Not Cargo Pants...

So the liberty ship was created because it was cheap & easy to mass produce... So we made a lot of them & they worked well for WWII because the Germans could not sink them as fast as we were making them.

But that doesn't make as much sense here. It will take you just as much time to make a liberty ship as it does the Titanic.

So what cargo ships have you encountered that make the most sense for what we do? What is your favorite lamb?

 

In the WWCC, the most important feature a transport can have is agility. This can be speed, maneuverability, or both. Ships with neither just get chewed up and spat back out.

Fast cargo boats are hard to come by, but so far there are three that stand out. First and second are the two super-liners, Queen Mary and Normandie. The WWCC has one operational Normandie super-liner. In the past year, the Normandie was the ONLY cargo ship to EVER successfully complete the convoy course. All other ships were either sunk or ran out of time. Queen Mary is just like the Normandie, but a bit bigger and faster. They tend to soak up the damage, and if one ever gets sunk we'll need a scuba diver, but all in all they are good at what they do. The third ship is the HMS Abdiel, a minelaying destroyer that was used to ferry cargo to Malta during WWII. It was credited with more cargo runs during WWII than ANY liberty ships, and I expect to see at least one on the pond this year.

The other way to go is maneuverability. If you can turn your stern to the enemy in as little time as possible, you'll never see a battle from the bottom of the pond. Several ships also stand out in this area, as well. First and foremost is the Landing Ship, (Tank), or LST. The LST is a short, shallow-draft ship with twin props and two rudders perfectly placed to enhance turning. While it does have a fair amount of above-water target area, the LST is one target you'll have a hard time out-turning. Several other individual ships in the WWCC are remarkably maneuverable. Most notable among these is the SS Moroccan Mole, a ship approximately the same size as a liberty ship, with a modified deck layout and the remarkable ability to back out of danger faster than it can drive into it. It also has excellent weight distribution, allowing it to come about in a very short time.

Another way of defending yourself as a transport is to show as little target area as possible. This generally involves having as little of the ship as possible visible above the water. The best ships at this job are oil tankers. Two examples in the WWCC are the IJN Mehoshi Maru and the USS Cimarron. Both ships have almost no penetrable target area above the water, so long-range shots have nothing to hit. When an enemy comes close, these two vessels just snuggle up real close, and stay under the guns of the attacker. Cimarron doesn't sail often nowadays due to the large number of torpedo-boats on the water, but Mehoshi has aquitted herself well.

Of course, there are those who feel that the best way to not get sunk is to sink yourself before the enemy gets to you, then pop back up when the danger is gone. Yep, you guessed it: transport submarines. Most notable of these are the Japanese I-402 and famous German Type XIV Milchkuh. It's just like building a regular RC submarine, just with penetrable sides. Don't dive too deep, because nobody knows the crush depth of 1/16" balsa. It should be noted that I-402 did not lose its weapons when converted to carry oil, and under WWCC rules may be built as an armed transport.

Lastly, there is one more transport that recently caught my attention. There are currently no combat models of this ship in the WWCC. I hope to remedy that...
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=173262&pp=15&highlight=revell+north+sea+trawler
The 1:142 scale Revell North Sea Trawler is ripe for conversion to a WWI-WWII era coastal steamer. It is only 15" long and is a very tiny target. Its short length means excellent maneuverability, and its small target area means that even if an enemy gets a shot, it'll have a hard time hitting. All you need to do is replace the modern superstructure with an older style bridge and smokestack. I am currently trying to locate one or more hulls for conversion.

 

The liberty (or variants) was still the most common that I remember. The maneuverability and cargo points (1000) it was worth was pretty good for the rules. Plus the fact that we had a member who sold hulls for under $50 was probably a factor.

The Cimmaron(sp?) was a pretty good one, as it got 1500 cargo points per run.

Personally I have the USS Patoka which was an airship tender. I have thought about using an Airship as a float.

Andy

 

I just ordered two of those bitty boats. One for conversion, one for making a mold sometime in the future. They're cheap at $15 a pop, but they're no longer in production so if its successful I want to ensure a future for these cute little toys. Progress will be slow since I don't have any tools at my apartment right now, but I project a tentative launch date for this summer.

BTW Tugboat, have you seen what Rob W did with his LST, and Umi Ryuzuki did with her T-103?
http://groups.msn.com/ModelersAndHobbyForum/japaneset103lstbuildup.msnw?Page=1
http://www.westernwarshipcombat.com/gallery/album29/Landing_2
You can do it! I know you can!

 

The itty-bitty cargo boats that I ordered have arrived. I spent about an hour or so just looking at the parts that arrived and thinking about how I will convert them. Gotta order a few more parts, then I will reinforce the hull with fiberglass, cut windows, and start putting stuff in.

 

Found out some info on the ship the model was made after, the Arctic Corsair. Apparently it was an active combatant in the Second Cod War. It was harassed by an Icelandic gunboat, got fed up, and retaliated. Both ships were damaged, but the Corsair won the battle by ramming her attacker. If anybody dares attack MY version, I will chase them down and run them over (with a 14-inch ship rated 45 seconds).
http://www.arcticcorsair.f9.co.uk/corsair/history/gunboatincident.htm

 

heheheh.... What is the Second Cod War?

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cod_war
The Cod Wars were a series of conflicts between Britain and Iceland about overfishing in the North Sea. The first one started in 1958 when Iceland declared that no foreign trawlers were allowed to fish within 12 nautical miles of Iceland, and sent its navy to enforce the declaration. Britain wasn't too happy, and sent some of its navy to protect the trawlers. After several incidents, Britain yielded to Iceland and pulled back its navy and called off its trawlers. Several ships were rammed and others boarded, but no guns were fired in anger and nobody was killed. The second cod war started in 1972 when Iceland extended the no-fishing zone to 50 nautical miles. Again Britain wasn't happy, and again a series of rammings, boardings, and net-cutting incidents occurred, including the "battle" that the Arctic Corsair won. Britain and Iceland signed a treaty to end the disagreement, which expired in 1975. Upon expiration, Iceland extended the no-fishing zone to 200 nautical miles, launching the third and final cod war. Again Britain lost, and set a precedent around the world for exclusive economic zones.

If anybody in the WWCC objects to using a fishing boat for transport runs, I will put two "chariot" manned torpedoes under the hull and say it's going to attack the Tirpitz in port

 

The Germans also had a submarine transport during WWI - the 'U-Deutchland'. It was quite big.(well...relatively) It actually sailed across the Atlantic to the US and loaded up with war material (before the US joined the war).
It drove the British absolutely insane.

They were later rearmed as U-Cruisers.

The Japanese also had several dedicated classes of supply submarines, complete with landing craft to ferry the supplies ashore.

 

Does anyone know how to get hold of Umi to negotiate at copy of the plans for the T103?

 

Sorry, what is a t103?