Clandonia Prime
02-09-2007, 19:21
Portsmouth, Southern Clandonia
Over two million people were crowding to the quay, ahead of them what they had come to see a truly massive warship was casting its shadow in the later summer sun. A further twenty million had lined the beaches waiting for the massive ship to leave port for the first time in its life. The ship, the first of the Nelson Super Dreadnought Class named HMS Nelson after the famous Clandonian Admiral who had defeated a enemy fleet twice the size of his. The ship and her crew of nearly 14,000 were lined up on deck in Clandonian white dress gear, enjoying the Mediterranean weather that was a characteristic of the Southern Bay. The drone of helicopters and aircraft covering the event, His Majesty was scheduled to arrive by boat on a Broadsword battlecruiser. The crowd cheered as the ships klaxon sounded for the first time, shrieking out across the harbour as she dwarfed all the other ships, her nearest sibling was less than two thirds of the length of the Royal Sovereign Dreadnoughts. Four hundred tugs, several destroyers, frigates and cruisers were waiting to guide her out into the specially dug channel and take her along past the coastal strip and the beaches to show the crowds that were waiting. The first ship of any class is always a large media spectacle but the launch of a nation’s first super dreadnought showing that Clandonian engineering and naval power was rising around the world, The Imperial Crown Kingdom had established herself as a moderate nautical power in terms of power projection and firepower.
As the clock struck four o’clock a flyboy by the Blue Kites, the Fleet Air Arm’s aerobatic display team prompted cheers from the crown as HMS Nelson’s engineering and bridge crew began the engine power up as her water jets moved her slowly away from the quay and her main engines kicked. Six million of shaft horsepower moved the ship guided and shown the way out of Port and the channel, the crowds waving flags and shouting ‘God Save the King!’ and ‘Long live the Nelson!’ at the top of their voices as His Majesty King William VII flew past in the Goshawk. The vessel was now under her own power as she cruised at a gentle 12 knots past the main beach creating a high wash that lapped right to the beach tide marks, surprising and shocking those who had pitched towels and sun loungers near the water. The Kings helicopter had landed on the foredeck in the space between the guns and the stern VLS batteries. He was to address the gathered officers and politicians that had set sail for the short two day trip to Warminster to pull up on the river and let the public view the vessel. As the King saluted his Admirals and senior maritime commanders, he wore the number two’s like they did. White dress suit with his medals and ribbons from the time he commanded a battleship.
“My fellow Clandonians, sailors, marines and airmen. It is the most honourable experience to be this magnificent vessel. Many thousands of hours of work, trillions of Crowns and the greatest contribution of Clandonian naval design ever seen, this is the product of all that effort. Many have said this was a waste of money, money that could be spent helping less fortunate nations or even our own people. I tell those people this, the Clandonian Royal Navy stands as one of the largest naval powers for a country of our size, ships like HMS Nelson will protect our economical, military, political and wider strategic interests globally. I will look forward to when the other ships take up their name and commission into the service.”
“Ships like this will fire in anger, as the war between the brave Questerians and the fascist hordes of NATO rages on in the South, it reminds us of the enemies of the free world. Rogue states like British Londinium, Greston, Maldorians and the fallacies of the Corporate Alliance and EVIL. These nations even worse than the tyrannies of Gholgoth and NATO. British Londinium has been invaded many times, their people are of the most devious and cowardice nature, surrendering when they are threatened by larger powers but continually threatening smaller and less developed nations. I warn those foes today, if you wish to continue the imperialism then you will one day face the guns of the Clandonian Royal Navy and ships like the Nelson. I now hand over the rest to Prime Minister Sir Sistilin.”
Stepping off the stage he joined the Prime Minister who was holding a large magnum sized bottle of Clandonian white sparkling wine, the sort from the nearby vine yards of Portsmouth heading down to Southampton way. Swinging the bottle from its rope on a piece of scaffolding against the ship, it broke smashing the bottle, the ship was now blessed by the lands that she had been forged from, a sign of good luck for the ships future.
“I now commission this in the name of His Majesty King William VII, the Lord of the High Privy Council, the Keeper of the Imperial Crown and saviour of God.” Spoke the King as he received a standing ovation from the gathered personal as the ship cruised down the southern coast heading for the nations capital for her first public appearance, a huge amount of interest had been generated as her escort battlefleets and squadrons followed her surrounded by a equal number of private yachts, motorboats and pleasure cruisers. And so the kilometre long vessel sailed off into the sunset for the short journey, aboard the party preparations for the vessels launch night were underway in the large kitchens and messes.
