Shipbucket

Welcome to the Armoured Cruiser Challenge! Your task is to draw an armoured cruiser conforming to the requirements outlined below. If you have an idea for a future challenge, remember to share it in the Future Challenge Ideas/Suggestions thread. Don't be afraid to share an idea which has been suggested by someone else. It shows that multiple people are interested in that topic.

Design Requirements

1. Your submission must depict a fictional armoured cruiser.
2. The ship should be commissioned within the period between 1870-1908.
3. The ship should not have a main calibre of over 10 inches (254 mm).
4. The maximum thickness of the belt should not exceed 8 inches (203 mm), or 12 inches (305 mm) if your design uses compound armour.

Challenge Rules

1. Each participant may submit a single image.
2. The image should be a Shipbucket template modified to include the participant’s art and, optionally, one of the following: ship badge, unit insignia, manufacturer logo, national flag, or naval ensign. Other elements, including data sheets and scenic elements, are not permitted. If you have specifications and blocks of text, please include them as text in your post and not in the image itself.
3. One side-view of the participant's ship must be included. One top-view is also permitted, but not required. All other views are prohibited.
4. If two views are included, they must depict the same individual ship in the same paint scheme, markings, and configuration.
5. All art must be in Shipbucket scale and conform to the Shipbucket style guidelines.
6. A textual description accompanying each submission is permitted, but not necessary.
7. Non-serious entries, or entries substantially deviate from the challenge requirements, are not allowed.
8. Off-topic posts will be reported to the relevant authorities.

This challenge will run until Sunday 10 March 2024, ending at 23:59 UTC-12 (International Date Line West).
A countdown timer can be found at this link.

A poll will be held after this date to select a winner. When it opens, please provide honest and meaningful scores for each entry. Responses which grant maximum scores to a select group of entries, and minimum scores to all other entries, will be deleted. Members of the community who manipulate the results in such a fashion may also be subject to a permanent ban. Scores will be allocated in two categories, each with a scale of 1 to 10:

• Drawing Quality - The overall quality of the drawing. One might consider detailing, shading, and accuracy.
• Design Quality -The quality of the design presented, irrespective of drawing quality. One could consider feasibility, practicality, and realism.

Design Requirement 4 Updated
Design Requirement 4 has been modified. It originally read: "The ship should not have the armour of over 8 inches (203 mm)." The requirement now says: "The maximum thickness of the belt should not exceed 8 inches (203 mm), or 12 inches (305 mm) if your design uses compound armour." This means you can employ thicker armour in other areas of the ship (the conning tower, for example). It also allows earlier ships fitted with compound armour to have thicker belts.

Allright, as it is custom, I begun to race with an somehwat older drawing that I posted originally for the Evo AU, but since then I took it down as i was able to introduce proper german neverwere based work on there as was/is the theme of the AU. At somepoint afterwards I used the drawing as test platform for my militarymast ideas, so this challenge gave me an opportunity to finish it into new quise:



Volkam Manthrem was part of Marlannonian navalbuild expansion program that was instigated by 1898 Balcian defeat to Interkommunaali. As the naval shipbuilding industry in Marlannon was still setting up its works, mainly by subsiding other Ellardaëan builders locally. For the armourder cruiser part, She ordered 4 large ships, into general requirements from various different yards, Two from Valagrillaë, one from Nomidaë and one From Evoan yard Kahti OY in the city of Sukkula, famous in building lots of Evoan Royal Navys warships. Volkam Manthrem was laid down in 1898, and Completed in 1900, then delivered into its owners, and joined her half-sisters to form Powerfull fast component of the Marlannonean Fleet. Volkam Manthrem was armed with 4 21 cm/L40 and 12 15cm/L40 guns, as well as 12 8.8cm/L35 and 6 5cm/L50 weapons. 1 bow Torpedotube was fitted underwater, and two on the beam. She measured 134m (OA) X 19.6m x 7.2m and had two-shaft machinery for two VTE and 24 boilers, for 156000 SHP that gave her speed of 20.5kts. Enough coal was carried for endurance of 7000 NM in 10kts. Her armour consisted 88-178-88mm main belt, 63mm Armoured deck, 152mm barbettes, turrets and casemate covers, 70-152mm secondary gun turret shields and 254mm conning tower. She served well trough the 1904-05 Marlannon-Valagrillaëan war, as well as guard duty during the 1st class war in 1914-1918.

_________________
Shipbucket mainsite, aka "The Archive"
New AU project "Aravala"

The USN had concluded that the armored cruiser as a concept had reached its last legs, and the class either had to evolve or be phased out. Two choices stood before them, either uparmor and upgun the ships (as they wanted irl, but the challenge won't permit 12" guns and battleship-grade armor,) or make the future cruisers more relevant by increasing firepower by adding a larger number of smaller primary guns. My entry goes this direction by using the 8"/45 Mk.6 gun in twin mounts with two mounts fore and aft, and four mounts amidships in a hexagonal layout. The secondary battery consists of 14x5"/50 Mk.5 guns in casemate mounts and the tertiary battery consists of 18x3"/50 Mk.4 guns in casemate mounts and 22x47mm Hotchkiss guns up in the superstructure. Due to their added size, the armor is thicker than the previous Tennessee class, and on par with the Pennsylvania class, and the ship retains the same top speed of 22kts. Overall the ship retains the same lines and appearance with the previous classes (lots of sheer on the bow and stern for added seakeeping, two military masts and four funnels.) As commissioned in 1908 she sports the white and buff peacetime colors and she's among the first ships to use the newly developed Norfolk 65-A anti-fouling paint, instead of the more vibrant commercial red paint used on previous ships.



