Yeah, long title, I know.
I'm working on something for Xorath that requires quite a bit of information and knowledge about things I don't have, and doing the research is a daunting prospect, as I simply don't know what information is important. I'd like for someone that's been in the Navy, or is very familiar with navel vessels to point me in the right direction.
Without further ado, I'm working on constructing a steampunk/magitech Airship Armada. Now... this poses a problem because, again, I'm not sure what stats to put down for each airship currently in the armada. (It's a humorously low number). Obviously, combat capabilities, cargo space, size, armor, and mobility are important, but I'm not sure how to present them, or where to even look for reference material when coming up with the specs for these vessels. For that matter, I'd like to make sure they're alright to fit into the Golden Tether's setting and timeline. (On Furcadia)
They are slightly more traditional in design at the moment, being a mesh of old timey wooden vessels, steam boats, and technology made possible by substituting magic for engineering... but they definitely have a steampunk look and feel to them. I would like to avoid bulky 'blimp' designs and stick to using a mix of magic and technology to keep them floating. Some sort of magitech gravity inverter would be preferable, or propellers both topside and on the underside. Wind sails, steam-driven turbines attached to large propellers in the rear of the ships, and steam vents or jets would allow the ships to perform various maneuvers.
Storms are a huge problem for these ships, as they aren't very aerodynamic, especially when it comes to the larger sizes. The sails can be retracted and folded, sure, but damage to the propellers would be a very large problem. Lightning rods would make being within a storm a slightly advantageous thing, as the energy could then be used to supercharge the turbines and increase wind resistance. Given the advent of magical barriers, shielding the ships is possible, but would make them about as stealthy as a herd of elephants in New York City during a storm, the constant glow of the shield becoming a dead givaway, but also perhaps a fearsome sight. Obviously, the lightning rods would be a potential weakness too, extending beyond the shields.
The ships would need to land on the surface of the ocean eventually in order to suck up more water to pass by heating elements to make steam. The heating elements themselves are magical in nature, and would need replaced every so often, but likely not over the span of years.
If you have any input on the information I've already decided on, please give it.
As for the things I DON'T know... I have no idea what to do about weapons. What's reasonable? How many guns can I put on an airship large enough to be called a 'Dreadnought'... how big should a dreadnought be? How slow is it? How much cargo can it hold, how many men are required to man it. How does an airship fleet communicate without a radio? ...Flashing lights as signals? What other specs are important to list... what would you, as a roleplayer, want to see when looking at how many ships are in the fleet and what each ship is capable of?
What I hope to end up with is a 'Character Sheet' for people to fill out about their vessel that will communicate all of the most vital information needed for a roleplay and an event, but also leave someone who knows their stuff about navel vessels satisfied that I've made an effort to make the information complete. Eventually, I'd like to decide on what sort of 'stats' to give each ship in order to run events using a dice system. If anyone would like to help on that as well, I'd appreciate it greatly.
If you have anyone else you know of that is knowledgeable about military fleets, I'd love to have someone with actual knowledge and a colorful imagination to consult about this. I'm actually doing things that exceed what a real-life fleet is capable of, such as having an even larger ship act as an airbase, capable of having the rest of the fleet dock with it.
Thank you for taking the time to read all of this if you have, and thank you in advance for any input you may have. I'm hoping to hear from a good number of people.
I'm working on something for Xorath that requires quite a bit of information and knowledge about things I don't have, and doing the research is a daunting prospect, as I simply don't know what information is important. I'd like for someone that's been in the Navy, or is very familiar with navel vessels to point me in the right direction.
Without further ado, I'm working on constructing a steampunk/magitech Airship Armada. Now... this poses a problem because, again, I'm not sure what stats to put down for each airship currently in the armada. (It's a humorously low number). Obviously, combat capabilities, cargo space, size, armor, and mobility are important, but I'm not sure how to present them, or where to even look for reference material when coming up with the specs for these vessels. For that matter, I'd like to make sure they're alright to fit into the Golden Tether's setting and timeline. (On Furcadia)
They are slightly more traditional in design at the moment, being a mesh of old timey wooden vessels, steam boats, and technology made possible by substituting magic for engineering... but they definitely have a steampunk look and feel to them. I would like to avoid bulky 'blimp' designs and stick to using a mix of magic and technology to keep them floating. Some sort of magitech gravity inverter would be preferable, or propellers both topside and on the underside. Wind sails, steam-driven turbines attached to large propellers in the rear of the ships, and steam vents or jets would allow the ships to perform various maneuvers.
