Zipang Republic

technically not a new post, but I decided to do a little bit of rearranging

originally ordered as a third and fourth member of the Yoshino Class pre dreadnoughts, the Chikugo was Zipang's first class of super Dreadnought putting Zipang ahead of what many countries began to call the east Asia Naval arms race. Japan realising that their newest class of Dreadnought type battleships the Kawachi class insufficient in many areas to deal with this new threat, even though the ships possessed nearly twice the amount of main battery guns as Chikugo, the Chikugo had one thing that the kawachi didn't and that was a superior speed of 25 knots compared to 21 knots for the Japanese Dreadnought, which meant that the Chikugo could dictate the terms of the engagement. Japan's efforts to find a counter to this new threat would eventually lead to the Atago class battlecruisers and Kongo class battlecruisers.

Ordered: 10 October 1906
Laid down: 17 December 1907
Launched: 20 August 1911
Commissioned: 7 September 1912
Fate: Sunk in battle 1942
Status: Sunk 1942

General characteristics

Displacement: 27,229 tons standard, 28,958 full load (full load displacement increased to 32,118 tons)
Length: 198.11 m (649 ft) (Increase to 671 ft after rebuild)
Beam: 24.38 m (80 ft)
Draft: 8.23 m (27 ft)
Installed power: 4-Direct drive steam turbines, 20 Babcock & Wilcox Coal fired boilers, 62,728 shp
Installed power after rebuild: 4-geared steam turbines, 10 high pressure water tube boilers 102,531 shp
Speed as built: 25 knots (28 mph; 46.3 km/h)
Speed after rebuild: 27 knots (31 mph; 50 km/h)

Armament: as commissioned 1911-Chikugo
3 x twin TYPE 9 30cm (12 inch guns)
12 x single TYPE 10 14cm (5.5 inch guns)
6 x single TYPE 5 10cm (3.9 inch guns)

Armament:as sunk 1942-Kazusa
3 x twin TYPE 9 30cm (12 inch guns)
8 x single TYPE 10 14cm (5.5 inch guns)
4 x twin TYPE 24 12cm (5 inch guns)
10 x twin TYPE 25 3cm (1.1 in autocannons)

Armour:
Main Belt: 11 inches
Ends: 5 inches
Upper Belt: 2.7 inches
Conning tower: 18 inches
Torpedo Bulkhead: 5 inches (added torpedo bulges supplementing armour)
Armored Deck: 4 inches max (increased to 5 inches max after rebuild)
Main Battery: 10 inches face, 4 inches sides/top, 11 inches barbettes

