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Post by ccip on Jul 20, 2015 6:36:50 GMT -6
Cheers and than you! To be fair, since I've played the SAI games so much, I probably have a bit of an unfair advantage since I know exactly what to expect. So far, besides some of the unnecessary maneuvering (which probably throws of gunnery) I can't really fault the AI for a lot of things, especially since almost all the losses have been for reasons other than the classic accumulated damage from gunnery. Only the Varyag was lost that way, arguably - the others were either torpedo hits (which predreadnought ships are simply not designed for dealing with) or catastrophic magazine explosions.
But continuing on!
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Post by ccip on Jul 20, 2015 6:52:21 GMT -6
Action off Goto Islands October 20th, 1902
Following up on reports that the Russians may be at sea, Itoh takes the Combined Fleet to sea and assumes a cautious search pattern in the southern end of the Tsushima straits. At 3:30 in the afternoon, Kamimura’s cruisers make a sighting - the familiar profile of Pamyat Azova, captain Jessen’s 1st-rank cruiser. The Japanese cruisers give chase, and by 4:50 in the afternoon, Tokiwa and Iwate score their first hits on the Pamyat Azova. Itoh’s battle line remains out of sight some 15 nautical miles behind the action. Suddenly, Unebi, which is acting as a signal relay ship between Itoh’s main body and Kamimura’s cruiser force, reports her own contact directly to the west. It turns out to be the Avrora, a Pallada-class scout cruiser. Behind it, yet another ship soon appears. Itoh is apprehensive. His reservations soon prove well-founded - the latter is not merely a ship, but the Russian Pacific Fleet’s whole battle line, steaming in compact formation. Recognizing the risk, Itoh turns away and heads towards Sasebo. The coming sunset should protect his fleet. To the south, Kamimura continues to fire on the Pamyat Azova - he is entirely unaware that the Russian fleet has been detected, as his relay ship Unebi broke contact with him to scout for Itoh’s fleet soon after the scouting cruiser Avrora had been detected. He continues his pursuit as the sun falls. With his two armored cruisers (Tokiwa and Iwate; Asama is not present at this action) is a squadron of destroyers. Not all goes smoothly - after sunset, the dropping visibility and maneuvering causes Iwate and 3 of the destroyers to lose contact and stray out of the battle. Tokiwa and 5 destroyers continue the battle in the dark. Once again, the Russians stand and fight hard; Kamimura relishes the equal fight against the celebrated Pamyat Azova, a ship which has been present in every major action of this war and that his guns had so often faced. Neither side seems to gain advantage, and attempts at torpedo attacks fail to bring any result. Meanwhile, the Iwate, having lost contact with Kamimura, is sailing north to try and rejoin Itoh’s fleet. She suddenly finds herself in contact with the Russian main body. Commander Kondo on the Iwate quite fearlessly engages twice and opens fire, spooking off the Russian battleships with only his ship plus a few destroyers. None of the other Japanese forces see this action; Itoh continues his retreat, while Kamimura pounds Pamyat Azova. Despite taking some serious damage, Jessen’s Pamyat Azova slips away from Kamimura’s pursuit in the dark, and the cruiser commander, realizing that after hours of fighting he has no idea where either his 2nd armored cruiser or even his main fleet is, leaves - and not in displeasure, quite satisfied at having had the chance to again face his brave Russian counterpart. The rest of the night is quiet. All Japanese ships manage to make their way back to Sasebo by dawn without further incident. November 1902
The war wears on, and the weather grows cold. Little progress is made on land, and the shipping losses to raiders are once again growing heavy - 5 merchants are captured off Japan by the Russians during the month. However, Kamimura’s cruisers continue to deny them passage through important straits, which at least slows down their raiding efforts. Once again, the Russians offer negotiations through neutrals. Perhaps aware of their naval advantage, they offer a white peace with no concessions this time. The recently-elected government of Viscount Katsura, a career general, is wary of wasting away the imperial army’s strength by pitting them in a pointless war against the Russians - his expansionist policy looks instead southwards, to China and Indochina, where nothing can be done until the matter with Russia is settled. The Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet is approached for advice via the navy minister, Admiral Yamamoto. Itoh remarks factually that “the navy can fight on if needed”, but reiterates