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Novgorod AU http://shipbucket.com./forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=6093 |
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Author: | Gollevainen [ May 24th, 2015, 11:37 am ] |
Post subject: | Novgorod AU |
Forewords As I already told in the Finnish AU thread, I've relocated my Alternative universum project back to its orgins, into Novgorod. The idea grew when I was toying around the with the expanded Finland which I took to follow the historical guise of the acient Novgorod Republic. But as I rejected the wakcy finnish realm reaching into the shores of Pacific Ocean, the lure of the Pacific had cauth me. It was not that difficult to follow the idea that what if my old Novgorod AU would expand into the footstep of those silly Finns? This was about a year ago, back when I was doing the Comintern AU aircrafts in FD scale. As my idea have always been toying with the russian never-wheres, the concept works best in never-where russian state. Novgorod in that regard was better than the earlier Balkan oriented Comintern. So I took a blank Map with Russian districs and started to cut it in half. It has always been important for me in my AUs that the real life Russia/Soviet Union exist in it so alongside with Novgorod, I had to create workable Russia as well. I took the old Novgorod Republic in its furthest reach in real life and started to expand the borders a bit. I took Pskov, Tver, Smolensk and the Zalesiy area but left Moscow and its proximity for the Russia to form. I then followed the Volga, sniped the great cities there and Siperia lied ahead. It was easy to follow the footsteps of the Ermak and co, I had done that already with the Finns. But as I started to reach near the Pacific, I wanted more. So I took Manchuria as well, as it would provide the new Novgorod a sort of ultimate goal, foundation of the superpower status in my head. And we need to be a superpower, becouse after all, this is all for those carriers in the end. So but how about Russia then? Well they were left with the south, Ukraine and Kazakhstan but to compensate them, I gave them the Balkans down to Bulgaria and eventually their holy grail, Constantinopol. This was de facto the AU Soviet Union which I did while a back go with actually bit more realistic means. Concept of the AU: For those who still don't know the idea of this AU is to have nation which uses the Russian and Soviet ships (and other warmachines) that never where. All ships seen in this topic are real projects, concepts, prototypes or preliminary designs. With the qualativity of the sources, I've sometimes had to use more or less my own imagination to complete them to a workable shipbucket drawings. Due this fact these ships does not represent real life never-wheres as with many cases the dimensions of the ships are complete guesswork. To some it might be dissapointing or even boring to see these same ships over and over again (as I've done this as long as the whole shipbucket have existed in its current form) but there will be alot of stuff in this round that are never seen before. So I hope you like it. Also I try to post little bit more regulary in smaller parts, not my usual 50 ships in a row type of megaposts. The AU thread will be divided into three parts: Part I: Novgorod prior 1917 Part II: 1917-1945 Part III: 1945- All parts are divided into smaller chapters and goes trough cronologically. I've completed all the drawings for the Part I, but I will post them in smaller parts so you can gasp little time to study them before new drawings enters. Ackowledgments: A great share of inspiration and sources for this project comes from Sergei Vinogradov and Stephen McLaughlin. The literary concept is inspired by Siegfried Breyer's Soviet Warship development. |
Author: | Gollevainen [ May 24th, 2015, 11:43 am ] |
Post subject: | Re: Novgorod AU |
1.4 Naval development 1.4.1 1880-1905: The later part of the 19th century saw Novgorodian empire emerge from continental power into colonial superpower with oversea possessions. This had some dramatical impacts on the naval development. Altough naval power had always been the symbol of Novgorodian imperial prestige ever since the days of Petr Velikiy, the development post-Crimean war and the awake of steam era were more of strenghtening the coastal defence forces in the Baltics and in the shores of the Pacific Ocean. The aqustion of oversea colony of Sumatra in 1881 was the turning point which started the transition towards more ocean going fleet. All ready after the Crimean war, Novgorod was focusing on building a large cruiser fleet which was to be able to harash enemy commercial shippings in the time of crisis. However the expansion in the Pacific region ment that the navy was now facing a role in which it had to be able to reach far beyond the normal