I've been writing an alternate history work in Korean for some time now, with the following background:
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Ito Hirobumi survives the assassination attempt on October 26, 1909. While the assassin is executed, the short time that Ito has talking with Ahn converts him to Pan-Asiaism, and manages to stop the process of Korean annexation by the direct intervention of the Tenno and is reinstalled as Resident General.
Ito and Korea supported Sun's revolution in exchange for establishing a protectorate over Southern Manchuria, while Mongolia and Northern Manchuria became Russian. This expansion in Asia has Russia turning to the East.
Meanwhile, the Italian-Ottoman War ends with Italy still having Libya, but it breaks with Germany over how German supported the Ottoman side (if we say the basics, it's more complex than this). An Italy that becomes pro-French leads to the automatic termination of the Franco-Russian Alliance, and when combined with the Russian focus on the Far East, leads to Russia giving Austria a relatively free hand in the Balkans (Pan-Slavism isn't as strongly appealed to).
WW1 starts when in 1915 an Armenian assassinates the Ottoman Home Minister and the French Foreign Minister, and a link to Russia is "found." At first the war is Germany/Russia/Romania Versus France/Ottoman/UK/China/Japan/Greece. The war expands in 1917 as Austra-Hungary collapses into civil war while Italy joins the war on side of the Entente, Korea hits the Russians occupying Northern China from the side after two years of "neutrality" (which was used to build up the country for war), and the US also joins (similar reasons to OTL). The war ends in 1918 as Russia collapses and a new government declares war on Germany, leading to much chaos. Ultimately Germany surrenders and something similar to what happened in OTL is done. Meanwhile, in Russia the Soviets do gain power, but at the expense of losing eastern Siberia to Korean-supported White forces and most of western Belarus and Ukraine to Poland.
The biggest winner of Great War is arguably Korea. By being the balance breaker in both the Eastern (Chinese) and Western (European) Fronts and also providing loans (in form of gold) and war material from Entente-invested factories, it obtains a place in the sun. All other Entente powers except the US have debts to it, which it collects on with technology and investments. Korea banks on these to develop, and starts the first Five Year Plan in 1926. Even in the midst of the Great Depression, it focuses on internal development, and by 1936 is a world power. It has the second largest steel production capacity, outproduces the United States in rare metal, produces enough oil to fuel all of its immediate allies and also export to Europe. With a vibrant industrial base, a strong labor movement that works with the monarchy, and ultimate expansion into the Greater Korean Empire, it is considered the greatest winner of the interwar era.
Ito and Korea supported Sun's revolution in exchange for establishing a protectorate over Southern Manchuria, while Mongolia and Northern Manchuria became Russian. This expansion in Asia has Russia turning to the East.
Meanwhile, the Italian-Ottoman War ends with Italy still having Libya, but it breaks with Germany over how German supported the Ottoman side (if we say the basics, it's more complex than this). An Italy that becomes pro-French leads to the automatic termination of the Franco-Russian Alliance, and when combined with the Russian focus on the Far East, leads to Russia giving Austria a relatively free hand in the Balkans (Pan-Slavism isn't as strongly appealed to).
WW1 starts when in 1915 an Armenian assassinates the Ottoman Home Minister and the French Foreign Minister, and a link to Russia is "found." At first the war is Germany/Russia/Romania Versus France/Ottoman/UK/China/Japan/Greece. The war expands in 1917 as Austra-Hungary collapses into civil war while Italy joins the war on side of the Entente, Korea hits the Russians occupying Northern China from the side after two years of "neutrality" (which was used to build up the country for war), and the US also joins (similar reasons to OTL). The war ends in 1918 as Russia collapses and a new government declares war on Germany, leading to much chaos. Ultimately Germany surrenders and something similar to what happened in OTL is done. Meanwhile, in Russia the Soviets do gain power, but at the expense of losing eastern Siberia to Korean-supported White forces and most of western Belarus and Ukraine to Poland.
