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Post by mycophobia on Mar 12, 2020 3:27:30 GMT -6
What a war that was, and it looks like things are actually looking up in a way despite the budget cuts, to go with that it seems Canada is now on par with the weaker of the great powers now, such as Russia and Japan. Though they've definitely got some advantages not having their fleets weakened from wars. And who knows maybe the Tiger with it's long range may be useful if a war against Japan or Russia were to occur. Though maybe it's a bit too large to be used as a raider... or is it? Anyway, good showing in that war! I wonder who'll become the next foe, and if it'll be just as difficult a war, though I doubt any one else can be as much of a foe as the Old Lion. It does look good indeed, despite budget cuts I can see myself squeezing into the second echelon of naval powers. That said, USA is definitely by far the scariest opponent. The war against them back in 1907 was when they were still relatively second rate, and now they are positively scary (Germany probably even stronger, but that's an European power). Being neighbor of the same sea zone means the "divide and conquer" I was able to pull against the RN would not work here, and I do sincerely hope I don't end up with a war against the US. (I'd rather take a rematch against communist RN for that matter). I don't think tiger is a long ranged ship, I kinda grabbed it because I wanna replenish my BCs and the 15" looks tasty. (In restrospect one of the 14"x12 Indomitable class might be a better pick) In any case, the ship will get a little write up as I go over the details of the design and how I plan to use it. (Also allow me to put out some content as the heavy cruisers from scratch will take a bit of work ) As usual, glad you enjoyed and thanks for the support .
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Post by akosjaccik on Mar 12, 2020 9:49:03 GMT -6
I hope you opened up a bottle of beer at least for this occassion. This was an insane war; very well fought, but if you'd say you've felt war-tired for some time now I'd more than understand. I'm glad that the team effort with the french worked out well. Also thought maybe the player could get a similar event for a prize ship as he currently can for ships built in foreign yards, so it could provide a bit of a tech insight. I hope Calgary will be alright, but I'm also curious about the new heavy cruisers.
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Post by mycophobia on Mar 28, 2020 0:43:24 GMT -6
Cayuga (Tiger) Class Battlecruiser (1923)
With the Canadian battlecruiser fleet much depleted during the war, the navy recommended the cabinet to acquire a British battlecruiser as part of the post war reparation. What they did forget to mention, is which particular one to take. As a result, the Canadian diplomat simply picked the biggest one they could find, the Tiger Class Battlecruiser Princess Royal(Renamed Cayuga by the Canadian Navy). While Tiger was sunk in an unsuccessful attempt to raid Canadian coast in 1924, Princess Royal was stationed in the home island and participated in sinking the Manitoba. Beyond this, she mostly operated in the north sea against French battlecruisers, and missed both major engagement at Cape Cornwall and Nymphe Banks. Despite being larger than the newer Indomitable class, which saw frequent action against the Canadian navy, the Tiger class are rather dated technologically. As a result, the navy would've preferred to receive a Indomitable class instead, but there are some undeniable prestige effect to obtain a larger warship with larger guns as well. Overview
The Tiger class was designed with protecting British overseas possessions in mind, and thus have been designed with long range and abilities to operate independently. This does mean significant portion of her displacement went to the powerful engine and extra storages. Moreover, as the class was laid down before the war with Canada started, her design is still influenced by many older design philosophies. Unlike other British warships during the war, she did not receive a refit for any noteworthy anti-air weaponry as well. Her design is some what different from Canadian shipbuilding styles, featuring a large rear tower and a raised forecastle not commonly seen in Canadian capital ships. Weaponry
The main selling point of the Princess Royal is her 15" BL Mk1 gun, mounted in three dual turrets in a ABX configuration. The Tiger class is one of the first battlecruisers in the world to be equipped with this powerful weapon, which had proven effective against Canadian warships when Tiger engaged the Canadian battleships in the Battle of Cape Breton. The weapon's performance is slightly superior but roughly comparable to the Canadian 15"/40 guns on the Huron, but having only 6 guns does leave her firepower somewhat lacking despite the good qualities of these individual guns. Her secondary armament are 14 casemated QF 6"/40 guns, standard secondary guns for the royal navy. While those guns are removed from some newer ships in favor of smaller guns that can also engage aerial targets, the Tiger class did not receive such refit. While serviceable weapons, they are outclassed by the excellent Canadian 6"/50 guns. A refit will have to involve some rework of the rather cramped casemates to take the larger Canadian gun, and is not being considered for the time being given the tight postwar budget. Being designed with older philosophy, the Princess Royal is also equipped with a pair of underwater torpedo tubes. Though a potential weakpoint in the hull, the Anglo-Canadian war had demonstrated that these weapon still have occasional use, notably when Benbow successfully torpedoed New Brunswick during the decisive battle of Nymphe Bank. Armor
