Taksin-class cruisers for Thailand

Kingpin6100

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While plenty of general details are known about the Taksins (and more about their eventual planned conversion to the Etna class), i'm wondering if anyone has any specific, detailed information about the ships, or detailed, hi res drawings. While the general armor scheme is known, as well as the general layout and armament, I'm searching for as much information regarding these interesting ships as possible.
 
I know this doe not give the specifics you are looking for with regards to the armour scheme, but the attached (from Conways All the Worlds fighting ships 1922-1946) of which I have a pdf copy. may help a little...apologies for the image quality, but the downloaded pdf was not the greatest...:(
 

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  • Taksin Screenshot (Conways 1922-1946)  2020-01-30 at 16.53.47.png
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I might found something on farposst.ru, stay tuned!
 
I know this doe not give the specifics you are looking for with regards to the armour scheme, but the attached (from Conways All the Worlds fighting ships 1922-1946) of which I have a pdf copy. may help a little...apologies for the image quality, but the downloaded pdf was not the greatest...:(

Sweet, I have a hard copy of that book, but have never been able to grab good scans from it. That's really helpful!

I was able to sketch a quick line drawing/armor model from those: Taksin sketch armored.png Taksin sketch.png
 
I recall reading that they were meant to carry troops as well as serve as combat ships, but I don't know if that was an original Thai design requirement or an idea put into place by the Italians when they were redesigned.
 
Apparently the magazine I've found on Farposst was indeed contains data and history of the Thai navy, but only till 1932/33.
The magazine is: Arsenal Collection 2013 issue 01 - Арсенал-Коллекция 2013 №01

And yes, me too read it would had a cargo capacity in Italian service of around 400m^3
 
More historical background, from Gli Incrociatori Italiani, translated by Phoenix_jz from the WoWs NA forums



Etna-class Anti-Aircraft Cruisers
(Etna - Vesuvio)

Etna (ex-Taksin) – CRDA, Trieste
Laid Down: 23 September 1939;
Launched: 28 May 1942;
Lost: 10 September 1943;
Stricken: 27 March 1947


Vesuvio (ex-Naresuan) – CRDA, Trieste
Laid Down: 26 August 1939;
Launched: 6 August 19421;
Lost: 10 September 1943;
Stricken: 27 March 1947


Displacement: 6,000 metric tons Standard


Dimensions:
• Total Length: 153.8 meters
• Beam: 14.47 meters
• Draught: 5.95 meters
Propulsion:


- 4 Water-tube Boilers
- 2 Parsons reduction geared steam turbine groups


Power: 40,000 shp


Top Speed: 28 knots


Armament: 6-135/45; 10-65/64; 12-20/65


Protection:
• Horizontal: 35mm
• Vertical: 60mm
Notes: Ordered in 1938 by the Siamese Navy from CRDA of Trieste and requisitioned in 1942 by Italy, which passed the order for completion on 6 August 1942. The project was radically modified. It was abandoned in September 1943 when it was about 60% complete.


General:
In 1938 the Siamese navy ordered two light cruisers from CRDA of Trieste. The order, which followed shortly the delivery of nine torpedo boats built by the same yard for Siam, was a proof of confidence towards our naval-mechanical industry, which with previous constructions had fully satisfied Bangkok. The setting [laying down] of the two units, which had been given the names Taksin and Naresuan, was in 1939, after the Siamese Navy had approved the construction plans with the following features;

Displacement: 4,300 metric tons standard
Dimensions:
• Total Length: 153.8 meters
• Beam: 14.47 meters
• Draught: 5.25 meters
Propulsion:
- 3 Boilers
- 2 Parsons reduction geared steam turbine groups
Power: 45,000 shp
Top Speed: 30 knots
Armament: 6-152; 6-76; 8-13.2 or 20; 6 533mm TT
2 aircraft, one catapult
Protection:
• Horizontal: 35mm
• Vertical: 60mm


These cruisers should have looked very similar to the Italian Monteccuoli-class, but without the aft funnel and with one less turret forward. The torpedo tubes were placed on the main deck, in the forward sector, abreast 152mm turret no.1, and they could have fired through two bulwark openings in the forecastle.


After the outbreak of the war, work continued under Siamese control [meaning the ships still belong to Siam] until December 1941; after this date the Italian Navy decided to requisition and continue the construction based on the order given to the yard on 6 August 1942. The two units then became registered in the framework of the Naval Registry with the names of Etna for the ex-Taksin and that of Vesuvio for the ex-Naresuan.
The Italian Navy, before beginning construction of the two cruisers, altered the plans to adapt the units to their own wartime needs. The new project forecasted the conversion of the two ships unto anti-aircraft units with the possibility to transportation for materials and small contingents of troops. Naturally all the characteristics were changed with the exception of size. Armament, propulsion and consequentially speed, will be adapted to the new tasks. Protection, especially the horizontal one, was increased; the standard displacement became around 6,000 tons, which is due both to an actual increase in the original values, but also by more accurate and realistic weight calculation. It was decided to change the armament, replacing it with six 135mm, ten 65mm, and twelve 20mm.


