recursal/Fanatic-Fandom huggingface dataset:
Normandie

The second ship of the class, the Normandie was the first ship to adopt the standard of Richelieu's angled funnel. Launched just as war broke out, she patrolled the coast of Paris, until it became clear France would fall to Germany.

Departing with the Triomphant, the Normandie would rendevoue with the Henri IV in the Atlantic. While 'formally' deployed to the West Indies as an escort for the Henri IV, and Triomphant, the real reason was obvious- they were to sail to Halifax Canada as soon as France was to fall.

Like most of the French Fleet, the Normandie's crew while anti-Vichy, had little inclination to join Britain. Reaching Martinique, the US government pressured Martinique to intern her so that she would not fall into German hands. She along with several of other French Captial Ships would remain out of Vichy control until the US entered the war.

The French sailors were very pro-American, and at the announcement of the US entry, they flew American Flags, and burned Nazi flags on her deck.

## Under Free France:

After the US entry into the war, the Normandie sailed North with the Triomphant, Henri IV, and Saint Louis north to New York City Harbor. Greeted by hundreds of thousands of excited Americans, French and American flags flew all over the city.

   Normandie's deck was covered in Red, white and Blue flowers, thrown from excited women and schoolchildren lining the bridges. Put into dry dock, the Normandie underwent a relatively large re-fitment, having her AA complement dramatically increased, receiving 56x- American made 20mm Oerlikons, and 24x- Quadruple mount 40mm Bofors.

Being relaunched in May 1942, the Normandie underwent high speed maneuvers in the Caribbean, before joining the fledgling free french fleet in Scapa Flow as Flagship.

Deployed to the Mediterranean, the Normandie was accompanied by the heavy cruiser Achillie, which had been interned in Alexandria. The Free French fleet was augmented by British warships, including the heavy cruiser HMS Valour, and carrier HMS Ark Royal.

Seen as the face of the Free French Fleet, Normandie was deployed into mostly lower risk areas. Notably, the Normandie was under strict orders to not fire upon other French vessels, unless absolutely necessary. This was seen during 1942, when the Alsace-led Vichy French fleet at Dakar made a break for Casablanca.

Once the rest of the French fleet was liberated in late 1945, the Normandie along with Charles Martel, and Joffre would both be present at Operation Torch, which saw French ships continuously shell Italian Shores.
Lille-class

## Anti-Aircraft

(8x2) 127 mm/54 Mle 1934

20x- 37mm AA guns

36x- 13.2mm AA guns

## Sensors

PCA n° 10 Mle 1

2x- 46ft (14m) triple stereoscopic OPL

2x- 9.8ft (3m) OPL rangefinder

20ft (6.1m) double stereoscopic OPL

26ft (8m) double stereoscopic OPL

28ft (8.5m) DSR

20ft (6.1m) DSR

The Lille-class heavy cruiser was the heaviest type of pacific type cruisers until the introduction of the Japanese Obako-class cruiser.
For years, the French government had been in direct competition with the Italian and Spanish Navy's.
The Lille-class design dates back to 1927, just after the Washington Treaty had taken effect. While initially designed as a 10,000 tonne light cruiser, armed with 6.1in guns, (this design would turn into the  LaGalissonnre-class light cruiser, the design eventually grew into a 27,000 tonne vessel. An even larger design, with 12 guns, weighed in at 32,000 tonnes.
While design studys had been taking place since 1927, it wasn't until after the introduction of the Triunfo-class that the preliminary 27000 tonn ship was looked at, and be eventually ordered.
Mounting 10 brand new 240mm (9.45in) guns, the Lille class was a heavy weight brute of a ship, weighing in at 27,000 tonnes. Designed as a fleet escort for the upcoming Dunkerque-class battleships, the Lille is notable for weighing 1 tonne more then the initial design for Dunkerque, and weighing only 8 tones less then what the Dunkerque would actually be commsioned at.
In fact, the Lille-class outweighed many earlier battleships, and was only 100ft shorter than the Dunkerque. As such the class was heavily critizied by the small but growing number of carrier black shoes in the French admiralty. In fact, theyre resentment led to the Algerie to be ordered, demonstrating how a cruiser nearly 1/3 the displacement could accomplish the same tasks.

Overall, the debacle over the Lille-class would eventually lead to the Joffree-class of escort carriers being ordered.

The Lille-class is the largest class of French cruisers, dwarfing the preceding Classes of cruisers.

## Ships in Class

Lille

Jeanne d'Arc

Achille
Obako-class

## Anti-Aircraft

116x- 25mm Type 96 AA gun

8x- 13.2mm Type 93 AA gun

## Sensors

1x- Type 1

1x- Type 93 hyrdaphone

The Obako-class of heavy cruisers was a mid war class of 6 heavy cruisers. Built as a smaller, cheaper alternative to the Unzen-class, the Obako was a very successful class of heavy cruisers. Sharing many qualities with the very similar American Brandywine-class Heavy cruiser, she and her sisters would be commonly referred to American in jest.

Heavily based on the preceeding Unzen-class, the Obako essentially removed a single triple turret, and used thinner armor all around to make them a solid 2kn faster then the Unzen.

The big downside of the Obako-class was that they were not a very stable ship in high seas. As she shared much of her hull design with the Unzen, and 3000 tonnes less, the Obako sat 4 ft higher out of the war then the Unzen, making her very top heavy in comparison.

