Courageous-Class Light Battlecruisers (1916/17): Spurious, Curious, and Outrageous

[Admiral_Aruon 2,264]

So once again I continue my magpie-like addiction to suggesting any ship or ship class of a unique and quirky nature... and since this class of "Large Light Cruisers" AKA politically sensitive WWI doublespeak for Light Battlecruiser is the result of Admiral John "Jackie" Fisher becoming more of mad man rather than mad genius in the WWI-era, and so this class of goofy and completely absurd qualities does not disappoint.

 

This is the suggestion for the Courageous-Class Light Battlecruisers HMS Courageous (50), HMS Glorious (77), HMS Furious (47); or as one classic combination of some of their nicknames became; Spurious, Curious, and Outrageous; as they were of their mid-WWI commissioning and any modifications prior to their 1920s conversions to Aircraft Carriers, as well as the option for the original design of Furious with both the aft and bow main gun turret as it was originally meant when it was designed and laid down.

 

 

Light Battlecruiser HMS Courageous, soon after commissioning, 1916 (photo colorized with Deep AI)

 

bow view of HMS Glorious, at anchor during WWI, circa 1917

 

HMS Furious from the stern, as completed in 1917 as an early hybrid carrier conversion with the rear turret, and bow runway

and did i mention that that cannon is an 18-inch monster?

original design of HMS Furious:

Spoiler

 

original layout, as seen on the-blueprints.com (and because of course, you have to sign up to get the full size view and download, the pushy pricks)

 

for comparison, a profile of HMS Glorious, showing that the hull of the Furious is largely the same as Courageous and Glorious-

 

detailed rendering by SoloAD in 2016, showing both the original design layout with the one turret forward and behind for both 18-inch boomsticks of mindblowing overcompensation,

and the semi-conversion that resulted in how Furious was at commissioning.

 

 

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DESIGN:

 

So in keeping with the design of other ships created thanks to the efforts of "Mr. Research and Oh Dear God Why?" Admiral John "Jackie" Fisher, the unique Courageous-class Light Battlecruiser was always going to either roll a pair of natural 20s, or get completely shafted... and historically they (especially HMS Furious) almost certainly achieved the best success they ever could have as carrier conversions... but we're not here for carriers, we're here for the spindly ships with big boomsticks.

 

the Courageous-class were a trio of pseudo-capital ships designed almost entirely around the highly unlikely and rather half-baked scenario of the Baltic Project proposed by Fisher- a naval landing and invasion of Germany...

...EASTERN GERMANY. specifically the shallow beaches leading into the fairly flat terrain inland of Pomerania in what was to become a siege of Berlin, and decisive knockout blow that would end the war.

You know, just like how the ANZACs landed on and invaded the Gallipoli peninsula, quickly bulldozed through the hapless Ottomans, besieged Constantinople, and ended the- oh wait that didn't work out very well.

 

undeterred by the high chances of repeating Winston Churchill's not-so-finest hour if his plan was accepted and carried out, and equally undeterred by the wartime restriction specifically banning ordering new construction of ships larger than Light Cruiser that kept him from ordering an improved successor to the Renown-class Battlecruiser, Fisher ordered what could be described as the mother of all min-maxers:

 

A class of "Large Light Cruiser" compatible with all the traditional Battlecruiser roles like fleet scouting and hunting merchant raiders...

...protected with extremely thin, unconventional armor that both made for a very shallow draft ideal for operations off the Pomeranian coastline (and since wartime stresses would mean they would be operating at/near deep load for the majority of the time and lacking freeboard) in support of the Baltic Project landings; and to keep weight very low for what it was hence the decoy naming of "Large Light Cruiser" to sidestep restrictions; and to maximize every possibility for top speed...

...and the latest word in naval engineering with the Parsons (Courageous/Glorious) or Brown-Curtis (Furious) Geared Steam Turbine Engines much more familiar on an interwar or WWII-era design.

