Shipbucket

just watching this thread, I am starting to get quit surprised on how many hull's I have designed during my time here.

...and there are quite a few more to come Heuhen.

Phoebe Class Destroyer Leaders.

The Phoebe class came from the large number of the Anax Class that were being built. The Anax type needed a dedicated Flotilla leader with the space to carry the extra staff required by the Captain 'D'. The Phoebe class turned out to be big ships, almost 30 feet longer than the Anax class at 370 feet. This allowed an extra 5" gun to be fitted on a raised superstructure forward. Eight of the class were built, where the uncompleted Anax class were scrapped at wars end, the Phoebe's were all completed. With only 41 Anax class surviving the war the usual flotilla was 5 Anax with one Phoebe as leader.



For the inter-war years the Anax and Phoebe class ships worked together until the early thirties when the clapped out Anax class were sold or scrapped. This was not a problem as the inter-war build destroyers were kept small and cheap enough to still require the services of a Destroyer Leader.



From 1935 an upgrade package was designed for the Phoebe class, which featured new light AA weaponry, new director for the 5", and other changes not visible.

The outbreak of war and the Phoebe class are scattered around Atlantis' harbours with their flotillas. The flotilla system is kept with for the Phoebes but soon enough the ships are being used as the Escort Commanders ship for a complete convoys escort. As old as they were they still proved valuable. The ships served everywhere from the Atlantic, Indian, and to the Pacific Oceans, While the Mediterranean proved a tough challenge to all classes of ship.

Of the eight completed 6 were lost during the war, with the two survivors being placed in reserve, then sold for scrap in 1946. They had proved themselves a very good investment.
One was lost in 1940 in action with German Destroyers during the Norwegian campaign.
Another was lost in 1940 on convoy duty in the North Atlantic to a U-boats torpedo.
Into 1941 and two were lost in the Mediterranean, one by gunfire from Italian cruisers and destroyers when part of force K attacking Italian convoy to Tripoli. The other was bombed off Crete.
1942 and the Phoebe itself was lost defending the Zeus class battleships as part of Force Z off the north Malayan coast.
The last loss was to an early Gnat Torpedo, losing its stern and not being able to be saved, the ship was finished off by other escorts of the convoy.

Athena and Aphrodite Class Aircraft Carriers.

Originally designed as battleships (see earlier post) with 12x16", they were to be the best available when completed. However Washingtons axe chopped these ships off the battleship building list. Both ships sat around about 70-75% complete while new plans were drawn up to convert them both to Aircraft Carriers. Being big ships the battleship hull was 790x110 feet. Plenty of space to provide for a large complement of aircraft.

As designed:
Displacement: 48,000 tons standard, 54,500 tons full load
Dimensions: 790 x 110 x 33 feet
Machinery: 4 shaft, steam turbines, 150,000shp,
Speed: 30 knots
Endurance: 9,000 miles at 15 knots
Armour: 15" belt, 7.5" deck, 15-10" turrets, 15" CT
Armament:
12 x 16" (4x3)
12 x 5.5" (12x1)
6 x 90mm AA (6x1)
Crew: 1650 (1730 as Flagship)

There were a lot of changes required to change the battleship design to an aircraft carrier.

As completed
Displacement: 46,500 tons standard, 53,500 tons full load.
Dimensions: 816 x 110 (hull) x 33 feet
Machinery: 4 shaft, steam turbines, 150,000shp,
Speed: 30 knots
Endurance: 9,000 miles @ 15 knots.
Armour: 5" side, 4.5" deck, 1.5" Flight deck,
Armament:
12 x 5.5" (12x1)
8 x 75mm AA (8x1)
Aircraft: 80
Crew: 1,800 - 1,940 wartime



The three early Atlantean aircraft carriers (Chronos, Athena, Aphrodite) proved the concept for the Admiralty. With the Athena's being completed in 1926, it would be another 6 years before the next classes plans would be completed and the ships laid down for completion in 1936. The Athena's spent the ten years between completion and their upgrades trialling all sorts of equipment that would be fitted to the new carriers. Aircraft would change a lot during this period and the 1939 aircraft complement would reflect this.

