Requin Renard class Cruiser

Power Generation

Onboard power is provided by an alternator connected to the main steam generation apparatus, though it is rather modest in scale and output due the electricity being an unpopular, poorly understood power system at the time of the Requin Renard's design. It is mostly used to illuminate the key areas of the bridge, machinery, magazines and turrets. Electrical power is also used for the traverse and elevation of the ship's armament.

Propulsion

The Requin Renard's propulsion group centers around three triple-expansion vertical steam engines, each directing a screw propeller via a direct drive gear. The steam is provided by 15 Océan A.v2 oil boilers, separated in three groups of five within independent fire rooms. Capable of 24 knots of flank speed and with an endurance of 6'000 nautical miles at a cruise speed of 12 knots, it is the first class of warships to make use of entirely petroleum-based propulsion rather than coal.

Weapons & Armament

The main armament of the Requin Renard is a pair of two twin turrets, one fore and mast, carrying AN200/50m.02 naval guns. With a bore of 200m and a length of 50 calibers, it is theoretically capable of reaching targets up to 20'000m away at max elevation, but realistic ranges are evaluated at 14'000m at 15°. These guns are electrically-driven and capable of a rate of fire of 3 rounds per minute.
Secondary armament is made up of twelve AN80/25m.99 naval guns. These fast-firing 80mm guns are capable of up to 15 rounds per minute and are intended for point defense against small vessels and for sinking merchantmen. These are supported by six CR40/15m.82 revolver cannons that can track the smallest, fastest of torpedo boats.
Finally, each Requin Renard is equipped with a storage section at the rear that can carry up to 40 Furie m.02 naval mines, which may be deployed via two ramps.

Armor and defense

The Requin Renard has solid armor for its purpose as a fast raider, though perhaps thin in relation to its actual tonnage. Its main belt is 150mm thick tapering to 100mm while its deck is 50mm thick across the entire deck. 200mm protects the conning tower while the turrets are protected by 150mm and 75mm respectively. Due to the lack of coal bunkers - traditionally considered as part of the defensive layout in older and even contemporary protected cruisers - it was necessary to apply more all-around armor where traditional protected cruisers would have little to none, resulting in its higher displacement. The armor itself is made of face-hardened nickel-steel plates and rests upon a hull of riveted structural steel

Communication Tools & Systems

The only means of communication across the ship are a handful of early wired telephone lines between the bridge and the primary engineering and combat stations.

Sensors

Stadimetric rangefinding is used both for gunnery and navigation, with a primary, large telescoped stadimeter being found on the bridge, and a handful of smaller handheld stadimeters being available elsewhere.

Additional & auxiliary systems

The Requin Renard sports an experimental safety feature. Its oil bunkers are separated in many smaller storage units, which are themselves doubling as ballast tanks. The space around the oil tanks is therefore pre-flooded with seawater when entering combat. This was initially intended in an effort to prevent or mitigate ignition of the fuel if hit by shells, but it was then found in tests that the small protective layer of seawater is very effective at preventing spall from piercing the oil tanks and moderately effective at blunting nearby explosive forces. This system is also used to flood the mine storage compartment when not in use.

Designation

NEI Requin Renard

Manufacturer

Chantier Naval Impérial Océan

Creation Date

1903

Owning Organization

Seilurid Empire

Beam

18m

Length

145m

Weight

11'000 long tons

Speed

24 knots