Introduction to thread
Recently on the alternate warships of nations thread I have been posting some ships from a Timeline I have been working on (link to the TL in my signature if your interested) and people seemed to like it. And I thought it would be a good idea to make a thread for some more ships so that the AWoN thread does not become clogged with just my writing.

I have the naval development in my TL planned out to roughly the present day. While it is broadly similar to OTL developments some important differences do exist. With different navies trying different things throughout history that they may not have historically done. I will make some posts exploring general naval history, major conflicts, and brief histories of the navies ITTL.
 
HMAS Victoria - Australian Battlecruiser
HMS Tiger.jpg



HMS Tiger is pictured in 1922 just prior to her "Sale" to the Royal Australian navy before the United Kingdom signed the 1923 Washington naval treaty which would have made such a sale impossible. Tiger, alongside the two Lion class battlecruisers which were sold to Canada at the same time, would receive modernizations in the UK before delivery to their new owners in 1924-25.

Unlike her near sisters in RCN service Tiger had a very active interwar career. Renamed Victoria the ship regularly participated in cruises with other elements of the RAN, training with the RN Indian Ocean squadron on a regular basis and often making visits to the DEI, French Indochina, American Philippines, China, and Japan. In the early thirties Australia built a small battlegroup around the ship with the purchase of four cruisers and twelve destroyers.

Victoria herself went in for an extensive refit in the UK in 1938, receiving new engines, boilers, fully converted to burn fuel oil, improved AA and secondaries, torpedo bulges, added armor, new fire directors and superstructure. The largest change in the vessels design though was the replacing of her original 13.5 inch guns with the same 14 inch guns fitted to the original four King George V class ships of the RN which were then entering service.

The work was completed in 1941 and despite RN requests to keep the ship in European waters Victoria returned home to Australia just as Japan began its offensives into southeast Asia. The RN quickly dispatched a fleet known as force Z with plans to link up with the RAN at Singapore. Composed of the battlecruiser Renown and battleships Nelson and Trafalgar and the carriers Furious and Inflexible with supporting units this fleet never reached Singapore as the city fell before they could reach the area. Instead the ships redirected for Australia.

Victoria met the British warships and quickly integrated herself with force Z, which was renamed the south Pacific fleet, informing the fleets admiral of the issues they had with their British issue pom-pom ammunition and providing fresh rounds (degredation of the rounds in tropical climates being something the UK based designers had apparently not considered) the ship served as flagship of the Australian squadron,

The ships finest hour came during the battles around the Dutch East Indies. Alongside the Dutch Hollandia Victoria engaged three Japanese battlecruisers in the Java sea, striking the Iwami early in the engagement and sending her to the bottom even as the Japanese found the range. The ship took numerous shell hits from the Japanese, and even a torpedo from the Karishima (the only confirmed battleship to battleship torpedo strike in history) but kept in the fight even as she lost use of all her main turrets. Her crew putting out numerous fires.

Badly damaged the ship returned to Australia and remained in port until she could be made ready to sail in late 1942 for a voyage to the United States where she was to be repaired and refit. Arriving in San Francisco in November the yard got to work on the ship, returning her to service in August of 1944 for carrier escort duty with first the US navy and later British Pacific Fleet, where she again worked with the Hollandia and Trafalgar. At wars end the ship was present in Tokyo bay for the final Japanese surrender by crown prince Akihito and the remnants of the Japanese government aboard the USS Oregon.

The ship remained in Australian service until she was decommissioned in 1956. It was initially planned to scrap her, however a campaign by former crewmembers, including former captain now senior admirals, forced the government to instead preserve her as a museum ship. Where she remains today in Sydney harbor near the opera house.
 
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HMCS Canada - Canadian Lions
HMS Princess Royale.jpg



Pictured above the HMS Princess Royal, the second Lion class battlecruiser is shown clearly in 1921 just prior to her delivery to the Royal Canadian Navy. Still retaining much of her wartime appearance the two battlecruisers would later be delivered to the Canadian navy at virtually zero cost to the commonwealth in a British effort to build up the empires defenses in spite of the then ongoing Washington Naval treaty which sought to limit warship numbers in the major navies fleets. Alongside HMS Tiger which became HMAS Victoria the sale of the two Lions to what members of the British imperial commonwealth caused quite a stir on the treaty negotiations that only through the support of the Alyskans prevented the treaty from falling apart, this being at the cost of British support for them to build two new treaty complaint warships, the Admiral class.

Once they entered Canadian service in 1923 the two ships were renamed HMCS Canada and HMCS Columbia and this was virtually the only changes the Canadians performed on either vessel for the next fifteen years. The Canadian navy, unlike their Australian counterpart, did not have a great deal of money for large capital ships and viewed itself primarily as being orientated towards commerce escort and ASW work. Trusting the battlefleet to the Royal Navy. While not completely inactive during the period the two ships time in active service was rare. With Columbia spending the longest time in commission during her 1925-26 west coast tour. A goodwill visit to the western provinces which also included visits to the US state of Oregon and Alyskan province of Stuttland. The expense of this tour ate up three quarters of the navies budget for two years and was not repeated.

The ships were both totally inactive from 1927 until 1936, manned by skeleton crews the ships were left in a very sad state as the great depression caused further limits to the already strained Canadian naval budget. Money was so tight in fact that the RCN informed the Royal Navy that they could no longer afford the two ships and would begin scrapping them in 1936 after the conclusion of the second London naval conference which was being held in that year. This was expected to free up significant funds for the navy, provided the government did not respond to the scrapping of the ships with further cuts to the naval budget.

The revelation of the Japanese construction of the treaty breaking Kii of 45,000 tons and 18 inch guns caused the almost overnight collapse of the treaty system and the resumption of the full naval arms race between the great powers. While Canada could not afford to compete with even the modest Dutch naval expansion the disposal of Canada and Columbia was immediately discarded and a pair of cruisers, flotilla of destroyers, two leader types, and six submarines were ordered by the end of the year from a mixture of British and domestic yards (built with heavy foreign assistance) and the possibility of bringing the battlecruisers back into service was begun with an examination of the two ships.

