Medium merchant

[ledeper]

??????, Enter country  laid down 1913 (Engine 1912)

Displacement:
   3.817 t light; 3.906 t standard; 4.455 t normal; 4.895 t full load

Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught
   262,13 ft / 259,19 ft x 55,77 ft x 12,63 ft (normal load)
   79,90 m / 79,00 m x 17,00 m  x 3,85 m

Machinery:
   Diesel Internal combustion motors,
   Direct drive, 2 shafts, 5.806 shp / 4.332 Kw = 16,00 kts
   Range 10.500nm at 10,00 kts
   Bunker at max displacement = 989 tons

Complement:
   272 - 354

Cost:
   £0,181 million / $0,724 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
   Armament: 0 tons, 0,0 %
   Machinery: 232 tons, 5,2 %
   Hull, fittings & equipment: 1.085 tons, 24,4 %
   Fuel, ammunition & stores: 639 tons, 14,3 %
   Miscellaneous weights: 2.500 tons, 56,1 %

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
   Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
     6.850 lbs / 3.107 Kg = 63,4 x 6 " / 152 mm shells or 1,5 torpedoes
   Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1,02
   Metacentric height 2,2 ft / 0,7 m
   Roll period: 15,9 seconds
   Steadiness   - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 75 %
         - Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0,00
   Seaboat quality  (Average = 1.00): 1,52

Hull form characteristics:
   Hull has a flush deck
   Block coefficient: 0,854
   Length to Beam Ratio: 4,65 : 1
   'Natural speed' for length: 16,10 kts
   Power going to wave formation at top speed: 57 %
   Trim (Max stability = 0, Max steadiness = 100): 49
   Bow angle (Positive = bow angles forward): 10,00 degrees
   Stern overhang: 0,00 ft / 0,00 m
   Freeboard (% = measuring location as a percentage of overall length):
      - Stem:      16,67 ft / 5,08 m
      - Forecastle (5 %):   16,40 ft / 5,00 m
      - Mid (70 %):      16,40 ft / 5,00 m
      - Quarterdeck (15 %):   16,40 ft / 5,00 m
      - Stern:      16,40 ft / 5,00 m
      - Average freeboard:   16,41 ft / 5,00 m
   Ship tends to be wet forward

Ship space, strength and comments:
   Space   - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 78,4 %
      - Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 151,7 %
   Waterplane Area: 13.206 Square feet or 1.227 Square metres
   Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 150 %
   Structure weight / hull surface area: 61 lbs/sq ft or 300 Kg/sq metre
   Hull strength (Relative):
      - Cross-sectional: 0,90
      - Longitudinal: 2,60
      - 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
   Excellent seaboat, comfortable, rides out heavy weather easily

[P3D]

Fuel oil for RN destroyers cost 5 times as much as coal. Diesel oil IMO even more expensive. As the BC is reliant on oil imports, and have plenty of coal, no merchant would build diesel engined ships unless the fuel is subsidized - which would start protests from the coal mining regions (as France does not have all of it).

[ledeper]

I try to copy the first diesel-driven merchants build in Denmark OTL (Selandia/Jutlandia/Fionia) as a sort of experimental ships,but apart from that you are quite rigth.