Shipbucket

Exactly, having fun is the most important part of a hobby. When I want to get 'real' then I draw real life ships. Playing with Alternate Realities is only real enough to give me the chance of drawing ships different to real life. If I have to dot every 'i' and cross every 't' for the backstory then I will spend more time writing than drawing. I would rather draw.

You can see from the battleship class below why I want to continue to use the 'Pyramid' feature on the earlier warships. It does suit the later classes of ships while I may have to have a rethink on how I use it on the earlier classes.


Cuntinsuya Class Battleships.


Like most countries, the demise of the various Treaties in 1935 made it possible for the Incan Navy to lay down its first 35,000 ton battleships. A class of four was laid down, one per year, 1936, 1937, 1938 and 1939. This gave completion dates from late 1940 to late 1942. The design was a conventional layout with three triple 15" turrets, two forward and one aft. A dual purpose armament of 130mm/5.1" in twin turrets was fitted to save weight. Armour was to be as thick as possible within the limits set, and this amounted to a 14" strake of belt armour with a very useful 7" of deck armour. Propulsion for a speed of 30 knots was fitted. Four aicraft with two catapults were fitted in the center of the ship around the funnel. The AA battery featured a new triple 40mm mounting while the light AA was made up of the 20mm Oerlikon in twin and single mountings. All in all a well balanced class of battleships well able to take on any other of the Treaty battleships completed.

Displacement: 38,000 tons standard, 47,750 tons full load.
Dimensions: 790 x 108 x 30 feet
Machinery: 4 shaft, geared turbines,150,000shp
Speed: 30 knots
Endurance: 14,000 miles at 15 knots.
Armour: 14" belt, 7" deck, 13/9/6" turrets, 6" tower.
Armament:
9 x 15" (3x3)
18 x 5.1" (9x2)
24 x 40mm (8x3)
34 x 20mm (8x2, 18x1)
Aircraft: 4
Crew: 2700





Cuntinsuya (11/1940) Service/Fate:

Huascasuya (04/1941) Service/Fate:

Amazonisuya (03/1942) Service/Fate:

Yupanqui (09/1942) Service/Fate:

I greatly appreciate your unique structure shapes. Anything unique but realistic gets my thumbs up.

I like the looks of that design. The pyramid works well with more modern forms.

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Hood's Worklist
English Electric Canberra FD
Interwar RN Capital Ships
Super-Darings
Never-Were British Aircraft

Love the looks of this one,what with the pyramid of the bridge structure and pyramidal looking secondaries!

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Thank you Kim for the crest

"Never fear to try on something new. Remember that the Titanic was built by professionals, and the Ark by an amateur"

Quitosuyu Class Battleship.

The Quitosuyu class followed the layout of the German Brandenburg class battleships with a central 'Q' turret. But where the Brandenburg's had different calibres between the A/B and Q turrets the Quitosuyu's had one calibre only. While the extra turret gave it a 50% increase in firepower it was never in consideration for the first 'all big gun' battleship nomination. The Incan capital ships (indeed all the 'Pyramid' ships) needed to be slightly longer and wider to preserve stability that would otherwise be compromised by the Pyramid addition.



The four ships of the Quitosuyu class made a favourable impression overseas, and because of the First World War, served over 20 years in the Incan Navy. At 16,000 tons displacement they were some of the largest warships yet built. 460 feet long was average, but the breadth of 82 feet was more than most. The boiler rooms were all forward between the A to Q barbettes, while the engine room was situated under the aft superstructure. The triple expansion machinery produced 18,000hp through four shafts for 18 knots maximum speed. Armed with six by twelve inch main guns in three twin turrets, the layout proved successful in action. Secondary weaponry was made up of eight single six inch guns mounted in casemates, and like most navies found that the casemates suffered severely from any sort of seaway washing out the working areas. Anti-torpedo boat guns of 100mm were fitted with four in the forward superstructure and one each on the A and Y 12" turrets. Unlike a lot of their competitors the Quitosuyu class had no submerged torpedoes and had no torpedoes at all fitted.

IS Quitosuyu (1898) Service/Fate:

IS Nazcasuyu (1898) Service/Fate:

IS Tumbesuyu (1899) Service/Fate:

IS Amazonisuyu (1900) Service/Fate:

The Quitosuyu's are beautiful!

Thanks to all for your kind comments on the previous designs.

Belem Class Armoured Cruisers.


The previous Quitosuyu class ships highlighted the problem the Incan Empire had. A very long coast line on both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts and not enough ships of size to be able to patrol the sea lanes. What was required was ships large enough to be able to intercept any potential merchant raiders and defeat them. The Incan Empires old enemies, the Spanish and French, were building large cruisers as commerce raiders and those were the ships the Incan ships were built to defeat.



Like a lot of cruisers of the time the Belem Class were longer but narrower than the battleships of the Quitosuyu type. At 477 feet long by 70 feet wide they were big ships. A displacement of 13,250 tons was not much less than the Quitosuyus 16,000 tons. The difference was that much more of the hull was devoted to the propulsion system, the triple expansion engines producing 25,000hp through two shafts for a maximum speed of 24 knots. Protection was also sublimated to speed with only a 5.5" main belt and 2" of deck armour. The armament was the largest that could be fitted and for cruisers that were to face the French 7.6", British 9.2", German 8.2", the four 10" (254mm) in two twin turrets gave the Belem class a decided edge. The secondary armament of twelve 6" in casemates was not to be sneezed at either. Eight anti-torpedo boat guns of 100mm were also fitted.

Ten units of the class were completed between 1902 and 1905 and it was not till 1906-07 that the Incans next capital ships were built.

(I will make up some appropriate names soon.)

Love your Armored Cruiser!

Collasuyu Class Battleships:


The Great Debate. The Dreadnought had truly thrown the cat among the pigeons. All of the prior pre-Dreadnought battleships cut a sorry figure compared to the ship that gave its name to a whole new class of ship. But the Dreadnought had flaws. While armed with ten guns only eight could fire per broadside. This flaw was kept through the next two classes with the flaw not really fixed till the advent of the 13.5" Super-Dreadnoughts. The Germans were even worse with twelve guns being carried for an eight gun broadside. Those navies that carried their main weapons only on the centreline, the US and Italy, had a decided advantage. The debate for the Incan designers was whether to follow the British example or make an advanced Quitosuyu class. The Quitosuyu class had had its own flaws with too low a freeboard which compromised their use in bad weather. The Incans eventually plumped for the advanced Quitosuyu. Easier to fix the flaws they knew about than trying to fix somebody elses.



At 536 feet long with an 88 foot breadth, they were only just bigger dimensions than the Dreadnought. With a displacement of 22,500 tons the extra displacement saved by only having four twin 12" turrets to the Dreadnoughts five allowed for a much increased armour scheme. Where the Dreadnought had an 11" belt of armour the Colasuyu's had a 13" belt and a 3.5" deck compared to the 2" deck of the Dreadnought. The Collasuyu class had followed the Dreadnoughts lead with being fitted with turbines for 25,000 shaft horsepower through four shafts for a speed of 22 knots. A range of 8000 miles at 10 knots was expected.

The four ships of the class were completed in 1909-10 by which time the British had already completed seven of the Dreadnought layout ships and the next three Neptune/Colossus type were completed the following year while the Incan Navy were still deciding what was to be there next class design.

IS Collasuyu (1909) Service/Fate

IS Chinchansuyu (1909) Service/Fate

IS Antisuyu (1910) Service/Fate

IS Parasuyu (1910) Service/Fate