[X] We should add damage control training to the syllabus.
[X] We should use oxygen fuelled torpedoes on destroyers
[X] We should design shells specialised in off-angle penetration.
State your opinion:We should add damage control training to the syllabus. State your opinion:We should use oxygen fuelled torpedoes on destroyers State your opinion:We should design shells specialised in off-angle penetration.
Cruiser War Furieux catches first one and then another raiding German cruiser, a pair of small Arcona-class Protected Cruisers of less than 4,000 tons displacement. 305mm shells tear the smaller ships apart and neither is left above the surface after a days action. Meanwhile, the Lion d'Or enters port for a refit to add the heaviest anti-air battery ever seen on a French warship. Not only will she have a complement of machine guns and auto cannons, but also a battery of dual purpose, high angle 9-pound guns and her twin 125mm's will be modified for high angle fire as well.
Lion d'Or before her refit
We begin work on the first full size carrier akin to those that other nations are building. The Mistral will displace a little more than 20,000 tons, carry a heavy gun armament for both air and sea protection and be capable of delivering sixty aircraft into the target area. With this we will finally be able to begin developing a doctrine for using Dive Bombers, rather than leaving that potential lying fallow.
Heroine sinks another German raider, this time a 1927 Armoured Cruiser of the Prinz Eugen-class. We are still not entirely sure what the Germans hoped to gain by building these small, swift ships given that they do not have enough punch in their main battery to threaten a purpose-build Super Cruiser, but we will take the opportunity to put more of the Fuhrer's steel under the sea.
Air War
In February a strike group of Dewoitine bombers roves out across the Channel and stumbles over a cruiser group protecting a pair of small aircraft carriers. The twenty-three aircraft drop to almost sea level, massive prop blades throwing up spray with every rotation. One plane is caught by an AA shell and crashes into the water but the others all drop their deadly payloads and torpedoes streak out and into the German formation. One hits a carrier, another an armoured cruiser and over the next few hours, as night falls, the former sinks and the latter is forced to limp into port.
We begin work on expanding the Dunkerque air base to support even more bombers. They've demonstrated their utility too many times to not make sure that the wing there is equipped as well as possible.
Another small engagement comes in March, the first deployment of three all-forwards Super Cruisers all at once. It is a fine sight, the three sailing in column without concern even as they stumble across a small German protected cruiser and sink her forthwith.
Peace!
Our government wonders whether, now that we have reached a point of balance with the Germans, we shouldn't seek peace. We, as ever, push for an extension, to crush the Autocrats and be done with them forever more. The government, however, chooses a more peaceful approach.
We gain minor concessions and the Naval Budget is, once again, slashed brutally by the government. We will have to wait for some things to arrive before we can finally lay down the Mistral, though fortunately it will not be long before the submarines are in service.
We are at peace, and we are still allied with Russia and the Soviets. The Americans and the Spanish are still brawling and it seems like it will be a long time before they see any reason to stop it.
What is our position going forwards, diplomatically and politcally:
[ ] We should only get involved when prompted, ignoring other nations while we focus on France.
[ ] We should be involved in everything - we have a duty to France and to the Sea
[ ] We should focus on crushing Spain, and take any chance to do so their current war gives us.
[ ] Other, write in.
[X] We should only get involved when prompted, ignoring other nations while we focus on France.
I dislike an approach this passive, but our budgetary woes are far worse than usual, so for the short term at least, we should husband our strength. Though if anyone tries to start something with us, we should damn well finish it.
What is our position going forwards, diplomatically and politcally:We should only get involved when prompted, ignoring other nations while we focus on France.
Rebuilding
We have the opportunity to refocus our forces here, now, and to rebuild them to new goals. We will take it with pleasure. Protests are still ongoing around the Metropole, demanding a reduction in military spending. They will surely have it, and indeed we have the time to reduce our spending now. So long as we still have enough to safeguard the nation.
We scrap four aging submarines, the Gnome, the Gymnote and two surviving members of the Korrigan-class boats. All four were built before 1920 and are now more than fifteen years old. It is time they went into that good night, not even useful as training boats any more (and certainly not reliable enough for it). We will have forty-one boats by 1935, and that will be more than enough for now.
A flight of German bombers, the Ju-130 type, crosses the Atlantic in July, flying non-stop from Kiel airbase to Boston on the American East Coast. Publicly, diplomatically, we signal our appreciation of the remarkable capabilities of modern aircraft. Privately, we order a new long range bomber and update the plans for anti-air refits for our capital ships. The Marguerite-class are also the recipients of new directors and dual-purpose 100mm guns, enabling these sub-chasers to defend themselves from overly curious flying boats.
The German bomber
The End of War
Finally, after many years and thousands of lives, the Spanish-American war of the early 1930's has come to an end. Guantanamo bay is ceded from the Spanish to the United States, re-uniting Cuba for the first time in many years and crushing any hopes of a resurgent Spain in the Caribbean. The only overseas colonies they now control are the small island chains running North of Papua New Guinea in the Western pacific.
