Re: [GZG] Battlecruisers

[Ryan Gill <rmgill@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 9:40 AM -0700 12/23/06, Richard Bell wrote:
> Hello;
>
> I recently read the "Tough Guide to the Universe" and got a small bee
> up my nose about how the author used the term "battlecruiser".
> Although, what he really got right was that any ship labelled
> "battlecruiser" gets its coolness factor upped several notches, so
> long as it is fast and has big guns.

Battlecruisers have Cruiser speed, Battleship 
armament of the time and crusiser armor. 
Depending on the time period and the sliding 
scale of armament, protection and speed this 
could be any number of values.

For example, compare the Collossus and 
Indefatigable classes. They are contemporaries, 
similar in tonnage and armament but the BC's have 
significantly less armor and 4 more knots of 
speed.

Colossus class battleships

Displ: 20,225 tons normal; 23,050 tons full load
Dim: 546 x 85 x 28.5 feet
Prop: Steam turbines, 18 boilers, 4 shafts, 25,000 hp, 21 knots
Crew: 755
Arm: 5 dual 12/50, 16 single 4/50, 3 21 inch TT (sub)
Armor: 7-11 inch belt, 1.75-4 inch deck, 4-11 inch barbettes,
       11 inch turrets, 11 inch CT
        Slightly modified Neptune class.

Colossus
        Built by Scotts.  Laid down 8 July 1909, launched 9 April 1910,
        complete 7/1911.  Minor damage at Jutland.  Training ship 1919-1920,
        stricken 1920 under the Washington Treaty, sold for scrapping 7/1928.

Hercules
        Built by Palmers.  Laid down 30 July 1909, launched 10 May 1910,
        complete 8/1911.  Sold for scrapping 11/1921 under the Washington
        Treaty.



Indefatigable class battlecruisers

Displ: 18,500 tons normal; 22,080 tons full load
Dim: 590 x 80 x 26.5 feet
Prop: Steam turbines, 32 boilers, 4 shafts, 44,000 hp, 25 knots
        (Indefatigable: 43,000 hp)
Crew: 800
Arm: 4 dual 12/45, 16 single 4/50, 3 18 inch TT (sub)
Armor: 4-6 inch belt, 1-2.5 inch deck, 3-7 inch barbettes, 7 inch turrets,
       10 inch CT
        Lengthened versions of Invincible class.  An additional ship of
        this class was built for Australia.

Indefatigable
        Built by Devonport Navy.  Laid down 23 Feb 1909, launched 28 Oct 1909,
        completed 4/1911.  Sunk at Jutland 31 May 1916 by magazine explosion.

New Zealand
        Built by Fairfield.  Laid down 20 June 1910, launched 1 July 1911,
        completed 11/1912.  Paid for by New Zealand, transferred to England
        upon completion.  Collision with Australia 22 April 1916.
        Sold for scrapping 19 Dec 1922 under the Washington Treaty.
I

> It got me thinking about how battlecruisers are handled in games.

I have several ships I've kitbashed into BCs for 
my NAC forces. Essentually a Ticonderoga aft 
hull/pod section and an NCA battleship banjo as a 
fore end. Armament iirc has two sets of Class 3s 
in the frontal arc, 2 sets of class 2s and class 
1s and PDS plus shields on par with the 
ticonderagoa. They still have a turn os speed 
like the ticonderogas and work well as a fast 
heavy for my cruiser squadrons and do well if I 
avoid trying to use them as Battlehsips and 
instead poke at the  other guy's heels and flanks 
while he's dealing with my battle line.

They are more appropriate for games with context 
and sliding edges vs slugging matches on a fixed 
board size.

> They are usually ships between a heavy cruiser and a battleship.  Only
> one navy (the USN) ever built ships like that, and they were called
> "Large Cruisers" (the Alaska class).

Germany and Britain made lots.


>   All ships that were actually
> called battlecruisers were as large as, if not larger, than
> battleships.  The HMS Hood, a battlecruiser, was the largest warship
> in the world, until the Bismark was completed.

Hood is actually more correctly called a fast 
battleship. Her construction was halted for a 
time to make changes to the design.


--
--
Ryan Gill              rmgill@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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