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Post by garrisonchisholm on May 16, 2017 6:54:02 GMT -6
Wow! (seems to be my favorite word this morning) Just a night's sleep and I wake to 3 opinions rendered. Very good! I will get the next bit writ tonight or tomorrow, with a follow-on for the weekend, dealing with the PLC's labors following the Republics and Commonwealth War. Thank you eserchie , babylon218 , & konstantinua00, that was nice to wake up to.
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Post by nickjm on May 17, 2017 0:48:15 GMT -6
And a fourth for a peacetime installment! This has been an excellent read so far, looking forward to more!
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Post by garrisonchisholm on May 17, 2017 17:49:13 GMT -6
nickjm Noted! And welcome to the forums! (setting to work on chapter 32 now...)
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Post by garrisonchisholm on May 17, 2017 20:35:48 GMT -6
Chapter 32.
The construction die was cast, and now it was only the case for Commonwealth industry to carry it through- to build 4 Wirs, 6 Gnieznos, and as many of a fleet-rated version of those cruisers as possible. International affairs would need to be minded whilst the efforts were underway, though at that moment there was little concern.
In January and July of '29 tensions had risen with Austria for no obvious cause, save perhaps a growing jealousy over the swift re-acceptance of German goods and commerce following two dreadful wars. In April of '30 however tensions unavoidably rose again, as even the most modest efforts to evacuate nationals from more Moroccan turmoil proved irritating to every western nation. This was followed by July news announcing an Austrian re-armament program, which even though dismissed by Warsaw as irrelevant and not worthy of worry, none-the-less illustrated the unhappiness of the Commonwealth's southern neighbor.
In August the Gniezno-class Krakow was laid down, and a month later the Gniezno herself launched, which exhibited the typical tendency of overburdened PLC designs to not make her intended top speed. A month further on in October the Gniezno actually collided with an Austrian destroyer during the coronation review for the new king of Sweden, which did not improve relations when the Gniezno's captain had firmly faulted the Austrian vessel.
Following the war's conclusion relations with America had dramatically normalized, and then throughout that first year of 1928 dramatically improved with the fading prospects of the Harding administration. Harding had gambled on popular sentiment and the backing of Big Media to collude with their former enemy in war, and then had not had the fortitude to stick to the plow when Germany had cried 'uncle' and the Commonwealth had emerged with Dominica intact. Harding's rival in the election campaign, and the beneficiary of the anti-Harding sentiment, was in fact an old friend of the Commonwealth. Following the Great War, Herbert Hoover had built upon his international reputation as a humanitarian by spending much effort and attention upon Eastern Europe. The King in fact had hosted him numerous times during his work. He was inaugurated in January of '29.
Now in January of '31 President Hoover made a tour of Europe to promote economic measures meant to stem the dramatic downturn of 1929, and he paid a visit to the elderly King. The visit turned into a short stay as Hoover toured numerous cities with the King, the monarch's first extensive public appearances since before the war. The conversations became plans, and after a stop in London on his return in February, America joined the Commonwealth Alliance. Throughout the remainder of the year little of note occurred, save for an unexpected squabble with England in October and November over Caribbean tariffs. The health of both alliance and nation seemed sound.
In February of '32 the Admiral Wir was launched, and in honor of the founder of the first Commonwealth fleet in 1619 the next Wir was laid down as Wladyslaw IV. In April the Gniezno Krakow was launched, and Kalisz laid down. The only other matter of note from 1932 was the Jozef Poniatowski being chosen to take this year's cadet class on their graduation tour, quite an undertaking for the nearly 3o-year-old ship. In January of '33 the Poznan was finally returned to active service as economic matters had improved, and in February the 4th Gniezno was started, Czestochowa.
On the 14th of March, Alexsandr had a very strange dream. Admiral Wir came to him, shook him awake and said;
“...if the Commonwealth had a chance to add territory with minimal bloodshed, strengthening her manpower and wealth, should she not so expand? If Egypt were a client and open to our governance, would you turn down her canal?”
Alexsandr awoke in the morning, his adjutant Maxwell shaking him with the lights of lamps behind him in the hall. “Activity Sir, in the Caribbean. Panama has sent a plea to the King, who has summoned a council at once.”
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Post by garrisonchisholm on May 21, 2017 12:39:19 GMT -6
Chapter 33.
