Domestic News:
January 1948:
- The remaining seven Kuang Yuan-class destroyers are renamed T-27 through T-33 and their names are given to seven new Lei Chien-class destroyers ordered from Clark Family Shipbuilding this month.
- Two new Chen Wei-class scout cruisers, Lung Hsiang and Teng Ying Chou, are laid down in Chinese shipyards.
February 1948:
- The battlecruiser Hwai Yang finishes working up.
- Recent accidents involving air transport lead to a resurgence in interest in large trans-Pacific liner program, leading Chinese shipyards to break ground on new drydocks and slipways.
June 1948:
- A drydock and slipway designed to handle 62,000t ships is unveiled in Shanghai.
November 1948:
- An even larger drydock and slipway designed to handle 63,000t ships is unveiled in Guangzhou.
- The French ambassador proposes that China reduce its naval spending "in the interests of world peace." In reply, the Grand Council approves increased funding for the Navy due to the poor state of relations with the French Republic.
December 1948:
- With its increased funding, the Navy orders seven more Lei Chien-class destroyers (Jin Chang, Lei Bei, Li Shang, Su Fei, Tian You, Wu Bei, and Zuo Wo) from Clark Family Shipbuilding and eight additional T-10 class destroyer escorts from Guangzhou Naval Arsenal.
January 1949:
- The light cruiser Chi An, on training maneuvers near the island of Hainan, fires on and sinks a French fishing vessel in a restricted area. The Navy refuses to apologize for the incident.
- The Lei Chien-class destroyers Mao Bei, Lei Tui, Lei Hu, Sui Ching, and Kuang Li commission.
February 1949:
- Alarmed by the recent incident with France, the Chinese Foreign Office pressures the Grand Council to make symbolic concessions in the interest of maintaining the peace, and so the Grand Council cuts the tariff on French champagne by 20%.
- The Lei Chien-class destroyers Kuang I and Lei Kun commission.
March 1949:
- The Lei Chien-class destroyers Mao Bei, Lei Tui, Lei Hu, Sui Ching, and Kuang Li finish working up.
April 1949:
- The Lei Chien-class destroyers Kuang I and Lei Kun finish working up.
July 1949:
- The third and final Ping Hai-class battlecruiser, Fen Yang, commissions
August 1949:
- The Navy lays down Ki Yang and Pao Min, a pair of 31,900t battlecruisers armed with six 15" guns.
October 1949:
- The scout cruiser Teng Ying Chou and the destroyer escorts T-36, T-37, T-39, and T-41 are commissioned.
November 1949:
- The destroyers Tian You, Su Fei, Lei Bei, and Jin Chang and the destroyer escorts T-34, T-35, T-38, and T-40 commission.
December 1949:
- The Navy lays down the 36,000t battleship Kweichau
- Minister of the Navy Admiral Ting Ju Chang announces his retirement with the coming of the European New Year, having held that post for the past 50 years.
World News:
1948:
- The world's oldest surviving submarine, the Japanese I-50 commissioned in 1916, is opened to the public as a museum ship while several other Japanese submarines from the Second Sino-Japanese War (or the Sino-Japanese War of 1913-1918) are sent to the breakers' yards.
1949:
- A French fishing boat based in Indochina is sunk by the Chinese light cruiser Chi An.
- The Imperial Japanese Navy scraps the coastal submarine I-75, commissioned in 1917 - another veteran of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Three other submarines dating to the Second Sino-Japanese War - the coastal submarine I-105 and the medium range submarines I-68 and I-76, all commissioned in 1917 - remain in service but are known to be on the scrapping list, and public petitions to turn the submarines into museums circulate.
The Ki Yang-class battlecruiser and Kweichou-class battleship:
Post-game summary screens:
Pretty sure that that's the most light cruisers I've ever lost in a game of Rule the Waves.
Almanac, possession and force distribution maps, and world tensions December 1949: