Shipbucket

It's very nicely drawn. I wonder about the utility shipping both a DP 6" and DP 5" battery. It's worth noting that once the USN had a DP 6" with which it was sort of satisfied, this replaced the 5"/38 on the Worcesters.

This probably won’t count, but here‘s something from me anyways. Inspiration taken from the M-class, Hamburg-class, Minotaur-class and Super-Berlin-type.

Danzig-class cruisers
The Danzig class cruisers were the first cruisers completed after the end of the Second War. Already designed and laid down during the last weeks of the war, their construction was overtaken by the sudden peace. Suddenly, the once abundant money was being relocated to other fields and services and the new geopolitical situation called for a review of all still ongoing wartime construction programs. Originally designed as a class of five ships, the purpose and construction of these ships soon came under scrutiny. While their purpose was clear when they were laid down, now things looked differently. Their heavy focus on anti-aircraft weaponry was still an important factor, but their design omitted two important new technologies: missiles and helicopters. Both, while still in their infancy, had proven their worth during the war and were making rapid advancements, so that the navy wanted them on their new ships. As future money would be more scarce, the decision was made to cancel the Danzig class and focus on the development of a new, modern design, which would become the Erfurt class. Nonetheless, construction on the first two ships of the class, Danzig and Bremen, had already made considerable progress, so both were completed and used as a test bed for numerous new technologies.

When completed, the cruisers had a length of almost 200 meters, a top speed of over 30 knots, a displacement of over 16,000 tons and sported an impressive array of gun armaments. The main battery were 10 dual purpose 150mm rapid-fire guns arranged in five twin turrets. Additional firepower was provided by thirty-two 55mm barrels in eight quad mounts and the same number of 30mm guns, also in eight quad mounts. Torpedoes, once heavily present on German cruisers, had been reduced to two triple 450mm launchers, one on each side.

Overall, both Danzig and Bremen played a secondary role in the conflicts to come, often serving as either training ships or as test beds for new technologies, far away from public eyes. As such, they never gained much attention and have been considered a ‘forgotten’ class even among experts, overshadowed by the war veterans that came before and the futuristic technological marvels that followed them. Both Danzig and Bremen served in the German navy for multiple decades until they were retired in the early seventies.

_________________
My worklist
Any help and source material is always welcome.

VERY nice work!

_________________

MS State Guard - 08 March 2014 - 28 January 2023

The Official IJN Ships & Planes List

#FJB

Looks like I'm not going to be finish... Working late shift, so most of my days goes to that.

I just managed to make an entry finished challenge hopefully you will like it

Officially conceived in the first days of the war as an answer to the rumoured large cruisers which the US was building and which would ultimately become the Alaska class, the Warusawa class was designed to be the ultimate Cruiser killer this reflected in their design mainly their top speed of 35 knots and the 9 inch armoured belt, which was easily enough to stop any Cruiser gunfire but wasn't enough to stop anything larger than 9 inch shells, however unlike their American counterparts they would not see service in the war with Warusawa being commissioned in 1946 and Kita been commissioned in 1948 respectively

Ordered: 26 September 1941
Laid down: 1 January 1942
Launched: 31 October 1945
Commissioned: 12 July 1946
Decommissioned: 20 March 1969
Recommissioned: 8 May 1984
Decommissioned: 15 October 1985
Struck: 15 December 1990
Fate: Museum ship
Status: On display at the Heguri Maritime Museum

General characteristics

Displacement: (24,075 tons) (24,293 tons full load)
Length: 238.5 m (781 ft)
Beam: 24.3 m (80 ft)
Draft: 7.3 m (24 ft)
Installed power: 4-shaft geared turbines, 8 water tube boiler, 195,731 shp
Speed: 35 knots (40 mph; 64 km/h)

Armament: as Commissioned.
4 x triple TYPE 41 21cm (8 inches guns)
9 x twin TYPE 38 12cm (5 inches guns)
15 x twin TYPE 25 3cm (1.1 autocannons)
10 x single TYPE 2cm (0.7 autocannons)

Armament: as Decommissioned 1985
4 x triple TYPE 41 21cm (8 inches guns)
9 x twin TYPE 38 12cm (5 inches guns)
2 GWS-22 Seacat launchers


commissioned in July 1946 Warusawa came too late to see any action in World War II as a result of the war ending her entire existence was called into question, because of this it was decided that the original order of 4 ships was cut to 2 instead, during her first couple months of service she spent all of her time transporting Zipang soldiers and other military personnel home, after this was completely she also helped to bring some American troops back to the United States, this being her first of many visits to the United States throughout the course of her life.