And so the first Nelson was launched, the Imperial Crown Kingdom was truly a naval power now.
OOC: And now a little about the ship from the draftroom posting and my Word document:
Nelson Class Super Dreadnought
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v338/madnukedude/NelsonClassSuperDreadnoughtresize.png
Large Image (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v338/madnukedude/NelsonClassSuperDreadnought.png)
Introduction and design features
The Nelson programme was introduced to build a home designed and produced super dreadnought for the Clandonian Royal Navy. After several years of designing small cruisers and larger battleships the knowledge of building large ship and the required engineering for armour, electronics, gunnery and propulsion was there to embark on the a super dreadnought programme. Imperial Clandonian Shipyards allied with Vickers Nautical Engineering for the project drawing together two large ship builders with connections to the industries of nuclear reactor design and weapon systems. Four locations were selected as suitable for construction, Portsmouth on the Southern Coast in the deep waters of the Southern Bay or the Watercroft Port on the northern coast onto the Fyre Sea. These two ports had adequate room for the huge warships draught and the resources needed of steel and manpower to construct the vessels. It was estimated that each warship would create two hundred thousand jobs directly and up to half a million indirectly, this was a huge political tool for the Tory government who ordered the ships, commentators say several bi-elections in the areas shifted from Labour to Liberal Tories thanks to the warship construction programme. A huge sum of money was allocated by the Treasury, nearly twenty trillion Crowns over four years with the aim of having the first four hulls completed and ready for fitting of engines and the guns.
The first four warships will be named HMS Nelson , HMS Victoria , HMS Stockton and HMS Darlington . It has not been decided if a further four will be ordered with many suggesting that a compromise of another two and for the future light dreadnought programme to be given the green light.
Sensors
The main radar is a Type 27 Imperial Clandonian Electronics 50 Gw X-Band capable of scanning over 800 km’s around the ship for surface and air threats, its computing power can handle fourteen thousand targets simultaneously. The experimental X-band array can also detect ballistic and stealth objects due its wavelength type and massive range. Two backup 5 GW SEADAR-5 systems are just bellow the main dome with a range of 100 km’s of air coverage, these link to the Nelsons complex anti-air defence and CIWS. A further six PAP-ASR87multi-function active-passive air and sea radar systems provide control a further backup with a smaller range of 45 km’s. Further systems of Imperial Clandonian Electronics BSA-MK1 Bow air-sea LIDAR, LADAR, eight Imperial Clandonian Electronics TSA-MK2 towed sonar array systems, one Imperial Clandonian Electronics Skynet Communications Network Dish Array, High Range 11.7-12.75 GHz Secure frequency are available for quick use. The ship is linked by VOIP phones both wired and wireless for communication between the various areas to the bridge and the command centre. Fibre optic cabling of over eight hundred kilometres in total is in the ship linking communications, computer and data systems with high speeds to the ships main computer. The ships main computer has over four 2000 terabytes databanks and 200 terabytes of ZDRAM, 200 2 terahertz processors help run the massive network. Local subnets, servers and weapons computers are all linked in as well as work stations, tablets, PDA’s and personal equipment to the internet access during peacetime.
Machinery and engineering
The Nelson is equipped with eight Imperial Clandonian Nuclear Fuels CNF-2000 Mk2 2000MW Pebble Bed Reactors, each with twenty years worth of fuel. Each reactor feeds to a boiler, two for each of the funnels. The entire reactor housing is protected by 1200 mm of reinforced steel, reactors will shut down automatically and power will be distributed from less critical systems. The Nelson has eight propeller shafts which give the ship around 6,000,000 shaft horsepower at full power. A further forty water jet boosters, twenty on each side of the hull allow the ship to remain stable or perform complex movements when docking. These water jets are linked to the ships computer and satellite positing system allowing the Nelson to remain stable when commencing complex gunnery attacks. The Nelson has a maximum speed of 34.9 knots and a standard cruising speed of 28.6 knots with a sprint option of 32.4 knots. The main rudder and two backup rudders are armoured, the main rudder is around 24 metres by 19 metres, the two smaller ones respectively half of that.
The two other reactors can act as backup should the main reactors go down, individually they provide an independent source for the ships main ETC naval guns during battle. The vessel has over eight thousand toilets flushed by salt water to conserve fresh water supplies, fresh water is used in shower systems which is provided by the electrolysis of sea water by the ships nuclear reactors.
