Ship Size, Tonnage and Crew

AssaultManeuvers3In most cases “Tonnage” is not exactly weight. Displacement measures weight of a volume of water displaced, not the vessel’s absolute weight in pounds put on a scale. It should not be confused with other measurements of volume. Since we don’t usually have water in space. . . values are slightly different. The Zuku’s from the desert planet of Blarb might have a different measurement.

Merchant ships on the other hand are usually measured based on the volume of cargo they can carry.

One Displacement Ton is roughly the equivalent of 13.5 kiloliters of volume.  This can be solid metal OR a wide open area.

Real world the International Space Station is 419,455KG, which in some books is about 419 metric tonnes (or 924,739 pounds). The habitable volume is 388 cubic meters (13,696 cubic feet). Pressurized volume is 916 cubic meters. This equates to about 2.1 cubic meters of livable space per tonne. Overall the ISS is larger than a six bedroom house with 6 crew, or 152 cubic meters per person. Sounds spacious, but it isn’t. The ISS is spread out over the size of a football field.

By comparison a nucleur submarine has a crew of 14 officers, 18 chief petty officers (senior enlisted) and 109 other enlisted men and pretty much everyone works a lot more than 8 hours a day. A ‘day’ onboard a submarine is 18 hours, not 24. This equates to three different six hour shifts, so someone works 6 hours and then is off for 12 hours. One side effect of this is that three crewmen share the same rack.

Now. An Ohio class submarine is 16,764 tonnes surfaced. 18,750 tonnes submerged. The length is 170 meters (560 feet) and about 13 meters tall (42 feet) and about 10.8 meters wide. So using raw numbers that is 23,868 cubic meters, but because of the dimensions (not a perfect box) we will shave off some space and call it 18,000 cubic meters which includes everything from engines to toilet water. If we are generous and say 1/3 of that is actually habitable space (I’ve been on subs and it might actually be a lot less than that), we are down to 6,000 cubic meters of ‘livable’ but very cramped and claustrophobic space. So. . . Playing the numbers game that is about 42 cubic meters per person and about 1 tonne per cubic meter.

International Space Station and an Ohio Submarine Comparison

ISS Ohio Sub
Crew 6 142
Tonne (Metric) 419 18750
Length 51 170
Width 109 10.8
Height 73 13
Pressurized Volume 916 6000
Cubic Space Per Person 152 42
Tonnage per Cubic Meter 2.1 1
Tonne per Person 70 132

 

Below is a list of modern warships.  Note that the Zumwalt is one of the most advanced and most automated ships currently produced.

Modern Warships

Ship Class Tonnage Crew Role TonePerCrew Length(m) Beam(m) Draft(m)
Shchuka 704 38 Submarine (Medium) 19 57 6.2 3.78
Flower 1036 85 Corvette 12 62.5 10.1 3.51
Barracuda 1179 37 Submarine(attack) 32 59.77 7.49 4.39
Whisky 1350 54 Submarine(Coastal Patrol) 25 83.3 6.5 4.9
Dekabrist 1354 53 Submarine (Diesel) 26 76 6.5 3.8
Gleaves 1630 276 Destroyer 6 106.15 11 4.01
K-Class 2600 67 Submarine (Cruiser) 39 97.65 7.4 4.51
Hamilton Class 3250 167 Cutter 19 115 13 4.6
Golf-class 3553 83 Submarine(Ballistic Missile) 43 98.9 8.2 8.5
Anzac 3600 163 Frigate 22 118 14.8 4.35
Kilo-class 3950 52 Submarine(Diesel) 76 74 9.9 6.5
Adelaide 4100 198 Frigate 21 139 14 6.7
Oliver Hazard Perry 4100 235 Frigate 17 138 14 6.7
National Security 4600 113 Cutter 41 127 16 6.9
Virginia 7900 135 Submarine(Attack) 59 115 10 N/a
Arleigh Burke 9800 303 Destroyer 32 155 20 9.3
Ticonderoga 9800 400 Guided Missile Cruiser 25 173 16.8 10.2
Sea Wolf 12139 140 Submarine(Nuclear Attack) 87 108 12 N/A
Zumwalt 14564 140 Modern Destroyer 104 180 24.6 8.4
Minotaur 14800 802 Cruiser 18 158.2 22.7 7.9
Lord Nelson 18106 800 Battleship 23 135.18 24.23 8
Ohio 18750 155 Submarine(Ballistic Missile) 121 170 13 10.8
Invincible 20750 1000 Battle Cruiser 21 173 23.9 9.1
New York 28367 1042 Battleship 27 175 29.03 8.7
Alaska 34253 2251 Heavy Cruiser 15 246.43 28 9.68
Essex 36380 3120 Aircraft Carrier 12 270.7 45 8.4
Typhoon 48000 160 Submarine(Ballistic Missile) 300 175 23 12
Iowa 58000 2250 Fast Battleship 26 270 33 11
Montana 70965 2572 Battleship 28 280 36.93 10.97
Nimitz 94781 5828 Aircraft Carrier 16 332.8 76.8 12.5
TI-Class 517660 20 Super tanker 25883 380 68 24.5
Seawise Giant 646642 40 Super tanker 16166 458.45 68 24.6

 

REFERENCE:

International Space Station
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/onthestation/facts_and_figures.html

http://iss.jaxa.jp/kids/en/station/03.html

Submarine OHIO
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio-class_submarine

Cruise Ships
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_world%27s_largest_cruise_ships