Kita was commissioned in September 1948, she was identical my sister accepting one regard this being the elimination of the aircraft catapults amidships and the edition of a helicopter landing pad on her stern and the complete removal of all of her lower bow portholes to increase her seakeeping, other than that she was identical to her sister. throughout the course of the 1950s both ships would partake in various activities, such as good will visits to other ports and also would by take part in UN exercises such as the famous Exercise Mariner operation, where they would meet the HMS Vanguard of the Royal Navy and USS Iowa of the United States Navy.

in 1955 both ships received a small refit, this was done mainly to replace they're outdated radar equipment as well as the removal of several of they're anti aircraft weapons, and the replacement of they're obsolete helicopters. throughout the rest of the 1950s both ships would partake and several more joint exercises with the US Navy as well as making several Goodwill visits to American ports, however one particular incident which is still a mystery to this day happened on the morning of September 7th 1959 the Warusawa was returning to Zipang after a joint exercise of the US Navy, when out of nowhere off her starboard bow, the water was kicked up by something impacting it, captain shinji katsuragi a Destroyer captain veteran of the second world war immediately recognised it as naval gunfire, he ordered the crew to battle stations by this point the Warusawa's escorts had started to open fire upon the mysterious vessel, due to the mist of the only morning none of the ships had a visual contact with the target only a radar contact to go off, the Warusawa also Returned fire on the mysterious vessel, Warusawa managed to score a hit on her Salvo through the Haze her crew managed to seeing a Almighty explosion and with that the return fire from the mysterious contact ceased, as the small group of ships closed in for a closer look, all they found was what looked to be floating pieces of wreckage however on closer inspection it was realised that they weren't pieces of metal or even wood they appeared to be like blubber almost like that of a whale, another thing that the crew noticed was a horrific smell, captain katsuragi was one of the few people that had smelled something similar to this it reminded him of his days in the Pacific War when his Destroyer was sunk by a US submarine, he, quickly realised it was the smell of burning flesh. upon the Warusawa return to Port the the incident was reported to the Navy high command, however due to no evidence being recovered all the navy could do was place every ship on high alert for the next couple of weeks, however there were no other attacks and the incident was deemed and explained and has remained so to this very day. By the mid 1960s it was found that both ships were beginning to show their age and with the Zipang economy starting to have a downturn the government decided that the ships were too to an uneconomical to maintain inactive state so in 1968 Kita was decommissioned and placed in to reserve, her sister would follow the next year.

however in 1984 with the start of the South China Sea War Warusawa would finally have the chance to prove herself as a worthy combatant in battle.

Ships in class: (laid down-launched-commissioned - fate)
Warusawa (CB-1) 1942-1945-1946 - Decommissioned 1969, Recommissioned 1984, Decommissioned 1985
Kita (CB-2) 1943-1946-1947 - Decommissioned 1968

_________________
Work list: 1. various pre-1900 Zipang ships 2. Some protected cruisers and other miscellaneous projects

I guess i had enough time to kick into gear and make at least the first refit, so i present to you:

Avalanche-class heavy cruiser

Laid down: 1946
Launched: 1948
Commissioned: 1950
Fate: In service as of 2018, to be replaced by 2030.

Avalanche-class was a three-ship series of ships, built as means to sustain at least some form of capital ship presence after WW2, which saw most of the country's fleet destroyed, in state of disrepair or in need of a serious repair. Aiming over the head of USN's Baltimore-class cruisers, the ships were meant to revolutionize cruiser design by invention of a completely automated loading cycle for its guns, of which a 214mm design, with its good ballistic data, was chosen. AA suite was considered pretty standart by that point, having a mix of solid DP secondaries and relatively good shortrange AA pieces. Sadly, war conclusion left the class gutted down to only two ships, second of which (hull number 15) would become a light aircraft carrier (maybe i'll draw that one day). Also, influx of relatively cheap late-war Allied radar sets caused a shift in design timeframe,leaving the ship to be commissioned only mid-1950. It had its share of naval bombardment and troop transport missions in the Korean war, but otherwise its combat service record was unremarkable, despite proving itself as a good seaboat for the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

Displacement:
19700t (22750t full load)
Length: 220m
Beam: 26m
Draught: 6.7m (7.05m deep)

Armament (as commissioned):
3x3 214mm/L55 rapid-fire guns (200 rpg)
8x1+1x3 94mm/L60 DP guns (400 rpg)
8x3 27mm/L90 AA guns (800 rpg)
2x4 533mm torpedo tubes
1x Sikorsky S-51 helicopter

Armour:
Belt: 100mm upper belt, 250mm main belt
Ends: 50mm
Torpedo bulkhead: 50mm
Deck armour: 25-80mm
Turrets: up to 200mm, barbettes: up to 180mm

Maximum speed: 34.2 kts
Range: 7250 nmi at 17 kts.