The results were not promising as the vessels had been left in a very sorry state after the neglect they had endured. While everything was functional the ships were thoroughly obsolete. Lacking torpedo bulges, oil firing small tube boilers, AA batteries of any note, modern fire directors, and even functional radios. The engines were also worn and some rivets had popped on the hulls.

Initially it was considered to be more cost effective to simply scrap the ships and build new vessels either in British yards or domestically with heavy British assistance. However the RN had fairly thoroughly occupied British battleship building yards with their own orders. With their own budget enormously increased however Canadian industry was confident in their ability to refit the vessels themselves with entirely modern technology.

Preparations began officially in November of 1936 and in March of 1938 both vessels had work began upon them. The work intended was significant. New engines, oil firing small tube boilers, additional armor, watertight doors, and torpedo bulges, the deletion of the centerline Q turret and its replacement with a large hangar for a group of Walrus seaplanes, replacement of their secondary batteries and massive additions to their AA armament, improved gun elevation for their turrets, and a more modern superstructure were all planned which would raise the ships displacement by 4,000 tons and lengthen and widen them by three and two meters respectively. A late change was the replacement of their 13.5 inch guns with more modern 14 inch guns from the final two British King George V class battleships which had new 15 inch guns installed instead.

Work began in 1938 and the ships were planned to enter service again in 1941, but the onset of the second world war delayed the entry of the ships into service until late 1942. Where they served as valued replacements for various destroyed British fast battleships. Working together the two ships were assigned first to the Med where they escorted British carriers until the Italian surrender in 1943. Afterwards the ships began minor refits in halifax which saw the addition of new AA guns and radars for the first time.

Once complete the ships were dispatched to the Pacific alongside a sizeable British contingent which alongside the American and Alyskan battlefleets did much damage to the already bloodied IJN which had recently lost a stunning series of battles in the south Pacific and gulf of Alyska itself in the aftermath of their aborted invasions of Alyska and Australia. Notably Columbia would engage and destroy the Japanese Chichbu and carrier Ryujo as they attempted to reinforce a Japanese fleet around Fiji.

Concluding their service in the Pacific the two vessels returned to the Atlantic in 1944, where Canada received a torpedo hit from the U322 while supporting the Normandy landings. While she was under repair the Columbia assisted the Virginian invasions of Greece and Crete which liberated from a prolonged German occupation. The ship also met the Turkish Yavuz upon the entry into the war on the allied side by the Turkish republic in 1945. Sailing together to Istanbul the ship would later still sail into the black sea alongside a force of Turkish and Virginian ships to bombard remaining German pockets in the Crimean peninsula. Helping to force their final surrender to a combined Alyskan-Soviet army group in May just as the war in Europe was reaching its final end.

Six days after the end of the war, while still in the Black sea, Columbia was engaged by a German SS holdout group based in Bulgaria which flew several waves of bombers at her, causing significant damage and starting a pair of fires at either end of the ship. Only the arrival of a Soviet cruiser saved the ship through fire fighting efforts. The ship was brought into Sofia, Romania and underwent temporary repairs until she could return to the UK, where she was scrapped by the RCN as surplus to requirements and to expensive to repair.

Canada re-entered service in May 1945, to late to see much action in Europe as Allied forces had moved to far inland for effective shore bombardment, though she was used to return the emperor Napoleon V to France following the final liberation of French territory from German forces with the taking of Alsace-Loraine. She was being prepared for a further tour of duty in the Pacific when Japan finally surrendered to American forces. Canada would remain in service until she was scrapped in 1953 after spending a final period in reserve starting in 1949. Despite calls to preserve her she was scrapped between 1955 and 1956, with several components of the ship being donated to museums and memorials. Today the ships superstructure and two forward gun turrets are on display outside the Royal Canadian naval academy in Halifax.
 
IJN Kii - Japanese treaty busters
IJN Kii II.jpeg



The Japanese battleship Kii is artistically portrayed during the heyday of the Japanese navy from 1940 to mid 1943. The ships massive eighteen inch guns are on full display here as they elevate to a high degree, presumably for artistic effect. While it is not certain it is guessed that the image depicts the ship around the time of the battle of the Philippine sea which occurred in early 1942 after the earlier Japanese carrier strike on Manila bay and the US fleet based there. During this battle the Kii would engage US battleships as they attempted to extricate themselves from the blockade the Japanese had established around the port, sinking several ships at the expense of the loss of the Kii's sister ship the Hizen and several support ships.

Launched in 1936 the Kii had been constructed in secret as part of a convoluted Japanese plan to force the other signatory powers of the 1935-36 second London naval conference to accept an increase in allowable battleship displacement to 45,000 tons, and increase allowable gun caliber to 18 inches. Significant leg work had been put into a plan which involved supporting desired French, Italian, and British treaty revisions before making a concentrated push to get the new limits before revealing the existence of the secretly constructed Kii and Hizen with the threat of a renewed naval arms race with Japan leading being intended to force other powers to accept the changes as the ongoing great depression would encourage nations to not desire to get into such a race.

Unfortunately the Kii was discovered by chance by a Irish flagged merchant ship which through a bizarre series of events found itself in the Japanese naval base of Kure when the Kii briefly left the safety of her camouflaged building dock. Although the Japanese attempted to pass the ship off as a member of the contemporary Ikari class the Irish crew, which included Royal Navy veterans, did not buy the story and managed to smuggle pictures back with them which quickly made their way through the news circuit.

The results were immediate and devastating to Japans hopes of forcing the other treaty signatories to accept their desired changes. By not being revealed when the Japanese intended, after lengthy build up and negotiations, and instead plopped into the middle of treaty proceedings, the Kii class spelled the nearly instant collapse of the treaty system and the return to a massive naval arms race. A race which put the industrially weak Japanese empire at a severe disadvantage when compared to its likely rivals, with even Alyska possessing a larger shipbuilding industry than themselves.