In 1914 the Panama Canal had opened under US administration, however with the new nation of Panama still claiming suzerainty. Now 19 years later the initial working lease was coming to an end and the negotiations were not going favorably in the eyes of America for its continuation. They explained to Panama that they would not have invested 300 million dollars in a decade-long project only to give it away after 20 years, and implied that they also would not let a bargaining table stand in the way of a proper resolution.
Panama was duly alarmed, and approached the other major player in the Caribbean, England. England however had been shameless with their own conflict resolution, feeling no compunctions against reclaiming New Zealand and occupying Cuba. England was happy to talk to Panama, but was far more interested in taking over the canal than in keeping it free. Upon realizing this, Panama turned to the only other major power in region, the Commonwealth.
At the King's council the matter was debated. In the face of probable occupation by America or England, Panama advocated to enter the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth as a full member state. Should the Commonwealth permit this application, her allies would not be pleased. America looked on the Commonwealth quite favorably, but England's Parliament was herself rather recently peeved over those two months of tariff disputes. Presently the Commonwealth enjoyed an alliance with the two most powerful nations on Earth, but that would be put at risk should they proceed. Alexsandr knew all this, yet when The King turned his aged head for Alexsandr's opinion, recalling the words of Admiral Wir all he could bring himself to say was “...whatever Your Majesty feels is best.” With the promise of drafting the final accomplishment of his reign, the King gave the order- dispatch a cruiser with the Dominican Governor in attendance and accept their application for membership upon arrival in Panama City.
Unfortunately, with a directness that was eminently American, upon first wind of what was in the offing the United States seized control of the country with an almost embarrassing lack of drama. With Canal policing forces and a single destroyer's Marine detachment, the Commonwealth's plan was foiled at the last hour.
America was not at all pleased with the PLC's proposed interference, and their Ambassador let it be known that the new President valued her partnership but would not let a “second cheek” be turned in the future. England on the other hand was incensed, as they had been a mere 36 hours away from their own decent upon Panama in force and blamed the Commonwealth for forcing America's hand, dashing their dreams of owning the two most important waterways in the world. For the 3rd time, England ended the treaty of Commonwealth Defense, Parliament this time not even bothering to withdraw but rather repudiating it entirely.
So now the Commonwealth moved forward chagrined, and truth to tell the King personally embarrassed at their failure. The remainder of his reign would seem to carry for him a cloud of sorrow which none could gainsay or dispel.
Tensions also rose with Austria and France from the incident, and they would later escalate a bit more with America as well, but the remainder of 1933 passed without further international inflammation. The early improving economic situation had permitted the research budget to rise to 3% from its tithe, and light cruiser Lwow was laid down in September.
The newest Gneizno was launched in January, Kalisz, however a spanner was then thrown into the works in March. The new Navy Minister, Rudenk Hjal, voiced concerns over insufficient destroyers to properly ward the Fleet, and he was right. At present there were only 16 of the new Makrelas, and there were soon going to be virtually as many capital ships to shepherd. However addressing this at this time would mean putting a delay upon ordering the last 2 battleships of the current program. Never-the-less, in the end the need was valid and the budget boost desired, so Alexsandr agreed. In July, a month before Wladyslaw IV's commissioning, 21 more Makrelas would be laid down.
Before this in April and May however came international developments which affected relations. More Moroccan troubles caused a need again for a modest fleet dispatch, and on May 20th the Prime Minister of Greece was assassinated, with fingers being pointed to Austria, and tensions rose throughout Europe. England protested the Commonwealth's attempt at a measured response, seeing it as the beginning of an attempt to develop inroads. Only Russia was perfectly happy with the Commonwealth's direction, content to see matters proceed while they focused on the national modernization which was sorely needed to stave off popular unrest.
In this atmosphere the last foreign-station Gneizno was laid down, Zunosc, and the first 3 dispatched to their designated post- Gneizno, Krakow, & Kalisz being sent to Dominica, with Jozef being called home.
In October though came troubling news. In South-east Asia the major wealth of the French colonial empire rubbed shoulders with the American Philippines, and a dispute between the two states over France opening a duty-free port to monopolize trade caused America to ask for a statement of support of their claim of unfair practice. The Prime Minister after consultation returned those assurances, and suddenly hostilities with France seemed to be a real possibility. At the end of the year 5 destroyers of 15 which had been put on hold for economic reasons were restarted with the launching of Czestochowa.
