River Gunboat and Monitor Challenge

[heuhen]

Caledonia Home Guard and army
Fast river and coastline patrol craft and support vehicle

Designed by the Navy, with operator from the Navy or the Navy side of the home guard, but used by the Army. Build in large numbers and also exported.

A class that not only operated up the rivers, but also along the coast and would be stationed along many of Caledonia's Islands (Caledonia consist of a couple of large main islands, and many small).
The class gave firesupport, patrolled, policed, transported troops and supply.
The class was very flexible with what it was equipped and it was Normal that several vessel in a group, would be different equipped.

Build to be simple in design and simple and fast to build: Thus V1 and V2 was equipped with diesel engine only and any shipyard could build them, V3 was equipped with turbines and was only build by the Navy's shipyard.
Any shipyard and boat builder in Caledonia could apply to the build program to build V1 and V2 of the Barracuda class as a part of an stimulus package, they had of course fit inside some criteria so not everyone got approved.



Class: Barracuda class
Build: 200+ (there are no exact numbers, shipyards all over Caledonia build them in between production) (no media know exactly how many was build in the end and how many variants was made; some says 100+ some says 300+, what the final number is, how knows, the design was also updated over the time, making every batch unique, you could also see the difference between each shipyard that build them)
In service: 150+- (Highly disputert number, since, some is getting exported, some are taken out of service, to be replaced. And sometimes, there more vessel coming in to the fleet)
Export: 20-100+- (many was sold as basic equipped, with only engine and interior) (some evens saw work as police/fire/ambulance boat)


Length: 33,73 meter
Beam: 6,55 meter
Draft: 1,52 meter (max load)
Displacement: 100 tons (max 125 tons)
Engine: V1: 3xV16 diesel engine, 2800 hp (8400hp); V2: 2X V16 diesel engine, 4500 hp (9000hp); V3: 2 turbine, 6000hp (12000hp)
Speed: V1: 40+knots; V2: 45+- knots; V3: 50+- knots (depending on load)
Crew: from 12 and up to 30 (depending on load-out)
Armament:
There are no standard equipment, but the standard-weapons, that each squadron-chief could decide between are:
- 40mm guns
- 30mm dual guns
- 25mm heavy machine guns
- 12.7mm machine guns
- 120mm mortar
- 80mm mortar
- ASuW missile
- AAW missile
- mines
- torpedoes
- etc.


Bellow, a exempel version, equipped with: 40mm, 25mm, 80mm mortar on 40mm turret, aft mounted AAW-rocket launcher:

[Hood]

ARA Parana, 1939

The Project 616-class were designed with the lessons of the 1935 South American War in mind, in particular the combat along the Rio Paraguay river against the Royal South African Navy's armoured gunboats. To ease supply and commonality, the main guns were standard Army artillery pieces with a good range of smaller calibre automatic weapons. Protection was emphasised from light fire from the shore and direct attack to the decks from the air. The tall conning tower was designed for good fire-control over the foliage growing along rivers and to allow effective fire-support to Army units. All four boats were completed by 1940 and became the core of the Argentine fleet patrolling the Rio Paraguay.

Ships in Class
ARA Parana
ARA Rosario
ARA Patria
ARA Pilcomayo

Displacement: 460 tons standard
Dimensions: 70.44m (oa), 70m (wl) length; 8m beam; 2m draught (standard displacement)
Machinery: 2x 500bhp diesel engines powering 2x shafts
Speed: 15kts
Range: 5,000 nautical miles at 10kts

Armament:
2x1 155mm M32 L/45 (150 rpg)
1x1 75mm M31 L/50 (200 rpg)
2x2 37mm Breda (1,000 rpg)
8x1 13.2mm Browning machine-guns

Armour:
Deck: 35mm over machinery spaces and magazines
Conning Tower: 75mm
Gun Shields: 50mm face, 20mm sides and top
37mm Mount: 15mm shield
Machine-gun Positions: 10mm shields or plates

[dalamace]

Designed to traverse the vast waterways of the Insulindia, the Type-34 Riverine Assault Craft replaced a fleet of aging hovercrafts. However, unlike its predecessors, the Type-34 RAC is equipped with heavier armaments to deal with pirates, smugglers, and drug cartels, many of which thrived as a result of deserters and mercenaries. Only a few were made due to their comparatively high cost, both to purchase and run.