The biggest winner of Great War is arguably Korea. By being the balance breaker in both the Eastern (Chinese) and Western (European) Fronts and also providing loans (in form of gold) and war material from Entente-invested factories, it obtains a place in the sun. All other Entente powers except the US have debts to it, which it collects on with technology and investments. Korea banks on these to develop, and starts the first Five Year Plan in 1926. Even in the midst of the Great Depression, it focuses on internal development, and by 1936 is a world power. It has the second largest steel production capacity, outproduces the United States in rare metal, produces enough oil to fuel all of its immediate allies and also export to Europe. With a vibrant industrial base, a strong labor movement that works with the monarchy, and ultimate expansion into the Greater Korean Empire, it is considered the greatest winner of the interwar era.
I'll be posting various ships I've designed for the Greater Korean Empire.
Keumgang-Class Battlecruiser
![[ img ]](http://i.imgur.com/4LUwsM7.png)
Battlecruiser designed by Vickers, as a modernized version of Kongo and Tiger. It is the first capital ship of Daihan, and the grunt horse of the future Korean Imperial Navy, being modernized heavily to keep up with later battleships.
"Jungsun" Heavy Cruiser (WIP)
![[ img ]](http://i.imgur.com/3MJImTD.png)
Displacement: 10,497 tons standard / 12,815 tons full load
Length: 197.9 m
Beam: 20.0m
Draught: 6.8 m
Propulsion: 110,000 shp on four shafts
Speed: 33 kt
Range: 7,800 nmi at 14 knots
Complement: 652
Armament:
- 9 x 20 cm/50 naval guns (3x3)
- 8 x 10 cm/65 dual purpose guns (4x2)
- 20 x QF 2-pounder Mark VIII (5x4)
Armor:
- Belt: 150 mm
- Barbettes: 160 mm
- Turret: 200 mm
- Deck: 65 mm
- Conning Tower: 150 mm
Aircraft carried: 3
The Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 imposed, among other things, the definition of a capital ship as a warship of more than 10,000 tons standard displacement or with armament of a calibre greater than eight inches (203 mm). There was the concern that a subsequent race in building larger, more powerful cruisers might subvert the usefulness of the prohibition on capital ship construction and encourage navies to squander their now-limited perimissible tonnage for capital ships on fast vessels designed specifically to hunt down large cruisers. To avert these challenges, representatives of the Eight Powers set limits on the tonnage and firepower of cruisers to 10,000 tons in displacement and 8 inches (200 mm) for maximum main gun caliber. In 1930 the Washington Naval Treaty was extended by the London Naval Treaty, which finally settled the arguments on cruisers which had raged in the 1920s. The treaty defined limits on both heavy cruisers - those with guns larger than 155 mm (6.1 inches) - and light cruisers - those with smaller-calibre guns. The limit of 10,000 tons displacement still applied to both. This was the point at which the split between 'heavy' and 'light' cruisers finally became official and widespread.
While the Great Powers all worked to try and develop new, powerful cruiser classes, Daihan enjoyed a self-imposed holiday on cruiser construction and focused on the buildup of its capital ships and destroyers. It had just started finishing up a massive expansion of naval dockyards all around the country, and as such there was no real room to spare in designing and building cruisers. Instead, during the 1920s it took on orders from Japan (which was considered the same country under the special catergory of the WNT), thus gathering gathering in both ship construction and designing.
By the time the London Naval Treaty came around, Daihan had merged with others to form the Greater Korean Empire. With a decade worth of knowledge and expertise, a large militarized labor force, and the world in economic crisis since the Lombard Street Crash of 1928, Korea set out to spend ahead of depression. Part of this was to order twenty heavy cruisers. This went against the world trend, since it was thought that in a likely cruiser engagement, a larger number of 6-inch guns would be preferable to a smaller number of 8-inch, due to the belief that the heavier shell of the 8-inch weapon was of little advantage, as most ships that could withstand a 6-inch hit were also well-protected against 8-inch shells. So far only Japan was willing to continue with heavy cruisers, using the planned upgunning of the Mogami-class in case of conflict with China. There was also the United States, but budgetary concerns kept the USN back from making any major commitments beyond experimental vessels.
