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Post by babylon218 on Nov 8, 2020 7:00:34 GMT -6
The Years of Peace
While design work began on a new class of Battle Cruiser to follow ‘Inflexible’, Bridgeman finished evaluating the lessons of the Anglo-German War. The war had shown up worrying deficiencies in Britain’s destroyer force, namely the inability of British destroyers to hit their German counterparts. The issue was believed to be due to a relative lack in firepower, as the German ‘S-22-Class’ destroyer possessed three 10cm guns with no lower-calibre weapons. It was thought that the 2in and 3in secondary guns fitted to many British destroyers were interfering in shell spotting. A decision was made to rectify the situation in January 1914. Meanwhile, other lessons of war were considered: the war had not been won by a decisive battle, but through economic warfare. The battlefleet kept Germany contained while Britain’s cruisers strangled the German supply lines and captured Germany’s colonies, while simultaneously hunting German surface raiders. However, if the cruiser force was growing obsolete before the war, parts of it were now expressly geriatric. Work thus began on a series of smaller cruisers to replace the ageing fleet – ships which could be built more quickly and in larger numbers than the Towns. For the time being, these ships were referred to as the ‘C-Class’.
November saw the adoption in the Royal Navy of the ‘All or Nothing’ armour theory – the advances in armaments and armour piercing shells had left the thin end portions of armoured belts and decks virtually irrelevant. Instead, it was determined that by removing the extended belt and deck armour, it was possible to reinforce the armoured citadel and strengthen the watertight bulkheads at the fore and aft ends against flooding. This scheme would be worked into the ‘C-Class’ design.
In December 1913, ‘HMS Inflexible’ joined the fleet, followed by ‘HMS Marlborough’ in January 1914.
February saw the first ‘C-Class’ cruisers, ‘HMS Cordelia’ and ‘HMS Comus’ laid down, alongside the Town-Class ‘HMS Liverpool’.
Above: British Light Cruiser HMS Cordelia.
In March, a public subscription campaign collected a large sum of money to build a battleship. Fortunately, plans had already been made to follow up from the King George V-Class, with a larger ship utilising the ‘all-o-nothing’ armour scheme and 14in guns.
May saw construction work begin in ‘Queen Amelie’, a 2,000ton ship based on a freighter design to carry aeroplanes for reconnaissance purposes.
In June, work began on ‘HMS Revenge’, a battleship armed with ten 14in guns, a belt 14.5in thick and deck 2in thick, alongside ‘HMS Indomitable’ armed with six 13in guns with a top speed of 28kt. June also saw the disposal of the four ‘Royal Sovereign-Class’ pre-dreadnoughts, their cumbersome main battery and lack of speed now completely inadequate against the growing fleets of dreadnoughts.
Above: British Battleship HMS Revenge
Below: British Battle Cruiser HMS Totally-not-tempting-fate Indomitable.
In September, the designs of the ‘South Carolina-Class’ then under construction were leaked to the Admiralty. With an armament of four 14in guns in four two-gun turrets in superfiring pairs fore and aft, they were impressive ships, though a tad slow at 20kt and slightly less well-armoured than their British counterparts. Meanwhile, the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company (later known simply as ‘Bristol Aircraft’) won a contract with the Navy to provide floatplanes for the ‘Queen Amelie’.
Above: US Battleship USS South Carolina.
November saw British agents produce accurate statistics for the new Japanese ‘Kurama-Class’ Battlecruiser. This was a perplexing ship, armed with only four 12in guns and fourteen 6in guns, though featuring a competitive speed of 26kt and a strong armoured belt 11.5in thick.
Japanese 'Battle Cruiser' HIJMS Kurama.
Meanwhile, designs were finalised for an above-deck torpedo mount which could support three tubes on a single mount. Now the DNC was given permission to design a new destroyer to resolve the issues encountered during the war. The product of this development was the 900ton ‘Waveney-Class’, armed with three centreline-mounted 4in guns, with one positioned just abaft the forward superstructure as well as three torpedo tubes mounted in a single swivel launcher aft of the rear-most funnels. Four were laid down in January 1915.
British Destroyer HMS Waveney.
In February, the results of the 1915 General Election returned a victory to Andrew Bonar Law’s Conservative & Unionist Party. Bonar Law’s government immediately approached the navy with a proposal to raise the naval budget – a proposal which was accepted, but with the advisory from Bridgeman to take a page from Theodore Roosevelt’s book: “Carry a big stick if you must, but speak softly all the same.”
In April, the ‘HMS Birmingham’ commissioned, followed by the laying down of ‘HMS Manchester’. ‘HMS Queen Amelie’ entered service in May.
In June 1915, the Government approached the Navy for input on foreign policy due to international tensions. With the two main options for a prospective alliance being Italy and the United States, the navy advocated for diplomatic overtures towards the latter. These fail to yield results, unfortunately. Meanwhile, the three Endymion-Class cruisers were reactivated to take on foreign station duties, allowing the Astraea-Class to return for decommissioning. The same was done with ‘Inflexible’, replacing the ‘HMS Diadem’ and ‘HMS Spartiate’.
In July, ‘Cordelia’ and ‘Comus’ joined the fleet. On completing their crew training, both would be sent to foreign stations. Intelligence also materialised regarding the new French dreadnought ‘Ocean’, which was armed with ten 14in guns with two twin turrets mounted en echelon for cross-deck firing. This meant they would have highly restrictive firing arcs to achieve a full broadside. They were very well armoured, though, with a belt 14in thick.
Above: French Battleship Ocean.
August saw the laying down of the sixth Town-Class cruiser ‘HMS Sheffield’, in anticipation of ‘Liverpool’s’ completion the following month. Also laid down was the second ‘Revenge-Class’ battleship, to be named ‘HMS Royal Sovereign’.
September saw the scrapping of ‘Eclipse’ and ‘Pandora’, to be replaced by ‘Persian’ and ‘Pearl’. With ‘Iron Duke’ due to complete in October, followed by ‘Howe’ in November, a third ‘Revenge’ was laid down as ‘HMS Royal Oak’.
November, the two C-Class cruisers replaced ‘Phaeton’ and ‘Arethusa’ on foreign stations.
In January 1916, the remaining four Majestic-Class pre-dreadnought battleships were withdrawn, as the world’s navies continue to reduce their own pre-dreadnought fleets.
On 15 March 1916, Irish Secretary Sir Walter Long was riding in his motorcar to his office in Whitehall when a bottle was hurled from the pavement. Upon hitting the side of Long’s car, the bottle shattered. This would normally be considered just another rowdy attack on the aristocracy by the London mobs were it not for the bottle’s contents – gasoline. The bottle struck the body side next to the engine shroud, igniting the cloud of petrol released from the bottle and creating a massive fireball.
The driver was killed immediately. Long survived the initial attack but was badly burned and later died from his wounds. It was one of the worst anarchist attacks in Britain’s history and rocked British upper-class society to its core. The assassin was a Leonard Raine, an Irishman who had had connections to Sinn Fein. This was not a surprise, as Long had made mass arrests against the Irish nationalist movement since attaining the Irish Ministry in 1915. What was more concerning was that Raine had already been identified as a threat several years earlier, but absconded to France. He had re-entered the country under an assumed name with French passport. Were France trying to ignite tensions over Irish Home Rule by sponsoring the assassination of a British cabinet minister? This was the immediate conclusion drawn within the government, and an ultimatum was sent demanding France allow the Metropolitan Police to investigate any connections between Paris and Raine, while ethnic violence ensued in Soho against the French Huguenot community.
By the end of March, Britain and France were at war, bringing an end to the Years of Peace.
Well, that came out of the blue. Seriously getting fed up of all these wars, but I guess at least I'm not fighting them all at once. And anyway, I really shouldn't have too much trouble beating France. I outnumber their battlefleet 2-1. They have more Battlecruisers than me, but 'Indomitable' arrives in six months and none of their BCs are particularly frightening. Ocean is two years out and their existing two battleships appear to be glass cannons. Where I do need to worry though is their armoured cruiser fleet. They have 11 to my 9, and all of my CAs are on FS. As, for that matter, is my one active BC. I think I'd better send the Towns to FS so I can bring 'Inflexible' back home. The B-Class should be more than capable leading the screening forces.
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Post by babylon218 on Nov 8, 2020 11:55:34 GMT -6
The ‘Long’ War
The first order of business was to modernise the first-generation dreadnoughts with up-to-date guns for ‘Dreadnought’ and director fire control in all three ships. This was possible because even taking all three of these ships in for reconstruction, Britain still outnumbered France in dreadnoughts two-to-one.
The French Battle Cruiser threat was far more palpable, however. ‘Inflexible’ was quickly recalled from the Mediterranean and the four Town-Class cruisers sent to replace her in colonial patrols. Meanwhile, construction began on an airship base at the Orwell Estuary near the Harwich base to provide full air reconnaissance over the English Channel.
On 16 March, just hours after the declaration of war, ‘HMS Boyne’ led a destroyer patrol of the Channel coast. At 0109Z, the flotilla made contact with two unidentified vessels in the fog. With the beam of ‘HMS Eden’s’ searchlight the French tricolour was made out and shots rang out. One of the French ships was an old Friedland-Class pre-dreadnought, escorted by a single Arquebuse-Class destroyer. In the fierce one-hour gunfight which ensued, the French battleship was able to sink both ‘Waveney’ and ‘Boyne’ in short order, with ‘Eden’s’ engines disabled before slipping away into the darkness. As the only ship remaining able to fight, ‘Afridi’ escorted ‘Eden’ back to harbour. Sadly, Eden’s bulkheads would rupture on her way back to port and she sank shortly after dawn, just miles from Plymouth. The escorting French destroyer did succumb to her own injuries however, and also sank. The loss was Britain’s however: in just an hour of battle, France had annihilated three of Britain’s only four truly modern destroyers. The chaos of the battle had prevented any concerted torpedo attack, with all four ships making attacks in turn which the French battleship could evade.
The action of 16 March would prompt a rapid shift in British naval construction. A crash destroyer building program was implemented, to provide a large number of destroyers with similar capabilities to the ‘Waveneys’ in a shorter timeframe for fewer resources. The capabilities could be implemented on a 700ton hull, though it would sacrifice range and reliability. Another design was also prepared to represent the long-term future Royal Navy destroyer, fitting an extra 4in gun on the same displacement by slightly reducing the size of each gun’s ammo complement. Construction work on ‘Royal Sovereign’ and ‘Royal Oak’ was suspended to free up funds for the programme.
Above: The 'Ettrick-Class' of War Emergency Programme destroyers.
On 25 April, the ‘HMS Liverpool’ swept the Western Approaches with the ‘Afridi’. At 1458Z, the two ships sighted a French ‘Bruix-Class’ armoured cruiser. Using her superior speed, ‘Liverpool’ manoeuvred to get in front of the enemy ship and allow ‘Afridi’ to launch torpedoes. There was a further point to this – ‘Liverpool’ could only penetrate the French ship’s armour at point blank range, while the French ship would need only to score a handful of hits with her 203mm weapons. Fortunately, she had only two such weapons, and by manoeuvring in front of her ‘Liverpool’ would only take fire from one of them, drastically lowering the risk of taking a hit.
