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Souly

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12/08/2024

Epic Happiness Alert! Watch and Smile Away 🌟 'vi

11/18/2024

Jean Bart vs. HMS Vanguard : Community Question

When I wasn't discussing the Italian light cruisers yesterday, I was involved in a discussion with a few other people in the history field about the best European battleship. This eventually evolved into a debate about the two most modern battleships following World War 2, the British HMS Vanguard and the French Jean Bart.

It was a fun discussion on what makes for the best battleship, so I wanted to extend the Question towards the Navy General Board Community.

Between HMS Vanguard and Jean Bart, what was the best one?

11/16/2024

We started talking about some of the advanced hydrodynamic features of the Yamato class yestersay so we might as well talk about a few other design features while we are at it.

The Yamato class had a multitude of unique features that are sadly overshadowed by the battleships prodigious size and massive armament. One of the more unique was the form of the hull, specifically the sloping shape of the forward deck.

In the vicinity of the forward turrets, the Yamato's deck sloped downwars before rising back up all the way to the bow.

What did this accomplish?

The peculiar shape of the hull achieved several benefits. The spark notes version would go something like this:

- Turrets are large and complex mechanisms. They are also extremely heavy. The main battery turrets of the Yamato class weighed 2,730 tons apiece. These turrets rested on barbettes, heavily armored with thicknesses ranging from 380mm (15") to 560mm (22"), that were equally heavy. Rising well above the ship's waterline, the weight of these turrets/barbettes negatively impacted the stability of the battleship.

The sloping deck allowed the turrets/barbettes to be placed lower into the hull. The lower height helped increase stability while also saving considerable tonnage as less armor was needed to protect the shorter barbettes.

- Japanese designers had settled for placing some of the secondary armament on the centerline early in the design process. By having the 155mm (6.1") guns superfire over the main battery, they gained excellent firing arcs. Lowering the main battery allowed for the placement of the secondary guns in such a location without requiring excessively tall barbettes, further reducing tonnage.

- Behind the main and secondary turrets, the heavily armored conning tower could also be reduced in height, saving additional weight.

- The overall superstructure could be made lower and more compact.

- Coupled with the tower bridge, you do get smaller improvements with visibility, handling, the layout of the superstructure, etc.

The hull itself was also enhanced.

Most battleships had one of two hull forms. Stepped deck hulls and flush deck hulls.

The deck/hull of a stepped deck hull was broken. The main deck does not run the entire length of the ship uninterrupted. Rather it is broken at one or more places. See the photo of the Richelieu class battleship for an example of a stepped deck design.

Stepped deck hulls granted benefits such as additional interior volume, good for crew comfort. They also allowed heavy gun turrets to be set lower in the hull, improving stability and saving weight. With a raised forecastle deck, they could improve performance in bad seas thanks to the increased freeboard.

The other type of hull was the flush deck design. See the picture below of the Iowa class battleship for an example.

The main deck was unbroken from stem to stern. It might curve gradually upwards towards the bow or stern, but no
breaks occurred.

Flush deck hulls, for the most part, were more structurally solid. They could better withstand external forces such as heavy seas, explosions, or battle damage. This was achieved at the cost of less internal volume, hurting crew accommodations and other things.

Japanese designers achieved a happy medium with the Yamato class hull form. The hulls retained the high structural strength of a flush deck on the forward hull while still enjoying some of the advantages of a stepped deck hull. A best of both worlds situation.

Of course, this hull form was not possible on all battleships. The prodigious volume of the Yamato class allowed for the unique hull form to be used. However, this same tremendous size also overshadows the fact that Japanese designers made every attempt to save weight where possible. The forward hull design is just one of the many innovative design features of the Yamato class.

Photos:
- The profile of the Yamato class, the sloped Deck can be easily seen.
- Forward deck of the Yamato class battleship Musaship, seen from the tower.
- The forward sloped deck of the Yamato class battleship Musashi, seen from the bow looking aft.
- The stepped deck hull of a Richelieu class battleship.
- The flush deck hull of an Iowa class battleship.
- The tower of Musashi, cause why not.

11/15/2024

Two photos showing the New Mexico class battleship USS New Mexico (BB-40) cruising off of New York City on May 31, 1934.

