Vilnius Union Ships, 1911 - 1919

[The Rock Doctor]

Right Said Kirk, everybody.  Give him a hand, he's here till Thursday.

[The Rock Doctor]

Paint:  Yeah, sure, we can do that if you want to.

Springstyle:  It works on 18,500 tonnes.

Budget Spreadsheet:  Just hold up there, buddy.

[TacCovert4]

Holy Consternation Batman

[Jefgte]

- You are "Courageous" to design this "Furious" ship.
- Yes, that is for the "Glorious" of Vilnius Navy.

;D  ;D  ;D

[The Rock Doctor]

The Attakulla continues the Union habit of kicking off a run of new capital ships with a monitor test-bed.

It's expected that the 40cm gun will equip the next class(es) of Union capital ships, although the development of twin and triple turrets allows some creativity in their final layout.  As the more complex mounting, though, the triple is installed here.

The armor is sloped (top = further outboard, bottom = further inboard), with net height equal to two 2.4 metre decks on the ship.  That said, I'm not sure if the things I've ticked within SS are consistent with this because I found the instructions a bit vague.  However, the presence or absence of a negative sign didn't actually seem to affect any numerical quality of the design so a fix, if needed, is simple enough.

The turret is not armored to the degree that a normal capital ship would be - this is a weight-savings measure applied to what is already a pretty expensive vessel.  Still, she's well protected against anything smaller than a modern armored cruiser or capital ship.  I'm not entirely clear as to the difference between a triple turret (chosen here) and a three-gun turret, so...?

As previously noted, there are some command facilities in place and she'll likely be deployed to a major overseas territory as station command ship once the initial gunnery trials are completed. 

Astute members will note minor cosmetic differences in the drawing compared to preceding monitor and capital ship types; it gives hints as to where I'm going with future drawings.



Enter ship name, Enter country Enter ship type laid down 1918

Displacement:
   12,661 t light; 13,391 t standard; 14,249 t normal; 14,935 t full load

Dimensions: Length (overall / waterline) x beam x draught (normal/deep)
   (447.08 ft / 436.35 ft) x 101.71 ft (Bulges 108.27 ft) x (16.24 / 16.95 ft)
   (136.27 m / 133.00 m) x 31.00 m (Bulges 33.00 m)  x (4.95 / 5.17 m)

Armament:
      3 - 15.75" / 400 mm 45.0 cal guns - 1,984.16lbs / 900.00kg shells, 100 per gun
     Breech loading guns in turret on barbette mount, 1918 Model
     1 x Triple mount on centreline, forward deck aft
      12 - 5.12" / 130 mm 45.0 cal guns - 67.62lbs / 30.67kg shells, 250 per gun
     Quick firing guns in deck and hoist mounts, 1918 Model
     4 x Twin mounts on sides, aft evenly spread
     2 x Twin mounts on centreline, aft evenly spread
      1 raised mount
      4 - 0.39" / 10.0 mm 45.0 cal guns - 0.02lbs / 0.01kg shells, 4,000 per gun
     Machine guns in deck mounts, 1918 Model
     4 x Single mounts on sides, evenly spread
      4 raised mounts
      4 - 1.97" / 50.0 mm 45.0 cal guns - 3.86lbs / 1.75kg shells, 150 per gun
     Anti-air guns in deck mounts, 1918 Model
     4 x Single mounts on sides, aft evenly spread
      4 raised mounts
      Weight of broadside 6,779 lbs / 3,075 kg

Armour:
   - Belts:      Width (max)   Length (avg)      Height (avg)
   Main:   7.87" / 200 mm   283.63 ft / 86.45 m   16.11 ft / 4.91 m
   Ends:   1.97" / 50 mm   152.69 ft / 46.54 m   11.81 ft / 3.60 m
     Main Belt covers 100 % of normal length
     Main Belt inclined -12.00 degrees (positive = in)

   - Torpedo Bulkhead - Additional damage containing bulkheads:
      2.95" / 75 mm   283.63 ft / 86.45 m   15.42 ft / 4.70 m
   Beam between torpedo bulkheads 88.58 ft / 27.00 m

