Paris Temps

[TexanCowboy]

It says 1 month in the rules.

A basic refit is limited to changing external fittings, specifically:  above-deck torpedoes, minelaying/sweeping gear, simple deck-mounted guns with ammo lockers, wireless, fire control, searchlights, and early radars and listening devices.  Temporary alterations to superstructure - dummy funnels and disguises, or emergency berthing - are also possible.

The cost of the refit is strictly that of the specific items being installed. 

The time required is a half-month for torpedo-boats, one and a half months for battleships and armored cruisers, and one months for all other ships, including the shakedown period.  If Fire Control is being installed, the time required is doubled.

If the equipment can be manhandled or installed with the ship's own cranes, no external assistance is required.  Otherwise, any ship or port with cranes suitable for the task will suffice.

[ctwaterman]

Unfortunately to change all the Dials, guages and such on a ship requires you to take apart Hi pressure steam lines.   It will take 1/4 of the construction time of the ship in question.  You might as well Refit the entire ship so that it doesnt suffer a breakdown between Say Varna and Suez ;D

You are not taking off a deck mounted weapon like depth charge rails and putting on a light machine gun which can be done alongside the dock you are tearing appart a complex steam powerd machine that unfortunately is past its useful life and has not had a recent refit :(

[maddox]

A ship is due for an overhaul ten years after its date of completion or most recent overhaul or refurbishment.  

An overhaul costs 10% of the original dollar cost of construction.  It requires 2.5 months, or 25% of the ship's original minimum time of construction - whichever is greater.  A drydock is required for the entire duration of the overhaul.

Toronto was far overdue for an overhaul,(like 5 years+) and is greatly reduced in combat capabilty. Only the love of her crew has kept her, and her sisters going ( partialy due the change in rules in the past, partialy because I didn't care).

The Pluches are due for an overhaul in a year or 2. And had an easy assignment in the Caribean. But a ship that  is build foreign costs more in maintenance, just because it's build to other standards, and a 25% surchase is to be payed to level out those differences.  Or by the foreign builder working to "your specs", or by the overhaul that changes all those things to your wishes.
Otherwise, the upkeep of those vessels rise with 25%, and then it will outrun the purchase cost rapidly.

[TexanCowboy]

January 2 1917.  Romanian port Constata.

The French escadron, lead by the light cruiser Toronto and the 7 small  destroyers of the Pluche class arrive at Constanta. Followed by the old Aphrodite liner.
The ships, except the smudges from the coal, look brightly painted, but all the paint can't hide the fact als the hulls have scrapes and even dents, one of the Pluches shows an outlet on the hull spewing a black and rustbrown oilstained liquid.

Helped by 2 small harbor steamtugs, the ships get a place along the quays. An exchange seremony takes place, interpreters having a lot of work. 
French seamen leave the ships with their belongings (and sometimes more, a few officers make sure this isn't obvious and the small items put back on board), and store those on the liner.  After that, they get  shore leave for 12 hours.

The French officers and ranked engineers guide the designated Romanian naval personel trough their new ships.
It's obvious that the crew made a best efford to get the ships as clean as possible, but the result is like a brothel with to much lighting. The brass is polished, but scratches and dents make it less than perfect, new layers of paint over chipped layers , making for a strange effect upon close.
The engine and boilerrooms greasy and smelly from the use, a hot damp air clinging to the clothes, steam sizzles from pipes, gauges and other indistict places. The fireboxes still hot, but the fires put out, the boilers creaking from cooling and shrinking.

The interpreters, not accustomed to nautical,technical French do their best to convey the remarks from the engineers.
"this gauge is broken, it always points at half pressure, if the pressure goes over the set value of the safety valve, a puf of steam will erupt from that valve, when the steam is released in the smokestack, it gets very hot too. Make sure you reroute the steam from valve and condencer pipe 17B to 2C "

"Do not try to run the turbines untill the temperature of the main bearings is at 123°C" 

"Boiler 3 has a corrosion problem, do not run it over 180 psi"

And so on

On Pluche 5, chief engineer Ducable, a dwarfish, bald man with burnscars over his body, takes time to instruct the Romanians who are following him, far past midnight. Fortified with coffee augmented with vinogel the men on Pluche 5 are having a steam course in UNK/French steam turbine technology

Thanks for this, maddox. I hope this means I don't have to refit the Pluches. As for the Toronto, ugh. Can I do the accelerated refit for 50% more cash, but 2/3 of the time?

[maddox]

Early januari 1917, airbase Gravelines.

Parbleu, you want what, pilot Fonck?

I want to enter the Caldera cup with a custom airplane, based on our Macchi HD1's.  Unfortunatly, we'll need 2 planes for parts.

Explain.

