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Thursday 1 September 2016

Preliminary design for a American torpedo battleship dated 31 May 1912


Around 1911 was the Naval War College studying new kind of ships and the Bureau of Construction & Repair responded in designing a torpedo battleship. The main armament were torpedo tubes added with some heavy guns. Although the Bureau recommended already in 1911 to build a torpedo battleship under the Fiscal Year 1913 program was this never done.

Dimensions 790 (water line) x 85.7 (outside of plating) x 28.5 (mean) feet and a displacement of 30.000 tons. Block coefficient 0.544, Longitudinal coefficient 0,554. Armament 1x3-14” breech loading guns, 16-6” quick firing guns and 12 submerged 21” torpedo tubes. The turbine machinery and 21 boilers supplied 64.100 ihp allowing a speed of 27 knots and with a speed of 10 knots a range of 8.000 nautical miles.

The armour consisted of a main side belt amidships extreme width 25.5’, depth below waterline 8.5’ and a thickness of 7½”, 5½-7½”, barbettes 4” (light)-13” (heavy part), turrets 5” (roof)-9” rear)-9/10” (sides)-18” (port), conning tower proper 16”, fire control 16”, conning tower tube 6 (light)-16” (heavy), protective deck total 120# and splinter deck total thickness slopes 80# and flats 60#.

Normal displacement of 30.000 tons: hull complete 13.160 tons, hull fittings 1.572 tons, protection 6.854 tons, steam engineering 3.930 tons, res. feed 2/3 supply 428 tons, battery 790 tons, ammunition &2/3 ordinance stores 618 tons, equipment&2/3 equipment stores 480 tons, outfit&2/3 stores 598 tons, oil fuel 2/3 supply 1.605 tons and -35 tons margin.

Source 
The so-called Spring Styles Book 1 (March 1911-September 1925). Naval History and Heritage Command. Lot S-584-20. Preliminary designs prepared by mostly civilians working at the Bureau of Construction and Repair (succeeded by the Bureau of Ships nowadays the Naval Sea Systems Command) under supervision of naval architects of the Navy Construction Corps. A major part of the drawings was presented to the General Board which advices the Secretary of the Navy.