operational areas of the coastal fleet and combat enemy capital units. The obvious conclusion was that larger ocean going capital units were required. It was decided that th Baltic Fleet should field the main force of the new capital units and those units were to be able to be sended into the aid the Pacific Fleet if required. In 1882 a new naval construction program was accepted which called not fewer than 16 ocean going battleships (later reduced to 10) for the Baltic fleet and 5 ”colonial battleships”, similar in concept to those of Peresvet in Russia and Centurion in Great Britain for the Pacific fleet. To accompany the Pacific colonial battleships, total of 12 amoured cruisers were to be build. As for the design for the new battleships, a radical suggestion camed from young naval officer V.A Stepanovich which concluded that the future naval engagements would be battleships fighting in line against each others and the importance of the big guns would be paramount. Sofar the current trend in abroad and in Novgordod was to focus the heavy fire in the forward section to support the ramming tactics. Stepanovich suggested in 1884 a battleship armed with all-big guns but the idea was considered too radical for the time. However the adoption of main battery in fore and aft was included in the future battleships as well as the squardon action in line of the battle tactics. First of the new battleships were the Imperator Konstantin I class of which 4 were build in two pairs for the Baltic Fleet in 1889-96 Situation the west changed when Novgorod, Russia and France entered into alliance in 1891 mainly focused against the growing threat of Germany. With the conclusion that the future war against Germany would have to be fought alone and that it would be predominally landwar, the naval focus shifted from Baltic into the Pacific. At the same time China had obtained battleships from Germany and Japan was building up its fleet as well. Of the new naval building program, the next 5 battleships were decided to include into the Pacific Fleet making Novgorod the most powerfull naval force in the region. The Panteleymon class was to form the nucleous of the new 1st Pacific Squardon. The ”colonial battleships” were canceled and instead 2 coastal battleships were build to serve in the East Indies. To supplement the battleship squardon, 4 armoured cruisers were ordered from France to serve in the Pacific and 4 more similar ships were constructed in St. Petersburg. Naval collobration with the French was also evident in the next series of Battleships, the 3 Ioan Zlatoust class build for the Baltic Fleet in 1895-00 which beared heavy french influence in their design. When Germany introduced its first Naval construction law in 1898, Novgorod was now facing two growing navies in both Europe and in the Far East. Altough new construction of 3+3 battleships were approved for the Baltics, it was evident that Novgorod was not able to sustain two fleets both in size of their opponent. This led into a dilemma for the Novgorod naval planners of how to counter the thread from both sides of the vast country. In the Baltic lied the capital and major industrial centre of Saint Petersburg but if considerable extent of the fleet is stationed there it could be easily trapped by blocking the Danish straights and prevent reinforcements for the Pacific. Thus a new shift in the fleet composition was made in favour of the Pacific fleet. It was decided that Novgorod should had at least the ammount of battleships equal to China and Japan (The first beign severly reduced after the first sino-japanese war in 1895) in the Pacific region. To compensate the propable numeriorical superiority of German fleet in the Baltic, a new concept of ”Baltic Mine-artillery position” in the entrance of Gulf of Finland was introduced. This called heavy emphasis on the naval minefields which would block the entrance into the Gulf of Finland and thus prevent enemy units to near Saint Petersburg. Main defenceline would be around the Gogland Island. The existing surface units together with coastal artillery would prevent the enemy from conducting minesweeping operations. This strategy would remaind the ”back-up naval plan” in the Baltic from there onwards to these days even tough the more offensive naval strategies would be prevailing. The two fleet dilemma came into test the when the tension in the Far East broke out as a war when Japanese attacked Novgorod in 1904. The Pacific fleet was surrounded into Port Artur, recently gained warm-water port in Liaoning Peninsula. Altough initially Novgorod had more battleships in its fleet, the japanese suprise attack and the consequent blockade and Siege of Port Arthur crippled the Pacific fleet from 7 battleships down to 1 operational one. Mines became the most effective weapon for both sides, claiming 1 Novgorodian battleship