New Government in Holland.

[damocles]

Some comments.

1. Don't publish if you want to keep it secret. The MVB will get it and use it.
2. Martial law is no security at all.
3. The Mods have not said no to me when I did this before and you published information. Fair game is fair game.

Henceforth I would appreciate it if you could do OOC complaints in the meeting room, please?
=======================================================

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=f6a_1258939901

Standin for the Masirah Zarapan village atrocity video. An actual atrocity of the time period as we will see it many years later. New Zealand subs for the New Swiiss and a Palestinean village subs for Masirah's Zarapan Village Massacre.

We can use the same basic true story as the basis for this deliberate massacre.      

D.

[damocles]

Note: For some strange reason the KoN make sure that spies that the NRDN would usually insulate get this information. In particular the Iberians, French, and Italians find it less difficult than usual to get it, which means they had to sweat for it.    

NvR's townhouse in Antwerp

Anders Welsen: "We were called on the carpet for Fleet Problem IV."
NvR: "THAT was to be expected after YOU bungled the French contact I told you to make."
Anders Welsen: "I tried."
NvR: "And failed me again."
Anders Welsen: "It was not possible."
NvR: "Well it surprised Admiraal Schoepen when the allies showed up, the Ottoman traitors  played their expected treachery, and you failed to plant the spadework to let the allies know we were there for the Masirah base and not Aden. I remind you, Anders, that the the whole point of that part of the plan, was to let the Ottoman New Swiss factions play their game and 'take us for fools' so the NRDN could let the Sultan know who those Ottoman  traitors were!"
Anders Welsen: "Did that succeed?"
NvR: "Almost, but not quite. We have to develop it before we can name the Ottoman traitors. Instead the Ottomans will now make a political show of it to mollify us. Its not us they fear anyway. Its the Habsbergs. Incidentally I want to thank you for angering the Stadthalder for that mess, too."
Anders Welsen: "What do you mean?"
NvR: "Kaiser Stephan bought into Wilhemina's pet project to establish peace patrols."
Anders Welsen: "But I thought that was a joke!"
NvR splutters: "You thought that was a joke?" He looks around. "I could have you imprisoned for that defamation of the Stadthalder, Anders! Watch your tongue. It was a chance to win a friend that you muffed."
Anders Welsen: "But Masirah was your idea!"
NvR: "Not exactly, Anders, but its necessity became obvious once that other matter came up."
Anders Welsen: "Speaking of Masirah, what about the atrocities?"
NvR: "Drop it. Nobody cares. The New Swiss will escape with yet another unreported ignored war-crime, those sanctimonious inhuman.."
Anders Welsen, who knew about what happened to NvRs family in the Siam War says nothing except: "Its dropped."
NvR: "We need to tell the Italians the truth at least."
Anders Welsen: "Are you going to relieve Admiraal Schoepen?"
NvR: "No."
Anders Welsen: "Why not? He failed to trap the NS garrison!"
NvR: "Not his fault. He warned me that the New Swiss would scoot and that the Ottomans would do what they did. I told him to follow through anyway, and I told him why it was necessary to do so; to flush the Sultan's enemies out. Schoepen succeeded in his objectives in spite of YOUR failures."
Anders Welsen: "Am I to be the sacrificial lamb?"
NvR: "What do you think?"
Anders Welsen: "You can have my resignation!"
NvR: "We'll see if and when it is necessary. I have not decided on that, yet."

[damocles]

(Scripted and per info from Desert Fox.) This too will be leaked to the French, Italians, and Iberians via "tame rabbits*".

MVB Intelligence report # 21, Masirah.

Analyst 123:

Not even the commander of the garrison knew the actual Swiss plan. All the secret stuff they left there is just a bunch of bluffs and counter bluffs and random military plans with no pattern to them.

NvR reads this and nods. It was an outpost, a fuel dump, not even developed enough for its true purpose yet. 

...there might be some information here, that we need to check, the Swiss have been talking to the Ottomans, and it appears that they knew from the Ottomans, what Fleet Problem IV's real plan was, in far too much detail.

NvR knows more than the analyst does about that well crafted attempt to sow dissension. Typical asymmetric spy craft. Sow dissension and create confusion. Make it appear that there is collusion when there is none...

