Zero Hour -- AH's Funny Little AU

History

In 1922, displeased by the Washington Treaty's 5:5:3 ratio for capital ship construction, the Japanese elected to leave the committee. With no more restrictions on their warships, they began to build massive, powerful ships, from the smallest torpedo boat to the massive trimaran battleship-carrier IJN Norikura. In 1941, when the Kido Butai attacked Pearl Harbor and decimated every ship of the US Pacific Fleet, the world was plunged into a war, with fighting ships the like of which the world would never see again.

Ship Index
Smaller than Destroyers
Ta-class Patrol Boat
[viewtopic.php?f=14&p=207242#p207242]Ta-class Patrol Boat (Late 1945)[/url]
Battlecruisers
Kinosaki-class Superbattlecruiser [WIP, Drawing Underway]
Hybrid Warships
Norikura-class Superbattleship-carrier [WIP, Unstarted]

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Work in Progress List
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- HNLMS Kortenaer (KN)
- Yamato on Graf Spee's hull plan
- Giant cruiseferry powered by nuclear engines... what could go wrong?

Ships in Class
24

Weaponry
1x1 450mm torpedo tube, firing 16-inch torpedoes
1x1 20mm anti-aircraft cannon, based off the American Mark 4 design
6 Type 95 depth charges, launched from stern rails

Dimensions and General Info
122 ft long
48.5 feet high
21 feet wide
Steel hull
18 crew: 4 officers, 14 men.

[ img ]

Rather bad sea boats, the Ta-class patrol boats are an exhilarating first command. The 24 boats of the class, from Ta 1 to Ta 24, are well-known for the engagement that turned the tide of the US advance in the Pacific: the Battle of Guadalcanal.

Ever since the attack on Pearl Harbor, American forces had run wild in the Pacific. On November 14, 1942, the American invasion of Guadalcanal was well under way. Around midnight on November 14, the Japanese force under Admiral Kondo Nobutake advanced on the island, with intent to shell Henderson Field (the American-held airstrip on Guadalcanal). American forces included the battleships South Dakota and Washington, as well as destroyers Sims, Preston, Benham, and Gwin. The Japanese forces, which included two transports modified to carry Ta-class torpedo boats, came around Savo Island in four groups. The Americans, lying in wait in the area between Savo and Guadalcanal, opened fire on Japanese destroyer Ayanami and the Sendai group. Almost immediately, the two Kinosakis opened fire on the American Washington, sinking her after 18 minutes in a catastrophic magazine detonation. Ta 1, Ta 6, Ta 13, and Ta 21 used their torpedoes to great effect, crippling USS Gwin.

On her first firing pass, Ta 1 struck South Dakota once, blowing the port-side propellers off their shafts and jamming the rudder. She was hit by five-inch retaliation fire and pulled out of the battle, its 450mm torpedo tube obliterated. An unidentified destroyer fired both of its remaining torpedoes, scoring a hit. As South Dakota rolled over, one of its five-inch secondary guns fired on Ta 13, scoring two hits. One shell struck the wheelhouse, decimating it, and the other hit the machinery spaces, entering on the waterline. The patrol vessel sunk in five minutes, taking all of her crew with her. She was the only IJN loss of the battle.

There should only just be one torpedo turret, right? There should be a storage compartment for torpedos, given most Japanese destroyers have such.

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R.I.P, Paranormal-Thingum’s profile pic maker used to make my profile pic...

Kangaeru Kitsune wrote: *

June 25th, 2022, 1:09 am

There should only just be one torpedo turret, right? There should be a storage compartment for torpedos, given most Japanese destroyers have such.

Hmm... good point. The design of the Ta-class is based on the IJN's Gyoraitei-class PT-like boats of our timeline. I'll keep torpedo reloads in mind when I make destroyers for Zero Hour!

Surviving Ships in Class
14

Weaponry
1x1 20mm anti-aircraft cannon, based off the American Mark 4 design
1x1 7.7mm/87 "RU" type single Lewis anti-aircraft machine gun
6 Type 65 depth charges, launched from stern rails

Dimensions and General Info
122 ft long
48.5 feet high
21 feet wide
Steel hull
18 crew: 4 officers, 14 men.

[ img ]

In 1945, not much has changed since 1942. The most notable change is the substitution of a machine gun for the torpedo tubes. As the Ta-class shifted from being used in an attack role (for which it was decidedly not designed) to being used in a minelaying role, its torpedo tubes were eliminated. The searchlight on the wheelhouse was eliminated due to stability issues. A radio direction finding antenna was added to the top of the mast. The vessel depicted, Ta 1, was part of the Japanese fleet that accepted the American surrender in the Potomac River.

Shipbucket

Zero Hour -- AH's Funny Little AU

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