As upraded through to 1938:
Displacement: 47,000 tons standard, 55,500 tons full load.
Dimensions: 816 x 110 (hull) x 33 feet
Machinery: 4 shaft, steam turbines, 160,000shp,
Speed: 30 knots
Endurance: 9,000 miles @ 15 knots.
Armour: 5" side, 4.5" deck, 1.5" Flight deck,
Armament:
16 x 4" (8x2)
40 x 40mm (10x4)
Aircraft: 80
Crew: 1,920 - 2,100 wartime




During the inter-war period, Atlantis spent a lot of time and money trialling all sorts of aircraft, engines, armaments and layouts. The one layout which proved a winner for the Navy was the Canard configuration. Three types were eventually produced, a fighter, a bomber, and a divebomber. By 1939 the forward firing armament had settled on a variant of the 1" (25.4mm) auto-cannon. The fighter had four in the nose, while the bombers had two, one in each wing. If an enemy aircraft flew in front of an Atlantean aircraft, the Adniralty wanted all its aircraft to have a chance of shooting it down. (Some time in the future I will try FD scale for these, SB scale for now.)

Athena's war:
The Athena started the war doing patrols to intercept German warships and blockade runners. The Athenas group intercepted 4 blockade runners, but missed the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau when they transitted the area. The Athena and its escorts were sent to strengthen the Mediterranean fleet operating out of Alexandria. Various actions with the fleet were undertaken through to November 1940 when Athena and Illustrious launched their aircraft off and into history that would be known as the Taranto Battle. 1941 and after receiving damage the Athena was transferred to Trincomalee for repair. There the ship joined the Zeus, Hades and other escorts. The fleet trained together during October and November when orders were received to proceed to Singapore, there to join Admiral Philips and Force Z. December 9, and Force Z were proceeding up the Malaysian coast to intercept the Japanese invasion force. The Japanese knew of Force Z and had one of its main bases at Camranh Bay overflowing with strike aircraft ready to pounce once the sighting had been made. The Athena and Indefatigable were trailing the main battlefleet by 40 miles, when the call for air support was received. The amount of enemy aircraft (300+) meant that the CAP of six aircraft were sent to their deaths as a gesture. A decent force of 36 fighters were launched and these were dispatched in time to save the Zeus but had to watch the final moments of the other three Capital ships. Another 24 fighters were flown off and were to escort Zeus back toward the carriers. Both carriers reversed course and got the hell out of Dodge. The Japanese knew they had missed the carriers and another force were sent to find them. The carriers were ready for them and were met by a force of 50 fighters and 36 Dive bombers cleaned up to attack the bombers. The Japanese failed to damage the carriers, one of the escorting cruisers received a torpedo hit but made it to Singapore. The problem the Force Z carriers had was that each Japanese attack was reducing the effective Fighter force. No replacement aircraft for either carrier were at hand. Nearest were two dozen CKD aircraft aboard a freighter at Singapore. Only half of those were fighters and they were British fighters. Athena made it to Singapore and was ordered to Sydney straight away through the Sunda Strait, making it through before the Japanese closed the Strait catching Perth and Chicago. It would be another month before replacement aircraft were received and integrated into the ships squadrons. The Atlanteans had sent two ships full of CKD crated aircraft, enough to replace the ships whole aircraft complement. These ships moved to Brisbane where they awaited further instructions. Athena with its two AA cruisers and five destroyers were ordered north to join Admiral Fletcher and interdict the Japanese force moving toward Port Moresby. Athenas force was still to the south of Papua-New Guinea when the sighting reports were relayed from Admiral Fletchers force. The Athena raced north till it was in range of the Japanese force, then launched a full strike force. The air strike hit the Japanese about 25 minutes after Admiral Fletchers aircraft had attacked. The Japanese aircraft carriers were the main target with the transports as secondary targets. The strike force hit the Japanes force hard sinking the light carrier Ryuho and two of the transports. The air battle had been fierce with fighters from both sides shooting each other down. It was now that the extra forward firing armament was proved, with the bombers being able to cover each other and shoot at the fighters as they overshot from their attack runs. With the Japanese fleeing north the Athena joined the damaged Yorktown (the Lexington having been sunk) and escorted it to Pearl Harbour where the miracle repair occurred to get the Yorktown ready for the coming Battle of Midway. The Athena joined the American Task Force under Admiral Spruance and took part in the main battle, its aircraft helping to sink the three carriers in the first wave. The Hiryu's return strike missed the three US carriers but found the Athena, hit by two torpedoes and four large bombs, the Athena slowed drastically and started heeling to port. The damage parties were unable to stop the flooding and when a main frame colapsed the end was in sight and all non-essential crew and then the remaining crew were taken off by the Athena's escorts. Twenty minutes later the Athena fell onto its port side, boiler explosions blew out the side and down Athena went.

