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Post by captainloggy on Sept 12, 2019 12:48:16 GMT -6
Quintino Sella Class DDIn order to replace heavy destroyer losses taken in the war so far, a new design has been devised which is heavily based off the Freccia. She sports three centerline torpedo mounts as well as two 4in guns, one fore, one aft. Capable of 32 knots, her engines are rather lightly built, which might cause reliability issues. 18 of these have so far been lain down, with the first ones due to be commissioned by Christmas.
Milano Class CL
These cruisers deviate strongly from their predecessors. At 6’300 tons displacement, they are much larger, prompting designers to use a scheme of protection similar to that of larger vessels, with a full waterline belt instead of a sloped plate over magazines and machinery. Sporting 8 6in guns in fully enclosed turrets of which 6 can fire in a broadside, the ships are also considerably better armed than most protected cruisers in service. However, their main strength is the high speed of 28 knots allowing these ships to operate alongside destroyers while also being decisively faster than any heavier ship types currently in service or building.
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Post by captainloggy on Sept 14, 2019 7:58:46 GMT -6
December 1912After the recent battle, the French navy ceased to contest the Straits of Sicily. Having full naval supremacy and an adequate supply situation on their side, Italian troops began to advance along the North African coastline towards Tunis, breaking through weakened French defenses at Gabes and La Skhirra under heavy naval gunfire support from several Italian cruisers.
January through March 1913
The French commander-in-chief of the North African theater, Albert d’Amade, had pulled all available troops together around the fortified port of Sfax in a last attempt to hold up the Italian advance until further troops could be sent to his aid. He knew the region, as he had also taken part in the 1881 expedition to pacify the lands he now was tasked to defend. For most of the war, the theatre had been rather easy to manage, as good supply and regular naval support were on their side. Most of the regiments stationed in Algeria and Tunisia had been shipped to the Alpine front or to Corsica at the start of the war, and neither side liked the idea of a desert offensive. Still, his troops hadn’t sat idly in the spring months, taking the Nalut oasis just across a border which only really existed on the maps and laying siege to the port of Zuara in March, after Italian coastal defenses had been cleared out by the heavy guns of battleships. However, lacking further support after the fleet had been engaged in battle on the way to his positions in May and later returning home to Toulon to repair the damage, his forces had failed to take the port and resorted to waiting out the hot summer months in their tents around the city, with the occasional nocturnal artillery exchange. Then, after the disastrous battle in November, those Navy goofs had publicly declared that they won’t go past Cape Teulada again with anything heavier than 10’000 tons, and with milder autumn temperatures coming around, the Italians attacked. Dashing along the coast of the Minor Syrte, they had covered the distance from Zuara to Sfax in less than two months, when d’Amade’s hastily constructed defenses had briefly halted them, prompting a flanking maneuver further inland which d’Amade had anticipated and swiftly interdicted. Albert d’Amade had just regained hope that the Sfax line could be held until the relief forces that had been promised to him countless times would finally arrive, when a messenger stumbled in to his tent, panting. “The Italians, sir!”-“Catch your breath, son, what happened to the Italians?”-The… they have landed, sir! South of Tunis!” Tunis was stormed by surprise and fell on January 18th, with the landing troops joining up with the main land army on March 2nd. D’Amade managed to withdraw a portion of his forces to Algeria, while the garrison of Sfax surrendered on March 26th. The Peace of Lucerne, April 1913Following the fall of Tunisia, the failure of the Navy to regain initiative and lastly the defeat of the Pou offensive against entrenched Italian troops north of Niece, the French government sued for peace. In the talks mediated by Switzerland and Britain, the Italian delegation pressed for hard terms. The peace agreement involved recognition of Italian conquests in Africa, the ceding of Corsica to Italy in exchange for maintaining the Status quo ante bellum along the alpine border. Leonardo carrying Italian police and administration personnel to Corsica Newly commissioned destroyer Trivento of the QS class
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Post by captainloggy on Sept 15, 2019 8:52:52 GMT -6
June 1913In post-war reductions, all battleships slower than 21 knots as well as all armoured cruisers were scrapped. Simultaneously, the Prime Minister asked for a building program increasing the battlefleet to 16 modern capital ships. At present, we have 3 battleships of the Napoli-class with 4 Taranto-class due for completion next year as well as 5 Lepanto-class battlecruisers for a total of 12 capital ships. In order to confer with the plan, the Umbria-class battlecruisers were designed. Umbria-class battlecruisers
This second generation of Italian battlecruiser is an entirely new design. Taking Taranto’s 15in guns, these were arranged in a new 8-gun configuration with two triple turrets, one forward and one aft, as well as a double turret in a forward superimposed position. This reduced main armament along with increased displacement and modern machinery using oil fuel supplied from Libya allowed the Umbrias not only to retain the armour of the Tarantos, but actually to strengthen it in several locations, notably the deck while reaching a top speed of 28 knots.
