Grays Harbor Designs

[Zephyr]

And have changed the secondaries out

[Zephyr]

Next up, an auxillery training ship, the HMA Plover. Commissioned in 2003, the Plover replaced the 45 year old Mt Diamond helicopter cruiser as the training vessel for shipboard helicopter aircrew and Helo/ASW operations training. Designed with the characteristics and speed of a destroyer, it is meant to give a good approximation to prospective helo aircrews of what shipboard operations are like, and to give them some experience at it prior to assignment to the fleet. Assigned to the RFA, the ships crew is RFA and the instructors are FAA



I used the hull and superstructure of the Japanese Shirane, removed the armament, moved the superstructure forward and enlarged the hanger/landing pad. I also added some additional ships boats. If I missed anything as far as electronics, I'm sure y'all will let me know. I figured as it is unarmed, navigation, air search and sonar would probably be about all that is needed.

RFA - Royal Fleet Auxillery
FAA - Fleet Air Arm
HMA - His Majestys Auxillery

[Clonecommander6454]

It does not feel like a ship commissioned in 2003, more like in 1980-1990.

[Zephyr]

Not a "state of the art" warship. It is an auxillery designed for training purposes.

[Clonecommander6454]

But I still think adding a Oto 76mm cannon or some MG would be nice.

[Zephyr]

But I still think adding a Oto 76mm cannon or some MG would be nice.

Auxillery

Training ship

Not a warship

This ship rarely, if ever, leaves home waters. It is a training vessel. If the Royal Navy has to rely on this ship for home defense, then we are well and truly frelled. The only RFA vessels which have any armament are those designated for operations with the fleet, and then it is purely defensive in nature.

So, no weapons, other than the training ASW weapons on the training ASW helo.

[Carthaginian]

Even unarmed, or hastily refitted with some point defense weapons, this would prove to be a fairly effective ship. Remember all that the escort carriers of WWII had no defense against their primary prey (subs) except their aircraft and escorts... and they were pretty darn effective against them. This ship would be little different if employed in an ASW role.

[acelanceloet]

and if you had no intention of going near an enemy at all, you could remove the decoy launchers and SLQ-32 as well......

[Zephyr]

decoy launchers? did I forget to remove them? darn, must have missed that.

where is an slq-32? not seeing it.

EDIT: OK, going to be keeping the decoys and SLQ-32. It may be designed as an unarmed training ship (and quite frankly, I am really frelling failing to see the bloody damned controversy about that), but we (meaning my navy) are not morons and having a decoy launcher and an EW/ECM suite is not the same thing as arming it to the gun'ls.

[Zephyr]

Took a little break from the Hermes for a bit, needed a design for a modern cruiser. But, I'm gonna need some help here, especially from you electronics whizzes.

The St Edward class cruisers are the newest cruisers in the fleet, the first pair being commissioned in 2007, with 2 more per year, the final pair set to commission this year. Following current RN doctrine, cruisers are primarily surface combatants, armed with SSM's and cruise missiles as their main armament. They are, in theory, supposed to work in tandem with the Fleet Aircraft Carriers as the main strike element of the navy. Their Anti-air missiles and CIWS are for ship defense only, as Destroyers and Frigates are tasked as the main AAW and ASW screening elements of the fleet.

I decided to try and place the VLS midships so as to increase the number available given there is more room there than in the bow and stern. Correspondingly, I moved the engine rooms further aft to accomodate this. I used an extended version of the new Chinese destroyers as the basis for the hull. I was looking for small, fast and sleek. Hopefully thats what comes from this.



Some concerns I have:
1.) Not sure if I have the Mk 48 ESSM VLS correctly placed.
2.) (this one will sound stupid) Ummmm.... how many Mk 41 VLS cells do I have on there? For whaever reason, my brain went into blank mode trying to work that out. I think it is 64...... but I could be wrong. Very, very wrong.
3.) Unsure of which electronics to use for the most part, the best choices, and the placement of them. I don't want to just start plunking things on there willy-nilly and making a complete dogs dinner of it. I like to try and stick with UK-RN types for the most part, but if US, Dutch or other NATO would be a superior option, then thats what I would want to use.
4.) The class only carries a single helicopter, and then only for liason and/or recon purposes. ASW is not neccessary as that is the task of the Frigates. Is the hanger large enough for the one bird? I was thinking it was, but confirmation would be nice.
5.) Did I leave enough room midships to accomodate the VLS? Lengthening the hull if not wouldn't be a problem.
6.) Are there any glaring ommissions? Mistakes? Laughfest worthy goofs?

Comments and suggestions are very welcome on this as I want a good capable strike cruiser.