An Alternative WWII Naval Battle. USN vs RN/RCN

Just something I have been toying with recently. May or may not use for my HSF TL... Pends on the direction I take it. Feel free to comment. Not continuing this for now.


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Following the American declaration of war against the British Empire, Canada declares neutrality in a pre-arranged plan with the British Empire. The plan in brief recognizes that Canada is all but impossible to defend against the continental United States armies, and so rather than risk Canada, strict neutrality is preferred to war.

In part with this plan, most of the Canadian Air Force and military vehicles have been quietly withdrawn to the United Kingdom in previous months, and much of their navy has also been transferred and are currently undergoing ‘refits’ in English docks. The exceptions are the prides of the fleet, which are much harder to hide in such a manner. Finally, the army has been concentrated around the capital and main naval port city of Quebec.

Due to this, HMS Rodney (Flag), HMCS Canada and HMCS Quebec are all in the city awaiting their orders along with an escort of the two light cruisers HMCS Niobe and HMCS Rainbow and destroyers HMCS Saguenay, HMCS Skeena, HMCS Champlain and HMCS Vancouver. This small squadron is to remain in the city as neutral warships unless events take other turns.

As it happens, this will in fact be the case as the United States do not believe that Canada will remain neutral and will in fact be reinforced and the United States invaded through her ports, and they are not prepared to allow this to happen. The Canadian contingency plans are therefore well founded, and when the US 12th Army marches across the border the Canadian Army fights a holding action designed to give enough time for the loading of equipment and supplies onto the HMCS Canada, HMCS Quebec, HMCS Niobe and HMCS Vancouver. This final shipment from Canada consists of the nations gold reserves (Already moved to the dockyard as part of the contingency plan) and some final confidential military equipment and other supplies, along with the government so that they can remain as a ‘government in exile’ and give legitimacy to Canadian forces continuing the fight.

Being delayed by the army’s holding action the vanguard of the 12th Army arrive on the outskirts of Quebec in time to see the remnants of the Canadian Navy raise anchor and steam up the Saint Lawrence River and to the open sea. As they raise anchor the army is signalled, and promptly surrender, their orders fulfilled. Missing out on the prize of the Canadian Navy is a blow for the US army, but not totally unexpected, and they in turn signal the United States Navy who have anticipated such a move, and have units at sea to intercept and force the surrender of the Canadian Navy. Never the less, the United States Air Force send aircraft to shadow and attack the ships, however with just machinegun bullets and light bombs they do minimal damage.

Breaking out into the Atlantic Ocean gives a new set of problems for the Canadian forces, as the safest route is past between Cape Breton Island and Newfoundland, and this is where the United States Navy is waiting for them with superior firepower. The Canadians catch the Americans off-guard however and sail North of Anticosti Island and make straight for the 15km wide Strait of Belle Isle. Slipping past them is not enough however, as the USN quickly recovers and a sea-chase across the Atlantic Ocean starts. With a 50-mile head start the Canadians have the advantage but not the endurance as they are limited to 20 knots economical cruising speed to allow all vessels to make the voyage. They do however manage to evade the USN overnight and put another 50 miles of sea between them.

Heading toward Ireland as best they can the Canadians manage to evade the Americans all day but overnight the Americans succeed in catching up and finally manage to get within RADAR range (A highly classified secret in the US military, the plans having been obtained from an ex-South American citizen who lost his family in rioting in Argentina in 1936 and blames the British Empire). Unfortunately for them this advantage is not limited to their side as the Canadian ships also carry RADAR (Again a highly classified secret) and see them coming. They actually know they were around by virtue of having RADAR detectors, but while the Americans are using their RADAR continuously searching for the Canadians, the Canadians have been using theirs sparingly, and judging the distance of the Americans by strength of received RADAR signals. Having not yet topped up their tanks, the four Canadian destroyers have about ¼ of their fuel remaining while the cruisers and battleships still have enough to make the journey (Although the cruisers are going to have to refuel if evasive action is required).