his view that no decisive result can be obtained at sea for the moment. The government takes that as a sign that it is, indeed, time to sue for peace. Peace - perhaps not on the terms that Japan thought she earned, but it will do. After more than a year of war, the navy has, without a doubt, emerged proudly from the war - but aside from the pride and the celebrated tales of Kamimura vs. Jessen, there is little material result. More immediately, the navy’s budget has been greatly reduced for peacetime. So severe is the reduction, that by the end of the year funding to all the ships besides Hatsuse is frozen, leaving their construction at a standstill in the foreign yards. A post-war rebuilding of the navy’s strength now begins, with lessons of fighting to be applied. Surely the experience gained will serve the fleet well in the future. There is little for the navy's men to apologize for - they performed brilliantly. The navy's only ship loss remains the torpedo boat Hokaze, whereas the Russians have lost one battleship ( Imperatritsa Ekaterina Velikaya), one 1st-rank cruiser ( Gromoboi), one 2nd-rank cruiser ( Varyag), two 3rd-rank cruisers ( Venera and Diana), and at least one torpedo boat. Japan has proved to the world that their navy is a force to reckon with in war. Now it must prove itself as capable of growing and maintaining its empire in peace. (To be continued...)
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Post by andrew on Jul 20, 2015 7:25:31 GMT -6
Excellent AAR! I look forward to each instalment. This is such a great game that it is even exciting to follow vicariously, ha ha ha.
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Post by ccip on Jul 20, 2015 8:52:07 GMT -6
Cheers and thank you! It is likewise almost as much fun to write about as to play it.
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Post by ccip on Jul 20, 2015 8:57:36 GMT -6
Year 1903 (Meiji 36)
The Katsura government’s policy of reorienting Japan’s ambitions southward takes effect, as forces are pulled away from Korea and sent to China, where Boxer rebellions are once again flaring up. The fleet, too, joins them, providing fire support - and by spring of the year the fleet’s funding, too, begins returning, with construction projects resuming. The European powers are none too pleased with Japan’s heavy-handed encroachment into China, but for the moment, need the support as the nationalist uprisings threaten their own interests there. America, on the other hand, is happy to court Japan’s armed forces with enticing arms contracts. The first of the postwar ships, the improved cruiser Yakumo, arrives from Britain. To celebrate, we send some of our fleet on a world cruise - which, despite warnings from the government to the contrary, actually imrpoves our relations with most states, particularly Britain. Diplomatic efforts are also used to reach better understanding with Germany. Year 1904 (Meiji 37)
We remain suspicious of Russia - who offer Japan a five-year security arrangement. While we’ve no interest clashing with them yet again, having just bested them militarily it is perhaps not in our interest to let them dictate terms. The naval minister Yamamoto argues against such a treaty - with an ulterior motive, since lingering uncertainty in relations with Russian and their 8-battleship fleet on our doorstep will no doubt encourage the army-led government to commit more funding to the navy. Having failed that, Russians continue to court us with offers. One we cannot say no to - they offer to sell an improved 7in gun design to us, and seeing that we are already using guns of this caliber on the Izumo class, which is nearing completion in Italy, it seems a sound offer. One power that does continue to protest our international moves is France - Russia’s ally, they seem bitter and suspicious of Japan. With Russian expansion in Asia paused for the moment, their French allies begin expanding in Indochina and the south pacific. They begin by occupying Sumatra, previously a Dutch protectorate, ignoring international efforts to stop them. Japan’s government issues a protest, and as a result, the French view us in a very hostile manner - but on the bright side, our strong protest at their tactics has earned us approval of all the other nations. We continue to court friendly powers in the meantime by organizing an Imperial regatta. Italy, not on good terms with France, offer us a technological cooperation treaty - which we take, as sharing knowlege with a European power will be no doubt to our benefit. The cooperation quickly pays off - by the end of the year, designs for a viable submarine are already in Japanese shipyards, although no funding is available for building submarines at the moment. In February 1904, our latest battleship Hatsuse arrives from the American shipyard