and 2 Japanese in the course of the war. The latter became the cruisal tilt of balance as Japanese were reduced from 6 battleships to 4 in the eve of the Battle of Tsusima. With the Pacific Fleet dispabled, Novgorod was forced to send its Baltic Fleet to reinfoce the Far East. This was a great gamble as only 2 old battleships were left behind and the remaining 8 battleships and accompanying cruisers and screens were sended around the globe to face the Japanese in the cruisal battle. To fail in the task could lead the destruction of the whole navy and effectively end the colonial aspirations of Novgorod. It would also leave the Baltic Sea defenceless against Germany in future conflicts. The gambling prooved out to be worth of the risk when the 2nd Pacific Squardon (as the Baltic Fleet detachment was now called) led by Admiral Rozhestvensky crushed the Japanese combined Fleet in the Tsushima straits. With little damage to the the Novgorodians, the japanese fleet was almoust completely destroyed. This forced japanese to ask peace and the war ended. 1.4.2 Lessons of the war: Where as the failure and shortcommings of the general war managment and performance of the army were not fully adressed in the light of the sudden victory after Tsusima, in the naval circless the lessons of the war were however studied troughoutly. The early defeats showed some cruisal defects on the Novgorodian ship designs. One major issue was the longitudinal centerline bulkhead which caused in the event of ship taking water assymetrical flooding which easily led into the ships capzising. As for the tactical performance, the importance of speed became paramount. Had the Pacific fleet had even 1 knot faster speed, they would most likely been able to escape into Vladivostok after the battle of Yellow sea instead of beign forced to return into Port Artur. Also the decicion to detach the two old battlehsips with speed of only 14 knots from the 2nd Pacific Squardon before the Tsushima enabled Rozhestvensky to use the speed of his new faster battleships in his advantage and out-manuvre the japanese fleet. Another important relevation was the engagement ranges. In the early parts of the war in Battle of Port Artur and in the Battle of Yellow sea as well as in the Battle of Tsushima both Novgorodians and Japanese fleets started fire from distances which were far greater than anticipated in pre-war naval planning. This made the seccondary guns of the battleships essentially useless as they were often too short-ranged to been able to use in the battle. In terms of armor protection, Novgorodian ships had almoust none of their main belts penetrated even in those ships that were sunked by japanese gun-fire. Instead the heaviest damage game from HE shells with non-delay fuses which frecked the unamoured hull platings and shred splinters widely to cause even further damage. Similar results were withnessed in japanese ships as well. This led to a conclusion in Novgorod that the extesive coverage of the armor was more cruisal than the thickness. These conclusions and observations from the war were considered in the so-called Birilev Committee, named after Naval minister Birilev held in Autum 1905 which were to set a new design paraments to new shipbuilding program. The biggest emphasis was on the speed, which had effect on all warship types, not only the ships of the Battleline. It was decided that all new capital units to be laid down from 1906 onwards to be fitted with steam turbines, a new method of propulsion which gave considerable edge over the older tripple-expansion steam engines. Another new feature was uniforming the armament in favour of long-range engagements. In effect it ment that battleships and armoured cruisers would feature “all-big gun” armament with deletion of the medium range artillery. To accompany the new armament trend, the armor concept was also changed. To make best compormise of extensive coverage of armor against HE shells and thickness against armor-piercing shells, a multilayered armor was adopted. Classification of the capital units were also changed. Battleships which were previously called 'Eskadrennyy bronenosets' or squardon armourclads were now reclassified as 'lineynyy korabl' or Ship of the Line. Armored cruiser were reclassified as 'lineynyy kreyser' or Cruiser of the Line (Battlecruiser). It was however the Royal Navy that first introduced the ships of the new type intended by the Birilev committee. HMS Dreadnought became the first “all-big gun” and turbine powered battleship, commissioned in 1906 and HMS Invincible, the first battlecruiser commissioned in 1908. 