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Post by mycophobia on Aug 8, 2019 2:27:52 GMT -6
1912 - 1915 Canada Stands Alone PoliticsThe post war recovery of Canada was surprisingly quick under the conservative party, in no small part due to wartime development in the vast natural resource industry of Canada. Thus, despite the initial post war setback of Naval budget, the Canadian navy were able to complete 19 new 900 ton destroyer, and two battleships by the end of 1913. Canada's fast recovery also meant it quickly begin to reassert itself in the international stage. With the formal end of the Anglo-Canadian Alliance at 1912, most major power around the world expect Canada to return to obscurity in the international stage. However, the new conservative government firmly believed that without British "Protection", Canada must demonstrate to the world that it is an independent power worthy of respect. While some in the navy did not like the governmental's aggressive foreign politic so soon after a major war, Admiral Kingsmill played along with the Parliament's request as a main to secure much needed funding to rebuild the Canadian navy. As a result, the Canadian navy carried out several show of flag operations in China during 1912, the resulting tension with Russia lead to a new naval bill in 1913 allocating additional funds to the navy. Seeing most other nation remained unopposed to Canadian adventures abroad, the parliament authorized one of its most ambitious international interventions yet. The Cuban Civil War
Following the Spanish-American war, Cuba achieved its independence in 1902, despite still being under heavy US influence. However, with the war of 1907 diverting most US resources away from the Caribbean. The Partido Independiente de Color (PIC), a movement by the disgruntled former slaves and veterans of the former colony attempted to break away from the Republic. Without US support, the Cuban government slowly lost ground over the next few years. With US public opinion firmly against sending troops abroad soon after the great war, the Cuban government turned to the Canadians instead. In May of 1914, Canada surprised the world by dispatching its entire battleship squadron to Cuba, where it crushed several coastal defense gunships the PIC seized from the Cuban Republic. This was met with widespread international condemnation. Besides USA, both France and UK fiercely criticized the Canadian effort to "restore order", although Canada retorted that the above nations are placing their colonial interest in the Caribbean above that of the Cubans. Manitoba and Saskatchewan firing at a armed merchantman of the CIP off Cuba. The Canadian squadron initially blockaded CIP held ports, but as things escalated in June, began to bombard CIP troops.
Seeing that other nation did not go beyond verbal condemnation, Canadian troop landed in Cuba by June, and the parliament authorized further development in July. While US and France responded by declaring trade sanctions against Canada, the Canadian forces were nonetheless able to push back the CIP troops back to the province of Oriente, where a ceasefire was signed to allow CIP to retain semi-autonomous rule over the province, but the rest of Cuba being essentially brought under Canadian control. The The international situation following the Cuban takeover is very hostile to Canada, but no country are yet willing to commit to military action. The Canadian navy remain the smallest in the world, but still a respectable force that cannot be easily dismissed. For the navy's support in seizing Cuba, and the hostile international climate, the Canadian navy received unprecedented funding to help it meet the new challenges as head. In May 1915, following another sortie by the Canadian navy into Asia and the laying down of the Quebec Class battleships, French mobilized its entire fleet, but Canadian took a hard stance and the French government did not press the matter further. However, By October, tension between the two nation are near a simmering point, and France begin to move its navy to protect its Caribbean colonies. US remain cold to Canada over the Cuban incident, but ongoing dispute between it and Russia meant neither are fully committed to support France. Canadian Naval Development 1912 - 1915Canadian technological development during the first few years after the war had been slow, since budget are needed to complete the wartime constructions. Thus after the Manitoba class, only three new Lethbridge class light cruisers were laid down. The most significant local development would be the design for a Triple turret, inspired by Austro-Hungarian innovation of this time, combined with a local model of 14inch guns. Combined with improvement in AP shell technology (Most notably Ballistic Cap for AP shells), Canadian firepower have finally been brought up to be on par with most major navy. Similarly, Canada developed a new model of their favored 6inch gun in 1913. The new Mod 1913 6inch/50 gun would be one of the best 6inch gun model in the world at the time, and would serve as staple of Canadian ships in the future. Lastly, despite the end of the Anglo-Canadian Alliance, the existence of many British subsidiary in Canada kept the path of technological purchase open. As a result, important armor quality control procedures are procured from British Manufactures during this time. All these advancement lead to the development of two Haida Class battlecruiser in May, 1913, which was formally laid down later that year. These would be the largest warship in the world at the time, and would not be surpassed until new foreign designs were laid down in 1914. This would be followed up by the construction of the Quebec class battleship, a slower but upgunned and armored design based on the Haida class, in a manner similar to the relationship between Yukon and Manitoba Class. The warscare with France during the Cuban Civil War also lead to the old Calgary being brought in for a comprehensive refit to keep her relevant should war break out. The last exciting new field advancement lies in Naval Aviation. The possibility of using airships for naval scouting had been discussed as early as 1911, and the Canadian navy formally constructed its first airship base at Halifax in 1913. The navy hoped to use airships to provide relatively cheap scouts and patrol given the relatively limited numbers of Canadian Cruisers. Canadian Navy Airship Bathrust flying over the Canadian squadron being dispatched for Cuba off New Brunswick coast in 1914.
