First World War Battlecruiser Challenge

[denodon]

Your peacetime scheme looks outstanding Denodon. Unfortunately, each submission should show a battlecruiser as it would have appeared on a date between 28 July 1914 and 11 November 1918. This includes the paint scheme applied to the ship. I apologise for creating the ambiguity which you discuss in your post. In order to make your submission compliant with the rules, there are a couple options available. You could submit a drawing of the Chioggia class in the wartime pale grey scheme, which is still quite stunning. Alternatively, you could modify the backstory so the peacetime scheme is retained until the declaration of war. Please, do whatever you think is best.

I have updated the post with a new image depicting her during WW1 itself, thanks for clarifying!

[The_Sprinklez]

Constitution Class Battlecruiser
USS Constitution, CC-1



In early 1912, the General Board of the US Navy recommended that two battlecruisers be requested for Fiscal Year 1914, and the staff of the Secretary of The Navy prepared a set of characteristics to guide the design. In October 1912, the Bureau of Construction and Repair finalized the design for what would become Constitution, and the preliminary design was forwarded to the Secretary of The Navy on the 19th. It was approved for addition to the budget, and in February 1913 the contract was awarded to the Norfolk Navy Yard. The cost was quoted at $13,975,000 USD, without armor or armament. The keel was laid for what would become CC-1 on October 5th 1914, and she was launched on January 27th 1916. A second vessel of the class, USS Enterprise (CC-2), was authorized for fiscal year 1915 but was cancelled in February of that year. Constitution would commission on March 15th 1917, with sea trials beginning on the 21st, and would host the Secretary of The Navy and Vice President Thomas R. Marshall on the 3rd of April. Upon the US entry into the Great War, she would be assigned to the Atlantic Fleet but would see no action in the conflict, remaining in home water.. In August 1917, she took part in a Naval Review for President Woodrow Wilson and would host officers from friendly nations in September, including Japanese Vice Admiral Isamu Takeshita and Russian Vice Admiral Alexander Kolchak. After the war, she would undertake a round-the-world trip in 1921, and would be modernized for the first time in 1925.

She would be modernized again in 1932 and 1941, and would be undergoing the latter modernization at Puget Sound Navy Yard on December 7th 1941 for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The Navy would immediately order additional modernizations to bring Constitution to full wartime readiness, and she would depart for Hawaii on February 3rd to join Task Force 16. While attached to TF16, she would participate in the shelling of Wake Island and Marcus Island, and go on to conduct the Doolittle Raid alongside Task Force 18 in April. Constitution would be present at the Battle of Midway in June, receiving moderate damage but claiming at least three Japanese aircraft in retribution. The ship would return to Pearl Harbor in early July for repairs and light updates, before being returned to TF16 in time for the Battle of the Eastern Solomons in late August 1942. She would then participate in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands and the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal later that fall, before returning to Puget Sound for modernization in early January 1943. Constitution would put to sea again in June, heading for Adak to take part in the counterattack at Attu and the shelling of Kiska. In October 1943, she would be present for the invasion of the Gilbert Islands before returning to Pearl for resupply and repair in December. In the last two years of the war, Constitution would carry out a number more invasion support and task force escort missions, taking part in shelling Kwajalein Atoll, Tinian, and Guam. During the invasion of Okinawa, she would be hit by three Kamikaze aircraft and sustained serious damage. Returning to Leyte for repair and resupply, she would be on her way to Saipan to partake in practice for the invasion of the Home Islands when the news of Japan's surrender broke. Constitution would be present in Tokyo Bay for the signing of the surrender document, and would participate in "Operation Magic Carpet" duties after the war, returning GIs to the United States. In January 1946, Constitution sailed for Puget Sound, where she was decommissioned on May 4th 1946. She would be laid up in the Reserve Fleet there until 1962, when she would be scrapped.

[heuhen]

Constitution Class Battlecruiser
USS Constitution, CC-1

my I suggest, you double check your dimension numbers!

[The_Sprinklez]

Constitution Class Battlecruiser
USS Constitution, CC-1

my I suggest, you double check your dimension numbers!

I assure you the numbers are correct, as improbable as they are.

[Kiwi Imperialist]

Apologies for this delayed response. Your bow and stern views are outstanding. They provide the viewer with a better understanding of the ship's geometry and contribute positively to the drawing as a whole. I have seriously considered eliminating the restriction on views to accommodate your submission. There is no doubt that something would be lost if the bow and stern views were removed from your entry. At this time, however, I am going to ask you to remove them. I do not wish to dismiss whatever time constraints affected your own work, but I feel that eliminating the view restriction would be unfair to those whose otherwise excellent drawing skills are limited to a single view by time. With that said, I will include a question in the poll for this challenge querying community support for the restriction. As a side note, I was humbled by your positive comments on Discord.

