with a high freeboard and decent range - that these ships can attend to Gran Colombian interests outside the Caribbean.

Richmond shouldn't worry too much.  Only two are on the books, as modernizing the army will take up a lot of resources in the same time period.  After that, I've got to look at replacing the eight slow armored cruisers I have in service.

[Ithekro]

Needs one more turret centerline in front of the forward turrets  (six guns forward) with both of those turrets superimosed so they can shoot over it   (or the inverse, with one superimposed turret behind the two side by side turrets).

[Desertfox]

Move superstructure back and move Q foward?

[Carthaginian]

He can't have superfiring turrets that can fire directly foreward.
The ones aft are just to save space.

[P3D]

Wait a year laying this ship down. A more traditional wing turret arrangement (Kaiser) would give you the same number of guns forward. I know you want to build one insane ship, but still.

[swamphen]

...if you're faint of heart, hit the "Back" button now before the image downloads.

*thoooof*