Federal Republic of Denton

[KHT]

I think the Z turret(turret 3) could be left out. I like the design of the casemates very much.

[ezgo394]

Thanks for the compliment .
I thought about removing the Turret 3 but if I do, I am not sure what to fill the void with.
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Here is an update. Changed a few things and added more detail to the superstructure. Still not sure about the overall hull detail. I think the bow section looks pretty good but I'm not sure about blending the casemates amidships.

[KHT]

Well, you could move the aft turrets forward slightly, move the superstructure and forward artillery slightly aft(keeping the hull length, having the same "natural speed for the hull"), or simply shorten the ship. This way it will be smaller, and less expensive.

[acelanceloet]

you will also need to take in mind the space for.... well, engines. you can't place an turret on top of them, so keeping the deck more or less empty is not bad if you use the space underneath it. your call

[ezgo394]

KHT, I took a look at that option and it looks a little... off. I could spread the two spotting towers and spam the center with casemates and 5" deck guns .

But I do wonder if I could turn around turret 3 and face the barrels forward, thus giving me a larger usable space to put the engines and the boilers.
Basically like this:
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[ezgo394]

Ok. I decided to shorten the ship and made a Spring Sharp report.

BB-4 Fort Albany and BB-5 Lock Haven, Federal Republic of Denton Battleship. Both laid down 1911.

Displacement:
18,987 t light; 20,084 t standard; 23,101 t normal; 25,515 t full load

Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught
516.00 ft / 516.00 ft x 91.50 ft x 25.00 ft (normal load)
157.28 m / 157.28 m x 27.89 m x 7.62 m

Armament:
8 - 14.00" / 356 mm guns (4x2 guns), 1,372.00lbs / 622.33kg shells, 1911 Model
Breech loading guns in turrets (on barbettes)
on centreline ends, evenly spread, 2 raised mounts - superfiring
Main guns limited to end-on fire
18 - 5.00" / 127 mm guns in single mounts, 62.50lbs / 28.35kg shells, 1911 Model
Breech loading guns in casemate mounts
on side, all amidships
18 guns in hull casemates - Limited use in heavy seas
4 - 5.00" / 127 mm guns in single mounts, 62.50lbs / 28.35kg shells, 1911 Model
Breech loading guns in deck mounts
on side, evenly spread, all raised mounts
4 - 3.00" / 76.2 mm guns in single mounts, 13.50lbs / 6.12kg shells, 1911 Model
Breech loading guns in deck mounts
on side, evenly spread, all raised mounts
Weight of broadside 12,405 lbs / 5,627 kg
Shells per gun, main battery: 90
4 - 21.0" / 533.4 mm submerged torpedo tubes

Armour:
- Belts: Width (max) Length (avg) Height (avg)
Main: 10.0" / 254 mm 205.00 ft / 62.48 m 11.50 ft / 3.51 m
Ends: 8.00" / 203 mm 170.00 ft / 51.82 m 11.50 ft / 3.51 m
141.00 ft / 42.98 m Unarmoured ends
Main Belt covers 61 % of normal length
Main belt does not fully cover magazines and engineering spaces

- Torpedo Bulkhead:
9.00" / 229 mm 205.00 ft / 62.48 m 7.00 ft / 2.13 m

- Gun armour: Face (max) Other gunhouse (avg) Barbette/hoist (max)
Main: 14.0" / 356 mm 6.00" / 152 mm 10.0" / 254 mm
2nd: 9.00" / 229 mm 9.00" / 229 mm 6.00" / 152 mm

- Armour deck: 2.25" / 57 mm, Conning tower: 9.00" / 229 mm

Machinery:
Coal fired boilers, complex reciprocating steam engines,
Direct drive, 2 shafts, 16,275 ihp / 12,141 Kw = 17.50 kts
Range 15,500nm at 10.00 kts
Bunker at max displacement = 5,431 tons (100% coal)