Unfortunately, ‘Liverpool’ could not overhaul the French ship quickly enough, but ‘Afridi’ successfully charged the French ship and forced it to turn away. ‘Liverpool’ gave chase.
The fight devolved into a long-range gunnery duel as ‘Liverpool’ tried to keep outside the effect range of the French cruiser’s armament. Nightfall brought the action to an inconclusive conclusion.
In May, the ‘Ettrick-Class’ of war emergency program destroyers was laid down, with the first twelve ships expected to complete in nine months.
On 14 May, ‘HMS Inflexible’ led a raid on French shipping in the Bay of Biscay. At 0813Z, ‘Inflexible’s’ force sighted a French cruiser off La Rochelle. As the two forces continued to close, it became apparent ‘Inflexible’ had stumbled across all three French battle cruisers and the British Commander, Vice Admiral Doveton Sturdee, immediately ordered a turn away. Engaging in a battle with three-to-one odds, according to him, “is not gallantry, it is madness”.
Struggling to disengage, Sturdee ordered his flotillas to launch a torpedo attack to drive the French battlecruisers back at 0853Z.
The move worked, with the French battle cruisers turning away from a swarm of torpedoes, leaving Sturdee to deal with a loan merchant ship which had stumbled upon the action to the East.
Unfortunately, the French rallied and caught up with the rear of the British line, overhauling the ‘Liverpool’. In an effort to drive off the French once more, Sturdee turned back to face his pursuers at1009Z.
At 1342Z, after a long running battle, and with ‘Inflexible’ having seen off one French battle cruiser with gunfire, the British screen scored a torpedo hit against a second Battle cruiser, attributed to the ‘HMS Battle’. The French force disengaged, with Sturdee turning back to finish off the limping and crippled battle cruiser.
Above: HMS Battle earns her name.
1402Z. The third and only truly battle-worthy French battle cruiser turned back. Sturdee’s force was approaching exhaustion, with all his cruisers starting to lose speed with fouled grates and ‘Indefatigable’ herself reduced to 24kt by battle damage. Sturdee turned to his Flag Captain and remarked, “There’s only one thing for it, Robert. God Save the King!”
Above: Inflexible in close action.
After one final charge which successfully drove off the third French battlecruiser, the two fleets finally disengaged at 1451Z.
The Battle of La Rochelle was an unexpected victory for the British, as Sturdee successfully extracted the majority of his force from a situation where he seemed surely doomed. Furthermore, he seriously crippled one French battlecruiser and left two more needing various degrees of repair. However, this success was tempered by the fact that in order to achieve such results, Sturdee had sacrificed four of his destroyers, at a time when Britain’s destroyer force was already badly understrength.
June saw the French navy stay in port and refuse to engage the British fleet. With French pride wounded at La Rochelle and the Marine Nationale unable to break the British blockade, the French government sued for peace, resulting in the Treaty of Antwerp.
Bridgeman argued for a comparatively lenient treaty, believing that the heavy-handed treatment of Germany may have played a role in creating the tense atmosphere leading to war. Furthermore, the navy was in little position to prosecute a major campaign against French colonies if negotiations fell through, as they had the month previous. Thus, there would be no annexations, with the French government simply making symbolic and monetary concessions, with the intent being to allow France to save some face.
In the post-war reductions in July, all twelve ‘Ettrick-Class’ destroyers under construction were cancelled and four ‘Doon-Class’ destroyers, designed to replace the lost ‘Waveney-Class’ ships, were ordered.
Bridgeman came under heavy fire. The destroyer forces had been badly neglected before the war, with Britain having a total of thirteen destroyers available for fleet screening as well as general patrol duties by war’s end, against almost the same number of French equivalents. In private correspondence leaked to the press, Sturdee commented that, “one more battle like that, and the French could sail up the Thames with no opposition!”
This was not entirely Bridgeman’s fault. The destroyer fleet had been in a reasonable condition when he took office, but losses during the Anglo-German War had been high – too high – and there were other areas which had required his attention prior to 1916. Nevertheless, the Government was under pressure to replace him, his personal health was failing, and he’d used up the last of his personal influence by pressing for leniency for France – a decision which was not especially popular either publicly or in cabinet. In the weeks following the Treaty of Antwerp, Bridgeman carefully oversaw the demobilisation of the Home Fleet and then offered his resignation. The resignation was accepted by the incoming First Naval Lord Arthur Lee, Viscount Fareham, who allowed him the dignity of nominating his own successor.
Given his excellent service as Commander-in-Chief of the Harwich Force during the German war, one possibility which was raised was Rear Admiral Reginald Tyrwhitt. However, Tyrwhitt had yet to actually hold an Admiralty posting, though Fareham conceded his expertise with the light forces made him ideal to fix the destroyer ‘crisis’ and consented to his appointment as Third Sea Lord instead. Former Home Fleet C-in-C George Callaghan was another option, but he turned down the post, as he was nearing retirement in any case and wouldn’t be able to hold the position long. This left his successor, Admiral Sir John Jellicoe. By disposition a cautious but eminently capable administrator and commander, Jellicoe seemed the ideal candidate to restore a sense of organisation and order to an Admiralty left ragged by two wars in five years.
As Jellicoe arrived to assume his new post, Bridgeman shook his hand and jested, “terribly sorry about the mess, John.”
So, that was a really short war. And yes, the Destroyer situation really was that bad. Jellicoe and Tyrwhitt have some work to do. The B-Class really are proving their worth. They're a touch slow now, with my new destroyers significantly faster than them but, more worryingly, even those French battlecruisers could have kept up with them. Annoyingly, 'Badger' was damaged during the Biscay raid, which I assume is why the battle generator put 'Abercrombie' in the fleet. Slightly annoying, given the reason I only built Abercrombie was because she was too slow, but nevermind. The Birminghams have impressed me though. 'Liverpool' getting scarred by that CA was pretty much what I expected to happen, but I was pleasantly surprised how well she weathered the beating and with how accurate her fire was at range. I think a few more of these are called for. But for the time being the destroyer situation needs addressing as a matter of priority.
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Post by babylon218 on Nov 10, 2020 9:07:34 GMT -6
Imperial Naval Plan, 1916:
‘Indomitable’ joined the Fleet in September 1916, followed by ‘Dreadnought’s’ return to service following modernisation in October.
In November, the fourth Revenge-Class battleship, ‘Renown’, was laid down just as ‘Revenge’ herself and ‘HMS Manchester’ were commissioned.
In December, another eight ‘Doon-Class’ destroyers were laid down, with a further four following in January 1917.
In March, ‘HMS Sheffield’ joined the fleet, freeing up funds for another four ‘Doons’ to be laid down in April, plus four more in anticipation of the first squadron’s completion in the next few months.
The decision had, by this point, been made to allow one flotilla of ‘Doons’ to strengthen the destroyer force and then use successive flotillas to replace the long-suffering ‘Derwents’.
In November 1917, another flotilla of twelve ‘Doons’ were laid down. Partly this was because several British shipyards had proven exceptionally good at completely the ships ahead of schedule, even though the DNC was of the opinion that larger destroyers could be of greater benefit.
Around the same time, the Royal Navy scrapped the old Resolution-Class pre-dreadnoughts. Once a paradigm shift in pre-dreadnought construction, they were now hopelessly obsolete.
February 1918 saw the completion of the second ‘Doon’ flotilla and the scrapping of twelve of the worn-out ‘Derwents’.
With the destroyer ‘crisis’ in hand, and affairs at the Admiralty beginning to stabilise, Jellicoe could turn his attention to more long-term naval matters. Over the past decade, the face of naval warfare had changed drastically. The Towns were a start, but much of Britain’s cruiser fleet was still obsolete, especially among the armoured cruisers. In the Anglo-French war especially, the British had no real means of hunting down French commerce raiders. As such, Jellicoe developed the ‘Imperial Naval Plan’. This was a far less comprehensive scheme than the Strategic Reviews of Allington and Bridgeman, intended to be flexible. It proposed the formation of four cruiser ‘Flying Squadrons’ prepositioned around the world to respond to and intercept enemy commerce raiders in the event of war, without tying down heavy fleet assets. Jellicoe identified four sea zones which were crucial to protecting world trade: the Mediterranean; the Central Pacific; the Caribbean; and the East Indies. As such, the Plan advocated establishing ‘principle bases’ at Malta, Midway Atoll, Singapore, and Jamaica. These would serve as the headquarters and primary dock facilities for the squadron. It was also proposed the Australia and New Zealand might contribute more directly to the East Indies and Central Pacific squadrons.
The Plan advised assigning no fewer than four light cruisers to each squadron – a somewhat tall order as the navy was still trying to replace the ageing third-class Victorian cruisers. Nevertheless, the recommendation was taken on board.
In the aftermath of the Plan’s publication, the cruisers ‘Leeds’, ‘Curacao’ and ‘Conquest’ were laid down, the two C-Class ships destined to replace older third-class protected cruisers while ‘Leeds’ would join the rest of the ‘Birmingham’ sub-class as the Caribbean Squadron upon completion.
In April 1918, ‘Royal Sovereign’ joined the fleet.
In May, with ‘Leeds’ building attention turned to addressing the issue suffered during the Battle of La Rochelle where ‘Liverpool’ was being caught by French battle cruisers, with the third ‘Town-Class’ sub-class entering the design phase. Meanwhile, two more C-Class cruisers were ordered as ‘Cleopatra’ and ‘Champion’.
In June, the Navy took delivery of ‘Royal Oak’.
In August, the first pair of the new Towns were laid down; ‘HMS Bradford’ and ‘HMS Kingston-upon-Hull’, the more-common name ‘Hull’ apparently being considered too common for the Admiralty. Design work also began on a new class of battleship in response to the US ‘Delaware-Class’. The preceding ‘Oklahoma-Class’ had been armed with ten 15in guns. However, the British Admiralty were not satisfied with the performance of the British equivalent and so decided the new battleship should simply mount more 14in guns – twelve in four three-gun turrets. Thought had been given to increasing the design speed to 23kt, but this was resisted as it would noticeably increase costs and Jellicoe argued that such an ‘intermediate-speed’ battleship would only be superseded in short order by even faster battleships as technology progressed.
Above: US Arizona-Class Battleship. Below: British Town-Class Cruiser HMS Bradford.
In November, the third Doon flotilla finally finished, and design work began on their successors, as well as new flotilla leaders. The B-Class, though they had given sterling service and exceeded expectations, were becoming worn out and were now too slow to keep pace with the destroyers they were supposed to operate with.
December saw the laying down of ‘HMS Anson’, a battleship of 35,000 tons displacement armed with twelve 14in guns, and the first four ‘Kale-Class’ destroyers. Displacing 1,300 tons each, these destroyers fitted four 4in guns, with one gun mounted atop the superstructure to fire over the rear gun, and six torpedo tubes in two triple launchers. They also received expanded capacity for depth charges and mine rails. These were the first ‘flush-deck’ destroyers in the Royal Navy, and concerns were raised regarding their sea-worthiness, but it was considered necessary for the superfiring arrangement to be attainable with six torpedoes on such a small hull. The torpedo tubes were recessed under a superstructure ‘bridge’ amidships.
