Shipbucket

Newport Class Battleships.


Algarve was all set to lay down its next class of battleship in 1905 when the Dreadnought made the new Algarvian design obsolete. The design had been two twin, and six single 12" guns, with triple expansion engines. The design had to be recast. News out of Italy described the triple turret that was going to be fitted to the Dante Alighieri, while the news out of America was the South Carolina with its superfiring turrets. Bringing all of these new technologies together in one ship gave a nicely balanced design. Unfortunately for the first two ships a new bow design (the Axe) was also trialled, but proved a failure in service, the bows of both ships being rebuilt in 1913-14.




Eventually six ships were laid down in 1906, 1907, and the last pair in 1908. By the time the last pair were completed in 1912-13, the gun size had increased to 13.5" in the UK, and 14" in the US. This was one of the largest single classes of battleship ever built. In 1914 the six ships made up Battle squadrons two and three with three ships each. First War service saw the two squadrons sent across to South Africa (accompanying the First Battle squadron) at which stage they split, one squadron going to join the Grand Fleet at Scapa Flow and the other squadron to Malta to join the Mediterranean Fleet and to assist in bottling up the Austro-Hungarian Fleet in the Adriatic Sea.

The First Battle Squadron joined Admiral Beatty and his battlecruisers (see ARS Jupiter once I have drawn it next) while the Second Battle squadron joined Admiral Jellicoe and the Grand Fleet. 2BS took part in all the major Grand Fleet actions making a name for themselves with accurate and hard hitting gunnery. At Jutland they fired on elements of the High Seas Fleet, but only for long enough to see the HSF disappearing back into the mist. None of the three ships took any damage and returned to Algarve in 1919.

3rdBS, had a much more active war in the Mediterranean, from relieving Italian ships on the Taranto Barrage, to exchanging fire with the Goeben when Goeben attacked Mudros in 1917. Heavily involved in the Gallipoli campaign, Southport received damage from two mines and had to be patched up at Alexandria before returning to the main Algarvian Fleet repair base at Harbourton. Southport did not return to the Mediterranean after it was repaired. The Braga received three torpedo hits from the U32 in 1917 and sank.

The remaining five ships with the Jupiter class formed the 1st and 2nd Battle squadrons through the Interwar years. Southport was removed from active service in 1924, it had never recovered from the two mine explosions. Southports hull was warped and was not worth spending more money on. The ship was scrapped after acting as an accommodation ship, in 1934. The remaining four ships grew old gracefully during the 1920's and early 1930's. Algarve like the French and Italians were allowed to replace their older BB's when those ships reached 20 years of age. Newport and Portsmouth were removed from service in 1934, and the Penzance and Estoril in 1936.

Displacement: 23,000 tons standard, 25,500 tons full load.
Dimensions: 592 x 90 x 26 feet
Machinery: 4 shaft, turbines, 34,000shp
Speed: 22 knots
Endurance: 7000 miles at 10 knots
Armour: 12" belt, 2" deck, 12/8/5" turrets.
Armament:
12 x 12" (4x3)
12 x 6" (12x1)
10 x 4" (10x1)

Crew: 860

ARS Newport (1911)
ARS Southport (1911)
ARS Portsmouth (1912)
ARS Estoril (1912)
ARS Braga (1913)
ARS Penzance (1913)

Check your drawings for various pixel errors; not least your latter one - with the refitted bow. Also, your story is a case of "trying too hard with too little": why on earth would VADM Beatty have accepted a slow battle-squadron that would have inhibited his movements? 22 knots is about what the ACRs were able to make, and they were considered, during the latter part of the Jutland battle - at least - as mere nuisances. Now, with the German Zeiss 3.5m rangefinders that you've equipped the ships with, maybe they'd be good gunnery ships, but, here's the aber: Where Algarve is situated, is a whole different climatological environment compared to the murky, hazy, fog-ridden North Sea, so, gunnery condition would be emphatically different and much more complicated and difficult; which, BTW, the U.S. 6th B.S. much to their chagrin learnt upon conducting evolutions and target practice with the Grand Fleet. So, in other words, not quite believable....

