This is an American AU where there was no Washington, and consequently, no London I and II. I will start in 1920. What will be different from real life? The ships that were cancelled and scrapped will be built and commisioned. All pre-dreads plus the South Carolina class are decommisioned plus some others nearing their usefulness. The first AU ship to be commisioned is the Washington, then the South Dakota and Lexington classes. Before I post any drawings I want to see if you have any comments about possible ship designs, events and future refits.
Here is the ship roster I`ve made of ships either under construction or planned from 1920 onward + ships awaiting to be decommisioned:
Approaching decommisioning:
- Delaware BB-28
- North Dakota BB-29
- Florida BB-30
- Utah BB-31
Ships being built:
Tennessee Class
- Tennessee BB-43
- California BB-44
Colorado Class:
- Colorado BB-45
- Maryland BB-46
- Washington BB-47
- West Virginia BB-48
Lexington Class
- Lexington CC-1
- Constellation CC-2
- Saratoga CC-3
- Ranger CC-4
- Constitution CC-5
- United States CC-6
South Dakota Class
- Sout Dakota BB-49
- Indiana BB-50
- Montana BB-51
- North Carolina BB-52
- Iowa BB-53
- Massachusetts BB-54
Ships under planning:
Connecticut Class
- Connecticut BB-55
- Louisiana BB-56
- Vermont BB-57
- Kansas BB-58
New Hampshire Class
- New Hampshire BB-59
- Minnesota BB-60
Virginia Class
- Virginia BB-61
- Nebraska BB-62
- Georgia BB-63
- New Jersey BB-64
Rhode Island Class
- Rhode Island BB-65
Unused Names:
- Maine
- Missouri
- Ohio
- Illinois
- Alabama
- Wisconsin
- Kentucky
- Indiana
- Oregon
- South Carolina
- Michigan
The Lexington class battlecruiser was ordered as a response to the Japanese Kongo class and the British Admiral class battlecruisers. They would have been bigger, faster and more powerful than both, but significantly less armored. They were designed for scouting in mind, and as such was only armored to withstand 6 inch shells. Fast, powerful they would have made good scouts, but also powerful ships for ship-on-ship enagement. Six are built.
![[ img ]](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/93982636/Shipbucket/No%20Washington/CC1Lexington1919.png)
The South Dakota is a bigger, and slightly faster ship than the Colorado class. It returns to the 4x3 setup that the three previous ship classes had, only with 16 inch guns instead of 14. They are a departure from the 21 knot standard battleships, albeit only two knots faster. Built as a repsonse to bigger, faster and more powerful ships from Japan and Britain, the South Dakota class would be a most fearsome opponent.
![[ img ]](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/93982636/Shipbucket/No%20Washington/BB49SouthDakota1920.png)
The Connecticut class is a larger and faster South Dakota, but having the same arnament and armor protection. The ship is a further departure from the standard battleline, being two knots faster than the South Dakota class for a total top speed of 25 knots. The ship also featured an additional pair of 3 inch AA guns to combat growing concerns of an increasingly formidable airpower, later demonstrated by Billy Mitchell on a German battleship. The Connecticut will be the last "slow" fast battleships designed, and built by the US Navy.
![[ img ]](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/93982636/Shipbucket/No%20Washington/BB55Connecticut1920.png)