Above: British Battleship HMS Anson. Below: British 'flush-deck' destroyer 'HMS Kale'.
January 1919 saw ‘HMS Danae’ laid down – the first of the D-Class flotilla leaders. Displacing 5,500 tons, the Danaes were effectively a new design over the B-Class. They carried eight 5in guns, with four mounted along the centreline and two mounted side-by-side on the fo’c’sle. Aft there was a superfiring arrangement where ‘X’ gun fired over ‘Y’ gun on the quarterdeck using a separate platform from the superstructure. This decision was somewhat criticised, but for the moment would stand.
Above: British Flotilla Leader HMS Danae.
Towards the end of January, a spy managed to acquire drawings for the French cruiser ‘Dupetit-Thouars’ of the ‘Gloire-Class’. Displacing 17,100 tons, the ‘Dupetit-Thouars’ was armed with eight 254mm guns in four two-gun turrets. This combined with her competitive top speed led to the ships being described as ‘small battle cruisers’, ‘intermediate cruisers’, or ‘heavy cruisers’.
Above: French Cruiser Dupetit-Thouars.
In March, the ‘HMS Collingwood’ was laid down on the same lines as ‘Anson’. Internally, they became known as the ‘Admiral-Class’. ‘HMS Renown’ joined the Fleet.
In August, Jellicoe won political support to finally build up the submarine arm. The Navy were still using the surviving two experimental submarines ordered under Allington almost a decade earlier. With the construction programme for surface ships proceeding smoothly, Jellicoe convinced the Admiralty and Cabinet to sanction the building of eight medium range submarines for fleet scouting purposes as a start.
May saw a contest to develop a ‘torpedo-carrying bomber’ for the Navy won by the Bristol Spitfire, as attention turned towards the development of aircraft carrying warships.
In June, ‘HMS Curacoa’ joined the fleet. Meanwhile, Third Sea Lord Tyrwhitt informed Jellicoe that the DNC was preparing drawings for destroyers with specially-superimposed guns, rather than the work-around used on the ‘flush-deckers’. The main change was to use ‘blast-screens’ projecting forward of the upper guns to protect the lower gun crews from the muzzle blast.
July saw ‘HMS Conquest’ and ‘HMS Leeds’ join the fleet. The first four ships of the ‘Wear-Class’ were laid down. These were based upon the improved destroyers advocated by Tyrwhitt and returned to a raised fo’c’sle. ‘Dauntless’ was also laid down as the second D-Class flotilla leader.
Above: British destroyer HMS Wear.
In September, Vickers received government approval to purchase a license to build the US Navy 4”/50 gun, which showed superior ballistics to the British weapon. Meanwhile, ‘HMS Champion’ joined the fleet.
In October, Birkenhead’s Cammell Laird shipyard offered to build a third D-Class cruiser with a very competitive bid. As such, ‘HMS Dragon’ was laid down on 14 October. Meanwhile, ‘Curacao’ completed training and was deployed to replace ‘HMS Amphion’, which was then struck from the Navy list. Meanwhile, ‘Cleopatra’ was commissioned.
In November, ‘Manchester’, ‘Sheffield’, ‘Liverpool’ and ‘Leeds’ were dispatched to form the Caribbean squadron at Jamaica. ‘HMS Delhi’ was laid down alongside four more ‘Wears’.
December 1919 saw the development of the first ‘high angle’ 3in and 4in gun mountings for anti-aircraft use. While the threat posed by aircraft was still largely theoretical, the advent of anti-aircraft weaponry was something of a priority in the Royal Navy at this time. The same month, ‘HMS Argonaut’ was retired.
The new year saw the laying down of ‘HMS Nottingham’ and ‘HMS Portsmouth’ to the ‘Bradford’ sub-class. ‘Bradford’ herself was delivered to the Navy the next month, followed by ‘Kingston-upon-Hull’ in March.
In April, ‘HMS King Edward VII’ and ‘HMS Redoubtable’ were scrapped, leaving the Japanese battleship ‘Asahi’ the last pre-dreadnought battleship in naval service. Meanwhile, ‘Champion’ and ‘Cleopatra’ replaced ‘Cressy’ on foreign stations.
In June, the Admiralty endorsed a proposal by Foreign Secretary Lord Curzon to seek a non-aggression treaty with the Russian Empire, to deter any aggression by Spartacist Germany or a revanchist France. Unfortunately, the talks ultimately amounted to nothing, but word of the discussions leaked to Berlin and tensions flared between the Communist state and Britain.
An emergency meeting at the Admiralty argued for an emergency building programme to prepare Britain for war with the Spartacists. While the German Bundesvolksmarine (BVM or Federal People’s Navy) was markedly inferior in surface ships of all types except battle cruisers, they had built up a frighteningly powerful U-boat force. The decision was thus made to build a force of ‘convoy sloops’ to escort British merchants against submarine attack. A new run of destroyers optimised for construction speed and fleet anti-submarine screening was also authorised.
In July, ‘HMS Danae’ entered service, and the first steel was laid for the first flotilla of ‘Gala-Class’ destroyers and twelve ‘Greltoria-Class’ convoy sloops. The two classes were optimised for ease of construction and cost-efficiency in anti-submarine warfare, though the ‘Galas’ were still built with a recognition that they would need to be capable of frontline combat as well.
Above: British Gala-Class Destroyer. Below: British Greltoria-Class Convoy Sloop.
To free up funds, and because almost every ship included was worn out by ten-to-twenty years of service, all pre-1916 destroyers were scrapped in July. This still left a force of forty modern destroyers plus another twenty under construction.
The sudden escort programme apparently had a profound effect, as the Spartacist government’s rhetoric towards Britain suddenly softened in August. Also in August, the third ‘Admiral-Class’ Battleship was laid down; ‘HMS Rodney’. Work was also begun on the next Royal Navy Battlecruiser, though design talks would occupy all levels of the Admiralty as Summer turned to Autumn.
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Post by babylon218 on Nov 11, 2020 8:50:58 GMT -6
The following is an excerpt from the official Admiralty Records: appendices 1a through 1g from the Admiralty Minutes 16 August 1920:
Appendix 1a: Objectives for Battle Cruiser 1920. The purpose of this document is to determine the precise purpose and design priorities for the Battle Cruiser Class which is to be laid down by the end of this year. To date, the Navy's stance regarding this type of vessel has been inconsistent, deeming them necessary, but at the same time deprioritising this type to the extent that both 'Inflexible' and 'Indomitable' being delayed such that 'Inflexible' did not enter service with the Royal Navy until four years after her keel was laid. The result is that both our existing Battle Cruisers are separated in design terms by almost half a decade of technical and doctrinal advance, utilise different calibres of guns, and operate at two different design speeds. By contrast, the three Battle Cruisers of the French Navy are all of the same design, capable of operating as a single battle unit or independently with ease. Similarly, while the German BVM has thus far built single-ship Battle Cruiser classes, with incremental speed improvements, those that we have accurate intelligence on are both of a uniform-calibre main armament. Consequently, it is the Admiralty's opinion that the 1920 Battle Cruiser should serve as a blueprint for all further ships of this type for the foreseeable future.
Roles must be carefully considered in designing such vessels. It is expected that these Battle Cruisers will not only serve as fleet scouts in war, but also as the Flagships of the overseas cruiser squadrons, with particular emphasis on the Mediterranean and East Indies fleets, which will serve not only as trade protection forces but also as the first line of Imperial defence against any aggressors in those regions, such as Japan, France, or Italy. With the move away from the Allingtonian doctrine of fielding several battlefleets across the world for imperial security, these battlecruisers need not possess the same colonial enforcement capabilities as their predecessors. They must have firepower and protection sufficient to engage other vessels of their type as fleet scouts, but also possess speed necessary to operate as a cruiser leader. The dominions of Australia and New Zealand have both expressed interest in operating such a vessel for the overseas squadrons, and so thought should be given to their requirements.
Appendix 1b: Design A1.
Design BC1920-A1 (hereafter simply 'A1') is based upon the lines of HMS Indomitable, with the 13.5" rifles substituted for larger 14" weapons and the 4" battery replaced by more modern high-angle derivatives. Speed and armour has been improved, as has underwater protection.
Appendix 1c: Design B1.
B1 is the first of several 'blank slate' designs. Using a 3, 2, 3 gun arrangement with 14" guns for a total of eight, the design is heavily-armoured by virtue of initially being used as a design study for 16" guns. It lacks long range, but features a top speed of 30kt, ideal for fleet scouting duties. The projected costs are high, however, around 25% greater than an Admiral-Class Battleship.
Appendix 1d: Design C1.
C1 reduces the armament of B1 to six 14" guns and so can reduce displacement to provide a design much cheaper to build than B1 but maintain equal speed and protection.
Appendix 1e: Design D1.
D1 is an abortive design study into using 15" guns instead of 14" weapons. Included here for completeness, the design offers superior weight-of-broadside to C1, but the ballistic qualities of the weapon are substantially worse in all other regards to the 14" gun.
Appendix 1f: Design A2
Proceeding on from the first four designs, A2 revised the hull design of A1 somewhat and removed many of the colonial enforcement provisions to optimise the displacement and construction costs. At this stage, the team behind Design C1 were making similar efficiencies in their design C2, and so the two teams were merged.
Appendix 1g: Design B2.
Similar efficiency drives were made in Design B2, with the design accepting a one knot drop in design speed and a less-reliable engine design to reduce displacement to 35,500tons with commensurate savings in cost.
So, the purpose of this post is to get feedback on the design process. Feel free to RP a bit if you so desire, but in particular I'd like suggestions on which design between A and B to develop further and what, if any, changes need to be made. Note, I have not paid much attention to the AA armament on these designs, so don't take too much notice of those numbers.
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Post by rs2excelsior on Dec 4, 2020 12:06:36 GMT -6
Some very good stuff! Just found this AAR and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it so far. Made me think about starting my own again...
The design boards have come up with some good proposals. I am hesitant of 6-gun designs, so I’d likely lean towards B2 over A2... provided the price tag lets you build enough to meet your requirements.
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Post by aeson on Dec 4, 2020 13:54:24 GMT -6
General comments on the battlecruiser proposals:
- Six 14" guns is in my opinion a bit iffy, as the 14" gun's armor penetration and damage potential is in my view not really good enough to be satisfactory for a small battery by this stage of the game. - 100-110 rounds per gun strikes me as being a bit light on ammunition at this stage of the game, especially for the six-gun designs. I would probably aim for 135 or perhaps 140 rounds/gun on the six-gun 14", 130 or perhaps 135 rounds/gun on the six-gun 15", and 120 rounds/gun on the eight-gun 14" designs. - I would prefer to have a larger secondary battery, even at the cost of reducing the protection on the secondary guns to 1". - Armor protection is generally lighter than I would like as I am concerned that the increasingly-powerful guns making their way into service on other navies' battleships and battlecruisers will relatively easily defeat a 12" or 12.5" belt and the 13.5" turret faces of the A-series designs at practical battle ranges in the near future.
