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Charguizard
Post subject: Re: Armoured Cruiser ChallengePosted: March 10th, 2024, 6:40 pm
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Joined: January 28th, 2017, 1:17 am
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Ship Captain Álvarez focused his sight on the infinite whiteness beyond the charthouse’s windows and sincerely wished for the boring routine of his voyage to continue uneventfully. He lowered his gaze upon the ship’s wheel in front of the helmsman.

VENCER O MORIR.

Win or perish.

Maybe another day, he thought. He took a deep anxious breath and then turned around to a rating.

“Bring me a light breakfast and a kettle with scalding hot tea.”

“Aye my Captain!” the rating saluted and scurried away downstairs.

Today’s Thursday, he thought, as the ship he bore responsibility for, the old but well kept armoured cruiser, ALMIRANTE COCHRANE, slowly rolled and hummed along with the seven hundred souls keeping her going inside her steel carpace. This means empanada at lunchtime.

He pondered about the effects of the onion on his digestion when the command duty officer interrupted his thoughts abruptly.

“My Captain, the lookouts have lost sight of SWIFTSURE. I suggest we increase speed to regain contact with her lest we lose station and have to use the wireless.”

“Make it so, ahead two thirds for twelve knots.”

“Aye my Captain, ahead two thirds for twelve knots,” came the reply.

The vibrations that came up from the deck became ever so slightly more rapid as the metal behemoth quickened her pace. The whiteness that surrounded them was familiar to Álvarez. He had served in the convoys during the Great War. He was an Ensign aboard BLANCO ENCALADA, the fleet’s most ancient cruiser. She had been given tall gaffs for wireless, a couple of additional light quick firing guns, a coat of dazzle camouflage and been sent off to herd merchants across the pond. He had looked with envy upon the crew of COCHRANE, they would join the Grand Fleet instead.

A chilly gust of cold air let Captain Álvarez know that the rating was back with his hands full. This weather was no stranger to any Chilean seaman however, the far south was about as merciful or worse. Álvarez received a plate with a roll of bread with jam, and had his mug filled with steamy dark tea.

“Thank you,” he said as he sat down on his chair. His sight followed the rating as he offered tea to the rest of the bridge crew.

A shout came from outside. The captain raised an eyebrow as the command duty officer opened a window, talked to someone and closed it again.

“Sir, we have regained sight of SWIFTSURE. She’s flying signals Zulu Echo, she’s sending a message with her signal lamp.”

The Captain took a bite as he waited for the message to be decoded. He stared intensely outside but could barely make any shape around the faint flashes of the signal lamp. It was probably SWIFTSURE letting them know that one of the Destroyers had been detached to search for a straggling merchantman. That was a job for a fast ship. The old girl had been reboilered and refitted in 1932 but nowadays she could still only manage twenty knots. She was originally nicknamed Ciento Doce, 112, because the previous Armoured Cruiser, O’Higgins, which also had had three equal funnels in a row, had been nicknamed Ciento Once, 111. Her sister Almirante Lynch had thus been called Ciento Trece, 113. After the reboilering, the aft funnel had been eliminated and the fore funnel had been trunked away from the foremast to reduce smoke interference. The curious curved shape of the funnel now almost resembled a number 2, so Cochrane was now sometimes called only Doce, 12.

“My Captain,” the officer turned to him, “SWIFTSURE reports that the Destroyer BRAMBLE picked up a radar contact to the South East at 0645, doing twenty three knots, but lost it behind hail a few minutes later.”

Captain Álvarez thought for a moment:

Convoy PQ 19 is to our north, together with the close escort. SWIFTSURE, BRAMBLE and BULLDOG are with us keeping station. Force T was heading south yesterday to prosecute a contact given by air recon, but even if they turned around and proceeded at thirty knots, they’d still be several hours away. Which means…

“My Captain, new signals from SWIFTSURE.” clamored an officer.

“Go ahead.” he said.

“Radar contact bearing One Seven Five, estimated speed twenty five. Estimated heading Zero One Zero.”

By now the hail had reached them and an incessant clanking rumbled inside the charthouse, distracting Álvarez.

“Call all hands to action stations. Anti-air gunners to stay inside and pass ammunition to the surface batteries.”

“Aye my Captain!” The officer of the watch said loudly, he moved his face right in front of a voice tube, “Action Stations! Action Stations! Up and forward on the starboard side, down and aft on the port side! Close all watertight doors! Anti-air gunners assume ammunition handling!”

Crew in the bridge scurried about. The gunnery officer climbed the central pole of the mast up towards the ship’s main gun director. By now SWIFTSURE was closer and Álvarez could see her silhouette clearly, white vapour fluttered from her funnels. Her gun turrets slowly began to turn to starboard.

“My Captain, new signals coming in! SWIFTSURE says: Increase your speed to twenty knots. Prepare for surface action.”

“We can do that,” the captain said cheerfuly, a smirk on his face, “command duty officer, ahead flank, both engines, revolutions one fifty.”

“Ahead flank! Both engines! Revolutions one fifty!”

The Captain could feel through his seat how the metal beast lurched forward with renewed vigor, the vibrations becoming higher in frequency and severity. The wake from SWIFTSURE became larger, but she did not pull away. He was confident they could keep up as long as the lead cruiser was satisfied with twenty knots. He saw the guns of the ship in front of him raise. He took to a voice tube.

“Gunnery officer, aim battery to port mimicking our lead ship.”

“Aye my Captain!” came the reply from the top of the mast.

“Ask the SWIFTSURE bearing and range of the contact.”

Aye my Captain!” was the reply.

A rating outside clad in thick blue stuffing took furiously to the signal lamp to convey the message to the ship in front. A moment passed before new signal flags were raised.

“My captain, SWIFTSURE signals Oscar India…”, the command duty officer said, reaching for a book and furiously flipping pages. He then turned around and looked at Álvarez in the eye. “She is without radar.”

“Did her radar malfunction or is it this cursed weather that-…” Álvarez couldn’t finish when from the outside a Lieutenant opened a window and said,

“SWIFTSURE reports radar malfunction! Asks us to turn on our radar to try regain the contact!”

The crew looked at each other incredulously for a second. Then the Lieutenant said,

“New set of signals! Oscar Hotel!”

Once more the command duty officer flipped through the book.

“You should switch on your radar and keep radar watch.”

The captain slumped his head to the side towards his waiting hand and gazed out in frustration.

“Raise signals, what were they?”

“Oscar India.” said the officer.

“Oscar India.”

A pair of yellow flags scurried upwards on the halyards as the bridge crew pouted and sighed.

“Try and let them know somehow that we don’t have a radar set and have never had one…”

“Aye my Captain,” the reply was less energetic now.

A few minutes passed as the crew anxiously waited for any initiative from the lead ship. The weather helped the situation in no way whatsoever. The crew of SWIFTSURE was surely very busy trying to bring their electric eye back online to see where the approaching menace was now.

Five minutes became fifteen and Álvarez’s patience ran thinner. He reached for the voice tube.

“Gunnery officer, anything from up there?” he asked.

“Negative, my Captain, the weather subsides slowly but we see nothing but whiteness.” the reply came, calm and collected.

As fifteen became thirty, Álvarez stood up from his chair and put on his overcoat. He stepped outside and took to binoculars on the bridge. The infinite whiteness, now brighter thanks to the timid sun to the south, refused to yield. Álvarez’s thoughts momentarily returned to that promised empanada, likely unbaked, perhaps unfolded and definitely late for lunchtime given the situation. A lieutenant looked forwards and alerted Álvarez.

“Captain! New signals from SWIFTSURE!” he yelped.

But Álvarez sighted in the fog what the message was about. He heard a shout from above.

“Ship sighted to starboard! Large vessel! Heading towards our position!” was said.

An immense grey figure revealed itself as it sliced through the whiteness like the sword of a titanic champion. Álvarez took to the binoculars again and counted, one, two, three barrels per gun turret. One, two gun turrets. Pyramidal tower structure. Nelson and Rodney were in the Mediterranean now. He scrambled for the voice tube.

“Gunnery officer! Engage the ship to starboard!” he commanded.