As with most earlier, battlecruisers, Princess Royal is not particularly well protected. Her overall armor protection are comparable to the Canadian Haida class, which lost both ship of its class to heavy naval gunfire in the war. Princess Royal's superior deck and turret top armor does lend itself to long range engagements that takes advantage of her 15" guns however. Speed
While an older engine meant that Princess Royal had to devote significant amount of space to reach her 28 knots of speed, that speed is perfectly serviceable as a modern battlecruiser. While faster ships are beginning to appear around the globe, this is perfectly serviceable. Despite being somewhat dated in design, the Canadian navy is happy to take what is still a rather decent battlecruiser into their service. The long range of the Princess Royal also makes her ideal for patrolling and protecting Canada's Caribbean and south pacific colonies. Unfortunately, the postwar budget situation also meant there is no funding to rebuild the ship for Canadian service, and she had to be mothballed for the time being. (The ship will be referred to with her Canadian service name Cayuga in future entries)
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Post by mycophobia on Mar 28, 2020 1:41:05 GMT -6
Mississauga Class Heavy Cruiser (1926) Ship in Class: Mississauga, Windsor
The Rise of Heavy Cruisers
While battlecruisers had replaced the armored cruisers of old, the Anglo-Canadian war had demonstrated that even a major power like the British Empire found themselves wanting for more heavier ships to defend far-flung colonies and filling gaps when battlecruisers cannot be spared. Most light cruisers of the era are relatively close in quality that no one ship can engage another relatively modern light cruiser with a clear confidence in victory. The American observers in the war first noted this issue, (especially since they had converted most of their battlecruisers to carriers) and begin to build a series of 13000 ton cruisers armed with 10 10" guns and very light armor, meant to perform most battlecruiser duties in a more affordable and compact package. The RN liked this idea and begin to build 2 such cruisers with 8 10" guns and improved armor around 1922. The Canadian navy are very concerned when they learned of these ships, as they can catch up and outgun any Canadian light cruisers. With the losses to the Battlecruiser force, Canada cannot spare any ship to hunt down one of these ships when the RN still had total superiority. Thus, both as a mean to quickly and cheaply replace the lost battlecruisers and to counter the threat of the RN ships, the Canadian navy ordered two ships of the Mississauga class in mid 1924. They can be completed about 30-40% faster, and being only slightly more expensive than a single battlecruiser. By the end of the Anglo-Canadian war in 1926, most nations have begin to construct this new kind of vessel, although only Japan, USA, and France invested significantly in the class. (10/9/6 ships built, respectively) These new "Heavy Cruisers" are equipped with guns between 8-10", and displaces about 12,000 - 17,000 tones, with a typical speed of 28-29 knots, just a bit faster than the fastest battlecruisers of the time. Overview
As the first ship of this type in the Canadian Navy, the Mississauga class is a rather experimental design, incorporating many relatively novel features. The ship have a rather long beam to length ratio, and the larger turret ring of the triple 8.5" turrets forced them rather far back into the ship. The engines are also trunked through a single large funnel to save space for the high powered engine. With so much placed upon a relatively light hull, the characteristic Totem Pole mast had to be shrunk a bit, with less spotting and AA platforms to reduce topweight. Weaponry
As the Mississauga class is built to counter other Heavy cruisers, which are commonly armed with 8 x 10" guns, the Canadian navy initially considered 10" guns of their own. However, the only available design was the French 250mm Model 1897 gun, used on the Canada class battleship. During the war, the design board is pressed for time, and decided to make use of the existing 8.5" mod 1922 gun, developed with the triple 8" gun originally installed on Calgary before she was converted into an aircraft carrier. In order to make up the lost fire power, 12 guns in 4 triple turrets were used. Most heavy cruiser design of this era are only protected against 6" guns from light cruisers, and it was thought that 12 8.5" gun may actually outperform 8 10" guns, and is possibly equivalent to 10x10" guns of the US heavy cruisers when used to engage the thin-skinned heavy cruisers of other nations. As the Mississauga class was designed for independent action, she is also equipped with formidable AA weaponry. She has 10 Vickers HMG in 5 dual mounts for close-in defence, and 10 4" High Angle Gun to put up a formidable flak screen. These guns are mounted in new MK2 mount that features a larger and better protected turntable, and gun shield with 1" of armor plating to offer some protection against splinter and strafing attacks. Each guns is additionally supplied with its own ammunition elevator to maximize the rate of fire. While individually rather weak against larger surface targets, a storm of 4" shells can still be turned against destroyer sized surface target with good effect. Armor
