澳大利亚Cockatoo Heavy Cruiser Design
Similar to Canada and the RCN, Australia and the RAN had it's own warship projects. Here I post the larger ships, the cruisers.
To my knowledge, the Royal Australian Navy had two cruiser projects, one is indigenous while the other is an RN DNC (Director of Naval Construction).
First the indigenous project proposed by the Cockatoo Naval Yard (Cockatoo Island, Sydney Harbour) in 1924. Two ships to be built to replace the decommissioned and scuttled battlecruiser HMAS Australia as part of the "Empire protection plan". This plan including, to protect trade routes near Australia, and to provide their contribution to defence of the Commonwealth Empire as a whole. The design itself would resemble a significantly modified Hawkins class cruiser, with a similar hull shape and armour layout. Difference include the use of either 3 triple or 4 twin turrets, 2 more boilers in a different layout and a slightly modified superstructure and bridge. While Australia have the accurate data about the Hawkins class but at this time the Counties were still under development and thus information on them was scarce.
Armaments:
3 triple turrets housing 8inch (203mm) guns or alternatively:
4 twin turrets housing the same guns
12x1 5inch (127mm) guns in casemates 6 per beam in a casemate deck from abreast the bridge to just forward of C turret, in a 4-cornered arrangement s 4-4 can fire forward and aft with a single on each beam abreast the forward stack, and a single on each beam abreast the mainmast. As the British did not developed 5inch calibre weapons at this time the only possible option was the US made Mark 7.
4x 4inch AA guns on a raised platform with the mainmast in the middle of it.
4x 21inch Torpedo Tubes all submerged under the bridge, 2 port 2 starboard.
Triple turrets are considered bacuse at this time the Admirality considered such turrets for the Counties but later not pursued the idea.
Specifications:
Displacement: 10,000tons (probably light or empty)
Dimensions: 192m x 20.87m x 5.25m
Propulsion: 90,000shp 2 shafts
Speed: 61km/h (33knots)
Other Information:
The CA design was done quickly, as a sketch design by Cockatoo and Walsh Island designers to start work on cost estimates for the construction of such ships in Australia. At this point in time the Counties were still in early design stage, and therefore the designers had little or no data on them. Apparently they did have full drawings for the Hawkins class - the nearest thing to a modern 10,000 ton CA that they had available. So they used an expanded version of the design, with data from Vickers on the planned triple 8" turret.
Also at that time there was a modernisation proposal of the Hawkins class to be equipped with 3 twin 8inch gun turrets.
Another variant states from 1925 is that the same hull of the HMS Kent, Displacement of Light load draft under Washington Standard: 10000 tons. Engine power was 80,000shp, no data for speed but changed armament of 4x2 8inch, 4x1 4inch AA guns, 2 Pom Poms, 4x1 3 pounder saluting guns and two quadruple above water torpedo launchers.
In the end, it was the expense of building these ships in Australia to a unique design that cancelled them in favour of buying two Kent class 8" cruisers "off-the-shelf" from UK shipyards in 1925.