 

there's even a letter from Fisher to Winston Churchill from April 1912 demonstrating his mindset, stating: "There must be sacrifice of armour ... There must be further VERY GREAT INCREASE IN SPEED ... your speed must vastly exceed your possible enemy!" showing that Fisher had had this kind of high speed low tonnage capital ship design methodology on this mind for quite some time, and that Fisher would have made for a great conversationalist on Twitter!

 

 

Now this mentality and design style made for seaworthy ships but in the occasional battle seen by Courageous and Glorious where they were able to fire, their pre-dreadnought-level quantity of all up firepower limited their effective use, and after firing 92 15-inch shells in the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight, HMS Courageous's only damage suffered was from its own 15-inch cannons muzzle blast, showing that while their lightly built hulls could handle the stress of the BL 15-Inch (unlike the rivet-shredding BL 18-inch on Furious) it was still a somewhat slim margin of safety.

 

ultimately with the limits in the usefulness of these ships, their being kind of surplus to requirement to begin with, let alone once 12-inch and 13.5-inch cannons were deprecated, and then the post-post-WWI reality of the Washington Naval Treaty, it's not exactly hard to understand why these out of place glass cannons were chosen to be converted into aircraft carriers, where they would develop carrier doctrine and serve until late WWII when Courageous and Glorious were sunk, and all the way through WWII with HMS Furious.

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HISTORY (only going up to carrier conversions):

 

HMS Courageous (50) was laid down on March 26th, 1915, being built by Armstrong Whitworth, launched on February 5th, 1916 and commissioned on November 4th, 1916.

HMS Glorious (77) was laid down on May 1st, 1915, being built by Harland and Wolff, launched on April 20th, 1916, completed on October 14th, 1916, and commissioned in January 1917.

 

 

Courageous's life as a Light Battlecruiser, unlike her sister ships, would have a not exactly auspicious start with its initial sea trials in mid/late November resulting in serious damage to the bow of the ship. Parts of the forecastle deck were badly caved in, one of the underwater torpedo rooms completely flooded (very dangerous for ship stability), and damaged the angle mounts holding the deck armor in place; all after repeatedly slamming into waves during rough head sea conditions at its top speed of 30 knots- so about the the worst possible set of conditions, and one of many signs that show just how absolutely bare minimum all of the class really were in structure and protection. after repairs, Courageous; and later Glorious in 1918; would have another 130 long tons of steel added to strengthen the bow areas against oceanic impact pressure. and this was BEFORE Courageous really entered serious service!

 

 

Now commissioned as WWI was reaching its zenith, Courageous was initially placed in the Grand Fleet's 3rd Light Cruiser Squadron- remember, this was marketed as a light cruiser...

...just a really big light cruiser that completely coincidentally could act like a battlecruiser. total coincidence I swear.

This placement would last all of about the time it took for shells from German ships during the Battle of Jutland to leave those ships and somehow wind up exploding on British ships, sinking 3 of 4 armored cruisers (HMS Black Prince, HMS Warrior, and HMS Defense) of the 1st Cruiser Squadron. Soon afterwards, the temporarily disbanded squadron (only being HMS Duke of Edinburgh at disestablishment) was reformed with the Courageous-class as its only members, and with Courageous itself as flagship.

 

For whatever eyebrow raising reason, Courageous was uniquely outfitted as a minelayer during April 1917 with rails to hold ~200 mines... and yet this configuration largely didn't even last to the end of the month as it didn't take long for somebody to realize this was a pretty dumb idea to begin with for a vast number of reasons, and so Courageous would never even carry any mines anyway.

But wait! there's more! This trend of adding completely redundant and excessive ordinance was to continue though!

In the middle of 1917, all 3 of the Courageous-class were outfitted with a plethora of torpedo launchers, with the original underwater launcher on each side unchanged, a single new fixed position launcher on the upper deck on each side of the mainmast, and a pair of fixed position 3-tube revolving torpedo launchers on each side of the rear turret on the quarterdeck; for a 6-shot full torpedo broadside... as if these ships didn't have severe overcompensation problems already.

