BB 1944 Olympia

Olympia Class Battleship.

Atlantis' last battleship was laid down in 1939, launched in 1942, and completed in late 1944. Christened 'Olympia', the ship was huge. 50,000 tons standard and 62,000 tons full load, 869x112 feet. Armed with 9x16" in three triple turrets, it could dish out punishment with the best of them. It could also take it, 16" of belt armour and 7" of deck armour gave a certain sense of security. The huge 180,000shp power plant drove the ship at 30 knots through four shafts. A large array of secondary and tertiary weapons gave the ship a huge anti-aircraft potential. The radar suite was comprehensive with surface and air radars for both search and targeting.

Displacement: 50,000 tons standard, 62,000 tons full load,
Dimensions: 869 x 116 x 31
Machinery: 4 shaft, Geared Turbines, 180,000shp
Speed: 30 knots
Endurance: 12,000 miles at 18 knots
Armour: 16" belt, 7" deck, 16/9/6" turrets
Armament:
9 x 16" (3x3)
20 x 5" (10x2)
56 x 40mm (12x4, 8x1)

Aircraft: 3
Crew: 2750

With only 10 years of service in, the Olympia's fate was being discussed on high. The Admiralty was looking at the manning problems with finding 2500+ people even at minimum service level. The only way to get manning levels down was to spend money on upgrading as many systems to automatic as possible or scrap the ship. The United States Navy was spoken to as to what they were doing with the similarly aged Iowa class ships. US answer was that they never had any trouble getting enough men (and women) to man their ships. The Atlantean Navy was in the middle of designing the missile upgrade of the Hemera and a similar upgrade package was sought for the Olympia. The missiles and other weaponry would require much less crew to run so it was a good move to the Navy and would make the Olympia a more useful unit for more than 10 years to come.

Displacement: 50,000 tons standard, 62,000 tons full load,
Dimensions: 869 x 112 x 30
Machinery: 4 shaft, Geared Turbines, 180,000shp
Speed: 30 knots
Endurance: 12,000 miles at 18 knots
Armour: 16" belt, 7" deck, 16/9/6" turrets
Armament:
6 x 16" (2x3)
12 x 5" (6x2)
20 x 51mm (10x2)
2 x Twin Terrier Launchers
Aircraft: 2
Crew: 2750

Olympia - Service/Fate: Retired from service 1994 after 50 years, as it was the last WW2 ship, it was made into a museum ship.

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