The end of the treaty system forced Japans hand and in response the empire began planning the much larger Yamato class ships which were intended to leap frog every other powers response to the Kiis in size and power. However these ships would take significant time to complete, with Yamato joining the fleet in 1941, leaving a significant time where the two Kii's were the most powerful Japanese battleships and arguably, the most powerful in the entire world. During this time the vessels served as flagships for major Japanese formations, rarely being kept together.

By the outbreak of the Pacific war in early 1941 with the Dutch declaration of war against the empire, the Kii and her sister were serving as flagships of the first and second carrier divisions respectively. Missing out in the battles which saw Japan conquer the Dutch east indies, but seeing service together in the Japanese carrier strikes against the British Sandwhich islands and Alyskan Fiji. The ships, now replaced in their flagships roles by the recently completed Yamato, also participated in the opening stages of the United States involvement in the war with the carrier attacks against Manilla, the battle of the Philippine sea, and supporting shore bombardment of American positions during the land invasion of the islands.

Kii would again serve as flagship of the second carrier division in early 1943 as Japan split their attention between the south and northern Pacific oceans. With the first division attempting to drive out allied forces from the Australasian area and support invasions of the Sandwich islands and Fiji on occasion. The second division meanwhile led the invasion of Alyska, a campaign which lasted nine months in 1943 and saw increasingly massive formations of Japanese and Alyskan warships being gathered as the fighting on land increased in intensity.

These battles culminated in the climactic battle of the Alyskan gulf in October of 1943, while the details of the battle itself are to numerous and varied to mention in even a cursory fashion a brief summary is that the Alyskan fleet sailed during a storm when the Japanese least suspected it and engaged the IJN in a lethal surprise attack around the island of Beringa. Pitting twelve Japanese battleships, including Kii, against fifteen combined Alyskan-Dutch battleships, with both fleets employing dozens of support ships.

Arguably the largest naval battle of the second world war, and indisputably the last great battleship action in history (although battles in the Mediterranean against the British and Italian fleets, and later US and Japanese battles also occurred which involved significant numbers of ships) the battle of the Alyskan gulf lasted three days, with both fleets smashing into eachother on several occasions through a mixture of tactical talent and accident. Involving numerous lesser battles between individual ships and small groups of ships the battle ended in the Japanese fleet being driven off with heavy losses and their land invasion failing soon after. Historically underplayed by western historians recent research puts this battle as the true beginning of the end for Japanese ambitions of victory in the war.

Fittingly perhaps the Kii, which seemed to mark the beginning of Japans efforts to seize ascendancy in the Pacific, was among the ships lost in the battle which saw its ambitions shattered. The ship being engaged by two Alyskan battleships, Hetenvalle and Centurion, in a brutal night action at the end of the second day of the battle. Escorting the three Japanese carriers present in the region Kii and her supporting Kirishima did not expect an attack through the storms which rendered carrier operations possible and so were possibly less alert than would normally be assumed.

Thanks to the radar mounted on the Centurion the Alyskans soon found the range on both ships. Kii disappearing under a hail of 15 inch fire from Hetenvalle which likely penetrated her weak belt armor at the close range of the battle and ignited her main battery magazines. Out of a crew of nearly two thousand just fifteen men were pulled from the icy waters off Alyska. Nine men dying from hypothermia after their rescue. News of the ships destruction was greeted with dread from Japan, which celebrated the ship, and cheers in Allied cities which had propped the ship up as something of a boogeyman. Today a memorial to the ships loss is located in Kure Japan near the very dockyard where she had been built.
 
Some ships, especially the Alyskan ones, I have drawings of that I will show. But I lack the skills to either photoshop them into existence, or do a shipbucket style of computer drawing so a degree of your own imagination may be needed for some ships featured here. Though I would not object if anyone needed a project and wanted to make some of the ships.
 
Turkish battlecruisers
KMS Moltke.jpg


Former German battlecruiser Moltke is pictured here arriving in Istanbul in 1923 following her sale to the new Turkish Republic by the kingdom of Alyska, which had received the heavily damaged Moltke as reparations for the loss of the battlecruiser Fearless during the battle of the Skagerrak in 1917. The kingdom had little use for the vessel as she herself had been heavily damaged and was still undergoing repair work with the wars end, remaining in Germany while the majority of the imperial Hochseeflotte would sail to Scapa and later scuttle itself to prevent its capture.

Turkey, a young democracy which had only just signed the 1922 treaty of Damascus which ended hostilities with France and the United Kingdom after a prolonged ceasefire to allow for the Turkish revolution and Greco-Turkish war, saw its territorial integrity threatened by the Greeks to the south, Soviet Union to the north, and general European designs on its lands elsewhere. Although the Turkish navy had been handed back to the republic by the French with the signing of the treaty many of these ships were in very poor condition due to hard wars and limited Turkish dockyard facilities. The battleship Fatih, the former Russian battlecruiser Izmail, was not even complete at the time due to her capture while under construction. While the Moltke's sister the Yavuz Sultan Selim, the former Goeben, was barely afloat after a series of mine and torpedo hits.

Turkey planned the Moltke, renamed Hayreddin, to replace Yavuz Sultan in service as flagship. With Yavuz used as a source of spares for the newly acquired ship to keep her in service. At the same time as the Hayreddin was purchassed Turkey also bought a large floating dock and three light cruisers from Alyska out of their assigned reparations at very reasonable rates. Alyska being practically the only nation willing to give the new nation significant credit at anything below extortionate rates.

Plans to make Hayreddin the only active Turkish capital ship soon fell through as Greece purchased at the same time two old dreadnoughts from Alyska, and also made efforts to get the German battleship Arminus, which Greece had ordered in 1912 as Marathon, returned to them. Alongside the battleship Salamis this would have given Greece a force of four capital ships. Still bitter over their defeat in the recent war the Greeks were clearly arming themselves for a new round of fighting and sought superiority over the Turkish navy.

These developments caused Turkey to restart work on Fatih, work to repair damage to the Yavuz, and raise the battleship Resadiye which had been struck by a British submarine in the black sea in 1916 and sunk at her moorings after prolonged efforts to save her. Alongside the already serving Hayreddin this would give Turkey four ships to match Greece, two of which, the Fatih and Resadiye, had 14 inch guns, giving them superiority over all but the Marathon and her American made 14 inch guns.