 

Rejoining the realm of serious decision making, during mid-October 1917 word was going around of German convoy raiders roaming around, as the High Seas Fleet was otherwise entirely bottled up in ports.

in response to this threat, especially with an Entente convoy in the area, Great Fleet commander Admiral Beatty ordered most of the light cruisers and destroyers in the Grand Fleet out to sea in the hope that sheer numbers would have someone spot these raiders if they were real.

As it turns out, they were indeed real; both of the Brummer-class Light Cruisers SMS Brummer and SMS Bremse to be exact. It also turns out that they still managed to slip through the patrols, smash that convoy, and escape with several hours head start before the British even heard that that convoy had been sunk. unsurprisingly the Brummer and Bremse managed to escape after the 1st Cruiser Squadron were ordered to intercept... whoops.

 

At this time, HMS Furious would be detached and sent to port, where it's aft cannon would be removed and replaced with another length of carrier runway, concluding Furious's short career as a Light Battlecruiser, and beginning its very long and successful life as an aircraft carrier conversion.

 

 

Second Battle of Heligoland Bight:

On November 17th, 1917, the ongoing efforts of containing the High Seas Fleet through massive minefields came to a bit of a head in the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight.

In this battle the 1st Cruiser Squadron AKA now just the Courageous-class duo would see their only real action of the war vs the II Scouting Force, consisting of 4 light cruisers, 8 destroyers, 14 minesweepers, 8 sperrbrechers (trawlers filled with cork so that they could intentionally and repeatedly ram mines!), and a couple normal trawlers.

This battle's outcome could be gleaned from the beginning of the battle that Courageous was part of- HMS Courageous and light cruiser HMS Cardiff opened fire... and the Germans laid a smokescreen.

The British ships would charge in, firing the whole time at anyone they could see (which were few) until they had to break off as the chase was heading near their own minefields.

 

now to their credit, Courageous actually managed to hit an enemy ship with its main guns- a single 15-inch shell impacted on a gun shield on SMS Pillau... doing nothing, possibly just going right through without triggering it's fuse.

Glorious would also have a similar, much more minor role in the battle- namely... damaging itself. like Courageous, Glorious suffered self-harm from the muzzle blast of the 15-inch cannons, but it also had premature detonations that added to the masochism, requiring 5 days to repair.

 

 

This would conclude any relevance of the Courageous-class trio as gun-armed surface warships. After the battle, the last vestiges of the pointless minelayer experiment installed on Courageous were removed, and the rest of the war was spent patrolling in the middle of nowhere in the North Sea. Courageous and Glorious however was present for the surrender and internment of the High Seas Fleet at the end of the war, because who the hell would miss THAT if they had the chance?

 

the post-war years prior to the Washington Naval Treaty were as to be expected, completely uninteresting.

as the Washington Naval Treaty started going into informal effect in 1922, Courageous and Glorious followed in Furious's footsteps and began conversion into aircraft carriers, giving the Royal Navy a massive head start on everybody else in development of carrier doctrine and design, as the 5th and 6th Aircraft Carrier in Royal Navy service at a time where other major navies MAYBE had only one in service.

 

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GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS:

 

Courageous and Glorious:

 

Displacement:

19,230 long tons (normal)

22,690 long tons (fully loaded)

 

Length:

734 ft 10 in (224.0 meters) between perpendiculars 

786 ft 3 in (239.7 meters) overall

 

Beam:

81 ft (24.7 m)

 

Draft:

23 ft 4 in (7.1 m) (normal)

25 ft 10 in (7.9 m) (fully loaded)

 

Installed power:

18 Yarrow small-tube boilers,

feeding into 4 Yarrow geared steam turbine engines,

producing a theoretical 90,000 shp, but with actual horsepower output that varied between Courageous and Glorious:

Courageous: exact shp value unknown

Glorious: 88550 shp 

 

running through to 4 shafts with 3.5 meter diameter propellers

for an on theoretical top speed of 31.5 or 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph), but with actual top speeds that varied between Courageous and Glorious:

Courageous achieved 30.8 knots (57.0 km/h; 35.4 mph) during sea trials. (the same trials that caved in part of its forecastle deck)