Plus we have concrete evidence now that the Swiss were using the Zionite war as a cover to attack the KoN...probably using Masirah as the bait and the sacrifice and the Ottoman traitors in the Sultan's inner circle to get the Allies involved to start a general war in the Indian Ocean so that they would have a free hand in the NOI with the other half of their fleet.

In this their treachery was triple edged. They would sortie their fleet as bait, swan it around in the Rift to lure the allies one way, use the Ottoman traitors to arrange a feint with us as the patsy to pull the allies the other way and escape "the trap", and then get the allies and us involved in a shooting war that we Dutch would inevitably lose, and then the NS would snap up the now defenseless NOI in the chaos with unintended or intended Allied help in the Indian Ocean confusion...

NvR sifted through the appendixes, noted the Zarapan Village Incident, and read what little that the NRDN  recovered and deciphered. Most of it was the usual NS deceptions. They never told their local commanders the total plan. You had to tease it out of seemingly insane actions often separated by thousands of kilometers and crazy instructions that the NS coimmanders obeyed blindly.

Funny it should be that the NS were quite content to prop up a distant ally and stage a long shot sortie gamble to try to leverage distant enemies into fighting each other, so that the cackling gnomes in Phoenix could snap up the much nearer target with local forces, while their leveraged enemies did the heavy lifting for them?

New Zion and Oman were sacrificed on the altar of New Swiss imperialist ambition.

NvR had not seen it. Admiraal Schoepen had to explain it to him, when the little Lichtensteiner laid it out in black and white. A letter to the Ottoman Sultan quickly confirmed it,  surrounded as he was by sycophants and New Swiss bought traitors who conspired for NS money, and it was complete in front of NvR.

Now here were two actual letters stating when TG-16 would arrive and what the Masirah garrison commander was to do when he received the first Ottoman signal. Getting out from under the French as he was instructed was child's play for the NS commander with these instructions. Abandon the works under the modern version of the smoking campfires and put to sea in driblets in native craft disguised as Arab fishermen. The evacuation would never be noticed. The garrison would be picked up by NS ships that fled the Rift or would rendezvous mid-Indian Ocean with disguised NS raider freighters returning from their own sorties and they would sail home that way. 

"That explains the burned Masirah fishing fleet, and why the Omanis are short of boats and all those damned minefields." mutters van Rijn. " The NS did not want Masirans to come out and tell anyone what was going on in their island for that first and second week in September. Trouble is that no one would believe such a crazy convoluted plan based on a sacrifice gambit of the obsolete half of the NS fleet and of abandonment and misuse of two supposed minor and one major allies!" 

Simply incredible!  And yet it fit the NS strategic M.O. perfectly; misdirection, perfidy, and treachery all wrapped up in a smile.

And if not for a cautious French admiraal and a reluctant but very shrewd Dutch admiraal, the New Swiss plan might just have worked.   

"Anders!" NvR shouts, "We have letters to send to the Ottomans!"

Anders Wellsen: "What now? Its 2 in the morning!"

NvR: "Write what I tell you."

Anders Wellsen, more or less reduced to a stenographer now writes.     
                 
* tame rabbit=MVBese for a known enemy agent.
   

[Desertfox]

 :)

Swiss evilness knows no bounds...

[ctwaterman]

*falls off his chair laughing spewing my drink*

Damn...

[Sachmle]

Bravo both of you. Very nicely done. I think I sometimes forget that under all the randomness Fox usually HAS a plan.

[damocles]

(Scripted with CTwaterman's help.) In Rome, the NRDN draws a blank.

Agent #61 sits with agent #454. The lipreader, #61, eats a late lunch. He is disgusted that the rooms he chose with a view directly in the foreign minister's office are actually the secret offices of the Rome Metropolitan Police Detective Agency!  

The two NRDN agents, stuck outside their target, by accident, are present  at a conversation at another nearby outdoor cafe table and the lip reader reads what follows just out of habit and training.