Obviously such large fleets of battleships, and the support ships both sides sought to acquire, were too much for the small economies and limited budgets both Greece and Turkey possessed. And a war between the two nations would threaten to plunge the entire region into a much larger conflict as lingering tensions boiled over. By 1926 Greece had failed in their efforts to get Marathon handed over to them by the British which had saved the ship before she could scuttle herself at Scapa. Turkey also was struggling in their own efforts to get their fleet returned to service, with only Yavuz repaired to anything near a serviceable state. The fact that Turkey only had two turrets and five barrels for Fatih did not help matters regarding returning that ship to service.

In that year the United Kingdom intervened and called for a conference to be held between the two powers mediated by the British regarding the disposal of battleships both in service and under repair. The Dutch volunteered to host the conference, which was also attended by observers from several other states. After a few tense weeks significant progress was made and it was agreed that the Greeks would abandon efforts to acquire Marathon and that both nations would scrap some ships. Greece agreeing to dispose of Salamis, while Turkey would in turn scrap Resadiye and Fatih. Leaving them both two battleships in service, both of which were armed with 11 inch guns.

Under British supervision both nations soon scrapped their battleships, also scrapping several other even older ships (Greece finally scrapping the 1880s vintage Hydra class) and breathing a sigh of relief that their budgets could be brought under control and the threat of war lessened to a significant degree. In late 1927-28 the Yavuz was in the United Kingdom undergoing extensive repairs in better equipped British yards, leaving the Hayreddin as the only active Turkish battleship for almost a year.

The two former German battlecruisers quickly formed the pride of the Turkish fleet and operated together frequently in the late twenties and early thirties. In 1932 however it was Hayreddin's turn for repairs and she was sent to the United kingdom to have some minor damage that had accumulated in service and a modest rebuild to take place. Completed in 1934 before Yavuz went in for similar work the ship received new oil firing small tube boilers, redistributed and additional armor plate, improved secondary batteries, better elevation for her main guns, modern fire control and several other improvements. Returning to Turkey in mid 34 Hayreddin acted as flagship once more and was joined by Yavuz in 1935.

As war clouds gathered in the world generally, and Europe particularly Turkey began further work on the ships. Adding further to their AA armament and adding torpedo bulges to the ships sides in the recently modernized and expanded Istanbul naval dockyard. Both ships were worked on at the same time after it was learned both Greek battleships would be undergoing work in Germany. Lasting from 1937 until 1939 the work done on the vessels was used as training for the dockyard work force in preparation for the laying down of two new 25,000 battleships which began work after the Hayreddin and Yavuz had their work completed.

Upon the outbreak of the second world war the two ships conducted patrols in defense of Turkish neutrality. Chasing off Italian cruiser forces on several occasions and watching with trepidation during the fall of Greece and allowing several Greek ships to be interned in Turkish ports rather than fall into Italian or Germans hands. Hayreddin had a narrow run in with a British submarine, the T10, after she fired a spread of torpedoes at the Turk. Mistaking her for an Italian ship, and narrowly missing her with the four torpedoes fired.

The ships withdrew to the Bosporus after this as the entire Mediterranean sea had grown to dangerous for neutral battleships to sail around. They watched the German invasion of the Soviet Union and were routinely put on alert as German bombers flew over Istanbul "by mistake" but generally did not seldom venture out of their docks except to intercept forces of the warring nations as they sailed to close to Turkish territorial waters.

Joined by the battleship Osman in 1944 the Ottoman battleships continued to largely sit in port and occasionally sail out to guard Turkish shores. However with the republics declaration of war in 1945 the ships fought alongside allied vessels in the retaking of Greece and the liberation of the Crimean peninsula late in the war. Hayreddin and Yavuz made a series of visits to various foreign ports after this, including Naples and Sevastapol. And after this they sailed to the United Kingdom where they under went refits which saw the installation of yet more AA guns, and radar sets for the first time.

Work on both ships concluded in 1946 after the end of the war in europe and the ships returned to Turkey with great fanfare. Celebrating the German capitulation with the entirety of the Turkish fleet. In 1948 the ships sailed again to the Soviet Union to deliver the first Turkish ambassador to the nation and bring the first Soviet ambassador to Turkey back with them. After this the two ships spent long periods in reserve. While both ships remained on the active lists until 1964 and 71 respectively they seldom ventured far from their moorings. Hayreddin was scrapped in Hannover in 1974-75, with her guns and superstructure being used to build a memorial to the Imperial German navy, while Yavuz was saved from the scrappers torch by American investors and turned into a museum ship in Istanbul. Where she remains today as the only preserved Imperial German capital ship and a major tourist attraction.
 
PNS Huascar Might of Peru
MN Danton.jpg


Pictured above the French battleship Diderot sails towards the camera early in the first world war. Possibly during the early stages of the Marine Nationale's (French Navy) distant blockade of the Austrian battlefleet prior to the Italian entry into the war. The third of the four unaltered members of her class, the final two Vergniaud and Voltaire being converted into dreadnoughts late in construction, the Diderot would have an active war for most French battleships. Taking part in the abortive battle of Ontranto after the Austrian fleet attempted to sortie. Participating in action around the Bosporus and Gallipoli the ship would be hit by Ottoman artillery on several occasions and later take a torpedo hit from a German submarine in 1917.

Due to French manpower being diverted to the front lines work on the ship completed only in 1920, with Diderot becoming flagship of the Atlantic fleet based in Brest which consisted of the other Dantons and a few other predreadnought class ships and supporting elements. Plans were made to scrap the vessel, but rising tensions with the Italians quickly saw an end to these plans as France struggled to maintain superiority over the Italian fleet. However plans for the vessels scrapping, along with many other predreadnoughts, were again discussed as the negotiations continued In Washington regarding the proposed American naval limitations treaty. In August of 1922 France went so far as to firmly announce plans to scrap the ship in 1924 once the treaty had been ratified.