Aphrodites' war:
Paired with the Ares class battleships in September 1939, and went on interception patrols between Atlantis and the Pillars of Hercules. Joined Force H for the answer to the French Fleet question in July 1940. Operated with Force H for next 18 months as companion craft to the Ark Royal with one of the new Hercules class battleships pairing with the Renown. May 1941, and the Aphrodite and Ark Royal are ordered north to try to intercept the Bismarck, the remaining German ship from the Denmark Strait battle. The Bismarck is sighted and kept under observation while the Ark Royal and Aphrodite launch an air strike force to attack, they would have one chance before night fell. The number of aircraft (70+) overwhelm the Bismarcks air defenses and hit it with three torpedoes and five bomb hits. The one torpedo hit that sealed the Bismarcks fate hit the screws and rudder, jamming the rudder over so that Bismarck was steaming in circles. The combined force of battleships find Bismarck next morning and sink it. Aphrodite remained with Force H till early 1942 when it returned to Atlantis for refit and repair. Rejoining Force H in August, the Aphrodite loaded fifty Spitfires on its after deck to be flown off to Malta as part of the reinforcements carried by the Pedestal Convoy. Once the Aphrodite had flown off the Spitfires, the ship was then able to go back to flying off and on its own aircraft. For this convoy the Aphrodite was full of fighters to be used to attack and break up the Italian and German bomber attacks. With the other members of the covering force the Athena waited for the damaged ships from the night action and escorted them back to Gibraltar. Pedestal was deemed a success and allowed Malta to continue to be used to intercept Axis forces being sent to North Africa. Aphrodite remained with Force H during the invasions of Sicily and the Italian mainland culminating in the Italians surrender. 1944 found the Aphrodite operating with the Home Fleet out of Scapa Flow. Aphrodite during this time made attacks with other carriers on the Tirpitz and other German ships holed up in the Norwegian fjiords. It also acted as distant cover with the Hercules on several convoys to and from Russia. Early in 1945 Aphrodite returned to Atlantis and was laid up in reserve. The Aphrodite had been worked hard and as one sailor put it "the poor old girl was just clapped out". The Aphrodite was sold for scrap in 1946.

If you got this far, how does the shading on the bow look?

Nice work. Could I ask something however? What is that gun between funnels on second Phoebe?

Its a French gun, normally an automatic 37mm. I use it as the basis for a quad 40mm.

Achlys Class Destroyers

Inter-war destroyers built to replace the early Anax class destroyers which had had a hard war and/or taken battle damage that had impacted adversely to their longevity. The ships had the same armament as the earlier Anax class but were slightly wider and a foot longer at 344 feet. The extra breadth at 37 feet did not slow them down at all with the class making 40,000shp for 35 knots. Five lots of four ships per year were built.

As Completed 1927-28 to 1932:
Displacement: 2400 tons standard, 2,900 tons full load.
Dimensions: 344 x 37 x 12 feet
Machinery: 2 shaft, steam turbines, 40,000shp
Speed: 35 knots
Endurance: 4,500 miles at 15 knots
Armament:
4 x 5" (4x1)
4 x 25.4mm (2x2)
Torpedoes: 8 x 21" (2x4)
Crew: 190



With the older Anax class being scrapped 1928-30, the Achlys took those ships roles over. With the new destroyer classes starting from 1933-34 with dual purpose weapons, the Achlys class started being moved into secondary roles. 1935 and the rise of the aircraft shows that the major ships will need as much covering fire as the fleet escorts could produce. To that end the Achlys class started converting to AA escorts from 1936, coming back to the fleet from 1937 onwards. Note that the single 5" mounting weighs 13 tons while the twin 4" weighs 13.4 tons. To help with the extra topweight fitted to the ships the forward quad bank of torpedoes is removed while the after set is exchanged for a triple removed from the Anax class.

