Domestic News
1905 (from September):
September:
- The battlecruiser Invincible is laid down upon completion of the initial design study. Displacing 26,000 tons, armed with six powerful 14" guns in three twin turrets along the centerline, armored nearly as heavily as any contemporary battleship, and designed to make 25 knots, Invincible is expected to be easily the most powerful warship afloat upon her completion in late 1908 or early 1909.
- With public support for the rebel suppression campaign in Sierra Leone waning in the wake of the victorious resolution of the Anglo-American War, the Government elects to withdraw British forces from the colony, expecting to return to reestablish order when the rebellious colony 'inevitably' becomes a failed state.
October:
- The ten surviving ships of the Howe class are placed into the reserve fleet and Swiftsure is semi-permanently moored in Portsmouth as a receiving ship to partially balance the naval budget in the wake of post-war cuts.
- The Sutlej-class first class cruiser Europa commissions.
- Vickers invites Royal Navy ordnance experts to evaluate a 15" naval rifle. While the weapon is regarded as 'promising,' no immediate plans are made to make use of it as its performance does not differ significantly from the older 14" gun.
December:
- An ingenious system of mechanical linkages is proposed to connect the rangefinders to the central fire control position deep within the ship, improving the speed and accuracy with which range data can be updated for developing fire control solutions.
1906:
January:
- The government approves the transfer of technologies pertaining to Lyddite charges to a Russian armaments company, creating a sizeable tax windfall of which 5.2 million pounds are immediately allocated to the Navy.
- The office of the Director of Naval Construction releases a paper endorsing the firing of heavy artillery across the decks of capital ships as a means by which to increase the broadside firepower of capital ships without adding an additional pair of wing turrets, glossing over problems with similar designs of the 1880s as issues which will have been corrected by superior modern metallurgy and construction techniques.
February:
- Further budget cuts compel the Navy to suspend construction of the battlecruiser Invincible.
- Rebellions against the notional Ottoman rule break out in the Principalities of Bulgaria and Montenegro, and the admiral commanding the Mediterranean Fleet is widely reported to have said that 'it must be the work of more meddlesome Germans' during a visit to the Italian naval base at Taranto.
- Tests of a new armor-piercing shell design reveal it to be no better at penetrating armor plate than current designs, leading the ordnance experts and shell designers to return to the drawing boards once more.
- The Naval Intelligence Service's Counterintelligence Section reports that there are indications that a person or persons unknown are stealing British industrial secrets, but is unable to identify to whom the secrets are being delivered - or even which industries the secrets are being stolen from.
March:
- A new mechanical shell handling system is demonstrated and accepted for naval service.
April:
- The Ariadne-class first class cruisers are taken in to be fitted with new fire control and shell handling systems.
- The eighth and last Sutlej-class first class cruiser, King Alfred, commissions.
- A rebellion breaks out in the Danish Virgin Islands and the admiral commanding the West Indies station sends the gunboat Minorca to offer British assistance to the Danish authorities in restoring order, but found a pair of American cruisers already present and providing assistance. While Danish officials and American officers on the islands welcomed the British assistance, the American press reacted poorly to the perceived attempt to annex the islands to the British Empire, and the situation escalates to a minor diplomatic incident after several Conservative hardliners said that the government should have done exactly that.
May:
- While disapproving of the diplomatic fracas resulting from the troubles in the Virgin Islands, the Admiralty welcomes the resultant increase in its budget and immediately puts the additional funds to use, resuming work on the battlecruiser Invincible.
- Shipyard officials report that work on the first class cruiser Spartiate was delayed by late deliveries of modern fire control equipment.
- A rebellion breaks out in the Marshall Islands, part of the German Pacific Empire. The Admiralty directs the Far East squadrons to covertly support the rebellion as some small revenge for German meddling in Sierra Leone.
June:
- Increased industrialization creates a short-lived shipbuilding bubble, and when the bubble bursts the Admiralty is able to negotiate the construction of a third Constance-class cruiser, Psyche, at reduced cost.
