Shipbucket

Hey all,

Re-working (yet again) Sierans first proper carrier and I've come up with the issue of trying to determine the size and height of the hangar needed, considering that this will overall determine the size of the hull needed and in turn the flight deck space available. Due to the northerly location, a deck park is not practical so the entire air wing has to be able to fit in the hangars.

At the moment I'm thinking the air wing to be about 30 aircraft or so, 12 fighters and 18 bombers (of which 9 bombers are dive bombers and the other 9 torpedo bombers, all the TB-31). The naval versions of the aircraft have wings that fold back and rotate 90 degrees to lay on the fuselage side so that reduces the height required somewhat. The fighters are roughly the same size as an F4U and the bombers about the size of the Fairey Fulmar.

Anyone able to suggest approximate hangar size? Preferably single deck to keep the height above water down.

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"The first rule is not to lose; The second rule is not to forget the first rule"

Well as you alluded to, your total air wing will determine the floor area of your hangar. As for actual deck height - it's not like with a normal deck that pretty much has a set height that's practical for a person to be in. That's going to be determined not only by the size of your aircraft, but the size needed to crawl around them as well. Fun fact: US WWII carriers had decks tall enough to actually hang aircraft from the ceiling:

Thanks for that interesting photo. Might do something similar to allow for stowage of parts or whatnot (as some of the airwing will be stored disassembled and held as reserves/spares meaning a need for an overhead system of derricks and hoists.

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"The first rule is not to lose; The second rule is not to forget the first rule"

That was the same idea in the photo above. You'll note those planes don't have wings.

Well it makes sense to free up the working deck area for the operational aircraft. Any ideas what the RN and IJN used for hangar layouts? I've found pics of the Hoshos hangar but not much else.

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"The first rule is not to lose; The second rule is not to forget the first rule"

RN set a limit on clear hangar height of 17ft 6 inches for its fleet carriers such as HMS Ark Royal and HMS Illustrious. The HMS Illustrious was good for 36 aircraft, all in the hangar which was under the armored deck. HMS Ark Royal had two hangars, and was not armored. From these two examples you can get the picture of the size of ship involved.

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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"

Alright. Sieran doesn't use the armoured carrier idea so that will save on some displacement and possibly size. The sole reason for needing full internal storage is because of the storms that often occur in the North Pacific and Bering Strait; not great weather for storing aircraft outside exposed!

Looks like I might then go for an enclosed Ark Royal style layout. Anybody know how the Bearn handled its hangars? I'm pretty sure it too was intended for full internal storage originally but information on it is all in French which I can't read and google translate is awful.

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"The first rule is not to lose; The second rule is not to forget the first rule"

French navy was, like Great Britain using the hangar for both storage and maintenance. The carrier Bearn was good for around 40 airplanes as designed, and this number was considered for the air-group of the Joffre as designed (and laid down but not built 15 fighters and 25 bombers)

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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"

Alright I'll keep those in mine. Something the size of the Bearn would be most appropriate for Sieran though an entirely new hull form is needed to overcome the pitiful 21 knots the Bearn was capable of due to her ancestry as a battleship.

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"The first rule is not to lose; The second rule is not to forget the first rule"

For a size like what you're describing, I'd go with something like my Lonfkom, which has and airwing of 36.

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"If people never did silly things nothing intelligent would ever get done." ~Ludwig Wittgenstein