Shipbucket

This AU is my interpretation of Harry Turtledove's Southern Victory series, otherwise referred to as Timeline-191. I began working on this as a Shipbucket AU concept in late 2016 originally to depict some of the major named aircraft from the series, but soon expanded the concept as a sort of fan continuation with my own interpretation of events. Those of you on Discord know very well how much I've spammed posted about this. For now I'm going to be primarily focusing on North America with the United States and Confederate States, but will eventually branch out to include secondary combatants and Europe. I am additionally focusing primarily on the period of the 20th century beginning with the Second Great War from 1940 on, since that's where the bulk of my technical knowledge lies. For now I'm just doing FD aircraft and (eventually) land vehicles, but one day I'll branch out into ships. Also pls don't confuse this with StealthJester's War of the Americas AU, I promise it's not trying to copy him :c

Needless to say, all drawings represent an alternate universe and may not directly translate into objective reality. Technological advancements may be skewed compared to real life, with some technologies developed sooner or later than their historical counterparts (within reason, of course). Additionally, some objects are known under a separate name than in real life, which will be detailed in a future post (for example, barrel instead of tank or superbomb instead of atomic bomb)

---Table of Contents---
Reserved for content links

---Timeline of Major Events---

• 1860: American Civil War begins
• 1862: American Civil War ends in Confederate victory
• 1875: Cuban War of Independence begins and ends in Confederate-supported Cuban victory
• 1879: Republic of Cuba incorporated into the Confederate States as a territory
• 1881: Second Mexican War begins
• 1882: Second Mexican War ends in Confederate victory
• 1882: Quadruple Alliance is formed between Germany, Italy, Austria-Hungary, and the United States
• 1900: Hispano-Japanese War begins and ends in Japanese victory, Spanish Pacific colonies annexed by Japan
• 1914: Great War begins
• 1917: Russian Civil War begins
• 1917: Great War ends in Central Powers victory
• 1918: Treaty of Philadelphia signed
• 1927: Russian Civil War largely ends in Tsarist victory
• 1929: Great Depression begins after Russia defaults on loans from Austria-Hungary
• 1929: French Republic overthrown by Action Française with Charles XI installed as king
• 1932: Pacific War begins
• 1933: Election of Jake Featherston
• 1934: Winston Churchill becomes prime minister of the United Kingdom
• 1934: Pacific War ends inconclusive
• 1941: Second Great War begins
• 1941: The Population Reduction begins, and by 1944 between six and ten million blacks are murdered in the Confederate States
• 1943: Texas declares independence from the Confederate States
• 1943: Japan turns on its former Entente allies and seizes several Asian territories
• 1944: Between March and July, ten superbombs are used throughout Europe and North America
• 1944: Second Great War ends in Central Powers victory
• 1944: Treaty of Aachen, Confederate Instrument of Surrender signed
• 1945: Second Russian Civil War begins
• 1946: Tsar Mikhail II overthrown, Russian Republic formed
• 1948: Second Pacific War begins
• 1951: Second Pacific War ends in United States victory
• 1952: Alaska declares independence from the Russian Republic

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DeviantArt

---Background---
The general lack of preparedness in the United States Military in early stages of the Second Great War can largely be attributed to the severe reduction of military expenditures following the election of Socialist Party candidate Upton Sinclair in 1920. The steps taken by the Sinclair administration to fund national social programs at the expense of military funding while taking a lighter-handed approach to the defeated Confederacy are directly attributed to the rise of Jake Featherston and southern militarization. President Sinclair greatly reduced the amount of reparations imposed on the Confederacy, later discontinuing them altogether after the assassination of Confederate President Wade Hampton V by a fanatical Freedom Party supporter in 1922. President Sinclair was elected for a second term in 1924 after which he declined running for a third.

Sinclair was followed by his Vice President Hosea Blackford who continued many of the prominent Socialist Party programs and policies including chronic military underfunding. President Blackford's presidency was mostly uneventful until the stock market crash in mid-1929. The blame was placed on Blackford, who signed costly and ineffective make-work legislation in response. Matters were made worse in 1932 when a disguised Japanese cargo ship was caught by the airplane carrier USS Remembrance smuggling weapons to Canadian resistance members.

To be continued

A full writeup will be available in the near future but for now the Wikipedia summary should suffice.

State of the world during the Second Great War, 1941:

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DeviantArt

North American Air Power in 1941:
In the beginning weeks and months of the Second Great War, the air was arguably the most even-level theater of war in North America. Union Wright P-27s were matched in class by Confederate Hughes Hound Dogs, with neither of the two having a significant advantage over the other. The Confederate advance into Ohio in the opening stages of Operation Blackbeard relied on close aerial support in the form of fighters and dive bombers in order to cut their way deep into Union territory.

Wright P-27 Eagle:


As with most fighters of the American Theater in the Second Great War, the P-27 would see endless upgrades and field modifications in order to see front line service to the end of the war


And as the mainline Union fighter, it saw service in more than 10 countries across the world including the Ottoman Empire and postwar service with Brazil, Texas, and Haiti. While retired from Union service in 1958, the P-27 would fly with other air forces until the mid-70s before the final Eagle left service.



Hughes Hound Dog:


A common misconception within the Union is to underplay Confederate ingenuity leading up to and during the Second Great War. While Hughes engineers received substantial technical assistance from Supermarine employees, the Hound Dog was largely a home-grown design developed using experience gained from Freedom Party mercenaries in the Peruvian War. Supermarine influence is obvious, however, with an elliptical wing design clearly related to that of the Spitfire.


While not as widely adopted as its Yankee counterpart, the Hound Dog saw use in France and the Russian Empire where it was well-loved by its pilots. Due to chronic engine shortages in the Confederacy, there were instances of engineless Hound Dogs shipped to France while Merlins would arrive from the United Kingdom. In a mirror of the Union P-27, the Hound Dog was developed into an abortive carrier fighter planned to be used with the incomplete carrier CSS Freedom, although none would ever see service in their intended role.


Rather uniquely, postwar Texan Hound Dogs were popular among Union filmmakers to depict British Spitfires.


Beech & Dixon Mule:


The Mule was crucial in early Confederate advances and saw use in nearly every major engagement during Operation Blackbeard. Its versatility meant it was quickly adopted in anti-barrel and anti-shipping roles, the latter carrying aerial torpedoes derived from the Japanese Type 91.


In addition to extensive Confederate service, the Mexican Empire operated a small force of less than a dozen Mules for largely propaganda purposes. Nearly every Mexican Mule saw service and was shot down during the Battle of Pittsburgh, with no examples surviving the war. A single Japanese Mule existed and was evaluated by the Imperial Japanese Army, but the type never saw further service due to the outbreak of the war.

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DeviantArt

I have often wondered what these aircraft from the Southern Victory series would look like.
Very nice designs and plausible designs. I look forward to seeing more in this series.

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Hood's Worklist
English Electric Canberra FD
Interwar RN Capital Ships
Super-Darings
Never-Were British Aircraft

I know that they were hardly mentioned, but are we going to see different sovereigns to?

That's some top quality work!

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Nobody expects the Imperial Inquisition!

Greetings!

Impressive designs and color schemes - looking forward to more. The cool thing about alternate history is there is always room for another interpretation - or as a good friend of mine is fond of saying, "Seeing how the dominoes fall".

Cheers!