Shipbucket

This is the most fictional of the navies in my Alternate History, provincially known as Frontlines. There are a load of points of departure for it, which will be regaled at length, but the most important for the below fleet is that France fell to Fascism in 1934 and invaded the Netherlands and England in the late 1930s in an event known as the Fascist Crisis. Britain is severely weakened by the depression and is only able to resist the invasion because of fanatical resistance. After the French are pushed back to the continent, they begin to look seaward towards colonies in the Caribbean. The problem is the large nation in the middle of the Atlantic - the Confederation of Lavrunaria, which fancies itself an empire and has already taken over a good part of the Caribbean (including former French colonies) to shore up its oil reserves, as the Lavrunarian continent has little oil. For that reason, tensions build until the Franco-Lavrunarian War is declared in January 1943.

The Lavrunarians practically go at it alone, with very little assistance from any nation, besides their oil trading partners in South America and the Caribbean. Meanwhile, the French are joined by Fascist Italy and Fascist Spain. Thus, the enemies of Lavrunaria have a very significant fleet, since all three of these countries have entered into vigorous building programs with the collapse of the treaty system in the 1930s. The Washington Naval Treaty still took effect, albeit without the US, as well as the First London Naval Treaty, but the resurgence of France made the Second London Naval Treaty practically a moot point. This wasn't helped by the fact the Lavrunarians also rejected it.

(If you're wondering about Germany, they had a Civil War in the 1920s after a successful 1922 Munich Putsch. Eventually, the NSDAP were pushed out of Germany and a Centrist party known as the Blue Centrists took over the country, and still rule it at the time of the Franco-Lavrunarian War. The United States, meanwhile, joined WWI on the side of the Central Powers and was so soundly defeated that the government fell apart. Several nations then began to re-colonize the American continent, while some smaller states pop up there. More information will be revealed later.)

This is a work in progress. It is my first Shipbucket Project, and, while the information for all the ships is pretty much complete, the drawings are not. I will be updating them as I improve them. Thanks for any thoughts!

The Imperial Navy of the Confederation of Lavrunaria
Dye Ymperiskot Eskydredsforbunndahf Lavrunaria

Strategic Situation

My navy belongs to an Island Nation which is in competition with France for dominance in the Atlantic ocean. Our opponents have a large, albeit non-homogeneous fleet of ships from several different nations, with varying abilities. However, all my opponents are on the European continent while I require imports of oil in order to continue the war. Furthermore, treaties with Britain, Italy and France have forced me to accept a lesser amount of ships than I would like, before their collapse in 1936.

Since my enemy has a large fleet of cruisers, destroyers, etc., my fleet has to be qualitatively superior to theirs. Furthermore, my fleet has been relatively small until around the First World War. This means I have no major capital ships from before 1914, and these capital ships will have to be modernized. The enemy fleets have a number of modernized vessels as well, but a significantly larger amount of new construction.

The Lavrunarian and British governments reached an agreement in 1931. This agreement had far-reaching consequences for both navies. Controversially, the Lavrunarians were allowed to build two new capital ships before 1937. However, to allow this, the Lavrunarians had to accept a significant numerical inferiority in aircraft carriers and retain their numerical inferiority in cruisers and destroyers which they were forced to accept in 1922. The Lavrunarians were allowed to build 5 new aircraft carriers before 1937 and maintain a total fleet of 8 aircraft carriers. They were also forced to maintain a maximum of 280,000 tons of cruisers and 165,000 tons of destroyers, but with no limits on new construction. Auxiliaries, escort vessels and submarines are not affected by this agreement.

However, there is a six-year gap between the end of this agreement and the start of the war. This allows time for a reinforcement of the Lavrunarian fleet, but not for a significant amount of new capital ships.

Fleet

Ocean-Going Destroyers - Ookeanitraaleritel Jagtyhhryn
The Lavrunarians refer to large destroyers meant to operate with the main battle fleet as Ookeanitraaleritel Jagtyhhre - translating literally to 'Ocean-Going Destroyer'.

Schnelltypp Ships
After the expiration of the London Naval Treaty and the related British agreement, the Lavrunarians identified a need for ships that could be built quickly but also have the ability to fight the large destroyers of the French navy on something like equal terms - Lavrunarian light cruisers, though ideal for the task, well-armored and powerful ships, took a long time to build, and the Lavrunarian experience in World War One made it clear that would be unacceptable during wartime. The Lavrunarian solution to this was acquired from Blue Germany, where a study of the new German 1936A Type Destroyers resulted in the Lavrunarian Schnelltypp - ships that were designed to be fast and heavy surface combatants, sacrificing some torpedo and AA armament for a heavy gun outfit.