New Mexico was the first United States Battleship to trial turbo-electric propulsion, setting her apart from her sisters that continued to use more traditional powerplants.

New Mexico would eventually lose her pioneering system during a large refit that lasted from 1931 to 1933. The battleship underwent numerous changes to her equipment and weaponry. However, the biggest change was the replacement of her turbo-electric machinery with geared turbines. While experiences with New Mexico's original powerplant were positive enough that turbo-electric machinery would become the preferred powerplant on the succeeding US battleships, the prototype system used on New Mexico still suffered from teething issues. The adoption of conventional geared turbines standardized her with her two sisters.

11/15/2024

20mm Oerlikons aboard the French battleship Richelieu conducting gunnery exercises following her refit in the United States.

A fun fact is this area was nicknamed the cementary. Located just behind the central 152mm turret and easily seen in the second photo. This area was called the cemetery due to the square plot of land and the gunshields of the 20mm Oerlikons that looked like tombstones in neat rows.

Richelieu emerged from the refit bristling with anti-aircraft weaponry. In addition to the already existing dual-purpose battery of nine 6" (152mm) guns and heavy anti-aircraft battery of twelve 100mm (3.9") guns, Richelieu received fifty-six 40mm Bofors guns (14 quad mounts) and forty-eight 20mm Oerlikons (All single mounts).

11/14/2024

The Omaha class light cruiser USS Marblehead (CL-12) undergoing refit in drydock in June of 1932.

As an Omaha class light cruiser, Marblehead had twelve 6"/53 naval guns in two twin turrets and eight single casemates, split evenly to the bow and stern. Many of the Omaha class had two of the aft casemate mounts mounts removed to free up weight for other upgrades. Marblehead gave up two of her aft casemates as well, but placed one of them on a new centrally placed casemate mount. This centerline mount allowed Marblehead to retain her eight gun broadside even after sacrificing one gun.

Marblehead was the only cruiser in her class to utilize this centerline mount. She later had this mount removed as well during the Second World War for weight Savings.

11/12/2024

After the post on the Grumman "Sto-wing" folding wing mechanism, someone reached out to inquire about folding wings on the Grumman F-14.

The F-14 did not have folding wings like other carrier aircraft. The equipment needed to sweep the wings in flight was already complex enough without the added complexities of folding wings. However, the F-14 was a big aircraft and getting them to fit more neatly on an aircraft carrier was of great importance.

To achive this, the F-14 relied on its variable swept wings to handle the storage issue. Typically, the F-14 would fly with its wings swept between 20 and 68 degrees. However, once the aircraft landed aboard its carrier, the wings would actually sweep back further to a new maximum of 75 degrees. This world actually cause the wingtips to cover the horizontal stabilizers.

This narrowed the F-14's wingspan, making it as compact as possible to better permit storage aboard an aircraft carrier.

11/12/2024

We talked about bulbous bows before the Yamato class in the last post. Now let's take an in-depth look at the bulbous bow on the Yamato class along with a few other features designed for better hydrodynamic performance.

The Yamato class are best remembered for their massive guns and thick armor. For this reason, speed is often the last thing on most people's minds when discussing these powerful dreadnoughts.

However, Japanese designers put considerable thought into the speed of the class. They developed several design features to help coax every bit of performance that was possible from the design.

Perhaps the most famous feature was the bulbous bow.

Now contrary to popular belief, the bulbous bow was not a feature used solely on the Yamato class or was it even a Japanese invention. Bulbous bows had been around for years and were being experimented with by various countries. However, to Japan's credit they did introduce what was the most radical design yet, one that offered superior performance to her contemporaries.

The effect that this bow had on performance was significant. At top speed, the bulbous bow reduced the amount of power needed by about 8%. This translated to about 12,000 shp. This means that, without the Bow, the Yamato class would need roughly 162,000shp to reach her maximum speed.

Beyond the bow, the hull of the Yamato class was also highly optimized for better speed.

Japan conducted extensive testing on various hull designs from the mid-1920s onward. These tests involved everything from calculations, to scale models inside test tanks, and even full-size tests using the then demilitarized Hiei (Seen in one of the images below).