Its armaments include a 152mm howitzer, 2 30mm autocannons mounted on remotely operated weapons systems, and 20 vertical launch system capable of launching either anti-tank guided missiles or surface-to-air missiles.

[WesleyWestland]

HMS Buttercup, Westlandian river gunboat (1904)



Around the turn of the century, the Royal Westlandian Navy requested designs for a class of small gunboats for service in the overseas territories. The Jinbei naval station in particular required gunboats to patrol the bay and for policing on the river further inland in Xianming. As much of this river was poorly mapped, a shallow draught and excellent manoeuvrability were desired. While many of the usual suspects, mainly shipyards specialised in building torpedo boats and destroyers, submitted designs, the navy was particularly interested in a Pinwich & North Western Railway (PNWR) proposal. The PNWR had much experience building and operating paddle steamers in the shallow waters of the Exe estuary and along the west coast, and suggested building a small, simple paddle steamer that could be disassembled, shipped across the Neritic to Jinbei, and then reassembled.

The resulting Daisy-class of 16 gunboats, with fearsome names like Daffodil, Buttercup and Pansy, would mainly see service in and around Jinbei. Drawing just 1.8 m of water and with independently powered paddlewheels on either side, the shallow draught and manoeuvrability requirements were easily met. Each paddlewheel was powered by a double expansion steam engine, with steam generated by two coal-fired boilers (later converted to oil). Initially, their simple designs meant that crew comfort was lacking in many areas, such as electricity and plumbing. Over time, as they would no longer need to be disassembled and reassembled, these deficiencies would largely be rectified, to the relief of the crews. Mainly meant to show the flag and not expected to encounter much heavier resistance than angry farmers, the Daisies did not carry any real armour, though their armament was considerable with two 15 cm guns and a QF 10 cm gun. During peacetime, most of the deck was usually covered by a canvas awning, much appreciated by the crew during the scorching hot summers, though it had to be taken down in order to fire the 15 cm guns.

All members of the class served at the Jinbei naval station in the late 1900s and early 1910s, with some being dismantled and shipped to the Voliotine front during the First Great War (1915-1920). They returned to Jinbei during the Interwar period, where they became a common sight and a symbol of the modest Westlandian presence in the region. The 12 vessels that remained in service when the Second Great War (1940-1947) broke out remained in Xianming as they could no longer easily be dismantled, though they did receive anti-aircraft guns at this point. 7 of them survived the war, with the last to leave naval service being HMS Buttercup when she was sold in 1949. She spent some time as a local ferry and later a houseboat, before becoming a permanently moored floating restaurant and nightclub on the Jinbei waterfront.

[Sgt-Turbo]

PAACV-3 Comin' For Charlie! (1968)
Bengal-class PAACV, Bongrovian Forces Asia


Armament:

• 1x 40mm L/60 autocannon
• 2x twin 12.7mm M2HB heavy machine gun mounts
• 1x Tirrena T-148/A flamethrower

The Bengal-class was the result of the Bongrovian Navy's Patrol Assault Air Cushion Vehicle (PAACV) program. The program, similar to that of the U.S. PACV, was designed to provide BGF-Asia forces a light, fast patrol craft that could traverse the many rivers of South Vietnam, many of which were extremely shallow and full of reeds. Despite being effective in its original purpose, the PAACV had its fair share of problems. They were expensive to produce and suffered from reliability issues, with the engine ironically not being able to handle the high heat and humidity in Vietnam. After Bongrovian forces left Vietnam in 1972, the PAACVs returned with them and served as fast patrol/attack craft in the Mediterranean—having their flamethrowers removed—but were quickly replaced by the cheaper and more reliable Sparviero-class hydrofoil missile boat. The Bengal-class was decommissioned in 1976.

Of the 10 PAACVs built, 1 would be destroyed after a nighttime collision with a civilian trawler, and 3 would be placed in museums around the country. The other 6 would be scrapped throughout the late-70s and 1980s.

