River Gunboat and Monitor Challenge

[Charguizard]

Amfibische Patrouillevaartuig m/67 Dubbelkloek



Originally it was going to be three BMP-1s in a trenchcoat, but when I designed my IFV it ended up being a bit long, so its just two of them sharing the trenchcoat.

The Dubbelkloek is an attempt by the Batavian Armies to produce a versatile and mobile patrol vehicle to project firepower on areas with little infrastructure or numerous waterways. It consists of one or two m/67 Kloek IFVs attached to a displacement body made up of pontoon floats, and a propeller transmission aft, powered by one or both Kloeks through a direct shaft coupling to the AFVs transmissions. This reduces the fuel consumption when only one vehicle is powering the combination vessel, increases maximum speed in the water from 4.3kn to 8kn, and raises the waterline by a few cm to increase seakeeping. The pontoons are attached by explosive bolts, which can be fired from either vehicle to quickly detach them once aground and permit the IFVs to maneuver independently. Each component vehicle is armed with an 84mm low pressure smoothbore gun and a 25mm autocannon in the main turret, and two 8mm machineguns on smaller subturrets, plus anything the 11 man infantry squad carries with them. The infantry can use the IFVs six firing ports or open up the top hatches to engage the enemy. These vessels were used exclusively by the Netherlands, African and East Asian Armies, the Navy finding the whole contraption a ridiculous chimaera, sticking with their Landing Craft gunboats and dedicated vessels for fluvial patrol.

[APDAF]

Project 476, River Gunboat "Omsk Type"

[acelanceloet]

The River Delta Combat Support Vessel, or RDCSV in short, was a vessel designed around an unique set of requirements. It was meant to be a ship that could support the boots on the ground in any riverine environment and support them in any task a modern military has to do: disaster relief, peacekeeping, assaults, anti-terrorism etc. The requirements for the vessel were born from the fact that warfare these days is not country against country, but a far more complex and confusing situation. Because of that, it was seen as likely that a ship operating before a coast would not be enough in many circumstances and it was required for the ship to move inland and provide support there.


The resulting RDCSV, commonly called Rivercat or Bargecat, was an vessel that could do many things, but most of them not at the same time.
- The catamaran hull and waterjets give the ship a top speed of 20 knots
- The MONARC gun forwards can provide fire support
- By lowering the 'barge' under the hull, the ship can reduce it's draft to less then 2 meters (aft) and 1,2 meters (forwards), reducing the safe top speed to 5 knots.
- The 2 schottel jet thrusters under the bows serve as emergency propulsion and allow for operations with the ship with a draft less then 1 meter, allowing use as a landing craft.
- When the barge is lowered, the area under the superstructure can be used as cargo deck, increasing cargo deckspace by 200% while the lowered barge also increases the available displacement for additional cargo.
- When lowered, the forward cargo door is accessable from the aft barge cargo area, allowing Ro-Ro operations when in low draft mode.
- The stern 'barge' has very little submerged volume as it has no bulwarks, so can be used for Flo-Flo operations or for the launching of boats and amphibious vehicles. When in raised position, it can be used as additional cargo area but has no direct rolling access to the forward cargo door (the crane can transport cargo between the 2 'barges' though)
- The ship is equipped to be seagoing, but only in carefully ballasted and stowed condition. Big waves will lead to discomfort due to them slamming the bottom of the barge decks, so it is not recommended (but also not impossible) to make ocean transfers with the ship.

All in all, the ships highly modular cargo deck makes her capable of taking on containerised equipment for any role that would be required of her. Having traits of an old-fashioned gunboat, a landing craft, an workvessel and a patrol boat, the RDCSV is a true spiritual successor to the historical gunboats operating on the worlds coasts, lakes and rivers in both war and peacetime. The small class of 5 ships was commissioned from 2012 onwards.