Glorious achieved 31.25 knots (57.875 km/h; 36 mph) during sea trials (did not suffer damage,

 

Fuel:

3,160 tons of Fuel Oil

 

Range:

6,000 nmi (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at ~20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)

 

Crew Complement:

as of commissioning (late 1916)- 787 officers and enlisted

at some point in 1917 (presumably late 1917)- 829 officers and enlisted

as of end of war (late 1918)-842 officers and enlisted

 

 

Furious:

 

Displacement:

19,513 long tons (normal)

22,890 long tons (fully loaded)

 

Length:

734 ft 10 in (224.0 meters) between perpendiculars 

786 ft 3 in (239.7 meters) overall

 

Beam:

88 ft (26.8 m)

 

Draft:

24 ft 11 in (7.6 m) (1917)

 

Installed power:

18 Brown-Curtis small-tube boilers,

feeding into 4 Yarrow geared steam turbine engines,

producing a theoretical 90,000 shp (exact value seemingly never recorded over nearly 30 years of service, 1917 sea trials never conducted)

running through to 4 shafts with 3.5 meter diameter propellers

for an on theoretical top speed of 31.5 knots, but with actual top speed between 30-31.5 knots.

 

Fuel:

3,393 tons of Fuel Oil

 

Range:

6,000 nmi (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at ~20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)

 

Crew Complement:

as completed as Light Battlecruiser- 737 officers and enlisted

 

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ARMOR:

interestingly, the majority of armor (save for KCA on the conning tower) used on the Courageous-class is actually High Tensile (HT) steel, in order to keep armor weight to an absolute bare minimum, if albeit still being mostly ceremonial in how much protection it provides.

 

once again as i've found with these suggestions, thank god for the Polish. unlike any other source, the Polish wikipedia article is one of only 2 (the other being navypedia, which corroborates) to actually explain armor protection at any length, and is the only one to go REALLY in depth, so it's about 85% of the below section text.

 

 

Armored Belt:

2-3 inches (51-76mm) here is where the "light" part of Light Battlecruiser is made clear as the armor belt of the class is extremely thin and borderline useless for what these ships are.

the bulk of the armor belt is only 2 inches (51mm) thick with an additional inch-thick strake of armor on top between the barbettes of A and Y turrets.

the belt was 8.4 meters tall with the upper edge connecting with the deck, and dived to 1.4 meters below the waterline.

the belt spanned across most of the ship and terminated in transverse bulkheads of the same 2 inch thickness just behind the Y (aft) turret barbette and just ahead of the A (bow) turret barbette, forming the citadel.  there was also an additional 76mm bulkhead abreast of the A barbette for improved end-on protection

 

 

Bulkheads:

2-3 inches (51-76mm) Torpedo bulkhead

plus an internal anti-torpedo bubble, protecting the ship's engine room and magazine of the main guns.

There was internal underwater protection with 38-25mm longitudinal bulkhead (double bottom) between former "A" and "Y" barbettes, but this bulkhead was placed between centerline and outer shafts turbine sets and could not successfully protect the ship machinery entirely, covering roughly 83% of machinery spaces. additionally these bulkheads themselves were capped off by their own 25mm transverse bulkheads. Maximum depth of of underwater protection was 3.7 meters, though the inadequacy of it all likely means this underwater protection can only really stop 6-inch and under diving shells.

 

 

Turrets:

9 inches (229mm) on the face - 7 inches (178mm) on the sides - 4.25 inch (108mm) on the turret roof

 

 

Barbettes: 3-7 inches (76-178mm) -

A (bow) barbette had 152-178mm thick above the upper deck (this is the part you can see) - thinning to 102mm between the upper and main decks - thinning to 76mm between main and lower decks

 

 

Armored Deck Areas :

Forecastle deck between Y (aft) barbette and former A (bow) barbette had 19-25mm (.75 - 1 inch) protection, but in area of superstructure was protected only near the sides.

Additional 19mm longitudinal amidships bulkhead protected the funnel uptake. funnel uptake and ventilator pipes themselves had 25-38mm protection above forecastle deck.

