"Need good detailed pix of WW2 cruiser, HMS York" Topic

Hey all, slightly off-topic but still miniature/model related and definitely about combat.

The guys have almost dragged me into their 1/144 "fast gun" radio controlled warship hobby. I'm getting seriously interested in gunsmithing the BB-gun cannon and seem to have settled onto the WW2 cruiser, HMS York as my first love to try and build for my first attempt and battles.

I'd really like to try my hand at one of the Queen Elizabeth Battleships but I figure I'd better start slightly smaller first.

I have found several web images of the ship(top and side views), but nothing any good regarding the lower hull shape or especially about the shafts + propellers and whether or not is has 1 or 2 rudders. The length (575') and beam (57') are easy to find but I also cannot find any measurements for the depth(?) of the hull.

I'm the stubborn type, and want to buid it myself from the keel up instead of trying to find an order a fiberglass hull kit to build up from there.

Anyone know where I can find some good, clean images of her to help plan the hull?, or if necessary, anyone know where I could buy a book or plans for her construction to help guide me in the right direction? Drawings would be the better than photos I think.

Thanks all! Hopefully someone can steer me in the right direction.

While not an exact twin you might do better looking for Exeter. Between River Plate and Java Sea she was certainly the more famous of the two Cathedral class ships and there may be a greater volume of material on her than York.

@McKinstry
Not a bad idea! She had 1' wider beam, a more modern designed bridge, and her stacks and masts were straight instead of raked like York's were.

Otherwise their basic hull was identical, as far as I know.
I'm very stubborn and would still prefer to build York, but if I can get all the info I need on Exeter first then I'll try that instead.
Thanks!

Hop on over to steelnavy.com and ask on the message board there. I don't do RN stuff myself, but people there will know exactly where to look. I'd bet that someone sells plans, which will cost a bit, but a large scale scratchbuild is worth the investment.

JS

@JGSGames

Yeah, it will be. And this one will be armed with 2-3 BB Cannon and possibly a BB "torpedo". The rules are that the cannon have to be single shot guns, shooting 1 BB per push of the joystick. The "torpedo" is a "spurt gun" and fires most to ALL of it's full load of BBs with a single salvo, potentially causing a BIG hole with the concentrated burst.

according to Raven and Roberts, York had a 57 ft beam and is identical hull wise to Exeter except Exeter had a 58 ft beam to accomodate her slightly heavier tonnage.
York had 4 propeller shafts, each pair driven by 2 geared turbines in 2 engine rooms. One center mounted rudder.
They say her hull design is the same stepped hull as the E class cruisers (Enterprise and Emerald) --whatever that means.

@BuckeyeBob
Thanks for the info regarding the E class cruiser hulls. That gives me another source of info to search out.

And thanks for confirming the single rudder. The photos I have showed 4 props but I couldn't tell if there was 1 or 2 rudders along the center.

mackster
Conways lists york as having a deep load depth of 20ft3inches. Janes says average keel depth is 17 ft.
hope that helps as well.

Here's a small-scale plan (hope the URL is accepted by the TMP engine). For large-scale, I'd try the National Maritime Museum in UK.

link

Here's the NMM link:

link