RevRick
Posts: 2505
Joined: 9/16/2000
From: Just above the gnat line, GA
Status: offline
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The files I sent Gary yesterday had some errors because files were shifted around in my computer when we changed hard drives (a less desirable activity I find rather rare - perhaps a root canal.)
The Milwaukee which was sent is actually in my mod a change in design for the USS Pensacola. The Chief of BuShips took one look at the original design and said. “I don’t care how many eight inch guns it has. The armor isn’t enough to stop two mad Chinese river pirates with a .45. Sh*t can this and get me a ship that John Paul Jones (cue angelic choir as in Blazing Saddles "Randolph Scott!" AHHHHHH!) would not be afraid to take into harms way!”
So, the Pensacola’s come back with 8-8/55 Guns in 4 twin turrets, 8-5/25 as a sec/AA battery, 96mm of plate armor, 50mm of deck armor, and something resembling a citadel with 62mm armor on 9400 tons.
The actual Milwaukee CL in the mod is a rebuilt Omaha with all of the casemate guns taken off and turned into shore batteries somewhere (Midway, Wake Island, Guam?!) The superstructure reworked and bridge moved back to allot for two twin mounts for the 6/53’s fore and aft. They also carry a catapult amidships, or at least abaft the funnels, for three scout planes. Ships: Milwaukee, Memphis, Marblehead, and Macon.
The extra two mounts came from the Omaha class which also was reworked into a class of CLAA. In the supposition that Stimson never became SecState, and therefore never shut down Yardley and the Black Chamber, the continuous reading of the Imperial Japanese mail revealed how many flightdecks the IJN was preparing, and that cause no small stir in the USN – both brown shoe and black shoe Navy.
Airedales wanted more flight decks. Skimmers wanted more AAA. They each got some more of both, including the transformation of the almost useless Omaha CLs as originally built into a class of CLAAs. Each had 5 – 5/38 tw mts. With several lighter AAA mounts added over time. There were no catapults, but they did retain torpedo tubes port and starboard. These will more than likely be landed as the need for more AAA becomes apparent. Class: Omaha, Richmond, Trenton, Concord, Detroit and Raleigh. Having both Detroit and Raleigh at Pearl Harbor on 07DEC41 does cause a small disturbance in the IJNs plans.
The two RN ships – the Queen Elizabeth class and the Hood Class have divergent courses. Jutland caused the RN to really take a close look at what happened to the BCs. Which led to two things. The quickest sailors of the newer BB’s at that time were the QE class. However, with their bow looking more as if it were designed to plough up sandbars, and the hull form almost as tubby as the USN BB’s afloat, that was still very short compared to the other ships (IJN!) being allowed by the modified WNT.
Therefore, they were almost entirely rebuilt in the name of repairs, maintenance, and overhaul. (AS were the Big Six in the USN in this Mod.) The main guns had their elevation increased, a new bow was formulated, and an exchange of information with the USN on boiler technology and turbine technology lead to more efficient boilers in the RN – which were incorporated into the overhaul of each of the five QE class BBs. Thus, the twin funnel appearance. The Bow was also replaced with a more seaworthy bow which would make them a little less wet forward, and as well enable them to maintain a speed more in keeping with the new battle line which was taking shape in the late 20’s and early 30’s – before the utter collapse of Naval limitation talks when the IJN would have nothing more to do with limitations in the face of the Japanese belief in Hakko Ichiu.
Thus the rebuild of the Queen Elizabeths makes a tough battleship even more formidable, and useful.
The planned Hood Battlecruiser and the Renowns were cancelled on the ways very shortly after construction is started. Whitehall was somewhat less than happy with the performance of the battle cruisers at Jutland, and some wiser heads realized that speed is not armor. In the place of the Hood as a BC, a quartet of ‘fast’ battleships are planned and built with virtually identical main batteries (albeit with 15/50 cal guns instead of 15/42s on the QE class) with a much more balanced combination of speed, offensive power, protection, seakeeping, range, habitability, at a very similar cost to the originally planned Hoods. These begin to take their place in the battle line as the older, now undergunned, dreadnoughts are retired, on a ton for ton basis. This class is the Hood, Nelson, Rodney, and Beatty.
The other two ships, the HMS Renown and Repulse are built the battleships which were allowed to be built by the RN to bring them up to the new WNT treatly limitation of 625,000 tons for capital ships. They are to balance the IJN’s being allowed to build the Tosa and Kaga as battleships which were completed well before 1930. Renown and Repulse were built to a 39,975 standard with three triple turrents with 3-16/45 mk I guns. (In effect, these replace the historical Rodney and Nelson), but with much more tonnage and new engine and boiler technology, these are much more capable ships. 13.5 side armor, 4.5” deck armor, 30 Kt speed, and almost 10,800 mile range.
For these six ships in the 40 Kton range, the RN retired Thunderer, King George V, Ajax , Centurion, and sent Tiger to Australia, to reach 20 BB’s and remain under the WNT limit of 625,000 tons until 1931.
This is an ever evolving mod… so there are lot more small changes in the ships on both sides. Such as, the Porter Class DDs are not 1850 tonners with 5/38 SP guns in tw mounts. They are 2250 tons with 8 5/38 DP in tw mts. They are built as DD squadron flags, which is why they are scattered throughout the fleet. The Somers class is virtually identical, but there are few of them, and they show up somewhat later since they spend most of their time in LANTFLT in this mod.
The IJN begins with eight fleet carriers, with 13 more building – some of which begin to show up early in 1942 – specifically two more Shokakus, and Junyo and Hiyo are built up more as an aircraft carrier should be . More will be sent later
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There is no worse tyranny than to force a man to pay for what he does not want merely because you think it would be good for him. - Bernardo de la Paz
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