sharlin
Banned
The last of the so called 'Big Cats' was now getting long in the tooth. HMS Tiger commissioned just before the Great War in 1916 was laid down as the last coal fired warship for the Royal Navy. Eschewing the new fangled triple turrets for the new Queen Elizabeth class the Tiger mounted 8 of the reliable and powerful 13.5 inch guns in turrets fore and aft.
Taking part in the Battle of Gibraltar as well as taking part in hunts for French surface raiders and blockade runners the Tiger had lead an eventful life before being dock bound in 1918 after running afoul of the French Battlecruiser Marshal Ney and her escorts whilst enforcing the blockade.
1)
Both ships had battered each other for the better part of a hour in a stand up gunnery duel, neither had scored the killing blow and the Marshal Ney had staggered into Brest equally shot up and in dire need of repairs.
With the end of the war in 1919 the Tiger was one of the few coal fired ships retained in active service, all be it in secondary roles such as stationary training ship and gunnery training. Soldiering on through the 20's and the financial crisis that swept the globe the Tiger found herself acting as a replacement when members of the Battlecruiser Squadron went into refit the Tiger was hauled out of training duty to show the flag and patrol the waters of the Empire as well as the terbulent waters of the Med where English warships eyed Franco-Italian ones warily.
In 1931 the Tiger was refitted for what was suppose to be her last refit. Finally her engines were converted into oil firing, her old 6-inch casemate guns were removed and their positions plated over and some of the light dual 4 inch guns were shipped to act as anti-destroyer and anti-aircraft armament to defend her against the now recognised air-born threat.
Plodding up and down the English coast on training missions, helping the fleet sink the last of the old pre-war dreadnoughts as their replacements were built the Tiger would face the same fate, the be expended as a target or cut up for scrap if it was not for the rise of French militarism in 1930. Promising a return of France's honour the new National Council refused to pay any more of the indemnities owed from the Treaty of Oslo.
Even though the peace had been seen as fair by all parties involved it was now viewed as the reason for the collapse of the French econimy which pointedly ignored the financial collapse of 1924 which affected the whole planet. Crushing inflation caused a near famine in the more rural regions of France still recovering from the War as the poor could barely afford food and the replaced Government was 'forced' to ask Britain for meat and grain to help feed the populace.
2)
The National Council did get the country working once more, factories were re-opened, great roads were constructed and the armed forces started to grow. Whilst the messages coming from the Germans were less than friendly the British, still recovering from the effect of the Great Depression at home and in the Empire as well as trying to fund social programs and feeling the cost of the bloody war in terms of lives lost opted to try and work with the new government.
Following their trading and military partner the Germans also tried reproachment with France whilst the French started reforming their old alliances, the Tsar of Russia, still thankful of French support in helping his father put down the Workers uprising which saw Lenin and his clique publicly hung in St Petersberg was receptive as was cash strapped Italy and its leader Benito Mussolini.
Slowly things went from bad to worse on the international scene and it was recognised that reproachment and talk simply was not going to work. The three defeated nations still burned at their defeat and it was felt it was time to settle accounts.
Anglo-German re-armament started in 1936, a year later than France and once again the dockyards of Great Britain seethed with work as ships were refitted and rebuilt and new classes laid down whilst the Tiger, now saved from the breakers yard of the guns of her fleet was called up again to serve on the front lines but her age made her no longer a front line unit. Unable to replace her 13.5 inch guns with anything larger without major and expensive work the Tiger was assigned to convoy duty in the event of war whilst the new ships got the lions share of the glory of hunting down the enemy.
The civil war in Spain, now viewed as a war by proxy between the English and the French is often regarded as the moment the fuse leading towards war was light. The Monarchists, supported by the English and Germans were supplied by the sea whilst the French supported Republicans could get support right over the border and with the defeat of the Monarchists in 1938 the English became painfully aware of the vulnerability of the famous Rock of Gibraltar and rushed to fortify that whilst the old pre-war forts along the channel were re-armed with 12 and 13.5 inch guns held in storage.
That was three years ago and Europe once more blazed with War. French troops had invaded and conquered Belgium and the Netherlands and there was heavy fighting along the German and French border whilst Italian troops threatened Malta and British holdings in Egypt.
And of course, at sea the Marine Nationale was on the hunt for British merchant ships. Right in the same region the Tiger was sailing waiting to meet an outbound convoy from Liverpool that was sailing to Halifax.
MN Glorie.
Brand new, fast and well armed and an ideal commerce raider Glorie was the lead ship of her class and apart from the Napoleon Class battleship still under construction at St Nazaire was the most modern ship afloat in the Marine Nationale. With her eight 14 inch guns she packed a wallop and could move at 33 knots. With her were her two escorts who would form their own raiding group the large cruiser Triomphant and the smaller D'Estrees, the former armed with ten 9.4 inch guns the latter with twelve 6.4 inch weapons. Already the trio were separating, more than thirty miles apart now when smoke was spotted from the foretop of the Glorie.
"Excellent, our first catch of the day, plot an intercept course and full speed if you please."
"Aye aye Captain."
3)
4)
1* HMS Tiger as a gunnery training ship prior to her refit.
2* The Tiger at the dockyards undergoing her refit to turn her into a oil fired warship.
