Your Long Serving Ships?

[mycophobia]

Hi everyone, with the extended timeline of RTW2, im wondering if there are any ship in your games with particularly long and distinguished career? I'd love to hear some great story that no doubt happened in your games。

My entries would likely be the Kongo Class battlecruisers built in 1916 in my latest Japanese Playthrough. They are more or less based on the historical Kongo class with a slightly improved belt armor and using 13in guns instead of 14in as I was stuck with -1 quality 14inchers at the time. The 4 ships of the class served as my main BC force, and indeed the main heavy force in two wars against the French from 1915~-1920s. (My only other capital ship until 1921 was a pair of slow 22k ton dread with 2x4 12in guns) The 4 ships performed well and sunk two French BCs in the south east asia(At the time of their construction they were very powerful compared to contemporary ships). The fourth ship of the class, Kirishima was sunk in the second war against the French to a torpedo.

The other three ships underwent a small refit in the mid 20s to upgrade director and put on some limited AA. They then fought in a short war against GB where they were able to sneak up on a 16in armed british BC in night action and sink it. In a later battle, the 3 ships engaged another pair of superior british 16in BCs long enough while a carrier airstrike crippled both BC, which were subsequently sunk by the Kongos. This netted me enough points to bring the war to a early conclusion slightly in my favor before the full might of the royal navy can be mustered against me. 

All three ships underwent major refit in the Mid 30s, adding a little turret top armor, aircraft catapult, and significantly more 3in DP guns and AA (I did not yet have heavier DP researched so I kept the rest of the casemates as is). The engine was refitted, bringing their speed to 30 knots from the preivous 27. In this capacity they served in a 3 year war against the French and Germans in the late 30s. By this time I have two new 30 knots, 2x5 16in battlecruiser of the Amagi Class in service, but for some reason the game preferred giving me the Kongos in most cases.

Due to a very significant french submarine presence, all three ships had been torpedoed at some points and all spent at least 6+ months in drydock throughout the war(In comparison, I lost 2 CVs to submarines in the same war).The three battlecruisers lead my force in the opening surprised attack against the French base in Tonkin, and sunk the only French BC there. In this war, the French and the Germans weirdly did not ever commit more lone BB or BCs to SEA. Regardless, Haruna and Hiei lead multiple bombardment and convoy raiding missions, and was repeatedly torpedo by French DDs, but was never sunk(I was stuck with torpedo protection lvl 1 even as of 1949). The Kongo served in south east asia and did not see much action in this war.

Notably however, Haruna and Hiei were able to repeatedly gain upper hand and lone 16in BCs operated by the French and the Germans in this war, and at night actions was able to even sink the only French BB in SEA by sneaking up and firing point blank during a night battle. In other battles where my carrier forces are more prevalent, the Kongos nevertheless were often what finished off enemy capital ships damaged by air strikes. Their upgraded AA suite also allowed them to survive occasional air attacks from land base and the occasional cvl (Due to aforementioned carrier loss to submarines, Im stuck with 1 cvl and 1 old CV for the most part of this war)

When the next war started against the USSR in the early-mid 40s, the Kongos should be by all means be hopelessly outdated, but during my opening surprise attack against vladivostok, a heroic Russian destroyer that survived the initial air raid charged my battleline head on, and with a single torpedo sunk the Amagi through a magazine explosion. Forced to again rely on the aging Kongos, I end up using them extensively for land bombardment and convoy missions, since the Russians refused all fleet action. During these battles they faced some very modern Russian BCs with 16in gun in all forward arrangements, and with early search radar I am able to consistently sneak up on these ships at night, and use my 13in guns to disable them quickly at point blank range. The three old battlecruisers also terrorized the Russian heavy cruisers during day battles as well, especially with supports from carriers. Through out two wars against the Russians in the 1940s, the Kongos assisted in sinking at least 6 Russian BCs/BBs and many more cruisers. (My only other fast capital ship is the Amagi's sister Akagi, now converted to a FBB, but it saw a lot less action than the Kongos again for some reason) All three ships end up pretty beat up from either taking 16in fire or the occasional torpedo at night, but was never sunk throughout almost 5 years of war.

