I wish to suggest two possible designs for a CL and a CA (Light Cruiser and Heavy Cruiser, respectively): a fusion of the Australian Perth class (a redesign of the well-known British Leander-class light cruisers), and the Japanese Mogami-class cruisers; for CA vessels, a hybrid of the British London-class and the Japanese Aoba-class.
If you like the idea, post me and I will post the 'Donor ships' technical data.
*mad scientist laugh*
Future Suggestions
Post a replyFor The Attention Of East
8 posts
I'm game, sounds like right up our alley.
I can see why you'd want to hybridize a LEANDER and a MOGAMI, so as to get the seakeeping abilities of one, and the firepower of the other -- but I've always thought of the LFN as basically a reborn IJN with eggshells sporting huge honking hammers. The KLM stays the same as the KM -- relatively slow and lightly armed with good protection, while the USN has the most balanced mix of all the ships.
The LFN's ships are mostly slanted heavily to the offensive, with little regard for the defensive (though we haven't yet seen any torpedo cruisers with 36 tubes...) and a LEANDER/MOGAMI cross would have to sacrifice some of the 15 ridiculously top-heavy 6' guns...
That kind of cross would be a much saner design, no doubt; but would bring the LFN a bit closer to the USN and take away from the differentiation.
The LFN's ships are mostly slanted heavily to the offensive, with little regard for the defensive (though we haven't yet seen any torpedo cruisers with 36 tubes...) and a LEANDER/MOGAMI cross would have to sacrifice some of the 15 ridiculously top-heavy 6' guns...
That kind of cross would be a much saner design, no doubt; but would bring the LFN a bit closer to the USN and take away from the differentiation.
Pah! The Japanese even though they are our allies could never crew a ship as well as the men of His Majesties Royal Navy! Why should we sacrifice our beautiful ship designs for those of the Japanese when using our own designs would be a much more... British option. Everybody knows we run the show and the Japs just tag along because they know it's a good idea. The Empire shall rise again. God save the King.
Ehem Excuse me. The Japanses have some very good ship designs yes but this would not mean that the British would design thier ships as a combination. The LFN is an alliance not a single nation. Like NATO. The Japanese would have thier ships and the Royal Navy would have it's ships. No different to the USA and the UK today. You won't ever see a type 23 frigate flying American colours (note the U of British spelling
) or an Arleigh Burke flying the white ensign. Of course a certain amount of technological exchange would take place but the principle designs would be different.
Though obviously from a programmers point of view designing a whole load of Japanese ships and the British/RNE ships separately would increase workload and although be realistic, would unbalance teams.
Of course it would be nice for the RNE to have some exclusively RNE ships and the Japanese to have some exclusively Jap ships. This way a player, when choosing thier ship, would be claiming their alligence to one of the two nations. This may also create options much later on to cause a rupture in the LFN. An alliance break down! Oh No! cry: But yes I do see the logistical problems of such an idea and so will not be mortally offended if someone says 'That's a stupid idea!'
Either way whatever the design of my Ship, she will be flying under the white ensign of His Majesties Royal Navy!
Ehem Excuse me. The Japanses have some very good ship designs yes but this would not mean that the British would design thier ships as a combination. The LFN is an alliance not a single nation. Like NATO. The Japanese would have thier ships and the Royal Navy would have it's ships. No different to the USA and the UK today. You won't ever see a type 23 frigate flying American colours (note the U of British spelling
) or an Arleigh Burke flying the white ensign. Of course a certain amount of technological exchange would take place but the principle designs would be different.Though obviously from a programmers point of view designing a whole load of Japanese ships and the British/RNE ships separately would increase workload and although be realistic, would unbalance teams.
Of course it would be nice for the RNE to have some exclusively RNE ships and the Japanese to have some exclusively Jap ships. This way a player, when choosing thier ship, would be claiming their alligence to one of the two nations. This may also create options much later on to cause a rupture in the LFN. An alliance break down! Oh No! cry: But yes I do see the logistical problems of such an idea and so will not be mortally offended if someone says 'That's a stupid idea!'
Either way whatever the design of my Ship, she will be flying under the white ensign of His Majesties Royal Navy!