After the sea trails of the Obako, the remaining ships would steal a trick from the Kawachi-class battleship, adding a buldge on the keel of the ship filled with 2000 tonnes of pig iron, to force the ships to sit lower in the water, and more steady in heavy waves. So despite being considerably smaller then the Unzen, they would still be considerably close to the Unzen in displpacement.

In comparison to the similar American Brandywine-class Heavy cruiser, like the Unzen, the Obako class fired a very heavy 8in round, on par with a similar 10in round. However, the Brandywine, using the same reload mechanism as the Des Moines, had a much higher firing rate.

However, their heavy weaponary, and high AA defense would make them invaluable ships in high demand during the final few years of the war. They would all serve strategic purposes. It is beleived by a select few that the Obako-class was the #1 Japanese deterrent to American Carrier prowess, and as seen during the loss of the IJN Obako herself in 1947, the entire accompying fleet could be decimated by American airpower.

After the rush of american air power in the pacific, the Obako-class ship would become a massive morale booster for any fleet they were apart of, as they could easily protect an entire small fleet with their impressive AA complement.

## Ships in Class

* IJN Obako
* IJN Hiruzen
* IJN Miune
* IJN Suzuka
* IJN Hotaka
* IJN Aso
Mackensen

The lead ship of the Mackensen-class Battlecruisers. Mackensen

Converted into an aircraft carrier in 1920.

Launches surprise Air Raid on Scapa Flow, on April 6, 1941 in the middle of the night. Heavily Damages HMS Renown, mildly damages HMS Revenge, and sinks antiquated light cruiser HMS \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_Sunken by USS Alabama, 1942
San Martin

San Martin was the third and final ship of the La Capitana-class. The San Martin was completed to a very different specification from the other ships.

The San Martin's BL 14in guns were not supplied by the time Civil War broke out, and the British, fearing a Franco-led Spain would support Germany, elected to suspend delivery for San Martins BL 14in guns, 6in secondaries, AA guns, and Machinary.

After the Franco victory, Germany delivered 3 triple turrets of 280mm SK C/28 guns identical to those found on the Scharnhorst to complete the San Martin.

Additionally, the secondaries and AA weaponary was made up of 42 2cm FlaK 30 guns.

The machinary was replaced with German as well, with 12 Wagner boilers and 4 Brown Turbines producing a similar amount of power to those seen on the British powered La Capitana. However, her top speed would still be only 29-30kn, compared to her sisters 31kn.
Santiago

The Sanitago was the second ship ordered by the Spanish government from the British, as apart of the Reina Victoria Eugenia-class of Battleships.

Unlike the Reina Victoria however, the Santiago would be armed with 15in guns from the QE-class by the time of her eventual completion. In fact, overall Santiago would more closely resemble the Revenge-class battleship then the original plans for the Reina Victoria Eugenia-class.

During WW1, the British closed down nearly all foregin projects to focus on her own war effort. However, seeing opportunity, the Spanish struck a deal with the British to allow Britain to complete the Santiago.

Commissioned in 1917 under the name HMS Saint James. She would be sold back to Spain in 1919 for nearly half of what she was originally supposed to spend on her construction.
USS Arizona

Constructed just before WW1, Arizona served with little action in WW1, yet served an integral, yet inglorious, role in WW2.

Moored inside of the USS Virginia during Pearl Harbor, she sank from the extensive damage that was caused by the Virginia's detonation.
Raised during mid-1942, she was refit as a test bed for new radar, optics and other weapons.
Relocated to the Chesapeake bay, along with the old USS Wyoming. She was the newest ship of this "Expiremental navy", and was controversial.
However, she was retained as a test bed and training center, as her hull was large enough to be stable with large systems.
All turrets were replaced at one point or another, as she became a test bed for the Mark 7 16in/50 Guns later found on the Iowa, the Mark 8 16in/55 Guns found on the New Hampshire, and the Mark 13 18in/50 guns found on the Michigan.

Arizona was also the first American ship with Gas Turbines, a feature refit and experimented with after the British shared it with them. While successful, with Arizona's top speed increasing 2 Kn, and her draft being raised 2 feet due to the decrease in weight, it was decided that the supply issues of having to provide both oil, coal & gas would put to much strain on the refueling supply chain.
USS Kansas

The Kansas was the second ship of the Virginia-class. Built primarily from the Indiana, the Kansas was the "problem" child of the trio. The Kansas suffered from a variety of issues during her career, and she always had to maintain some sort of port helm to maintain a straight line.
Deployed in 1936 to the British fleet review, she would tower over her compatriots, and would be moored next to the infamous Kii.
Returning to the states in 1937, she would remain as flagship of the Atlantic fleet through 1938. During this, she was replaced by the USS Concorde, as Kansas was transferred to the Pacific fleet.
As apart of the Pacific fleet, the Kansas would be apart of the Northern fleet, based out of Oregon.

During this, she was kept from Pearl Harbor, and was the only U.S. Pacific Battleship to not be damaged during the attacks.
MA7M Raiden

The MA7M Raiden was a heavy fighter, based off the successful A7M Reppū, the MA7M Raiden was born from the need to replace the MA6M Misago.

Units start rolling off in 1944, deployed primarily to Kamihō-class carriers. The MA7M served well into 1947, when they would start being replaced by the navalized version of the jet powered Ne-20 Kikka.

Mounted 20mm Cannon on nose

3x- .50 Caliber

4x- 7.7mm Guns in wings
Weissach

Weissach is a cancelled Nassau-class battleship.

Laid down april 1918, work ceased at the cease fire.