These tests are what eventually led to the interesting bottle hull shape (when viewed from above). Despite the wide beam of 128' (38.9m), the hull was hydrodynamically advanced. It easily slid through the water despite its impressive size. A more efficient hull helped to further reduce the amount of power needed to push so much ship through the water.

Even the stern was optimized for efficiency. The hull gradually tapered towards the stern before suddenly ending in an almost miniature transom stern. This was also heavily tested and based on full-scale trials.

Even the rudder design was chosen in the bid for performance.

Japanese designers opted for twin rudders in an inline arrangement (A trick used by other navies as well) to help reduce water resistance. It was thought that this would reduce water interference while allowing one rudder to function in the event of the other being damaged. (However, this feature did not quite work out as intended. The smaller auxiliary rudder could not counteract the main rudder and instead cost speed due to parasitic drag).

The result of all this development was an impressive top speed that exceeded 27 knots. This was equal to or just under that achieved by all of her contemporaries at the time of her entry into service.

Design Speeds For Reference:
Yamato Class - 27 knots @ 150,000shp at 69,900 tons (Exceeded during Trials)
North Carolina Class - 28 Knots @ 121,000shp at 44,800 tons
Bismarck Class - 30 knots @ 148,116shp at 49,500 tons (Exceeded during Trials)
King George V - 28 knots @ 125,000shp at 42,400 tons (Exceeded during Trials)
Littorio Class - 30 knots @ 130,650shp at 42,000 tons (Exceeded during Trials)
Richelieu Class - 32 knots @ 155,000shp at 43,000 tons (Exceeded during Trials)

It is important to note that the Yamato class might have actually been slightly faster. Sadly, due to the destruction of records. We won't know exactly how fast the class could reach. By forcing the engines, she might have picked up an extra knot or two of top speed.

Still, let it be said that the Yamato class was a masterpiece of Japanese naval design. Truly no expense or effort was spared to squeeze every drop of performance from the hull.

Photos:
1,2 - Yamato during her machinery trials.
3 - The Kongo class battleship Hiei.
4 - The profile of Yamato's bulbous Bow.
5,6 - Overhead photos of Yamato showing her hull shape.
7,8 - The two images below showing the stern are from the Model of Yamato at the Yamato Museum. Credit Accordingly

11/10/2024

Two photos before and one after!

Immediately after her commissioning in New York in 1988, the brand new Ticonderoga class Aegis cruiser USS Lake Champlain (CG-57) was ordered to sail to her future homeport of San Diego, California.

Rounding Cape Horn, the cruiser encountered heavy seas while sailing along with the aircraft carrier USS Independence (CV-62). Storm conditions continued for the next few days as the warships struggled to round the Cape.

The first two photos show the cruiser toward the start of the storm. The cruiser weathered his part of the storm relatively well with the exception of a leak occurring in one of the lubricating oil tanks. However, as time went on conditions continued to worsen. Eventually, the waves grew so powerful that the bulwarks (some might call them stanchions as well) along the upper bow were torn off by the sea. The third photo shows the cruiser after the storm with her mission bow sections.

Despite the damage, Lake Champlain continued on her mission. After rounding the Cape, she conducted training operations with several warships of the Peruvian Navy. She then visited the city of Lima, Peru. Here, the crew removed the remaining sections of the bow that were damaged before erecting temporary barriers. Rejoining Independence, she continued on to San Diego where her she had new bulwarks installed.

11/09/2024

The Ise class battleship Hyuga running a speed trial. Compare her profile to the battleship Yamashiro in the second photo.

The Fuso class was originally to be comprised of four battleships (Fuso, Yamashiro, Ise, and Hyuga). Fuso had been ordered by itself (along with battlecruisers) while the other three were part of a second, later order. However, the final three ships were ordered during a period in which funding was tighter. Lacking the funds to begin construction on all three battleships, Japan opted to begin construction of Yamashiro. Ise and Hyuga would be placed on hold until more funding was secured.

Luckily, this delay in construction did allow Japan to more closely examine the Fuso class and identify areas for improvement.

The awkward placement of the amidship 35.6cm (14") guns was the biggest weakness. With both guns mounted separately, the barbettes interfered with steam lines and machinery spaces. The magazines were separated and more difficult to protect. Lastly, the gun turrets took up value space on the deck while the muzzle blast they produced complicated the placement of other equipment.