This turned out to be a wordier update than most other ones, but sine I kinda kept playing until 1915 without much screenshots, I had to write a bit more to make up for it. Since we are sitting on the verge of a war I will also use the next update to do some evaluation of our current weaponry, the new Lethbridge class cruiser that's completed in 1915 (seen in the Zeppelin shot, I did have them done before going ahead xD), and the refitted Calgary.
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Post by mycophobia on Aug 10, 2019 16:54:53 GMT -6
Lethbridge Class Light Cruiser (1915) Ship in Class : Lethbridge, Richmond, Thunderbay
Following the end of the Great War at 1911, naval budget cut forced the Canadian admiralty to slow down dreadnought construction and look to smaller vessels. Noting the use of a effective cruiser force in the Battle of Point Lepreau and their use as scouts and raiders, the navy called for a new design that detached from the old Protected Cruiser Scheme, using a full waterline belt rather than internal deck for protection, and making use of new steam turbine engine for greater speed. Weaponry
The old Canadian protected cruisers are generally equipped with multiple 5inch guns, which are starting to fell behind against some of the better protected cruiser designs of other nations, and completely useless against remaining armored cruiser in service. Thus the Lethbridge class is equipped with 6 6inch guns in armored turreted mount. These guns gave them enough hitting power to threaten most cruiser in service, and remain effective against destroyers. Unfortunately, they did not get to receive the newly developed 6inch gun in 1913, and had to make due with the old 6inch gun design that equipped most Canadian dreadnought up till that point. The class maintained three underwater torpedo tubes against larger targets. Notably, one of the torpedo tube is mounted aft of the ship, allowing it to present any pursuers with a nasty surprise. Armor
Unlike earlier Canadian cruisers, the Lethbridge class have a waterline belt armor, giving her protection to areas beyond her core machinery space and magazine. However, the fore and aft of the ship remains unarmored and the overall thickness of the armored sections were also reduced compared to earlier designs(but they are made with better quality armor). As a result, Lethbridge are better protected against smaller caliber guns but vulnerable to most cruiser level guns or higher (Not that the earlier Canadian design fared any better). Since most of Lethbridge's guns are mounted on the centerline for less guns in total, these guns are given extra protection with armored turrets as opposed to shielded mounts. This increased the weight of these turrets, but should keep them safe as the class closed the distance(or is trying to escape). Speed
Seeing the Battlecruiser designs around the world are becoming faster and faster, its important that the new light cruiser design must be able to keep up in speed to remain useful scouting units. Thus, the Lethbridge class is designed with a rapid 28 knots of speed. However, the relatively short hull and larger than expected weight of her turrets made her final speed a knot slower. While still faster than all battlecruiser in service at the time, 27 knot is by no means impressive for a ship of this class. Overall, the ship is still no match in combat against even older armored cruiser designs, but they are comparatively cheap and somewhat more expendable, and thus would take an important role in many smaller engagements in the years to come.
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Post by mycophobia on Aug 10, 2019 17:10:47 GMT -6
Calgary Class - 1914 Refit
Calgary is one of the most decorated vessel in the Canadian navy. It had taken a very active role in both wars fought by Canada up till now. Furthermore, she had a reputation for heroics as her crew fearlessly engaged superior targets from armored cruisers to battleships. While not scrapped like the Canada class, Calgary was placed on reserve role given her slow speed made her vulnerable to new battlecruisers around the world. However, with the rapidly raising tension in 1914, the Canadian navy decided it needs as many combat capable unit as possible if war is to break out before the two new Haida Class Battlecruiser enters service. Thus, Calgary was given a moderate overhaul in 1914 that was completed by mid 1915. Given the limited budget at the time, the Refit of Calgary is not as extensive as could be. Thus, many aspect of the original ship were left unchanged, such as the secondary guns and most of the superstructure. The main changes to the ship are as follows: Main Battery
The obsolete French 250mm gun were replaced with a C.M.L 8inch gun design which claims superior penetration, rate of fire, accuracy and range. The smaller gun also meant more guns can be fitted, for a total of 5 guns in a triple turret fore and a double turret aft. The 8inch guns were originally designed for a new armored cruiser design that were cancelled in light of the development of the battlecruiser class of ships, but find their use in modernizing the aging Calgary.
Fire Control
The fore superstructure is reconstructed to incorporate a tripod mast and superior range finding/fire control equipment. Together with the new guns it was hoped that this will allow the class to engage favorably against older armored cruiser designs at range when Canadian battlecruisers are not otherwise available. Speed
A new weather bow and steam turbine engine improved the speed of the ship to a more acceptable 24 knots. While a more extensive refit removing some secondary guns with their ammunition to make space for a larger engine can make the ship even faster, the cost of the refit was already getting high for the Canadian navy. Thus it was thought the present refit would be adequate if Calgary is to simply "plug holes" and leave the enemy battlecruiser to the Yukon Class.
So there goes my first refit, probably not the most economical choice but I do need ship fast in the late 1914. I've grown quite attached to Calgary over the years as it really did serve me well(look at all the stars xD), shame Vancouver couldn't be here to see her decorated sister modernized. Having gotten the new ships out of the way, expect another AAR update this weekend . In the meanwhile, I have couple more capital ship to work on.
