Fast battleship challenge! (Ended)

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Note: The events in this ship’s life happen in the Thiariaverse. Her design and building history are however compatible with reality; there were indeed at least 8 stored 406mm guns with turrets available in 1938, which were later installed as coastal batteries in southern Japan, and there was a free slipway at Yokosuka.

Japan’s Vanguard: HIJMS Suruga

During their quest to design the perfect battleship, Japan’s foremost marine engineers produced some 30 concept studies between 45.000 and 70.000 ts, with most of them coming in at around 60.000 ts. Some of them were progressive and imaginative to the point of eccentricity, some were positively reactionary. By selecting a 63.000 ton vessel with 457mm guns, which was to become the Yamato-Class, the Japanese ignored the fact that they had no yard facility readily available to build them. Although Japan was theoretically capable of building six capital ships simultaneously – two at Kure, two at Yokosuka and one each at Nagasaki and Kobe – none of these yards was able to begin building a Yamato straight away. The Kure Naval Yard and Mitsubishi at Nagasaki were selected for Yamato and Musashi because the necessary works were relatively limited there; Kure had to enlarge its building dock and Mitsubishi had to lengthen its slipway. The other two units, Shinano and Kii, could not be started prior to 1940 because a whole new building dock for Shinano had to be built at Yokosuka, while construction of Kii at Kure had to wait till Yamato was launched. Deputy Navy Minister Isoroku Yamamoto, who was at odds with most political decisions made by Japan at that time, was no fan of the Yamatos either; if he had his way, Japan would have signed the LNT2 and abided by the size limits, but built a lot more aircraft carriers. With both price tag and timetable of the Yamatos getting readjusted all the time in 1937, Yamamoto – after failing to scuttle the whole project – launched a final attempt to at least limit the Yamato-class to the first two ships by delaying the others till kingdom come. His proposal was that the Yokosuka Naval Yard should – rather than using half its workforce to dig a new building dock – instead build a battleship which could be launched from an available slip, whose armament came free because it was already in the inventory, and whose speed enabled it to operate with the carrier fleet, for which the Yamatos were too slow. The design submitted by Yamamoto was based on a straight downscale of the A-140B2 pre-design, and was dubbed A-140B4. The hull measured 252 meters at the CWL, with a beam of 35,6 meters and a mean draught of 9,2 meters. Bow shape resembled Yamato, with a huge bow bulb and a steeply raked clipper bow for a LOA of 261 meters. The hull was flush-decked with 9 meters freeboard at the stem and seven meters over the whole length; there was no wavy deck on this vessel, whose main turrets were much lighter than Yamato’s and did not need to be mounted as low as posible. The engine plant was identical with Yamato’s and should theoretically provide 30 knots of speed; range was calculated as 8.000 nm at 14 knots, slightly more than the Yamatos had. The protection scheme was closely modeled on that of the Yamatos, thinned down throughout, but still powerful by anyone’s standards. The hull sides were protected by a 360mm belt inclined by 15°, which was external at its upper rim but taken into the hull below the waterline and tapering into an unusually thick 75mm torpedo bulkhead. A 180mm armoured deck rested on top of the belt; unlike Yamato, it had no inclined sides and was of uniform strength. True to the all-or-nothing armour philosophy, the ship’s ends had no vertical armour, although the deck was taken to the bow at 50mm strength and to the stern at 120mm, with an armoured box over the rudder machinery. The CT had 410mm; there was no aft CT. Armament was recycled from leftovers from the 8-8-programme: For Kaga of the Nagato-class and the cancelled Amagi-Class battlecruisers, which were to mount eight respectively ten 406mm guns each, a total of 35 guns and 12 turrets were delivered between 1921 and 1924, of which 24 were earmarked to rebarrel Nagato, Mutsu and Tosa. This left four complete turrets for installation in the A-140B4, two forward and two