Shipbucket

Hello!

After a years-along hiatus, I have risen and come to share some AU musings once again. I'd been puttering around doing a bit of work here and there with various concepts I'd had, but nothing really felt like something I was excited about. Finally I stumbled across a really nice AU world built by _ProfessorDeath over on Reddit. (Links below for AU source.) It was a really nicely done concept for a fictional east Asian country with a history both similar and delightfully unique from other RL countries in the area, and it really piqued my interest! So this AU is a result of their labours.

It's also nice to be back.

https://www.reddit.com/r/worldbuilding/ ... ast_asian/
https://www.reddit.com/r/imaginarymaps/ ... he_nanhae/
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Republic of Nanhae


Nanhae, officially the Republic of Nanhae, is a nation comprised of the Nanhae archipelago, it's capital being Jiangju. Neighbouring countries include Japan, South Korea, the People's Republic of China, and the Republic of China (Taiwan) to the south. For centuries the island was inhabited primarily by indigenous peoples, as well as a small number of Ryukyuans, Japanese, and Han Chinese.

In the 16th century, a variety of events transpired that would shape the future of the islands. In 1541, Antonia da Mota sailed past the islands on his journeys, before being blown off course and 'discovering' Japan in 1542. The islands, while primarily inhabited by native islanders, were used as a haven by Japanese pirates or wokou in their raids against Chinese and Joseon merchants. 1582 saw the wokou warlord Lin Han establish a major base which he named Jiangju. That same year saw the Portuguese land in the south (in modern day Nanru County, and attempt to establish a colonial presence. By 1587, Lin Han's forces drove the Portuguese out, and he declared himself the Lord of Nanhae.

For the next three centuries, the Nanhae Realm remained a curious kingdom. The Ming, and later Qing, dynasties came into increasing contact with the islands due to their location above Taiwan and to the west of the Ryukyu islands, and used the islands as an important based for foreign and maritime trade between outside countries and the Middle Kingdom. The Lords of Nanhae pledged themselves as tributaries to the Qing, in exchange for unique trade privileges enjoyed by only them and the smaller Ryukyu islands. This, along with the islands lands saw numbers of Han Chinese make the trek from the coastal provinces, in search for a better life. Unlike Taiwan, which was a Qing province and had very specific rules in place regarding movement to the islands, the Nanhae lords agreed to allow these people to emigrate as it boosted their population and have increasing numbers of people to help quell growing tensions with the native islanders. Eventually more and more of the native islanders were marginalized or moved into more remote areas of the island to escape government efforts to assimilate them.

This continued for further decades, before a series major events changed the course of the islands fate.

In the 1850's, Commodore Perry forced the islands to open to trade. While nominally a tributary of the Qing, China was in no place to prevent the United States from opening trade due to the recent Opium Wars and Taiping Rebellion. Seeing the modern technology the US Navy had, and the faltering Qing who could not come to the islands aid as promised, in 1861 Lord Lin Heng proceeded to initiate reforms aimed at modernizing the nation, much as the reforms in Japan at the same time were doing. To this end, a large number of European and Japanese merchants, technicians, and experts came to the islands to help the government. While the reforms did see some improvements to the defence and governance of the islands, including important agricultural reforms, pressures from the Qing forced the reforms to be curtailed.

The First Sino-Japanese war in 1895 however greatly changed this. The rapidly modernizing Japanese Empire defeated the Qing in Korea and Manchuria. In the Treaty of Shimonoseki, Article Two of the treaty saw the Qing recognize Nanhae as an independent nation outside their sphere of influence. In response to this, the young Lord, Lin Hae, declared himself the first King of Nanhae and declare the islands to be the Kingdom of Nanhae. The previous reforms launched by this father, now referred to as the Pinghae reforms after his posthumous name of King Pinghae, were restarted to try and prepare the country to survive the pressures being brought to bear on it. However, the Japanese empire had other ideas.

In a series of events that paralleled those in Joseon (now renamed Korea) to the north, Japanese officials began exercising more and more control over the small island kingdom. By 1910, the Japan-Nanhae Treaty ended Nanhae's independence, and saw it absorbed as a colony of the Empire of Japan. It's history of being founded by Japanese people, as well as its small but influential Japanese population on the island, saw the Empire rule over Nanhae as a 'model colony', much like the larger Taiwan to the south. Millions of yen were invested in to the economy, education, infrastructure, and government services. At the same time, promotion of Japanese culture and language saw the majority Han Chinese population forced to learn, speak, and transact daily in Japanese. With the course of World War Two, thousands of Nanhae men and women were drafted into the Imperial military or civil defence services. While heavily bombed during the end of the war, Nanhae's location and heavy troop presence made it a less inviting target for the Allies, and so was spared a direct invasion such as what happened with Okinawa.

