WesWorld

Australia will be starting a massive shipbuilding program in Q4/35. It will include 3 Heavy Cruisers and 2 Aircraft Carriers, plus a number of lighter ships.

First up is the Bismark class Raider Hunter. They are designed for long range independant operations and are capable of tackling all raiders from CA size down. They will look very similar to the Sydney class Large Cruisers:


HMAS Bismark
HMAS Tasman

Bismark class, Australia Cruiser Killer laid down 1935

Displacement:
13,915 t light; 14,631 t standard; 17,042 t normal; 18,971 t full load

Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught
706.46 ft / 700.00 ft x 70.00 ft x 25.90 ft (normal load)
215.33 m / 213.36 m x 21.34 m x 7.89 m

Armament:
9 - 9.20" / 234 mm guns (3x3 guns), 400.00lbs / 181.44kg shells, 1935 Model
Breech loading guns in turrets (on barbettes)
on centreline ends, majority forward, 1 raised mount - superfiring
10 - 4.70" / 119 mm guns (5x2 guns), 67.00lbs / 30.39kg shells, 1935 Model
Dual purpose guns in deck mounts
on side, evenly spread, 1 raised mount
24 - 1.57" / 40.0 mm guns (6x4 guns), 1.95lbs / 0.88kg shells, 1935 Model
Anti-aircraft guns in deck mounts
on side, evenly spread, 4 raised mounts
20 - 0.79" / 20.0 mm guns (10x2 guns), 0.24lbs / 0.11kg shells, 1935 Model
Breech loading guns in deck mounts
on side, evenly spread
Weight of broadside 4,322 lbs / 1,960 kg
Shells per gun, main battery: 150
6 - 21.0" / 533.4 mm above water torpedoes

Armour:
- Belts: Width (max) Length (avg) Height (avg)
Main: 7.00" / 178 mm 370.00 ft / 112.78 m 10.00 ft / 3.05 m
Ends: Unarmoured
Main Belt covers 81 % of normal length

- Gun armour: Face (max) Other gunhouse (avg) Barbette/hoist (max)
Main: 7.00" / 178 mm 3.00" / 76 mm 7.00" / 178 mm
2nd: 1.20" / 30 mm - -

- Armour deck: 3.00" / 76 mm, Conning tower: 7.00" / 178 mm

Machinery:
Oil fired boilers, steam turbines,
Geared drive, 4 shafts, 95,303 shp / 71,096 Kw = 32.00 kts
Range 15,000nm at 15.00 kts
Bunker at max displacement = 4,341 tons

Complement:
745 - 969

Cost:
£6.587 million / $26.349 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
Armament: 509 tons, 3.0 %
Armour: 3,816 tons, 22.4 %
- Belts: 1,113 tons, 6.5 %
- Torpedo bulkhead: 0 tons, 0.0 %
- Armament: 770 tons, 4.5 %
- Armour Deck: 1,833 tons, 10.8 %
- Conning Tower: 100 tons, 0.6 %
Machinery: 2,707 tons, 15.9 %
Hull, fittings & equipment: 6,732 tons, 39.5 %
Fuel, ammunition & stores: 3,127 tons, 18.4 %
Miscellaneous weights: 150 tons, 0.9 %

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
24,454 lbs / 11,092 Kg = 62.8 x 9.2 " / 234 mm shells or 2.6 torpedoes
Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.09
Metacentric height 3.4 ft / 1.0 m
Roll period: 15.9 seconds
Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 70 %
- Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.69
Seaboat quality (Average = 1.00): 1.20

Hull form characteristics:
Hull has a flush deck
and transom stern
Block coefficient: 0.470
Length to Beam Ratio: 10.00 : 1
'Natural speed' for length: 30.30 kts
Power going to wave formation at top speed: 51 %
Trim (Max stability = 0, Max steadiness = 100): 58
Bow angle (Positive = bow angles forward): 9.00 degrees
Stern overhang: 2.50 ft / 0.76 m
Freeboard (% = measuring location as a percentage of overall length):
- Stem: 25.00 ft / 7.62 m
- Forecastle (17 %): 20.00 ft / 6.10 m
- Mid (50 %): 20.00 ft / 6.10 m
- Quarterdeck (19 %): 20.00 ft / 6.10 m
- Stern: 20.00 ft / 6.10 m
- Average freeboard: 20.34 ft / 6.20 m
Ship tends to be wet forward

Ship space, strength and comments:
Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 76.5 %
- Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 154.7 %
Waterplane Area: 33,034 Square feet or 3,069 Square metres
Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 127 %
Structure weight / hull surface area: 131 lbs/sq ft or 638 Kg/sq metre
Hull strength (Relative):
- Cross-sectional: 0.97
- Longitudinal: 1.30
- Overall: 1.00
Hull space for machinery, storage, compartmentation is excellent
Room for accommodation and workspaces is excellent
Ship has slow, easy roll, a good, steady gun platform
Good seaboat, rides out heavy weather easily



***


Second up are the Aircraft Carriers. They are pretty standard if a bit small. Capacity is 72 planes in 6 squadrons with 4 spares.