in Philadelphia. She proves to be an excellent vessel. At last, there is some space in the budget for new ships. We approach the presently-friendly Britain for a proposal to design a cruiser for us that would be suitable for long-range foreign service and raiding, and they oblige. The resulting Chishima class, while not very good for fleet duty, look like a potent raider, and have spacious accommodations for ferrying diplomats and colonial officials, making them a tool for projecting our international power. And that’s not to mention the fact they are substantially less expensive than the Yaeyama ordered from the Americans. Next is an updated destroyer design. Once again, we find Britain as a technology leader - and request a 600t fleet torpedo boat from them, which results in the Yunagi class: Although still a short-ranged ship, it is substantially superior to our current destroyers, capable of making 31kt (compared to the 26kt ships that attacked Port Arthur in 1901). In December of the year, naval minister Yamamoto’s maneuvering for more funding in parliament has brought results - prime minister Katsura asks if the navy can build more battleship. Naturally, we can - if we’re given the money to do so! Now, our 8-8 (8 battleships, 8 large cruisers) fleet is within reach. With our shipyard capacity still modest and technology still lagging behind, an international competition for bids is sought. Of the many designs offered, the navy’s chief of the general staff Viscount Itoh favours a rather progressive British proposal, tentatively named Iki: The Iki is an experimental design, sporting three main turrets instead of the traditional two. It is a risky proposition, seeing that many in the navy still prefer ships with heavy secondaries - but all factors considered, it is a design Itoh is willing to trust in the interim, before the navy can afford even faster and more capable battelships. More than that, it is also the least expensive of all presented proposals, and funding is still scarce. Two battleships of this design are thus laid down in British shipyards. (To be continued…)
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Post by ccip on Jul 20, 2015 15:18:48 GMT -6
Year 1905 (Meiji 38)
The navy continues to grow, and to match it, the shipbuilders expand the country’s dock capacity once again, now to 17,000 tons maximum. To make room for more navy ships in the budget, the wartime minesweepers and the old 26-kt fleet torpedo boats are placed in reserve and no longer constantly manned. It does not take long to find employment for the crews freed up as a result - in May of the year, the completed armored cruiser Izumo arrives from Italy; while by August, the newest Yunagi-class destroyers begin arriving from Great Britain. France continues an aggressive colonial campaign in Indochina and Sumatra, seeking to consolidate their control over rubber and palm oil plantations there. In many cases, this consolidation runs against local and Japanese-owned possessions there, and Japanese troops and agents are frequently called in. The French do not regard the Japanese highly, and being a strategic ally of Russia, seem to hold a grudge against us for the last war. Tensions with France are rising, but we certainly have no desire to enter a war with them. By the end of the year, Japan’s prime minister Katsura makes a visit to France to try and reach an agreement to reduce tensions. It partially succeeds. Along the way, Katsura’s visit to Europe also seeks to steer clear of offending our most important partner when it comes to building up our navy. By November, the Italian-built Azuma arrives and prepares to enter service as well: With this, our 6-6 fleet (6 battleships, 6 large cruisers) is complete. The disposition of our capital ships at the moment is as follows: Year 1906 (Meiji 39)
Japan continues to gather knowledge of Western naval technology. In January, negotiations with the British provide blueprints for steam turbines to the Japanese manufacturers; in April, the cruiser Yaeyama arrives from the US East Coast, bringing with it a great deal of latest American technology. And the improvements are not merely technical - new tactics and signals procedures continue to be developed at Japan's naval college, presently headed by vice-admiral Togo. With the assistance of experimental Marconi wireless sets, some of the signal confusion that plagued our cruiser forces in the war against Russians is hoped to be resolved. Following parliamentary elections in July, the government of the army faction's prime minister Katsura is replaced by the moderate regime of marquis Saionji. Notably, Saionji had been educated in France, speaks excellent French with a Marseille accent, and his views on political and civic matters have been deeply influenced by French liberal idiology - and it