Nice try Bezo - have a look at what is written not what you think is written. The 1st BS has not been drawn yet, they will be 4 fast battleships of the Jupiter class, two of those will be with Beatty. As to the conditions found around Algarve and that sea area, you are aware that the bottom of Africa is called the Cape of Storms? Lots of bad weather around. I would also point out that Graf von Spee's Squadron fought in several different climactic areas.

Thanks for reminding me to 'pink' my drawings before placing them.

Jupiter Class Fast Battleships.


The Jupiter class were built concurrently with the British Queen Elizabeth class. Each member of the Jupiter Class took almost a year longer each to build than the QE's. The first two were laid down in 1911 and completed for service in late 1915. The second pair were laid down in 1912 and did not complete till early 1917, as other priorities put the two battleships completion dates further and further out.

Having built six of the Newport Class, there was no thought given to building battleships with the 13.5" guns the British built twelve of (and completed the Erin from an export order for number 13). Algarve could not hope to keep up with the major powers building rates, but they could build quality ships with the best available technology aboard.

The Jupiter class were built around the twin 15" gun system, with four twin turrets on each ship. The ships were to be hybrid battleship/battlecruiser, with both good armour protection and a reasonable turn of speed. These were big ships, and for a short period were the biggest in the world when completed.




The British were fully aware of the Jupiter class ships and had a request in for the first pair to be sent to Britain to enhance the advantage the Allied fleet had over the High Seas Fleet. On arrival at Scapa Flow, the two ships were seconded to the 5th Battle squadron, joining the 5 ships of the Queen Elizabeth class. The Queen Elizabeth Class, because of its speed, had been pushed hard as the 'fast' wing of the Grand Fleet. Admiral Jellicoe had been loathe to allow them too much time in port for general maintenance, after all, the ships were brand new. The extra two ships allowed for the 5th BS to be able to set up a decent maintenance schedule. Unfortunately for Saturn, it was docked with condenser problems while the Queen Elizabeth was in for maintenance and both ships missed the Battle of Jutland. The Jupiter being a 'foreigner' and the fast ship in the squadron was assigned tail end Charlie position. Last in the line at Windy Corner proved that the Algarvian builders, had built well. Even though the Jupiter turned a bit earlier than it should have per order (and as Warspite had) the Germans could just blast away into a small area of sea and were bound to hit something. Jupiter took a dozen 11" and 12" hits, none of which caused any major damage, the worst being the hit on X turret which destroyed the communications circuits and for the rest of the battle X turret had to be fired manually when the commander heard the other turrets firing. During the charge of Admiral Hippers Scout squadron, the Jupiter was allocated the brand new battlecruiser Yorck as its target. This is where the accuracy of the 15" gun, penetration and the weight of shell, made havoc on the German ships. Giving back the dozen hits Jupiter had received earlier, the Yorck was last seen with major fires and flooding aboard and in company with the Lutzow was unable to make port and had to be scuttled by the accompanying light forces. That was the highlight of the Jupiter classes ships during World War One. The Neptune and Uranus joined the Grand Fleet in 1917 and the Neptune had to have its call sign altered to Algarvia as there was already a British battleship named Neptune with the Grand Fleet. 1917-18 and the four ships of the Jupiter class were with the Grand Fleet for its sorties, but no further contact with German forces were to be had.

1919 and the four Jupiter class ships return to Algarve and the peace and prosperity they had earned with their service against the evil Central Powers. The ships went through many little upgrades during the Inter-War period till returning from King George the V's silver jubilee review (July 1935) at Spithead in 1936 when first Jupiter, and then the other three in 1937-39, were taken in hand for rebuilding. The hulls were stripped between B and X turret, with a new propulsion system being fitted (120,00shp replacing the old 100,000shp system which with all the added weight kept the speed at 28 knots), new 5.5" armoured deck, new secondary and tertiary dual purpose guns, new superstructure, new aircraft handling facilities. The four ships were almost unrecognisable from their original silhouettes.