“Aye my Captain! All guns follow director! Load armour piercing!”

By now all the officers were outside the charthouse along the bridge. They looked at the monumental war engine approaching them as they fixed their own hats, gloves and coats to keep the icy wind at bay. They could all see now through binoculars as the opponent’s guns were raised.

From the voice tube, a familiar voice snapped, “Ready to fire!”

“Full salvoes, all batteries, fire at will!”

The insidious crack was followed by the sharp shock, which was followed by the deafening roar as cordite ignited in all barrels in quick succession. Sprouts of flame surrounded Álvarez, then smoke billowed and streaked past him with the wind. SWIFTSURE had opened up as well, and her six inch guns produced one quick crack after another, revealing the proficiency of her gunners. COCHRANE’s four point seven inch guns didn’t lag far behind, the casemate moounted barrels ripping shots rapidly one after another from below Álvarez’s sight. Large splashes bursted in between them and the grey figure, the first salvo had been a bit short.

The turreted seven point five inchers announced their second salvo with a mighty roar. Their smoke harmlessly made its way aftwards without obscuring the bridge, allowing the Captain to notice SWIFTSURE had fired her sixth salvo. As the four point sevens kept their improvised crackling, the barrels fell out of timing, revealing the skill and determination of each individual gun crew in producing maximum sustained fire. One barrel would fire and then all others would follow as best they could, producing a disordered staccato of eight shots each time. Álvarez waited for a mightier roar though, the ten inch main armament should be reloaded any moment now. The grey raider would fire first though. In an instant, a flash and the whip of supersonic lightning cracked next to the bridge crew. A loud vertiginous whine and a crash. The deep bass whine of armour plate bending to deflect a shell. Turret X had took one on the roof but it had bounced. Another had hit the aft funnel and scattered debris over the boat farm behind it, stay lines wriggling about like wounded snakes. None had detonated.

COCHRANE replied in kind, all four ten inch barrels producing their thunderous roar with but an infinitely brief buildup of anticipation as the cordite erupted in fury. Flame and smoke billowed from the barrels, partially blinding the crew on the bridge. Two splashes were spotted, two hits implied by the briefest reports on the enemy figure. No detonations were to be perceived.

Álvarez turned to the voice tube and clamored upstairs, “Great shot! Keep those good hits coming!”

“Aye my Captain! With pleasure my captain!” came the reply.

By now the grey menace had come closer and her features were apparent. A bridge surrounded by wide structure gave way to a thin tower of medium height, crowned by an immense director with stereoscopic arms spread like the Cristo Redentor. It stared directly at Álvarez, a bringer of damnation fixated on his heart, ready to take the soul of his ship into the abyss. The seven point fives defied the menace once more, three splashes surrounding the enemy hull, a fourth embedding itself on the wide structure behind the turrets. A pop and a spread of debris reported a successful hit.

SWIFTSURE had fired her ninth salvo and was reporting several hits on the enemy’s starboard side when Álvarez sighted the grey ship’s X turret, her barrels poking out pointing at SWIFTSURE. All three opened up and immediately smoke and debris were produced from the formation’s lead ship. Two splashes far to the left revealed one shell had hit. SWIFTSURE’s next salvo produced only nine shots. The Captain was taking in this realization when the grey leviathan attacked with a new set of weapons. Her starboard secondary turrets had clear arcs now and opened up on COCHRANE with a burst of shell. Four of them produced splashes in front of Álvarez, spreading icy droplets on the bridge and her occupants, but a fifth one landed right on the boat deck and turned the Captain’s steam launch into matchwood. Splinters flew about and forced the searchlight crews to duck for cover.

Álvarez frowned, it was difficult to build up steam on her and was hopelessly obsolete by now. The navy had preferred to spend money on other upgrades instead of buying new motor launches, but it had an undeniably victorian charm to her that caught the eye of seamen and townsfolk alike wherever it puttered into. Hardly important, the Captain thought. Something like this should not distract him. He had barely regained his temper when the enemy’s A and B turrets roared once more in his direction. He felt the deck under him briefly vanish, the whole ship had rocked with extreme violence and he scrambled to grab the railing to steady himself. Water fell on the bridge from an immense splash in front of them, disorienting him for a few more seconds. He then looked around to spot any signs of damage and saw the large tear on the upper deck between the secondary turrets. Steel had curled up and both starboard anti-air guns’ mounts had bent. The two casemate guns nested there between main and upper deck were evidently out of action. And the men crewing them maimed or killed. The large launch and one of the whalers had been thrown out of their place and been destroyed as well.

“Get down there and make sure any fires don’t spread, then get me a damage report.” the Captain beckoned to a junior officer, who saluted and scurried down as quickly as his thick trappings allowed him.

Another salvo from the four point sevens was replied by one from the enemy’s secondary battery. His shells fell around the ship or were defeated by the COCHRANE’s armour belt this time. The opponent showed no pause from the various small and intermediate caliber hits on his structure, and the next salvo from COCHRANE’s ten inchers, accurate as it was, presented little improvement. His armour was perhaps too strong, thought the Captain. His X turret fired once more and this time no splashes appeared in the water. Instead, SWIFTSURE threw an arc of debris from her upperworks as she bore the full brunt of the enemy’s firepower. Her six inch guns stopped for a second as the ship seemed to faintly veer off to port. To Álvarez’s relief, the guns opened up again, all three remaining turrets still firing in anger, but there was something wrong with the cruiser.

“Captain, new signals from SWIFTSURE!”

His sight moved to the aft superstructure where flags were being raised and a signal lamp flashed furiously.

“Bridge destroyed. Steering unresponsive. Aft conn attempting to regain control.” The junior lieutenant looked back at his commander, wide eyed and paled.

The Captain’s brow and lips curled, his gaze on the lead ship. He then looked at their mortal enemy for a moment, then turned around and clamored.

“Tell the stokers to begin forced draught and give their all! Rev the engines to one sixty! Alert the gun crews to ready the port battery and man the three inch guns! Helm! Hard to starboard on my mark! I want everyone to give their all!”

“Aye my Captain, glady my captain!” roared the crew in unison.

For fuck’s sake if we only had torpedoes still!, he thought uselessly. The tubes had been welded shut and the ancient compressed air torpedoes landed on the ship’s last big refit. He then looked at the determined smile of the helmsman, steady at his post. He glimpsed at the wheel and remembered the words emblazoned there on his ship and every ship in the navy. VENCER O MORIR. Prat’s legacy was of daring but also of death. There is no return in defeat for a ship of the Armada.

The junior officer had returned from the destroyed casemates and reported, “My Captain, five dead, twenty injured, two four point seven guns and two anti-air guns out of commission. The crew are patching up the minor injuries and they say they’ll be back on the fight immediately!”

“Thank you,” said the captain, “get those brave men on the port side and ready up the guns. All starboard gun crews are to help on the port side as soon as the ship turns.”

“Aye my Captain!” the lieutenant replied, then hurried back to where he came from.

The seven point fives opened once more as Álvarez turned to face his enemy. He wanted to get one more salvo from the ten inchers before turning. Hopefully a lucky shot would give them pause.

Another salvo from the enemy’s lighter guns ripped through the COCHRANE. A shell hit the secondary director above the bridge and showered down splinters. The crew ducked and hollered. The Captain was sheltered by the open conn above, but he still instinctively ducked. Another shell holed the bow and sent an anchor down to the sea, stopped as its chain tightened, then popped out of the rests of the chains one by one before immersing on the water. Álvarez stood up and peered out to the platform above. The director was gone, and with it three men. Moans of pain told him the crew on the conn above him were injured too. He spoke to the voice tube to the main gun director.

“How are you up there, any damage?”

“Negative, my Captain,” replied the gunnery officer, “Main director still operational.”

The command duty officer faced Álvarez and paused, then he said, “My Captain, I know you dislike the conning tower but perhaps its time for us to move there and be protected fro-…”

His plea was interrupted by the enemy’s main battery. The crew ducked again as fire and splinters raised from the lower deck in front of them. The gigantic main rangefinder flew up and Álvarez could see one of its eyes peer above his railing, then fall down again. He stood up and saw that the conning tower and the platform above it was gone, a large caliber shell had ripped it from its foundations. The command duty officer stared in shock, then composed himself and stood firm.

