these new dimensions result in your CoG being close to 9 meters above the keel. that is about main deck level. seems doable!
that bow still has way too much overhang, making it an structural weak point.
engines are mostly half above the waterline, because they are kind of huge
![Razz :P](./images/smilies/icon_razz.gif)
your aux generators are quite oversized too, I would go for an real auxilary enerator for port use etc, and keep the gas turbines as the main electricity suppliers.
The two diesels only supply enough power to run propulsion at 1/3 power right now, you think I should downgrade them further? That sort of makes them useless because if you take a hit and lose the turbines you can only go about 10kts without any weapons.
keep in mind that the batteries will be heavy, they are filled with fluids and are compact and metal covered, so they might need to be placed near the center of the ship.
Good point, I will look into that. The CIWS batteries were already planned to be dead amidships, but the forward weapon designated spaces, while low, are still forward of the hull. I will have to look into this.
and for the bow mount. the bows on those ships are twice as high, the ships going half as fast, and the mount is 'just' an phalanx, not an multimillion dollar weapon. the arc of fire is indeed very good, but the problems you run into are these:
True, exactly twice actually. As for "just a phalanx" you need to rememeber that weapon is the most finicky thing in the USN aresenal. You look at it wrong and its breaks. Sometimes it just breaks without even looking at it. Inherent fragility of the weapon system is not really an issue, any weapon on the forward part of the ship will take the same sea spray regardless of location and if a Phalanx can take it near anything can.
- waves are not good for electronics. waves crash over that bow at least in storms, in which a ship as this is at least once a year. you don't want your mount damaged or even lost because of that.
Not so much. I have never seen blue water over the point of the bow (I am sure its possible), what I have seen is it coming over the rails around the tip of the bow and drowning out the gun and VLS. I have seen waves bash in the bow break doors at the superstructure of a Perry too, so again the focsle is just a risky place. Even so I don't think its more than can be handled.
- when you hit another ship, and that is likely to happen once in each ships lifetime, you will immidiately destroy this weapon, even with the slightest bumb
Bow on collisions are EXTREMELY uncommon, and when they do occur they are generally with small vessels at the waterline that nobody saw a night. This would not be a concern any more than say a sonar dome that is far more expensive and more in danger from a bow collision.
- crew is not allowed that far in the front of the ship belowdecks when the ship is at sea, due to that space being the fore peak(tank).
Thats not actually true, people work in the forward part of the ship all the time. Granted in storms it is only essential watch standers but 99% of the time bosun mates are working in their spaces at the tip of the bow in a DDG for instance, as are the sonar tecks at the botton of the bow.
That being said there are no manned spaces for the bow weapon forward of the internal future weapons block.
In any case I am looking into all of this so your comments are not falling on deaf ears. I put this graphic together for comparison:
Top graphic (FFLX):
1. Internal Seamanship Deck
2. Possible anchor location (chain locker below)
3. Spaces to house forward weapon machinery, I may move this up a deck but I still want separation from the gun so it doesn't shake the electronics apart.
4. Sonar spaces
Bottom Graphic (DDG51 Flight I):
1. CPO Berthing
2. Ship Store
3. Crew Berthing
4. Crew Berthing
5. Weapons Office
6. Storeroom
7. Bosun Locker
8. Chain Locker
9. Sonar Spaces
Bow Outlines (Left to Right)
- FFLX
- DDG51
- FFG7
- Sovremenny
The first graphics show a comparison of bow utilization. Note the FFLX is far more forgiving than the Burke regarding locating crew in the bow! Honestly neither would be bad, I lived in that berthing space on my first cruise.
The second graphic shows the comparison of bow overhangs as a ratio of distance over water to height. The FFLX has five meters more overhang than the Burke, but honestly nothing that is so far out of the envelope to be outside the realm of possibility. Also note that the Burke keeps all its six tons of anchor right at the tip of the bow (6.5 tons worth plus chain), something the FFLX will not do. Assuming the forward weapon mount is around the size of a Phalanx at seven tons and some purpose built reinforcement I see no reason the weapon can't be supported.
The real issue I have with the bow mount is stability. There is a lot of movement on the bow and a direct fire laser weapon needs accuracy for seconds worth of firing. If you do the math for an aircraft sized target 50nm away that leaves very little room for excess movement. A Phalanx mount has a very robust stabalization system already but more will be needed for this weapon (why I bulged the bow out at the tip for accomodation) which could add tons of weight.
Some things I know I can do is perhaps extend the waterline hull out two or three meters to reduce the over hang of the bow and increas structural load bearing, as well as move the mount back two meters to further get it closer to the keel.
I originally thought your bow critisisms was do to wave piercing issues not structural loading, sorry for the confusion.
my idea for the propulsion would be to have the gas turbines amidships and the electrical engine aft of that. the ship has less beam there, so less chance on getting damaged, the prop axis will be shorter, and you still have your 3 separated engine rooms.
I thought about that too but if you take a hit in the middle engine space you may very well not just lose the gas turbines, but also lose the power connections from the deisels to the AIMs.