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Project Habbakuk

• Message 1.Β 

  Posted by Lord Ball (U1767246) on Monday, 19th December 2005

  Could project habbakuk have ever worked? and if it had been carried out, would it have left the Royal Navy as the most powerful navy in the world?

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• Message 2

  , in reply to message 1.

  Posted by arnaldalmaric (U1756653) on Monday, 19th December 2005

  Lord Ball,
  
  Could it have worked, well yes. The theory was sound enough. However even with modern refrigeration plants I'm struggling to come to terms with the amount of energy that would be needed to keep the "ship" in ice form. It may, just may have been practical if permanently stationed in the arctic, however for a trip across the equator?
  
  I could attempt to do the calculations, I'd have to make certain assumptions and so I'd only be confident in them to an order of magnitude. If you really want I'll give them a go, however my gut feel is that it would be "a lot" of energy, especially in warmer waters. I'd then have to work out the logistics involved in refuelling / fuel storage. I suspect I might find that a large part of the ship would be fuel tanks. My wildest exagerations would be in the field of naval architecture. (I'd really rather not attempt the calcs unless you've a burning desire, it's been a while since I used my training).
  
  I also suspect that the amount of engineering and build involved would supply 3, 4 ,5? conventional carriers.
  
  So, I suspect that the practical difficulties would outweigh (by far) any percieved advantages. I think the most telling point is that no-one has attempted since WW2 to develop such a craft.
  
  So, I don't think it would have made the Royal Navy the most powerful in the world due to practicalities. Anyway we'd have given the idea to the Americans.
  
  Cheers AA.

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• Message 3

  , in reply to message 2.

  Posted by arnaldalmaric (U1756653) on Tuesday, 20th December 2005

  Lord Ball, I've been thinking about this some more, and of course, yes, it's alot more feasible nowadays. There was I thinking of burning huge amounts of fossil fuels and of course you use our old friend nuclear power.
  
  Sorry, too much thinking in civilian terms and CHP Plants etc. I can still do the calcs to keep the ship frozen, I'd have to do some mighty educated guessing on the physical reactor size needed.
  
  Cheers AA.

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• Message 4

  , in reply to message 3.

  Posted by Lord Ball (U1767246) on Thursday, 22nd December 2005

  Would it be feasible to build today as a solo project for the Royal Navy?

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