I have decided to make one thread for my Roman ships, as it may be tiresome to keep making separate threads for each one.
Starting off is the Venus class battlecuiser. It`s genesis goes back to the Venator class cruiser killer designed in the late 20s and built in the early 30s. By 1936 they badly needed a refit to keep up with the ever advancing technology. When the senate made an inquiry about the ships, the navy officials said that most of the technology on the ships were outdated. The senate misunderstood this and thought that the ships themselves were outdated. With the fast growing cuiser fleets of nations such as Gallia, Germania, Japan and Russia, this caused a panic within the senate, as the Roman cruiser fleet was small in comparison, and now that the main cruiser killer was mistakenly thought obsolete, the senate authorised a new class of cruiser killers. These were to be true battlecruisers. With little time to spare, the navy quickly looked through ship designs looking for something suitable. The end result was a highly modified and scaled down Vindicatio class. Sporting 9x16"/50 caliber guns, and armored to withstand 12 inch shells and deck armor of 5 inches, they would be formidable ships for any cruiser, even battlecuiers. As with any battlecruiser, they sacrificed armor for speed, 33 knots compared to the Vindicatios 28. The lead ship; the Venus was laid down in 1937 and commisioned in 1940. The Venus looked much like the Vindicatio, owing to its rushed design and construction, the class was often called the "Minicatio."
Four ships were built: the Venus, Mars, Discordia, and Bellona. Some opposed the idea of something as grand as the Venus, fearing it would be used as a battleship instead as a cruiser killer as intended. The four ships would see little action againts enemy cruisers in the coming war, spending most of the time as either shore bombardement ships, carrier escorts or convoy raiders along side the Venator class. Two were present when a battlegroup led by the Indignatio, a Vindicatio class and 3 other battleships + cruisers and support ships engaged the ships of the Northern Kingdom. Several ships were damaged, including the Mars, which took quite the beating from two battleships armed with 14 and 12 inch guns respectively. The Mars barely managed to loimp back to Roman controlled territory with the assistance of a heavy cruiser, the Intrepidus and two destroyers as ASW escorts. Though considered a successfull class of ships, they rarely did as designed to, and was often called for where the slower Vindicatio and Romulus class battleships were unsuitable. Two were kept in service well into the 70s owing to their high speed and long range, whilst the two others were pu into mothballs in the 50s, and kept there until the 80s where they were scrapped to the public and navies great disappointment.
![[ img ]](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/93982636/Shipbucket/BCVenus1940.png)
Note the lack of main gun directors and the reduced of AA suit.
RRS Venus, Republic of Rome, Battlecuiser, laid down in 1937
Displacement:
42 647 t light; 44 692 t standard; 46 768 t normal; 48 429 t full load
Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught
867,92 ft / 839,00 ft x 111,55 ft x 33,00 ft (normal load)
264,54 m / 255,73 m x 34,00 m x 10,06 m
Armament:
9 - 16,00" / 406 mm guns (3x3 guns), 2 048,00lbs / 928,96kg shells, 1937 Model
Breech loading guns in turrets (on barbettes)
on centreline ends, majority forward, 1 raised mount - superfiring
20 - 5,00" / 127 mm guns (10x2 guns), 62,50lbs / 28,35kg shells, 1937 Model
Dual purpose guns in deck mounts with hoists
on side, all amidships, 6 raised mounts - superfiring