[Armoured man]

Urdusin Urihice class monitor

Urdusin Urihice class was the final and most prolific class of river monitor built for the Saderan Navy, originally ordered as a group of 6 ships in 1836, to supplement older river monitors that were being pulled from service at the time, the class will find itself in the position of being, build and a time just prior to the Great War. as result with the Great war beginning in 1837, the original order of 6 vessels would be bumped up to 50, but in 1838 and Navy authorised a new, new batch consisting of 150 ship's to be built, this was primarily done to address possibility of a river / land-based invasion, from Saderan nearest neighbour the Dusceasia confederacy, despite 200 ships being ordered, a grand total of 125 ships would be lost throughout the course of the Great War, making it one of the largest per capita losses for the Saderan navy



Specifications

Tonnage - 2400 tonnes standard, 2800 tonnes full load
Speed - 10 knots
Range - 3000nm at 11 knots
Main battery - 1x2 305mm/35 M-1823
Secondary battery - 3x1 127mm/25, 4x1 35mm machine guns
Armor - 150mm main belt, 170 conning tower, 50mm deck , 76 mm over magazine

[Trainspite]

MMS Chittenden, Townend-class Lergo



A relatively basic trawler design built on the outbreak of war in 1914, thrown in under the broad classification of Lergo (Escort). After a prototype ship, 39 more were constructed, becoming the Townend-class. Most were reduced to reserve in the 1920s, with some being sold on for further service when more modern escorts entered service. However when required members of the class provided service in many roles, with 24 still on the books in the 1940s, and 5 even surviving into the 1950s.

Chittenden was constructed in 1914-1915, and was one of a number of the class allocated to rivers in home waters, acting as a patrol vessel from 1931. The vessel was modified with a cut down funnel, main deck, and aft mast, while a second 76mm gun and bandstand from a sister ship was fitted aft, displacing the machine gun to the main deck. These three mounts were the only armaments the ship carried for her riverine service.

The vessel rarely left the River Masruthi and it's estuary, and was crewed by reservists, though pride was taken to retain her in presentable condition with her original hull number of 220 emblasoned on the stern. Although technically active for the second world war, the ship was mostly moored alongside due it's deteriorating material condition, and was scrapped in July 1946.

[Gollevainen]

Project 408 Vaeltajainmaan Nuorisoliittolainen Class River gunboat



By the Mid 3130's the Evoan flotilla on the River Lieko, at the far reaches of its western end was becoming increasingly obsolete as the old 2nd Great war era monitors and converted landing crafts had few remaining serviceable years left in them, and at the same time the increased military expansions of Evo's long time competitor, Saanksi had begun to bring new concerns to EKP's central committee. Married with increased infrastructural investments to the vast wilderness of Vaeltajainmaa to better exploit it of its natural riches, the Central committee issued supplementary naval program to the 3132 years 5-year plan, that called construction of new riverine vessels for the Lieko river, that consisted both as natural border between the Evo and Saanksi, but also as main line of communications from the far-west flowing to the Arctic Valkeameri -ocean. Biggest ships to be build were two gunboats of the Pr.408 class, which were intended as multipurpose command and patrol ships, able to conduct variety of military and border guard missions, as well as to assist both military and civilian shipping on the harsh region. Thus their basis was build around Pr.6094 Riverine Ice-breakers, although with half of the machinery and they were equipped with standard Evoan Red Fleet small craft armament of 1 76mm/60 LT-7660 DP gun and SNTL made six-barreled 30mm CIWS. Two sets of 40 barreled 122mm Rocket-launchers were fitted in the deckhouse together their fast reload system. A helicopter platform was fitted for small helicopter and a small LCVP was carried as well as the spacious deck structures offering berthing for a reinforced company.

[Rodondo]

HMCPS Waratah 1891



Length 106'
Beam 41.5'
Draft 3-3.5'
Displacement 195t
Speed 10knots
Armament 1x 3pounder Hotchkiss, 1x twin 1" Nordenfelt (Till 1892)
Armour 1/6" iron plate, 1/6" open topped box around engine and boilers (3/4' redgum lower hull)