In my most recent battle, Haruna and Hiei, equipped with new fire control radar was able to absolutely demolish a Russian cruiser force lead by two modern BCs (Both are all forward 2x4 16in ships with 12in belt) by blind fire into the Russian ships at night during very poor weather. I was able to shadow the Russians at about 2000 yards and constantly put 13in shells into their ships while they helplessly tried to escape. Very surprisingly my destroyer force actually did very little(most torpedo hits happened when the ship is already dead in the water). They even caught a Russian light carrier that was separated from her escort while returning to base.


In anycase, I don't believe I had any ships in my rtw 1 and my earlier rtw 2 French playthroughs that had a comparably distinguished career. These ships fought at the front of every major war I fought since 1916, and not only survived against, but defeated much more modern opponents. I do sincerely hope that these ships can survive the remainder of their career and continue to create their legend within my navy. I had to say that im really having a blast with the extended timeline of rtw2, and how my limited budget really forced me to keep old ships relevant in a way that almost mirror the real life IGN. I hope you enjoyed the career of the Kongos and I look forward to hear what ship served other players well throughout the decades.

[janxol]

In my case in the first playthrough I had the longest serving ship would be Lexington, the first BC i built. Designed in 1909 and completed in 1911 together with the sister ship Saratoga.

Displacing 27000t, armed with 6x14 inch, 16x6 inch, and 14x3 inch guns, and reaching a top speed of 27 knots. In 1913 they were equipped with directors and soon after saw a lot of action in war with Great Britain 1914-16. Both ships operated together in The Carribeans throughout most of the war, participating in numerous fleet actions, cruiser engagements and providing invasion support. After the war they underwent another refit in 1917, adding director fire to secondary, replacing secondary battery with better quality 6 inch guns and adding some LAA. Both ships then operated in Southeast Asia during the war with Japan in 1919, participating in most major battles. In 1920 a decision was made to convert Lexington into an aircraft carrier.

The ship had capacity for 35 aircraft only, and was equipped with 8x8 inch guns ( two double turrets around the island, two single turrets aft, beneath flight deck edge, and two casemates in the aft wings position), 12x3 inch DP secondary battery and 32x20mm LAA guns. Before Saratoga was converted, however a war with Russia broke out, in which both ships served, however Saratoga didn't see much action, mostly stationed off US East Coast. during the war Lexington together with two Charger-class CVL conducted air operations in Northeast Asia. When the war ended in 1924, the decision was made not to convert Saratoga, as new Santee-class CVLs with capacity for 34 aircraft were in construction. Saratoga was stationed off US West Coast and put into mothball, before being broken up for scrap in 1927. Lexington saw action again during war with Japan 1929-1930, during which it operated in Southeast Asia, as well as off Coast of Japan.

Lexington underwent a refit in 1932. 8 in guns were removed and replaced with 4x4inch DP battery, aircraft capacity was increased to 41, and AA suite was improved, now consisting of 15x40mm MAA guns and 30x20mm LAA guns (it also retained 12x3 in DP secondary) and 4 AA directors were fitted onto the ship. The ship saw service again in war against British-Russian alliance in 1938-1941, when it operated in tandem with two new Yorktown-class aircraft carriers. Lexington was rpesent during the decisive battle in the Carribean, during which the carrier group obliterated the British battleship force. Lexington was damaged by a submarine and spent several months in dock, before being sent to notheast Asia to take part in action agaisnt Russian fleet. It didn't take part in any major engagements.

Lexington underwent its final refit in 1943, becoming the first US carrier to be equipped with catapults. The decision was made not to touch the machienry, but with speed of 27 knots it could not keep up with the carrier force. As such it was relocated to Southeast Asia to operate together with older CVLs. Lexington was damaged by submarine during a short war with Japan in 1946, but didn't participate in any fleet actions. After the war it was relocated to US West Coast and put into mothball. As a class of 4 modern Ranger-class CVs was nearing completion in 1948, Lexington was finally struck from naval vessel registry and sold for scrap, ending its 37 years of service.