aft. The original turret armour was upgraded to 410mm faces, 270mm roofs and sides and 360mm barbettes, and the guns were given a whooping 43° elevation for a range of 42.500 meters. The guns could fire the standard 1.020kg Type 91 shells or the new Kokoan 1.100kg Type 99 (specially designed for the 406/50 of the new Nagashiro-Class) which improved ballistic properties (range slightly dropped to 40.000 meters with these – the Kokoans achieved 45.000 at only 40° elevation – but penetration was much better at all angles of impact). The fire control system again was identical to Yamato’s, with two integrated directors and a full range of backup installations all over the bridge. Secondary armament consisted of four triple 155mm/60 turrets and six fully enclosed twin 127/40 DP mounts; this was the same as on the Yamatos, but the 155mm turrets were arranged rectangular instead of in a lozenge shape, reducing the secondary broadside to 6 guns; this was done to keep the weight of these turrets (two of which were mounted very high over the forecastle deck in the Yamatos) at deck level for stability reasons. The 155mm guns used the main directors, but could also be controlled by small backup directors in the bridge wings. For the heavy AA, four integrated directors were available. Twelve fully enclosed triple 25mm mounts were installed for close range work. There were no torpedo tubes. The aviation department could accommodate five airplanes (three F1M and two E7K); in practice, usually three E13A were embarked. There were two catapults which were installed in an unique fashion which was not duplicated in any other Japanese ship: They were fixed in the stern, side by side in an angle of 20° outwards, partly overhanging the hull sides (although the hull’s maximum width was not exceeded) and served by a single, rather mangy looking collapsible crane which had considerable trouble with the E13A’s weight throughout the ship’s career. A below-deck hangar for three aircraft was served by an elevator between the catapults. The whole installation was designed to be flat enough to enable the aft main battery to fire dead aft at 5° elevation; in practice, this would however result in blast damage to crane and catapults. Boat stowage was conventional; unlike Yamato’s innovative boat-hangars along the ship’s sides, Suruga’s boats were between funnel and main mast, with a single crane on the centerline. Admiral Yamamoto made the commandant of the Yokosuka Navy Yard promise to deliver this ship within 42 months; by using many materials ordered for Shinano, price and construction time could be significantly cut. There was quite some opposition to the project because it would delay Shinano tiill 1941, but the fleet showed great interest in getting an additional battleship quickly; as the vessel would be larger, faster and better protected than the contemporary US North Carolina class, it could not justifiably be derided as a second-class solution, and since the number of available 406mm guns was only enough for one hull, A-140B4 could not entirely replace the Yamatos. Thus, Yamamoto secured the go-ahead for the project in April 1938, a few days after the keel of Musashi was laid. The name Suruga – originally assigned to the third Owari-Class ship of the 1920s 8-8-plan – was chosen for the new hull, and she was laid down in October 1938. Her construction unexpectedly proved politically beneficial, because she was more or less within accepted size limits, and particulars of her could be leaked in order to make the British and Americans think Yamato and Musashi were of the same type. This worked remarkably well; all allied fleet manuals described them as sisters of Suruga’s size until 1945. Although the promised 42 months could not quite be kept, construction was still very rapid; Suruga was launched with big ado in August 1940 and completed in July 1942; by that time, her size and specifics were well publicized, and the American decision to scrap the Montana-programme was partly based upon Suruga’s evaluation to be inferior to the Iowa-class. She was one of the first Japanese warships to be delivered with radar, in her case two Type 22 surface search radars mounted side-by side far up in the tower mast abreast the main director base. She came out slightly heavy at 46.050 ts standard, with 50.100 ts full load displacement.
