Shipbucket

I agree in that the only real space left for additional AA is in the spot where the aircraft is carried. I was thinking they would have the catapults removed sometime during 1942 shortly before the Japanese attack on Anadyr and the subsequent start of the campaign in the Aleutians.

Sieran never does end up possessing more than two small light carriers, the old and slow Lazarev and a slightly more modern ship about the same size as HMS Hermes. Neither ship was really suited to being used as a fleet carrier so spotters aboard ship were considered essential when out of range of land sircraft.
Aviation was not a big figure behind naval planners of the day given that the ships would for most of their operations remain within reach of land based aircraft from Sieran and Alaska. Operations into the North Pacific would mean the ships have to fend for themselves or operate in conjunction with the USN, however unlikely that is given the USN didn't like working with the allied fleets in reality.

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"The first rule is not to lose; The second rule is not to forget the first rule"

I really like how it looks! My only abers are:
The main director appears to be the one used for the Tre Kronor class: I doubt it would be availible at the date.
I think the main turrets(yes, I know I drew them) would look good with some range finders added.

The main directors might indeed have come straight from the Tre Kronor drawing. I used those and the Zaras as references for the bridge. I've been thinking that it would need some adjustments to allow the fitting later of a director radar on the front but not yet decided how to go in that regard.
As for the main turrets, yeah I did think of that but wasn't too sure how to get them looking right. Battleship ones were too large looking and not many cruisers I had available for reference had rangefinders on their turrets that I could recognize.

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"The first rule is not to lose; The second rule is not to forget the first rule"

Quick question for everyone;

How effective were dedicated Anti Aircraft ships like the Dido and Atlanta class? I'm pondering a type of large destroyer/light cruiser that could be used as AA escorts along with the task force to make up for the lack of ability to have air cover over the fleet. Basically the organisation for such fleets would be a Rozhestvensky battlecruiser/heavy cruiser at the core with 2x surface warfare light cruisers and 2x antiair cruisers forming a diamond with a destroyer picket line of 6 or more vessels. Submarines would be used for scouting out potential targets during their patrols and will participate in any surface action if able.
If either of the two small carriers are available, they will form their own fleet escorted by destroyers held behind the main fleet providing what air cover they can but more importantly reconnaissance capability.

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"The first rule is not to lose; The second rule is not to forget the first rule"

Well, I know the Atlantas were so effective that they dropped the wing turrets( ), since they were strong enough without them(and somewhat top-heavy with them).
The Didos suffered from having a main gun whose DP-function was on a more teoretical that practical level(then again, this is true for most WW-era DP except the 5"/38 Mk.12), but served well nonetheless, to my knowledge.
The real thing that's going to matter is if the main guns are truly capable of dishing out anti-air fire. If they are, a pair of CLA would indeed be a good addition to Seiran's navy.

I do recall the Didos initially having issues with their main guns yeah. Wasn't the 4.5in in the end more effective than the 5.25 due to rate of fire and tracking although that made the cruisers rather poor for surface use?

In terms of what gun Sieran might use, there's already a version of the 4.7in used in a DP role on destroyers so perhaps a modified version of this, maybe semi automated would allow for a greater volume of fire. Directing the fire will be a tricky part as Sieran until 1943 does not have radar directors available, only early search radars (like the kind I drew on the big cruisers) that can identify aircraft about 12 miles away.

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"The first rule is not to lose; The second rule is not to forget the first rule"

That is a stunning cruiser I love the fine detail on the floatplane and catapult area.

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Republic of Lisenia AU - In progress
Republic of Lisenia in FD Scale - In progress

Thanks. I can't take credit for the aircraft or catapult however for they are both from I think an older drawing of the Hippers or the Scharnhorst class. The aircraft is a He 61 (I believe) that I was originally going to heavily modify to make it look more like a Sieranian aircraft however I kinda liked it so I left it there for now.

I've been roughing out some sketches and concepts for the anti air cruisers and I've decided that around 12-14x 4.7in guns in dual mounts might work (2 mounts forward, three mounts aft and then wing turrets likely to have been removed later). The cruisers will be fairly large to give them high speed and range to serve as escorts whilst the 4.7 gun should allow for the same firepower of 3 destroyers against light surface targets. ASW equipment will not be fitted and aviation facilities may not be available.

Would a traditional manual gun mount or semi automated mount work better for the 4.7? Main objective for AA weaponry is rate of fire and speed of tracking/elevation. Barrage fire is more likely to be the goal rather than targeted fire initially due to the equipment available to the Navy.

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"The first rule is not to lose; The second rule is not to forget the first rule"

Another train of thought I had is that if any of these ships survive the war (not yet decided) they might be useful for missile experimentation whilst retaining a primary antiaircraft role.

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"The first rule is not to lose; The second rule is not to forget the first rule"

Also another quick question, does anyone have any idea of how a hybrid of HMS Hermes with a Zuiho class carrier might look like and what kind of air group it might fit? I'm trying to come up with configuration ideas for a carrier of around 12,000t displacement and air group of 30 aircraft in three squadrons + reserve.
Ship doesn't need to have much armour nor extensive range as they'll be operating primarily in the Bering and North Pacific only as far south as the Aleutians.

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"The first rule is not to lose; The second rule is not to forget the first rule"