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Post by mycophobia on Aug 11, 2019 19:04:56 GMT -6
1915-1916 To War, Once Again
Despite the extreme level of tension in late 1915, diplomatic effort was avoided for the time being. The admiralty made it clear to the parliament that another war with the US is to be avoided at costs, and necessary concessions should be made. With a war over their newly acquired Caribbean possession on the horizon, the Canadian navy begin works to expand naval facilities in Cuba, as well as building airship and airplane bases there to prepare for war. While the admiralty would've also liked to construct several coastal artillery supported by minefields, the budget of the year did not allow that. With all these being prepared, the Admiralty told the Prime Minister by the February of 1916 that the Canadian navy is well prepared for a defensive war against France. With this assurance, Canada returned to a hard stance in their negotiation with France, and war is once again on the table. The Canadian government issued additional funding to the navy in June, which was used to lay down a second Quebec class battleship. This was the final straw for the French, they issued an ultimatum to the Canadian government by late June, demanding the withdrawal of all Canadian forces and assets from Cuba. This was formally rejected by the Canadian government, and war broke out in July, 1916. Force Disposition at the Start of The War
French Fleet 1917
At the start of the war, the Canadian Naval Squadron in Cuba consisted of a squadron of Saint-Geroges Class destroyer and a squadron of newer Pointe-Claire Class and two Airdrie class Protected Cruisers. With the tension on the rise, battlecruiser Yukon, Nunavut and two of the new Lethbridge class cruiser arrived in May. French naval force in the Caribbean initially consisted of several older armored cruisers and two destroyer squadron. But the Marine Nationale have a large fleet to draw upon. The French navy was characterized by its use of a large force of battlecruisers and large armored cruisers. Notably, the French Fleet operates 6 early battlecruiser design of the Duquesne Class, these ships are essentially fast but poorly armored pre-dreadnoughts. Despite their number, they are likely far outclassed by the Canadian Yukon class. The next step in French fast warship doctrine is the Latouche-Treville Class, which is a fast and well armed cruiser design that does not quite meet the Battlecruiser definition, but far more powerful than any armored cruiser in in service. The French Battle line consisted of 4 Battleships, which are generally more heavily gunned by under-armored compared to their Canadian counterparts. Lastly the French only operates 2 outdated protected cruisers, but 8 Armored Cruisers over 10000 tons, including the Latouche-Treville class. The Destroyer force on both sides are roughly equal in quality, but Canada have a slight edge in numbers, and neither side have a significant submarine force to speak of. Upcoming Ships
An important consideration of the upcoming war is the ships poised to enter service in the next few years or so. France is expecting a new generation of light cruisers in 1918, together with two Ocean Class battleship, which based on Plan stolen by Canadian spies, are likely to outclass any ship Canada would have by then. Canada on the other hand can expect two Haida Class battlecruiser, equipped with 8 14inch guns to enter service by mid 17, followed by 2 Quebec Class Battleship by 1918. Skirmish at Santiago (July 7th, 1916)
The First action of the war would come on the early morning of July 7th, 1916. Canadian airship patrol at Santiago reported French Cruisers operating off Cuban coast. As the intel reports only one protected cruiser, the light cruiser Lethbridge was sent to investigate along with 3 destroyers. However, it turns out that the cruiser spotted was the 11800 ton cruiser Amiral Charner, armed with 2 10 inch guns. Lethbridge briefly attempted to engage with Amiral charner while the destroyers attempted a torpedo attack. Unfortunately, the Canadian torpedo training had been neglected during the interwar period to save budget, and the crews of the Colonial Squadrons are not exactly the best trained. Thus despite good firing positions, only 1 hits were scored out of 6 torpedo launched, and that hit turned out to be a dud. In return, two of the Canadian destroyer were sunk by Amiral Charner's powerful 7inch secondary guns. Making the matter worse, 3 more French cruisers were spotted on the horizon 30 minutes into the engagement. Realizing they are outmatched, Lethbridge ordered an retreat, and were able to retreat safely into Santiago harbor thanks to her high speed. Lethbridge under fire, she took moderate damage in this battle, notably with a 10inch shell destroying her aft-centerline turret, thankfully this did not lead to a magazine explosion.
So as I have to complete the large Haida-Class battlecruiser before continuing to play further, I am only about 8 months from the skirmish of July, 1916 with only one notable engagement that I will cover in the next update. In the meantime, I'd like to hear some opinions and suggestion as to the extent in which I should pursue this war. Should I keep at a colonial conflict and focus on fighting whatever the French sent to the Caribbean and try for a small victory, or should I press the advantage by sorting into Europe if I can somehow get an advantage in the Caribbean?(I am not sure if no basing in Europe will screw me over if I don't stay there too long?) Or should I play it safe and try to end the war before the Ocean class enter service unless I somehow got a decisive advantage.
