A New Balance

[Jim Smitty]

St. Johns, Newfoundland, American Territory
Dolphins’ Bar
November 3 1937


Dolphins’ Bar was crowded tonight. The latest batch of officers had just finished their qualifications at nearby Submarine Base St. Johns was here along with a sizable number of other submarine officers. As was tradition all of the officers that had finished their qualifications were brought to the Dolphins’ Bar for a rite of passage into world of being a submariner. The bar was owned by a veteran of the Great War, the silence service to be precise and had moved to Newfoundland as one of the homesteaders in the aftermath of the Great War. He had built the bar once it had become know that the USN was going to build a submarine base at St. Johns. And the bar was a hit and had become a favorite of the submariners of the submarine base. However, a mug was kept behind the bar for this event.


The mug itself was insanely large for being a mug. On the front of the mug was the insignia of the Submarine Warfare Badge. The bartender was loading up a shot of everything that was behind the bar into the mug. It didn’t matter what it was, if it was behind the bar and sold it when into the mug. Once this was done the Dolphins that had been presented to Ensign James “Jim” Smith at the graduation earlier today were dropped into the mug. Then Jim had to chug the mug and get his Dolphins by his teeth. A task easier said than done. It took a few seconds with a large amount of what was in the mug falling on the top part of his uniform before Jim had his Dolphins in his teeth. As soon as he had his Dolphins in his teeth he felt the need to pray to the porcelain gods. Only every officer who already had his Dolphins stood in his way. But once there he threw up everything he had just chugged down up and then some. At least the head had a spare uniform for him hanging there. There was some perks of being at the top of his class as the smell would get worse as the night when on.


Just as Jim was exiting the head a fellow officer from his class was having to chug the mug. A total of 23 officers had graduated today and all 23 were having to do the mug. But once done it was accepted by all other officers that they were submariners. The silent service was a critical part of the plan to defend the United States. The US was a leading power in the world and had a number of areas of conflict with other powers. Like all the Great Powers the United States had come to accept that it was a question of when and not if the next Great War would be fought. Even through the leaders of the nation would never admit that fact. Currently the world was a chess board and everyone was positioning their pieces.


Submarine Base St. Johns was one of five major submarine bases operated by the US. This didn’t mean that other naval bases didn’t host submarines but only five bases being only for submarines. Three in the Atlantic and two in the Pacific. St. Johns had been built to allow for a large submarine squadron close to British shipping lanes and get across the pond quickly. The US had learned during the Great War that submarines were a critical weapon of war and the only way to get the British to surrender was to cut off their life blood. It was how they were brought to the table at the end of the Great War.


Jim took his seat as he nursed a cold Dr. Pepper as he allowed his stomach was recovering from the chug. Jim wasn’t much of a drinker. He did like a shot of Jack Daniels ever so often, but the chug was a bit much and he no idea when he would take a nip from the bottle again after that. As he sat there recovering from the chug one of his friends who had just finished the chug took a seat at the table. “That was fucking brutal.” Marcus said.


“No shit.” Jim said as a reply. The two men had met at Annapolis and became friends. Then they decided to go into the silence service instead of going into the surface fleet or naval aviation. Well Marcus had the choice of joining the naval aviation branch, Jim didn’t. His eye sight was too poor to be a pilot so it was a choice between being a submariner or a surface officer. Jim decided to be a submariner as it meant a chance at a sea going command at a much younger age than if he would when into the surface fleet.


“So where were you assigned to Marcus?”


“I don’t know how it happened, but I got assigned to a Sugar Boat, out of Guantanamo Bay as the Engineering Officer. So I’m going home, how about you Jim?”


“A Sugar Boat? Ouch. I got assigned to the Salmon out of Guam as the junior engineering officer.”


“You are going to Guam? Lucky bastard.” Like all officers they viewed being assigned to a Pacific posting as the start of a promising career as a lot of people in the navy believed a war with Japan was highly likely. Whereas the Caribbean was a backwater in the USN. Mostly to keep the Mexicans in check, well the Reds out of Colombia, but it was still a backwater. The Atlantic was promising as well as another war with the British was also viewed as likely, but not as likely as a war with Japan.

 

[Dorf]

So is the 1937 ITL essentially the 1945 OTL? With all the semi-autos and some of the tanks and aircraft it looks like it could be that way. What's the non-military set of things like?

 

[Jim Smitty]

So is the 1937 ITL essentially the 1945 OTL? With all the semi-autos and some of the tanks and aircraft it looks like it could be that way. What's the non-military set of things like?

Tech levels range from OTL mid 1930s in some areas to mid WWII tech and others.