 

Upper deck between forwards 51mm transverse bulkhead and 'Y' barbette had 25mm thick armor.

Main deck was 44mm (1.25-inch) on flats and 51mm at slopes.

Lower deck was 1-inch thick between former 'A' barbette and stem and between 'Y' barbette and stern, its thickness was increased to 76mm over steering gear compartment.

 

deck areas over the magazines were 63mm (2.5-inch) thick

 

 

(conning tower protection was done with the more conventional KCA armor rather than HT steel seen everywhere else on the ship)

Forward command Conning Tower:

10 inch (254mm) sides, 3 inch (76mm) floor and 2 inch (51mm) roof. additionally the communication tube had 76mm protection. - Krupp Cemented Armor

 

Aft Torpedo Control Tower

had 76mm sides, 19-38mm roof and 51mm armour of communication tube. - Krupp Cemented Armor

 

Main director had 152mm of vertical and 76mm horizontal protection - not sure what this is, fire control director i'm guessing? - Krupp Cemented Armor

 

 

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ARMAMENT:

despite being called Light Battlecruisers; or alternately "Large Light Cruisers"; the Courageous-class duo and subtype HMS Furious were actually meant more for shore bombardment than as traditional capital ships.

being more like pre-dreadnoughts in quantity of armament but with the still new BL 15-inch Mk I (an efficiently designed upscale of the BL 13.5-inch Mk V); or in the case of HMS Furious, only 2 of the utterly ludicrous BL 18-inch Mk I, itself a fairly straight upscale of the BL 15-inch Mk I.

 

Courageous and Glorious:

 

2×2 381mm BL 15-inch Mark I guns - originally introduced with the Queen Elizabeth-class Superdreadnought Battleship, the BL 15-inch Mk I is arguably one of the greatest and most efficient capital ship cannons ever made, being designed to replace the BL 13.5 inch cannon, and being the main armament on the last British battleship built; HMS Vanguard (23); 30 years later.

http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNBR_15-42_mk1.php - keep in mind these ships only used WWI-era shells, having been converted into aircraft carriers in the 1920s.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BL_15_inch_Mk_I_naval_gun

gif of BL 15-inch Mk I loading process

 

6×3 102mm BL 4-inch Mark IX guns - eighteen BL 4-inch Mk IX guns mounted in six manually powered mounts, The three breeches were placed too close to each other, causing the 23 loader mechanisms to interfere with each other, inhibiting what was supposed to be a high RoF.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BL_4_inch_Mk_IX_naval_gun

http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNBR_4-45_mk9.php

 

2×1 76mm QF 3-inch 20 cwt AAA guns - same as seen ingame on the SGBs

single-mount pair of QF 3-inch 20 cwt anti-aircraft guns were fitted abreast of the mainmast on Courageous and Glorious

 

2×1 533mm / 21 in torpedo tubes

two submerged tubes for 21-inch torpedoes and carried 10 torpedoes for them (2 loaded, 4 reloads each)

given the time period, likely torpedoes are the Mark II***, and the Mark IV and IV* torpedoes if Navweaps is correct

http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WTBR_PreWWII.php#21"_(53.3_cm)_Torpedoes

 

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Furious, as designed and originally laid down:

Get ready for the intense derpage, because these main guns make the Furious the FV4005 of the seas.

 

2×1 BL 18-inch L/39 (457mm) Mk I naval guns

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BL_18_inch_Mk_I_naval_gun

http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNBR_18-40_mk1.php

These monster guns are one of the wackiest ideas Admiral Fisher came up with and manged to pester Elswick into making, due to his desire for the "biggest possible gun mounted on the fastest possible ship".

somehow, the fire rate of this beast was only about 1 RPM during tests done once mounted on the Furious... speaking of which, those tests and these guns were the reason why HMS Furious would take the path in life that it did, first as an early hybrid Battlecarrier with one 18-inch gun aft and later as a full fledged Aircraft Carrier.

 

and those reasons were: the concussion blast of the massive 18-inch guns firing on a ship as incredibly lightly built as Furious was threatening to TEAR THE SHIP APART.