Japanese designers decided to remount the guns into a superfiring arrangement (with both gun turrets facing aft) for Ise and Hyuga. This saved spaced on deck and simplified internal arrangements. However, the placement of the guns did cut into the hull and reduced internal volume significantly. The forecastle deck, extending to the #5 gun turret on the Fuso class, ended at the number #3 turret on Ise and Hyuga. While good for stability and weight savings, this did reduce the space available to the crew. This lack of space resulted in the most uncomfortable class of Japanese battleship (an impressive achievement from a Navy that was not known for crew comfort at the time).

Outside of the main battery, Japan also swapped out the secondary guns. While the 15.2cm (6") guns used on the Fuso class were powerful, the Japanese Navy was concerned that their slower firing speed would make it harder to engage destroyers/torpedo boats. To address this, the 6" guns were swapped out for 14cm (5.5") guns on Ise and Hyuga. The shells of these guns were smaller and lighter, allowing the crew to handle them more easily. This resulted in a much better sustained rate of fire.

Finally, the increasing speed of foreign battleships was well known to Japan. While a complete overhaul of the powerplant would have resulted in a major const increase, Japan did manage to increase the speed of Ise and Hyuga by increasing the hull's length (providing a better length to beam ratio) as well as modifying the boilers to produce more steam. These modifications provided a modest speed increase of .5 knots (allowing Ise and Hyuga to reach just above 23 knots).

Overall, the modifications were great enough that Ise and Hyuga became their own class of battleship. Like the Fuso class, the Ise class were powerful battleships upon their completion and compared relatively well to contemporary designs. Of course, the rapid advances in design quickly outdated them. Japan attempted to keep the ships relevant throughout the interwar years with modernzation programs, but had to concede that they were obsolete at the start of the Second World War.

Photos:
- The Ise class battleship Hyuga
- The Fuso class battleship Yamashiro
- An overhead of Hyuga

11/09/2024

The bow of the German battleship Bismarck in drydock during the summer of 1940.

The circular cap at the bottom of her stem is a cover to a tube that contained the bugspiere. The Bugspiere was a long arm that would extend out of the hull. It contained chains that the crew use to attach the minesweeping paravanes. Paravanes were underwater gliders that were attached to the ship via a length of cable. When in operation, the paravanes would be pulled through the water at a distance alongside the ship. If the cables snagged the anchoring capable of a naval mine, it would pull the anchoring capable to the paravane itself which was equipped with a cutting device. This would cut the mine free and let it float to the surface of the sea. From here, the crew could easily destroy it.

Most contemporary warships simply ran a length of chain from the bow to the bottom of the stem for the paravanes. The bugspiere, while being more complicated, allowed the paravanes to be operated from a more advantageous location, further forward from the bow and at a deeper depth.

11/09/2024

After seeing a few battleships utilizing four-bladed and five-bladed screws, I received a few questions about which was better speed.

Now this question pops up from time to time. It's actually a pretty technical one that even I do not fully understand. However, I can break down the basics for you.

First and foremost, having more blades on a screw does not equal greater speed. In fact, it's the exact opposite.

For the most part, the fewer blades a screw has, the more efficient it is. A single large blade pushes water more efficiently than multiple smaller blades at speed. This is due to a variety of reasons but we will focus on the biggest two:

1 - They tend to interact better with the water flowing around them. This touches on the subject of cavitation which is a subject of an article itself.

2 - Screws with fewer blades are easier to turn by the powerplant as they produce less drag. This means they require less power.

For instance, if a ship operated most efficiently with three-blade screws, replacing them with four-blade models would actually hurt performance. The additional weight and drag would actually sap some of the ship's power.

This isn't to say that a higher number of blades has no benefits. In fact, they do offer some benefits including:

1 - Greater initial thrust. Initial acceleration can be better due to the additional blades "biting" a great amount of water. However, this is at the cost of top speed for the reasons we have seen above.

2 - They allowed for more powerful propulsion systems. While multiple blades were heavier and had greater drag, this could be offset by more powerful machinery driving them. This additional power ignores some of the design limitations.

