Military to civilian ship conversion

REPLYS to several points:

The question was ask: has the USN converted warships to civilian use? YES they have,

1)Several PRE-Deadnaught BB to construction ships for use in the Pacific (1910 to 1950's); thus these ships had a longer service life in the "civilian" role than as first line warships.

2) Some light cruisers were converted into research vessels in the 1920's and again in the 1950's.

3) A dozen or so cruisers were converted into tenders.

The British did a lot more conversion: At least 20 gunboats from the 1860 to 1900 were converted to civilian use as small freighters. Far more gunboats and cruisers were converted for use as tenders.

The Russians still have a few 1860's monitors that were converted into freighters.

I reality conversions would not be all that difficult. In most cases armor would be left in place and the weapon systems removed and the "hole" patched over.


Richard

rdelorme16 wrote:REPLYS to several points:

The question was ask: has the USN converted warships to civilian use? YES they have,

1)Several PRE-Deadnaught BB to construction ships for use in the Pacific (1910 to 1950's); thus these ships had a longer service life in the "civilian" role than as first line warships.

2) Some light cruisers were converted into research vessels in the 1920's and again in the 1950's.

3) A dozen or so cruisers were converted into tenders.

The British did a lot more conversion: At least 20 gunboats from the 1860 to 1900 were converted to civilian use as small freighters. Far more gunboats and cruisers were converted for use as tenders.

The Russians still have a few 1860's monitors that were converted into freighters.

I reality conversions would not be all that difficult. In most cases armor would be left in place and the weapon systems removed and the "hole" patched over.


Richard

Your talking about USS Kearsarge BB-5

rdelorme16 wrote:REPLYS to several points:

The question was ask: has the USN converted warships to civilian use? YES they have,

1)Several PRE-Deadnaught BB to construction ships for use in the Pacific (1910 to 1950's); thus these ships had a longer service life in the "civilian" role than as first line warships.

2) Some light cruisers were converted into research vessels in the 1920's and again in the 1950's.

3) A dozen or so cruisers were converted into tenders.

The British did a lot more conversion: At least 20 gunboats from the 1860 to 1900 were converted to civilian use as small freighters. Far more gunboats and cruisers were converted for use as tenders.

The Russians still have a few 1860's monitors that were converted into freighters.

I reality conversions would not be all that difficult. In most cases armor would be left in place and the weapon systems removed and the "hole" patched over.


Richard

Note that these are all early warships which are basically a normal hull with armour on top and maybe a turret ring. Modern warship construction is much more complex, basically since the advent of the barbette concept to replace the turret. In the classic turret all the mechanics are in the turret and once you pull that off with a crane you have a basic hull. Once you get to the barbette era the structure goes deep into the ship and you have to completely gut the substructure to convert it.

This early german predreadnought shows just how deeply embedded into the structure the armourment goes.



Converting a ship like this to a freighter is complex, just balasting it to compensate for all the military crap removed will be fun.

Also note how deep structures such as the armoured battlemasts go and the positioning of the engineering plant in a position that is catastropihic for freight.

rdelorme16 wrote:REPLYS to several points:

The question was ask: has the USN converted warships to civilian use? YES they have,

1)Several PRE-Deadnaught BB to construction ships for use in the Pacific (1910 to 1950's); thus these ships had a longer service life in the "civilian" role than as first line warships.

2) Some light cruisers were converted into research vessels in the 1920's and again in the 1950's.

3) A dozen or so cruisers were converted into tenders.
The British did a lot more conversion: At least 20 gunboats from the 1860 to 1900 were converted to civilian use as small freighters. Far more gunboats and cruisers were converted for use as tenders.

The Russians still have a few 1860's monitors that were converted into freighters.

I reality conversions would not be all that difficult. In most cases armor would be left in place and the weapon systems removed and the "hole" patched over.


Richard

Those British ships were converted light cruisers and scout cruisers. The ships in general had little if any armour. IIRC the CL's had anywhere from 1 to 3 inches of belt and maybe an inch of deck armour. The scout cruisers were more or less oversized destroyers with armour and armaments to match. IIRC both ship types of the time period typically carried 5 to 8 guns in single mounts.