Electronic suite:
Type 273 surface search radar
T3M46 air search radar (heavily modified SCR-268)
T1M44 navigational radar
TDY-1 jamming system
Type 274 and Type 285M fire control systems for artillery battery
Individual Type 262 radars for AA mounts.

1966-69 refit:



Refit would see Avalanche transform from a traditional fleet cruiser into a more standalone role of an active foreign station ship, being remodelled just in time to see some combat in US intervention in Vietnam. The ship would continue its foreign station service, making several trips around the world, and becoming the Flagship of the Navy in 1974 with the decommission of its once-sister ship.

Armament (as refitted):
2x3 214mm/L55 rapid-fire guns (200 rpg)
6x1 94mm/L60 DP guns (400 rpg)
8x3 27mm/L90 AA guns (800 rpg)
1x Mk12 GMLS with RIM-8 Talos missiles (52 missiles)
1x8 Mk 16 ASROC armed with RUR-5's (no reload)
2x AS.330 Puma helicopters
1er bataillon d'infanterie de marine (a batallion of angry marines)

Electronic suite:
Type 964 surface search/navigation radar
Type 965 2D air search radar
AN/SPS-26 3D air search radar
T2M68 surface search/target indication radar (modified Type 293P radar)
Type 972 navigation radar
2x AN/SPG-49 and AN/SPW-2 for Mk12 GMLS control
Type 910 and Type 285M fire control systems for main artillery battery.
Type 274 FCS for DP secondary artillery battery
Individual Type 262 radars for AA mounts and DP turrets.

ASW suite:
T8M61 towed sonar array
Type 170 attack sonar
Type 162 target classification sonar
Type 177 search sonar

This challenge was personally exhausting and I'm highly disappointed with the result of my work. I really didn't want to finish it but I put enough effort into doing it that I might as well. Enjoy.

Ackermären-class Cruiser

Ackermären as built, 1935.

Following the fall of Hymuth and Aufzenian Navy Scandal of 1945, the Aufzenian Reichsmarine saw its funding slashed as the Aufzenian war effort wound down through demobilization. With the Hymuth Navy effectively posing no more of a threat, and the remainder of the war being fought on the ground versus the landlocked Feoran Empire, the Aufzenian Navy began to scrap many of their older vessels. With little funding to replace these new vessels, the Navy High Command began searching for new ways to replace many of their aging capital ships with the reduced funding they had available. The result was the “Kreuzer,” or “Cruiser,” a revival of an older, defunct term. A smaller ship than a true capital ship, the Kreuzer was designed effectively as an “ersatz capital ship,” in that it could reliably defeat any ship smaller than it while still being fast enough to escape proper capital ships. As designed, it was largely intended to counter the Morsignian Navy, a former ally whose interests had diverged part way through the war, and whose battleships were largely limited to 29-30 knots. Additionally, as its name would suggest, the cruiser was designed to act independently and for long periods of time, mainly as a convoy raider, but also as a kind of ship-in-being that could threaten enemy ships by simply existing, forcing resources to be diverted to contain it. This idea was first put to use in the 1945 design, Targis, and was refined in subsequent classes.

The Ackermären-class was the final class of cruisers built for the Aufzenian Navy, designed in 1946 as the K-15. Initially, three ships of the class were ordered, but the final ship was cancelled before being laid down. The Ackermären, the lead ship, was laid down in March 1948 and completed just before the end of the Great War in April 1950. Her sister, Lannesdorf, was laid down June 1948 and completed several months after the end of the war in October 1950. Neither saw any active combat, but both often hosted foreign dignitaries and saw deployment in far-flung posts, as their long range and imposing size made them ideal for this purpose. Ackermären assisted in the relief efforts of Federia following the 1958 tsunami, while both cruisers were deployed to the Colbion Isles following the Nord-Colbion Crisis in 1964, which was the closest Aufzen came to war with Morsig. By the 1970s, both cruisers were showing their age despite multiple refits, and were scrapped between 1973-1977. Lannesdorf had her bell returned to the city of her namesake in the District of Alvehorn, Trysendria State.

