Transport

[KWorld]

"nice numbers" are not something I'm overly concerned about: on longer cruises things will even out anyway, not to mention that there's loading & unloading time and winds will affect sailing vessels.  What's unacceptable is simple merchant vessels that are far faster than the ships that should have a chance to prey upon them.  Historically, judging by the speed of the slow convoys of WWI, even the steamships that have mostly replaced sailing merchants by that period had an average cruising speed of 4-7 knots, there simply isn't a good enough reason to pay for the extra speed in most cases.  Liners are, of course, an exception to this, there the passengers are often willing to pay more to get where they want to go more rapidly. (the fast convoys of WWI, which consisted of liners almost exclusively, cruised at 13 knots or so, while the medium convoys cruised at 9-10knots).

[And, of course, the newly opened Suez canal has just wrecked the high point of the China clipper anyway, because Suez and it's environs are not easy for a sailing ship to use.]


[What could be interesting for someone who's in need of troop transports would be to build near-copies of Great Eastern: she's huge, but fast and efficient at what she does, and if you have enough cargo or troops to warrant her, she could be a very useful addition to the fleet.]

[Logi]

Well, I'm just making a suggestion and providing some data. I've shown the my method. If you deem it a good method, you can adjust the values yourself and keep the same method. I've provided the data required to do so. It's your call. ;)

[KWorld]

Great Northern, Enter country Troop ship laid down 1870

Displacement:
   20,762 t light; 21,286 t standard; 25,292 t normal; 28,496 t full load

Dimensions: Length (overall / waterline) x beam x draught (normal/deep)
   (692.00 ft / 692.00 ft) x 82.00 ft x (26.00 / 28.70 ft)
   (210.92 m / 210.92 m) x 24.99 m  x (7.92 / 8.75 m)

Armament:
      8 - 6.50" / 165 mm 12.0 cal guns - 68.00lbs / 30.84kg shells, 60 per gun
     Breech loading guns in deck mounts, 1870 Model
     8 x Single mounts on sides, evenly spread
      Weight of broadside 544 lbs / 247 kg

Machinery:
   Coal fired boilers, simple reciprocating steam engines,
   Direct drive, 2 shafts, 9,052 ihp / 6,753 Kw = 14.00 kts
   Range 6,000nm at 10.50 kts
   Bunker at max displacement = 7,210 tons (100% coal)

Complement:
   1,002 - 1,303

Cost:
   £1.047 million / $4.190 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
   Armament: 32 tons, 0.1 %
      - Guns: 32 tons, 0.1 %
   Machinery: 2,219 tons, 8.8 %
   Hull, fittings & equipment: 9,261 tons, 36.6 %
   Fuel, ammunition & stores: 4,530 tons, 17.9 %
   Miscellaneous weights: 9,250 tons, 36.6 %
      - Hull above water: 8,000 tons
      - Above deck: 1,250 tons

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
   Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
     28,299 lbs / 12,836 Kg = 294.4 x 6.5 " / 165 mm shells or 3.6 torpedoes
   Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.13
   Metacentric height 4.7 ft / 1.4 m
   Roll period: 15.9 seconds
   Steadiness   - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 81 %
         - Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.02
   Seaboat quality  (Average = 1.00): 1.62

Hull form characteristics:
   Hull has a flush deck,
     a normal bow and a cruiser stern
   Block coefficient (normal/deep): 0.600 / 0.612
   Length to Beam Ratio: 8.44 : 1
   'Natural speed' for length: 26.31 kts
   Power going to wave formation at top speed: 18 %
   Trim (Max stability = 0, Max steadiness = 100): 50
   Bow angle (Positive = bow angles forward): 0.00 degrees
   Stern overhang: 0.00 ft / 0.00 m
   Freeboard (% = length of deck as a percentage of waterline length):
            Fore end,    Aft end
      - Forecastle:   20.00 %,  25.00 ft / 7.62 m,  20.00 ft / 6.10 m
      - Forward deck:   30.00 %,  20.00 ft / 6.10 m,  20.00 ft / 6.10 m
      - Aft deck:   35.00 %,  20.00 ft / 6.10 m,  20.00 ft / 6.10 m
      - Quarter deck:   15.00 %,  20.00 ft / 6.10 m,  20.00 ft / 6.10 m
      - Average freeboard:      20.40 ft / 6.22 m
   Ship tends to be wet forward

Ship space, strength and comments:
   Space   - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 64.2 %
      - Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 157.8 %
   Waterplane Area: 41,502 Square feet or 3,856 Square metres
   Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 183 %
   Structure weight / hull surface area: 155 lbs/sq ft or 755 Kg/sq metre
   Hull strength (Relative):
      - Cross-sectional: 1.04
      - Longitudinal: 0.98
      - Overall: 1.00
   Excellent machinery, storage, compartmentation space
   Excellent accommodation and workspace room
   Ship has slow, easy roll, a good, steady gun platform
   Excellent seaboat, comfortable, can fire her guns in the heaviest weather

Above decks miscellaneous weight is masts and sails sufficient to drive the ship at 7 knots in normal conditions.