 

[Swede]

Has there been a map of central America and the carribean as it is now (or pre Panamanian independence) posted? Hard to keep track of who owns what there for me.

(Edited to fix Swedish autocorrect strangness)

 

[Kaiser Chris]

St. Johns, Newfoundland, American Territory
Dolphins’ Bar
November 3 1937

Once this was done the Dolphins that had been presented to Ensign James “Jim” Smith

This is sort of your self-insert isn't it Smitty?

 

[La Rouge Beret]

A very special day for a young officer joining the Navy's elite . There was a West German CNO that also became a submariner due to his poor eyesight.

 

[Jim Smitty]

This is sort of your self-insert isn't it Smitty?

Yes it is.

 

[Jim Smitty]

Has there been a map of central America and the carribean as it is now (or pre Panamanian independence) posted? Hard to keep track of who owns what there for me.

(Edited to fix Swedish autocorrect strangness)

Note this map is close but not perfect. I'm using MS Paint to create these maps, and its honestly a bitch, but better than nothing.

 

[Jim Smitty]

Berlin
Stadtschloss
November 19 1937


The Coronation of Kaiser Wilhelm the Third was set to start tomorrow. Work had started on the plans for the Coronation of Kaiser Wilhelm the Third starting after his father’s stroke in the summer of 1936 which put Wilhelm the Second into a coma. Wilhelm the second never recovered from that stroke and die peacefully in his sleep in October of last year. Well he never did wake from that stroke and it was only through the advances in medical technology since the end of the Great War that even allowed the late Kaiser to live that long. Yet now Germany was about to crown it’s third Kaiser. Well Wilhelm the Third was officially the fourth Kaiser of the German Empire, but Frederick the Third only lived for 100 days after assuming the throne before he joined his father in the afterlife. As such he did not have a coronation which was why Wilhelm the Third was only the third coronation of the German Empire.


With Germany being the leader of Quadruple Alliance meant Emperor Napoleon V of France, King Victor Emmanuel IV of Italy, and Queen Elisabeth of Belgium had travelled to Berlin to pay their respects to the soon to be newly crown Kaiser. Beside the other monarchs of the Quadruple Alliance who had travelled to Berlin, King William IV of the Netherlands, King Gustaf V of Sweden, King Frederick Charles of Finland, Großherzog Herzog Adolf von Friedrich of the Grand Duchy of the Baltic, and Großherzog Wolrad of the Duchy of Lithuania were all in Berlin as well. Other nations had sent people of importance to Berlin to so their respect to Germany in crowning their new Kaiser. The members of the North American Treaty Organization had all sent important people to Berlin being led by Secretary of State Gray Underwood. Brazil sent their own Imperial Princess Isabel. The Ottomans sent their own team led by one of the critical pashas in Ottoman Empire. Others nations send different people. But the British and Austro-Hungarians sent people of low importance to Berlin just more to represent their nations but also as a slap in the face to the Germans who they didn’t care for. The Com Block[2] didn’t even sent anyone to take part in the Coronation of Kaiser Wilhelm the Third.


Besides the heads of states there were other key people in Berlin to take part in the Coronation of Kaiser Wilhelm the Third. Currently in this room was only two people, Chancellor Hugo von Kaspar and Prime Minister Adriano Lucciano. They were both enjoying a class of good cognac, yet both knew something important was about to be said. Even through Hugo was German and Adriano was Italian they didn’t need interpreters. One thing of the Quadruple Alliance was that their monarchs and senior officials tried to learn one of the four languages[3]. Adriano who had been in power in Italy since the early 1920s had learned how to speak German fluently and speak French fairly well. Hugo could do so with French but he could also speak broken Italian.


Hugo finally broke the ice, “My government wishes to know how much longer your government will keep selling naval technology to the Com Block?” German intelligence had picked up on this a few years ago but it wasn’t till the past few months that they had a smoking gun that prove it.


Adriano looked into his cognac to try and figure out how to answer that question. He then chugged his cognac for liquid courage. “Hugo,” Adriano paused for a moment, “my nation was left so weak in the aftermath of the Great War that we didn’t have much left. When I came into power and learn how badly the books had been cooked by the governments that came before my own I had little to work with. Even with me refusing to pay the indemnity we agreed to in New York there was very little money left to maintain our armed forces and build up our industries. Neither mind growing them and I wasn’t about to start writing checks that would bounce.


