Shipbucket

'Samuel B. Roberts' by ABE-Yasushi

Welcome to the Second World War destroyer escort challenge! For those unaware, the United States built several hundred destroyer escorts during the Second World War. These valiant vessels escorted merchant convoys during the Battle of the Atlantic and saw extensive service elsewhere. USS Samuel B. Roberts, for example, was sunk during the famed confrontation between Taffy 3 and Admiral Kurita's Centre Force. Other navies built equivalent types, such as the frigates of the Royal Navy or the Imperial Japanese Navy's kaibōkan. In this challenge, participants are asked to draw a fictional destroyer escort that could have existed during the Second World War period (1 September 1939 to 2 September 1945). The destroyer escort does not have to participate in the Second World War, or even belong to a real-life nation. It only needs to conform to the given time frame. As a destroyer escort is a smaller ship, this challenge is a perfect opportunity for new members and FD scale artists to explore SB scale. I hope we will see many excellent entries over the coming month.

Design Requirements

1. Your submission must depict a destroyer escort - a ship designed to escort merchant convoys at sea - or an equivalent type (e.g. frigate, kaibōkan, geleitboot).
2. The included drawing should depict the ship on a specific date between 1 September 1939 and 2 September 1945.
3. Maximum design speed of the ship must not exceed 28 knots (52 km/h, 32 mph).
4. The ship should possess anti-submarine warfare equipment.

Challenge Rules

1. Each participant must submit a single image.
2. The image should be a Shipbucket template modified to include the participant’s art. Templates which include a data sheet are allowed.
3. One side-view of the participant's ship must be included. One top-view is also permitted, but not required. All other views are prohibited.
4. If two views are included, they must depict the same ship at the same point in time.
5. All art should be in Shipbucket scale, and conform to the Shipbucket style guidelines.
6. A textual description accompanying each submission is permitted, but not necessary.
7. Off-topic posts will be reported to the relevant authorities.

This challenge will run until the 25th of November, ending at 23:59 UTC-12 (International Date Line West).
A countdown timer can be found at this link.

A poll will be held after this date. Members of the Shipbucket community will have an opportunity to rate each submission. Please provide honest and meaningful scores for each entry. Responses which grant maximum scores to a select group of entries, and minimum scores to all other entries, will be deleted. Scores will be allocated in three categories, each with a scale of 1 to 10. They are as follows:

• Drawing Quality - The overall quality of the drawing. One might consider detailing, shading, and accuracy.
• Design Realism - How realistic is the design presented? Any accompanying text may be considered.
• Originality - Does the submission present a new and unique design, or is it a copy of an existing one?

Some questions relating to the Challenge have been asked on Discord. I will summarise the answers here.

• Corvettes, such as the Royal Navy's Flower class, are permitted if they conform to the design requirements.
• If it makes sense in the context of your alternate universe, you can include real-life technologies which fall slightly outside the time frame.
• The ship should be designed and built as an escort vessel, rather than a conversion of an existing ship.
• Two right-facing side views in the same image are considered separate views and not permitted.

ok i'm first

Hoover-Class Destroyer Escort





General specifications:

Displacement: 1,285 tons full load
Length: 84.8 m
Beam: 10.6 m
Draft: 3.5 m
Propulsion:
4 GM Mod. 16-278B diesel engines with electric drive 5,650 shp
Speed: 21.5 knots
Range: 6,800 nautical miles at 12 knots

Sensors:

1xSG Serface Search Radar
1xMk.51 AA Gun Director
1xASDIC (Retractable Sonar)

Armament:

2×75/51mm Bofors single guns
1×40/60 mm Bofors single gun
4×20/70 mm Oerlikon twin guns
1×Hedgehog ASW mortar (starboard side)
4xMk.6 Depth Charge Throwers
2xDepth Charge Rails

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Very nice and well balanced design!

Is the design naval or civil orientated (regarding damage-control etc)?
Unrelated, how would the design prosper post-WW2?

It looks like a very purposeful design.

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“The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person who is doing it.”

Vossiej : thanks

Hoover class base on Flower class corvette

Projekt Frigate iz 1939 (Lovac) Class
Frigate Project of 1939 (Hunter) Class



Lovac Class Frigate
Displacement:
1,186t (Light)
1,228t (Standard)
1,619t (Normal)
1,933t (Full Load)
Dimensions:
Length: 305' (Overall)
Beam: 37'
Draught: 11' (Normal)
Machinery:
Oil-Fired Boilers with Steam Turbines driving two shafts for 14,410 shaft horsepower at
26 knots, or 3,363 shaft horsepower at 18 knots (cruise) with 6,000 nautical mile
range
Armament:
4xII 4"/40 M37 Dual-Purpose Guns
2xII 40mm/56 M39 Anti-Aircraft Guns
4xI 20mm/70 Anti-Aircraft Guns
4xI .50 Caliber Water-Cooled Machine Guns
1xIII 21" Torpedo Tubes in rotating deck mount
6xI Depth Charge Throwers
2xI Depth Charge Racks (Stern)
Armor:
Splinter protection over vitals
2" Hardened Steel Plate on superstructure/bridge for protection from small-arms fire
and strafing.
Complement:
13 Officers
152 Enlisted
15 Naval Infantry (Wartime)