While designed to fight heavy cruisers, Canadian designers, much like naval architects of other nations, conceded that its simply not possible to armor the ship against 10" guns that she is expected to fight. Thus she is given enough armor to deflect 6" guns at most ranges, and some protection against 8" guns at longer ranges. The turrets however, given the potential risk of a penetrating hit, was well protected with 7.5" of armor to resist 10" shells beyond 12,000 yards. Giving the class some protection as it closed in with its 10" equipped foes. While the ship is very fast, the threat of fast, long ranged modern torpedo remains a threat, and thus the ship is given a torpedo bulkhead to offer some protection. However, given the relatively narrow beam she cannot expect the same degree of survivability as the larger Canadian capital ships. Speed
It is clear that the Mississauga have no chance against a battlecruiser, thus it must be able to out run them. To this end, she is equipped with a massive engine that's 15% larger than that of the ones that powered the Yukon class Battlecruisers, and delivering 70,000HP compared to 55,000HP of the Yukon class. This gave her a design speed of 29 knots, and in testing, its found the long beam to length ratio and high performance of the engine can propel the Mississauga class to an amazing 30 knots, surpassing all ships larger than a destroyer with the exception of two new American light cruisers. This amazing performance did not come without a downside however, the entire engine assembly had to be crammed into a continuous compartment midship, and serviced by a single large funnel. This makes the engine room and the funnel very prone to damage. This could prove very problematic in practice. Seaplane
Carrying on the focus on independent action, the Mississauga class also carried a single spotter airplane. The seaplane is assisted by a catapult for take off, a first for Canadian warships. Again, to save weight on the already top heavy ship, no hanger was provided and the seaplane would normally just rest upon the catapult, which could result in the plane become damaged and unserviceable in bad weather. Conclusion
Mississauga and Windsor were 6 months from completion when the war ended in 1926. Given that they were almost finished, the navy decides to use what funding they had left to complete their construction. Windsor entered service in August of the same year, and Mississauga in September. The navy plans to use these ships to protect far-flung colonies in the Caribbean and South Pacific, but they could also make viable cruiser hunters and fleet scout as well. Given their relatively cheap operating cost compared to the battlecruisers, they were brought into service once complete while the older Yukon class went into reserve.
Well, I have to say quarantine wasn't great for productivity if only because there are so much distractions at home . I hope everyone is staying safe during these difficult times, and I hope this AAR can bring you some entertainment. Its definitely great fun to finally work on a "real" heavy cruiser, but I have been somewhat rusty and this didn't came out quite what I expected it to be. Though I guess that is fine given the nations in game are also working out how to best build one such ship. Until next update then (Might be a while, might be soon, depending on how addicting bannerlord is xD)
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Post by akosjaccik on Mar 28, 2020 7:51:58 GMT -6
Oof, the ex-Princess Royal does seem like a somewhat unfortunate pick at first glance. I imagine she has relatively high maintenance compared to uncomfortably small number of barrels. Of course, she still brings 6 15" @ 28kts to anywhere in the world, but I'm just not completely sold on the idea that the cost worths it. An interesting aspect of hers is the (I think?) coal-fired long-ranged engines, which at this speed especially probably take up a disgusting amount of displacement, so an - of course, rather expensive especially in such times where most of the funding went up in smokes - extensive rebuild might free up considerable amount of weight, perhaps even enough for additional deck armor or something. It's a shame that adding an extra barbette is absolutley not viable. Theoretically a CV-rebuild down the lane...? I don't know, a lot of potential issues with any returns on investing into her, she's a bit of an odd one. I would've done the same in your place, put her into the corner until I can come up with a semi-reasonable idea of what the hell to do. Perhaps just keep her as she is and take whatever value she offers with relatively minor modernization. After all, she still offers a capability/fulfills a role to some extent that you are in a proper need right now. The Mississauga-class is a beauty, even more so. A whole lot of work awaits them for sure.
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Post by prophetinreverse on Mar 28, 2020 14:25:50 GMT -6
This is a wonderful TL and I am thoroughly enjoying it!
