Visual Peek: 80 years of med-size light cruiser development

[williammiller]

Thanks to John Smith, our superb ship and graphics designer, I present a "visual peek" at 80 years of medium-size light cruiser development in RTW3 (click on the image to view it full-sized):

Attachments:

[axe99]

They look wonderful - thanks for posting, and to John Smith for their work

[zederfflinger]

They do look very nice, although a little lacking in speed on the later models. Just sayin.

[dia]

I'm really looking forward to the new ship graphics. It was very much needed. Those turrets look great. And are those turreted torpedo launchers I see on CL4X1?

[jwsmith26]

Thanks for the comments, guys.

The armor on the turreted torpedo launchers is a visual enhancement only, it has no effect in the game.

Speed is always a tradeoff. But realize that these designs aren't immutable. If you prefer more speed, it's quite easy to request the design and then increase the speed in your own version of the design. You just have to decide what you want to give up for it. Alternately, it's also easy to add displacement after you've requested the design, so you can go that route to gain room for more speed. Most of the visuals are pretty forgiving if the ship grows larger or shrinks.

[maxnacemit]

Triple SSM launchers raise the question whether we will be able to replicate Kyndas, with 2x4 SSMs...

[dia]

Is there a way to change the turret style? I see that the DP 5" turrets on CL8 look different than the ones on CL7. Or is that just because of turret armor vs no armor?

[oldpop2000]

Thought I would create a real design for the first picture. I was guessing at the date and nation.

CL9x2, usa light cruiser laid down 1895



Displacement:

5,655 t light; 5,922 t standard; 6,630 t normal; 7,197 t full load



Dimensions: Length (overall / waterline) x beam x draught (normal/deep)

(357.46 ft / 350.00 ft) x 52.00 ft x (25.00 / 26.62 ft)

(108.95 m / 106.68 m) x 15.85 m x (7.62 / 8.11 m)



Armament:

2 - 8.00" / 203 mm 45.0 cal guns - 258.18lbs / 117.11kg shells, 150 per gun

Breech loading guns in turret on barbette mounts, 1895 Model

2 x Single mounts on centreline ends, evenly spread

10 - 6.00" / 152 mm 45.0 cal guns - 108.92lbs / 49.41kg shells, 150 per gun

Breech loading guns in deck and hoist mounts, 1895 Model

10 x Single mounts on sides, evenly spread

Weight of broadside 1,606 lbs / 728 kg



Armour:

- Belts: Width (max) Length (avg) Height (avg)

Main: 2.50" / 64 mm 227.50 ft / 69.34 m 8.49 ft / 2.59 m

Ends: 1.00" / 25 mm 122.48 ft / 37.33 m 8.49 ft / 2.59 m

Upper: 1.00" / 25 mm 227.50 ft / 69.34 m 8.00 ft / 2.44 m

Main Belt covers 100 % of normal length

Main belt does not fully cover magazines and engineering spaces



- Gun armour: Face (max) Other gunhouse (avg) Barbette/hoist (max)

Main: 1.00" / 25 mm 1.00" / 25 mm 1.00" / 25 mm



- Armoured deck - single deck:

For and Aft decks: 1.00" / 25 mm

Forecastle: 1.00" / 25 mm Quarter deck: 1.00" / 25 mm



- Conning towers: Forward 1.00" / 25 mm, Aft 1.00" / 25 mm



Machinery:

Coal fired boilers, complex reciprocating steam engines,

Direct drive, 2 shafts, 15,765 ihp / 11,760 Kw = 21.00 kts

Range 4,000nm at 12.00 kts

Bunker at max displacement = 1,275 tons (100% coal)



Complement:

366 - 477



Cost:

£0.723 million / $2.893 million



Distribution of weights at normal displacement:

Armament: 434 tons, 6.5 %

- Guns: 434 tons, 6.5 %

Armour: 605 tons, 9.1 %

- Belts: 324 tons, 4.9 %

- Armament: 37 tons, 0.6 %

- Armour Deck: 228 tons, 3.4 %

- Conning Towers: 15 tons, 0.2 %

Machinery: 2,672 tons, 40.3 %

Hull, fittings & equipment: 1,944 tons, 29.3 %

Fuel, ammunition & stores: 975 tons, 14.7 %

Miscellaneous weights: 0 tons, 0.0 %



Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:

Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):

3,455 lbs / 1,567 Kg = 13.5 x 8.0 " / 203 mm shells or 0.7 torpedoes

Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.32

Metacentric height 3.1 ft / 0.9 m

Roll period: 12.5 seconds

Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 98 %

- Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.88

Seaboat quality (Average = 1.00): 2.00



Hull form characteristics:

Hull has a flush deck,

a normal bow and a cruiser stern

Block coefficient (normal/deep): 0.510 / 0.520

Length to Beam Ratio: 6.73 : 1

'Natural speed' for length: 18.71 kts

Power going to wave formation at top speed: 54 %

Trim (Max stability = 0, Max steadiness = 100): 49

Bow angle (Positive = bow angles forward): 20.00 degrees

Stern overhang: 0.00 ft / 0.00 m

Freeboard (% = length of deck as a percentage of waterline length):

Fore end, Aft end

- Forecastle: 20.00 %, 20.50 ft / 6.25 m, 20.50 ft / 6.25 m

- Forward deck: 30.00 %, 20.50 ft / 6.25 m, 20.50 ft / 6.25 m

- Aft deck: 35.00 %, 20.50 ft / 6.25 m, 20.50 ft / 6.25 m

- Quarter deck: 15.00 %, 20.50 ft / 6.25 m, 20.50 ft / 6.25 m

- Average freeboard: 20.50 ft / 6.25 m

Ship tends to be wet forward



Ship space, strength and comments:

Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 151.4 %

- Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 130.6 %

Waterplane Area: 12,238 Square feet or 1,137 Square metres

Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 90 %

Structure weight / hull surface area: 92 lbs/sq ft or 450 Kg/sq metre

Hull strength (Relative):

- Cross-sectional: 0.84

- Longitudinal: 4.75

- Overall: 1.00

Cramped machinery, storage, compartmentation space

Excellent accommodation and workspace room

Ship has slow, easy roll, a good, steady gun platform

Excellent seaboat, comfortable, can fire her guns in the heaviest weather

[cwemyss]

Those look fabulous!! What are the white triangles at the waist?

[srndacful]

Dec 11, 2022 18:34:43 GMT -6 oldpop2000 said:

Thought I would create a real design for the first picture. I was guessing at the date and nation.

CL9x2, usa light cruiser laid down 1930



Armament:

6 - 10.00" / 254 mm 45.0 cal guns - 504.26lbs / 228.73kg shells, 150 per gun

Breech loading guns in turret on barbette mounts, 1930 Model

6 x Single mounts on sides, evenly spread

2 - 8.00" / 203 mm 45.0 cal guns - 258.18lbs / 117.11kg shells, 1quick 50 per gun

Breech loading guns in turret on barbette mounts, 1930 Model

2 x Single mounts on centreline, evenly spread

Weight of broadside 3,542 lbs / 1,607 kg

I'm sorry to have to break it to you, oldpop2000, but it looks like whoever made that clip also made a tiny mistake in description: 

If you look more closely, you can actually see two more pairs of secondary guns in fore & aft wing positions - unless, of course, I'm mistaken and those are actually tertiary battery guns.
Also, I've never heard of secondary guns being heavier than primary. 
So, for me, it's not 6 - 10" guns - it's 10 - 6" guns. 

Still, we got some very nice visuals for the game, so - I wasn't inclined to complain.
(Thanks, jwsmith26 - I might actually pay to ship's aesthetics this time around *thumbs up*) 

Also, quick question: does anyone really bother with this (i.e. 5-6000 tons) kind of CL's beyond 1920's or so? And, if so, why?
For me, at about that time, BB's and DD's have already grown 3 sizes - so, it's only natural for CL's to also move on to bigger things - like CA's, for example. And, since they're already terrible at colonial duties, the job can be taken over by cheaper AV's.