Lexington and Saratoga as originally completed

Left to right Lexington as completed, in 1920, in 1932, and after final refit in 1943.

[jma286]

I usually build a class of CA's around 1904-1905 that lasts for a long time; 4*10, 8*8, 25 knots and sufficient armor to bounce all early game cruiser shells. They're devastating for a decade after they're built, and after I have sufficient BCs I'll usually refit them to around 28 knots and have them serve as colonial flagships or convoy raiders. Usually I pull them out of service in the mid 30's as air power and heavier CAs start becoming more common.

[tordenskjold]

Well, in my first game as Germany I rebuilt my legacy CAs into decent CVLs with capacities of 24 planes, which served well until into the 1940s, when their air capacity seemed too low in comparison with their tonnage. But the idea was carried over for rebuilding the second generation of BBs (with their rather awkward AXY layout) into carriers around 1937, and thus the Hannover class actually served until the very end (although "only" about 30 years as carriers).

This was their original 1913 layout, with weight obviously calculated to 1970 standards:

[warlock]

May 23, 2019 8:40:34 GMT -6 jma286 said:

I usually build a class of CA's around 1904-1905 that lasts for a long time; 4*10, 8*8, 25 knots and sufficient armor to bounce all early game cruiser shells. They're devastating for a decade after they're built, and after I have sufficient BCs I'll usually refit them to around 28 knots and have them serve as colonial flagships or convoy raiders. Usually I pull them out of service in the mid 30's as air power and heavier CAs start becoming more common.

The same for me.  My Early CAs stick around a long, long time mostly because I build them to be pre-BCs rather than Heavy Cruisers. My current French run through has them armed with 4x12 inch and like 10x6 inch with 6 inches of belt and 2 inches of deck and operate at 22 knots.  I generally lose a lot of them to torpedoes because early on I use at the front of my battle line to herd and corral the enemy battleline by making them react to the movement of my faster, very well armed and armored CAs.  I have even had them be able go toe-to-toe against early enemy BCs and come out on top, especially if hey have a number advantage.  They generally last until around 1930 before I scap any of them that remain with them mostly pulling colonial or raider duty from about 1920-1930.

Well designed BCs tend to stick around a long while as well.  I have series of French BCs that seem like they would be well overdue for a updated design since the original blueprint is at least 8 years old but I haven't bothered with changing anything but the fire control on the design because they are just so efficient.  They operate at 25 knots, carry 14 inch guns in a 3x3 two forward, one rear turret configuration and have 10 inches armor on the guns and belt.  I could put together a better design and I do have access to good 16 inch guns but I am still stuck on coal since none of my territories have discovered oil yet so it just doesn't make sense to redesign an effective and efficient build until I can use oil so I keep pumping these bad boys out to cover my BC niche.  On the flip side, even when I do finally get oil and replace the design, I think these are going to still be extremely relevant for at least another 10 maybe even 15 years. 

[warspite1995]

As germany I had a Heavy Cruiser near 14k tons from 1899 until 1955. She was the first Escort Carrier after a refit in 1919 she was given a flight deck and a hanger for 24 aircraft.

The KMS Weissenburg

She served in south east asia as a heavy colonial cruiser in order to protect the Kaisers colonial interests, by 1917 newer ships were starting to replace her whole class, but she was sent back to germany and kept active, with the most elite crew in the fleet and 8 battle stars. At this point aircraft Carriers were being tested, and it was decided she would be the worlds first. After a 20 month refit in 1919 she emerged as the worlds first carrier. She went into action almost immediately as The french declared war upon Germany, using nothing but antiquated biplanes she proved that aircraft carriers would be a vital piece of any Germany fleet from that date forwards. Sinking 2 Pre-dreadnoughts in a single battle!

