WesWorld

After a year of not playing around with SS, I thought I'd give it another go. I put this together while watching the first half of the Nigeria/South Korea match today. A drawing will be underway when I get home from work.

Note- British Grand Pacific is my NS nation.

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Princeton, British Grand Pacific CLAA laid down 1939

Displacement:
6,834 t light; 7,199 t standard; 7,801 t normal; 8,283 t full load

Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught
614.19 ft / 604.00 ft x 58.00 ft x 18.00 ft (normal load)
187.21 m / 184.10 m x 17.68 m x 5.49 m

Armament:
12 - 5.00" / 127 mm guns (6x2 guns), 62.50lbs / 28.35kg shells, 1939 Model
Dual purpose guns in deck mounts with hoists
on centreline ends, evenly spread, 2 raised mounts - superfiring
24 - 1.57" / 40.0 mm guns (6x4 guns), 1.95lbs / 0.89kg shells, 1939 Model
Anti-aircraft guns in deck mounts
on side, all amidships, all raised mounts - superfiring
16 - 0.79" / 20.0 mm guns in single mounts, 0.24lbs / 0.11kg shells, 1939 Model
Machine guns in deck mounts
on side, evenly spread
Weight of broadside 801 lbs / 363 kg
Shells per gun, main battery: 450
8 - 21.0" / 533.4 mm above water torpedoes

Armour:
- Belts: Width (max) Length (avg) Height (avg)
Main: 3.50" / 89 mm 374.48 ft / 114.14 m 9.14 ft / 2.79 m
Ends: Unarmoured
Main Belt covers 95 % of normal length
Main belt does not fully cover magazines and engineering spaces

- Gun armour: Face (max) Other gunhouse (avg) Barbette/hoist (max)
Main: 1.25" / 32 mm 0.50" / 13 mm 1.00" / 25 mm
2nd: 0.50" / 13 mm 0.30" / 8 mm -
3rd: 0.30" / 8 mm - -

- Armour deck: 1.25" / 32 mm, Conning tower: 2.50" / 64 mm

Machinery:
Oil fired boilers, steam turbines,
Geared drive, 2 shafts, 76,510 shp / 57,077 Kw = 34.00 kts
Range 6,000nm at 15.00 kts
Bunker at max displacement = 1,084 tons

Complement:
414 - 539

Cost:
£3.567 million / $14.268 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
Armament: 100 tons, 1.3 %
Armour: 1,087 tons, 13.9 %
- Belts: 499 tons, 6.4 %
- Torpedo bulkhead: 0 tons, 0.0 %
- Armament: 38 tons, 0.5 %
- Armour Deck: 529 tons, 6.8 %
- Conning Tower: 21 tons, 0.3 %
Machinery: 2,070 tons, 26.5 %
Hull, fittings & equipment: 3,457 tons, 44.3 %
Fuel, ammunition & stores: 967 tons, 12.4 %
Miscellaneous weights: 120 tons, 1.5 %

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
11,823 lbs / 5,363 Kg = 189.2 x 5.0 " / 127 mm shells or 1.5 torpedoes
Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.23
Metacentric height 3.2 ft / 1.0 m
Roll period: 13.6 seconds
Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 71 %
- Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.27
Seaboat quality (Average = 1.00): 1.43

Hull form characteristics:
Hull has a flush deck
and transom stern
Block coefficient: 0.433
Length to Beam Ratio: 10.41 : 1
'Natural speed' for length: 28.20 kts
Power going to wave formation at top speed: 55 %
Trim (Max stability = 0, Max steadiness = 100): 50
Bow angle (Positive = bow angles forward): 20.00 degrees
Stern overhang: 0.00 ft / 0.00 m
Freeboard (% = measuring location as a percentage of overall length):
- Stem: 28.00 ft / 8.53 m
- Forecastle (20 %): 23.00 ft / 7.01 m
- Mid (50 %): 20.00 ft / 6.10 m
- Quarterdeck (18 %): 20.00 ft / 6.10 m
- Stern: 22.00 ft / 6.71 m
- Average freeboard: 21.63 ft / 6.59 m

Ship space, strength and comments:
Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 100.0 %
- Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 184.0 %
Waterplane Area: 22,895 Square feet or 2,127 Square metres
Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 127 %
Structure weight / hull surface area: 90 lbs/sq ft or 441 Kg/sq metre
Hull strength (Relative):
- Cross-sectional: 0.94
- Longitudinal: 1.77
- Overall: 1.00
Hull space for machinery, storage, compartmentation is adequate
Room for accommodation and workspaces is excellent
Ship has slow, easy roll, a good, steady gun platform
Good seaboat, rides out heavy weather easily

20 tons reserved for radar systems
75 tons reserved for 3 aircraft (typically 2 embarked)
25 tons reserved for crew comforts & growth

Quoted

Main belt does not fully cover magazines and engineering spaces

Looks like it needs more belt armor.

I'm doubtful about the low block coefficient, and the length to beam ratio's also a bit high. A little more deck armor (say 1.5" or so) wouldn't be a bad idea as well.

To me, it feels like displacement is too high compared to what the specs show.

If I understand the sim correctly, there would be three mounts forward and three mounts aft, of which only one forward and one aft mount would be superfiring. That would put two mounts forward at the same deck level. Would that not interfere with firing in the forward and aft arcs? Or am I misunderstanding how Springsharp sims turret deployment?

The gun layout will inhibit fire at low angles forward or aft, yes. Of course, it's a design that's aimed more at aircraft than at ships, so low-angle shots forward or aft are less of a concern.

It would be akin to the layout of the later-model USN AA cruisers.

Quoted

Originally posted by Brockpaine
It would be akin to the layout of the later-model USN AA cruisers.

CL-119 Juneau was a source of inspiration.

That's about what I figured.