Shipbucket

Welcome to the Embiggened Cruiser Challenge! Inspired by the Alaska class and other 'super cruiser' designs of the late 1930s and early 1940s, your task is to draw a large cruiser conforming to the requirements outlined. If you have an idea for a future challenge, remember to share it in the Future Challenge Ideas/Suggestions thread. Don't be afraid to share an idea which has been suggested by someone else. It shows that multiple people are interested in that topic.

Design Requirements

1. Your submission must depict a fictional cruiser.
2. The calibre of its main battery should be between 9 and 13 inches (229 and 330 mm).
3. Standard displacement of the cruiser must be between 20,000 and 32,500 long tons (20,321 and 33,022 tonnes).
4. The lead ship of the cruiser's class should be laid down between 1935 and 1945.

Challenge Rules

1. Each participant may submit a single image.
2. The image should be a Shipbucket template modified to include the participant’s art and, optionally, one of the following: ship badge, unit insignia, manufacturer logo, national flag, or naval ensign. Other elements, including data sheets and scenic elements, are not permitted. If you have specifications and blocks of text, please include them as text in your post and not in the image itself.
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 individual ship in the same paint scheme, markings, and configuration.
5. All art must be in Shipbucket scale and conform to the Shipbucket style guidelines.
6. A textual description accompanying each submission is permitted, but not necessary.
7. Non-serious entries, or entries substantially deviate from the challenge requirements, are not allowed.
8. Off-topic posts will be reported to the relevant authorities.

This challenge will run until Sunday 6 October 2024, 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 to select a winner. When it opens, 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. Members of the community who manipulate the results in such a fashion may also be subject to a permanent ban. Scores will be allocated in two categories, each with a scale of 1 to 10:

• Drawing Quality - The overall quality of the drawing. One might consider detailing, shading, and accuracy.
• Design Quality -The quality of the design presented, irrespective of drawing quality. One could consider feasibility, practicality, and realism.

Duca di Tolone-class Cruiser "Osvaldo Paladini, Duca di Tolone"



Due to a perceived disadvantage within the Regia Marina prior to Italy's entry into WWII, four "large cruisers" (Grande Incrociatori) were authorised by the Royal Naval Decree of early 1943 in order to provide a series of ships that would act as large surface combatants and escorts of the recently completed Vittorio Veneto-class battleships. With speed as the main focus for this class, they were armed with four triple turrets housing 12" guns but at a cost of having armour equivalent to a heavy cruiser. However, despite this sacrifice in armour, the ships were able to weigh only ~26000 tons and have remarkable speed for their size - a maximum of 33 knots. As they were primarily built to operate in the Mediterranean in order to protect Italian and Austro-Hungarian assets from French and British forces, ships in the class were named after famous admirals during the First World War with the lead ship being named after Admiral Osvaldo Paladini who led a successful operation to crush the French Navy off the coast of Toulon and effectively end the war on the seas for the Marine nationale.

During WWII, Duca di Tolone primarily operated within the Mediterranean as designed but was present for the Battle of Casablanca in 1945 which saw the United States Navy defeat a joint Commonwealth (of the Commonwealth of Great Britain)-French task force; Duca di Tolone would assist USS South Dakota in sinking the Birtish flagship CMS Cromwell. Following the war's conclusion in 1946, the ship would be chosen for continued service and eventually a refit into a missile cruiser (Grande Incrociatore Lanciamissili) which was complete in 1960. An important aspect of this refit was the installation of 4 ballistic missile launchers just aft of the second funnel, armed with 4 "Alfa" missiles that were able to deliver 3 nuclear warheads rated at 300 kilotons each. She would quickly see action, as the Southeast Asian Crisis began later that year with Imperial Japanese forces supporting rebels in German holdings in order to expand their "Prosperity Sphere." Duca di Tolone was assigned as the Italian fleet's flagship in the region, and would be successful in sinking the Japanese heavy cruiser Takao after the latter opened fire. She would also be able to test her new missile systems, scoring two kills, however her nuclear missiles were not loaded at the time.