Displacement: 12,842 t light; 13,221 t standard; 14,500 t normal; 15,523 t full load
Length: 187.3 m at waterline, 189.3 m overall
Beam: 17.5 m
Draft: 7.2 m
Speed: 33 knots
Range: 9000 nm @ 15 knots
Armament:
-3x2 255 mm
-2x2 125 mm + 2x1 125 mm
-14x2 37 mm
-4x3 600 mm torpedoes
Armor:
-175 mm main belt, 100 mm upper belt
-50 mm ends
-105 mm armored deck, 45 mm on forecastle and quarterdeck
-175 mm conning tower
-250 mm turret face, 300 mm barbettes

The class carried two floatplanes in a below deck hangar at the stern for reconnaissance.

Hey all - since I'm going to be out of town this weekend and a few guys have asked for more time, extending the deadline out to March 4:
OP updated as well. Poll will open March 4 and close March 8 (see above).

_________________
USN components, camouflage colors, & reference links (World War II only)

Designed once the war had already begun and approved for construction in early 1944, the 4-ship Daikakuji class was to be the ultimate Kokoan heavy cruiser. Specifically designing a triple turret, The Kokoan naval design board took the main armament up from 10 to 12 guns while reducing the barbette numbers from5 to 4 compared to the senjo class cruisers.
Overall, the ships were to displace over 17.000T standard and almost 21.000T at full load. The twelve 203mm (8-inch) main guns were to be augmented by sixteen 100mm (3.9.inch) dual purpose guns in eight twin mounts, forty of the new 40mm anti-air machine guns (in 10 quad mounts) and up to 32 single 25mm machine guns. In addition four banks of quadruple torpedo tubes were also included, making the Daikakujis the most heavily armed heavy cruisers designed at that point, even edging out the similarly-sized Japanese Suribachi already under construction.
Armor protection was also increased compared to previous cruiser classes. The main belt reached a thickness of 152mm (6-inch) abeam the magazines and 140mm (5.5-inch) along machinery spaces. Transverse bulkheads thinning to 105mm (4.1-inch) connected the belt with the forwardmost and rearmost main gun barbettes. A 102mm (4-inch) upper belt extended at midship between the DP mounts. Main deck thickness was 76mm, increasing to 95mm over magazines and boiler uptakes. 35mm plating extended on the quarterdeck to the steering gear box, which was itself protected by 102mm (4-inch) of armor on sides and 50mm (2-inch) aft. Anti-torpedo bulkheads were 65mm (2.6-inch) thick, with a 2m internal bulge on each side for increased protection. Compared to previous Kokoan cruisers, which usually had only lightyle armed turrets, the Daikakujis saw the turret face armor increased to 127mm (5-inch), the sides to 76mm (3-inch), rear to 50mm (2-inch) and only the rear left at 25mm (1-inch). Barbettes were 100mm (3.9-inch)thick, and even the dP-guns hoists had 76mm (3-inch) of armor protection above the upper belt. The forward wheelhouse/conning tower was also protected by 100mm (3.9-inch) steel plates.
Engine-wise, eight oil-firing boiler powered four geared turbines with a generated power of 152.000shp, for a top speed of 34 knots. Endurance was planned at 9.500 nautical miles (17.594km) at 16knots. The ships were to fit the most up-to-date electronics and aircraft facilities as well.

Daikakuji specifications as planned (1944/45)
-Displacement: 17.360 t standard, 20.797 t full load
-LOA: 221,46m (726,59ft)
-LWL: 217,71m (714,27ft)
-beam: 23,40m (76,77ft)
-mean draft: 6,60m (21,65ft)
-Machinery: 8x Oil firing boilers, 4x geared steam turbines, 152.000 shp, 4 shafts
-Speed: 34 kts
-Range: 9.500nm at 16 kts
-Armour: main belt 152/140mm (6''/5.5'', inclined 20°in), upper belt 102mm (4''), transverse bulkheads 140/105mm (5.5''/4.1''), torpedo bulkhead 65mm (2.6'', protective internal bulge 2m on each side) main deck 95/76mm (3.7''/3''), quarterdeck 35mm (1.4''), steering gear box 102/50mm (4''/2''), main turrets face 127mm (5''), main turrets sides 76mm (3''), main turrets roof 50mm (2''), main turrets rear 25mm (1'') , barbettes 100mm (3.9''), DP guns hoist 76mm (3''), conning tower 100mm (3.9'', forward, no aft)
-Armament: 12x 203mm/50 guns (4x3, 126rpg), 16x 100mm/60 DP guns (8x2, 400rpg), 40x 40mm/60 AA-MGs (10x4, 2.000rpg), 32x 25mm/60 AA-MGs (32x1, 9.000rpg), 16x 610mm torpedo tubes (4x4, 8 reloads)
-Electronics: Type24 air search radar, Type33-Kai surface search and backup FC radar, TypeR5CD surface FC radar (2x1), TypeR12CAD air FC radar (4x1), TYPE A8TR jammer, Type64 RDF, standard IFF (2x1)
-Aircrafts: 3x E16A
-Complement: 1.506