Crew and accommodation
The Nelson has of 12,480 ratings, 260 officers, 240 aircraft technicians, 20 aircrew and can also accommodate a further 1000 thousand Royal Marines in the hanger space. The Nelson has five luxury suites where senior naval commanders reside, these connect to the bridge observation deck via a corridor and have a private lift to the command and operations room. Officers have their own private mess which has two bars, the crew are provided with the main mess hall which is the size of a football pitch. In other parts of the ship there are various crew bars and messes for gunnery, engineering, bridge and aircrew. The ship is fully air conditioned and ventilated to withstand nuclear, biological or chemical contamination. The ship has enough food for twelve months which is stored in several large temperature controlled pantry’s, it would be unlikely for a Nelson to go with the full provision as its operation is usually in conjunction with the rest of the fleet and logistical squadrons. Each sailor has his own personal space of three squared metres, this size is increased for officers and goes higher depending on rank and importance.
The ship was designed to be a pleasant place for the crew with a cinema, bowling ally, bars, internet cafes and high speed wireless internet in sleeping quarters it was designed for long distance operations away from home for up to a year at a time. The ships two tea boilers are the size of a three bed roomed family house and provide tea all over the ship through pumps to keep the crew moralised.
Weapons
The Nelson has eight turrets housing a 30.5” MK12 Imperial Munitions ETC Naval Gun, each of the turrets weighs over eight hundred tonnes on its own. The Nelsons guns are linked by fibre optical cable to the ships sensor and computer systems. Each turret is equipped with a backup IR and optical array with night enhancement, the lens equipment was handmade for each ship and custom designed to meet the requirements that Imperial Munitions and Imperial Electronics requested. Each gun weighs over eight hundred tonnes and the turret with guns and ammunition weighs nearly seven thousand tonnes. Each gun has a provision of thirty shells per gun with a provision of 200 per gun, this leads to a total of 5520 shells for the entire ship. Four bow guns of A,B,C,D and the stern guns of W,X,Y,Z have motors which provide 1200 horsepower for training the guns to a maximum elevation of 45 degrees and minimum of -2 degrees. Each gun housing is separated into pressurised sections at a negative pressure, these have halon, water and chemical fire suppressors and if need be can be flooded in ten minutes to prevent fire from breaching the ammunition stores. Two 500 mm steel protection plates provide 1000 mm of cover for the turret which can withstand hits from many types of international shipping missiles including the Clandonian used Lance ASM which ‘bounced off’ when test fired at a demonstration piece at Portsmouth.
Sixteen 8” DP guns with a range of 20 km’s can provide anti-air cover or close range defence against small craft. A provision of eighty shells per gun with a further three hundred in reserve. Twelve rapid firing 130 mm auto loading AA cannons provide anti-air cover with a range of twenty eight thousand metres and can fire seven rounds per minute with a maximum elevation angle of 78 degrees. A total of 74 50mm CIWS systems with an affective range of six thousand metres, each gun has a storage of 4000 shells and they operate in conjunction with anti-air missiles and chaff missile decoys to prevent missiles from hitting the vessel.
Two bow VLS pads of 45x64 Hawk-Lance VLS Batteries (0.6x0.6x8m) hold 2880 missiles each providing a total of 5760 missiles for the bow missile systems. Two stern VLS pads of 54x64 of the Hawk-Lance VLS Batteries hold 3456 each with a total of 6912. This means the total missile capacity of the ship is 12672 available to fire at instant. A central 10x 32cell Wellington VLS Block of 320 (0.3x0.3x4m) missiles to deal with air threats. Numerous light and heavy machine guns emplacements along with portable GPMG mounts are around the vessel for use by crew and the Royal Marine contingent. There are over ten thousand rifles, and twenty thousand pistols along with many other small arms, hand grenades in crew small armed weapons. All personal on-board are expected to be proficient in rifle and pistol shooting, competitions are regularly held to improve crew moral and encourage competitiveness.
Aviation and boats
There is enough hanger space for twenty VTOL aircraft or helicopters retrospectively, a Fleet Air Arm squadron can operate off the ship with specialist fuel storage in the central armoured block and armoured hanger bays to prevent incoming fire penetrating into the ship. The Nelson carries several hundred disposable UAV drones which can be launched and remotely operated to pick out targets for her gun and missile batteries. The ship also has the provision to launch remotely operated submarines for submarine rescue and underwater observation, sample collection and repair to the ships hull or other underwater structures. There is provision for a small ferry craft of a coastal frigate type, usually to bring VIP’s and supplies aboard if the ship is in shallow water and cannot dock at a port or harbour. Helicopter landing capacity is accessible on both the stern and bow freeboard, a total of 24 VTOL aircraft or helicopters can be carried.