Complement:
936 - 1,217

Cost:
£2.118 million / $8.474 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
Armament: 1,551 tons, 6.7 %
Armour: 6,822 tons, 29.5 %
- Belts: 1,792 tons, 7.8 %
- Torpedo bulkhead: 478 tons, 2.1 %
- Armament: 2,841 tons, 12.3 %
- Armour Deck: 1,554 tons, 6.7 %
- Conning Tower: 157 tons, 0.7 %
Machinery: 1,081 tons, 4.7 %
Hull, fittings & equipment: 9,233 tons, 40.0 %
Fuel, ammunition & stores: 4,114 tons, 17.8 %
Miscellaneous weights: 300 tons, 1.3 %

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
35,473 lbs / 16,090 Kg = 25.9 x 14.0 " / 356 mm shells or 5.7 torpedoes
Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.07
Metacentric height 5.0 ft / 1.5 m
Roll period: 17.1 seconds
Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 89 %
- Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 1.07
Seaboat quality (Average = 1.00): 1.78

Hull form characteristics:
Hull has a flush deck
Block coefficient: 0.685
Length to Beam Ratio: 5.64 : 1
'Natural speed' for length: 22.72 kts
Power going to wave formation at top speed: 40 %
Trim (Max stability = 0, Max steadiness = 100): 50
Bow angle (Positive = bow angles forward): -5.00 degrees
Stern overhang: 0.00 ft / 0.00 m
Freeboard (% = measuring location as a percentage of overall length):
- Stem: 26.00 ft / 7.92 m
- Forecastle (20 %): 23.00 ft / 7.01 m
- Mid (50 %): 23.00 ft / 7.01 m
- Quarterdeck (15 %): 23.00 ft / 7.01 m
- Stern: 23.00 ft / 7.01 m
- Average freeboard: 23.24 ft / 7.08 m

Ship space, strength and comments:
Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 89.0 %
- Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 174.8 %
Waterplane Area: 37,338 Square feet or 3,469 Square metres
Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 107 %
Structure weight / hull surface area: 179 lbs/sq ft or 874 Kg/sq metre
Hull strength (Relative):
- Cross-sectional: 0.92
- Longitudinal: 2.07
- Overall: 1.00
Hull space for machinery, storage, compartmentation is adequate
Room for accommodation and workspaces is excellent
Ship has slow, easy roll, a good, steady gun platform
Excellent seaboat, comfortable, can fire her guns in the heaviest weather

It's to the smaller details now (which are not as hard as modern day ships ), but before I continue I'm hoping for some feedback.

Comments, questions, ideas?

[denodon]

Not bad but she's far too short now when compared to all that topweight she has (lattice masts were heavy, your superfiring guns are also an issue as they would induce more top weight). You'd be better off just having two twin gun turrets like the standard pre-dreadnought layout in my opinion as that would save you a lot of problems. That way you could have your main guns in just the two turrets fore and aft with the superstructure carrying your secondary and/or tertiary battery.

Also that forwardmost casemate gun would be useless. When underway in any sea her bow wake would have a chance of flooding it. It's also right in the location where I would expect your anchor handling equipment to be.

My main advice is as I mentioned to look at pre-dreads as much as you can for they might be better to base your design on than later vessels. Just think of her as a 'supersized' pre-dread or semi-dreadnought.

[KHT]

I have to ask - is it supposed to be four 14" guns in single mounts, or should it be eight 14" guns in four mounts, and the springsharp suffers from an error?

[ezgo394]

@KHT: Whoops. Got it fixed. It should now be 8 guns.

@Denodon: I based the ship off of BB-35 Texas and it is 50 feet shorter and 3 feet narrower. The only reason I shortened it is because I couldn't figure out the 5th turret.

The forward casemate was taken from the Texas. It will be removed in later refits.

[Karle94]

But the Texas was much larger. That means that there is less space for the same features.