New Unit - "Atlanta" Class Light Cruiser (WIP)
 

http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/8418/moddieat10nx.jpg

http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/4508/moddieat26gl.jpg

Just a heads up to expect an additional surface unit for the underequipped US Navy. The ship is based on the hull of the "Dido" class - an obvious choice. I've modded the eqp files and given it the correct main armament of 16 5" guns, which are in roughly correct locations; unfortunately, I had to get rid of the torpedo tubes to place two of the turrets. PLEASE, if ANYONE has photos or technical information about this class, post it here. I'd post screenshots of her but the skin I designed is so hideous it's embarassing. Thanks :D

EDIT: I'll probably regret this, but anyway... here are a couple of screens. I'm just about finished with the eqp file. The skin is obviously still in its early stages. I'm toying with using textures created almost entirely by hand, instead of relying heavily on photo textures. The hull would look a lot better if I could add some rivet textures I created, but I have a suspicion that the hulls were welded, not riveted. One annoying thing is that the superstructure and hull share a big chunk of texture, so I need to keep part of the forward deckhouse featureless. You may notice superstructure fixtures on the hull; these will be removed.

Well, I look forward to the screenshots. Here is some info I found:

http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/4072/

http://www.microworks.net/pacific/sh...rs/atlanta.htm

Hi iambecomelife....I've borrowed this from War in the Pacific:

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2.../CLAAspecs.jpg

The above was December of 1941...

...and I'lll include some links with pics:

http://www.skyrocket.de/usnavy/index...1__atlanta.htm

http://www.navsource.org/archives/04/04051.htm This second link seems especially good with a schematic and photos all throughout the war

-Jeff

Just wanted to wish you good luck with this....more goodies to try and sink!

Can't wait! :D

Hi!

You might try the following sites:

• http://www.navsource.org/archives/04/04051.htm
  http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/s...nsh-a/cl51.htm
  http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/s...nsh-j/cl52.htm
  http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/s...nsh-s/cl53.htm
  http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/s...nsh-s/cl54.htm

FYI all U.S. anti-aircraft cruisers spent most of WWII in the Pacific defending aircraft carriers. The ships above spent at least some time in the Atlantic before transferring to the Pacific via the Panama Canal.

As an aside, armaments on these ships were somewhat varied, and were upgraded as the war continued (e.g., 1.1-inch AA were replaced by 40mm AA).

Hope this helps!

Pablo

Thanks everyone. I've been testing the "Atlanta" with a mission that takes place off Guadalcanal in late 1942. It's a simple setup - the U-boat is supposed to stop the cruiser and three destroyers from sinking some Japanese transports offloading a strike force trying to capture Henderson Field. I've sunk the cruiser twice, but most of the time I get pounded by the DD's. Don't ask me what a Type IX is doing in the Solomons, but it's a nice change of scenery. It really makes me hope that either Ubi or the mod community creates a Pacific expansion pack.

Hi iambecomelife.....I am in total agreement.....as a matter of fact, I would like to see an entire world populated with ships and the like....even the esoteric ones! This is my goal....I know its huge, but I'm sure it can be done....I'm hopeful that modders will keep on filling in the gaps....or UBI releases an expansion or even SH4.....hopefully, any new release will use the same basic structure as SH3 (IMHO).

Keep it up!

-Jeff

Hi!

Would you believe a pre-Monsun U-boat that kept on going instead of returning to Europe? Perhaps you could build a reasonable but fictional scenario from information here.

Pablo

iambecomelife - Whatever happened to this ship ?
Still no USN cruisers in the game

Is there a reason why you had to place the after most turret so far away from the others? They should be equally spaced.
Wulfmann

the reason is obvious the hull used is not the correct Atlanta hull ....its a dido's hull.

I not knocking all the hard work thats been done but i'd rather wait for realistic ship models to appear than use modded ships that have a passing resemblence to the real ones.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi.../23/N31525.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi.../23/N31525.jpg

Well you might be lucky then if its included in SH4

What happened to the "Atlanta"? Right now it's collecting dust on my old hard drive ... Since I first started the project modmaking tools have improved. It should be possible to create an "Atlanta" that's much more faithful to the real thing. However, I'm only working on merchant ships right now - particularly freighters between 3000-6000 GRT. The other day I "practiced" making a few American warships in Wings3d, but I think the emphasis should be on ships that U-Boats would have been likely to encounter. Plus, I'm still learning how to create ships that are almost perfect in terms of detail - with merchants, OTOH, their "genericness" gives you lots more leeway. After I finish up the tankers and passenger ships for my mod I may restart work on the "Atlanta" and other ships - especially if we've managed to create playable Allied submarines and need them for a Pacific campaign.

Hi!

If (when? ;)) you do create the Atlanta, please consider creating it as an anti-submarine vessel. The Atlanta was classified as a "Destroyer Leader" and was equipped with active/passive sonar, two stern depth charge racks and six K-guns (3 per side). It was also faster than a lot of destroyers out there (38-40 knots). The redesignation to Light Cruiser - Antiaircraft did not occur until well after the war.

Pablo

Pablo, This was something that just got wrongly reported and was not true. They were designed for 32.5Knts and they never exceeded 34Knts on a calm day (Atlanta did 33.27 on trials) and they certainly had sonar and a decent anti sub array of weapons but they were not maneuverable enough to be so used and those weapons were removed because the ships were so top heavy.
I personally do not think they should be used as A/S ships by the actual results. They were replacements for the Omaha class but in use were AA screen ships and in that they did very well.

IBL, I prefer the merchant ships as well because that is what I see all the time.
I would not be surprised if UBI insist we not try and make US subs for use in the Pacific. Just a guess!
Wulfmann