United States Navy: Post-GMI Planning.

[snip]

I've written this up as a guide to what the USN is thinking and planning in a post "We might get in a shooting match with the Royal Navy" world. Note I still have to write the text of the mention speech with the goals, but it's going to amount to building a navy that is the unchallenged master of the Atlantic to defend the America's against European colonial plots.

Lessons
Following the Battle of Grand Manan Island on 6th June 1904, several major areas of concern have been identified that need to be corrected. If we are to meet the goals set by President Roosevelt, the General board considers the following to be the primary points of concern.

The non-homogenous nature of the battleships employed in the battle lead to a breakdown in formation that could have proved fatal in a outnumbered engagement.
The number of modern heavy guns employed was low.
The Frigates, while large in size, were not sufficiently protected against contemporary caliber gunfire.
Greater cruiser screens and stronger secondary batteries are needed to help defend against torpedo attack.
Capital units need some sort of inherent torpedo amor.
Destroyers are needed in greater numbers
Destroyers need to be larger, faster, and more heavily armed to increase their survivability.
Individual destroyers need to carry more torpedo tubes. Single mountings no longer sufficient.

Proposals
In addition, modern Royal Navy units under construction currently outclass out most advanced in construction ships. As such, the General Board recommends the following corrections to ensure the lessons of Grand Manan Island need not be learned again.

Replace as fast a practical the sub-18knt battleships in active service.
Set a new speed standard of 21knts for the battleline in accordance with foreign designs.
Replace all 13" gunned battleships in mainline combat rolls as soon as practical
Constructed new Frigates armored to resist guns of common caliber for ships of the role.
Enforce a policy of minimum two new modern fleet cruisers for every capital ship.
Improve placement, and where practical number, of anti-destroyer guns
Begin development into protection against torpedo damage.
Increase the standard size of destroyers to 750 tons light.
Utilize pure oil firing to improve speed of light ships.
Enforce maximum practical centerline torpedo armament to minise maneuver needed to launch all torpedo.

Replacement schedule
The General board proposes the following as a minimum replacement timetable for the sub 18knt and 13" armed battleships within seven years. Dates listed are for laydown and replacement occurs after completion.

1905 - B23 and B24 to replace B2 (Sunk) and B1. B1 may not be fully repaired depending on funding and state of damage.

1906 - B25 and B26 to replace B3 and B4

1907 - B27 and B28 to replace B5 and B6

1908 - B29 and B30 to replace B7 and B8

1909 - B30 to replace B9.

All replacement units should be completed by 1912 at the latest. Replacement of sub 18knt battleships should be considered a high priority and accelerated ahead of this timetable if possible.

Minimum design specifications
The general board proposes the following minimum specifications to be met by United States Navy warships for the next five years.

Battleships - At least eight 12"/45 guns or better. Speed 21knts. Possessing intangible hull torpedo protection as soon as practical.

Frigates - At least eight 10"/40 guns or better. Speed comparable to foreign contemporaries. Protection against common contemporary guns.

Cruisers, Fleet - At least six 5"/50 gun on the broadside or better. Speed comparable to foreign contemporaries. Protection against common torpedo craft weaponry.

Cruiser, Scout - Speed as high as practical.

Destroyers - Speed as high as practical. Minimum four torpedo tubes capable of firing on a side.

Your guy's thoughts?

[Tanthalas]

Looks very reasonable to me, more or less what I am thinking for the dutch.

[Jefgte]

1905 - B23 and B24 to replace B2 (Sunk) and B1.

1906 - B25 and B26 to replace B3 and B4

1907 - B27 and B28 to replace B5 and B6

1908 - B29 and B30 to replace B7 and B8

1909 - B30 to replace B9.

Massive & heavy building plan
Do not forget scout cruisers & destroyers for them

[snip]

I will quote another line from the document.

Enforce a policy of minimum two new modern fleet cruisers for every capital ship.

That is also just the minimum capital ship plan, I might do it faster.

[Logi]

Japan would disagree with the US assessment of the effectiveness of torpedoes, but I can see why the USN would come to that conclusion.

[snip]

First ship out of this plan. A 650t Destroyer to replace the obsolete Torpedo boats.