In June 1918, Krupp Works secretly puried the partially completed set of turrets destined for the Weissach to prevent there capture. By burying these turrets, they had not been discovered by the Armistice Commmission sent to inspect the Krupp Facility. However, with the allies allowing construction of new warships, Krupp made their presense known to Reichsmarine.

Additionally, 14 of the 22 Schulz-Thornycroft boilers were completed.

After the completion of Borodino, and the loss of ships at Scapa Flow, the Germans were allowed to complete 4 Battleships and 4 Battlecruisers. With that, work resumed on Battleships Sachsen, Nassau, Rhineland, and Weissach. Work continued on battlecruisers Mackensen, Prinz Eitel Ferdinand, and Yorck.

However, in February 1921 fire broke out in the machinery space on the incomplete battleship. The fire was intense enough that the hull was deemed a structual loss.

With the Weissach destroyed, the unused/salvaged machinery, armored plating and turrets were completed for use on Graf Spee.

Originally deemed to be scrapped, after Soviet naval expansion into the Baltic, and loss of german ships at Scapa Flow, work resumed on her Mid July 1919.

However, just a month after work restarted,
Spanish Navy

The Spanish Navy was a small fleet of warships. After her fleet was decimated in the American-Spanish 1898 War, she was left without a fleet. Due to the great relations between Britain and Spain at the time, as a result of the marriage of the Spanish King Alfonso VII to British Princess Victoria Eugenia, Britain was instrumental to Spains rebuilding efforts.

Throughout 1900-1935, when Franco came into power, Britain contributed vast amounts to the Spanish Navy. Nearly every ship in her fleet at the beginning of WW2 was of British Origins. As such, at the start of WW2, Spain had 5 Battleships, along with two Carriers, and 8 Heavy cruisers, among other various light cruisers and the like.

The La Capitana-class was a trend setting ship, setting the standard for a fast battleship. The Triunfo-class of Heavy Cruisers would define the "Pacific Standard Cruiser"

Overall, while seeing limited effectiveness in the overall war, the Spanish Navy created ships that would influence other nations ship building programs for over 15 years.

## Battleships

### España-class Battleship

* España (Sunk)
* Alfanso XIII
* Jaime I

### Reina Victoria Eugenia-class

* Reina Victoria Eugenia (renamed Purísima Concepcion)
* Santiago
* San José (cancelled)

### La Capitana-class

* La Capitana
* Santsima Trinidad
* San Martin

## Aircraft Carriers

* Dédalo (former *HMS Frobisher, converted in 1933, acquired 1934)*
* España (based off Italian plans)

## Cruisers

### Catalonia-class 1933

* Catalonia
* Murcia
* Madrid

### Triunfo-class 1935

* Triunfo
* Isabel La Catolica
* Santa Anna

### Canarias-class 1936

* Canarias
* Baleares
Sovietsky Soyuz-class

Drawing of Sovietski Soyuz

## Sensors

Giuis-2 air-search radar

Rif-A surface-search radar

Iakor fire-control radarsZalp fire-control radarsFut-B fire-control radars

Grot range-finding radarsShtag-B range-finding radars

Soltnse-1P infrared detectors

Gerkules sonar

The failure of the Sovietsky Soyuz class is one of the largest disputes of battleships ever built.
They were ordered by Stalin in 1938 as a PR stunt, but work wasn't started till 1945.

The Sovietsky Soyuz is perhaps he most identifiable ship of the Soviet navy. Built alongside the *Sovetskaya Rossiya*-class, Sovietsky Soyuz was more of a one off extension of the Rossiya class, but still comparable to the Montana-class.

The Sovietsky Soyuz crew was formed of men hand picked from loyal usually government families. The Sovietsky Soyuz was heralded by Stalin himself as being the greatest accomplishment of the Soviet people.

## Design:

No ship had its capabilities so over stated as the Sovietsky Soyuz- while the largest ship to have ever been constructed by a Soviet Shipyard, the Sovietsky Soyuz was not of exactly high quality.

As opposed to nearly any nation, the Sovietsky Soyuz was built on an incredibly crunched schedule, no doubt due to Stalins unrealistic demands. In fact, the safety precautions were so lax, during her construction, an estimated 2500 men died.

And this did nothing to alleviate the intensive overall flaws with the ship. While her armor was a direct copy of German armor, the armor was a cheaper variety used by the German's to help increase production.

The elemental composition of her armor alloy was of so poor brittle quality, that hairline fractures formed from the cold weather storms. This led to the Sovietsky Soyuz being constantly dry docked, and having her armor replaced. In battle, this same armor was also prone to fracturing completely.

The guns, the first Soviet designed & built large caliber naval guns, the B-37 16in guns. While impressive on paper, the actual performance of these guns was vastly overstated. While initially designed to fire a shell very similar to the American "superheavy" 16in shell, issues concerning the breech face of the guns led to a lighter version, using less gun powder bags.

As such, the initial B-37 guns found on the Sovietsky Soyuz had some of the worse penetration values of any 16in gun, performing marginally better then a comparable British 15in.

To round it all out, the AA, sensor suite, and engine performance of this ship was so poor, she was consistently upgraded.

By the end of the war, while her AA and Sensor Suite could best be described as having fair performance, the rest of her performance was lacking.

## Ships in Class

Sovietsky Soyuz

Krasny Tovarishch (converted into carrier)
USS Philippines

The USS Philippians was the fourth ship of the Alaska-Class Large Cruiser. The Philippians was also the last Alaska completed as a gun cruiser, as her fellow sisters would be completed as Aircraft Carriers.