 

after the firing of the 18-inch gun, Flight Commander William G. Moore later recorded his experience of the after 18-inch gun firing:

"My cabin was immediately beneath it and the Furious was built in a very light way, certainly not strong enough to carry a gun like that. Every time she fired it was like a snowstorm in my cabin, only instead of snowflakes sheared rivet-heads would come down from the deckhead and partition."

..and what all this relatively small, cumulative damage means for the purposes of WT, is that the accumulated self-harm is irrelevant to the game. thank god.

 

11×1 BL 5.5 inch L/50 (140mm) Mk I cannon

 BL 5.5 Inch Mk I off of HMS Chester, Imperial War Museum, 2006

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BL_5.5_inch_Mark_I_naval_gun

http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNBR_55-50_mk1.php

Interestingly HMS furious had an unusual switchup in its secondary armament during construction- the BL 5.5 inch (140mm) Mk I cannon.

considering that it was not too far behind Courageous and Glorious in work as WWI neared its apex, this was a rather unusual design choice... especially seeing as the 140mm BL 5.5 inch Mk I gun wasn't even in use by the Royal Navy.

the BL 5.5 was an export-only design meant for what were then the under-construction Greek cruisers Antinavarhos Kontouriotis and Lambros Katsonis, which were taken over when the UK joined the war against Germany in defense of Belgium, and then seized and renamed the ships to HMS Birkenhead and HMS Chester respectively, and some of the BL 5.5 inch guns meant for them being moved for use on HMS Hood (yes THAT HMS Hood) and HMS Furious.

 

2×1 (76 mm) QF 3-inch 20 cwt AAA guns, already seen ingame on the SGBs and technically the Churchill 3-inch Gun Carrier (the QF 3-inch 16 cwt being modified from the obsolete QF 3-inch 20 cwt guns)

same models and placement as on Courageous and Glorious

 

2 × 21 in (533 mm) underwater torpedo tubes, facing 90 degrees away from the ship, and depressed at -2 degrees when launched

same models and placement as on Courageous and Glorious

carried 10 torpedoes for them (2 loaded, 4 reloads each)

 

 

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GUN ARMAMENT REFITS:

 

Furious, as completed as, and briefly in service as a "Semi-Aircraft-Carrier":

Even as she was being built, Furious was modified with a large hangar capable of housing ten aircraft on her forecastle that replaced the forward turret, and a 160-foot (49 meter) flight deck was built along its roof.

as Furious lost very little firepower in the grand scheme of things (the 18-inch guns had a reload rate of a hair under 1 minute), this historically completed version of Furious is going to be included in the poll for consideration, but only up to the point where the aft 18-inch gun was removed.

 

1x1 BL 18-inch Mk I naval guns

obviously the bow 18-inch cannon and turret had to be removed in order to construct a runway and hangar underneath.

one cannon that made confetti of rivets on the ship below it was bad enough, but 2 would be intolerable and quickly become dangerous to crew.

 

10×1 BL 5.5 inch L/50 (140mm) Mk I cannon

the odd man out of the 140mm cannons were removed in the conversion process. the 10 kept were five each to a side in sponsons at the fore deck

 

 

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TORPEDO ARMAMENT REFITS:

 

interestingly the torpedo armament of all in the Courageous-class ships in 1917/18 was... ummm... shall we say SUBSTANTIALLY increased, though seemingly fairly briefly, especially for HMS Furious- even as the controls for this excessive torpedo broadside were being installed, it was noted that the thinking behind this torpedo broadside was obsolescent "as extensive modifications now contemplated".

translation: battleship and carrier-launched torpedoes are completely pointless, and gun ranges as in the first half of WWI are a lot longer than anyone was expecting.

 

at the same time as the semi-carrier conversion was going for Furious throughout the second half of 1917, all 3 of the Courageous-class received a bunch of revolving torpedo tubes because... sure, why the hell not?

