Rule The Waves 3 - A Graphical Experiment - Complete

Consider the following and select two to be the focus: New carriers, both light and heavy , Fleet Destroyers of large size

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Construction, 1938
The Arquebuse-class of destroyers will be an enlarged version of the Arbalete, gaining 200 tons displacement for more reliably turbines and a denser anti-air armament. Hopefully, with enough destroyers of these types, no aircraft will be able to penetrate into our formations and threaten our more valuable capital ships. We may also consider a similar growth into protected cruisers at a later date, utilising similar advancements to create an even more capable anti-air ship.

Intelligence reports are received at our Mediterranean headquarters in Nice, detailing the majority of Italian ships that are active and out of their ports. We are asked to respond and we do so with a letter suggesting that in the interests of peace it might be best if the Italian Navy kept their manoeuvres away from our coastlines. They seem to ignore us, but at least this is confirmation that it's just manoeuvres.

We tour the yards preparing for new destroyers, new carriers and return to our offices with an excitement. We will not see the fruits of our labours for many years, but what fruits they will be! Waiting for us is a representative of the Minister of the Navy with a set of reports and a request; the Minister would like to see ten new cruisers join the fleet in the coming years, and they must be laid down this year. We smile and nod through gritted teeth and send him on his way before booking some time in the shooting range. Perhaps we will find some small respite there.

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The Cruiser Program
We are going to lay down a mixed cavalcade of cruisers, starting with the experimental Pluton-class. Taking ideas recommended during the destroyer programs of recent years, she will be fitted with four twin-mount 125mm dual purpose anti-aircraft guns, each fitted with their own directors for targeting aircraft. Her sole responsibility will be as a relatively low cost anti-air guard and escort ship built to operate primarily in the Mediterranean.

Second, but no less important, is the Chateaurenault-class of protected cruiser, armed with twelve 150mm rifles and a secondary armament of 100mm dual purpose turrets. Capable of putting up her own flak screen while closing on heavy capital units to strike with six torpedo tubes on each flank, she will be a deadly combatant. We expect to build fewer of these larger, more capable ships but they will nonetheless be important to the fleet.

We lay down the Bearn carrier in May, four Pluton's in June, four Chateaurenault's in July and then in August, as Italy and Austria-Hungary go to war over Dalmatia, we lay down the last two Pluton-class cruisers to meet the Ministers needs. We lay down a second Bearn-class carrier, the Lyon at the same time. We suddenly seem to have so much money and it's being spent as soon as it reaches the coffers.

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Air Racing
Another year, another air race, and this time it is the Breguet company that requests funding to help them win the race. Unfortunately they are beaten by a Japanese plane, the Mitsubishi Shibutsu, that achieves 261 knots during speed trials. We will have to encourage our designers to work harder next year.
Britain completes the largest aircraft carrier in the world, HMS Hermes, with a displaced tonnage of 31,600. She is capable of 29 knots and carrying 76 aircraft, six more than the carriers we are currently building. It is curious to wonder what those extra 10,000 tons are being used for, given the air complements of our two carriers are similar. Perhaps we will find out, one day. Shortly after this discovery, the President suggests an international gathering and regatta at Dunkerque hosted by the Marine Nationale. We invite ships from Germany, the Soviets, Britain and the United States and we are fortunate enough to see some of the finest battleships and cruisers sail together in the spirit of international peace - or at least, peace for France.

An economic slump threatens to affect the budget, but we point out that Italy and Austria-Hungary are at war still, and at any moment the United States, Russia, Britain and Japan could all fall into a horrible little skirmish. We need to keep France safe. It doesn't save us from the cuts, but the military budget certainly favours us over the Armee de Terre.

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It is August of 1939, and the world is on the precipice of war. However there are other, smaller questions that must be answered first.
Aviation experts are concerned about our reliance on airships, when airplanes are available:
[ ] We should scrap all airship hangars and be done with them.
[ ] They are useful for night scouting. Retain them.
We have been offered a new torpedo, one equipped with 'magnetic' triggers. They would run deeper and detonate below a ships keep:
[ ] We cannot risk duds. Do not accept them.
[ ] Any advantage we get, we must take. Accept them.

