Copyright 1995 Tracy Ratcliff.  Permission to place in FTP or web
archives granted if this copyright notice is included. 

   
      TL5 Torpedo Ram
      
   In the last decades of the 19th century, the science of naval armor
   advanced much more rapidly than the science of naval artillery. By
   1880, some theorists held that soon guns would be useless, and that
   the only effective offense would be ramming.
   
   This ship is inspired by the HMS Polyphemus, the first ram ship
   in the British Navy, which entered service in 1880. She was much
   copied by all the naval Great Powers, but her most lasting legacy was
   her literary descendent, the Thunder Child, which served gallantly
   against the Martian war machines in The War of the Worlds.
   
   The main hull of the ship resembles a surfaced submarine, having an
   elliptical cross section with the long axis horizontal and the bottom
   stretched into a shallow "V" for the keel. The top of the hull was
   about 5 feet above water. The whale-backed hull is plated with 3
   inches of armor plate on top and sides, and the curve of the top and
   the slant of the bow help deflect incoming shells. The main hull
   supports, from the bow, a two-decked superstructure holding the
   bridge, the funnel, the ventilator stack, and a two decked aft
   superstructure holding the chartroom. The two superstructures are
   connected by a deck 15 feet above the waterline which also give access
   to the six small turrets (3 each side) holding Hotchkiss rotary
   cannon.
   
   The ship is a short-range craft most useful in defending narrow
   passages like the Straits of Gibraltar or the English Channel.
   
   The ship has a minor "lemon factor": because of the nearly circular
   cross section of the main hull, it has an odd behavior in rolling. The
   ship does not roll excessively in magnitude, but she will heel over
   and stay rolled for a several seconds. In addition, the ship can get
   exceptionally hot in warm weather, reaching 140 degrees Fahrenheit in
   the boiler room when the ship is in the Mediterranean.
   
   The ship's current payload is the five small boats carried, two 75-man
   Lifeboats, two Light Longboats, and a Captain's Gig.  (All three will
   be detailed next week.)
   
   The ship has five underwater torpedo tubes. Two fire port, two
   starboard, and the last fires through a retractable cap at the end of
   the ram. I've treated the last as having twice the cost and weight of
   a normal tube, and ignored the Vehicles restrictions on torpedo tube
   facing.
   
   HMS Polyphemus had an interesting rudder arrangement. She had a
   retractable rudder at the bow to aid in last second agility which was
   connected by a shaft to the main rudder at the stern. There were
   rudder stations aft inside the main hull, on the bridge, and in the
   bow inside the main hull. The two rudders could be steered connected
   or independantly. I haven't tried to simulate this, since under
   Vehicles 1st all ships larger than 50,000 cf have the same MR .25.
   
   Structure
          TL5 156600 cf advanced heavy body, max load 9396000 lbs, (Body
          HT40,000), flotation hull with average hydrodynamics (6264000
          lbs), heavy compartmentalization, front slope 60 degrees, top
          slope 30 degrees, superstructure (bridge) TL5 3000 cf
          expensive, superstructure (sterncastle) TL5 3500 cf expensive,
          six limited traverse turrets, each TL5 expensive 60 cf, top
          deck 2000 sf body, 500 sf bridge, 500 sf sterncastle
          
   Propulsion
          TL5 screws (DR5 HT4000), 5500 KW forced draft steam engine (DR5
          HT2500), consuming 11000 lbs/hr coal.
          
   Power
          Steam engine. 470,000 lbs coal, 42.7 hrs duration.
          
   Accomodation
          Quarters: 1 comfortable (captain); 10 standard (officers); 35
          cramped (crew), hot bunked.
          
   Vision
          Body: none. Bridge: many. Chartroom: many. Turrets: Few.
          
   Crew requirements
          43 minimum, 116 nominal.
          
   Accessories
          TL5 bilge pumps (20, DR5 HT30 each), TL5 fire extinguisher (DR5
          HT500), telescopes (2, DR2 HT5 each, one each in fore and aft
          superstructures), heliograph (DR2 HT20, aft superstructure),
          navigation instruments (DR2 HT6, in bridge), TL5 searchlights
          (6, HT10 each, 3 each on fore and aft superstructures).
          
   Weapons
          Ram
          5 TL5 torpedo tubes (2 starboard, 2 port, one forward), 20
          torpedoes.
          6 37 mm rotary cannon (HT30) in turrets, 60,000 rounds ammo.
          
   Armor
          Body: TL5 advanced 950 pts, front slope 60, top slope 30, F
          6/600, L6/150, R6/150, B6/150, T6/225, U6/50.
          Forecastle: TL5 advanced 175 points, F 5/35, L5/35, R5/35,
          B5/35, T5/35, U0/0.
          Sterncastle: TL5 advanced 175 points, F 5/35, L5/35, R5/35,
          B5/35, T5/35, U0/0.
          Turrets (each): TL5 advanced 175 points, F 5/35, L5/35, R5/35,
          B5/35, T5/35, U0/0.
          
   Cargo
          712 cf body waste, Forecastle 2985 waste, Sterncastle 3481
          waste, Turrets (each) 50 cf access.
          
   Statistics
          $32,864,150 (TL5$1,643,208), design mass 5,543,450 lbs, max
          payload 720,550 lbs, max cargo payload 0 lbs, max deck cargo
          180,000 lbs, current payload 49,579 lbs, loaded mass 5,593,029
          lbs (2797 tons). Size +9, radar +9, IR +12, acoustic +5
          
   Water performance
          Water Speed Factor 16 mph, Top Speed 20 mph, Acceleration .625
          mph/s, Deceleration 10 mph/s, MR .25, SR 6, draft 28 ft