The Philippians was commissioned in June, 1946 from Norfolk Naval Yard. She would undergo sea trials in the Chesapeake bay, before undergoing more extensive trials in the Caribbean.

She would arrive in San Francisco January 3rd, 1947. She then sailed for Midway where she would meet with the 3rd Fleet under the command of Admiral Halsey.

## Guadalcanal

During the naval engagement with the Japanese Fleet, she came under fire from land based Japanese fighters armed with unguided rockets. These strafing runs on the Philippians led to some minor damage. Her forward AA 20mm director was damaged, while shrapnel would jam the rotation of one of her 5in gun turrets.

After Guadalcanal, she received repairs at Tongatapu.

## Leyte Gulf

During the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the USS Philippines was attached as flagship of the Seventh Fleet in the Surigao Straits. Admiral Halsey believed that the main attack force was to the north. However, the Japanese fleet was in reality attacking from the south. Without the 3rd Fleet, the 7th Fleet was dramatically out gunned.

The IJN Chichibu engaged the Philippines directly with supporting fire from Battleship IJN Kaga During this, a D4Y Judy dive-bomber from IJN Kamikaku crashed into her superstructure amidship, causing a fire. This was one of the first Kamikaze attack.

The Philippines developed a heavy list to port, and slow to a halt. The Phillippine would eventually capsize and slip beneath the waves at 1535, with 978 survivors.

## Wreck

The Philippines is the largest wreck from Leyte Gulf. She was discovered in 1998 upside down. The forward 25m of her bow had broken off at some point during her sinking. Its believed the twisting action of the capsize might have ripped it off.

Her bow lays 20m off her port side, and has completely collapsed in on itself.

Sunk by IJN Chichibu June 4, 1948
Midway Campaign

The Midway Campaign was a series of 3 Battles shortly after Pearl Harbor.

The Japanese Captures Midway in 1942, and staves off an Allied attack, but then the Us still retakes it in 1943?

## Ships present in 1943:

### British Ships:

* HMS Queen Elizabeth
* HMS Enterprise
* HMS Formidable
* HMS Illustrious

### Japanese Ships:

Japanese did not expect the crushing air power that the US Brought, with 5 fleet carriers
USS Tarawa

Sunk shortly after commisioning

Reprisal Sub-Class #3

See USS Reprisal and USS Shangri-La

The Reprisal class was essentially an armored variant of the Long hulled Essex.
The Reprisals had an armored flight deck, reinforced side armor, and reinforced blast doors in the hanger.
This was designed to up the Essex's survival, in particular after the disasterous lost of the USS Essex, USS Franklin, and USS Cabot in the same month in March 1943 due to sustained bombings from enemy planes.
However, the draw back was the increase in displacement of the ships to 45,000 tones, the size of the prewar USS Constitution and USS United States, while carrying the same amount of planes as the USS Langley. The ships also increased the ships cost to that of 1.5x of a regular long bow, to the point that for the cost of the conversion of the 3 ships, the carrier Blackfeet could have purchased an additional 2 long bows, and a short bow Essex, on top of the 3 ships themselves.
Additionally, the sinking of the USS Tawara shortly after her commissioning in 1945, and the lost of the British armored carrier HMS Illustrious and HMS Ark Royal.
USS Constitution

The USS Constitution was the fourth ship of the Lexington-class battlecruiser. While 50% complete, during 1923 progress was halted on her, due to the beginning of the conference that would result in the Washington Naval Treaty.
However, when the United States Navy heard of the British conversion of the Howe into the HMS Invincible, the Constitution and USS United States were slated to be converted into full length carriers.

The second largest aircraft carrier (behind HMS Indomitable) in the world at the time of her commissioning, the USS Constitution was capable of carrying 78 aircraft. This was higher then the Indomitable, which could only carry 65 aircraft. The tradeoff was that fact that the Indomitable had an armored flight deck.

During the interwar period, the USS Constitution was responsible for developing much of the USN carrier doctrine and strategy.

On December 7th, 1941, USS Constitution was ferrying Fighter Aircraft to Midway Island.

Crippled during Midway Campaign, but able to be partially repaired.

Operation Downfall/Coromet - Apart of USS Constellation Taskforce

Mothballed shortly after the war, groups would attempt to preserve her, but due to her age, and improver mothballing, her condition had rapidly deteriorated, and she ultimately wound up getting scrapped.
Stalingrad-class

## Anti-Aircraft

(6x4) 45-millimeter (1.8 in) guns

(10x4) 25-millimeter (0.98 in) guns

## Sensors

Giuis-2 air-search radar

Rif-A surface-search radar

Iakor fire-control radarsZalp fire-control radarsFut-B fire-control radars

Grot range-finding radarsShtag-B range-finding radars

Soltnse-1P infrared detectors

Gerkules sonar

The Stalingrad-class Battlecruiser was a class of 10 Battlecruisers ordered in 1943. These ships were designed to be an even cheaper companion to the preceding Kronshtadt-class battlecruiser.

While the naval war in the Atlantic was winding down, the Soviet Admiralty decided to order the ships not only to further modernize their fleet, but to challenge the massive American Fleet in the postwar.

They were further specialized in the fact that they had a reinforced bow- meant for breaking up thin pack ice in the arctic circle, and able to escort convoys against possible British raids on northern ports.

While semibased on the Kronstadt, the Stalingrads were heavily modernized from things learned during the war.
The largest change was the inclusion of indigenously designed 12in guns.

With a top speed of 35.5 knots, the Stalingrads were fast warships, able to chase down American Carrier fleets.