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Post by captainloggy on Sept 15, 2019 9:27:15 GMT -6
November 1913
Three Umbria-class battlecruisers have been lain down. Apparently, this was a fitting moment for the new naval secretary to order ten new destroyers. It also seemed a fitting moment for the guys at Ansaldo to give us a new 15in gun. To meet the SecNav’s wish, ten Mosca-class patrol boats were lain down, while several of the Milano-class cruisers had to be halted due to the resulting tight budget.
December 1913
Taranto is kept in the yards for a bit longer to allow the fitting of the new director fire control already developed for use on the Umbrias. Learning from wartime experience, some tacticians have seen the need to keep the fleet tight together and thus have developed a cruising-by-column formation.
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Post by captainloggy on Sept 16, 2019 5:26:04 GMT -6
ReviewWell, my term as ammiraglio has come to a close. These seven years were exciting, I could work with a good starting fleet and tried my best to modernize it, while winning a minor war against Russia and a major one against France, taking Tunisia and Corsica. I’ve also overseen the completion of the Lepanto-class, an excellent design from my predecessor. Unfortunately, my own first capital ships, the Tarantos, won’t be completed under my term anymore. The almanac: Our navy:BB: 4 Taranto-class building BC: 5 Lepanto-class, 3 Umbria-class building B: 3 Napoli-class CA: - CL: 24 of various classes, 7 Milano-class building DD: 35 fleet DD, 40 Mosca-class patrol boats, 10 Mosca-class building
The save is too big to attach it here, how should I give it to you?
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Post by dorn on Sept 25, 2019 7:53:23 GMT -6
REGIA MARINA - YEAR 1914-1920
I would start here. I will let it open for any interest doing it more interactive. There is no definition how it will be as everything depends on participants. However there some possibilites I have in mind.
- discussing strategy - discussing needs of Regia Marina - discussing designs - design contest So feel free to tell how would like to participate.
SUMMARY
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Post by dorn on Sept 25, 2019 8:48:16 GMT -6
Personal log - the 10th of December 1913
I have just been promoted to Ammiraglio d'armata a several weeks before plan. Probably previous Ammiraglio wanted nice Christmas. Now it is my task to lead Regia Marina for next 7 years. It will be change after 2 years on sea however I am not completely unfamiliar with administration as I was supervising design of Taranto class battleships. I have know that from time I changed my post several other designs were finished and we can see them under construction in La Spezia, Naples and Genoa. It was Mosca class destroyers for coast patrol, Quintino Sella class destroyers for fleet duty, Umbria class battlecruisers and Milano class light cruisers.
As international politics are quite quite place without major issues it seems that at least at the beginning there will be mainly managing new ships for Regia Marina, securing enough finance and supervising status and quality of our Marina. And we are allied with USA, I think we should try to get some technology exchanges.
Personal log - the 11th December 1913
This day was very sunny even if quite cold. Much better than floods in Pisa during early days of 1913. This was completely changed when I read report on financial situation I requested yesterday.
