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09-29-2010, 12:42 PM | #1 |
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: near Houston
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Seaplanes & Submarines
I've recently been pondering a setting combining two ideas I've had for some time.
The older idea, inspired by the cargo submarine from the old Traveller adventure Research Station Gamma, was a setting that due to poor weather conditions, (large) surface ships were rare and shipping (and the military) primarily relied on submarines. The second idea, from my love of flying boats and floatplanes (and recently resparked by watching the DVDs of Tales of the Gold Monkey), wa to have seaplanes dominate land-based aviation. (and yes, this combination does mean aircraft-carrying subs) I'm aiming for a pulp setting, circa 1930-1945 technology. Tje two things I think I'll have to have, at a minimum, are: (1) No large continents but many, many small islands (this makes seaplanes sufficiently useful). (2) Frequent and heavy storms that are a real threat to sink surface vessels. Airplanes can go around or over them, submarines under them. Any other ideas?
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A generous and sadistic GM, Brandon Cope GURPS 3e stuff: http://copeab.tripod.com |
09-29-2010, 02:19 PM | #2 |
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Soldotna, AK
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Re: Seaplanes & Submarines
The world would be fun if it was split into warring factions, and toss in some indigenous sapient that doesn't want them around, or something.
I'm not sure how submarine warfare worked in the TL you're envisioning though. |
09-29-2010, 05:16 PM | #3 |
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: near Houston
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Re: Seaplanes & Submarines
Submarines did sink other submarines in WWII, although I'm not sure if both were submerged at the time.
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A generous and sadistic GM, Brandon Cope GURPS 3e stuff: http://copeab.tripod.com |
09-29-2010, 05:24 PM | #4 |
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Soldotna, AK
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Re: Seaplanes & Submarines
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09-29-2010, 11:05 PM | #5 | |
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Portland, Oregon
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Re: Seaplanes & Submarines
Quote:
The Bowfin, got three in succession I believe but they were caught on the surface.
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"The navy could probably win a war without coffee but would prefer not to try"-Samuel Eliot Morrison |
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10-01-2010, 11:45 AM | #6 | |
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Cedar Rapids, Iowa, USA
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Re: Seaplanes & Submarines
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Last edited by LostPassWord; 10-01-2010 at 11:58 AM. |
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09-29-2010, 03:05 PM | #7 |
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Alsea, OR
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Re: Seaplanes & Submarines
The IJN had a few. I-400 class.
the third thing is a power source better than the diesel-electric subs had. A nuclear plant is probably your best bet. They could have been done with WWI era tech, if the theory had been known; no new devices were needed to do it. Sub-to-sub warfare was typically at surface, mostly using deck guns. (Which many subs of the era did have.) Torpedoes could also be used; many were unguided, and some were wire guided. Last edited by ak_aramis; 09-29-2010 at 03:09 PM. |
09-29-2010, 04:14 PM | #8 | |
Join Date: Jun 2006
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Re: Seaplanes & Submarines
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But actually the diesel part isn't all that bad as a primary source, surface ships use the same technology after all and it works fine. It's the electric part - for powering the sub underwater - that's severely lacking. A lot of otherwise quite plausible technologies from jet packs to portable televisions stumble over the problem of compact energy storage, so you need to be careful of side effects when introducing magic batteries, but they'll work too. Another alternative might be fuel cells, which historically were demonstrated before internal combustion, and are concievable enough more efficient that you could store both the fuel and oxygen to burn it with in a similar amount of tankage you'd need for just the fuel of an air burning diesel.
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09-29-2010, 05:28 PM | #9 | |
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: near Houston
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Re: Seaplanes & Submarines
Quote:
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A generous and sadistic GM, Brandon Cope GURPS 3e stuff: http://copeab.tripod.com |
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09-29-2010, 05:23 PM | #10 | ||
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: near Houston
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Re: Seaplanes & Submarines
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There are also the submarine cruisers, such as the Surcouf and (unbuilt) Type XI U-cruiser. Quote:
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A generous and sadistic GM, Brandon Cope GURPS 3e stuff: http://copeab.tripod.com |
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Tags |
cliffhager, pulp, seaplane, submarine |
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