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Post by ewaldvonkleist on Mar 28, 2020 16:18:17 GMT -6
Congratulations on your hard-earned victory! It seems Great Britain has problems winning wars against former North American colonies. With their budget growing quickly, I suppose a war against the US would get only worse the further you are into the game?
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Post by mycophobia on Mar 29, 2020 6:23:18 GMT -6
Oof, the ex-Princess Royal does seem like a somewhat unfortunate pick at first glance. I imagine she has relatively high maintenance compared to uncomfortably small number of barrels. Of course, she still brings 6 15" @ 28kts to anywhere in the world, but I'm just not completely sold on the idea that the cost worths it. An interesting aspect of hers is the (I think?) coal-fired long-ranged engines, which at this speed especially probably take up a disgusting amount of displacement, so an - of course, rather expensive especially in such times where most of the funding went up in smokes - extensive rebuild might free up considerable amount of weight, perhaps even enough for additional deck armor or something. It's a shame that adding an extra barbette is absolutley not viable. Theoretically a CV-rebuild down the lane...? I don't know, a lot of potential issues with any returns on investing into her, she's a bit of an odd one. I would've done the same in your place, put her into the corner until I can come up with a semi-reasonable idea of what the hell to do. Perhaps just keep her as she is and take whatever value she offers with relatively minor modernization. After all, she still offers a capability/fulfills a role to some extent that you are in a proper need right now. The Mississauga-class is a beauty, even more so. A whole lot of work awaits them for sure. The suggested carrier conversion is actually a really good idea that I totally missed, I was so focused on trying to get what I can to fill my much depleted ranks of BC that I totally forgot that the carrier program also got axed by the budget cut. I will have to look to how much weight can realistically be dedicated towards a carrier conversion as the Princess Royal is quite well armoured but undergunned, and while the engine is dated the RN is also almost certainly ahead of me in engine tech. If she could be converted with a reasonable capacity, it might be worth the effort, and her all around decent protection can make installing the mandatory 8” guns less of a pain as she might even see off line cruisers by herself. Not to mention it will make for a fun build ( and from a workload perspective having a hull to work with saves hours of FtD work time too)
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Post by mycophobia on Mar 29, 2020 6:26:10 GMT -6
Congratulations on your hard-earned victory! It seems Great Britain has problems winning wars against former North American colonies. With their budget growing quickly, I suppose a war against the US would get only worse the further you are into the game? A war against the US I’d very much want to avoid, they gave me one hell of a beating back in 1908, and I can’t see myself surviving a blockade against their massive navy now. Sadly, as the two remaining power with significant interest in the Caribbean, it’s not impossible to imagine that we’d come to blows. Ideally I’d prefer a limited war against either Russia or Japan to grab some funding and maybe a colony or two. Germany is for now the strongest navy but at least they are confined to Europe, so I may have a chance against them if France can help.
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Post by mycophobia on Apr 11, 2020 2:18:46 GMT -6
The Coming Storm - Aug, 1926 - Jan, 1928
1926 - New Challengers Arise While the Anglo-Canadian War marked the end of British naval dominance, it also opened the stage for other nation to take Britain's place. Two of the most significant contender is the United State and the German Empire. Both have a fleet that could almost match the Royal Navy at the height of the Anglo-Canadian war, and both cast wary gaze towards the Franco-Canadian Alliance.
While the German empire struggled to deal with radical element that arose out of the discontent following the German Defeat of the Anglo-German war of 1904, United State had grown to become one of the leading economic power of the world. Faced with American encroachment, the Canadian government decides to develop domestic steel industry and limits mineral export to the US in late 1926, an act not taken kindly by their southern neighbor.
However, the Franco-Canadian alliance remained strong, and the Canadian military provided latest Canadian turret and catapult design to the French navy in lieu of the payment needed to resume the construction of the Erie Class battleships being built in Brest. These ships are certainly needed as the US is currently building four dreadnoughts displacing about 38,000 to 41,000 tons.
State of the Competition
Canadian data on the Ohio class Dreadnought Idaho, the smallest of the 4 new American dreadnoughts being built in late 1926. The USN have a massive fleet of slow, but extremely powerful battleships, something that even the combined French and Canadian navy would struggle to match.
However, the US enthusiasm for naval aviation and their decision to drop out of the battlecruiser race resulted in all US battlecruiser being converted into Aircraft Carriers in the early 20s. This meant that US lacked any fast vessel that could match the Canadian battlecruisers, but the USN does have a large fleet of Heavy cruisers as a stop-gap replacement.
