Subscribe to download
Habsburg Class Battleship

A fictional 1930s battleship based upon many paper designs from the period, specifically to be a contemporary to the Littorio class from the real world. She is to be the first ship in a set of hyper-detail 1930s-1940s ships, at least that is my plan, with a possible 1940s modernisation of her being a possible future project, including for example, a stern mounted aircraft catapult. She was designed to effectively be the next step in the inevitable continuation of the Italian-Austro-Hungarian naval arms race. With the construction and eventual launch of the Littorio (or its alt-history equivilant) and her sisters incentivising the Austro-Hungarian development of this, the Habsburg class.

The SMS Habsburg was a class of 3 battleships of the Austro-Hungarian K.u.K Kriegsmarine. The class composed of three ships, the SMS Habsburg, the SMS Lorraine, and the SMS Austria. Built between 1931 and 1939, they were the most modern battleships used by Austria-Hungary during the second Great War. They were developed in response to the Italian Italia-class battleships (Effectively the Littorio class, but equipped with the initially planned dual 16 in turrets, as opposed to the triple 15s), and were armed with 406 mm (16.0 in) guns and had a top speed of 28 knots (51.8 km/h; 32.2 mph). The class's design was considered by the Romanian Navy, but the lack of budget and industrial means rendered the ambitious plan a failure.

Designed around countering the Italia class, she was equipped with an armament of 9 406 mm (16.0 in) guns, as opposed to the 8 on the Italia, and given a comparable thickness of armour at 279.4 mm (11.0 in). However, the extra firepower came at the cost of speed and aircraft, with the Italia class achieving 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph) compared to the Habsburg's 28 knots. The K.u.K Kriegsmarine decided to forgo aircraft in order to equip the extra cannon as it was decided that the weight needed to support the avionic equipment was not worth the potential benefits, especially considering the poor quality of Austro-Hungarian seaplanes, and small size of her airforce. Which factored into their other decision with the Habsburg, an abnormally heavy AA armament for a ship of her period. The K.u.K Luftwaffe left alot to be desired in size and modernity, this is in direct contrast to the well funded Italian airforce. Given that most of the Austro-Hungarian coastline is in the Adriatic, and that even in the Mediterranean as a whole a land based airforce can very well be used against naval forces, it was concluded that the battleships would require a substantial AA armament. Of course, heavy AA armament for the early 1930s is hardly heavy by early 40s standards, so by the time the second Great War started it was mediocre at best.

Another important distinction between the Habsburg class and the Italia class were their underwater protection. While Austria-Hungary had learnt from the First Great War the importance of protection from mines and torpedoes, they still lack the advanced designs of the Italians. Hence, while the Habsburgs have invested a not insubstantial amount of displacement on protection via a thick double-bottom and multi-layered void-liquid torpedo belt, it is not comparable to the Italian Pugliese system.

The SMS Habsburg had an overall length of 220m (721 ft), a beam of 29m (95 ft), and a designed draft of 10m (33 ft). The class had a designed displacement of 40,000 metric tonnes (39,368 long tons).

She had four geared turbines, each driving a single propeller shaft. Steam for the engines was provided by 6 oil fired Yarrow boilers and they made an average total of 119,500 horsepower (89,111 kW) and a top speed of 28 knots (51.8 km/h; 32.2 mph). On sea trial the power plants on all three ships underperformed, averaging 118,000 horsepower (87,992 kW), and a top speed of 27.5 knots (51 km/h; 31.6 mph). In service this dropped to 27 knots (50 km/h, 31 mph). The ships carried 4,000 metric tonnes (3936 long tons) of fuel oil which enabled a maximum range of 4,500 nautical miles (8,334 km; 5,180 mi) at a speed of 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph).

The Habsburg's main armament consisted of nine 406 mm (16 in) guns. 6 of which were mounted in a forward superfiring pair of triple turrets, the last 3 in an aft triple turret. Her secondary armament comprised of 8 dual purpose 15.2 cm (6 in) guns mounted in 4 double turrets. They are capable of firing timed AA shells, or normal anti-ship shells, however due to inefficiencies in the ammunition handling of the 6 inch shells, transitioning between the shell types takes a greater period than designed or intended, which limits their effectiveness in either role should they be caught equipped with the wrong shell type (In-game it has ACBs set up which empty clips and reloads them with appropriate shells depending upon whether aircraft are present). Her heavy AA armament, aside from her 6 inch secondaries, consists of 12 100mm guns mounted in 6 double mounts. They lack tracer rounds as they were seen as unnecessary for accuracy in comparison to the dedicated optical equipment slaved to the guns, combined with the idea that accurate, directed, fire was worth more than the potential for scaring away potential assailants with visible fire, such as was demanded by British doctrine. This was shown to be a sever oversight later. She also fields a medium AA armament of 12 similarly tracer-less 37mm AA guns in 6 double mounts on the rear superstructure, a light AA armament of 6 20mm autocannons on the forward superstructure, and 6 20mm autocannons in 3 dual-mounts in the aft of the ship.

The belt consists of a 101.6mm (4 in) homogeneous armour outer plate and the 279.4 mm (11 in) Krupp cemented armour was mounted 70mm (2.8 in) behind the outer plate; the gap was filled with a cement mixed with strong organic fibres in order to both keep water out of any breaches, and assist in de-capping armour piercing shells. It was based on a design that was initially developed for use in a novel form of armoured tank, however proved ineffective on such small scales. This belt was mounted in an all-or-nothing citadel layout, curving around and infront of the bow main turret, and behind the aft main turret to form the aforementioned citadel. This was done in order to save weight and displacement for her heavy armament and machinery needed to achieve the relatively high speeds she does. The deck armour was positioned 1 deck below the main deck, in line with the all-or-nothing design, and was 101.6 mm (4 in) thick, it was also sloped akin to the earlier protect cruisers, with the intent to deflect fragments produced by bomb hits to the main deck. The main guns were protected in their turret houses by 254mm (10 in) of armour, and their hoists and turrets by a barbette of 150mm (5.9 in), while the secondaries were protected by 139.7mm (5.5 in) of armour and the conning tower by 165.1 mm (6.5 in). The rudder room was also protected by its own mini-citadel of thickness 152mm (6 in) Krupp cemented armour with a 50.8 mm (2 in) backing plate.

Type:
Battleship

Displacement:
40,000 t (39,368 long tons; 44,092 short tons us)

Length:
220m (721 ft)

Beam:
29m (95 ft)

Draught:
10m (33 ft)

Installed power:
119,500 shp (89,111 kW)

Propulsion:
4 × shafts
4 x geared turbines

Speed:
28.0 knots (51.8 km/h; 32.2 mph)

Range:
4,500 nmi (8,334 km) at 10 kn (12 mph; 19 km/h)
4,000 metric tons fuel oil

Complement:
1450

Armament:
-9 x 40.6 cm (16 in) guns
-8 x 15.2 cm (6 in) guns
-12 x 100mm AA guns
-12 x 27mm AA guns
-12 x 20 mm Autocannons

Armour:
Belt: 279.4 mm (11 in)
Deck: 101.6 mm (4 in)
Bulkhead: 25.4 mm (1 in)
Barbettes: 150 mm (5.9 in)
Main turrets: 254 mm (10 in)
Secondary turrets: 159.7 mm (5.5 in)
Conning tower: 165.1 mm (6.5 in)

ASIDE:
Check out the FtD United Builders Discord:
https://discord.gg/vZJsyZa
CCF:
https://discord.gg/HQKbGwb