20 - 1,18" / 30,0 mm guns (10x2 guns), 0,82lbs / 0,37kg shells, 1937 Model
Anti-aircraft guns in deck mounts
on side, evenly spread, all raised mounts
14 - 0,50" / 12,7 mm guns (7x2 guns), 0,06lbs / 0,03kg shells, 1937 Model
Anti-aircraft guns in deck mounts
on side, evenly spread, all raised mounts
Weight of broadside 19 699 lbs / 8 935 kg
Shells per gun, main battery: 100
Armour:
- Belts: Width (max) Length (avg) Height (avg)
Main: 12,0" / 305 mm 493,50 ft / 150,42 m 18,00 ft / 5,49 m
Ends: Unarmoured
Main Belt covers 90 % of normal length
Main belt does not fully cover magazines and engineering spaces
- Torpedo Bulkhead:
4,00" / 102 mm 493,50 ft / 150,42 m 9,00 ft / 2,74 m
- Gun armour: Face (max) Other gunhouse (avg) Barbette/hoist (max)
Main: 12,0" / 305 mm 6,00" / 152 mm 10,0" / 254 mm
2nd: 2,00" / 51 mm 1,00" / 25 mm 1,00" / 25 mm
- Armour deck: 5,00" / 127 mm, Conning tower: 11,00" / 279 mm
Machinery:
Oil fired boilers, steam turbines,
Geared drive, 4 shafts, 227 240 shp / 169 521 Kw = 33,00 kts
Range 15 000nm at 10,00 kts
Bunker at max displacement = 3 737 tons
Complement:
1 589 - 2 067
Cost:
£24,234 million / $96,935 million
Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
Armament: 2 462 tons, 5,3 %
Armour: 14 221 tons, 30,4 %
- Belts: 4 658 tons, 10,0 %
- Torpedo bulkhead: 657 tons, 1,4 %
- Armament: 2 669 tons, 5,7 %
- Armour Deck: 5 930 tons, 12,7 %
- Conning Tower: 308 tons, 0,7 %
Machinery: 6 298 tons, 13,5 %
Hull, fittings & equipment: 19 665 tons, 42,0 %
Fuel, ammunition & stores: 4 121 tons, 8,8 %
Miscellaneous weights: 0 tons, 0,0 %
Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
58 656 lbs / 26 606 Kg = 28,6 x 16,0 " / 406 mm shells or 7,4 torpedoes
Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1,14
Metacentric height 7,6 ft / 2,3 m
Roll period: 17,0 seconds
Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 55 %
- Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0,61
Seaboat quality (Average = 1.00): 1,10
Hull form characteristics:
Hull has raised forecastle
Block coefficient: 0,530
Length to Beam Ratio: 7,52 : 1
'Natural speed' for length: 28,97 kts
Power going to wave formation at top speed: 54 %
Trim (Max stability = 0, Max steadiness = 100): 50
Bow angle (Positive = bow angles forward): 30,31 degrees
Stern overhang: 7,00 ft / 2,13 m
Freeboard (% = measuring location as a percentage of overall length):
- Stem: 37,50 ft / 11,43 m
- Forecastle (20 %): 27,00 ft / 8,23 m (24,50 ft / 7,47 m aft of break)
- Mid (50 %): 24,50 ft / 7,47 m
- Quarterdeck (15 %): 24,50 ft / 7,47 m
- Stern: 29,50 ft / 8,99 m
- Average freeboard: 26,22 ft / 7,99 m
Ship space, strength and comments:
Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 101,7 %
- Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 188,3 %
Waterplane Area: 64 105 Square feet or 5 956 Square metres
Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 101 %
Structure weight / hull surface area: 215 lbs/sq ft or 1 050 Kg/sq metre
Hull strength (Relative):
- Cross-sectional: 0,96
- Longitudinal: 1,40
- Overall: 1,00
Hull space for machinery, storage, compartmentation is adequate
Room for accommodation and workspaces is excellent
![[ img ]](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/93982636/Shipbucket/CAIntrepidus1939.png)
![[ img ]](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/93982636/Shipbucket/CBVenator1932.png)
RRS Venator, Republic of Rome, Large Cruiser, laid down in 1928
Displacement:
25 950 t light; 26 861 t standard; 28 589 t normal; 29 972 t full load
Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught
750,00 ft / 733,50 ft x 91,86 ft x 27,00 ft (normal load)
228,60 m / 223,57 m x 28,00 m x 8,23 m
Armament:
6 - 12,00" / 305 mm guns (2x3 guns), 864,00lbs / 391,90kg shells, 1928 Model
