WesWorld

My take on the proposed rebuild of Hood based on the lines of Renown.

wowzers, one good looking lady there.

Neato.

Wow!

Finally here is the WW version.

As well as beginning my masters I've also found time to do some drawings lately!


HMS Repulse in 1941


HMS Furious in 1917


HMS Furious as converted in 1918

Saw these over on the SB forum. Very well done.

As you can see I've been busy lately!


HMS Courageous in spring 1917 with minerails for up to 222 mines, but she was never used as a minelayer.


HMS Courageous later in 1917 with extra torpedo tubes fitted and minerails removed.


HMS Glorious in 1918 with turret platforms added for Sopwith Pups and anti-splinter matting over her bridge spaces.


HMS Furious as orignally intended with a forward single 18in turret.

Very nicely done.

I must admit, it astounds me that anyone thought of using Courageous as a minelayer, but with her high speed and armament, prior to the age of aircraft, I suppose I can see the utility...

Another RN what-if. The Battleship 'X'.

After the suspension of work on the Lion class, by February 1945 the DNC, Sir Charles Lillicrap, was estimating that a battleship meeting all the latest requirements would displace about 67,000 to 70,000 tons. Further designs brought this down to 59,100 tons standard, but this was still considered excessive. Lillicrap had another design prepared limiting the main battery to two triple 16in turrets and the belt armour to 9in. The resulting sketch, designated ‘X’, displaced 35,000 tons. The small battleship was severely criticised by the staff, which felt that the armament was inferior to that of existing foreign battleships. In April 1945 a Committee on the Size of Battleships was established, and after some further work was done, the new ship grew to about 45,000 tons.

The original sketch does not appear to have survived, but John Roberts drew an estimate of its based on known characteristics and general British practices of the time and was published in Warship, in the article, 'Diminishing Returns' which examines several small battleship designs from several nations and which has provided me with other drawing ideas. My artists impression builds on Roberts' basic sketch outline further.

Specification
37,200 tons normal, 44,500 tons full load (deep); 680 ft (720 wl) x 106 ftx ? ft; 2x3 16in, 6x2 4.5in Mk VI (although plan shows 8x2), 9x6 40mm; 125,000shp, 29kts; belt 9in, deck 6in.

Quoted

Originally posted by Hood
After the suspension of work on the Lion class, by February 1945 the DNC, Sir Charles Lillicrap, was estimating that a battleship meeting all the latest requirements would displace about 67,000 to 70,000 tons. Further designs brought this down to 59,100 tons standard, but this was still considered excessive.

Actually, we've had this comment in Wesworld, too. With the Yamatos, Montanas, Admirals, and Sachsens, the construction price has risen to price a fully equal battleship out of the reach of even many Great Powers. Think the specific thread was something like "Disposable Battleship".

Can't find the exact thread but I did design a ship based on the specs for Battleship X, the Untouchable back in 1940. Folks seemed impressed back then that it offered punch on 30,000 and equal armour to the Admirals but with only 2x3 15in guns. When I simmed her with 16.5in guns it just didn't quite work out quite as well. I think we had a discussion after that and I think it was when Jason was discussing new US captial ships, but I might be wrong. Disposable Battleship didn't bring anything up on the search, but the term sounds familar, perhaps we discussed such a term on IRC too?

Ah, found it. Was "Riskable Battleship" and was stuck in my French Design Ideas thread.

A present for Bruce!

The Flettner Fl-282 B. Here are several prototypes; the V-14, the first two-seat Fl-282B V-20, the V-12 with partial canopy and the V-23 with another attempt at an enclosed cockpit using canvas and wood and aslo being a two-seater.

The never-build Airspeed AS.9 fighter in the colours of 1(F) Sqaudron circa 1938.

Something a bit quicker... the supersonic Avro 730 reconnaissance/ bomber of 1957.

The Bristol Type 159 'Ideal Bomber' to B.1/39.

Something a little different I've done over at Shipbucket recently.


The Lord Clive Class monitor HMS General Wolfe as she appeared in 1918 after a refit which added an 18in gun aft. With this gun this ship made the longest ever firing at 36,000 yards firing 52 of her 60 18in rounds at a railway bridge at Snaeskerke in Belgium. Other armament includes two 12in guns from HMS Victorious, two 6in, two 3in and two 2pdr pom-poms.

Been off work this work this week, so I finally got around to drawing HMS Royal Oak as she appeared in 1937, on patrol during the Spanish Civil War.
Hopefully, more Royal Sovereigns will follow!

Neat!