Suggestion - Armored Flt Deck/Hangar on CV/CVL Rebuild

[cwemyss]

Suggestion for RTW3... when rebuilding something else into a CV/CVL, would it make sense to allow the addition of Flight Deck or Hangar Side armor?  I get not adding structural armor to an AMC during a rebuild, but in this case you're specifically adding a part of the ship that didn't exist, designing in some armor would make it a bit more resilient to air attack.

[axe99]

Just some thoughts, and of dubious value, but deck armour is generally very heavy - and the flight deck is high in the ship - so adding flight deck armour to a ship that hasn't been designed to manage the stability implications of it could, potentially be very difficult - and in some cases impossible without reducing stability so much that it created a capsize risk. I imagine it wouldn't be impossible in all situations, but might be a bit tricky to get the balance right.

[seawolf]

Béarn had an armored flight deck on conversion. Not a very thick one, just enough for splinter protection, but I suspect it would be difficult to get more than that on a conversion in game anyways

[axe99]

Aug 12, 2022 20:53:26 GMT -6 seawolf said:

Béarn had an armored flight deck on conversion. Not a very thick one, just enough for splinter protection, but I suspect it would be difficult to get more than that on a conversion in game anyways

The best source I have on Bearn is John Jordan's article on the ship in Warship 2020, and it makes no mention of any armour on the flight deck, and the main deck armour was very much lower down, on the main deck and 1st platform deck.  The hangar deck plating is listed as two layers of 12mm steel - in this context, I'd be surprised if the flight deck was more than 24mm (which is, as you say, splinter protection), which is quite a bit different to what would generally be considered an armoured deck (often 76mm or more).

It's also worth bearing in mind that Bearn was only completed up to the lower armoured deck (first platform deck) when the conversion to a carrier was started - so to get a similar result with an existing ship would require stripping it down to this deck and starting again (iirc, not unlike the big (and very lengthy/expensive) conversion Victorious underwent post-WW2).