Springstyles report for more info on armor, weight and such:
USS Hawaii, USA, Armored Cruiser laid down in 1905

Displacement:
14 790 t light; 15 366 t standard; 16 264 t normal; 16 982 t full load

Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught
521,50 ft / 513,50 ft x 76,00 ft x 25,50 ft (normal load)
158,95 m / 156,51 m x 23,16 m x 7,77 m

Armament:
12 - 8,00" / 203 mm guns (6x2 guns), 256,00lbs / 116,12kg shells, 1905 Model
Breech loading guns in deck mounts with hoists
on centreline ends, evenly spread
14 - 5,00" / 127 mm guns in single mounts, 62,50lbs / 28,35kg shells, 1905 Model
Quick firing guns in casemate mounts
on side, all amidships
16 - 3,00" / 76,2 mm guns in single mounts, 13,50lbs / 6,12kg shells, 1905 Model
Quick firing guns in deck mounts
on side, evenly spread, 10 raised mounts
22 - 1,85" / 47,0 mm guns in single mounts, 3,17lbs / 1,44kg shells, 1905 Model
Breech loading guns in deck mounts
on side, evenly spread, all raised mounts
Weight of broadside 4 233 lbs / 1 920 kg
Shells per gun, main battery: 100
4 - 21,0" / 533,4 mm submerged torpedo tubes

Armour:
- Belts: Width (max) Length (avg) Height (avg)
Main: 6,00" / 152 mm 206,50 ft / 62,94 m 14,00 ft / 4,27 m
Ends: 3,00" / 76 mm 202,50 ft / 61,72 m 9,50 ft / 2,90 m
104,50 ft / 31,85 m Unarmoured ends
Upper: 5,00" / 127 mm 206,50 ft / 62,94 m 11,50 ft / 3,51 m
Main Belt covers 62 % of normal length
Main belt does not fully cover magazines and engineering spaces

- Torpedo Bulkhead:
3,00" / 76 mm 305,00 ft / 92,96 m 25,00 ft / 7,62 m

- Gun armour: Face (max) Other gunhouse (avg) Barbette/hoist (max)
Main: 9,00" / 229 mm 5,00" / 127 mm 7,00" / 178 mm
2nd: 5,00" / 127 mm 3,00" / 76 mm -
3rd: 1,00" / 25 mm 1,00" / 25 mm -

- Armour deck: 3,00" / 76 mm, Conning tower: 9,00" / 229 mm

Machinery:
Coal fired boilers, complex reciprocating steam engines,
Direct drive, 2 shafts, 29 347 ihp / 21 893 Kw = 22,00 kts
Range 5 000nm at 10,00 kts
Bunker at max displacement = 1 616 tons (100% coal)

Complement:
719 - 936

Cost:
£1,558 million / $6,230 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
Armament: 529 tons, 3,3 %
Armour: 4 869 tons, 29,9 %
- Belts: 1 643 tons, 10,1 %
- Torpedo bulkhead: 846 tons, 5,2 %
- Armament: 712 tons, 4,4 %
- Armour Deck: 1 543 tons, 9,5 %
- Conning Tower: 124 tons, 0,8 %
Machinery: 4 253 tons, 26,2 %
Hull, fittings & equipment: 5 138 tons, 31,6 %
Fuel, ammunition & stores: 1 474 tons, 9,1 %
Miscellaneous weights: 0 tons, 0,0 %

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
14 655 lbs / 6 647 Kg = 57,2 x 8,0 " / 203 mm shells or 2,2 torpedoes
Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1,27
Metacentric height 5,1 ft / 1,5 m
Roll period: 14,2 seconds
Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 100 %
- Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0,54
Seaboat quality (Average = 1.00): 1,99

Hull form characteristics:
Hull has raised forecastle, raised quarterdeck
Block coefficient: 0,572
Length to Beam Ratio: 6,76 : 1
'Natural speed' for length: 22,66 kts
Power going to wave formation at top speed: 48 %
Trim (Max stability = 0, Max steadiness = 100): 50
Bow angle (Positive = bow angles forward): 14,70 degrees
Stern overhang: -3,00 ft / -0,91 m
Freeboard (% = measuring location as a percentage of overall length):
- Stem: 30,50 ft / 9,30 m
- Forecastle (20 %): 26,00 ft / 7,92 m (24,00 ft / 7,32 m aft of break)
- Mid (50 %): 21,50 ft / 6,55 m
- Quarterdeck (15 %): 24,50 ft / 7,47 m (23,00 ft / 7,01 m before break)
- Stern: 24,00 ft / 7,32 m
- Average freeboard: 23,81 ft / 7,26 m