Onboard HMS Rodney the RADAR operator is watching the blip on his screen and has observed that it is maintaining a constant bearing and distance from the centre of his plot. Due to this he has assumed that this blip at 30 nautical miles astern is a ‘RADAR ghost’ – A false echo on the plot, even though he knows the American ships are around. He is under this impression until the blip separates into two, with the new blip accelerating to 33 knots and proceeding to make to overtake the Canadian squadron. At that stage he informs the bridge that his RADAR ghost is in fact a trailing ship or ships, and one is now moving to pass them at 33 knots. Rear Admiral P. W. Nelles onboard HMS Rodney has considered this eventuality, and gives his orders accordingly. His duty is to get his ships ‘special cargo’ to safety and this means protecting his two F3 Class Battleships and two Fox Class cruisers. Due to this, final signals are made by light before he dispatches them into the dark of the moonless night.

Flashed directly between the ships and at 30 miles, there is no way the Americans can see the signal.
“Make for England at best speed. God bless and good luck.”
HMS Rodney receives in reply an equally short signal.
“God speed and good hunting. We shall see you in Blighty.”

With that, the four ships turn their sterns toward HMS Rodney and the water under the counter boils on each ship as they put on maximum revolutions, turn into the night and make for safety independently. Keeping his short-legged destroyers with him, Rear Admiral Nelles orders his new smaller squadron to prepare for battle.

Onboard the American ships they see the ‘blip’ they are tracking split into two, with one section going Nor-Nor East at speed and the other turning South and remaining at 20 knots. They fatefully choose to follow the Southern blip – Their thinking being that the Northern blip will be trapped against the ice and can be tracked down later, whilst if left alone the Southern blip will be able to escape into the expanse of the Atlantic Ocean. This is also Rear Admiral Nelles thinking and the Southern blip is the HMS Rodney and her escorts. After making sure that the Americans are following him, he works his ships up to the maximum squadron speed of 27 knots, far in excess of the American ships who are limited to 23 knots by the South Dakota Class battleships. Therefore Admiral Jones onboard the USS Carolina orders his attached battlecruisers the USS Constellation and USS Constitution to intercept and slow down the Canadian ships.

Rear Admiral Nelles sees the American blip separate and seeing one part speed up to 33.5 knots he knows he is against a Lexington Class battlecruiser at the very least (As this is the only American ship in commission that can hit that speed, and has a chance of doing him damage). Knowing he has to do as much as possible to delay the Americans, he orders Action Stations and for all ships to act independently once the HMS Rodney opens fire, and for his destroyers to attempt to torpedo the American ships.

The Royal Navy have one distinct advantage over the Americans however. While both sides have RADAR, the American version is a copy of an older Royal Navy system and while it allows the US to track the Canadian ships, the Royal Navy (And all major capital ships of their dominions) mount more
advanced versions in the form of the Type 273 and Type 284 RADAR systems, and this is a gunnery control system. Being ordered not to use advanced systems until necessary, the order is given to switch to this system (Much to the surprise of the Americans) and at 4:08am when the range between the HMS Rodney and USS Constellation is 30,000 yards the scene onboard the bridges of both ships is tense. The Americans know that the British are close and that they are closing in. They also know that they cannot yet open fire as they can’t see the British ships. With dawn less than 30 minutes away, they also know that soon they will be able to unleash their firepower and quickly overwhelm the Royal Navy vessels they face. As such, they are just having their men finish breakfast and within 10 minutes will have closed up to action stations in preparation for the coming battle. Onboard the British bridge things are different however. Men are already at action stations, guns are already loaded and a few minutes previously loud clunking had echoed out from HMS Rodney across the ocean to the destroyers as the main guns turned and barrels elevated to seek out targets for hungry shells. Now, guns have finished turning and a tense silence again reigns as all that men and machine now wait for is the order to open fire.

