Hi all!
When I started to draw this, I thought I was the only one going for a symmetrical solution, matching an ironclad with a bigger one, but evidently I am not. Well, that's what I have, so I post it:
LT Conlan
By 1865, the Thiarian Navy was an all-wooden operation. Five screw frigates, five screw corvettes, two screw sloops, two paddle sloops and thirty-six sailing ships (seven frigates, six corvettes, eight sloops and fifteen gunvessels) made up its strength. Except the sloops, which were 1850s experimental designs, the steamers were all brand-new, having been ordered in 1861 through 1864, when the Pacific War, the Third Patagonian War and the American and Mexican Civil Wars shook up affairs in the Americas. Foreign developments such as ironclads were monitored – who knew whether all this new-fashioned stuff would ever stick – but up to that moment not followed up; the mood in the country was thoroughly liberal at that time, with low taxes and correspondingly low government spending. Then, late in 1864, the Brazilians instigated a military coup in Uruguay, placing Thiaria’s considerable business interests there in jeopardy. Thiarian diplomats had little trouble convincing Paraguay’s dictator Francisco Solano Lopez that this move would cut off his nation from world trade, and Paraguay’s well-trained and equipped army could surely set affairs right in a fortnight. No one can say whether that scheme would have worked, because Solana, megalomaniac as he was, declared war not only on Uruguay, but on Brazil and – worse – Thiaria’s traditional ally Argentina as well, starting the five year Paraguayan War, the bloodiest affair on the South American continent prior to Thiaria’s Brazilian campaign during World War II. Having no significant ground forces to contribute (they only had a volunteer militia which by constitution was only required to fight if Thiaria was invaded), Thiaria had to sit back and watch events unfold. To aid ground operations, Brazil acquired no less than eight small ironclads capable of riverine operations on the Parana, the largest of which displaced over 3.000 tons and were easily a match for any Thiarian man-o-war; worse, they also bought two 4.000 ton ‘coast defence ships’ under construction for Russia in Britain (the Russians would replace them with domestically-made copies), which at six meters draught were of no use whatsoever on the Parana. They were far advanced when the contract was struck, and late in 1866, the first – named Amazonas – reached Brazil. Her sister Madeira (both were named for Rivers, which made the Thiarians particularly suspicious), followed in mid-1867. As the Paraguayan Navy had nothing bigger than a few gunboats, this Brazilian fleet would certainly outlast the war, no matter how the land campaign went, and then be available against Thiaria. This situation spawned Thiaria’s 1866 fleet programme – designed not only to contain, but entirely dominate any navy Brazil could hope to build up. No less than eight ironclads were approved, and the first two, whose orders went out in mid-1867, were the biggest of them all. To build them, Thiaria had to rely on French yards, particularly as they wanted the newest and best in all areas of technology, none of which they could produce themselves at that time. They specified an iron hull, twin screws for maneuverability, 14 knots tops speed, and the heaviest possible armament on a hull not exceeding 8.000 tons. The order went to the FCM yard at La Seyne on the French Mediterranean coast, which had outbid Arman and Penhoet. Starting point for the design was France’s first domestic ironclad Friedland, then under construction at the Lorient naval yard, but modified to meet Thiarian requirements. Final size grew as two more upper deck barbettes were added and six transverse bulkheads were worked in, and approached 9.000 tons in the end, making them by far the largest warships in the Americas. Their hulls were all-iron below water, sheathed and plated with Muntz-metal, and built up with iron-plated wood above the belt. There was a complete belt of 170mm wrought iron forward and aft, and 240mm over most of the ship’s length; the citadel was plated with 100mm wrought iron, as were the barbettes. Armament comprised eleven heavy breech-loading guns, all of uniform calibre (240mm/19), of which six were in the battery, four in circular upper-deck barbettes arranged at the battery’s quarters, and one bow-chaser in a short forecastle, a feature which would spill over to several later French ironclad types. There were no lighter guns at all; the spar-torpedo boat was not yet considered a threat. The bow was shaped into a ludicrously huge ram, which also would become a typical feature of French ironclads in