In Progress Let's Succeed at Ruling the Waves 2: Electric Boogaloo

[ValeVelKal]

Secretary of the Navy ValeVelKal, part 3 - January to March 1930

While Secretary Dayyalu wiped out the Russian battlefleet, the Russians still have - a lot - of submarines & raiders, causing significant losses to the allies, month after month :






This makes the Russians confident they can have a more lenient peace if only they held long enough :




Consequently, some of the old destroyers are quickly refitted for ASW work. In addition, the fleet is trying hard to get the last Russian Battlecruiser. January and February are a missed opportunity, but then in March Secretary ValeVelKal orders Admiral Baud to patrol deep in the Baltic and try to find the accursed ship ...






I certainly don't like this mission, and I can't risk the whole fleet. We are vulnerable to air attack at any time, especially now that the day is starting...


... there ! The Fokshani ! Our target !





In theory, the Fokshani is faster than the Admiral Andnjord, slightly less gunned and significantely less armored, so it should keep away from us :




Sadly for the Russians, the Fokshani only detected the Admiral Andnjord with the arrival of the day, and thus was immediately in range. While she tried to flee, a lucky hit from the Admiral Andjnord slowed it down a tiny bit...

… just enough for the Admiral Andnjord to go about 1 knot faster than her.



The pursuit starts, and it will be long.

Two hours later, the Admiral Andjnord has significantly closed the distance, allowing her to deliver more salvos than just those from the front guns. The end is near...


… ah crap !


The Admiral Andnjord is hit by a torpedo... which damages the rudder, forcing the ship to turn and circle and allowing the Fokshani to grab some more distance :



As the rudder issue is solved, the pursuit seems to restart from the situation a couple hours ago ...



But the Fokshani does not keep its speed for much longer, it slows down significantely ...



Then stops fully... It had received, by the Confederate count, 37 hits !




Ah AH ! Victo...



...ry ?

It is time for the Admiral Andnjord to put some distance between her and the Russian coastline, she is still going steady but less so and is out of ammo as well (though the Russians have nothing any more that secondaries could not handle)



But a ship that takes water will never go faster than planes, and ...

Give me the helm ! If we sink, I want to be the one who did not save the ship !


8 Be-25 Torpedo Bombers of planes assailed the Confederates, and only 2 were shot down by the Admiral Andnjord guns...

But Admiral Baud knew his ship :​

… 4 torpedoes were avoided, one after the other...

I told you ! I TOLD YOU ! With me at the helm, no torpedo can hit that ship !



Oh God ! Captain Milgram, take the helm, I will go down to assess the damage...


​

… OH GOD WHAT ARE YOU DOING CAN'T YOU AVOID THIS TORPEDO...

​

... so are we sinking ?

Turns out it wasn't not, and the Admiral Andnjord managed to make it back limping to Karlskrona... It would be out of commission (and interned anyway) for the rest of the war... but this mattered little, as the Russians had no more heavy ships on the sea.





Meanwhile in Richmond :

Secretary, we found out that not only the airplanes could behave like destroyers, but they could also behave like cruisers

What-what you mean ?

They can drop shells on the enemy ! Like cruisers. Smaller shells… We decided to call these…. Heavy Bombers !

Why-why heavy ? If like ships… there b-bomber bigger. L-like ba-battleship. Big-big and expensive ! Call-call it me-medium b-bomber ! Arr-ar. But we n-not have it. Be-because we s-smart !

Medium bomber it is, sir !

De-design with w-windown in-in nose. S-tupid. Fra-fragile. Idiot design. On-only idiot have this. OK for t-theory, but no-no t-touristy floor-seeing planes in my fl-fleet. Who can h-have th-think this s-smart ?

​

 

[Dayyālu]

Yes, we're reaching that wonderful era when operating near the coastline by day without a serious storm of AA fire is suicidal even against defeated enemies.

Some people at the NWS forums are screaming about it, but honestly.... it's in the nature of the simulation and the devs gave us the option of slowing down Air tech for a reason!

 

[Andnjord]

If I may dare a suggestion, at their next refit let the two BCs be redesignated as BBs. This way they won't get drawn into Cruiser battles automatically where they'll be more often than not blown up by more modern counterparts but will join the relative safety of the battle line during fleet battles.

ÉDIT: Christ that was a close call for the Admiral Andnjord. But she's starting to rack up some serious battle stars

 

[ValeVelKal]

Yes, we're reaching that wonderful era when operating near the coastline by day without a serious storm of AA fire is suicidal even against defeated enemies.

Some people at the NWS forums are screaming about it, but honestly.... it's in the nature of the simulation and the devs gave us the option of slowing down Air tech for a reason!

I feel like the 1930 is bit early to reach that era through. Yes, Billy Mitchell proved it could sink a battleship, but not in war conditions.

