Roger replied to me: > >Finally, submarine aircraft carriers have a nice pulp action > >appeal. Is there a way to justify them? > > The basic problem at this tech level is that you can't do a full deck > strike without becoming just another surface carrier for the duration.
Think of it as a carrier which can submerge at times, not a submarine capable of launching planes. > Enclosing the entirety of the flight deck with pressure-tight doors, > while still making flight operations viable when they're open, isn't > going to be possible. This means that if there's any risk of needing to > submerge you can fly off (and recover) aircraft only as fast as the > lifts will shift them between hangar and deck. The sub carrier could dive while the deck is clear between the start of the last departing plane and the landing of the first returning plane. If the timing is right, that could be just the time when the enemy strike is looking for the carrier, assuming roughly similar scout and strike planes. If the sub carrier is caught on the surface, it isn't much worse off than a carrier which cannot dive at all. (Except for the design drawbacks of being a sub, of course.) > Also: the primary defence of a submarine is not being found, and the > secondary is water as armour. Well, the enemy can follow your aircraft > back to find you... and while you're conducting flight ops, you kind of > have to be on the surface. While you're fighting on the surface, you > have the disadvantage of being a submarine (hull shape, extra machinery > that's dead weight while you're surfaced). 20% of hull volume for tanks, for starters. > Oh, and you can't exactly have escorts. Unless you're going to build a > dedicated anti-aircraft submarine... Why not regular destroyers and cruisers? That means the position of the battlegroup will be obvious, but diving still protects the carriers from enemy strikes. > There are some practical design considerations (the lift(s) have to > pierce the pressure hull) but I think it's the lack of tactical and > operational role that's the real killer to this concept. Imagine a carrier with a 'cloaking device', or more properly the 'black globe' from Traveller. It can opt to remove itself from the battlefield, to appear at roughly the same spot a few hours later. Sure, an alert enemy will know roughly where the sub carrier dived, and how far it can creep under battery power, but that isn't enough to target it with bombs or non-homing torpedoes. _______________________________________________ GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]> http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l
