Kansas - No Conning Tower Armor?

[gebert906]

Sorry if this has already been addressed, but I was looking at Kansas’s armor layout and noticed that it doesn’t have an armored conning tower, it’s just the same thickness as the rest of the superstructure. SoDak 20 was apparently designed to have conning tower armor of 406mm on the front and sides, 200mm on the top. 

Does anyone know if the in-game design is intentional by WG or if it is an oversight?

[Whitebuster]

The armored conning tower is probably hidden inside the bridge of the superstructure. If you look at the conning tower of the Iowa class BB in its latest configuration, it is a metal fortress inside the bridge that is covered by large windows. A shell would penetrate the bridge and then be stopped by the conning tower's armor.

[Sventex]

2 minutes ago, Whitebuster said:

The armored conning tower is probably hidden inside the bridge of the superstructure. If you look at the conning tower of the Iowa class BB in its latest configuration, it is a metal fortress inside the bridge that is covered by large windows. A shell would penetrate the bridge and then be stopped by the conning tower's armor.

I even took some pictures of the conning tower.

 

[Whitebuster]

4 minutes ago, Sventex said:

I even took some pictures of the conning tower.

 

Excellent photos! Do the navigation officers always work inside the conning tower during normal operation or only go inside when there are threats?

[gebert906]

14 minutes ago, Whitebuster said:

The armored conning tower is probably hidden inside the bridge of the superstructure. If you look at the conning tower of the Iowa class BB in its latest configuration, it is a metal fortress inside the bridge that is covered by large windows. A shell would penetrate the bridge and then be stopped by the conning tower's armor.

Ahh, I see. Thanks. 

[Gabriel_LXIX]

Is that even a citadel hit anymore

[RipNuN2]

26 minutes ago, why_u_heff_to_be_mad said:

Is that even a citadel hit anymore

Nope. 

[Helstrem]

Just now, why_u_heff_to_be_mad said:

Is that even a citadel hit anymore

What it is, at least for ships that have exposed conning tower armor, is a place for HE hits to shatter, and to a lesser degree for AP to bounce off of.

[HazeGrayUnderway]

26 minutes ago, Helstrem said:

What it is, at least for ships that have exposed conning tower armor, is a place for HE hits to shatter, and to a lesser degree for AP to bounce off of.

I remember watching a Eurobeat Shikashima or Yamato video where his AP bounced off a Worcester's conning tower

[HamAndCheez]

Re: Kansas

Who needs a conning tower when you have a bridge with more windows than Ten-Forward on the Enterprise-D?

[HazeGrayUnderway]

6 minutes ago, HamAndCheez said:

Re: Kansas

Who needs a conning tower when you have a bridge with more windows than Ten-Forward on the Enterprise-D?

Just don't let Troi drive.

[gebert906]

Speaking of conning towers, I was just reminded of this scene. Entertaining, but at 4:25, that’s a 45mm taking out a conning tower with 150mm armor lol. Seeing as it’s a Russian ship doing the damage, I was wonder if WG wrote the scene?

 

[gebert906]

1 hour ago, RipNuN2 said:

Nope. 

I was wondering if there should be some type of mechanic for a destroyed conning tower. Not sure what it would be though. 

[SkaerKrow]

1 hour ago, HazeGrayUnderway said:

Just don't let Troi drive.

She has empathy for impacts.

[Sventex]

16 minutes ago, gebert906 said:

Speaking of conning towers, I was just reminded of this scene. Entertaining, but at 4:25, that’s a 45mm taking out a conning tower with 150mm armor lol. Seeing as it’s a Russian ship doing the damage, I was wonder if WG wrote the scene?

 

In the tv show Saka no Ue no Kumo, during the Battle of Tsushima they show the Russian flagship's conning tower take a HE hit, injuring the Admiral and then they show the Battleship Mikasa's conning tower take a hit, injuring all the younger officers of the ship.  In the words of the @The_Chieftain, it's a significant emotional event, even when the shell fails to penetrate.