I can read we have 10.8M balance with monthly expenditure for at least next 2 months -8.9M. Now what I should think about early promotion. I would rather not to think. But it clearly needs immediate action. I one moth to make analysis and save 10 milions on costs. I will start reviewing our investment costs in construction.
4x Tarranto class battleships 2.95M per one TOTAL 11.79M note: one finished in 2 months, 1 in 6 month, 2 in 7 month 3x Umbria class battlecruisers 3.63M per one TOTAL 7.6M note: one halted, finished in 33, 33 and 34 months 7x Milano class light cruisers 1.04M per one TOTAL 3.5M note: 4 ships halted, finished in 10,11,11, 11,14,14 and 9 months 10x Mosca class destroyers 0.07M per one TOTAL 0.7M note: requested by politicans
It is clearly seen that previous Admirals had a lot of ideas about Regina Marina but did not secure funds. There will be probably needed to cancel several contracts, probably Umbria class battlecruisers as keels were laid down just months before. However Umbria class battlecruisers are very reasonable design.
Personal log - the 12th December 1913
I have just finished meeting with retired Admiral Captainloggy to discuss catastrophic finance situation of Regia Marina. I have found out that Umbria class and Milano class was response on request by tha Naval Secretary and he will not allow to scrap them. Now I have completely different information and it is really not good news. It seems that our construction program is defined for next 4 years. This is something completely unacceptable, there needs to be a way.
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Post by cabalamat on Sept 27, 2019 4:08:15 GMT -6
REGIA MARINA - YEAR 1914-1920
I would start here. I will let it open for any interest doing it more interactive. There is no definition how it will be as everything depends on participants. However there some possibilites I have in mind.
- discussing strategy - discussing needs of Regia Marina - discussing designs - design contest So feel free to tell how would like to participate.
SUMMARY - to be done
Discussing strategy and designs seem to be the most useful. The idea of a design contest is also a good one.
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Post by cabalamat on Sept 27, 2019 4:14:53 GMT -6
And we are allied with USA, I think we should try to get some technology exchanges.
We could get them to build us a ship, then go over it to see what technology is on it. Also Germany and Britain have advanced ship-building industries; maybe we could get those nations too to build a ship for us with the same basic design.
I don't know if any Italian company wants to have a business partnership with a foreign firm? If so, it should be encouraged.
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Post by cabalamat on Sept 27, 2019 5:59:10 GMT -6
Regarding the construction situation and financial black hole I would suggest the following:
- put as many ships in mothballs or reserve as possible (especially the old CLs) - halt construction of the BCs for now - reduce funding for research
This will allow:
- increasing the size of the docks - buying technology from foreign powers as the opportunity arises
Once the Taranto class BBs have been built, the money situation will be a lot better. Priorities might be:
- Buy ships from Germany/UK/USA to get their technologies. Maybe base them on the Milano CLs - we don't have any CAs - Aircraft! We need to design some, then build a AV once we can. - modern destroyers, fast with double TTs (for 6 TT/destroyer)
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Post by dorn on Sept 28, 2019 1:57:07 GMT -6
And we are allied with USA, I think we should try to get some technology exchanges.
We could get them to build us a ship, then go over it to see what technology is on it. Also Germany and Britain have advanced ship-building industries; maybe we could get those nations too to build a ship for us with the same basic design.
I don't know if any Italian company wants to have a business partnership with a foreign firm? If so, it should be encouraged.
Certainly it is possible. But nations with AoN is certainly more appaling for construction.