The Shearers strike of 91 left the government of New South Wales with a conundrum, almost all of its policing forces were along the coastal strip, leaving little in the wide west. Following the burning of a few wool barges, the government sought to protect the lucrative trade on the river by sending a chartered paddle steamer with a constable to track down the culprits. Ironically they caught him north of Wentworth and burned the steamer to the waterline. Incensed by this flagrant "militant unionism", the NSW government considered its options. An engineer at the ironworks in Marrickville was contracted to design and build an iron-framed and semi-plated hull for which the government would mount two small calibre gun mounts as a means to enforce law on the river and move a group of militia about the river basin. Aware that the vessel would also need to act as a public works vessel once law and order were settled, a derrick crane and winches were also installed to aid construction, salvage, and the clearing of river snags. Assembled then knocked down to component form, it was freighted by rail to Hay where in some secrecy she was reassembled on the riverbank, this time with steamed timbers fastened to her frames below the waterline to avoid the corrosion issues found with totally submerging iron in that murky water. Her armament was basically whatever was available, a twin-barreled 1-inch Nordenfelt on the stern and a 3 pounder Hotchkiss that had been landed from HMCS Wolverine, fore. With this rather overkill of weaponry, the Waratah slid down the riverbank amid cheers from the townsfolk and the men who built her 8 months after she was first ordered. From there, some trouble with London came about as the government initially wanted to fly the Murray River flag however it was a civilian flag, so instead the flag of NSW was carried on the vessel which sparked some concern as this vessel was almost unnoticed till it was steaming past the press who caught it at Mildura. Eventually, much discussion was held that the vessel would not technically be an HMS, rather a chartered vessel that would at the cessation of unrest, be disarmed and given over to public works as soon as possible. However, as the riots continued, she was made ready to sail for Menindee though the trouble moved away from the river, leaving half her crew aboard, the rest joined the local constabulary to bring order to Broken Hill. She would spend the next 6 months escorting barges down to the Murray Darling Confluence where the situation was far more stable. After this, she would relinquish her guns and go into her intended life which she would dutifully serve for another 40 years when in a flood she was carried aground on the southern shore of Snake Island in Lake Menindee in an exceptional time where the lake actually was a lake. Old and surplus, as well as far from the retreating waters she was left there and remains there to this day, rusting away quietly as Australia's only inland warship.

[Rowdy36]

Scylla Class River Gunboat



The civil war on Glenroa stretched the Recherche Defence Force in ways it hadn't expected, with the waterways of the island country becoming a major source of conflict due to the significant trade and transport that plied the waters daily. With its helicopters only partially meeting its needs, the Army set about aquiring a number of watercraft to provide transport, protection and support when operating further inland. The Scylla Class were designed and developed from a naval training vessel to provide fire support and armoured transport to the soldiers, and were often called 'battlewagons' due to their armour and firepower in a salute to the battleships of old.

With the ability to transport and land a platoon of infantry, the gunboat could then support that force with 2 105mm guns developed from the M119 howitzer, a quad 25mm SIDAM mounting equipped with Starstreak missiles, 2 turreted GAU-19 12.7mm machine guns, 1 Spike-ER missile launcher, shielded mountings for various 5.56/7.62/12.7mm machine guns and a stern launched RHIB.

[Kiwi Imperialist]

The submission period for the river gunboat and monitor challenge is over. Members of Shipbucket now have an opportunity to rate each entry in the standard poll. For those interested in selecting the subject of the next challenge, a separate poll with a single question is also open. Both polls will remain open until 23:59 UTC-12, 12 April 2021 (Countdown Timer). That is four days from now.

[Kiwi Imperialist]

The poll for the river gunboat and monitor challenge is now closed. I wish to thank the 23 people who responded. 19 entries were evaluated by the community. These ranged from ultra-modern catamarans and hovercraft to old-fashioned paddle steamers and ironclads. Every artist deserves a pat on the back for their work. With that out of the way, I can now reveal the results.



First place goes to Rodondo for the wonderful Waratah. They also achieved the highest score in the design realism category. Rodondo has produced excellent work before, but I believe this is the first time they have one a challenge. Great work! In second place is Gollevainen with the excellent Project 408 class gunboat. They capture the Eastern Bloc aesthetic so well, at least in my opinion. Rowdy36 has achieved third place with their sleek Scylla class gunboat. The shark mouth is a great addition. Shigure and Charguizard also deserve special mention, as they achieved the highest scores in the drawing quality and originality categories respectively.

A staggering 50 people responded to the next challenge poll. I am pleased to announce the Second World War heavy bomber challenge, which was a clear winner among the options available.