Mikey's Old Bearn re-fitting

All
I have started re-fitting my old Bearn for Treaty combat in 2009.
I was planning to use my new Bearn hull, but I forgot that I had laid the new hull down to be legal in big-gun, so she has more hard area in the bow.
So I have taken the big-gun cannon out of the stern of the old Bearn, and have mounted a 50 round bow cannon, which is aimed directly ahead, and is ranged out to perhaps 6-8 feet.
I also mounted a pair of 75 round cannons in the stern. They are aimed out approx. 12 degrees off the center-line (one to either side). They are fairly short range (approx. 2 feet), meant for holding off anyone that is trying to bring side-mounts into play.
I will mount a one unit pump somewhere slightly aft of amidships, as I would anticipate that most of my damage will be from those that attack from behind.
I also am re-building the island structure out of foam, with wooden decks, in order to lighten it. It had been originally built out of solid block balsa.
I am adding water-channeling (concrete crack patch material).
This old ship was a mainstay of the MBG for several years, and is also a veteran of the IRCWCC, where she was fairly successful as an un-armed convoy ship during campaign, but also sortied out during a campaign battle as an armed aircraft-carrier (2.5 units), and survived.
She also fought a one-on-one against a destroyer at that Nats.
So we shall see how she does in Treaty.
I anticipate, that as with pretty much all other ships she will be just fine as long she is reliable.
Mikey

 

Very cool, hope to see some pictures. How did she do against that destroyer anyway?

 

The Bearn was a 2.5 unit aircraft-carrier, so it was set up with (2) one-unit (50 round), cannons aft. They were angled 15 degrees off the center-line, one to either side, and were ranged out to perhaps 16 inches from the stern. It had a half-unit pump mounted just forward of amid-ships, that pumped straight out the bow (under the overhang of the flight-deck).
She was set up to run 28 seconds per 100', but with twin rudders (side-by-side), she was a fairly good turner.
My wife (Karen) was running her. This was her first combat at a large event.

The destroyer was my old Mogador.
After several years of combat, she was fully worked-up, and extremely reliable.
She was 22 seconds per 100' (perhaps 21 if I remember correctly), so she was super fast, and a great turner. She was so agile that hitting what you were shooting at was a real challenge. By the time you got the shot off, you were no longer on target. So you had to think and act ahead of time.
Anyhow. To make a long story even longer.
There was a new rookie at the Nats, and he had not been able to get his own boat going, so we loaned him the Mogador for the one-on-one.
I don't think he ever really did get used to the speed, as he simply ran circles around the Bearn which was also running circles. So the carrier captain was trying to draw the destroyer captain into a turning battle in order to utilize her turning ability to keep her opponant behind her stern cannons. The destroyer captain on the other hand was trying to utilize his superior speed, and manouvering to get ahead of the slower carrier in order to bring his single stern cannon into action.
It was too funny. Like the tortoise and the hare, or the road runner and coyote.
The scores were really close. Very few hits on each ship. But both skippers had a great time, and neither sank, or got ram-sunk. I think they both won.
Mikey

 

Sounds pretty good. Glad to hear of a carrier that holds its own.

 

We gave carriers battleship units in Treaty, while limiting them bow and stern quadrants like cruisers. That basically makes carriers a form of hard hitting super cruiser so to speak, with speed as their best defense. With more units and realistic speeds (can't explain why my 31 knot Belleau Wood should be 4 seconds slower then a 26 knot Nagato like in the fast gun clubs) carriers aren't the same gimpy BB sponges they are elsewhere. They won't obsolete our battleships and battlecruisers, but they should be viable for those who have an interest in them.

A slow carrier like the Bearn should be nice though because of it's twin rudders...it should turn on a dime.

Since the guns aren't tied to turret location, you can mount the guns very far aft and get some good down angle on them, and shoot for belows when someone comes up behind you. With five units, a Bearn can have triple sterns, a battleship pump (she was converted from a BB) and mount a bow chaser forward to shoot runners with. All things being equal, on paper, she should be a great ship.