Zionite Gunship

[Desertfox]

Time to get back in business, and what better than a carzy design! ;D

A small gunboat for use in Lake Victoria. What I still dont know is wether the main guns will be howitzers, mortars, or dynamite guns.

The secondaries are 3 barrel, electrical Gatlings.
 

Dead Sea, New Zion Lake Victoria Gun Ship laid down 1912

Displacement:
   294 t light; 331 t standard; 339 t normal; 347 t full load

Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught
   220.00 ft / 220.00 ft x 24.00 ft x 5.00 ft (normal load)
   67.06 m / 67.06 m x 7.32 m  x 1.52 m

Armament:
      2 - 10.00" / 254 mm guns in single mounts, 500.00lbs / 226.80kg shells, 1912 Model
     Muzzle loading guns in deck mounts
     on centreline, evenly spread
     Main guns limited to end-on fire
      12 - 1.97" / 50.0 mm guns (4x3 guns), 3.81lbs / 1.73kg shells, 1912 Model
     Quick firing guns in deck mounts
     on side, all amidships
   Weight of broadside 1,046 lbs / 474 kg
   Shells per gun, main battery: 50

Machinery:
   Coal and oil fired boilers, complex reciprocating steam engines,
   Direct drive, 2 shafts, 786 ihp / 586 Kw = 15.00 kts
   Range 500nm at 10.00 kts
   Bunker at max displacement = 16 tons (90% coal)
     Caution: Delicate, lightweight machinery

Complement:
   39 - 51

Cost:
   £0.123 million / $0.490 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
   Armament: 131 tons, 38.5 %
   Machinery: 18 tons, 5.2 %
   Hull, fittings & equipment: 156 tons, 45.8 %
   Fuel, ammunition & stores: 45 tons, 13.4 %
   Miscellaneous weights: -10 tons, -2.9 %

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
   Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
     36 lbs / 16 Kg = 0.1 x 10.0 " / 254 mm shells or 0.1 torpedoes
   Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.68
   Metacentric height 1.4 ft / 0.4 m
   Roll period: 8.5 seconds
   Steadiness   - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 70 %
         - Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 1.17
   Seaboat quality  (Average = 1.00): 1.04

Hull form characteristics:
   Hull has a flush deck
   Block coefficient: 0.450
   Length to Beam Ratio: 9.17 : 1
   'Natural speed' for length: 14.83 kts
   Power going to wave formation at top speed: 38 %
   Trim (Max stability = 0, Max steadiness = 100): 68
   Bow angle (Positive = bow angles forward): 0.00 degrees
   Stern overhang: 0.00 ft / 0.00 m
   Freeboard (% = measuring location as a percentage of overall length):
      - Stem:      10.00 ft / 3.05 m
      - Forecastle (20 %):   5.00 ft / 1.52 m
      - Mid (50 %):      5.00 ft / 1.52 m
      - Quarterdeck (15 %):   5.00 ft / 1.52 m
      - Stern:      5.00 ft / 1.52 m
      - Average freeboard:   5.40 ft / 1.65 m
   Ship tends to be wet forward

Ship space, strength and comments:
   Space   - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 287.2 %
      - Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 82.2 %
   Waterplane Area: 3,368 Square feet or 313 Square metres
   Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 30 %
   Structure weight / hull surface area: 35 lbs/sq ft or 170 Kg/sq metre
   Hull strength (Relative):
      - Cross-sectional: 0.52
      - Longitudinal: 0.87
      - Overall: 0.55
   Caution: Hull subject to strain in open-sea
   Hull space for machinery, storage, compartmentation is extremely poor
   Room for accommodation and workspaces is cramped
   Ship has slow, easy roll, a good, steady gun platform

Error : Input value must be positive

[Sachmle]

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
   Armament: 131 tons, 38.5 %
   Machinery: 18 tons, 5.2 %
   Hull, fittings & equipment: 156 tons, 45.8 %
   Fuel, ammunition & stores: 45 tons, 13.4 %
   Miscellaneous weights: -10 tons, -2.9 %

Even with the "negative misc weight" this still adds up to 340t, your ship at "normal" is 339t. Does anyone else see the problem here?

[Borys]

Ahoj!
LOL!
That rarified mountain air does strange things to weight perception :)

Also ....
GAZES AT CRYSTAL BALL:
... I see .. I see ... some jammed secondaries in your future ...
Borys

[Carthaginian]

500 pound muzzle-loaders?
Uhm... that's mighty big... and mighty slow.
Maybe Tony Stark will loan you a couple of Mark II suits to serve as loaders.
(Sorry, just saw Iron Man!)

How's that negative weight figuring in?
New Zion invent anti-gravity tech?

And the secondary guns are plain ol' crazy.;)

[Borys]

Lure Pudzianowski and his clones away from the French fleet ...

[Sachmle]

MAYBE 50cal Gatling guns, but 50mm?  ???

[Borys]

The negative weight is a typo, I wager

For "ends only" guns muzle loading ain't that much of a botherr.
Especialy as this is shoot&scoot ship

[The Rock Doctor]

"Shoot and Slow Steam Away", I think you mean.

50mm gatlings sound silly.  The hull strength is a problem.  The miscellaneous weight needs to be fixed. 

[Desertfox]

There was a 37mm 5 barrel gatling gun and a machine gun.  Here a re some pics:


pics by Commodore Green (wesworld)

Negative weight was to fix a 0.49 cross sectional strength. Yes I cheated a little, but I figure the main guns are lighter than what SS2 says, since they are not regular guns. I can make the ship a little bigger, but I like the design quirk. And hey if God can open the Red Sea he can make our ships a little lighter! ;D

[Carthaginian]

Hmmmm... I can buy the 'mortars are lighter' excuse for the negative weight allowance... but don't expect to shoot at anything within a 1/2 mile or so with any degree of success. ;)

And 37mm hand-cranked and 50mm electrically-actuated Gatling guns are light-years apart.
AS for the 37mm autocannon, the CSA is developing one as we speak. ;)

[Desertfox]

I don't, I just want to have the biggest guns on the block! ;D Plus the guns are for troop support, not for anti-ship duties.

Well I would have gone for hand-cranked, but I'm not sure that's possible in this size. Plus this is the age when electric cars where all the rage (and still held world speed records) and electricity was the way to go.

[Walter]

... I think I need a vacation. For some reason, I read:

electric cars where all the rage

as

electric chairs where all the rage

Ah well... about 2 more months to go for some well deserved rest...

And hey if God can open the Red Sea he can make our ships a little lighter!

I would think that God would make your ships heavier, not lighter. :D

Negative weight was to fix a 0.49 cross sectional strength.

If it is only going to operate on a lake, then you can go for a lower seaboat rating and perhaps there is no need for the negative miscellaneous weights.

[P3D]

Problem with 57mm Gatling is how to feed it.
If you want to sim mortars, just use a lower caliber guns (say 8"). However, mortars would make the ship useless against Teichkreuzern.

My solution for the Victoria lake problem is pretty simple and elegant. Put mines in the water within the range of a couple 6" shore batteries.

[Borys]

Gatling guns made a comeback in the 60s when VERY high ROF was needed.
Unless you must have 2000 rpm, the complexity and weight of the Gatling system are not worth the trouble.

Also, see MEROKA :)

Borys

[The Rock Doctor]

Foxy:  No negative miscellaneous weights.  If you can't design it without using cheats, don't design it.

It's my view that slow craft such as this should be built to hull strength of 1.00.