Andnjord : You'll be happy

 

[ValeVelKal]

Secretary of the Navy ValeVelKal, part 4 - April to December 1930

The sinking of the Fokshani had brought considerable prestige to the new Secretary, and more critically it had wiped out the last significant Russian naval asset :




But with 59 more submarines building, the Russian admiralty had clearly made the choice of going to the bitter end. The submarine and raiding warfare would not slow down - quite the opposite, it would accelerate :





No ship, whether the most powerful battleship nor the most innocent neutral - would be safe from the Russian rage :




The submarines also laid a trap with their submarines, presenting nice target for the allies to attack… heavily escorted by invisible submarines.

Happily enough for the Confederates, the English took the bait first :



The BB Caesar was an old ship from 1915, as the English were savyy enough not to allocate their best ships to a raider and submarine war.

The raider's life was dangerous though !



By June, the Confederate House, shocked by the Russian ruthless warfare, increased the budget :



Research progressed, too :

W-Why we still re-research g-guns ? Obsolete !




The government was pushing for action against the Russian submarines, so the Secretary ValeVelkal launched a raid with the English against the Russian naval installations. The raid was succesful due to the total lack of Russian defense, but in reality useless except to placate the politicians :



The real focus of the Secretary was in developing the elements of its new AirSea battle :

- New, better performing anti-air gun



- A change in doctrine, with a focus on HE ammunition for secondaries :



- A total refit of the two State Rights class of Heavy Cruisers, turned into an anti-air platform :



- New torpedoes :



The Russians would not relent, and still believe it could get a generous peace :






Another Confederate raid to claim something - anything was done - against the raider situation saw more Russian ships sunk - though the strategical situation was unchanged.



In November, an interesting incident happened : the CVL Selma intercepted a Russian raider :



...but it was too late in the day to use the airforce to destroy the Russian ship :



Consequentely, the light carrier used its deck guns to neutralize the raider. A first attack had to be interrupted when the wooden deck caught fire :



A second attack was more decisive :





Nevertheless, the light carrier was significantly damaged.

This small event caused considerable turmoil in all the world navy … should everyone bring back the 8-inch guns that we had removed from the carriers ?

Finally, in December, the Russians threw the towel, with material reparations :



There was nothing the Confederates wanted in Russia [we did not get enough points actually], and Britain and France were surprisingly lenient. Maybe it was the impact of the Russian submarine warfare, maybe it was because Russia would be needed tomorrow against the Germans. The terms were so lenient that the Kaiser in Germany quitted in shock. He would be back a few days later - the Germans were used to it at this point.

Now it was time to prepare for the peace.

 

[Andnjord]

There was nothing the Confederates wanted in Russia [we did not get enough points actually], and Britain and France were surprisingly lenient. Maybe it was the impact of the Russian submarine warfare, maybe it was because Russia would be needed tomorrow against the Germans.

Did you even get the option of grabbing stuff in the Pacific Ocean? I don't know if it's a bug in our version or if it's a change in the rules of the base game, but when playing our save I haven't been able, ever, to demand far-off possession during peace treaties.

 

[ValeVelKal]

There was nothing the Confederates wanted in Russia [we did not get enough points actually], and Britain and France were surprisingly lenient. Maybe it was the impact of the Russian submarine warfare, maybe it was because Russia would be needed tomorrow against the Germans.

Did you even get the option of grabbing stuff in the Pacific Ocean? I don't know if it's a bug in our version or if it's a change in the rules of the base game, but when playing our save I haven't been able, ever, to demand far-off possession during peace treaties.

Nope, it proposed Estonia and Finland only, and theywere too expensive.

 

[baud]

I told you ! I TOLD YOU ! With me at the helm, no torpedo can hit that ship !

​

:D

 

[ValeVelKal]

I have a weird problem. I would like to redo some ships as CV/CVL but the "picture'" of the ship does not update with a deck. Did any of you found a way ?

 

[Andnjord]

I have a weird problem. I would like to redo some ships as CV/CVL but the "picture'" of the ship does not update with a deck. Did any of you found a way ?

There's no automatic way to do it. Just draw it yourself.

 

[ValeVelKal]

Secretary of the Navy ValeVelKal, part 4 - January to April 1931

After the peace with Russia, the "dividends of peace" were a budgetary disaster for the Confederate Navy : 1/3 of the budget was removed, putting it clearly in the red - with the Gettysburg clearly contributing.



The Navy was particularly large at this point, and needed optimisation :

W-Why is State Rights-class still there. Must refit !


As I told you several times, we got used to the fact that you sign with only a cross. We can live with that. But when you do, please do NOT sign in the middle of the blueprint.