is hoped that, among other things, he will be best able to find rapproachment with France. With the change in the cabinet, admiral Saito becomes naval minister. Prime Minister Marquis Saionji Kinmochi, and Naval Minister Admiral Saito Makoto.Saito has his own ideas about the navy, and presses for the construction of more cruisers - as many as a dozen, in fact. Chief of general staff Itoh regards this as an irksome plan, regarding the construction of 12 ships of any type as unrealistic for Japan to fund at present; in the end, he is able to compromise on half the requested number. Bids are solicited worldwide, requesting an inexpensive general fleet cruiser - perhaps like our American-built Yaeyama, but cheaper. The Germans come up with the best proposal for a direct Yaeyama derivative, with essentially identical features but a full 20% smaller: Not to be outdone, the British immediately propose Akashi - a 26kt cruiser with 5in armament, for nearly the same price as the German proposal. Its speed is regarded as world-leading at present, and is difficult to resist: In the end, the naval staff are sufficiently impressed that an order is placed 4 of the German design and 2 of British, albeit with some confusion over naming (the name Akashi goes to a Matsushima-class crusier, though the British design still retains Akashi as a class designation). By the end of the year, things are heating up in southern China, where French meddling has been only destabilizing the situation and forcing us to send ships to assist our farmers and traders there. Despite the moderate Saionji government’s efforts, tensions in the region continue to flare. (To be continued…)
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Post by gord96 on Jul 20, 2015 16:24:35 GMT -6
Great AAR. Just makes me want to play this amazing game more!
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Post by randomizer on Jul 20, 2015 17:00:05 GMT -6
An excellent AAR that showcases many of RTW's strengths, thank you for writing and posting it here.
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Post by derflinger58 on Jul 20, 2015 18:31:14 GMT -6
I really enjoy your AAR ; it's like reading a history book! Very well done !
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Post by ccip on Jul 20, 2015 21:19:04 GMT -6
Cheers and thank you, folks Glad to have you following, and certainly lots to write about that is coming up!
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Post by ccip on Jul 20, 2015 21:29:52 GMT -6
Year 1907 (Meiji 40)
Throughout this year, tensions in Asia continue to heat up. In China, uprisings by local socialists and nationalists - who are set on attacking the officials of the old Imperial order and the foreign colonists in equal measure - continue sporadically, requiring intervention. Japan’s many concessions and business interests require protection; in many cases, other nations’ reactions to the rebels are half-hearted (save for the very aggressive French), and Japan’s troops and ships end up carrying much of the burden of keeping China a safe and stable market for the rest of the world. In Indochina and Indonesia, French moves have destabilized the situation. In Burma, a violent rebellion against the British is gathering pace. As the British focus on this problem, Cambodian and Vietnamese militias, supported by the French, begin encroaching into Siam. The Siamese king is a strategic partner of the Japanese, and requests aid. The arrival of this aid only serves to stoke tensions with the French and their allies. The tensions with France nearly boil over into conflict as their colonial ministry accuses Japan of stockpiling supplies for invasions of China and Indochina. In order to allay tensions, the government looks for a way to make a political feint. As it happens, in June 1907, the long-time chief of general staff of the navy, admiral Itoh, is retiring. Having triumphed over first the Chinese, then over Russians, he is to make one last speech to Japan’s navy league - an organization that is far closer to the Army’s staunchly militaristic ethos than the Navy’s caution and ambivalence, which Itoh embodied in his career. The world press gets ready to scrutinize the retiring admiral’s words. The Navy league expects to hear a strong assurance that the navy is ready to counter its greatest threat. Before the speech, the politically-savvy naval minister Saito, under pressure from the Prime Minister’s office, pleads with Itoh to create a diversion so as not to give the French a “cause de guerre”, but also not lose the militaristic Navy league’s trust (and with it, significant amounts of vital navy funding). Itoh obliges, merely out of a sense of duty - and drops a bombshell by making a lengthy, rambling speech outlining the navy’s future outlook against the US, the rising Pacific