Dilandu wrote:PeterZ wrote:I think this is a battle cruiser. The corresponding all big gun battleship has yet to be seen. I think we will see it in the story, though.
Irrelevant of her classification, she seems to be underarmed quite a bit.
runsforcelery wrote:Indeed she is. Now why, I wonder, would the ICN have built a ship not quite as nasty as they could have?
Most of the improvements here are detail: better guns with better propellant and faster rate of fire, better arrangement of the armament, hydraulically powered hoists, improved machinery, better distribution of armor. etc. She's also carrying a lot of freeboard because of the weather conditions and sea states in which she's expected to operate, and the casemates are actually in the superstructure and stepped back from the side to reduce blast and spray interference and prevent them from being washed out at anything like normal speeds or "Atlantic" conditions.
Now, there are more reasons than one to go to a dreadnought-style armament. None of those reasons are really in play at this point, although the Inner Circle has already drawn up plans for how to approach the design when the time does come. This is essentially a transition design --- a tech demonstrator to get other navies thinking about proper turret mounts, powered turret machinery, and the other features of a workable design (including how much industrial capacity it will take to build the things).
I can think of several reasons for building something like this. Fighting battles is not one of them.
The historical problems with building a ship about the same size as a battleship, with the same main battery as a battleship, and at about the same cost as a battleship, is that sooner or later it ends up being used as a battleship. Heligoland Bight and Falkland are classic BC actions, but Jutland (and Denmark straight) both saw BCs used as fleet units with tragic results.
Second, they didn't last very long as a concept. The 'fast battleship' concept of the '30s effectively combined the advantages of the BB/BC concepts, but as early as 1905 the proposed British X4 design was for a capital ship with
Dreadnought-levels of armor with the 25-knot speed of the
Invincible class. And really on the RN actually used them (and only one survived) WWII, the USN modifying the two under construction into aircraft carriers, and the IJN rebuilding the
Kongo-class into fast battleships.
Now, as for why the Charisian Royal Navy would build them? First, it's a
tech demonstrator; second, it's a tech
demonstrator (that is, it demonstrates the tech, and does so in such a way it gets likely opponents to build a ship that will shortly be obsolete or likely to be misused, see above).
Third, it becomes a floating example of Charisian power (much the same role HMS
Hood had during the 20s and 30s.)
Fourth, it keeps necessary industries in Charis in business. It's easier (so long as you have the money) to keep building guns than it is to get gun manufacturing going again after a ten-year (or whatever) hiatus.
Fifth, it serves as a floating school. There are three KHVII, and what, a double handful of
Cities? More of the
River- and
Delthak-classes, of course. But the overwhelming number of ships in the CRN post-Jihad are still sail-powered. Having additional hulls to train crews in powered-ships would be useful.
Six, it's 'good enough' to turn any sailing ships that fall in with it into very expensive kindling. That includes any armored sailing ships that someone *cough*Dohlar*cough* might produce.
Seventh, it clearly demonstrates a 'native' evolution in design both to Charis' own people as well as anyone who might be wanting to do them a mischief. This is important as it protects the Inner Circle from 'provable' accusations of demon- and Proctor-worship. (won't stop anyone from banding those about, of course, but so long as Father Paityr says it's 'okay'...)
)