The Stalingrad class would be the

## Ships in Class

* *Stalingrad*
* *Moskva*
* *Leningrad*
* *Kaliningrad*
* *Severstal*
* *Kursk*
* *Nikolayev*
Queen Mary-class

Queen Victoria shortly after departing Scapa Flow in 1951

## Anti-Aircraft

(11x6) 40 mm Bofors Mk VI

(4x2) 40 mm STAAG

(12 x 1) 40 mm Bofors Mk VII

## Sensors

1x- Type 273 (Ranging)

5x- Type 285P (AA FC)

5x- Type 282 (Pom-Poms FC)

4x- Type 274 (Shot ranging)

1x- Type 279B (Air Radar)

4x- Type 275 (Secondary FC)

The Queens-class was the pinnacle of British Naval building. While heavily based off the preceding Lion-class, the Queens-class quickly captured the British public's imagination, and upon the final ship of the class Queen Victoria's launch in 1948, a crowd of over 3 million members attended her ceremony

All named after female monarchs, each of the 3 ships were significantly different from one another. The QE and QV were both equipped with 457mm Guns, whereas the QM received the 406mm Guns from the Lion-class

Being an essentially supersized Lion-class, the Queens's are often compared to the American Montana-class.

## Background

The Queens were directly ordered as a response to the German's laying down ceremony of the Tegetthoff. While intelligence initially believed the Tegetthoff would be armed with 12 406mm guns, subsequent reconnaissance and intelligence made it clear that Germany was using 10x- 18.1in guns identical to the ones found on the Yamato-class.

As such it was decided to have the Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria armed with 457mm guns, modified from the design used on Saint Andrew-class.

While the lead ship Queen Mary was to far completed to be retrofitted with these guns, the Queen Elizabeth would become the heaviest firing round armed European warship upon her commissioning in 1946.

While 3mm smaller then the 460mm guns found on the Tegetthoff, the inclusion of an American developed Super-AP round (essentially an up scaled version of the 16 in version) made the Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria the distinction of firing the heaviest shell of any European warship. (The Tegetthoff, having an entire 2 more guns, had the heaviest broadside of any European Nation, but fired a lighter shell).

While dwarfed by later insane projects such as theMichigan-class and Japanese Mega Ships, the Queens-class was a fine warship.

The Queenss are commonly referred to as Super-Battleships, even though she was on the smaller side of these ships, the Queens was one possibly the most distinguished class of her peers.

They were the first allied ship to use Gas Turbines, whose design was obtained from the Germans through espionage. These Gas Turbines led to a much more economical warship, and concentric engine rooms, allowing for an overall shorter hull.

Overall, these were some of the most recognizable British ships of WW2, due to their superior construction quality, distinguished records, their proximity to most of the other large navy ships, and as the Royal Navy Battleship class.

Post-WW2, they fell into a ceremonial role, touring the British colonies, and visiting foreign nations.

However, by 1965 all of the ships were scrapped, excluding the Queen Elizabeth, which was the most distinguished British battleship of WW2
Scharnhorst

1941 Would shell Arkhangelsk along with Gneisenau and Graf Zepplin and heavily damaged Krasnaya Zvezda

Refit with 15in guns, 1942. Her 11in Guns later used on Moltke.

Sunk by HMS Beagle, April 14, 1948

On the Beagles 12th Salvo, the Scharnhorst exploded in a giant fireball.
With the lack of support, the damaged Hutton limped back to Kiel.

The crew of the Crippled Beagle were unable to control flooding, and sank.
Unzen-class

## Anti-Aircraft

(6x1) 40mm AA gun

(20x3) 25mm Type 96 AA gun

## Sensors

1x- Type 93 hydrophone

1x- Type 1

The Unzen-class Heavy Cruiser was the primier Imperial Japanese Navy heavy cruiser. The Largest Pacific Type Cruiser ever created, the Unzen was ordered as part of the project to build up escorts for the dozen of so massive battleship projects in the late 1930s, the Unzen-class was built on plans similar to pretty much every other Japanese Cruiser.

With a main armament layout identical to the Takao-class heavy cruiser, instead of the 6in guns, the Unzen mounted 8in guns in triple turrets, making her much larger then any other Heavy Cruiser. Like many other Japanese Cruisers, and almost every other IJN ship, the Unzen was built with Octagonal Bridge, and a wishbone style funnel.

A gorgeous ship, the Unzen-class was a pinnacle of mid 1930s heavy cruiser design. The Unzen-class was primarily matched by the Chichibu-class battlecruiser, and while the Chichibu was equipped with 6x- 12in guns, the Unzen's combined broadside artillery weight far outweighed the Chichibu. (However, it is of note that the Unzen had a larger displacement then the Chichibu as well). Not to mention, a later developed 'super gun powder' allowed the Unzen's rounds to be fired at much higher velocity.

However, while a pinnacle of 1930s heavy cruiser, the Unzens were not very good ships for the Pacific war. Similar in size to some of Japans older warships, the Unzen was barely over 20ft shorter then the Amagi-class battlecruiser. And yet, the Unzen mounted the same 8in weaponary of the Takao-class.

While largely successful in the beginning of the war against Americas rather antiquated fleet, by 1943 they were largely obsolete. However, a mid 1943 refit of most of the ships with much heavier AA completely reinvigorated the Unzen-class.