The USN have the largest Carrier force in the world as of 1926, but as they were all converted from early battlecruisers, none were particular efficient designs. Ship for ship, they are certainly inferior in the aircraft carrier role when compared to the Canadian Lynx class, but they do have number on their side.
1927 - Storm Cloud Over Europe
While Canadian cast weary gaze over their southern boarder, the situation in Europe was even less optimistic. Following the communist revolution of Britain in 1926, communist movements in Germany likewise threatened the rule of the Kaiser. In the ensuing chaos, an extreme group of former Anglo-German War veterans were able to seize de-facto power of the nation following a coup in March of 1927. Angered by what they view as German Surrender of 1904 and inaction against a growing French power, this new Facist regime threaten to plunge Europe into another war.
However, with much internal dissidents to crush, the new regime in Germany cautiously maintained its diplomatic relationship with Canada, even offering to sell German secondary gun directors to the Canadian navy as a mean to gather funding for the fledging government. This German secondary director design was subsequently modified by Canadian engineers to provide anti-aircraft direction capabilities as well.
While Germany did not adopt a hostile stance towards Canada, a conflict between them and the French seems likely in the future. Compared to the USN, the newly renamed Kreigsmarine inherited one of the world's most massive capital ship fleet. While lacking in naval aviation support, Germany's surface fleet are now second to none. Still, for the time being the Canadian navy remain more concerned about the threat from the south.
Planning for the Worst With the possibility of another war on the Horizon, the Canadian navy had to do whatever it takes to prepare. In October, 1927, the Parliament inquired the admiralty about the state of the navy in comparison to the USN and received a blatantly honest response: "with a third of our capital ships rusty away in mothball, we aren't even in a shape to fight whats left of the British again without French assistance"
With that, the Parliament authorized a 12million increase in the annual naval budget, and promised more down the line. This made the headline in the states, and only became justification for the USN to acquire funding of their own. Despite the budget increase, the amount really only allowed the Canadian navy to take its mothballed vessel into reserve service.
Not knowing when a war might break out and strapped for budget, the Canadian navy decided to reinforce its defenses by expanding the airfields in Cuba and Halifax. These airbase can hopefully provide enough cover to offset the US advantage in Naval Aviation.
Newly established Canadian MTB squadron in Nova Scotia conducting training exercise in late 1927. A second squadron in Cuba is planned for 1928.
Noting that the coast around Nova Scotia and Maine had been the site of many naval battles in the last war against US, Canadian navy decided to invest in the rather novel idea of short ranged Motor Torpedo Boats to carry out attack on any US warships that might be used to conduct coastal gunfire support or raids. The first mass produced model in 1927 features 2 torpedo tubes and a single turreted machine gun for self-defense.
While the USN operates only 16 submarines, the Canadian navy nonetheless sought to produce a group of smaller vessel for coastal patrol and anti-submarine work, freeing the larger destroyers for fleet duty. Thus 6 Lytton Class Corvette were built in 1926, similar to the earlier Amore class minesweeper, but with an oil fired engine and a much larger capacity of depth charges.
Despite all these preparations, the Canadian navy definitely needed more time to recover from the last war. As people around the nation celebrated Christmas of 1927, one can only hope that the next Christmas can still be celebrated from the warm fireplace within one's home.
Hi all, after some bannerlord-induced delays im back for another update.
The quarantine times really made me realize how important it is to have a healthy backlog of reading, modelling and painting projects . So I hope that this update can be entertaining for you all. Given the budget constraint and the peacetime nature of this update, I sought to instead work on a couple smaller vessels of the fleet. (The decision to build MTB bases was almost entirely because I wanna have a try making working MTBs in FTD )
If peace could be maintained, I hope that I can bring the Erie Class battleship modelled for the next update, and I definitely look forward to have a chance to work a even bigger ships .
As usual, I hope you enjoy the update and stay safe everyone.
