WesWorld

This is the new German BB that the Nordish and British delegations watched slide down the slipway at Kiel.


Sachsen, German Battleship laid down 1935

Displacement:
63,142 t light; 66,684 t standard; 71,767 t normal; 75,834 t full load

Dimensions: Length (overall / waterline) x beam x draught (normal/deep)
(908.05 ft / 885.83 ft) x 126.31 ft x (37.73 / 39.43 ft)
(276.77 m / 270.00 m) x 38.50 m x (11.50 / 12.02 m)

Armament:
9 - 17.72" / 450 mm 52.0 cal guns - 3,306.93lbs / 1,500.00kg shells, 100 per gun
Breech loading guns in turret on barbette mounts, 1935 Model
3 x 3-gun mounts on centreline ends, majority forward
1 raised mount - superfiring
18 - 5.91" / 150 mm 60.0 cal guns - 112.79lbs / 51.16kg shells, 180 per gun
Breech loading guns in turret on barbette mounts, 1925 Model
6 x Triple mounts on sides, evenly spread
22 - 4.13" / 105 mm 65.0 cal guns - 39.15lbs / 17.76kg shells, 360 per gun
Dual purpose guns in deck and hoist mounts, 1928 Model
10 x Twin mounts on sides, evenly spread
10 raised mounts
1 x Twin mount on centreline, aft deck centre
1 raised mount
40 - 1.46" / 37.0 mm 83.0 cal guns - 1.76lbs / 0.80kg shells, 1,500 per gun
Anti-air guns in deck mounts, 1929 Model
18 x Twin mounts on sides, evenly spread
8 raised mounts
2 x Twin mounts on centreline ends, evenly spread
2 double raised mounts
64 - 0.79" / 20.0 mm 65.0 cal guns - 0.26lbs / 0.12kg shells, 2,000 per gun
Machine guns in deck mounts, 1928 Model
12 x 2 row quad mounts on sides, evenly spread
4 raised mounts
4 x 2 row quad mounts on side ends, evenly spread
4 double raised mounts
Weight of broadside 32,741 lbs / 14,851 kg

Armour:
- Belts: Width (max) Length (avg) Height (avg)
Main: 20.5" / 520 mm 540.35 ft / 164.70 m 17.22 ft / 5.25 m
Ends: 3.94" / 100 mm 345.44 ft / 105.29 m 19.69 ft / 6.00 m
Upper: 3.94" / 100 mm 540.35 ft / 164.70 m 2.46 ft / 0.75 m
Main Belt covers 94 % of normal length

- Torpedo Bulkhead - Additional damage containing bulkheads:
2.36" / 60 mm 540.35 ft / 164.70 m 35.50 ft / 10.82 m
Beam between torpedo bulkheads 119.75 ft / 36.50 m

- Gun armour: Face (max) Other gunhouse (avg) Barbette/hoist (max)
Main: 23.6" / 600 mm 12.0" / 305 mm 17.7" / 450 mm
2nd: 4.72" / 120 mm 2.76" / 70 mm 4.72" / 120 mm
3rd: 1.97" / 50 mm 0.79" / 20 mm 1.97" / 50 mm
4th: 0.79" / 20 mm 0.39" / 10 mm -
5th: 0.39" / 10 mm 0.39" / 10 mm -

- Armoured deck - multiple decks:
For and Aft decks: 7.09" / 180 mm
Forecastle: 1.97" / 50 mm Quarter deck: 4.72" / 120 mm

- Conning towers: Forward 13.78" / 350 mm, Aft 0.00" / 0 mm

Machinery:
Oil fired boilers, steam turbines, plus diesel motors,
Electric motors, 4 shafts, 146,424 shp / 109,232 Kw = 28.00 kts
Range 12,000nm at 15.00 kts
Bunker at max displacement = 9,150 tons

Complement:
2,192 - 2,850

Cost:
£30.836 million / $123.345 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
Armament: 6,785 tons, 9.5 %
- Guns: 6,785 tons, 9.5 %
Armour: 27,409 tons, 38.2 %
- Belts: 9,568 tons, 13.3 %
- Torpedo bulkhead: 1,677 tons, 2.3 %
- Armament: 5,852 tons, 8.2 %
- Armour Deck: 9,801 tons, 13.7 %
- Conning Tower: 513 tons, 0.7 %
Machinery: 4,160 tons, 5.8 %
Hull, fittings & equipment: 24,308 tons, 33.9 %
Fuel, ammunition & stores: 8,625 tons, 12.0 %
Miscellaneous weights: 480 tons, 0.7 %
- Hull below water: 80 tons
- On freeboard deck: 300 tons
- Above deck: 100 tons

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
106,654 lbs / 48,377 Kg = 38.4 x 17.7 " / 450 mm shells or 18.5 torpedoes
Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.10
Metacentric height 8.5 ft / 2.6 m
Roll period: 18.2 seconds
Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 70 %
- Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.65
Seaboat quality (Average = 1.00): 1.23