Adm - ‘Range?’
Nav - ’RADAR indicates 30,000 yards sir.’
Adm - ‘Guns?’
Guns - ’Tracking lead target sir. We have crossed their T and are ready to open fire.’
Adm - ’Captain?’
Capt - ‘Closed up and at action stations sir. Ready to fire on your order.’
Adm – ‘Very well. Open fire.’
Dong dong dong
Guns – ‘Shoot!’

With that eight 16” armour-piercing shells, each weighing 2,250lbs are launched out of the gun barrels and fly on their way at 2,514 feet per second, eagerly seeking their destiny…..

On the American bridges, the first inkling of what is coming is when the lookouts report what appears to be muzzle flashes on the horizon some 30,000 yards ahead. Some 40 seconds later while the bridge officers are still discussing what the strange flashes could have been, another set of what appears to be muzzle flashes is seen. Once again the first officer clearly states that it must be the Royal Navy firing at extreme range, to which he once again gets the reply that it cannot be the Royal Navy firing as they cannot possibly make out the battlecruisers as it is far too dark to see a darkened ship.

The discussion is still raging 35 more seconds later when the lookouts spot another set of flashes on the horizon. Seconds later all further discussion is abruptly ended when eight 16” shells land in the sea around the USS Constellation.

Although they do not feel it, the USS Constellation has in fact been extremely fortunate, as although she has been updated and had her deck armour strengthened, the Royal Navy 16” Mark 1B Armour Piercing Shell is capable of punching through 7.6” of side armour and 6.5” of deck armour at this range, and that is considerably more than the American battlecruiser carries. With a 7” belt and a 4.5” deck, any shell hit at this range will tear through to her vitals as if her armour is paper.

Recovering from their shock about this turn of events, the American gunners rush to their action stations and target the muzzle flashes from the HMS Rodney. Sure, they may not be accurate initially, but they can at least respond! None the less, it is a full four minutes and six more salvos from HMS Rodney later that the two American battlecruisers are able to fire their opening salvos at their distant enemy.

Fortunately however, the USS Constellation is yet to be hit. All of that changes however as a 16” shell fired some 35 seconds earlier comes barrelling out of the heavens at 1,431 feet per second and meets the USS Constellation’s 4.5” deck armour. Virtually unhindered by this obstacle the shell smashes through a further two decks before the fuse activates exactly as designed and detonates the burster charge deep within the ship. Although the shell detonates in a stores space, splinters penetrate into the surrounding compartments, and the only thing that saves the ship then and there is the shaft space between the store space and the main after magazines. Not realizing how lucky they were, the crew continue to fight the ship and the fires that the shell has started.

Meanwhile 12 miles away ‘Guns’ smiles as he is informed of the flash of the impact onboard their target. HMS Rodney has just bloodied her guns and more importantly, she has the range!

Despite attacking valiantly, the Americans are being out manoeuvred as they are both under very accurate fire and cannot see four destroyers are closing in at speed. They know they are there, but the gunners cannot see them in the darkness. That works both ways however and the destroyers cannot see both American ships. They can only see the fire blazing on the USS Constellation and are forced to use this as their aiming point.

As things happen, the ‘blind firing’ of the destroyers only causes two hits out of 16 torpedoes fired (Four on each ship). Both torpedoes strike the USS Constitution with the first hitting Frame 141 and exploding into a crew space, causing flooding but as it is outside of the main protected area, no serious damage to the ship. The second strikes at Frame 51 directly under ‘B’ turret and on the main 7” armour belt. The 515lbs of TNT in the warhead acting as designed and overcoming the torpedo defence system on the battlecruiser which was not designed to contain such a large explosion and flooding a stores space alongside the forward magazines. The magazine itself is never in danger, but the speed of the ship causes some bulkheads to fail, and forces a reduction in speed to 23 knots to prevent additional bulkheads failing and flooding starboard side boiler spaces.

