Torpedo Cruisers

I am new to this hobby, and was wondering what classes of ships are the "torpedo-cruisers" that some people have mentioned in previous topics. I was also wondering what British ships are good for beginners, since I myself quite like the Queen Elizabeth class.

 

The QE class is a good ship. It is maneuverable and well armed. There is also a good bit of room inside. Are there others who can help you? That makes a difference. As far as torpedo cruisers go, ships don't have torpedoes unless you are building Big Gun ships. The only real torpedo cruisers I know of are the two ships of the Japanese kuma class, the Oi and the Kitakami. They were given 40 and 32 torpedo tubes respectively! Hope this helps and welcome to the magnificent obsession!
J

 

Torpedo Cruiser is a term first coined in the WWCC, a big gun club based in California that I belong to. It refers to light cruisers, such as the Italian Capitani Romani class cruisers, when they are armed with torpedoes. The cruisers are larger than destroyers and much easier to build and arm. Since we do not use self-propelled explosive torpedoes due to safety concerns, we simulate torpedoes with a close range 1/4" cannon, the same as on a big battleship. In most cases, they only fire a single shot before they must return to port to reload (only single-shot torpedoes are allowed to be reloaded in a standard 15 minute WWCC sortie). The torpedo cannon is aimed at very close range: 4-8 inches. The cruiser relies on speed and maneuverability to approach it's target, while presenting it's impenetrable bow to return fire. It then gets in under the effective range of a battleship's guns and takes a few moments to aim and wait for the boat to rock in the right direction, then fires. The extreme close range means that they are much more likely to hit below the waterline and penetrate the thick armor of a battleship after passing through so much water. They then use their speed and maneuverability to scoot away as quickly as they can, or come about and fire the second set. One important aspect to note is that the single shot cannons are both simpler to manufacture because they do not have the rotation assembly and tend to be more reliable, giving them another edge up.
Individually, it is possible to take one on with good odds, but in 2006 and 2007 there suddenly appeared a group of about 6 skilled captains with reliable torpedo cruisers while a number of battleship skippers were unable to regularly attend for various reasons. This resulted in one or two battleships fighting off two to four cruisers at the same time which is nearly impossible (try fighting off a swarm of pirhannas with a signle fishhook), and the cruisers inflicted devastating damage. Kotori and I were members of the self-styled "Crimson Scourge," and Kotori won Most Feared Skipper both years when he better than a two-to-one sink ratio. Due to ill feelings about the sink-a-thon, we both decided to sell our boats and build unarmed transports for a year while the others dropped the pain factor down a few notches and voted to outlaw minefields (fishing line that gets tangled in the propellers: they weren't very fun so we all agreed on that point). They were controversial and drew a steel curtain around the pond from which few battleships escaped for two years, but we've backed off and they have become much more reasonable. They are good beginner boats because of the simpler weapons, simpler control layout, and the fact that they are easier to build than a destroyer.

One important WWCC rule to keep in mind: we limit torpedo tubes to a maximum of six: three per side. This means that we don't have problems with one-shot-wonders like the Kitakami that can sink any ship on the pond with a single shot. No other big gun club has this rule, and the South Coast Battle Group in SoCal had problems with that type of cruiser.

 

John have you met JP who is also in Chicago? Looks like he is having a building day 4-4-09. Check out:
http://www.mwci.org/eventinfo.shtml?109_2_13_55
His e-mail address is there too.

 

To clarify things, right now I am in high school, so I probably won't have the time or to make one until I get into a college or university. However, I do have experience with R/C models and warship history. I found this hobby on Wikipedia and have become greatly intrigued by it. Along with the Queen Elizabeth class, what other classes of British or American ships are good for beginners? Also, if I make a cargo ship, could it be armed, like the q-ships?

 

Hey, im in HS too, and im currently building a ship. It isnt easy to find the money, esp without a job, but XMas sure does help.
No, in fast gun you cant build an armed convoy, but a cruiser (especially axis) would be a cheaper, easier build then say, a QE, or similar.

 

You think you get MORE free time in college!? Build your ship in high school, while you have the chance. I had trouble storing a light cruiser in my dorm, much less a battleship or the tools needed to build a ship.I started in HS just like you and Boomer and found enough time to build.

 

Thats a fair point, but wether I have more time currently is really a moot point, since I won't have the money or resources to build a ship for at-least a couple more years. However, I tend to like to research hobbies for a while before I start them (I'm not exactly the fastest person), and I am currently looking at pre-made hulls that are available from sites like Battler's Connection. Unfortunately, they don't have many British ships, but they do have Colorado and Scharnhorst class ships. I was wondering if those are good ships for beginners, and if there are any other sites that carry pre-made hulls for British ships, particularly HMS Queen Elizabeth or HMS Nelson.

 

www.dreadnoughthulls.com/#Hulls Available also look here www.scrapcombatships.com/hulls.html

 

I found "torpedo cruisers" like the Capitani Romani quite interesting, but are there any similar ships produced by the Allies?

 

after this weekend i may have a Capitani Romani for sale www.scrapcombatships.com/images/shi...ricano.jpg .cheap gutted with pump ,motors and props. email me

 

The Allies don't have many cruisers armed with torpedoes. The Atlanta is one, but her 33kt speed means that fast battleships can keep up with her. There is one in the club that seems to do alright, but she is a bit more vulnerable than the other Italian boats which can get around 40kts. Omaha and a few British cruisers carried torpedoes as well, I think. There have also been postulates about "super cruisers": heavy cruisers large enough to carry both torpedoes and a reloading gun. The Japanese Mogami has long been considered for this role, but the only one in the club hasn't shown up recently.

 

There are actually 2 other Allied cruiser classes that would be perfect torpedo cruisers in biggun I'd think:

Kirov and Chapayev, both soviet designs @36 knots. Kirov has a faily light displacement, but I'd guess Chapayev would be a perfect fit.

As for your "super cruiser" thing, I plan on doing a Tone class ship (HIJMS Chikuma) for treaty. Eventually, I'd like to add big gun style torpedo cannons to her so I'd have the option of running her as a biggun ship as well when we have multi format events. A large torpedo cruiser seems to be perfectly suited for a multi format ship, since in big gun her primary weapons would be her torpedoes, her small gun main battery armament wouldn't be a huge detriment. I'd simply have to pin the torpedo cannons when I run her in small gun events.

 

I can't believe I forgot about the Kirov! She is probably the best Allied torpedo cruiser, with her high 36kt speed. We are looking at how to make large destroyers easier to build, so the Tashkent, Shimakaze, Le Fantasque, Gearing, Z-boat, and other destroyers become more common.

 

Are there any available fiberglass hulls for the Kirov, or can hulls for other ships be adapted to it?

 

Not that I am aware of. I wish there was a Kirov.

Here are the stats for the Chapayev. With her greater size (659 ft) and 3,000 tons more displacement on 35 knots, I'd imagine she's be an easier build then the Kirov.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapayev_class_cruiser

 

Another torpedo cruiser to consider is the French Tourville. She's a bit faster then the Suffren at 35 knots, but I'm told uses the same hull (available from BC). Unlike the Suffren, Tourville has 2 inline rudders and 4 shafts.

 

Isn't the Tourville about 3/4" different than the Suffren at 1:144th? Sufffren = 636.48ft Tourville = 626.64ft
I looked at it a few weeks ago and it was just out of scale rules for MWC if built on a BC Suffren hull without modification.

 

Just going from what I was told. I have about zero interest in French ships personally.