Aviation experts are concerned about our reliance on airships, when airplanes are available: We should scrap all airship hangars and be done with them.
We have been offered a new torpedo, one equipped with 'magnetic' triggers: Any advantage we get, we must take. Accept them.

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The End Of A Very Short Era
While we only built our first airship base in 1911, it is already time to be rid of them. They are too vulnerable to the cannons and large calibre machine guns of modern aircraft, and many ships will now find them an easy target with their dual purpose 100-150mm guns. So we begin breaking down the hangers, selling off much of the machinery and equipment to the civilian market where possible.

The war between the Austro-Hungarian republic and the Fascist Kingdom of Italy has ended with no border changes - presumably the Italians managed to hold off the little nation for long enough to exhaust them. We accept a new medium bomber into service, the Nieuport ND.178, a fast twin-engine design capable of 225 knots and a combat range while carrying a torpedo or 2,000lbs of bombs of almost a thousand kilometres. This will make our coastal air bases particularly dangerous to passing ships, and their range will make the area of control quite enormous.

We are handed the plans for the Spanish Super Cruiser Cordoba, a 45,000 ton, 31 knot ship carrying eight 350mm rifles. It is not a ship that is of great concern to us, but it's vital that we remain aware of the threats we may face if we decide to engage the peninsula kingdom.

We begin work on a new class of lighter aircraft carrier, a ship class that will be vital to long range anti-submarine and escort operations. The Dixmunde is armed with four twin 125mm gun mounts and a battery of secondary AA guns, and can carry 32 aircraft to match our older designs. These are cheap, capable ships that will be vitally useful alongside the larger carriers that we have fewer of. The Assemblee Nationale both decides to look over the design and reduce our budget. Such are the whims of the Assemblee.

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The Dawn of the French Carrier
We also begin work on a new 'Fleet' Carrier, the Bois Bellau. Larger than the Bearn, they carry a greater capacity of aircraft and are better protected from air attack. We will lay down one once we have the finances available for it, to match the pair of Dixmunde light carriers.

Our scientists develop a new weapon for hunting submarines, one that will require a brand new class of destroyer to carry them. The forwards-firing anti-submarine rocket launcher will toss bombs over the bows of a submarine hunting ship, dropping explosives down onto an enemy submersible while they are in the most vulnerable position during an attack. We begin work on the Tornade-class of destroyers to carry these new weapons.

We scrap the Carnot, that ancient battleship, the Brennus and the Iena. We are finally without those ancient ships, which have been with the fleet for half a century. Several heavy capital ships are placed in reserve, given the lowering tensions around Europe, and thus we are able to lay down another Bois Bellau, the Toulon, and two more Dixmunde-class light carriers, the Foudre and the Sirocco.

As 1940 comes to a close, the United States approaches us with a proposal for an alliance. They have ruined us before, but they are the largest world economy and have the most capable fleet. They will be a fine ally to have, even if it reduces our own spending capacity. It will also likely be of great help to the developement of advanced technology that we have struggled with in recent years.

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January 1941 - We have had some quiet years, despite rising tensions around the world. We should reconsider some standard positions before we end up in another war not of our choosing.
Please select two of the following options to be of the highest priority going forwards:
[ ] Armour, Hull and Ship Design.
[ ] Light Forces, Torpedoes and Submarines.
[ ] Fire Control, Gun Mountings and Projectiles.
[ ] Machinery, Damage Control and Tactics.
[ ] Naval Aviation.
Select a core principal for our future aircraft design:
[ ] Speed
[ ] Range
[ ] Firepower
[ ] Reliability
[ ] Toughness
[ ] Payload
[ ] Agility

Please select two of the following options to be of the highest priority going forwards: Fire Control, Gun Mountings and Projectiles. Naval Aviation.
Select a core principal for our future aircraft design: Payload

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New Focus
We refocus our efforts and wait for the world to come to us. It doesn't take long as, two months into 1941, the British Empire grants independence to a nation we had once preferred to guide - Norway. Shortly afterwards, the United States builds the largest Aircraft Carrier yet built, exceeding the previous HMS Hermes with the massive 37,000 ton USS Antietam. With over a hundred aircraft aboard she seems almost unnecessarily huge, but surely our allies over the Atlantic know something we don't. Our government responds by raising spending significantly.