1.4.4 Naval development before 1917: With the introduction of HMS Dreadnought and the lessons of the Novgorod-Japanese war started new armsrace when all the old battleships were now considered obsolete. It was tied to the on going international tension between the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy) and Entente powers of Great Britan, France, Russia and Novgorod. The so-called dreadnought naval race was mainly focused between Great Britan, Germany and Novgorod. The first Novgorodian 'all-big gun' battleship was Vladimir Svyatoslavich introduced in 1909 which was followed 3 somewhat similar ships, Rostislav, Retvizan and Rurik. They were all armed with 10 305mm guns tough Svyatoslavich featured earlier 45 caliber weapons against the 52 caliber of the others. Germany awnsered with Nassau and Helgoland classess and Novgorodian shipbuilding capacity was struggling to keep the pace with Germany and Great Britan. Japan was also rearming with the help of the British in the Far East. To awnser japanese 2 new dreadnought-type ships, 2 battleships of the Slava class were build for the Pacific Fleet. Studies for the future tactics and strategies of the battleships were conducted together with the building of the new type of ships. Those studies came into conclusion that a smaller number of ships with more guns would be more optimal composition of the battlesquardon than more ships with less ammount of guns. Fewer ships could manuvre more effectively and consentrare their fire against the enemy more accurately. The best combination was toughted to be a 4 ship manuvering brigade with 12 guns each ships. Of those 4 ships, 3 would be in the main operational role and the 4th ship in reserve. To accompany the battleline, there was to be a so called Fast Brigade of battlecruisers moving at the front of the battleline and using its superiorical speed to gain advantage. In 1908 it was planned that the Baltic fleet should have 2 squardon of battleships with 2 brigade each making total of 16 battleships before 1920. Pacific fleet would feature 1 squardon. All squardons would have one fast brigade of battlecruisers joining the battleships. For this new construction plan, total of 4 battlecruisers were laid down, 2 Sankt Petersburg class in the Baltics and 2 Boyarin class in the Far East. These were accompanied by 4 Gangut class battleships with 12 305mm guns laid down in St.Petersburg in 1909. The huge building program had however put heavy financial restrains on the economy and planned 2 additional battleships for the Pacific were canceled. However the international situation became more flamable with the conflict in the Balkans escalating after Austro-Hungarian annexation of Bosnia in 1909. This allowed more money for military build up and the naval construction plan was updated in 1911. With Great Britan moving from 305mm main caliber into 343mm and Germany from 280mm into 305mm, the next series of Capital ships in Novgorod were to have updated weaponry as well. 356mm/52 was adopted as the new caliber altough it was judged that the earlier Novgorodian 305mm/52 guns, with 12 fitted per ship would be more than adequate against the increased calibers abroad. The concept of the battlefleet was also revisited. It was tought that the rather poor armor protection of the first battlecruisers would be inadequate in fighting along the battleline and thus the new planned battlecruisers were to have greatly enchanged protection. In Baltic the number of battleships commisioned or being build were deemed sufficient and the priority was given to the new battlecruisers. These were the Navarin class which were de facto more of transition between battlecruisers and fast battleships. 2 were laid down in 1912 and they were armed with 12 356mm guns. In the Far East Japan was planning to build new powerfull battleships of the Fuso class and to awnser those, 4 new battleships were ordered to be build in Dalny. These became the Tsusima class with similar armament as in the Navarin class but with slower speed and increased armor. 2 improved Navarin class were ordered just prior the war to supplement the Pacific fleet. At the eve of the First world war, Novgorod had 8 Dreadnought type battleships in the Baltic fleet and 2 in the Pacific with 4 more building. Each fleet had 2 battlecruisers and 2 more were being build for each. To accompany the capital units, Novgorod had build several new turbine powered cruisers and destroyers and had introduced a submarines for the active operational units of the fleet. The mine-artillery position was for the most part complete. The heavy shipbulding program had put enormous strain on the economy of the state and had consumed vast ammount of money and resources. 