well, I do think the Panzerschiffe concept was not as flawed as it is thought here. The main problem with the historical Deutschlands was that at 10.000 tons (in fact they displaced quite more, especially the Graf Spee and Scheer) you simply can't put 6 heavy guns AND a heavy armor able to stand heavy or light cruiser fire on board of a fast ship.
so in the end they built a not-that fast ship (28 knots nominal, in fact the Graf Spee had problems in his famous battle sailing at more than 25), with the protection of a light cruiser and the weapons of a heavyweight. Totally unbalanced.
I tried to make my own version of the Panzerschiffe, but with 12' guns and a limit of 15000 tons standard. I surpassed somewhat the 15000 ton limit I put on myself but not by much...and this was what came out of the experience:
Deutschland, German Pocket battleship laid down 1930
Displacement:
14.721 t light; 15.573 t standard; 17.799 t normal; 19.509 t full load
Loading submergence 866 tons/feet
Dimensions:
656,17 ft x 72,18 ft x 25,59 ft (normal load)
200,00 m x 22,00 m x 7,80 m
Armament:
6 - 12,00" / 305 mm guns (2 Main turrets x 3 guns)
12 - 5,00" / 127 mm guns (6 2nd turrets x 2 guns)
10 - 1,46" / 37 mm AA guns
12 - 0,50" / 13 mm guns
Weight of broadside 5.950 lbs / 2.699 kg
6 - 21,1" / 535 mm above water torpedoes
Armour:
Belt 7,00" / 178 mm, ends unarmoured
Belts cover 116 % of normal area
Main turrets 7,00" / 178 mm, 2nd turrets 1,00" / 25 mm
AA gun shields 0,50" / 13 mm
Armour deck 2,75" / 70 mm, Conning tower 6,00" / 152 mm
Torpedo bulkhead 0,80" / 20 mm
Machinery:
Diesel Internal combustion motors,
Geared drive, 4 shafts, 91.038 shp / 67.914 Kw = 30,00 kts
Range 12.000nm at 15,00 kts
Complement:
770 - 1.001
Cost:
£6,382 million / $25,530 million
Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
Armament: 744 tons, 4,2 %
Armour: 4.261 tons, 23,9 %
Belts: 1.461 tons, 8,2 %, Armament: 846 tons, 4,8 %, Armour Deck: 1.543 tons, 8,7 %
Conning Tower: 88 tons, 0,5 %, Torpedo bulkhead: 323 tons, 1,8 %
Machinery: 2.759 tons, 15,5 %
Hull, fittings & equipment: 6.857 tons, 38,5 %
Fuel, ammunition & stores: 3.078 tons, 17,3 %
Miscellaneous weights: 100 tons, 0,6 %
Metacentric height 3,6
Remarks:
Hull space for machinery, storage & compartmentation is cramped
Room for accommodation & workspaces is excellent
Ship has slow, easy roll, a good, steady gun platform
Estimated overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
Relative margin of stability: 1,08
Shellfire needed to sink: 13.257 lbs / 6.013 Kg = 15,3 x 12,0 " / 305 mm shells
(Approx weight of penetrating shell hits needed to sink ship excluding critical hits)
Torpedoes needed to sink: 1,9
(Approx number of typical torpedo hits needed to sink ship)
Relative steadiness as gun platform: 70 %
(Average = 50 %)
Relative rocking effect from firing to beam: 0,77
Relative quality as seaboat: 1,09
Hull form characteristics:
Block coefficient: 0,514
Sharpness coefficient: 0,35
Hull speed coefficient 'M': 7,69
'Natural speed' for length: 25,62 kts
Power going to wave formation at top speed: 52 %
Trim: 64
(Maximise stabilty/flotation = 0, Maximise steadiness/seakeeping = 100)
Estimated hull characteristics & strength:
Underwater volume absorbed by magazines and engineering spaces: 115,7 %
Relative accommodation and working space: 129,1 %
(Average = 100%)
Displacement factor: 112 %
(Displacement relative to loading factors)
Relative cross-sectional hull strength: 0,98
(Structure weight / hull surface area: 142 lbs / square foot or 695 Kg / square metre)
Relative longitudinal hull strength: 1,25
(for 18,86 ft / 5,75 m average freeboard, freeboard adjustment 1,87 ft)
Relative composite hull strength: 1,00
I honestly think that no heavy cruiser would stand a fight against this ship. And it's no hotrod, but 30 knots IS a quite good speed for it
![:)](wcf/images/smilies/smile.png)
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The only problem I see in the design is the cramped space for the machinery and magazines, but anyway if you pit this kitty against Exeter&Ajax&Achilles, the ones running towards Montevideo won't be the germans...