Glossary of Commonly Used Terms

Discussion in 'General' started by irnuke, Jan 2, 2015.

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  1. irnuke

    irnuke -->> C T D <<--

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    (These are just a start. This will need to be edited, cleaned up, and at some point stickied)

    Armor Belt / Bulge: As used in the hobby, an armored section of hull that visually stands out from hull.
    [​IMG] [​IMG]
    Atlantic Bow aka Clipper Bow: raked bow (deck level further forward than where bow meets the waterline) to cut through heavy waves. Uncommon on heavy warships until post WW1, when greater speeds required some way of directing water to the sides rather than over the bow. Several WW1-era ships (and the Bismark & Scharnhorst class battleships of WW2) were refitted with these to improve seakeeping. See also Ram Bow

    Battle Unit (or "Unit"): a bb gun with 50-round magazine or pump with a 1/8" restrictor on the outlet
    1.5 Unit: a bb gun with a 75 round magazine
    .5 Unit (or "Half-unit"): a bb gun with a 25-round magazine used exclusively on class 2 or smaller (rare) or a pump with a 3/32" restrictor.

    Bow gun: A gun mounted to fire into the bow quadrant. Very uncommon.

    Caprail: Thin outline of deck permanently mounted to hull / subdeck. Decks sit inside caprail on top of subdeck to form access hatches.

    Casemate: A type of gun mounting in which the gun projects from a vertical surface, either the hull itself or superstructure. [​IMG]

    Class: 1) Type of ship based on designed purpose (See below).
    2) A numeric value assigned to ships based on their statistics and used to determine number of "Units" allowed (see ship list)

    Deck: Horizontal surface on ship (ie what you walk on)

    Drag Prop: Propeller (or disk representing one) not powered, used to create drag so functioning prop(s) have more thrust for allowed speed. This creates better acceleration and more propwash over rudder(s)

    Haymaker
    : A stern gun pointed to the side at a significant down-angle. See also "Sidemount"

    Keel: Structural member running down bottom center of hull from bow to stern.

    Poppet Valve: A poppet is a normally closed valve with a pushbutton actuator. So the rotating servo horn depresses the button, opening the valve. Used to fire guns without a electrically actuated valve (aka solenoid). Considered "Old School", but still very reliable and easy. Most people who switched to solenoids did so to save weight or space, or for higher rate of fire.

    Propeller: AKA "Screw", device used to move ship through the water.

    Propwash: Thrust from propeller. Amount of propwash deflected by rudders determines how well a ship turns.

    Ram Bow: Holdover from US Civil War era, where an armored extension of the bow at or below waterline was intended as a weapon. Defined by the deck level being further aft than the point where the bow meets the waterline.

    Rib: Vertical surface between windows of hull. This is what the balsa is attached to. In a fiberglass ship, the part of the fiberglass hull not cut away to form a window. In a wooden hull, the structures that form the shape of the hull, mounted at bottom to the keel(s) and at the top to the subdeck.

    Rotate: A gun (and turret) designed to rotate between firing arcs (usually from one broadside to other) via a remote-controlled mechanism. Example:

    Rudder: Flat or airfoil-shaped device used to deflect propwash to turn the ship. Common configurations are single rudder, dual (aka parallel), and in-line (two or more rudders along the centerline of ship).

    Sidemount: A gun mounted to fire into the broadside arc

    Skeg: Support for a propeller shaft that extends beyond the hull.

    Solenoid Valve (aka "Kip"): Electrically controlled valve used to fire guns.

    Step: Point at which the height of the hull drops to a lower level. All ships either have a step somewhere, or are flush-decked (one continuous deck from point of bow to stern).

    Stern gun: A gun mounted to fire over the stern. Two or three guns mounted in the same turret & firing together are "double-sterns" or "triple-sterns".

    Stringer: Horizontal hard area used to define a hull feature of model such as an external armor belt, torpedo bulge, etc.

