Armoured Cruiser Challenge

[_Zustt_]

AC4620/78 Class, LRS Shadeport 1878.


Parameters:
_______________________________________________
Standard dysplacement:
4620T

Armament:
4x225mm breechloading guns
14x205mm breechloading guns
4x15mm light guns
4x450mm brodside torpedo launchers

Propoltion:
8 Steam boilers
2 Steam engines 1790 Shp each

Maxumum speed: 14 Kn
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[JCSTCap]

William E. Steinmeier (1908)

A member of the finest class of armoured cruisers put to sea by Saguenay, depicted as flagship of the Far South Squadron shortly before the outbreak of the Alexandrine War in 1911. Steinmeier was the first Saguenan ship named for a civilian, abolitionist and lawyer William E. Steinmeier of the Sahatchee Province. Her nine inchers sunk the Antegian armoured cruiser Intoneș at the Battle of Střípce along with two Bremanglander destroyers. She was sunk off the coast of the Aguyellais Cambinland by Antegian torpedo boats in 1915. No less than five of her crew were posthumously awarded the Star of Popular Merit for their actions in defense of Saguenan communalism.

[Remorseful Dreamer]

No big description this time because I don't feel like writing one right now. Sorry~.

[VC_]

HMS Phoenix 1553 (OTL 1903)

12,500 tons
2 shafts VTE
22 knots
2x2 + 4x1 7.5"
6x1 6"
12x1 3.5"
4x1 submerged torpedo tubes

The Phoenix class armoured cruisers were built for the Irvennian Royal Navy during the War of the Five Oceans, the lead ship completing in 1552 (OTL 1902) and serving with distinction during the last years of that conflict.

Derived from the preceding Pegasus class, the Phoenix class continued the use of the 7.5" gun as the standardised main armament of Irvennian armoured cruisers since 1548 (OTL 1898). Although not as large as the main guns of some foreign ships, it compensated with volume of fire, both by faster reload, and lighter weight allowing more barrels to be mounred. It was a balanced weapon that nevertheless retained a good punch, and suited Irvennia's aggressive offensive doctrine of smothering enemy ships with shellfire. Combat experience so far had demonstrated the value of heavier weapons as armour improved and combat ranges grew further, however an increase in caliber was not considered desirable at this time.

As such, the Phoenixes increased firepower by replacing the upper 6" battery on the Pegasus class with four 7.5" guns in casemates. These complemented the usual twin 7.5" turrets at bow and stern for a total of six 7.5" guns per broadside. They carried a reduced 6" battery of three per side in lower deck casemates, and a total of twelve 3.5" guns, four in casemates at bow and stern, and another eight in shielded mounts on the upper deck and superstructure. The ships were otherwise conventional, with a 6" armoured belt and two triple expansion steam engines giving a good speed of 22 knots.

Although only joining the fleet towards the end of the war, HMS Phoenix and her sister ships played a decisive role. Their fast firing armament was vindicated during the crossing of the T of the Trade Alliance Relief Force at the battle of the Bay of Plenty. The armoured cruisers were able to cripple a force containing more heavily armed battleships before these could do critical damage in return with their larger but slower firing guns.

The War of the Five Oceans had far reaching consequences on Naval policy and doctrine around the world. The exploits of the Phoenix and other Irvennian armoured cruisers led to a dominant theory that traditional slow battlefleets were rendered obsolete by large, fast (and fast firing) cruisers. Irvennia soon embarked on a naval construction program of a new type of capital ship, large fast warships to replace both battleships and armoured cruisers. Several nations followed suite in building what would eventually become known as battlecruisers.

[TenienteMaurice017]

Skypper-class armored cruiser, BAP Saint Margaret, Design evolved from the first armored cruisers that I created, elongated and with variations in the superstructure.



Given the need to quickly increase the number of cruiser units to be able to patrol the different areas and maritime routes of the federation, it was decided to purchase from the German nation a shortlist of 4 armored cruisers and 5 light cruisers from the years 1905 to 1908, which only 1 cruiser was delivered due to the appearance of the single-caliber battleship and later the battlecruiser, leaving this design behind.

The cruiser Saint Margaret, named in honor of the patron saint of the national navy Margaret Poma, would be the most capable armored cruiser in the national navy as well as the last ship of this design, being similar in capabilities to ships of the same type. other nations, being a compact and heavily armored design thanks to a doctrine of naval permanence, in which there must be a fixed number of units on patrol permanently in long-term deployments.

She was appointed as leader of the 5th fleet in Mangareva (French Polynesia) from 1908 to 1918, serving in patrol and escort duties for different battle groups until the First World War began, where she performed her role to perfection, first expelling the German East Asia Squadron on its way to South America, preventing it from resupplying, continuing with its functions until 1917, where it would be shot down in a combat against a squadron led by the battlecruisers SMS Von der Tann and SMS Moltke, being damaged to the point of sank on a rock bank from which it could be refloated and towed to port, serving for the rest of the conflict as a port blockade and floating battery, fitted with a variety of cannons no larger than 6 inches.