Breech loading guns in turrets (on barbettes)
on centreline, all forward, 1 raised mount - superfiring
12 - 5,00" / 127 mm guns (6x2 guns), 62,50lbs / 28,35kg shells, 1929 Model
Dual purpose guns in deck mounts with hoists
on side, evenly spread
12 - 1,18" / 30,0 mm guns (6x2 guns), 0,82lbs / 0,37kg shells, 1931 Model
Anti-aircraft guns in deck mounts
on side, evenly spread, all raised mounts
8 - 0,50" / 12,7 mm guns in single mounts, 0,06lbs / 0,03kg shells, 1925 Model
Machine guns in deck mounts
on side, evenly spread, all raised mounts
Weight of broadside 5 944 lbs / 2 696 kg
Shells per gun, main battery: 100
8 - 21,0" / 533,4 mm above water torpedoes
Armour:
- Belts: Width (max) Length (avg) Height (avg)
Main: 8,00" / 203 mm 451,50 ft / 137,62 m 20,00 ft / 6,10 m
Ends: Unarmoured
Main Belt covers 95 % of normal length
Main belt does not fully cover magazines and engineering spaces
- Torpedo Bulkhead:
4,00" / 102 mm 451,50 ft / 137,62 m 10,00 ft / 3,05 m
- Gun armour: Face (max) Other gunhouse (avg) Barbette/hoist (max)
Main: 10,0" / 254 mm 5,00" / 127 mm 8,00" / 203 mm
- Armour deck: 3,00" / 76 mm, Conning tower: 10,00" / 254 mm
Machinery:
Oil fired boilers, steam turbines,
Geared drive, 4 shafts, 225 926 shp / 168 540 Kw = 35,00 kts
Range 16 000nm at 10,00 kts
Bunker at max displacement = 3 111 tons
Complement:
1 099 - 1 429
Cost:
£9,611 million / $38,443 million
Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
Armament: 743 tons, 2,6 %
Armour: 7 548 tons, 26,4 %
- Belts: 3 110 tons, 10,9 %
- Torpedo bulkhead: 668 tons, 2,3 %
- Armament: 959 tons, 3,4 %
- Armour Deck: 2 610 tons, 9,1 %
- Conning Tower: 201 tons, 0,7 %
Machinery: 7 034 tons, 24,6 %
Hull, fittings & equipment: 10 624 tons, 37,2 %
Fuel, ammunition & stores: 2 639 tons, 9,2 %
Miscellaneous weights: 0 tons, 0,0 %
Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
33 496 lbs / 15 194 Kg = 38,8 x 12,0 " / 305 mm shells or 4,1 torpedoes
Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1,30
Metacentric height 7,1 ft / 2,2 m
Roll period: 14,5 seconds
Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 43 %
- Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0,29
Seaboat quality (Average = 1.00): 0,74
Hull form characteristics:
Hull has raised forecastle, low quarterdeck
Block coefficient: 0,550
Length to Beam Ratio: 7,98 : 1
'Natural speed' for length: 27,08 kts
Power going to wave formation at top speed: 60 %
Trim (Max stability = 0, Max steadiness = 100): 50
Bow angle (Positive = bow angles forward): 16,39 degrees
Stern overhang: 6,50 ft / 1,98 m
Freeboard (% = measuring location as a percentage of overall length):
- Stem: 34,00 ft / 10,36 m
- Forecastle (20 %): 25,00 ft / 7,62 m (23,00 ft / 7,01 m aft of break)
- Mid (50 %): 22,00 ft / 6,71 m
- Quarterdeck (15 %): 13,50 ft / 4,11 m (22,00 ft / 6,71 m before break)
- Stern: 15,50 ft / 4,72 m
- Average freeboard: 22,35 ft / 6,81 m
Ship space, strength and comments:
Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 127,3 %
- Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 166,4 %
Waterplane Area: 47 025 Square feet or 4 369 Square metres
Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 104 %
Structure weight / hull surface area: 158 lbs/sq ft or 772 Kg/sq metre
Hull strength (Relative):
- Cross-sectional: 0,98
- Longitudinal: 1,26
- Overall: 1,00
Hull space for machinery, storage, compartmentation is cramped
Room for accommodation and workspaces is excellent
Poor seaboat, wet and uncomfortable, reduced performance in heavy weather
Vindicatio compared to the Venus
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/939 ... oVenus.png
![[ img ]](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/93982636/Shipbucket/BBMecca1914.png)