Storms are a huge problem for these ships, as they aren't very aerodynamic, especially when it comes to the larger sizes. The sails can be retracted and folded, sure, but damage to the propellers would be a very large problem. Lightning rods would make being within a storm a slightly advantageous thing, as the energy could then be used to supercharge the turbines and increase wind resistance. Given the advent of magical barriers, shielding the ships is possible, but would make them about as stealthy as a herd of elephants in New York City during a storm, the constant glow of the shield becoming a dead givaway, but also perhaps a fearsome sight. Obviously, the lightning rods would be a potential weakness too, extending beyond the shields.
The ships would need to land on the surface of the ocean eventually in order to suck up more water to pass by heating elements to make steam. The heating elements themselves are magical in nature, and would need replaced every so often, but likely not over the span of years.
If you have any input on the information I've already decided on, please give it.
As for the things I DON'T know... I have no idea what to do about weapons. What's reasonable? How many guns can I put on an airship large enough to be called a 'Dreadnought'... how big should a dreadnought be? How slow is it? How much cargo can it hold, how many men are required to man it. How does an airship fleet communicate without a radio? ...Flashing lights as signals? What other specs are important to list... what would you, as a roleplayer, want to see when looking at how many ships are in the fleet and what each ship is capable of?
What I hope to end up with is a 'Character Sheet' for people to fill out about their vessel that will communicate all of the most vital information needed for a roleplay and an event, but also leave someone who knows their stuff about navel vessels satisfied that I've made an effort to make the information complete. Eventually, I'd like to decide on what sort of 'stats' to give each ship in order to run events using a dice system. If anyone would like to help on that as well, I'd appreciate it greatly.
If you have anyone else you know of that is knowledgeable about military fleets, I'd love to have someone with actual knowledge and a colorful imagination to consult about this. I'm actually doing things that exceed what a real-life fleet is capable of, such as having an even larger ship act as an airbase, capable of having the rest of the fleet dock with it.
Thank you for taking the time to read all of this if you have, and thank you in advance for any input you may have. I'm hoping to hear from a good number of people.
The 'Master & Commander' series by Patrick O'Brian is set in an appropriate time period that can easily correlate to The Golden Tether's continuity. It also gives an in-depth description in the stories themselves of how such a ship was run, and most of them (if I remember right), come with a diagram of all the parts.
As for ship suggestions;
Frigate (here)
- In the 18th century, the term referred to ships which were usually as long as a ship-of-the-line and were square-rigged on all three masts (full rigged), but were faster and with lighter armament, used for patrolling and escort. In the definition adopted by the British Admiralty, they were rated ships of at least 28 guns, carrying their principal armament upon a single continuous deck—the upper deck, while ships-of-the-line possessed two or more continuous decks bearing batteries of guns. Frigates did not carry any guns (or have any gunports) on their lower decks; confusingly, the lower deck was often referred to as the "gun deck" in the Royal Navy (in the US Navy, it was usually called the "berth deck"), even for frigates, where it did not carry any guns or have gunports. Both types could (and usually did) additionally carry smaller carriage-mounted guns on their quarter decks and forecastles (the superstructures above the upper deck).
- Common armament was one gundeck with 32 to 44 long guns, from 8- to 24-pounders (3.6 to 11 kg), plus a few carronades (large bore short-range guns).
Ship of the Line - (here)
- A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th through to the mid-19th century to take part in the naval tactic known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would manoeuvre to bring the greatest weight of broadside guns to bear. Since these engagements were almost invariably won by the heaviest ships carrying the most powerful guns, the natural progression was to build sailing vessels that were the largest and most powerful of their time. From the end of the 1840s, the introduction of steam power brought less dependence on the wind in battle and led to the construction of screw-driven but wooden-hulled ships of the line; a number of pure sail-driven ships were converted to this propulsion mechanism. However, the introduction of the ironclad frigate in about 1859 led swiftly to the decline of the steam-assisted ships of the line, though the ironclad warship became the ancestor of the 20th-century battleship, whose very designation is itself a contraction of the phrase "line-of-battle ship."
Those are the two that I would most recommend
Similar has been used in the film "Treasure Planet":
Dreadnought
How many guns can I put on an airship large enough to be called a 'Dreadnought'?
