And this one... well I thought it was an interesting idea. It´s based in the german submarine cruisers of WWI, the concept is a big submersible that carrying enough armament could fight in surface with DDs and armed merchant cruisers.
In our timeline the british also tried this concept with the 1925 X1, a 3050t sub, armed with 4 5,2in guns. I´ve tried the concept in a smaller hull and the main armament is in fully enclosed turrets, what do you think? would they be worth the try?
Two subs would be laid down in 1926, X1 and X2 and 2 of the Ls or Js already in service would be decommisioned
X1, British Submarine cruiser laid down 1926
Operational diving depth: 210 ft
Emergency diving depth: 336 ft
Crush depth: 525 ft
Displacement:
1.419 t light; 1.500 t standard; 1.975 t normal; 2.347 t full load
Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught
270,00 ft / 270,00 ft x 32,00 ft x 20,00 ft (normal load)
82,30 m / 82,30 m x 9,75 m x 6,10 m
Armament:
4 - 4,72" / 120 mm guns (2x2 guns), 52,58lbs / 23,85kg shells, 1926 Model
Breech loading guns in turrets (on barbettes)
on centreline, evenly spread
4 - 0,79" / 20,0 mm guns (2x2 guns), 0,24lbs / 0,11kg shells, 1926 Model
Anti-aircraft guns in deck mounts
on side, all amidships
Weight of broadside 211 lbs / 96 kg
Shells per gun, main battery: 350
8 - 21,0" / 533,4 mm submerged torpedo tubes (6 forward, 2 aft, 14 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
Machinery:
Diesel Internal combustion motors,
Geared drive, 2 shafts, 2.795 shp / 2.085 Kw = 16,00 kts
Range 8.890nm at 15,00 kts (Bunkerage = 855 tons)
Complement:
147 - 192
Cost:
£0,291 million / $1,166 million
Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
Armament: 26 tons, 1,3 %
Armour: 17 tons, 0,9 %
- Belts: 0 tons, 0,0 %
- Torpedo bulkhead: 0 tons, 0,0 %
- Armament: 17 tons, 0,9 %
- Armour Deck: 0 tons, 0,0 %
- Conning Tower: 0 tons, 0,0 %
Machinery: 89 tons, 4,5 %
Hull, fittings & equipment: 886 tons, 44,9 %
Fuel, ammunition & stores: 556 tons, 28,1 %
Miscellaneous weights: 400 tons, 20,3 %
Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
1.252 lbs / 568 Kg = 23,8 x 4,7 " / 120 mm shells or 0,5 torpedoes
Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1,04
Metacentric height 1,0 ft / 0,3 m
Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 1 %
- Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0,00
Seaboat quality (Average = 1.00): 0,00
Hull form characteristics:
Hull has a flush deck
Block coefficient: 0,400
Length to Beam Ratio: 8,44 : 1
'Natural speed' for length: 16,43 kts
Power going to wave formation at top speed: 37 %
Trim (Max stability = 0, Max steadiness = 100): 50
Bow angle (Positive = bow angles forward): 10,00 degrees
Stern overhang: 0,00 ft / 0,00 m
Freeboard (% = measuring location as a percentage of overall length):
- Stem: 0,00 ft / 0,00 m
- Forecastle (20 %): 0,10 ft / 0,03 m
- Mid (50 %): 0,10 ft / 0,03 m
- Quarterdeck (15 %): 0,10 ft / 0,03 m
- Stern: 0,10 ft / 0,03 m
- Average freeboard: 0,09 ft / 0,03 m
Ship tends to be wet forward
Ship space, strength and comments:
Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 80,9 %
- Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 0,7 %
Waterplane Area: 5.029 Square feet or 467 Square metres
Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 245 %
Structure weight / hull surface area: 112 lbs/sq ft or 547 Kg/sq metre
Hull strength (Relative):
- Cross-sectional: 2,27
- Longitudinal: 2,04
- Overall: 2,10
Hull space for machinery, storage, compartmentation is excellent
Room for accommodation and workspaces is extremely poor
Ship has quick, lively roll, not a steady gun platform
Caution: Lacks seaworthiness - very limited seakeeping ability