Armour and Protection Systems
The Nelson was designed to have three heavily armoured sections, one for protection of the vital engine and machinery works, another for ammunition storage to prevent the disaster of a rogue shell getting past the barriers and defences and destroying the ship from internal explosion. The final section containing the ships command and control systems, command crew of senior personal, computing equipment and the powerful radar systems.
The Nelson has highly sophisticated armour protection, part of the cost armour took fifteen percent of the research budget. To start with the hull is made from reinforced steel with void spaces between the three armoured sections protected by meshed steel bars and titanium plates of a thickness of 800 mm’s. The belt consists of one layer of 800mm worth of steel plate, backed by a further 600mm of treated steal with a ceramic rear covering. In front of that, a layer of 200mm strong steel and tungsten mesh a of higher tensile strength prevents damage. Anything smaller than 20” effectively will do nothing but mark the belt. Around the boiler section 1400 mm thick steel plate armour protects the machinery compartment and engineering crew, a further backing of 200 mm’s of steel and tungsten mesh gives added protection should the main armour and super structure be breached by specialised munitions. The super structure is protected by two pieces of steel armour plate separated by a 80 mm thick void containing tungsten support bars and fireproofing, each piece of steel armour is 800 mm’s thick and with a 200 mm outer shell of standard 200 mm toughed steel. This armour extends down overlapping onto the deck by over 4000 mm’s in some places and belt attached by tungsten rivets and high temperature electrowelding.
For the deck armour a decapping layer of specialised low carbon steel and 600mm thick underneath the teak wood anti-slip decking. The steel with its low tensile strength allows it to act as a better decapper effectively making armour piercing shells useless. A layer behind the deck armour of 600 mm treated steel supported on tungsten slots for support. The mesh design from the belt armour along with a honeycomb type covering of 400 mm thick steel with interlinking titanium alloy support bars. Finally two layers of 250 mm plate steel electowelded along with tungsten rivet bolts to the hull structure going along under the deck, covering the turret barbettes all the way around the VLS batteries. The total armour on the deck has a thickness of 2200 mm’s, able to withstand even the heaviest of bombs and resist shell damage for a considerable amount of time.
Torpedo attacks have crippled super dreadnoughts in the past so it was an important feature, honeycombing with titanium rods was done 600mm into the ship, followed by a 200mm layer of plate steel armour. Further structural supports were added behind this for just over metre, and then void space was built in watertight and airtight compartments with a higher than normal atmospheric pressure. Behind that, a further 400mm layer of treated steel. The keel is supported by horizontal frame, tungsten and titanium rods make up most of the bottom of this framing, and the upper frames are made from 500mm rods of tungsten backed and plate armour steel.
The final piece of protection was on the funnels, a missile could be fired into one of them or a bomb dropped in by a lucky pilot looking for a weak point in the vessel. The design team at Imperial Clandonian Shipyards developed a new type of grated armour of 200 mm thickness, bellow this a plate of 600 mm thick band of steel adding protection to the boiler radiators. Around the funnel a belt of two pieces of 300 mm steel armour backed by tungsten netting protected the housing. The likelihood of a missile going down the funnel was considerably lowered by the amount of CIWS systems and anti-missile systems placed around that area of the ships super structure.
Weapons and ammunition compartments fitted with halon fire control systems in the event of a fire they are flooded with halon gas to prevent explosion. Standard water sprinklers in crew areas with CO2 and halon fire extinguishers for electronic equipment, chemical extinguishers in engineering system area and also in turrets. Damage control systems fitted throughout vessel. Collapsible and inflatable lifeboats are available for the entire complement. Cold water survival suits are provided for every person onboard. Heavy duty water pumps are fitted throughout vessel, able to function on emergency backup power if main systems are down to pump out nearly out sections of the ship or flood certain sections to create stability. Flood bulk heads will fall down in four seconds of automatic systems detecting flooding, these will fall in the event of fire and have a thickness of 80 mm plate steel with a ceramic fire proofing layer, and there are ten thousand of these doors on the ship. Along with these features all crew members have been trained in emergency flood prevention and repair procedures, specialised teams with portable water pumps, welding equipment and repair tools are posted around the various sections of the ship encase of damage they are able to get to the damaged area within two minutes.
