RevRick -> RE: Pensacola Class Reborn (8/8/2011 11:03:58 PM)
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On the other side of the picture. Admiral Frederick Richardson, head of BuShips and the design bureau, took one look at that design and said some words which will go down in Naval History, but which cannot be repeated on a public forum board. Something about a sexually active, diety condemned early terminated pregnancy, in other words. He told the design bureau to take it back, design it with 8 guns and more armor plate than a yard oiler, and a decent range for fleet ops. "%**%%% ship wouldn't be worth forty pounds of hammered horse (excrement!). It ain't gonna matter how many guns it's got if it ain't gonna get there because of piss poor range and some &^*&(& *&*^(* (&&)) with a 30 cal rifle can shoot holes in the (Y&*^))(( thing!!!!" Thus, the reworked design went to the builders and came back with four twin turrets with 8"55 guns, 4 5"25 DP mounts, 4" belt armor, 2.5" deck armor, and a range of 10,500 miles on a treaty figure of 9100 tons. In addition, the reduction of the top hamper and the top heavy configuration of the main battery allowed the ship to have more reserve buoyancy, and by the time the war started, they mounted four (soon to be changed to 40 mm) 1.1" AA cannon, landed the torpedo tubes since the torpedoes didn't have the same range as the 8"55 to begin with, and decided that a float plane amidships was more of a fire hazard than a benefit anyway. Thus she came out looking much like the original design but with some modification. [image][/image]
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