PetrolGator wrote:
Love it, in spite of how utterly top heavy such a boat would be.
A lot of the IJN ships were top heavy ("cram in whatever you can & worry about keeping it afloat latter"), this and a disdain for anything "defensive" (ie: armor/damage control/repair) contributed heavily to the IJN losses to (in many cases) crippling but not lethal damage. The Ryujo for one (originally designed for a single hanger with around 15 aircraft, flight deck was raised to add a 2nd hanger to double air-arm, created excess top weight issues). Even their "special" type (Fubuki class) DDs were notoriously top heavy, especially the type IIs (Ayanami) which replaced the original 12.7cm/50 low angle "Type A" turrets with larger & heavier high angle "Type B" turrets, the reason the "Type 3"s (Akatsuki) were so much larger & more expensive. However, if this ship were built the same as other IJN carriers, with metal framed wood flight deck & large open hanger, then this ship wouldn’t be as top heavy as it looks. The hanger/deck structure wouldn’t be that much heavier than the 4 original armored turrets with their heavy guns. The main structural issue I see is the weight of the heavy pagoda offset to one side. This can be countered by internal ballast but that would add a lot of dead weight. The ship would be highly ineffective as a combat unit, getting into a gun battle would expose the unprotected aircraft facilities (& bombs/fuel) to enemy fire. The main gun barrels would likewise interfere with flight ops (massive air turbulence down the deck) & the weight/space would be better used for more aircraft/bomb/fuel storage. These are of-course the reason no true hybrids were ever actually built or used. That aside, I love the concept & with modern tech could be viable. Love the build, fantastic job!
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