Then in the just after the depression hit in 28 the Communist came to me with an offer. They wanted a navy, but you know all their naval personal fled as they didn’t want to be ruled by communist. They were offering massive amounts of hard money and resources for us to train them and help to build up their navy. We badly needed that money but I wanted a better deal for going against are long interest so I pushed harder for even more and they gave it. Its how we have done a lot we have since 31.” Indeed Italy had done a lot since 1931. It has increased its industrial output by a sizable amount. It has built up a natural resource reserve to be used in the event of war with the Axis Powers[4]. Infrastructure and public work programs has increase in the size. The Italians have even started a military build up with the money and resources they were getting from the Com Block. But more importantly the Italian books were not in the red anymore.


After Adriano said it there was a moment of silence between the two leaders. Hugo broke it, “Adriano why didn’t you come to my nation for help?”


“Would your nation had helped?” Adriano asked. “After what those bungling idiots did during the Great War?” The Quadruple Alliance had only been formed in 1933. And it had taken a fair amount of work to get France and Germany agree to both become official allies with Italy after what had happened in the Great War. The driving thing that brought both Berlin and Paris to finally agree to it was the fact they knew Italy had to honor any alliance call or the word of Italy will be forever destroyed in the world.


Silence returned again and this time lasted for a few minutes as both leaders were left to their own thoughts. Hugo once again was the first to speak, “Adriano how long does this agreement run with the Communist?”


“It ends January 1 1940. And before you ask I really have no plans to keep it up after that. I been able to achieve a lot of the goals I set out by doing it.”


Before Hugo could ask another question, Adriano decide to get on a topic that was needed for his nation. “Hugo, as you know my king is currently unwed. However he would like to get marry so he could have a heir to carry on his line. I was wondering if you could set up a meeting where he could meet some German Princess.” German nobility was a tricky thing. Even more since the reform in Germany in the aftermath[5] of the Great War.


“I could do that, but from the way he was looking at Queen Elisabeth[6] today I think it will be hard to get him to think of another woman.” Hugo said with a grin on his face.


“Don’t remind of that Hugo, that would create a massive headache I don’t want to deal with.”


[1] Ok after thinking about it I decided to rename the AATO to the NATO. Thanks to Kaiser Chris for the name idea.

[2] The Com Block is the name of the Communist Alliance.

[3] The four languages of the Quadruple Alliance are German, French, Italian, and Dutch.

[4] The British led alliance of the British and her commonwealths, Austria-Hungary, Japan, and a few minor powers. But unlike NATO, the Quadruple Alliance, and the Com Block its not as stable.

[5] I’m not get into this. If someone wants to try it, feel free to PM on your ideas.

[6] She is honestly a lovely woman.

 

[Jim Smitty]

La Paz, Bolivia
Public Park
December 14 1937


British Ambassador Sir Ronald Williams[1] was looking forward to retirement next year. Being in her majesty’s foreign service for almost 40 years was long enough. Maybe he would finally have a nice quiet life in Surrey with his wife. After all the years hoping all over the globe a quiet life with a garden and watching the grandchildren play really did some like a dream. Maybe it really was a dream as he had no idea how his other employer would take to the news of his retirement. He cursed his weakness as he made his way through the park to meet with his contact in the American ONI.


For Ronald, this all started because he couldn’t keep in his pants. His mistress in Rome had gotten pregnant and he needed money to keep her quiet. If she ran her mouth it would cost him his career and wife. So, he had sold the British diplomatic codes to the United States for a lot of money so he could shut up his Italian mistress. He had hoped it would had been a one time affair with the Americans. Yet that idea came crashing down in 1921 in Oslo. In 1921 the ONI had restarted contact with Ronald and basically threaten him bring his former Italian mistress to light. If they would had done that, his career and relationship with his wife would had ended. He though he loved his wife, Ronald just couldn’t keep it in his pants but hadn’t father any other children by 1921. The ONI made it clear they wanted Ronald to work for them again, with no choices that was worth a damn Ronald had agreed and became an American agent.


Since 1921 Ronald had passed many British diplomatic secrets to the United States. The ONI had paid Ronald well for this information both in terms of money and his weakness, young women. The ONI had no issues with using women as honeypots[2], hell they had both men and women doing it. Yet unknown to Ronald he had father another bastard child with one of the woman that was being used as a formed of payment in 1927 in Rio. Along the way as being an American spy Ronald had been knighted when he had been made a Knight Commander in the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George in 1932, for services to the empire. He had to grin a little, had they known about his secrets he would be dead in a heartbeat. The Conservative Empire Party wasn’t known to be kind to traitors. That point was driven home when Melita Symonds a civil servant was popped for spying for the communist in 31. She was hung in London Tower a year later after a show trial.