By this time however the sky behind the HMS Rodney is starting to lighten, sharply defining the silhouette of the Royal Naval Ship for the Americans to target. Using this advantage they finally start to get ‘on target’ and while it will be a few more minutes before they finally get the range, they now have a chance to properly retaliate against an enemy that has been shelling them with virtual impunity for the past 26 minutes. Onboard HMS Rodney this does not escape notice, and one rating on the bridge is heard to comment that their period of ‘target practice against the obliging yanks’ is about to end.

This in fact occurs some 5 hits and 8 minutes later when a 16” shell fired by USS Constitution smashes into HMS Rodney. Descending at optimal penetration conditions it seemed as though the shell would cause significant damage to HMS Rodney, but unfortunately for the Americans, they are up against a tough enemy, and her 14” of side armour is just enough to keep the shell out of her vitals at this range. Another few minutes and penetration will be possible, but right now? It harmlessly detonates on the outside of the ship.

The price paid for this hit? In the preceding 8 minutes, HMS Rodney has scored another four hits on the USS Constellation and have in essence crippled her. The torpedo damage has slowed her and HMS Rodney’s first his was an annoyance, but two of the four since then have done severe damage. The second hit was to the starboard side boat deck. Yes, it penetrated and detonated but it did no damage beside starting a fire in the crew quarters and disabling a 5.25” turret. The third was a dud that wound up in the Captain’s quarters. The fourth was also a dud that would up on a mess deck, but on its way through the ship it sliced through one of the main wiring looms, temporally disrupting power to the forward turrets and more importantly, smashed through a telephone switchboard. Yes, within a minute power and telephones were back, but that was still critical time in the middle of the battle. The fourth and final shell had no immediate effect on the battle, but was crucial never the less. Hurtling down from the sky at terminal velocity it smashes into HMS Constellation on the upper deck near the after funnel. Her reinforced armour deck in this area is 6”, and that is enough to stop a 2,250lb shell falling at 17°, but the shell squarely hits the funnel box. Crucially it hits on the angled slope meaning it is a near 90° impact and this cannot defeat the shell. It slices through the 6” of armour here before detonating in the funnel uptake. No serious structural damage is done to the ship, but shell splinters penetrate deep into the hull and into boilers and engineers alike. In an instant, USS Constellation’s best speed of 23 knots is slashed to 12 knots. Already an easy target, she is now a wallowing pig in the ocean swells, a perfect target.

Things have not been all one sided however, as the lightening sky has pushed away the shield of darkness around the destroyers which have been harrying the Americans, and although they have not been able to do any significant damage with their guns against the large capital ships, they have been a dangerous distraction. Now with the sky lighter, they have been targeted by secondary guns and HMCS Champlain has already exploded in spectacular fashion with no survivors, being the unfortunate target of a secondary broadside from both American ships at the same time, fired at close range. Both HMCS Vancouver and HMCS Skeena have also been hit multiple times and are making smoke, dodging in and out of the thick oily clouds as they try to evade the American shells. For HMCS Vancouver this is not working however, as she has been reduced to sinking condition from multiple below water hits, and her captain is now with her torpedo launchers inoperable he is more concerned with hiding the vessel in smoke and getting the crew off than attacking the Americans. The USS Constitution will soon realize this and switch their fire to the last and as yet undamaged destroyer harrying them, HMCS Saguenay. It will not be soon enough however, as she emerges from smoke at 34.75 knots, her boilers straining under the overload of pressure, her torpedo tubes reloaded and swung out. Her captain knows his duty and he also knows he is on borrowed time. He must launch his torpedoes while he still can. At 3,000 yards, a bow wave almost spilling onto the deck, with flags streaming from her masts and with her forward guns firing as fast as the shells can be loaded, the gunners onboard USS Constitution eventually take note of her and the 5.25” turrets swing toward her.

