Comment on The Blue Beauty by Tzoli
Just wished to mention that the earliest of the A-150 "paper battleships" actually did include a version that's essentially a 1.5X sized YAMATO displacing nearly 100,000 tons at deep load, and carry 3 triple mounted 51cmx45 caliber main gun turrets in the same manner as Yamato. It was deemed too expensive both to construct as well as maintain /crew, and was dropped very early on. I still would love to build a model of such monster ship at some point!
Also, the planned secondary guns on the A-150 would have been the famed "long 10 cm dual purpose gun(10cmx65)" that's known for its high velocity, rapid firing speed and ability to synchonize easily with the type 94 AA gun director, in other words a big step up from Yamato class's type 89 12.7mm AA guns. To save on development time, they did plan on using the twin mounted turrets from the akizuki class destroyers which use this gun as it's main battery. I am very happy to see you depicted them accurately in this painting of yours , cheers to you!
Also, the planned secondary guns on the A-150 would have been the famed "long 10 cm dual purpose gun(10cmx65)" that's known for its high velocity, rapid firing speed and ability to synchonize easily with the type 94 AA gun director, in other words a big step up from Yamato class's type 89 12.7mm AA guns. To save on development time, they did plan on using the twin mounted turrets from the akizuki class destroyers which use this gun as it's main battery. I am very happy to see you depicted them accurately in this painting of yours , cheers to you!
3 triple 51cm turrets hmm? Can you give me some references or where did you read this?
As a side note for the 10cm Type 98 AA guns. actually the ones to be mounted on the Shinano and on the A-150 would use a different mount something like on Taiho or Oyodo, but probably fully enclosed. So a mix of Akizuki's and Taiho's mounts.
Also there were further developments of both the 12,7cm Type 89 and this 10cm guns at the end of war. The first would enter service in 1941 hence 12,7cm Type 1 designation but development postponed and later used as a land mounting for AA defence as 12,7cm Type 5. This would be the new standard heavy AA armament of new ships. The new 10cm gun did not went through prototype phase when war ended and was initially intended as a new destroyer gun this would be the 10cm Type 5 gun.
As a side note for the 10cm Type 98 AA guns. actually the ones to be mounted on the Shinano and on the A-150 would use a different mount something like on Taiho or Oyodo, but probably fully enclosed. So a mix of Akizuki's and Taiho's mounts.
Also there were further developments of both the 12,7cm Type 89 and this 10cm guns at the end of war. The first would enter service in 1941 hence 12,7cm Type 1 designation but development postponed and later used as a land mounting for AA defence as 12,7cm Type 5. This would be the new standard heavy AA armament of new ships. The new 10cm gun did not went through prototype phase when war ended and was initially intended as a new destroyer gun this would be the 10cm Type 5 gun.
Hi,
Yes, It was something I read from one of the Japanese Navy books in my collection. Unfortunately they are not accessable to me at the moment and thus I am unable to verify which one. However a quick search in the Japanese language wikipedia yielded similar results:
"........最も大型の案では、基準排水量85,000トン（満載排水量10万トン以上）、51cm砲3連装3基又は連装4基、速力30ノットというものであった[1]。しかし、51cm三連装砲の設計・製造自体が困難であるだけでなく、三連装砲を搭載する場合には基準排水力が90,000tを超えると試算されドックや補給施設・港湾設備などの問題からも実現不可能とされた...."
Translation:The most ambitious of all proposals called for a battleship with empty displacement of 850,00 tons ( with deep load exceeding 100,000 tons), carrying either 3 triple mounting 51cm turrets or four dual mounting turrets with the same guns, and engines powerful enough to reach 30 knots/hr maximum speed. However , the design and manufacturing of triple mounting 51cm turrets were considered very difficult, besides, according to calculations, the installation of such turrets would have have pushed the ship's empty load beyond 900,00 tons , posing major concerns over the existing shipbuilding, logistics, and military port capabilities that IJN was able to provide( in case such a battleship was to be built and maintained). In the end, the proposal was dropped..."
sorry, not my best Translation work ever but I really need to go to sleep now as I got work tomorrow. The rest of the page is here:
ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%B6%8…
Thanks for the remark about the long 10cm AA gun. I will do some more research about them when I got time. Take care.
~adella
Yes, It was something I read from one of the Japanese Navy books in my collection. Unfortunately they are not accessable to me at the moment and thus I am unable to verify which one. However a quick search in the Japanese language wikipedia yielded similar results:
"........最も大型の案では、基準排水量85,000トン（満載排水量10万トン以上）、51cm砲3連装3基又は連装4基、速力30ノットというものであった[1]。しかし、51cm三連装砲の設計・製造自体が困難であるだけでなく、三連装砲を搭載する場合には基準排水力が90,000tを超えると試算されドックや補給施設・港湾設備などの問題からも実現不可能とされた...."
Translation:The most ambitious of all proposals called for a battleship with empty displacement of 850,00 tons ( with deep load exceeding 100,000 tons), carrying either 3 triple mounting 51cm turrets or four dual mounting turrets with the same guns, and engines powerful enough to reach 30 knots/hr maximum speed. However , the design and manufacturing of triple mounting 51cm turrets were considered very difficult, besides, according to calculations, the installation of such turrets would have have pushed the ship's empty load beyond 900,00 tons , posing major concerns over the existing shipbuilding, logistics, and military port capabilities that IJN was able to provide( in case such a battleship was to be built and maintained). In the end, the proposal was dropped..."
sorry, not my best Translation work ever but I really need to go to sleep now as I got work tomorrow. The rest of the page is here:
ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%B6%8…
Thanks for the remark about the long 10cm AA gun. I will do some more research about them when I got time. Take care.
~adella
Hmm... Really interesting. Problem with the A-150 design that very few information is available on the design, and data ranges from an improved Yamato fo 3x2 51cm to this 100.000ton behemoth of 4x2 51cm cannons and 46cm armour. 10cm Type 98 AA guns are standard on all variants but the type and amount of secondary armament are again is an open debate from none (all AA guns) to triple or twin 15,5cm or 20,3cm guns in 2-4-6 turrets