The launch of Etna took place on 28 may 1942 and that of Vesuvio on 6 August of the previous year. The two cruisers, which already for employment would have represented something new in the Italian Navy, also presented themselves as novelties in their unique appearance.


The hull had very refined form with a forecastle that was almost half-ship; the bow, straight up to the waterline, had a strong sheer [not what’s actually said, but the term doesn’t really translate literally] in the above water part, the stern, like all ‘Condottieri’, has in form a very ‘sucked in’ and rounded profile. The rudder was semi-compensated, the two propellers were triple-bladed and of high-resistance steel.
The appearance of these units was characterized by the wide free spaces in the extreme areas, with the superstructure and armament collected in the center of the ship. The size of the tower is remarkable, surmounted by the director, with the highly inclined funnel attached. Abreast this, one per side, were the two anti-aircraft directors. The forecastle continued with a deckhouse to the No.2 135mm/45 turret [superfiring turret aft]; there was also immediately aft of the smokestack an upper deckhouse which contained the space reserved for the transported troops. Other rooms for transported personnel could be found ahead of the no.1 turret under the armor deck. Towards the extreme sections there were large hatches with cranes for loading materials. The rooms for storage of transported materials had a volume of about 450 cubic meters.


The propulsion system was made up of three sub-vertical water-tube boilers arranged in three separate rooms, the first two in contiguous rooms under the superstructure, the other aft of the smokestack. The three boilers fed two groups of reduction geared steam turbines with a maximum potential power of 40,000 shp, each formed by a high-pressure turbine, a medium pressure, and a low-pressure double flow with the reverse gear incorporated. The turbines were Parsons type built by CRDA. Each of the two groups was connected to the propeller through a simple reduction gear. The bow [forward] groups was placed on the starboard side immediately after the forward boiler rooms, the aft one on the port side after the aft boiler. In the same room as the turbines, laterally there wee two turbogenerators for each room, which would have been fed during service in port by two auxiliary boilers [‘donkey’ boilers, positioned above the forward engine room, on the main deck]. The maximum speed in service would have been about 28 knots.


The armament would have included six 135/45 naval guns in twin mounts and placed one at the bow and two at the stern; ten pieces of 65.64 antiaircraft guns in single mounts and installed five per side; twelve 20/65 cannons in twin mounts placed on the superstructure. They would not embark torpedo tubes or aircraft. Instead they would have been fit with a German-type radar, which would have been placed above the main fire control director.
The vertical protection consisted of a partial belt 60mm thick and an internal [longitudinal] bulkhead 20mm thick. The horizontal protection was secured by an armored deck 35mm thick amidships and 20mm laterally [outboard]. This deck was topped with the main one armored with a decreasing thickness from the external side to the center of the ship, from 13mm to 5mm.


Unfortunately, the construction of these units went too slowly; first of all, the reworking of the plans and the adaptation of the hull took longer than expected. So the difficulties of supply materials together with those deriving from the construction of the new weapons, irreparably delayed the fitting-out. One 1 July 19453 Etna was 53% complete for the hull, propulsion, superstructure, accommodation, and 65% for the weapons, instruments, and related equipment. Vesuvio was respectively at 55% and 65%.


On 8 September 1943, the date of the armistice, the two cruisers were sabotaged and then fell into the hands of the Germans. At the end of the war they were found half-sunk in Trieste. They were recovered and then scrapped. They were stricken from the naval register by decree of the Provisional Head of State on 27 March 1947.


As already mentioned, Etna and Vesuvio represented for the Italian Navy a new type of ship, never built before, and intended to perform anti-aircraft escort and rapid transport tasks. Difficult communications with Libya had suggested its construction which would certainly have benefited the navy, even if two units alone could not have greatly alleviated the critical conditions of the traffic with North Africa.

Activity:
Etna
The cruiser, while it was being fitted out in the Trieste shipyards, was captured by German forces on 10 September 1943, after the proclamation of the armistice.
At the liberation of Trieste, in April 1945, it was found half-sunk. It was stricken from the naval register by decree of the Provisional Head of State on 27 March 1946.
Vesuvio
Followed the same fate as Etna. It was also stricken with the decree of 27 March 1943.

Bold is my emphasis.

 
What does this had to do with the Taksin/Etna class cruisers?
 
What does this had to do with the Taksin/Etna class cruisers?
That page and the existing turrets/museum state that those guns were to be used on the Taksins, not the Italian 152mms previously thought. I had assumed the visual discrepancy on the model from the Thai naval museum was just human error, but it matches those Bofors guns and turrets.
 

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