Fighting in every war at home for over 12 years until in 1932 newer bigger and faster (she could only make 21 knots on a good day!) Carriers were beginning to replace the earlier conversions. She was once again sent out to south east Asia to guard the Kaisers Colonies she once again went under refit to give her some AA defence before fighting in 4 more wars, mostly against the British and Japanese, her aircrew were renowned as the most experienced pilots in the fleet air arm. Finally in 1955 after a final devastating war with the british where somehow she managed to sink the HMS Renown (the third) Battle Crusier it was decided that should would be immortalised in Germany for all Germans to look upon as the Greatest ship Germany has ever possessed, the Grand Old Girl/Maiden.
"Großartiges altes Mädchen"
The Kaiser would Decree that she would stand for as long as Germany and be ready once more to enter action should the Fatherland ever be threatened.
It is til this day a tradition of the German Captains of the Kreigsmarine to Vist the Gran Old Girl and ask for her blessings in the days to come.

[alkiap]

Definitely destroyers. In 1929 I am still using some of the 600 and 900 tonners built 25 years prior, refitted for ASW duty.
I find them more efficient than building KEs of similar displacement, and avoided the auto-scrapping when obsolete (fortunately this is being removed in the upcomng patch)

[wknehring]

As always- KE (earlier MS in RTW1)- the 600ts design (2x 4", increased DC storage, later some K-guns or/and asw-mortars, 21 knots) are designs you built in 1899 and can use until the end, if there is no unlucky encounter with an enemy sub or coastal raid.

Unluckily my first 500ts DD-class uses short range and speed engines to arm them with 3TT and bring them up to 28 knots. But the 900ts DDs are that ones, I am going to use for trade protection.

[Awesome]

Do ghost ships count?

[camosamo]

This was my first play through in RTW2 and I decided I would use a old RTW 1 trick when designing my legacy fleet light cruiser. These ships turned out to be some of best ships I’ve ever had.
And now the story of the ships that built the US Navy the Bartlett class.

The USS Bartlett CL-1 was commissioned into the navy in 1899 along with the other 6 six ships of her class. 4 more of the ships were under construction and after a request from the government for 14 more cruisers which was brought down to 7 ,due partly to a friend in the senate, by 1905 the US Navy would field a very strong CL wing.

Now onto the design of these famous ships. The Bartlett class had a 3in belt, 1.5in belt extended, 1in deck and a top speed of 22 knots. She was armed with 4x 8in double turrets one fire and one aft , the turrets had 3in sides and 1in top, these big guns were pared with a strong secondary battery of 20x 3in casemates. The 8in guns would allow the ships to punch above its weight while the secondary battery would rip destroyers to ribbons. The class was not perfect however the 8in guns were powerful and were certainly the greatest assest to the ship however due to the lack of room in the ship there was no equipment in the ship to assist in loading this brought the rate of fire down by approximately 20%. It was also found that during even light firing the guns were so powerful that they would often jam the turrets and take the guns out of action until the crew could throw together a quick fix.

By 1906 the ships got their first taste of combat against the Germans. The fighting was ferocious in both the Caribbean and Southeast Asia and the Bartlett class distinguished its self by fight in every engagement in the war and proving that the class could easily stand against ships that both more protected and better armed.

For years the class remained the back bone of the fleet even though more modern ships came along she stayed in service. The class saw two refits in her time one in 1917 to update her fight control and an extensive refit in 1921 which saw the enigine replace in order to bring top speed up to 25 along with further fire control upgrades and more powerful primaryand secondary guns along with increased elevation. The 1921 refit was sadly not enough and the ship was too slow to effectively fight in the battle line and as the fleets of the world began to scrap their CLs in favor of BC and CAs the ships effectiveness was fading fast and by 1923 it was over. The two most famous ships ,the Bartlett and the Colombia, were turned into museum ships (mothballed) by the Navy while the USS Crazy Horse was used for target practice and the USS Memphis was saved by the city from which it had gained its name and while it was difficult the ships were hauled up the Mississippi River to a dock in Memphis. The rest were scrapped.