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Post by dorn on Sept 28, 2019 2:07:59 GMT -6
Regarding the construction situation and financial black hole I would suggest the following: - put as many ships in mothballs or reserve as possible (especially the old CLs) - halt construction of the BCs for now - reduce funding for research This will allow: - increasing the size of the docks - buying technology from foreign powers as the opportunity arises Once the Taranto class BBs have been built, the money situation will be a lot better. Priorities might be: - Buy ships from Germany/UK/USA to get their technologies. Maybe base them on the Milano CLs - we don't have any CAs - Aircraft! We need to design some, then build a AV once we can. - modern destroyers, fast with double TTs (for 6 TT/destroyer) Even with halted construction of 1 BC, 4 CLs we have 8.9M negative monthly balance. With maintenance costs of 5M you can save some money trying mothballed some ships but not enough and these ships will much less useful. This possibilities will be used bus as minor improvement of situation. There can be other solution, a little roleplaying, I will show in the log.
The 34500 docks are large enough. For quite a time there is no need for larger docks and even after such ship will become obsolote after 10-15 years and will be quite expensive. I do not want to reduce research as by 2 % you get only 0.5 M, nible amoutn compared to what we are missing and I want to close the technological gap.
I will do fleet assement later but I have some thought if there is need for such high number of large CLs. Certainly there is no need for CAs yet as only Germany has one hybrid CAs (6x9" guns) and USN with 2 ships with 8x9" broadside but can be easily handed by battlecruisers. So I cannot see any mission for CAs which cannot handle CLs or old BCs.
Relating to aicraft, see log, a little roleplaying however still reasonable.
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Post by dorn on Sept 28, 2019 3:12:25 GMT -6
Personal log - the 11th of December 1913
I have scheduled meeting with Naval Secretary on Tuesday. I will need to think some plan to present him cancelling several agreements with shipyards. I have just met with Ammiraglio Calabamat, he is really old but still quite vital in his age. We discussed the situation of Regia Marina, he proposed several ideas, some of them I have already thinking and agreed with them but I think more direct solution will be needed to save such huge amount of funds.
Personal log - the 13th of December 1913
I needed some fresh air on Sunday to think how to proceed. I think I have a plan. I will present scrapping almost all ships to Naval Secretary to be able to continue with construction program even in limited way. I will se how he will react. Certainly not good but it will allow me to stop all construction of light cruisers and battlecruisers for some time and I can decide about their fate after I will have more information. So what will be task this week. I will to convince Naval Secretary to arrange meeting with Prime Minister and Foreign Minister to have clear idea about long time foreign policy. Meantime I can ask about reports on foreign Navies in the Mediterranean, some analysis how we can supply Massaua without access to Suez channel. I need report as potential savings which includes scrapping, mothballing, transfer to reserve fleet of any ship we have with relating costs, reports need to analyse any fortification and their real value defending particular area. I will distribute order to stop enhanced training, officers will be not agree with this decission but it is absolutely necessary.
Personal log - the 15th of December 1913
My meeting with Naval Secretary was as I expected, I am ignorant and I cannot see beyond the end of my nose and trying destroying our Navy. But at least we agreed on temporary halting construction of several ships and about meeting with Prime Minister and Foreign Minister. Afternoon I put orders to stop training and halted all construction of ships except destroyers and light cruisers Verona, Milano and Torino.
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Post by captainloggy on Sept 30, 2019 11:38:54 GMT -6
Great job so far, I'm very sorry for the financial situation I left you in. Plan had been to leave you just with the Tarantos and Milanos in the yards, but then, PM and SecNav happened. Just remember to let the DD's running at least till May to avoid the ire of the Secretary. With some cost-saving methods (halting construction as planned) you can get the Tarantos dry, although remember that the game will want to fit new FC onto them.
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Post by dorn on Oct 5, 2019 6:09:08 GMT -6
Great job so far, I'm very sorry for the financial situation I left you in. Plan had been to leave you just with the Tarantos and Milanos in the yards, but then, PM and SecNav happened. Just remember to let the DD's running at least till May to avoid the ire of the Secretary. With some cost-saving methods (halting construction as planned) you can get the Tarantos dry, although remember that the game will want to fit new FC onto them. Do not be sorry, it is the main principle of succession game. You get into situation you would never get yourself as everybody plays differently.
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