Phoenix Daily Star 1906

[Desertfox]

Gulf of Siam, April 10th 1906, Joint Siam-Swiss Naval Maneuvers

NSS Nessie, course 0 degrees, 20kts, leading DD squadron.


"Sir enemy in sight! Ten torpedo boats, line abrest, 270 degrees, ten thousand yards!"

"Very well, hoist hold fire"

"Sir seven thousand yards!"

"Five thousand!"

"Gridley you may fire when ready. Hoist flank speed."

The boom of the light cruiser's 6" guns was the signal to the rest of the squadron, one by one the 5 destroyers opened fire.

"Three thousand yards!"

"Hoist 270 degrees."

"One thousand yards! Sir they have fired torpedoes! They're turning away!"

"Very well give me the countdown."

"fifty seconds"

"forty"

"thirty"

"Execute!"

On cue the 6 ships heeled and turned directly into the incoming torpedoes.

"ten!"

"Sir! They all missed!"

"Very well, fire torpedoes when ready. Make smoke."

Within minutes all visibility was gone, cordite, coal, and smoke screens had joined in creating dakness. Only by a miracle where not collisions suffered as 16 ships manuevered in a small stretch of sea.

"Torpedo boat, six hundred yards, speed 19kts!"

"Check!"

"Solution?"

"Check!"

"Fire!"


"Running time?"

"Fifteen seconds sir. She's one of the new ones."

"Sir! We got her!"

"Very well, hoist disengage, take us 180 nav, make your speed 15. Time to digest the results..."




 

[Desertfox]

In the spirit of Rocky's, however nowhere as good.


April 11th, 1906, Secret Naval Test Facility on Lost Island

"Lets start from the top, battleships?"

"United States is nearing completion. However we dont have any other battleship planned. The pace of development is so fast that battleships are obsolete as soon as they are laid down. The Germans are putting 10 guns in theirs, the Japanese 12. The SSS has reportedly uncovered plans for ships with 14" guns. Rohan already has them, the CSA has already laid them down, and France, Orange, and the UNK have plans for those."

"So no more battleships?"

"No we cant match those countries, however only two countries Germany and Orange are planning battlecruisers, and those only 24kts. Our engineers are already working on a battlecruiser capable of 27 kts. The only problem is the politicians. They simply refuse to let us mount more powerful turbines in our ship due to 'safety' issues."

"Damn them, so what about the heavy cruisers?"

"Antares is almost finished, and Rohan has offered to build Constellation for us."

"Rohan has always been a friend."

"Yes, but as with the battlecruisers there have been problems with the turbines. Even the Rohan engineers think we are crazy."

"But dont the ones on Atair and Aldebaradan work fine?"

"They do, and the ones on Constellation will be a lot less powerful, but still we have problems in that area. Thankfully since the construction will take place in Rohan we will be able to save some of our precious building capacity."

"We are still providing the engines and armamament right?"

"Yes, as for our plans, right now we see another pair being built. Drafts have 8x9" and 29kt speed. However the turbine issue once again pops up. But we think that can be resolved by 1910."

"Perfect, cruisers?"

"Two new classes will be laid down in 1907. The Adventures will be improved Launcestons, while the Auroras will be totaly new design with 8x6" in twin mounts. These will outclass everything else on the high seas. Beyond that we are planning improve models of both with 7x8" and 10x6" guns. These ships will form the core of our fleet in years to come."

"Light cruisers?"

"More politician problems. Now they are saying that our current ships are too weak hulled."

"Weak hulled? How many did we lose in the war?"

"Four, two to torpedoes, two to battleship gunfire."

"And damaged?"

"Hardly any, those that did handled it very well."

"So why are they saying they are weak?"

"I have no idea, however that resulted in the Seawolf class being 500 tons heavier and mounting 2 more guns."

"Damn politicians, dont they know anything? So how are we fixed for destroyers?"

to be continiued...

[The Rock Doctor]

Foxy, the only way in which it might not be as good as what I wrote, is the lack of characterization; grab a few names and tell us who's talking.  In time, you'll have developed personalities for them.

The issue of rapidly evolving capital ships is not unique to New Switzerland.   Gran Colombia's struggling with the matter as well - it has a decent "six-shooter" design lined up, but by the time it'd be finished, something better will be under construction elsewhere.  The question is whether Gran Colombia can afford not to build the ship.

I'd be interested in hearing some discussion on defensive NSN missions and operations - I've only seen the NSN acting offensively, and it seems tailored for that purpose.  What happens if some battlefleet assembles in the Pacific and wanders over to Hawaii with an invasion fleet in hand?

[Desertfox]

I have the names I just havent found the way to fit them in.

I plan to cover everything from research to foreign relations to war plans. So there will be discussions on defensive missions. However Im a believer that the best defense is a good offense.

[Desertfox]

"The fleet is leaving, Operation Leatherback I presume." remarked Mr Wys as he returned to his seat. "Where did you get this coffee, its pretty good."

"Columbian, best there is."

"Thank God they are still on our side, what'd we do without the coffee? So where were we Admiral?"