This was not the end for the ships however. In 1950 the navy was in dire straits. A suprise attack by the Japanese magaed to sink two older BCs and CVs along with the destroyers escorting the force. Then the British and Germans joined the war. The US was stretched thin and ships were lost at an alarming rate. By 1952 every ship had been mobilized including the two old Bartlett classes.

A quick and dirty refit for the ships got them up to speed with AAA and radar. The ships were quickly put to work escorting the last US CV strike force.

The climatic battle of the war was fought in Japanese home waters. The American Battleline moved to engage the combined British and Japanese fleet which was made up of more modern BBs BCs and CAs. While the two fleets engaged the CVs Powder River, Platte, and Cumberland launched repeated strikes against the battleline. Things were going well as the American planes pounded the enemy fleet to dust before they were able to sink any friendly ships. Then disaster struck as a force of CAs slipped past the the Battleline and was steaming towards the carrier force. Thankfully the Columbia picked them up on Radar but the Battleline was to far to help and the next strike was in the process of landing. The two CAs were British. They were new. They were fast. They were unopposed. The only hope the carriers were the two escorting Bartlett classes. The fight was not hopeless if the Bartlett and the Columbia could hold the CAs off long enough the Powder river could launch a strike to crush them. The battle was a sight to see as the old ships dashed in and began fight the larger ships with the ferocity of a cornered animal. The Columbia was the most decorated ship in the navy and her old guns roared scoring several hits on one of the enemy ships slowing it down significantly. Taking advantage of damage the Colombia moved to make a torpedo attack on the ship but instead she was herself torpedoed. The hit was bad and the engine room was flooded the DC teams fought had to save the ship but it was doubtful that she would make it back to port. With her sister dead in the water the Bartlett carried on the fight exchanging shots with the other two CAs. The Columbia was able to reach a wohping 4 knots and was able to stay in rage of the crippled CA and kept pounding the ship. The strike form the Powder river finally launched and finished off the cripple and damaged one other ship. The Bartlett took a hit that jammed her rubber to port and the CAs ran off being harassed by the planes from the other CVs. The battle was over land so was the war. The Columbia and Bartlett survived their ordeal and went back home to live out the rest of their days as a museum honor those who sacrificed so much and ensuring that the exploits of the Bartlett class ships will never be forgotten.
The class had seen battle in every theater of war, steamed around the world many times over. They fought 1 war against Italy, 2 against Germany, 3 against France, and saw the navy through its darkest time in the Great War of 1950.

[mycophobia]

May 26, 2019 9:45:21 GMT -6 camosamo said:

This was my first play through in RTW2 and I decided I would use a old RTW 1 trick when designing my legacy fleet light cruiser. These ships turned out to be some of best ships I’ve ever had.
And now the story of the ships that built the US Navy the Bartlett class.

The USS Bartlett CL-1 was commissioned into the navy in 1899 along with the other 6 six ships of her class. 4 more of the ships were under construction and after a request from the government for 14 more cruisers which was brought down to 7 ,due partly to a friend in the senate, by 1905 the US Navy would field a very strong CL wing.

Now onto the design of these famous ships. The Bartlett class had a 3in belt, 1.5in belt extended, 1in deck and a top speed of 22 knots. She was armed with 4x 8in double turrets one fire and one aft , the turrets had 3in sides and 1in top, these big guns were pared with a strong secondary battery of 20x 3in casemates. The 8in guns would allow the ships to punch above its weight while the secondary battery would rip destroyers to ribbons. The class was not perfect however the 8in guns were powerful and were certainly the greatest assest to the ship however due to the lack of room in the ship there was no equipment in the ship to assist in loading this brought the rate of fire down by approximately 20%. It was also found that during even light firing the guns were so powerful that they would often jam the turrets and take the guns out of action until the crew could throw together a quick fix.

By 1906 the ships got their first taste of combat against the Germans. The fighting was ferocious in both the Caribbean and Southeast Asia and the Bartlett class distinguished its self by fight in every engagement in the war and proving that the class could easily stand against ships that both more protected and better armed.