The way I see it, the RNE has the best of both worlds. It has Japanese ships crewed by British officers and men. With this, they get extreme firepower and speed (at the expense of survivability) coupled with captains who don't find it their duty to perish with their ship but to make enemy captains perish with theirs.
Since the main shipbuilding yards in the UK have been taken and only the minor yards in the rest of the Dominions exist, I'd see the RNE producing multiple light ships -- of the types that the IJN was notoriously low on -- while the shipyards at Kure, Maizuru, Sasebo and Yokozuka produce cruisers and battleships/battlecruisers. After all, the KONGO class was designed at Vickers and the special relationship with Britain wouldn't have suffered the same blow it did in OTL when the Washington Treaty was signed.
The RNE would provide the backbone of the carrier fleet, with newer and newer combined designs coming online. No Midways for the LFN -- armoured flight decks make a huge difference.
Imagine Somerville leading the Kido Butai from his YAMATO-class battleship ALBION with 6 carriers behind him into a gigantic Gotterdammerung against QUEEN ELIZABETH and BISMARCK battleships... a much larger scale battle of the HOOD and PRINCE EDWARD.
Incidentally, is it just me or do the 40mm cannon seem far too accurate? In LFN Surface 10 the HOOD basically did for every single German plane with just its AA -- I know it had 24 40mm cannon in reality but IOWA class battleships had 60 40mms and 60 20mms yet I don't think their kill scores were quite so high or so fast... Maybe it's because the AI keeps returning to strafe?
Since the main shipbuilding yards in the UK have been taken and only the minor yards in the rest of the Dominions exist, I'd see the RNE producing multiple light ships -- of the types that the IJN was notoriously low on -- while the shipyards at Kure, Maizuru, Sasebo and Yokozuka produce cruisers and battleships/battlecruisers. After all, the KONGO class was designed at Vickers and the special relationship with Britain wouldn't have suffered the same blow it did in OTL when the Washington Treaty was signed.
The RNE would provide the backbone of the carrier fleet, with newer and newer combined designs coming online. No Midways for the LFN -- armoured flight decks make a huge difference.
Imagine Somerville leading the Kido Butai from his YAMATO-class battleship ALBION with 6 carriers behind him into a gigantic Gotterdammerung against QUEEN ELIZABETH and BISMARCK battleships... a much larger scale battle of the HOOD and PRINCE EDWARD.
Incidentally, is it just me or do the 40mm cannon seem far too accurate? In LFN Surface 10 the HOOD basically did for every single German plane with just its AA -- I know it had 24 40mm cannon in reality but IOWA class battleships had 60 40mms and 60 20mms yet I don't think their kill scores were quite so high or so fast... Maybe it's because the AI keeps returning to strafe?
It's just that there was a second part to my idea, being that each faction recieves a special naval unit, unique to each side. For example, the LFN gets an anti-aircraft cruiser, the USN gets an ASW cruiser, and the Jerries get a special 'big gun' cruiser, much like the pocket battleships.
enigma!:
enigma!:
The folowing data shall include such points as overall dimensions, Machinery, etc, and also, where available, protection details:
Perth-class
Country of origin(COO): Australia
Type: Light cruiser (CL)
Machinery: 4-shaft Parsons geared turbines delivering 72,000shp
Overall dimensions(OD): 562.25ft long with a beam of 56.7ft
Displacement: 7105t standard, 9150t full load
Draught: 19ft (full load)
Complement: 570
Top speed: 32.5 knots
Notes: Limited armour, box protection for magazines and 3in plating over the machinery spaces. Armament consists of eight 6in Mk XXIII guns, mounted in superfiring twin turrets in the A, B, X and Y positions. Until 1939 she carried four 4in MkV AA guns in single mounts, at that time they were replaced with four twin Mk XVIs. She mounted eight 21in TT in two groups, and was fitted between the two funnels with a catapault to launch a spotter plane.
Mogami-class
COO: Japan
Type: CL
Machinery: 4-shaft, geared turbines producing 152,000shp
OD: 661ft long by 59ft wide
Displacement: 8500t standard, 10,995t full load
Draught: 18ft
Complement: 850
Speed: 36 knots
Notes: Weight reducing 'wavy' hull form, as built were poorly designed and badly constructed: numerous welding defects, instability and considerable distortion, preventing turrets from training, rectified with strengthened hulls and bulges. Armament consists of fifteen 6.1in guns in five triple turrets, eight 5in DP guns mounted in pairs, four 40mm AA guns and twelve 24in TT. (no info on armour sadly.)