Quick stats
Length: 1197 metres
Beam: 154 metres
Draught: 47.88 metres
Normal Displacement: 9,200,120 Tonnes
Battle Displacement: 10,570,275 Tonnes
Maximum Displacement: 12,458, 267 Tonnes (before structural damage)
Estimated Unit Cost: 1.2 Trillion Crowns
Over two million people were crowding to the quay, ahead of them what they had come to see a truly massive warship was casting its shadow in the later summer sun. A further twenty million had lined the beaches waiting for the massive ship to leave port for the first time in its life. The ship, the first of the Nelson Super Dreadnought Class named HMS Nelson after the famous Clandonian Admiral who had defeated a enemy fleet twice the size of his. The ship and her crew of nearly 14,000 were lined up on deck in Clandonian white dress gear, enjoying the Mediterranean weather that was a characteristic of the Southern Bay. The drone of helicopters and aircraft covering the event, His Majesty was scheduled to arrive by boat on a Broadsword battlecruiser. The crowd cheered as the ships klaxon sounded for the first time, shrieking out across the harbour as she dwarfed all the other ships, her nearest sibling was less than two thirds of the length of the Royal Sovereign Dreadnoughts. Four hundred tugs, several destroyers, frigates and cruisers were waiting to guide her out into the specially dug channel and take her along past the coastal strip and the beaches to show the crowds that were waiting. The first ship of any class is always a large media spectacle but the launch of a nation’s first super dreadnought showing that Clandonian engineering and naval power was rising around the world, The Imperial Crown Kingdom had established herself as a moderate nautical power in terms of power projection and firepower.
As the clock struck four o’clock a flyboy by the Blue Kites, the Fleet Air Arm’s aerobatic display team prompted cheers from the crown as HMS Nelson’s engineering and bridge crew began the engine power up as her water jets moved her slowly away from the quay and her main engines kicked. Six million of shaft horsepower moved the ship guided and shown the way out of Port and the channel, the crowds waving flags and shouting ‘God Save the King!’ and ‘Long live the Nelson!’ at the top of their voices as His Majesty King William VII flew past in the Goshawk. The vessel was now under her own power as she cruised at a gentle 12 knots past the main beach creating a high wash that lapped right to the beach tide marks, surprising and shocking those who had pitched towels and sun loungers near the water. The Kings helicopter had landed on the foredeck in the space between the guns and the stern VLS batteries. He was to address the gathered officers and politicians that had set sail for the short two day trip to Warminster to pull up on the river and let the public view the vessel. As the King saluted his Admirals and senior maritime commanders, he wore the number two’s like they did. White dress suit with his medals and ribbons from the time he commanded a battleship.
“My fellow Clandonians, sailors, marines and airmen. It is the most honourable experience to be this magnificent vessel. Many thousands of hours of work, trillions of Crowns and the greatest contribution of Clandonian naval design ever seen, this is the product of all that effort. Many have said this was a waste of money, money that could be spent helping less fortunate nations or even our own people. I tell those people this, the Clandonian Royal Navy stands as one of the largest naval powers for a country of our size, ships like HMS Nelson will protect our economical, military, political and wider strategic interests globally. I will look forward to when the other ships take up their name and commission into the service.”
“Ships like this will fire in anger, as the war between the brave Questerians and the fascist hordes of NATO rages on in the South, it reminds us of the enemies of the free world. Rogue states like British Londinium, Greston, Maldorians and the fallacies of the Corporate Alliance and EVIL. These nations even worse than the tyrannies of Gholgoth and NATO. British Londinium has been invaded many times, their people are of the most devious and cowardice nature, surrendering when they are threatened by larger powers but continually threatening smaller and less developed nations. I warn those foes today, if you wish to continue the imperialism then you will one day face the guns of the Clandonian Royal Navy and ships like the Nelson. I now hand over the rest to Prime Minister Sir Sistilin.”
Stepping off the stage he joined the Prime Minister who was holding a large magnum sized bottle of Clandonian white sparkling wine, the sort from the nearby vine yards of Portsmouth heading down to Southampton way. Swinging the bottle from its rope on a piece of scaffolding against the ship, it broke smashing the bottle, the ship was now blessed by the lands that she had been forged from, a sign of good luck for the ships future.
“I now commission this in the name of His Majesty King William VII, the Lord of the High Privy Council, the Keeper of the Imperial Crown and saviour of God.” Spoke the King as he received a standing ovation from the gathered personal as the ship cruised down the southern coast heading for the nations capital for her first public appearance, a huge amount of interest had been generated as her escort battlefleets and squadrons followed her surrounded by a equal number of private yachts, motorboats and pleasure cruisers. And so the kilometre long vessel sailed off into the sunset for the short journey, aboard the party preparations for the vessels launch night were underway in the large kitchens and messes.
