WesWorld

Besides Normandie, which will be constructed under a 25% subsidy from the government of France, several new ships will be begun in 1930. The first is a wooden subchaser with good speed and excellent range, the S-1930 class. It is expected that 60 will be constructed during 1930, to provide 2 flotillas for the Atlantic Fleet, 1 flotilla for the Mediterrainian Fleet, 1 flotilla for the Indian Ocean Squadron, and 2 flotillas for the Pacific Fleet:

S-1930, French Subchaser laid down 1930

Displacement:
108 t light; 113 t standard; 129 t normal; 142 t full load

Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught
129.45 ft / 124.67 ft x 14.76 ft x 4.92 ft (normal load)
39.46 m / 38.00 m x 4.50 m x 1.50 m

Armament:
1 - 2.95" / 75.0 mm guns in single mounts, 12.87lbs / 5.84kg shells, 1930 Model
Breech loading gun in deck mount
on centreline forward
2 - 1.57" / 40.0 mm guns (1x2 guns), 1.95lbs / 0.89kg shells, 1930 Model
Breech loading guns in deck mount
on centreline aft
2 - 0.50" / 12.7 mm guns in single mounts, 0.06lbs / 0.03kg shells, 1930 Model
Breech loading guns in deck mounts
on side, evenly spread
Weight of broadside 17 lbs / 8 kg
Shells per gun, main battery: 250

Armour:
- Gun armour: Face (max) Other gunhouse (avg) Barbette/hoist (max)
Main: 0.98" / 25 mm 0.20" / 5 mm -
2nd: 0.98" / 25 mm 0.20" / 5 mm -

- Conning tower: 0.98" / 25 mm

Machinery:
Diesel Internal combustion motors,
Geared drive, 1 shaft, 1,117 shp / 833 Kw = 18.00 kts
Range 2,500nm at 12.00 kts
Bunker at max displacement = 29 tons

Complement:
18 - 24

Cost:
£0.043 million / $0.172 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
Armament: 2 tons, 1.6 %
Armour: 2 tons, 1.7 %
- Belts: 0 tons, 0.0 %
- Torpedo bulkhead: 0 tons, 0.0 %
- Armament: 2 tons, 1.3 %
- Armour Deck: 0 tons, 0.0 %
- Conning Tower: 1 tons, 0.4 %
Machinery: 34 tons, 26.2 %
Hull, fittings & equipment: 60 tons, 46.2 %
Fuel, ammunition & stores: 21 tons, 16.5 %
Miscellaneous weights: 10 tons, 7.7 %

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
172 lbs / 78 Kg = 13.4 x 3.0 " / 75 mm shells or 0.2 torpedoes
Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.07
Metacentric height 0.3 ft / 0.1 m
Roll period: 10.9 seconds
Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 70 %
- Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.27
Seaboat quality (Average = 1.00): 1.51

Hull form characteristics:
Hull has a flush deck
Block coefficient: 0.500
Length to Beam Ratio: 8.44 : 1
'Natural speed' for length: 11.17 kts
Power going to wave formation at top speed: 66 %
Trim (Max stability = 0, Max steadiness = 100): 46
Bow angle (Positive = bow angles forward): 20.00 degrees
Stern overhang: 0.00 ft / 0.00 m
Freeboard (% = measuring location as a percentage of overall length):
- Stem: 13.12 ft / 4.00 m
- Forecastle (20 %): 8.20 ft / 2.50 m
- Mid (50 %): 7.55 ft / 2.30 m
- Quarterdeck (15 %): 6.89 ft / 2.10 m
- Stern: 8.20 ft / 2.50 m
- Average freeboard: 8.05 ft / 2.46 m

Ship space, strength and comments:
Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 107.2 %
- Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 93.8 %
Waterplane Area: 1,179 Square feet or 110 Square metres
Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 134 %
Structure weight / hull surface area: 21 lbs/sq ft or 102 Kg/sq metre
Hull strength (Relative):
- Cross-sectional: 0.80
- Longitudinal: 8.08
- Overall: 1.00
Hull space for machinery, storage, compartmentation is adequate
Room for accommodation and workspaces is adequate
Ship has slow, easy roll, a good, steady gun platform
Excellent seaboat, comfortable, can fire her guns in the heaviest weather

Wooden construction
10 tons depth charges

France will also lay down 10 Class B submarines:

CS-1930, French Submarine laid down 1930

Displacement:
406 t light; 419 t standard; 527 t normal; 614 t full load

Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught
149.28 ft / 149.28 ft x 20.34 ft x 12.80 ft (normal load)
45.50 m / 45.50 m x 6.20 m x 3.90 m