1.4.5 Novgorod Navy in the First world war: When the First World War broke out in 1914 Novgorod hoped that the German navy would be tied to North Sea to be ready to engage the Royal Navy in the decisive battle that was anticipated. This would allow the Baltic Fleet to dominate the Baltic sea and support the offensive of the army. However the initial offensive was stopped by the Germany and after the Battle of Tanneberg, Novgorod was forced into defensive position. The bold naval manuvrerings of the early days in the war were put on rest after the loss of Armored cruiser Poyarkov in october 1914 to a German U-boat. After that the main units of the fleet remained mostly in the defensive positions both in Gulf of Finland and in Gulf of Riga. In July 1915 Germany tried to push trough Riga where the frontline laid. To support the army's manuvre, the German fleet was sended to break in to the Gulf of Riga and destroy the stationing Novgorodian units. Baltic Fleet had it's reserve squardon stationed in the Gulf of Riga which comprised 4 Pre-dreadnought battleships, veterans of the Tsusima battle decade earlier. Germany sended 4 battleships and 3 battlecruisers to support the minesweeping operation. This was to be the First Battle of Gulf of Riga. Altough against superior units, the old Novgorodian battleships managed to keep the German's away from the entrance to the Gulf and prevented the minesweeping operation to succeed. With the Baltic Fleet's 1st Squardon moving from Gulf Of Finland to the meet the German battleships in the open sea, Germans withdrew and the Gulf of Riga remained in Novgorod dominance. Troughout the remains of the navigable periods of 1915-1916 Both sides tried to lure the enemy into battle but no major engagements were made. Germans were annoyed by the precense of the Reserve squardon in the Gulf of Riga which gave considerable boost to the Novgorodian defenders. Meanwhile as the main fleet units were lying idle in the port or in the defensive positions for the most part of the war, dicipline and morale started to detoriate in the Baltic Fleet. The war was not going as planned and the dissent grew among the population and revolutionary ideas spread to the fleet as well. There were several smaller mutinies onboard the ships but these were either crushed or resolved peacefully. After the Outbreak of the war, the naval construction was halted as the shipyards were overloaded by repairs and maintenance of the existing ships. New construction was prioritised into three groups: Group 1: Top priority. Ships that were in the most advanced state of construction where in this group, including the Battlecruisers Navarin and Chesma and 4 of the Brilliant class light cruisers. Also some new construction, laid down during the war (mostly light forces) were in this cathegory which was considered urgent for the war demand. Group 2: Those ships in early state of construction. Work on these ships were reduced and limited which prolonged the building process. The battleships of the Tsusima class and other units building for the Pacific Fleet were in this cathegory as Japan had entered the war on same side as Novgorod. Group 3: This ships which work had just been started. All work on these ships were suspended and it was planned that work was to resume after the war. As the Baltic Sea was too dangerous for convoys, the other Etente powers started to send military aid and supplies to Novgorod and Russia via the northern shores to Arkhangelsk and to newly formed town in Murmansk on the Kola Peninsula. In order to protect these convoys from german naval forces, Novgorod established Artic Sea Flotilla, third independent naval organisation in 1916. Its HQ was in Arkhangelsk. It was later transformed into Northern Fleet. Several older ships from the Pacific fleet were transfered to the new flotilla. In 1917 the ultimate standoff between the Baltic Fleet and the German Hochseeflotte finaly took place. In Autum 1917 Germany launched major offensive in the Eastern Front to exploid the internal confusion and anti-war tendensies of Novgorod and Russia. They launched another attack on the Gulf of Riga in order to gain control of the West Estonian Archipelago which would allow Germans to cut behind the frontline. The offensive was succesfull and German troops took over the Islands of Osel, Dago and Moon effectively trapping the Reserve fleet into the Gulf of Riga. Novgorod decided to free the trapped fleet and sended the 1st squardon to support the breakout of the reserve squardon. Germany had however anticipated this and had a battleline of 10 battleships ready agains the Baltic fleet. A naval battle broke out in 4th October when the two battlelines engaged each others. Altough both sides took hits, only the ill-fated battlecruiser Sankt-Petersburg was sunk as it outmanuvered itself from the battleline just to be caught by consentrated fire from german battleships. The other battlecruiser Novgorod took some damage as well but was able to break out the battle. The main battleship squardon also disengaged as it was getting into unfavourable position in the battle. However the main bulk of the reserve fleet managed to escape from the Gulf of Riga, only the old battleship Grigoriy Bogoslov was scuttled