3 - Depending on the application, some screws with multiple blades can have reduced propeller arcs (resulting in a smaller size) compared to a similar screw with fewer blades. However, this benefit is specific to only certain instances/designs.

All of this information taken together means that the ideal number of blades on a screw is actually dependent on external factors more so than the screw itself. The warship's design speed, powerplant, hull size, intended role, and its influence on operating RPMS (a merchant ship operating at 15 knots almost all the time vs a destroyer which would be changing speed and direction almost constantly), weight, propeller clearance requirements, and more are what dictates the optimal number of blades.

It's finding the optimal balance between efficiency (fewer blades) and thrust (more blades).

So why did newer battleships have more blades per screw?

In this situation, you are probably thinking of instances where battleships were refitted with screws featuring more blades:

- The North Carolina class replacing their three-blade screws for four and five-blade models.
- The South Dakota class experimenting with three, four, and five-blade screw arrangements throughout the war.
- HMS Vanguard replacing her inner screws of three blades for five-blade models.

This had little to do with speed or efficiency. Instead, the changes here were almost entirely the result of vibration issues.

As the blades on the screw push through the water, they produce a powerful pressure wave. This wave travels through the water and slams into the hull, leading to vibrations that can be felt. These vibrations can be so strong that they can actually interfere with operations on the ship, most notably that of the fire control systems and general crew comfort.

Screws with fewer, though larger blades produce larger pressure waves, resulting in greater vibration problems. Designers attempted to remedy this by replacing the screws with models featuring more blades. While the screws with more blades still produced pressure waves, the number of pressure waves was increased while the individual strength of each wave was reduced.

This means that the screws with a greater number of blades operated more smoothly!

However, this was not a clear remedy. It could actually cost speed and performance, but the reduction in vibration was seen as worthwhile.

Also it's worth pointing out that the manner in which the pressure waves interacted with the hull was also dependent on factors including screw location, shaft length, hull form, screw brackets, the use of skegs, and so on. Certain ships might benefit from more blades on the outer shafts while the inner shafts were better served by fewer blades. The opposite could be true.

Sometimes the problems were such that the issue could not be resolved at all. While the South Dakota class saw significant success in reducing vibrational issues, the problems remained persistent in the North Carolina class and on HMS Vanguard. They continued to suffer from vibrational issues throughout their careers to varying degrees.

Overall, it was an imprecise science that required much experimentation.

11/09/2024

The Project 82 "Stalingrad" class Battlecruisers

First conceived in 1941, the Project 82 class underwent several revisions as the Soviet Union applied new war experiences and modified the ship's original operational goals. The design was originally a 20,000 ton cruiser that served as an intermediate design between a traditional 10,000 cruiser and the larger 39,000 ton Kronshtadt class battlecruisers. As it became apparent that the Kronshtadt class was obsolete and would not be built, the Prpject 82 class was redesigned to fulfill their role as well.

The Project 82 eventually emerged as a battlecruiser displacing 36,000 long tons at standard displacement and up to 42,000 tons at full load. The ship was 897' (273m) in length and 105' (32m) at the beam. This made them slightly longer than the Iowa class battleships, but narrower at the beam (887' X 108').

They were armed with a newly designed 12" (305mm) gun offering exceptional good ballistics. Capable of elevating to 50 degrees, the guns could fire a 1,030lb (467kg) Shell out to 58,000 yards, outranging battleships. The secondary battery consisted of twelve 130mm dual-purpose guns in six twin mounts, two of which were mounted on the centerline. The light anti-aircraft battery was to consist of 45mm and 25mm anti-aircraft guns in multiple quadruple mounts.

Armor protection was somewhat unique. Carrying a quater of the ship's weight in armor, the armor protection was only designed to resist heavy cruiser guns of 203mm. The citadel itself was proof against cruiser guns at likely combat ranges while the bow and stern portions were given a high level of splinter protection. Underwater protection was extensive. Drawing on extensive testing, the Project 82 cruisers had a multilayer torpedo defense system with no less than five layers.

Speed was given a high level of importance for the Project 82 class. A massive powerplant generating 280,000shp was developed. This high level of power, coupled with a high length-to-beam ratio was intended to allow for a top speed of just over 35 knots. This speed was intended to allow the Project 82 class to intercept enemy cruisers should they attempt to operate off the Soviet coast.