D60 Class, United States Destroyer laid down 1905

Displacement:
   650 t light; 674 t standard; 749 t normal; 809 t full load

Dimensions: Length (overall / waterline) x beam x draught (normal/deep)
   (290.00 ft / 285.00 ft) x 27.00 ft x (6.75 / 7.16 ft)
   (88.39 m / 86.87 m) x 8.23 m  x (2.06 / 2.18 m)

Armament:
      5 - 4.00" / 102 mm 50.0 cal guns - 33.00lbs / 14.97kg shells, 100 per gun
     Breech loading guns in deck mounts, 1901 Model
     3 x Single mounts on centreline ends, majority aft
      1 raised mount aft - superfiring
     2 x Single mounts on sides, forward deck centre
      Weight of broadside 165 lbs / 75 kg

Armour:
   - Gun armour:   Face (max)   Other gunhouse (avg)   Barbette/hoist (max)
   Main:   0.25" / 6 mm         -               -

Machinery:
   Oil fired boilers, steam turbines,
   Direct drive, 2 shafts, 10,000 shp / 7,460 Kw = 25.99 kts
   Range 3,000nm at 10.00 kts
   Bunker at max displacement = 135 tons

Complement:
   71 - 93

Cost:
   £0.086 million / $0.345 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
   Armament: 30 tons, 3.9 %
      - Guns: 30 tons, 3.9 %
   Armour: 3 tons, 0.4 %
      - Armament: 3 tons, 0.4 %
   Machinery: 389 tons, 52.0 %
   Hull, fittings & equipment: 193 tons, 25.8 %
   Fuel, ammunition & stores: 99 tons, 13.2 %
   Miscellaneous weights: 35 tons, 4.7 %
      - Hull above water: 10 tons
      - On freeboard deck: 15 tons
      - Above deck: 10 tons

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
   Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
     241 lbs / 109 Kg = 7.5 x 4.0 " / 102 mm shells or 0.2 torpedoes
   Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.40
   Metacentric height 1.3 ft / 0.4 m
   Roll period: 10.1 seconds
   Steadiness   - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 60 %
         - Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.28
   Seaboat quality  (Average = 1.00): 1.20

Hull form characteristics:
   Hull has a flush deck,
     a normal bow and a cruiser stern
   Block coefficient (normal/deep): 0.505 / 0.514
   Length to Beam Ratio: 10.56 : 1
   'Natural speed' for length: 16.88 kts
   Power going to wave formation at top speed: 61 %
   Trim (Max stability = 0, Max steadiness = 100): 50
   Bow angle (Positive = bow angles forward): 15.00 degrees
   Stern overhang: 1.52 ft / 0.46 m
   Freeboard (% = length of deck as a percentage of waterline length):
            Fore end,    Aft end
      - Forecastle:   20.00 %,  13.00 ft / 3.96 m,  11.25 ft / 3.43 m
      - Forward deck:   30.00 %,  11.25 ft / 3.43 m,  11.25 ft / 3.43 m
      - Aft deck:   35.00 %,  11.25 ft / 3.43 m,  11.25 ft / 3.43 m
      - Quarter deck:   15.00 %,  11.25 ft / 3.43 m,  11.25 ft / 3.43 m
      - Average freeboard:      11.39 ft / 3.47 m
   Ship tends to be wet forward

Ship space, strength and comments:
   Space   - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 180.5 %
      - Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 155.4 %
   Waterplane Area: 5,149 Square feet or 478 Square metres
   Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 46 %
   Structure weight / hull surface area: 23 lbs/sq ft or 113 Kg/sq metre
   Hull strength (Relative):
      - Cross-sectional: 0.50
      - Longitudinal: 1.32
      - Overall: 0.55
   Cramped machinery, storage, compartmentation space
   Excellent accommodation and workspace room

Misc weight is for torps and a wireless, just haven't quite decided how I want to go about arranging them. I'm holding off on pushing to the max 750t until the next engine tech, as the ships will be slower if they are tech-max.

[snip]

B23 Design A, United States Battleship laid down 1905

Displacement:
   18,500 t light; 19,312 t standard; 20,261 t normal; 21,021 t full load

Dimensions: Length (overall / waterline) x beam x draught (normal/deep)
   (515.00 ft / 510.00 ft) x 85.00 ft x (27.00 / 27.83 ft)
   (156.97 m / 155.45 m) x 25.91 m  x (8.23 / 8.48 m)

Armament:
      8 - 12.00" / 305 mm 45.0 cal guns - 870.00lbs / 394.63kg shells, 80 per gun
     Breech loading guns in turret on barbette mounts, 1905 Model
     4 x Twin mounts on centreline ends, evenly spread
      2 raised mounts - superfiring
      14 - 5.00" / 127 mm 50.0 cal guns - 50.00lbs / 22.68kg shells, 250 per gun
     Breech loading guns in casemate mounts, 1905 Model
     14 x Single mounts on sides, aft evenly spread
      Weight of broadside 7,660 lbs / 3,475 kg