at the Moon sound to block it. Even if the anticipated battle with the germans had improved the morale and dicipline in the fleet prior the Battle of Moon Sound, the failure of gaining success shreded the last remains of alliagance for the Emperors wareffort among the sailors. The loss of the Battlecruiser with all its men was tremendeous blow and was used as an propaganda use for the revolutionarist. They argued that the battle-hungry officers wanting to gain their own “Tsusima success” bluntly sacrifised the lives of the sailors for their own glory and prestige. The fleet was suffering its share on the food shortage and in the night of 15th October 1917, a naval rebelion broke out in the Baltic Fleet stationed in Helsinki. The revolutionarist quickly assumed control over the major ships and all reactionary officers were executed or expelled from the ships. A Red flag was hoisted in Battleship Gangut, flagship of the Baltic fleet and the new “Red fleet of workers and peasants” were created including most of the 1st and reseve squardon of the Baltic fleet. The naval rebel launched series of supporting demostrations in Khronstad and in St.Petersburg and eventually spread into full scale revolution in 17th October ending the Imperial Regime in Novgorod. 1.5 Naval Shipyards in Novgorod prior 1917: The shipbuilding industry had mainly centered around St.Petersburg and Dalny. Ownership of those yards varied, only few were actually owned by the state. Several yards had considerable foreign participation. The overall capacity and productivity was somewhat lower than in other european shipyards due lower state of new techological innovations adopted in Novgorod. This was shown in the construction periods of which at least with larger ships was lacking behind other major shipbuilders. The major shipyards are listed bellow: 1.5.1 Baltic Shipyards: Admiralty Shipyard, St.Petersburg: Situated in the Galerny Island at the river Neva. Owned by the Franco-Novgorodian consortium. It is one of the largest shipyards in Novgorod, with 5 slipyards with capacity of 240m lenght ships to be build. Most of the battleships and battlecruisers were build here. Baltic Shipyard, St. Petersburg: Situated in the Vasilevskiy Island in the Neva Estuary and is opposite of the Admiralty shipyard. Owned by the state. It has 4 slips and one large drydock. It also has complete capability to build engines for the ships. Putilov Shipyard, St.Petersburg: New shipyard formed by the Putilov company that had build ship engines, guns and armour platings. It was working on assosiation with the German firm Blohm & Voss. Build mainly destroyers and cruisers, expansion of the shipyard was underway in 1917. Mühlgrabenweft, Riga: a Branch of F Schichau shipyard in Germany. Build destoyers and smaller ships. Franco-Baltic Shipbulding Co, Reval: Owned by the French company Schneider-Creusot and situated in the Zigelskopel bay. It had 3 250m slips and 4 130m slips and two drydocks. The 2 battlecruisers of the Sankt-Petersburg class were build here. 1.5.2 Pacific Shipyards: Tikhookeanskiy zavod, Dalny: Formed in 1898 as soon as the Liaoning Peninsula was leased to Novgorod. It was completed in its full capacity in 1906. Owned by the state. It has 3 large and 4 smaller slips. Vostochnaya Verf, Dalny: Owned by the Manchurian shipbulding Co. With technical direction from John Brown & Co Ltd. 2 large slips and 4 smaller ones. It had capacity to build engines for the ships as well. Dalzavod, Vladivostok: Smaller shipyard for repairs and small ship construction. |
Author: | Gollevainen [ May 24th, 2015, 2:18 pm ] |
Post subject: | Re: Novgorod AU |
2. Ships in service prior 1917 Revolution 2.1 Battleships: 2.1.1 Obsolete battleships (Predreadnought-type) |
Author: | Krakatoa [ May 24th, 2015, 7:46 pm ] |
Post subject: | Re: Novgorod AU |
Well done Golly! Believable backstory and the drawings of the pre-dreads are just great. I am really looking forward to more of this thread. |
Author: | Hood [ May 25th, 2015, 9:03 am ] |
Post subject: | Re: Novgorod AU |
Another excellent redux! An impressive start and some very nice looking (but ugly!) pre-dreadnoughts. My only artistic nitpick would be that the 75mm casemates of the earlier vessels should really stand out a little more as their hatches are not obvious. |
Author: | Gollevainen [ May 25th, 2015, 2:51 pm ] |
Post subject: | Re: Novgorod AU |
2.1.2 Dreadnought Battleships |
Author: | BB1987 [ May 25th, 2015, 8:54 pm ] |
Post subject: | Re: Novgorod AU |
Very good golly, I also like the different paintjob for the Pacific fleet |
Author: | Gollevainen [ May 26th, 2015, 1:20 pm ] |
Post subject: | Re: Novgorod AU |
2.2 Armoured cruisers 2.2.1 Obsolete Armoured Cruisers |
Author: | heuhen [ May 26th, 2015, 2:24 pm ] |
Post subject: | Re: Novgorod AU |
It's epic |
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