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Post by mycophobia on Apr 13, 2020 19:33:25 GMT -6
Strive for Peace, Prepare for War - Jan 1928 - Feb 1929
Striving for PeaceBy the new year of 1928, the tension between Canada and US are at its highest point since the Great War of 1904. Canadian had not forgotten the suffering caused by the last war against the US, and despite animosity over issues from steel import to Caribbean colonies, peace would still be preferable to war. The navy, normally detached from the politics of the nation, had made an effort to redirect Canadian attention to the rising facist Germany. A war with Germany is just as dangerous as a war against the US, but at least it wont be fought on Canadian Soil. Yet no nation is willing to rely entirely on diplomatic channels to resolve the current crisis, and Canada in particular cannot afford to be found with half its fleet in reserve should a war break out. Thus, the parliament yet again issued more funding to the navy in January, and directed more resource to develop the steel industry in September of 1928. However, while this allowed the Canadian navy to bring ships out of mothball and resume training, it also further increased the tension with US, potentially undoing the diplomatic effort for peace. Washington Conference, 1928The tension between US/Canada and France/Germany had not escaped international attention. In April, 1928, Delegates from major naval powers of the world met at Washington to discuss a possible arms limitation treaty. Canada have a strong incentive to preserve peace, but with two Erie class battleship less than a year from completion, the navy adviced that any treaty that threatened these ship are simply unacceptable. Thus while diplomatic effort to lower tension was made at the Washington conference, no binding agreement could be reached. Aerial photo of Erie and Superior under construction in St. Nazaire, 1927. The fate of these two ships were a key point of contention during the Washington conference, and ultimately negotiation fell apart in part due to Canadian insistence that these ship must be allowed to complete. Preparing for War
While diplomatic effort to avoid war was attempted, including purposely losing a sailing competition held in US, the threat of the USN was far to overwhelming for Canada to stay put. Using the newly increased funding of 1928, the Canadian navy begin to reactivate its mothballed ships into reserve status, and put all its modern capital ships on active duty. Training for pilots and sailors resumed, and the army is busy recruiting for another potential conflict. However, the economy still hasn't fully recovered after the last war, and with a huge amount of funding devoted to complete the Erie class, there isn't much else to spare. Interestingly enough, France, busy with their own rearmament program offered to build one more Erie class for Canada at a 10% discount per ship on two separate occasions. The proposal was politely, but firmly rejected. While building more destroyers and light cruiser might be an option, it is unlikely that a few more destroyer can make a significant impact on the coming war. Thus the Canadian navy turned towards the scrapped Carrier program once more. A large fleet carrier over 20,000 ton was planned to be built together with the Erie class ships, but was dropped when the Anglo-Canadian war ended. Given that the US battleship force are simply far too overwhelming, airstrike could potentially be the equalizing force, and the carrier program resumed in 1928. The Carrier Plan
In 1928, the USN operates 8 carriers with a capacity of 187 aircrafts, the Canadian Navy only has 3 carriers with 75 aircrafts. If the Canadian Navy wants to use airstrikes to combat the USN surface fleet, the discrepancy in airpower must be remedied.
The former British Battlecruiser Cayuga(Princess Royal) was first examined for possibility of a conversion. However, the ship is rather well armored and its old but powerful engine took up substantial displacement. A possible conversion will allow her to carry about 40 planes, that will not be enough to combat US superiority, and will derive the Canadian navy of a much needed battlecruiser. Thus the plan was to build a pair of purpose build carrier instead. The result was the Boventure Class Carrier. They were smaller than the original 1926 planned fleet carrier, at just 19700 tons, and is also rather poorly protected. On the other hand, they could be build quickly and rather cheaply. The plan was revised several times to incorporate latest design developments to squeeze as much capacity out of the ships as possible. The finalized design, if completed, will allow Canadian navy to field 159 aircrafts from carriers against the USN's 187, a much better ratio. Both Boventure class carrier were laid down in June, 1928, and additional funding is approved to accelerate their construction in anticipation of the potential war. As the year 1929 approaches, there is yet one more surprise for the Canadian Navy. The Anglo-US Alliance
With most of their attention focused on Germany and US, Canadian neglected the now communist British government. The threat of revolution meant that most other nation casted weary gaze towards the former British Empire, but the much depleted British Navy is no longer a significant threat. It was then, to everyone's surprise, that USA announced a joint security agreement with Britain in December, 1928. The alliance was not well received within either nation, but the age old proverb that "an enemy of my enemy is my friend" seems to hold true. With whats left of the British Navy potentially keeping the French in check, the Canadian navy might have to fight against the might of the USN on its own, and facist Germany remains an extremely powerful third party that makes the current situation even more hazardous.