Hull form characteristics:
Hull has a flush deck,
a normal bow and small transom stern
Block coefficient (normal/deep): 0.595 / 0.602
Length to Beam Ratio: 7.01 : 1
'Natural speed' for length: 32.27 kts
Power going to wave formation at top speed: 47 %
Trim (Max stability = 0, Max steadiness = 100): 57
Bow angle (Positive = bow angles forward): 30.00 degrees
Stern overhang: 3.28 ft / 1.00 m
Freeboard (% = length of deck as a percentage of waterline length):
Fore end, Aft end
- Forecastle: 22.00 %, 32.81 ft / 10.00 m, 21.98 ft / 6.70 m
- Forward deck: 28.00 %, 21.98 ft / 6.70 m, 21.98 ft / 6.70 m
- Aft deck: 33.00 %, 21.98 ft / 6.70 m, 21.98 ft / 6.70 m
- Quarter deck: 17.00 %, 21.98 ft / 6.70 m, 21.98 ft / 6.70 m
- Average freeboard: 22.93 ft / 6.99 m

Ship space, strength and comments:
Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 64.1 %
- Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 153.1 %
Waterplane Area: 83,511 Square feet or 7,758 Square metres
Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 107 %
Structure weight / hull surface area: 246 lbs/sq ft or 1,202 Kg/sq metre
Hull strength (Relative):
- Cross-sectional: 0.98
- Longitudinal: 1.19
- Overall: 1.00
Excellent machinery, storage, compartmentation space
Excellent accommodation and workspace room
Ship has slow, easy roll, a good, steady gun platform
Good seaboat, rides out heavy weather easily

Armor belt is a 100mm decapping plate, backed up by a 420mm main belt. Upper belt and end belts are extensions of the decapping plate.


80 tons reserved for aircraft

60 tons reserved for flag accomodations

100 tons reserved for radar and fire control

240 tons reserved for growth

So, do we assume that you won't be using Suez?

How do the Germans produce armor plates of 600mm or 450mm as used for main gun turrets and barbets?


Why would the Germans, a more or less land-locked country, build such ship at all? (If not for a megalomaniac dictator just ordering one....)

Doesn´t make any sense to me at all.

Quoted

How do the Germans produce armor plates of 600mm or 450mm as used for main gun turrets and barbets?

I would assume the same way the Japanese made them for the Yamato class BBs...

Quoted

Why would the Germans, a more or less land-locked country, build such ship at all? (If not for a megalomaniac dictator just ordering one....)

Probably a "Look at what we can build and you cannot" kind of project.

Quoted

So, do we assume that you won't be using Suez?

I think that with no German interests beyond the Panama Canal or the Suez Canal, there is no need to limit the vessel to those canals.

Quoted

Originally posted by Rooijen10

Quoted

So, do we assume that you won't be using Suez?

I think that with no German interests beyond the Panama Canal or the Suez Canal, there is no need to limit the vessel to those canals.

So why the 15000 mile range?

Looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong ranged hunting trips in the North Atlantic, no doubt out to sink all kinds of merchant ships moving around there.

12,000nm range... obviously so Sachsen can support the revitalized German colonies in the Pacific... I tend to set my ranges high, because it's better to start with the higher range and lose some in the design process than to start low and try to add it in.

She is one deep-drafting mohammed, though.

I'm hunting Yamatos.....

Whatever you are trying, I shall counter it with the most fearsome weapon in Wesworld...

No, the design parameters for Sachsen did not require it to be limited by the Panama or Suez canals, so the designers didn't concern themselves with them.


Why build such a beast? Sachsen was designed in the early 1930s, when Germany was more isolated internationally than she is in 1937 and felt more threatened by being in the middle between AANM and FAR. One of the fears facing German leaders then was that a war would break out between those two alliances and one side or the other would try to force Germany to allow their forces passage across Germany to get at their enemy (think Germany as Belgium in 1914). Germany, to those leaders minds, needed a big stick to help convince both sides that allowing Germany to be an unblockaded neutral would be better than having it join their opponents. The KM's portion of that big stick is the Sachsens, along with the Peter Strassers, the Heer and the Luftwaffe's big sticks are their growing size.

By the time of her launching in 1937, Sachsen is less needed. The alliance with Nordmark and especially Great Britain gave Berlin a feeling of security (even with comments in the British press ) that they had lacked in the early 1930s. But alliances are prone to breaking down, it's happened before, so while cancelling production of the second pair of Sachsens was considered when negotiations with Great Britain went well in 1935, the decision was made to finish the planned series of 4 ships. Should Germany need to help defend her allies, they might prove useful.

Quoted

I think that with no German interests beyond the Panama Canal or the Suez Canal, there is no need to limit the vessel to those canals.

The Kiel canal?

Cheers,

My thoughts exactly. I thought the Bismarck was pretty much designed as one of the biggest ships for the Kiel Canal...

[pedantic]Does it fit under the bridges?[/pedantic]

Cheers,

Quoted

Originally posted by alt_naval
[pedantic]Does it fit under the bridges?[/pedantic]

Cheers,

The problem is more fitting around the bends in the canal. Or over the bar in the Jade Estuary...

The Kiel canal was widened starting in Q4 1929 so as to allow ships of up to the size of the locks to use it. See this thread: http://wesworld.jk-clan.de/thread.php?threadid=3073&sid=