Was xAKL class an ocean-going class?

[Yaab]

Or was it a coastal/Great Lakes class?

[bradfordkay]

I tend to think of them more along the lines of "tramp steamers" - the smaller freight ships that serve lesser ports of call. May will call them "coastal freighters" but they are often used on runs such as New Zealand to the Marquesas or Ecuador to Easter Island. There isn't enough commerce on these runs to require the capacity of the large freighters so the small ones take the job but they are certainly venturing out as ocean-going vessels.

[geofflambert]

This I believe was an xAKL

[Dili]

Depends on sea state/weather.

[crsutton]

In short yes. They were capable of ocean trips and probably just as seaworthy as a large ship if built to the same standards. Aside from capacity, the real shortcoming of smaller ships is that they are affected more by adverse weather. That is they go slower. Seas and wind are not going to hinder a larger ships as much. So, they were better suited for coastal trade and short hops. Still they are seaworthy. In game terms it is an abstraction anyways. An AKL could be any variety of small ship-passenger ferrys, large barges, and so on. Some of which probably would not be suitable for the open sea. They were still using large commercial sailing ships during the war. Few and far between but they were there. In game terms the AKL fills all of these roles. Great lakes class are not ocean going by design. Being long and narrow, super heavy seas would break their backs.

[Yaab]

Thanks!

[Dili]

US tiny subchasers went whole Atlantic to North Africa. It depends obviously on weather/season

[crsutton]

ORIGINAL: Dili

US tiny subchasers went whole Atlantic to North Africa. It depends obviously on weather/season

Yes, but any boat or ship if constructed correctly and in the hands of an experienced crew should be seaworthy-in most any but the most dire conditions. Think of the little fishing boats regularly working the North Atlantic or Alaskan waters. You can't get any more hostile seas that you would find in those waters. But those guys manage it every day.

[Canoerebel]

The extent to which the Allies were creative in using relatively small vessels at great distances in important operations is illustrated by Operation Watchtower. When much of the big fleet ships left a few days after D-Day, APDs and YPs (I think the sailors called the latter "Yippies") stayed in theater. The YPs were used to ferry troops between the two main islands but also in combat operations like shuttling marine Raider detachments up the coast for patrol and reconnaissance missions.

As for xAKLs, wasn't Mister Roberts based upon an xAKL doing supply runs between Allied-controlled islands. I think so. Man, I can't remember the name of the ship...but I do recall the announcement over the loudspeaker: "Now heah this....Now heah this...reveille"...and "Now heah this....Now heah this...Because another cigarette butt was found in the captain's palm tree, there will be no movies for three weeks."

Edited to add: Was it the Reluctant?

[bradfordkay]

Yes, it was the Reluctant.

[geofflambert]

Ok, now this thread is taking on a different cast. Let's think up good ship names. How about the Dismissive, the Perturbed, the Melancholy, the Agnostic, the Constipated?

[szmike]

and the Gornified [:'(]

[RagingKrikkit]

Perhaps the Conscript, the Labor Camp and the Torpedo Magnet?

[geofflambert]

The Irrefutable. The Reprehensible. The Ignominious. The Impractical.

[rustysi]

And they can all be under the HQ CinCUS.[:D]

[BBfanboy]

Don't forget the "Deplorable". [:)]

[Canoerebel]

ORIGINAL: rustysi

And they can all be under the HQ CinCUS.[:D]

I just got this. If the Kangaroo Court were still in existence, this might merit an indictment as the greatest AE pun of all time.

[Zorch]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

ORIGINAL: rustysi

And they can all be under the HQ CinCUS.[:D]

I just got this. If the Kangaroo Court were still in existence, this might merit an indictment as the greatest AE pun of all time.

[&o] [&o] [&o]

How about HMS Disregard or HMS Ignore?

[MakeeLearn]

HMS For Sale

[MakeeLearn]

ORIGINAL: crsutton

In short yes. They were capable of ocean trips and probably just as seaworthy as a large ship if built to the same standards. Aside from capacity, the real shortcoming of smaller ships is that they are affected more by adverse weather. That is they go slower. Seas and wind are not going to hinder a larger ships as much. So, they were better suited for coastal trade and short hops. Still they are seaworthy. In game terms it is an abstraction anyways. An AKL could be any variety of small ship-passenger ferrys, large barges, and so on. Some of which probably would not be suitable for the open sea. They were still using large commercial sailing ships during the war. Few and far between but they were there. In game terms the AKL fills all of these roles. Great lakes class are not ocean going by design. Being long and narrow, super heavy seas would break their backs.

The Edmund Fitzgerald

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vST6hVRj2A