WesWorld

Submitted for peer review and comment.

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Basilan, Philippine Heavy Cruiser laid down 1933

Displacement: 12,891 t light; 13,545 t standard; 15,606 t normal; 17,255 t full load

Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught

699.46 ft / 682.41 ft x 68.24 ft x 23.46 ft (normal load) [213.20 m / 208.00 m x 20.80 m x 7.15 m]

Armament:

12 - 8.27" / 210 mm guns (4x3 guns), 300.00lbs / 136.08kg shells, 1928 Model Breech loading guns in turrets (on barbettes) on centreline ends, evenly spread, 2 raised mounts - superfiring
8 - 4.53" / 115 mm guns (4x2 guns), 48.50lbs / 22.00kg shells, 1931 Model Dual purpose guns in deck mounts with hoists on side ends, evenly spread
4 - 1.38" / 35.0 mm guns (2x2 guns), 1.32lbs / 0.60kg shells, 1933 Model Anti-aircraft guns in deck mounts on centreline ends, evenly spread, all raised mounts
8 - 1.38" / 35.0 mm guns (4x2 guns), 1.32lbs / 0.60kg shells, 1933 Model Anti-aircraft guns in deck mounts on side, all amidships, all raised mounts - superfiring
Weight of broadside 4,004 lbs / 1,816 kg
Shells per gun, main battery: 150
6 - 24.0" / 610 mm above water torpedoes

Armour:

Belts: Width (max) Length (avg) Height (avg)
Main: 5.91" / 150 mm 426.51 ft / 130.00 m 10.66 ft / 3.25 m
Ends: Unarmoured
Main Belt covers 96 % of normal length

Gun armour: Face (max) Other gunhouse (avg) Barbette/hoist (max)
Main: 6.30" / 160 mm 4.72" / 120 mm 5.91" / 150 mm
2nd: 1.97" / 50 mm 1.18" / 30 mm 1.97" / 50 mm
3rd: 0.79" / 20 mm - -
4th: 0.79" / 20 mm - -

Armour deck: 2.36" / 60 mm, Conning tower: 3.15" / 80 mm

Machinery:

Oil fired boilers, steam turbines, Geared drive, 4 shafts, 92,534 shp / 69,030 Kw = 32.03 kts
Range 13,250nm at 15.00 kts
Bunker at max displacement = 3,710 tons

Complement: 697 - 907

Cost: £5.792 million / $23.170 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:

Armament: 472 tons, 3.0 %
Armour: 3,438 tons, 22.0 %
- Belts: 1,124 tons, 7.2 %
- Torpedo bulkhead: 0 tons, 0.0 %
- Armament: 861 tons, 5.5 %
- Armour Deck: 1,410 tons, 9.0 %
- Conning Tower: 42 tons, 0.3 %
Machinery: 2,696 tons, 17.3 %
Hull, fittings & equipment: 6,155 tons, 39.4 %
Fuel, ammunition & stores: 2,715 tons, 17.4 %
Miscellaneous weights: 130 tons, 0.8 %

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:

Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship): 19,974 lbs / 9,060 Kg = 70.7 x 8.3 " / 210 mm shells or 2.3 torpedoes
Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.02
Metacentric height 2.9 ft / 0.9 m
Roll period: 16.8 seconds
Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 70 %
- Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.74
Seaboat quality (Average = 1.00): 1.06

Hull form characteristics:

Hull has a flush deck and transom stern
Block coefficient: 0.500
Length to Beam Ratio: 10.00: 1
'Natural speed' for length: 29.81 kts
Power going to wave formation at top speed: 53 %
Trim (Max stability = 0, Max steadiness = 100): 66
Bow angle (Positive = bow angles forward): 25.00 degrees
Stern overhang: 3.28 ft / 1.00 m
Freeboard (% = measuring location as a percentage of overall length):
- Stem: 29.53 ft / 9.00 m
- Forecastle (20 %): 20.51 ft / 6.25 m
- Mid (50 %): 17.22 ft / 5.25 m
- Quarterdeck (20 %): 17.22 ft / 5.25 m
- Stern: 17.22 ft / 5.25 m
- Average freeboard: 19.09 ft / 5.82 m

Ship space, strength and comments:

Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 81.1 %
- Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 140.6 %
Waterplane Area: 32,266 Square feet or 2,998 Square metres
Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 123 %
Structure weight / hull surface area: 127 lbs/sq ft or 619 Kg/sq metre
Hull strength (Relative):
- Cross-sectional: 0.98
- Longitudinal: 1.11
- Overall: 1.00
Hull space for machinery, storage, compartmentation is excellent
Room for accommodation and workspaces is excellent
Ship has slow, easy roll, a good, steady gun platform

Breakdown of miscellaneous weight

Aircraft facilities - catapult and two aircraft - 75 tons
Dradis - 30 tons
Tropical acclimatization - 25 tons

Summary of Refit (Minor - 15%)

Remove 13.7mm machinegun batteries; add Dradis (radar) at expense of flag accommodation; revise directors to conform to Dradis installation

Cost of refit - 1,843 tons
Time for refit - 95 days

I like it - a short and sweet refit for a good ship.

Did removing the machine guns actually make much of a difference?

Quoted

Originally posted by Brockpaine
I like it - a short and sweet refit for a good ship.

Did removing the machine guns actually make much of a difference?

I did not notice much of a difference; maybe a ton or two. From my perspective, it clears some deck space and probably neatens up the look, that's all.

Looks ok, no real earth shattering changes but a good spruce up never hurts. A very powerful design.

Quoted

Originally posted by Hood
Looks ok, no real earth shattering changes but a good spruce up never hurts. A very powerful design.

Yes, I found that the original design had been very finely balanced, and unless I went for a complete rebuild, there was not much that could be done without unbalancing the design. Under the circumstances, a 50% rebuild seems cost prohibitive.