Another officer shouted, “Aft wing secondary turret out of action! Its on fire!”

Álvarez walked aftwards on the platform and saw a turret with its barrels mismatched in elevation, smoke pouring out from its sighting hoods. He did not think of the dead men inside and instead braced himself for his maneuver, the port side’s firepower was intact and would soon deliver. He just needed the main guns to fire once more.

An imperceptible snap and the roar of thunder came as the ten inchers spit in ire once more. This time one shell splashed into the water and three found their mark. Two sunk themselves into the enemy’s A barbette without further report, but a third slammed right into the enemy’s fore tower, cutting it in half as the weight of the main director pulled its platform collapsing down. Cheers erupted from the crew as the titan with the spread arms splashed down into the water, rendering their fore guns aimless. Álvarez snapped out of his optimistic stupor and faced the helmsman gravely.

“Now!” he snapped, “Turn to starboard now!”

The crewman reacted quickly and turned the ship’s wheel vigorously. The metal beast rolled and heaved and lazily obeyed the command. Gradually, the bow left SWIFTSURE’s figure behind and made its way towards the enemy. The main gun turrets had begun turning to port as soon as they felt the turn building up. Crew raced on deck to prepare the port guns for action as the secondary turrets aimed forward in anticipation. Álvarez stared at his foe anticipating a reaction. The enemy kept steady course and fired another secondary gun salvo that missed towards the bow, splashing harmlessly. The two enormous turrets that had faced him remained still. He walked to the port side of the platform and his retinue followed. The guns found themselves all bearing on the enemy as they waited for their crew to finish loading. COCHRANE had almost finished her turn into the enemy when Álvarez saw its shadowy grey silhouette jolt, as if out of its stupor. B turret begun racing to point towards COCHRANE as the ship lazily turned to port to attempt to get a shot once more. The portside secondary turrets also sprung into action, late, as if orders had only now reached them. A turret remained motionless, however, Álvarez presumed one of the shells had jammed its base ring. He hoped for that to be true in any case.

As the large ten inchers steadied into position finally, the gunnery officer reported optimistically from above, “All guns ready to fire!”

“At will,” commanded the Captain, and in unison COCHRANE’s port side lit up brighter than the sunlight that bathed it through the mist. Every single gun opened up at once as if mentally linked to the gunnery officer’s brain. The mortal enemy’s port flank lit up from the hits and near misses as shell bounced, broke up or bursted succesfully among the thin sheet steel and the thick armour belt.

At this range, Álvarez thought, even modern krupp cemented will have a hard time resisting.

The splashes of the few guns that missed subsided and revealed gaping holes and incipient fires all over the grey ship. COCHRANE’s three inch anti aircraft guns took the baton of persistence as they fired once again, and again, their crews energetically loading their ready rounds as quickly as they could. The enemy stood still as in shock, but soon two secondary turrets began turning once more and the plethora of anti-aircraft guns on the enemy’s deck, or those that were still intact, began to reply in anger. Tracer fire became mutual as COCHRANE’s 20mm Oerlikons came into range as well, and raked the enemy’s gun tubs mercilessly, attempting to silence them. The four point sevens picked up the slack and aimed for the enemy’s secondaries, who fired in return and hit the casemate decks who were the origin of their punishment. The two behemoths were very close now, deck crew became apparent to Álvarez as he saw men attempting to put out fires on deck. He could see the red on the enemy's fluttering battle flag. COCHRANE’s seven point fives opened up again and one of the enemy’s secondary turrets popped clean up from its base ring in a large nest of flame and smoke. The Captain would’ve cheered if he hadn’t noticed the enemy’s B turret finally catching up to his maneuver, its three barrels staring down on him. Moreover, SWIFTSURE’s fiend, turret X, had turned all the way around as well and would soon find COCHRANE’s profile. Álvarez counted the seconds mentally, almost a minute now, any moment now.

The ten inch guns showed their crews determination as they fired again on the minute. The gunnery officer presented his skill by how they hit. All four shells dug the grey leviathan’s flank right below the bow turrets. Gaping black openings revealing the entry wounds. Turret B was dead on its tracks and billowing smoke. The hats of the director crew weaved from their hands, visible to Álvarez as he looked up towards his brave men. The enemy was crippled, but not dead yet. As the lighter guns punished the deck relentlessly and silenced its guns one by one, a grave threat remained.

Turret X was now bearing on COCHRANE, its three barrels pointed in unison with the aft main director, its stereoscopic eyes leering eerily on Álvarez and his ship. He couldn’t act first, his main gun salvo was still a half minute away.

His seven point fives defied the enemy, however, a four gun salvo erupting quickly from two brightly coloured turrets. One shell sunk into the main deck and showed no bursting, two bounced on X turret’s roof and side, emitting a deafening wham as steel bent with force. The fourth shell had disappeared, crushed by the turret’s thick face armour, which neither bent nor budged. The rest of the guns attempted furiously to prevent the enemy from firing. Four point seven inch shells slammed fruitlessly into the belt and decks, three inch high explosive burst into bright yellow flashes, twenty millimeter tracer bounced without effect.

The reply was swift and brutal.

Álvarez found himself on the platform’s floor. He was deaf and blind. The ringing of tinnitus was all he could hear as he attempted to find his bearings. I’m not dead, he thought, as vision came back to him and his limbs responded once more. He picked himself up and propped over the edge to see the three smoking barrels that stared at him. He looked down to see what had happened and saw the consequences of his defiance.

Curled up and blackened, charred metal inside, strabismus evident on the gun barrels, the fore turret’s roof was gone. A damage control party attempted to get inside, not knowing there was nobody to save anymore. With his options for victory suddenly halved, Álvarez considered his next move. His aft ten inch guns would be loaded soon, but would need a direct hit to have any chance of success. His seven point fives could not penetrate the enemy’s barbette, but could they knock out the director? The hail of fire from his small guns slowed almost imperceptibly, but they had no effect on the enemy’s ability to fight. He waited for the seven point fives to fire again when he noticed to his left a faint movement. Turret A had begun turning again.

The seven point five inch guns fired once more in defiance, all aimed to the secondary gun director. Only one shell clipped the side of the aft tower, without harming its watchful head. Three others splashed behind harmlessly.

As turret X kept tracking him, Álvarez considered a new turn to port. He would rather face one turret than two. He then heard a static murmur from inside the charthouse which caused him to peer inside.

A voice called, “COCHRANE, this is HMS SWIFTSURE, radio silence has been lifted, please report your location and condition.”

Álvarez looked at his command duty officer and nodded. He could understand English but not speak it fluently enough, so he let his officer do his best instead.

“HMS SWIFTSURE, this is COCHRANE, we are currently a thousand yards to the port side of the enemy, heading south One Six Zero. We have been damaged but continue to fight.”

The Captain thanked his officer with a nod and waited for a reply.

“COCHRANE, acknowledged position, BRAMBLE and BULLDOG have begun a torpedo run, do not reverse course.”

“Understood, SWIFTSURE, we will keep heading south.” finished off the command duty officer.

Álvarez lost his gaze on the ocean as he thought, then turned inside and said,

“Course one four zero, maintain speed.”

“Yes my Captain! Gladly my Captain!” came the reply from inside.

The ship slowly turned to port then steadied again just in time for the ten inchers to fire once more. Álvarez did not flinch, for his sight was fixed on the barbette of Turret X. One shell sunk on the stern of the enemy ship and disappeared, the other one hit the barbette square on and burst without penetrating fully. As COCHRANE made her way across the enemy’s stern, Álvarez attempted to figure if Turret X had stopped tracking him or not. The secondaries threw another salvo and showered the enemy stern with splinters and splashes. When they subsided, he saw that Turret X and the aft director were not pointing in the same direction. He breathed in relief and relaxed, but felt a sharp pain on his abdomen.