 

2×1 21-inch (533mm) underwater torpedo tubes on each side - retained from commissioning on all ships, though now carried 7 torpedoes for them (2 loaded, 3 reloads + 1 spare)

4x3 21-inch (533mm) 2 sets of revolving triple tube torpedo launchers on each side of the rear turret on the quarterdeck - no reloads

2x1 21-inch (533mm) fixed position top loading mounts, one on each side of the mainmast on the upper deck - no reloads

 

 

 

Additionally, as completed, Furious could carry 16 aircraft at this point. so hey if any of you guys at Gaijin ever wants someone to make them a Sopwith Camel model... you guys uhhh... you got an excuse to do so... just sayin'.

...

...

 

PRE-PATCH 2.07 EDIT:

well... apparently the now previously vestigial planes mounted on ships will now become usable...

and as it was built, HMS Furious did in fact have to ability to launch but not recover planes... much like catapults later...

and even after its initial full conversion (when it retained the superstructure in the middle of the ship), it still had a specifically landing deck aft and specifically flying off deck at the bow, so it doesn't really matter as planes are always going to be launched from a fixed point...

so **** it, i'm gonna add the applicable planes that could be one-way-only carrier launched off at this time and hope that Gaijin takes this seriously! we'll down the Red Baron someday!

 

 

Beardmore WB.III:

effectively the first navalized plane ever, the Beardmore WB.III, WB.IIIF, and WB.IIID models were fundamentally just Sopwith Pups with flotation gear and redesigned wings that could fold inwards.

the Beardmore was only ever used by the carrier conversions HMS Furious and HMS Argus, as well as seaplane tenders HMS Nairana and HMS Pegasus.

 

specs:

Length: 20 feet, 3 inches (6.17 m)

Wingspan: 25 feet (7.6 m)

Height: 8 feet 1 inches (2.46 m)

 

weight:

(empty) 890 pounds (404 kg)

(full): 1,290 pounds (585 kg)

 

Powerplant:

Le Rhône 9C 9-cylinder air-cooled rotary piston engine, providing 80 horsepower to power a 2-bladed fixed-pitch propeller

 

Maximum speed:

103 mph (166 km/h, 90 knots)

 

fuel capacity:

2 hours 45 minutes

 

Service ceiling:

12,400 ft (3,800 m)

 

Rate of climb:

534 ft/min (2.71 m/s)

 

Armament:

1 fixed-position, synchronized, forward-firing .303 in Lewis gun

 

 

as the Beardmore/Pup wasn't exactly a speed demon to begin with, and only packing a single Lewis Gun, it was replaced by a far more famous plane...

 

Sopwith Ship's Camel 2F.1:

yep. the navalized version of the legendary Sopwith Camel F.1, the Sopwith Ship's Camel 2F.1, which had slightly clipped wings and a Bentley BR1 engine.

in fact the Camel 2F.1 seen here was actually one to down a Zeppelin; the L 53; which is as close to being one of 7 launched from HMS Furious that participated in the Tondern Raid as you'll ever get.

 

specs:

 

Length: 18 feet, 8 inches (5.69m)

Wingspan: 26 feet, 11 inches (8.20m)

Height: 8 feet, 6 inches (2.59 m)

 

weight:

(empty) 930 pounds (422 kg)

(full): 1,453 pounds (650 kg)

 

Powerplant:

Bentley BR.1 9-cylinder air-cooled rotary piston engine, providing 150 horsepower to power a 2-bladed fixed-pitch propeller

 

Max Speed:

121 mph (195 km/h)

 

Range:

~300 miles (480 km, 260 nmi)

 

Service ceiling:

17,300 ft (5,273 meters)

 

Rate of climb:

1,085 ft/min (5.51 m/s)

 

Armament:

one Vickers Mk.1* and one Lewis machine guns (synchronized), or two lewis machine guns (top mounted and equipped with incendiary rounds)

up to 100lb (45kg) of bombs.