   - Gun armour:   Face (max)   Other gunhouse (avg)   Barbette/hoist (max)
   Main:   7.87" / 200 mm   3.94" / 100 mm      7.87" / 200 mm
   2nd:   1.97" / 50 mm   0.79" / 20 mm      1.97" / 50 mm
   3rd:   0.39" / 10 mm         -               -
   4th:   0.79" / 20 mm   0.39" / 10 mm            -

   - Armoured deck - multiple decks:
   For and Aft decks: 2.36" / 60 mm
   Forecastle: 1.18" / 30 mm  Quarter deck: 2.36" / 60 mm

   - Conning towers: Forward 7.87" / 200 mm, Aft 0.00" / 0 mm

Machinery:
   Oil fired boilers, steam turbines,
   Direct drive, 2 shafts, 9,425 shp / 7,031 Kw = 15.81 kts
   Range 10,000nm at 10.00 kts
   Bunker at max displacement = 1,544 tons

Complement:
   651 - 847

Cost:
   £2.239 million / $8.956 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
   Armament: 1,142 tons, 8.0 %
      - Guns: 1,142 tons, 8.0 %
   Armour: 4,401 tons, 30.9 %
      - Belts: 1,832 tons, 12.9 %
      - Torpedo bulkhead: 478 tons, 3.4 %
      - Armament: 585 tons, 4.1 %
      - Armour Deck: 1,406 tons, 9.9 %
      - Conning Tower: 100 tons, 0.7 %
   Machinery: 340 tons, 2.4 %
   Hull, fittings & equipment: 6,461 tons, 45.3 %
   Fuel, ammunition & stores: 1,588 tons, 11.1 %
   Miscellaneous weights: 316 tons, 2.2 %
      - On freeboard deck: 76 tons
      - Above deck: 240 tons

Fittings: 
-115 t:  1912 Fire control (AD)
-100 t:  Flag facilities (AD)
-25 t:  L/R wireless (AD)
-76 t:  Weight reserve (FD)

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
   Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
     41,374 lbs / 18,767 Kg = 21.2 x 15.7 " / 400 mm shells or 10.8 torpedoes
   Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.60
   Metacentric height 11.3 ft / 3.4 m
   Roll period: 13.5 seconds
   Steadiness   - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 100 %
         - Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.24
   Seaboat quality  (Average = 1.00): 1.56

Hull form characteristics:
   Hull has low forecastle, rise forward of midbreak,
     a normal bow and a cruiser stern
   Block coefficient (normal/deep): 0.650 / 0.653
   Length to Beam Ratio: 4.03 : 1
   'Natural speed' for length: 20.89 kts
   Power going to wave formation at top speed: 39 %
   Trim (Max stability = 0, Max steadiness = 100): 64
   Bow angle (Positive = bow angles forward): 10.00 degrees
   Stern overhang: 6.56 ft / 2.00 m
   Freeboard (% = length of deck as a percentage of waterline length):
            Fore end,    Aft end
      - Forecastle:   25.00 %,  23.62 ft / 7.20 m,  15.75 ft / 4.80 m
      - Forward deck:   20.00 %,  23.62 ft / 7.20 m,  23.62 ft / 7.20 m
      - Aft deck:   40.00 %,  15.75 ft / 4.80 m,  15.75 ft / 4.80 m
      - Quarter deck:   15.00 %,  15.75 ft / 4.80 m,  15.75 ft / 4.80 m
      - Average freeboard:      18.11 ft / 5.52 m

Ship space, strength and comments:
   Space   - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 56.1 %
      - Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 182.8 %
   Waterplane Area: 33,997 Square feet or 3,158 Square metres
   Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 125 %
   Structure weight / hull surface area: 166 lbs/sq ft or 810 Kg/sq metre
   Hull strength (Relative):
      - Cross-sectional: 0.91
      - Longitudinal: 2.28
      - 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

[TacCovert4]

The difference is the sleeve / cradle.   3 gun is individually sleeved guns.  So they operate independently in elevation.  Triple is single sleeve and elevate in unison.  The former is ideal, the latter is acceptable if you're really trying to cram guns in tightly on a mount.

[The Rock Doctor]

Ah, okay, thanks.  Three-gun adds a bit of weight, which I can probably just siphon out of the weight reserve when I tweak the design.

[The Rock Doctor]

The Royal Family has requested funding for one or two royal yachts.