In the latter half of the 1930s, it became increasingly obvious that another war with Cygua was not only inevitable, but looming. A paper published by Kapetan na Moru Edvard Pribanić in 1936 concluded that submarines would be a major part of any Cyguan Worker’s Navy strategy, both for commerce raiding and for sneak attacks on shore facilities. The Tathan Naval Command put out an immediate tender for a small, light frigate to provide protection for merchant convoys. The specifications issued were as follows:
- Tonnage not exceeding 2,000 t at Full Load
- Range of at least 5,500 Nautical Miles at a cruising speed of 17-20 knots
- Heavy anti-submarine armament, including at least a single depth charge rack and four throwers
- The latest “SONAR” technology must be incorporated

A team from Kovač and Sons Shipbuilding, led by Benjamin Petrović, submitted the design that would end up being chosen for construction, at that time known only as “Frigate Project of 1939”, with 1939 being the proposed lay-down date of the first vessels. Kovač and Sons themselves would receive an initial order for 25 such vessels, with a second order of 75 to follow after the completion of the first three. Government-controlled yards would also begin constructing somewhat simplified versions beginning in 1940, after the beginning of the Second Cyguan-Tathan War. All totalled, 127 vessels of the Lovac Class (as it would come to be known, based on the name of the first vessel of the class) would be constructed from 1939 to 1946, with 23 going on to serve with allied navies during and after the conflict. All would be withdrawn from service by 1952.

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Projects:
Panelbucket - Aircraft Avionics and Instrument Panels in 15px=1cm: http://shipbucket.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=10389
Clyde's Eagles - Cessna Aircraft since 1945: http://shipbucket.com/forums/viewtopic. ... 7&p=204669
Im Schatten des Adlers - An Alternate History Timeline: http://shipbucket.com/wiki/index.php/Ca ... des_Adlers

Nice looking vessel!

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MS State Guard - 08 March 2014 - 28 January 2023

The Official IJN Ships & Planes List

#FJB

Somehow, yet again, I am in a mad rush, so this may lack some polish. If I get any time I will try and tidy things up a bit

Fremantle Class Frigate

With the outbreak of the Second World War, the fledgling Royal Westralian Navy was put under immense strain to meet operational requirements, worsened in the first two years of the war with the loss of the gifted destroyer Swordsman and the newly built sloop Tryall. Looking to remedy the RWN’s severe lack of combat vessels, the Willcock Labor Government instructed the Naval Board to examine potential solutions. A plan was formulated that would approach the issue from a number of angles, but with a general focus on massively increasing self-sufficiency in Westralia’s naval industry. Initially, to address the immediate losses, the Naval Board recommended to look to purchasing or leasing old destroyers from friendly or allied countries.

However, the main components of the plan involved the production of naval vessels within Westralia, beginning with license production of existing foreign designs (and importantly associated machinery, systems and weaponry where possible). Having identified a crucial need for escort ships to protect supply lines stretching across the Indian Ocean, the initial emphasis was to be on building destroyers and frigates. Most notably, this resulted in Westralia producing a small number of River-class frigates and later Allen M. Sumner-class destroyers.

More importantly for the future of the Westralian naval industry as a whole, however, would be a new class of escort ships almost entirely designed in Westralia. At first meant to be a derivative of the relatively simple Zuytdorp-class of sloops, Westralia’s first indigenously built warships, design work on what would become the Fremantle-class of frigates began in late-1941, just prior to Japan entering the war and opening up the Pacific theatre. Assisted by engineers from Great Britain, the design evolved over time, incorporating new technologies and weapons as well as lessons learnt in the manufacturing of the small number of River-class frigates.



The end result was a reasonably large ship for its class, being 104.5m in length and displacing 1,890 tons at standard. At some developmental risk, it had been decided to fit the class with a diesel-electric drive generating a total of 14,000shp through two screws, allowing the Fremantles to push 24 knots in a sprint whilst maintaining an impressive 11,000nmi range at a slow cruise. Notably, the Fremantle-class was amongst the first ships to be fitted with the highly effective Squid anti-submarine mortar, serving as its primary armament in the anti-submarine role, though two depth charge racks and two throwers made up a secondary armament. In conjunction with this, it was fitted with Type 144 and 147B ASDIC and Type 277 surface search radar, making the class broadly comparable in capability to the Loch-class frigates coming out of Britain.

A pair of twin 4.7inch gun mounts fore and aft made up the main gun armament, being the last vessels in the RWN to use the caliber before the service began its shift to standardizing with the US 5-inch gun caliber. Two twin- and two single- Bofors mounts filled out the anti-aircraft firepower of the ship, though many saw this as somewhat inadequate in the face of the Pacific theatre.