After the war ended, she would be refitted as a training ship stationed in port, maintaining minimal armament as well as repairs to keep her afloat, remaining in service on the naval lists until 1935, where her name would be reassigned to a Fast Battleship with the double of its displacement.

a) Dimensions:
- Displacement: 13,500 standard tons and 16,000 tons fully loaded.
- Length: 155 meters.
- Sleeve: 22.5 meters.
- Draft: 7.5 meters.

b) Propulsion and power:
- 16 × water tube boilers.
- Approximately 30,000 horsepower (22064.9 kW).

c) Armament in 1908:
1. 6 x 2 Double 210 mm turrets.
2. 6 x 1 150mm casemate guns on the hull sides.
3. 16 x 1 Individual 88mm SK L/45 guns in mixed configuration.
4. 8 x 47 mm rapid-fire naval guns.
5. 4 × 45 cm (17.7 in) torpedo launchers.

d) Speed:
- Maximum 25 knots (46.3 km/h).

e) Distance:
- 6000 nautical miles (11112 km) at 12 knots (22.2 km/h).

f) Armor:

- Belt armor: 5 to 15 cm (2 to 6 inches)
- Casemates: 12 cm (4.7 in)
- Barbettes: 16 cm (6.3 inches)
- Turrets: 6 to 16 cm (2.4 to 6.3 in)
- Conning tower: 8 to 20 cm (3.1 to 7.8 in)

[BvonTeapot]

Schleswig-Holstein-class, SMS Schleswig-Holstein (1876)



Designed in response to the creation of British and Russia armoured cruisers, it was decided by the Norddeutsche Bundesmarine that a class of these vessels was necessary to ensure the Confederation's capability of defending its shores, not to mention it would be beneficial to beat the French to building one. Named after the Prussian territory of Schleswig-Holstein, 3 of these ships were approved for construction at the yards of Kaiserliche Werft Kiel and Wilhelmshaven in 1869. Schleswig-Holstein would be the first to commission in 1873, but would undergo a refit in 1876 (as seen here).

Armament:

2x 10" guns in swerving mount turrets
4x 6" guns in swerving mount turrets
18x 5" broadside guns
8x 1.75" (44mm) quick-firing guns, in pop up mounts fore and aft
1x Whitehead torpedo tube, in the ram bow
8x Jakobi-type naval mines (deployed using davits on aft section)

Other Equipment:

1x Observation balloon
1x Steam runabout, Isabelle

[BB1987]

Nintoku Class Armored Cruiser:

Ordered right at the turn of the century, the the two ships of the Nintoku Class were part of the second step in Koko's Navy expansion plan: domestic procurement.
Purposefully using the four Armstrong built Japanese ACRs as aid and starting point for the design, Kokoan naval engineers crafted a pair of sisters that -while showing ther lineage- had a different armament layout, were longer, larger, had heavier armor, more range and -on paper- were faster.
Nintoku, and her sister Jimmu were among the first ships ordered at Toumachi Naval Arsenal, and were laid down in 1900 and 1901 respectively.
Construction in the new and inexperienced Kokoan shipyard lasted twice as long as that of the Armstrong ships, averaging five years and resulting in Nintoku being officially commissioned only in October 1905, already too late to take part in the Russo-Japanese war. Worse, the engines delivered around 10% less than desired and planned, so that Nintoku only managed to clock at 20,8 knots on trials instead of the planned 22, which made the ship actually slower than the the IJN Amstrong built quartet. Her post-shakedown -plagued with engine troubles- also dragged on long enough to devoid her of the chance of acting as KnK's flagship.

Jimmu was commissioned by mid 1906, and albeit still short on speed, enjoyed a luckier career than her sister. Having learned from Nintoku's trials, all post-shakedown issues were quickly resolved and she joined the Fleet as Koko no Kaigun flagship shortly after, mantaining that role until early 1907 when the battleship Ketsui was delivered from the United Kingdom.
Meanwhile, the rapid developement of naval technology culminating with HMS Dreadnought commissioning in December 1906 had immediately made the two Nintokus obsolete. Despite this, the two sisters were among the most advanced units at Koko's disposal, and would remain so for almost a decade.
Nintoku finally took on flagship roles in December 1908, serving as such until December 1909.
During WWI Nintoku and Jimmu were mostly left in home waters and rarely took part in a major operation. Jimmu briefly sortied in October 1914 to support the Imperial Japanese Navy's seizing of German colonies in the Pacific. Another deployment involving both sisters was considered as part of the hunt for the German cruiser Emden, but the ship fell to the Australians before preparations were completed.
After the war both ships were deemed obsolete, and plans were drawn to designate them as coastal defence or auxiliary units as soon as newer cruisers had joined the fleet. Eventually, with the signing of the Washington Naval Treaty, Nintoku was abruptly decommissioned in 1922 and immediately scrapped. Jimmu was reclassified as a training ship and served until her ultimate retirement in 1931.


