Grays Harbor Designs

[Thiel]

The small tub on the same level as the forward 40mm and just above the forward beam 5in/38 contains a director. I think it's a Mk 56.
Alternatively I believe the small tub just above and a bit aft contains a Mk 51 which was a dedicated 40mm director.

[Zephyr]

Got a problem. I made some of the suggested changes, but one has me stumped. Where the frell am I going to put the director that was incorrectly placed on the mast, and is now floating in mid-air over the con?

Also still working on improved davits and/or midships crane, but I figure I can most like work that one out once I find a solution I am satisfied with.

EDIT: Bad image removed. Boo Hiss.

[acelanceloet]

one crane at each side of the funnel might work?

[Zephyr]

Yeah, I was thinking of that myself since I have the Captain's launch on the starboard side and the crew "liberty cutter" to port, but the cranes I have tried so far were either too big, or just didn't look right. I may end up having to draw one myself. THAT could be interesting.

Another solution I was thinking of was still a crane, but to have a single crane between the funnels that could work both port and starboard? Or would that get more complicated than its worth?

[Zephyr]

A bit more done, changed a couple 40mm mounts I had missed when I changed from the Hazemeyer over to the quads. I believe I may have found a place for the "floating director". perhaps not optimal, but honestly, I couldn't think of any place else to put it. Still working on the crane issue. That should be resolved soon, I'm hoping.

Also did the second group of 6 inch cruisers, the Newydd Arwr Class, which were, as they were built nearly simutaneously, virtually identical in layout and armament to the Grayson Islands AA Class except for the main batteries. The earlier Windward Islands Class will be a bit different in the location of the secondaries and light AA, and I'm still working on that one.

I posted the new images HERE

[Thiel]

I doubt the Newid Arwr class is going to work out. First of you're replacing twin 5.25in turrets with triple 6in turret. Granted, the 5,25 were no featherweighter, but the 6in still weighs some 88tons more. Secondly, and even more importantly, the 6inchers have a much larger barbette, about twelve feet larger in fact. Those are some very big holes you'll have to cut in the strength deck. Not impossibly so, but you'll need to ad a significant amount of strengthening beneath the deck. This will eat up weight and volume margins like there's no tomorrow and seriously affect their upgrade potential.

You'll also need more directors and you'll want them as close to the guns as you can get without interfering with the gun crews. You'll want one up forward close to the 40mm. (No point in having a gun capable of shooting ahead if you don't have a director that can look ahead)
I'd also put at least one more, if not two in the broadside. The 20 and 40mm guns have widely different ranges so you'd probably want to be able to engage one target with the 40mm and another with the 20mm.

[Zephyr]

Honestly, as the Newydd Arwr was technically first, it was the other way round, 5.25" replacing the 6". As it is, it is laid out identical to the Clevelands with 4 x 6" triples and 6 x 5.25" (Cleveland had 5'/38, thats the only difference) on a nearly identical sized hull. I figured if it worked for them, as it was a fairly successfull class, it would work for me. Also, the Graysons were also not conversions. They were built that way, with an all 5.25" armament, so I believe the problem of making the barbette hole is something that could be and was handled during the design and construction phase. This is a case of the navy using the same hull for two different classes (the even earlier Windwards class was what the Newydd's are/will be based on)

[Thiel]

Problem is the British and American weapons aren't comparable. The 5.25 weighed twice as much as the 5"/38. Remember how I told you the weights worked out on the Grayson? I checked them against the Cleveland. The ten 5.25s on the Grayson weighs slightly more than the combined armament of the Cleveland. Specifically, the Cleveland spends 947tons and the Grayson 960tons. In comparison the Newydd Arwr uses 1304 tons.

[Zephyr]

Ok, directors ... gonna need some suggestions on where to put additional ones for the light AA. I don't want to just go plonking them on at random in locations which would most likely need changing later, I'd rather get them in the right place the first time.

Also, added the Windward Islands Class, the original design from 1937. Might need some ideas on the mast as I figure it is too early for radar mounts, but past time for the large tripods as used in the teens and twenties. So, I'm open to ideas.

As for the middle class, the Newydd's, what would you suggest? Dropping the 5.25's and going with a smaller caliber? I don't want to use US mounts (5/38) as that would not go with the rest of the concept. Perhaps twin 4.7's in the same locations, and reserve the 5.25's for the AA variant, the Graysons.

EDIT: [insert facepalm here] Still forgot the gorram midships cranes. I'll get the bloody things on there eventually.

[Rowdy36]

How about the 4.5in turrets used on a couple of the Dido class cruisers?


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QF_4.5_inc ... _naval_gun