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With the war having recently brought a major reverse at Midway, trials and workup were short. The design speed of 30 knots was attained, although barely, at 167.335 shp; in practice, the best sea speed was 29 knots. Unlike the Yamatos, whose fuel consumption was excessive, Suruga was a relatively economical steamer and usually slightly exceeded her designed range. She also was unusually habitable for a Japanese ship due to the full-length flush deck and displayed good seakeeping. Commanded by Capt. Tsuji Hidetora, Suruga was sent to Truk in October 1942 and immediately thrown into the fray at Guadalcanal. After the disaster at Savo (four heavy cruisers lost for no gain), the Americans caught up and sank the Japanese battlecruiser Kirishima and damaged the Hiei, which only barely survived. Admiral Kondo now requested urgent reinforcements, which he was granted in the shape of Suruga and Mutsu, which were detached from the main force; the latter became Kondo’s new flagship. With this force, Kondo engaged the US in the second round of the Battle of Guadalcanal, again at night. The Americans lost the old battlecruiser America to the precise fire of Mutsu and the Kokoan battlecruiser Kozen, and Suruga dealt severe damage to USS South Dakota; in return, USS Washington turned Kozen into a smoldering wreck within 10 minutes, resulting in her loss during the morning. After this engagement, both sides sent additional reinforcements, and the resulting battle of Tassafaronga, although a mere skirmish compared to later events, became the largest surface battle fought in the entire war so far. It went badly for the US from the beginning; a Kokoan destroyer put two fish into USS Oregon, jamming her rudder and forcing her to retreat before the shooting had begun. USS South Dakota, only provisionally patched up after Guadalcanal, was blanketed by a lethal overdose of 356mm shells from the Kokoan battlecruisers Konishi and Kitamori, sinking before the night was over. Suruga and Mutsu poured whithering fire into USS Maine, which damaged her so badly that a single 457mm aerial torpedo was enough to deliver the coup de grace in the following morning. Suruga on the other hand absorbed 17 hits from USS Maine and Washington from point-blank range; her thick 360mm belt served her well, and although she looked quite mangled, she remained afloat. USS Washington was prevented from finishing her by Mutsu and had to retreat. Tassafaronga reduced US battleship presence in the contested area to USS Oregon and resulted in the eventual conquest of the Island during February 1943. Suruga by that time was back in Japan; repairs at Sasebo took five months, and she was back and worked up just in time for the conquest of New Caledonia in June. She received a Type 13 air-search radar set and four more enclosed 25mm triple mounts (abreast barbettes B and X), plus four twin open 25mm mounts on turrets B and X (new total 44 25mm guns).
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Her next major engagement was the Battle of Rotuma in August, a disastrous affair where the US managed to soften up the superior Japanese/Kokoan fleet with airplanes and submarines to the point of utter chaos before their battleships USS Indiana, Oregon and Washington bore down on them. Suruga engaged Washington and left her mark on her, jamming her A turret and hitting her 20 times, while the Americans concentrated their fire on the flagship Yamato. The Americans disengaged just before their next air strike hit the Axis, resulting in the death of Yamamoto by a bomb into Yamato’s CT and two aerial torpedo hits to Suruga. What was left of the Axis fleet then limped back to Truk, and Suruga again had to return to Japan for repairs, which started at Kure in October 1943. Her forward 155mm turrets had both been knocked out by USS Washington, and the decision was made to land all 155mm guns in favour of four more 127/40 twin mounts placed on top of the 155mm barbettes. The weight saved by this measure was invested in additional armour to command facilities and increased ammunition loadouts for the entire AA battery. When Suruga returned to Truk in January 1944, she also had received eight additional 25mm triples (four on each side between the new 127mm twins), bringing the total of 25mm barrels to 68, and a newer model Type 21 Surface Search radar with a larger antenna.
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During most of 1944, the Japanese fleet at Truk was more or less inactive; sorties to engage US forces on their way to invade New Caledonia and the New Hebrides were short and abortive. Suruga – flying Admiral Kurita’s flag – was dispatched to Koko together with her old teammate Mutsu, the cruiser Shirane and eight destroyers after the second battle of Midway in June 1944, but the feared US assault on the Koko mainland did not materialize, and the task force returned to Japan in late August and was again in Truk in early October, bringing the new C-in-C Combined fleet Admiral Toyoda with them after Admiral Koga had been sacked for inactivity. The Japanese fleet sortied three times during October through December in order to bring the Americans to battle, but they were building up for a major push and refused to engage the enemy piecemeal. In January 1945, the Allies attacked Truk with all they had; while the Kokoans were badly hit, the main body of the Japanese fleet managed to evade. Quarrels between Toyoda and the Kokoan C-in-C incapacitated the Axis fleet for several weeks after this defeat, time the USN used to recapture the Gilbert and Marshall Islands. Suruga was relieved by Yamato as Combined Fleet flagship in March and went to Sasebo for another overhaul, during which the number of 25mm guns was brought to 118 and two type 21 radar sets were installed on her main director (one atop each side of the rangefinder). Her E13A aircraft were replaced by the slightly smaller, but faster E16A. She also was painted in a camouflage scheme usually reserved to aircraft carriers, mimicking a freighter in order to make it harder for submarine crews to estimate her speed; this ruse however was more of a theoretical nature.
