Republic of Texas

Redhorse

Posted: October 28th, 2012, 12:58 am

Posts: 499
Joined: July 27th, 2010, 2:19 am

In 1923, just after the Nueces class were laid down, the Naval Staff issued a requirement to replace the three Leon Class light cruisers. The Leons were too small to adapt to the changes in strategy and could not be rebuilt for floatplane handling or centralized fire control. The Staff was also critical of the lack of deck space in the Nueces class, considering them cramped and having 'limited potential for future growth'.

The result, after two major revisions, was the Pecos class. They exceeded Texan shipbuilding capacity in terms of tonnage, and Gray's Iron Works had not finished expanding their slipways to take on 10,000 ton vessels. Therefore they were built in the United States and completed in Texas. Pecos, Pedernales, and Red River all took to the seas in the same year.

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Their decks were far more spacious than their predecessors, but American Naval officers were critical of the lack of hangars to protect the airplanes from the elements, and suggested adding a second fire control platform aft. These notes were quietly recorded for future designs (in 1926 most likely for a class of heavy cruiser). Also, even though they were protected by 3 feet of torpedo bulkhead along their vitalspace, several members of the Staff worried that her non-vital areas, if penetrated sufficiently, could force her down by the bow or stern. They felt the Nueces was better protected from torpedo damage.

They were the first ships designed for turbo-electric propulsion. Texan Naval Officers were impressed with the compartmentation and efficiency of American powerplants and felt their use would provide great advantages in survivability. Like American ships, the boilers were outboard of the turbo-generators, and in combat the boilers on the fighting side could be shut down to increase survivability of the powerplant.

What was probably most imposing to Texans was their size - at 450' on the waterline they were longer than the Campeche class heavy cruisers, and only 100' shorter than the battleships. In their early years, because of their dimensions, they were often mistaken for heavy cruisers when coming in and out of Galveston Harbor or the new Houston Naval Yard Annex.

Displacement:
6,370 t light; 6,593 t standard; 7,071 t normal; 7,454 t full load

Dimensions: Length (overall / waterline) x beam x draught (normal/deep)
(467.51 ft / 450.00 ft) x 50.00 ft x (20.00 / 20.85 ft)
(142.50 m / 137.16 m) x 15.24 m x (6.10 / 6.36 m)

Armament:
8 - 6.00" / 152 mm 53.0 cal guns - 115.76lbs / 52.51kg shells, 150 per gun
Breech loading guns in turret on barbette mounts, 1923 Model
4 x 2-gun mounts on centreline ends, evenly spread
2 raised mounts - superfiring
4 - 3.00" / 76.2 mm 50.0 cal guns - 14.29lbs / 6.48kg shells, 150 per gun
Anti-air guns in deck mounts, 1923 Model
4 x Single mounts on sides, evenly spread
Weight of broadside 983 lbs / 446 kg
Main Torpedoes
6 - 21.0" / 533 mm, 20.00 ft / 6.10 m torpedoes - 1.319 t each, 7.913 t total
In 2 sets of deck mounted side rotating tubes
6 deck mounted reloads

Armour:
- Belts: Width (max) Length (avg) Height (avg)
Main: 6.00" / 152 mm 292.50 ft / 89.15 m 8.49 ft / 2.59 m
Ends: Unarmoured
Main Belt covers 100 % of normal length

- Torpedo Bulkhead - Strengthened structural bulkheads:
1.00" / 25 mm 292.50 ft / 89.15 m 18.36 ft / 5.60 m
Beam between torpedo bulkheads 44.00 ft / 13.41 m

- Gun armour: Face (max) Other gunhouse (avg) Barbette/hoist (max)
Main: 6.00" / 152 mm 2.00" / 51 mm 6.00" / 152 mm

- Box over machinery & magazines:
2.00" / 51 mm

- Conning towers: Forward 6.00" / 152 mm

Machinery:
Oil fired boilers, steam turbines,
Electric motors, 3 shafts, 39,813 shp / 29,701 Kw = 27.00 kts
Range 7,000nm at 12.00 kts
Bunker at max displacement = 861 tons

Complement:
385 - 501

Cost:
£1.585 million / $6.340 million

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
9,973 lbs / 4,524 Kg = 92.3 x 6.0 " / 152 mm shells or 2.0 torpedoes
Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.02
Metacentric height 1.8 ft / 0.6 m
Roll period: 15.5 seconds
Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 51 %
- Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.52
Seaboat quality (Average = 1.00): 1.12

Hull form characteristics:
Hull has a flush deck,
a straight bow and a cruiser stern
Block coefficient (normal/deep): 0.550 / 0.556
Length to Beam Ratio: 9.00 : 1
'Natural speed' for length: 21.21 kts
Power going to wave formation at top speed: 58 %

Ship space, strength and comments:
Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 84.9 %
- Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 129.8 %
Waterplane Area: 15,703 Square feet or 1,459 Square metres
Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 144 %
Structure weight / hull surface area: 141 lbs/sq ft or 688 Kg/sq metre
Hull strength (Relative):
- Cross-sectional: 1.49
- Longitudinal: 3.06
- Overall: 1.61
Adequate machinery, storage, compartmentation space
Excellent accommodation and workspace room

_________________
Redhorse

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