[Shigure]

Arcadia class battlecruiser



Arcadia, the first battlecruiser class of her navy, would make up the scout wing of the battlefleet and heavy fire support of cruiser squadrons. The class would carry the same main battery broadside of the latest battleships, whilst sacrificing armor protection for a 25% speed advantage of said battleships. This doctrinal requirement allowed battlecruisers to fight at the same range as current battleships whilst being able to choose her engagements and provide a decisive advantage against opposing cruiser squadrons.

Arcadia and Umbara were a result of the Aemore Defense Sphere Directive of 1300, which sought to provide Antara with a ocean-going fleet capable of challenging the naval powers of Aemore. This directive saw the rapid expansion of Antaran naval power for 15 years until the start of the Great War, and the first time in nearly 100 years the Aemorens had been worried by Antara.

Both vessels made up the 1st Battlecruiser Division. The division assisted in the naval invasions that made up most of the conflicts in the Veravane Islands in the Great War. In 1319, the division participated in the Battle of Hampton, where Umbara was disabled by gunfire from Vice Admiral Charles Cunningham's 3rd Battleship Squadron. 13" fire was presumed to have ignited the ammunition stored in the 152mm magazines of Umbara, destroying her boilers, setting her ablaze and causing her to drift for 40 minutes before fires reached her aft magazines causing a detonation that cut the vessel in half. Umbara was the largest loss of life on the Antaran side of the battle.

Some time after the war, Arcadia was decommissioned as she had become obsolete. There was considerable discussion as to what would be done with the vessel. Some wanted to convert her into a carrier, however the navy was not entirely decided on the usefulness of such a warship. Arcadia was ultimately sold for scrap in 1328.

SpringSharp report

Arcadia, Antaran battlecruiser laid down 1909 (Engine 1910)

Displacement:
20,692 t light; 21,719 t standard; 22,960 t normal; 23,953 t full load

Dimensions: Length (overall / waterline) x beam x draught (normal/deep)
(696.71 ft / 688.98 ft) x 91.86 ft x (29.53 / 30.40 ft)
(212.36 m / 210.00 m) x 28.00 m x (9.00 / 9.27 m)

Armament:
10 - 12.01" / 305 mm 45.0 cal guns - 873.07lbs / 396.02kg shells, 80 per gun
Breech loading guns in turret on barbette mounts, 1909 Model
5 x Twin mounts on centreline ends, majority aft
2 raised mounts - superfiring
20 - 5.98" / 152 mm 45.0 cal guns - 108.07lbs / 49.02kg shells, 150 per gun
Breech loading guns in casemate mounts, 1909 Model
20 x Single mounts on sides, evenly spread
14 hull mounts in casemates- Limited use in heavy seas
Weight of broadside 10,892 lbs / 4,941 kg

Armour:
- Belts: Width (max) Length (avg) Height (avg)
Main: 7.99" / 203 mm 459.32 ft / 140.00 m 11.52 ft / 3.51 m
Ends: 2.99" / 76 mm 213.25 ft / 65.00 m 11.52 ft / 3.51 m
16.40 ft / 5.00 m Unarmoured ends
Main Belt covers 103 % of normal length

- Torpedo Bulkhead - Strengthened structural bulkheads:
1.97" / 50 mm 447.83 ft / 136.50 m 25.98 ft / 7.92 m
Beam between torpedo bulkheads 91.86 ft / 28.00 m

- Gun armour: Face (max) Other gunhouse (avg) Barbette/hoist (max)
Main: 11.1" / 281 mm 3.94" / 100 mm 12.0" / 305 mm
2nd: 5.98" / 152 mm 2.99" / 76 mm 2.99" / 76 mm

- Armoured deck - multiple decks:
For and Aft decks: 2.99" / 76 mm
Forecastle: 1.18" / 30 mm Quarter deck: 1.18" / 30 mm

- Conning towers:

[Garlicdesign]

Hi all!

Another one that direly needed a redraw: LT Comhcheangal.

Thiaria’s 1910 Fleet Expansion Law stipulated laying down two capital ships every year. In 1910 and 1911, the four Conaire-class dreadnoughts were laid down, occupying all available large slipways; although the first of the Conaires was launched in August 1912 after barely 16 months on stocks, another yard would be needed to keep the Fleet Law’s tight timetable. Design work proceeded throughout 1911, jointly conducted by the the naval design department and the CSCA yard, who would lay down the lead ship in November 1912. Many detail solutions were carried over from the Conaire-class, but the hull itself was undeniably a cruiser, and she was the first capital ship in Thiaria (or, for that matter, worldwide outside the USA) which relied exclusively on oil fuel. Particulars were:

Displacement: 26.500ts normal, 31.000ts deep load
Length: 205,3m cwl, 208,2m oa
Beam: 28,3 m max
Draught: 8,4m normal, 9,4m deep load
Machinery: 4-shaft CLTI (Curtis-license) turbines, 24 Llanhaudh (Belleville-license) boilers (oil burning), 80.000 shp
Speed: 28 kts designed, 28,14 kts at 84.207shp trial, 26 kts max after 6 months out of dock, 24 knots sustained deep and dirty
Fuel stowage: 3.750 ts oil
Range: 6000 nm @ 15 kts
Complement: 985 normal, 1.170 war maximum
Armour Protection:
Vertical: Main belt 270mm (citadel length 123m, belt height 4,12m); upper belt 195mm; fore and aft belts 90mm
Horizontal: 65mm main deck + 35mm battery deck
Turrets: 315mm front, 240mm sides and rear, 90mm top; barbettes 315mm all round; casemates 195mm
Bulkheads: Three of 270mm (two forward, 1 aft)
Armament: 9x 305mm 50cal; 12x 138mm 55cal; 4x 65mm 50cal HA (from late 1917: 8x 75mm 50cal HA); 4 MG; 2x 450mm TT submerged (12 torpedoes each)

CSCA concluded the design in July 1912 and laid down the first hull in November. The second hull was laid down in March 1913 at the Riordan Yard, which so far had specialized on passenger liners and possessed two 300m slipways, both of which were now building capital ships (apart from the battlecruiser, they were building a battleship for Turkey). 340mm guns had been proposed for the battlecruisers, but would have carried an inacceptable penalty in protection. So they received the same 305/50 pieces as the Conaire-class dreadnoughts. They and fired the same 432kg projectiles as the French Danton-, Courbet- and Beveziers-classes, but had German-style wedge breech mechanisms using brass cartridge cases for the aftermost half-charge, which would prove to be much safer against flash events than bagged charges would have been. Firing cycle was an impressive 22 seconds, although this was of secondary importance for the Thiarians, because spotting and realigning requirements at maximum range would not allow a ROF of more than 1 rpm anyway. Inside the turrets, which were based upon the Italian design used in Dante Alighieri, but larger and much better protected, each gun had its own mount and could be elevated independently of the others. Maximum elevation was 22,5° for a range of 25.000 meters; the Thiarians expected to fight long-range engagements, so they could always break off and escape if things went awry. Hull size would have allowed superfiring turrets forward, but this was rejected as it was considered to unacceptably impair seakeeping, so Thiaria’s largest WWI-era capital ships were stuck with an old-fashioned turret arrangement providing inadequate end-on fire, despite Thiaria’s emphasis on hit-and-run-tactics. The twelve casemate-mounted secondary guns were a flat copy of the French 138,6mm Mle.1910, firing 36-kilogram projectiles at half again the ROF of a contemporary British 152mm gun. Four 65mm guns on HA mounts and two submerged 450mm side TTs completed the armament. They were big for their armament, and armour protection was significantly stronger as on contemporary British battlecruisers, if not quite as strong as on German ones; like the French Beveziers-class, they struck a fine balance between their main features, but were bigger, faster and tougher. Like all Thiarian capital ships, they were designed for long missions in poor weather, emphasizing range, seakeeping and good accommodation for their crews. Construction assumed added urgency after the start of World War I, and the lead ship – christened Comhcheangal (Alliance, referring to the alliance between various freedom fighter groups against Napoleon, brokered by Liam Dunshayne in 1805) – was completed in November 1915, after exactly three years of gestation, and commissioned in March 1916 after thorough trials. Her sister Dlutchomhar (Solidarity, referring to one of the three mottoes in the Thiarian coat of arms) needed 41 months for completion, joining the fleet in December 1916.

