Bob, Have you or Ralph ever given any thought to doing an HMS Erin hull? I've been looking at her recently, and see that she has many characteristics which would be great for what we do. In addition to the twin rudders that most British dreadnoughts of the period had, she's very wide. Off the top of my head, she's 550 ft long with a 91 foot beam, which is nearly as wide as a Baden. With that kind of length to beam ratio and the twin rudders, she should be VERY maneuverable. For most small gun clubs, I'd guess she might just be the best of the Allied 28 second dreadnoughts you can build. For treaty, she's especially nice because we allow the hypotheticals, which would allow her to also battle Axis as the Turkish battleship Rashiydeh (spelling).
Mike, Ralph started an Erin plug in 1997 but there was zero interest in the hulls so it and the Agincourt plug never progressed beyond the wood framework and were ventually scrapped. Id don't have any cross-sections for Erin but have detailed side and plan views. It's got too many casemates for my taste - they're a pain to make on a hull plug. For a maneuverable Class 4 I'd rather have my SNS Espana back. Much shorter, hardly any superstructure, 20 casemates, and only 0.5 units less than Erin. Bob
Ah, that's a shame noone was interested. I think Erin'd be a pretty good ship. Then again, my favorite British dreadnought is the HMS Neptune, which I doubt will generate much interest anytime soon either.
I was talking to Michael Raue in Australia a few weeks ago, and he said his next hull he was planning to make was the Erin, I would think he would have it ready for sale in the next month or so.
Ralph Coles had a wooden hull frame version to make a plug from. Never got further than that but your right it would be a good ship to use.
