Royal Navy got Essex carriers - with a twist.

something to add on possible post war US construction.. think this may be the armored deck version of the Essex.. s511-41.jpg

Gives you about 3500 sq. meters of hangar and swapping the 5 inch guns for deck edge elevators would be good..
 
bobtdwarf said:
something to add on possible post war US construction.. think this may be the armored deck version of the Essex.. View attachment 670258

Gives you about 3500 sq. meters of hangar and swapping the 5 inch guns for deck edge elevators would be good..
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I don't think that's an Essex. The island is wrong and it's about 100' shorter (at least if I read it right that the design is 781' in length).
 
zen said:
What's the hanger height there?
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USN standard as far as I know 17.5 feet. and I think the hangar is 75 feet wide but as you can see the thing is fuzzy in spots

EDIT: Wait..... yeah what exactly IS the hangar height on this SOB? At the fore end you got three decks...
 
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SSgtC said:
bobtdwarf said:
something to add on possible post war US construction.. think this may be the armored deck version of the Essex.. View attachment 670258

Gives you about 3500 sq. meters of hangar and swapping the 5 inch guns for deck edge elevators would be good..
Click to expand...
I don't think that's an Essex. The island is wrong and it's about 100' shorter (at least if I read it right that the design is 781' in length).
Click to expand...
it might be shorter but I think it was part of the same design process but it has been a LONG time since I read the original thread I found it on that I got not clue one. This is also from the same source and that is most definitely an Essex but the various other engine options shown. It does give an idea of what the USN had floating about that something "other" for the RN could be built out from.

Will post an oddball just for giggles.. something that was in the Midway design phases..
s511-08.jpg

s511-34a.jpg
 
SSgtC said:
bobtdwarf said:
something to add on possible post war US construction.. think this may be the armored deck version of the Essex.. View attachment 670258

Gives you about 3500 sq. meters of hangar and swapping the 5 inch guns for deck edge elevators would be good..
Click to expand...
I don't think that's an Essex. The island is wrong and it's about 100' shorter (at least if I read it right that the design is 781' in length).
Click to expand...
https://www.history.navy.mil/our-co...st-of-images/nhhc-series/s-file/S-511-41.htmlThis is the ship.
 
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But even if the USN built something based off of CV-D for the RN after Oriskany that puts the "sell by" date for them at 1975. It just means that through the 50's and 60's the Royal Navy would have four BIG-ish carriers maybe five; two Audacious's and 2-3 of these so they are still going to be looking at replacing something in '75 to '78.
 
Wait it just hit me.. these would be built post war and about the time the Forrestal's were... they might have a 40 year hull life.
 
What's a standard USN deck height?
The first deck under the flight deck seems to be higher which matches later RN efforts....maybe 10ft?
 
zen said:
What's a standard USN deck height?
The first deck under the flight deck seems to be higher which matches later RN efforts....maybe 10ft?
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10 definitely So this thing has prolly 20 feet under the ready rooms and a LOT Of rafter parking
 
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uk 75 said:
I really must stop taking these Alternate History subjects so lightly.. Had thought the clue to how likely it was is in the idea of Nixon R winning. I would rate the whole of my scenario as less than 25/100.
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IIRC the difference was a single precinct in rural Texas. And a single box of ballots found a day or three after voting day.
 
1Big Rich said:
Great topic!

As I recall, the Essex proposed for the RN were ships that were not rebuilt to SC-27 or SC-125, with little service time on them. The idea was giving the RN the base Essex, they could rebuild them as they liked, without having to conform or alter what the USN had already done. Franklin and Bunker Hill would have been good candidates. Leyte or Princeton might be a third. But the RN had doubts about the rebuilt ships lasting 18 years. Most of the American rebuilds lasted that long, so in hindsight that would not have been an issue.

Oriskany had part of her flight deck replaced with metal, and the ships are to be rebuilt in any case, so I don't see the wood as an issue. With the hangar floor as the strength deck, the old flight deck is stripped and a new superstructure, including metal flight deck added. I would note as well, trials for the E-2 Hawkeye were conducted aboard Oriskany. The Phantom and the Hawkeye are close in Maximum Take-Off Weight, so I thihk with the right arrestor gear and the right catapult length, Phantoms would be possible, though it would be tight.

My thoughts,
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Would a metal flight deck not alter the topweight, and thus the stability?
 
The Skipper said:
Would a metal flight deck not alter the topweight, and thus the stability?
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No. Or at least, not to the point that it mattered. Oriskany had an all aluminum flight deck installed, while most of the other Essex class had partial aluminum decks installed in the landing area. Lexington got a steel flight deck in the 80s after an incident where an A-6 had it's nose gear fall through the wooden deck and into crew berthing.
 
SSgtC said:
No. Or at least, not to the point that it mattered. Oriskany had an all aluminum flight deck installed, while most of the other Essex class had partial aluminum decks installed in the landing area. Lexington got a steel flight deck in the 80s after an incident where an A-6 had it's nose gear fall through the wooden deck and into crew berthing.
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Talk about a rude awakening.
 
As I recall, the Essex proposed for the RN were ships that were not rebuilt to SC-27 or SC-125, with little service time on them. The idea was giving the RN the base Essex, they could rebuild them as they liked, without having to conform or alter what the USN had already done. Franklin and Bunker Hill would have been good candidates. Leyte or Princeton might be a third. But the RN had doubts about the rebuilt ships lasting 18 years. Most of the American rebuilds lasted that long, so in hindsight that would not have been an issue.
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This is a very interesting point.
 
I suspect that what really stuck in the craw of various people Civl Serpents and politicians in and out of uniform was the that was NiH syndrome
It's not just an a purely American problem .
 

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