One or two, you say?  One is not enough?  Well, yes, but actually no.  There are three general mission-profiles for a Union yacht to undertake:

1)  Travel between ports in the Union where rail service isn't faster.  We're looking at distances of 300-400 km, to locations that should be well-equipped to receive the Royals, in waters that may unpleasant or have some ice.

2)  International travel within Eurasia where, again, rail service isn't a more logical choice.  State visits to Rome or Byzantium can use a train.  Further afield, maybe a yacht is more appropriate.  We're talking a voyage of a few days, in conditions ranging from the North Sea to the Persian Gulf. 

3)  Overseas travel to the Union's African or Erican territories, or foreign states in those continents or the Pacific. 

There's a view that it might make some sense to build different ships for the Baltic and non-Baltic roles:

A)  A small, jaunty, relatively sparsely equipped vessel, armed only with saluting guns, with an ice-strengthened hull for the Baltic gig.  This would be home-ported in Klaipeda, west of Vilnius.

B)  A larger, lavishly equipped vessel designed for long-haul trips with a larger support staff and additional capabilities like extra wireless, a vehicle garage, etc.  This would need to be practical in a much warmer climates, and given the relative infrequency of high-profile overseas tours, might warrant design for a second "off-season" role.  Training ship?  Survey ship?  Hard to say.  The ship would likely be home-ported in Amsterdam, with the royal family arriving there via rail.

Thoughts?  I'm gonna play with designs for the little guy first.

[The Rock Doctor]

The small yacht might look like this.

It's got legs to get from Klaipeda to Stockholm or Copenhagen (330-350 nm) at full speed, with plenty of oil to spare.  Cast-off at 4 PM, have dinner aboard, cruise overnight, you're in Stockholm before lunch the next day.

With that limited draft, she can dock in a lot of places, and probably move up and down some of the major rivers a fair distance.

She's got a nice suite for the royals, though they might think of this as "roughing it", and there's probably a good-sized dining room and sitting room for receiving a small number of guests aboard.

There's space for a limited entourage, some tending to the Royals in the latters' official duties and others providing care-giving functions in down-time.  I assume people like drivers (and the cars for that matter) are sourced locally in whatever Union place the yacht is visiting.  I'm also assuming a security complement are drawn from amongst the ship's official complement listing, since there's just two peashooter saluting guns to man.

The belt runs the length of the ship and is to protect against seasonal ice or accidents.  It's not intended to keep projectiles out because it will likely never leave Union waters.  It does mean the ship is built to military specs, but that should probably be true of any ship lugging one's head of state about.

Enter ship name, Enter country Enter ship type laid down 1918

Displacement:
   633 t light; 647 t standard; 687 t normal; 718 t full load

Dimensions: Length (overall / waterline) x beam x draught (normal/deep)
   (242.67 ft / 229.66 ft) x 29.53 ft x (7.87 / 8.13 ft)
   (73.97 m / 70.00 m) x 9.00 m  x (2.40 / 2.48 m)

Armament:
      2 - 1.97" / 50.0 mm 45.0 cal guns - 3.86lbs / 1.75kg shells, 50 per gun
     Quick firing guns in deck mounts, 1918 Model
     2 x Single mounts on sides, aft deck forward
      2 raised mounts
      Weight of broadside 8 lbs / 4 kg

Armour:
   - Belts:      Width (max)   Length (avg)      Height (avg)
   Main:   0.59" / 15 mm   214.90 ft / 65.50 m   7.87 ft / 2.40 m
   Ends:   0.59" / 15 mm     14.73 ft / 4.49 m   7.87 ft / 2.40 m
     Main Belt covers 144 % of normal length

Machinery:
   Oil fired boilers, steam turbines,
   Direct drive, 2 shafts, 3,753 shp / 2,800 Kw = 20.20 kts
   Range 500nm at 20.00 kts
   Bunker at max displacement = 72 tons

Complement:
   66 - 87

Cost:
   £0.083 million / $0.332 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
   Armament: 2 tons, 0.2 %
      - Guns: 2 tons, 0.2 %
   Armour: 41 tons, 6.0 %
      - Belts: 41 tons, 6.0 %
   Machinery: 135 tons, 19.7 %
   Hull, fittings & equipment: 274 tons, 39.9 %
   Fuel, ammunition & stores: 54 tons, 7.9 %
   Miscellaneous weights: 180 tons, 26.2 %
      - Hull above water: 100 tons
      - On freeboard deck: 55 tons
      - Above deck: 25 tons