Four ships of the Project 82 class were projected. Only three would be laid down when work was canceled, Stalingrad, Moskva, and Kronshtadt. Work was halted with the death of Stalin, the biggest proponent for the class. At the time, Stalingrad was the furthest along in construction at 18%. The class was formally canceled, but Stalingrad's hull was finished just enough to allow her to be launched.

This hull was used for a series of weapons tests. She served as target ship for a variety of early Soviet anti-ship missiles, serving in this role until being scrapped in 1962.

11/08/2024

Some Fun Facts about the turrets of HMS Vanguard

The photo below shows the forward 15inch gun turret aboard the British battlecruiser HMS Courageous. The second photo shows one of the modernized turrets used on HMS Vanguard.

While everyone knows that the turrets from the Courageous class were pulled from storage and used to equip the Battleship HMS Vanguard, few might know of these trivia facts.

Fun Fact 1) You might be wondering which turrets on Vanguard came from which battlecruiser.

Vanguard's forward turrets, A & B, came from HMS Glorious. The aft turrets, X & Y, were provided by Courageous.

Fun Fact 2)

While the turrets were taken from the Courageous class battlecruisers, Vanguard's initial batch of eight 15inch barrels only used one of the guns from the Courageous class sisters. Instead, they used a collection of barrels sourced from the Revenge and Queen Elizabeth class battleships along with one barrel taken from a monitor.

The one gun that was taken from the Courageous class had actually been used on HMS Warspite in the meantime.

** You might be surprised at how much the gun barrels on a battleship moved around. Battleships traded gun barrels frequently, tupically during refits, having the barrels refined, modernizations, etc. The Royal Navy, having well over a hundred gun barrels for the BL 15inch in circulation, saw things move around frequently. **

Fun Fact 3)

While everyone knows the turrets came from Courageous and Glorious, you can also make the argument that two of the turrets came from HMS Renown and HMS Repulse.

Renown and Repulse were originally ordered as Revenge class battleships, armed with eight 15inch guns in four turrets. This included ordering the initial batch of eight turrets.

When Renown and Repulse were reordered as battlecruisers, they were only equipped with six of the turrets between them, leaving two spares.

These spares were carried over to the Courageous class!

11/08/2024

In the last photos of HMS Sheffield, readers commented about the exposed Bridge on the cruiser.

Sheffield, like many warships at the time, had an open bridge or compass platform as it was called in the Royal Navy. While open to the elements, many actually preferred the open bridge due to the fact that it offered far better visibility and situational awareness.

This isn't to say that the command crew was stuck In the elements all the time either. There was typically shelter available, normally tucked away in the superstructure or tower. Much of the crew could retreat here if conditions called for it. Even so, it was customary to keep an Officer of the watch and a runner/messager on the bridge at all times. The officer and runner can be seen manning the bridge in the second photo.

Photos from the Imperial War Museum Archives
A 14891 and A 6865
Non-Commerical Use

11/06/2024

The two battleships of the Conte di Cavour class, Conte di Cavour and Giulio Cesare, passing through the famous Ponte Girevole swing bridge at Taranto. The bridge spans a large Canal that connects the Mar Grande and Mar Piccolo.

This location, along with the excellent harbors, has made Taranto an important naval base and maritime center for Italy throughout its history.

11/06/2024

We mentioned it in the last post, but the Italian Navy was the first to begin construction of a dreadnought with triple gun turrets. The battleship Dante Alighieri was laid down on June 6, 1909, over a year before the first of the Austro-Hungarian Tegetthoff class on July 24, 1910. However, the Austro-Hungarian shipyards worked at a more rapid pace and allowed Viribus Unitis to enter service on December 12, 1912. This took place one month before Italy commissioned Dante Alighieri on January 15, 1913, making the Tegetthoff class the first battleships to enter service with triple gun turrets.

That being said, Dante Alighieri was still an advanced battleship and incoperated some notable features. One of the more interesting was that she carried part of her secondary battery in protected turrets on the deck. Of her twenty 120mm (4.7") weapons, eight were carried in four twin turrets while the rest were carried in casemates. This gave the turret mounted weapons better firing arcs and superior protection compared to that enjoyed by many dreadnoughts of the day.

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