- Social unrest relating to increasing industrialization and urbanization of the country, coupled with aftereffects from the perceived poor handling of the Virgin Islands incident, lead to a new Liberal government taking the reins in Whitehall. Announced plans to cut naval spending in favor of social programs lead a retired admiral to say that the new government's policies will 'doom' England during a widely-reported speech to the Navy League.
August:
- The new government's threatened budget cuts take hold, and the Navy is forced to suspend work on the battlecruiser Invincible once more.
September:
- A sudden spike in tensions with Russia leads to the Navy being given some of its budget back, and work on Invincible resumes again.
- France proposes an alliance and the government accepts.
October:
- The government decides that the French alliance means that the Navy's budget can be cut once more, compelling the Navy to suspend work on the Invincible, now known as 'Start-Stop' to the yard workers, as well as Psyche. Kaiser Wilhelm II unfortunately takes the Anglo-French alliance as a personal slight, poisoning Anglo-German relations.
- The Navy pushes for government approval of the licensing of British marine turbine designs to French shipbuilding companies; when the deal goes through, 4.4 million pounds of tax revenues resulting from the licensing fees are handed to the Navy.
November:
- An appeal for popular subscription in the Times collects 50 million pounds for the construction of a new battleship for the Royal Navy, allowing for the resumption of work on Invincible and paving the way for a design study for an 'improved-Invincible,' to be capable of 26 knots and carrying slightly heavier armor.
December:
- The Constance-class second class cruisers Constance and Phoebe commission.
- HMS Dreadnought easily surpasses its design speed during acceptance trials.
1907:
January:
- Improvements in productivity lead to increasing industrial output, somewhat perversely creating widespread unemployment as factories cut 'unnecessary' workers. The resulting economic slump has a considerable impact on the naval estimates for the year, with the Navy agreeing to reduce its planned orders for the improved-Invincible class from two ships to one.
February:
- The initial design study for the improved-Invincible class completes, with the review board recommending minor revisions to the engine plant. Implementing these changes of design does, however, delay the keel laying of the design by a month.
March:
- A review of fuels and engine technologies leads the Second Sea Lord to recommend the adoption of oil fuel in all future Royal Navy warships, but proposals to revise Illustrious's engine plant fall afoul of the ongoing economic troubles and uncertainty in more conservative parts of the Navy over the advisability of adopting foreign oil as the fuel for high-value capital units when abundant reserves of high-quality coal are available domestically.
- HMS Illustrious is laid down to the improved-Invincible design.
April:
- Editorials in the Times praise the Navy for laying down a new battlecruiser with the funds provided by popular subscription.
May:
- The government signs away the incomplete battlecruisers Invincible and Illustrious during a disarmaments conference at the Hague. The German battleship Worth is also scrapped in compliance with the Treaty, but as the Japanese battleship Hizen, the Italian battleship Vittorio Emanuele, the French battleship Courbet, the Russian battleship Petropavlovsk, and the five American battleships and battlecruisers of the Minnesota, Montana, and Constellation classes are all within Treaty limits none of their vessels are required to be scrapped. Naturally, this somewhat alarms the Admiralty - especially as Invincible and Illustrious were meant to be the answer to the American Constellation class since these ships were expected to be superior to the older Inflexible.
- The First Sea Lord, Admiral Fisher, pushes through the establishment of an Anti-Submarine Warfare School.
June:
- With the loss of the Navy's chosen counter to the American Constellation-class battlecruisers, a new answer is sought which fits within treaty limits and a design study for a new Invincible class, capable of 26 knots and armed with six 12" guns while maintaining reasonably heavy armor on 20,000 tons, is commissioned. The Admiralty is however concerned at the performance of the available 12" guns - still the same models as used on the Royal Oak- and Howe-class predreadnought battleships - especially as publicly-available information on the most modern American 12" gun indicates that it has vastly superior performance.
- Wave-tank tests of ship models indicate that a longer, narrower ship could support a fourth centerline turret with unduly sacrificing stability.
July:
- The Royal Navy and Marine National hush up a brawl between French and British sailors which occurred during a party aboard the battleship Royal Oak while visiting Brest.