Compared to the largest American Heavy Cruiser, the Brandywine-class, the Unzen and Brandywine fired the same size rounds. However, the Unzen-class fired a much heavier round at much heavier velocity, at the expense of a much slower reload rate. Albeit, the Brandywine-class was faster and capable of keeping up with the fastest of carriers, while the Unzen-class was hampered by a 30kn top speed. Additionally, the Unzen-class had a notoriously large turning radius due to her large size, on par with a medium sized battleship (in fact, it was nearly identical to the Kawachi-class Battleships)
Additionally, considering their size, during the late years they were extensively reinforced with AA, making them some of the best escort ships of the IJN as aircraft carriers became more vital.

Overall, Unzens formed a backbone of fleet support, and were renowned by their crews for being the best 'Pacific-type' cruiser.

The subsequent Obako-class cruiser shared much of the same architecture of the Unzen-class, compacted down in having only 4 turrets.

## Ships in Class

* IJN Unzen

* IJN Zaō
* IJN Senjō
* IJN Sanbe
USS Constellation (CC-2)

The USS Constellation was the third ship of the Lexington-class to be completed.

Due to delays in her construction, she would wind up being commisioned after the USS Saratoga.
Constellation led a very boring life, serving predominantly with the Pacific Fleet. In 1928, she was refitted with a tripod mast.

In 1931, during fleet excersises she collided with the Battleship USS Colorado, leading to both ships being docked for 8 months. Her captain was removed from command, after it was found that it was through his negligence that the collision happened.

During 1939-1940, Constellation underwent a major refit, having the 8x 5in Turrets installed. Additionally, she received new funnels, with her double funnels being replaced with a wishbone design, not unlike the Virginia class battleship.

She was the only Lexington class ship to receive this funnel, and the last Lexington to be refitted before the outbreak of war.

On December 7th, 1941, the Constellation was moored as apart of Battleship Row. Moored on the outside of the USS California, she was a prime target for Japanese bombers.
She was the first ship to battlestations, and to open fire, with her gun crews successfully downing 5 enemy aircraft during the first wave. However, during the second wave of aircraft, a D3A1 "Val" broke her AA screen, and dropped a 16.1in AP shell, modified into a bomb. The bomb successfully penetrated her thin deck armor in front of the #1 turret.

The bombs explosion led to the magazines detonating, which led to her entire bow blowing to pieces.
She sank in approximately 8minutes, killing 671 of her crew.
She sank upright, but during salvage operations it was determined that she was to extensively damaged to be refloated.
Instead she was left in place. Her rear 2 Turrets were salvaged and sent into storage. They would later be used on the USS West Virginia after her turrets were damaged by a Kamikaze attack in 1948.

The USS Constellation famously burned for over a week, as fire crews struggled to control the flames. The USS Constellation had been fully refueled, as she was preparing to depart to relieve the USS Ranger which was on patrol with the USS Enterprise

While the USS Lexington was refit with an additional 1.5in of deck armor around her turret, the USS Constellation never received this.

\Her loss would result in the surviving Lexington-class battlecruisers to be refit with reinforced Decks.
After the war she would be refloated. However, while under tow, she would sink in a storm.
Warszawa-class

## Anti-Aircraft

(5x8) Bofors 40mm Gun(8x2) Bofors 40mm Gun

(12x2) Hotchkiss M1929(8x1) Hotchkiss M1929

The Warszawa-class was a 2 ship class of Polish Light Cruisers, heavily based off the uprated British Edinburgh sub-class of the Towns-class Light Cruisers.

However, the Warszawa-class could not be mistaken for a slightly modified *Edinburgh*. While the underlying hull architecture of the Warszawa was extremely similar to the Edinburgh, the largest differentiator of the Warszawa from the Edinburgh was the inclusion of a 5th turret, located forward of the bridge, point aft, in a matter similar to the US Brooklyn-class.

This was achieved by removing the aviation facilities, and moving the superstructure rearwards to free forward space. Due to the Warszawa being designed for the baltic, the aviation facilities were deemed irrelevant due to the use of land based aircraft.

In its place was an extended superstructure, boasting an additional 2 DP 120mm secondaries, a heavier AA suite, comprised of more 40mm Bofors and Hotchkiss 13.9mm guns, and an additional torpedo launcher.

Many of the guns on both ships would eventually be replaced with British counterparts after the British received both ships after Poland capitulated.

The effectiveness of the *Warszawa* even without an aircraft, was a relevant factor in the eventual decision to remove aircraft facilities from British surface combatant ships.

## Ships In Class

* Warszawa
* Krakow
Pommern

Battle of Norweigan Sea, April 9, 1947.

Sink the Hutton-class Berlichingen with the Prinz Eitel Ferdinand, and damage the carrier Peter Straßer and pcoket battleship **Pommern**. Soviet Fleet is made up of longside the battleship Sovetskaya Belorussiya, battlecruisers Krasnaya Zvezda, Moskva, and carrierNovorossiysk
USS Maine

The USS Maine was the lead ship of the modified Montana-class. Shortly after the USS Montana was laid down, the admiralty came to realize the strategic importance of the Iowa-class ability to escort Fleet Carriers.

With this in mind, the remainder of the class was reordered before they could be laid down. I
Royal Canadian Navy

The Royal Canadian Navy was formed in 1910 by Royal Charter from Britian. Throughout the next several decades, the Royal Canadian Navy still served as an almost extension of the British Navy, as many of her large ships would be purchased directly from Britain (See HMCS Canada), or would be built on British plans (see Vimy Ridge and Mont Sorrel).

Canada would never operate a battleship. However, they would buy the incomplete hull of the Admiral-class battlecruiser HMS Nelson, which would be renamed HMCS Canada.

The first Canadian designed and built ships would come in the form of the Montreal-class cruiser, but otherwise would remain nearly identical to the Royal Navy.

