As I’ve pointed out in a previous post, there’s a lot of fantasy mixed in with most steampunk. I don’t say this is a bad thing. I’ve read and enjoyed Gail Carriger’s charming comedies of manners.
But, as a writer, that ain’t my style. So, sending the well-mannered vampires off to sip their tea with blood in it, what can be done with realistic technology?
Well, no self-respecting steampunk story can hold its head up without steam airships, so I started there. I fired up my spreadsheet. As an aside, I don’t use Excel. The lightweight, fast and very accurate Gnumeric is my weapon of choice.
This is a project I work on for fun to see cats run. It won’t see print soon, if ever. Anyone who wishes to use these airship designs in their own writing is made free to do so. Enjoy.
A little background first. In my previous post, I talked about a world that got a super-Carrington solar storm once a week, so there is no use of electricity. This has a lot of implications. The physical laws of this world are otherwise identical to our own.
No electricity means no aluminum. Before the Hall process was invented, it was as expensive as platinum, not because it was scarce but because it was so brutally hard to refine into the metal. No internal combustion engines, because they aren’t practical without electrical ignition systems. Steam reigns supreme, with a side order of small Stirling engines for smaller applications. Typewriters, refrigerators (the Stirling can be run in reverse as a heat pump), and other appliances run on them.
There are also no explosives. Random sparks from solar storms make experimenting with explosives hazardous business, and storing and handling them to actually do something useful with them even more so.
In our world, a steam powered airplane actually flew in the 1930’s. The Besler brothers were good engineers, but as businessmen and production men, … not so much. Likewise their friend and colleague Abner Doble. The details, for those interested, may be found here.. A tip of the cap to all the steam enthusiasts out there.
There has been more recent work done, as well. A project in England has flown steam balloons, details to be found here. The HeiDAS team has published a very useful paper in English, and if like me you don’t read German, it’s here.. All those lovely numbers and hard experimental results put out there for all to have fun with. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.
In this alternate world, Britain has its back against the wall, the David against the Goliath of an Ottoman Empire which never fell and retains its historical appetite for slave raiding and slave trading. One of the victims of the Empire’s raiders is Richard Mantell, trained as an engineer. Steampunk has more than its share of mad scientists, but the wrath of an engineer is an even more terrible thing.
This alternate world uses bamboo composites for construction, as strong as steel in both tension and compression and far lighter, so that’s the frame. Bamboo fabric, light and strong, sandwiches the insulation needed to keep the steam from condensing again, also made of bamboo. Yes, they farm a lot of bamboo.
The Rolls-Royce of this world makes light powerful efficient steam engines and boilers.
With all the numbers in hand, we begin.
Scout Class
The Scout class airships were the first design fielded against the slave raiders of the Ottoman Empire. They were designed for coastal patrol in the English Channel and along the South Coast of Britain.
All the airships of this design are semi-rigid. Steam pressure is quite sufficient to keep the envelope inflated without the need for the weight of an external frame. Lines along the envelope at regular intervals allow riggers to repair damage.
Names of the class are on a common theme. Pathfinder, Trailblazer and the like.
Dimensions
Length (m) 250 or 820 ft.
Beam (m) 29 or 95 ft
Height (m) 29 or 95 feet
Envelope Volume & Area
Volume (cu m) 110086.6
Area 17853.3
Mass (Inner and Outer Layer) (kg/sq m) 0.17
Mass (Insulation) (kg/sq m) 0.05000
Envelope Mass 6,962.8 kg
Useful Lift 2,446.3 kg
Endurance: (Hours) 25
Crew Complement: 35
Armament: 1 Mark 1 Blaster
Range: 500 yd.
Lethal Radius: 10 yd from impact.
Range (Cruise) (nm) 1000
Fuel: 7600 kg of natural gas.
Patrol Report, Lord Warden’s Airship Pathfinder
… 10 hours into our patrol we encountered a slaver, inbound for the coast. Upon closing to engage, we found her to be armed with two anti-airship catapults. She got off two shots, one of which damaged our framework and punched a hole in the envelope. Four blaster shots sufficed to quell resistance, after which the 1st Lieutenant led a boarding party. 27 galley slaves were rescued, within our usable lift. They were turned over to hospital at Folkestone, with the usual explanation that their ransom to Boskone had been paid. We returned to Dover without further incident.
I have the honour to be, My Lord,
Hannibal Solo, Captain
Hawk Class Light Cruisers
The Hawk Class light cruisers were designed to dominate the Channel and the approaches, operating out into the Atlantic to deal with threats in the outer reaches.
They were a 2nd Generation design, but armed with the Mark I blaster due to design and production delays with the Mark II. Some were later upgraded to the Mark II.
They were configurable according to mission requirements, and could carry a marine detachment of 25 men, or 25 tons of stores and supplies.
The troop area was removable, taking 12 hours to fit.
Dimensions
Length (m) 350
Beam (m) 40
Height (m) 40
Envelope Volume & Area
Volume (cu m) 293215.3
Area 34467.5
Mass (Inner and Outer Layer) kg/sq m) 0.17
Mass (Insulation) (kg/sq m) 0.01176
Envelope Mass 12,124.4
Lift Calculations
Gas Volume (cu m) 293215.3
Envelope Area 34467.5
Gas Lift (kg/cu m) 0.75
Total Lift (kg) 219,911.5
Useful Lift 7,242.5 kg (With troops embarked)
Endurance (Hours) 40
Crew Complement 50
Armament 10 Mark I blasters
Range: 500 yd.
Lethal Radius: 10 yd from impact.
Range (Cruise) (nm) 2600
Troop Complement 25 (see note)
Fuel: 62 tons of natural gas.
Retribution Class Battle Cruisers
The Retribution class were built for long range raiding operations, first against the Azores, then elswhere, to preserve the reputation of Boskone’s world-wide reach.
Dimensions
Length (m) 600
Beam (m) 69
Height (m) 69
Envelope Volume & Area
Volume (cu m) 1495712.3
Area 101935.0
Mass (Inner and Outer Layer) kg/sq m) 0.17
Mass (Insulation) (kg/sq m) 0.01176
Envelope Mass 35,857.1
Lift Calculations
Gas Volume (cu m) 1495712.3
Envelope Area 101935.0
Gas Lift (kg/cu m) 0.75
Total Lift (kg) 1,121,784.2
Useful Lift 27,689.8 (With troops embarked)
Endurance (Hours) 150
Crew Complement 150
Armament 25
Range (Cruise) (nm) 9000
Troop Complement 150
Fuel: 695 tons of natural gas.
I could put the spreadsheet up for download if anyone is interested.
Be First to Comment