WesWorld

I will be redoing the 1938 reports. That means I have 4,000 tons to play with. I know I will be setting aside 1,000 to purchases,(contact me if you wish to sell). That means I have 3,000 tons. I know I will be building some midget subs. Any other suggestions?

Midget subs? Do you mean small coastal subs, being just small, short ranged submarines? Or true midgets, useful mostly for delivering swimmers?

I'd be inclined to order a couple more of your current coastal subs, a couple more minelayers, and perhaps another Riga-class cruiser. After that, more torpedo boats and destroyers.

I'd agree on what Hrolf says for the most part with perhaps more subchasers on the list. A light cruiser wouldn't hurt either.

Hmmmm....I have five of the "light cruisers" that are really closer to Russian Torpedo Cruisers. I have one armoured cruiser. I'm working on a faster Riga, but it isn't working.

A faster Riga will take a lot more tonnage, for Latvia I wouldn't bother.

Did I say faster? I meant upgraded.

I assume more AA? Her main and secondary guns are fine unless you want to shoehorn in another 9.2" turret.

Did I say Riga......dang, am I out there. I meant the Varonis class. Here's what was layed down in Q/1938,(probebly). The 1.46'' guns are 8 Gatling type gu
ns.

Suburb, Latvia Destroyer laid down 1938

Displacement:
2,163 t light; 2,262 t standard; 2,541 t normal; 2,765 t full load

Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught
415.00 ft / 415.00 ft x 38.00 ft x 12.00 ft (normal load)
126.49 m / 126.49 m x 11.58 m x 3.66 m

Armament:
6 - 5.12" / 130 mm guns (3x2 guns), 67.11lbs / 30.44kg shells, 1938 Model
Dual purpose guns in deck mounts with hoists
on centreline ends, majority forward, 1 raised mount - superfiring
64 - 1.46" / 37.1 mm guns (8x8 guns), 1.56lbs / 0.71kg shells, 1938 Model
Anti-aircraft guns in deck mounts
on side, all amidships
Weight of broadside 503 lbs / 228 kg
Shells per gun, main battery: 150
8 - 25.6" / 649.986 mm above water torpedoes

Armour:
- Gun armour: Face (max) Other gunhouse (avg) Barbette/hoist (max)
Main: 2.00" / 51 mm 1.00" / 25 mm 1.00" / 25 mm
2nd: 0.50" / 13 mm - -

Machinery:
Oil fired boilers, steam turbines,
Geared drive, 2 shafts, 51,000 shp / 38,046 Kw = 35.00 kts
Range 6,500nm at 14.00 kts
Bunker at max displacement = 503 tons

Complement:
178 - 232

Cost:
£1.679 million / $6.717 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
Armament: 63 tons, 2.5 %
Armour: 32 tons, 1.3 %
- Belts: 0 tons, 0.0 %
- Torpedo bulkhead: 0 tons, 0.0 %
- Armament: 32 tons, 1.3 %
- Armour Deck: 0 tons, 0.0 %
- Conning Tower: 0 tons, 0.0 %
Machinery: 1,211 tons, 47.6 %
Hull, fittings & equipment: 787 tons, 31.0 %
Fuel, ammunition & stores: 378 tons, 14.9 %
Miscellaneous weights: 70 tons, 2.8 %

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
778 lbs / 353 Kg = 11.6 x 5.1 " / 130 mm shells or 0.4 torpedoes
Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.33
Metacentric height 2.0 ft / 0.6 m
Roll period: 11.4 seconds
Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 51 %
- Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.52
Seaboat quality (Average = 1.00): 1.01

Hull form characteristics:
Hull has a flush deck
and transom stern
Block coefficient: 0.470
Length to Beam Ratio: 10.92 : 1
'Natural speed' for length: 23.17 kts
Power going to wave formation at top speed: 66 %
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: 22.00 ft / 6.71 m
- Forecastle (20 %): 17.00 ft / 5.18 m
- Mid (50 %): 16.00 ft / 4.88 m
- Quarterdeck (15 %): 16.00 ft / 4.88 m
- Stern: 17.00 ft / 5.18 m
- Average freeboard: 16.83 ft / 5.13 m
Ship tends to be wet forward

Ship space, strength and comments:
Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 175.9 %
- Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 88.8 %
Waterplane Area: 10,631 Square feet or 988 Square metres
Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 75 %
Structure weight / hull surface area: 39 lbs/sq ft or 191 Kg/sq metre
Hull strength (Relative):
- Cross-sectional: 0.50
- Longitudinal: 1.59
- Overall: 0.56
Hull space for machinery, storage, compartmentation is cramped
Room for accommodation and workspaces is cramped

Gatling guns? Woo boy, this should be fun to watch!

*Gets cheese, crackers and a root beer.*









[SIZE=1]For two years I've wondered about introducing gatling guns, but have never got up the nerve... [/SIZE]

(Sails up besides a random ship)

"Dance for us!"

"What, we haven't done anything wro...(sees the guns).Yes Sir!!!"

Not real gatlings, but it was felt that this would allow more firepower to bear on the sky with less crew than other methods.

I'll start by pointing out that there are NO period Gatlings, of any form, let alone a 37mm version.

Actually there are, both period weapons and 37mm versions (Walter?). Now a working 8-barrelled 37mm gatling... well, it can be done, but the engineering behind it would be daunting, and the reliability... well the less said the better.

Perhaps a 37mm 8 barrel version of the Spanish Meroka then?

How are you going to load new clips into the "37mm Meroka"? No.

Why? You strap 8 machine guns together, connect the ammo feed into one connector, and fire. If that doesn't work, than it won't be a gatling, but a 8 barreled gun with different feeds but a comman mounting.

Might be better off with quad 37mm's mefinks. More reliable, simple and you don't leave all your guns in a few mountings that once destroyed seriously reduce your firepower.

That said 64x37mm guns is quite a number but then again I'm used to spliting up my AA between 40mm and 20mm and backing it up with a few 50cal weapons too.

Hmm...could a double quad mefink work?

Perhaps but your creating quite a large mount. Personally I'm not a fan of putting all your eggs in one basket, big or small. I've stuck to twin 40mm for now with my fleet, even though Chile has been cooking up designs with quad mounts in mind. I may yet make the transition!

Saved for revision.

Quoted

Originally posted by thesmilingassassin
Perhaps but your creating quite a large mount. Personally I'm not a fan of putting all your eggs in one basket, big or small. I've stuck to twin 40mm for now with my fleet, even though Chile has been cooking up designs with quad mounts in mind. I may yet make the transition!

Yeah, I need to go back and down those to twins again.

A general rule of thumb is that the more guns you add to a mount, the lower your rate of fire from each barrel.