StealthSeeker wrote:I would like to see a new ship design that would have the offbore tubes chase mounted and would carry up to 8 LACs and carry 8 tractored missile pods. How big of a ship would that have to be? Could it be stuffed in something the size of a BC?
How much of a nightmare would it be to see a squadron of 8 of these ships show up on your door step? There would be 64 LACs and the 8 BCs to make a formidable missile shield in defense and they would be able to throw a lot of missiles when attacking. Even one of these ships patrolling in an area would be a tough nut to crack.
It's hard to build a CLAC that is both good at it and not very large. You _may_ be able to get grossly inefficient more-or-less internal storage of 8 LAC's in a BC-sized hull that lost nearly all armor and internal compartmentalization to get that capability. At that point though, I'd think you may want to change your mind about the project or take a different tack.
If you want to go for LAC carriage that skimps on the quality without being quite so bad on the carrier, carrying them externally may be worth a try. That BC sized hull may be able to limpet them to the sides, a bit like a whole bunch of Keyhole platforms, for a similar scale. Picture three or four LAC's in a row down each flank; or perhaps a pair top and bottom, front and back, on either side to try to keep the center of the broadside clear.
Fitting in effective personnel access would be not too hard. (Speaking here from a new design standpoint; I shudder to consider it on an existing warship - including, yes, an SLN prize.) Fitting in missile and other supply access would be a lot harder; you'd probably just give up and freight that out a cargo hatch on the top or bottom with the wedge down. It's much of the skimping on carrier-role quality. And you'd be sacrificing at least the use of broadside weapons, sensors, and active defenses with the LAC's attached. The designers wouldn't have perfect freedom to arrange those and the LAC attachment points, either, but that's probably livable.
Still though, you wouldn't have a proper BC's firepower even with the brood away. There's only so much that the hammerheads will hold. The Rolands do well that way, but their ammunition is limited. A BC sized hull and its larger hammerheads would do better, but would not likely scale up in effect at the same rate as it scales up in tonnage, cost, yard time, yard capacity used, crew commitment, and ongoing costs.
I suspect you'd do better with a fleet train freighter with some LAC provisions (LAC module, LAC's in cargo bay, and/or LAC's attached) and a heavy cruiser than with a single larger hybrid platform.