power. The speech puzzles many abroad, not the least in the US which regarded Japan as a strategic partner, but achieves its intended result: the French leave without the rebuke they’d expected; the Navy league financeers leave satisfied with the vision of a future navy that could take on a force as powerful as the US. The American press, meanwhile, largely dismisses the speech as ramblings of a senile retiring admiral, and relations are hardly affected as a result. The 64-year-old Itoh subsequently disappears from the public eye, having no political ambitions whatsoever - although he is honorarily regarded as a genroh (elder statesman). He would live on quietly in his retirement until his death in 1914, remaining a revered figure among Japanese sailors. His replacement at the head of the Navy’s general staff is the recently-promoted admiral Togo Heihachiro - a political unknown and virtually unheard of by the Japanese public, but strongly respected in the navy as former head of the Naval War College. From here on, the Japanese government has no choice but to adopt a cautious approach to Asian affairs. When a nationalist revolt erupts in Shanghai, which has important French concessions as well as a great deal of Japanese business, a very modest evacuation is ordered, under the eyes of a maneuvering French colonial fleet. When enthusiastic arms manufacturers propose of sending even more weapons to Siam, which looks poised to fall to French colonial ambitions, the government refuses to increase already-set export quotas. When a British spy is caught, the story is given full exposure - perhaps to prove to the French that they are in no way being singled out by Japan when it comes to managing instability; but more so to press the rather liberal government for more military funding. Nonetheless, it is not from the government that the most significant bit of funding for the year comes from - the Navy league, satisfied with the outgoing Itoh’s speech, runs a subscription program to collect money for a new battleship from private citizens. By November, they raise some 50 million. International bids are once again solicited, with the new chief of staff Togo finding most of them unsatisfying. In the end, a highly customized British design ends up being choicen - less as a battleship proper, and more as a direct replacement for our present armoured cruisers. Togo favours it particularly due to its mobility. It is still more expensive than the 50 million we were granted, but seems suited to long-term service. The resulting naval construction program at the end of 1907 looks as follows: Year 1908 (Meiji 41)
Deliveries on these previous orders ramp up this year. The cruiser Chishima, first of our purpose-built long-range cruisers, is completed by the British. Akitsushima, the first of our German-built 24kt cruisers, also begins working up. By July, the entire scouting program - including the British and German orders - is fully completed, with the ships working up to active status by the end of the year. One disappointment is the Akashi class - despite British promises of 26kt speeds, which persuaded the navy to buy them in the first place, we find that these ships are barely able to make 25. Perhaps it was too ambitious to expect them to be so fast! More importantly, in early September, the 3-turret battleships Iki and Hizen arrive together from Britain, and are greeted in a lavish ceremony at Yokosuka, with the Emperor himself in presence. Even before these capital ship deliveries are filled, bids are already being solicited for the next phase of the navy. Here, admiral Togo plays a crucial role, acting as a determined and detail-minded critic. He quickly discards all bids except those from British shipyards, which he regards as technically superior - and indeed, the British boast many technologies that other countries cannot offer. Among them, most crucially, are torpedo bulges - regarded by Togo as essential to surviving combat on the modern battlefield. The competition is gradually whittled down to two designs: the Sagami-class battleship, designed by Armstrong-Whitworth; and the Suwo-class, as offered by Vickers. Both are 3-turret ships, but built in a much more advanced arrangement with triple guns and a superfiring capability. In the end, it is the Sagami’s superior speed for nearly no extra that wins over. However, even before the design is signed off on, many of the Suwo’s features are incorporated into Sagami. A much enlarged version of the Suwo design is even being considered for later. Later in the year, as tensions escalate and military funding increases, the navy minister Saito insists that more battleships should be laid down. After considering the navy’s situation, admiral Togo orders all of the navy’s original 26-kt fleet torpedo boats scrapped to free up