Next time I post the details of the Londons and the Aobas.
Perth-class
Country of origin(COO): Australia
Type: Light cruiser (CL)
Machinery: 4-shaft Parsons geared turbines delivering 72,000shp
Overall dimensions(OD): 562.25ft long with a beam of 56.7ft
Displacement: 7105t standard, 9150t full load
Draught: 19ft (full load)
Complement: 570
Top speed: 32.5 knots
Notes: Limited armour, box protection for magazines and 3in plating over the machinery spaces. Armament consists of eight 6in Mk XXIII guns, mounted in superfiring twin turrets in the A, B, X and Y positions. Until 1939 she carried four 4in MkV AA guns in single mounts, at that time they were replaced with four twin Mk XVIs. She mounted eight 21in TT in two groups, and was fitted between the two funnels with a catapault to launch a spotter plane.
Mogami-class
COO: Japan
Type: CL
Machinery: 4-shaft, geared turbines producing 152,000shp
OD: 661ft long by 59ft wide
Displacement: 8500t standard, 10,995t full load
Draught: 18ft
Complement: 850
Speed: 36 knots
Notes: Weight reducing 'wavy' hull form, as built were poorly designed and badly constructed: numerous welding defects, instability and considerable distortion, preventing turrets from training, rectified with strengthened hulls and bulges. Armament consists of fifteen 6.1in guns in five triple turrets, eight 5in DP guns mounted in pairs, four 40mm AA guns and twelve 24in TT. (no info on armour sadly.)
Next time I post the details of the Londons and the Aobas.
CA (heavy Cruisers) details
Aoba-class
COO: Japan
Type: CA
Machinery: 4 shaft, Kampon geared turbines producing 102,000shp
Dimensions: 607.5ft long by 15.85ft wide
Displacement: 8300t standard, 10,200t full load
Draught: 18.8ft (full load)
Complement: 625
Speed: 34.5 knots
Notes: Armour belt integral part of hull. 'Wavy' sheerline. Armament six 8in guns, four 4.7in AA guns, eight 25mm cannons, four 13.2 mm MG, twelve 24in TT, one aircraft (catapult mounted directly behind 'X' turret). Range (at 14 knots): 8000 miles.
London-class
COO: Britain
Type: CA
Machinery: 4-shaft geared turbines producing 80,000shp
Dimensions: 630ft long by 60ft wide
Displacement: 9850t standard, 13,315t full load
Draught: 20.7ft
Complement: 700
Speed: 32.5 knots
Notes: Lightly armoured (undefined thickness)over turrets and the sides of the magazines. Armaments include eight 8in Mk VIII guns with a range of 15 nm, eight 4in AA guns, 15 single 40mm Bofors/21 20mm Oerlikons. Range (at 15 knots): 4500 miles.
So much for the CAs.
Aoba-class
COO: Japan
Type: CA
Machinery: 4 shaft, Kampon geared turbines producing 102,000shp
Dimensions: 607.5ft long by 15.85ft wide
Displacement: 8300t standard, 10,200t full load
Draught: 18.8ft (full load)
Complement: 625
Speed: 34.5 knots
Notes: Armour belt integral part of hull. 'Wavy' sheerline. Armament six 8in guns, four 4.7in AA guns, eight 25mm cannons, four 13.2 mm MG, twelve 24in TT, one aircraft (catapult mounted directly behind 'X' turret). Range (at 14 knots): 8000 miles.
London-class
COO: Britain
Type: CA
Machinery: 4-shaft geared turbines producing 80,000shp
Dimensions: 630ft long by 60ft wide
Displacement: 9850t standard, 13,315t full load
Draught: 20.7ft
Complement: 700
Speed: 32.5 knots
Notes: Lightly armoured (undefined thickness)over turrets and the sides of the magazines. Armaments include eight 8in Mk VIII guns with a range of 15 nm, eight 4in AA guns, 15 single 40mm Bofors/21 20mm Oerlikons. Range (at 15 knots): 4500 miles.
So much for the CAs.