I like your idea. In. In a TL of mine I have something similar being done by the RN to improve the KGVs after the treaty falls apart early.
Let's see. This ship:
Well I don't think even this ship would be that bad! It would probably remain afloat at least.Let's see. This ship:
Sounds like this thing might even be worse than HMS Captain.
- Has terrible armour plating
- Is not getting anywhere
- Has very good guns but they shoot all over the place
HMS Captain (1869) - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
Or Japanese AA.Just add Japanese damage control and we'll see about that.
Well, we are making a Frankenship aren't we?
Sargon
HMS thank you for your kind donation, and HMS were just borrowing it honest
Ah so Agincourt and Erin if we're making a call out to WWI
Or Japanese metallurgy. Add a French pre-dreadnought tumblehome for good measure.
Or (if it's made by the USN) Ernie King sees it and promptly rips it apart with his bare hands.
Eh not larger, the Renowns are already pretty long. If modifications to the armour scheme are permitted, I wouldn't increase the armour so much as redistribute it so as to conform to a modern all or nothing armour scheme. So more armour (where it matters) for the same weight, hull-form, and speed.
See, that's why build time was one of my main concerns. With only 18 months from keel laying to commissioning (and much of the fitting out process may well be done by my own nation, we're a middle power with at least the capacity to operate BBs after all) there's a good chance it'll actually get to me before the admiralty starts getting grabby.
The problem is you're not going to get that kind of build time out of them. The Renowns were built that fast due to circumstances specific to when they were built - they recycled a lot of materiel from cancelled battleships, particularly their gun mounts and machinery, and it was also done by the British naval industry before twenty years of decay hit.
True, that said, a 26,000 tonne ship should still be quicker to build than a 35,000 tonne one, and most of the guns and turrets already exist* and are just sitting in a warehouse. So the build time should still be less than that of a KGV.
Just two twin turrets would have major issues with rate of fire, limited ability to damage your opponents with so few guns, and it could also be difficult to narrow down the range with just four guns. And perhaps most importantly while in hindsight having that much DAKKA may be a good idea it would not look so attractive at the time as six guns was already a limited firepower for a ship and the threat posed by aircraft was not fully appreciated, or realized with designs of the time.
No need for new turrets - Marshal Ney's turret is still sitting in storage and Marshal Soult is a training ship. Grab those turrets and presto, you've got the spare two mounts you need. The Brits would be down two 15" monitors but all things considered that's not a big deal.
Britain has captured warships from just about every Navy on Earth so it shouldn't be too difficult to find country appropriate names.
HMS President?If there's a USS Yorktown, there certainly could be an HMS Chesapeake