Specific comments: - A1 and A2: I do not see significant value in Long range, nor do I think that there is significant value in fitting a ship of A1's size for colonial service. I also like the armor protection of the A-series designs least out of all the proposals, though to be fair the A-series' 12" belt and 3" deck armor probably isn't significantly worse at practical battle ranges than the 12.5" belt and 3.5" deck armor on the B- and C-series designs.
- B1: While I prefer the larger and better-protected main battery as compared to the A-series designs, I do not think that the design speed of 30 knots and the probably-marginal increase in protection at practical battle ranges offered by the additional half inch of belt and deck armor is sufficiently valuable to justify the significantly-greater unit costs compared to the 29-knot A-series, B2, and D1 designs.
- D1: Six 15"/Q- guns probably won't be notably better than six 14"/Q0 guns, and the armor protection is closer to that of the A-series than the B-/C-series designs. The only attraction I see to D1 is the greater developmental potential of the 15" gun as compared to the 14" gun.
- C1 and B2: I prefer B2's eight-gun battery to C1's 30-knot design speed; otherwise, both of these seem like fairly reasonable compromises on B1 to bring its cost more into line with the other proposals.
Of the options presented, my preference would be for Design B2, but I might suggest investigating the feasibility of increasing armor protection on C1 or B2 to battleship standards by cutting the design speed to about 27 knots, which I believe would produce a more useful heavy ship that retains the ability to work with Indomitable and act as a heavy scout for the 21-knot battle line without significantly increasing unit costs.
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Post by babylon218 on Feb 17, 2021 17:02:15 GMT -6
Alas, I regret not getting back to this. I was having some personal issues I needed to take care of. I'm still on the same version of the game, so maybe I'll carry this forward to 1925-30 and tie things off.
Responding to design comments, I broadly agree that B2 is the better design of the two 'finalised' designs. What I'm considering to address the concerns raised is to reduce speed to 28kn, and reduce the Conning Tower armour to free up displacement for the main belt and deck so I can potentially bring those up to 13" and 4". I will also consider reducing the secondary battery either to unarmoured mounts (last I checked 2" was the minimum necessary for splinter protection?) or ten guns, then using any remaining tonnage (increasing displacement to 36,000t if necessary) to get an extra 10-15 rounds of ammunition per gun before fitting out the AA suite.
Thinking about it, the armour concerns are very logical in context, as while I've been able to "make do" with limited armour protection on BCs in most games (I usually keep my BCs at long range, fighting on the periphery of the battle to pin the enemy in place), both my BC losses in this game were sustained in close-range poor-visibility actions, where my usual cautious approach wasn't practical. If I'd considered upping the armour on those designs, at least one of those ships might have been saved.
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Post by babylon218 on Feb 18, 2021 7:49:46 GMT -6
The Following is an excerpt from official records - appendices 1a-1d to Admiralty Minutes 20 August 1920:
Appendix 1a:
Further to the design studies considered by the Admiralty on 16 August, further refinements have been made on Proposals A2 and B2 for the Battlecruiser 1920. In consideration was a desire to improve the main belt and deck protection and increase magazine capacity. The DNC has considered reducing the calibre of the main armament to accommodate more guns and reduce the overall cost and displacement, but this has proven impractical. The DNC and Third Naval Lord have expressed their view that the Battlecruiser 1920 proposal requires a ship with such versatility that it cannot be met in a single well-rounded, low-cost design. Sacrifices have to be made in the design somewhere, though careful consideration has yielded the improved designs detailed in Appendices B and C to this document.
Appendix 1b: Battlecruiser 1920-B3:
Cost and displacement savings were made to Design B2 by removing the gunshields for the 4" secondary battery and reducing the battery by two guns, as well as reducing the armour of the Conning Tower from 14" to 10". This has allowed an expansion in magazine size to accommodate 115 rounds per gun and increase the main deck protection to 4" thick. This provides the design with invulnerability against 14" shells at a range of 13,000 to 23,000 yards. The total cost of the design has been only marginally-reduced, however. The DNC notes that it is feasible to reduce the gun calibre of this design to 13" and fit an additional gun in B Turret without any increase in cost and the option to reduce the displacement by several hundred tons, and can produce detailed drawings of this option should the Board desire.
Appendix 1c: Battlecruiser 1920-A3
Due to the difficulties experienced in attaining the desired improvements in protection with design B3, Design team A was authorised to prepare a third iteration of their proposal. Reducing the fuel bunkers, removing secondary gunshields, and reducing the thickness of the Conning Tower armour yielded sufficient savings to increase deck armour to 4" and increase the ammunition spaces to carry a load of 125 shells per gun. This is only marginally more expensive than the Admiral-Class Battleships currently under construction, and carries the maximum possible anti-aircraft battery for a ship of this size. However, it has only two-thirds the firepower of B3 and sacrifices turret roof protection.
Appendix 1d: Comments by the First Sea Lord The First Sea Lord appreciates that at only 12.5" of belt armour, the proposed designs are hardly suitable for the line of battle. However, that is not their purpose. The purpose of the Battlecruisers is to provide capital ship support to our security squadrons overseas and to scout ahead of the Grand Fleet. If the Battlecruisers encounter an opposing force of equal or superior strength, their aim should be to draw the enemy into range of the main battle line, not engage directly. While this is an ideal, the above designs appear to have the protection necessary to maintain a safe distance from such an enemy force.
I also wish to remind the Board that as light as this protection scheme may seem, it is still an inch-and-a-half greater on the main belt than the battlecruisers (exempting the Japanese Kurama-Class) of every other Great Power and is in fact equal or superior to the latest generation of German, American, and Italian Dreadnought battleships.
___ Also, on a slightly more relevant note, I can't increase the armour or drop the speed any further without them being classified fast battleships. I'm definitely going to keep Design B around for that purpose, since heavy scouts aren't a bad thing, but there's not really much I can do to the battlecruiser designs at this stage.
So, I'm a bit torn. A3 definitely offers better value for money, but B3 is clearly the better warship. I'm sorely tempted to accept the lighter 13" gun and go for more guns and accept that this design is going to effectively be a cruiser-killer and not much else - at least unless I can fit 15" or 16" twins later (which would fit on the hull, and I do have Q -1 16" guns available). That has its own downsides as well - in particular, locking the design down as an overseas flagship over a battle scout. It would be able to form a homogenous unit with HMS Indomitable however...
Thoughts?
(Oh, I've also checked the exact wording in the manual RE: splinter protection. It's at least 2" to protect entirely against splinters, but any armour below 2" does still have an effect, just proportional to the armour thickness. That's good to know. )
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Post by babylon218 on Feb 21, 2021 13:55:22 GMT -6
Warspite
In September, the design of the BL 6-inch Mk.XXII naval gun was approved. A higher-velocity development on the previous 6-inch gun, the Mk.XXII was 50 calibres long and enjoyed greater range than its predecessor, as well as superior armour penetration.
October saw an improved 16-inch gun developed – fortuitous as it would turn out, as attention had turned towards weapons of this calibre to arm the new class of battlecruisers in development. Three of the ‘Wear-Class’ destroyers would also commission into the navy that month, just as the DNC had completed draft drawings for a quadruple torpedo mount.
In December, the D-Class cruiser ‘HMS Dauntless’ entered service. Royal Ordnance also reported they had further developed the 16-inch gun, offering a 50-calibre weapon believed to be years ahead of the main capital armaments of other nations. Jellicoe, somewhat frustrated by the prospect of another delay to the 1920 Battlecruiser being laid down, nevertheless consented to Admiral Tyrwhitt’s wish to integrate the new gun into the ship’s design.
Meanwhile, Tyrwhitt presented several sketch designs for the potential conversion of existing warships into aircraft carriers, generally consisting of the removal of all upper works and heavy armament and in their place building up a single hangar deck with a flat flying-off deck above it, in various configurations.
February 1921 finally saw the commencement on work for the first of the new battlecruisers: ‘HMS Warspite’. Over the previous autumn and winter, design work had centred around two main design proposals, codenamed ‘A’ and ‘B’. Each proposal went through three iterations, until it was realised that design ‘B’ had sufficient reserve displacement to potentially mount six 16-inch guns. At this point, work began on adapting design ‘B’ to accept the weapon, culminating in design E3. E3 mounted six BL 16-inch 50-calibre guns in three twin turrets, arranged as a superfiring pair forward and a single turret aft, with twelve high-angle QF 4-inch guns in 1.5-inch shielded mounts, and twenty-six Vickers 20mm ‘pom-pom’ anti-aircraft cannon. The design had a top speed of 29kn, with an inclined belt 12.5-inches thick, a deck 4-inches thick, 14-inch turret faces, and a relatively light 8.5-inches of armour protecting the Conning Tower. The entire design displaced 36,000 tons.
British Battlecruiser 'HMS Warspite'.
The name of the lead ship, ‘Warspite’, was chosen as part of a theme around old Razee frigates, with one forebearer of the name being built as a 74-gun Third Rate Ship-of-the-Line in 1907 before being Razeed down to a 50-gun frigate in 1840. As razees were principly battleships cut down for high speed, the theme seemed appropriate to the navy for battlecruisers, and the name ‘Warspite’ certainly evoked the deterrent effect the ship was intended to have as an overseas flagship.
By this point, it had emerged that the United States Navy’s new Delaware-Class dreadnoughts had returned to a 14-inch main battery, but also that Germany and France were both building new battleships and battlecruisers of approximately 35,000 tons. In light of this, it was questioned whether the programme to build four Admiral-Class battleships should continue, or if ‘HMS Rodney’ should instead by cancelled and a new class of 16-inch battleships be laid down in her stead. This question would be held off, while late in February the ‘HMS Dragon’ left Birkenhead for sea trials.
April saw ten of the ‘Gala-Class’ escort destroyers commission into the fleet.
With ‘Anson’ due to complete in June and the 1920 emergency programme winding down, it was decided to press ahead with the fourth and final of the Admirals, ‘HMS Nelson’, in May. The same month, ‘HMS Delhi’ completed sea trials, as did three of the ‘Greltoria-Class’ sloops, which were placed straight into ordinary.
In July, Italian authorities seized Manwel Cassar, a Maltese man whom the Italian government accused of spying on the Italian naval base at Taranto for the British Government. The British government denied all knowledge of Cassar and accused the Italian government of persecuting the man in furtherance of Italian claims on Malta. However, records in the National Archives have made clear that Cassar was in fact known to the Admiralty as early as 1919, with Cassar’s passage to Italy being arranged as part of the staff associated with the Royal Navy’s attaché to the British Embassy in Rome. Little record exists for Cassar’s purpose in Italy, but various investigations by both journalists and historians since indicate he was probably sent by the British Naval Attaché to report on Italian port arrangements as part of a general intelligence effort investigating the naval developments of the other Great Powers. Regardless, the Italian Government were not cowed by the outcry in the British Press and from the Foreign Office, with a Court imprisoning Cassar for twenty-five years for espionage. Later that month, ‘HMS Nottingham’ joined the fleet, with ‘HMS Portsmouth’ following in July.
August would see the laying down of the ‘HMS Indefatigable’, the second of the ‘Warspite-Class’, timed to coincide with the completion of ‘HMS Collingwood’.