1939 and the outbreak of war found the Jupiter and Uranus ready for sea having finished their rebuilds, while the Saturn was due to finish its rebuild in December 1939 and would be available for service early in 1940. Neptune's rebuild was put on a priority and it was finished in June 1940 (instead of the original November finish date).

I will finish here for the moment as I have not fleshed out all of the Algarves forces. I am still considering how much naval aviation and carriers will appear. How many and what type of cruisers etc.


As completed 1915-17

Displacement: 32,000 tons standard, 35,500 tons full load.
Dimensions: 717 x 92 x 28 feet.
Machinery: 4 shaft, turbines, 100,000shp
Speed: 28 knots
Endurance: 8,000 miles at 12 knots.
Armour: 12" belt, 3" deck, 12/8/5" turrets
Armament:
8 x 15" (4x2)
14 x 6" (14x1)
16 x 4" (16x1)
Crew: 1250


As rebuilt 1938-40.

Displacement: 34,000 tons standard, 38,500 tons full load
Dimensions: 717 x 100 (over bulges) x 28 feet.
Machinery: 4 shaft, geared turbines, 120,000shp
Speed: 28 knots.
Endurance: 10,000 miles at 15 knots
Armour: 12" belt, 5.5" deck, 12/8/5" turrets
Armament:
8 x 15" (4x2)
12 x 4.5" (6x2)
46 x 40mm (23x2)
Aircraft: 3
Crew: 1400 as flagship.


ARS Jupiter (1915)
ARS Saturn (1915)
ARS Neptune (1917)
ARS Uranus (1917)

Jupiter Class rebuilds.

I was not very happy with the 4.5" turret version above as it only gave the twelve guns. Fitting the BD 4.5" mountings I can raise the number of barrels to twenty, giving a much better heavy AA barrage.




Displacement: 34,000 tons standard, 38,500 tons full load
Dimensions: 717 x 100 (over bulges) x 28 feet.
Machinery: 4 shaft, geared turbines, 120,000shp
Speed: 28 knots.
Endurance: 10,000 miles at 15 knots
Armour: 12" belt, 5.5" deck, 12/8/5" turrets
Armament:
8 x 15" (4x2)
20 x 4.5" (6x2)
50 x 40mm (23x2)
Aircraft: 3
Crew: 1450 as flagship.

Mars Class Battleship.

Algarve was in a pleasant position that they were allowed 105,000 tons of capital ship construction that could be used to build battleships after 1930. These ships were to replace the last four of the Newport class 12" battleships. The unpleasant part of it was that they could only afford two. Designs were made for 35,000 ton ships that were to be improvements of the Jupiter Class. With the advent of the Wall Street crash and the following depression, funding was rescinded. This allowed further plans to be drawn up so that when the ships were finally laid down in early 1932 they were designed with the latest weaponry that was then available.



The ships ended up being 2,000 tons overweight, which when compared to some other designs, that was a very near miss. A new triple 15" turret and gun was designed and built along with a new dual purpose twin 4.5" gun system that was ready for installation from 1935 as the ships had been designed for it. The ships took just over 5 years each to build, the Mars being completed just in time to go to King George VI's Coronation review at Spithead. Compared to the other foreign ships that were at the review (Graf Spee and Ashigara) the Mars was a demonstration of power and grace.

Displacement: 37,000 tons standard, 45,400 tons full load.
Dimensions: 787 x 106 x 28 feet
Machinery: 4 shaft, geared turbines, 150,000shp
Speed: 28 knots
Endurance: 10,000 miles at 15 knots
Armour: 12" belt, 6" deck, 13/8/5" turrets
Armament:
9 x 15" (3x3)
20 x 4.5" (10x2)
50 x 40mm (25x2)
Aircraft:3
Crew: 2200

Venus Class Battleship.