2,500 yards and the first one spits fire. The shell lands wide – The gunners too keen.
2,400 yards. The second turret fires. Good angle but high. The shells pass harmlessly overhead.
2,300 yards. The other 3 turrets fire in unison. 5 shells land around HMCS Saguenay. 1 passes directly below the bridge slicing through voice pipes.
2,200 yards. A runner is sent below to have the ship turned to port. Another is sent to order the torpedoes launched as soon as the tubes bear.
2,000 yards. She starts to turn as the American guns fire again. The turn catches them out and the shells impact where the HMCS Saguenay should have been. Short, but they travel underwater and one penetrates her hull into a fuel bunker.
1,900 yards. Another turret fires. Hit! The shells hit the foc’cstle. Flames erupt from the paint and rope stores and thick smoke billows along the ship, choking where it meets the crew.
1,800 yards. The turn is finished and tubes sighted. The American guns fire again.
1,750 yards. Four 21” torpedoes leave their tubes and moments later 6 American 5.25” shells find their targets. Two blow ‘A’ turret overboard, one passes harmlessly though the funnel. One penetrates into the engineering spaces without detonating and two pass through her stern, starting a fire near the depth charges.
1,600 yards. Crews rush to fight the fire and jettison the depth charges. Recognizing the very real danger, Seaman Joshua Wood selflessly runs into the flames and jettisons the deadly weapons while his colleagues desperately spray water over him. Their efforts are in vain however as while he makes it back to them his throat and lungs are burnt. His wife will be awarded the Victoria Cross at Buckingham Palace for his actions.
1,650 yards. The gap opens again as HMCS Saguenay continues her turn. Stern guns spit defiance at their larger foe.
1,700 yards. More American shells hit. ‘X’ turret is destroyed by a direct hit, and ‘Y’ rendered inoperable to a dud skidding into the training gear. More shells impact on the boat deck starting a fire. The last shell to hit strikes the whistle control system starting a banshee like cry from the ship that the crew is unable to stop.
1,800 yards. More shells are fired at the Americans, and more American shells land. Several are short and strike below the waterline, causing significant flooding to the stern, slowing the ship and causing the sea to break over the fire around the depth charge racks, putting it out.
1,850 yards. Running at 35 knots, the torpedoes have quickly crossed the sea to the American ship. At such a short range, they cannot miss and eight torpedoes slam into the helpless USS Constitution. Two are duds, two strike forward of the main belt and flood non-vital crew and storage areas, and LCdr. G.L. Miles, has the reward of seeing four detonate amidships. It is however the last thing he and his bridge crew see as moments later two 5.25” shells strike the bridge and kill everybody present.

None of them will ever know that they have sunk the American battlecruiser.

All four torpedoes strike 10 feet below the waterline, just below the lower edge of the 7” armour belt and on unarmoured hull. The triple bulkhead torpedo defence system in this area would normally keep out the torpedoes, but four exploding in such close proximity to one another (Two actually sped into the hole opened by the first pair) meant the system was overcome. These final two were the killers as they detonated on the middle of the torpedo defence bulkheads deep within the ship, opening up the engineering spaces to the sea. With her engineering spaces flooded in seconds, the ship was doomed, even if it was not immediately apparent. She still had power however, and the range was still closing to HMS Rodney, so she was still in the fight for now, and she was still drawing blood.

Just before the torpedo impacts USS Constitution had fired at HMS Rodney. While still at range, she was now within striking distance and one of her shells penetrated the 14” belt onboard HMS Rodney. While not a serious hit, it was the first belt armour penetration by the American vessels, and marked the point at which the battle became more even among the capital ships. However, with HMS Constellation further away, it is only the USS Constitution that can do serious harm for now…..