3* MN Glorie as designed. Lead ship of a class of new Battlecruisers, again continuing the French love of the quadruple turret
4* MN D'Estrees as designed, a large and capable cruiser
Taking part in the Battle of Gibraltar as well as taking part in hunts for French surface raiders and blockade runners the Tiger had lead an eventful life before being dock bound in 1918 after running afoul of the French Battlecruiser Marshal Ney and her escorts whilst enforcing the blockade.
1)
Both ships had battered each other for the better part of a hour in a stand up gunnery duel, neither had scored the killing blow and the Marshal Ney had staggered into Brest equally shot up and in dire need of repairs.
With the end of the war in 1919 the Tiger was one of the few coal fired ships retained in active service, all be it in secondary roles such as stationary training ship and gunnery training. Soldiering on through the 20's and the financial crisis that swept the globe the Tiger found herself acting as a replacement when members of the Battlecruiser Squadron went into refit the Tiger was hauled out of training duty to show the flag and patrol the waters of the Empire as well as the terbulent waters of the Med where English warships eyed Franco-Italian ones warily.
In 1931 the Tiger was refitted for what was suppose to be her last refit. Finally her engines were converted into oil firing, her old 6-inch casemate guns were removed and their positions plated over and some of the light dual 4 inch guns were shipped to act as anti-destroyer and anti-aircraft armament to defend her against the now recognised air-born threat.
Plodding up and down the English coast on training missions, helping the fleet sink the last of the old pre-war dreadnoughts as their replacements were built the Tiger would face the same fate, the be expended as a target or cut up for scrap if it was not for the rise of French militarism in 1930. Promising a return of France's honour the new National Council refused to pay any more of the indemnities owed from the Treaty of Oslo.
Even though the peace had been seen as fair by all parties involved it was now viewed as the reason for the collapse of the French econimy which pointedly ignored the financial collapse of 1924 which affected the whole planet. Crushing inflation caused a near famine in the more rural regions of France still recovering from the War as the poor could barely afford food and the replaced Government was 'forced' to ask Britain for meat and grain to help feed the populace.
2)
The National Council did get the country working once more, factories were re-opened, great roads were constructed and the armed forces started to grow. Whilst the messages coming from the Germans were less than friendly the British, still recovering from the effect of the Great Depression at home and in the Empire as well as trying to fund social programs and feeling the cost of the bloody war in terms of lives lost opted to try and work with the new government.
Following their trading and military partner the Germans also tried reproachment with France whilst the French started reforming their old alliances, the Tsar of Russia, still thankful of French support in helping his father put down the Workers uprising which saw Lenin and his clique publicly hung in St Petersberg was receptive as was cash strapped Italy and its leader Benito Mussolini.
Slowly things went from bad to worse on the international scene and it was recognised that reproachment and talk simply was not going to work. The three defeated nations still burned at their defeat and it was felt it was time to settle accounts.
Anglo-German re-armament started in 1936, a year later than France and once again the dockyards of Great Britain seethed with work as ships were refitted and rebuilt and new classes laid down whilst the Tiger, now saved from the breakers yard of the guns of her fleet was called up again to serve on the front lines but her age made her no longer a front line unit. Unable to replace her 13.5 inch guns with anything larger without major and expensive work the Tiger was assigned to convoy duty in the event of war whilst the new ships got the lions share of the glory of hunting down the enemy.
The civil war in Spain, now viewed as a war by proxy between the English and the French is often regarded as the moment the fuse leading towards war was light. The Monarchists, supported by the English and Germans were supplied by the sea whilst the French supported Republicans could get support right over the border and with the defeat of the Monarchists in 1938 the English became painfully aware of the vulnerability of the famous Rock of Gibraltar and rushed to fortify that whilst the old pre-war forts along the channel were re-armed with 12 and 13.5 inch guns held in storage.
That was three years ago and Europe once more blazed with War. French troops had invaded and conquered Belgium and the Netherlands and there was heavy fighting along the German and French border whilst Italian troops threatened Malta and British holdings in Egypt.
And of course, at sea the Marine Nationale was on the hunt for British merchant ships. Right in the same region the Tiger was sailing waiting to meet an outbound convoy from Liverpool that was sailing to Halifax.
MN Glorie.
Brand new, fast and well armed and an ideal commerce raider Glorie was the lead ship of her class and apart from the Napoleon Class battleship still under construction at St Nazaire was the most modern ship afloat in the Marine Nationale. With her eight 14 inch guns she packed a wallop and could move at 33 knots. With her were her two escorts who would form their own raiding group the large cruiser Triomphant and the smaller D'Estrees, the former armed with ten 9.4 inch guns the latter with twelve 6.4 inch weapons. Already the trio were separating, more than thirty miles apart now when smoke was spotted from the foretop of the Glorie.
"Excellent, our first catch of the day, plot an intercept course and full speed if you please."
"Aye aye Captain."
3)
4)
1* HMS Tiger as a gunnery training ship prior to her refit.
2* The Tiger at the dockyards undergoing her refit to turn her into a oil fired warship.
3* MN Glorie as designed. Lead ship of a class of new Battlecruisers, again continuing the French love of the quadruple turret
4* MN D'Estrees as designed, a large and capable cruiser