The various treaties finally all expired in 1936 with Japan's refusal to sign the London II Treaty. The gloves were off and all of the Allied nations went out to the 45,000 ton limit and beyond for their next designs. Algarve was no different. To ease construction the same turret (triple 15") as used on the Mars class was produced for the Venus class as well. The difference being four turrets fitted to the Venus type while the Mars type only had three. This required a much bigger ship, almost 15,000 tons heavier, a lot of which was the extra breadth, thicker armour, and extra turret.





Displacement: 48,000 tons standard, 56,500 tons full load.
Dimensions: 808 x 116 x 30 feet
Machinery: 4 shaft, geared turbines, 150,000shp
Speed: 28 knots
Endurance: 9,000 miles at 15 knots
Armour: 14" side, 6.5" deck, 15/10/6" turrets.
Armament:
12 x 15" (4x3)
20 x 4.5" (10x2)
48 x 40mm (24x2)
Aircraft: 3
Crew: 2350




Good Ship Venus Poem (Dirty lyrics - avoid reading if easily offended)

Twas on the good ship Venus,
By God you should have seen us,
The figurehead was a whore in bed
And the mast the Captain’s penis.

The captain of this lugger,
He was a dirty bugger,
He wasn’t fit to shovel shit
From one ship to another.

The captain’s wife was Mabel.
Whenever she was able,
She’d fornicate with the second mate
Upon the galley table.

The cabin boy was Kipper,
A dirty little nipper,
We stuffed his arse with broken glass
To circumcise the skipper.

The captain had a daughter,
Who fell into the water,
We heard her squeal and knew an eel
Had found her sexual quarter.

The second mate’s name was Andy,
His balls were long and bandy,
We filled his arse with molten brass
For wanking in the brandy.

The captain’s name was Morgan,
By Christ he was a gorgon!
Ten times a day sweet tunes he’s play.
On his productive organ.

The captain’s daughter Mable,
They laid her on a table!
And all the crew would come and screw
As oft as they were able.

“Twas on a Chinese station,
We caused a great sensation.
We sunk a junk in a sea of spunk
By mutual masturbation.

Another cook was O’Malley,
He didn’t dilly dally.
He shot his bolt with such a jolt
He whitewashed half the galley.

Another one was Cropper,
Oh Christ he had a whopper.
Twice round the deck, around his neck
And up his bum for a stopper.

The ship's dog's name was Rover,
The whole crew had him over,
We ground that faithful hound
From Singapore to Dover.


The bosun's name was Carter
He was a musical farter
He could play ‘God Save the Queen' from beginning to end
And Beethoven's moonlight sonata.

They spied whore upon the shore.
And off came shirt and collar.
In 20 minutes by the clock,
she'd made a thousand dollars.

The first mates name was Carter
By God he was a farter
When the wind wouldn't blow and the ship wouldn't go
they called on Carter the farter to start her

So now we end this serial,
Through sheer lack of material.
I wish you luck and freedom from
Diseases venereal.

Ganymede Class Battleship

The two Jupiter class battleships were under construction and the Algarvian Admiralty designers were pondering how to improve them. The design could go to triple turrets, a mix of triple and twins, keep to twins with an extra turret. The problem going to triples would have been the extra beam required to mount the triple and also the time required to design/build a new turret. Keeping with the twin turret allowed a faster building time.

The Ganymede was laid down in 1913, the second ship Callisto was laid down in 1914 but with the outbreak of war its construction was slowed considerably and eventually postponed in 1915, the hull eventually completed post war as an aircraft carrier. The first eighteen months of construction went at a furious pace, but by the start of 1915 other priorities slowed construction. Originally due to be completed in the summer of 1917 (don’t forget that Algarve is Southern hemisphere) it was eventually completed in August of 1918. Fitting the extra turret and extra propulsion power to keep the five ships at a constant speed of 28 knots, required an extra 70 odd feet of length and 4 foot of breadth compared to the Jupiters. While the Jupiter’s had flag facilities, the Ganymede’s Flag accommodation was made for the Fleet Flagship. Virtually the first time the Ganymede fired its guns was for the Armistice Day celebrations.



