Built as a repsonse to the ever growing fleet of Roman battleships, the Gallic naval command sent out requirements for a class of battleship to mount the newly designed 15 inch guns. The ship was also required to be able to outrun, and outgun any Roman ship currently under construction in 1910.
The result was the Vercingetorix, a battleship with 8x15 inch guns, 18x5 inch guns, 6x4 inch AA guns and 4 submerged torpedo tubes.
The ship is 179 meters long, 29 meters wide and had a draught of 9 meters.
Standard displacement was 25,369 tons in 1914. The ship was very fast for its time, able to reach 23 kts, 2 kts faster than
any other battleship, either under construction or planned. A total of 4 ships were built, with the last ship entering service in 1915.
![[ img ]](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/93982636/Shipbucket/BBVercingetorix1914.png)
![[ img ]](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/93982636/Shipbucket/BBVercingetorix1916.png)
![[ img ]](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/93982636/Shipbucket/BBVercingetorix1918.png)
![[ img ]](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/93982636/Shipbucket/BBVercingetorix1924.png)
Vercingetorix, Gallia, Battleship, laid down 1910
Displacement:
24 006 t light; 25 369 t standard; 26 237 t normal; 26 931 t full load
Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught
587,00 ft / 580,00 ft x 95,14 ft x 26,25 ft (normal load)
178,92 m / 176,78 m x 29,00 m x 8,00 m
Armament:
8 - 15,00" / 381 mm guns (4x2 guns), 1 687,50lbs / 765,44kg shells, 1908 Model
Breech loading guns in turrets (on barbettes)
on centreline ends, evenly spread, 2 raised mounts - superfiring
18 - 5,00" / 127 mm guns in single mounts, 62,50lbs / 28,35kg shells, 1905 Model
Breech loading guns in casemate mounts
on side, all amidships
6 - 4,00" / 102 mm guns in single mounts, 32,00lbs / 14,51kg shells, 1910 Model
Anti-aircraft guns in deck mounts
on side, evenly spread
Weight of broadside 14 817 lbs / 6 721 kg
Shells per gun, main battery: 100
4 - 18,0" / 457,2 mm submerged torpedo tubes
Armour:
- Belts: Width (max) Length (avg) Height (avg)
Main: 13,0" / 330 mm 400,00 ft / 121,92 m 12,00 ft / 3,66 m
Ends: Unarmoured
Main Belt covers 106 % of normal length
- Torpedo Bulkhead:
3,00" / 76 mm 400,00 ft / 121,92 m 10,00 ft / 3,05 m
- Gun armour: Face (max) Other gunhouse (avg) Barbette/hoist (max)
Main: 16,0" / 406 mm 5,00" / 127 mm 12,0" / 305 mm
2nd: 2,00" / 51 mm 1,00" / 25 mm 1,00" / 25 mm
- Armour deck: 4,00" / 102 mm, Conning tower: 16,00" / 406 mm
Machinery:
Oil fired boilers, steam turbines,
Direct drive, 4 shafts, 46 971 shp / 35 041 Kw = 23,00 kts
Range 5 000nm at 10,00 kts
Bunker at max displacement = 1 561 tons
Complement:
1 029 - 1 339
Cost:
£2,668 million / $10,671 million
Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
Armament: 1 852 tons, 7,1 %
Armour: 9 285 tons, 35,4 %
- Belts: 2 715 tons, 10,3 %
- Torpedo bulkhead: 444 tons, 1,7 %
- Armament: 2 740 tons, 10,4 %
- Armour Deck: 3 083 tons, 11,7 %
- Conning Tower: 304 tons, 1,2 %
Machinery: 1 941 tons, 7,4 %
Hull, fittings & equipment: 10 928 tons, 41,7 %
Fuel, ammunition & stores: 2 231 tons, 8,5 %
Miscellaneous weights: 0 tons, 0,0 %
Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
32 256 lbs / 14 631 Kg = 19,1 x 15,0 " / 381 mm shells or 4,9 torpedoes
Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1,06
Metacentric height 5,2 ft / 1,6 m
Roll period: 17,5 seconds
Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 60 %
- Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0,81
Seaboat quality (Average = 1.00): 1,21
Hull form characteristics:
Hull has rise forward of midbreak
Block coefficient: 0,634
Length to Beam Ratio: 6,10 : 1
'Natural speed' for length: 24,08 kts
Power going to wave formation at top speed: 50 %
Trim (Max stability = 0, Max steadiness = 100): 50
Bow angle (Positive = bow angles forward): 15,65 degrees
Stern overhang: -2,00 ft / -0,61 m
Freeboard (% = measuring location as a percentage of overall length):
- Stem: 25,00 ft / 7,62 m
- Forecastle (20 %): 24,00 ft / 7,32 m
- Mid (50 %): 24,00 ft / 7,32 m (16,00 ft / 4,88 m aft of break)
- Quarterdeck (15 %): 16,00 ft / 4,88 m
- Stern: 16,00 ft / 4,88 m
- Average freeboard: 20,08 ft / 6,12 m
Ship tends to be wet forward
Ship space, strength and comments:
Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 100,4 %
- Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 151,8 %
Waterplane Area: 41 656 Square feet or 3 870 Square metres
Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 94 %
Structure weight / hull surface area: 195 lbs/sq ft or 950 Kg/sq metre
Hull strength (Relative):
- Cross-sectional: 0,96
- Longitudinal: 1,58
- Overall: 1,01
Hull space for machinery, storage, compartmentation is adequate
Room for accommodation and workspaces is excellent
Good seaboat, rides out heavy weather easily