It is a whispered conversation  between two secretaries gossiping over wine and peta...
=================================================
One secretary: "Did you hear what happened today?  Consul Sextus called in the Dutch and Ottoman ambassadors to request formal explanations for some battle that took place in Africa."
The other secretary: "Yes I did. I also heard that the Consul is meeting with the Hapsburg ambassador to discuss the legal standing of those pirates who raided Brindisi last week. "
First secretary: "Really? I thought it had something to do with the Commander of the Praetorian Guard coming to see the minister yesterday.  He was most insistent that a formal explanation be received for something. He obviously wanted to check on it."
The first secretary: "I heard that the Guard has all those pirates locked away somewhere questioning them, just like those pirates who raided San Marino earlier this year."
Other secretary: "Oh that was horrible, but no where near as many as were killed at Brindisi?  But I heard that someone over in the Forum was saying the pirates were all New Switzerland's fault?"
The first secretary: "Really? I hadn't heard that. But did you hear that Rita was seeing the Captain from the Marina...  Huh"

The gossip moves on to men at that point.
=================================================
The lipreader memorizes what he heard. Nothing he collects about the Ottomans at all as he was tasked to collect, but something about Brindisi, that the Italians had been somewhat secretive about..

Why were the Habsbergs involved in that mess, and how did that tie in with the New Swiss angle? The common intel about Brindisi was that those were New Zion bought and paid for pirates out of the Balkans. Hired Condottieri in the Roman usage.    

It actually makes no sense.
=================================================
So #61 asks #454 the obvious question as soon as they are somewhere safe to talk and he repeats the conversation for encrypted transcription: "What do you think?"
# 454: "I think you have pure garbage there, and that is not what we were supposed to harvest. Plan B?"
#61: "No, we get out now. Things are too hot to try for any more."
# 454: "Then we failed?"
# 61: "Actually I think we did find something. I just don't know what."

[damocles]

Admiraal Schoepen's Report to the MVB.



The text:

? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / -- .- ... .. .-. .- .... .-.-.- / .---- .-.-.- / ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? / .--- .- -- -- . .-. / ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? / ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? --..-- / ? ? ? / ? / ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? / ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? / .-..-. / .- .-.. .-.. .. . ... .-..-. .-.-.- / ..--- .-.-.- / ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / -.- --- .--. -- -- .- -. -.. .- -- - / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? / ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? / ? ? ? ? -....- ? ? ? ? ? ? ? --..-- / ? / ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / .-..-. / .- .-.. .-.. .. . ... .-..-. / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? / ? / ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? / ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? --..-- / ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? / ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? .-.-.- / ...-- .-.-.- / ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / -.- --- -- -- .- -. -.. .- -- - / ? ? ? / ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? / ? ? / ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? .-.-.- / ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? .-.-.- / ? / ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? / -- ...- -... / ? ? ? / ? ? ? / ? ? ? / ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / -.- -- .-.-.- / ....- .-.-.- / ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? / ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / .-. .. -.- ... ..-. .-.. --- - - . -.- --- -- -- .- -. -.. .- -- - / -.--.- .-. ..-. -.- .- / ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? --..-- / ? ? ? ? ? ? --..-- / ? / ...- ..- .-.. -... . .-. .- -... .-.. . --..-- / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? / . -.-- . ... .-.-.- / ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? --..-- / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? -....- ? ? ? -....- ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? --..-- / ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? / ? ? ? / ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? .-.-.- / ..... .-.-.- / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? / ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? .-.-.- / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? / -... ..- -. --. .-.. . -.. / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? .-.-.- / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? / ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? / ? / ? ? ? / ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? / ? ? / ? ? ? / ? ? ? / ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? / ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? .-.-.- / ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? / ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / -.. -.- -... / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? / ? ? ? / ? ? ? / .-- .- ... -. .----. / - / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? --..-- / ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? / -.... .-.-.- / ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? / ? / ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? .-.-.- / --... .-.-.- / ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? / ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? .-.-.- / ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? / ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? --..-- / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? .-.-.- / ? / ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? / ? ? ? --..-- / ? ? / ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? / ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? / ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? / ? ? ? ? / ? ? / ? ? / ? ? ? ? / ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? / ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? --..-- / ? / ? / ? ? ? ? / ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ---... / --... .-.-.- / .- .-.-.- / ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / -... .-.-.- / ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? / ... .... .. .--. -....- .-.. .- ..- -. -.-. .... . -.. / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? .-.-.- / -.-. .-.-.- / ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? / ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? .-.-.- / -.. .-.-.- / ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? / ? / ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? / ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? .-.-.- / -.. .-.-.- / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? / ? ? / ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? .-.-.- / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? / ? ? ? ? ? / ? / ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? .-.-.- / .- -.. -- .. .-. .- .- .-.. / ... -.-. .... --- . .--. . -.

