Hull suggestion: Matsushima class

[Shaun]

Thought I'd submit this because I'd love to see a glass-cannon hull.

The Matsushima class was a class of protected cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), with three ships named after the three most famous scenic spots in Japan. The Matsushima class was a highly unorthodox design among cruisers of the 1890s, in that each ship had a primary armament of a single massive 320 millimetres (13 in) Canet gun, resulting in a monitor-like appearance.

The Matsushima-class vessels' bow was reinforced with naval rams. The vital equipment, including boilers and ammunition magazines, were protected by hardened steel armour, as were the gun shields. The main armament consisted of one breech-loading 320-mm Canet gun mounted in the bow of the ship (in the stern in the case of Matsushima). Secondary armament consisted of QF 4.7 inch Gun Mk I–IV Armstrong guns. Ten were mounted on the gun deck, five to each side, with the 11th gun located on the upper deck of the fantail on Itsukushima and Hashidate, whereas Matsushima has a 12th gun on the fantail. Each ship in the class also had four 356-mm torpedo tubes, three in the bow and one in the stern, with a total of 20 torpedoes carried on board.

Real stats:

Type:    Protected cruiser
Displacement:    4,285 t (Matsushima); 4,347 t (Itsukushima and Hashidate)
Length:    91.81 m (301 ft 3 in) w/l
Beam:    15.6 m (51 ft 2 in)
Draft:    6.05 m (19 ft 10 in)
Complement:    360
Armament:    
1 × 320 mm (12.6 in) Canet gun
11-12 × QF 4.7-inch (120 mm) guns
5-6 × QF 6-pounder (57 mm) Hotchkiss guns
2-5 × QF 3-pounder (47 mm) Hotchkiss guns
4 × 356 mm (14.0 in) torpedo tubes
Armour:    
Deck: 50 mm (2 in)
Gun Turret: 300 mm (12 in)
Gun shield: 100 mm (4 in)

Possible in-game stats:

Type:    Semi-armoured cruiser
Displacement:    8,000-12,000 t (I've noticed ships in game to be far heavier than their real life counter-parts, tested with 4 x 8inch guns and all secondaries on semi-armoured cruiser hull)
Armament: 
Up to 13-inch main battery (Space for one turret only)
Up to 12 × 5 inch secondary/case-mate guns
Up to 6 additional 3 inch secondary/case-mate guns
2-5 × QF 3-pounder (47 mm) Hotchkiss guns
Single torpedo tubes can be added to deck; the ships had none in hull.

Armour:    Max of 5 inches like all semi-armoured ships, except turret which has 50 inch limit like armoured cruisers.

 

 

[Shaun]

42 minutes ago, Lieste said:

It isn't massively dissimilar to Victoria or Sans Pareil battleships of the RN. (Though they had large guns in a paired mounting in their forward barbette).

Yeah I was thinking about that class but they're technically ironclad battleships and not true pre-dreadnoughts.

[disc]

Definitely interesting ships, but not incredibly successful ones. The 320mm gun was far too unwieldy on them. Each averaged around 1 round per hour at Yalu River; in total the three ships fired thirteen rounds in five hours. They did make two hits, which is decent accuracy, but probably the class would have done better with more QF guns. The stability no doubt would be far superior....

Speed was indifferent, around 16-16.5 knots, rather slower than most contemporaries. The Alger class is probably their closest relatives, and they got about 19 knots, while the Royal Navy Apollo class was around 18.5-20 knots. I'm fairly certain they were the slowest of all the Japanese protected cruisers.

The heavy turret armor might not have been worth it. Matsushima lost its 320mm about 4 hours into Yalu River, and I think armor against small or QF guns (ie ~6in thick or less) would have served just as well.

In fact Japan never did order any more cruisers from France, after these. One wonders if the Matsushimas alone were why, or whether Unebi flat-out disappearing was the big reason.