“Ships sighted!” came the call from above. The bridge crew looked north and saw the two plucky Destroyers race towards the enemy. They turned north and clouds of steam left their tubes as they deployed their deadly weapons. Their four point seven inch guns hammered the enemy bravely if ineffectively.

The Captain looked back at his enemy and saw the ship hastily turn to port to avoid the attack. Now not only was Turret X not tracking him anymore, Turret B would have its arcs blinded by its own ship. He heard more gunfire in the distance and saw SWIFTSURE appear from the fog, firing from three turrets then turning north. A familiar voice was heard from inside.

“COCHRANE, HMS SWIFTSURE, escort reports enemy light forces have made contact with them and are attacking the convoy. Head north and fall in.”

Shocked, tired and in pain, Álvarez realized that either their enemy would dodge the torpedoes and disappear into the mist, or they would hit and destroy it. His job was done.

“Helmsman, set course Zero One Zero, then fall in behind SWIFTSURE.” he ordered.

“Yes my Captain, gladly my captain!” came the answer from inside.

As the raider raced south west, a burst of water from a torpedo hit could barely be seen. The crew cheered and the gunfire subsided as the grey monster, on fire, raked and punctured, slowly faded into the infinite whiteness.

Álvarez relaxed, and opened his coat. He looked down and with his shaking hands found the source of his sudden pain. A splinter had found his abdomen when the fore turret had been destroyed.

VENCER O MORIR.

He looked ahead towards SWIFTSURE and the Destroyers. They had won. He had won. But he realized the demands of Prat’s legacy were not mutually exclusive.

He fell forward and was caught by his command duty officer. His vision faded to black.



The Chilean Cruiser ALMIRANTE COCHRANE would enter Portsmouth a month later with HMS SWIFTSURE, HMS BRAMBLE and HMS BULLDOG. They would be received with honors and cheers from the local populace. The Royal Navy’s brass band performed Rule Britannia and the Chilean national anthem, and was then taught to play Brazas a Ceñir by the ship’s own band. The crew would return to Chile by steamer, as COCHRANE was found uneconomical to repair and was subsequently scrapped in 1946.

Captain Álvarez was posthumously promoted to Rear Admiral. His name’s legacy lives on as the guided missile destroyer ALMIRANTE ÁLVAREZ, together as a class with PRAT, THOMPSON and LATORRE.

_________________
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Kiwi Imperialist
Post subject: HMNHS SmythelandPosted: March 10th, 2024, 10:29 pm
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Joined: December 10th, 2014, 9:38 am
New Holland’s naval forces were in a poor state when British and Russian interests clashed in 1885. If you read The Dominion Star, a motley collection of gunboats and sloops were all that stood between New Holland and Russian conquest. It was true, to an extent. The existing fleet predated federation and was better suited to suppressing the indigenous Mātou. Prospects of invasion were so remote, however, that no serious individual gave them any thought. Charles Rowley, the premier of the day, said “the alarmist press would have you believe a Russian lay under every bed, behind every curtain, and in every chamber pot”. Behind closed doors, Rowley and his ministers did recognise a very real threat. Lone Russian cruisers plying the South Pacific could wreak havoc, disrupting lines of communication and raiding coasts.

Sir Richard Maitland, the governor general, was commissioned to report on New Holland’s seaward defences. An experienced military engineer, Maitland had completed similar work in the United Kingdom 25 years earlier. He recommended investment in coastal artillery and torpedo boats, leaving more distant protection to the Royal Navy. This arrangement satisfied Rowley, who had little interest in funding cruisers, and the Colonial Office which favoured a larger imperial fleet instead of independent navies. Unfortunately, Maitland also identified an outstanding problem.

The New Holland Squadron of the Royal Navy was impotent. It was a dumping ground for old corvettes and third-rate cruisers. Maitland did not believe it could stand against modern Russian cruisers like Vladimir Monomakh or Dmitrii Donskoi, commerce raiders stationed in the Far East. He suggested that a first class cruiser should be assigned to the Squadron. A ship of the Nelson or Imperieusee class would provide an anvil against which New Holland’s local naval forces and the less capable cruisers of the Squadron could strike Russian raiders. For their part, the Admiralty was not oblivious to the problem. Before the end of the year, Rear Admiral George Tryon arrived the first class cruiser Nelson.

Unfortunately, fractures soon emerged between the Admiralty, the Colonial Office, and New Holland’s government. The Admiralty had little interest in committing ships to distant stations when self-governing colonies in the area could afford their own defence. To this end, Tryon was instructed to negotiate the development of an independent cruiser force controlled and maintained by New Holland. Of course, he soon ran afoul of Rowley who objected to the expense of such a venture.

The New Holland Squadron became a key issue at the 1887 Colonial Conference. Alden Crabtree, New Holland’s senior representative, argued vehemently that Britain had an imperial responsibility to protect its empire and reiterated that New Holland should only contribute to local defence at sea. To Crabtree’s dismay, the Colonial Office was now calling upon New Holland to partially fund the Royal Navy’s presence in the South Pacific. The contribution demanded was sizeable.

Telegrams flashed back and forth between Britain and New Holland. Rowley instructed Crabtree to reopen discussions with the Admiralty. If the fledgling dominion was forced to pay for a cruiser flotilla, it should be under New Holland’s control. The Admiralty, excluded from the conference by the Colonial Office, was eager to oblige. Crabtree returned to the conference with a plan to establish a nascent force of two Archer class torpedo cruisers and an armoured cruiser to replace Nelson. The Colonial Office, though sceptical, was forced to acknowledge that the plan solved its funding concerns. It is in this context that Smytheland was born.

[ img ]

Built by Armstrong Mitchell between 1888 and 1891, Smytheland was the armoured cruiser meant to replace Nelson in New Holland waters. In terms of size and general arrangement, it resembled Royal Navy cruisers of the period. Eight boilers provided steam to triple expansion engines, which drove two screws in turn. 18 knots (21 mph, 33 km/h) could be attained on a good day with forced draught, a little slower than the latest cruisers but comparable to the preceding generation. Protection was afforded by compound armour, which approached 12 inches (305 mm) at its thickest point - the conning tower. The belt only reached 10 inches (254 mm). Three different weapons comprised Smytheland’s gun armament. Of these, the largest was the BL 8 inch (203 mm) Mark VI gun. It was somewhat old-fashioned compared to the 9.2 inch (234 mm) types fitted to Royal Navy cruisers, but could fire faster and was lighter allowing the fitting of four instead of two. It was also similar to the BL 8 inch Mark VII already in service with New Holland’s naval forces. Reinforcing the 8 inch guns were eight 6 inch (152 mm) guns and fourteen 3-pounder (1.9 inch, 47 mm) anti-torpedo boat guns. Four 14 inch (356 mm) torpedo tubes, two on each flank, were fitted beneath the waterline.

Considered obsolete by the First World War, Smytheland did not distinguish itself in service. Various improvements were made over the years, including the 6 inch battery’s conversion to quick firing. Smytheland only fired in anger once, during the Boxer Rebellion. Had it not been for the First World War, Smytheland would have been retired around 1914 with the arrival of New Holland’s two battlecruisers. In the event, the ageing cruiser was confined to local waters for the duration. It sortied against commerce raiders twice, but failed to intercept the target on both occasions. Smytheland was quietly scrapped in 1920.


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waritem
Post subject: Re: Armoured Cruiser ChallengePosted: March 10th, 2024, 10:42 pm
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Voortrekker class armored cruisers

At the beginning of the last decade of the 19th century, growing tensions with the neighboring British colony of Cape Town, combined with the influx of foreign currency due to the discovery of the Witwatersrand gold deposit, gave the South African admiralty the need and the means to change its naval strategy. 

Since its first days of existance, the Republikeinse Vloot was a purely defensive navy, equipped mainly with coastal defense units. 
The brand new Hoë See Eskader was to be able to strick British interests in the area, mainly by attacking maritime trade. For this task, armored cruisers seemed the perfect fit. They would be supplemented by ocean-going torpedo boats. The manpower requirements were partly offset by the increase in the proportion of colored-sailors (mainly assigned to hold duties) and the recruitment of new contingents of Dutch and German mercenary sailors (a local specialty).