crews and resources, then approaches the British yet again for a battleship design. This time, a Vickers design, adapting some features of their previous offering Suwo, is chosen: An ship with elegantly-curving decks and an attractive profile, the Kawachi is a fast and potent ship. Although not heavily armored, it is to have a world-leading broadside - thanks to its wing turrets with limited cross-deck capability, the Kawachi will be able to fire thirteen 12-inch guns on a single target, something no other ship in the world can do. It is to be Japan’s first true dreadnought. Two ships, the Kawachi and the Kashima, are laid down from this program. In October, with construction proceeding well and British arms manufacturers competing fiercely with each other for foreign contracts, Vickers manage to convince Japan to buy a third ship of the Kawachi class, to be called the Katori. Thus, by 1911 the Japanese navy should possess a fleet of 8 dreadnought ships, 6 of them designed for 22kt of maximum speed and thus capable of fully replacing not only the old battleships, but also the original armored cruisers. In international politics, Japan continues to exercise caution, shrinking away from gunboat diplomacy and displays of power. Cooperation is sought wherever possible, and a second technological cooperation treaty is signed with Italy. On the matter of Siam, Prime Minister Saionji calls for an international peace conference, trying to persuade other powers to de-escalate the situation in Indochina and force France to check its ambitions. But nothing seems to work - and the situation is exacerbated when in December, British control over Burma collapses entirely. In the end, no concessions seem to work to stabilize a volatile Asia, and Saionji is forced to resign his government. The conservative cabinet of General Katsura returns to power, taking a much more forceful militaristic stance. As the year winds to a close, the Japanese public (not to mention the government) seem to have no more faith in peaceful solutions in Asia… (To be continued...)
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Post by ccip on Jul 20, 2015 23:31:25 GMT -6
Year 1909 (Meiji 42)
Before we move to the next bit of action, I thought it would be good to provide a quick overview of Japan's disposition at the start of the year.As the year begins, Asia is in perhaps its greatest turmoil for decades. Following years of colonization and embarrassing defeats at the hands of foreign powers, not to mention corruption of imperial officials, China continues collapsing in a series of popular revolts. The weakened Chinese regime is powerless against these revolts, while the many established business ventures and territorial concessions of foreign powers compel them to bring their own troops to suppress the revolts. Japan has been the most active among these powers for many years, but now France is gradually becoming the predominant power, particularly in the south. Following a British defeat to local guerillas in Burma, the French have been on the move in Indochina, threatening to turn the entire region into their colony. In China as well, the French concessions at Guandzhou, Hankou and Shanghai have been growing, often at the expense of Japanese trade interests, which they've quite wilfuly failed to protect from roaming militias. And, after a nationalist rebellion broke out in the Anhui province in November 1908, they have actively interfered with Japanese efforts to send troops and defend their citizens there.Japan, meanwhile, has consolidated a hold on southern Korea - and, unofficially, on Northern Korea as well, after pushing Russian forces from there during the war. Although the only other overseas possession of Japan is Taiwan, lawfully handed over to Japanese control after the Chinese defeat in 1905, Japan possesses far-reaching interests throughout China and southeast Asia, with a great deal of property and citizens moving there to exploit natural resources and trade. By the numbers, Japan has invested more into Asia than any other power over the past decade, and understandably feel entitled to greater political rights there. Evidently, not everyone agrees!After a decade of expansion, the Japanese navy has made some respectable progress, with more yet to come. Japan's naval budget already exceeds that of Russia in 1909, and in cooperation with Britain, she has one of the most modern battle fleets in the world on the books and due to be built by 1911.(click for larger version)