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Post by mycophobia on Aug 15, 2019 1:01:46 GMT -6
Haida Class Battlecruiser Ship In Class: Haida, Athabaskan
While the Yukon and Manitoba class are powerful ships for their time, wartime need and technological limitation meant that these ships suffer from several issues. Most importantly, the Canadian 12inch Gun simply do not have adequate hitting power against newer capital ships, even with more effective ammo being development for the Navy. Thus, following the completion of the Manitoba class and a short break in capital ship construction to work on the Lethbridge class , the Canadian navy laid down their biggest war ship yet in 1914, a ship that will bring about a new era of naval arms race. OverviewAt just over 200 meters long and nearly 30,000 ton in displacement, Haida class surpassed all other warships in the world when they were first laid down. (The largest ship at the time is Britain's Lion class battlecruiser, at 26,700 tons) At 1914, many Canadian naval yards realized the immense profit that can be gained from the renewed naval construction program, this in turn lead to many private expansions of the Canadian shipyards. As a result, the Canadian navy took this opportunity to construct the largest and most powerful ship they can to ensure the new warship can remain competitive for as long as possible. While rapid technological development would mean that Haida Class would have many close competitors when she entered service, she remained a powerful warship that can hopefully see use for the years to come. Canadian doctrine calls for the Battlecruisers to assist the battle line in fleet engagement as well, in that role they are expected to use their speed to remain at a relatively safe range where they can selectively engage the weaker element of the enemy fleet. To this end the Haida class have a much taller mast with more rangefinding equipments to spot for long range fire. WeaponryThe most important design goal of the Haida Class is to remedy the poor firepower of Canadian 12inch guns. The new C.M.L 14inch/42 gun offered far greater penetration and over 2000 yards of additional range. Haida was amongst the earliest design around the world to be equipped with 14inch guns, and even by 1917 only two battleships from Germany and UK had stronger 15inch guns. Despite Haida's large size, it was still difficult to mount a large number of the heavier 14inch guns. In attempt to save some weight, the guns are placed in two triple turret and one dual turret, giving the same 8 gun broadside as most warship around the world, but at a reduced weight. The new triple turret design are very heavy and some engineers have raised concern about their reliability, and potential vulnerability to enemy fire with all guns being focused in only three turrets, time will tell if their worries are well placed. Haida also took advantage of the new 6inch/50 secondary guns, which have better range and penetration to further threaten enemy cruisers. As with the Yukon class, the Haida class' highspeed is thought to be enough protection against torpedo boats, so 12 6inch guns is thought to be enough for the class. Penetration comparison of Haida's guns with the old Manitoba Class ArmorWhile some battlecruiser design around the world sacrificed significant amount of armor for speed and firepower, Canadian navy cannot afford to take such risks with any of its capital ships. Thus the Haida Class are armored with similar level of armor as the Manitoba class battleships, giving them good protection against 12/13inch gun at longer ranges outside of 12000~ yards or so. This allows Haida to engage most outdated designs of the enemy fleet while using their speed to avoid more powerful enemy ships tied up by the Canadian battleships in a large scale engagement, or otherwise chase down older battlecruiser with impunity. Turret armor is particularly emphasized given the concentration of firepower in three turrets. Acknowledging the risk of plunging fire at long range engagements based on the catastrophic flashfire of US Battleship California, Haida's turret received a 3inch top armor, unfortunately there is no weight left to improve the horizontal armored deck any further. Lastly it is worth noticing that Haida's belt edge/upper belt remains a fairly thin 3inch, only thick enough to keep out cruiser fires at mid to long range, which is becoming a standard feature of Canadian warships at this time. SpeedAs with all battlecruiser designs, speed remains the focus of Haida's design. While her long hull and large engine space are all geared towards faster speed, the Canadian navy are fairly conservative and only assigned Haida a design speed of 27 knots to make sure she is well armored and well gunned. Unfortunately, due to their relative experience with a ship this size and the rushed construction to complete the ship following the outbreak of the Franco-Canadian war, the Haida Class were only able to make 26 knots at trial, which is slower than many contemporaries. Further the overtaxed engine are prone malfunction if overworked. As a result, while the design of the Haida class were fairly adequate in the speed department, things did not quite work out in the field. Haida, Pride of the Canadian Navy and the most powerful ship in the Franco-Canadian War when she first entered service in September 1916. She would be stationed at Canadian Home Water for fitting out and subsequently patrolled Canadian homewater against rumored French Battlecruiser sorties in the winter of 1916.Size Comparison between Haida, Manitoba and Canada Class. (I certainly came a long way since the start of this AAR )
Apologies for this somewhat delayed update, It has been a fairly busy week for me and making the Haida class was a longer process than expected as well. (I had to scrap the whole superstructure once, since strictly following the RTW top down view just didn't quite work out) I've also planned to release a larger AAR chapter detailing the first major engagement against the French, but for the sake of my sleep routine and for quality of that chapter I will put it off until tomorrow. In anycase, early/ww1 era dreadnought battleships are probably ships I've most experience making in FTD, and I am pretty happy how Haida turned out, and I look forward to see her in action as well.
