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Python Class Destroyer

A fictional 1930s destroyer based upon many real designs from the period, specifically to be a contemporary to the German Type 1934, or the French Vauquelin-class destroyer from the real world. She is the slightly delayed second ship in a set of hyper-detail 1930s-1940s ships. She was designed in the same naval expansion effort as the Habsburg class, and was intended to be a new modern class of destroyer capable of acting as effective escorts for the new battleship class, along side being able to operate independently in Destroyer Squadrons. A major part of her design process was also a desire for future-proofing her, as an effort to reduce the costs of the naval arms race with Italy by increasing the time before a new class of Destroyer was needed to keep up to date.

NOTE: Behind the seat you spawn in, you will see a control panel. This allows you to turn on/off the smoke stacks, activate "Damage Level 1", which is a fire-effect, and turn on/off the chemical smoke-screen deployed from the aft of the ship. It is advisable to only use said smoke-screen when moving in order to avoid creating a lag-inducing smoke pile-up.

NOTE: Due to the scale, in order to achieve a fully modelled (Down to individual voice-tubes) and realistic interior, sacrifices had to be made. It is still FULLY walkable, you just have to be latched to the construct via "\" in order to be able to walk "under" the alloy plates used as decks/ceilings.

The Python class was a group of 6 destroyers of the Austro-Hungarian K.u.K Kriegsmarine. The class composed of six sister ships, the SMS Python, the SMS Cobra, the SMS Zara, the SMS Csepel and the SMS Boa. Built between 1932 and 1936. They were developed in conjunction with the Habsburg-class battleships, and other classes of the naval expansion of this period, and were armed with 127 mm (5.0 in) guns, as well as 2 quadruple 55.88 cm (22.0 in) torpedo tubes and had a top speed of 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph).

A major jump in size compared to prior Austro-Hungarian destroyers, the class was initially proposed as a Large Destroyer class, however this was deemed unnecessary given that they would fulfil the roles of normal destroyers, and because they were not going to be accompanied by a class of "small" destroyers. There was also a much greater focus on anti-submarine capabilities, with a substantial depth-charge armament of 32, with two racks on the aft, and a Y Projector, however the lack of sonar would hamper their capabilities until they were granted them in later refits.

The Python class had an overall length of 114.4m (376 ft), a beam of 10m (33 ft), and a designed draft of 3.5m (11.5 ft). The class had a designed displacement of 2000 metric tonnes (1968 long tons). Their hull was subdivided by a 7 traverse bulkheads into 8 watertight compartments. Their crew consisted of 8 officers and 200 crewmen in peacetime and 10 officers and 241 enlisted men in wartime.

The Pythons were powered by two geared turbines, each driving a single propeller shaft. Steam for the engines was provided by 6 oil fired boilers and they made an average total of 42,466 horsepower (31,667 kW) and a top speed of 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph). The destroyers carried a maximum of 473 long tons (481 t) of fuel oil that gave them a range of 5,500 nautical miles (10,200 km; 6,300 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph).

The main armament of the Python-class ships consisted of four 127 mm (5.0 in) guns in single shielded mounts, one superfiring pair fore and aft of the superstructure. The guns were numbered '1' to '4' from front to rear. Their mounts had a range of elevation from −3° to +26°, which gave the guns a range of 12,000 meters (13,000 yd) at maximum elevation. They fired at a rate of 8 to 12 rounds per minute, and the Pythons could stow 130 rounds for each gun.

Their secondary armament consisted of 2 100mm anti-aircraft guns in 2 single mounts mounted aft of the primary and secondary smoke stack respectively. Their mounts could elevate −4° to +50°. These were mounted as thinking of the time was that in order to maximise effective AA coverage of a fleet, you want to ensure as many ships have heavy AA guns as possible, with co-ordination between ships allowing for an intense and dense AA barrage that would otherwise be impossible to achieve with a single ship. This, however, was not viable with destroyers such as the Python class, proving to be too unstable a gun platform to fulfil the ambitious goal, especially considering the fact that the entire concept would grow out of favour after it became apparent that the necessary level of communication would not be reliably achievable in exercises, let alone live combat. The rest of her AA armament consisted of 2 double 20mm Autocannons, and 4 single 20mm Autocannons.

The ships carried two above-water quad mounts for 55.88 cm (22.0 in) torpedo tubes, mounted centre line without reloads.

Type:
Destroyer

Displacement:
2,000 t (1,968 long tons; 2,205 short tons us)

Length:
114.4m (376 ft)

Beam:
10m (33 ft)

Draught:
3.5m (11.5 ft)

Installed power:
42,466 shp (31,667 kW)

Propulsion:
2 x shafts
2 x geared turbines

Speed:
36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph)

Range:
5,500 nautical miles (10,200 km; 6,300 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
473 long tons (481 t)

Complement:
208 - Peacetime
251 - Wartime

Armament:
-4 x 12.7 cm (5 in) guns
-2 x 100mm AA guns
-8 x 20mm Autocannons
-2 × quadruple 55.88 cm (22.0 in) torpedo tubes
-2 × depth charge launchers, 2 × racks
-32 x depth charges
-2 x minesweeper paravanes

ASIDE:
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