Ships in class: (laid down-launched-commissioned - fate)

Nintoku 1900-1903-1905 - Decommissioned 1922
Jimmu 1901-1904-1906 - Training ship 1922, Decommmissioned 1931


Nintoku specifications as commissioned (1905)
-Displacement: 9.565 t normal, 10.450 t full load
-LOA: 137,91m (452ft 11'')
-LWL: 136,41m (448ft 1'')
-Beam: 20,94m (68ft 9'')
-Mean draft: 7,27m (23ft 10'')
-Machinery: 24x Coal firing boilers, 2x Reciprocating triple-expansion steam engines, 18.000 ihp, 2 shafts
-Speed: 20,8 kts
-Range: 10.000nm (18.520 km) at 10 kts
-Armour: main belt 178mm (7''), upper belt 152mm (6''), ends 89mm (3.5''), transverse bulkheads 127mm (5''), main deck 63mm (2.5'') main turrets face, sides and back 160mm (6.3''), main turrets roof 51mm (2''), barbettes 152mm (6''), casemate shields 51mm (2''), conning tower 356mm (14'') forward, 114mm (4.5'') aft.
-Armament: 4x 203mm/45 guns (2x2), 14x 152mm/40 (14x1), 12x 76mm/40 (12x1), 8x 47mm/43 (8x1), 4x 457mm torpedo tubes.
-Complement: 673

[Armoured man]

Pancratius Class Armoured Cruiser



The Pancratius Class was conceptualized towards the end of the first decade of the 18th century. It was commissioned during a time of transition when the idea of an armoured cruiser was rapidly evolving into a battlecruiser. Although it was commissioned at a time when battlecruisers were quickly replacing the armoured cruiser, the Pancratius Class was considered the zenith of the armoured Cruiser. It boasted impressive protection and formidable firepower, including a powerful main battery of 10-inch guns and a battery of numerous turreted 5-inch guns. Despite many naval analysts deeming them obsolete upon commissioning, Pancratius and her sisters had long service lives, outliving even some of the contemporary battlecruisers they were commissioned alongside.

Displacement - 14,000 standard
Length: 503.5 ft O/A
Beam: 80 ft L.W.L
Draft: 29.5 ft At Standard Load
Installed power: 16x Samson and Sons Water Tube Boilers
23,000 shp
Propulsion: 2x shafts; 2x Vertical Triple Expansion Reciprocating Engines
Speed: 22 knots
Range: 5,500 at 9 knots
Complement: 900
Main Armament: 6x2 NG-18 10"/45 guns
Secondary Armament: 4x2 NG-98 5"/45 guns, QF-93 4x1 5"/45 casement guns
Tertiary Armament: 12x1 QF-87 3"/50 guns

Armour:
Main Belt: 6" max, Belt ends 2"
Conning tower: 8"
Armoured Deck: 4"
Main Battery: 6.5" Gun-houses

[Aiseus]

Siadria's Arpan Almarija-class Battleship



Displacement: 6,800 t

Length at Waterline: 99 m
Length Overall: 102 m
Beam: 17.4 m
Draught: 6.7 m

Armament:
2x2 250 mm/33 Teravia-Ankosa Ch-85 Heavy Cannon
6x1 150 mm/37 Trikona Arsenal New Type Naval Gun
6x1 90 mm/37 Trikona Arsenal New Type Naval Gun
8x1 25 mm Lirtava Year 1889 Gun

Armor:
Main Belt - 297 mm compound armor
Ends - 175 mm
Armored Deck - 55-75 mm
Turret Face - 200 mm
Barbettes - 275 mm
Bulkheads - 125 mm

Range: 3250 nautical miles
Speed: 16 knots
Propulsion:
6 x Odari Steelworks coal-fired boilers producing 6,080 hp
2 x Vertical Triple Expansion engines powering two shafts

The Arpan Almarija-class was a class of two ships, described either as second-rate battleships or armored cruisers, built in the Hymuth Zortana-Karasi shipyards for Siadrian service. Originally envisioned as ocean-going battleships intended to patrol the Northern Passage as part of a larger battle fleet, cuts to the budget of the 1875 Naval Procurement Plan resulted in the number of ordered battleships dropping from 4 to 2, and many of the requirements in range and armor reduced. Additionally, the rapidly changing nature of naval warfare and material science meant the design was adjusted multiple times over the course of the ships' troubled development, with the final product having an ill-defined role and stacking up poorly against capital ships entering service in the navies of Siadria’s rivals. The final design settled upon in 1887 resembled a small battleship, featuring thick belt armor and fully armored rotating turrets in barbettes, arranged in an en echelon formation.