And so the first Nelson was launched, the Imperial Crown Kingdom was truly a naval power now.
OOC: And now a little about the ship from the draftroom posting and my Word document:
Nelson Class Super Dreadnought
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v338/madnukedude/NelsonClassSuperDreadnoughtresize.png
Large Image (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v338/madnukedude/NelsonClassSuperDreadnought.png)
Introduction and design features
The Nelson programme was introduced to build a home designed and produced super dreadnought for the Clandonian Royal Navy. After several years of designing small cruisers and larger battleships the knowledge of building large ship and the required engineering for armour, electronics, gunnery and propulsion was there to embark on the a super dreadnought programme. Imperial Clandonian Shipyards allied with Vickers Nautical Engineering for the project drawing together two large ship builders with connections to the industries of nuclear reactor design and weapon systems. Four locations were selected as suitable for construction, Portsmouth on the Southern Coast in the deep waters of the Southern Bay or the Watercroft Port on the northern coast onto the Fyre Sea. These two ports had adequate room for the huge warships draught and the resources needed of steel and manpower to construct the vessels. It was estimated that each warship would create two hundred thousand jobs directly and up to half a million indirectly, this was a huge political tool for the Tory government who ordered the ships, commentators say several bi-elections in the areas shifted from Labour to Liberal Tories thanks to the warship construction programme. A huge sum of money was allocated by the Treasury, nearly twenty trillion Crowns over four years with the aim of having the first four hulls completed and ready for fitting of engines and the guns.
The first four warships will be named HMS Nelson , HMS Victoria , HMS Stockton and HMS Darlington . It has not been decided if a further four will be ordered with many suggesting that a compromise of another two and for the future light dreadnought programme to be given the green light.
Sensors
The main radar is a Type 27 Imperial Clandonian Electronics 50 Gw X-Band capable of scanning over 800 km’s around the ship for surface and air threats, its computing power can handle fourteen thousand targets simultaneously. The experimental X-band array can also detect ballistic and stealth objects due its wavelength type and massive range. Two backup 5 GW SEADAR-5 systems are just bellow the main dome with a range of 100 km’s of air coverage, these link to the Nelsons complex anti-air defence and CIWS. A further six PAP-ASR87multi-function active-passive air and sea radar systems provide control a further backup with a smaller range of 45 km’s. Further systems of Imperial Clandonian Electronics BSA-MK1 Bow air-sea LIDAR, LADAR, eight Imperial Clandonian Electronics TSA-MK2 towed sonar array systems, one Imperial Clandonian Electronics Skynet Communications Network Dish Array, High Range 11.7-12.75 GHz Secure frequency are available for quick use. The ship is linked by VOIP phones both wired and wireless for communication between the various areas to the bridge and the command centre. Fibre optic cabling of over eight hundred kilometres in total is in the ship linking communications, computer and data systems with high speeds to the ships main computer. The ships main computer has over four 2000 terabytes databanks and 200 terabytes of ZDRAM, 200 2 terahertz processors help run the massive network. Local subnets, servers and weapons computers are all linked in as well as work stations, tablets, PDA’s and personal equipment to the internet access during peacetime.
Machinery and engineering
The Nelson is equipped with eight Imperial Clandonian Nuclear Fuels CNF-2000 Mk2 2000MW Pebble Bed Reactors, each with twenty years worth of fuel. Each reactor feeds to a boiler, two for each of the funnels. The entire reactor housing is protected by 1200 mm of reinforced steel, reactors will shut down automatically and power will be distributed from less critical systems. The Nelson has eight propeller shafts which give the ship around 6,000,000 shaft horsepower at full power. A further forty water jet boosters, twenty on each side of the hull allow the ship to remain stable or perform complex movements when docking. These water jets are linked to the ships computer and satellite positing system allowing the Nelson to remain stable when commencing complex gunnery attacks. The Nelson has a maximum speed of 34.9 knots and a standard cruising speed of 28.6 knots with a sprint option of 32.4 knots. The main rudder and two backup rudders are armoured, the main rudder is around 24 metres by 19 metres, the two smaller ones respectively half of that.
The two other reactors can act as backup should the main reactors go down, individually they provide an independent source for the ships main ETC naval guns during battle. The vessel has over eight thousand toilets flushed by salt water to conserve fresh water supplies, fresh water is used in shower systems which is provided by the electrolysis of sea water by the ships nuclear reactors.