- Improved shell hoists are introduced within the Royal Navy, promising increased rates of fire and reduced hoist jams.
August:
- The Navy receives government permission to send a technical mission to assist the Marine National in the adaptation of the new British hoists to meet the requirements of French warships.
- Vickers develops an improved 12" gun. While thought to be inferior to the current American model, the new gun is nevertheless a vast improvement on the model used by the old predreadnought battleships and Vickers is asked to begin producing 18 - six for each of the two planned new battlecruisers, plus six spares - even before the Second Sea Lord's office can determine what modifications are necessary to fit the new weapon to the proposed battlecruisers.
September:
- Francophobic Conservatives catch wind of the technical mission and publicly denounce it as 'scandalous.' The First Sea Lord, Admiral Fisher, publicly fires back, criticizing the denouncers as 'dinosaurs' holding onto outdated world views.
November:
- The battlecruisers Invincible and Indomitable are laid down.
- The press publicizes rumors of American agents stealing information pertaining to British fire control systems, and to calm the domestic storm the government sends a note of protest to President Roosevelt.
- New privately-owned slipways capable of accommodating ships of up to 29,500 long tons are opened.
- The third and final Constance-class second class cruiser, Psyche, commissions.
1908:
January:
- A new Conservative government takes over the reins of power in Whitehall and immediately announces plans for increased naval spending, much to the (loudly-proclaimed) satisfaction of the Navy League.
February:
- The Naval Intelligence Service's Counterintelligence Section reports that it is likely that Russian agents acquired sensitive information on British gun mounts.
March:
- With the government's approval and the Admiralty's backing, the Director of Naval Construction shows his counterparts in the Marine National detailed design sketches for hypothetical 700t torpedo boats and torpedo boat destroyers.
- A mechanical fire control computer is accepted for evaluation by the Admiralty.
April:
- A design study for a 700t torpedo boat-torpedo boat destroyer hybrid is commissioned. Armed with two centerline and four broadside torpedo tubes as well as four 3" and four 2" guns and having a design speed of 29 knots, the new vessels are expected to be a much-needed supplement to the aging Ure- and Eden-class 27-knot torpedo boats, though naval ordnance experts argue unsuccessfully for the gun armament to be revised to use the excellent Vickers 4" gun in place of the lighter 3" and 2" guns.
- With tensions running high in the Balkans, many of the Balkan states seek to buy armaments and small warships abroad - including from Britain. Over the objections of the Foreign Office, the Admiralty supports government approval of the sale of weapons and warships to any in the region who want to buy.
May:
- Four 'destroyers' are ordered to the new hybrid design, now called the Teviot class after the first ship to be laid down.
- The Prime Minister returns from a state visit to Germany bearing proposals to reduce tensions, but the plans are scuttled by fears of 'instability' in certain higher reaches of the German government making the promises of the German state untrustworthy.
June:
- A more reliable delay fuse is accepted for naval service.
- Four additional Teviot-class destroyers are ordered.
July:
- Four additional Teviot-class destroyers are ordered.
- A design study for a 'light armored cruiser' of 4,800 tons, to be capable of 26 knots and armed with sixteen 5" and eight 4" guns, is commissioned.
- Ships of the British Royal and Imperial Japanese Navy collide during a coronation review held for the Xuantong Emperor.
August:
- The Director of Naval Construction produces a report advocating that future destroyers displace at least 900 tons.
September:
- The design study for the 'light armored cruiser' is completed and Pallas is ordered to the new design.
- A political murder in the Balkans brings Britain and Germany to brink of war, but, at least for the present time, cooler heads prevail and war is averted, or at least delayed.
December:
- A second ship of the Pallas class, Philomel, is laid down.
- Plans to reduce the naval budget in favor of social programs are aborted by mass protests organized by the Navy League.
1909:
January:
- Pearl, a third cruiser of the Pallas class, is laid down.
- The first four Teviot-class destroyers commission.
February:
- The four surviving Diadem-class cruisers and the Sutlej-class cruiser King Alfred are ordered to reinforce the China Station due to high tensions with Russia.