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She missed the battle in the Philippine Sea in June, but joined Admiral Kurita’s central group of the Japanese/Kokoan fleet for the attack on the US invasion forces heading for the Philippines in late October 1945. Together with Yamato, Musashi, Nagato, the battlecruisers Iwami and Kongo and the Kokoan battleships Nagashiro and Nakamori, Suruga was part of the most powerful surface battlegroup ever fielded by the Axis in the entire war. Despite the early loss of Musashi to a massive airstrike, Kurita managed to bring a single US carrier task force – TF 38.1 under Admiral Bogan – to battle. Suruga and the Kokoan battleships turned USS Alabama into a burning inferno and sank her; the Allies concentrated their fire on the Kokoan flagship Nakamori, so Suruga was not hit at all. After USS Alabama had gone down, Suruga and Nagashiro engaged the co-belligerent Thiarian battleship Athartha, and the slower Yamato and Nagato caught up and joined the fray as well. A desperate Thiarian cruiser/destroyer counterattack severely damaged Kurita’s flagship Yamato and sank two cruisers, enabling the nearly crippled Athartha to limp away. The way for Kurita to hit the US invasion fleet was free. Suruga, Nagato and Nagashiro engaged the US support group of a dozen escort carriers and sank three of. At that point, another US carrier battlegroup (Admiral McCain’s TF 38.4) had come into range and hit the Axis fleet with a massive air strike, sinking Owari and severely damaging Nagato. Suruga by that time flew Kurita’s flag due to the heavy damage sustained by Yamato, and the Kokoan Nagashiro was the sole remaining undamaged battleship of the central group. When news of the fate of Ozawa’s carrier battlegroup came in, which was badly hit by TF38.2 and TF.38.3, Kurita realized that it could only become worse from this point and decided to call it a day. The central group retreated, and the battle in the Leyte Gulf, the bloodiest affair in the history of naval warfare to this day, was over. Suruga made her way back to Japan and had to tow Nagato for the last couple of miles; both safely reached Yokosuka. While Nagato was too heavily damaged to be repaired, Suruga received repairs to her torpedoed hull and reported operational again in late January 1946. She had received another two dozen single unprotected 25mm guns (new total 142) and four brand new Type 41 anti-air fire control radar antennae on her HA directors. All recon planes were landed; at this stage, with Japan’s carrier force badly decimated, it appeared a smarter idea to embark some fighters, and Suruga received four Kawanishi N1K1 Kyofu floatplane interceptors.
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In the following months, lack of fuel pretty much incapacitated the Japanese fleet, and whatever was available was hoarded for the final battle. Opportunity for such an operation occurred in June 1946 when the US invaded Okinawa. Yamato and Suruga – two of four remaining operational capital ships, the other two being the battlecruisers Suwo and Naniwa, who were considered too lightly armed and protected for such a suicide mission – plus two light cruisers and ten destroyers were fuelled with virtually the whole oil reserve and sent to fight and die on the beaches of Okinawa. Fight and die they did, but none ever came close to Okinawa. Several hundred US carrier airplanes attacked the Japanese Task Force, again and again and again (Suruga’s Kyofu interceptors even shot down six of them before they were overwhelmed by about a hundred Bearcats). Yamato took the brunt of the US assault and was quickly overwhelmed (showing rather less resistance to bomb damage than had been expected by her designers); but Suruga, which maneuvered very skillfully and evaded several torpedoes, nearly reached the objective. She even sighted an allied surface battlegroup and opened fire at extreme range with her single undamaged forward turret in a final gesture of defiance; the light cruiser Shonai and six remaining destroyers were ordered to RTB by Suruga’s CO Captain Takahara Yorishige before he sought a glorious samurai’s death for himself and his – probably not quite as suicidal – crew. Before long, another US airstrike hit her; this time a dozen torpedoes and 19 bombs struck home within a few minutes (a considerably higher dose than had been necessary to sink Yamato, by the way). When the dust had settled, there was no trace of Suruga. Only 180 of her crew of 2.100 were picked up, incidentally by the co-belligerent Thiarian destroyers Taodmhar and Tiarnuil.

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