    Subdeck: Horizontal structure at top of hull, usually "sunk" behind edge of hull so that deck &/or caprail is flush to hull. Used to support main deck. Usually cut away in center to allow access to equipment in hull.

    Superstructure: Any vertical surface above the weather deck. The "buildings" on top of the hull.

    Torpedo Bulge: Many ships were refitted to increase their ability to withstand a torpedo hit. Many of these refits included added armor and void spaces (empty areas for the explosion to expand into) that increased beam & decreased speed of the ship. In the hobby, one of the defining characteristics that allow use of a horizontal stringer

    Turret: Rotating armored gun mount. Turret mounted guns all exit the front "face" of the turret but can be individually elevated / depressed. Turrets mount from 1-4 guns.

    Water Channel: Built up bottom of ship even with the bottom of the windows at the sides, sloped to a central groove running down the length of the boat to the pump. Used to channel (direct) water to the pump to be removed.

    Ship Classes
    WW2-era (1920-1946)

    Battleship (BB): Heavy combatant warship, carrying large-caliber main guns (11”+) & heavy armor. Evolved from the Ship-of-the-line of sailing days. Example: USS Iowa

    Heavy Cruiser (CA): Medium-sized ship armed with medium-caliber guns (8” usually), decent armor and of medium speed. Example: DKM Prinz Eugen

    Light Cruiser (CL): Small to medium-sized ship armed with destroyer-caliber or slightly larger guns (5”-6”+) but sacrificing armor protection for speed. Later evolved into dedicated anti-aircraft cruisers. Example: HMS Ajax

    Destroyer (DD): Small high-speed vessel armed with 6” or smaller guns & torpedoes. Example: USS Fletcher



    WW1-era (1906-1920)

    Dreadnought (DN): Named after HMS Dreadnought, combined (for the time) high speed with armor and all-big-gun armament. Her launch instantly made all previous capital ships obsolete. Example: HMS Dreadnought

    Pre-Dreadnought Battleship (PDN): A line of battle ship built prior to 1906’s HMS Dreadnought, typically with a mixed armament of 4 large caliber guns (2 forward, 2 aft in dual turrets), a large number of secondary guns of up to 9” mounted in barbettes or casements, and slow speed. Example: SMS Schliesen

    Armored Cruiser (AC): Predecessor to the CA, designed for long-distance travel and protected by an armor belt. Slower and smaller than a battlecruiser.. Example: SMS Blucher

    Protected Cruiser (PC): Predecessor to the CL, designed for long-distance travel like the AC, but saving cost and weight by mounting vital equipment below the waterline so it can be protected by a thin armored deck, rather than heavy armor belts. Used to protect heavier ships from torpedo boat or destroyers, and frequently also used as destroyer squadron leaders. Example: USS Charleston

    Battlecruiser (BC): large ship armed with battleship-caliber guns (11”+) but sacrificing armor protection for speed. Made obsolete by the advent of the “fast battleship”. Example: HMS Invincible
     
    Last edited: Jan 22, 2015
  2. PrepmasterNick

    PrepmasterNick Active Member

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  3. Kotori87

    Kotori87 Well-Known Member

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    updates for a few terms:
    Armored Cruiser, predecessor to the CA, designed for long-distance travel and protected by an armor belt. Slower and smaller than a battlecruiser.
    Protected Cruiser, predecessor to the CL, designed for long-distance travel like the AC, but saving cost and weight by mounting vital equipment below the waterline so it can be protected by a thin armored deck, rather than heavy armor belts.

    I'd also like to see definitions for various model hull pieces, such as keel, deck, subdeck, ribs, superstructure, step, transom, stringer, water channel, Atlantic bow, ram bow, cruiser stern, transom stern, skeg, torpedo bulge, armor belt, etc. I'm sure there are other groups of common words which can be added too.
     
  4. absolutek

    absolutek -->> C T D <<--

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    This is not really correct. The armoured cruiser is a predecessor to the battle cruiser. Whereas the heavy cruiser was more of a design extension of the light cruiser.
     