Ronald made contact with the ONI officer who had been his handler since his appointment to be the British Ambassador to Bolivia in 1935. She was a looker and great in bed. But she did not look happy today in the dim light of the setting sun. He sat down beside her for a moment. Neither said anything but she got up and left the newspaper she had been reading. Ronald picked up the newspaper and looked at the note for him left in it. As he read the encoded note the color drained from his face. By the time he had finished reading the note he was thinking maybe a quiet life in the United States might be healthier than Surrey.


The ONI had a fairly large spy ring in the British Empire. This was because the US still viewed the British Empire as a very likely foe. Only the Japanese was ahead of the British in the US threat list. Yet they had an easier time getting spies into the British Empire than the Japanese Empire. Through one of their spies they learned the British were performing a spy hunt in their diplomatic corp. Ronald was one of the final 16 British diplomats on the list of this spy hunt. One thing the ONI did was to make sure their people lived. And right at the moment they were worried about Ronald’s ability to get to live with him staying in place. Further the chance to fully debrief a British ambassador was a once in a generation chance. They had just passed that message on to Ronald that he needed to be ready to leave La Paz in the very near future.


[1] You guys remember that British Diplomatic that sold the United States the British codes in 1916 right? Well this is the guy.

[2] The ONI pays these women well and they are well treated.

 

[cortz#9]

I remember this Brit dip, nice to to see you using him again.

 

[Cryostorm]

Nice to see that American intelligence does its best to take care of its agents, even the foreign ones.

 

[Jim Smitty]

United States of America

Army

Unit Strength

17th Airborne Brigade is slated to be expand to a division.


Infantry Support Equipment

The M3 4.2 Inch Mortar entered general service[1].


Medium Goliath

M21 (M7 Medium Tank)

Weight: 27.1 t
Crew: 5 (Commander, Driver, Co-Driver, Gunner, Loader)
Armor: up to 2.5 inches
Main Armament: 3 inch L/32 Gun
Secondary Armament: .50 cal Machine Gun (Commander’s Hatch), .30-06 cal Machine Gun (Co-axial)
Engine: 9 Cylinder radical
Speed: 31 mph
Range: 150 miles


Tactical Bombers

B-31 (Douglas B-23 Dragoon)

Crew: 6 (Pilot, Co-Pilot, Navigator/Bombardier, Radio Operator, 2 x Gunners)
Powerplant: 2 x 14 cylinder, radicals
Top Speed: 301 mph
Range: 1,300 miles
Service Ceiling: 32,000 ft
Ordnance: 1 x .50 cal machine gun, 3 x .30-06 cal machine guns, and up to 2,000 lbs of ordnance


The Naval Modernization Act was passed. Under this act a number of ships were ordered. This included the fourth Florida Class Battleship, the North Dakota BB-76, and a third and fourth Independence Class Aircraft Carriers, the Hornet CV-22 and Randolph CV-23 were the two classes that were expanded by this act. It recalled the USS Cowpens to active duty service along with ordering the two strong Antietam Class Light Aircraft Carriers. Further it sent the USS Detroit to the breaker yards with its guns either going to coastal defenses in the Pacific. Guns that were being removed from the modernized battleships were also being moved to sure of the defenses of the Pacific. Further it ordered a new class of coastal defensive ships to help defend the vast Pacific territories of United States. The main piece of the act through dealt with the pre-Treaty battleships and battlecruisers still in service with the USN. This set up plans to modernization all of these ships. The modernization plans for each ship is slated to take between five to seven months per ship with this being staggered to keep the USN well equipped. On top of all of the ships ordered or slated to be modernized under this act, Congress also decided to fund the building of a number of new slip-ways for 40,000 and 75,000 ton ships.


New Classes

Antietam Class Light Aircraft Carriers

14,600 tons displacement, turbo-electric, 32 knots, 46 x 1.1 inch Autocannons (Different mounts), 40 Aircraft

Antietam, CVL-24
Gettysburg, CVL-25


Appalachian Class Coastal Defense Ships [2]

11,100 tons displacement, diesel, 21 knots, 6 x 12/50s[3] in triple turrets, 8 x 5/38s in Twin Turrets, 16 x 1.1 inch Autocannons (Quad Mount)

Appalachian, BM-26
Ozark, BM-27
Rocky, BM-28
Denali, BM-29
Cascade, BM-30
Blue Ridge, BM-31


Modernized Classes

Battleships

Mississippi Class, Reserve, to be recommissioned once modernized [4]

26,000 tons displacement, coal fired boilers turbine driven, 21 knots, 12 x 12/50s in twin turrets, 16 x 5/51s in casemates, 8 x 3/50s single mounts,