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Post by mycophobia on Aug 16, 2019 0:33:45 GMT -6
1916-1917 Caribbean in Flames
With the war being declared over Canadian occupation of Cuba, it comes as no surprise the major actions of the war would be centered in the Caribbean. Neither nation wished to fight a full scale war in the other's home water, preferring to limit the war to a colonial conflict. French fleet based in Antilles would launch raids to prevent Canadian convoys from delivering supplies to troops in Cuba, while Canadian fleet would likewise shell and harass French shipping in the region. Nevertheless, threat of possible French battlefleet attacking Canadian mainland backed by misleading intelligence report meant that the two new Haida class battlecruiser were reserved in North America. There were several engagement between Canadian light cruiser forces and French armored cruiser in the region, with the lighter Canadian ship generally avoiding engagements before using their superior speed to attack lone French merchants. Irritated by the stalemate, French moved its heavy force to Antilles in 1917. Given the limited basing capacity in the region, French reinforcement is limited to several powerful Latouche-Treville Class Cruiser and two Caiman Class Battleship, Canada moved its main battlefleet to Santiago in response to the deployment of heavy French units. First Battle of Punta Maisi - April 22nd, 1917
Since most Canadian convoy to southern Cuba pass through the coast off the Guantánamo province, this region makes for the perfect place for the French fleet to bring their opponents to battle. On April 22nd of 1917, the Canadian battle squadron is escorting a large 15 ship convoy off the coast of the town of Punta Maisi when the Lethbridge Class cruiser Thunder Bay reported clouds on the Horizon at 13:05, which turned out to be a pair of French battleships and the Latouche-Treville Class Cruiser Desaix. Despite being hopelessly outgunned by the French cruiser's 10 9inch guns, Thunderbay moved to engage Desaix in a effort to drive her towards the Canadian battleline. This was successful as Desaix were forced into a pocket created by the Canadian fleet, and quickly came under heavy fire by 13:40. Desaix being fired upon by Manitoba, one of the opening salvo of Manitoba's 6inch gun hit Desaix's submerged torpedo tube, causing serious flooding that severely slowed her, preventing her escape. French battleship Caiman and Indomptable were seen steaming in to Desaix's aid.
Thunderbay and Chestmere making a close pass in a attempt to torpedo the damaged Desaix in 14:27, both cruiser were hit several times by 9inch guns, and failed to score any torpedo hit. Fortunately, many shot over-penetrated the thinly armored section of the Canadian cruisers, causing only limited damage.
Over the next 50 minutes, Canadian fire focused on the Desaix, scoring no less than 10 12inch hits and more 6inch hits. The French battleships however are left untocuhed as they fired upon Canadian battleships, but at the longer ranges their shot were mostly ineffective. By 14:49, Desaix, heavily damaged by still afloat, were able to retreat behind the French battleships, who also turned to withdraw towards Haiti coast. Canadian battleship now finally switched their fire to the French battleships, but the French already found their range and their shots became more accurate as the Canadian fleet closed in. Saskatchewan, the second ship in the Canadian line was hit particularly hard when a 13inch shell destroyed her bridge and another penetrated her belt below waterline, causing her to fall to the back of the Canadian line. By 16:05, the escaping French fleet escaped into the gulf between Tortuga Island and Haiti mainland, disregarding Haiti neutrality. The Canadian fleet gave chase, but the narrow gulf forced Canadian ships to close range, allowing the French to land some damaging hit with their 13inch guns. Saskatchewan, bridge still burning from a hit she recieved in 15:30, engages the french battle fleet. Ammuniation is runing low so most ships are firing very conservatively. Canadian destroyer, mostly smaller Saint-Georges Class are chasing after the fleeing French ships, but struggled to close the distance under heavy gun fire.
The fleets entered open water again around 16:37, with the Canadian destroyers finally catching up to the French ships. However with two torpedo per ship, and the French trying their best to disengage, only 1 hit is scored on the battleship Indomptable, who were slowed down enough for damaged Sasketchewan to stay behind and finish her off with point blank gun fires. The attack proved costly however, as French secondary guns sunk 5 Canadian destroyers during the 40 minute long chase.
The remaing Canadian ship pursued the French fleet until the night, with the damaged Desaix being caught by dusk and finally sunk. Caiman being engaged by Manitoba and British Columbia as the night descends. Canadian ships are out of 12inch ammunation at this point and engaged Caiman with 6inch secondary batteries to little effect.
With all the cruisers and destroyers depleting their torpedo tubes in the earlier attacks, it fell upon the venerable British Columbia to deliver the killing blow by hitting Caiman with a point blank torpedo, just as the latter launched a torpedo that hit the Manitoba. Outcome
The battle was a costly, but decisive victory for the Canadian Fleet. This battle shattered French naval presence in the Caribbean until the French Battlecruisers arrived the next month. The battle also made the French recognize that the colonial war may prove far to costly to continue, not to mention international backlash for half the engagement to take place right off the coastline of neutral Haiti. This battle did review some short coming of the Canadian fleets. Old 600 ton destroyers are clearly ill-suited to carry out attack on modren warships, and using them in nearly suicidal manner earned the fleet some criticism from the public. Canadian 12inch shell, even with better AP ammunation still did limited damage even when they do penetrate. Furthermore, Canadian battleship's relatively medicore armour begin to show. Manitoba class' 10inch belt armor are not enough to keep out 13inch shells when forced into close range engagements, and all three Canadian ship took heavy damage, but Manitoba's torpedo bulkheads proved their worth when they saved the already damaged ship from the torpedo hit it recieved at the end of the battle. Beginning of the End?