It has been six years since our last class of submarines and, so that we are not left behind, ten new boats are ordered. Four will be medium range, sea-going boats and six will be smaller, coastal boats well suited for the channel or the med. Fitted with snorkels and special sound-reducing plating, these boats will be the most advanced and most capable to date, and we expect many good things of them.

The Soviets seek a rebuilding of our previous alliance, given their fury at the German autocrats which has not abated in the wake of the last war. We agree, of course, knowing that they give us the best chance of crushing autocracy on the continent presuming the United States show as much interest as they ever have. Formal protests are delivered by the German ambassador before their embassy in Paris is shuttered. We can only presume they plan to make war with us, the fools.

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The Ties That Bind
We are hamstrung in our foreign policy by the sheer weight of modern alliances. We, the French, maintain a formal alliance with the United States. The US, in turn, is allied to Great Britain, and the Empire holds both the Americans and the Japanese close to its expansive bosom. Japan, you may remember from previous reports, is allied to their fellow Autocrats in Germany. These bonds will surely be tested should war come, and it is quite the thing to wonder which side we will end up on.

Air bases at Dunkerque, Brest, Nice and Toulon are the first to receive funding to expand their hangers and take on more aircraft. These aircraft are vital to our modern war-making, the modern torpedo boat, and it wouldn't do to have our coast lines under-defended. We will move on to the Mediterranean next, then look further afield as needed. We also begin working on a new capital ship, a Super Cruiser mounting our highly effective 375mm guns that were developed in recent years. With an accurate range of five kilometres over the 350mm gun we have been using until now and an inch and a half better armour penetration at twenty kilometres, it is a hugely superior rifle. The Imperial-class will otherwise just be an overgrown Dunkerque with better armour, better torpedo protection and a more effective anti-aircraft net. At 35,200 tons displaced, she will be the largest ship built for the Marine Nationale to date and will, nonetheless, be ten-thousand tons lighter than her distant cousins in other fleets.

War breaks out between the USSR and Germany, and reports of fighting along the Prussian border with Soviet troops are filled with brutal details of modern tanks, planes and guns used to ruin the sanctity of life. Japan joins in the following week, the rising sun flying high above landing forces gathering off the coast of Sakhalin. We watch and murmur our disapproval and wonder how long it will be until we can find a reason to join them. We do, at least, activate the airbases on the Northern coast line in preparation.

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Other Angles
Even as we watch the North of Europe set on fire with a worried eye, we keep another eye on the rest of the world. We learn of the plans for a new Spanish cruiser, an effective mine-layer and fast scout that will be of concern if it goes raiding up either coast. But it is not to be, as shortly after the Soviets ask us officially if we will join the war on the Germans and our answer comes in the form of an Armee air raid on manufacturing plants along our own border with the Autocratic menace.

Our submarines immediately put to sea, leaving their pens with flags snapping in the wind and caps raised in salute to families left behind. They will abide the prize rules as much as they can, not risking the anger of other nations at such a tense moment. We need the Americans to join us and soon if we are to crush the Germans swiftly and keep the peace at home, especially if the Japanese decide they would like a taste of French mettle as well.

An entire fleet transits the straight of Gibraltar, six Super Cruisers, two small carriers and all their attendant escorts. We must not allow the Germans to institute any sort of blockade, so that we can hold out until the Americans decide to join. We formalise our relations with the Soviets, bringing them into the alliance network and ensuring that we will best work together in the coming months of brutal war. Shortly afterwards Japan declares war on us. We will have to be careful in the Pacific, and be cautious of the British. They are only across the channel, and we are now at war with their ally.

Many of our older ships are starting to reach the point where they require a refit. What should we do?
[ ] Bring them in as necessary, three months out of the war is worthwhile for a more effective ship.
[ ] We need them holding the blockade. We cannot allow the UK to enter this war and must crush the Germans!
[ ] Something else - write in.

Many of our older ships are starting to reach the point where they require a refit. What should we do? Bring them in as necessary, three months out of the war is worthwhile for a more effective ship.

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The Alliances
We conduct the war carefully and with specificity in the opening months. German submarines and merchants are sunk, and we lose our own in turn. We carefully ward off British shipping, but nonetheless are met with hostility and threats to eject our diplomatic mission from London. We understand that the blockade is working we just need it to work faster.