And here enters Peru. Unlike their rivals in Chile and Brazil the Peruvian navy lacked any modern battleships. In fact the Peruvian fleet had been in something of a slump ever since the 1880s and the collapse of their economy and defeat at the hands of the Chileans in the war of the Pacific. Although plans had been made in 1912 to order three modern battleships, five scout cruisers and twelve destroyers, the navy had only ordered the three cruisers and six destroyers by the outbreak of war in Europe, and all of these ships had been seized by the British early in their construction for their own needs. Leaving Peru with just the two old central battery ships they had fielded since 1876 and a few torpedo boats.

Peru had watched as the Brazilians and Chileans both acquired new battleships out of the ships required to be scrapped under the proposed treaty with unease, knowing if they had the money they could do the same, possibly even buying ships superior to those which their neighbors had bought. But Perus naval budget would not allow that as they needed to acquire not just battleships, but escorts for them, training and support ships, expanded dockyards and moorings to accept the ships, and enlarged naval schools for the training of officers and men for any new ships they did buy as their existing infrastructure and fleet would not allow them to operate support ships of that size. Their budget was also small, and the army was making noise about taking some of their budget for themselves, claiming they could better defend the republic than the navy and their ancient fleet.

Peru had already purchased the armored cruiser Edgar Quinet from the French, and upon hearing of their own plans to scrap the Dantons inquired at the price for purchasing some members of the class. Receiving a quote little better than scrap value the Peruvian naval mission in France relayed the good news back home. And by March of 1923, an order was placed for two ships of the class, the Diderot and Condorcet, the most modernized of the vessels. At the same time Peru ordered eight surplus British M class destroyers from the United Kingdom and the two Blonde class scout cruisers.

This modest fleet of ships, although a massive improvement over the prior fleet, still put Peru as fourth rank amongst the South American navies, closely ahead of the kingdom of the Platte by numbers, though their ships were all more modern and on the whole more capable. Manning the ships also proved rather difficult initially, but this expanded fleet did provide the republic with a fleet capable of defending its coasts from any expected attack from any one of their neighbors.

Renamed as Huascar and Atahuallpa the former Dantons arrived in Peru in 1925 with French crews sailing them, thereafter some of the crew remained behind and helped train the local crew selected for the ships. Peru would keep only one ship in service at a time, with the other in reserve. The reserve ship had a skeleton crew only aboard, though naval reserves were expected to keep rapidly crew the ship in the event of war. Both ships were occassionally put into service at the same time for major events, such as the independence celebrations or visits from foreign warships.

Plans were made to refit and modernize the ships on occasion throughout the interwar. With oil firing boilers, improved main gun elevation and fire directors, AA armament and torpedo bulges all on the navies wish list of improvements to the ships, however money always prevented this from happening. The closest the navy came to modernizing their battleships being when word of the Brazilian "refits" of their existing battleships, really new build ships using the guns and armor of the old, shocked the world. But instead of refits the Peruvian navy ordered two new small cruisers, four destroyers and the same number of submarines in the early to mid thirties.

Money was available in early 1938, but the onset of the third Patagonian war later that year, and later outbreak of the second world war in 1939, prevented anything concrete being done as the ships were needed for enforcing Peruvian neutrality. These thoroughly outdated ships, little changed from the state they had been delivered in, would serve as the only major battleships in the Peruvian fleet, fortunately though as Peru stayed out of the war on their doorstep the vessels saw no action. And when Peru did declare war on the axis powers in 1944 no one had any use for these old ships.

Atahuallpa was scrapped immediately following the end of the war, with the work being completed in 1946 and only a few pieces saved for memorials and museums. It was initially intended to preserve Huascar. But after the private organization which wished to preserve the ship ran out of money and broke into infighting amongst its members, she also went to the scrap yard. However she would linger on until 1950 before the American yard which purchased her had room for the ship due to the glut of other work it had.
 
I would for one, you intrigue me that this nation has a greater shipbuilding capacity than Japan.
I would say more efficient industry than Japan, in 1940 Alyska has an economy slightly larger than Japans. But is set up better for mass production and has a better educated population generally, though its population is around fifty million versus 70 odd millions for Japan. But thats something a TL would need to fully explain as there is alot of backstory.
 
If Alyska doesn't have California, as I thought your North Pacific Great Power would require, where are all these people living? How important is maritime trade compared to land-based transportation? What kind of imports does your economy rely on?
 
If Alyska doesn't have California, as I thought your North Pacific Great Power would require, where are all these people living? How important is maritime trade compared to land-based transportation? What kind of imports does your economy rely on?
It doesn't have California, but does possess more of OTL British Columbia and Vancouver. Most settlement is concentrated along the narrow coastal image region.

Alyska is reliant on maritime transport, though roads, rails and canals are also present and used in many regions where possible. The country isn't reliant initially on imports for feeding it's population as fishing and local farms suffice. But as time goes on that changes.

It is also important to note Alyska owes much of it's prosperity and population to a significant number of odd factors and one man in the late nineteenth century. Basically context matters here.
 
Timeline Brief
Early years
Initial settlement in Alyska began with a brief lived Mongolian settlement in the late thirteenth century. Abandoned by 1300 by an empire anxious to save money where possible the settlement quickly fell into ruins with those who did not return home dying in the next few years or else merging into local tribes of the native population which had inhabited the area for many thousands of years. Tribes which were thrown into confusion themselves by the disruption caused by the Mongol settlement and began a series of migrations.

After this rumors soon spread in Japan that the mongolian settlement had been the source of the empires gold. And that the land beyond the sea held abundant wealth in the form of trees which grew golden fruit, rivers which ran with liquid silver, and birds with jewel embedded feathers. Several adventurous Japanese sailors attempted to find this land over the next several decades. Finding only the abundant fishing grounds off the Alyskan coast despite their efforts and sailing a fair distance down the coast.