While the French were bloodied, they were not out. 2 more Duquesne class Battlecruiser arrived in May to reinforce the french fleet. Canada on the otherhand, is preparing to force the French to the peace table by utterly crushing the French bases in Antillies. To this end, All Canadian capital ships were transferred to the Carribean in May, including both Haida class. However, limited port space and basing facilities does mean that the Canadian fleet will have to be split between the bases in Santiago and Havanna, giving the French fleet a chance to defeat them in detail, but another decisive defeat could quickly convince the wavering French public from supporting the war.
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Post by akosjaccik on Aug 16, 2019 8:30:42 GMT -6
I have yet to read your last post, but I have to say, I adore these new models, especially the airship for some reason. Of course, both the cruiser and the BC are very sexy as well. As for the war, I am very careful to talk into other people's campaigns, but maybe I would risk taking up a defensive stance while sending a handful of AMCs to the Mediterranean - France might be suffocated by that, but it's a diceroll, plus it would be a hefty one-time cost that might not at all be available at the time being. It is a moot idea though possibly by now, but again, I have yet to read your new post after I get back from the weekend!
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Post by mycophobia on Aug 16, 2019 11:34:51 GMT -6
I have yet to read your last post, but I have to say, I adore these new models, especially the airship for some reason. Of course, both the cruiser and the BC are very sexy as well. As for the war, I am very careful to talk into other people's campaigns, but maybe I would risk taking up a defensive stance while sending a handful of AMCs to the Mediterranean - France might be suffocated by that, but it's a diceroll, plus it would be a hefty one-time cost that might not at all be available at the time being. It is a moot idea though possibly by now, but again, I have yet to read your new post after I get back from the weekend! I also got comments that the airship looks like a baguette, which I guess may actually be adding to their appeal . Feel free to comment on the campaigns since its always good to have some feedbacks . I did have the old Red Deer class on raiding for a little bit, but didn't think that would do enough and those new 10 9in gun cruisers are quite fast and scary so I decided to just keep them on TP after. I don't usually play too far ahead in wartime so suggestion tend be relevant unless some key ship have a unfortunate incident of turret flash fire... That said the war against the French did take some rather unexpected turns so in this case things have changed much in less than half a year . Interestingly that the AMC suggestion is going to be oddly relevant to my current situation in the campaign despite the lot of things that has happened, so I will give it some serious thought
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Post by mycophobia on Aug 17, 2019 4:29:09 GMT -6
1917 - Peace Denied May 12th, 1917 - The Second Battle of Punta Maisi
Following their victory in April, the Canadian fleet is prepared to drive the remaining French force off the Caribbean. However, poor basing and infrastructure in Cuba meant that it would take a while before the fleet can be prepared for a large scale operation. In the meantime, Canadian fleet are based separately in Havana and Santiago, guarding convoys as they approach each port. This present the French navy with an opportunity to strike at the isolated Canadian warships. Confident in the power of the Haida Class, the Canadian navy made each of the Haida class ship conduct convoy escort alone(with supporting destroyers, however), confident in their ability to take on two French Battlecruiser at once. The French navy plans to take advantage of the unpreparedness of the Canadian Navy by using their two battlecruisers to launch yet another attack on Canadian Convoys passing through Punta Maisi, hoping to catch the Canadian battlecruiser by surprise. At 5:04 in the morning sunrise, spotters on Haida's mast spotted a pair of French warships about 15000 yards away to the south. It quickly became clear that these are the two Duquesne Class Battlecruiser that came to replace the lost Caiman Class Battleships. while outnumbered two to one, Haida alone carried the same number of guns as the French ships, and are far better protected in comparison. Thus the Canadian commander ordered a turn to the south without hesitation to engage the French warships. Meanwhile, the Battleship Saskatchewan is also patrolling off the Cuban coast about 40000 yards away, and is barely visible to Haida. Haida signaled the convoy to rendezvous with the battleship, but did not wait for Saskatchewan out of fear that the 26 knot French ships will be able to escape. Haida's forward turret firing at the French Battlecruisers, seen from her spotting mast. Haida achieved straddle within minutes at a range of 12000 yards, and soon scored two hit on the lead French ship. French ships with their main battery of four guns took much longer to find their range.
Mere minutes into the engagement, the French ships quickly begin to turn and retreat south-east, Haida begin to give chase at full speed, only for the French ships to immediately loop back, closing the distance in the process to about 9000 yards. Soon Haida began to receive 14in hits from French guns. While the poor quality French 350mm gun from 1908 struggled with Haida's armored belt, one lucky shot would find their mark at 5:35.
Seen from the Destroyer Saint-Claire, a French 14inch shell hit the raised barbette of Haida's B turret, which ignited the powders being hoisted into the turret, resulting in a powerful explosion that rocked the fore of the ship.
While such a hit would've spelled doom for an earlier warship, Haida's design incorporated lessoned learned from the flash fires that destroyed US battleships in the Great War. Blast doors and quick flooding of the magazines prevented the flashfire from igniting her main magazine. However, the close arrangements of her fore turret meant that the fire heat up and ignited propellants being hoisted to the A turret as well, the resulting fire and toxic fume likewise killed most crew within the A turret.