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  5. WillCover

    WillCover -->> C T D <<--

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    Cannon parts And reference to differences in types of combat .ie in big gun, some terms have different meaning
     
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  6. irnuke

    irnuke -->> C T D <<--

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    Matter of opinion.. The role of remote station flagship (example: China Station) was filled by AC's. AC's were never considered part of the battleline. The BC was a dead-end offshoot blending AC speed with Dreadnought firepower. Their size, guns, and expense meant that even the Admirals (who should have known better) treated them as battleships in all but name. The role previously filled by AC's was taken over after WW1 by the CA, while BC's re-merged with the Dreadnought to become the fast battleship.
     
  7. PrepmasterNick

    PrepmasterNick Active Member

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    Mind blow
     
  8. irnuke

    irnuke -->> C T D <<--

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    I will have to have someone else do the big gun gloss, since I have no experience w/ it.
     
  9. Kotori87

    Kotori87 Well-Known Member

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    I can do a write-up on different Big Gun cannons, operating parts, etc. Some drawings to reference would be handy though.
     
  10. absolutek

    absolutek -->> C T D <<--

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    As well as the protected cruiser and other classes... Station flagship was hardly the only role of an armoured cruiser.

    Incorrect, they were designed to be included in the line of battle, and were used as such some major engagements (Tsushima & Jutland).

    Sort of. The battlecruiser was designed around battleship sized firepower (large calibre guns were in use before Dreadnought), and with speed superior to armoured cruisers. The original mission was to hunt down slower armoured cruisers. It was successfull in this role as demonstrated at the Battle of the Falkland Islands.

    No argument here.

    I think it is more correct to say that "some" of the roles previously filled by armoured cruisers were taken over by heavy cruisers, however, the armoured cruiser was not an evolutionary predecessor to the heavy cruiser. As to BC merging with dreadnoughts to become fast battleship, questionable. The line between them did become somewhat blurred towards the end of WWI, none of the new generation was built after the war because of the Washington Treaty. In fact, no navy other than the British even used the term battlecruiser for their completed ships from the 1930's on. Fast Battleship being an informal designation, was used for battleships that were designed to be fast without compromising their fighting ability.
     
  11. PrepmasterNick

    PrepmasterNick Active Member

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    I keep seeing "poppet". Figured I would ask here.
     
  12. irnuke

    irnuke -->> C T D <<--

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    A poppet is a normally closed valve with a pushbutton actuator. So the rotating servo horn depresses the button, opening the valve. Used to fire guns without a electrically actuated valve (aka solenoid). Considered "Old School", but still very reliable and easy. Most people who switched to solenoids did so to save weight or space, or for higher rate of fire.
     
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  13. PrepmasterNick

    PrepmasterNick Active Member

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    Ah.... I just learned I have poppets then.
     
  14. irnuke

    irnuke -->> C T D <<--

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    Moderator, could you please delete the replies & just leave the primary post up? Don't prevent new replies, though as I still need feedback on terms to add (and a big-gun glossary guru)
     
  15. absolutek

    absolutek -->> C T D <<--

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    Your definition for armoured cruiser is still wrong.
     
  16. irnuke

    irnuke -->> C T D <<--

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    From Wikipedia: "Most surviving armored cruisers from this conflict were scrapped under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922, which imposed limits on warships and defined a cruiser as a ship of 10,000 tons or less carrying guns of 8-inch caliber or less"

    Yes, BC's supplanted AC. But mission & size-wise, the 8" cruiser of the inter-war period was the next generation. Battlecruisers melded with the Dreadnought to become the fast battleship. In fact, you can see that merger by looking at HMS Hood & IJN Kongo (one a heavy BC, the other a BC reclassed as a BB later in life).

    So this is a matter of opinion, and I already have mine. :p
     
    Last edited: May 3, 2015
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  17. Tugboat

    Tugboat Facilitator RCWC Staff Admiral (Supporter)

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    Everyone take a nice chill pill and return to the thread later :)
     
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