During the inter-war period the Ganymede was fleet flagship through to 1936 when the ship was taken in hand for a rebuild to upgrade the AA and deck armour protection. The deck armour was doubled while the mixed, 6”, 4”, and 3” AA guns were removed and replaced with the twin 4.5” turrets and twin 40mm fitted to the Mars class battleships being built at the same time this ship was under refit. Bulges were added during the same rebuilding and were required to keep the stability positive.



As built 1918.
Displacement: 36,000 tons standard, 40,750 tons full load.
Dimensions: 786 x 98 x 30 feet
Machinery: 4 shaft, geared turbines, 115,000shp
Speed: 28 knots
Endurance: 8,000 miles at 12 knots.
Armour: 12” belt, 3” deck 13”/9”/6” turrets
Armament:
10 x 15” (5x2)
14 x 6” (14x1)
12 x 4” (12x1)
8 x 3” AA (8x1)
Crew: 1550

As rebuilt 1936-38
Displacement: 38,250 tons standard, 44,500 tons full load.
Dimensions: 786 x 106 x 30 feet
Machinery: 4 shaft, geared turbines, 130,000shp
Speed: 28 knots
Endurance: 10,000 miles at 15 knots.
Armour: 12” belt, 6” deck, 13”/9”/6” turrets
Armament:
10 x 15” (5x2)
20 x 4.5” (10x2)
56 x 40mm (28x2)
Aircraft: 2
Crew: 1945

Admiral McCaw class Aircraft Carrier.

The battleship Callisto was postponed in 1915, the incomplete hull being launched to clear the slip for other priority building projects. 1918 and the news of the British project for carrying aircraft to sea, brings the Callisto back into focus. The hull is brought back into dock and work was resumed on the ship to a new design. The end of the war brought a slowing down of the work on the ship which allowed the completion of the Admiral Carter and trials with that ship were to influence the ongoing design of the ship. On completion in 1928 and release from dock the ship was renamed Admiral Sir Ritchie McCaw, as it had been decided the new type of ships would commemorate famous Admirals of Algarve.



The design took what Algarvian designers thought were the best features of the carriers being built by all the different navies and installed them on the McCaw. From the Japanese and US the installation of 8” guns. 4” AA guns were fitted but it was not till the early 1930’s that a few 2pd single QF AA guns were fitted. The first single then replaced with twin 40mm Bofors guns, were fitted in 1936, and by 1939 fourteen twin 40mm mountings had been fitted with more added during WWII.



As completed 1928.
Displacement: 33,000 tons standard, 39,500 tons full load
Dimensions: 802 x 106 x 29 feet
Machinery: 4 shaft, geared turbines, 115,000shp
Speed: 28 knots
Endurance: 10,000 miles at 14 knots
Armour: 4.5” belt, 3” deck.
Armament:
8 x 8” (8x1)
8 x 4” (8x1)
Aircraft: 56
Crew: 1600

As refitted to 1939
Displacement: 34,200 tons standard, 42,700 tons full load.
Dimensions: 802 x 106 x 30 feet
Machinery: 4 shaft, geared turbines, 115,000shp
Speed: 28 knots
Endurance: 10,000 miles at 15 knots
Armour: 4.5” belt, 3” deck.
Armament:
10 x 4” (10x1)
28 x 40mm (14x2)
Aircraft: 56
Crew: 1850

Vengeance Class Cruisers and Aircraft Carriers

1914 and the Great War explodes across Europe, naval battles were fought with cruiser sized vessels in the South Atlantic Ocean, North Sea, and Mediterranean Sea. The big German merchant raiders had proved elusive and when cornered, hard to kill. The Algarvian Admiralty decided to produce a hybrid that could beat any German cruiser and still have a chance to either run or fight if they ran across something bigger.

