Re: [GZG] Cruisers and Destroyers in the FT world

For a displacement hull, the maximum speed is roughly proportional to 
the
square root of the waterline length. However, structural factors also
come into play. An extremely long hull would be very difficult to make 
stiff
enough to survive heavy seas. Also, to achieve the maximum speed you
still need to provide enough power to push the damn thing through the 
sea.

Tony C.

On 17-Jan-06, at 7:30 AM, Brian B wrote:

> On 1/16/06, Thomas Barclay <kaladorn@magma.ca> wrote:
>
>> Also, I don't know if it applies in the days of powered boating, but 
>> there are formula for
>> roughing out how many knots a sailboat should be able to make and it 
>> relates to keel
>> length (perhaps waterline length might be more appropos). A 150' 
>> sailboat is a *heck* of a
>> lot faster across long distances than a 30' boat. I wonder if, due to

>> economy of scale
>> principles, large ships like the cruisers could outspeed destroyers?
>
> The reason this doesn't necessarily transfer well to FT is simple:
> Space isn't full of water.  From what I remember, the ability of
> larger ships to fo faster than smaller ships, at least in the Age of
> Sail, had to do with drag and the dynamics of the hull interacting
> with the water.
>
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