That concludes another peace time update, as you can see, things aren't exactly going well. Hopefully if a war does come I can at least fight it on somewhat favorable terms. The Erie class, shown underconstruction above, have been finished and I will have the ship's write up updated in a day or two. I was very happy with how that class turned out and is looking forward to share it with you all (And lets hope they don't get blown up in harbor or anything....) Bloopers: In trying to take photo of Erie and Superior in dock, the dockyard model I have was too small to fit the ships. To make them fit in the slipway, both BB were spawned 500m above the dock and helped the dock undergo some gravity-assisted expansion
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Post by prophetinreverse on Apr 14, 2020 14:22:38 GMT -6
I have been thinking of doing a TL of my own. What is the minecraft mod you have been using exactly? I might toy around with it a bit.
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Post by mycophobia on Apr 14, 2020 15:47:37 GMT -6
I have been thinking of doing a TL of my own. What is the minecraft mod you have been using exactly? I might toy around with it a bit. I am using a heavily modded version of patch 2.16 of the game “From the Depths” (available on steam) to model the ships, not minecraft(and I personally don’t think minecraft is as suited to what I’m trying to make either) However I’m mostly using that version because update will break most of my designs. You can do fine by using the latest version of From the Depths.
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Post by mycophobia on Apr 15, 2020 1:54:09 GMT -6
Erie Class Battleship (1929) Ships in Class: Erie, Superior
Overview
By the latter stage of the Anglo-Canadian war, the 4 Canadian battleships of the Quebec and New Brunswick class are nearly a decade old. Despite firecontrol and AA upgrades, the old Canadian dreadnoughts are starting to fall short against their competitions. While their thick armor helped them survive against superior foes during the Anglo-Canadian war, 14" guns are start to feel inadequate against the latest battleships. While the armor protection is excellent a decade ago, the 4 Canadian battleships probably owe more to the damage control team rather than the armor for their survival in various major engagements of the war. Furthermore, with newer battleship like the Benbow capable of making 25 knots or more, the Canadian navy is also beginning to lose their advantage in speed. Adding to this was the loss of battlecruisers during the war. With naval officers torn between building battlecruisers or battleships, the admiralty finally settled for the not-so-obvious solution: Build a ship that can be both. While such thought would've been rather ludicrous a decade ago, pwoerful ship engines in the mid 20s made it possible to reach a healthy balance in firepower, armor, and speed. In order to take advantage of the most cutting-edge technology available for their new ship, the Navy opted to build the two Erie class ship in French naval yards, and French designers had considerable input on the designing process as a result. While these two ships missed the Anglo Canadian War and was delayed by the post war budget cut, they were still very competitive designs, and outclassed everything the USN have in their service. Though in many ways, the Erie class are also a very marked departure from traditional dreadnought battleships that most nation employed for the first two and half decade of the 20th century. Weaponry
One of the main selling feature of the Erie class is her powerful 16" guns. With most nations moving to 15" guns by the early 20s, Canadian firepower had long been outmatched. With 16" equipped ships starting to enter service by the mid 20s (in particular within the German Navy), Canadian designers cannot afford to be left behind. The Cree-class battlecruiser was an attempt to use the intermediate 15"/40 gun to improve Canadian firepower, but the performance of those guns were mediocre. Thus, a new 16" gun was designed specifically for the Cree class, which is able to match the performance of most contemporary 16" guns around the world. The gun could penetrate the armor of almost all existing warships within 18,000 yards. Consider that most battle of the Anglo-Canadian war were fought decisively at a range of 10,000 - 15,000 yards, this performance was deemed more than adequate. The added range is also a boon, as the Erie class could use their speed to keep older warships at bay, while bombarding them with the long ranged 16" Gun. Erie's offensive ability is further complemented by latest French FCS, which is again mounted on the characteristic Canadian "Totem Pole" mast, which is now more massive than ever to house additional AA positions and leaving room for potential upgrades. However, as the ship must also be designed with adequate protection and speed, designers had to come up with some novel solution to keep down the massive weight of these new 16" guns. To this end, French expertise with Quadruple turret came in. The French had been working with quad turrets for a decade by now, and they had been able to design highly reliable 14" quad turret designs used on their battleships. By using two quad turrets fore and aft, the design is able to have a 8 gun broadside with much weight to spare. Nevertheless, the sheer weight and size of the massive turrets housing 4 16" guns still presented some challenge. These turret had to be placed further back in the hull, leaving less deck space for secondary guns and AA. More importantly, even though French expertise helped in making these turret relatively reliable, a lucky hit could still disable half the ship's fire power immediately. As the quad 16" turret took up significant