Of the four planned sister only two had been laid down by the end of the war (Daikakuji in 1944 and Aratama in 1945) but Daikakuji was the only of the two whose construction had effectively advanced beyond the keel and a few frames. Works on Daikakuji stopped in 1947 as part of Koko's surrender terms. The ship was launched incomplete in 1948 to clear the slipway and was mothballed awaiting disposal. However, just like the Italians, Kokoan Naval officials took their fair amount of time to scrap their ships -somehow aided by a unexpected complacency by US observers- prioritizing the scrapping of older units and suprlus Destroyers, keeping the more recent units at the bottom of the "to do" list. This would have been a little more than a procrastination game however if the korean War had not broke out however. As the Korean situation shuffled priorities, the Kokoan armd forces were granted much more freedom as nearly all bans were lifted. Koko Kaijou (the postwar Koko no kaigun) enjoyed a similar treatement as well.
Daikakuji was towed back to drydock and works restarted after the design ad been accordigly modified to suit the more advanced times and technology. US-built radars and electronics were fitted in place of the Kokoan/Thiarian sets initially planned, removed from the design were also all 40 and 25mm machine guns, replaced with US-built twin 76mm pieces and 20mm Oerlikons. Even the 100mm DP battery was of an improved model, devoid of the short barrel life that plagued the original Kokoan and Japanese weapons. Aircraft facilities at midship were removed, and a pad for two sikorsky helicopters was moved to the stern. Such modified Daikakuji was finally commissioned in 1952. The last Kokoan all-gun cruiser and one of the last gun cruisers to be commissioned worldwide.

Daikakuji specifications as commissioned (1952), same as planned except:
-Displacement: 17.258 t standard, 20.774 t full load
-mean draft: 6,58m (21,59ft)
-Range: 10.000nm at 16 kts
-Armament: 12x 203mm/50 guns (4x3, 126rpg), 16x 100mm/60 DP guns (8x2, 400rpg), 16x 76mm/50 AA guns (8x2, 1.200rpg), 16x 20mm/70 AA-MGs (8x2, 9.000rpg)
-Electronics: AN/SPS-6 air search radar, AN/SPS-4 surface search radar, SM/CXBL height finder, Mark24 GFCS, Mark25 air FC radar (4x1), Mark35 air FC radar (3x1), Mark13 surface FC radar (2x1), 66AKJ TDY jammer, TDYa jammer, DBM/DBM-1 RDF (2x1), AN/SPR-4 ECM (2x1)
-Helicopters: 2x H-5/S-51
-Complement: 1.538

By the early 60's Daikakuji had recieved improved SPS-8, SPS-10 radars and electronics. The two smaller Sikorsky H-5s were replaced with a single, larger, H-34. All 20mm Oerlikon mounts had been removed, as it was for the bow-mounted 76mm mount which was often swamped and hardly usable in all but calm seas.

Daikakuji specifications as of 1962, same as previous except:
-Armament: 12x 203mm/50 guns (4x3, 126rpg), 16x 100mm/60 DP guns (8x2, 400rpg), 14x 76mm/50 AA guns (7x2, 1.200rpg)
-Electronics: AN/SPS-6 air search radar, AN/SPS-10 surface search radar, AN/SPS-8A height finder, Mark24 GFCS, Mark25 air FC radar (4x1), Mark35 air FC radar (3x1), Mark13 surface FC radar (2x1), URD-4 TACAN, DBM-1 RDF (2x1), SLR-2 ECM suite (3x1 AS-571, AS-570)
-Helicopters: 1x H-34/S-58
-Complement: 1.495

Daikakuji would recieve one large and extensive refit in the early 70's updating radars and electronics once again and being fitted with missile sistems -yet retaining most of its gun configuration-, ultimately remaining in active service until 1988. The ship then acted as a training vessel before being decommissioned for good in late 1991. After almost 5 year of mothballing the vessel was finally sent to the breakers for scrapping.

_________________
My Worklist
Sources and documentations are the most welcome.

-Koko Kyouwakoku (Republic of Koko)
-Koko's carrier-based aircrafts of WWII
-Koko Kaiun Yuso Kaisha - KoKaYu Line (Koko AU spinoff)
-Koko - Civil Aviation

Hi all!

Now this challenge really gets going. And I've already a gut feeling who's gonna win (again…)

Greetings
GD