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While trading blows, HMS Rodney has maintained the range at about 20,000 yards and is progressively pummelling USS Constitution. 16” shell after 16” shell strikes the American ship, each one doing more damage to her slowly flooding and wallowing hull. It is apparent to the British officers that the ship is in serious trouble, and so when USS Constellation comes up and passes her sister, fire is switched to her as all her main guns are still operational. Rear-Admiral Nellis has other worries however. As it is now fully light, he can clearly see what the second RADAR ‘blip’ is. USS Carolina – A South Dakota Class battleship. While slow, she is a serious threat to the British ship as she carries 12 x 16” barrels and is far more heavily armoured than the Lexington Class battlecruisers that HMS Rodney has been facing off against. Both ships are about equal in armour and USS Carolina carries the advantage in main guns while HMS Rodney carries the advantage in speed.

Rear-Admiral Nelles knows that his damaged ship has shot off about half of her main gun ammunition, and that all of his attendant destroyers have been sunk. He therefore decides that he has brought the Canadian ships enough of a head start so that the American force cannot now catch them and orders HMS Rodney to turn away while making smoke. At that moment and as if to add expedience to the order, USS Carolina opens fire at extreme range with her forward guns. Not really expecting to score hits, Admiral Jones wants to distract HMS Rodney and save his consorts, and if he can get the British ship to fire at him in order to do it, so be it.

He fails however, and HMS Rodney works up to 30 knots while turning away and opening the range. She is soon out of range of USS Carolina but is not out of range of the USS Constellation and USS Constitution who are still both firing. It is obvious to all now that the USS Constitution is sinking as she is very low in the water and has a list to starboard, but the crew are still frantically trying to keep her afloat and she is still firing. Captain Dickinson has little choice in the matter however, as bulkheads far below are giving way and he reluctantly orders the ship abandoned. Before the order reaches the gun crews however, they fire a last salvo from her forward guns.

At almost 30,000 yards, the shells arced up and then with gravity taking over started to fall. Pulled to terminal velocity, the shell hits 1,486 feet per second as it plunges downward toward its end. At first it is heading for empty ocean, but gradually HMS Rodney steams into the landing spot. Her foc’castle passes safely. Then her forward guns. Her bridge. The funnels. The mainmast… She is not travelling fast enough however and the 2,100lb shell impacts at the base of the mainmast. Defeating the 6” armour deck it slices into the hull before detonating in the engineering spaces, almost perfectly in line with both the transverse and longitudinal bulkheads separating the four centreline engine rooms in the area. Pieces of shell and bulkhead fly everywhere. They slice into machinery, pipework and flesh with equal disregard. On the bridge the officers know from the shaking and sudden drop-off in speed that it is a serious hit and damage control crews are quickly sent. The news is not good however. The two inboard shafts are currently inoperable. One may be returned to provide power, but the port shaft won’t turn again without a dockyard.

The guns are unaffected however, so Rear Admiral Nelles orders the ship to turn and re-engage the American ships with her full broadside. Unleashed once again, the forward gunners make their displeasure known when the first salvo scores two hits to the USS Constellation, destroying one forward turret with a direct hit and scoring a direct hit at the base of the forward superstructure, disabling all bridge systems.

Crippled, the USS Constellation is hit by more 16” shells in quick succession disabling her, but not before USS Carolina once more gains the range and opens fire. Switching targets HMS Rodney turns her attention to the new combatant, but down to 16 knots cannot flee. In the brawl that follows, HMS Rodney scores early hits but is hampered by lack of ammunition and an inability to effectively manoeuvre, as the USS Carolina slowly closes the range. In the end, it becomes very much a one-sided battle with HMS Rodney battered but defiant. With her upper works wrecked, turrets disabled and in the end making only 7 knots Admiral Jones relents and signals HMS Rodney asking for their surrender to prevent further bloodshed.

Defiant to the last, the response is from an old 4.7” AA gun that has no business being onboard. It spits fire and draws blood once in its life as the shell arcs gracefully and lands squarely below the bridge, detonating on impact and doing absolutely no damage apart from charring some paint. Forced with this response, the USS Carolina fires again and again while closing the range, and strikes HMS Rodney again and again. The Kingstone valves have already been opened however, and HMS Rodney slowly settles on an even keel, tattered flags flying high until the last as she slips beneath the waves.
 
