actually now that im off from the drunken stupor for few hours, i DO remember what the inspiration was; CSS Ironclad.
Her christened name was the
C.S.S. Virginia, Mackie. She had no class name; the
Virginia was a one-off design built off a scuttled Union frigate hull. 'Ironclad' was not a class of ship- think of it more as a designator like battleship, carrier, or frigate. It discribes ships as diverse as the
C.S.S. Virginia and
U.S.S. Mointor, and even including such ocean-going ships as the Royal Navy's
H.M.S. Warrior and the French
La Gloire.
Great ship- I like the way that it looks... that "BFGothic" feel really adds to it. And the 'large bays' would be an absolute necessty, what with this being before transporters and not standing a chance in hell of landing. The bigger, the better; it looks more like a Marine assault ship to me than it does anything else.