Fittings:
-25 t:  L/R wireless (AD)
-40 t:  Royal Family suite/office space/entertaining space (FD)
-10 t:  Office space for aides (FD)
-5 t:  Weight reserve (FD)
-28 t:  Cabins for seven senior aides (AW) (Major Domo, Lady in Waiting, Senior Nanny, Chef, Doctor, Logistics Manager, Protocol Manager)
-50 t:  Accommodation for twenty-five junior aides (AW)
-12 t:  Office/working space for aides (AW)
-10 t:  Cargo/luggage (AW)

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
   Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
     1,325 lbs / 601 Kg = 347.3 x 2.0 " / 50 mm shells or 0.7 torpedoes
   Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.15
   Metacentric height 1.0 ft / 0.3 m
   Roll period: 12.1 seconds
   Steadiness   - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 70 %
         - Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.02
   Seaboat quality  (Average = 1.00): 1.63

Hull form characteristics:
   Hull has a flush deck,
     a normal bow and a cruiser stern
   Block coefficient (normal/deep): 0.450 / 0.456
   Length to Beam Ratio: 7.78 : 1
   'Natural speed' for length: 15.15 kts
   Power going to wave formation at top speed: 56 %
   Trim (Max stability = 0, Max steadiness = 100): 43
   Bow angle (Positive = bow angles forward): 20.00 degrees
   Stern overhang: 6.56 ft / 2.00 m
   Freeboard (% = length of deck as a percentage of waterline length):
            Fore end,    Aft end
      - Forecastle:   25.00 %,  17.72 ft / 5.40 m,  13.78 ft / 4.20 m
      - Forward deck:   25.00 %,  13.78 ft / 4.20 m,  9.84 ft / 3.00 m
      - Aft deck:   35.00 %,  9.84 ft / 3.00 m,  9.84 ft / 3.00 m
      - Quarter deck:   15.00 %,  9.84 ft / 3.00 m,  9.84 ft / 3.00 m
      - Average freeboard:      11.71 ft / 3.57 m

Ship space, strength and comments:
   Space   - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 81.1 %
      - Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 133.1 %
   Waterplane Area: 4,326 Square feet or 402 Square metres
   Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 138 %
   Structure weight / hull surface area: 37 lbs/sq ft or 179 Kg/sq metre
   Hull strength (Relative):
      - Cross-sectional: 0.88
      - Longitudinal: 3.04
      - 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

[Desertfox]

The Emperor does not have royal yacht since there really wasn't a need for him to travel abroad, but that could be changing. In the meantime Japan does have a pair of decently equipped diplomatic ships that could be used for the role. They have seen extensive service and have pulled double duty among other things as signal intelligence collection, fleet hospitals, and fleet command and control. The last two roles have been portioned of to the two new hospital ships, which can also serve as yachts in a pinch. 

[The Rock Doctor]

I've had the thought that I could borrow from historical American practice and build a royal suite into a capital ship. Scheduling conflicts would not be that problematic - the royals are probably not going to be going overseas at the same time that the capital ship needs to go shell something.

The alternate use I'm thinking of for a dedicated yacht is long-haul cultural exchange tours around the Union.  No military utility, but you gather a bunch of up-and-coming bureaucrats from the homeland and the colonies, stick them on the boat, and go cruise.  At sea, they're doing workshops.  In port, they're learning about local cultures/customs/history.  So functionally, it's a cruise ship.

[TacCovert4]

Same kind of reason behind my own Royal Yacht plans.  Build a ship that can be a royal yacht, a diplomatic dispatch vessel, and has the capacity that it can do some disaster relief type work as well if need be.

[The Rock Doctor]

High cruising speeds and Trans-Atlantic range suggests a lot of fuel.  I might hold off on the big yacht until I've got marine diesels.  Say, 1920 or 1921 laydown.

[Desertfox]

What speed/range are you looking at? The Japanese diplomatic ships can do 7,500@14 on 90% coal and 1910 ST, they are 3k ships capable of 21kts. Since they are likely to be auxiliaries you can easily add turbo-electric drive cheaply.

[The Rock Doctor]

Notionally 3000 nm @ 20 knots.  Diesels appear to bump the range up by 75%, so that gets me across the Atlantic without refueling and with a fair margin in the bunkers.