Cataphract Class Battlecruiser

Last crawled date: 4 years, 11 months ago

Flying Battle Ships are a great palate cleanser. Kinda silly, but also really cool, and no thought is given at all to how exactly this would work. Somehow it flys, but not using any physics that are applicable to this world! So this one, the HMS Judith Regina (Queen Judith) is the 9th ship of the Cataphract-Class of Battle Cruisers. She was launched in 1922 and was assigned to the North Atlantic Squadron. Lessons of the Baltic War were incorporated into the Cataphract Design, being a much more Brutal design than previous Battlecruisers. The hull now consist of multiple structures with a lattice work that is durable and which all major components attach to, the outer hull is now primarily for aerodynamics and occasional armoring. Elevation is now controlled by thrusters that are mounted internally, which is both more efficient and better protected than externally mounted, swiveling mounts. Likewise, the primary engines are now mounted inside of armored pods. The primary gun armament have been divided into different duty. Both use the same shell, though. Now there are long range 222 guns for Air to Air combat, but also turrets that are specially designed to attack ground targets. In addition, the Cataphracts were the 1st recipient of the famous High Velocity 101 Rifles. These proved to be more effective in Air to Air roles than the 222s, and in fact, later designs began to ditch the higher caliber air to air weaponry In addition to the guns, the Cataphract design utilized rockets for close combat. These proved to be devastating in close combat, each “round” firing 81 rockets at a time. Multiple hits would easily incapacitate an opponent Battlecruiser, but you had to be close as these were only accurate and effective to 1.5 miles. Armament: 6ea Long Range, Rifled, 222mm Cannon (air to air) - range of 16 miles 4ea Short Range, Anti-Installation downward firing 222mm Cannons 10ea Batteries of Air to Air Rockets (each battery has 162ea unguided, 3” Rockets). Calibrated Range is 1.5 miles 16ea High Velocity 101mm Rifled Cannons - range of 10miles 16ea Turrets of 2ea 20mm Rapid Fire cannons. Crew 467 The HMS Judith Regina served until 1952 when it was retired. #alt_history #blimp #diesel_punk #dieselpunk #dirigible #fantasy #flying_battleship #kinda_stupid #ryksuga #Steam_Punk #steampunk #unobtainium