The Japanese active navy in January 1909 is made up of 8 battleships, 6 armored cruisers, 13 light cruisers, 15 destroyers and 10 minelayers. BattleshipsJapan's battle fleet is still effectively a pre-dreadnought force, although its two largest ships, the Iki and Hizen, are intermediate designs that feature three 12in turrets, at the cost of a reduced secondary armament. Armored CruisersAlthough by far the most celebrated ships of the Japanese navy (Tokiwa, the flagship of the cruiser squadron, had earned 7 battle stars for her role in the war against Russia), the armored cruisers are veteran ships that are getting up in years. None of them are considered a match for more modern Western counterparts, and although they are still in the active fleet, they are confined largely to secondary roles.Light CruisersJapan's light cruiser forces have been updated well throughout the last several years. The most capable of them remains the American-built Yaeyama, but the German-built Matsushima class that is directly derived from her is virtually identical in performance and much more compact. Minor CombatantsJapan's front-line destroyers are the British-built Yunagi class, which possess exceptional performance.Key FiguresThe Meiji Emperor (Mutsuhito)
The 56 year old Emperor of Japan is regarded as a wise and thoroughly enlightened figure. Revered by much of Japan’s population, his duty is to embody the dignity and divinity of his throne, and therefore he does not comment on political and civic matters. His ceremonial poems, however, hint at melancholy in regard to looming war on the seas: "The seas of the four directions— all are born of one womb: why, then, do the wind and waves rise in discord?"Prime Minister Viscount Katsura Taro
Entering his second term as head of government after defeating his arch-rival Saionji, Katsura is a retired army general who is highly regarded by the public. Katsura is known for his strictly conservative and militaristic views, favouring militaristic expansion into China and Korea. He has little interest in appeasing France over the situation in Asia. Naval Minister Vice-Admiral Baron Saito Makoto
A former cruiser captain and a man of great political ambition; some rumours about him suggest that he has been involved in machinations with European arms manufacturers. Chief of the Naval General Staff Admiral Baron Togo Heihachiro
A brilliant tactician and previous head of the Naval War College, Togo has succeeded Viscount Itoh as the navy’s primary decisionmaker. Although held in high regard by navy officers and men, he is a virtual unknown to the Japanese public, having no more political ambitions than his predecessor Itoh. Commander in Chief, 1st Fleet Vice-Admiral Baron Ijuin Goro
A close associate of Togo, Ijuin is likewise a progressive tactical thinker, a brilliant technological inventor, and compulsive drillmaster. Since taking command of the 1st Fleet, the navy’s main battle force, he has kept the ships excessively busy with constant exercises - leading to the joke among the sailors that a week in Ijuin’s fleet is made up of seven days: “Monday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Friday”. Commander of Yokosuka Base Vice Admiral Baron Kamimura Hikonjo
The celebrated hero of war against Russians, the cruiser leader Kamimura is alive and well in 1909, although away from frontline service. However, many in the pro-military faction hope that, should hostilities arise, he could be returned to a sea command to bolster popular morale. Commander in Chief, 2nd Fleet Vice-Admiral Baron Dewa Shigeto
A cruiser officer of exceptional experience, Dewa is also the most senior navy officer from northern Japan - every other admiral in the Japanese Navy to date has come from the southern Satsuma prefecture. Although regarded as somewhat of an outsider by the high command staff, he is considered to be exceptionally skilled. He leads the 2nd Fleet, which had originated as Kamimura’s 2nd squadron, and has been composed mainly of mobile armored cruisers. ***And so, in January of 1909, the Japanese government has abandoned its efforts to come to an agreement with France, which continues to interfere with efforts to assist allies in Indochina and Japanese citizens and businesses in China, where they are being savaged by frequent local uprisings. Colonial tensions have boiled over into war, and the navy's ships, both old and new, prepare for the coming battle... (To be continued...)
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Post by ivaldi on Jul 21, 2015 6:00:47 GMT -6
Very nice AAR, I look forward to the continued.
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Post by fishbed on Jul 21, 2015 21:38:34 GMT -6
I don't know how many of us wake up every morning hoping for an update, but you sure can count me as one of them.
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Post by phoenix on Jul 22, 2015 14:10:01 GMT -6
It's getting better as you pile in the details and photos. Great stuff. I'm watching your ship designs very carefully to see what elements I can copy, and how they do in battle.
Peter
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