There was no USS Constellation or Constitution in WW2, unless you mean the old wooden frigates in which case I'm surprised at best
 
Thank you for linking. They are indeed Lexington Class Battlecruisers, which were built as designed in my High Seas Fleet timeline.

HMS Rodney in this story is also a K2 Class Battlecruiser, mounted with 4 x 2 16" turrets, one of the designs that bridged the Admiral Class to G3 Class. In my TL the Admirals were cancelled and all four were reordered (With same names) as K2 Class designs.

USS Indiana is a South Dakota Class battleship - The cancelled 1920 design.

HMS Rodney is top design on the below picture.
british_battlecruisers_preliminaries_by_chaos_craft999-dat5ph5.jpg
 
Say how come the mods moved this? It is a one-off story that I am not continuing. That is why I stuck it in the finished scenario's forum...???
 
Say how come the mods moved this? It is a one-off story that I am not continuing. That is why I stuck it in the finished scenario's forum...???

I'm glad they did move it or I would have missed it, enjoyable tale.

As a point of discussion, why didn't they just detach the destroyers at most economical speed to the closest base then just run at 30knts away from the US navy with the capital ships?
 
There was no USS Constellation or Constitution in WW2, unless you mean the old wooden frigates in which case I'm surprised at best
Maybe he is talking about the Lexington-class battlecruiser with two to be named USS Constellation and USS Constitution.
 
There was no USS Constellation or Constitution in WW2, unless you mean the old wooden frigates in which case I'm surprised at best


Basically there were ships designed in 1916 - 1919 with those names:
Lexington class Battlecruiser:
Ship Hull number Builder[14] Laid down Launched Commissioned Fate
Lexington CC-1 Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts 8 January 1921 3 October 1925[56] 14 December 1927[56] Converted to aircraft carrier 1922–1927
Sunk in air attack, 8 May 1942[56]
Constellation CC-2 Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News, Virginia 18 August 1920 N/A Cancelled, August 1923[18]
Broken up in place[18]
Saratoga[A 10] CC-3 New York Shipbuilding, Camden, New Jersey 25 September 1920 7 April 1925[57] 16 November 1927[57] Converted to aircraft carrier 1922–1927
Sunk as a target ship during Operation Crossroads, 25 July 1946[57]
Ranger
(ex-Lexington) [A 11] CC-4
Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News, Virginia 23 June 1921 N/A Cancelled, August 1923[18][58]
Broken up in place[58][59]
Constitution
(ex-Ranger) CC-5
Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 25 September 1920 N/A
United States CC-6 25 September 1920 N/A Cancelled 17 August 1923[18]
Broken up in place[60]

These ships were thinly armored to allow their above normal speed of around 33 knots, which made them in theory the fastest capital ships of their time.
Builders: Fore River Shipbuilding, New York Shipbuilding and Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company
Operators:
23px-Flag_of_the_United_States.svg.png
United States Navy
Preceded by: None
Succeeded by: Alaska class
Planned: 6
Completed: 0, 2 were converted to aircraft carriers
Cancelled: 6
General characteristics
Type: Battlecruiser
Displacement:
Length: 874 ft (266.4 m) overall
Beam: 105 ft 4 in (32.1 m)
Draft: 31 ft (9.4 m)
Installed power:
Propulsion:
Speed: 33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph)
Range: 10,000 nmi (19,000 km; 12,000 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement: 1297 (1326 as flagship)
Armament:
Armor:
  • Belt: 5–7 in (127–178 mm)
  • Barbettes: 5–9 in (127–229 mm)
  • Turret face: 11 in (279 mm)
  • Turret sides: 6 in (152 mm)
  • Conning tower: 12 in (305 mm)
  • Deck: 1.5–2.25 in (38–57 mm)

Their scale of protection was seriously compromised by the need for this speed and theyy were basically not much different in protection then the first "Dreadnought Cruisers" or "battlecruisers" commissioned by the Royal Navy in 1908 with their Invincible class, including their weaknesses. As such they were absolutely not protected to withstand their own caliber of guns at any range, and basically had cruiser levels of protection against contemporary armored cruiser's guns, less than 10 inches. Modern high velocity post war (post 1918) medium caliber guns also could defeat this armor btw. Especially deck protection was weak, even weaker than on the OTL HMS Hood.
 