Until then the main provider of warships was France. The country was inclined to support an antagonist of the British crown, and, since the fall of the Third Empire, Boer republican institutions engendered a natural empathy. But since the beginning of the eightees, relations between the two colonial powers began to normalize, notably with the signing of 1882 and 1886 concentions. So the australs republics started to move to their other europeens supports, Kingdom of Netherlands and German empire.
Dispite this, ordering  their new main units directly to the actual foes of a former ally was percieved as too rude, there was still a significant amont of francophil among the political elite. Therefore ordering it from the batavian kingdom seemed to be a good compromise.

By then Koninklijke Maatschappij de Schelde was laying down the first protected cruiser of the Holland class. They offered an extended, armored, up-gunned version to fulfill the needs of boers navy. Guns were ordered from krupp and the turrets from Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino who was buiding the Kaiser Karl VI armored cruisers with similar main weaponery.

By 1898 autums , following the Fashoda Incident, work on ships has been significantly slowed down, as rumors had emerged that the order would be cancelled to reverse back to a french yard. But construction quickly resumed as the crisis was diplomaticaly solved.

A year latter, the second boer war caused a further postponement. Here again, the quick withdrawal of the British made it possible to resume quickly.

The first unit, christened Gerrit Maritz,was commissioned in by november 1900. the Piet Retief six month later. Together they composed the Voortrekkers class.
Ironically one of the first overseas journey of the ships was the 1902 king Edward VII Coronation Review,in Spithead. On the eve of the review, the english monarch had an audience aboard the royal yacht with a delegation of three Boer commanders; Louis Botha, Christiaan de Wet and Koos de la Rey, in an attempt to normalise relations with the United South African Republics.

[ img ]

Displacement:
6,366 ts mean, 7,064  ts full load
Dimensions:
Length 119 m, Beam 17,030m, Draught 5,80m mean, 6,40m full load
Machinery:
2-shaft Vertical Triple Expansion, 7 cylindrical boilers, 8.500 ihp
Performance:
Speed 23 kts maximum, range 4.000 nm at 10 knots
Armour:
Nickel steel. Belt 203mm; Ship ends 170mm; Turrets 200mm max; casemates 80mm; deck 60mm maximum, CT 200mm all-round
Armament:
2x1 240mm/40 Krupp BL, 8x1 150mm/35 Krupp BL, 16x1 47mm/44 Skoda QF, 2x1 47mm/33 Hotchkiss revolver, 2x 450mm Torpedo tube (fore and aft , above water)
Crew
446

To know more about the boer armored cruisers follow the link: viewtopic.php?f=14&t=9840&p=210901#p210901

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Soode
Post subject: Re: Armoured Cruiser ChallengePosted: March 10th, 2024, 11:39 pm
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Tong Ahn-class cruisers

[ img ]

Specifications:
Displacement: 5,903 tonnes (full)
Length: 105.4 m overall
Beam: 15.5 m
Draught: 7.10 m (full)
Powerplant: Eight coal-fired boilers
Propulsion: Two vertical triple-expansion steam engines, two shafts
Speed: 18.3 knots
Range: 4,400 nautical miles at 10 knots
Complement: 402 officers and men
Armament (1898):
  • 8 x 1 QF 6-inch Mark I
  • 10 x 1 QF 4.7-inch Mark I
  • 10 x 1 QF 6-pounder Hotchkiss
  • 6 x 37mm, 5-barrel Hotchkiss revolving cannon
  • 4x1 450mm submerged torpedo tube
Armour:
  • Belt and casemate: 6 inches
  • Conning tower: 6 inches
  • Deck: 25mm ends, 38mm over center

Overview:
The Tong Ahn class was a pair of armored cruisers procured by Menghe's Namyang Government in the 1890s. They were built in Gothia and fitted out in Anglia and Lechernt, carrying mainly Anglian guns. Tong Ahn and her sister ship Tong Mong were built in response to the State of Sinyi's naval modernization program, and featured a flexible main armament of eight 6-inch and ten 4.7-inch guns. They saw extensive service in the closing campaigns of Menghe's Three States Period, with Tong Mong sunk by a torpedo. In 1902, Tong Ahn bombarded coastal targets in the Uzeri Sultanate, and in the 1910s she was converted to a troop transport to support Allied operations in Qusayn. She was sold for scrap in 1920.

Design and description:
The two ships of the Tong Ahn class were built for coastal combat against Sinyi naval forces in the area off the coast of what is now Unsan Province, a rugged region dotted with islands and coves. Accordingly, they were small vessels, with limited range and seakeeping. Powered by eight coal-fired boilers driving two triple-expansion steam engines, they were reportedly able to exceed 18 knots in service, modest compared to contemporary cruisers in many of the most modern navies but adequate for their role. Because of their short range on coal, both ships were built with functioning sail rigs, to provide auxiliary power on long ocean voyages. These sails--two square sails and a spanker--were used on their delivery voyages across the Meridian Ocean. At some point before the start of the 1898 naval campaign, both ships had their sails removed and put into storage, and there is no record that they were ever reinstalled.

The Tong Ahn and Tong Mong were armed with a mix of 6-inch and 4.7-inch quick-firing guns, with no high-caliber guns. They were influenced by the theory, popular among some naval thinkers of the time, that a ship with many medium-caliber weapons would be able to overwhelm a ship with a few high-caliber guns. Various 10-inch and 12-inch guns of the 1890s could take up to five minutes to reload, and sometimes much longer, while the 4.7-inch QF Mark I could attain a rate of fire of 6-7 rounds per minute. Even against an opponent with heavy belt and deck armor, the 6- and 4.7-inch barrage would cause extensive damage to the upperworks, setting fires and damaging small gun mounts and rangefinders. This, in turn, would blind the enemy vessel and deplete or suppress her crew, opening the way for follow-up attacks by torpedo boats or the cruiser's own submerged torpedo tubes. In the 1880s, the State of Sinyi had few large warships and still relied mainly on torpedo boats, sailing vessels, and ironclad monitors, adding to the rationale for a cruiser with more medium-caliber weapons.

Anticipating a similar threat of light- and medium-caliber gunfire, Namyang naval staff requested that all 6-inch guns be placed in an enclosed casemate with 6-inch side armor. All 4.7-inch guns were installed in deck mounts with 3-inch-thick gun shields. The tertiary guns, ten 57mm quick-firing Hotchkiss cannons, were all unarmored.

An interesting feature of the Tong Ahn class, shared with some other Namyang vessels of the period, were the two cylindrical "turrets" housing 37mm Hotckhiss rotary cannons. These were not in fact proper turrets, but instead, rotating gunhouses with a pintle mount firing through a large slot-like opening. Powered by steam pressure, but with hand cranks for backup, the gunhouse could traverse to point in the general direction of a target, from which the gunner would aim the cannon manually over a roughly 60-degree arc. The rotating gunhouses were of a "through-deck" type, with the turret crew standing in a hole cut through the deck, and the gunhouse sitting on a ring bolted to the deck around them. The turret crew, consisting of a gunner, a loader, and a director, stand on a non-rotating platform attached to the deck and bulkheads below them, meaning they must shuffle around as the gunhouse turns. These turrets were effective at engaging small ramming or boarding craft, but lacked the range and hitting power to deal with the types of torpedo boats that were becoming common in the 1890s, and they were effectively obsolete by the 1910s.