Ship space, strength and comments:
Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 155,1 %
- Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 165,6 %
Waterplane Area: 27 804 Square feet or 2 583 Square metres
Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 92 %
Structure weight / hull surface area: 119 lbs/sq ft or 580 Kg/sq metre
Hull strength (Relative):
- Cross-sectional: 0,92
- Longitudinal: 2,05
- Overall: 1,00
Hull space for machinery, storage, compartmentation is cramped
Room for accommodation and workspaces is excellent
Ship has slow, easy roll, a good, steady gun platform
Excellent seaboat, comfortable, can fire her guns in the heaviest weather

-San Marco-class armored cruisers:
Displacement:
10,224 tons nominal, 11,679 tons full load
Length: 135 meters (443 feet) Beam: 20.4 meters (67 feet) Draught: 7 meters (23 feet)
Machinery:
14x Water-tube boilers, 2-shaft Vertical Triple Expansion steam engines 4,400 ihp
Performance:
Speed: 24.5 knots, 4,800-6,200 nm range at 9 knots
Armor:
Belt: 200mm Belt ends: 100mm Barbettes: 150mm Upper battery and belt: 90mm Deck: 50mm Conning tower: 250mm
Armament:
2x2 254mm/40 RBL, 14x1 150mm/35 RBL, 12x1 47mm/30 QF, 4x 432mm Torpedo tubes (2 per beam)

Initially conceived as second-class battleships before being redesigned and reclassified as armored cruisers, this class of two ships held the distinction of being the largest and most powerfully armed cruisers in the Mediterranean when commissioned. They were developed in response to fears that the financially-constrained Greek navy would attempt to substitute large cruisers for battleships to save money, and as a result were intended to outgun anything the Greeks could build. Both were laid down at the naval basin at Brindisi, to a design by Castellammare di Stabia and outwardly resembled small battleships. Sicilian naval tradition prevailed and a very heavy ram bow was fitted, though it would never be used, and despite being considered less than handsome, the ships were well-liked by their crews as spacious and reliable.
Overall arrangement, particularly in terms of superstructure design, followed the Ferdinando-I class battleships, however reduced to two funnels and a single large pole mast amidships. The cruisers boasted a very heavy secondary battery, again to combat the constant threat of torpedo boats and destroyers. Despite the power of this armament, the bulk of the guns were mounted rather low and could get particularly wet in rough conditions, though this was a rare occurrence in the calmer waters of the Mediterranean. Both were laid down in 1895 and both commissioned in 1897 and 1898, respectively.
San Marco was attached to the 1a Squadra Navale at Naples while San Giorgio joined the 2a Squadra at Brindisi, reinforcing the new battleship Principessa Maria Teresa. Both served relatively quietly for their early lives, with San Giorgio sent to Brazil for four months in 1901 to train Brazilian sailors. When the Great War started in 1914, San Marco was attached to the newly-established 3a Squadra Navale, facing the guns of the Greek fleet in the Aegean. During the battle of November the 15th, San Marco engaged the Greek scout cruiser Bouboulina at medium range, hitting her twice with her main guns and five more times with her secondaries, which crippled the Greek ship. The final hit from her secondary guns caused a massive explosion of her torpedo magazine, and the Greek ship sank stern-first. In return, San Marco took two heavy hits from the Greek battleship Salamis and seven hits from destroyers and Bouboulina. Taking on water, she limped back to Heraklion and was berthed in drydock. Three months later she was back at sea, and captured or sank some 17 Greek merchant vessels from 1915-1916. In early 1917, she was redeployed to the Atlantic theater and engaged by an Anglo-French flotilla of an armored cruiser, a scout cruiser, and three destroyers. She was hammered at long range by superior Entente gunnery, and lost one of her engines. Limping and unable to outrun the enemy, she sank in approximately 350 feet of water just north of Spain, most of her crew escaped and were taken prisoner by the British and French.
San Giorgio, meanwhile, started the war in the western Mediterranean, and joined a joint Sicilian-Spanish fleet operating against the British and French. On May 7th, 1914, she joined a fleet that sailed forth to deter a French attempt to attack the Balearic Islands, a major central powers naval base. Later that year, she provided fire support to Spanish troops during the capture of Gibraltar, essentially forcing the Entente out of the Mediterranean. With the Greeks having capitulated by early 1917, she provided fire support to Central Powers forces capturing Genova, and together with Spanish, Austrian, and Ottoman forces, engaged what was left of the French Mediterranean fleet in September 1917, south of Nice. She was hit four times by the French battlecruiser Beveziers, and limped to occupied Genova where she was patched up before sailing back to Sicily for proper repairs. It took to the end of the war to get her floating again, and she spent the winter of 1919 patrolling off the coast of the newly-formed Socialist Republic of Italy, ensuring safe passage of Sicilian merchant shipping through the waters nominally controlled by the Kingdom’s new Socialist nemesis.
In 1921, she was decommissioned and slated for scrapping, but the Ethiopian government stepped in and offered to buy her. Ethiopia had never had a real naval force or even a coastline, but with their acquisition of French and British-controlled Eritrea as a reward for their siding with the Central Powers and helping achieve victory in Africa, they were scrambling to buy ships. San Giorgio was sold to the Ethiopians and renamed Menelik-II after the former Emperor. Commissioned into the Ethiopian fleet in 1923, she was initially crewed by Sicilian sailors, but eventually enough Ethiopians were trained to operate her, and she sailed for the first time with an all-Ethiopian crew on October 9th, 1924. Despite being quite outdated by this time, she was sent to Sicily to be modernized. She received updated fire control directors, her boiler count was halved and replaced with high-pressure oil-fired units, and her engines were refurbished. She lost a funnel, receiving a single large funnel forward with a tilted cap, two masts, and a revised, French-inspired bridge arrangement, designed by the Ethiopian admiralty committee. The secondary battery and casemates were landed and entirely plated over, with three twin 100-mm mounts in their place, as well as four twin and four single 13.2-mm anti-aircraft machine guns. Torpedo tubes were also landed. For the money they spent, the Ethiopians could probably have built a brand new cruiser, but she was recommissioned into the fleet in 1928, after four years of rebuilding, with a pompous ceremony attended by Sicilian and Ottoman naval officers, and was reclassified as a coast defense ship and training vessel. During the Second World War, Menelik-II headed the Ethiopian fleet in the Red Sea, siding again with the Reichspakt (victorious Central Powers.) She joined the Sicilian 1a Squadra Navale in the Western Mediterranean in 1941, but before she could see any action she was torpedoed twice by a French Commune submarine off Sardinia and sank with the loss of ⅔ of her crew. She was never salvaged. She would later be replaced by another Sicilian-built purchase, and her name was transferred to an ex-German cruiser purchased in 1934.

