WIP fictional 1930s Battleship (Project Paused)

[Adam]

Hello people, this is my first post and i'm not sure if this sort of thing belongs here; please be nice 

I've always like naval warfare so I thought I'd try to design my own battleship. I don't have alot so far, mainly just specifications in my head; but ill put it all down here so please tell me what you think.


UPDATE #3 22nd June:
Link to update post: http://beyondthesprues.com/Forum/index.php?topic=5445.msg91861#msg91861

UPDATE #2 15th June:
Link to update post: http://beyondthesprues.com/Forum/index.php?topic=5445.msg91517#msg91517

UPDATE #1 3rd June:
The project isn't dead I've just been very buzy, and I've also had to throw alot of what I had out the window due to errors in Modeling. I have learnt alot along the way, and discovered that the turrets I had designed originally were not to Spec. The rifling was incorrect, the turrets were too small and numerous other problems.

So I changed my approach, I have started with a hull and will work towards the armament in future once done with everything prior. This is to get correct scaling, and judgement of what can fit on this ship. The specs have been crossed out above as they were too restrictive given my lack on knowledge in ship construction.

The new more general specs are as follows:
300m Length, 43m Beam, 15m draft; aimed for 150,000t displacement (Yes she is going to be huge)

http://imgur.com/a/K8ObR < Link to the WIP Hull
Note: The actual displacement at 15m draft (The black line) is 110,000t. At full load she will be around 125,000t approx.

Main armament is not finalized yet, however it is most likely going to be above 16" / 40.6cm.
Also I have not modeled rifling, nor do I plan to on future guns due to it being too time consuming as you can see in the below image comparison.
OLD RIFLING


PROPER RIFLING TEST



More information soon!


More information soon, Its slow progress as this is something for my free time.
Please let me know what you think, or if you have any suggestions for the design.  :)

[Kerick]

This looks interesting! I'm not a battleship guy so I can't say if your specs are OK or not but I want to see more of this.

[Adam]

UPDATE #1 3rd June:

Read original post to see information!

Here are some pics of the update.

[mrvr6]

when roy schnieder said that iconic line in jaws, THIS is what he was talking about!!

[Adam]

UPDATE #2 15th June:

I've picked out the main battery armament!


I plan to use the 53 cm/52 (21") Gerät 36.

One of the largest naval rifles ever constructed, this was an experimental weapon. Ordered in 1938, the prototype gun and cradle were apparently fired a few times although the proof mounting was not completed.  It seems unlikely that this weapon was ever intended to be used as an actual naval gun as even the gigantic H-44 battleship was to be armed with "only" 50.8 cm (20") guns.


Here is the album for this weapon: http://imgur.com/a/9mZ0z

The turret in the last image is modelled closely to a Drh LC/34, the same as used on the Bismark. As you can see the gun is pretty large! 

Weight of gun, breech and mount: 648t

[GTX_Admin]

Impressive

[elmayerle]

Hmm, be interesting to see those turrets mounted on Montana-class hulls.  I reckon they'd look good together.

[Adam]

UPDATE #3 22nd June:

List of changes/Progress:

• Hull redesign

Hull has been completely redesigned to meet more realistic characteristics; such as flatter bottomed hull, less pronounced torpedo blisters ect.
It was also enlarged to accommodate the extremely large turrets.
Old dimensions: 300m Length, 43m Beam, 15m draft; displacing 125,000t @15m draft.
New dimensions: 375m Length, 51m Beam, 14m draft; displacing 187,409t @14m draft.

• Turret design

Turrets for the 53 cm/52 rifles have been finalized (Detailing work will come later). Turrets weigh in @ 7,336t or 16,173,398lbs each.

• External inclined armor belt

The armor belt has been made visible along amidships. You can see the real life equivalent design on the IJN Yamato class battleship.

• Preliminary armor layout

A rough hull and turret armor layout has been completed.

• Initial hydrodynamic calculations

Initial estimates suggest around 261,100kW / 350,000hp will be needed to reach 25knots.

You can see all this in this imgur album: http://imgur.com/a/B5RbK


Some juicy statistics:

• Turret total weight: 7,336t (Excluding barrettes)

4,249,462kg / 9,368,460lbs Armor
523,680kg  / 1,154,516lbs structural material
626,320kg / 1,380,799lbs equipment & machinery (Hoists, rams, trays ect.)
1,936,668kg / 4,269,622lbs total gun assembly (All three guns)

• Hull total armor weight: 82,896t (So far  )

Waterline belt: 750mm / 29.5"
Sub-waterline belt: 750mm / 29.5" tapering to 250mm / 9.8"
Deck: 500mm / 19.7"
Hull Bottom 1: 250mm / 9.8"
Hull bottom 2: 50mm / 2"

More coming soon!

[Adam]

Hmm, be interesting to see those turrets mounted on Montana-class hulls.  I reckon they'd look good together.

If they would fit 

Impressive

Thank you sir!


And to everyone else, thanks for the feedback and jokes! 

[ysi_maniac]

Really Interesting

[elmayerle]

On reconsideration, you'd probably need to fit those in 2-gun turrets on a Montana-class hull.  Still, *that* would look impressive.