[Helstrem]

Just now, HazeGrayUnderway said:

I remember watching a Eurobeat Shikashima or Yamato video where his AP bounced off a Worcester's conning tower

Shikishima.  He then repeated the frames in slow motion while playing a clip of Anchors Aweigh.

[Princess_Daystar]

13 minutes ago, Helstrem said:

Shikishima.  He then repeated the frames in slow motion while playing a clip of Anchors Aweigh.

Can we get a link for this, seems funny.

[_cthulhu_]

1 hour ago, Princess_Daystar said:

Can we get a link for this, seems funny.

 

[Crokodone]

6 hours ago, gebert906 said:

I was wondering if there should be some type of mechanic for a destroyed conning tower. Not sure what it would be though. 

Temporary loss of steering or communication with friendly ships? Or maybe loss of universal turret aiming?

[Whitebuster]

6 hours ago, gebert906 said:

I was wondering if there should be some type of mechanic for a destroyed conning tower. Not sure what it would be though. 

I was advocating for this a while back. The ship should lose steering temporarily because the wheelhouse gets destroyed and the backup system must be activated.

[Dr_Venture]

10 hours ago, HazeGrayUnderway said:

Just don't let Troi drive.

That's not who you gotta worry about:

[gebert906]

12 hours ago, Crokodone said:

Temporary loss of steering or communication with friendly ships? Or maybe loss of universal turret aiming?

 

11 hours ago, Whitebuster said:

I was advocating for this a while back. The ship should lose steering temporarily because the wheelhouse gets destroyed and the backup system must be activated.

Agree with steering loss. What about a gunnery modifier, or is that too much of a penalty? Maybe not though, other ships can lose steering and guns from taking a single salvo. I think it’s an interesting proposal. As communications was mentioned, temporary loss of spotting by teammates’ hydro/radar, or planes? 

[Lord_Slayer]

On 10/28/2020 at 12:23 PM, gebert906 said:

Sorry if this has already been addressed, but I was looking at Kansas’s armor layout and noticed that it doesn’t have an armored conning tower, it’s just the same thickness as the rest of the superstructure. SoDak 20 was apparently designed to have conning tower armor of 406mm on the front and sides, 200mm on the top. 

Does anyone know if the in-game design is intentional by WG or if it is an oversight?

I'll be honest, I haven't looked completely at the Armored scheme of Kansas

That said........

During WW2, the reconstructed BBs did have their armored conning tower removed. It was replaced with a more lightly armored structure.
From wikipedia

Quote

Work on West Virginia saw the ship radically altered. In addition to the torpedo bulges, her superstructure was completely revised, with the old heavily armored conning tower being removed and a smaller tower was erected in its place to reduce interference with the anti-aircraft guns' fields of fire. The new tower had been removed from one of the Brooklyn-class cruisers that had recently been rebuilt.

 This weight removed allowed more AA guns to be added to the ships, as well as clear the weapon arcs.

So...as Kansas is technically a 'rebuilt' BB for WW2, its highly likely the armored conning tower of the BB was removed, and thus is not modeled in the game.

[gebert906]

1 hour ago, Lord_Slayer said:

I'll be honest, I haven't looked completely at the Armored scheme of Kansas

That said........

During WW2, the reconstructed BBs did have their armored conning tower removed. It was replaced with a more lightly armored structure.
From wikipedia

 This weight removed allowed more AA guns to be added to the ships, as well as clear the weapon arcs.

So...as Kansas is technically a 'rebuilt' BB for WW2, its highly likely the armored conning tower of the BB was removed, and thus is not modeled in the game.

Interesting, thanks!

[HazeGrayUnderway]

On 10/28/2020 at 2:40 PM, _cthulhu_ said:

 

Yep, 2:53 time stamp on the video for those that want to jump to the moment!