Essex class Carrier (US WWII Aircraft Carrier)

[Xenomorph]

Interesting name, Higgins boat, that the name of the guy who invented it? After I realized what it was, I too wondered at it, maybe because it was easy to model?

Yea, a guy named Higgins designed boats for use in swamps where the waters tended to be very shallow. As a consequence, his boats had very shallow drafts, and this feature made them particularly well-suited for the job of ferrying troops from the main transport ships to the shore. Except for the large drop-down door in front, the entire vessel was made of wood, making it cheap and easy to produce. Another nice feature was that its engine could go in reverse with the same speed and power as it could go forward, allowing the vessel to pull itself away from the shore on its own power after it had unloaded its cargo.


Sorry if I'm being overly descriptive here. I tend to say twenty words when one would do.

 

[GeneralMatt]

Haha, that is ok, I am always up for learning. I always wondered why the guys on D-day seemed to get machinegunned in their boats, I was thinking they were a metal.


Thanks for the info.

 

[Wolfshanze]

Haha, that is ok, I am always up for learning. I always wondered why the guys on D-day seemed to get machinegunned in their boats, I was thinking they were a metal.


Thanks for the info.

MG34s and MG42s that the Germans used would have gone through wood or metal... doesn't matter what a Higgins boat was made of, a German MG would have gone through either... they would have had to be armored (cost & weight prohibitive) to prevent getting perforated by bullets.

 

[Xenomorph]

Well, that kind of depends on range. IIRC, the doors were steel, so they would have stopped the MG's bullets. The problem is that when assault a beach like that, there's no good way to get off your boat that won't allow enemy MG's to mow you down as you got out.

Hey, how about making the largest sailing ship ever built (with no help from secondary propulsion, like steam)? The Thomas W. Lawson.

Steel hulled. 120.5m long, 15m wide at its beam, and 9.8m deep. She displaced 5,301 tonnes and could carry 4,064 tonnes of coal, yet only had a crew of 35 thanks to a range of mechanical winches that lightened the burden on the men. Built in 1902, then wrecked in 1907. Rather short life. :/

 

[Wolfshanze]

Well, that kind of depends on range. IIRC, the doors were steel, so they would have stopped the MG's bullets.

You've never seen an MG42 in action then. Only at extreme range would a metal door do any good... anything within effective range of an MG42 would get perforated like swiss cheese. Ever seen a Tommy Gun fire on a car (made of steel) and rip it up? The Tommy Gun fires rounds with a velocity of 365 metres per second (mps). The MG42 fires at a velocity of 755mps... nearly twice the velocity!

Sorry... but the door of a Higgins boat wouldn't stop the rounds of an MG42, steel or not... you'd have to use armor-grade hardened steel and in a thickness enough to be essentially armored... which the Higgins boats were not.

Once again, cost and weight issues made it prohibitive to do so.

 

[GeneralMatt]

Interesting information all around, I learn new stuff all the time.

About the Lawson, might be a possibility, who knows with the way I have been going though..

 

[RPG]

Correct me if I'm wrong but...shouldn't the bridge be on the starboard side?

 

[Wolfshanze]

Starboard side it is in real life... does Matt have it wrong?

 

[RPG]

In the screenshots provided, it appears to be on the port side. Or is that just my eyes playing tricks on me?

 

[GeneralMatt]

I had it backwards in the picture, that is fixed now supposedly..

 

[Wolfshanze]

In the screenshots provided, it appears to be on the port side. Or is that just my eyes playing tricks on me?

The Essex is CV-9, not CV-6.

However, it was brought-up to Matt that the bottom of the ship was going the wrong way (pointy-side backwards), and I can't recall if he just reversed the ship's direction or actually corrected the bottom in relation to the top-side. If Matt just mirrored the direction of the ship, the island would be on the wrong side.

 

[GeneralMatt]

I don't know, I thought I fixed it. I did just switch it and maybe that threw it off.
Do you think it would be better to switch it back, there is a pointy side on each end..

Also, in the original picture, the bottom two shots are facing SW and SE respectively..

Edit: Ok, I am just going to flip it around as I had it originally (both sides do taper to a point, the one on the "back" just ejects a little farther) and also I widened the hull as someone pointed out.

I hope that works right..

 

[Wolfshanze]

Okay... I just double-checked... here's the real Essex and Matt's Civ-4 Essex... they are both sailing to the bottom left of the picture... see if you can spot any errors? The island is on the wrong side and the number "9" is upside down.

Can't you fix this Matt? Isn't there a way to turn around the top part and keep the bottom part going the correct direction?

 

[GeneralMatt]

Ok, I am just switching back to the original version, with a wider hull. Read the edit in my last post if you want.
The "new" version is uploaded.

Just something funny, that images says that the Essex was "(CV 9)". Weird.

 

[Wolfshanze]

Just something funny, that images says that the Essex was "(CV 9)". Weird.

The caption on the image is correct... Essex is "CV 9"... the image would appear to read "6" from the camera angle, but it's all relative to the island. If you were the Admiral in the island and looked across the bow to the number, it would read as "9", not "6".

 

[GeneralMatt]

Oh yes, sorry, must be falling asleep here..

 

[Scotchyn]

speaking of CV-6 how hard would it be to do the Yorktown class Enterprise..or for that matter CVN-65...love your units!!!

CV-6
http://www.cv6.org/

CVN-65

http://images.google.com/imgres?img...65&gbv=2&ndsp=20&svnum=10&hl=en&safe=off&sa=N

 

[GeneralMatt]

Definite possibility.

 

[GoldenEagle777]

Great job and great looking unit!!!!! I have been wanting someone to create the Essex class carrier since Civ 3 came out. the reason being is that I think it makes a great general aircraft carrier to start out with and then then you can move on to either super carriers (CVNs like the Nimitz Class) or Jump carriers or both with more advanced tech. I have always disliked the fact that the first carrier available in Civ 3 and 4 looked like an American supercarrier. Those things require much greater tech then the tech that allows you to build them in civ 3 and 4.

 

[Wolfshanze]

Ok, I am just switching back to the original version, with a wider hull. Read the edit in my last post if you want.
The "new" version is uploaded.

Just something funny, that images says that the Essex was "(CV 9)". Weird.

You know, I downloaded your fix and assumed all was fixed... I just double-checked (NIF file dated 22-Nov) and it's still facing this way:

Can you fix this and ensure it's facing the right way?