A rare photograph of USS Albany from the early 1900's

The USS Albany was one of the ships purchased for the Spanish American War. In the event, the Albany was not completed until 1900. The Albany was an "Elwick Cruiser" originally built for the Brazilian navy. The Albany made 20.52 knots on trials. The Albany was a rather small protected cruiser of 3,430 tons. Her dimensions were 354ft-5in x 43ft-9in x 18ft. The armament as completed was 6-6in/50, 4-4.7in/50, 10-6pdr QF, and 8-1pdr QF guns. The Albany also carried three above water 18in torpedo tubes. The Albany had a 3-1/2in Harvey nickel deck (the armour material and processing).

A rare photograph of USS Baltimore, taken in 1890

I have this rare photograph of the cruiser USS Baltimore, taken in 1890. The Baltimore was completed in about 1888. The Baltimore was a protected cruiser that seems to have been built to a British design. The Baltimore originally displaced 4,413 tons and had dimensions of 327ft-6in x 48ft-7-1/2in x 19ft-6in. The armament consisted of 4-8in and 6-6in guns. There were also ten smaller guns.

Rare photograph of the USS Maine taken in 1896

I have this rare photograph of the battleship Maine taken in 1896. The Maine was the ship destroyed by explosion in Havana harbour on 15 February 1898. These are probably nominal figures:

USS Maine
Displacement: 6,682 tons
Dimensions: 318ft x 57ft x 21ft-6in
Machinery: two vertical triple expansion engines
           eight Scotch boilers
           IHP: 9,300
Speed on trials: 17.45 knots
4-10in, 6-6in, and 15 smaller guns
Completed in 1895

A rare photograph of the US cruiser Topeka in 1898

I have this photograph of the USS Topeka, an unarmoured cruiser built by Howaldt, at Kiel in 1881. The Topeka was one of the purchases made for the Spanish-American War in 1898. The Topeka was later classed as a gunboat (PG). The original armament was 8-4in, 2-6pdr, 4-3pdr, and 2-1pdr guns. The main armament was later reduced to just 6-4in guns from the original eight. The old information that I have gives the displacment as 2,375 tons and the dimensions as 250ft x 35ft x 15ft-6in. I have seen the draft given as deep as 17ft-9in. The length may be between perpendiculars, and the overall length might be as great as 259 feet. A sister ship served in the Peruvian navy as the Lima (ex-Socrates). The two ships were built for Portugal as merchant ships by Howaldt. The Topeka was originally to be named Diogenes. Apparently, the sale never occurred. The ship was almost sold to Japan for the Sino-Japanese War, but the transaction never happened. The Socrates was sold as a merchant ship and named El Cid. The Americans were rapidly arming in 1898, so they bought the ship.

A small British armoured cruiser: GB/CA/1902

I have this sketch of a small British armoured cruiser that I drew in early 1999:

My original specification now seems flawed:

Displacement: 13,600 tons
Length:          425ft
Beam:             70ft
Draft:            20ft
Cp:                0.57
Cm:                0.92

One problem is that with the specified prismatic coefficient and midships coefficient, the displacement is much too low. I immediately had to increase the draft to 23ft. That would only enable me to obtain a speed of 21 knots, using coal-fired boilers and complex reciprocating machinery. The main issue is the short length makes a higher speed difficult, given the armament and armour. This is the Springsharp report (sadly, Springsharp reports do not work well with this blog template):

GB/CA/1902, Great Britain Armoured Cruiser laid down 1902

Displacement:
 10,228 t light; 10,682 t standard; 12,551 t normal; 14,047 t full load

Dimensions: Length (overall / waterline) x beam x draught (normal/deep)
 (432.00 ft / 425.00 ft) x 70.00 ft x (23.00 / 25.31 ft)
 (131.67 m / 129.54 m) x 21.34 m  x (7.01 / 7.72 m)

Armament:
      4 - 9.20" / 234 mm 45.0 cal guns - 380.00lbs / 172.37kg shells, 90 per gun
   Breech loading guns in turret on barbette mounts, 1902 Model
   4 x Twin mounts on centreline ends, evenly spread
      14 - 6.00" / 152 mm 45.0 cal guns - 108.92lbs / 49.41kg shells, 150 per gun
   Quick firing guns in casemate mounts, 1902 Model
   14 x Single mounts on sides amidships
  8 hull mounts in casemates- Limited use in heavy seas
      Weight of broadside 3,045 lbs / 1,381 kg

Monitors and big guns

I like the 1860's and 1870's monitors and the big guns they used:

Shallow-draft Danube monitors

A specialized shallow draft monitor was developed for use on the river Danube. An American monitor also intended for river use was developed in the latter stages of the American Civil War that predated the Danube monitors by a considerable period. These are quick sketches, dating from about 8 years ago, of Danube-style monitors:

Anachronistic designs

The idea behind the anachronistic designs is that having more modern looking ships built to the original dimensions produces interesting results. It is not dissimilar to the "mashup" idea, except applied to ships.

Ideas for anachronistic ships: Shannon, Northampton, and a monitor

I have many more of these idea sketches for ships. These date from 1999 and were ideas for anachronistic versions of the armoured cruisers Shannon and Northampton, as well as a coast defence monitor. These are the sort of sketch designs that I might try in the Springsharp tool.

I will be publishingmore drawings starting tomorrow

I have drawings that go back to as early as 1971, but they are mostly in pencil, with just a few in ballpoint pen. Those are more reproducible than the pencil sketches. The cartoons in my record books go back to 1992 or 1993. They are mostly in black ballpoint pen, and include Victorian ships and guns, WWI and WWII ships as well. There is also a series of drawings that go back to the mid-16th Century and into the 17th Century. There are many ships and guns on carriages.

I have a large number of freehand drawings, some dating back 35 years. One of my favorites are sketches of French battleships from the 1880's and 1890's. This picture is representative of what I do.