[yeah, it looks like I forget to actually launch the refit and just designed it- I would launch them for real in April]

To reduce the cost, some drastic action were taken :

- The Traveller-class had had a long an glorious history, but it was time for them to go, as they could not be converted to anything :



The Louisiana would serve one last time though :








- Back to the budget, the number of active aircraft was halved. Each aircraft carrier would only carry 2 wings rather than 4.

- The 2 Stonewall Jackson class BB were mothballed. There was a chance they could still play a role, but with a speed of 21 they were not really the pride of the fleet.

- The 2 Jefferson Davis were also put in reserve, in preparation of their conversion to aircraft-carrier

- All ships except the Light Cruisers and a few destroyers were brought back to the Caribbean.

This reduce the deficit from -4M a month to - 1M, fairly sustainable.


On a different topic, something had to be done with the destroyers. of which we had no less than 7 very, very different classes :
- 13 500-tons Duncan Ingraham-class from 1899 (refitted in 1920), with 1 torpedo launcher and 2 pathetic 2-inch,
- 12 600-tons Rat Pack-class from 1905 (refitted as a minelayer in 1920, refitted with ASW equipment in 1930 though they don't combine well) with TWO torpedo launchers but ONE weak 3-inch
They are also our only ships with cramped accomodation.
- 24 500-tons Rat Pack II-class from 1918, faster than the earlier destroyers (30 vs 28), four torpedo-launchers, two 4-inch
- 7 700-tons Minelayer-class from 1920, very much lack the Rat Pack II except with long range, 8 mines, and smaller guns (two 3-inch)
- 2 1500-tons Njord Pack-class from 1921, much faster (34), 8 torpedo-launchers and three 5-inch. The fist class that looks like less like a motor-boat and more like a real warship
- 6 2000-tons Greenhow-class from 1927, basically a faster (35) Njord Pack with more guns (five 5-inch)
- 2 2000-tons Greenhow II-class from 1929, with no real difference from the Greenhow

In addition, there are plenty of difference due to the age itself of the ships, for instance I don't suppose the Duncan Ingraham-class has double-bottom.


The names of the individual ships are all over the place with no consistancy (except for my Minelayer-class !), making distinguishing them in battle a tad complicated - in particular I want to know whether my destroyers can actually escort my capital ship, or are just in the general area to die.​

To make things easier, I renamed all the ships according to a code :
"DD" or "ML [Minelayer"], then the year of the ship, then either a numerical value, or a real name for larger ships. Hopefully, next time I ll know whether my carriers are well-escorted, or not.


With all these changes, the fleet looked like this :



With all those accounting decisions taken, we could go back to the world of realpolitiks and start to poke the Northern Snake a bit :



Very interesting developments in Japan, too :



And a nice tech that will probably trigger a new wave of refit :




In April, a new Confederate aircraft carrier was joining the fleet ...



... it was time to convert the two Battlecruisers we had left into something more in line with the mandate given to us by our President :




​

 

[Andnjord]

With all the CVL that we have and dedicated CVs right around the corner, do we really need two more 58 capacity conversions rather than two 16'' gunned ships?

 

[ValeVelKal]

With all the CVL that we have and dedicated CVs right around the corner, do we really need two more 58 capacity conversions rather than two 16'' gunned ships?

2x 58 planes capacity for 2x10 000 rather than 2 BC I would not feel safe using except in a battle line ?

Yes !

 

[ValeVelKal]

Also - question. Who is next to play, so I can, well, prepare ?

 

[Andnjord]

Also - question. Who is next to play, so I can, well, prepare ?

Should be Comte and oscar in that order. If they can't then it would be me.

 

[Andnjord]

With all the CVL that we have and dedicated CVs right around the corner, do we really need two more 58 capacity conversions rather than two 16'' gunned ships?

2x 58 planes capacity for 2x10 000 rather than 2 BC I would not feel safe using except in a battle line ?

Yes !

Promise last time I'll argue for the big guns.

If it's them straying off the battle line you're worrying, then a 'paint job' refit will give you the option to redesignate them as BB, this way they will always stay safe in the battle-line.

 

[ValeVelKal]

With all the CVL that we have and dedicated CVs right around the corner, do we really need two more 58 capacity conversions rather than two 16'' gunned ships?

2x 58 planes capacity for 2x10 000 rather than 2 BC I would not feel safe using except in a battle line ?

Yes !

Promise last time I'll argue for the big guns.

If it's them straying off the battle line you're worrying, then a 'paint job' refit will give you the option to redesignate them as BB, this way they will always stay safe in the battle-line.