- Three more Teviot-class destroyers commission.
March:
- The last five Teviot-class destroyers commission.
- France requests British backing in a dispute with Germany over competing interests in Morocco. The Admiralty advises the government to offer its unconditional support to France in the interest of opposing the expansion of the hostile German Empire, and in the face of British opposition the German government backs down.
April:
- The cruiser Patroclus, the fourth member of the Pallas class, is laid down.
- The Naval Intelligence Service's Counterintelligence Section uncovers evidence leading to the capture of a Russian spy, who is quietly imprisoned for tax evasion.
June:
- Armstrong Whitworth demonstrates a 16" gun to naval and military observers.
July:
- A combined Franco-British force clashes with a German expeditionary force during an intervetion in Sierra Leone; the backlash from the incident causes tensions, running high ever since the Morocco Incident, to boil over into war.
Foreign News:
1905:
- Germany commissions the battleship Hessen.
- Italy commissions the battleship Conte di Cavour and the first class cruiser Carlo Alberto.
1906:
- Germany and Russia join the dreadnought race, with Germany laying down the battleship Worth in January and Russia laying down Petropavlovsk in November.
- France commissions the predreadnought battleships Suffren and Redoutable as well as the first class cruisers Kleber and Dupleix.
- The United States commissions the predreadnought battleship Colorado.
- Japan commissions the first class cruiser Izumo.
- A rebellion against German rule breaks out in the Marshall Islands in May and, with covert British support, drives the German colonial forces off of the islands by August.
1907:
- The United States commissions the first class cruiser Huron, the predreadnought battleship Wyoming, and the dreadnought battleships North Dakota and Montana.
- Germany commissions the predreadnought battleship Lothringen and the first class cruiser Roon.
- Russia commissions the predreadnought battleships Poltava and Gangut.
- Japan commissions the unusual semidreadnought battleship Iwami, armed with four 10" guns in twin turrets fore and aft as well as no fewer than fourteen 9" guns in casemates along the ship's sides.
- Italy commissions the predreadnought battleship Andrea Doria.
- Comparisons of French and British 4" guns lead to the conclusion that the British 4" rifle is undeniably superior to the French design.
1908:
- The Russian Navy is observed to place much emphasis on nighttime operations, and the Russian submarine arm is rumored to have problems with its equipment.
- The United States commissions the dreadnought battleship Minnesota and lays down a third Constellation-class battlecruiser.
- Germany commissions the predreadnought battleships Preussen and Weissenburg, and lays down the dreadnought battleship Hannover to replace the scrapped Worth.
- France commissions the dreadnought battleship Courbet.
- Japan commissions the dreadnought battleship Hizen, and the Imperial Japanese Navy is rewarded by editorials in the Japanese press demanding more armored cruisers.
- Russia commissions the predreadnought battleships Pobeda and Imperator Petr Veliki, as well as the first class cruiser Varyag.
1909:
- The United States commissions the battlecruiser Lexington and begins construction of a 12" battery on the East Coast.
- Italy commissions the dreadnought battleship Vittorio Emanuele.
- France lays down the battlecruiser Duquesne.
- Japan lays down the battlecruiser Ikoma, plans for which are almost immediately in the hands of the Royal Navy thanks to the alliance with France.
- War breaks out between the Anglo-French Alliance and Germany.
Known dreadnought battleships and battlecruisers:
Ikoma isn't due to commission until 1912, the two Invincibles remain six months from completion as of August 1909, and details on the Russian and German dreadnoughts are unknown other than their displacements (19,800 and 21,200 tons, respectively). Constellation is a lot less worrying a design than it might have been, though I still think Inflexible's day is done - especially if the American ships carry the 12"/Q1 guns that I know to be available in American shipyards, though I don't know if they were available at the time that the battlecruisers were laid down. Otherwise, the only particularly concerning note is the sheer number of American dreadnoughts, made possible by my almost total destruction of the American predreadnought fleet in the Anglo-American War right about at the time that the dreadnought race began.