At the same time, a financial slump hits French markets and, with our new position of benevolence, we encourage the government to institute social reforms to help those most affected. Is it the best position for our budget or for our personal prestige? No. Is it what is best for the nation? Surely so. With any luck it will also put an end to the damnable protests outside the ports at Toulon and Brest.
Majesteux firing her main guns
The president holds a fleet gunnery competition and the Super Cruiser Majesteux, with her fine and modern 350mm guns, is the victor over all others. At the same time, the Morane Saulnier company requests support from the Navy in designing an aircraft for an international air race. We hand them 800,000 francs and order them to win the race and a matter of months later they do just that. The Morane Saulnier MS.144R, a modified version of our newest fighter aircraft, reaches a trial speed of 209 knots and crushes the competition.
The Minister
The arrival of the last of the Vengeur-class is married to a grand celebration - we now have two complete divisions of these remarkable, all forwards Super Cruisers. However, the Minister has other ideas. He would like another trio, built with more modern technology. Thus begins the design of the Dunkerque-class, a trio of ships that will be near identical to the previous designs but with a number of small and important upgrades. The twin 125mm turrets will be replaced with a modern, dual-purpose version that will give the ship a remarkable anti-air armament. Each will receive a hanger mounted on the after deck capable of storing a pair of float planes with a catapult for launching them. They will also have thicker armour along the belt and on the turret cheeks. Otherwise, they are almost identical to their predecessors.
Our current capital ship organisation. 4BatDiv is a 'storage' division for the now ancient port guards.
We lay down Dunkerque and Marseille in January 1935, with Nantes following after in March.
Germany and Japan celebrate the signing of an Alliance between those two nations, and the Soviets seek strengthened bonds with us as they suddenly seem to feel surrounded. We declare our intention to maintain our own Alliance, daring the Germans to try again. The British lose their grip on Malaya, the empire crumbling just a little as the first cracks start to show. Shortly after, Britain signs its own alliance with Japan. It signals something terrible about the future of the British Empire if they are falling sway to Autocrats themselves. We begin to attempt to open talks with the United States.
Our budget is reduced repeatedly, to the point that we are forced to place older Super Cruisers into mothballs rather than cease work on those more modern ships. Five heavy ships go into yards to receive a quick work over to strip out anything perishable and the grand ships are placed in ordinary. They are not alone in this, with much of the fleet being drawn down as the Assemblee Nationale seems unable to recognise that demanding a building program and then cutting our funding will do strange things to the Marine Nationale's readiness.
The Minister is replaced. Briefly, ever so briefly, we see a light at the end of the tunnel, as we may for once be able to select our own building programs. It is not long before he is demanding twenty new destroyers for the fleet, such that it can better protect itself from submarines. We sigh, and look to our budgets and pray that perhaps, somewhere, we can find some money for these damned ships.
It is October of 1935.
Select one of the following to not be cut:
[ ] Research
[ ] Naval Aviation
[ ] Intelligence
[ ] Training
[ ] Active Fleet Units How should we design our new destroyers:
[ ] Minimum sub-chasers
[ ] Maximal Fleet destroyers
[ ] Moderate mixed use designs
[ ] Something else
I believe all our current destroyers are minimum-value things set to fill these sort of requirements, which while okay, does mean our fleet is lacking in the fleet destroyer area.
Too much of our surface force is in reserve or mothballs; when war inevitably comes, those ships are going to have to stand alone. It would behoove us to ensure they are as sharp as possible. As to the destroyers; as much as we need to husband our scant budget; destroyers that cannot support the main fleet are little more than floating targets should actual battle come. We are unlikely to get away with breaking the bank on these ships, so we cannot make these the greatest of destroyers; but we owe it to our sailors to ensure we are giving them worthwhile tools.
You're not wrong about the research, I'm just concerned that if we neglect training we'll pay for it before we can enjoy the advantages of extra tech...
It feels like we're getting hit with a lot more -budget events than usual. Certainly more than I remember from my last France playthrough.
It is October of 1935.
Select one of the following to not be cut:Research, Training How should we design our new destroyers:Moderate mixed use designs
Cuts for Destroyers
We must moderate if we're going to meet the demands of the government. We cut research spending, and close the night fighting school for the time being in order to save several million francs per month. We also begin design of a new class of destroyer to fulfil the Minister of the Navy's request; it will be a moderate design that is able to maximise the various technologies we currently have available. It will thus be:
- A fast, sleek hull capable of 36 knots on around 40,000 horsepower, with the engine spaces divided to ensure a small calibre hit doesn't completely disable the ships.
- Three twin 100mm dual purpose gun turrets as a primary armament with 180 rounds per gun. These will be laid by a surface director atop the foremast or an AA director of a new design on the midships mast.