Mississippi Class, SLEPed

28,600 tons displacement, oil fired boilers, turbine driven, 21 knots, 12 x 12/50s in twin turrets, 12 x 5/38s in duel turrets, 40 x 1.1 inch autocannons (quad mounts)

USS Mississippi, BB-40
USS Cuba, BB-42


Texas Class, reserve, to be recommissioned once modernized

27,000 tons displacement, coal fired with oil spray boilers, turbine driven, 21 knots, 10 x 14/45s in twin turrets, 16 x 5/51s in casemates, 8 x 3/50s single mounts

Texas Class, SLEPed

29,900 tons displacement, oil fired boilers, turbine driven, 21 knots, 10 x 45/45s in twin turrets, 12 x 5/38s in twin turrets, 40 x 1.1 inch autocannons (Quad Mount)

USS Texas, BB-43
USS Wyoming, BB-45


Oklahoma Class

27,500 tons displacement, oil fired boilers, turbine driven, 21 knots, 10 x 14/45s in two triple turrets, in two twin (Superfiring), 12 x 5/51s in casemates, 8 x 5/25s in single mounts, 8 x 1.1 AA Guns (4x2)

Oklahoma Class SLEPed

30,500 tons displacement, oil fired boilers, turbine driven, 21 knots, 10 x 14/45s in two triple turrets, in two twin (Superfiring), 16 x 5/38s in twin turrets, 40 x 1.1 inch autocannons (Quad Mount)

USS Oklahoma, BB-46
USS Georgia, BB-47
USS Nevada, BB-48


New York Class

29,158 tons displacement, oil fired boilers, turbine driven, 23 knots, 12 x 14/45s in triple turrets (Superfiring), 12 x 5/51s in casemates, 8 x 5/25s in single mounts, 2 x 3/50s in single mounts, 8 x 1.1 AA Guns (4x2)

New York Class SLEPed

31,400 tons displacement, oil fired boilers, turbine driven, 22 knots, 12 x 14/45s in triple turrets (Superfiring), 16 x 5/38s in twin turrets, 40 x 1.1 Inch Autocannons (quad mount)

USS New York, BB-49
USS Pennsylvania, BB-50


Arizona Class

32,000 tons displacement, oil fired boilers, turbine driven, 23 knots, 12 x 14/50s in triple turrets (Superfiring), 14 x 5/51s in casemates, 10 x 5/25s in single mounts, 8 x 1.1 AA Guns (4x2)

Arizona Class SLEPed

33,500 tons displacements, oil fired boilers, turbine driven, 23 knots, 12 x 14/50s in triple turrets (Superfiring), 16 x 5/38s in twin turrets, 40 x 1.1 Inch Autocannons (Quad Mounts)

USS Arizona, BB-51
USS Idaho, BB-52
USS Virginia, BB-53
USS Maine, BB-54


California Class

33,190 tons displacement, turbo-electric, 23 knots, 12 x 14/50s in triple turrets (Superfiring), 14 x 5/51s in Casemates, 10 x 5/25s in single mounts, 8 x 1.1 AA Guns (4x2)

California Class SLEPed

34,500 tons displacement, turbo-electric, 23 knots, 12 x 14/50s in triple turrets (Superfiring), 16 x 5/38s in Twin Turrets, 40 x 1.1 inch autocannons (Quad Mounts)

USS California, BB-55
USS Tennessee, BB-56
USS Connecticut, BB-57


Maryland Class

32,600 tons displacement, turbo-electric, 23 knots, 8 x 16/45s in twin turrets (Superfiring), 8 x 5/51s in single turrets, 4 x 5/25s in single mounts, 2 x 3/50s in single mounts, 8 x 1.1 AA Guns

Maryland Class SLEPed

34,100 tons displacement, turbo-electric, 23 knots, 8 x 16/45s in twin turrets (Superfiring), 16 x 5/38s in twin turrets, 40 x 1.1 inch autocannons

USS Maryland, BB-58
USS Washington, BB-59
USS Colorado, BB-60
USS New Mexico, BB-61


West Virginia Class

43,200 tons displacement, turbo-electric, 25 knots, 12 x 16/50s in triple turrets (Superfiring), 6 x 6/52s in single turrets, 4 x 5/25s in single mounts, 4 x 3/50s in single mounts,

West Virginia Class SLEPed

44,100 tons displacements, turbo-electric, 25 knots, 12 x 16/50s in triple turrets (Superfiring), 16 x 5/38s in Twin Turrets, 40 x 1.1 inch autocannons

