BB Iowa to CV Conversion Art

[Admiral DadMan]

Based on an actual preliminary design study:





Yes I am aware that the drawing does not feature a hurricane bow. I happen to like them.

[Admiral DadMan]

AnSide goes in the "\ART\AlliedShip_Back" folder

and

AnShil goes in the "\ART\AlliedShip_Transp" folder

[cdnice]

Nice model and graphic, thank you.

Interesting concept, I have not seen that before. It would make sense after war if they wanted to use the unfinished hulls for something else. It looks like the lack of a side elevator would hinder op tempo though. Correct assumption?

[Admiral DadMan]

This design study was reviewed in early June 1942. It apparently had been under consideration for the better part of the previous year, but was ultimately rejected in consideration of the Kriegsmarine's Tirpitz and rumors of what Japan was building.

In an historical context, this design would have would not have been appropriate for Iowa or New Jersey, as they were too far along in construction. Missouri and Wisconsin could have been converted with some delay, but Kentucky would have been the best candidate for this.

It appears that a deck-edge elevator would not be feasible due to the armored citadel, although there is a roller door aft of the island and the rear-most 5in/38cal mount. Should one be incorporated, I would hazard to guess that it would be port side aft.

The Lexington class seemed to function adequately with only 2 centerline elevators, so this may have been a consideration.

[witpqs]

What sort of aircraft capacity was envisioned?

[Admiral DadMan]

ORIGINAL: witpqs

What sort of aircraft capacity was envisioned?

I've seen numbers anywhere from 84 to 99.

The way I set this up is to create a "New Jersey Hull" class for her, and "Iowa Hull" class that the other ships arrive as in East Coast to simulate the launch stage of construction. I took away all guns and aircraft capacity, so there's no way to do anything with them. I also dropped Tonnage to 1110 because a conversion will incur system damage, and you don't want to chew up repair points @ 48,000 tons.

*****IMPORTANT: ONLY ZERO OUT WEAPONS/AIRCRAFT CAPACITY. ZEROING OUT SPEED AND/OR ENDURANCE WILL CAUSE A CRASH*****


When they each arrive on their Launch dates with their launch hulls,



they can either:

-upgrade to BB with a 365 day delay (to represent fitting out, commissioning, and shakedown), or
-convert to CV with a 547 day delay (to represent conversion, fitting out, commissioning, and shakedown).

What this does is make the Allied Player commit to course of action early.

[Denniss]

They may have looked somewhat similar to the Midway class (as originally built), mabe a tad smaller in size.

[DuckofTindalos]

About 80 feet shorter. The Iowa carrier would probably displace substantially less than the Iowa battleship, lacking the main battery and much of the heavy armour.

[wdolson]

ORIGINAL: Admiral DadMan

This design study was reviewed in early June 1942. It apparently had been under consideration for the better part of the previous year, but was ultimately rejected in consideration of the Kriegsmarine's Tirpitz and rumors of what Japan was building.

In an historical context, this design would have would not have been appropriate for Iowa or New Jersey, as they were too far along in construction. Missouri and Wisconsin could have been converted with some delay, but Kentucky would have been the best candidate for this.

It appears that a deck-edge elevator would not be feasible due to the armored citadel, although there is a roller door aft of the island and the rear-most 5in/38cal mount. Should one be incorporated, I would hazard to guess that it would be port side aft.

The Lexington class seemed to function adequately with only 2 centerline elevators, so this may have been a consideration.

The Saratoga was retired from frontline service before the end of the war in part because of the elevators. The Lexingtons had much slower aircraft cycling times than even the Yorktowns. Additionally the rear elevator was too small for most 1940s aircraft so it was rarely used. The Yorktowns didn't have the deck edge elevators, but they did have faster elevators than the Lexingtons and both were usable. The deck edge elevator on the Wasp proved to useful they were incorporated into the Essex class. Having a deck edge elevator makes deck parking a lot easier and it makes it a lot easier to stash a plane that is having mechanical problems when prepping for a strike.

Bill

[Admiral DadMan]

Interesting stuff, Bill. I did some further reading on why Saratoga's elevators weren't upgraded during her 2 overhauls. I can now see why that she was not deployed very far forward from 1944 onward. A deck edge elevator would have been useful for her, but probably not terribly practical after her build.

[DOCUP]

Nice work Admiral.

[Lokasenna]

I don't pop into many of these threads, but glad I did on this one. Really cool idea, especially with having ships arrive on the launch date and then decide to finish kitting out as planned, or a conversion to an alternate history option.

[Admiral DadMan]

Here's a flowchart how it looks

[wdolson]

ORIGINAL: Admiral DadMan

Interesting stuff, Bill. I did some further reading on why Saratoga's elevators weren't upgraded during her 2 overhauls. I can now see why that she was not deployed very far forward from 1944 onward. A deck edge elevator would have been useful for her, but probably not terribly practical after her build.

It probably would have been difficult to add later. Saratoga also had the armor belt of a battlecruiser which may have made the job even tougher.

Bill

[falcon2006]

Sorry, this may sound stupid, but how to use your mod?

[Admiral DadMan]

It is not a mod per se, it is art for those who wish to mod, and recommendations on how to realistically implement a conversion within the game mechanics.

[cdnice]

There was a discussion awhile ago about doing something like this in one of Gary's threads. Have hulls arrive and played decides what to build it out as. I don't have the link but someone else may. AFAIK no one has incorporated it into a mod yet. Some have infinished ships but none allowing you to decide between BB or CV.

[el cid again]

Before development of angled flight decks post war, the practical limit of flight
operations was around 100. Midway could carry 135, but operation of more than 110
was never feasible during the war. After conversion to a better configuration long
after the war, air groups actually shrank - due to the increased size of aircraft.
I limit Midways to 96, which means code will permit 112 to fly. An Iowa should
be very similar.

ORIGINAL: witpqs

What sort of aircraft capacity was envisioned?

[BBfanboy]

Doing the conversion of an Iowa BB to CVB creates other problems. You need enough naval air units to put on the ship and you need more naval aircraft in the pools to support ops. Already players are saying there are not enough naval fighter pilots. Implementing this intriguing idea would require some rejigging of the pilot and aircraft stream for the USN.

[el cid again]

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

I don't pop into many of these threads, but glad I did on this one. Really cool idea, especially with having ships arrive on the launch date and then decide to finish kitting out as planned, or a conversion to an alternate history option.

This concept has some merit - except that it takes longer to build the gunship form of the vessel.
My solution - adopted for RN, USN and IJN new build battleships and cruisers - was to let the carrier
form appear sooner - and then permit the player to "upgrade" to a carrier with a delay representing
the additional time. In fact, of course, they had to be building in the gunship form all along if
that is what you want. There was, for example, a similar plan for HMS Vanguard. Old battleships are
different - ALL IJN battleships were planned for conversion after Midway - with both semi-carrier and
full carrier options. Only two (Ise and Hyuga) were so converted. But in that case, one can start
with the gunship and convert to a carrier (as the gunships exist at game start).