Japanese BB to CVL conversions

[thedoctorking]

The Japanese converted their old BBs into CVLs in 1944,https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_battleship_Ise keeping the forward turrets and putting a flight deck and catapults and a small hanger aft of the superstructure. Seems like an odd choice but I do have some old BBs that could use this treatment in my current game. How would I go about doing this? When I try to convert them, the system says I can't have centerline turrets on a CVL.

[WLRoo]

Those conversions weren't particularly successful, so the game doesn't allow them to be replicated. The short flight deck proved to be too short for use with modern aircraft, so if memory serves they got converted to a full length deck including the removal of the forward guns.

[Searry]

In very rare cases it's worth it to convert ships in this game. The game doesn't allow you to remove armor plates which was done historically to allow carrier conversions to be succesful.

[jwsmith26]

These Japanese conversions were not successful. The ships were equipped with a short flight deck and two rotating catapults to allow planes to take off, but the flight deck was not long enough to allow an aircraft to land. The ships primarily operated floatplanes but they could also carry a dozen dive bombers that could be launched by catapult. These could not be recovered; the dive bombers would have to land on a real carrier or a land base. Floatplanes were recovered normally by landing on the sea and being hoisted aboard.

Given the strategic situation there was little these conversions could accomplish. These ships were engaged in a few scuffles but their air wings were not successful in any attacks. The catapults were removed less than a year after the conversion was completed because they interfered with the firing of the main guns.

Historically, there was really very little chance that the bombers carried would be used effectively since they could only be used in a rather narrow set of circumstances and they would necessarily lack any kind of escort. Because the dive bomber component on these ships was largely useless, in RTW, it would be possible to mostly replicate the reduced effectiveness of these ships by removing two rear turrets from an existing older battleship, equipping the ship with a squadron of floatplanes and accepting the attendant danger to the ship in surface combat, as well as its reduced offensive capability.

They were a bad idea historically and such a conversion in RTW would result in an equally bad design.

[Searry]

When the AI puts floatplanes on their ships non-AVs they always catch fire which contribute to the AI then losing the ship.

[Searry]

Ikoma is equipped with one 2 tube H Sam launcher, 8 H SSM with reload, 10 M SSM with reload.

ikomabb.png (231.74 KiB) Viewed 556 times

Converting it to a Jet capable carrier would result in a pretty useless carrier. You can't even have protection for the hangar.
1 hit and it probably has to be abandoned due to fire.

ikomacvjet.png (78.67 KiB) Viewed 556 times

I forgot the catapults but you get the idea.

In a 30s/40s setup where the AA is much less ineffective you would probably have the same result to have a chance to keep the ship alive during air attack as you need a lot of light and heavy anti-air.

In the end conversions are not worth it. The game doesn't have complete rebuilds like the Lexington class.