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Imperialist
Post subject: Re: Armoured Cruiser ChallengePosted: March 11th, 2024, 2:47 am
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Royal Sienan Republic - Armored Cruiser HRSS Principessa Mariya (1908)
[ img ]
Specifications:

Displacement:
13,537 / 14,212 / 15,900 / 17,251 tons (Light/Standard/Normal/Full Load)

Dimensions:
544 / 530 ft (OA/WL) x 72 ft (Beam) x 26 ft (Draught)
165.81 / 161.54 m (OA/WL) x 21.95 m (Beam) x 7.7m (Draught)

Armament:
Main: 2xII 25.4cm L/45 + 4xI 25.4cm L/45 (Turret on Barbette)
Secondary: 14xI 15cm L/45 (Casemates)
Tertiary: 16xI 8.8cm L/45 (Casemates + Mounts)
Quaternary: 4xI 5cm L/40 + 4xI 3.7cm QF
Torpedoes: 5xI 45cm (Submerged, 1 bow, 4 amidships)

Hull Armor:
Main: 7.1" / 18 cm
Ends: 3.1" / 8 cm
Upper: 5.5" / 14 cm

Turret Armor:
Main: 9.4" / 24cm (Turret Face), 7" / 18cm (Sides), 9" / 23 cm (Barbette)
2nd: 4.5" / 11.4 cm
3rd: 2" / 5 cm

Machinery:
Speed: 3 shafts, 31,100 hp / 23,200 Kw = 22.50 kts
Range: 8,000 nm @ 10 kts

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Last edited by Imperialist on March 11th, 2024, 11:14 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Leaveittoleo
Post subject: Re: Armoured Cruiser ChallengePosted: March 11th, 2024, 3:35 am
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[ img ]

Huge thanks to Charguizard, Deskjester, Imperialist, and Armoured Man for helping guide me along.

Clase Intrépido, Unión Gótica-Sienés Crucero Acorazado laid down 1894

Displacement:
10,285 t light; 10,782 t standard; 11,965 t normal; 12,910 t full load

Dimensions: Length (overall / waterline) x beam x draught (normal/deep)
(462.60 ft / 459.32 ft) x 65.62 ft x (25.26 / 26.84 ft)
(141.00 m / 140.00 m) x 20.00 m x (7.70 / 8.18 m)

Armament:
4 - 7.87" / 200 mm 40.0 cal guns - 233.93lbs / 106.11kg shells, 125 per gun
Breech loading guns in deck and hoist mounts, 1894 Model
2 x Twin mounts on centreline, evenly spread
12 - 6.30" / 160 mm 40.0 cal guns - 119.78lbs / 54.33kg shells, 200 per gun
Quick firing guns in casemate mounts, 1894 Model
12 x Single mounts on sides, evenly spread
12 - 2.95" / 75.0 mm 40.0 cal guns - 12.35lbs / 5.60kg shells, 300 per gun
Quick firing guns in casemate mounts, 1894 Model
12 x Single mounts on sides, evenly spread
4 - 2.95" / 75.0 mm 40.0 cal guns - 12.34lbs / 5.60kg shells, 300 per gun
Quick firing guns in casemate mounts, 1894 Model
4 x Single mounts on side ends, evenly spread
Weight of broadside 2,571 lbs / 1,166 kg
Main Torpedoes
2 - 17.7" / 450 mm, 11.48 ft / 3.50 m torpedoes - 0.334 t each, 0.668 t total
submerged side tubes

Armour:
- Belts: Width (max) Length (avg) Height (avg)
Main: 6.30" / 160 mm 318.24 ft / 97.00 m 9.84 ft / 3.00 m
Ends: 3.94" / 100 mm 141.08 ft / 43.00 m 9.84 ft / 3.00 m
Upper: 5.12" / 130 mm 318.24 ft / 97.00 m 13.12 ft / 4.00 m
Main Belt covers 107 % of normal length

- Gun armour: Face (max) Other gunhouse (avg) Barbette/hoist (max)
Main: 6.30" / 160 mm 2.95" / 75 mm 0.98" / 25 mm
2nd: 5.12" / 130 mm - -
3rd: 1.97" / 50 mm - -
4th: 1.97" / 50 mm - -

- Protected deck - single deck:
For and Aft decks: 1.97" / 50 mm
Forecastle: 0.98" / 25 mm Quarter deck: 0.98" / 25 mm

- Conning towers: Forward 12.01" / 305 mm, Aft 6.30" / 160 mm

Machinery:
Coal fired boilers, complex reciprocating steam engines,
Direct drive, 2 shafts, 19,923 ihp / 14,863 Kw = 20.78 kts
Range 6,930nm at 10.00 kts
Bunker at max displacement = 2,128 tons (100% coal)

Complement:
571 - 743

Cost:
£0.988 million / $3.952 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
Armament: 426 tons, 3.6 %
- Guns: 424 tons, 3.5 %
- Weapons: 1 tons, 0.0 %
Armour: 3,083 tons, 25.8 %
- Belts: 1,937 tons, 16.2 %
- Armament: 232 tons, 1.9 %
- Armour Deck: 707 tons, 5.9 %
- Conning Towers: 206 tons, 1.7 %
Machinery: 3,435 tons, 28.7 %
Hull, fittings & equipment: 3,336 tons, 27.9 %
Fuel, ammunition & stores: 1,679 tons, 14.0 %
Miscellaneous weights: 6 tons, 0.0 %
- Hull below water: 6 tons

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
12,170 lbs / 5,520 Kg = 49.9 x 7.9 " / 200 mm shells or 5.9 torpedoes
Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.34
Metacentric height 4.4 ft / 1.4 m
Roll period: 13.1 seconds
Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 100 %
- Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.38
Seaboat quality (Average = 1.00): 2.00

Hull form characteristics:
Hull has a flush deck,
a ram bow and a cruiser stern
Block coefficient (normal/deep): 0.550 / 0.559
Length to Beam Ratio: 7.00 : 1
'Natural speed' for length: 21.43 kts
Power going to wave formation at top speed: 47 %
Trim (Max stability = 0, Max steadiness = 100): 50
Bow angle (Positive = bow angles forward): -10.00 degrees
Stern overhang: -6.56 ft / -2.00 m
Freeboard (% = length of deck as a percentage of waterline length):
Fore end, Aft end
- Forecastle: 16.00 %, 22.97 ft / 7.00 m, 19.69 ft / 6.00 m
- Forward deck: 30.00 %, 19.69 ft / 6.00 m, 19.69 ft / 6.00 m
- Aft deck: 38.00 %, 19.69 ft / 6.00 m, 19.69 ft / 6.00 m
- Quarter deck: 16.00 %, 19.69 ft / 6.00 m, 21.33 ft / 6.50 m
- Average freeboard: 20.03 ft / 6.10 m
Ship tends to be wet forward

Ship space, strength and comments:
Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 106.3 %
- Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 138.1 %
Waterplane Area: 21,034 Square feet or 1,954 Square metres
Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 105 %
Structure weight / hull surface area: 106 lbs/sq ft or 518 Kg/sq metre
Hull strength (Relative):
- Cross-sectional: 0.92
- Longitudinal: 2.16
- Overall: 1.00
Adequate machinery, storage, compartmentation space
Excellent accommodation and workspace room
Ship has slow, easy roll, a good, steady gun platform
Excellent seaboat, comfortable, can fire her guns in the heaviest weather


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TigerHunter1945
Post subject: Re: Armoured Cruiser ChallengePosted: March 11th, 2024, 11:59 am
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Joined: July 22nd, 2017, 1:29 pm
Protector of the Evil State

[ img ]


Last edited by TigerHunter1945 on March 11th, 2024, 12:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Kiwi Imperialist
Post subject: Re: Armoured Cruiser ChallengePosted: March 11th, 2024, 12:01 pm
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Joined: December 10th, 2014, 9:38 am
Polls Now Open
The submission period for the Armoured Cruiser Challenge has ended.
Please consider rating each entry here.
Options for the next challenge can be ranked here.
Both polls will remain open until Thursday 14 March, ending at 23:59 (UTC-12). Countdown Timer.


Options for the Next Challenge
Light Utility Helicopter (Soldierbucket)
1. Your submission must depict a fictional light utility helicopter. It may be configured for a specific role, such as observation or attack.
2. The empty weight of your helicopter in its basic utility configuration must not exceed 2,500 kilograms (5,512 pounds). Helicopters configured for a specific role may exceed this limit, reflecting the addition of role-specific equipment.

Portable Consumer Electronics (Gunbucket)
1. Your submission must depict a fictional electronic device manufactured for the consumer market (e.g. phones, radios, and handheld consoles).
2. The electronic device must be portable and small enough fit within a 30 centimetre (12 inch) cube.
3. In universe, the electronic device must be considered a commercial success. It should not be an obscure failure.

