Virginia-class BB

[Carthaginian]

NOTE: CONSTRUCTION OF THE FLORIDA-CLASS HAS BEEN CANCELED.

The Virginia-class has been designed to take advantage of the latest innovations in Confederate naval design. She is oil-fired, turbine powered, and does away with the medium-caliber secondary armament in favor of a larger number of heavy guns. Armed with Selma Cannon Foundry 1200-pounders and clad in 14" of armor plate from Red Mountain Ironworks, these ships are the most heavily armed and armored in the Confederate Navy. Virginia also mounts- for the first time on any Confederate ship- a dedicated anti-dirigible battery of six 57mm high-angle guns. two are mounted on the #1 turret forward, two on the #2 aft, and a pair are along the centerline immediately aft of the funnels.

The Virginia will be constructed in Newport News, and will then replace Texas on station with the Atlantic fleet, at which time Texas will pay off, either for a refit or for reserve purposes.



Virginia, Confederate States of America Battleship laid down 1905

Displacement:
   17,061 t light; 17,957 t standard; 19,194 t normal; 20,184 t full load

Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught
   550.00 ft / 550.00 ft x 80.00 ft x 22.00 ft (normal load)
   167.64 m / 167.64 m x 24.38 m  x 6.71 m

Armament:
      6 - 13.50" / 343 mm guns (3x2 guns), 1,230.19lbs / 558.00kg shells, 1905 Model
     Breech loading guns in turrets (on barbettes)
     on centreline, evenly spread
     Aft Main mounts separated by engine room
      24 - 4.85" / 123 mm guns in single mounts, 57.04lbs / 25.87kg shells, 1905 Model
     Breech loading guns in casemate mounts
     on side, evenly spread
     24 guns in hull casemates - Limited use in heavy seas
      16 - 2.24" / 57.0 mm guns in single mounts, 5.65lbs / 2.56kg shells, 1905 Model
     Quick firing guns in deck mounts
     on side ends, evenly spread, all raised mounts - superfiring
      6 - 2.24" / 57.0 mm guns in single mounts, 5.65lbs / 2.56kg shells, 1905 Model
     Quick firing guns in deck mounts
     on centreline, evenly spread, all raised mounts
   Weight of broadside 8,874 lbs / 4,025 kg
   Shells per gun, main battery: 100

Armour:
   - Belts:      Width (max)   Length (avg)      Height (avg)
   Main:   14.7" / 373 mm   300.00 ft / 91.44 m   12.00 ft / 3.66 m
   Ends:   5.25" / 133 mm   250.00 ft / 76.20 m   12.00 ft / 3.66 m
   Upper:   5.25" / 133 mm   300.00 ft / 91.44 m   10.00 ft / 3.05 m
     Main Belt covers 84 % of normal length

   - Gun armour:   Face (max)   Other gunhouse (avg)   Barbette/hoist (max)
   Main:   14.7" / 373 mm   3.45" / 88 mm      14.7" / 373 mm
   2nd:   2.10" / 53 mm   3.45" / 88 mm      3.45" / 88 mm
   3rd:   0.53" / 13 mm         -               -

   - Armour deck: 3.45" / 88 mm, Conning tower: 14.70" / 373 mm

Machinery:
   Oil fired boilers, steam turbines,
   Direct drive, 4 shafts, 17,472 shp / 13,034 Kw = 18.50 kts
   Range 6,900nm at 10.00 kts
   Bunker at max displacement = 2,227 tons

Complement:
   814 - 1,059

Cost:
   £1.714 million / $6.857 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
   Armament: 1,109 tons, 5.8 %
   Armour: 7,786 tons, 40.6 %
      - Belts: 3,698 tons, 19.3 %
      - Torpedo bulkhead: 0 tons, 0.0 %
      - Armament: 1,622 tons, 8.5 %
      - Armour Deck: 2,239 tons, 11.7 %
      - Conning Tower: 227 tons, 1.2 %
   Machinery: 1,324 tons, 6.9 %
   Hull, fittings & equipment: 6,742 tons, 35.1 %
   Fuel, ammunition & stores: 2,133 tons, 11.1 %
   Miscellaneous weights: 100 tons, 0.5 %