The Macchi's ain't fast enough, especialy not when floats are attached to make it a float plane. But the engines have potential, the body is very strong, and the almost struttless wings have good airflow.
So I propose to rebuild 2 of the planes, into one with 2 of the motors.

A single float in the middle, an enlarged enclosed cano if you want, and 2 smaller stabilisation floats onder the wings  make for the float capacity and a clear airframe   The float is longer than the original hull as it needs to support the tall rudder.

Why is that?

Simple, I want to place the second motor in the tail, like the pusher airplanes, making for a clear hull, and less of  frontal surcafe. To avoid cooling problems a scooped faring will duct cold air to the back motor.

I can see that you already put in a lot of tought in the idea. You have a new mission, but it will cut in your recon time over the channel, as I don't want a failure. You will lead a team to win this Italian race

A few weeks later, the prototype build by Rene and his team is wheeled out on a low wagon ,to the nearby canalized river L'Aa.

The team gets the aircraft in the icecold water, and a float is used to get men on the propelers to start the engines. The front engine starts with ease, the aft one is a stubborn, but the team gets it running.
Rene trottles up the motors and the frame starts to twist dangerously. The horrible contraption is cast lose and is moving trough the frigid air. Free from any land connection, The trottles are pushed to the stops, and the body just twists in several pieces, breaking free of the float, the heavy rotating engines each skip over the water in the opposite directions, the unfortunate pilot by a fluke or a divine intervention, drops with his chair on the main float, just having the steering joke in his hands, and his eyes bigger than his googles.

[ctwaterman]

*claps*

Welcome to the Inovative Start of the Aeronautical Race....  It was a brilliant Idea a Pusher/Puller Float Plane and with a few years of R&D maybe our surviving Pilot/Designer will become famous :)

*ROTFLMAO*  Ive read this twice and I still cant stop laughing

Charles

[maddox]

After a year working up under Captain Dumas, in all secrecy, only leaving and entering port at night. Making sure every French sign was covered by Italian , the French flag never hoisted, if an ensign was hoisted, it was the Italian pennant.

But this all is going to change. Since 2 weeks, the quay where the huge battleship Occitanie is mored, is a beehive of naval of activity. French merchant ships arrive , unload. Load at another quay, and leave east, towards Port Said. 

In those 2 weeks the ship was covered with painting sailors. A few men painted her name on the stern. The stern is being covered in a piece of art. Every boat on the ship gets the same treatment, not even the Kisby rings escaped from this "exclamation of identity".

December 27 1916, Tunis.

Occitanie was cast lose and slowely progressing under own power towards her home, Brest. Admiral Geon and his guest, monsieur Grange stand on the bridge port wing overlooking the 2 great forward tripple turrets, superfiring, as never seen before on a French battleship.

And we did hide this from our government for years? Just to avoid our budget cut by lack of grandeur? I doubt any of our ministers would have noticed that this mighty ship is only half the size of the boondoggle Masque. Also, ain't we running a great risk to see Britannie canceled?

No François, canceling Britannie now would cost more yard time than finishing her, as well the lost resources. No politician would do that, it would hurt his pockets too. Also, my service took precautions. I doubt any of the socialists will speak out after one of my people talked to them.

You covered that from your side then.  Then we better make sure our entrance in Brest is with enough grandeur then.

Rest assure François, that is taken care off.
Hey, can I have your binocculars?  I think I see a recognisable person on that entering yacht.

Yes, it is who I tought it was.  I think Occitanie will become known over the world faster than expected.

 

[maddox]

To: French Defense Minister
From :  G. von Hertling, Prime Minister
December 12th, 1916

My Dear Sir,

It falls on me to relate to you some unfortunate news.  As I am sure you are aware, the Hapsburg declaration raises the potential for warfare within the confines of Europe. As such we find it necessary to mobilize much of the Heer in the New Year. 

We are aware that any professional military officer would have concerns in such a situation, and that France has already born a fiscal burden due to the Dutch-Siamese conflict. It is my Kingdom's desire not to add to to France's burden. 

Along our border with Glorious France, our intent is that the XX and IV Korps shall not be fully mobilized, and the III and XIII Korps will be pulled from line on mobilization and replaced. At this time there is no plan to deploy troops to the Palantine.

To provide Glorious France with the security that is her right, we are willing to provide ongoing tours of the Duchies of Wuttemberg and Baden, as well as the Palantine, so your officers may verify that there is no cloaked build up of troops on your borders.

Please feel free to contact me with any concerns,
G. von Hertling, Prime Minister

Reply from Paris, 14 december 1916

Honored Premier Hertling,

I thank you for the continuing good neighborship between the Kingdom of Bavaria and  the Glorious Republic of France.