As refitted 1937+:
Displacement: 2500 tons standard, 3,050 tons full load.
Dimensions: 344 x 37 x 12 feet
Machinery: 2 shaft, steam turbines, 40,000shp
Speed: 35 knots
Endurance: 4,500 miles at 15 knots
Armament:
8 x 4" (4x2)
4 x 40mm (1x4)
12 x 25.4mm (6x2)
Torpedoes: 3 x 21" (1x3)
Crew: 205

Of the twenty ships of the Achlys type twelve survived the war and were laid up and sold for scrap 1945 onwards.
Of the eight ships lost:

1940, one lost at Dunkirk by Stukas, providing AA fire for the beach pick-up areas.
1941, one lost to Italian sub, one lost by bombs in Crete withdrawal.
1942, one lost taking torpedo meant for Zeus off Malaysian coast, one lost in air strike at Midway in defence of Athena.
1943, one lost to bombs off Anzio beach landings, one lost on Arctic convoy to Russia.
1944, last one lost to Jap Fleet attack off Philipines.

Looks like you have half a porthole on the forecastle near the mid-break.

_________________
Redhorse

Current Projects:
Republic of Texas Navy
FD Scale F-14s

ship crest.

Cerberus Class Heavy Cruisers.

Class of four Treaty cruisers built in the late 1920's. In comparison to others of their type they compared favourably up untill they come accross the 'enlarged' German and Italian Treaty cruisers.



Displacement: 10,500 tons standard, 13,400 full load
Dimensions: 605 x 66 x 25
Machinery: 2 shaft, steam turbines, 75,000shp
Speed: 32 knots
Endurance: 9,000 miles at 14 knots
Armour: 4" belt, 2" deck, 4" turrets.
Armament: (as completed)
8 x 8" (4x2)
10 x 4" (5x2)
18 x 25.4mm (9x2)
Armament: (by 1940)
8 x 8" (4x2)
10 x 4" (5x2)
16 x 40mm (4x4)
16 x 1" (8x2)
Aircraft: 1
Crew: 860

AWS Cerberus (1929) Fate:

AWS Chaos (1930) Fate:

AWS Tartarus (1932) Fate:

AWS Nemesis (1933) Fate:

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Dionysus Class Battleships.

With the advent of the 'Pocket Battleships', all Allied nations looked for answers to the problem they presented. Those countries that had spare battleship tonnage to build new units did so. See French Dunkerque type. Atlantis was one of those countries. A full 35,000 ton battleship would not be required, and as all countries working under the 35,000 ton limit found, each ship was a different set of compromises to design a workable unit. In storage the Atlanteans had the eight triple 16" turrets removed from the Athena class battleships. Two new battleships were to be designed around two triple turrets on each ship. This coupled with the new dual purpose weapons and automatic loading cannons made for a saving in weight compared to the previous ships with 4 or 5 different calibers of guns. For the first time on an Atlantean ship aircraft handling facilities were designed into the plans rather than being added on afterwards.



Displacement: 28,000 tons standard, 35,150 tons full load.
Dimensions: 680 x 94 x 26 feet
Machinery: 4 shaft, geared turbines, 150,000shp
Speed: 32 knots
Endurance: 10,000 miles at 15 knots.
Armour: 11" belt, 5" deck, 14" turrets.
Armament:
6 x 16" (2x3)
16 x 5" (8x2)
28 x 40mm (4x4, 6x2)
32 x 25.4mm (16x2)
Aircraft: 3
Crew: 1550

AWS Dionysus (1935) Fate:

AWS Demeter (1936) Fate:

I like them, especially Dionysus...