USS West Virginia, BB-62
USS Iowa, BB-63
USS Montana, BB-64
USS Indiana, BB-66
USS North Carolina, BB-67


Battlecruisers

Lexington Class

27,800 tons displacement, oil fired boilers, turbine driven, 29 knots, 8 x 14/45s in twin turrets (Superfiring), 12 x 5/51s in Casemates, 6 x 5/25s in Single Mounts

Lexington Class SLEPed

29,500 tons displacement, oil fired boilers, turbine driven, 27 knots, 8 x 14/45s in twin turrets (Superfiring), 16 x 5/38s in twin turrets, 32 x 1.1 inch Autocannons

USS Lexington, BC-5
USS Ranger, BC-6


Saratoga Class

32,000 tons displacement, turbo-electric, 30 knots, 8 x 14/50s in twin turrets, (Superfiring), 12 x 5/51s in Casemates, 8 x 5/25s In Single Mounts, 2 x 3/50s in Single Mounts

Saratoga Class, SLEPed

33,500 tons displacement, turbo-electric, 30 knots, 8 x 14/50s in twin turrets (Superfiring), 16 x 5.38s in twin turrets, 32 x 1.1 inch autocannons

USS Saratoga, BC-7
USS Constellation, BC-8


Essex Class

44,500 tons displacement, turbo-electric, 32 knots, 8 x 16/45s in twin turrets (Superfiring), 14 x 6/53s in Casemates, 10 x 5/25s in Single Mounts

Essex Class SLEPed

45,100 tons displacement, turbo-electric, 32 knots, 8 x 16/45s in twin turrets (Superfiring), 16 x 5/38s in Twin Turrets, 32 x 1.1 inch autocannons

USS Essex, BC-9
USS Constitution, BC-12


Bonhomme Richard Class

Guns are changed to the modern 12/50s but still used in the old turrets. They had back doored this as they weren’t sure how well the new 12/50s with super heavy AP shells.


Brazil

Artillery

Brazil and Germany come to a license agreement to allow Brazil to make the 10.5 cm leFH howitzer in Brazil with 150 to be built in Germany as the production facilities are built up in Brazil. This license agreement also grants Brazil the license to build the 8.8 cm Flak 33. Brazil will keep its small import of the Flak 33 as new production facilities are built up in Brazil to make the Flak 33.


Chile

Infantry Support Weapons

Chile and France have signed a license agreement to make the famed French 60 and 81 mm mortars in Chile.


United Kingdom

Tactical Bomber

Stirling (Avro Manchester)

Crew: 7 (Pilot, Co-Pilot, Navigator/Bombardier, Flight Engineer, Radio Operator/Gunner, 2 x Gunners)
Powerplants: 2 x 24 cylinder radicals
Top Speed: 269 mph
Range: 1,300 miles
Service Ceiling: 19,000 ft
Ordnance: 8 x .303 machine guns, and up to 9,000 lbs of ordnance


In the 1937 Naval Bill the British ordered two more of their Thunder Class Battleships, Albion and Goliath, one more Rodney Class Battlecruiser Hawke, and three more A Class Light Aircraft Carriers, the Achilles, Apollo, and Amphion. This is on top of ordering more light cruisers, destroyers, and escort vessels.


Third French Empire

Light Goliath

R37 (Hotckiss H35/39)

Weight: 12.9 t
Crew: 3 (Commander, Driver, Gunner)[5]
Armor: up to 34 mm
Main Armament: 37 mm Gun L/33
Secondary Armament: 7.5 mm Machine Gun (Co-axial)
Engine: Slant-Six, Liquid Cooled
Speed: 27 km/h
Range: 150 km


Fighters

C-33 (Morane-Saulnier M.S. 406)

Crew: 1
Powerplant: V-12, liquid cooled
Speed: 521 km/h
Range: 1,000 km
Service Ceiling: 9,400 m
Armament: 1 x 20 mm autocannon, 4 x 7.5 mm machine guns


Tactical Bombers

BT-13 (Lioré et Olivier LeO 45)

Crew: 4 (Pilot, Bombardier/Navigator, Flight Engineer/Radio Operator, Gunner)
Powerplant: 2 x 14 cylinder radicals
Speed: 499 km/h
Range: 2,800 km
Service Ceiling: 9,000 m
Armament: 1 x 20 mm autocannons, 2 x 7.5 mm machine guns, and up to 1,500 kg of ordnance


Naval

The French agreed to the sell of the four Justice Class Pre-Colossus Battleships to the Regia Marina with the Regia Marina agreeing to return the main armament following their plan upgrades to the ships. The French don’t understand what the Italians are planning but they frankly don’t care as its money in their pockets. Further they came to an agreement with the Kaiserliche Marine that the Kaiserliche Marine will take over the defense of the Atlantic Trade roots in of the event of war with the British Empire, and they will together with the Regia Marina shut down the Med. Only in the defense of the English Channel and the Bay of Biscay is not covered under these agreements. These areas are to be under the Marine Imperial[6]. Under the 1937 Naval Act[7] the French order a pair coastal defense ships to cover the English Channel and Bay of Biscay as per their agreements with the Kaiserliche Marine. They ordered other ships, but with a heavy focus on destroyers and submarines.