Armament - The ships' main armament consisted of four 250 mm guns built by Hymuth concern Teravia-Ankosa as siege artillery. While Siadria was capable of, and had previously built, naval guns of this caliber in the past, disagreements with Hymuth- whose politics dominated Siadria at the time, resulted in a Hymuth company being selected to assemble the guns for the Arpan and her sister Valas. Originally, the main guns were to be mounted in open barbettes, however the development of quick-firing guns would necessitate fully enclosed turrets, the added weight of which would have consequences for the ships' stability. The rest of their armament was built by the Siadrian concern Lirtava, though the armament would change from standard breechloading guns to quick-firing guns as they became available through the ships' design and construction.

Armor - The ships were armored using composite steel-iron, which was far less effective than the face-hardened steel being developed at the time. At the time, Hymuth’s steel industry was less mature than their main rivals, the Aufzenians, and as a result many Hymuth designed and built ships- especially those built for export- continued to use composite armor over all-steel construction. This would limit the effectiveness of the Arpan’s armor, and introduce a number of issues owing to shoddy construction which wouldn’t make itself evident until later, particularly the steel separating from the iron backplate when struck with a large enough non-penetrating hit. Despite the armor’s thickness of 297 mm along the belt, the ship was considered poorly protected upon entering service in 1892. Additionally, the ship lacked enough armor for her upperworks, leaving her vulnerable to concentrated high explosive fire from quick-firing guns.

Propulsion - The boilers of the two ships were built by the Hymuth Odari Steelworks. The limited space available meant that only 6 boilers outputting roughly 6,000 horsepower could be mounted, resulting in a low top speed of just over 16 knots. Their bunkers were also small, carrying only about 500 tons of coal and limiting their range to about 3250 nautical miles. This was considered an acceptable compromise, with the ships envisioned as coastal defense assets- something that their poor seakeeping also demanded. Their poor seakeeping was largely due to their turret arrangement: their low, outboard mounting meant the mounts were often awash, and the weight distribution gave the ships a heavy roll.

History - Following a protracted design phase, the final design of the ships would be approved for construction in the year 1887. Arpan Almarija would be delivered five years later in 1892, and her sister delivered later that year, with slowdowns caused mainly by arguments between the Siadrian government and Hymuth suppliers over the construction of the armor belt. As was Siadrian tradition, the hulls remained nameless (internally designated Battleships 1 and 2) until their christening, where they would be given the names Arpan and Valas Almarija, two brothers that were descended from Muslim governors who would convert to Christianity and later help to expel the remaining Muslim presence from Western Siadria. The names would draw some controversy, as the conversion of the two brothers was considered dubious, and their non-Siadrian origins meant their status as Siadrian heroes was questionable. Despite this, the names would not be changed, and as the first ships to ever bear the name new tapestries would be made to mount in the ships. Tapestries were a fixture of Siadrian naval tradition; all ships carried one, initially depicting the life and deeds of its namesake. As the ships served, the tapestry would be expanded to depict their careers, and when the ship was decommissioned the tapestry would be recovered and stored. If the name was later reused on another ship, the tapestry would be given to the new namesake, and the cycle repeated, resulting in many ships having tapestries dating back centuries.

The tapestry of Arpan Almarija as commissioned depicts an unknown battle supposedly witnessed by Arpan in his youth, dated tentatively to summer of the year 817, where Christian Siadrian forces fended off attack by Muslim cavalry. In this battle, Arpan saw above the Christians a vision of the Archangel Michael wielding a flaming sword, protecting the Christians and leading them to victory, thus prompting his conversion to Christianity. Featured prominently is the “Burning Summer Star,” (Paśitara-Vovaki) an event seen in Siadria sometime during the early 9th century and usually associated with a supernova, though a comet has not been ruled out. This is suggested to be the source of Arpan’s vision, if truthful, as it was “...bright enough to be seen in daylight and whose light grew sometimes to eclipse that of the moon,” possibly symbolizing the defeat of Muslim forces (the moon.)

The Arpan Almarija would serve in only a single major action, taking place during the Suppression of Teryeki Piracy Operations in 1904. She would take part in the bombardment of Baltek alongside her sister, suffering no damage from Teryeki coastal batteries except for a single non-penetrating hit to her starboard turret that would cause it to jam. Later placed in reserve in 1910, she would be redesignated as a training ship in 1915 and would serve in this role until her decommissioning in 1929. Valas would similarly take part in the bombardment of Baltek, though she would not have the longevity of her sister. A boiler explosion in 1907 would severely damage the ship, and the Siadrian government was unwilling to restore the already obsolete ship, and she was scrapped on site later that year.

[APDAF]