After the war, the United States led a brief military and then civil occupation of the islands, before returning it to local rule in 1953 after the end of the Korean War. Going through the cold wra aligned with the United State's bloc, it had the benefit of a stable if albeit unbalanced democratic government primarily led by the National Development Party. Since the 1950's, the Republic has grown to a modern day nation of 10-million people, in a vibrant and advanced society, mirroing that of Japan and Taiwan. While lacking the advanced tecnological industries of either nation, its natural resources and fluency in both languages has afforded Nanhae the ability to still be a major economy in its own right. It especially benefits from the outsourcing of service industry, manufacturing, and technological industries from Japanese firms due to the lower wages of the country relative to Japan.

Republic of Nanhae Navy and Coast

Frigates

Type 1970-Class ASW Frigates
F-70 Jianju
F-71 Nanru
F-72 Yunsan
F-73 Wangan

F-70 Jianju as entered service in 1970.

F-70 Jianju after modernization, 1984.

Type 1975-Class AAW Frigates
F-90 Chonghae
F-91 Chingfong

F-90 Chonghae as entered service in 1975.

F-90 Chonghae after modernization, 1988.

Type 1988-Class, or Lord-Class Area Defence Frigates
F-11 Lord Wuheng ("Martial Radiance")
F-12 Lord Ankuo ("Pacified Realm")
F-13 Lord Canping ("Peace Within")
F-14 Lord Haening ("Tranquil Sea")


F-11 Lord Wuheng in 1988 configuration.

F-12 Lord Ankuo in post-1996 configuration.

F-13 Lord Canping in post-2008 configuration.

Type 2018-Class, or Lord-II-Class Area Defence Frigates
F-21 Lord Pinghae "Pacified Sea"
F-22 Lord Couyi "Clear Righteousness"
F-23 Lord Chingtae "Pure Greatness"
F-24 Lord Tinque "Heavenly Order"


F-21 Lord Pinghae, in configuration upon commission


Qiqang-class Area Air Defence Frigates
F-17 Zheng Qiqang (Under construction)
F-18 Kiso Hidetaka (Ordered)


Great Turtle-class Replenishment Ship
A-11 Great Turtle
A-12 White Tiger

Great Turtle as commissioned in 1998.

Great Turtle after modernization in 2018.

Type 2005 Class Patrol Submarine
P-03 Spring Dragon
P-04 Winter Dragon

Submarine Winter Dragon.

Type 2015 Multi-Purpose Security Patrol Vessel
P-007
P-008
P-009
P-010
P-011
P-012

Type 2015 vessel P-007 as launched.

P-007 showing planned emergency configuration.

Republic of Nanhae Army and Air Forces

Nanhae Army

M48-N main battle tank



Type 11 main battle tank



Type-10 Armoured Fighting Vehicle

In the early 1980's, the Nanhae Navy was an eclectic mix of Second World War era destroyers and destroyer escorts, provided to them from the United States navy. While the United States Navy and Air Force had a large presence on the islands, it was determined that the entire military was in need of a drastic modernization especially given the increasingly globalized trade that Nanhae was engaged in as technology, and their economy, improved.

As such, it was decided to pursue a program to develop several new ships to enter service by the late 1980's. One such result was the Type 1988-Class, or more commonly known as the Lord-Class Area Defence Frigates.

While the navy was offered several options by the US, such as modified Garcia's or even OHP's , it was determined that neither of these truly filled the requirements for a frigate-sized vessel that would be able to act as the high-end ships of the fleet, providing area air defence to the smaller escorts being planned to come into service.

Todd Shipbuilding was contracted to build four of these vessels, with the first intended to enter service by 1988.

The four ships were to be named after the first four Lord's of Nanhae:

F-11 Lord Wuheng ("Martial Radiance")
F-12 Lord Ankuo ("Pacified Realm")
F-13 Lord Canping ("Peace Within")
F-14 Lord Haening ("Tranquil Sea")


F-11 Lord Wuheng in her original 1988 configuration at launch.

