Muscatatuck, might I ask where your Muscatatuck-class dreadnought would be operating when breaking ice? When I drew an icebreaker for Salide,
I was told by Golly that a bow-propeller is only really used in the Baltic Sea. So, unless your dreadnought operates in that area, then there's no need for a bow prop.
That's strange as USCGC Mackinaw WAGB-83 uses a bow prop, although I will admit I have no clue what the uses would be other than maybe cavitate the water under the ice?
Once I get all of my AU sorted out and open the thread it'll be sorta like the Scandinavia peninsula off of Antarctica so there would be a body of water similar to the Baltic, but that the bow prop is by coincidence as I had no clue it was a Baltic thing.
Edit to ad this: From what I can collect from Golly's post only smaller bodies that don't allow ridge is the bow prop useful,so it could be useful in the AU then.
Actually, yes. I didn't read on further and Rodondo makes a good point here:
Golly's right, bow props is a Baltic thing and rather limited to where the ice is not built up, hence it would be handy in large lakes, seas with no permanent ice cover. Propellers would have a hard time shifting oceanic ice which can be many years old, especially in the Arctic which can be a few meters thick and rather immense
So yes, a bow prop would be useful in lakes as well when it does not have permanent ice cover. Sorry for the confusion.
No, I'm actually glad you brought it up as I never would have bothered to really look into it