Dupuy de Lôme Class Coastal Defense Ships

9,800 tons, diesel, 29 knots, 6 x 305 mm L/45s in triple turrets[8], 8 x 130 mm L/45s in Twin Turrets,


Voltaire Class Semi-Colossus Battleships, currently being modernized

As Built

18,458 tons displacement, coal fired boilers, turbine driven, 20 knots, 4 x 305 mm L/45s in twin turrets, 12 x 240 mm L/50 in twin turrets

Modernized

18,550 tons displacement, oil fired boilers[9], steam turbines, 18 knots, 4 x 305 mm L/45s in Twin Turrets, 12 x 130 mm L/45s in Twin Turrets

NGI Condorcet
NGI Danton
NGI Diderot
NGI Mirabeau
NGI Vergniaud
NGI Voltaire


Belgium

Artillery

The Chamber of Representatives finally cough off the money to modernize the 7.7 cm guns currently in service to the more modern 75 mm ammo.


Netherlands

Air Force

The Dutch East Indies Air Force has placed an order for 80 CL XXII kits from Germany for use in the DEI. These are to replace the current CL XIXs which are in service there.


Navy

The Dutch House of Representatives have put the money forward to modernized the HNLMS Tromp and HNLMS van Ghent battleships.


Germany

Small Arms

Taking on lessons from the campaign in Arabia and other colonial campaigns they are improving the Gewehr 33 to make it a better rifle. The new improved Gewehr 33 is projected to enter service some time in 1938.


Navy

Germany passed the 1937 Naval Act. This act didn’t order any more capital ships nor aircraft carriers. It however ordered a number of new cruisers, destroyers, and submarines and the building of new 70,000 ton slip ways. It also funded the modernization Rheinland Class Colossus Class Battleships. This modernization will take place over six months per ship and started in August 1937 and the program of modernization will run into 1938.


Rheinland Class

24,750 tons displacement, coal-fired boilers, turbine driven, 21 knots, 10 x 30.5 cm L/50s in twin turrets (Superfiring, forward), 14 x 15 cm L/45s castmate, 8 x 8.8 cm AA Guns

Rheinland Class SLEPed

26,600 tons displacement, oil-fired boilers, turbine driven, 21 knots, 6 x 30.5 cm L/50s in twin turrets[10] (Superfiring, forward), 16 x 12.7 cm L/45s in Twin Turrets, 12 x 8.8 AA Guns in Twin Turrets

SMS Rheinland
SMS Kaiser
SMS Koing Albert
SMS Friedrich der Grosse


Italy

Army

The orders for a new infantry division to be formed came down in August 1937. This division will be the 31st Infantry Division.


Navy

The 1937 Naval Act was signed into law. This created a new class of ship within the Italian Navy, the breachships. These old-pre Colossus ships are being redesigned to allowed a direct day one assault on Malta. To help their cause they brought four old French pre Colossus ships for this aim. They further order a pair of new battleships the Ammiraglio di Saint Bon Class with new destroyers, submarines, and other lesser ships.


Ammiraglio di Saint Bon Class

58,400 tons displacement, oil fired boilers, turbine driven, 28 knots, 9 x 432 mm L/45s in triple turrets (Superfiring, forward), 12 x 152 mm L/55s in triple turrets, 18 x 90 mm AA Guns

Ammiraglio di Saint Bon
Emanuele Filiberto


Justice Class Pre-Colossus Battleships

14,860 tons displacement, coal fired boilers, vertical triple-expansion steam engines, 19 knots, 4 x 305 mm L/45s in twin turrets, 10 x 194 mm L/50s castmate,

Justice Class Rebuilt as a Breachship

11,090 tons displacement, diesel, 19 knots, 4 x 90 mm AA Guns in twin mounts, Large numbers of autocannons and machine guns, a ram bow, the hull is filled as much cork as possible.