Pic by seawolf (note: pic was of an older version so it is not totaly accurate but pretty close)

HMAS Endurance
HMAS Endevour

Endurance class, Australia Aircraft carrier laid down 1935

Displacement:
17,990 t light; 18,597 t standard; 21,344 t normal; 23,543 t full load

Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught
738.82 ft / 720.00 ft x 77.00 ft x 27.50 ft (normal load)
225.19 m / 219.46 m x 23.47 m x 8.38 m

Armament:
8 - 4.70" / 119 mm guns (4x2 guns), 51.91lbs / 23.55kg shells, 1935 Model
Dual purpose guns in deck mounts
on side, all amidships, 2 raised mounts - superfiring
12 - 4.70" / 119 mm guns in single mounts, 51.91lbs / 23.55kg shells, 1935 Model
Dual purpose guns in deck mounts
on side ends, evenly spread
36 - 1.57" / 40.0 mm guns (9x4 guns), 1.95lbs / 0.88kg shells, 1935 Model
Anti-aircraft guns in deck mounts
on side, evenly spread
20 - 0.79" / 20.0 mm guns in single mounts, 0.24lbs / 0.11kg shells, 1935 Model
Machine guns in deck mounts
on side, evenly spread
Weight of broadside 1,113 lbs / 505 kg
Shells per gun, main battery: 250

Armour:
- Belts: Width (max) Length (avg) Height (avg)
Main: 2.00" / 51 mm 540.00 ft / 164.59 m 9.00 ft / 2.74 m
Ends: Unarmoured
Main Belt covers 115 % of normal length

- Torpedo Bulkhead:
0.50" / 13 mm 540.00 ft / 164.59 m 20.00 ft / 6.10 m

- Gun armour: Face (max) Other gunhouse (avg) Barbette/hoist (max)
Main: 1.20" / 30 mm - -

- Armour deck: 2.00" / 51 mm

Machinery:
Oil fired boilers, steam turbines,
Geared drive, 4 shafts, 109,469 shp / 81,664 Kw = 32.00 kts
Range 15,000nm at 15.00 kts
Bunker at max displacement = 4,946 tons

Complement:
882 - 1,147

Cost:
£6.017 million / $24.069 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
Armament: 139 tons, 0.7 %
Armour: 2,027 tons, 9.5 %
- Belts: 398 tons, 1.9 %
- Torpedo bulkhead: 200 tons, 0.9 %
- Armament: 22 tons, 0.1 %
- Armour Deck: 1,408 tons, 6.6 %
- Conning Tower: 0 tons, 0.0 %
Machinery: 3,110 tons, 14.6 %
Hull, fittings & equipment: 6,714 tons, 31.5 %
Fuel, ammunition & stores: 3,355 tons, 15.7 %
Miscellaneous weights: 6,000 tons, 28.1 %

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
30,586 lbs / 13,873 Kg = 589.2 x 4.7 " / 119 mm shells or 3.6 torpedoes
Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.12
Metacentric height 4.2 ft / 1.3 m
Roll period: 15.8 seconds
Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 51 %
- Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.07
Seaboat quality (Average = 1.00): 1.51

Hull form characteristics:
Hull has a flush deck
and transom stern
Block coefficient: 0.490
Length to Beam Ratio: 9.35 : 1
'Natural speed' for length: 30.82 kts
Power going to wave formation at top speed: 52 %
Trim (Max stability = 0, Max steadiness = 100): 34
Bow angle (Positive = bow angles forward): 25.00 degrees
Stern overhang: 2.50 ft / 0.76 m
Freeboard (% = measuring location as a percentage of overall length):
- Stem: 35.00 ft / 10.67 m
- Forecastle (20 %): 25.00 ft / 7.62 m
- Mid (50 %): 25.00 ft / 7.62 m
- Quarterdeck (20 %): 25.00 ft / 7.62 m
- Stern: 25.00 ft / 7.62 m
- Average freeboard: 25.80 ft / 7.86 m

Ship space, strength and comments:
Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 113.3 %
- Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 205.5 %
Waterplane Area: 38,058 Square feet or 3,536 Square metres
Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 139 %
Structure weight / hull surface area: 110 lbs/sq ft or 539 Kg/sq metre
Hull strength (Relative):
- Cross-sectional: 0.96
- Longitudinal: 1.46
- Overall: 1.01
Hull space for machinery, storage, compartmentation is cramped
Room for accommodation and workspaces is excellent
Excellent seaboat, comfortable, can fire her guns in the heaviest weather

The picture of the Bismark class (good name, by the way, though slightly confusing if KM Bismarck and RAN Bismark ever have to operate in the same area) shows 15 main guns, while the design only shows 9. One or the other must not be right.....

No gunshields on the 40mm guns?


I'm not sure that a 13mm torpedo bulkhead is of any real value, if that's all that can be afforded it might be better to leave off the bulkhead entirely.

The pic is of the Sydney class cruisers. The Bismarks would be pretty similar except in regards to armament.

The 0.5" bulkhead is not a true bulkhead but rather used to sim increased subdivisions.

There's the USN Airship Bismarck, too.

Bump

If the RN is interested, Australia is willing to offer the Bismark design.