NationStates Jolt Archive


Secret IC: PIW considering heavy gun cruiser

Sarzonia
04-04-2005, 20:07
OOC: The original Randolph-class heavy cruisers were based on the Baltimore-class heavy cruisers the United States Navy had in service during World War II. While those proved to be excellent designs to start off with and use with some slight modernisation, in examining my later designs when compared with the Randolph (which was the second warship I ever designed), it made the information I assembled about the Randolph look rather skimpy by comparison.

This new design is essentially an improvement upon the original Randolph-class. If you would like to provide OOC feedback, please feel free to refer to the original as Randolph I and the newer version as Randolph II.

Secret IC: With the retirement of the Randolph-class heavy cruiser from the rolls, the Incorporated Sarzonian Navy has been unable to duplicate the Randolph's niche as a vessel that fills the role of a ship capable of ASuW warfare, escorting the powerful dreadnaughts that have become legion throughout the world, and providing shore bombardment support.

In a move that was described as an exception to the Incorporated Sarzonian Government's local products rules, the ISN purchased over 200 Castle-class heavy cruisers from the Royal Shipyards of Isselmere-Nieland. While the ship has exceeded the ISN's expectations for the class, the need for creating a local design became more acute when relations between Sarzonia and Isselmere-Nieland soured after the ISG blocked exports of titanium to the UKIN.

As a tribute to the success the Randolph-class has had in the ISN, the new ship would carry the same name as the original class, the Randolph. However, the new class will also benefit from modern shipbuilding techniques and advanced armour composites that have become standard fare in ships built for the ISN. Unlike her predecessor, the new Randolph would be armed with nine eight inch guns instead of the nine inch shells the previous class employed. A sturdier hull construction and the advanced armour composites also look to increase the ship's capabilities as an outstanding complement to the heavy dreadnaughts of the world's navies or as a standard bearer for smaller navies.

Length: 219.5 m; Beam: 26.2 m; Draught: 9.2 m
Displacement: 24,370 tonnes full load
Armament: 9 x 203 mm ETC guns in triple turrets (A, B and Y positions); 2 x 24 cell Mk. 136 VLS (capable of launching Scorcher or Scourge missiles); 8 x 76 mm ETC guns in single turrets port and starboard; 4 x 533 mm TT (for Silver ASW & ASuW torpedoes); 6 x 'Hornet' SAM launchers (larger version of 'Yellow Jacket' mini SAM); 6 x 35 mm Millennium Gun CIWS.
Protection: 167-190 mm advanced armour composite (amorphous steel, titanium, aluminum, kevlar) with ballistic ceramics; double-bottomed, reinforced keel with void spaces; hardened crossbeams installed across bulkheads provide additional protection.
Aircraft: Capable of deploying/recovering four medium ASW helicopters. Carries four UAVs.
Countermeasures: Two towed arrays; AN/SLQ-25 Nixie decoys; AN/SLY-2 (V) Advanced Integrated Electronic Warfare System (AIEWS); A/P Mounted Sonar: AN/SQS-57 active/passive, preformed beam, digital sonar providing panoramic echo ranging and panoramic (DIMUS) passive surveillance.
Propulsion: Five Grymes & Yancey diesel engines, four shafts; two rudders.
Performance: 34 knots maximum; 27 knots cruising.
Range: 8,200 nm at 20 knots.
Complement: 570
Price: $2.15 billion
Running Costs: $79 million per year.
Isselmere
05-04-2005, 21:22
You've outdone me again, sir. Very good work. :)
Sarzonia
05-04-2005, 21:35
You've outdone me again, sir. Very good work. :)That is a high compliment. Thank you!

For me to create a class to replace the Castle, I had to do something brilliant!