has any one built an armed carrier at all?are there any carriers running at all?I would like some insight into the running of such a large ship and any problems that may have been encountered along the way, some pics would be good also Tony Scott
MY SELF AND FROGGYFRENCHMAN ARE RUNNING THE FRENCH CARRIER BEARN IN BOTH TREATY AND THE MBG.IN TREATY IT IS 5 UNITS AT 38 SECONDS,IN BIG GUN IT HAS 4 1/4INCH FOREWARD,4 1/4 INCH TO THE REAR AND 3 1/4 INCH EACH SIDE.SAME 38 SECONDS IN BIG GUN.
FROG, PLEASE UNDO CAPS LOCK Why does it get 4 x 1/4" sidemounts in big gun? Her 4 torpedo tubes were in pairs port and stbd, so I understand 2 per side (and right near the waterline, don'tcha love that! It didn't carry all that many planes, so for aircraft, it gets 4 total 1/4" cannon for that (2 fwd, 2 aft).
I going to go with the 'you know your rules far better than I do' plan But the Bearn only carried 2 torpedoes per side, though, based on the shipyard plans about 7/8" up from the waterline, 27 1/8" back from the bow. Not saying this to be combative, just pointing it out before anyone builds a Bearn with an extra torp on each side that would occupy space that could be used for batteries, water channel, etc.
I've got a hull at home that I plan on building as the Independence class CVL USS Belleau Wood. As she will be built for Washington Treaty, I plan on having a single bow gun and stern gun (no side firing guns allowed). I'm looking at building it with 2 superstructures actually, one for the USS Belleau Wood and one as the St. Louis class CL USS Helena. Armament wise, they'll be set up the same. In fact, I'm planning on the forward deck and aft deck with the 6" turrets ("B" turret forward and "Y" turret aft will be armed) to remain in place. The carrier superstructure will sit over the top of them and cover them so they remain unseen. When I remove the carrier superstructure, I'll be able to set the center deck in place with the USS Helena superstructure, and she will be able to battle as a cruiser. At least that's the theory...it's kind of a long term project since I have other ships I want to build first (namely my HMS Queen Mary) There are a few reasons why I am setting this ship up the way I am. I already have one cruiser with dual sterns (the Salt Lake City) so there really isn't much point in having a second cruiser/carrier set up the same way. The cruiser version is allowed to be a little faster then the CVL (33 knots as opposed to 31 knots) and will be a good loaner ship for new rookies. The carrier version will allow me to use it in any of the various scenario battles we have given some discussion to. As the OP lists Australia as his home though, big gun carriers is probably what he would be looking for info on, and that's something I am pretty short on. Mike D
As for the Bearn armament in the MBG. The ship carried approx. 40 aircraft, so she is allowed 4 cannons for planes. Normally, these need to be equally distibuted fore, and aft. The ship also carried 4 torpedo tubes. Two each port, and starboard. Normally, these need to be located in the ship model as they were on the real ship. In the MBG, aircraft-carriers are allowed three side defence torpedoes on each side. Nothing about historical accuracy here. This was just something that the club allowed the carriers to have in order to keep enemy capitalships from just parking alongside them out of the arcs of the main (aircraft) cannons. So to make a long story even longer. When the first Bearn took to the water, we asked if we could group all of the aircraft cannons forward. And all of the on-board torpedo tubes aft. Mainly to reduce the cost, and make the ship easier to arm. So instead of having 2 bow cannons (8 seconds firing intervals), 2 stern cannons (8 seconds firing intervals), and 5 side-firing torpedoes on each side (30 seconds firing intervals), which would end up being a total of 6 chassis. The MBG allowed this ship a waiver, so that it would have 4 bow cannons (8 seconds firing intervals), for all of her aircraft. 4 stern torpedo cannons, for her on-board tubes she actually carried (these are 30 seconds firing intervals). And then have a triple pack of side-defence torpedoes on each side, (again with a 30 seconds firing interval). Now when she ran as a convoy-ship (she was considered too slow for combat duty, and was re-fitted as an aircraft-transport late in the war), both the aircraft cannons (4 in the bow), and the side-defence torpedoes (3 per side), were turned off, so she only had the 4 torpedoes in the stern active. She was a really fun ship to run, and was probably the most interesting ship to attack. I would have to say that she saw more time on the water than any other ship at most of the battles, as she could run both combat missions, and convoy runs. She wasn't very good at bombarding shore targets, but that was her only weak point. One of my favorite ships ever in the MBG. On another note. I think she is the only aircraft-carrier to have battled in small-gun as an armed carrier. Most aircraft-carriers are used during the convoy battles, but have no cannons. They are generally either an un-armed convoy-ship, or a block-ship (with multiple pumps) used to defend the targets at a teams home base. I had two stern cannons and a half-unit pump. Only a few of my team-mates knew what I was doing, and simulated escorting me like it was a convoy-ship. When a pair of enemy capitalships took the bait, I opened up on them. I tried to keep their ships between the Bearn, and the shoreline, so that they wouldn't see the splashes from my misses. It wasn't till my ammo was running low that someone finally figured out what I was up to. Then I turned on the pump, and the rest in history. What fun.. Mikey
I have plans for the USS Wasp CV7 and hop eto build her to fight in another part o fthe game we will be doing here at the BBS which is capture the flag. Here a carrier on each side is the flag and is armed acccording to how many planes she carried and the smallest gets 3 units and goe sup from there , the main idea is that the carriers stay at sea and you try to sink or capture the enemy carrier. escorts or raiders can come in and rearm 2 times while their carrier stays at sea. Last carrier afloat wins. Buddy
I like that "capture" the carrier scenario game. WW2 fleets, especially late in the war, centered around carrier operations. That scenario game may come as close as possible to replicating that doctrine as anything else we've seen.
I agree with you on the capture the flag (carrier) scenario game. Eventually I want to build a fast carrier just so I can have running gun battles with the fast cruisers. Mikey
Well currently we do have one Jap carrier done, it ha syet to finish shake down cruise. I hope to start the Wasp soon. Now of course one option is to sink th enemy carrier but as far as to capture we have a few ideas like no ammo and low on power or in a sinking condition the captain could call it. Or maybe have the fleet park along side and call boarding partys away. Buddy
I think "capture" here kinda implies sinking the carrier. I'm envisioning two fleets on the water with carriers in the middle of each fleet. It would be intersting to see how each fleet would maneuver to attack the other fleet's carrier while trying to protect their own carrier at the same time. Even more interesting, what if a fleet had multiple carriers? I can think of many diffrent tactics that could be used. Oh, the carriers would be armed of course. Hnn ... "Islands" could be added too as objectives. A carrier fleet would have to hold a marked area to gain additional points.