[oldpop2000]

Dec 11, 2022 23:44:08 GMT -6 srndacful said:

Dec 11, 2022 18:34:43 GMT -6 oldpop2000 said:

Thought I would create a real design for the first picture. I was guessing at the date and nation.

CL9x2, usa light cruiser laid down 1930



Armament:

6 - 10.00" / 254 mm 45.0 cal guns - 504.26lbs / 228.73kg shells, 150 per gun

Breech loading guns in turret on barbette mounts, 1930 Model

6 x Single mounts on sides, evenly spread

2 - 8.00" / 203 mm 45.0 cal guns - 258.18lbs / 117.11kg shells, 1quick 50 per gun

Breech loading guns in turret on barbette mounts, 1930 Model

2 x Single mounts on centreline, evenly spread

Weight of broadside 3,542 lbs / 1,607 kg

I'm sorry to have to break it to you, oldpop2000 , but it looks like whoever made that clip also made a tiny mistake in description: 

If you look more closely, you can actually see two more pairs of secondary guns in fore & aft wing positions - unless, of course, I'm mistaken and those are actually tertiary battery guns.
Also, I've never heard of secondary guns being heavier than primary. 
So, for me, it's not 6 - 10" guns - it's 10 - 6" guns. 

Still, we got some very nice visuals for the game, so - I wasn't inclined to complain.
(Thanks, jwsmith26 - I might actually pay to ship's aesthetics this time around *thumbs up*) 

Also, quick question: does anyone really bother with this (i.e. 5-6000 tons) kind of CL's beyond 1920's or so? And, if so, why?
For me, at about that time, BB's and DD's have already grown 3 sizes - so, it's only natural for CL's to also move on to bigger things - like CA's, for example. And, since they're already terrible at colonial duties, the job can be taken over by cheaper AV's.

I would agree about the tertiary guns, I wasn't certain. I will change my design and update it.

[jwsmith26]

srndacful, you are correct, I typed the wrong description for CL9X2. The ship has ten 6" secondaries. 

oldpop2000, the cruisers are arranged by design date with CL9X2 being the oldest, designed in about 1894.

[oldpop2000]

Dec 12, 2022 7:18:53 GMT -6 jwsmith26 said:

srndacful , you are correct, I typed the wrong description for CL9X2. The ship has ten 6" secondaries. 

oldpop2000 , the cruisers are arranged by design date with CL9X2 being the oldest, designed in about 1894.

Ok I will change the date. I have changed the main and secondary batteries configuration.

I had to make major changes to the design which now has a tonnage of 6,630 tons. It has 2 x 8 inch guns for main battery and 10 x 6 inch guns for secondary with deck and hoist mount. I had to increase the length of the ship, increase the freeboard and increase the beam. Sorry but specifications are specs. I reduced the cruise speed to 12 knots. 

[beagle]

I feel confident these ships are placed in chronological order, so the cl9x2 is, at the latest, an 1890s design, probably an 1890 legacy design. I also agree that is a typo, and should be 10-6". The cl2 looks like it was based on a Japanese CL, or a late WWI German design. They are magnificent designs, and I would like to see more previews periodically.
Edit: Oops, I see I was too slow getting this out.

[jwsmith26]

Dec 11, 2022 23:44:08 GMT -6 srndacful said:

Also, quick question: does anyone really bother with this (i.e. 5-6000 tons) kind of CL's beyond 1920's or so? And, if so, why?
For me, at about that time, BB's and DD's have already grown 3 sizes - so, it's only natural for CL's to also move on to bigger things - like CA's, for example. And, since they're already terrible at colonial duties, the job can be taken over by cheaper AV's.

These templates are used by the game for designing ships built for the AI nations and as the basis for designs provided to the player. The game has a full range of sizes for each period so the AI will not be limited in its design choices. All of these designs in the image happen to be mid-size to allow easier comparison, but each era has designs with a variety of displacements.  

Mid-size cruisers struggle to find a role in the late dreadnought period, but you may find that these cruisers become quite viable platforms in the missile age.