Auto CVL conversion not working?

[thedoctorking]

I have these old B ships that I want to convert to CVLs. I use the auto convert button, and I get CVLs with 18 knot speed; the game chides me that they won't be able to operate planes because they don't have 24 knot speed. Okay, I do a machinery replacement, give them oil turbine engines, and raise their speed to 24 knots. Sorry, that hull size is not capable of 24 knots. Then I go with a bulged hull, raise the speed to 27 knots (-3 for the bulge), and now it says the ship is a CV and has to have 8 inch guns. The ship size hasn't changed, why does the designation change? And if the designation changes, well this ship used to have 8 inch guns, and we took them off during the refit process. Now you want me to put them back on? Can't I tell the design board to go do something to themselves? After all, I'm supposed to be the head of the navy.

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[WLRoo]

B-type hulls, especially early B-type hulls, have severe speed restrictions that apply to them, including the issue of raising the speed by more than a couple of kn.

However, aren't CVLs limited to 16,000t when first researched? The use of bulges means your ship is up to 16,500t.

[thedoctorking]

Ah, okay, that explains it.

I just scrapped them. A pity since they were such reliable performers for me early in the game. I would have liked to have had the option to make them museums maybe for a slight increase in civilian morale?

[thedoctorking]

That "design board wants X" is a pretty annoying message. Why don't I have control of my navy, within technological limits?

[WLRoo]

It goes back to how the when the Carrier was first developed, aircraft were flimsy, short ranged and unable to operate at night/during bad weather. The expectation was that at some point, the Carrier would find itself in short range combat with other warships, so were given Cruiser-grade armament for such an eventuality. HMS Hermes, for example, had a battery of 5.5" guns whilst the Lexington-class carried a battery of 8" guns.

It's actually where the 'C' part of the CV designation comes from.

To represent this in-game, the devs added a rule that the first such ship built by a nation should include cruiser grade armament.

[WLRoo]

Happened to be checking appendix 1 of the manual today, and it seems the 16,000t limit on CVLs is not supposed to apply to conversions. It's possible that the manual isn't up to date here, but I think it should be highlighted as a possible bug if it happens again.