_________________
Best regards,

RegiaMarina1939

Finally, here is the SPS data.
rbz88 Armored Cruiser, GOC-CN AC Start 1895

Displacement.
6,489 t Light; 6,787 t Standard; 7,484 t Normal; 8,041 t Full Load

Dimensions: Length (Full Length/Waterline Length) x Beam x Draft (Normal/Full Load)
(383.86 ft / 370.73 ft) x 49.21 ft x (26.25 / 27.78 ft)
(117.00 m / 113.00 m) x 15.00 m x (8.00 / 8.47 m)

Armament.
3 - 9.45" / 240 mm 50.0x guns - 446.53 lb / 202.54 kg shells, Qty 110 per gun
Rear mounted gun Turret with gun mounts, Model 1895
1 x single mounted gun at front front of centerline
1 x Common Saddle Twin Guns Rear end of centerline
2 - 8.00" / 203 mm 40.0x guns - 245.35 lbs / 111.29 kg shells, Qty 110 per gun
Rear Mounted Guns Turret with Gun Mounts, Model 1895
2 x single mounted guns amidships on the sides
8 - 3.94" / 100 mm 45.0x guns - 30.77 lbs / 13.96 kg shells, Qty 250 per gun
Rapid-Fire Guns Profile Mounts, Model 1895
8 x Single Mounted Guns Evenly Spaced on the Sides
10 - 1.85" / 47.0 mm 40.0x guns - 3.04 lbs / 1.38 kg shells, Qty 150 per gun
Rapid-fire Guns Deck Mounts, Model 1895
10 x single mounted guns evenly distributed on the sides
Weight, single round, full charge 2,107 lbs / 956 kg

Armor.
- Armor Band: Thickness (max) Length (avg) Height (avg)
Main armor belt: 5.91" / 150 mm 281.76 ft / 85.88 m 8.43 ft / 2.57 m
Bow and Stern Armor: 3.15" / 80 mm 88.94 ft / 27.11 m 8.43 ft / 2.57 m
Main armor belt covers 117% of normal length

- Gun Armor: Frontal (max) Turret Other (average) Seat/Loader (max)
Main battery: 5.91" / 150 mm 5.91" / 150 mm 5.91" / 150 mm
Second battery: 5.91" / 150 mm 5.91" / 150 mm 5.91" / 150 mm

- Multi Armored Decks.
Amidships deck: 1.18" / 30 mm
Foredeck: 1.18" / 30 mm Aft Deck: 1.18" / 30 mm

- Command tower: forward 5.91" / 150 mm, aft 5.91" / 150 mm

Machinery.
Coal-fired boiler, simple reciprocating steam engine, gear-driven, 2 shafts, 2 axes, 2.5" / 1.5" / 1.5 mm
Gear drive, 2 shafts, 11,264 ihp / 8,403 Kw = 19.00 kn
Range 5,500 nautical miles, speed 10.00 kn
Maximum displacement fuel = 1,254 t (100% coal)

Complement.
402 - 523

Cost: 0.713 Million Pounds
0.713 Million Pounds / 2.851 Million Dollars

Weight distribution at normal displacement.
Armament: 545 tons, 7.3 percent
- Guns: 545 tons, 7.3 percent
Armor: 1,515 tons, 20.2 percent
- Main Armor Belt: 663 tons, 8.9%
- Weapons armor: 474 tons, 6.3 percent
- Armored decks: 280 tons, 3.7%
- Command towers: 97 tons, 1.3%
Machinery: 2,086 tons, 27.9 percent
Hull, outfitting and equipment: 2,343 tons, 31.3 percent
Fuel, Ammunition & Supplies: 995 tons, 13.3
Miscellaneous weights: 0 tons, 0.0 percent