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
   Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
     28,282 lbs / 12,828 Kg = 23.0 x 13.5 " / 343 mm shells or 3.3 torpedoes
   Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.16
   Metacentric height 4.7 ft / 1.4 m
   Roll period: 15.4 seconds
   Steadiness   - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 71 %
         - Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.60
   Seaboat quality  (Average = 1.00): 1.36

Hull form characteristics:
   Hull has raised forecastle
   Block coefficient: 0.694
   Length to Beam Ratio: 6.88 : 1
   'Natural speed' for length: 23.45 kts
   Power going to wave formation at top speed: 39 %
   Trim (Max stability = 0, Max steadiness = 100): 52
   Bow angle (Positive = bow angles forward): 0.00 degrees
   Stern overhang: 0.00 ft / 0.00 m
   Freeboard (% = measuring location as a percentage of overall length):
      - Stem:      24.00 ft / 7.32 m
      - Forecastle (20 %):   20.00 ft / 6.10 m (16.00 ft / 4.88 m aft of break)
      - Mid (50 %):      16.00 ft / 4.88 m
      - Quarterdeck (15 %):   16.00 ft / 4.88 m
      - Stern:      16.00 ft / 4.88 m
      - Average freeboard:   17.12 ft / 5.22 m
   Ship tends to be wet forward

Ship space, strength and comments:
   Space   - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 66.9 %
      - Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 131.3 %
   Waterplane Area: 35,078 Square feet or 3,259 Square metres
   Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 99 %
   Structure weight / hull surface area: 144 lbs/sq ft or 702 Kg/sq metre
   Hull strength (Relative):
      - Cross-sectional: 0.98
      - Longitudinal: 1.19
      - Overall: 1.00
   Hull space for machinery, storage, compartmentation is excellent
   Room for accommodation and workspaces is excellent
   Ship has slow, easy roll, a good, steady gun platform
   Good seaboat, rides out heavy weather easily

*NOTE: this ship equipped with a wireless transmitter- 50 tons*

[P3D]

If you are insisting on 3 double turrets, I'd think an A-Q-Y arrangement might be better ('evenly distributed' in SS). This way the bridge is too far aft.

And you could use wing turrets - if you want to add another 5000t to the ship :). Or just decrease the caliber to 12" for the wing turrets.
Also, use 1905-year engines and max the powerplant to 20000HP.

[Carthaginian]

Whoops... the 1906 was a mistake; will remedy.


The rest, though, was intentional.

I deliberately left off the wing turrets for 'storyline' reasons. I wanted the Mobile-class to be the first that had that feature; they were to be the cheaper testbed for a larger battleship to follow. It's a hit for my battleline, but I need some RP material. ;)

I didn't bother to max the speed, because my existing BB's are all limited to 18 knots or thereabouts. Like the US Standards, I want them to fight as a coherent- if slightly slow- battleline. As I can only get a ship this size up to 19.3 knots with 4x5000 hp turbines (and that only by some clever rounding), I really didn't see a need to try for any faster... the extra knot is pretty much wasted, and so is the weight and cost, if it is tied to the older, slower ships in the battleline. My next class of BB will probably be the one that sees an increase in speed.

Since getting a Dreadnought-type revolutionary ship was not possible, I decided not to try making this ship a 'giant leap' in naval design and decided to be happy with a measured step. That can wait till I can make larger, faster ships.

[Ithekro]

Could it be an unorthodox design?   Twin turret forward, two wing turrets aft?...no aft centerline turret?

[Carthaginian]

Ithekro,

I was in the process of editing my post as you posted. I explained my reasoning in the edit.

Sorry about that.