First Jetliner (FD Scale)
1. Your submission must depict a fictional airliner powered by jet engines only.
2. It must be the first serially produced jet-powered airliner in its country of origin.
3. The design's first flight must occur between 1945 and 1960.

Emergency Vehicle (FD Scale)
1. Your submission must depict three fictional land vehicles employed by emergency services.
2. One vehicle should be associated with a police force, another with a fire department, and the third with an emergency medical service.
3. The three vehicles should be shown in the service of a single country and contemporaneous.

Granddad's Rifle (Gunbucket, Weaponbucket, Pistolbucket)
1. Your submission must include two drawings of a fictional bolt-action service rifle.
2. The first drawing should show the bolt-action service rifle in active military service at some point between 1900 and 1950.
3. The second drawing should depict the same firearm later in life as a civilian-owned, sporterised hunting or target rifle.


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Kiwi Imperialist
Post subject: Challenge ResultsPosted: March 15th, 2024, 12:04 pm
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Joined: December 10th, 2014, 9:38 am
The polls for the Armoured Cruiser Challenge and our next challenge are now closed. Thanks to everyone who responded. In first place, with a total of 575 points, is Charguizard who created the Chilean armoured cruiser Cochrane. Congratulations to our winner! BB1987 made it to second place with their submission, the Nintoku class, which achieved 543 points. Following close behind with 539 points was B. von Teapot, who attained third place with SMS Schleswig-Holstein. Great work to both of you, and the rest of the community who participated. Others have noted a high standard across all entries this challenge.

[ img ]
[ img ]

For those interested, the Emergency Vehicle Challenge is now open.
In order of popularity, the other options were: light utility helicopter, granddad's rifle, first jetliner, and portable consumer electronics.


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Charguizard
Post subject: Re: Armoured Cruiser ChallengePosted: March 15th, 2024, 12:10 pm
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Joined: January 28th, 2017, 1:17 am
Location: Santiago Basin
Please consider that more experienced artists will receive harsher criticism and focus on lesser issues in order to cater to their skill level.

Gollevainen’s Volkam Manthrem-class
Its very good. Kind of a shock to have a really good entry 1st in line cause it sets the bar high already. Well balanced and proportioned. Now for the nitpicks. The level of detail is very high but seems inconsistent at times. Are the circles on poles on the foremast yards? Shouldn’t they have stays? The casemates on the fore military mast seem underdetailed, something ought to be done to make them stand out. Personally I would’ve added a line of shade under every step of a ladder. I’m also missing a green starboard navigation light, not sure when these come around but I saw plenty of pictures of late ACRs with them. The blue and yellow on the flag are way too saturated. And the most conspicuous thing, where’s the belt!? Wish Golly had used the month of time to do a top view but I understand life gets in the way sometimes.

Karle94’s Hawaii
Off the bat, sleek and powerful, this ship would look amazing in 3D. Very pretty. I really like the railing on the topmasts. The boarding ladder’s pretty good but could’ve avoided those double blacks somehow. The springsharp report looks like bullshit so I’ll ignore it. Every boat could use more rope around it. The green starboard side lamp is way too saturated. There’s some sort of tiedowns just above the waterline and they look very formless in all black. The 3-pdrs look way dated. The unused anchor chain opening could be shaded better to show shape. A very pretty ship with an improveable drawing. Also surprised Karle didn’t use the month left to do a top view but oh well. By the way can you imagine this with two 10” guns and a 7” terbat? As they say in them japanimations, kowai ka.

RegiaMarina1939’s San Giorgio
Regia stopped drawing for a while and it shows. A lot of artists have improved with time but this ship is a sign of being left behind. Its not irredeemable, most of the shading is fine. The waterline in full black is a relic of years bygone. The boat booms are completely featureless. Every little fitting, support or ladder rail is full black and stands out like a sore thumb. Those boats and 6-pdrs are ancient damn. The shapes of the charthouses are not great either, the stair on the fore one should have handrails all the way up. The round shields and casemates sticking from the sides should either have a supporting platform below, be flush with the side of the hull and thus have no black line in sections, or have railing on the outside since it would be a walkable area. There should be two cranes if there’s two boat farms. The yards need more stays i think. I disagree with the upper edge of the bilge keel being outlined in black. Anyways, not a terrible drawing, just not up to the competition this time. Give it like 6 more hours of improvements.

rbz88’s Horjikustsk
Seems to be a kitbash of a Garibaldi. Makes it believable. The drawing is a bit plain. The yellow on the stacks is way too saturated and bright. Looks as if they were painted in gloss chrome yellow. The wireless aerials could be made longer by extending them over the bow and stern. Overall decent if a bit dated.

VictorCharlie’s Justice
Long, sleek and menacing. The drawing’s a bit plain. Stays on every funnel, ropes on the boats, more boats at that, populating the superstructure with binoculars and saluting guns, all of these could’ve been done to make the ship feel more alive. Not sure about that 30° shading strip. The Cage masts are not super convincing, there’s a better method to depict them. Main armament should really have been 274mm. Same comment with the black line for a waterline applies. The flags are ehhh, there’s many good examples in other entries here to imitate. I’d call this a good basic drawing that could have another 5 hours of work put on it.

tbshift’s Heracles
The more you zoom in the more interesting this ship becomes, up till you get to like 400%. Love the rusty chain but it and the stowed anchor should have something holding them in place and perhaps even cast a shadow. Those bollards look ancient and we’ve gotten over that double black line it generates. The double black on the conning tower is also avoidable. The yards should have stays going up to the topmast. Right below it, the mast got cut by a white line at some point. Funnels should have stays too I think. There is a single burgundy stray pixel in the propeller! Omg! Again, the more niche the comments are the better the drawing is. Boats could use some tiedowns. The cranes look a bit small to handle the launch and chuck it all the way overboard. The blue and white on the flag are fully saturated but somehow it looks really good. Still, 3 points of saturation off and it’d look even better.

Garlicdesign’s Urgharda
This is a very good drawing of a very convincing design, updated to a high standard. Some issues are the thin streaks of 30° shading across the hull which probably don’t follow the hull very strictly, the rudder and skeg being shaded (common issue in SB). Then there’s an avoidable triple black on the compass repeaters on the bridge platform, avoidable double blacks on the main deck, and red railing in front of the boats. Another artist that posted early and perhaps could’ve churned out a top view. But hey.

Scootia23’s Pokalde
A winning entry. Having a hard time finding fault with it. The planking method could be improved I think, there’s more surrounding lines than plank. Shading on the top view seems inconsistent. Things are sometimes highlighted on the left, sometimes on the right. A few double blacks here and there like on the 2nd set of chocks from the bow. The funnels could use some stays I think. A good bow scroll or shield would make this one pop out more, and maybe more little details on the hull like hooks or lines holding the booms.

_Zustt_’s Shadeport
I think in this case the drawing is better than the design. Ship feels from the 1860s. Mind you it would still work and make a useful long range cruizer in the 1870s if perhaps a bit slow. Wonder if the funnels should’ve been retractable. Drawing wise its pretty competent. The shading on the bow is wrong and should reduce to nothing as it curves up. Smart solution for drawing the chain. The sails are great and it deserves a high place for those alone.

JCSTCap’s William E. Steinmeier
Lets get one thing out of the way. The ship has zero sheer. Nothing. And when you look at it without zoom it looks like the hull is hogging. But it isn’t. In fact the ship is otherwise extremely handsome and sleek. The long foc’sle and quarterdeck plus the built up middle give it a proper battleship look. Only nitpick I can find is that if the casemate doors protrude on one side, they should do so on the other so the other side has to be highlighted or shaded too. This should be reflected above them somehow as well. Proper good work though, contender for 1st.

Remorseful Dreamer’s Fredrickstate
Very handsome ship. Less ambitious than your average entry and that should be commended. I like most of the aesthetic choices. I wonder how she’d look inverting the blue and the grey. (I did try it, it looks better.) Maybe the masts should be taller. I really like how the conning tower looks. Can’t find huge faults. The upper edge of the bilge keel could be dark instead of black. Biggest merit is the lack of demerits. Very good.