"Destroyers, right now we have the largest and strongest destroyer fleet in the world. Ten Littlesones will join the fleet by years end, and we have aquired thirteen more from the Columbians. Another five Littlestones and twelve Van Hakes will join them. After that we will start on the Willlian Tells, those will replace the Fritz class. That will give us a total of seventy modern destroyers in three classes, not counting the Fishers, Garcias, Johann Wys, new Columbians, and Fritz classes. A fleet second to none."

"Not bad, that brings us to the multi purpose ships?"

"Yes, one hundred and twenty of them are planned. Plus twelve Martin Luthers."

"The Austrians will love those."

"He he, they will. We also have the G1s so we are looking at about one hundred and forty small ships, not counting the destroyers, and torpedo boats."

"Impressive fleet admiral, what about long range oceanic destroyers?

"I forgot about those, we are working on a new design, still in drawing board stage, but it is expected to mount five four inchers, no less than six and possibly eight torpedo tubes, and have a speed of twenty nine knots. All while having a range of seven thousand miles at fifteen, and good seakeeping. We are calling it the Kidd class."

"Impressive. So now to the smallest members of our fleet, submarines?"

"The C class is doing well. A few more will be laid down starting next year. We have a couple of new designs but we still dont have the required engines. One tentatively called the D class will be capable of a speed of twelve knots plus underwater."

"You said underwater?"

"Yes."

"Excellent, how soon will we have them?"

"Hopefully by 1909."

"How are the Turbinias doing?"

"Very well, not many problems as thought. Their existance is still unknown to the world, and no other ship can match them."

"Thank you for your time Admiral. It has been most enlightining. Oh one last thing what foreign ships are we getting?"

"Kuala Lumpur will join us from the Dutch and another Cod and Tuna from the UKN. We are currently in negotiations with the Dutch and Rohan for more ships."

"Thank you again Admiral, Good luck and good hunting, give 'em hell!"

"We will, good luck to you Mr. Wys."


to be continued...

[P3D]

"The C class is doing well. A few more will be laid down starting next year. We have a couple of new designs but we still dont have the required engines. One tentatively called the D class will be capable of a speed of twelve knots plus underwater."

Ten.

[Desertfox]

You know this is getting really annoying when you can not do anything at all. FYI the British 'R' Class was capable of 15 knots underwater. And there is absolutely nothing that prevents fast submarines early on. We would be having more fun if we didnt have to check the rules every second.

http://www.phpbbplanet.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1415&mforum=warshipprojects

http://www.bobhenneman.info/forum/viewtopic.php?t=487&sid=bfd92aa7bc2bb7ab74ee9e62a71858e6

[Borys]

Ahoj!
Quoting linked threads:

According to D K Brown book "The Grand Fleet" the R class was a small sub capable of 15 knots underwater for an hour. 12.5 knots at 1.8 hours. They were suppose to be submarines hunters

The biggest problem seemed to be underwater control, combining high underwater speed with a max depth of 250 feet meant that even a small error in angle could get you below crush depth very quickly. He does not know the reason why but they were scrapped in 1923, possibly because of control problems, possibly because submarines were not considered to be a big threat so submarine hunters were not needed.

and

the problem is that for a vessel designed to transit to and from its operating areas on the surface, a teardrop-shaped hull is lousy for surfaced seakeeping.

Until submersibles became true submarines in the nuclear era, there was no compelling reason to streamline submarines, and many reasons not to...

High underwater speed control issues were still a problem at the time of the Elektroboot ...

Borys

[Ithekro]

Basically a "submarine" up until the nuclear age is a surface ship that can submerge for a period of time limited by its batteries, fuel (if somehow operating motors for power), and availible air supply.  They are also quite cramped, fragile and uncomfortable.  No way in in the world I would serve on one in those days  (of course I couldn't as I'd hit the bulkhead every time I would try to go through a door...too tall for submarines duty).

[Carthaginian]

No way in in the world I would serve on one in those days  (of course I couldn't as I'd hit the bulkhead every time I would try to go through a door...too tall for submarines duty).

Hey... I'm 6'3", 220, and I can get around in the Drum in Mobile just fine. ;)
Of course, I don't think I could even SQUAT in the Holland without hitting my head on something.

[Ithekro]

Well the Gato-class Drum is one thing, the Type IXC U-505 is another and the Great War and older boats are even smaller.

[Carthaginian]

Well the Gato-class Drum is one thing, the Type IXC U-505 is another and the Great War and older boats are even smaller.

Yeah. I look at the Holland and the other pre-WWI boats and wonder 'how could they MOVE in those?' I mean, J. Holland even has his HAT on coming out of the Holland in one pic. Shoot, I don't think I could keep all ¹/₄" of my HAIR on my head in that thing.

[maddox]

I don't even want to think about moving in a submarine.
I daily encounter problems getting into modern factory machines to make repairs/adjustments.
6" and 230

I see myself bend into a pretzel to get that stupid seavalve unstuck what is gushing 6 bar of water at me.

[Borys]

Ahoj!
People were smaller in those days ...
I'll try to dig up a thread on this.
I'd come in handy as a breach plug, I suppose.
Borys, 6'1" and 300

[Walter]

While I haven't been aboard a sub, I have been aboard the frigate (sailing type) HMS Unicorn in Dundee. Unlike a sub, you have space to move your elbows around on that ship, but headroom is another matter.
Carthaginian, I think you will enjoy its lower decks with your 6'3". :D