The class had many broad similarities with the OHP's, but given their status as the largest combat ships in the fleet, the comparisons only ran so far. Unlike the Perry's, the Type 1988's utilized a Mk-22 guided missile launcher instead of the Mk-13 found on US ships. While this did reduce the ships to only having a 16-round magazine for the Standard missile, this was seen as an acceptable trade off considering the ships would carry an organic anti-ship missile launcher for the Harpoons, and that the ships were not intended to operate too far on their own outside of their own Air Force cover or that of US/Japanese/South Koreans forces. Along with a 127mm/54ca main gun, torpedoes, and an embarked SH-2 helicopter, these ships were considered to be the primary ocean going ship for the navy. Their AN/SPS-49 radars and SQS-56 sonars helped ensure that they could serve as either the head of a local task group, or support allied fleet operations.


F-12 Lord Ankuo showing her post-1996 configuration.

All four ships had entered service by 1992, but after any lessons from the Iran-Iraq and Persian Gulf wars could be incorporated into their designs. Primarily the focus shifted to providing an organic short-range air defence capability, beyond that which the Standard missiles or main gun could provide. A 6-cell Mistral missile launcher was added to the stern of the vessels, above the hangar, to provide a close-range cover for the ships.


F-13 Lord Canping in post-2012 configuration.

By the 2005 budget year, it was determined that the navy did not have the funds or need to replace these vessels anytime soon, especially given more urgent priorities within the Army and Air Force. A mid-life extension program was implemented to provide modest but meaningful improvements to the ships' capabilities. One such was the replacement of the Sea Sprite helicopters with new MH-60's which were a vast improvement. Since the Mk-22 launchers were deemed to be too costly to replace or upgrade, it was decided to find another way to modernize the frigate's AAW potential. This saw the Mistral missiles replaced with two RIM-116 RAM launchers on either side of the hangar. This was done along with the replacement of the AN/SPS-49 and other radars with more modern equivalents from Thales, such as the Smart-S and Variant. These, along with a much improved Thales combat management system, have ensured these ships are still able to provide an area defence capability, albeit one that is noticeably much less capable than comparable warships in the JMSDF or ROK Navy.

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First crack back at it. Open to any feedback! In fairness, I just took a frigate from the then-Atlantia AU that I'd always been in love with, but had always wanted to find a way to incorporate into my own AU. So this ship reflects probably the better part of 8 years of tinkering?

I do wonder if you should have made your mast higher, and mount your radars much higher up. There is an balance, but some height for the radar, make it easier for it to see far away, due to the curvature of earth.

If you take an example of the OHP, then you can see how high those mast is!

I would put the Smart-S up high but also put the "egg" up in a mast as well, so it can "see" better.

I don't see it as wrong to place the torpedo battery there, but it would be better to placing them close to the hangar, so the torpedo magazine for the torpedo launcher, can also work as a magazine for torpedoes for the helicopters

If you have turbines, I will not complain about air intake for them, we cant do it as perfect as in the "real world", but at least we can get close to it.

I do however wonder it the sonar, interfere with the main gun-system/magazine, since the sonar do take some internal space

Fair point regarding the height of the radars, so I've amended the placement of the AN/SPS-49, Smart-S, and 'egg'.

F-11 Lord Wuheng in 1988 configuration.

F-12 Lord Ankuo in post-1996 configuration.

F-13 Lord Canping in post-2008 configuration.

While the OHP's do carry the AN/SPS-49 very high, other similar aged frigates like the Halifax or Anzac carry theirs in a similar height, albeit further forward on the ship. In fact I used the Halifax's as the frame of reference for the update. Would swapping the placements of the two sets of systems work better?

I'm open to suggestions regarding the torpedo placement. And as far as the sonar placement goes, based on my understanding of the size of the relevant systems internal displacement, I was confident of the fit, but I'm happy to specific feedback on how that might now work.

nice AU

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WIP:

Royal Nordenic Air Force 1914-now
Royal Nordenic Navy 1914-now
Royal Nordenic Army 1914-now
Imperial Iran Air Force
Royal Hellenic Air Force
NATO PLA

Welcome back mate and a great AU.

_________________
There is no "I" in TEAM but there is a ME


______________________
Current Worklist:
Redrawing my entire AU after a long absence from Shipbucket

While the improvements were made to extend the life of the Type 1988-class frigate, it was generally accepted by the Department of Defence that a new class of ship was going to be needed to replace them in the area-air defence niche within the navy. In 2008 the DoD launched the Area Defence Combatant Program, or ADCP, to find a suitable replacement to be built on a 1:1 replacement basis, with the first ship to be launched by the late 2010's. The program called for a ship with a primary AAW capability, with secondary GP and ASW capabilities. This was done as the navy made a shift from the previous hi-low frigate capability (having the high-end frigates with low-end patrol frigates) to a dedicated area-air defence frigate, with then a second class of anti-submarine focused frigates to replace the Type 1982 class patrol frigates currently in service.