VC's HMS Phoenix
I heard a lot of people that dislike the color scheme, and I’d have to agree. The pattern itself is good, the cheat lines are well placed, but the actual hues are very distracting. Its hard to tell what’s going on. Too bad because the rest is really really good! Love the box with signal flags, love the crane, love the bow crest, love the semaphores. Some of the colors there are too saturated. The design overall is also very british and very convincing. Everything seems in its proper place. The saluting guns are ugly and outdated. Overall pretty good.

TenienteMaurice017’s BAP Saint Margaret
Interesting and solid entry from a newcomer! Ship is handsome and well proportioned. Maybe a bit top heavy. Upper edge of the bilge keel should probably not be black. I don’t understand why the funnels have this black grid on them. The contrast of the yellow seems a bit high, its distracting. I would’ve made the edges of the casemate covers square. The shading of the hull has thin strips for the 30°, but then a 4th shade is painted on the bottom of the skeg which is just wrong. Using full black to outline the waterline is also obsolete. The plating on the freeboard is well achieved. Excellent debut in shipbucket though. Hope to see more of you.

Baron von Teapot’s Schleswig-Holstein-class
This drawing is amazing and well done and has great details and so on save for the following issues: The main gun turrets. How the fuck are the guns sitting outside the bulwark, how far out are they? A top or front sketch is urgently needed. Why is there a black line under the fore and aft casemates, shouldn’t the support become flush with the platform above? And finally there’s little moving rigging. Almost perfect, quasi-genius, aborted apotheosis.

BB1987’s Nintoku
This drawing is practically perfect. Too bad there was no time for a top view. Other members should study it to learn.

Armoured man’s CS Pancratius
This drawing is visually impressive on purpose. You can lose yourself looking at it zoomed in. A lot of stuff going on. There could be even more stuff going on! Like various boat booms, ladders, hooking points, chutes. The plating is okay but could follow the hull shape a bit better, hard to pull off at this scale. Its missing reinforcing strips along the ram. I think taller masts would’ve made the looks a bit better. I disagree with the light rails but that’s a personal choice I guess. Overall very good.

Aiseus’ Arpan Almarija
Generally a competent drawing and believable design. Lacks flair but ticks all the boxes. Could use more visible proper stairs, and ladders on the funnels. More prominent yards would’ve been good too. Taller masts perhaps. The ship is dumpy and has a lot of charm. The bow scroll is small but enough, shows up well. Then there’s the tapestry. I wish I had had time to do something cool like this. One of the highlights of this challenge.

APDAF’s Gromoboi
APDAF has improved massively this year. Still a bit to go. This ship is gigantic but it feels mostly well balanced. The tube masts are really heavy for not carrying anything above. There could be yards somewhere, since there aren’t, the wireless aerials seem to be limited to a singular element. The funnels should probably have stays. There should be some rope tying down the boats on the davits and the boat boom. Like 3 more hours spent on this drawing could really make it pop. Good show in any case.

Charguizard’s Cochrane
I tried raising the contrast on the planking at the last minute and left the colors for them on the drawing >:3
Originally I wanted to do a cruiser for the Dutch from the Monarchia group AU but didn’t want to revive that ghost. Also I forgot what the late ACRs were gonna be at that point. I also wanted to do an Über Blücher but springsharp wrestled me pretty bad against that and the setting wasn’t very convincing either. I ended up making a mini AU to place this entry. If I do the battleship companion to this design I’ll post the whole setting. This ship ended up being something of a San Giorgio built by Armstrongs. Right at the end I decided to raise the freeboard by like 2 feet without consulting springsharp at all, I think it ended up better for it. Oh, and about springsharp, it doesn’t allow you to place vitals above the waterline. Just about every ship of this era had the VTEs protruding massively up from the waterline, so much it shows on armor arrangement schemes where the protected deck is raised around them. Fuck me for trying then, all ships end up needing massive space for vitals in springsharp, even if you sim real ships. I did, I simmed a San Giorgio, the vitals spill out from the citadel. Whatever, SS is just a sanity check. Its much easier when you can just subtract weight from below the waterline to alter the hp/t of your machinery. Its more important to study real ships than to become good at SS. But you can’t become truly good at SS without studying real ships. This discipline is full of esoteric secrets privy to only those who dwell in archives and buy books in foreign languages. God bless Normal Frogman for approximating these dark secrets to the sperg masses. Wish book depository was still around. They lost me like 2 books but meh. Oh and by the way, I can tell when you don’t know how to use springsharp, it shows.

Kiwi Imperialist’s HMNHS Smytheland
This ship challenges my knowledge of the era. Everything on her looks plausible and logical but she doesn’t look like any ships I’ve drawn or studied. The smallness and humbleness gives it a lot of charm, extra points for her not being a gigantic proto-battlecruiser. She’s still a powerhouse with 8” guns and thick compound armor though. She would probably make more sense as a protected cruiser given the circumstances but this doesn’t make her less believable. The drawing is VERY good, clean and tidy. I think the funnels could use some stays and ladders but I can’t find terrible flaws. The tub for the wing 8” guns could’ve been shaded differently but it does the job. The aft boat seems to be missing a pixel to close off the stern. Overall very good.

Waritem’s Piet Retief
A clever kitbash of DP’s Noordbrabant, seems like a lot of work and is a considerable improvement over the base drawing. I would’ve done so many things different though. Black top edge of the bilge keel, shading curving up to the bow, thin 30° shading line, thick shading band on the back of the main turrets, black bottom edge of the sighting hood on the main turrets, no ropes tying up the boats. But for everything it doesn’t do well there’s plenty of stuff it does. The main turrets themselves are very interesting and nicely shaped, it has a lot of appropriate details, the rigging is well done, and of course the flags are very nice. Not my favorite but attractive and interesting.

Soode’s Tong Ahn
The other small ship in this challenge. Its a weird one on purpose and I can respect that. The drawing is very very good and any criticism is minor. I wonder if some of the rigging should’ve been lighter to not look as heavy. The funnels could’ve had ladders, the ladder on the aft and middle of the hull side could be dark grey instead of black, and there could be some holes and hook eyes on the sides of the hull if rivets are being shown. Should there be some QF guns or nordenfelts on the mast tops? Also I love the padding on the bridge, its very cool and I’ll try imitating this at some point. (Also no top view boo!)

Imperialist’s Principessa Mariya
A spectacular drawing that deserves to be studied. Some of the best funnels in the challenge. Even then there’s stuff I can talk about, the railing on the mast tops could be black. The hull sides feel a bit bare and could use more ladders, hook eyes, boat booms, exhaust holes, etc. The design is also based on a never-was and corresponds well to late KM designs. I wanted to draw a ship like this originally. Next time don’t leave everything until the last minute.

Leaveittoleo’s Intrépido
Very good entry from someone who hadn’t drawn much. Ship’s eminently believable. Some stuff that could be done differently is the superstructure should have some kind of break at some point since its very long and uninterrupted, the bridge above the charthouse could have a proper stair on the outside to access it, the conning tower could have more shading on it since its below a platform, funnels could have a ladder going up, masts should probably have yards and their stays and halyards, the spotting hoods on the gunhouses could be closed up by a dark shade on the bottom instead of black, the boats on the sides of the fore funnels could have some ropes tying them down and of course the bow has a lot of space for a big nice ornamented scroll.

TigerHunter1945
An incredible drawing with amazing depth that is let down by being finished in a hurry. I’m sure Mr. Hunter knows where all the red lines and stray pixels are by now. Something happened with the whitewash and its too green now but hey. The rest of the colors sem spot on. Why do the turrets have a dark line on the roof? I think the hull plating is achieved very well here. The cage masts are also very well done. Finally the ladders on the main turrets could be black instead of grey. Mesmerizing. TH should really get better at time management. Could still be a winner.

Many thanks to Kiwi for another great challenge and I’m glad this option got chosen and also popped off like it did. Gonna be one of the classics to remember. I’d vouch for a Protected Cruiser challenge next but we should probably shuffle eras. I also need to go back to traditional digital drawing.

ps: i won woooo

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