Vickers Design 742 Battleship

[JFC Fuller]

Vickers Design 742 - 1915 - 208,48 x 29,26 x 7,62m, 41km/h 29.250tons, 4x2 15" 5x2 6" 2x1 3" AA 4x1 21"TT, 51mm Deck, 330mm Belt

A detailed description of the Torpedo Protection System for this ship is held by the University of Tokyo and has been digitised. I have downloaded, and uploaded here, the description and the diagram of this system. It goes without saying that the presence of this document in Japan is a very strong indication that Vickers shared it with the Imperial Japanese Navy as well as the Royal Navy. The design is a cul-de-sac in historical terms but it is fascinating nonetheless, @Toryu posted the section from Friedman's British Battleships book, here, that shows the general arrangement of the design. For an extra 3,750 tons over the design displacement of the 'R' class, in addition to the proposed torpedo protection, it appears to offer similar armour, speed, and firepower, though with a much better arrangement for the secondary battery. I have not found anything on the machinery arrangement, it would be great to know what SHP 742 was designed with.

I actually found this while I was trying to find out more about the twin gun 6-inch secondary turrets used by the 742 design, to satisfy an AU idea I had for a Hawkins class mounting four of them. The turrets look, perhaps unsurprisingly, very similar to the twin 6-inch mounting Vickers built for the Javary class gun boats built for Brazil but ultimatley commissioned into the Royal Navy as the Humber class, I have also attached an image of that mounting.

 

[JFC Fuller]

The torpedo protection system used in the Vickers 742 design was patented in the US by Richard G.O. Thurston, then Chief Naval Architect at Vickers, as patent US1246494A, alongside two other proposed systems. The patent application was filed in March 1916 and awarded in November 1917. I have attached the patent and images of the figures that represent the system as used in the 742 design of 1915.