1921 would close out with the ‘Bradford’, ‘Kingston-Upon-Hull’, ‘Nottingham’, and ‘Portsmouth’, departing Britain for their deployment as the Central Pacific Squadron, based out of Midway Island. To bolster the British position at Midway, construction also commenced on a Naval Air Station on the island, as well as the erection of a 6-inch coastal battery.
Meanwhile, with it being determined that Britain now had excess tonnage on foreign stations by a considerable margin, the ‘Ariadne’ and the ‘Sutlej’ were recalled for decommissioning.
1922 began with the Air Ministry calling for a new fighter design, emphasising speed and offensive firepower. Meanwhile, the Admiralty were beginning to draw up plans for a dedicated aircraft carrier based on Admiral Tyrwhitt’s advice.
In February 1922, the Naval Attaché to Rome managed to smuggle detailed sketches – no one appears to have asked where from – of the new Italian ‘Conte di Cavour-Class’ battleships. These battleships were to be armed with twelve 355mm (equivalent to 14 inches) guns in four triple turrets, with a top speed of 24kn and a displacement of 27,900 tons. While the speed was of concern, the Admiralty did not regard the class as a serious threat to the Royal Navy’s pre-eminence.
Italian Battleship 'Conte di Cavour'.
In March, the ‘HMS Hermes’ was laid down, marking the second purpose-built aircraft carrier to be laid down anywhere in the world (the US Navy had recently laid down the ‘USS Charger’, and France was in the process of converting the new Heavy Cruiser ‘Gloire’ to a carrier, representing the only two other aircraft carriers then known to exist). With a single flight deck conforming to the shape of the bow, an elevator fore and aft, and eight 4.5-inch dual purpose guns mounted on sponsons just below the flight deck alongside thirty ‘pom-poms’, the ‘Hermes’ would have a top speed of 28kn and a hangar capable of storing up to twenty aircraft.
British Aircraft Carrier 'HMS Hermes'.
In April, First Lord Fareham consulted the Admiralty on whether the Navy was prepared for war with France following the passage of the French Naval Law. Jellicoe assured Fareham that the Navy was more than capable of handling any French threat which might arise. Meanwhile, steel was laid for the next Town-Class cruiser, ‘HMS Stoke’. ‘Stoke’ was built to yet another revised design, with a top speed of 29kn to match the Warspite-Class battlecruisers, fourteen pom-poms, and all the 4.5-inch guns replaced with dual-purpose mounts, as well as replacing the 6-inch guns with the new Mark XXII 50-calibre weapon. The torpedo armament was also augmented, adding two additional torpedo tubes, one per launcher. All this required an increase in displacement to 7,200 tons.
June saw the Hawker company win the Air Ministry contract for a new fighter to replace the Hurricane Mk.II, with the new aircraft capable of 140 knots and a maximum endurance of just over 100 nautical miles. The new aircraft was named the Hawker Hart. Almost immediately, the Air Ministry implemented a request by the Fleet Air Arm for a new Torpedo Bomber to replace the Bristol Spitfire.
July saw trouble in the Virgin Islands, as protests over mismanagement by the Danish governor combined with a fishing dispute between American and Danish fishermen to create a potentially volatile situation. Despite requests for British intervention, as had occurred 18 years earlier, the Admiralty advised the Foreign Office to make no commitments to the Danish authorities unless US interference seemed likely. Meanwhile, Tyrwhitt notified Jellicoe that experiments had successfully been conducted launching aircraft off of warships using catapults, with ‘HMS Queen Amelie’ being brought in to Harwich to receive the necessary equipment in August, replacing her aft 4.5-inch gun with a swivel-mounted catapult and regunning the remaining positions with the newest designs in dual-purpose mounts. The opportunity was also used to add sixteen pom-poms.
**** Oh boy, is the next chapter something.
Initially, I was absolutely convinced going with 6 16in guns on Warspite was a mistake, then I get two 'improved' 16in gun events in the space of six months! It's a sign, I tell you! RTW wants my battlecruisers to be armed with 16in guns!
Also, really happy with how the top-down profile of 'Hermes' came out. I've always been intrigued by the early British carriers where the flight deck tapered off with the bow of the ship, even though it wasn't a good idea as far as keeping the deck dry went. Twenty aircraft arguably isn't a lot, but I justify it as being Britain's first foray into carriers, with the next ships being based on the lessons of this one (much like how Hermes was based on the lessons learned from Beatty's abominations, I mean Glorious, Furious, and Courageous. )
Also, the German's finished the first of their new battlecruisers in 1922:
That's a pretty eerily-similar match to the Warspites. Glad I went with that design now. One saving grace I suppose is that it's slower and its belt armour is pretty thin. Oh, and the complete lack of any meaningful AAA, instead making do with what Drachinifel would call 'an aircraft notification system'. I feel like they'd be better off giving the gunnery director officer a flyswatter!
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Post by babylon218 on Feb 21, 2021 14:00:48 GMT -6
Battleships off Belfast
The ‘Irish Question’ had permeated British politics since the mid-Nineteenth Century, with Irish nationalism surging in the wake of the Great Famine of 1849-52. For the past fifteen years, various British Governments had attempted to resolve the toxic and highly-charged issue of Irish Home Rule. While Home Rule had been passed by the Liberal Parliament in 1913, the following Conservative Unionist governments had stonewalled and ultimately killed the process. This did not stop agitations both in Ireland and at home, however. It was perhaps inevitable, then, when in September 1922 an armed unit of the so-called Ulster Defence Force (UDF) clashed with members of Sinn Fein and the insurgent Irish Republican Army outside Londonderry’s St. Columb’s Cathedral. And orgy of violence and pogroms between both Catholic and Protestant communities ensued across Ulster, quickly spreading to the rest of Eastern Ireland.
The Irish Ministry attempted to control the situation, with army units being mobilised to put down the violence, but had the exact opposite effect when the colonel of the 2nd Enniskillen Rifles ordered his troops not to fire on Unionist paramilitaries, while at the same time instructing a second platoon of his men to open fire on marching Catholic protesters on Carlisle Road, killing eighteen Irish, including three women and four students. The Carlisle Road Massacre, as it became known, caused an already volatile situation to erupt into all-out rebellion, forcing the Admiralty to activate the battleships ‘Temeraire’, ‘Superb’, ‘Vanguard’, and ‘St. Vincent’ along with several cruisers and destroyers to help quell the revolt.
Meanwhile, someone had got it into Lord Fareham’s head that, despite having two battleships and two battlecruisers already under construction, the navy clearly needed two more. The result was the laying down of ‘Australia’ and ‘New Zealand’, representing those dominion’s contribution to the Imperial Naval Plan – on the grounds that if the Government dared try to inflict cuts on the Navy, it would do so it the risk of scrapping two ships intended for the Dominions. The Admiralty also gave the greenlight to Vickers to enter into a technological exchange with Bethlehem Steelworks in the USA.
December 1922 saw war on the horizon between Greece and Turkey. In response to murmurings in the press that various shipyards and weapons foundries were gearing up to sell to either side, the Government declared an arms embargo against both countries, citing the historic Neutrality Proclamation of Queen Victoria. As a result, Vickers were ordered to suspend construction of two battleships then destined for both countries.
December also saw a series of moves by the Admiralty to prevent any potential French intervention in Ireland, with the establishment of the Channel and Western Approaches Command, consisting of several Motor Torpedo Boat squadrons. The Royal Air Force also began construction of a new airfield near Belfast for bringing in supplies, as well as expansions of the Channel and East Anglian airfields.
January 1923 began with the Air Ministry and Fleet Air Arm approving the full development of the Supermarine Swordfish torpedo bomber, with a top speed 105 knots, range with full torpedo load of 106 nautical miles (188 miles unencumbered) and a single rifle-calibre machine gun attached to the navigator position for defence. It could carry one torpedo or a single bomb of between 250lbs and 1600lbs. The acceptance of the Swordfish was marred, however, by the discovery that Lord William Forbes-Sempill had leaked key information about the preparations for the new aircraft for carrier operations to the Imperial Japanese Navy without prior authorisation. To make matters worse, the affair leaked to the Press, forcing the government to publicly admonish Sempill and recall him from Japan, frustrating the Japanese.
In February, ‘HMS Rodney’ began sea trials. Meanwhile, the DNC advised that his department was confident it could support superelevated forward guns on future cruisers, and Vickers unveiled a larger bore-size 40mm anti-aircraft cannon, the 2pdr ‘pom-pom’. Fighting continued in Derry, Belfast, and Dublin.
March saw the ordering of a fifth ‘Warspite-Class’ battlecruiser, in response to an intransigent Fareham who insisted on maintaining the pace of construction following the completion of ‘Rodney’. However, Jellicoe advised the builders not to rush to order the necessary components, as a new design of Battleship was then under development. As such, the new hull was never named, only receiving the designation ‘Battlecruiser E’. Unfortunately, this attempted subterfuge came to the attention of Lord Fareham, creating something of a rift between himself and Jellicoe. Nevertheless, Jellicoe was able to make the case for not proceeding with the vessel, and pointed out the Navy only had sufficient funds for three months at most at the current rate of construction, convincing Fareham to authorise the suspension of ‘Australia’ and ‘New Zealand’ and the cancellation of ‘Battlecruiser E’. Helping Jellicoe’s argument was the fact that ‘Nelson’ and ‘Warspite’ were due to commence sea trials in the next six months, at which time construction of the remaining battlecruisers could proceed.
May 1923 was a month of frenzy in Whitehall, as the Admiralty codebreaking team in Room 40 intercepted German radio signals indicating U-Boat movements in the Irish Sea. Suspicions that the German Spartacists were smuggling arms to the Irish Republican Army were apparently confirmed when a telegram between Berlin and Dublin was intercepted arranging a ‘dead-drop’ near Cork. The message had been sent via the German Embassy in Stockholm, but the Spartacists had apparently failed to take into account that all telegraph cables to Ireland passed through British stations, with a German-speaking GPO clerk noticing the message and passing it on to the Foreign Office. Anti-submarine patrols were stepped up between Continental Europe and Ireland.
June saw the majority of the Irish Republican Army surrender to British authorities, following bombing raids on Republican strongholds in County Connacht and an offer of clemency to any surviving rebels who handed in their weapons. Support had fallen away from the Republicans after the Spartacist connection was exposed and the supply of arms curtailed, with various allegations of Marxist sympathies amongst the rebel leadership. Helping matters was an undertaking by the government (under pressure in Parliament following an economic downturn to resolve the crisis) to re-examine the Home Rule issue. This was potentially toxic to the Conservative Party, much of which was made up of Irish Unionists, but this was tempered by the pragmatic observation that the Unionist side hadn’t come out of the insurrection looking particularly good itself: incidents such as the razing of Catholic churches and a particularly notorious case of several hundred Catholic women and children being locked in a church in County Antrim while unionist militants set it alight had done more than their fair share to turn public opinion into sympathy for the Irish Nationalist cause.