1935 saw Alexsandr working furiously to reduce tensions with all the European states, and in minor and significant ways he was successful, the most noteworthy being brokering a diplomatic resolution to the Moroccan Crisis, which had spilled over into insurrection against French rule in June. In this moderating light the Kettler-class Zygmunt August had won April's shooting competition, and in July 6 destroyers and Lwow were launched, allowing the remaining 10 temporarily halted to be resumed. 2 additional destroyers were launched in each of August, September, and October, and at year's end thanks to the October decision to not become involved in a colonial crisis in China, matters seemed tense but stable in Europe.
The Commonwealth though was then saddened, for her King of 41 years passed away in November, after a long and obvious decline which had seemed to become accelerated after the Panama affair. The 4 weeks of Advent became a memorial period to his monarchy which was only lifted with the Joy of Christmas morning. The state had immediately no ready answer for his replacement, for his only child had married an Australian businessman and made it clear she was uninterested in taking on the responsibility. It appeared the Commonwealth would be returning to its history of an elective monarchy if it did seek a replacement, though some now spoke that it was time to set-aside the tradition and for all to see the Prime Minister as the ultimate head of state. The debate would not be swiftly settled, but what Alexsandr knew was that he now no longer answered to a man, but rather a to a board.
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Post by garrisonchisholm on May 25, 2017 20:32:17 GMT -6
Good evening everyone. Just wanted to post a brief note here, it may be (even) weeks before I carry on this narrative, but please stand by.
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Post by garrisonchisholm on Jun 17, 2017 11:46:56 GMT -6
Chapter 34.
The following February 1936 the USA requested to extend the defensive pact with the Commonwealth, which was certainly good from the PLC's position. Having chosen to support them in their spat with France it would have certainly done no good were they to then simply allow the treaty to lapse. Also in February the light cruiser Zamosc was launched, allowing the 3rd Wir to be laid down, and in honor of the late king was named Wladyslaw V.
In March an American Red Cross relief vessel calling at Bar was seized by an Austrian boarding party, claiming they were simply abetting the escape of Montenegrin “rebels”, as conflict in that tiny state sparked anew. Having no naval presence in the Mediterranean America asked for and received a strong statement of support from the Commonwealth, delivered by the Prime Minister after ratification by the Sejm. Tensions with Austria rose to their highest level since the War, and the Army was deployed to the frontier.
In April and May 7 destroyers were launched, and with the trials finished for Zamosc she and her two sisters Czestochowa and Lwow were dispatched to their intended station of Madagascar. With the lightening of the ledger the 4th Wir, Kazimieriz Jagiellonczyk, was finally started at Gdansk.
In June the Stage 2 destroyer program was finally completed with the launch of the last two hulls. In July however the Jozef Poniatowski was brought in for a 10 month refit, seeking to add a long needed knot of speed. This move happened to coincide with a new government taking the reins in Austria, promising a Navy “second to none”, immediately seen as an alarming (if specious) claim. Trade was closed at the border, and the European states were quick to distance themselves from involvement while France and Austria actually met in Geneva to discuss “mutual concerns.”
In September tensions between the USA and France came to a head again, and not wishing war to again break out Alexsandr encouraged the Commonwealth to call a conference to discuss Balkan and South-east Asian concerns. Unfortunately the Prime Minister's subsequent efforts were a dismal failure, and only acrimony and accusations resulted. Austria mobilized its forces to its long border with the Commonwealth, and France withdrew its ambassador. With a state very near to war in effect, last ditch efforts were made to expand the port facilities at Diego Suarez in October, when it was noticed that the new Indian Squadron was not properly cared for.
Matters in England had not been progressing well in 1936 either, as the scandal with their newly elevated King Edward VIII dominated the press. His love-affair and subsequent proposal to an American woman who was divorcing her 2nd husband for the match caused consternation in Government and the Church. When it became clear the government would resign if the wedding went forward, Edward – in love and a man of honor – saw that he would need to end his very brief reign. However, to borrow a vulgar phrase, one nation's poo is another's porridge. Select members of the Sejm had maintained clandestine contacts with Edward throughout the fall.
Therefore when King Edward the 8th spoke on December 11th to announce his abdication of the throne of England, he was also there able to announce his Wedding would be carried forth in Warsaw at his elevation to the elected King of the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth. England and the world were both shocked, but this was exactly the ideal fit for which the tradition of the elected monarchy had existed in centuries past. Edward could not have a higher pedigree of nobility, and only England in the short term looked down on him as the rest of progressive Europe offered their support. It was projected that after the furor died down English and Commonwealth relations would only be helped. Christmas in the Commonwealth rang with joy, and the wedding was planned for the Palm Sunday of 1938.
