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Vancouver Island
http://67.205.157.234/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=1182		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  Carnac [ May 13th, 2011, 11:36 pm ]
Post subject:  Vancouver Island
In 1849, the Colony of Vancouver Island was established. However, the early days of the colony were under near complete rule by the Hudson's Bay Company. The first governor is widely regarded as saving the colony from the grasps of obscurity and unity with Canada. He formed a police force which also acted as militia and fire department. Colonists were brought in from the mainland to establish a long-lived forestry industry that survives today and HBC's dominance was usurped by a legitimate government. The Fraser Canyon gold rush saw Fort Victoria and the island as a whole invigorated, but let it down when the gold rush ended. However, the coal mines of Nanaimo combined with a burgeoning logging industry was enough to keep the island from uniting with the mainland in 1886. Defense of the colony was provided primarily by the Royal Navy operating out of Royal Navy Dockyard Esquimalt until 1868, when the Vancouver Island Naval Militia was formed.

((I'll leave the history here for now, continue it later. For now, I shall draw ships.))
Author:  Carnac [ May 15th, 2011, 12:45 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Vancouver Island
Sorry for the delay.

When the Naval Militia was formed, it had no actual ships. The early vessels needed to be rushed into production, as native raids were causing anxiety from merchants shipping to and from the island. The first ships of the Vancouver Island Naval Militia were built by British Columbia, and were designed for patrol of fishing waters and for escorting merchant vessels. These early ships were known as the Fort Victoria class, and were armed with ten 3.75" British breechloading guns. They suffered from a slow speed under steam due to the under-powered steam engine used, their sails provided the propulsion most of the time; and from their light armament for their size. However, they did their duty for patrolling the inner passage and escorting merchant ships. A total of seven were ordered, but only 5 were built before production ended in 1874.

Fort Victoria, Post-Refit
[ img ]

(Thanks to Redhorse and his awesome Republic of Texas for much of the inspiration.)
Author:  Carnac [ May 15th, 2011, 2:10 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Vancouver Island
As time passed in the colony, the fur trade became less important. Fishing, logging, and over all, coal came to be the main exports/industries on the island. British Columbia bought a large amount of coal, as it was far easier to buy from the island then to ship to the coast from the interior. This helped fund the expansion of government that allowed Vancouver Island to achieve Dominion status in 1881. Pirates ((Somali-style pirates, not Yarr Harr pirates) quickly realized the only ships of the Militia, the Fort Victoria class could be outrun, while smaller boats didn't have the range to escort coal carrying ships. These "Coal Pirates" prompted naval development to quicken rapidly.
Author:  klagldsf [ May 15th, 2011, 3:37 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Vancouver Island
It's highly unlikely that any serious vessel whatsoever would be left in natural "wood" color by, well, any given point in the 19th century, really. Paint wasn't just decorative; it was an anti-fouling and corrosion/rotting measure.
Author:  Carnac [ May 15th, 2011, 3:55 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Vancouver Island
klagldsf wrote:
It's highly unlikely that any serious vessel whatsoever would be left in natural "wood" color by, well, any given point in the 19th century, really. Paint wasn't just decorative; it was an anti-fouling and corrosion/rotting measure.
Point taken, will fix.

Edit: Fixed
Author:  Carnac [ May 15th, 2011, 5:42 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Vancouver Island
To combat the aforementioned "coal pirates", who were increasingly becoming a problem for inner-passage shipping, construction was authorized on a new class of ship to supplement and complement the already obsolete Fort Victoria class. Built by American ports on the west coast and armed with the same 3.75" breechloaders as the Victoria class. these ships were smaller, only approximately 50m in length and carried engines far better suited to their size. They were ironclads, with 1.5" of iron over top of a wooden hull to provide protection from enemy fire. Their sails were much smaller compared to those of the Victoria class, as it's engine was responsible for most of the work. Most importantly, they were fast enough to chase down pirates and small enough to follow them into the straights, narrows, harbors and passages that had sheltered them from the Victoria class. Coal pirating stopped near completely within the first three years after the Nanaimo was launched. 8 of these ships were built.
[ img ]
Author:  Thiel [ May 15th, 2011, 6:50 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Vancouver Island
The Victoria class's rigging isn't going to work. The boom have to fit in between the two masts. As it is it'll break the first time you turn into the wind.
Author:  Carnac [ May 16th, 2011, 5:07 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Vancouver Island
Fixed after much delay.

Into the 1890s, the Vancouver Island Naval Militia expanded very little. It was however reorganized into the Vancouver Island Colonial Navy, and then finally into the Vancouver Island Navy. As the older of the Victoria class were retired, the navy shrunk rapidly. In addition, unionizing of the coal mines meant a noticeable loss of production and dent in the economy. Only the outbreak of illegal fishing on the west coast prompted a naval revival, with a small class of lightly armored patrol vessels ((coming soon)) replacing the Victoria class and supplementing the outdated Nanaimo class. Problems with the natives also ended around this time, due to repartitions given by the government in exchange for not causing troubles.
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