## Aircraft Carriers

### Implacable-class

* HMCS Vimy Ridge (RC01)
* HMCS Mont Sorrel (RC02)

### Colossus-class Light Escort

* HMCS Warrior (RC03)
* HMCS Rainbow (RC04)

## Battlecruisers & Cruisers

### Montreal-class Cruiser

* HMCS Montreal
* HMCS Ottawa
* HMCS Calgary

### British Cruisers

* HMCS Quebec (Crown Colony-class Heavy Cruiser)
* HMCS Ontario (Mars-class Light Cruiser)
Santa Cruz Naval Treaty

The Santa Cruz Treaty was a Treaty signed between Chile, Brazil, and Argentina in 1918 to prevent another naval arms race between the trio. Bolivia acted as a mediator for the nations, and the conferance took place in convened in the Bolivian city of *Santa Cruz de la Sierra*.

Convening on December 1, 1918, and lasting until March 15, 1919, the Treaty was the first Post-WW1 Disarmament Treaty, and would go on to inspire the much broader Washington Naval Treaty.

The Treaty did not set specifically set tonnage limits. instead stating that Chile, Brazil, and Argentina would not be able to ever build another domestic capital ship. This provision is commonly thought to have been inserted by Chile due to British influence (it is rumored Britain was essentially holding Chile's two battleships hostage).

Instead, while not specifically stating it, this essentially forced any further warships to be built by another nation. This was not that big of a deal to the nations, as none of the 3 nations had the capabilites of building a capital warship. This did however ensure continued reliance on foreign shipbuilders (primarily Britain).

To prevent the same type of arms race seen before the war, the Treaty stated that the members could not commision another capital warship for another 10 years. Additionally, any warship in service would have to have a minimum service life of 20 years.

However, a special clause in the treaty allowed ships ordered before the war, but not completed (or 'borrowed' by their builders for WW1 service) to be delivered, or grandfathered into service. This was agreed to by every nation.

Another noticeable absence from the treaty was the lack of any provision banning the purchase of warships from other nations that had been ready to be decommisioned. While some wonder if this was further British influence, keeping in mind Britain was planning on hosting what would become the 1922 Battleship Auction, it is generally recognized as just being a simple oversight.

The first nation to notice this decrepency would be Chile, who would take delivery of 2 decommsioned british battlecruisers in 1919 as further war payments in exchange for allowing Britain to use her two battleships (Almirante Lorraine-class) in WW1.

While Brazil and Argentina would protest this, during the 1922 Battleship Auction, both nations arrived determined to obtain an equal fleet.
Triomphant-class

Design for the revised Temeraire, with 16.5in guns

## Anti-Aircraft

(2x12) 100mm AA guns

32x- 37mm AA guns

12x- 13.2mm Hotchkiss Machine guns

(15x4) 40mm Bofors

56x- 20mm Oerlikons

## Sensors

2x- 46ft Triple Stereoscopic OPL

2x- 9.8ft OPL rangefinder

20ft Double Stereoscopic OPL

26ft double Steroscopic OPL

28ft DSR

20ft DSR

13ft OPL Rangefinder

The Triomphant class was the pinnacle of French warship design. Built even larger than the preceding Alsace-class, the Triomphant was a mild departure from previous French Battleships. Shifting away from the Quadruple turrets that had been in use since the Lyon-class, the Triomphant-class shifted to the use of triple turrets.

However, the Triomphant-class also premiered the use of 431mm guns, giving the Triomphant the heaviest broadside of any allied battleship until the premier of the Montana-class and her super heavy AP rounds.

Her 431mm armament was the largest caliber gun of any european warship until the arrival of the Tegetthoff-class, and with 12 of these guns, she had the heaviest broadside of any European battleship.

They became renowned for being highly successful allied battleships in the Mediterranean, proving their use as commerce raiders. Both were attached to a 'French' Division of the Royal Navy, which while largely made up of the remaining french fleet, was largely escorted by British Destroyers.

## Ships in Class

Triomphant

Tonnant

Tèmèraire
Minotaur-class

HMS Minotaur on sea trials, 1951

## Sensors

The Minotaur-class was the final all gun cruiser design of the Royal Navy. Based off a design memo from the United States regarding a need for light cruisers for escort duties. The Americans, focused on the Pacific theater, wound up developing a cruiser that would become the Worcester-class.

Marking a significant change in British cruiser design, the Minotaur-class was heavily intended as an AAA powerhouse. The Minotaur marked a move from triple turrets of the preceding Neptune-class to a unique (5x2) dual purpose 152mm turrets. Additionally, the Minotaur-class was equipped with 8x2 3in guns.

The British light cruiser was 1,000 tonnes smaller then the Worcester-class.

## Ships In Class

* HMS Minotaur (C77)
* HMS Centurion (C68)
* HMS Unicorn (C25)
* HMS Pegasus (C53)
* HMS Artemis (C96) (sub-class)

* HMS Chiron (C18)
* HMS Daedalus (C73)
Neptune-class

## Anti-Aircraft

(10x2) 40mm /56.3 OQF Mk.VIII 'Bofors'

(16x2) 20mm Oerlikons

The **Neptune-class** Cruiser was the last British light cruiser of the war. While classified as a light cruiser, Neptunes are generally considered to fit the qualifications of a medium cruiser, due to its relatively large amount of primary weaponry.

The Neptune's were the first cruisers of any nation designed with post-war service in mind. In Neptune’s case, Neptunes were designed to be able to operate independently of a main fleet. In particular, they were envisaged to help oversee and defend the few remaining British colonies after the war.

