[SIZE=3]Shivaji Class Light Battlecruiser[/SIZE]
The Indian Navy's first foray into self-designed cruisers culminated with the laying down of the Columbo -class light cruisers in 1917. As part of the so-called "Cruiser Navy" doctrine, the Columbo type would form the basis of three large cruiser squadrons tasked with defending separate parts of Indian waters. Each squadron was to consist of four light cruisers, two fast armored cruisers (or "heavy cruisers", as they came to be termed) and a single light battlecruiser, with a screen of destroyers laden with torpedoes.
The next piece in the puzzle, the heavy cruisers, began to be laid down in 1918. The Hyderabad was similar in many respects to the British Hawkins class, leading to speculation that the Indians had somehow acquired copies of the design.
Even as Hyderabad took shape on a slipway in Mumbai, the Naval Design Board began work on the light battlecruisers that were to lead the Cruiser Navy. Initially, the type shared similarities with the Courageous class, but India's experience putting light cruisers up against Dutch coastal defence battleships was incorporated into the process.
Consequently, the design evolved into a fast unit with battlecruiser-scale armor and a number of intermediate-caliber guns. Although the original battery was planned to be 3x2 11", the Indians' largest artillery piece at the time was a 9.8" weapon fielded by the Army. Consequently, the battery was fixed at 3x3 9.8", with turret Bruno superfiring.
The design characteristics for the type - which came to be known as Shivaji (named for a historical warlord of renown) - were fixed in early 1920. Indeed, a new monitor was designed (and eventually completed) with triple 9.8" and 5.9" turrets to test these weapons before Shivaji 's projected 1923 lay-down date.
However, within a few months, political events - a new Defence Minister and an alliance with South Africa - sent the Navy moving away from the "Cruiser Navy" concept. In late 1920, with the Cleito Treaty about to be implemented, the Indian Navy quietly took steps to quash the Cruiser Navy program. The Columbo and Hyderabad classes were truncated to five and three ships respectively. Several senior officers managed to delay the outright cancellation of the Shivaji , arguing that it was a logical progression to building larger battleships and would give India the most powerful cruiser in the world.
In August 1921, these arguments were finally rejected by the Minister of Defence. The Minister cancelled the Shivaji project on 24 August 1921, instead directing the Naval Design Board to develop a trio of modern battleships for laying-down in 1924.
Shivaji, projected for lay-down 1923, cancelled 1921
#2, projected for lay-down 1923, cancelled 1921
#3, projected for lay-down 1923, cancelled 1921
Length, 216.5 m x Beam, 21.6 m x Depth, 7.9 m
19473 tonnes normal displacement (18173 tonnes standard)
Main battery: 9 x 25.0-cm (3 x 3; 1 superfiring)
Secondary battery: 9 x 15.0-cm (3 x 3)
AA battery: 8 x 10.5-cm
Light battery: 8 x 3.5-cm
Weight of broadside: 2505 kg
Main belt, 20.0 cm; ends unarmored
Armor deck, average 7.5 cm
Conning tower, 20.0 cm
Battery armor:
Main, 20.0 cm / secondary, 7.5 cm
AA, 2.5 cm shields / light guns, 2.0 cm shields
Maximum speed for 90049 shaft kw = 32.07 knots
Approximate cruising radius, 10000 nm / 12 knots
Typical complement: 824-1071
Estimated cost, $20.359 million (£5.090 million)
Remarks:
Relative extent of belt armor, 96 percent of 'typical' coverage.
Ship is roomy, with superior accommodation and working space.
Distribution of weights:
Percent
normal
displacement:
Armament ......................... 689 tonnes = 4 pct
Armor, total ..................... 4730 tonnes = 24 pct
Belt 1446 tonnes = 7 pct
Deck 1777 tonnes = 9 pct
C.T. 123 tonnes = 1 pct
Armament 1384 tonnes = 7 pct
Machinery ........................ 4033 tonnes = 21 pct
Hull and fittings; equipment ..... 7773 tonnes = 40 pct
Fuel, ammunition, stores ......... 2148 tonnes = 11 pct
Miscellaneous weights ............ 100 tonnes = 1 pct
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19473 tonnes = 100 pct
Estimated metacentric height, 1.0 m
Displacement summary:
Light ship: 17324 tonnes
Standard displacement: 18173 tonnes
Normal service: 19473 tonnes
Full load: 20434 tonnes
Loading submergence 3048 tonnes/metre
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Estimated overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
Relative margin of stability: 1.06
Shellfire needed to sink: 9486 kg = 43.8 x 25.0-cm shells
(Approximates weight of penetrating
shell hits needed to sink ship,
not counting critical hits)
Torpedoes needed to sink: 2.1
(Approximates number of 'typical'
torpedo hits needed to sink ship)
Relative steadiness as gun platform, 55 percent
(50 percent is 'average')
Relative rocking effect from firing to beam, 0.73
Relative quality as a seaboat: 1.06
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Hull form characteristics:
Block coefficient: 0.52
Sharpness coefficient: 0.34
Hull speed coefficient 'M' = 8.07
'Natural speed' for length = 26.6 knots
Power going to wave formation
at top speed: 53 percent
Estimated hull characteristics and strength:
Relative underwater volume absorbed by
magazines and engineering spaces: 95 percent
Relative accommodation and working space: 155 percent
Displacement factor: 107 percent
(Displacement relative to loading factors)
Relative cross-sectional hull strength: 1.00
(Structure weight per square
metre of hull surface: 714 kg)
Relative longitudinal hull strength: 1.18
(for 6.30 m average freeboard;
freeboard adjustment +1.03 m)
Relative composite hull strength: 1.02
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[Machine-readable parameters: Spring Style v. 1.2.1]
710.00 x 71.00 x 26.00; 20.66 -- Dimensions
0.52 -- Block coefficient
1923 -- Year laid down
32.07 / 10000 / 12.00; Oil-fired turbine or equivalent -- Speed / radius / cruise
100 tons -- Miscellaneous weights
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9 x 9.84; 3; 1 -- Main battery; turrets; superfiring
:
9 x 5.91; 3 -- Secondary battery; turrets
:
8 x 4.13 -- Tertiary (QF/AA) battery
Gun-shields
:
8 x 1.38 -- Fourth (light) battery
0 -- No torpedo armament
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7.87 / 0.00 / 0.00 / 0.00; 96 -- Belt armor; relative extent
2.95 / 7.87 -- Deck / CT
7.87 / 2.95 / 1.00 / 0.79 -- Battery armor
(Note: For portability, values are stored in Anglo-American units)
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