The navy and DoD went through a tortuous design and review process, where no less than 7 different designs were considered. Some of the earliest and leading contenders were a Damen based LCF design; a Navantia design that resembles the modern F110; and a FREMM-based design as well. A change in government in 2016 saw the program restarted with contenders asking to resubmit bids. Finally the winning contender was a submission made jointly by Huntington Ingalls/Wangang Shipbuilding proposal. Approved by the National Defence Committee, and ordered in FY2021, as the new Type 2021-class.


F-17 Lord Pinghae, in planned configuration upon commission

The class, unofficially referred to as the Lord-II-class as also named for the Lords/Kings of Nanhae, were considered a multi-generational advance over their predecessors in terms of capabilities. The biggest advancements were in their radar and combat systems, with Nanhae selecting the Aegis combat system, and AN/SPY-1(F) radars, which gave the ships a quantum-leap in terms of area-air defence capabilities as well as interoperability with allied fleets. A locally produced surface search/fire control radar known as the CR(P)-111 was also incorporated into an integrated mast with the AN/SPY-1(F). A 48-cell Mk41 VLS is coupled with the improved SM-2 Standard missiles, the intention to add the SM-3 Standards for ballistic missile defence, and the ESSM for shorter-ranges, these ships reflect all the lessons the navy had learned from their predecessor ships. Several other noticeable enhancements include the Leonardo 127/64 gun system, and the replacement of the legacy Harpoon ASuW missiles with the MBDA Marte-ER (part of a wider upgrade among the fleet), and lastly the planned integration of the RAM missile system, which will see the mountings taken from the previous Type-1988-class ships as they're retired from service. Lastly a pair of remotely operated 12.7mm guns, as well as an embarked Seahawk helicopter, round out the ships equipment.

The first ship was laid down in 2021, with the last ship expected to enter service by 2030. Planned ships are:
F-17 Lord Pinghae "Pacified Sea"
F-18 Lord Couyi "Clear Righteousness"
F-19 Lord Chingtae "Pure Greatness"
F-20 Lord Tinque "Heavenly Order"

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I borrowed the hull from M.C. from one of his Atlantia frigates, as the lines worked perfectly with my hull. And NTNY666 had that mast on one of his designs over on his DA account, and I thought it looked really sharp integrating it into this design, as well as making it possible to upgrade to the AN/SPY-3 down the road.

M-48N Medium Tank

In the 1970's, Nanhae's army took possession of what would become it's primary main battle tank for the next 50 years, the M-48A3-E48B Patton. The E48B was a foreign customer variant of the A3 version of the tank. This version included a diesel engine and a licensed produced copy of the L7 105mm main gun. Adopted by Nanhae as a replacement for the M-24 Chaffee and upgraded M-4 Shermans as the main tanks for their army, the Patton was seen as the first real tank capable of providing a true stand-off armour protection for the army.

By the 1990's the tank was showing its age, and had been replaced with several military's by much more capable designs, Nanhae continued to keep the tank in service. It's smaller size relative to more modern tanks like the M-60, or Leopard 2, made it much better suited to the road and rail network in the country. And while it's armour was clearly out of date, it's 105mm gun still offered enough of a punch to keep it relevant for its primary task of countering any amphibious invasions of the islands. A modest upgrade scheme was devised that saw the engine and electronics replaced with newer variants, a more modern fire control system, and explosive-reactive armour (ERA) applied to the hull or turret when needed. This version was designated the M-48AE-E48B-N3, or the M48-N for short.


M48N Patton in Nanhae service

As the armed forces went through significant reductions in size and improvements in capability after the cold war, the fate of the tank force was always pushed to the background. Small and incremental improvements to the armour or electronics were meant to keep the tank relevant for its intended purpose, combating airborne and amphibious armoured vehicles that would spearhead any opposition to a landing on the islands. However by the 2010's, it was impossible to look at the Patton as anything other than antiquated. The DoD in 2012 launched the Armoured Combatant Program to try and find a suitable replacement for the M48's. However it was quickly found that many of the options available on the market were not ideal for their needs. Foreign designs like the modernized Leopard 2A5 or A6 variants, the M1A1, or Lerclerc were found to be either too large or too expensive for the army. Another consideration was that five decades of army planning and logistics meant that none of the heavy vehicle movers could accommodate a tank as large as the modern 60-ton combatants, and would mean a significant procurement program to re-arm and equip the army.