Two Random Thoughts, and a Question About the Long Lance

Well, the Long Lance did have a more powerful motor, but it also weighed 50% more than the Mark 15 Mod 3(roughly 6,000lbs to 3,800lbs). Further, it was not that much faster than the Mark 15(top speed: 48-50 knots to 45 knots).

What made the larger diameter torpedoes "special" was that their increased fuel capacity that allowed them to maintain their fast speed setting for a longer distance(21,900 yards to 4,500 yards).

 

I've always thought immunity to own guns was a rather poor way to define the usefulness of a ship. After all, one isn't firing at oneself. Immunity to likeliest opponents is much more indicative. Battleship/Battlecruiser is always a tricky one, particularly when you have ships of widely divergent ages serving simultaneously. I have little doubt that a late WWI "battlecruiser" like Kongo or Tiger would do quite handily against an early "dreadnought" along the lines of Helgoland or, well, Dreadnought. By WWII I'm almost inclined to toss the old Fisher term out and simply call them all battleships while admitting freely that not all battleships are created equal, but they'll all end up in the line when it comes down to the shooting. After all, even tinclad treaty cruisers frequently found their place in the line when push came to shove. It's a difficult judgment call. But I'm aiding and abetting as we get away from 24" of oxygen propelled decolonialization.

 

It's usually assumed that the top of the line ships of each class will have similar guns. A navy also usually has a pretty good idea of the capabilites of it's own guns so it makes a reasonable design critieria. WWII probably saw more divergence between countries than was seen previously. The USN went with "super heavy" shells, the Germans and Italians went to high velocity flat shooting guns, the British ended up with treaty compliant guns, and of course the IJN went with 18" guns.

The battleships built in the late 30's and during the war might best be labeled "fast battleships" as they all had some features of both battleships and battlecruisers.

Your right though we are wandering away from the topic. There is one on display at Annapolis from what I recall. It's outside I believe so is very available if you can get on campus.