Ersatz Preussen

[ledeper]

Ersatz Preussen, Esc Bb laid down 1918 (Engine 1916)

Displacement:
   38.810 t light; 41.492 t standard; 44.848 t normal; 47.532 t full load

Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught
   720,91 ft / 716,86 ft x 104,99 ft x 31,99 ft (normal load)
   219,73 m / 218,50 m x 32,00 m  x 9,75 m

Armament:
      16 - 14,96" / 380 mm guns (4x4 guns), 1.674,25lbs / 759,43kg shells, 1918 Model
     Breech loading guns in turrets (on barbettes)
     on centreline, evenly spread, 1 raised mount
     Aft Main mounts separated by engine room
      20 - 5,91" / 150 mm guns (10x2 guns), 102,98lbs / 46,71kg shells, 1918 Model
     Quick firing guns in deck mounts with hoists
     on side, all amidships
      4 - 1,57" / 40,0 mm guns in single mounts, 1,95lbs / 0,89kg shells, 1918 Model
     Breech loading guns in deck mounts
     on centreline, all amidships, all raised mounts - superfiring
   Weight of broadside 28.855 lbs / 13.089 kg
   Shells per gun, main battery: 110

Armour:
   - Belts:      Width (max)   Length (avg)      Height (avg)
   Main:   13,8" / 350 mm   537,66 ft / 163,88 m   14,76 ft / 4,50 m
   Ends:   Unarmoured
   Upper:   4,92" / 125 mm   537,66 ft / 163,88 m   8,20 ft / 2,50 m
     Main Belt covers 115 % of normal length

   - Torpedo Bulkhead:
      1,97" / 50 mm   537,66 ft / 163,88 m   30,22 ft / 9,21 m

   - Gun armour:   Face (max)   Other gunhouse (avg)   Barbette/hoist (max)
   Main:   13,8" / 350 mm   7,87" / 200 mm      11,8" / 300 mm
   2nd:   0,39" / 10 mm         -               -
   3rd:   0,20" / 5 mm         -               -

   - Armour deck: 2,95" / 75 mm, Conning tower: 11,81" / 300 mm

Machinery:
   Oil fired boilers, steam turbines,
   Electric cruising motors plus geared drives, 4 shafts, 97.031 shp / 72.385 Kw = 26,00 kts
   Range 9.500nm at 14,00 kts
   Bunker at max displacement = 6.040 tons

Complement:
   1.540 - 2.003

Cost:
   £9,789 million / $39,154 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
   Armament: 3.607 tons, 8,0 %
   Armour: 13.691 tons, 30,5 %
      - Belts: 5.544 tons, 12,4 %
      - Torpedo bulkhead: 1.183 tons, 2,6 %
      - Armament: 3.487 tons, 7,8 %
      - Armour Deck: 3.155 tons, 7,0 %
      - Conning Tower: 321 tons, 0,7 %
   Machinery: 3.615 tons, 8,1 %
   Hull, fittings & equipment: 17.397 tons, 38,8 %
   Fuel, ammunition & stores: 6.038 tons, 13,5 %
   Miscellaneous weights: 500 tons, 1,1 %

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
   Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
     45.819 lbs / 20.783 Kg = 27,4 x 15,0 " / 380 mm shells or 6,4 torpedoes
   Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1,10
   Metacentric height 6,4 ft / 2,0 m
   Roll period: 17,4 seconds
   Steadiness   - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 53 %
         - Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0,87
   Seaboat quality  (Average = 1.00): 1,06

Hull form characteristics:
   Hull has a flush deck
   Block coefficient: 0,652
   Length to Beam Ratio: 6,83 : 1
   'Natural speed' for length: 26,77 kts
   Power going to wave formation at top speed: 50 %
   Trim (Max stability = 0, Max steadiness = 100): 50
   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:      22,97 ft / 7,00 m
      - Forecastle (10 %):   19,69 ft / 6,00 m
      - Mid (70 %):      19,69 ft / 6,00 m
      - Quarterdeck (15 %):   19,69 ft / 6,00 m
      - Stern:      19,69 ft / 6,00 m
      - Average freeboard:   19,82 ft / 6,04 m
   Ship tends to be wet forward

Ship space, strength and comments:
   Space   - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 108,7 %
      - Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 140,6 %
   Waterplane Area: 57.760 Square feet or 5.366 Square metres
   Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 89 %
   Structure weight / hull surface area: 224 lbs/sq ft or 1.092 Kg/sq metre
   Hull strength (Relative):
      - Cross-sectional: 0,97
      - Longitudinal: 1,26
      - Overall: 1,00
   Hull space for machinery, storage, compartmentation is adequate
   Room for accommodation and workspaces is excellent

[mentat]

Looks like an overblown monster to me :o

Would it all fit in 720' ?

If this is your first Quadruple design - overdoing the risk involved?

45000t and almost GBP10m in 1 ship!

As a Target - GBP1.53m per torp!

At this (presumably) design exercise stage - would 12 x 15" and 28 knots with same protection be more affordable and more useful?

[P3D]

The ship cost $39 in Nverse terms, about half of the ESC military budget. And one big battleship would defeat two battleships of half the displacement - economies of scale.
There are similar sized ships afloat in Nverse BTW.

[Valles]

Looks like an overblown monster to me

Well, she's twelve thousand tons lighter than my earliest draft for my new battleship class, six knots faster, and carries half as many guns of almost exactly the same size. About 3/4 the belt armor and maybe a third the deck. Even the latest, final version of the ship, with a pruned belt and only half the deck armor, is barely five thousand tons lighter than this.

With that eye-popping number of guns (A-(Q)R-X?), I think she's actually an excellent design with an interesting layout... though, as usual, I'd go for heavier armor than is seen here. ^_^

[The Rock Doctor]

Deck space might be an issue, I dunno.  A sketch would be good.

The armor's okay, but obviously the design is skewed towards speed and firepower.

[Guinness]

I don't personally believe you could fit the 10 twin 150mm deck mounts in the space available, unless they were to be within the rotation arc of the main armament, or within their blast area. This might be ok, I suppose, but it is a design compromise so far resisted by Confederate designers at least. We fear that blast, while it may be survivable in those gun houses, might seriously degrade the crews' fighting capability.

[P3D]

Possible secondary gun arrangement:
One overfiring B
One overfiring Q/X, one overfiring Y

Two on both sides between B and Q

[mentat]

I'm really not sure it all fits in, very crude but rough proportional comparisons to the nearest historical comparisons I can think of - big turrets and moderate(ish) speed:

KGV:

745' - with 2 Quads, 1 Twin; slightly more HP but later engines, +2 knots - finer hull form

So - I'm guessing add 12' + 35' on turrets, = on engines, -15 on hull form - gives net +32 - indicating c. 780'

Nelson/Rodney:

710' - with 3 Triples but a bit smaller. much less engine power and lower speed (but hull form seemed quite fine for their speed)

Guessing - add 15' + 35' on turrets (-15' because X was well behind B not superfiring), +25' on boilers/engines, = on hull form - net +60 - indicating c. 770'

Very rough and ready - and I'm sure possible to disagree on detail of figures but can't see reaching 720' - seems to indicate a problem

+ this does not include:

- idea of superfiring secondaries - I imagine only 4 are possible each side at deck level away from blast

- crew space for +6/7 main guns vs. these designs

IMHO definitely needs a picture to see how everything fits.... :D