For years the class remained the back bone of the fleet even though more modern ships came along she stayed in service. The class saw two refits in her time one in 1917 to update her fight control and an extensive refit in 1921 which saw the enigine replace in order to bring top speed up to 25 along with further fire control upgrades and more powerful primaryand secondary guns along with increased elevation. The 1921 refit was sadly not enough and the ship was too slow to effectively fight in the battle line and as the fleets of the world began to scrap their CLs in favor of BC and CAs the ships effectiveness was fading fast and by 1923 it was over. The two most famous ships ,the Bartlett and the Colombia, were turned into museum ships (mothballed) by the Navy while the USS Crazy Horse was used for target practice and the USS Memphis was saved by the city from which it had gained its name and while it was difficult the ships were hauled up the Mississippi River to a dock in Memphis. The rest were scrapped.

This was not the end for the ships however. In 1950 the navy was in dire straits. A suprise attack by the Japanese magaed to sink two older BCs and CVs along with the destroyers escorting the force. Then the British and Germans joined the war. The US was stretched thin and ships were lost at an alarming rate. By 1952 every ship had been mobilized including the two old Bartlett classes.

A quick and dirty refit for the ships got them up to speed with AAA and radar. The ships were quickly put to work escorting the last US CV strike force.

The climatic battle of the war was fought in Japanese home waters. The American Battleline moved to engage the combined British and Japanese fleet which was made up of more modern BBs BCs and CAs. While the two fleets engaged the CVs Powder River, Platte, and Cumberland launched repeated strikes against the battleline. Things were going well as the American planes pounded the enemy fleet to dust before they were able to sink any friendly ships. Then disaster struck as a force of CAs slipped past the the Battleline and was steaming towards the carrier force. Thankfully the Columbia picked them up on Radar but the Battleline was to far to help and the next strike was in the process of landing. The two CAs were British. They were new. They were fast. They were unopposed. The only hope the carriers were the two escorting Bartlett classes. The fight was not hopeless if the Bartlett and the Columbia could hold the CAs off long enough the Powder river could launch a strike to crush them. The battle was a sight to see as the old ships dashed in and began fight the larger ships with the ferocity of a cornered animal. The Columbia was the most decorated ship in the navy and her old guns roared scoring several hits on one of the enemy ships slowing it down significantly. Taking advantage of damage the Colombia moved to make a torpedo attack on the ship but instead she was herself torpedoed. The hit was bad and the engine room was flooded the DC teams fought had to save the ship but it was doubtful that she would make it back to port. With her sister dead in the water the Bartlett carried on the fight exchanging shots with the other two CAs. The Columbia was able to reach a wohping 4 knots and was able to stay in rage of the crippled CA and kept pounding the ship. The strike form the Powder river finally launched and finished off the cripple and damaged one other ship. The Bartlett took a hit that jammed her rubber to port and the CAs ran off being harassed by the planes from the other CVs. The battle was over land so was the war. The Columbia and Bartlett survived their ordeal and went back home to live out the rest of their days as a museum honor those who sacrificed so much and ensuring that the exploits of the Bartlett class ships will never be forgotten.
The class had seen battle in every theater of war, steamed around the world many times over. They fought 1 war against Italy, 2 against Germany, 3 against France, and saw the navy through its darkest time in the Great War of 1950.

I had thought the Kongos did an impressive service for me against multiple modern BCs, but seeing a pair of legacy protected cruiser charge against modern CAs and drive them off in the 1950s is certainly epic, not to mention its the turning point of a battle as well. Bravo!

[camosamo]

Thank you! In RTW 1 these 8in protected cruisers were pretty sweet and in my other play throughs since the Bartlett I have used a similar design and they work well. If I’m being honest though my situation was not desperate enough for me to need to bring the class out of retirement but it was desperate enough for me to justify it and the chance to take an old warhorse turned into a museum and put her back into battle was too good of an opportunity (too much BSG I guess). Either way everything lined up just right to make for an epic movie like battle against the odds.

Also I like to imagine that the old captain of the Columbia came out of retirement to lead the old vessel and that the only man who could pull one more good fight out of the old girl was the salty grumpy old captain that made her a legend in the first place.