Armament:
1 - 2.95" / 75.0 mm guns in single mounts, 12.87lbs / 5.84kg shells, 1930 Model
Breech loading gun in deck mount
on centreline forward
1 - 1.57" / 40.0 mm guns in single mounts, 1.95lbs / 0.89kg shells, 1930 Model
Breech loading gun in deck mount
on centreline aft
Weight of broadside 15 lbs / 7 kg
Shells per gun, main battery: 250
6 - 21.7" / 550 mm submerged torpedo tubes

Armour:
- Gun armour: Face (max) Other gunhouse (avg) Barbette/hoist (max)
Main: 0.98" / 25 mm 0.20" / 5 mm -
2nd: 0.98" / 25 mm 0.20" / 5 mm -

- Conning tower: 0.98" / 25 mm

Machinery:
Diesel Internal combustion generators plus batteries,
Electric motors, 2 shafts, 2,512 shp / 1,874 Kw = 18.00 kts
Range 12,100nm at 10.00 kts
Bunker at max displacement = 195 tons

Complement:
27 - 35

Cost:
£0.111 million / $0.442 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
Armament: 2 tons, 0.4 %
Armour: 3 tons, 0.5 %
- Belts: 0 tons, 0.0 %
- Torpedo bulkhead: 0 tons, 0.0 %
- Armament: 1 tons, 0.3 %
- Armour Deck: 0 tons, 0.0 %
- Conning Tower: 1 tons, 0.3 %
Machinery: 76 tons, 14.4 %
Hull, fittings & equipment: 215 tons, 40.8 %
Fuel, ammunition & stores: 121 tons, 23.0 %
Miscellaneous weights: 110 tons, 20.9 %

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
10 lbs / 5 Kg = 0.8 x 3.0 " / 75 mm shells or 0.0 torpedoes
Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.01
Metacentric height 0.5 ft / 0.1 m
Roll period: 12.5 seconds
Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 0 %
- Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.00
Seaboat quality (Average = 1.00): 0.00

Hull form characteristics:
Hull has a flush deck
Block coefficient: 0.475
Length to Beam Ratio: 7.34 : 1
'Natural speed' for length: 12.22 kts
Power going to wave formation at top speed: 64 %
Trim (Max stability = 0, Max steadiness = 100): 50
Bow angle (Positive = bow angles forward): 0.00 degrees
Stern overhang: 0.00 ft / 0.00 m
Freeboard (% = measuring location as a percentage of overall length):
- Stem: 0.00 ft / 0.00 m
- Forecastle (20 %): 0.00 ft / 0.00 m
- Mid (50 %): 0.00 ft / 0.00 m
- Quarterdeck (15 %): 0.00 ft / 0.00 m
- Stern: 0.00 ft / 0.00 m
- Average freeboard: 0.00 ft / 0.00 m
Ship tends to be wet forward

Ship space, strength and comments:
Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 507.7 %
- Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 0.0 %
Waterplane Area: 1,978 Square feet or 184 Square metres
Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 188 %
Structure weight / hull surface area: 72 lbs/sq ft or 353 Kg/sq metre
Hull strength (Relative):
- Cross-sectional: 2.53
- Longitudinal: 2.49
- Overall: 2.50
Hull space for machinery, storage, compartmentation is extremely poor
Room for accommodation and workspaces is extremely poor
Ship has quick, lively roll, not a steady gun platform
Caution: Lacks seaworthiness - very limited seakeeping ability

Operational depth - 250 ft/ 76m
Emergency depth - 400 ft/ 122m
Crush depth - 625 ft/ 191m

Both designs look good to me and worth the money. The 76mm gun is perhaps a little bit heavy for a ~100ts hull but we´ve seen other similar armed designs here before so I think it should be okay. Perhaps I´m a little bit biased because I always think of the German R-boats automatically when we talk about subchasers or small minesweepers in the 100ts range and those boats originally had only a single 20mm gun.

.. 20 sub chasers for the Pacific...
... gotta start building something for them to chase then.

Still it is a good decision as I am planning to lay down *bleeeeep* submarines over the next few years raising the number from 7 to *bleeeeep*.

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Quoted

The 76mm gun is perhaps a little bit heavy for a ~100ts hull

I've done a bit of looking into subchasers, and what I found indicated that lighter guns had trouble dealing with surfaced subs and their deck guns.

Here's a link to some specs for US subchasers of WWI and WWII, and they could mount 75mm guns:

http://www.splinterfleet.org/sfspec.php

The Filipino subchasers, at 300t - and based on an Japanese design - carry two 100mm guns...

Will need more subchasers myself, as there are currently only 12...

Agree that they will be "needed", as I will be building 00 more submarines over the next few years. ;-)