"Creating Stats for Modernised/rebuilt Ships" Topic

Like many other naval wargamers I have developed my own set of rules for WW2 actions at sea. And like many rules from Fletcher-Pratt onwards standard displacement is used to determine how much damage a ship can take before sinking. I use standard displacement modified by a factor for the age of the ship, which usually reflects it's ability survive.

A factor which can be difficult to decide is how to treat modernised/updated ships. Many of these had improvements that increased their displacement, but probably did not improve their resistance to damage. If a ship is floating lower in the water less water needs to be let in to sink it. Some ships, the Italian Andrea Doria for instance, underwent massive reconstruction which made improvements to their survivability. Others had additional weapons and systems added, which increased displacement and often affected stability.

I generally use a "fiddle factor" to produce a figure that I am happy with. For instance in 1939/40 I rate the Queen Elizabeth as slightly better than the Warspite and both better that the Barham.

Have other gamers dealt with this?

Ships didn't change their draft (how deep the hull sits in the water) because that would render the armor belt too low to defend the parts of the ship it was intended to defend. Instead they would add torpedo bulges or enlarge the hull in some way to increase the volume of water displaced, or remove 'things' to counterbalance the increase in weight. Most extreme case was the Italian BBs that removed a turret. When I can't find a standard displacement I used a percent of the full load (75-80%?).

The most direct approach would be to "appropriate" info from other well regarded sources. Game systems, like SeeKrieg, do thorough work providing info on each iteration of a ship's class members. I'd suggest getting hold of a ed.4 of the series.