Neptunes were still designed with escort service in mind, with the main armament having Dual Purpose AA capabilities. The DP guns were some fast guns, being able to fire a round every 6 seconds roughly. This was in part thanks to a reloading system adapted from a US design (found in the Des Moines-class). The additional ‘secondary’ AA compliment was also very heavy. As opposed to the US mentality of more smaller guns, the Neptune's had less gun placements overall. However, the primary AA defense being radar guided 76mm guns.

Neptune's were still equipped with a large assembly of 20mm Oerlikons, but they were used for point defense of the ship. Due to the 76mm and 152mm guns being encased in a turret, the ship had a AA blind spot of about 500m around the ship. The 20mm guns were envisaged to cover that 500m.

Neptune's were some of the fastest medium cruisers, clocking in at an extremely impressive 37kn jaunt. This was due to a stress on speed and stability, having a hull length matched by pre-war Battleships.

Neptune’s were capable of keeping up with most destroyers, and it was not uncommon for Neptune’s to be a ‘flagship’ of a small fleet of Destroyers. Like its predecessors, the Neptune's were equipped with a complement of torpedo launchers, as well as depth charges, and mine laying equipment. A Neptune-class cruiser was essentially an effective fleet in being, able to deny and blockade ports and shipping lanes.

However, surprisingly enough Neptune’s were not equipped with aviation facilities. While other allied cruisers started to trend away from ship based planes in favor of dedicated carriers, since the Neptune's were envisaged to work separately from a carrier. However, later deployment showed that the Neptune's tended to operate within the operational range of a carrier, leaving the point mute.

Overall, the Neptune one of the best defensive cruisers of the war. In offensive, ship to ship combat, the Neptune was near ineffective. The DP 152mm guns, while fantastic for smaller ships and AA, could not penetrate anything above 5in, regardless of range or impact angle.

However, this make the Neptune's supremely good destroyer hunters, able to effectively hunt down and destroy enemy DDs.

## Ships in Class:

HMS Neptune (C110)

HMS Penelope (C111)

HMS Arethusa (C112)

HMS Mars (C113)

HMS Southampton (C114) <-Sub Class Start

HMS York (C115)

HMS Edgar (C116)

HMS Surrey (C117)

HMS Cutlass (C118)
USS Reprisal

First of the Reprisal sub-class

See USS Shangri-La and USS Tarawa

The Reprisal class was essentially an armored variant of the Long hulled Essex. The Reprisals had an armored flight deck, reinforced side armor, and reinforced blast doors in the hanger. This was designed to up the Essex's survival, in particular after the disasterous lost of the USS Essex, USS Franklin, and USS Cabot in the same month in March 1943 due to sustained bombings from enemy planes. However, the draw back was the increase in displacement of the ships to 45,000 tones, the size of the prewar USS Constitution andUSS United States, while carrying the same amount of planes as the USS Langley. The ships also increased the ships cost to that of 1.5x of a regular long bow, to the point that for the cost of the conversion of the 3 ships, the carrier Blackfeet could have purchased an additional 2 long bows, and a short bow Essex, on top of the 3 ships themselves. Additionally, the sinking of theUSS Tarawa shortly after her commissioning in 1945, and the lost of the British armored carrier HMS Illustrious and HMS Ark Royal.
Malta-Class

Side Profile of Malta

## Anti-Aircraft

(8x6) Bofor 40mm

(7x1) Bofor 40mm

The Malta-class was a class of 4 large fleet carrier constructed by Britain during the middle of WW2. Coming to late to truly counter the German Surface Fleet, the Malta-class would see much success in the Pacific and be the benchmark for many new Carrier technology.

## Background

The Malta-class was built as a response to the rumors of a German super carrier under construction. The rumors would be found to be the result of a mix up in intelligence concerning the construction of the Tegetthoff-class Battleship along with the construction of the Immelmann-class light carrier.

However, fearful that the newly laid down Audacious-class would not be able to meet the threat, the Ministry of Defense ordered the construction of 4 carriers.

The resulting Malta-Class was heavily based off US experience in the Atlantic with the Essex-class. While the Malta-Class is overall comparable to the Essex-class, the Malta was considerably larger.

However, while 26 Essex-class would ultimately be commissioned, only 4 Malta-class carriers would enter service.

## Service History

With the commissioning HMS Malta in November 1946, the German Surface Fleet was on the run.

However, the Malta-Class would see much success in the Pacific theater. As the only British-class of carrier capable of handling Jet Fighters, the Malta-class was highly demanded.

HMS Malta would make history by being the first Aircraft Carrier to be set to sea with a fully operation jet squadron.

While the Germans had experimented with sea trials of the Me 262 on the Boelcke in 1946, the HMS Malta would be the first to be commisioned with fully operation jet facilities.

The Peter Straßer was due to be refit with jet facilities in 1945, but wartime demands forced this to be delayed in 194, While relatively comparable to the Essex-class, the Royal Navy would only produce 4 Malta-class. Compared to the 26 Essex-class ships the United States would produce.

Throughout 1948, the Malta-class ships were continuously refitted with a growing complement of AA guns. The heavy AA suite would eventually greatly resemble the Americans suite, and would be effective against Kamikaze attacks.

During the later half of 1948, the were refit with reinforced heat deflectors for new sea based Jets, and they were equipped with the Sea Meteor fighter bomber, Sea Vampire, and the Sea Fury torpedo bombers. Sea Mosquito's were also carried as reconnaissance.