Comhcheangal was present in every major engagement in the South Atlantic. She flew the flag of Rear Admiral Macnair in the Battle of Tristan da Cunha on June 5th, a bloody stalemate between the whole Thiarian fleet and a mixed Commonwealth force grouped around four Queen-Elizabeth-class battleships. She was hit by five 381mm shells, but scored eight 305mm hits on the Patagonian battlecruiser HMPS Unicorn and nine on HMS Barham. She was dispatched to aid the Thiarian pre-dreadnought squadron in the battle of the South Sandwich Sea in March 1917, but failed to intercept the British-Patagonian squadron before they could sink a Thiarian pre-dreadnought and an armoured cruiser. On September 17th, 1917, Comhcheangal and two armoured cruisers bombarded Porto Allegre, and after this provocation, took part in the battle of Caitriona, where the Brazilian fleet was all but wiped out on October 15th. Comhcheangal added 14 hits to the inferno that sank the enemy flagship Rio de Janeiro, without being hit back by the outnumbered Brazilians. During the subsequent Battle over the Table on November 7th, the Thiarians heavily damaged two Recherchean battleships and sank HMPS Unicorn. HMRS Redoubt was Comhcheangal’s target, and she hit the Rechercheans 19 times, taking ten 343mm hits in return. During repairs, her light AA was doubled from four 65mm to to eight 75mm. In the final naval battle of the South Atlantic War at Craigmiadh, Comhcheangal and her sister Dluthchomhar jointly fired at the enemy division flagship HMS Trafalgar and substantially damaged her with twenty-two hits (twelve from Comhcheangal), forcing her to retreat. When the other Commonwealth divisions bore down on the Thiarians, they broke through a joint US-Australian-New Zealand battlecruiser squadron, blowing up USS United States. The shell that detonated the magazines of the American battlecruiser came from Comhcheangal. On the balance, Comhcheangal tied with the battleship Lormaic as Thiaria’s most successful capital ship of the First World War. She and her sister proved highly resilient against battle damage, owing to their good internal compartmentation and their well-arranged armour. Their gunnery was of the highest quality, partly on account of their excellent seakeeping and their steadiness as gun platforms. Both were condemned to become allied prizes after the war; the British and Americans explicitly wanted them for themselves, to make sure they were scrapped and not handed over to someone who’d actually need them. After intense underwater explosive trials – during which she petulantly refused to sink – Comhcheangal was scrapped in 1923.



The image shows Comhcheangal at the time of the Battle of Craigmiadh on March 27th, 1918.

Cheers
GD

[Perky50]

HMS Agincourt
Displacement: 36,500 tons
Length: 734 ‘(wl)
Beam: 94’
Draught: 30’

Installed Power: 98,000 SHP
42 Water Tube boilers
4 Shafts 2 Steam Turbine sets
27 knots
Range: 5,000 miles at 14 knots

Compliment: 1,142

Armament:
4 twin – 15”
14 single – 6”
4 x single – 3” AA
2 x single 3-pdr
4 – 21” Torpedo Tubes (submerged)

Main Belt: 11”
Upper Belt: 9”
Ends: 9” - 6”
Casemates: 6”
Bulkheads: 4”
Turrets: 12” – 9”
Barbettes: 11” - 9”

HMS Agincourt came about as a result of discussions surrounding the Queen Elizabeth design. When it was decided to proceed with a more austere choice for the final plans for those battleships, the decision was made to build one battle cruiser version of the class, which was the norm for the period.
While lighter in some respects the armour scheme was comprehensive and provided the best level of protection seen in a British battle cruiser up to that point in time. In service the ship would prove to be very serviceable, and even with its increased size when compared to previous designs, it would be comparably manoeuvrable.

HMS Agincourt would first see action on April 7th, 1916, when the Battle Cruiser Fleet under Vice Admiral Horace Hood would manage to intercept the High Seas Fleet’s scouting group under the command of Ludwig von Reuter.
In that battle, that would see the loss of the German battle cruisers Derfflinger and vonn der Tann in exchange for HMS Lion, Hood’s command would eke out a narrow victory before being forced to withdraw with the unexpected arrival of the bulk of the High Seas Fleet.
HMS Agincourt would receive 17-11” and 12” hits during the battle. While moderate levels of damage were incurred, and X turret was seriously damaged, the ship stood up to the enemy fire rather well, shrugging off the majority of the hits that struck her.
After repairs, HMS Agincourt would rejoin the fleet in time for the great decisive battle of the Great War at Jutland on July 9th, 1916. Here again HMS Agincourt would be damaged, this time seriously. Her journey home after the battle was one of epic proportions (at least in the eyes of the empire).
With the end of the Great War, HMS Agincourt would serve on with the fleet, with commissions in home waters, as well as the Mediterranean and the Far East. In the mid 1920’s she would see her first reconstruction. This would include bulges, improvements to fire control, aircraft handling facilities, and an enhanced AA battery.
Agincourt would return to dockyard hands in early 1931 for a major reconstruction. While not one of the ‘Eight’ as those select ships were known, her reconstruction would be very comprehensive in its own right, on par with similar work performed in other navies at the time.

[Karle94]

There are quite a few double pixels on the bilge keep that need to be removed. You can also improve on the curvature of the bow and stern. At the bottom of the bow you are missing about 4 pixels of black outline.

Your shading does not adhere to the shipbucket syle. The lifeboats have remnants of their old colors. There is also a better 15" turret design that you can use. I also see some missing pixels at the rigging as well as stray pixels that float in the air.

The hatches at the stern should have a darker highlight for the two hinges, not brighter. There are also a number of parts whose color does not match the rest, steam whistles, 3" AA gun, the smaller searchlights, gun directors etc.

Unfortunately, your drawing seems rushed, with a lot of bugs that need ironing out.

[AF92]

Great work on the Comcheangal, Garlicdesign. Did you change the base "ocean grey" colour for the early Thiarian vessels ?