My plan was to make "pocket" short-ranged BB of around 30 000 tons with all forward armements specifically against the Americans, but I wanted to assess a bit what they had before this. IIRC, they have a lot of 15 inch and 14 inch, which would go through the BC but not through the BB. And of course, planes planes planes planes.
I am happy with having 116 more planes to bring to the battle line for cheap :p

 

[Andnjord]

Meanwhile in Elysium

Spoiler

...Andnjord...wake up...this was not the end for your you...there is still a way out...You know how to do this, the Grimoire has taught you how...Now focus...

..Do you feel this person's presence? Yes, this person is of your family...of your blood...Taking possession of this person's soul will be easy...you've done it before and it was more difficult....blood of your blood is easy...

...Now focus more...do you see this light in the ship?...It is the captain's light...the light of its soul...ideally placed to rise back up the rank and let you take back power...This bright burning light is the soul you want...the soul you need...It is strong and wilful...as blood of your blood would be...

...Now recite the words...the words that will be forever etched in your mind...DO IT, NOW!

HOPW ROEWUR NE ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

************************************

...Yes...perfect...now gather your strength...wake up and look around you...This body feels strange to you...that is normal, you're not used to it...That blood on the sheets? That is normal, you will grow used to it....

...There is a mirror on your left...look into it now...and GAZE UPON YOUR NEW EARTHLY SHAPE

!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!
Captain Andjord, is everything alright? Your presence is required on the deck.

DAAAAMN YOU RAVEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

...MUHUHUHUHUHUHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH

 

[ValeVelKal]

Secretary of the Navy ValeVelKal, part 5 - March 1931 to December 1931

The rest of year 1931 was fairly calm, with more research on various topics… or technology directly bought from the Brits.






… though the air force had some interesting development...



This was a short respite, before an exciting 1932...

 

[ValeVelKal]

Sorry for the short update, I am only in February 1932 it turns out 1932 is going to be interesting, so I wanted to evacuate the rest of 1931 quickly.

Andnjord I see what you did, and that's great - but the hyperlinks don't work.

 

[Andnjord]

Andnjord I see what you did, and that's great - but the hyperlinks don't work.

Thanks, fixed them now.

 

[ValeVelKal]

Secretary of the Navy ValeVelKal, part 6 - January 1932

Secretary - this war against Russia got me thinking…

** snort **


The future... it is not the planes... they are vulnerable, visible, noisy, bound to carriers, ... no... the future is in the submarines. Shift your effort toward submarines, Secretary. Let's start with, say, er, 15 of them maybe ?​

S-submarines are un-underhand, unfair and d-damned un-CS !



Oh, please... Rats leading a navy are un-CS as well, remember this. And yet, here you are. Please give it a thought and come back to me.


(later)




He st-stupid ! S-submarine stupid. C-Can't swim away f-from submarines.



Maybe. But you need to do it, or he will get rid of you.



N-never, or I am not F-Fliegend-Ober-berleutnant d-der M-Marine d-des Bundesst-staates ValeVelKal


------


​

Bonjour ! Bonjour ! J'ai heard que vous neediez a nouvelle technologie !

N-new p-lanes ?
​

Non… Destroyers that go underwater !​

Whhhaaatt ? Gimme gimme gimme !

It will être expensive ! Mais maybe you can arranger with Monsieur the Président a pardon for événements that happened before France was our allié !​

I will ! The plan ! Now !

Ici they are ! You will remercier Monsieur Baud. He was instrumental in me... meeting vous.
​

We-we need more n-new d-destroyers !




Sure ! I would say... 15 of them ! With the brand new torpedoes we developed !​

​

 

[mondblut]

What is "destroyers that go underwater"?

A lot of my destroyers go underwater, but they never come back

 

[Dayyālu]

Pure genius.

Regarding the Traveller class, well, they served one last time. I am quite amused that the chaos of multiple commanders mostly reflected on a shitton of Destroyer
classes that are born of different uses and ideas for them. Regarding Air, I hope we are cutting down significantly on Land Air, it's murder but it's also murder on the budget.

A lot of my destroyers go underwater, but they never come back

They are still there, hunting submarines for the Motherland.

 

[mondblut]

I am quite amused that the chaos of multiple commanders mostly reflected on a shitton of Destroyer
classes that are born of different uses and ideas for them.

No such thing as obsolete destroyers. Someone's got to do that trade protection thingy during wartime, and ain't there no better way to handle it than mothballed 500ton 1899 destroyers that cost 2 gold per month in peacetime.

Plus they soak up random sub attacks saving your pride of the fleet from getting headshot for lulz. And the AI always goes full retardo on subs when you kill off his real ships.

Regarding Air, I hope we are cutting down significantly on Land Air, it's murder but it's also murder on the budget.

I keep some 5-6 bases worth of aircraft in reserve and deploy them to whatever theatre most of action happens at. No need to stack up every base out there, just keep them ready for emergency.