The Fremantle-class, despite having come into existence as a response to the pressures of the early war period, was introduced late into the hostilities, with the HMWS Fremantle only being commissioned into service in October 1944. Overall, nine of the class would be built, with the initial five vessels being rushed into service before the end of the war, and three of those seeing combat in the Pacific theatre. Ultimately, the final five of the class would have drastically shortened service lives with the RWN, being completed following the end of hostilities and being sold off to foreign navies or scrapped. However, Fremantle, Busselton, Geraldton and Karratha would go on to become the backbone of the post-war RWN Frigate Force, seeing some upgrades in the 1950s along with deployments to the Korean theatre alongside RWN destroyers and the cruiser Westralia.

Specifications
Length: 104.5m
Beam: 11m
Displacement: 1,890 tons standard
Machinery: Diesel-electric drive for 14,000shp through 2 shafts
Speed: 24 knots
Range: 11,000nmi at 11 knots

NS Puffin, Westlandian anti-submarine corvette (1942)



This is NS Puffin, a Bird-class anti-submarine corvette of the Westlandian Navy. Derived from civilian designs and meant to be built quickly and affordably by civilian shipyards, over a hundred of these little vessels were built for use during the Second Great War (1940-1947). They were used in all sorts of occupations throughout the war, including as minesweepers, search and rescue vessels and coastal patrol ships, but they were mainly used as anti-submarine escorts for the North Pelagic supply convoys, as well as the military resupply convoys to the southeast. NS Puffin is shown as she would have appeared with the North Pelagic convoys in 1942. At this time, her minesweeping gear had been removed and she'd received a radar and forward depth charge throwers. She wore a standard North Pelagic camouflage scheme.

The Bird-class corvettes were small and very slow in warship terms, but as they only had to outrun slow-moving merchant convoys and submerged submarines, this was not a major concern. The unimpressive armament was considered adequate to deal with submarines, as they were unlikely to encounter hostile aircraft or surface ships out in the ocean. And while they weren't the most comfortable vessels in rough seas, they were very seaworthy and the enclosed wheelhouse underneath the open bridge meant the crew had a (mostly) dry refuge during storms. All in all, these dependable little vessels are often overlooked but played an important part in keeping the country and its military supplied until the very end.

A few (estimated) numbers:
Length o/a: 60 metres.
Beam: 10 metres.
Draught: 3.5 metres.
Displacement: 950 tonnes.
Propulsion: 1 x triple expansion steam engine (oil fired).
Top speed: 16 knots.

Sensors: HF/DF radio direction finder, surface search radar, retractable sonar dome.
Gun armament: 1 x QF 10 cm gun, 1 x QF 40 mm AA gun, 4 x 20 mm AA guns.
Depth charges: 2 x aft depth charge rails, 2 x forward depth charge throwers.

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I am colourblind, so please let me know if my colours are off.

This is the "Geleitboot" as in my AU Kriegsmarine it was built to replace the ill fated "Flottenbegleiter" class F1 to F10, built three years before (1936 to 1939). "Geleitboot" and "Flottenbegleiter" mean basically the same, "escort vessels" to unarmed or lesser armed convoys, normally resupply ships of all sort. To iron out the flaws of the previous class (which was too small for the weight carried and to the huge power available for speed), the "Geleitboote" were longer, broader and heavier. The ship I present here, G5 (or the fifth in line), was one of the batch of eight identical vessels built from 1940 to 1942 at the Hamburg "Stülcken Werft". The pre-production test ship had been built by "Blohm & Voss" and named G1, eight at "Stülcken" and the remaining nine ships were made at the "Vulcan Werft" in Bremen. These differed quite a lot to the pre-production ship made at B&V (slightly bigger, heavier and with different armament installed among other details)



The German Kriegsmarine laid special care in ironing out the previous errors and wrong judgements, especially because in the meantime the "Baltic Alliance" had been formed and these new "Geleitboote" had to come up to the expectations. This meant to be able to suppress any threat showing up to do harm to a given convoy of resupply ships, be it by air, sea or by submarines. This is why the ship class I present here is heavier than the one which was to be built in reality. This class of ships are one step below the light destroyers (of the 2 to 3.500 ton class).

The main characteristics are shown on the design sheet. Remains to be said that being smaller warships, the DKM planning direction decided to install Diesel engines instead of the previous steam turbines (which by now were duly tested and fully operative). They learnt the lesson that a propulsion with steam turbines alone is only viable in ships big enough to sustain without problems the speed they generate in the sometimes very harsh sea conditions of the North Sea and the North Atlantic in general. For this purpose, and being built for medium speeds in the 15 to 22 knots range (which are the normal speeds of supply ships, oilers, etc.) Diesel engines were way more suited for the task.

Radar technique had by 1941 also made huge steps in the evolution range and these ships had two sets of FuMO which could be operated together, or separately. Together means the main radar detects a target and if this one is situated in the area of the rear of the ship, information is given to the rear fire direction unit which then operates by itself. Separately means that in occasions when the ennemy strikes from various sides at the same time, each radar set works for the respective fire director unit (one for the front artillery, the other as said in the rear part of the ship). A sonar was also installed for submarine detection and guidance. In this context, these ships carried a new device for jettisoning depth charges by rail but with a chain driven elevator which delivered the charges from an internal supply chamber below the stern deck. The rate of deployment and the depth of the detonation were however tasks which had to be made by hand.

These ships were also built under license by the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Spain and Chile.