Ok so it's time for a revival here;
This beast is far from finished but I wanted some input before I got too much further...
The Idea of this class of vessels is based on the idea that the German's in this AU could have actually finished the Mackensen class of Battlecruisers before the Armistice, and begun work on the follow-up class (I've chosen to use
Tempest's Linienschiff L20e for this purpose), getting them to the stage that the Mackensens were at in the real world by the time of the Kaiser's abdication. In the negotiations of the Washington Naval Treaty, the DCFI negotiates the acquisition of two of the incomplete L20e's as the foundations for conversion to Aircraft Carriers during the 1920's as part of a hedge against Argentinian and Thiarian naval strength in the South Atlantic. Close collaboration with the Royal Navy (who are toying with the Courageous-class conversions at much the same time) results in a very similar design being chosen (albeit with a different hull as the starting point).
HMFS Vigorous and Veritable are converted in the Falklands and enter RFN service in 1928 and 1930 respectively. Both see action in the 1929-31 war against Argentina and are progressively updated during the late-30's, being superseded by more modern vessels as fleet carriers by 1941. Demoted but still useful, they serve ably during WW2 - Vigorous survives the conflict, is decommissioned and then scrapped in 1947, whilst Veritable is torpedoed by a Thiarian Submarine whilst escorting a convoy off Ascension Island in March 1941, still afloat but unable to make it home, her crew are taken off before one of her attendant Destroyers delivers the
coup de gras.
The Vigorous class are DCFI's first true fleet Aircraft Carriers, preceded only by the experimental HMFS Magellan (converted from an ocean liner in 1919)
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Current Worklist;
DCFI (Falkland Islands) AU Nation