Republic of Lisenia

Kilomuse

Post subject: Re: Republic of Lisenia

Posted: January 12th, 2015, 10:05 pm

Posts: 487
Joined: August 6th, 2010, 4:07 am
Location: California

Lisenia joins the battleship club

The Lisenian government had been keeping a wary eye on Japanese diplomatic efforts in Asia. A crisis of sorts appeared in the first half of the 20th century, when the new Anglo-Japanese Alliance became a huge point of contention for the country. Relations with Great Britain had been respectful but distant ever since the loss of the Perlas islands and although the Japanese were the country's greatest trading partner, Japan's imperial ambitions were not lost on the Lisenians. This new alliance seemed to confirm Lisenia's greatest fear of being enveloped and possibly dominated by two of the world's greatest powers. Despite Japanese assurances that the Emperor had no interest in meddling with Lisenia, this move set off alarm bells in the Lisenian government that would influence foreign policy for nearly half a century.

In 1907, Lisenian representatives to the United States began to indicate the country's desire for improved relations and cooperation with the US. Treading carefully as to not provoke the Japanese, the Lisenians signed important naval contracts with American shipyards, sent naval officers and staff to study in American academies and aimed to increase American investments in the country's industries.

The Japan-Korea Treaty of 1910 served only to highlight the threat of an expansionist Japan that seemed hellbent on swallowing up large parts of Asia for its ever growing empire. Backed by the powerful Imperial Japanese Navy and its alliance with Great Britain, Japan unquestionably became the number one foreign threat to Lisenia. The Lisenian Navy saw these developments as dangerous but also advantageous, since the specter of Japanese hegemony meant that more and more funds were made available for naval expansion. With exports flowing and money available, the only thing lacking for the Navy was public support and government will. Both of these factors became a reality in 1911 after the Anglo-Japanese Alliance was renewed for the second time, an act which greatly alarmed the Lisenian public.

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Despite great debate, the Congress authorized a new naval appropriations bill in 1911 that finally funded the Navy's dream of dreadnought battleships, among other things. Although the IJN was clearly superior to the Lisenian Navy in every area, the addition of two modern battleships would represent an important increase in the ability to defend the country from enemies. Acting quickly, the Navy immediately authorized its purchasing agents in the United States to confirm their orders for the battleships that had been offered to them by American yards only a few years earlier. Negotiations for the deal had been going on behind the scenes for quite some time however, including creative back room deals that lowered the price of the ships to make the deal more appetizing to Congress. For example, in 1909 the Bethlehem Steel Corporation had been awarded a lucrative deal to refurbish Lisenian steel factories in 1907 and its shipbuilding arm received numerous contracts to improve drydocks and naval facilities in the country. In return, Bethlehem Shipbuilding lowered the price of the steel used in constructing the vessels, making the ships almost 10% more affordable. This and the line of credit offered by President Taft's administration made the battleships easier to sell to the Lisenian public and legislature.

The two battleships of the Independencia class were laid down in 1911 and built by two separate American yards to Lisenian specifications. The ships as designed were well-built and reasonably powerful combatants, with a total of ten 12-inch guns and a good secondary battery. Equipment, armor and machinery were of excellent quality. The draft of the original design had to be reduced slightly to ensure safe operation from the newly dredged Solis naval base and conventional masts replaced the standard USN type cage masts.

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