Laid down in early 1915, the four Vengeance class were originally classed as battlecruisers, but were reduced to Armoured Cruisers in 1918, and eventually Heavy cruisers after 1930. These were big ships and were larger than both the Invincible and Indomitable class ships. 1917, and the knowledge of the trials in Britain of ships to handle wheeled aircraft for both take off and landing, lead to the repurposing of the later two of the class, Venomous and Vendetta which had been laid down in 1916.



The original armament of 10”, 6”, and 3” guns, proved the problem that had caused the early demise of the semi-dreadnought as a type. The 10” and 6” shell splashes were hard to distinguish from each other at long ranges. This lead to the 6” guns being replaced with single 4.7” on a one for one basis. No other major changes were made to the armament until 1937 when the 3” AA and the light AA machine guns were removed and the new Bofors twin 40mm weapons were fitted. From 1937 refits and new equipment were added reguarly as more and more electronic aids and systems became available. 1937-38 the gun armed members of the class received bulges to help with both stability and underwater protection.



1922 and the Washington Treaty said that the Vengeance class cruisers could not be retained under ‘cruiser’ tonnage but would have to be classed as capital ships. Two of the 12” Newport class battleships were deleted in favour of keeping the Vengeance class ships.

The aircraft carrier conversions went along in spasms as news of what was happening in Britain arrived and the designers/builders could add or subtract ideas that had or had not worked. Venomous was the first to take aircraft to sea in 1918 and trial take off and landings on a ‘through’ deck with no structures to intrude. Final fit out and acceptance into the Navy did not take place until 1920 for Venomous and 1922 for Vendetta. An accident with Vendetta in 1923 nearly lost the ship and highlighted stability problems that required immediate remedying. Bulges were fitted to both ships and they returned to service in 1924.



The original armament was six 6”. These were replaced as part of the stability remedies with 4.7” of the same type as refitted to the cruisers. Four high angle 4” were fitted for anti-aircraft duties. Various machine guns were added and replaced until 1936 when like the cruisers the Bofors 40mm twin mountings were fitted. The 4” guns were kept while the 4.7” were replaced one-for-one with 40mm guns. Up to 30 aircraft could be carried depending on size and type.




Gun armed ships 1918
Displacement: 18,000 tons normal, 22,500 tons full load.
Dimensions: 634 x 76 x 26 feet
Machinery: 2 shafts, turbines, 80,000shp
Speed: 30 knots
Endurance: 8000 miles at 14 knots
Armour: 5” belt, 2” deck, 6”, 3”, 2” turrets
Armament:
8 x 10” (4x2)
8 x 6” (8x1) replaced with 4.7” 1920
5 x 3” AA (5x1)
Crew: 750


Aircraft Carriers 1924
Displacement: 19,000 tons normal, 24,250 tons full load.
Dimensions: 643 x 84 x 26 feet
Machinery: 2 shafts, turbines, 80,000shp
Speed: 29 knots
Endurance: 9,500 miles at 14 knots
Armour: 3” belt, 2” deck.
Armament:
6 x 6” (6x1) replaced by 4.7” 1923-24
4 x 4” AA (4x1)
Aircraft: 30
Crew: 900


Gun armed cruisers 1940
Displacement: 19,300 tons standard, 24,000 tons full load.
Dimensions: 634 x 84 x 26 feet
Machinery: 2 shafts, turbines, 80,000shp
Speed: 29 knots
Endurance: 8,000 miles at 14 knots
Armour: 5” belt, 2” deck, 6/3/2” turrets
Armament:
8 x 10” (4x2)
12 x 4.5” (6x2)
20 x 40mm (10x2)
Aircraft: 1
Crew: 825

Aircraft Carriers 1940
Displacement: 19,850 tons standard, 26,400 tons full load
Dimensions: 643 x 84 x 26 feet
Machinery: 2 shafts, turbines, 80,000shp
Speed: 28 knots
Endurance: 10,000 miles at 14 knots
Armour: 3” belt, 2” deck.
Armament:
4 x 4” AA (4x1)
12 x 40mm (6x2)
Aircraft: 30
Crew: 950