RN Giustizia, Ex-NGI Justice
RN Libertà, Ex-NGI Liberte
RN Verità, Ex-NGI Vérité
RN Onore, Ex-NGI Democratie


Pre-Colossus Class Battleships

Vittorio Emanuele Class Battleships, reserves

13,900 tons displacement, coal fired boilers, triple expansion steam engines, 22 knots, 2 x 305 mm L/40s in single turrets, 12 x 203 mm L/45s in twin turrets, 16 x 76 mm L/40s casemate

Vittorio Emanuele Class Rebuilt as Breachships

12,500 tons displacement, diesel, 17 knots, 4 x 90 mm AA Guns in duel mounts with shields, large numbers of machine guns and autocannons, saws, cutters, hull is filled with as much cork as possible

RN Vittorio Emanuele
RN Regina Elena
RN Napoli


Sweden

Air Force

The Swedish Air Force following the failure of the Swedish domestic fighter replacement for the J 14 they decided to buy 60 German D XXV fighters to upgrade their air defenses.


Ottoman Empire

Artillery

The Ottoman and German governments have come to an agreement to build a Krupp Factory in the Ottoman Empire to build the Flak 33 as the standard heavy anti-aircraft gun of the Ottoman Army. Till this factory is up and running the Ottomans will be importing Flak 33s from Germany.


Japan

Artillery

As the war with China starts, the army was finally given the money for new 75 and 105 mm guns and howitzers.


Navy

The Imperial Japanese Navy didn’t order any capital ships and aircraft carriers in 1937. Yet they ordered a large number of heavy and light cruisers, destroyers, and submarines.


Imperial Federation

Small Arms

The Imperial Federation Army fielded a new rifle late 1937.


[1] M2 4.2 Inch Mortar

[2] These are meant to replace a host of badly designed monitors/coastal defense ships the US built during the treaty period as trying to hit that loophole was a god damn bitch. There is a reason I didn’t cover those as those things suck badly. In the USN Hull Code System they are listed as Monitors as such they get the BM title.

[3] These are 12/50s Mark 8 like not the older marks that pre-date the Great War ITL.

[4] The Mississippi and Texas classes are being recommissioned following their refits. However the Mississippi class will return to the reserves once the last two of the Florida Class are commissioned. The Texas class will also return to the reserves once the next two battleships after the last two Florida Class ships are commissioned. If they are a new class for a third run of Florida Class ships is still being debated. The idea with this is to get both classes a new lease on life for the next 10 to 15 years and when war breaks they get used as convoy escorts and shore bombardment when needed.

[5] Yeah I know the OTL R35/39 was a two man crew, but ITL the French decide to go to two man turrets instead of a single man turret. This is after testing they found they were placing too much work on a single person to run a turret.

[6] Yeah the French Navy ITL is fairly cash starved with everything that has happened to France ITL to date. It was why they were more than happy to get this as they can focus on things like the army and air force without having to worry about cap ships after tje Davout Class. They really want to go to Jeune École variant as its cheaper than building a battleline.

[7] Sue me I can’t figure out what they will be calling these so unless it’s the US its going to be a naval act when dealing with ordering new ships.

[8] These are reusing old guns from the ships they sold to the Italians but rebuilt with triple turrets that are far better than the twin turrets used by those ships.

[9] This is my screw up, I did more R&D and saw that it was easier to switch boilers from coal over to oil than I first thought. This is showing the change.

 

[Not James Stockdale]

For the US capital ships, you might be able to use the extra tonnage and the weight savings from propulsion upgrades to upgrade the 14/45 and 16/45 to 14/50 and 16/50.

 

[Jim Smitty]

For the US capital ships, you might be able to use the extra tonnage and the weight savings from propulsion upgrades to upgrade the 14/45 and 16/45 to 14/50 and 16/50.

I looked at that possibly but decided against it.

 

[sloreck]

Very much enjoying the timeline. One nitpick, engines are RADIAL not radical.

 

[Jim Smitty]

Very much enjoying the timeline. One nitpick, engines are RADIAL not radical.

well I be damned. I didn't notice that. I don't know if it was me or my autocorrect. Anyways at the end of each year there is going to be an update like this outlining weapons as this is going to be one hell of a war that is coming. One that radically changes the world.

 

[sloreck]

If and when jets appear, that would be radical (sorry had to do it)

 

[Jim Smitty]

If and when jets appear, that would be radical (sorry had to do it)

Well both the British and Germans have proof of concept jets flying and other nations working on jet engines, so what do you think is going to happen ITL?

 

[Zoidberg12]

I've read this timeline up to 1937 and I'm still really enjoying it. Keep up the good work!

Anyways, I've decided to make a map of this world in June, 1915, on the eve of the First World War.