Someone is building that airship battleship we all have seen.

[Jay-Jay]

hhh One question please? What about propulsion and steering? 

If more needed, have a look on this free dwnld (page 4) you can find on leviathan games web site 
http://monstersinthesky.com/downloads/E-CAT31000A_Leviathans%20Gazetteer_ForWeb.pdf

[Madoc]

None of which I think is... adequate...

For actual "airships" in the sense we understand them, perhaps.  What we understand as "airships" are ultra-lighweight wispy little things with just barely enough structural material wrapped around their giant gas bags to keep everything hanging together - and even then that's only on days with essentially no wind to speak of.

In the Leviathans setting, these vessels are full-on and full-up heavily armed and armored things of steel with even more steel armor plate.  These vessels are armored to withstand the impact and explosions of shells from the heavy naval guns of the day.  So, even a relatively small destroyer leviathan would weigh well over a thousand tons.

That being the case, I think the control surfaces would have to be much bigger and the propulsion screws would have to be bother bigger and much more massive then the smallish and wispy looking things they have depicted.

Plus, though I can understand the need from an artistic perspective, I think that any actual "leviathan" would wind up looking more like a "lumpy submarine" than what they have rendered.

Perhaps the first generation of such vessels would be laid out along the lines of an oceangoing ship but that'd quickly change once any of the designers gained any experience in actual operating conditions.  Aerodynamic streamlining wold quickly become paramount.  And so to would the ability to engage targets at all elevations - both above and below the ship and not just those more or less in the same plane as the vessel.  Gun mounts then, would look a lot different.

What I could see is leviathans being laid out and built with their "electrical fluid" tanks and mechanisms being at the very center of the vessel and all the other ship systems wrapped around them.  And then around all that would be a lightweight aerodynamic shell.  The only thing poking out of the shell being the ship's gun turrets and sighting mechanisms.  Any walkways would be inside that shell as that would both reduce drag and be safer for the crew using them.  Hatches in the shell would abound.

The routing and mechanisms necessary to feed ammo the ship's big guns would be no small feat as those guns would have to be much more flexible in their mounts than the naval guns we're used to.  And coming up with an automatic trimming mechanism for when the guns all shifted to off beam targets would also be no small thing – and a major advantage in combat.

Anyway, lotsa potential here!

[Go4fun]

If you build it they will find fault. :   But who will brave/crazy/onery enough to build the first WhIf ship like this?

[Madoc]

Go4fun,

Then why ask about propulsion and steering?   

To me it's all about how much - or how little - disbelief you're willing to suspend in order to enjoy what's presented.

And for me - and number of others - what works best to present something that requires the minimum amount of disbelief to be suspended.  Hence the "rusty, mechanical, plumbing on the outside, with big jet engine nozzles everywhere" look of Star Wars is easier to accept with minimal suspension than is the "all glowy shiny crystals and folks running around in gossamer spandex robes" look of the more abysmal sci-fi stuff from the 50s.

So, you take the McGuffin of _A_ scientist coming up with _A_ breakthrough and then you limit the rest of the presentation to that.  Everything else operates by the same and familiar rules of physics that we expect.  And the best tales do a wonderful job of exploring the fallout of those limits.

Don't get me wrong, I've been a big fan of airships since I was but a lad.  I really love the idea of being able to serenely and comfortable move through the clouds.  And the idea of being able to comfortably stop amongst and take it all in is really really cool.  You can't do that in any sort of airplane.  Helicopters are out and even hot air balloons can't do so for very long.  And any lighter than air ship has its own severe limitations.

But, having some "wunder-tech" which would allow for a heavier than air air ship to do that serenity amongst the clouds thing would be truly awesome. 

So, I'm a big fan of what the Leviathan guys have cooked up as a basic premise. 

And my vision of it is running along the lines of keeping that disbelief as easy to suspend as possible.

[Go4fun]

Point taken Madoc. I'm just wondering who will build this or something like it?

[Cobra]

Go4fun, the Design looks like Something from either 'Space 1889' or a Jules Verne Novel,you Know they'd Get Creative with That kind of Thing! The Design looks Similar to Some of the Early Battleship Models, That may be the Place to Start. Dan