deck space, designers had to come up with some ways to effectively position secondary guns. The Canadian navy's secondary gun of choice remains the venerable but highly effective 6"/50 gun, and a new dual turret was designed specifically to be mounted upon the Erie. (Which also opened the opportunity of using this same turret design for light cruisers in the future). By placing one of the dual 6" turret on the centerline superfiring over the A turret, Erie is able to have a 6 6"gun broadside. Which, while not particularly impressive, are made up by her tertiary battery. While aircrafts were not the dominant force of the last war, constant improvement in naval aviation meant that its probably better to be safe than sorry when dealing with a major warship like the Erie. The Canadian 4" DP gun are not particularly great for anti-surface role, but the Erie does carry a total of 12 of them. Combined with a generous amount of AA HMGs and some light AA autocannons(with space for more if required), the class carry the heaviest AA firepower within the Canadian navy. Time will tell if this is enough against the development of naval aviation. Armor
The Erie class maintained the high degree of armored protection seen with other Canadian battleships. While it is too difficult to armor her to resist close range 16" fire, she is well protected enough against most smaller guns as long as she maintain her distance. Latest French subdivision technology where also incorporated into her design to better ensure survival. There is one area where significant amount of armor was invested, however. Namely her two 16" quad turrets. Erie's designer is well aware of the risk of using quad turrets, and did everything in their power to ensure maximal protection. Thus Erie's main turret have a incredible 16" of armor, enough to resist 16" shells at the expected normal engagement range of 14-15,000 yards. The turret top is likewise extremely thick, able to resist 16" shells and 1400lb bombs currently being employed by the Canadian navy at any range. Erie class also have two separate engine rooms being served by separate funnels. While not particularly note worthy, it does mean the engine is not particularly vulnerable to being destroyed by one lucky hit. One small weakness in the Erie class' protection is her secondary weapons. The 4" DP are mostly unarmored and clustered midship, and the 6" dual turrets are also lightly armored.
Speed
The most noteworthy aspect of the Erie is her speed. At 27 knots, she can keep up with some older battlecruisers, and only the latest designs can comfortably out run her. This meant the class can be used in roles traditionally reserved for battlecruisers if the situation requires it. While not fast enough to run down the latest cruiser designs, the Erie class can easily take on any opposition she might encounter. The fastest foreign battleship by comparison, can only make 25 knots. The USN in particular only have battleships capable of 22 knots, allowing Erie to easily out run any unfavorable encounters. This aspect alone makes the Erie class an extremely flexible vessel, and given the limited amount of capital ships in Canadian disposal, such flexibility is much needed.
Well there she goes, this is probably the ship im most happy with since I've started the AAR (I used to have quite a bit of trouble making ship with more modern hulls). One thing I might change with the FtD model is to eventually stick more AA position on them, but I thought having a cleaner deck makes more sense as a "peace time" loadout, and I will probably stick more AA guns to represent her full capacity in war time as shown in the RTW design. Lastly, I've prepared this family photos of all Canadian battleships between 1900-1929(I thought about including the BCs, but felt that might crash my game ). Its truly inspiring to see how long I've came since starting this AAR (I never planned to actually build the later BBs to such a large scale, since it takes quite a bit of time, but I end up having too much fun xD)
Hope you all enjoyed this update, and until next time.
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Post by akosjaccik on Apr 15, 2020 17:10:46 GMT -6
While it is very clear that you've worked your hands off with the Erie, I have to admit that I can't help but adore the MTBs, but especially the Lytton-class corvettes. Those things could easily be sold as plushies to push the PR of the Navy. I had to check back to our very first post tho', I couldn't remember if this is your first KE, so I re-read about the Amore-class as well, including the treat the M1911 sub presented still. Still, no denying that the Erie turned out very well (not to mention the "under construction" image with the bulkheads, engines and barbettes). I'll be curious what kind of experience you'll gain with the relatively unusual layout. Sometimes I wish RtW wouldn't draw a harsh line at 6" when it comes to flash fire, a part of me would love to see the design with 8"-10" secondaries for some reason. In an idiotic way I could totally see her that way as an "ultra-modern semi-dread" - which makes no sense of course but that's the easiest way to convey what I was thinking about. Regarding the conversion of the Cayuga / building new CV - debate, I can see your reasoning. Especially the US-GB alliance is, uh... well, I almost wrote that "I can't really think of a much worse possibility", but then maybe Germany might pull a Molotov-Ribbentrop with communist GB to stop the "franco-canadian imperialism" as well, so I'll rather just remain silent. But still, man; just after years of conflict with the Royal Navy itself when one would think that easier times might follow. Well, at least the power of the gauls is available still.
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