D.

[damocles]

Per discussion with Sechmle (and thanks)

[Walter]

As I see it, 1922 tech required.

[Sachmle]

As I see it, 1922 tech required.

Yes, Walter's probably right. I apologize, I was not descriptive enough last night (was falling asleep). Perhaps instead of bending the stacks off you can leave them alone and erect a small wheelhouse and radio room forward of them. This would then break up you deck, leaving the required separate take off and landing decks, ala Furious after her first conversion. That would be the only real issue, as she does not have arrester wires, or even catapults as far as I can tell. Perhaps, since she lacks these other amenities, she could be allowed as is? It is only a wooden deck w/ no take off or landing assistance devices. Langley was certainly in this time frame, and looked rather similar.

[Walter]

Perhaps instead of bending the stacks off you can leave them alone and erect a small wheelhouse and radio room forward of them. This would then break up you deck, leaving the required separate take off and landing decks, ala Furious after her first conversion.

That would require the 1918 tech and since it is modified for experiments in 1919, I doubt that that is available as well to the Dutch...

[damocles]

As I see it, 1922 tech required.

I think Sechmle answers this question rather well.  As I understand it, the key word here is "separate". Why that distinction exists in 1919 really bothers me a lot as it seems to make no sense at all even with the British conversions.

http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/hms_furious.htm

Certainly this design is more primitive than the Langley and even more primitive than all the crazy balloon tenders that run around loose now.

That ship is part of the 1918 research, Walter. Can't test takeoffs from a ship without a ship?  :)    

 

 

[Sachmle]

Aircraft/Seaplane Carriers
1910: experimental aviation ships; automatically granted upon completion of the 1910 Aircraft (1914 models) tech.
1915: floatplanes; flying-off decks for wheeled aircraft
1918: gunpowder catapults for floatplanes; separate landing and taking-off decks for wheeled aircraft
1922: hydraulic catapults; full length decks for wheeled aircraft; arrestor wires
1926: armored box carrier

So what exactly qualifies as the 1910: experimental avaiation ships?

It can't have a flying off deck, because that requires the 1915 tech. I suppose it could have just a landing deck and the planes could take off from land, but why would anyone want a ship that can only land planes? Is it basically a floatplane tender? No, cuz floatplanes require the 1915 tech too. So what is a 1910 experimental aviation ship? The only thing it seems it could be is a zeppelin tender like the ones Gran Columbia builds.

The point I'm trying to make is that, much like OTL Langley, Wolverine, and Sable (all had full decks, some even had arrester wires later) were not "Fleet Units" and could not be used in combat due mostly to low speed and limited space. This ship, as pictured, would certainly be in the same boat. She's only 16.64kts max, probably 16kts in practice, if not slower since it still has the original 1890 VTE engines. There is no crew space below deck so it can't even be out for more than 16-20hrs. She's a harbor queen. How much more "experimental" can you get?

[Walter]

That ship is part of the 1918 research, Walter. Can't test takeoffs from a ship without a ship?

Unfortunately I do not make the rules, otherwise we would already have the possibility of building Langley type carriers. :)
http://www.navalism.org/index.php?topic=79.msg1127#msg1127

REMEMBER - TECHNOLOGY BECOMES AVAILABLE IN THE FIRST HALF YEAR AFTER SUCCESS IN RESEARCH (OR COMPLETING DIGESTION)

Which means you need the tech researched before you can (re)build a ship in that manner.

So what exactly qualifies as the 1910: experimental avaiation ships?

I would like to know that as well. No doubt those who made that rule can explain. Whatever it is, it is something you can build without needing any of the things you'd get with the other tech levels.