Crew and accommodation
The Nelson has of 12,480 ratings, 260 officers, 240 aircraft technicians, 20 aircrew and can also accommodate a further 1000 thousand Royal Marines in the hanger space. The Nelson has five luxury suites where senior naval commanders reside, these connect to the bridge observation deck via a corridor and have a private lift to the command and operations room. Officers have their own private mess which has two bars, the crew are provided with the main mess hall which is the size of a football pitch. In other parts of the ship there are various crew bars and messes for gunnery, engineering, bridge and aircrew. The ship is fully air conditioned and ventilated to withstand nuclear, biological or chemical contamination. The ship has enough food for twelve months which is stored in several large temperature controlled pantry’s, it would be unlikely for a Nelson to go with the full provision as its operation is usually in conjunction with the rest of the fleet and logistical squadrons. Each sailor has his own personal space of three squared metres, this size is increased for officers and goes higher depending on rank and importance.
The ship was designed to be a pleasant place for the crew with a cinema, bowling ally, bars, internet cafes and high speed wireless internet in sleeping quarters it was designed for long distance operations away from home for up to a year at a time. The ships two tea boilers are the size of a three bed roomed family house and provide tea all over the ship through pumps to keep the crew moralised.
Weapons
The Nelson has eight turrets housing a 30.5” MK12 Imperial Munitions ETC Naval Gun, each of the turrets weighs over eight hundred tonnes on its own. The Nelsons guns are linked by fibre optical cable to the ships sensor and computer systems. Each turret is equipped with a backup IR and optical array with night enhancement, the lens equipment was handmade for each ship and custom designed to meet the requirements that Imperial Munitions and Imperial Electronics requested. Each gun weighs over eight hundred tonnes and the turret with guns and ammunition weighs nearly seven thousand tonnes. Each gun has a provision of thirty shells per gun with a provision of 200 per gun, this leads to a total of 5520 shells for the entire ship. Four bow guns of A,B,C,D and the stern guns of W,X,Y,Z have motors which provide 1200 horsepower for training the guns to a maximum elevation of 45 degrees and minimum of -2 degrees. Each gun housing is separated into pressurised sections at a negative pressure, these have halon, water and chemical fire suppressors and if need be can be flooded in ten minutes to prevent fire from breaching the ammunition stores. Two 500 mm steel protection plates provide 1000 mm of cover for the turret which can withstand hits from many types of international shipping missiles including the Clandonian used Lance ASM which ‘bounced off’ when test fired at a demonstration piece at Portsmouth.
Sixteen 8” DP guns with a range of 20 km’s can provide anti-air cover or close range defence against small craft. A provision of eighty shells per gun with a further three hundred in reserve. Twelve rapid firing 130 mm auto loading AA cannons provide anti-air cover with a range of twenty eight thousand metres and can fire seven rounds per minute with a maximum elevation angle of 78 degrees. A total of 74 50mm CIWS systems with an affective range of six thousand metres, each gun has a storage of 4000 shells and they operate in conjunction with anti-air missiles and chaff missile decoys to prevent missiles from hitting the vessel.
Two bow VLS pads of 45x64 Hawk-Lance VLS Batteries (0.6x0.6x8m) hold 2880 missiles each providing a total of 5760 missiles for the bow missile systems. Two stern VLS pads of 54x64 of the Hawk-Lance VLS Batteries hold 3456 each with a total of 6912. This means the total missile capacity of the ship is 12672 available to fire at instant. A central 10x 32cell Wellington VLS Block of 320 (0.3x0.3x4m) missiles to deal with air threats. Numerous light and heavy machine guns emplacements along with portable GPMG mounts are around the vessel for use by crew and the Royal Marine contingent. There are over ten thousand rifles, and twenty thousand pistols along with many other small arms, hand grenades in crew small armed weapons. All personal on-board are expected to be proficient in rifle and pistol shooting, competitions are regularly held to improve crew moral and encourage competitiveness.
Aviation and boats
There is enough hanger space for twenty VTOL aircraft or helicopters retrospectively, a Fleet Air Arm squadron can operate off the ship with specialist fuel storage in the central armoured block and armoured hanger bays to prevent incoming fire penetrating into the ship. The Nelson carries several hundred disposable UAV drones which can be launched and remotely operated to pick out targets for her gun and missile batteries. The ship also has the provision to launch remotely operated submarines for submarine rescue and underwater observation, sample collection and repair to the ships hull or other underwater structures. There is provision for a small ferry craft of a coastal frigate type, usually to bring VIP’s and supplies aboard if the ship is in shallow water and cannot dock at a port or harbour. Helicopter landing capacity is accessible on both the stern and bow freeboard, a total of 24 VTOL aircraft or helicopters can be carried.