[IJNRedshirt]

The Marietta class river monitor was designed to operate exclusively on the Western Rivers of the United States during it’s Civil War (1861-1865). The ships of the class were quite similar to the USS Ozark in armament and propulsion, mounting two 11 in Dalghren guns in a single Erricson turret, and being propelled by four propellors, and steered by three rudders. However, unlike Ozark they had their deckhouses well aft, and a coming tower of standard monitor height on the top of their turret. The two ships of the class, USS Marietta and USS Sandusky, were ordered on the 16th of May 1862 from the Tomlinson and Hartupee Co. of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Design changes as a result of experience with other monitors led to major revisions in the ships design; this and poor labor relations ended up delaying construction. The ships were redesigned to incorporate a armored conning tower on top of their turret, instead of a smaller pilot house ala USS Monitor, during construction and lengthened three feet. These changes resulted in the builders going well over budget building the ships, which wound up nearly doubling their cost to the Navy. The ship’s turrets featured six inch iron armour, and their belt only 2 1/2 in. The ships had a length of 173 ft, a beam of 52 ft, a draft of 5 ft, and had a 479 ton displacement. They had a crew of 100 officers and men, and could make nine knots. USS. Marietta was launched on the 4th of January 1865, but not completed until the day after Christmas 1865, well after the war she had been designed to fight in was already over. She was finally delivered to and accepted by the US Navy on the 25th of April 1866, four years after being laid down. USS. Sandusky was launched, fitted out, and delivered to the navy at the same time as her sister ship. Neither ship was commissioned by the Navy, instead both were laid up for the remainder of their lives at the naval base in Mound City, Illinois, along with the monitor Neosho. In 1869, the two ship were renamed USS Circe and USS Minerva respectively, thanks to the meddling of SecNav Adolph Borie. This was short lived, and both monitors returned to their original names by the end of the year. Both ships were sold for scrap, having never seen service, in 1873 to David Campbell on the 12th and 17th of April respectively.

The Marietta class might be the least known of the US Civil War river monitors. I happened to have a set of plans in 1:300 scale from the Warships International magazine, Vol 38, No 1, 2001 left to me by my late great uncle, an WW2 Navy destroyer man. So when I saw that this month’s drawing challenge was to draw a river gunboat or monitor, and a forum post talking about a recent lack of “real life” ship drawings, I thought that I would throw my hat in the ring, and bite the bullet on drawing the Marietta class which I’d been intending to do ever since I found that picture of the Neosho in lay-up in Mound City with these monitors in the background. I used the plans, that picture, and someone’s physical model to inform my rendition of the USS. Marietta.

[Victoria]

(This submission has been withdrawn due to crediting issues and an inability to correct before the deadline.)

[eswube]

(...)

If you're using my drawing of Pr. 12322 Zubr (Pomornik) hovercraft, then you ought to add me to credits (Eswube, Victoria).
(And - in case you wanted to argue - you DID use it - manner of shaping, detailing and shading of numerous elements is just too identical down to single pixels to be a coincidence. )

http://shipbucket.com/drawings/search?c ... =&drawing=

[Victoria]

(...)

If you're using my drawing of Pr. 12322 Zubr (Pomornik) hovercraft, then you ought to add me to credits (Eswube, Victoria).
(And - in case you wanted to argue - you DID use it - manner of shaping, detailing and shading of numerous elements is just too identical down to single pixels to be a coincidence. )

http://shipbucket.com/drawings/search?c ... =&drawing=

Yes, I was using yours as a reference, I will admit, due to it being based on it, at a second glance I realize that yes I did end up using a lot of the components, without intending to. I'll be taking down the image and reworking it because I did not intend to copy you. I apologize and will be correcting that, I hope you can forgive me.

[Kiwi Imperialist]

Thank you for removing the image Victoria. Crediting others for their work is an important responsibility in our community. This may also be an opportunity to rework the textual description accompanying your submission. The subject of the challenge is river gunboats and river monitors, but the text suggests your design is more of a coastal vessel. At least, that is how I interpreted it.