Reflecting on the previous ten months, Jellicoe observed:
"We owe much to the German communists. Thanks to their ill-fated support for the Republicans, our coastal defences are much-improved, with new airfields across the south coast, torpedo-armed motor launches organised in Dover, Cork, and Harwich, and two brand new 4.5-inch coastal gun batteries protecting Ireland from any further foreign interlopers. Furthermore, it was thanks to the Spartacists’ truly woeful radio discipline and failure to appreciate our position at the heart of the global telegraph network which allowed us to expose their involvement and instigate the collapse of the rebellion. Not since the days of Napoleon has an attempt to incite domestic unrest by a foreign power against this country backfired so spectacularly as the Spartacist Gunrunning this past year. Chancellor Thalmann should receive the George Cross for his efforts!"
A George Cross for Chancellor Ernst Thalmann was, unsurprisingly, not forthcoming. And as the July sun shone upon the Solent, crowds gathered along the Gosport Esplanade, cheering the sounding of foghorns as the ‘HMS Warspite’ headed out into the English Channel for sea trials. At the same time as ‘Warspite’ slipped into the Solent, steel was laid in No.1 Basin for the Battleship ‘HMS Trafalgar’.
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Post by babylon218 on Feb 22, 2021 6:29:52 GMT -6
The Carrier Trials, 1924
August saw ‘HMS Hermes’ commence her sea trials, taking on an air wing of eight Hawker Harts and twelve Supermarine Swordfish. Meanwhile, the murder of a Turkish official by Greek nationalists in Istanbul set tensions surging across the continent.
In October, a revolution in the Dominican Republic brought an anti-US regime into power, which quickly requested protection from the British government. This request was rejected, with the Foreign Office and the Admiralty agreeing that there was little point antagonising the United States over such a strategically insignificant matter. Defending European colonies from American expansionism was one thing, deliberately intervening in the affairs of a Caribbean state for geopolitical advantage was another.
‘Stoke’ and ‘Nelson’ joined the navy that month, with ‘Stoke’ proving to be the last of the Town-Class cruisers, as technological developments had left the original design of 1910 far behind. Work thus began on the next generation of British cruiser at the same time as work resumed on ‘HMS New Zealand’.
In November, the Air Ministry approved the procurement of the Gloster Goblin to replace the Westland Walrus as the primary Floatplane Scout of the Royal Navy, with a range 128 nautical miles and a max speed of 98 knots. Meanwhile, after over a decade of faithful service, ‘HMS Dreadnought’ was sent to the breakers. The preceding months had been eventful for the old warhorse, with her being reactivated to enforce the security patrols around Ireland. Across the Solent from her final berth, ‘HMS Indefatigable’ was fitting out ready for sea trials the following Spring.
January 1924 begin with the laying down of ‘HMS Emerald’, the first of the new ‘E-Class’ light cruisers intended to continue on from the Towns. These cruisers featured the latest ‘all-or-nothing’ armour configuration, which was arranged in a ‘box’ around the shell rooms, providing 3 inches of protection abreast the magazines and shell hoists and 1.5 inches around the machinery spaces. Countering the light protection around the boiler rooms was a decision to divide the ship’s machinery into two ‘units’, with half the ships boilers followed by half the ship’s turbines, then the second half of the boilers and so forth. In this way, it was hoped that even if a shell did penetrate into the machinery spaces, only half of the power plant would be disabled, leaving the ship still able to manoeuvre, albeit at a reduced rate. This gave the ship two funnels separated by the floatplane facilities, intended to offer some reconnaissance for the overseas cruiser squadrons. The machinery was designed to deliver a speed of 30kn, and thirty mines were carried, with a pair of mine rails to the stern. The six torpedo tubes were retained from the ‘Stoke’, and the entire main battery of six inch guns were mounted on the centreline – a significant achievement, although in practice this arrangement proved cramped and interfered with efficiency in gunnery trials.
British Light Cruiser 'HMS Emerald'.
February saw ‘HMS Indefatigable’ commence sea trials.
March 1924 would see the first of the so-called ‘Carrier Trials’, a series of mock battles which would see the ‘Hermes’ and a modest escort squadron attempt to locate and attack an ‘enemy’ battle fleet at sea. The exercise was scheduled for 15 March.
Swordfish from ‘Hermes’ reported contact with the ‘enemy’ off Lorient at 0738Z, having apparently encountered ‘HMS Warspite’ and ‘HMS Indefatigable’ alongside one of their attendant flotilla leaders. Six Swordfish were readied for a sortie with torpedo planes. Then, Scout #4 radioed in with a sighting report of four battleships at 0740Z around 30 miles further north, the sighting being made at 0720Z but delayed in receipt due to radio problems on the aircraft. Further sighting reports were made, with Captain Arthur Stopford ultimately determining to dispatch the Swordfish to a position roughly in the centre of the large circle described by the sightings. The pilots were specifically instructed before launch to target the ‘enemy’ battle line. Take-off took place at 0831Z, ‘Hermes’ turning into the wind. After forming up around the carrier, the six-strong flight turned West-Southwest to begin the hunt for their prey.
‘Hermes’ received a wireless message from the attack force at 1011Z: “Enemy in sight.” The first attack was made with four of the six planes against the enemy formation at 1015Z, with two battlecruisers attempting to ‘repel’ the attackers with their AAA to little effect. The remaining two planes followed close behind. One torpedo was confirmed to hit the ‘Indefatigable’, the dummy warhead leaking a red dye into the water on impact to signal the event. The carrier force turned to the Northwest to rendezvous with the Swordfish while ‘Queen Amelie’ prepared to launch floatplanes to monitor the opposing force and report on any damage.
1139Z. ‘HMS Danae’, leading one of ‘Hermes’ escorting Destroyer flotillas, signals the dreaded ‘Enemy in sight’. Stopford ordered the squadron to immediately turn north, but ‘Hermes’ was in the process of recovering her Swordfish. To make matters worse, it quickly became clear that the ‘enemy’ was in fact ‘HMS Nelson’ leading three other battleships and closing rapidly. Ordering his destroyers to attack, Stopford turned north and accelerated to ‘Hermes’ top speed of 28kn. The destroyers made good the attack, scoring one ‘hit’ on the ‘Collingwood’, while two Walrus floatplanes scrambled off ‘Queen Amelie’ scored a single 250lb bomb hit on ‘Anson’. The exercise ended at nightfall with no further action.
Log Record from 'HMS Collingwood' detailing simulated damage.
Log Record from 'HMS Indefatigable' detailing simulated damage.
Log Record from 'HMS Anson' detailing simulated damage.
Annotated tactical chart summarising the 1924 Carrier Trials.
All in all, the first ‘Carrier Trial’ had not been a tremendous success. Of all the hits achieved in the operation, one torpedo had been launched by the ‘Wear’, and the sole bomb hit of the encounter had been achieved by one of Queen Amelie’s floatplanes, though the bomb had ‘hit’ in such a way that light flooding would have surely resulted, it was not, ultimately, serious. The sole air attack by the Swordfish which successfully ‘hit’ ‘Indefatigable’ was likewise not crippling, though the judges determined this likely reflected her advanced underwater protection system compared to ‘Collingwood’, which had reported heavy flooding from the destroyer attack.
In his report on the mock engagement, Stopford recorded the following:
The lacklustre performance of our aviation arm can be best attributed to: a lack of sufficient reconnaissance aircraft; poor bomb yields; and a need for additional training. The last of these is simple enough and will come with time. As for the first two, these will require direct affirmative action from the Admiralty. First, regarding reconnaissance: it is not that the task force lacked sufficient aircraft to locate the enemy, but this purpose occupied almost half of ‘Hermes’ allocation of torpedo planes, leaving only six available to act on the intelligence gathered by the scouts. Making matters worse, by the time the strike force returned to ‘Hermes’ they were required to immediately launch again to replace the returning scouts, meaning that even as ‘Nelson’ and her force came into view, ‘Hermes’ lacked any aircraft with which to mount a defence. The use of ‘Queen Amelie’ to lead scouting efforts would help address this, but it is my view that twelve torpedo aircraft is entirely too small a force if our intent is to launch meaningful attacks from our carriers. Our pilots would no doubt have scored more serious hits against ‘Indefatigable’ had the battlecruiser’s fire been split between even ten aircraft as opposed to only six, and a second torpedo hit may have been sufficient to inflict crippling damage. Attached to this is the fact that, naturally, with more aircraft, we can launch more attacks. Additional hangar space must therefore be a central consideration for future vessels of this type, and we might also contemplate integrating seaplane carriers like ‘Queen Amelie’ into our operational doctrine. As for bomb loads, 250lbs may be sufficient against destroyers or cruisers, but are wholly inadequate against warships of capital class. This should factor into aircraft procurement in future.
However, the exercise also made clear existing AAA outfits were utterly useless against air attack. This was softened only by the fact that the attacks which had been made proved so ineffective.
Despite the lacklustre results of the first Carrier Trials, press reports that British torpedo planes had ‘successfully’ attacked a mock battle squadron with torpedoes, crippling one, reached Germany. In response, fearing Swordfish raids on Wilhelmshaven, the BVM ordered its forces to a heightened state of alert. This was met, in May, with a surprise budget increase for the Royal Navy to counter the ‘aggressive’ moves across the North Sea. This came just in time for the laying down of the ‘Eagle’, a second carrier to a revised ‘Hermes’ design. Displacement was increased to 13,500 tons, facilitating a larger air group of thirty aircraft (to consist of ten Harts and twenty Swordfish). There was also a slight adjustment in the design of the superstructure, with a walkway placed alongside the conning tower one deck down to ease passage between the fore and aft halves of the ship around the smokestack. There was also an increase in the AA armament, with the new design consisting of twelve 2pdr ‘pom-poms’ and twenty-one 20mm Oerlikon AA cannons. Otherwise, little changed between the two ships.
British Aircraft Carrier 'HMS Eagle'.
The same month, the second ‘E-Class’ cruiser was ordered as ‘HMS Enterprise’. This was, again, a slightly revised design. Issues with the cramped main battery had been foreseen, and so ‘L’ gun was to be omitted from ‘Enterprise’, the space being used to add additional accommodation for marines and supplies, a facility which had been neglected on ‘Emerald’. Otherwise, again, little changed from the previous ship.
British Light Cruiser 'HMS Enterprise'.
June saw Admiral Jellicoe, answering a question from the Daily Mail regarding the international situation, remark that “of all our European neighbours, the Spartacist government in Germany is by far the most menacing.”
Meanwhile, the Royal Air Force accepted the Bolton Paul Barracuda as its new Flying Boat for the Coastal Command. Though the slowest of all the offerings, it offered an incredible range of 314 nautical miles unloaded and 162 nautical miles carrying a single 500lb bomb. At the same time, Supermarine responded to the Carrier Trials with the Swordfish Mk.II, utilising a more fuel-efficient engine to achieve a range of 225 miles unloaded and 127 miles fully-laden, an improvement of more than 20 miles! This achievement was all the more impressive for the fact that Supermarine had managed to reinforce the airframe to improve robustness and at the same time allow it to carry an increased bomb load of 300-2000lbs!
In response to the rising German threat, Jellicoe ordered that two new submarines should be laid down every month for the next eighteen months, bringing the Submarine Arm up to 46 boats by the end of 1925.