However, Korea had two hidden cards: use of tungsten steel in AP shell construction, and a high velocity 10 cm dual purpose gun. This first method resulted ultraheavy shells, of which the 8-inch variety would weigh over 400 kg. was This equivalent to that of a regular 12-inch shell, and thus sufficient enough to punch through all ships short of a battleship. The disadvantages were the necessity of stronger handling gears, fewer rounds at fixed displacement, and increased wear on the barrels. However, Korea believed the increased impact for armor-piercing and the high rate of fire in bombardments were enough to offset these advantages. As for the high velocity 10 cm dual purpose gun, it is a modified version of the QF 4.5-inch naval gun, which Korea had joint-developed the basics, but went towards smaller caliber and higher velocity. While the high velocity and flat trajectory meant that punching through massed destroyers would be easier, there was a high rate of wear on the barrels themselves. Armed with these double-edged weapons, the Korean Imperial navy set out to design its first heavy cruiser.
Heuksu-Class Main Force Cruiser
![[ img ]](http://i.imgur.com/COJjnyu.png)
Displacement: 24,980 tons standard / 30,670 tons full load
Length: 240.8 m
Beam: 28.0 m
Draught: 8.00 m
Propulsion: 110,000 shp on four shafts
Speed: 31.5 kt
Range: 7,500 nmi at 14 knots
Complement: 1,350
Armament:
- 3 x 25 cm/50 naval guns (3x3)
- 12 x 12.5 cm/45 dual purpose guns (6x2)
- 16 × 4 cm/70 AA guns (4x4)
Armor:
- Belt: 330 mm
- Barbettes: 350 mm
- Turret: 325 mm
- Deck: 160 mm
- Conning Tower: 250 mm
Aircraft carried: 2
During the early 1930s, Britain set about pushing for a limit of 25,000 tons and 12" main armament for capital ships. While Korea thought this absurd in the face of a belligerent China, it did humor its close ally by supporting the notion and designing its own 25,000 capital ship. The result was the Heuksu.
Named for the longest river of the Empire (internationally known as Amur), Heuksu attempted to push the possibilities of 25,00 tons displacement to the limit. The goal was immunity from 14" shells between 19,000 and 30,000 yards while also achieving a maximum speed of over 30 knots. If this meant that the main armament needed to be made smaller, that was a sacrifice Korea was willing to make. It did have a large stockpile of tungsten from its mines, so if there need be it would be manufacturing heavy AP rounds to boost the smaller caliber. Ultimately the result barely made it.
The Chinese denunciation of naval treaties in 1934 after demanding naval parity virtually destroyed Britain's ambitions. With the second most powerful industrial power unchained, reducing tonnage limits was not going to be accepted by either Korea or Japan. Along with the 25,000 ton plan, Heuksu was almost thrown away as it was considered just an exercise in designing. It seemed that Heuksu would be a still born.
However, the eruption of the Sino-Korean War in 1936 revived the design. With the Chinese armada blockading all of Northeast Asia, a fast sturdy vessel was needed to crack through the Bamboo Curtain. Heuksu and her sisters were ordered immediately, and when they entered action in 1938, they managed to punch through parts of the blockage force. The birth of the "Main Force Cruiser" started a revolution, as the death of naval restrictions led to escalating growth of cruisers into the realm of capital ships.
Gwangmu Battleship (WIP)
![[ img ]](http://i.imgur.com/6Rshwuk.png)
Displacement: 45,720 tons standard / 56,820 tons full load
Length: 243.1 m
Beam: 36.0 m
Draught: 10.1 m
Propulsion: 130,000 shp on four shafts
Speed: 27.8 kt
Range: 7,200 nmi at 16 knots
Complement: 2,120
Armament:
- 10 x 40 cm/45 naval guns (2x3, 2x2)
- 20 x 12.5 cm/45 dual purpose guns (10x2)
- 64 × 4 cm/56 AA guns (14x4)
Armor:
- Belt: 400 mm
- Barbettes: 530 mm
- Turret: 510 mm
- Deck: 150 mm
- Conning Tower: 530 mm
Aircraft carried: 2
Battleship designed after the start of the Sino-Korean War in 1936. It was the first battleship to be finished under the escalator clause allowing displacement of 45,000 tons. Armored heavily to protect against possible 18" rounds, it went the opposite direction of the American design philosophy of speed over armor.
(not that a IJN without an empire will be able to afford the ships to require the treaty's in the first place IMO ?)![[ img ]](http://i.imgur.com/3MJImTDl.png)