In a stroke of fate, Haida lost both her fore turret and had to deal with a dangerous fire. The French Battle Cruiser Nantes also suffered a turret destroyed by a 14inch hit, but now its 3 guns vs 6. Perhaps out of a sense of defiant pride, perhaps out of hope that the Saskatchewan can soon join the fight, Haida did not relent, and continued to engage the French fleet with her aft triple turret. The captain of the Saskatchewan, without instruction from the Haida, thought it would be best that it remained with the convoy to watch for any French cruisers that may be supporting the attack. By the time the Saskatchewan realized that Haida intends to pursue, she had already left visual range. For the next three hours Haida fought a running gun battle against the French battlecruisers with only her aft turret. Haida's destroyer escort attempted a torpedo attack, but struggled to catch the fast French ships.The fire in Haida's forward turrets had been brought under control, but they are beyond repair. Penetration to Haida's thinly armored belt edge armor also lead to moderate flooding.
Finally, Haida fired off her last volley of HE shells at the French warships near noon, as the fleet approached Haiti Coast. Out of ammunition, Haida finally turned back north to rendezvous with Saskatchewan. The French fleet gave chase, and Haida can only fight back with 6inch secondary guns. But as Saskatchewan appeared on the horizon, the French fleet, now also low on ammunition, finally opted to retreat. Conclusion
While the Haida's first battle would turn out to be a disaster for the Canadian navy, the luck that forced her into a corner are overcame by sheer Canadian tenacity. Crews risked their life to control the turret fire while her gun crew fought back with everything they got life. Over the three hour running battle, Haida's aft turret would score two more hit on French ships, not quite enough to cause significant damage, but enough to force the French battlecruiser, now exhausted of ammunition, to give up their attack. Haida received 9 14inch hits, besides the hit on her B turret, several belt edge hit caused some damage. Nevertheless, while no-doubt battered, she was also not at any risk of sinking. While the second battle of Punta Maisi turned out to be costly, French lost an excellent opportunity to sink the pride of the Canadian navy, a move that would no-doubt bring a much needed victory to a war that saw increasingly little support at home. With this, the French battlecruisers retreated back to France, unwilling to risk facing the three operational Canadian battlecruiser out to hunt them down. In the same month, French diplomat reached out to the Canadians for a possible white peace, but the Admiralty suggests that the war may prove a excellent opportunity to further Canadian influence in the Caribbean. As a result, France's term are rejected for the time being.
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Post by mycophobia on Aug 17, 2019 23:20:29 GMT -6
Saint-Constant Class Destroyer (1917) Saint-Constant Class, with a larger Pointe-Claire Class behind her.
As with the earlier wars, aggressive use of Destroyers by the Canadian Navy once again lead to fairly heavy losses in the war. To replace these losses, the Canadian navy designed a slightly modified version of the Pointe-Claire class destroyer. Newer construction technique and the removal of a 4inch gun meant that the ship can reduced to 800 tons(by reducing the beam and length) without sacrificing much performance. The Admiralty also took the chance to make the ship slightly more stable, and increasing the ammunition load of the two guns that remains. The ship can be constructed about 10% faster and cheaper, thus making them ideal as a wartime replacement. Their small size does leave them vulnerable to damage. 8 ships were ordered in late 1916 when war broke out against France, and they quickly entered service to replace the destroyers lost in the First Battle of Punta Maisi, but did not see action in the Caribbean theater initially. (The larger and more powerful Pointe-Claire Class were sent instead, with the Saint-Constant serving the fleet in the home water with the Mirabel Class).
A small update for a small wartime destroyer class, I also finished the upcoming Quebec class battleship, soon to enter service. So expect another update soon on the war against France together with a new heavy to reinforce the aging Manitoba and Alberta class.
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Post by mycophobia on Aug 17, 2019 23:57:31 GMT -6
Amore Class Minesweeper (1915)
With tension against the French on the rise in 1915, Canadian navy wished to develop a general purpose auxiliary vessel that can relieve frontline destroyers of patrol, minesweeping, and ASW duties. The Canadian navy had conscripted fishing trawlers and other light vessels for this purpose in the past, but wants to maintain a standing force of these vessels as well. Thus 6 Amore class Minesweeper were ordered in 1915. In addition to minesweeping, they are equipped with 2 4inch guns to engage surfaced submarines, and carry a limited umber of depth charges. These ships are mostly limited to coastal service, but are very cheap and easy to produce. While more ships were planned to free up the destroyer force for fleet actions, the outbreak of war in 1916 forced the yards to prioritize the Saint-Constant class destroyers instead. 4 More ship of this class would be ordered again in 1919.
Model 1911 Coastal Submarine
The Canadian Navy did not seriously invest in a submarine force. Due to a limited budget in research and construction, the navy do not wish to invest in a untested class of vessels. Nevertheless, for experimental purposes, 4 small coastal submarines were ordered in 1911 to explore the possibilities of these ships. These ship have very short operational range, making them only suited to operate off Canadian coast. They are only equipped with two torpedo tubes with four torpedo total. All four served in the closing days of the Great War against America, they sunk a few merchants, and one were lost to American Destroyers. Their short range makes it unlikely that they'd see any use against trade lines of opponents other than the US. While the model 1911 saw some use as stealthy recons, the Canadian navy generally favored Airships over the submarines in that role. As a result, Canada's submarine force would not see further expansion until the 1920s.