Thank you for linking. They are indeed Lexington Class Battlecruisers, which were built as designed in my High Seas Fleet timeline.

HMS Rodney in this story is also a K2 Class Battlecruiser, mounted with 4 x 2 16" turrets, one of the designs that bridged the Admiral Class to G3 Class. In my TL the Admirals were cancelled and all four were reordered (With same names) as K2 Class designs.

USS Indiana is a South Dakota Class battleship - The cancelled 1920 design.

HMS Rodney is top design on the below picture.
british_battlecruisers_preliminaries_by_chaos_craft999-dat5ph5.jpg
Super Hood's?
Ehehehe
Watched
 
I'm glad they did move it or I would have missed it, enjoyable tale.

As a point of discussion, why didn't they just detach the destroyers at most economical speed to the closest base then just run at 30knts away from the US navy with the capital ships?
Because the Lexington's can chase down the F3's as their top speed is 27 knots and can easily be tracked down by the Lexington's.

The sole reason the 3 capital ships stayed is because it would be rather obvious what Canada was up to and could be used as a pretence for invasion.

Specs here, shippy below.
Canada%20F2-F3%20Class%20Fast%20Battleship%201919.gif


EDIT: The Lexington's have been up-armoured IMTL. Doubled deck armour and added internal bulkheads etc in a (vain) attempt to improve some of the sisters. IMTL I think 2 were converted to CV's in the mid 30's, two scrapped and 2 upgraded. All due to a sabotage event at a naval arsenal which severely damaged the ships (Their flaws were well known and they were kept in service despite being recognized as white elephants because they were demanded built by the navy and could not so easily be disposed of). Politicians have a long memory...
 
Because the Lexington's can chase down the F3's as their top speed is 27 knots and can easily be tracked down by the Lexington's.

The sole reason the 3 capital ships stayed is because it would be rather obvious what Canada was up to and could be used as a pretence for invasion.

Specs here, shippy below.
Canada%20F2-F3%20Class%20Fast%20Battleship%201919.gif


EDIT: The Lexington's have been up-armoured IMTL. Doubled deck armour and added internal bulkheads etc in a (vain) attempt to improve some of the sisters. IMTL I think 2 were converted to CV's in the mid 30's, two scrapped and 2 upgraded. All due to a sabotage event at a naval arsenal which severely damaged the ships (Their flaws were well known and they were kept in service despite being recognized as white elephants because they were demanded built by the navy and could not so easily be disposed of). Politicians have a long memory...
so The Super Hoods were built...and then these built as treaty ships?
I favor the more balanced design of the F3s over the Nelsons, although it seems you uparmoured the K2s to a 14" belt, compared to their designed 12", though i suppose the weight saving of 16" guns instead of 18" makes it viable.
and please tell me those aren't UPs on the F3...
 
so The Super Hoods were built...and then these built as treaty ships?
Not treaty ships no. Rather a capital ship for export to Commenwealth nations (Although Canada was the only taker - Oz took Repulse & Renown, India old 13.5" gunners and NZ a 18,000t heavy cruiser).

I favor the more balanced design of the F3s over the Nelsons, although it seems you uparmoured the K2s to a 14" belt, compared to their designed 12", though i suppose the weight saving of 16" guns instead of 18" makes it viable.
The ship is springsharped... I tweaked some of the stats, but I would have copied one of the origional designs. Keep in mind they went through several redesigns each, so I may not have chosen the final as the one I used had 16" gunns not 18" guns.
and please tell me those aren't UPs on the F3...
They are not. They are my (crappy) drawing of pompoms.
 
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