HMAS Oceania (BB-1945)
Ever since I found the "Japanese-batttship_forces_p1_by_kara_alvama-d3jrlv3"
drawings I have wanted to use the hull of one of them for a battleship class.
What I found difficuilt was who in my AU's could afford to build a battleship of
the size this ship would be. I decided that an extra large gold strike somewhere
around Kalgoorlie and owned by the Government could pay for it. In the last
Westralis class battleships I actually reduced the class of four down to 2
because of the war. For the Oceania to be completed in 1945 then the ship
would have to be laid down in 1939-40. The only reason for the ship is if the
details of the Yamato and then the Montanas as the CUA reply reached the
Commonwealth designers and the Oceania was their reply. (Anyway everybody
loves the big ones.)
With a large amount of sheer forward for better handling characteristics and
speed, the Oceania was a sleek looking ship. Like the Montana class the
Oceania was to be armed with four triple 16" turrets. While this may not have
quite matched the 18" of the Yamato, the faster firing and more barrels of the
12x16" armament allied with the types of gunnery and ranging radar available by
1944-45, the Oceania would have shot the Yamato to bits. The large number
of 5.25" and 40mm guns (and no 20mm at all) showed where the greatest danger to
the ship was expected to come from. The lack of 20mm guns stemmed by the need
for greater knock-down power required to splash the Japanese Kamikazes. The 40mm
guns were controlled with radar predictors that made the guns much more accurate
and then with the proximity fuse they became even more lethal.
A huge propulsion system was installed to power the ship through to the
required speed of 32 knots. The large strake of main armoured belt covered all
of the main armament and magazine areas for the length of the ship. A heavy
quantity of deck armour was installed.
| Displacement | 65,400 std 76,500 tons full load |
| Length | 894 ft |
| Breadth | 122 ft |
| Draught | 31 ft |
| Machinery | 4 shaft steam turbines, 215,000shp |
| Speed | 32 knots |
| Range | 9500 miles at 18 knots |
| Armour | 16" side, 7.5" deck, 15"/12"/9" turrets |
| Armament | 12 x 16" (4x3) 24 x 5.25" (12x2) 88 x 40mm (22x4) |
| Aircraft | 5 (mix of Walrus and Swordfish) |
| Torpedoes | nil |
| Complement | 2650 |
| Notes | HMAS Oceania (02/1945) |
HMAS Oceania ready to leave for its first war cruise in June 1945.
The aft part of the hull and the aircraft handling facilities were designed to
stop the blast of the 16" guns firing astern from warping the catapults and
cranes.