Such plans were to be overshadowed however.
In February of 1937, following an elevation of confrontations at the Commonwealth's long border, Austria put her fleet to sea seizing merchant shipping from Gibraltar to Tyre bound for or set out from the Commonwealth. A last minute behind-the-scenes appeal from Alexsandr fell on deaf ears as relations were formally severed. War was declared by the incursion of 2 Austrian destroyers into the Baltic on some nefarious scheme on the 17th, with one being sunk and the other flying home damaged. The guns erupted along the border, and the next day Alexsandr activated the coastal patrol, 56 destroyers and 2 cruisers strong.
The Austrian Navy was at least not more numerous than the PLC, though having committed an enviable proportion of their economy to their fleet it was universally more homogeneous, and carried a greater average gun caliber.
However, with – as 30 years before – no bases in the Med, the RCN would again be left to hunting down merchant raiders and responding to any incursion into the Baltic which the Austrians might launch. It would again fall to the Army it would seem to win the conflict, if only France could be persuaded to remain un-involved.
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Post by garrisonchisholm on Jun 24, 2017 13:44:35 GMT -6
Chapter 35.
The former King Edward VIII and future King Christian I only quietly listened to the Council of War as Alexsandr, Navy Minister Hjal, General of the Armies Antoni Jasinski, and Prime Minister Ludvig Thorvaldsen charted their course. The war with Austria had come about primarily in support of their ally America, but unfortunately unless the American public could again be so stirred as to support sending an expeditionary army, the war would be fought and won by the Commonwealth. The American Ambassador assured the assembled that wherever possible their navy would contend with Austrian ships and commerce, but made it clear that they intended to insert no fleet into the confining Mediterranean. General Jasinski knew that it was up to his soldiers to both defeat the Austrian army and as well come to grips with the complete unknown of mechanized warfare. Even now desperate air battles were being fought along nearly 700 miles of front to secure major population centers from the threat of aerial bombardment.
Back at Wladyslawowo Alexsandr issued orders to heavily patrol not only the Baltic but the North Sea as well against both surface and submarine incursion. He had the navy declare a commerce lane along the Spanish coast, and set in motion operations to mine the region outside Spanish and English waters. The full fleet would be utilized in all these efforts, though he gave strict instructions to his armored cruisers to be prudent with any attempt to engage raiders, as he did not want a repeat of the Krakow and Lwow's losses to a pair of modern heavy cruisers in the '27 war. Little did he realize how swiftly those instructions would be put into effect.
Mazowsze and her sister Wielkopolska lead 3 Makrelas on a sweep 75 miles north of Gdansk. Danish agents had reported the passage of an unflagged cruiser through the Skagerrak, and Intelligence suspected a mine-laying operation by an Austrian light cruiser might be in effect. Unfortunately, intelligence had never really been quite up to snuff since Minister Kleeberg had resigned. Flag Captain Rolnik was immediately alarmed by the range at which the enemy masts had been sighted. He ordered flank speed South East towards Konigsberg, but when the enemy vessel could be classified, it was clear that their “flank” speed was a laughable factor in their escape equation.
At 20,000 yards the first shells fell off Mazowsze's surging bow, nearly 5,000 yards beyond which their unmodified model 1899 French 9” mounts could reply. If Rolnik could only kill the hour of daylight remaining, they might have a chance, but one hit from those 10” guns could very well explode on their keel given their ancient deck protection. He hesitated, '- there really was no other choice, yes? - but it would mean sending them to their destruction...' Another shell splash told him there really was no other choice, and so Rolnik signaled his escorts to cover them with a torpedo attack and smoke; the whole reason the AC's had not been retired was to preserve their tonnage, so losing one of his ships would be the greater tragedy in the cold logic of command.
The Makrela's without hesitation boldly turned their heads into the wind, swiftly working up to their best speed of 29 knots, yielding a 2,000 yards-per-minute rate of closure with the charging Sant Georg. The N10 surged to the lead, and the Austrian shortly turned to offer broadside gunnery at her Crownlander mark, affording the cruisers their first chance to gain ground. Her first hit came from the secondary batteries however, as a 6” shell destroyed N10's B turret at 9000 yards. The flash and obliteration of the on-hand munitions obscured the bridge from view, but she swiftly stormed out of the fireball and continued her run. 8 minutes later a 10” shell found the X turret, leaving a trail of fire and smoke billowing behind her as she still held her full head forward. Numerous misses fountained about her, but still the trio closed.
