Considerations about naval designs

Darman wrote:Ramming requires an extremely robust construction, otherwise you risk damage to yourself.



I was wondering, does anyone have the specs for the King Harold VII-class?

Delthak has very robust construction. So there! thereunto! an all of that!! It is a reinforced coal barge.

Don

n7axw wrote:

Darman wrote:Ramming requires an extremely robust construction, otherwise you risk damage to yourself.



I was wondering, does anyone have the specs for the King Harold VII-class?

Delthak has very robust construction. So there! thereunto! an all of that!! It is a reinforced coal barge.

Don

Iron armor over wood - with a fairly blunt bow - not a good candidate for ramming.

n7axw wrote:

Darman wrote:Ramming requires an extremely robust construction, otherwise you risk damage to yourself.



I was wondering, does anyone have the specs for the King Harold VII-class?

Delthak has very robust construction. So there! thereunto! an all of that!! It is a reinforced coal barge.

Don

The biggest problem with ramming is the risk of counter boarding i.e. the ship with the bigger and meaner crew crew winds up with the ship at the end of the day. Artillery increases the space between ships and inhibits boarding, there is a reason that the taking of prizes in warfare has become rather rare since the first world war. (The losers are rarely floating at the end of an artillery duel, submarines being the most frequent exception (as they tend to surface to evacuate).)

fallsfromtrees wrote:

n7axw wrote:snip

Delthak has very robust construction. So there! thereunto! an all of that!! It is a reinforced coal barge.

Don

Iron armor over wood - with a fairly blunt bow - not a good candidate for ramming.

HA - obvious solution - steer delicately enough to snick off the galleon's rudder without a full frontal ramming...

OR [more daringly] cut across just in front and smash the jib [without of course being rolled over by the galleon]

[not serious]

Actually just ramming the side of a enemy galleon will do a lot of damage. The Delthaks are -very- solidly built with wood and armor. It wouldn't punch through the side like a galley ram would, but it will break the sides and crack or break the ribs of the ship (think of the galleon hitting a reef, it's going to hurt the galleon) and at that close, the Delthak might be able to fire a point blank broadside with little chance of missing. At the very least though they could ram the rudder and wreck that.

Zakharra wrote:Actually just ramming the side of a enemy galleon will do a lot of damage. The Delthaks are -very- solidly built with wood and armor. It wouldn't punch through the side like a galley ram would, but it will break the sides and crack or break the ribs of the ship (think of the galleon hitting a reef, it's going to hurt the galleon) and at that close, the Delthak might be able to fire a point blank broadside with little chance of missing. At the very least though they could ram the rudder and wreck that.

So what about putting really big guns at the front and end of the ship for that kind of situation?

Draken wrote:

Zakharra wrote:Actually just ramming the side of a enemy galleon will do a lot of damage. The Delthaks are -very- solidly built with wood and armor. It wouldn't punch through the side like a galley ram would, but it will break the sides and crack or break the ribs of the ship (think of the galleon hitting a reef, it's going to hurt the galleon) and at that close, the Delthak might be able to fire a point blank broadside with little chance of missing. At the very least though they could ram the rudder and wreck that.

So what about putting really big guns at the front and end of the ship for that kind of situation?

You really aren't wanting to open the gun ports. That's why you would be ramming. Delthak would probably take some damage, but her construction is a lot more solid than a galleon who would be hurt worse.

As for the blunt bow, that's a good point. Maybe she could be fitted wth a ram on the front of her bow.

Don

n7axw wrote:

Zakharra wrote:Actually just ramming the side of a enemy galleon will do a lot of damage. The Delthaks are -very- solidly built with wood and armor. It wouldn't punch through the side like a galley ram would, but it will break the sides and crack or break the ribs of the ship (think of the galleon hitting a reef, it's going to hurt the galleon) and at that close, the Delthak might be able to fire a point blank broadside with little chance of missing. At the very least though they could ram the rudder and wreck that.

Draken wrote:So what about putting really big guns at the front and end of the ship for that kind of situation?

You really aren't wanting to open the gun ports. That's why you would be ramming. Delthak would probably take some damage, but her construction is a lot more solid than a galleon who would be hurt worse.

As for the blunt bow, that's a good point. Maybe she could be fitted wth a ram on the front of her bow.

Don

You are going to have to brace the hell out of the front of the Delthak, or you will stove it in, and end up flooding the ship.

Hi fallsfromtrees,

You are undoubtedly right on this one, although when Delthak was converted to an ironclad, she was already very heavily braced.

But given the punishment deliberate ramming would incur, even more bracing would be in order. I know I'm the one who came up with the idea, but I'm not sure it's really very practical.

Don

n7axw wrote:Hi fallsfromtrees,

You are undoubtedly right on this one, although when Delthak was converted to an ironclad, she was already very heavily braced.

But given the punishment deliberate ramming would incur, even more bracing would be in order. I know I'm the one who came up with the idea, but I'm not sure it's really very practical.

Don

Yeah, all those cannons ripping out of their tracks and crashing towards the front of the ship when the collision occurs would probably be a wee bit unhealthy for the crew!