Manarth
10-04-2006, 06:29
This is the location for discussion relating to naval technology in the Imperial Age RP that starts in 1872. If you didn't catch that from the title...
What You Need to Know About Your Navy
Ship Abilities and Duties by Class
Wooden Ships of the Line
Wood ships are on their last leg. Since the Moniter faught the Virginia, these ships have been sorely out of date. Some still survive as supply ships, floating barracks or training vessels. Others are privately owned as floating museums. They should probubly never see combat again.
Ironclad Broadsides
Think Wooden Ships of the Line, but modified with iron sideing. They probubly have a steam boiler for movement when they are unable to make good speed against the wind, but the steam power remains slower than they can run with their mast up.
If they're not outdated and outclassed, they're rapidly getting there.
Moniters
Moniters are any ironclad ship with guns that sits low against the water. They tend towards heavy armor and few guns. While they work rather well as coastal defense ships against wooden ships or armed merchantmen, they are next to worthless against a serious opponent.
Their shallow draft makes them worthless on the open sea, and any solid hit would probuly be the end of them. They should not be sent up against Battleships.
Battleship: Barbette
The biggest and baddest ships on the open sea (at the moment). Battleships will outgun anything afloat. They can transport troops, they can engage anything, they can bombard coastal possitions, and they cost a lot of money to build and maintain.
The main difference between Barbettes and Pre-Drednaughts is the lack of turrents on Barbettes. Turrents don't appear for awhile.
Battleship: Pre-Drednaught
The British have two, the HMS Devastation and the HMS Thunderer. They are big, they are bad, they have 12 inch guns with turrents. No one else is really in a position to build many of these, though they make the previous broadside ships obsolete.
Armored Crusiers
The first few have been built by the British. They are designed to be faster than battleships, and are consequently smaller then battleships.
They are designed to give smaller navies a powerful vessel that is cheaper than a Battleship to build and maintain.
Torpedo Boat
The first is going to be built by the British in 1873. The Torpedo boat is designed to fire torpedos at larger ships, thus simplifying the fireing of weaponry from three dimensions to two.
These ships tend to be very small, and inexpensive to produce. Large naval programs should be able to produce them soon after the British. Smaller naval programs may have to wait a few years for the technology of torpedos to become available.
What You Need to Know About Your Navy
Ship Abilities and Duties by Class
Wooden Ships of the Line
Wood ships are on their last leg. Since the Moniter faught the Virginia, these ships have been sorely out of date. Some still survive as supply ships, floating barracks or training vessels. Others are privately owned as floating museums. They should probubly never see combat again.
Ironclad Broadsides
Think Wooden Ships of the Line, but modified with iron sideing. They probubly have a steam boiler for movement when they are unable to make good speed against the wind, but the steam power remains slower than they can run with their mast up.
If they're not outdated and outclassed, they're rapidly getting there.
Moniters
Moniters are any ironclad ship with guns that sits low against the water. They tend towards heavy armor and few guns. While they work rather well as coastal defense ships against wooden ships or armed merchantmen, they are next to worthless against a serious opponent.
Their shallow draft makes them worthless on the open sea, and any solid hit would probuly be the end of them. They should not be sent up against Battleships.
Battleship: Barbette
The biggest and baddest ships on the open sea (at the moment). Battleships will outgun anything afloat. They can transport troops, they can engage anything, they can bombard coastal possitions, and they cost a lot of money to build and maintain.
The main difference between Barbettes and Pre-Drednaughts is the lack of turrents on Barbettes. Turrents don't appear for awhile.
Battleship: Pre-Drednaught
The British have two, the HMS Devastation and the HMS Thunderer. They are big, they are bad, they have 12 inch guns with turrents. No one else is really in a position to build many of these, though they make the previous broadside ships obsolete.
Armored Crusiers
The first few have been built by the British. They are designed to be faster than battleships, and are consequently smaller then battleships.
They are designed to give smaller navies a powerful vessel that is cheaper than a Battleship to build and maintain.
Torpedo Boat
The first is going to be built by the British in 1873. The Torpedo boat is designed to fire torpedos at larger ships, thus simplifying the fireing of weaponry from three dimensions to two.
These ships tend to be very small, and inexpensive to produce. Large naval programs should be able to produce them soon after the British. Smaller naval programs may have to wait a few years for the technology of torpedos to become available.