Overall Survivability and Seaworthiness.
Survivability (amount of ammunition needed to sink a ship without critical damage).
5,041 lbs / 2,287 Kg = 12.0 x 9.4 " / 240 mm shell or 0.9 torpedo
Stability (unstable if less than 1.00): 1.07
Initial center of gravity 2.0 ft / 0.6 m
Sway Period: 14.8 seconds
Gently - Shooting platform rocking (average level 50 %): 77 %
- Recoil effect (greater than 1.00 then limited range): 0.92
Seaworthiness (average level 1.00): 1.55

Hull Characteristics.
Flat deck hull.
Cratered bow and cruiser transom
Squareness (normal/full load): 0.547 / 0.555
Aspect ratio: 7.53 : 1
Natural speed for ship's length: 19.25 kn
Percentage of rising wave resistance at maximum speed: 47 %
Adjustment(Maximum stability is 0, Smoothest rocking is 100): 50
Bow angle (forward): -37.00 deg.
Stern overhang: 0.00 ft / 0.00 m
Drywall (percentage of waterline length).
Forward end Aft end
- Foredeck: 10.00%, 21.19 ft / 6.46 m, 17.32 ft / 5.28 m
- Midships forward: 38.00%, 17.32 ft / 5.28 m, 13.48 ft / 4.11 m
- Midship aft: 38.00%, 13.48 ft / 4.11 m, 13.48 ft / 4.11 m
- Aft Deck: 14.00%, 13.48 ft / 4.11 m, 13.48 ft / 4.11 m
- Average drydock: 14.75 ft / 4.50 m

Hull Space, Strength and Comments.
Space - underwater hull (magazines / machinery, the lower the better): 114.2
- Waterborne (accommodation and work areas, the higher the better): 86.9
Waterline surface area: 12,697 sq ft/1,180 sq m
Displacement-load factor (displacement/load): 99 percent
Structural weight per hull surface: 119 lbs/ft^2 or 580 Kg/m^2
Hull Strength (relative).
- Transverse: 1.04
- Longitudinal: 2.92
- Overall: 1.15
Crowded machinery, supply, and compartment spaces.
Crowdedness in accommodation and workplaces
Ship has slow, easy roll, a good, steady gun platform
Excellent seaboat, comfortable, can fire her guns in the heaviest weather.

The “Justice” was designed as a radical approach to advance the already radical Jeune École. The Justice class of armored cruisers was to not just be a long-range convoy raider, colonial patrol ship, but to also act as a capital ship.

Inspired from the previous armored cruisers, the Justice class would be longer, wider and heavier. The smaller 194mm guns would be replaced with massive 254mm guns which had been previously used as secondaries on Sieuxerrian battleships. She would have more 138.6mm guns as well as exchanging the previously used 47mm guns for 65mm guns for anti-torpedo boat defenses. Total numbers were two single 254mm guns, sixteen 138.6mm guns, and ten 65mm guns. Along with the guns, there are two 450mm submerged torpedo tubes. The ship has 21,000 ihp from 36 water-tube boilers being propelled by 3 vertical triple-expansion steam engines with as many shafts. This allows the ship to make 21 knots at max reliable speed with 23 knots having been made during shakedown trials. The ship has enough stored coal to go some 10,500nm cruising at 10 knots. Total crew was some 725.

The ship was respectively armored for its time and role. Primary belt armor ranged from 125 to 150mm with the ends at 50mm. Deck armor as an even 50mm and the conning tower armored to 80mm. The 254mm gun turrets featured 100 to 150mm of armor with 150mm protecting the hoists. The 138.6mm guns either had 125mm protecting the casemates or 100mm protecting the open deck turrets. The 65mm guns featured no armor shields.

As with many ships of her time, by the time the first of her class hit the fleet in 1904, she was already looking obsolete compared to new ships being built. In total some 4 ships would be built, Justice, Liberté, Patrie, and Égalité. Serving from 1904 they would manage to survive into the 1920s and later would turned into hulks and barracks ships. Patrie and Égalité would survive even longer, being turned into anti-aircraft, then later artillery platforms and defending Limes during the Pan-Septentrion War. The hulks survived and would later be scrapped in the late 1940s.