Armour:
   - Belts:      Width (max)   Length (avg)      Height (avg)
   Main:   11.5" / 292 mm   331.50 ft / 101.04 m   11.50 ft / 3.51 m
   Ends:   5.00" / 127 mm   178.48 ft / 54.40 m   9.00 ft / 2.74 m
   Upper:   5.00" / 127 mm   331.50 ft / 101.04 m   9.00 ft / 2.74 m
     Main Belt covers 100 % of normal length

   - Gun armour:   Face (max)   Other gunhouse (avg)   Barbette/hoist (max)
   Main:   13.0" / 330 mm   7.00" / 178 mm      12.0" / 305 mm
   2nd:   5.00" / 127 mm   4.00" / 102 mm      5.00" / 127 mm

   - Armoured deck - multiple decks:
   For and Aft decks: 3.00" / 76 mm
   Forecastle: 2.00" / 51 mm  Quarter deck: 2.00" / 51 mm

   - Conning towers: Forward 12.00" / 305 mm, Aft 0.00" / 0 mm

Machinery:
   Coal and oil fired boilers, complex reciprocating steam engines,
   Direct drive, 4 shafts, 30,000 ihp / 22,380 Kw = 21.21 kts
   Range 5,500nm at 10.00 kts
   Bunker at max displacement = 1,709 tons (50% coal)

Complement:
   848 - 1,103

Cost:
   £1.927 million / $7.708 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
   Armament: 1,396 tons, 6.9 %
      - Guns: 1,396 tons, 6.9 %
   Armour: 6,621 tons, 32.7 %
      - Belts: 2,892 tons, 14.3 %
      - Armament: 1,864 tons, 9.2 %
      - Armour Deck: 1,673 tons, 8.3 %
      - Conning Tower: 192 tons, 0.9 %
   Machinery: 4,141 tons, 20.4 %
   Hull, fittings & equipment: 6,083 tons, 30.0 %
   Fuel, ammunition & stores: 1,761 tons, 8.7 %
   Miscellaneous weights: 260 tons, 1.3 %
      - Hull below water: 50 tons
      - Hull above water: 80 tons
      - On freeboard deck: 80 tons
      - Above deck: 50 tons

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
   Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
     18,114 lbs / 8,216 Kg = 21.0 x 12.0 " / 305 mm shells or 2.2 torpedoes
   Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.12
   Metacentric height 4.9 ft / 1.5 m
   Roll period: 16.2 seconds
   Steadiness   - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 70 %
         - Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.50
   Seaboat quality  (Average = 1.00): 1.18

Hull form characteristics:
   Hull has rise forward of midbreak,
     a ram bow and a cruiser stern
   Block coefficient (normal/deep): 0.606 / 0.610
   Length to Beam Ratio: 6.00 : 1
   'Natural speed' for length: 22.58 kts
   Power going to wave formation at top speed: 49 %
   Trim (Max stability = 0, Max steadiness = 100): 59
   Bow angle (Positive = bow angles forward): 5.00 degrees
   Stern overhang: -5.00 ft / -1.52 m
   Freeboard (% = length of deck as a percentage of waterline length):
            Fore end,    Aft end
      - Forecastle:   20.00 %,  23.50 ft / 7.16 m,  21.00 ft / 6.40 m
      - Forward deck:   20.00 %,  21.00 ft / 6.40 m,  21.00 ft / 6.40 m
      - Aft deck:   45.00 %,  12.00 ft / 3.66 m,  12.00 ft / 3.66 m
      - Quarter deck:   15.00 %,  12.00 ft / 3.66 m,  12.00 ft / 3.66 m
      - Average freeboard:      15.80 ft / 4.82 m
   Ship tends to be wet forward

Ship space, strength and comments:
   Space   - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 98.2 %
      - Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 105.7 %
   Waterplane Area: 31,877 Square feet or 2,961 Square metres
   Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 93 %
   Structure weight / hull surface area: 152 lbs/sq ft or 744 Kg/sq metre
   Hull strength (Relative):
      - Cross-sectional: 0.96
      - Longitudinal: 1.42
      - Overall: 1.00
   Adequate machinery, storage, compartmentation space
   Adequate accommodation and workspace room
   Ship has slow, easy roll, a good, steady gun platform