Eventually, Duca di Tolone would see the end of her service in 2000 after multiple refits. She would remain in reserve until 2006, when she was preserved at La Spezia as a museum ship.

Stats:

Length: 239 m
Beam: 28 m
Draft: 9.5 m
Displacement: ~26000 tons
Max speed: 33 knots

Armament:

4x Triple 12" mounts
6x Twin 135mm dual-purpose mounts
4x OTO 76 SMP-3
4x Twin arm MTA-58 "Astato" missile launchers
4x "Alfa" ballistic missiles
1x SIAI SV.392 anti-submarine helicopter drone

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The Regioni class started out as a design originally inteded for export, most likely candidate being the USSR, but they chose to go their own way with the Kronshtadt class battlecruiser. While the Italian design in most ways could be considered a battlecruiser, they were called cruisers so as not to alarm the British and French to their true nature as not only cruiser-killers, but also potentially oceanic raiders, not only fast enough to overtake most cruisers (at least in rougher seas,) but also fast enough to out-run the battlecruisers and fast battleships of noth the Royal Navy and the Marine Nationale. In many ways they could be compared to the German duo Scharnhorst and Gneisenau (more specifically the 11" guns originally designed for export designs mirroring the Deutschland class.)

The ships displaced 25000t standard, and 27000t full. The oa length is 237,5m, a width of 28,1m and a draft of 8m at normal load.
The armored belt was 7" thick, and covered almost all spaces between turrets 1 and 3. Most of the remaining waterline was protected by a 2" thick strip of armor (mostly for protection against splinter damage from near missed from either shells or bombs.) The deck was protected by 3" of armor. The turrets had barbettes of 7", faces of 7", sides of 5" with the rear and top of 3" of armor. The 120mm mounts had 5" of armor on the front, and 2" on the sides and rear. The conning tower was protected by 7" of all-round armor.
The ship had 8 boilers and 4 geared turbines producing a total of 206k shp driving 4 shafts for a top speed of 35kts. At 12kts the ship had a range of 10k nm.

Main armament consists of 9x11"/50 guns in three triple turrets, two fore and one aft.
The secondary armament consists of 12x4,7"/50 DP guns in stabilized single mountings. The mountings themselves were of similar design to the 90mm gun used on the Littorio and rebuild Andrea Doria classes, and boasted great ballistic performance and had the added bonus of being large enough to fire effective star-shell ammunition (Though the casings needed reduced propellant capacity so as to not damage the rather fragile star-shells.)
The medium AA battery consists of 10x65mm guns in shielded single mounts. The 65mm gun was developed as a replacement for the 37mm guns, whose twin and quad mountings were considered less than ideal by the Regia Marina due to excessive vibrations caused by the fixed barrels and gas-operation. In addition they had low ammo-capacity in their magazines and were considered to have insufficient range and stopping power. The light AA concists of 36x20mm guns in 18 twin mounts. Generally seen quite favourably by both sides of WW2, the gun was often likened to the German 20mm gun and the Oerlikon 20mm gun for its effectiveness.
A pair of triple torpedo-launchers were to be included, but due to shifting priorities and the changing nature of naval warfare meant that they were no longer considered important, and thus not included (with the added bonus of lessened weight, and reduced fire/detonation chances.)
The Campania had an internal hangar with space for 2 Ro.43 floatplanes with optional space for two more to be stored outside on raised pedestals. Due to trauma from British aviation, the Campania (like the Littorios) would carry between 1 or 2 Re.2001 fighters in place for the same number of spotter planes for self-defense against air-attack.
Due to the late completion the ship was outfitted with the standard EC-3 ter "Gufo" radar and a pair of experimental EC-5 fire-control radars mounted to the fore and aftermost directors.

She entered service in the summer of 1943, and had completed her trials and breaking-in before the Regia Marina sailed for Malta, and later Alexandria for internment, where she along with the two remaining Littorios were considered for use by the Allies in the Pacific as escorts for the fast carrier groups, but this was ultimately rejected. The ship remained in Alexandria for the duration of the war, where she would await an uncertain fate, yet to be determined.