- Heracles-class Armoured Cruiser

With the end of the century nearing, it was uncertain if the Greek Navy could ensure naval superiority in the Aegean sea if war broke out with the Ottomans, altough the commisioning of the Hydra class ironclads had somewhat helped, the sheer amount of Ottoman ironclads ment that the 3 ships could be outmatched. To rectify this the Greeks put out a design a design tender for an armoured cruiser that could act as a normal cruiser aswell as having large enough guns to be able to fight any Ottoman ship it encountered. The contract was won by the Société Nouvelle des Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée (FCM) shipyard of La Seyne-sur-Mer in France. It was decided against using French guns as they had no available calibre that matched Greek requirements, coincidentally, The Krupp Works were selling older 9.4" guns originally produced as spares for the Odin and Siegried class for a cheap price, it was decided these guns would arm the ships. To further simplify supply, all the other armament would be German aswell, the 9.4", 4.1" and 1.97" guns all had their shells manufactured by Krupp. Although the calibre for the 9.4" guns was only 35 calibres, it was still well capable of punching through the obsolete armour of the Ottoman ironclads and would be deadly to any cruiser it came across. A contract for 2 ships were placed at the FCM yards, the sisters being named Heracles, after the ancient god Herucles and the second Aléxandros, after Alexander the Great. Overall, the design followed regular French pactice for the time, although the Greek admiralty vehimently kept check on the French desire to change little parts as the ships were constructed, and outright refused the huge rambow featured on previous cruisers such as the Pothuau despite fervent demand from French designers, instead the they would resemble the Jeanne D'Arc quite well.

Heracles was laid down in March 1895, in remarkable buck in the trend for French shipyards, construction kept on schedule and she was launched by May 1897, being christened by Queen Olga. Completion arirved in September 1898. On speed trials the ship achieved a remarkable 24 knots, although this was never done in service. She was commisioned in February 1899 and was by some measures, the most powerful ship in either the Ottoman or Greek navies. She was made flagship of the Greek Fleet. in 1902 she respresented Greece at Edward VII's coronation review in Great Britain. During the Theriso Revolt of 1905 she patrolled the waters of Crete, ensuring no rebel ships could run supplies to the island. In this capacity she captured 2 schooners and a small freight steamer. In 1911 she was replaced as flagship by the new armoured cruiser Averof. As a result she was sent back to France for a small refit, which refurbished the boilers and installed a new fire control director for the main guns. She was back in time to participate in the Balkan Wars, Heracles joined the Aegean Sea Fleet, along with the Averof and the 3 Hydras. During the Battles of Elli and Lemnos, the two cruisers combined fire to heavily damage the ottoman ironclad Mecudiye, which later sank as a result of flooding, poor damage control and poor material condition. WW1 saw the Greek Fleet remain inactive, with Heracles confined to neutrality patrols in the Aegean Sea. In 1916 she was siezed by the French along with the rest of the Greek Fleet, only being returned when the Greeks joined the Entente in 1917. In January 1918 she hit a mine which blew off all how bow 2 feet forward from the fore turret. The ship was repaired at the OTO Livorno yards in Italy, where the opportunity was taken to completely redesign the bow, giving it a much more raked appearance and lengthening the ship by 5 metres. This work was still happening during the Greco-Turkish war of 1919, in combination iwth the need for new trials to test the bow Heracles missed out on the action during this war. As a result of the post-war slump Heracles spent most of the 1920s and early 30s in reserve. She was reactivated in 1933 to provide a counter along with Alexandros and Averof against the battlecruiser Yavuz. She was rebuilt in France from 1934-36, recieving new engines, masts and guns, which returned her to the design speed. The guns were replaced with much more capable although still outdated 40 calibre version of the 9.4" gun. Her superstructure was also somewhat simplified, whilst the deck mounted 4.1" guns were replaced with 6 4.7" DP weapons whilst all the 1.97" were removed and replaced with 4 40mm Bofors and 8 20mm Oerlikons. When Greece was invaded in 1941, Heracles along with Averof escaped to Alexandria. Due to the good condition of her engines, she was assigned to escort convoys in the medditarenean. In May 1942 she was hit by a torpedo from U-374, whilst it didnt sink her Heracles was deemed to obsolete to repair, and spent the rest of the war as an acommodation ship in Alexandria. in 1947 she returned to Greece and was repurposed as a stationary training ship. This lasted her a few more years before she was finally scrapped in 1954, with her crest and nameplate being preserved aboard the Averof.

Alexandros, the second sister did not have the short construction of her sister. Issues with the armour plate and cracking on 3 of the Krupp guns meant although she was laid down only a month after Heracles, she wasnt Launched until March 1898 and was completed in March 1901, commisoning in August 1902. As a result her design was changed. Main guns would be the newer 40 calibre 9.4" gun and the number of 1.97" would be cut down to 10, being offset by the addition of 4 more 4.1" guns amidships. Lack of funds meant that she spent most of her early career on training cruises and in reserve. During the Balkan Wars she was made the flagship of the Ionian Sea Fleet, the much smaller and lesser known counterpart to the Aegean Sea Fleet. In this time Alexandros patrolled the Ionian, sinking 13 Ottoman merchants - 3 schooners, 9 small steamers and one large passenger liner turned blockade runner. Her moment of glory came in the Battle off Gavdos in 1913, in which she engaged the two Peyk-i Şevket torpedo cruisers. Alexandros took 3 inconsequential 4.1" hits to her armour belt but in return forced Peyk-i Şevket to flee with heavy damage whilst it focused Berk-i Satvet The latter ship sank 3 miles off Gavdos in roguhly 350 feet of water. Her WW1 career reflected that of Heracles. However, unlike that ship she joined Averof in the Greco-Turkish war where she supported troop landings in Eastern Thrace, bombarded the Turkish Black Sea coastline, and helped to evacuate refugees after the Greek Army's defeat. Due to her reduced use in her early career, unlike Heracles she was kept in commision alongside Averof in the interwar period, although she only recieved minimal upgrades in comparison to Heracles. Her wartime service could barely be considered active. When Germany invaded in 1941, she was bombed and sunk at Anchor along with the battleships Kilkis and Lemnos on 23rd April, some of her guns were removed for use by the Germans and the remaining wreck would be broken up post war.

