Re: [FT] Battlecruisers vs. battleships

Brian Bilderback wrote:

> I'm not the naval historian you gentlemen seem to be, but allow me to
make a
> couple observations, and you can then pick them apart. ;-)
>
> Eric Foley wrote:
>
> >Well, the Hood was like the battlecruisers that went down at Jutland
in the
> >only way that really mattered, in the end:  her design traded armor
for
> >speed,
>
> *SNIP*
>
> >the fact remains that
> >the battlecruiser concept wasn't really that wildly popular in any
navy
> >other than the British,
>
> >From the little I've gleaned from reading/watching about British
naval
> design, the reason for the British reliance on speed over armor,
especially
> in the designs fielded at Jutland, primarily lay in the extent of the
> British Empire and the need to project force across the entire globe
rather
> quickly -- let's call it a need for strategic speed, not tactical
speed.
> The German navy in WWI, by contrast, focused mostly on defense of the
German
> coasts and seas around  them.
>
> However, while this MAY have been a justification for such designs
> historically, it doesn't hold up in FT.  That's because FTL is FTL
> regardless of ship size, sacrificing armor for strategic speed is not
> necessary for force projection, and tactical speed is easily reached,
since
> in space combat you only need thrust to increase or decrease speed,
not
> maintain it.
>
> 3B^2

Battlecruiser designs in FT only work if you are playing with the vector
movement rules.  A battlecruiser in that regime is a vessel with thrust
8 and
aas many class-4 beams as can be reasonably accomodated by the remaining
mass
(plus some pds and firecons).  It can now dance outside the envelope of
class-2
beams, easily, and a well handled BC can stay within the 37-48 band of a
class-3
equipped target.  It will take nearly forever to nickel and dime the
opposition
to death, but they need thrust 8 to prevent the BC from controlling the
range,
and even more thrust to run it down.

About the only historical battle that showcased the abilities of the BC
was the
battle of the Falklands, where the Scharnhorst and Gniesnau were
hopelessly
outclassed by the two british BC's.  The german vessels could neither
run, nor
engage their opponents.

The results of the Bismark's fire on the Hood give credence to the
notion that
the Hood was inadequitely protected, but analysis of the events shows
that it
was an improbable hit that caused her loss.  Although the Bismark's 38cm
projectiles could easily pierce the thinner upper belts of the Hood, the
short
fuze delay would have prevented the shells from reaching the magazine,
even if
they still had enough residual penetration the enter the magazines (go
to
www.warships1.com and surf from there to the International Naval
Research
Organization pages for a detailed analysis).

In many ways, the battlecruiser was rendered obsolete by the aircraft
carrier,
as carriers were fast (often built on hulls of BC's cancelled by the
Washington
Naval Treaty), and their aircraft could strike out beyond the range of
return