In some consternation the Austrian at last turned away, as the destroyers were going to very soon press on into torpedo range. At this move Rolnik recalled his cavalry, who dutifully turned about with high elan despite not being permitted to complete their attack. A trio of near misses spouted around N10 on their return, but no further hits were scored, and when 10 minutes later the Austrian disappeared from view the squadron relaxed their pace and formed up for their return to port.
It was a near-run thing, but while Rolnik felt he was merely returning to safe harbor with his tail between his legs, the Austrian was actually frightened into exiting the Baltic without achieving anything on her raid, fearing heavier surface units would be sent to block her exit. Consequently the encounter could be counted a victory, despite no damage being scored to the foe, thanks in part to the heedless courage of N10.
March had certainly been a challenging month, as in addition to the close-run affair with Sant Georg Austrian submarines had entered the Baltic and sunk 5 Commonwealth merchantmen and Also OP39, apparently caught by chance on the surface at night recharging her batteries. 3 Austrian subs paid the price for their boldness, but it was clear that more discretion would need to be exercised in their intelligence analysis and willingness to sortie the cruisers.
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Post by theexecuter on Jun 24, 2017 20:32:53 GMT -6
Behold the power of an escorted fleet. Had the Austrian been screened with light forces...that would have been different.
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Post by garrisonchisholm on Jun 24, 2017 21:41:01 GMT -6
Indeed so! I would have had to commit to action, and if the Sankt Georg had chosen to keep open the range, it is hard to see how any of my ships would have survived- even given my destroyer superiority.
Personally I am impressed that the N10 survived 2 turret hits without vaporizing, given they were completely unarmored. But then, I don't know what percentage of turret hits lead to magazine explosions.
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Post by garrisonchisholm on Jun 25, 2017 9:03:18 GMT -6
Chapter 36.
April through the middle of June caused Alexsandr a great deal of gray hairs. 13 Polish merchantmen were sunk in the North Atlantic, North Sea, and Baltic combined, and an Austrian torpedo to the old battleship Wladyslaw Jagiello in the Gulf of Riga on April 30th looked to have her laid up through the summer. Alexsandr had taken every measure to ensure his ASW forces were as numerous and capable as possible, yet nearly 5 lost freighters a month was surely unsustainable and the RCN seemed powerless to halt it. 8 of the 29 pre-war Austrian submarine fleet had been claimed in retribution, but the havoc caused by a score of boats was unbelievable. Austrian raiders were present off the British Isles, Brazil, and California, but as of yet had claimed no marks.
1 Austrian merchant was taken by chance as Alexsandr had ordered his old short-range boats to support the fleet, but 4 boats had been lost by a surprising and apparently deliberate effort of the Austrian subs to hunt their opposite numbers. After their newest boat, OP39 (Model 1927), had been destroyed on the surface in March, boats 13 & 17 (Model 1916), and 28 & 36 (Model 1920) had been lost in the ensuing 3 months. The Operations section desperately began to brainstorm whether perhaps the Austrians were homing on surfaced boats at night with radio detection gear, and issued orders that boats were not allowed to transmit while surfaced unless under air cover. The only good news on the commerce war front was the news that the USA had seized a dozen Austrian merchants in the Caribbean that April, contributing somewhat to a balancing of the scales.
In May the Austrians approached with an offer of a White Peace, as the air-war had been won and the world was beginning to see what unhindered air-support could do to an army as Austrian forces were pushed back in numerous places along the lines. Alexsandr endorsed the efforts, but when it came down to bargaining nothing came of it as the Austrians insisted upon redress being included in the language regarding their Balkan grievances.
On June 20th however the Indian Squadron was able to make a notable contribution. 2 of their 3 cruisers were escorting a convoy south of Madagascar and sighted 2 Austrian cruisers closing to attack. Unfortunately the 2 cruisers were even combined outgunned by one of the Gnieznos.
Zamosc and Czestochowa each took a penetrating engine-room hit and had a torpedo explode on deck which limited their ability to bag both Austrians, but they displayed their gunnery advantage to a emphatic degree and the surviving Bravo swiftly made haste to be clear of the scene, leaving the convoy unscathed.
The war seemed to be moving in the Commonwealth's favor, and so far the public and industry had handled their commerce losses admirably, but Alexsandr was made very aware of the fact by his staff that the Sankt Georg class cruisers if released to raid could be caught by nothing in the Commonwealth's inventory. While the Praga's could destroy them they would need to count on chance or fate to allow them to bring them to bear.