Heracles Specification as built:

Displacement:
9,631 t light; 9,976 t standard; 10,805 t normal; 11,469 t full load

Dimensions: Length x Beam x Draught
153.2 m / 18.2 m / 6.7 m
502.6 ft / 60 ft / 21.9 ft
Length to Beam : 8.41/1

Arnament:
4 - 24 cm/35 (9.4") Krupp SK L/35 housed in 4 turrets. 70 spg
10 - 10.5 cm/40 (4.1") SK L/40 housed in 6 turrets and 4 casemates. 150 spg
16 - 5 cm/40 (1.97") SK L/40 housed in 16 open mounts. 260 spg
2 - 45 cm (17.7") C45/91S submerged torpedo tubes. 3 sets
- Weight of Broadside: 2,492 lbs / 1,130 kg
- Total weight of arnament: 406 t

Arnour:
Main Belt: 5.5", 301 feet
Extended Belt: 3.5", 200 feet
Deck: 3"
Extended Deck: 1.5"
Conning Tower: 6"
Turret Face: 8"
Turret: 3"
- Total weight of armour: 2,357 tibs

Machinery
-38 Guyot-du Temple coal fired boilers
-2 four-cylinder vertical triple-expansion steam engines
Output: 26,007 shp / 19,401 kw = 23.1 kts / 26.6 mph
-2 shafts, one 4 blade propellor each
Range: 4,200 nm @ 10 kts / 11.5 mph

Survivability
Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.52
Metacentric Height: 1.43m / 4.72 ft
Steadiness as a gun platform, average = 50%: 81%
- Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.25
Seakeeping (average - 1.00): 1.62

Complement:
662 / 684 when flagship

Cost in 1898:
£1.004 million / $ 4.015 million (£107,392,124 million / $149,192,078 million today)

General Comments
-Cramped mahcinery, storage and compartmentation space
-Excellent accomodation and workspace room
-Design is well balanced for a cruiser

Hello everyone!

For a WW I challenge, I'll always come out of retirement. It's a complete redo of the ship's entry in the Thiariaverse thread; her particulars have been adapted to fit the new exterior.

LT Urgharda



Laid down in 1903 and 1904, LT Cuiteamh and Urgharda were Thiaria's second of three duos of armoured cruisers. They were - obviously - influenced by current French designs, particularly the Léon Gambetta type, but in many ways adapted to Thiaria's needs. Their armour scheme was similar, but stronger throughout, and their main armament had the same caliber, with twice as many barrels and half again the broadside. The secondary battery however was of smaller caliber and only half as strong in numbers. Compared with the ten newest British armoured cruisers, they were rather lightly armed, but with a broadside of six 195mm pieces and their high speed, the Cuiteamhs could overpower any of the 26 older ones from beyond the range of their 152mm batteries. Cuiteamh and Urgharda were considerably longer and higher-powered than the Gambettas, to secure a top speed of 24 knots, and their long, high forecastles were optimized for seakeeping. They were completed in July 1909 and November 1908, respectively; Urgharda's construction needed a year and a half less than her sister's. Neither was fully worked up in time for the war against Brazil of 1908, but both were very active in the First World War and acquired a reputation as a lucky pair. Both survived the war and were retained in Thiaria's postwar fleet; they served till the first real heavy cruisers were commissioned in the early 1930s. Unlike the older Muirbhreid, which was retained as a training ship till the early 1950s, they were scrapped before the Second World War.

Particulars:

Displacement 14,050 ts
Length 155.90 m overall
Beam 21.50 m
Draught 8.40 m
Propulsion 3 vertical triple expansion steam engines, 28 Llanhaudh (Belleville-Type) boilers, 40,000 ihp
Speed 24 knots
Capacity 2,400 tonnes of coal
Complement 714
Armament
8 × 195 mm (7.6 in)/45 guns in four twin turrets
8 × 140 mm (5.5 in)/45 guns in four twin turrets
16 × 65 mm (2.5 in)/45 guns in single mountings
2 × 450 mm (17.7 in) submerged torpedo tubes
Armour
Belt: 165 mm amidships, 80mm fore and aft, 100mm upper belt
Deck: 40mm amidships, 25mm fore and aft
195 mm turrets: 195mm front, 165mm side and rear, 195mm barbette
140 mm turrets: 165mm front, 140mm side and rear, 140mm barbette
Conning tower: 240mm

Cheers
GD

Imperial Cruiser, 1st Class
Pokalde Type
4th Heavy Recon Squadron
Pokalde

Seen in her fit at the Naval Battle of Celestopoli, 5C 18




Specifications:

Displacement: 15,900 tons normal, 18,200 tons full

Length: 516 ft
Beam: 75 ft
Draft: 28 ft

Armament:

Main Battery: 12x 234mm/50 BL in 6 twin turrets
Secondary Battery: 16x 122mm/45 QF in 16 single casemates
Tertiary Battery: 4x 77mm/45 HA in 4 single mounts
Torpedoes: 2x 21” Underwater Side Tubes

Armor:

Belt: 150mm Main, 80mm Ends, 110mm Upper
Turrets: 140mm Turret Faces, 50mm Turret Roofs, 140mm Barbettes, 110mm Casemate Faces
Deck: 50mm Main Deck Flats, 70mm Main Deck Slopes, 30mm End Deck

Propulsion:

Speed: 23 knots
Machinery: 18x Banahatti-Malviya Coal Fired Boilers, 6x Oil Fired Boilers, 2x VTE Reciprocating Steam Engines
Power: 34,500 SHP
Range: 5700 nm @ 10 knots

Ships in Class:

Pokalde
Gokyo
Hiunculi
Inura

During the 4th year of the 5th Century, the Huri Empire laid down its first class of all-big gun battleships. The same budget also approved the construction of four new armored cruisers, and it was decided that they would share the uniform main battery and six turret hexagonal layout of the upcoming dreadnoughts.

The resulting ships were a curious mixture of old and new. The Mirza Ironworks designed a brand new turret for the twin 234mm high velocity guns, based on their experience with the Vaikar class battleships two years prior. The style of funnels and superstructure were more reminiscent of those older ships, which would prove to be fitting as the entire concept of an armored cruiser was soon relegated to the dustbin of pre-dreadnought ship classification.

Shortly after being launched in the 6th Year of the 5th Century, Huri intelligence discovered Regian plans to lay down fast capital ships in the following fiscal year, heralding the arrival of the battlecruiser era. The Pokalde class cruisers would be obsolete before they entered service, enjoying only a few short months from their commissioning at the end of the 8th Year to the arrival in service of the Regian battlecruisers during the 9th. Later that same year, the rapidly formulated Huri response, their own class of battlecruisers, was commissioned, and the Pokaldes were now second class in their own Navy.

Such a turn of fortune did not end their careers prematurely, however. The Pokaldes were extremely active during the Great War, the four ships together organized into the 4th Heavy Recon Squadron. Under the leadership of Commodore Felicius Sainju, the flotilla gained a reputation as miraculously lucky, being one of the only large units to suffer no ships lost during the otherwise disastrous Regian Campaign of the 18th and 19th years. They fought with distinction at the Battle of Celestopoli, covered landings at Liofka, Kozanthi and many others. During patrols in the Arctic Ocean, they captured an Astarian destroyer on the high seas and sank a Soiran raider.

The surrender to Regia Nautica dramatically reduced the Huri Navy in size, but the Pokalde class were allowed to be retained under the terms. After the surrender treaty expired in the 30th Year of the 5th Century, the Huri were accepted into the wider arms limitation system imposed by Regia Nautica after the Great War. Initially, they wanted to replace the Pokalde class cruisers with new built ships of equal displacement and firepower, which would far exceed the 10,000 ton, 8” gun limits set on all new cruiser construction by the revised treaty. To build such ships would require some sort of special clause or exemption, which Regia Nautica was not willing to give. However, to compromise and ease Huri concerns, the signatory powers agreed to let the Huri retain the Pokalde class in a special status where they would neither be held in violation of the cruiser limits nor count towards capital ship tonnage totals.

It was in this legal limbo that the ships got a new lease on life. Their 234mm main rifles far outclassed anything that could be put on a legally built new cruiser, and so the ships were radically rebuilt to make the most of this unique firepower. The badly worn out engines and coal-fired boilers were stripped out and replaced with new oil fired machinery, which could push the ships to 28 knots. Most of the deck armor was replaced and reinforced in this process since it had to come off anyways to make the re-engine possible.

The guns were modified to have a full 45 degrees of elevation, which gave them an astonishing 35 kilometer range with supercharges, and about 29 kilometers without. Supporting this incredible range was modern fire control atop a brand new superstructure. All the casemates were stripped out and plated over, and twelve 107mm anti-aircraft guns were mounted along with several 45mm semi-automatic light AA weapons. A new, more hydrodynamic bow completed their sleek, modern appearance in this new fit.

The Pokalde class would go on to serve with distinction again, this time in the Huri intervention in the Tethyssian Civil War, and in the combined allied efforts against the Astarian invasion of Vesznia. Two ships of the class, Pokalde herself and the Hiunculi, were lost to enemy gunfire and air attack, respectively. In the 51st Year of the 5th Century, the two survivors were finally removed from the active fleet and placed into reserve, performing as training ships for some time longer. Due to their prestige, they were only retired in the 58th year, with each vessel’s 50th birthday marking the end of their long and illustrious careers.

Gokyo was scrapped shortly thereafter, but Inura was spared the breakers torch and made a memorial as the longest serving cruiser in the Huri Navy’s history. She now rests at the waterfront in Gaitara, watched over by generations of prize ships at the Cairn of Sailors.