 

________________________________________________________________________________

SOURCES:

online:

http://dreadnoughtproject.org/tfs/index.php/Courageous_Class_Battlecruiser_(1916)

http://dreadnoughtproject.org/tfs/index.php/H.M.S._Furious_(1916)

http://www.navypedia.org/ships/uk/brit_bb1_furious.htm

http://www.navypedia.org/ships/uk/brit_cv1_courageous.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courageous-class_battlecruiser

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Courageous_(50)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Glorious

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Furious_(47)

https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Courageous_(1916)

https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Glorious

https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Furious_(1917)

 

and for planes used by HMS Furious during WWI, as Patch 2.07 will/has open(ed) up the possibility for their use

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beardmore_W.B.III

http://www.wingnutwings.com/ww/product?productid=3159 - has specs on Camel 2F.1 at bottom of page

 

literary:

Conway's All the Worlds Fighting Ships 1906-1921, PDF/DjVu page 48 and 49

Edited May 31, 2021 by Admiral_Aruon
major revision for patch 2.07 launchable planes

[ItssLuBu 1,798]

Approved and open for discussion, might want to double check if you want the title to be Furious instead of Outrageous. 

[Senor_Torpedo@psn 25]

+1 These are really crazy ships. Great text, it was great fun reading it. I really like your sense of humour. 

Edited December 13, 2020 by Senor_Torpedo@psn

[Milocat 4,849]

Definite +1 from me for the 15-inch layout at least. 

[Admiral_Aruon 2,264]

On 13/12/2020 at 02:11, ItssLuBu said:

Approved and open for discussion, might want to double check if you want the title to be Furious instead of Outrageous. 

 

yeah I was strongly considering something like that, but Spurious is the mock nickname for Furious already, and the historical derision over these goofy beasts was just too good to pass up.

 

On 13/12/2020 at 07:59, Senor_Torpedo@psn said:

+1 These are really crazy ships. Great text, it was great fun reading it. I really like your sense of humour. 

 

[random_guy888 23]

yes + 1 interesting ship,can you do one, on the Minotaur class armoured cruisers there be great for 5.7 BR interesting design, before invincible class, again plus + for your post.

[Admiral_Aruon 2,264]

As patch 2.07 will be introducing the in-game launching of planes from ships, I have updated the suggestion to take into account the carrier aircraft used by HMS Furious in her service as built as a goofy hybrid Light Battlecruiser / Battlecarrier Conversion with the 18-inch boomstick aft and the launching carrier deck forwards.

 

I guarantee it'll bring a smile to your face. they aren't as meme-worthy as the Po-2... but the Red Baron might feel a bit uncomfortable.

[CubicSquare 156]

I have a rather strange idea. I think the HMS Furious is awesome and should have her original 1917 config with a single turret and stern flight deck. It was the config she held historically and importantly from which the first ever aircraft carrier based raid was conducted. BUT- the Sopwiths aren't in game and likely never will be because they well- suck. Compared to other half-carriers like the Tone class of sea-plane carriers, the Sopwiths would get destroyed, and would have little impact on gameplay.

 

This is where my idea comes in. While it would be ahistorical by a decade and a half or so (Refit started in 1920), give the 1917 config with the ability to launch Swordfishes carrying torpedos. While it would be again ahistorical, the boat carried them in its later full config. With the RATO boosters used on merchant carriers, the plane should have a long enough runway on the aft strip present on the 1917 version.

 

No matter how stupid this sounds, it would make for an awesome mechanic. While your gun armament would likely be inferior in shear volume of fire, its potency would let you effectively engage incredibly distant targets. Combined with a still slow but now more potent aircraft, the "Recon Plane" on the ship would be used in tandem to sink opponents. Just thinking about the shenanigans it would bring in game is awesome to me. I understand completely if you guys downvote this, but I just want a half carrier in game with torpedo capability, since that seems fun.

 

Oh and as for the post, +1. All these ships are neat.

Edited January 13, 2022 by CubicSquare

[hienapunk 1,064]

On 12/12/2020 at 19:16, Admiral_Aruon said:

original layout, as seen on the-blueprints.com (and because of course, you have to sign up to get the full size view and download, the pushy pricks)

 

Royal navy was minmaxing way back in 1916

[leroyonly 4,310]

As the Courageous class has been implemented as per Update 2.21 Fire and Ice,

 

Moved to Implemented Suggestions.