Throughout June conversations were had with the chief constructors from Gdansk and Puck, and ultimately a proposal was hashed out which would give them a ship as swiftly as possible to match the Sankt Georg, though they would need to wait 3 or 4 months to order it so-as to not delay the final Wir currently building.
The Ukraina was designed by their constructor team to incorporate all manner of new electronics and mechanical aids, and consequently carried a large, some would say ungainly superstructure. The entire battery was mounted forward to leave space for the massive engines and boilers which had a chance on trials of touching 35 knots with her 154,000 shaft horsepower. Her armor was ample to safely engage any cruisers of lesser strength, with the only danger seeming to be from ambitious captains who felt they could tackle something bigger. The design would be sent to Thames Ironworks when the decision was made to build and be possibly available in less than 2 years, though there was still time for debate and discourse upon the design to shape its final form.
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Post by boomboomf22 on Jun 25, 2017 21:42:37 GMT -6
Holy crap... That CA is basically a BC.
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Post by rimbecano on Jun 26, 2017 0:07:41 GMT -6
Nah, not for the late 30's with no naval treaty. If not for the treaties, heavy cruisers would almost certainly have carried 10"+ main armament by that point in time. The Ukraina is the kind of ship the Tone would have been in a treatyless world, nothing more. It's been debated whether the Alaskas were cruisers or battlecruisers. In a no-treaty world, I doubt any ship hauling less than 16" main armament by 1935 could have been considered a viable capital ship, so Alaska would have been solidly and irrefutably a heavy cruiser.
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Post by bcoopactual on Jun 26, 2017 0:29:01 GMT -6
I'm curious about the decision to carry submerged torpedo tubes at that late date. With 10 inch guns and advanced directors, do you routinely close to a range where you might use the torpedoes?
My other question would be if you have to run from a BC, how much of a concern was it for you not to have any main guns capable of firing to the rear?
These aren't criticisms, I just like to know what thought processes players use when they make interesting or non-traditional designs.
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Post by garrisonchisholm on Jun 26, 2017 7:30:13 GMT -6
I'm curious about the decision to carry submerged torpedo tubes at that late date. With 10 inch guns and advanced directors, do you routinely close to a range where you might use the torpedoes? My other question would be if you have to run from a BC, how much of a concern was it for you not to have any main guns capable of firing to the rear? These aren't criticisms, I just like to know what thought processes players use when they make interesting or non-traditional designs. Absolutely, no trouble at all. In fact, something so bizarre has happened in the game that I will need to think about it for quite a while to contrive a suitable fiction so it can be weaved into the story, so an aside here is just fine. And in fact, I was hoping to enjoy a little debate over the vessel anyway (sub-par porte envy parrot ). As far as the siting of the guns, if the ship is running from a BC, it would be at the edge of sighting range because as soon as that vessel is identified the Captain would order disengagement. In good sighting conditions that would be beyond the gun's range anyway, and in poor sighting conditions...well, it will just be 3 minutes of brown pants to reach the weather edge. If it is a 1000 yard encounter at night, it would just be like an AC vs a BC in 1909; you pray the shots pass through and blow up without breaking anything that will prevent 30+ knots. (no, I don't design 30-knot AC's in 1909). As far as the torpedoes, that is purely a 'coup de grace' measure. *If* it came upon a disabled heavier unit, and 10" guns would not suffice due to either a lack of ammo or lack of desire to stay in the 'action' zone, then there is at least a reasonable chance that a torpedo could cause the underwater damage that would finish the target. I really thought about only having a single tube on each side, but I have seen single torpedoes miss stationary targets- or, maybe its crawling along at 1 knot and I don't realize it. The above commentary regarding Tone btw is spot on. I had just finished my quasi-annual reading of Shattered Sword (*highly* recommended, brilliant book with the perfect tone to engage the reader) and so had been somewhat vested in reading about the Tone class. I wish I could make a Pagoda-like mast for my Japanese games. (If I do a Japan AAR in the future I will try to find a "formula" for it that won't take a ton of time, I don't want to be layering tiny parts for 20 minutes each time I build a ship). However, considering I wanted to Guarantee a speed advantage over 30 knot cruisers, stacking all the guns forward to give room for the power-plant seemed a viable engineering decision in this case if it ever would. I'll be back home to write some more tonight. Until then, Cheers!
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