the following years. Machinery consisted of twin-shaft HRCR engines fed by eight oval boilers, all discharging into a single funnel; these vessels were the first twin-screw ironclad warships built in France. They made the contract speed of 14 knots on trials and were good for twelve knots deep and dirty. Their barquentine sail rig on the other hand was next to useless due to insufficient sail area for the vessel’s prominent size and weight, and any increase would impair stability, which was approaching the limit of what was acceptable anyway. They were named Conlan (Endeavour) and Caithreim (Triumph), ending the long tradition of Thiarian large warships being given geographical names. They were identical except for the prominent flag facilities in front of the funnel, which Caithreim lacked. Construction of Conlan commenced early in 1868, with Caithreim being laid down early in 1870. The Franco-German war of 1870/1 greatly delayed their completion due to lack of yard workers for the duration of hostilities, but Conlan – which was practically ready for launch when the war started – could be launched early in 1873 and completed late in 1875, while Caithreim was not launched before 1876 and completed in 1878. Due to this delay, Conlan, who reached Thiaria late in 1875, was the largest warship in the Americas for only three years, before Emperor Maximilian of Mexico purchased a 10.000-ton turret ironclad (ironically ordered by Brazil in 1872 to counter Conlan and Caithreim, but not delivered due to lack of payment).
![[ img ]](http://shipbucket.com/wiki/images/a/a0/BB_Conlan_1873.png)
Conlan was fleet flagship for fourteen years, and she and her sister were well liked by the Thiarian public despite their obvious obsolescence. Like all Thiarian sail warships, their fore topsails were made of green canvas, that being a tradition from the 1806-15 war of independence (back then, Admiral Conaire had his personal sigil – the Thiarian snow Jaguar on a green field, which was also his flag – depicted on his fore topsail, indicating he would never strike his flag as long as his ship was able to fly a single sail). Their crews liked them less; their French-style quarters were cramped and uncomfortable – especially compared with their luxurious officer accommodation and flag quarters – and with their rather low metacentric height, they rolled slowly, but with a worrying angle of heel – a typical feature of French ships of the period. In addition, their ceremonial role required a strenuous and boring routine of constant cleaning, polishing and parading. On the plus side, their gunnery was arguably very effective, although Conlan and Caithreim never had to fire their 240mm guns in anger; the barbette guns however could not provide the hoped-for axial fire because their gas pressure would shred the ship’s rigging if fired dead forward or aft. In 1892 through 1894, both were rebuilt with two military masts, added superstructure and newer guns. The battery guns were replaced with six 165mm/35 breech loaders – another four of the type were added in new embrasures fore and aft – while the barbette guns were replaced with 240/30 pieces of the same calibre, but twice the range. The bow chaser and the built-up forecastle were deleted, and the ponderous bowsprit gave way to a much smaller one. A tertiary armament of twelve 47mm/40 guns and eight 37mm revolvers was installed, as were five 381mm torpedo tubes (one forward, two on each beam, all above water. They were also re-engined with VTE machinery and re-boilered with Belleville watertube boilers and could make 15 knots afterwards. The wooden upper hull was rebuilt in steel, and the wrought iron belt was replaced with one made of homogenous Nickel steel. All in all, it was a dubious investment in two clearly obsolete hulls. They were fresh from refit and in active service when the First Brazilian war broke out in 1894. They were with the Thiarian first squadron during the disastrous battle of Sao Jorge da Mina and gave the Brazilians quite a fight; as the Brazilians concentrated their fury on the Thiarian flagship Ardcheannas, Conlan actually emerged from the battle with little damage. Caithreim however went down under the fire of the Brazilian battleships Riachuelo and Aquidaban. After the war, Conlan had to remain in service despite her age until the new battleships of the 1898 programme were delivered; by the time she was finally placed in reserve in 1903, she was only good for 9 knots. Her hull was still in decent shape, and she was used as gunnery TS, mounting guns of a dozen different types, till 1913, when she was hulked. The hulk was broken up soon after the First World war.
Greetings
GD
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