Was Aesthetics Ever a Consideration During Ship Design?

[NeutralState]

Did different nations just settled on the outline of their ships purely based on mechanical requirements or were the engineers added some design decisions for the looks too?

 

Dat USN turret.

[RedSeaBear]

"We're Building it to work, Not to Look Pretty," said in an angry Scotsman's voice. 

[Cruxdei]

i heard italian battleships were a e s t h e t i c s

but they had horrible flaws.

[kerensky914]

There's always a bit of aesthetics in any design.  Even if it is just an expression of clean, brutal efficiency.

[wtfovr]

The US in the mid 70s-early 80s designed to maximize internal volume to get all those computers/ electronics and associated cooling systems i.e square boxy superstructure

 

 

By the late 80s US design evolved to minimize radar cross section so as to maximize chaff round effectiveness. Unfortunately all the boxy superstructures didn't help with radar cross section so the addition of radar absorbing squishy stuff applied to the superstructure that is a pita to maintain.

[Zampy]

This is the Navy, not the Air Force

[VTAdmiral]

I'm pretty sure most warships were design first, appearance second. But that's not saying that some ships did have some consideration given to appearance after all the essentials were taken care of.

 

Mostly it was paint. In IJN designs you'll see slanted funnels, which had an engineering purpose but also made the ships look nice and sleek and fast.

 

But generally any ship will be called "handsome" or "pretty" just because of what it is. And then you have the British referring to Gneisnau and Scharnhorst as the "Ugly Sisters".

[Colonel_ace]

Can't say for sure, but it does not look like the Iowa bow happened by accident.

Also, I think utilitarian designs where everything has a purpose is sexy.  

[Cragger]

Aesthetics only ever came into play when they didn't get in the way of function, reliability, and costs. Sometimes this was in the overall lines of the ship at points that didn't impact seaworthiness, or speed. Or in the decking be it teak, linoleum or such that is finished or colored to look striking while being good for footing and less hard on the feet. During the second world war the decking often got painted dark to better hide the ship from aerial observation. 

 

Another place was raked funnels from the uptakes. The same function can be achieved with a funnel cap for draft but raked funnel look sleeker and faster, though got in the way of AA fire more. Or the roof of the conning tower on the Kaiser class (Konig Albert in game, the REAL Kaiser class) A simple angle strake to the upper observation posts would have been cheaper, given more internal volume, and used less mass or allowed for thicker armor but the curved graduation gives a sleek look fromthe side from the turret to the superstructure.

[AphelionMarauder]

"We're Building it to work, Not to Look Pretty," said in an angry Scotsman's voice. 

 

But ascetics make you better.....

[TheKrimzonDemon]

I'm pretty sure most warships were design first, appearance second. But that's not saying that some ships did have some consideration given to appearance after all the essentials were taken care of.

 

Mostly it was paint. In IJN designs you'll see slanted funnels, which had an engineering purpose but also made the ships look nice and sleek and fast.

 

But generally any ship will be called "handsome" or "pretty" just because of what it is. And then you have the British referring to Gneisnau and Scharnhorst as the "Ugly Sisters".

 

Which is absurdly amusing, since the WW2 variants of those ship names looked waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than any ship Britain had.

[VTAdmiral]

 

Which is absurdly amusing, since the WW2 variants of those ship names looked waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than any ship Britain had.

 

When they're your enemy and you're a merchant convoy, they sure do look ugly.

[KnightFandragon]

 

 

But generally any ship will be called "handsome" or "pretty" just because of what it is. And then you have the British referring to Gneisnau and Scharnhorst as the "Ugly Sisters".

 

Who are the British calling ugly?  Have they seen their Nelson class? 

[NCC81701]

Did different nations just settled on the outline of their ships purely based on mechanical requirements or were the engineers added some design decisions for the looks too?

 

Dat USN turret.

 

You don't "engineer" look, you engineer the mechancis and components to meet the looks if there was such a requirement. Engineers are engineers, not artist, if you want your ship to look a specific way then you can engineer for it, otherwise actual requirements like range, speed and endurance will dictate the general form of anything you're trying to design; be it a car, ship, or plane. 

[Big_Spud]

Functionality and appearance have an odd way of working hand in hand.

[VTAdmiral]

 

Who are the British calling ugly?  Have they seen their Nelson class? 

 

Given what the Brits consider good food, I wouldn't trust their taste in anything. 

[Cruxdei]

to me, a ship filled with boats and open space in the middle is [edited]ugly.

kongo is a good example,new mexico B hull joins the team too.

the german ww2 battlecruisers at least are good looking.

[KnightFandragon]

Functionality and appearance have an odd way of working hand in hand.

 

Germans typically are pretty good at that to.

 

Basically everything they ever made for War is both pretty good looking and works well for what it is. 

 

THeir Leo 2A5-6-7 w/e, is, imo, the best looking modern MBT.  During WWII, they had the best looking camo imo as well.  it doesnt even end there lol...

[VTAdmiral]

to me, a ship filled with boats and open space in the middle is [edited]ugly.

kongo is a good example,new mexico B hull joins the team too.

 

You take that back, Kongo is beautiful.

[KnightFandragon]

 

You take that back, Kongo is beautiful.

 

Kongo looks like its dragging a string of toilet paper behind it.  The distance between the rear 2 turrets makes the ship look alot longer then it should be, and kinda makes it uglier.  THen the other IJN ships, you have that brown 'soccer' field look to the deck, and thats just hideous...

 

YAmATO is pretty b-e-a-utiful though.   Izumo is ugly as sin...Nagato, any ship with either only forward mounted or midships mounted turrets kills the look for me. 

 

Iowa, North Carolina, South Dakota, Bismarck, Tirpitz, Scharn, Gneis, KGV Class, those are ships I think look good, with Iowa literally being my all time favorite ship for looks, and not just because its USN.  Its what I envision when I think "battleship"...

[AphelionMarauder]

 

Kongo looks like its dragging a string of toilet paper behind it.  The distance between the rear 2 turrets makes the ship look alot longer then it should be, and kinda makes it uglier.  THen the other IJN ships, you have that brown 'soccer' field look to the deck, and thats just hideous...

 

YAmATO is pretty b-e-a-utiful though.   Izumo is ugly as sin...Nagato, any ship with either only forward mounted or midships mounted turrets kills the look for me. 

 

Iowa, North Carolina, South Dakota, Bismarck, Tirpitz, Scharn, Gneis, KGV Class, those are ships I think look good, with Iowa literally being my all time favorite ship for looks, and not just because its USN.  Its what I envision when I think "battleship"...

 

Arizona is sexy.......

[Magic_Fighting_Tuna]

The Germans were serious about aesthetics which is scary because they found out how to make something work and be beautiful at the same time.

[Cruxdei]

The Germans were serious about aesthetics which is scary because they found out how to make something work and be beautiful at the same time.

 

one of the reasons nazi uniform became a fetish.

[KnightFandragon]

 

Arizona is sexy.......

 

No, no it really isnt.  I personally think those early dreadnought hulls are all ugly as hell.  The "Tripod" masts, ugly as sin....only about 2 steps above the wire mesh masts on earlier ships.  The 1st USN ships I think look "good" are the SD and NC class BBs. 

 

Arizona is a fantastic ship in game though/ 

[ArIskandir]

 

Germans typically are pretty good at that to.

 

Basically everything they ever made for War is both pretty good looking and works well for what it is. 

 

 

You must be joking...