Urgent class cruiser

The *Urgent* class were a class of four 1st class cruisers, and were the first warships larger than destroyers to be constructed by the *Grecken*. Authorized by the 5th Naval Budget in 16AF, they pioneered capitol ship construction techniques and heralded in a new age of increasingly aggressive foreign policy by the GCK. Intended as a class of eight, only four were built before changing political circumstances dictated a larger, longer range design, culminating in the *Grecken* ordering three of the subsequent *Insistent* class cruisers.

## Background

In 16AF, when the uff de Laurent royal family begrudgingly acknowledged the alarming military expenditures abroad left the kingdoms woefully ill-equipped to defend themselves, the GCK embarked on an eight year plan to create a fresh fleet of capitol ships for their navy: in the interest of fulfilling the ranks sooner rather than later, construction efforts between 16AF and 20AF were to be focused on cruiser development, while battleships and aircraft carriers were to be the focus of the second half of the construction program between 20AF and 24AF. Of these, the *Urgent* class cruiser program was the first new cruiser design to be constructed by the *greckstatt* since its foundation sixteen years earlier, and the type accordingly represented a major milestone in grecken naval architecture. Military analysts accordingly sought to draw from overseas experience to help create a modern and effective cruiser design, and one which could easily be constructed in bulk, as the new naval construction plan called for a total of eight new cruisers for the navy.

## Design

### General Machinery

Overseas influences were carefully considered by military analysts and naval observers, with particular attention being given to the *Admiral von Augenstein class cruisers* under construction in Aerah and the Wakokuji *Kasagi class* cruisers. It was determined that the armament should be such as to allow the new cruiser class to be comparable with the new Aerah cruiser type, while construction techniques from Wakoku's naval schools was considered carefully as Wakokuji design philosophy was such that it merited consideration. However, in order to fit into the standardized 600 foot long drydocks that had been originally constructed for superdreadnought construction prior to the GCK's establishment, the new cruiser class would have to be somewhat shorter in length; accordingly, its beam was increased to help compensate for the smaller length, resulting in a hull with very comfortable sea characteristics but slightly inferior maneuverability in contrast to these rival classes.

### Armament

As the first ship to mount guns larger than destroyer caliber built by the GCK in almost twenty years, several new armaments were fitted to the type. The new Type 18 203mm cannons were designed specifically for this new class of ship, and sported certain variances from overseas developments; with a proportionately longer barrel length than comparable foreign designs, the Type 18 guns sport flat ballistic trajectories, higher accuracy and improved penetrative abilities at the cost of greater weight; thanks to the Urgent classes' comparably wider girth, stability was not effected by this choice, resulting in remarkably long gun range and accuracy.

Secondary armament is relatively modest with two destroyer style Type 18 2/127mm dual purpose gun turrets on each side; each turret features its own rangefinder system for additional redundancy in case the primary rangefinders, mounted on the superstructure tower, are disabled. Each side additionally features two triple 610mm torpedo tube mounts, giving the type comparable torpedo armament per side to a modern naval destroyer. With a total of six twin 50mm AA mounts and 8 quadruple 20mm short range AA guns, the type features adequate anti-aircraft defenses at its time of construction, although time has gradually eroded the impressiveness of its capabilities.

## Modernization

While the *Grecken* had received authorization for eight *Urgent* class cruisers under the provisions of the 5th Naval Budget, within a year of the first ships of the class being launched the GCK's successful annexation of the Maktak and Pongatar Islands in the Central Emihst dramatically expanded the range of operation expected of the navy, a weakness in the *Urgent* class design as they had been intended predominantly for operation at home in the Gulf of Laurent and along the coastline of Nordenia. The second batch of four hulls were cancelled, and three examples of a 5,000 ton heavier cruiser design were ordered instead, ultimately manifesting as the two *Insistant* class cruisers and the first of the two *Mason* class light aircraft carriers.

The *Insistant* class cruisers improved on many deficiencies of their predecessors, and these improvements were in turn applied to the *Urgent* class as the *Insistants* began to relieve them; *Vital* and *Serious* went in for modernization in 23AF within weeks of the *Insistants* entering service, while *Urgent* and *Critical* were modernized the following year. These modernizations included the addition of the new Type 20 aerial search radar and the improved Type 16bis/Type 20 radar targeted 50mm gun system. Additional 20mm anti-aircraft guns were added based on the risk of air attack demonstrated during the West Aerah Intervention, as well as enclosing the observation structure based on at sea experience.

## Service History

As the first cruisers built by the Grecken in almost twenty years, the navy has demonstrated a degree of restraint in their deployments, preferring to send smaller units such as the G-class destroyer leaders to riskier scenarios, but with one noteable exception: *SCK Urgent*, the class leader, served as the flagship of the Uuest Aerah Expeditionary Squadron and participated in the so-called Four Day War, a subcomponent of the Aerah Civil War. She remains on station at Proletariaburg, Uuest Aerah Autonomous Republic. *SCK Serious* has had service in the far-nord, and has hosted the lord counsellor during political inspections of frontier territories projects.

### Launched Units

*SCK Urgent*

*SCK Vital*

*SCK Serious*

*SCK Critical*