Anyways, thought I might as make some auxiliary vessels to explore my investment in these areas, these are much easier to cook up than full on dreadnoughts so does make for a fun little distraction.
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Post by mycophobia on Aug 18, 2019 17:53:18 GMT -6
1917 - First Triumph
Following the second battle of Punta Maisi, the French fleet temporary withdrew back to France to avoid the Canadian battle fleet that far outnumbered them. Over the next few months, while they were able to blockade the French colonies in Lesser Antilles, the lack of basing facility in Cuba, despite war time effort to expand them, have proven costly. As a result, many ships in the Caribbean station had to be rotated in and out of what yards that were available for maintenance and repair. Wishing to take advantage of the situation, and desperate for a victory, the French fleet sortied one last time into the Caribbean in September. Worried that a large fleet would be detected and intercepted by Canadians, only two Battlecruiser were dispatched. Wishing to taken advantage of the dispersed Canadian force, the two battlecruiser split up to harass different region, which would prove to be a costly mistake. The Third Battle of Punta Maisi - October, 1917
While French battlecruisers enjoyed some early success, able to lightly damage the Cruiser Thunderbay in September when the latter served as a diversion to direct them away from a convoy north of Cuba, their success have them grown bold once again. In October, the battlecruiser Lyon (who fought the Haida in May with her sister ship in Nantes) with only the 900 ton destroyer Sagaie tried to intercept a convoy off Puntai Maisi once again. The French were either unaware or undeterred when a Canadian Navy Airship spotted them in the early morning. As visibility dropped due to cloudy weather in the early afternoon, the French ships steamed on, unaware that Haida's sister ship Athabaskan and the Yukon class Nunavut are now heading towards their last known location at full speed. Around 1:00PM, Athabaskan and Nunavut spotted Lyon at a range of 12000 yards, who were completely caught by surprise. In under 10 minutes, the Canadian ships put over 15 shots in Lyon.
Seen from Nunavut, Lyon were quickly disabled by overwhelming shell fire as the Canadian ship moved closer to finish her off. Lyon finally went down after over 30 hits from 12 and 14inch shells.
The destroyer Sagaie attempted to escape, after a daring torpedo attack that scored a hit on Athabaskan, which unfortunately turned out to be a dud. It almost successfully escaped over a 30minute chase, but a 14inch hit to her machinery space sealed her fate. The helpless destroyer slowed to a still before being smashed apart by a storm of shells.
In under an hour, both French ships were sunk, and the Canadian fleet did not receive a single hit. Haida's indignity had been avenged.
France Concedes
The loss of three capital ship in less than half a year for none of the Canadian capital ships sunk was too much for the French. They are not willing to bleed their navy away any further for their limited Caribbean possession any further. On October 25th, 1917, the French signed a peace agreement ceding the Lesser Antilles Islands to Canada, and to provide war reparation for the Canadian merchant ships sunk in the war. Finally Canada had proven that it can fight one of the great naval powers of the world, and engage triumphantly on their own. Nevertheless, the world watched as the newcomer humbled the Marine Nationale. Now both Canada and France find themselves becoming potential targets for the other major power of the world. Britain and Germany looks to take advantage of France's weakness to further destroy its colonial empire, while the United State and Britain now begin to seriously evaluate Canada as a threat to its Caribbean interests. Thus, while the war was over fairly quickly, and losses were low, the time ahead remains challenging. Budget CrisisThe budget situation at the end of the war were again serious. In the last few months of the war, the Canadian admiralty had just approved the construction of two New Brunswick Class Battleship, a slightly modified Quebec Class design. With 4 battleship and 12 Saint-Constance class destroyer in construction (4 more were added together with the two new NB class), the peace time budget cut were devastating. Almost immediately, the Admiralty had to cease construction of the two New Brunswick class battleships, leaving only the two almost complete Quebec class in production at a reduced speed compared to the wartime rush. All additional Saint-Constance class were cancelled, leaving only the one almost complete ship for a total of 7 ships that entered service by the end of the year. That alone were not enough, research budget were reduced and all capital ship except the two Haida class were placed in reserve. These measures temporarily stabilized the budget, but also put a huge dent on the Naval developmental plan of the navy, who planned to modernize the entire battle line by 1919.
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Post by mylittledashie1984 on Aug 19, 2019 7:41:19 GMT -6
could you name a nb class saint john its my hometown
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Post by mycophobia on Aug 19, 2019 10:10:30 GMT -6
could you name a nb class saint john its my hometown I name all BBs by province so far though. But can definitely do that for one of the upcoming cruiser class
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Post by aeson on Aug 19, 2019 11:44:07 GMT -6
Don't know if it matters to you or if it was intentional, but the flags on your ships are attached backwards - the canton containing the Canadian national flag and the blue stripe of the (French) tricolor should be on the hoist side of the flag.
Other than that, the models look pretty neat.
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