A Thought - Logical progression of a Design .
This may be Boring to some . Bear with me here .The Armor builders will understand this . So will most of the A/C Buillders . Shipbuilders may not have given this much thought until you get away from sail , which had a lot of that . Subtle perhaps , but there none the less .
Now enter the U.S.S. Buchanan . Yup ! a four stacker and the epitome of design in W.W. 1 . Now we go forward some years and we get those ubiquitus ships with lots of portholes and a raised foredeck . Nice , but not quite there . Aha W.W.-2 . The Round Bridge Fletchers arrive on the scene . Good but only adequate .
Next the " Square Bridge " version , Stuffed with more guns than was ever seen on a ship of this size . Now comes the Sumner . Well looky here ! Twin 5'-38 guns and a slightly bigger but more streamlined ship .
Still not quite here . Whoa ! A Gearing ! Now there's a ship that brought back the memories of a lot of old salt sailors when they saw them . Gunned to the limit and enough torpedoes and depth charges to bring down a battleship ! Then they got ruined by FRAM .
Enter late in the time the U.S.S. Forest Sherman . Probably one of the prettiest destroyers the Navy ever fielded . Then they kept going .The Turner Joy and others took Destroyer design to the Aegis equipped ships . Originally called destroyers . But ! They were the size of a W.W.-2 Battlecruiser ! Oh well , the chain broke there . I still think the " Forrest Shermans " were the most beautiful , well balanced design for a destroyer ever to come down the pike !
This is also something that is self evident in civilian designs . From the Old steamers of the pre and post war eras .The beautiful liners , Regardless of the number of stacks they were truly Queens of the sea , No matter what flag they flew .
The Normandy had taken the design into new areas that as far as I am concerned culminated in the S.S. United States , now decaying in a Pennslyvania Harbor.
The New " Cruise Ships " Have only made a mockery of the idea , but , they make a mockery of the genre anytime anyone calls them a ship . I firmly feel a multi-floor hotel with a hole down the length of it , so everyone can have a balcony , and a theme park topside is nothing more than an unseaworthy hotel on a barge !
There is no real design there . Just a jumble of rooms in two stacks an atrium down the center and a hull I wouldn't consider seaworthy at all . My gosh , they run like scalded rabbits evert time the seas get over eight feet .That's Not a ship !
They flex like a rope and need all kinds of stuff to manuever and stabilize themselves . If you want to stay in a hotel and go to a theme park , Go to a Disneyland type place on shore .
The idea of Cruising or Crossing was to relax , socialize and enjoy the ride . Rest, relax and sleep and eat first class food . Many folks , to get the cruise experience , book a state-room on a cargo ship of some type that does carry passengers and just go where the ship does .They get all the benefits of a SEA cruise without all the B.S associated with busy-body cruise directors and goofy behaving children and adults in the theme areas .
How can you sit by the ships pool and sip a Mai-Tai and relax , when you are Bombarded the screams and yells and rude behavior of folks on a water slide above or near you ? A Tennis court , Pool or such is fine . Even a running track outlined on deck , but a theme park ? Really ? There's not a logical progression of design there unless it's how much more ridiculous can they get .
As a ship lover from the Way-Back days I think , Because of what the sea can throw at them , Ships carrying passengers in large numbers should be a logical progression of design from the S.S. United States or the Normandy . These ships were built to survive the oceans . Like the " Costa Concordia " Those today are not capable of surviving a crews mistakes close inshore .The Liners could .
The " Titanic " and her sisters were the apex for liners at the time .The disaster that befell them was man made and a fluke , in the case of the " Titanic " . The rest were torpedoed ! Move forward to just before W.W.-2 And there's the NORMANDIE ! Wow what a beautiful ship ! Why has no one seen fit to release a model of her in anything but paper/card media ? 1/700 resin is not for everyone .
The NORMANDIE was and still is the logicaL Apex of design till the States liners . ( for two stacks that is ) The one stackers from Steamers to Motorships ( those powered by Diesels ) were very good looking too . Take The Andrea Doria and the Christoforo Columbo and the Moore Mcormack Liners . Like the Argentina .
Oh well ! Think on it and let me know what you decide . Tanker - Builder