After consulting my military advisors, we concluded this.
Metropolitan France isn't directly treathened in any way. Unless security is neglected.

Our Habsburg fellow Europeans have assured France that the Habsburg military will endeavor to  keep the armed dispute out of Europe and even the Mediterranean Sea.
But by Leipzig Compact troop movements on this scale, we can expect simular actions in the Habsburg Empire, and that in itself can cause an escalation that non of us wants. We would ask Bavaria to consider the potential, and think of alternative actions.


Premier Galpoux.

Paris, 13 december

Premier Galpoux's office.

Messieurs, it seems the war between Siam and the Nethermands is biting our backside. Not only costing money, but also pitching 2 of the mayor powerblocks against each other, in Europe. The Leipzig Compact still has full armies, the heaviest naval units and the Fortresses in Europe.
The other part of the equation, the Habsburgers, never found wanton when a war was going on, have at least tacit support from the Southern Cross. With the Iberians still miffed about the Dutch actions during the last crusade.

Problem is, we're in between. The Souther Cross can't come overland via Iberia, as our Ligne DeCreme is guarding that border. From the east, the Habsburgers have to compete with the Bavarians directly in their mountain home. And the Bavarians, as we now know officialy, are being re-inforced with ESC troops.
Also, the ESC has a heavy battle squadron in the Red Sea, that can turn around at any moment, and we can't even deny them acces to the Suez canal without hoping that diplomacy is enough. 

With these facts, the Dutch are cosy in their 17 provinces. As the ESC and the Bavarians will do the dying, because the Dutch don't want a canal in Siam.

Minister Lebrun, what can you do to protect France, and if worst comes to be, how can we make the "French Promise" stick?

Protecting France isn't the biggest problem.  By mobilizing our fortress corps ,especialy Sedan, and putting 8 corps active along the Bavarian border, along the Rhine we can be sure that they keep honnest.
And the French Promise, that anachronisme from a more chivalrous age, forget it. We can't be sure who fires the first shot.
Next, our most import ally in such a situation, the UNK has enough problems at home, and can't be asked. The CSA, with Wilson being the white plumed dove, forget it, not after your rebuke on their MesoAmerican issue. Maybe if it's an obvious attack on France that he can't avoid the Nassau Treaty ,but I won't bet on that. The Italians, with their ties to the Bavarian Court. Dangerous to ask. Unless it's a clear cut issue, we can't make plans for that part.
And if it comes to that, it will be an action of vengange, especialy if the fighting isn't against France for starters. Our voters have enough of war already, they will demand our heads.

Minister Capet, what is your view on the situation?

The Baltic Confederation is the great power in the Leipzig Compact, and the only thing between us and them is Fortress Sedan. If they don't walk over the Netherlands.
My view on the semi monarchical Dutch is well know, and the entire north border is essencialy undefended, thanks to the trusting nature of Premier Jardan, and the megalomanical plans of Premier Palpaté.
The Bavarians, on the other hand, are contrary to the first impressions after 1905, are well willing modern Europeans with a mature government. We had good contacts in the past, and we're just preparing the train carrying the gold bullion for the joint Franco-Bavarian "Russian bootstrap". As well accepting the fleet units they are building for us. The ties between Italia and Bavaria just reinforce the idea that Bavaria can be trusted.

I say we coordinate efforts with Bavaria to make sure that Europe stays free of open war.

I thank you for the insight minister Capet. Minister Lebrun, you any comments?

I tend to agree with minister Capet in this case. I would say, we activate Fortress sedan, and the airbase of Gravelines, we post extra corps at Gravelines, Reims, and Sedan , the border with Bavaria will kept as is now. To show good will.
As long the Iberians don't activate or deploy troops along the Pyrenese, we keep Ligne DeCreme dormant.

I'll take that in reconsideration. Minister Lebrun you'll get the go ahead of "la defence" as soon I talked to some other members of our goverment. Minister Capet, make sure the bullion train will get the "right angle" to accomplish what Glorious France needs.

[maddox]

Port offices Port Saïd, Suez Canal.

Message from Paris

SMS Tegethoff and  accompanying Romanian troopships allowed passage through the Suez Canal

[TexanCowboy]

Korpen did not see that, that is a top level military secret  :)

[maddox]

As if any passage trough the Suez Canal could be kept secret.

It's one of the reasons the Dutch don't use the Suez Canal at all.

[ciders]

There's many eyes between Port-Said and Aden.

[The Rock Doctor]

As long as none of the eye belong to The Eye, we'll be fine.

[Tanthalas]

Folowers of The Eye in Egypt... Loads up the fleet. (J/K)

[ciders]

The Eye ? No, for the moment he's under the walls of Minas Tirith. Holidays he said.  ;D