As the fourteenth century wound on the size and scale of Japanese settlement grew, with small temporary fishing villages giving way to more permanent camps, and later small villages. And in more time proper cities. In the latter part of the century and moving into the first quarter of the next displaced and disgraced Japanese samurai, known as Ronin, made their way to Alyska and took over several of the larger settlements, encouraging more settlers from the Japanese home islands to join them. Many Ronin ruled peacefully and introduced an educated upper class to the region it had been lacking previously. However some were more tyrannical, and they eventually forced an invasion by the Ashikaga shogunate, which pulled a coalition together and conquered the region in the 1420s.

Settlement continued to grow during the fifteenth century, with several major cities developing in the period thanks to significant immigration from Japan and high birth rates at home. However the cities of Alyska began to increasingly operate on their own without input from Japan. At the same time the Tlingit peoples to the north which settled after being displaced by the Mongols, came together under a single kingdom which grew to rival the power of the city states. The collapse of Ashikaga rule in Japan was met with a similar period of anarchy in Alyska (where the TL itself currently covers and from here on out things will be much more basic) as city states fought one another and the Tlingit.

This chaos saw the emergence of several larger states which conquered surrounding city states. However in time a new Shogunate emerged in Japan which also reconquered territory in Alyska and made peace with the Tlingit kingdom, which now had its own issues.

Colonial era
As Europeans began to explore more and more of the world oceans Alyska soon attracted their interest thanks to several spices which came from the region and had been acquired by Portuguese and later the Dutch. The Dutch would establish a colonial presence in Alyska after some effort, and this colony would grow significantly with further Japanese infighting in the region. The British and Russians would later establish colonies of their own in time. With the British colony always being rather small, the Russians however set about their colonization with vigor. A vigor which soon brought them into conflict with the Tlingit to their south.

The Tlingit war saw Russia come into possession of both the Dutch and British colonies, purchasing them after they had failed to turn a profit for the trade companies which controlled them. Russia also extended their control into Japanese and Tlingit lands. During the latter half of the eighteenth century the colony would grow significantly after major further Russian investment in the colony. Major fortifications were built, as well as civic projects such as a road network and major expansion of settlements.

Independence to Civil war
In a confused turn of events the colony gains independence in the year 1800 through entirely peaceable means, the only such instance of a nation gaining independence until the twentieth century, and the only Russian colony to gain independence without first fighting a war. The nation went through several governments in its early days, and some division emerged between the various ethnic and linguistic divisions of the nation at the same time.

A war with Spain on the pretexts of border broke out eventually, with Spain initially winning, but later being pushed back with great loss of life on both sides, though a majority of Spanish forces were recruited locally. After the end of the war however a civil war soon sprung up as different factions fought against one another. This war would be confused and start very gradually. But it was over by 1842 and reconstruction could begin in earnest.

Reconstruction to great power status
Alyska had largely finished its rebuilding by 1850, and began an ambitious series of large construction projects during the decade. Building up a canal and railroad system, expanding on the road network, building up industry and establishing a school system, and later creating a network of telegraph wires around the country. Efforts to modernize the army were also undertaken. The money to pay for this coming from a flourishing trade with the orient which develops in the period.

Alyska fights a series of wars in the last half of the nineteenth century. Battling with the US, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Peru, and others. The nation falls in the French sphere of influence and expands its colonial holdings as well. Also assisting the French in the construction of a canal in central America. Over a twenty five year period the land also undertakes a huge series of reforms and social projects. Building up its industry and cities and encouraging immigration from Europe and elsewhere. These reforms are critical to the nation and mark a turning point in its history.

The twentieth century to present day
Alyska hosts a major international exhibition in 1905 which stuns the world with its scale and splendor. A war is also fought in the early part of the period which somewhat sours the nations international relations. The country initially wants to be neutral in the great war, but finds itself dragged into the conflict at length and contributing what it can to final victory on the side of the Entente. Post war the nation restarts its naval construction plans before signing the Washington naval treaty in 1923.

The nation limits its defense spending in the 20s, but begins modest rearmament in 1930, plans which are accelerated rapidly as the world falls into renewed conflict after 1936, the country fights another war in 1938, and then enters the second world war on the allied side. Fighting mostly in the south atlantic, and later Pacific oceans against the Japanese in several battles. Alyska also aids the Soviet Union significantly and Alyskan troops play a major role in the fighting on the eastern front against the Germans.

Post war Alyska strikes a neutral role between the three major world powers of the USA, USSR, and Anglo-French-Dutch coalition. Working to facilitate trade between the different powers and play all sides. However as the century winds towards its close issues at home and the cooling of global tensions leads to a very difficult situation domestically which eventually occupies the attention of the nation.


Note the TL is quite brief and there is alot I am missing or have not included to not spoil anything, if you want to know more read the main TL linked in my signature.
 
Not sure what up with the picture, it should show but isnt.
Im not entirely happy with the sketch, I think the turrets are a bit big and masts disproportionately large compared to the rest of the ship. But overall it has a nice effect and I rather like the ship.
 
Alyskan Stuttland class battleship (1898) attempt 1
Alyskan Stuttland 1899.jpg


Not to be confused with the later Stuttland class of the early 1930s the two battleships of the Stuttland class were the pinnacle of Alyskan naval architecture at the end of the nineteenth century. The vessels came in at just over eleven thousand tons displacement, were armed with three 250mm guns in an arrangement of two casemate mounted guns forward and a single turret mounted gun aft. The vessels possessed a secondary armament of ten 125mm secondary guns in five twin turrets and twelve 75mm secondary guns to provide their torpedo defense battery. With twin screws the ships were propelled through the water at eighteen knots.

Although the ships were a major improvement over proceeding Alyskan battleships, excepting the French built Tlingit heights, when compared to their contemporaries in foreign navies the ships were obviously somewhat small and underpowered. Better suited to coastal defense rather than ocean ranging offensives and sweeping fleet actions. However this was a deliberate action as the Alyskan government of the late 1880s and 1890s preferred to spend money on public works and infrastructure rather than an expensive navy. Thus only six battleships were approved in the 1885-1895 naval act, these supplementing four already purchased vessels to give the fleet ten battleships suitable for the defense of its coasts.