The earliest versions had 12 12-inch guns, with 6 - 18 being the intended average.
How big should a dreadnought be?
Some say 527 ft long, one says 212 ft long. Maybe go for 300ft?
How slow is it?
24 mph / 39 kmph
How much cargo can it hold?
Generally dreadnoughts aren't cargo ships, they're warships.
How many men are required to man it?
35 per 1 of 5 turrets, then say another 25 for the rest of the ship - so it averages out at about 200.
How does an airship fleet communicate without a radio?
Magic, flashing lights, a form of morse code?
As for ship suggestions;
Frigate (here)
- In the 18th century, the term referred to ships which were usually as long as a ship-of-the-line and were square-rigged on all three masts (full rigged), but were faster and with lighter armament, used for patrolling and escort. In the definition adopted by the British Admiralty, they were rated ships of at least 28 guns, carrying their principal armament upon a single continuous deck—the upper deck, while ships-of-the-line possessed two or more continuous decks bearing batteries of guns. Frigates did not carry any guns (or have any gunports) on their lower decks; confusingly, the lower deck was often referred to as the "gun deck" in the Royal Navy (in the US Navy, it was usually called the "berth deck"), even for frigates, where it did not carry any guns or have gunports. Both types could (and usually did) additionally carry smaller carriage-mounted guns on their quarter decks and forecastles (the superstructures above the upper deck).
- Common armament was one gundeck with 32 to 44 long guns, from 8- to 24-pounders (3.6 to 11 kg), plus a few carronades (large bore short-range guns).
Ship of the Line - (here)
- A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th through to the mid-19th century to take part in the naval tactic known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would manoeuvre to bring the greatest weight of broadside guns to bear. Since these engagements were almost invariably won by the heaviest ships carrying the most powerful guns, the natural progression was to build sailing vessels that were the largest and most powerful of their time. From the end of the 1840s, the introduction of steam power brought less dependence on the wind in battle and led to the construction of screw-driven but wooden-hulled ships of the line; a number of pure sail-driven ships were converted to this propulsion mechanism. However, the introduction of the ironclad frigate in about 1859 led swiftly to the decline of the steam-assisted ships of the line, though the ironclad warship became the ancestor of the 20th-century battleship, whose very designation is itself a contraction of the phrase "line-of-battle ship."
Those are the two that I would most recommend
Similar has been used in the film "Treasure Planet":
Dreadnought
How many guns can I put on an airship large enough to be called a 'Dreadnought'?
The earliest versions had 12 12-inch guns, with 6 - 18 being the intended average.
How big should a dreadnought be?
Some say 527 ft long, one says 212 ft long. Maybe go for 300ft?
How slow is it?
24 mph / 39 kmph
How much cargo can it hold?
Generally dreadnoughts aren't cargo ships, they're warships.
How many men are required to man it?
35 per 1 of 5 turrets, then say another 25 for the rest of the ship - so it averages out at about 200.
How does an airship fleet communicate without a radio?
Magic, flashing lights, a form of morse code?
The oldest method of maritime communication is the signal system using flags. Fortunately, Wikipedia has listed them. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_maritime_signal_flags
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_maritime_signal_flags
I am familiar with WW2 ships, and a bit with older sailing ships if that helps at all.
disducibus wrote:
All sorts of useful things.
You... are... amazing.
Sorry I haven't been able to reply until now. I looked over all of this and let it settle in my mind before I started to look into it. I had no idea where to start, and all of the relevant information you've presented to me has given me a huge boost in the right direction, and even eliminated some of the research for me.
Seriously, words can't describe how thankful I am.
MiddleEnglander wrote:
The oldest method of maritime communication is the signal system using flags. Fortunately, Wikipedia has listed them.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_maritime_signal_flags
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_maritime_signal_flags
Awesome! I'm fairly certain that I can work in a similar system. Great stuff, thank you.
berserkker544 wrote:
I am familiar with WW2 ships, and a bit with older sailing ships if that helps at all.
It would. Obviously I need to do some reading myself, but I plan to make the fleet a hybrid of more modern war vessels, and older sail-driven vessels. I have quite a bit of work to do, but I'll bookmark and update this topic as soon as I've made some progress.
Thanks again, all of you!
Now to check and see if such a thing would be allowed at TGT.
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