August saw ‘Warspite’ brought into dock to have her AAA suite augmented with the heavier 2pdr pom-poms and 20mm Oerlikons, while the old battlecruiser ‘Inflexible’ was laid up for conversion into a large aircraft carrier. The work would see all her 12-inch guns removed, her casemates plated over, and her machinery completely replaced. The new powerplant would allow her to make 28kn, while her magazine spaces were replaced with aircraft hangars sufficient for thirty aircraft. This was less than was ideal, but was made necessary as several Admiralty figures demanded, against Tyrwhitt’s objections, that the ship should still be armed with at least eight 8-inch guns, especially in light of how ‘Hermes’ had nearly been ran down in the Trials. Her flight deck tapered slightly more aggressively than on ‘Hermes’ and ‘Eagle’, partly due to the flight deck being built atop an existing structure and partly because it had been noted that Hermes’ deck had an unfortunate tendency to become wet in rough seas, and it was hoped a ‘squarer’ bow would help keep the deck above water.
Having apparently not taken the hint two years earlier, Fareham demanded the laying down of nine new cruisers in November. This was perfectly timed, as Jellicoe was worried the Navy might actually maintain a surplus that year! Jellicoe eventually managed to beat the number down to six, with exactly six additional E-Class being laid down. (Elephant, Echo, Exeter, Euphrates, Endeavour, and Ensemble.)
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Post by aeson on Feb 22, 2021 11:26:08 GMT -6
2"/1" turret armor is pretty ugly for 8" guns, but then again there's probably not much else which would be practical for them given the limitations of conversions and the ship's original characteristics, especially since stepping back from Eagle's 30-plane complement on a larger carrier would have been difficult to justify in character when you'd just decided that Hermes' 20-plane complement was inadequate. The only major change to your conversion design which I might have seriously entertained would have been to retain whatever the original design speed was (26 knots? I'm guessing this was a slightly-modified Indefatigable, but I didn't see its original configuration when I quickly reviewed the thread) since that would probably have made for a slightly-cheaper conversion with a larger air wing or for a much cheaper conversion with a similar air wing, but that runs into the "Hermes had to run away" problem when it comes to justifying that decision in character, and if you're going to pay for new engines anyways then you almost may as well make it more compatible with the CVLs.
As to the CVLs, I might consider reducing the maximum thickness of the belt and deck armor or implementing a magazine-box scheme for them if I were going to build more of them; small carriers are much less worth armoring than big carriers due to their lesser innate resilience, and a 2.5" belt is probably fairly marginal even against 5" guns so the only big advantage I see to their current armor scheme is that the 2" deck armor is splinter-proof whereas a thinner armor deck would merely be splinter-resistant. This is a large part of why I usually stop building battlecruisers in the 1920s; I don't like thin-skinned capital ships, but I also don't really find design speeds of 31 knots or more (which allows battlecruisers with more than 12" or 12.5" belt armor) sufficiently worthwhile to justify the cost on a capital ship and so as a result my ~27-knot battlecruisers and ~21-knot battleships of the 1910s construction programs generally get replaced by 27- or 28-knot fast battleships in the 1920s construction programs. Sometimes I'll build some 31-knot battlecruisers with six main guns and a heavy magazine-box armor scheme in the late '30s or the '40s as a "cheap" alternative to all-up fast battleships with eight or nine main guns and heavy uniform armor schemes, but by that point a lot of major battles are starting to be decided by air power (and even so I've never been particularly happy with such battlecruisers).
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Post by babylon218 on Feb 22, 2021 15:03:57 GMT -6
2"/1" turret armor is pretty ugly for 8" guns, but then again there's probably not much else which would be practical for them given the limitations of conversions and the ship's original characteristics, especially since stepping back from Eagle's 30-plane complement on a larger carrier would have been difficult to justify in character when you'd just decided that Hermes' 20-plane complement was inadequate. The only major change to your conversion design which I might have seriously entertained would have been to retain whatever the original design speed was (26 knots? I'm guessing this was a slightly-modified Indefatigable, but I didn't see its original configuration when I quickly reviewed the thread) since that would probably have made for a slightly-cheaper conversion with a larger air wing or for a much cheaper conversion with a similar air wing, but that runs into the "Hermes had to run away" problem when it comes to justifying that decision in character, and if you're going to pay for new engines anyways then you almost may as well make it more compatible with the CVLs.
As to the CVLs, I might consider reducing the maximum thickness of the belt and deck armor or implementing a magazine-box scheme for them if I were going to build more of them; small carriers are much less worth armoring than big carriers due to their lesser innate resilience, and a 2.5" belt is probably fairly marginal even against 5" guns so the only big advantage I see to their current armor scheme is that the 2" deck armor is splinter-proof whereas a thinner armor deck would merely be splinter-resistant. This is a large part of why I usually stop building battlecruisers in the 1920s; I don't like thin-skinned capital ships, but I also don't really find design speeds of 31 knots or more (which allows battlecruisers with more than 12" or 12.5" belt armor) sufficiently worthwhile to justify the cost on a capital ship and so as a result my ~27-knot battlecruisers and ~21-knot battleships of the 1910s construction programs generally get replaced by 27- or 28-knot fast battleships in the 1920s construction programs. Sometimes I'll build some 31-knot battlecruisers with six main guns and a heavy magazine-box armor scheme in the late '30s or the '40s as a "cheap" alternative to all-up fast battleships with eight or nine main guns and heavy uniform armor schemes, but by that point a lot of major battles are starting to be decided by air power (and even so I've never been particularly happy with such battlecruisers).
As you say, 2"/1" is painful on 8" guns, but to be frank I have absolutely no intent of leaving those guns in place. First chance I get, I'm yanking them off and using the space for something useful. Like planes. Still, out least I got that requirement out of the way before I built a brand new fleet carrier (which I still haven't unlocked in 1926). As far as the CVLs go... actually you're right. I was going to counter that magazine boxing the armour would leave the machinery spaces vulnerable to splinter damage, but the weight savings may allow me to up the protection enough to keep the reduced-thickness at atleast 1.5". The main reason for trying to offer serious protection (I usually don't bother beyond splinter protection) is because I can't actually build large carriers yet, so I don't want to lose the small ones if I can avoid it. It's probably a false economy, but I laid out from the start that I was going to commit the same kind of mistakes as were made historically, rather than use the benefit of hindsight. And yes, Indomitable is a modified Indefatigable. I don't think I posted a deck plan of her, but I'd imagine I'd have mentioned any changes in the text. She certainly wasn't any faster than 27kn.
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Post by babylon218 on Feb 24, 2021 11:10:01 GMT -6
‘Tyranny is Tyranny’
March 1925 would see Fareham praise the navy’s diligence with regards to new cruiser construction, allowing Jellicoe to justify suspending ‘Endeavour’ and ‘Ensemble’ for a few months to free up funds.
In May, Russian troops crossed through Manchuria and into the northern half of Korea, ostensibly to protect Russian interests in the region. With a major conflict with Germany on the horizon, Jellicoe urged restraint – unless Japan reacted with hostility to the Russian move, Korea was not an area of vital interest.
June saw the Virgin Islands dispute erupt into a fully-blown crisis, when the US Battleship ‘USS Florida’ threatened to fire on the cruiser ‘HMS Manchester’ off Christiansted. ‘Manchester’ had been making a port call to the Danish settlement and on departure passed through the disputed fishing zone. The incident sparked recriminations on both sides of the Atlantic, and when consulted by the Foreign Office, Jellicoe advised reinforcing the Jamaica Squadron with ‘Warspite’ and ‘Indefatigable’, but otherwise taking all steps to resolve the matter by diplomatic means, without sacrificing the guarantees made in the Treaty of Fredricton. Meanwhile, Ordnance reported the successful testing of a new 50-calibre 14-inch gun.
July 1925. With war with Germany seen as imminent, Jellicoe authorised the refit of ‘HMS Revenge’ to fit a new AAA suite of twelve 4.5-inch dual purpose guns, nine 2pdr pom-poms, and twenty Oerlikon 20mm cannons, as well as replacing the 14-inch 45-calibre rifles with the more modern 50-calibre weapon recently developed. The hope was that all four ships of the class could be brought in for modernisation before the outbreak of hostilities. The ‘HMS Emerald’ began her sea trials alongside the freshly-converted ‘HMS Inflexible’.
August saw the ‘HMS Hermes’ almost become the centre of an international scandal, as the wife of the French naval attaché was caught in a compromising position with one of the British officers at a state banquet aboard the carrier! Fortunately, the incident was quickly covered up, with the Admiralty censuring the officer involved and quietly shipping him off to an Antarctic research expedition.
August would also see the ‘HMS Australia’ commission. With the completion of further E-Class cruisers, she would be sent to form the Far East Squadron at Singapore.
In September, the first of Jellicoe’s aborted submarine programme commissioned – E-13 and E-14. Meanwhile, tensions with Germany tipped over the edge. War was inevitable.
Jellicoe had steered the Royal Navy for the past ten years. He had overseen the recovery of the destroyer forces from the ‘Long War’, the introduction of the latest generation of battlecruisers, and the early emergence of the aircraft carrier as a weapon of naval warfare. However, the Admiral was now 65 years old and more than ready for retirement. While some in cabinet argued against his departure with war imminent, Jellicoe stated that he, “could not, in good conscience, place the fleet in danger by remaining in a position of authority when I know full-bloody-well I’ve been here too long already.”
Attention turned to looking for Jellicoe’s replacement. While Tyrwhitt was the ‘heir-presumptive’ so-to-speak, he argued he was better placed remaining Third Sea Lord for the time being, and that as little disruption within the admiralty as possible should be afforded. Tyrwhitt thus nominated a relatively-fresh, strongly opinionated officer who had just completed a tour at the head of the Mediterranean Squadron, Vice Admiral Terrence Allington, 2nd Viscount Harwich. The son of the late Viscount George Allington, who had administered the navy between 1899 and 1908, Terrence Allington was by now a seasoned commander, who had been aiming at the position of Vice Admiral, Aircraft Carriers of the Grand Fleet when Jellicoe offered him the post of First Sea Lord. Allington had done a brief spell as Director of Naval Construction under Tyrwhitt in between 1918 and 1920, and had kept apprised of the fleet’s situation. Arriving in London to assume his new post in November 1925, Allington summarised his immediate policy thus: if Germany wants a war, give ‘em one!
November saw ‘Enterprise’ join the fleet, along with ‘Eagle’. Unfortunately, in sea trials ‘Eagle’ proved unable to reach her design speed of 28 knots.
The ‘HMS New Zealand’ finally left the fitters after months of delays in January 1926, beginning sea trials. While it had been intended to send ‘New Zealand’ to the Central Pacific Squadron as flagship, Allington had mandated that she be retained at home for the time-being due to the threat of Germany.
Four ‘Tom Roper-Class’ convoy sloops were also launched that month, having been ordered under Jellicoe during the Irish crisis.
In February, ‘Royal Sovereign’ and ‘Royal Oak’ were taken in hand for their modernisations. ‘Australia’ was also brought in, to replace her single dual purpose mounts with twin-mounts, also receiving 12 2pdrs and an additional 2 20mm Oerlikons. Design work began on the ‘Albion-Class’ aircraft carrier, based on experience from operating the ‘Hermes’, ‘Inflexible’ and ‘Eagle’, the first of the class being laid down in April.