Vyoru class
Ships in class

• Vyoru
  Rakvyre
  Juhvyoi
  Lyzsno
  Zorynyu
  Sansoweic
  Emasstantye
  Tabvyere
  Laekvyere
  Aanyenkoski
  Kolvereid
  Skye

The first Schnelltypp destroyer was the twelve ship Vyoru class. Unusually for a Lavrunarian destroyer, the ships of the Vyoru class were named after cities and towns rather than people, as was normally the case for destroyers. This helped to confound enemy intelligence services, who sometimes mistakenly referred to the Vyoru class as light cruisers, an effect enhanced by Lavrunarian intelligence work. The class were built from 1938 to 1940. The statistics of the ships as built are as follows:

• A main battery of five 155mm guns in one dual and three single turrets in an APXY configuration. These guns fire a 117 lb projectile out to 23,200 yards at a maximum 45° elevation at a rate of fire of 4-5 RPM. These guns also have limited function as AA guns with a maximum ceiling of 31,000 feet at a 55° elevation.
  A torpedo battery of two trainable quadruple 25 inch tubes on the centerline. These torpedoes have a maximum range of 42,000 yards at 36 knots, or up to 20,000 yards at 50 knots. They have a warhead weight of 1,250 lb. Eight torpedo reloads are carried.
  An anti-submarine outfit of twenty four depth charges with three Y-guns mounted on the rear deck and two eight-charge depth charge racks. The depth charge carried has a 600 lb explosive charge with a total weight of 750 lbs.
  A mining outfit of 45 moored mines. The mines carried have a charge of 350, 500 or 600 lbs, and can be moored at depths of 50, 105, 155 or 205 fathoms.
  A sea speed of 37.5 knots with a trial speed of 39 knots using a conventional high pressure steam propulsion system.
  A range of 4,650 nautical miles at 15 knots.
  A displacement of 2,750 tons.

The Vyoru class represented yet another Lavrunarian approach to destroyer design. Indeed, by the start of the war, three distinct types of destroyers were being used by the Lavrunarians, excluding older, obsolescent types - the Grohssetypp, Kleinyrtypp and Schnelltypp, with the Schnelltypp being the newest. The role of these ships is primarily surface combat, as evidenced by their extremely heavy armament of 155mm guns. These guns are designed to defeat French heavy destroyers forces. For that reason, the ships are usually found either escorting convoys in lieu of Trade Protection Cruisers or, as part of fleet engagements, protecting the flanks of friendly battle lines from incursion by enemy light cruisers and destroyers or intruding on the enemy battle line and using their heavy guns to destroy enemy destroyers and cruisers. While the gun caliber is impressive, the rate of fire and general handling of the guns is not. This means that Schenlltypp ships usually work in ‘wolfpacks’, concentrating their firepower on hapless enemy cruisers and using their superior speed to evade return fire. They also retain the extremely heavy Lavrunarian 25 inch torpedo, allowing them to destroy heavy enemy surface units when necessary, and have the ability to lay mines.

Nice looking ship and interesting AU! The crediting however, is a little incorrect. All the names need to be within one set of parenthesis, and the names need to separated by commas. For example:
(Gollevainen, BB1987, Zehroflcopter) Remember, when using someone else's drawing or work, you always put their names before yours, which I see you have done here. Good job!

_________________
Best regards,

RegiaMarina1939

interesting destroyer - German hull with Japanese upper works.

What you are calling 155mm guns are actually 127mm and are not believable as 6.1"/155mm. Especially not with the statistics you give for those guns. 155mm guns are not very good as AA guns - too slow firing. Turret/gun tracking is slow with that size of gun on a destroyer sized vessel. Have a read of the production of the German Z class destroyers with 5.9" twin and single mounts. A good idea that never worked quite as the Germans hoped. There are twin and single 152mm guns on the Japanese Parts Sheet if you really want to keep with the 155mm gun type. A better armament would be three twin 127mm turrets like you have on the front. They would have a much better AA capability than the 155mm.

Japanese Part Sheets: viewtopic.php?f=16&t=1837

There do not seem to be any other weapons on your ship beside the 155mm?

As part of your armament you give the ship depth charges and Y guns aft. I don't see any except the two beside the aft mast, should there be some at the stern? If you are running mines whatever depth charge armament you have has to be easily removable to allow a clear run for the mines.

It would help you to carry the railings right to the bow and stern, covering all of the hull length.

The funnels could do with a bit of work. At present the fore funnel has three changes of angle which could be smoothed out which would look more realistic. If you can get the aft funnel to match the fore funnel angles that will also make them look more symmetrical and pleasing to the eye. One thing most warships have - they are beautiful to look at.

The different colours on the superstructure and funnels need to be worked on. Get them all to match with the different angles and contours running from the bow as lighter shade, standard colour, darker shade. You have the bridge right, the funnels need work as do other bits of superstructure.

RegiaMarina1939 has given you the correct answer for your crediting.

They are 155mm guns. I took the 127mm gun turrets as a basis and modified them with a longer barrel. The caliber difference between 127mm and 155mm is not noticeable.

The statistics, now that I look at the German 5.9" gun used in the 1936A, were a little unrealistic. I have modified them. Notice, however, that I said 'limited function as AA guns' - what I meant by this is they have a system similar to the British Auto Barrage Unit wherein they can load timed shells and fire them at the correct moment to add to their AA fire. According to Navweaps, the turret type used in the Type 1936A (mob) destroyers had a maximum elevation of 65 degrees. Therefore, I feel the maximum elevation of 55 degrees is not unrealistic. You are right in that they are not very good AA guns beside that, but I did not intend for them to be. I understand perfectly the limitations imposed by this kind of armament on a destroyer hull. This is not my only type of destroyer, simply the first one I have gotten around to actually drawing.

The only other armament on the ship right now is torpedoes. I haven't added the other elements as I wanted to get this post in before I went to sleep. I will work on making the drawing better today. I did use the Japanese part sheets as basis for the 155mm dual turret and mounts.

Thank you for the comments on crediting.

Added the Y-guns, depth charges and worked on some of the shading and lines of the forefunnel for the Vyoru class.