The Stuttlands were ordered in 1894, built in the Yakaterina dockyard and Kabenoshima naval dockyards. Relying on imported Harvey armor the ships were much better protected than prior battleships, despite having thinner armor belts. It was also due to advances in engine, boiler, propeller, and hull design that the ships could achieve such high speeds when compared to prior Alyskan ships.

In short the Stuttlands were among the best small battleships of the period. And their export sales, a first for Alyskan battleships, reflected this. Alyska would sell battleships of a similar design to Mexico (2) Virginia (1) Romania (1) and Brazil (1) putting the nation in the curious position of being unable to order battleships for themselves for some years and instead forcing them to order armored cruisers from abroad to fulfill these ordered ships. With the exception of the Brazilian vessel, which was sunk with the forcing of the Amazon delta in 1909, the export vessels had generally quiet lives.

Stuttland and her sister Hetenvalle were not so lucky. Although nearly their first decade in service went by generally without issue, Alyska spending the time generally at peace, this was shattered with the outbreak of the second Patagonian war in 1907. This war pitting initially a joint Alyskan-Brazilian alliance against the combined forces of Argentine and Chile. At the outbreak of war Alyska arguably had sixteen battleships in service or under construction, of which twelve were considered modern, while Brazil had six such ships. This compared to nine ships in the combined fleets of their enemies.

For the initial part of the war Alyska focused on the Chileans. Fighting a series of battles against their navy ranging from the battle of the Galapagos, a cruiser action, to a pair of large fleet battles off the Chilean coast itself, sinking all four Chilean battleships. In these battles Stuttland and Hetenvalle were omnipresent as their shallow draft in relation to other Alyskan battleships allowed them to sail much closer to shore to engage the enemy at unexpected angles, their reputations as crack gunnery ships also somewhat outweighed their small size and limited armament and the ships were known as the devilish twins by the Chilean navy.

Following Chile's bowing out of the war in 1908 after their latest defeat the Stuttlands were used in the shore bombardment role against Buenos Aires during the invasion. Engaging the Argentine fleet in a pitched battle at the start of the campaign and forcing its retreat from the city. Both vessels took fire from shore batteries but survived with only moderate damage due mostly to luck than their armor schemes. They were still assisting the army during the battle of Rio in early 1909.

Possibly angry at their exclusion from a fourth major battle the two Stuttlands were deployed at the head of the Alyskan fleet during the forcing of the Amazon delta, leading the crawling Alyskan battlefleet as it twisted its way through the thick minefields laid by Brazilian forces. The two ships being heavily engaged by the remnants of the Brazilian and Argentinian fleets. Stuttland struck a mine, but preserved her reputation of luck as it failed to detonate, and both ships took further damage from shore and ship based batteries.

Following the successful forcing of the delta the two ships ranged deep into the rivers seeking out remaining enemy forces and bombarding any areas that resisted. Post war the navy made plans to scrap both ships, but the government of Stuttland instead called for the preservation of their battleship. Succeeding with government support. The ship remains afloat today and is a popular tourist attraction across the water from the USS Oregon of the United States.


Figured it was time for a cute little predreadnought.
 
Danish H class Submarines
Danish H class.gif


All three Danish H class submarines in port, early 1920s.

Following the end of the great war Denmark watched as eastern Europe fell into chaos with the collapse of the German, Austrian, Russian, and Ottoman empires, while the rest of the world quickly set about a renewed naval arms race. With the major powers laying down new capital ships, while smaller powers began perusing the bargain bins of ship classes the great powers were willing to part with.

Denmark had watched as the German and British fleets repeatedly smashed eachother off their coasts, following the battle of the Skagerrak they had also interned many German ships. In fact the tonnage of German vessels which fled to Denmark outweighed the Royal Danish Navy by a factor of five. In addition Denmark had come into the unwilling possession of several German Uboats during the conflict.

Denmark knew that their own navy, mainly consisting of very small coastal battleships and aged torpedo boats, could not hope to adequately defend their shores against any of these powers. Even the post war German navy, mercilessly neutered by Versailles, could easily take the Danish fleet. And yet Denmark did not have the funding to afford a fleet of any size large enough to counter any potential invader.

The decision to keep three of the most modern German submarines interned in their port, as well as four torpedo boats, partially offset this and gave Denmark a major boost to their capability to strike at their enemies. Though this was still not deemed sufficient to their needs. There was also the consideration that with Norways purchase of two British predreadnoughts Denmark was now firmly in the third place amongst the Scandinavian nations, an intolerable change in the nations status.

The response to this was the 1921 naval act which sought the purchase of several new units from the United Kingdom, or at least new for the United Kingdom. Denmark would approach the British about which ships they would purchase. Being offered three M class destroyers and the same number of H class submarines, all in a used but serviceable condition. A sale was soon concluded and Denmark would become the proud owners of these new ships early in 1922. Scrapping many of their older prewar ships over the next decade.

The H class ships, designated S8, S9, and S10, formed the second submarine group based on the north see coast and conducted frequent patrols of Danish territorial waters. In 1931-34 the navy based the S9 in Iceland as an experiment in deploying further forces into the colonies of the nations. All three Danish H class boats were refit in the early thirties as an effort to modernize the fleet, after this they would be joined by four new submarines built in the Netherlands and several mine warfare vessels.

When Germany invaded the Netherlands the H class ships were in Copenhagen. Due to the rapidity of the German advance into the country the subs had only just been made ready for sea when Denmark fell, at sea these submarines refused their government orders to return to port and instead struck out at a number of German merchant ships, sinking five vessels before sailing for the UK. They would be the only Danish warships to actively engage German forces during the conflict and after their arrival in the UK their crews continued the fight. Though the British put them into newly built submarines rather than keep the older ships in active service, instead S8, S9, and S10 were used throughout the war as training ships for British, Polish, Dutch, French, and Greek submarine crews.

With wars end the ships were handed over to the newly liberated Danish government and all but S10 were almost immediately scrapped. With S10 becoming a museum ship in Copenhagen.
 