Refit programme summary for the Battlecruiser 'HMS Australia'.
New British Aircraft Carrier 'HMS Albion'.
The main innovations in the ‘Albion-Class’ were a squared-off flight deck for improved seakeeping, a movement of the dual-purpose battery into four twin gun turrets in sponsons below the deck, and a slightly improved AA battery.
In May, Vickers offered to build a second ‘Albion-Class’ carrier at a reduced cost. This offer was accepted, with the new ship being named ‘Ocean’.
June saw the ‘Euphrates’, ‘Exeter’, and ‘Elephant’ begin sea trials, along with ‘Australia’ returning from her refit. ‘Echo’ followed her sister ships in July, with ‘New Zealand’ trading places with ‘Australia’ for refit.
‘Royal Oak’ and ‘Royal Sovereign’ completed their modernisations in August, just as Greece called for British aid against Romanian aggression. Allington, certain that Romania was acting with German support, advised the Foreign Office to offer Britain’s full support.
Allington’s concerns proved justified, as two weeks later the Bundesvolkluftwaffe (BVL, German Air Force) began launching bombing raids against the royal palace in Athens.
On 23 July 1926, British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin announced in Parliament:
We stand now, in this hour, at the greatest test in the history of democracy. Last month, I told the Junior Imperial League at Kingsway Hall, that if we in this country make a mess of it, we will surely fall to tyranny. Whether that tyranny comes from the left or the right, tyranny is tyranny. Can we then, as the birthplace of freedom and modern democratic civilisation, turn our back on Greece, the cradle of all Western civilisation and all democracy, while the communist menace falls upon her? In Luther's words “we can no other.” We were there when the Spanish galleons made for Plymouth: we were on those bloody fields in the Netherlands when Louis XIV aimed at the domination of Europe: we were on duty when Napoleon bestrode the world like a demi-god. We can no other. So help us, God. It is my regrettable duty to inform the House that this country is now at war with Germany.
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Post by babylon218 on Feb 24, 2021 14:28:54 GMT -6
Sinking the ‘Graf Spee’.
The gears of the Admiralty quickly turned to the task at hand. Two new convoy escorts were immediately ordered, to be converted from existing trawler hulls at Grimsby, while a further four minesweepers were also ordered as converted drifters from Lowestoft. Construction of ‘HMS Trafalgar’ and ‘HMS Ocean’ were suspended in order to finance the emergency programme as the Grand Fleet once again assumed its war station at Scapa Flow.
The opening months of the war were not to be quiet ones. Immediately on the outbreak of hostilities, Allington argued for an expeditionary force to be deployed against the Spartacist forces in Norway. The Kingdom of Norway had been racked by social unrest a decade earlier, during the ‘Long War’, allowing the recently-installed Spartacist regime in Germany to overthrow the parliamentary government and elevate the communist wing of the Norwegian Labour Party (DNA, Det Norske Arbeiderparti) to power under German ‘protection’. Sense then, the German government had established airbases at Trondheim, Narvik, and Bergen, as well as several coastal fortifications. However, British blockade of Germany would ultimately depend on closing the Shetland-Norway gap, securing the anchorage at Scapa Flow, cutting off Germany’s steel imports via Narvik, and liberating the people of Norway from the austere totalitarianism imposed by Berlin. It would also force Germany into a major engagement on Britain’s terms; something Allington was keen to see happen before the BVM could practically prepare and while Britain still held an advantage in large-calibre capital ships and before the Destroyer force suffered any serious casualties in anti-submarine warfare operations. The opening moves of the war would be made in the Norwegian fjords.
Admiralty Intelligence on German-controlled Norway, 1926.
Such was the hope. However, before the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) could leave home shores, the Navy would be called upon to escort Convoy HC-1 (Halifax – Cork) through the Western Approaches, as reports indicated German naval units had successfully ran the Denmark Strait just before the outbreak of war and intended to interdict the large formation of merchantmen.
On the 9 August, ‘HMS Warspite’ led ‘Australia’ and the carrier ‘Inflexible’ 30nm off the Irish coast. At 1557Z, a Gloster Goblin floatplane from ‘Queen Amelie’ reported sighting three German surface ships, including a Battlecruiser, steaming north approximately 100nm SSW of the convoy. Sixteen Swordfish were ordered to sortie from ‘Inflexible’, taking off at 1700Z.
The Swordfish engaged the enemy at 1815Z, scoring three torpedo hits without casualties before returning to ‘Inflexible’. With night approaching, ‘Inflexible’ launched a follow-up strike with its remaining four Swordfish, taking off at 1904Z. The second strike failed to locate the enemy, with one aircraft crashing while attempting to land in the darkness.
Meanwhile, 50nm West of the German squadron’s last reported position, submarine ‘HMS E-9’ sighted the light cruiser ‘Bremen’, seaplane carrier ‘Ehrenfels’, and battlecruiser ‘Graf Spee’, the latter limping at under 10kn and down by the stern. All three of the air-launched torpedoes had hit her, overwhelming the torpedo protection system, flooding the torpedo flats on both sides, one of the boiler rooms, and warping one of her propeller shafts. Through arduous, dedicated work on the part of her crew, ‘Graf Spee’ had brought the flooding under control by 2232Z.
Then, just before midnight, Commander Christopher Markwell sighted the crippled battlecruiser through ‘E-9’s’ periscope. With the seas perfectly flat and the moonlight illuminating the 35,000-ton ‘Graf Spee’ against the night, calculations were made and the order was given: “Tube One, Loose!”
Minutes later, a column of water rose up the side of ‘Graf Spee’ amidships, and a geyser of steam and spray erupted from her after funnel as her deck heaved up. No sooner had ‘Bremen’ shone her searchlights on the battlecruiser when ‘Graf Spee’ begin rolling inexorably to port, men grabbing anything that would float and leaping over the side before, inevitably, she capsized. Germany’s newest battlecruiser, the pride of the BVM, slipped beneath the waves while ‘E-9’ silently slunk away.
Such was the shock of ‘Graf Spee’s’ loss to the BVM, the Germans made no attempt to oppose the Grand Fleet when it escorted the BEF to the shores of Stavanger and Narvik later that month. Meanwhile, six British and Commonwealth merchants were lost in the North Atlantic to U-Boat attack, as the Battle for the Atlantic began.
The next engagement of the war would occur on 8 September, with the 9th Destroyer Flotilla led by ‘HMS Goldfinch’ conducting a sweep of the Broad Fourteens. The Submarine ‘HMS E-5’ was stationed just off Borkum at the mouth of the Ems, on the lookout for German warships bound for the Bight.
At 1820Z, with dusk approaching, ‘Goldfinch’ sighted three warships approaching from 12nm off Texel. 9th Destroyer Flotilla had just stumbled upon a German destroyer force of six vessels, including two of the decrepit S-22-Class and several of the more-modern but slower Luchs-Class.
Throwing caution to the wind, the Destroyers clashed in the onrushing night, loosing torpedoes and shells in all directions. ‘Basilisk’ scored three 4-inch shell hits on one of the S-22s, before the whole formations turned in sequence into the German line, ‘Basilisk’ switching her fire to one of the German ‘Luchs’.
In the ensuing melee, ‘Goldfinch’ took serious damage and slowed to 18kn, while one of the S-22s lost rudder control and turned away towards Emden. Opting to try and finish off the stricken destroyer rather than continue the action with the larger German force, ‘Goldfinch’ detached to return to Harwich with ‘Colne’ while the rest of the flotilla gave chase.
Unfortunately, the two Destroyers kept close to land and sailed straight back into the German force, which had turned around to support their own damaged ship. 9th Flotilla re-engaged to allow ‘Colne’ and ‘Goldfinch’ to escape to the north, exacting a heavy butcher’s bill as one Luchs-class was brought to a halt off Vlieland along with a Mowe-Class 3 miles NW.
By 2200Z, the German force – reduced to three ships in strength – finally slipped away into the darkness, the action having brought both ‘Basilisk’ and ‘Fury’ down to 27kn. The British continued the pursuit for over an hour without contact before turning back for home.
The Germans had lost the ‘Tiger’ and ‘Falke’, with the former being reduced to a twisted hulk by the combined fire of ‘Basilisk’, ‘Fury’, and ‘Ettrick’ and the latter laid low by the ‘Doon’, ‘Boyne’, ‘Ettrick’, and ‘Eden’. British training in the past year towards Gunnery and Night Fighting had paid off with interest, though ‘Zulu’ and ‘Fury’ had taken a mauling in the process. Questions had been circling in the Admiralty over whether to replace the 4.5-inch gun in the next class of Destroyer with a 5-inch weapon. The Action of 8 September seemed to confirm, however, that the 4.5 was still a savagely effective Destroyer armament.
Later in the month, the light cruiser ‘Endeavour’ began her sea trials. As German cruisers had been reluctant to leave port in the preceding month, it was decided to allow her the necessary working-up period. Meanwhile, the old B-Class cruiser ‘Bellona’ struck a mine while escorting troopships to Norway and sank. Five further merchants were lost to U-boat attacks and the ‘Hamburg’ broke out into the North Atlantic to sink three more ships herself.
Attention in the navy had been turning towards a new generation of destroyer even before the outbreak of war, but with destroyer losses a certainty, the programme was accelerated, and the ‘HMS Kennet’ was laid down in October. Armed with four 4.5-inch guns and eight torpedo tubes in two quadruple launchers, she had a top speed of 35kn, a spacious hold for depth charges, a central rangefinder, and an AA suite of four pom-poms and Oerlikons each. Full production would be postponed, however, until the completion of ‘Trafalgar’ (which was now resumed) and the refit of ‘New Zealand’.
British Destroyer 'HMS Kennet'.
‘Australia’ and ‘Indefatigable’ scrambled from Rosyth to escort ‘Inflexible’ on 6 October. Room 40 had intercepted radio messages that a German convoy had departed Wilhelmshaven with escorts for Stavanger, Norway, loaded with troops and supplies to reinforce the besieged garrison there. ‘Inflexible’ was to ensure those transports never arrived.
Sixteen Swordfish launched from ‘Inflexible’ at 1740Z. It was already dark where the Transports were believed to be transiting, and it would be night when the aircraft returned, but ‘Australia’ and ‘Indefatigable’ were under strict orders not to risk a night engagement with German surface units and so would not pursue the convoy into the dark. The search proved fruitless, as Room 40 intelligence had reported the German actions hours too late. By the time ‘Inflexible’ was in range of the predicted target position, the convoy was already 30nm further north, well outside the search area – especially in the night.
A week later, ‘New Zealand’ rejoined the fleet. Meanwhile, a German peace envoy was dismissed due to unreasonable demands. ‘E-16’ torpedoed and damaged a German cruiser, with E-10 doing the same to a battleship, while a German U-boat sank the ‘HMS Mosquito’ – the first British destroyer loss of the war. ‘Queen Amelie’ foundered in the North Sea after striking a mine. Four merchants were lost to the U-boat arm as the Battle of the Atlantic continued, and two more British subs were lost. Germany may have started seeking peace, but this war was by no means over as Autumn turned to Winter.
*** Well that was a whole load of nothing!
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