Armour and Protection Systems
The Nelson was designed to have three heavily armoured sections, one for protection of the vital engine and machinery works, another for ammunition storage to prevent the disaster of a rogue shell getting past the barriers and defences and destroying the ship from internal explosion. The final section containing the ships command and control systems, command crew of senior personal, computing equipment and the powerful radar systems.
The Nelson has highly sophisticated armour protection, part of the cost armour took fifteen percent of the research budget. To start with the hull is made from reinforced steel with void spaces between the three armoured sections protected by meshed steel bars and titanium plates of a thickness of 800 mm’s. The belt consists of one layer of 800mm worth of steel plate, backed by a further 600mm of treated steal with a ceramic rear covering. In front of that, a layer of 200mm strong steel and tungsten mesh a of higher tensile strength prevents damage. Anything smaller than 20” effectively will do nothing but mark the belt. Around the boiler section 1400 mm thick steel plate armour protects the machinery compartment and engineering crew, a further backing of 200 mm’s of steel and tungsten mesh gives added protection should the main armour and super structure be breached by specialised munitions. The super structure is protected by two pieces of steel armour plate separated by a 80 mm thick void containing tungsten support bars and fireproofing, each piece of steel armour is 800 mm’s thick and with a 200 mm outer shell of standard 200 mm toughed steel. This armour extends down overlapping onto the deck by over 4000 mm’s in some places and belt attached by tungsten rivets and high temperature electrowelding.
For the deck armour a decapping layer of specialised low carbon steel and 600mm thick underneath the teak wood anti-slip decking. The steel with its low tensile strength allows it to act as a better decapper effectively making armour piercing shells useless. A layer behind the deck armour of 600 mm treated steel supported on tungsten slots for support. The mesh design from the belt armour along with a honeycomb type covering of 400 mm thick steel with interlinking titanium alloy support bars. Finally two layers of 250 mm plate steel electowelded along with tungsten rivet bolts to the hull structure going along under the deck, covering the turret barbettes all the way around the VLS batteries. The total armour on the deck has a thickness of 2200 mm’s, able to withstand even the heaviest of bombs and resist shell damage for a considerable amount of time.
Torpedo attacks have crippled super dreadnoughts in the past so it was an important feature, honeycombing with titanium rods was done 600mm into the ship, followed by a 200mm layer of plate steel armour. Further structural supports were added behind this for just over metre, and then void space was built in watertight and airtight compartments with a higher than normal atmospheric pressure. Behind that, a further 400mm layer of treated steel. The keel is supported by horizontal frame, tungsten and titanium rods make up most of the bottom of this framing, and the upper frames are made from 500mm rods of tungsten backed and plate armour steel.
The final piece of protection was on the funnels, a missile could be fired into one of them or a bomb dropped in by a lucky pilot looking for a weak point in the vessel. The design team at Imperial Clandonian Shipyards developed a new type of grated armour of 200 mm thickness, bellow this a plate of 600 mm thick band of steel adding protection to the boiler radiators. Around the funnel a belt of two pieces of 300 mm steel armour backed by tungsten netting protected the housing. The likelihood of a missile going down the funnel was considerably lowered by the amount of CIWS systems and anti-missile systems placed around that area of the ships super structure.
Weapons and ammunition compartments fitted with halon fire control systems in the event of a fire they are flooded with halon gas to prevent explosion. Standard water sprinklers in crew areas with CO2 and halon fire extinguishers for electronic equipment, chemical extinguishers in engineering system area and also in turrets. Damage control systems fitted throughout vessel. Collapsible and inflatable lifeboats are available for the entire complement. Cold water survival suits are provided for every person onboard. Heavy duty water pumps are fitted throughout vessel, able to function on emergency backup power if main systems are down to pump out nearly out sections of the ship or flood certain sections to create stability. Flood bulk heads will fall down in four seconds of automatic systems detecting flooding, these will fall in the event of fire and have a thickness of 80 mm plate steel with a ceramic fire proofing layer, and there are ten thousand of these doors on the ship. Along with these features all crew members have been trained in emergency flood prevention and repair procedures, specialised teams with portable water pumps, welding equipment and repair tools are posted around the various sections of the ship encase of damage they are able to get to the damaged area within two minutes.
Quick stats
Length: 1197 metres
Beam: 154 metres
Draught: 47.88 metres
Normal Displacement: 9,200,120 Tonnes
Battle Displacement: 10,570,275 Tonnes
Maximum Displacement: 12,458, 267 Tonnes (before structural damage)
Estimated Unit Cost: 1.2 Trillion Crowns