- A secondary anti-air armament consisting of two twin 40mm gun mounts and six 13.2mm machinegun positions.
- Eight 21-inch oxygen-fuelled torpedo tubes with reloading mechanisms aboard ship for maximum anti-capital firepower.
- Two depth charge chutes and four K-gun launchers to maximise anti-submarine capabilities.
All of this will be packed into a hull of just 1800 tons displacement, and it will be called the Arbalete-class.
Arbalete and sisters in the evening sun
Of course, the month that we begin true design work, the government presents a plan to reduce our budget even further. We protest vigorously, asking exactly how we are supposed to meet construction goals if they do this. They retract these plans, but tensions overseas rise as they see the Navy forcing the civilian government to submit. As it is we are forced to halt the construction of Nantes in order to afford laying down the first five destroyers.
Despite our protestations, they still reduce funding in January of 1936. It seems we will struggle to meet our goals. We may simply have to accept failure.
A Gift Horse
We uncover a spy from Germany operating in Nice and put him in front of a wall with barely a thought. His body is delivered back to his home nation with a sternly worded letter to stop sending foolish German men to their deaths. Nonetheless we face yet another budget cut and are forced to cancel plans to lay down the last five destroyers of the twenty destroyer program. Will this hurt the Navies image? Of course, but there is only so much we can do with the governments flip-flopping on spending.
1936 is, at least, a quiet year. We desperately need to rebuild much of our fleet to enable to operate it in the modern day, though it will have to wait until 1937 at least for there to be budget available. It must be noted that in the last ten years our national economy has grown to exceed that of the British Empire despite being involved in two major wars.
The French Economy is marked here in Red, Britain in Blue, Germany in Yellow and the United States in White.
We begin our fleet-wide refits in February 1937 with the Indomptable. While outdated, these ships will still be very useful as raiders and colonial ships, away from the line of battle. Our economy enters a period of boom and the government begins construction of a national railway network to connect every city to easy transportation. We make a major decision and, rather than laying down new light cruisers, we take the twenty year old Gloire-class and begin tearing out their coal fired engines to be entirely replaced with oil. Now capable of thirty knots, they will be available much sooner than a new design.
The Enemy at the Gates
Italy seems intent on raising tensions with us until something puts a spark to the powder. While we would, of course, rather avoid this they are one of the only European powers with no allies abroad and we have never shied from war with autocrats. Major elements of our fleet move into the Meditteranean just in case and we begin expanding the air bases at Cagliari and Olbia on Sardinia.
The Italians have a modern, capable fleet of ships which are led by four massive Super Cruisers of the Attilio Regolo-class. These 45,000 ton monsters fit nine rifles, each a staggering 400mm in calibre and are capable of 30 knots. They also have a number of small carriers and a large submarine force which we must be wary of come war time.
We are, finally, after fifty years of service as battleships, port guards, barracks ships and training facilities, able to scrap the Jaguireberry and the Charles Martel, two members of the Brennus class of battleships built in 1890. Design work begins on an aircraft carrier which will finally actually be built for the Marine Nationale, as the Mistral should have been. She will carry seventy aircraft rather than the Mistrals sixty and be capable of 30 knots. At 23,000 tons displaced she will not be the largest ship we've ever built but she will be twice the size of any previous carrier we have built.
Now that we have refit half the fleet to have modern gun directors and new AA fits, we can begin considering a self-directed building program. Consider the following and select two to be the focus:
[ ] New carriers, both light and heavy (note we will build at least one carrier as described above no matter what is chosen).
[ ] Submarines, to continue our under-sea tactics
[ ] Fleet Destroyers of large size
[ ] Protected Cruisers capable of scouting for the fleet.
[ ] Armoured cruisers with large guns.
[ ] Super Cruisers with new, larger guns.
[X] New carriers, both light and heavy (note we will build at least one carrier as described above no matter what is chosen).
[X] Fleet Destroyers of large size
[X] Fleet Destroyers of large size
Good for their submarines, I hope.
[X] New carriers, both light and heavy (note we will build at least one carrier as described above no matter what is chosen).
[X] New carriers, both light and heavy (note we will build at least one carrier as described above no matter what is chosen).
[X] Fleet Destroyers of large size
Because RNJesus sometimes just decides that He hates you. And that seems to be what's happening here today.
[X] New carriers, both light and heavy.
[X] Fleet Destroyers of large size
Our destroyermen have been forced to make do with vessels unworthy of their Elan for too long. If we have the chance to create for them tools that will allow them to not simply protect our ships from enemy subs and aircraft, but also take the fight to the foe, honor demands we do so. Air power is only becoming more important; and our long forced building holiday risks our enemies outpacing us in this field. We cannot let that go uncontested. Also, make sure anything we build are covered in AA guns. The risk of enemy aircraft must be respected.
[X] New carriers, both light and heavy (note we will build at least one carrier as described above no matter what is chosen).
[X] Fleet Destroyers of large size