Britain joins the war in February of 1942, honouring its alliance with japan. We should not have tied ourselves to the damn Soviets. But in the same month the USA finally accedes to pressure and joins the war on our side, breaking their alliance with the Japanese! We dispatch a force to the Indian Ocean to attempt to repel a burgeoning British invasion of Djibouti. This war is our chance to smash the British once and for all!

We are drawn into a fleet battle off the coast of the Netherlands, where we can rely on the Dunkerque air station to provide cover for the fleet. Unfortunately before daylight can come on the 16th of March, the fleet stumbles into the enemy at a range of 500 yards. Lyon and Bearn immediately begin flying off their strikes as the Super Cruisers turn away in an attempt to open the range. Vautour, a fleet destroyer, sinks under heavy gunfire, and the German protected cruiser Arcona suffers a similar fate. Multiple torpedo hits are reported by destroyer captains desperately putting ordnance over the side in an attempt to do as much damage as possible as quickly as possible.
The strikes from our carriers catch retreating enemy ships, and multiple hits by both torpedoes and dive bombers are reported in the heat of battle. A gun duel develops between capital ships from both sides, the older 305mm rifle armed super cruisers engaging a pair of older German Kaiser-class battleships each fitted with 350mm guns. Shortly after, German Stralsund's join the battle, as do our all-forwards 350mm armed super cruisers. Vigilant, an older Super Cruiser, is hit by a series of dive bombers one after the other, knocking out a turret and almost toppling a mast.

Torpedo hit after torpedo hit are reported by attack planes, with the dive bombers chalking up a few of their own. Dunkerque turns away from the line of battle burning. Vigilant takes four more bomb hits, all along the waterline, and begins to list tremendously. Lyon is hit by first one and then another dive bomber while attempting to launch aircraft for a strike.

The battle ends with the coming of dusk. It has been a brutal day.
- The Marine Nationale lost one old super cruiser, the Vigilant and two destroyers. The former was primarily sunk by air power, including seven bomb hits and a torpedo taken amidships when she was already listing terribly. Other damage includes the Dunkerque which suffered terribly under the enemies guns but was returned to port afloat. Lyon absorbed three bomb hits with only a minor loss of operational tempo, while Bearn managed the same after two. Even Liberte, the ancient training carrier, managed to survive multiple bomb hits.
-- Dive bombers were a major threat to the surface fleet, much more so than torpedo bombers (though they were still a concern).
- The German fleet, the so-called Reichsmarine, suffered far greater losses with two battleships, a cruiser and six destroyers sunk by the end of the day. The Schleswig-Holstein suffered a single torpedo hit early in the day and never managed to stem the flooding, while Lotheringen suffered from three torpedoes dropped by aircraft and a 1,000lb bomb penetrating her deck.
- The Air arm of the fleet had a victorious day and a tragic day. Of the near 500 planes operating in the area, 87 were lost. Nineteen aircraft went down to AA fire, most of them torpedo bombers. Forty-three aircraft were shot down in air combat, split between our lumbering medium bombers and our own fighters. Seven were considered operation losses and a further eighteen were damaged or destroyed on the decks of their carriers. In return, the squadrons scored nine bomb hits (five by 10647 Escadrille aboard the Bearn), seventeen torpedo hits (four by 5205 Escadrille aboard the Liberte) and thirty-three air to air kills (nine by 10644 Escadrille aboard the Bearn).

The Battle of Texel will be considered a major victory forever more, and a significant blow against the German fleet. We also receive news that our blockade has been successfully extended around Great Britain and that they are suffering great hardships. The United States loses an aging battleship to a destroyer attack, but there is little we can do for our allies at this moment.

The concept has been raised of re-positioning our squadrons aboard our carriers to raise the number of fighters available in our units. Currently our fleet carriers, the Bearn and the Lyon, carry 31 torpedo bombers, 20 dive bombers and 20 fighters. The Bois Bellau will carry a similar air group.
Should this be changed?
[ ] We should prioritise Fighters, carrying thirty for defence.
[ ] We should keep prioritising torpedo bombers.
[ ] We've seen the efficacy of the dive bomber, prioritise that!