Battle ship Riachoulo - Brazilian Flagship
HMS Agincourt.jpg


Perhaps the most convoluted and contrived battleship ever built HMS London was initially ordered by the Brazilian Republic as a third battleship for their fleet. However as the Brazilian economy struggled with a post war recession and then the collapse of its rubber monopoly they were unable to afford the ship and put her for sale on the open market. Where the vessel was then purchased by the Ottoman empire, which in turn renamed the ship Sultan Osman I-Evvel. Intending that she supplement the already ordered Resadiye Turkey paid for the ship largely through public donations. Only for the Royal navy to requisition her upon the outbreak of the great war in 1914.

The ship began life shortly following the end of the second Patagonian war. With the end of the war Brazil received the two Minas Geraes class battleships which had been ordered prewar. These ships had been among the most powerful battleships in the world at the time they were ordered, and were arguably superior to the first Alyskan dreadnoughts of the Tlingit Heights class. However with the end of the war Chile and Argentina each raced to place orders for their own battleships. Ships that promised to be superior to the two dreadnoughts in Brazilian service.

Brazil waited to see what its two rivals would do before ordering its third ship. Watching as Argentina ordered the two Rivadavia class ships, and then as Chile ordered the Almirante Latorre class ships. During this time several bids were tendered by different foreign companies for designs for the battleship. With Vickers making a concentrated effort to sell Brazil a ship with its own 14 inch guns. However the navy decided to stick with 12 inch weapons for ease of supply and training across its fleet.

The design eventually decided upon was impressive. Mounting no less than 14 twelve inch guns mounted in seven twin turrets. This would make the ship the record holder for battleship with the most guns until the French launched their two Normandie class battleships in the 1920s. Work on the ship began in September of 1911, and proceeded largely on schedule during the next few years.

While the ships construction did not have many major setbacks the Brazilian financial situation was a little different. The war in Patagonia, and subsequent civil war, had done few favors for the Brazilian economy. And loosing control over the southern parts of the country did little good as well. But Brazil should have still been able to just about afford the ships if the nations monopoly on Rubber production had not came to a sudden end with the establishment of large scale rubber plantations in British Malaysia, and the Alyskan Congo. This sent the Brazilian economy into a downward spiral and the government began to seek out means of saving money and lowering taxes in an effort to stabilize the situation.

The most obvious thing to do was to abandon construction of their third battleship, which had been renamed Rio de Janeiro. Alongside a refund of money already paid the cancellation of the order would save a huge amount of money. Armstrong was informed of the decision and the Brazilian government ceased payments in 1913, leaving the already well advanced ship and the job of finding a new buyer entirely in the builders hands.

Fortunately for Armstrong the Ottoman empire expressed almost immediate interest in purchasing the ship. Already the Turks had ordered a battleship from UK yards, but this had been answered by the Greeks ordering ships of their own. Needing to respond to this the Ottoman empire was already considering ordering a new battleship when Armstrong announced that the ship was up for sale. To pay for the vessel public donations were taken up by the Turkish naval league. In a manner not dissimilar to the manner in which the Italian government had received funding for the battleship Il Publico.

The Turks renamed the ship Sultan Osman I-Evvel and had her lavishly appointed throughout. With expensive woodwork and carpentry used to decorate officers quarters and brass used extensively for the ships fittings. The ship began her sea trails in July of 1914, and a Turkish crew of five hundred men was sent from Istanbul to take delivery of the ship in August.

Unfortunately the outbreak of the great war in that month put an end to these plans as the ship was seized before she could be handed over to the Turks. The ships crew, angry at the seizure, threatened to take the ship by force. The British responded by placing a marine contingent upon the ship and sending the Turks home. Alongside the bungled efforts to seize the Resadiye the refusal of the British to hand over the Sultan Osman is considered by many to be the major factor which made the Ottomans join the war on the side of Germany.

The British renamed the ship HMS London and put her into service with the Grand fleet. She served as flagship of various British divisions during the conflict thanks to her lavish interiors, which made her very popular with officers. In British service the ship held several nicknames, the most well known being the gin palace, but the turret farm was also popular. The ship fought at several actions, including Jutland. But missed out in taking part in the subsequent battle of the Skagerrak by dint of needing maintenance. She took no damage in the battles she did fight in and was generally well regarded, though she was considered somewhat wet aft.

And it is after the great war the ships story came full circle. The Brazilian economy had been once again stabilized, due largely to them supplying the Entente forces with raw materials at nearly criminal prices. And the nation was once more looking to buy battleships. The navy asked the British if they would be willing to part with any battleships, and they were told by the RN that they could have London, which had recently completed a refit, at a reasonable cost. A contract was signed and the ship delivered to Brazil in June of 1920, this being despite significant Alyskan and Argentine objections to the sale.

Renamed Riachoulo once in Brazilian hands the ship ignited a flurry of similar sales of battleships to minor powers across the world. With Argentina, Chile, the Platte, Peru, and Mexico all racing to buy new ships of their own in the Americas. While many other states in Europe and Asia would each rush to buy their own used battleships. Brazil would make a further effort to obtain a fourth battleship, to be named Rio de Janeiro in 1922. However the planned purchase of a Colossus or Orion class battleship fell through due to American and Alyskan objections.

This gave Brazil a fleet of three battleships by the signing of the Washington naval treaty. While this gave Brazil the most battleships in south America, the two Chilean Almirante Latorre class ships made Chile the most powerful navy in the period. Riachoulo would not be scrapped with the other Brazilian battleships in the late twenties as Brazil used those components to build new battlecruisers. The ship becoming the flagship of the navy in 1930, and sent in for a refit in 1934-36 in local yards.

The ship saw little action in the third Patagonian war, being kept mostly in port, her slow speed and lack of modern torpedo defenses making her vulnerable to the Alyskan submarine fleet. The ship did some shore bombardment at the start of the conflict against Plattean positions, but was withdrawn quickly as the Alyskans sent in aircraft. She survived until 1941 when an Alyskan torpedo bomber attack found the ship at anchor in Rio and sent her to the bottom with three torpedo hits. After an inspection to determine if she could be salvaged it was found that she had split into three distinct sections and was a total loss. Her wreck remained in the harbor until she was scrapped in place in 1952.
 
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