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commissioned on the 7th of September 1911 Chikugo was immediately assigned to the first battleship Squadron taking up the role as flagship of the Squadron from the aging pre-dreadnought battleship Tōtōmi, one year later in 1912 she would be joined by her sister Kazusa. At the start of WWI the British Admiralty requested that they acquisition both ships for the Royal Navy, as a result in late 1914 both ships as well as several destroyers and two light cruises sailed for the UK arriving on January 10th 1915 due to their speed both of them were assigned to the 1st battlecruiser squadron of the grand fleet. the British sailors were very impressed with the accurate gunnery that both ships could put out, which meant unlike their American counterparts no crash course Royal Navy gunnery was needed. on the 24th of January the whole Squadron sailed to intercept a force of German battlecruisers heading south coast of England. with the German fleet having nowhere to run due to the British ships being faster than them both sides quickly engaged in a furious firefight with Chikugo and her sister both sailing information with HMS lion and HMS tiger, Chikugo with her third salvo managed to score three 12 inch hits upon Moltke, one of these hits penetrating her stern and knocking out her rudder, meaning that Moltke was unable to turn away from the overwhelming British firepower. Kazusa use this opportunity to deliver 5 subsequent 12-inch hits one of these penetrating Moltke forward ammunition storage interned causing a massive explosion to erupt from the German battlecruiser tearing the ship completely. After the end of the battle both ships along with the rest of the Squadron Returned to base, by some miracle both Chikugo and Kazusa receiving no damage in the battle unlike their British Squadron mates. the next time that both ships saw action was the Battle of Jutland with both of them coming off a lot less lucky than they did in the Battle of dogger bank, being part of the 1st battle cruiser Squadron meant that both ships were some of the closest ships to the High seas Fleet. Chikugo would be hit repeatedly by the battlecruiser Lützow with one of these hits knocking out her forward most 12 inch gun turret however she would return fire on Lützow intern knocking out her rear most 12 inch gun turret and scoring a hit on her forward most Boiler Room causing it to flood. Kazusa would have a bit better luck only been hit twice by the German battlecruiser Von der Tann before returning fire and scoring several damaging hits upon her. By the end of the day both ships were in various stages of damage and were detached from the Squadron along with several other damage warships and ordered to return to Scapa Flow for repairs meaning that both ships would miss out on the rest of the Battle of Jutland.
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With the end of hostilities in 1918 all Zipang ships that has been leased to the British returned to home Waters with many of them going into dry dock for repairs and modifications, Chikugo and Kazusa both received a light refit in late 1918, this refit primarily added to large spotting platforms to the outermost legs of their forward tripod masts, as well as a large searchlight platform just below the starfish as well as General repairs to wear and tear on the ships. In 1919 both ships took part in emperor ichika sakaguchi coronation fleet review, at the same time reuniting with several of the old British contemporaries such as HMS warspite and HMs tiger. In 1920 Chikugo retired from the status of flagship of the first battleship Squadron intern being replaced by the newly commissioned battleship Sanuki. 1921 Kazusa would be involved in an incident that would come to be known as the Zipang Straits incident, on the morning of the 16th of April 1921 Kazusa was on a routine patrol in the Straits between japan and Zipang a day previously her lookouts spotted a Japanese light Cruiser on the horizon, identified as a kuma class this of course was a normal occurrence, however what was not so normal was the Japanese Destroyer that had been shadowing her since the previous day. attempts to contact the Japanese Destroyer proved worthless as the destroyer did not signal back things finally came to ahead 16:76 when Kazusa's lookout spotted a torpedo in the water, the order was quickly given for drastic Manoeuvres however the torpedo found its mark however instead of exploding or was heard was a loud thud, the crew quickly realised that a training torpedo have been shot instead of a live one. the Lookouts then reported that the Japanese destroyer was Turning Away and a very fast pace quickly vanishing over the Horizon. Upon Kazusa return to port the incident was quickly forwarded to the House of Commons and to the prime minister and emperor what ensued could quite honestly be cool Foreign Relations disaster with both sides claiming innocence. with the captain of the Japanese destroyer going on to claim that his ship had been shot at first, and his retaliation was to fire a single torpedo which he said proved to be a dud, however an extensive inventory of Kazusa ammunition storage was undertaken, the findings show to the not a single piece of ammunition have been spent over her two days on patrol not even for training purposes. this only fuel hostilities between the two government's however even though no further action was taken between the two countries this marked the official end of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
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in 1922 the Washington naval Treaty was officially signed and put into effect luckily both Chikugo and Kazusa just managed to scrape by the Treaty limits. Starting in late 1922 both ships were entered into dry dock for a substantial refit, this refit entail the complete rework of her fire control system with the installation of a brand new type 22 4.5 metre rangefinder in an armoured housing as well as the addition of a pair of secondary gun range finders, the searchlight platform around the starfish was completely revamped with it being changed into a large spotted position, the bridge also received attention becoming fully enclosed to give the crew better endurance in bad weather. On her aft conning Tower, a secondary 4.5 m rangefinder was also added however unlike the main rangefinder this one left the armoured housing. both ships emerged from the yards much more capable combatants, throughout the course of the 1920s the ships would partake in their usual duties of patrolling Zipang territorial waters, with both ships being called to regularly intercept Japanese ships that more and more violated Zipang territorial waters. However tragedy would strike in 1929 when while at anchor Chikugo would mysteriously explode taking over 950 men with her in the explosion, an investigation was launched into her sinking with the results finally coming to light in early 1930. it was concluded that it was an act of Sabotage by one of her crew the reasoning for the Saboteur actions of course would never be known, due to the wrecks position it was decided that it would be partially dismantled with much of the superstructure funnels and the super firing 12 inch gun turret being removed and scrapped, with the rest of the wreck left where it's lay. with Japan's aggressive violation of territorial waters increasing and overall more aggressive disposition, Kazusa despite her age was seeing more and more Active Service taking part in Fleet exercises as well as more routine Patrol, however by 1931 she was definitely beginning to Look her age, so starting in that same year she began an extensive refit. much like Japan, Zipang battleships were rebuilt with the Pagoda superstructure adding more platforms on to the already existing tripod mast. Kazusa was no different the area around to the bridge was increased in size. her 20 coal fired boilers were completely removed and exchanged for 10 brand new oil fired boilers, managing to retain a top speed of 25 knots, on a separate platform near this new funnel was a brand new type 30 HA rangefinder as well as an already existing type 29 HA director to go with it as well as a lookout position. Clustered around the funnel itself was a set of four 110cm search lights two on each side, as well as two type 29 anti-aircraft Gun rangefinder/director. additional weaponry was also installed in the form of for twin 5-inch dual purpose guns with two turrets on each side as well as for twin 30 mm anti-aircraft guns. however in 1934 the tension between japan and Zipang finally came to ahead, 4th of September while Kazusa was at Anchor In Tajima Bay along with many other warships, some distressing news came over the radio saying that a light Cruiser had been engaged by a Japanese destroyer without provocation with no alternatives the light Cruiser had to return fire, the Japanese Destroyer managed to get away but severely. 6 hours after a message from the Prime Minister over the radio saying that the Japanese Empire had officially declared War on the kingdom of Zipang because of a unprovoked attack on one of its military vessels, this showed the Zipang government that Japan was willing to use any flimsy justification to go to war, as a result on the 5th of September Zipang officially declared War on Japan. over the next couple weeks Japan wage a ruthless campaign, 5 days after the Declaration Of War Japan under the cover of darkness launched an invasion of the Zipang mainland, landing over 5000 troops over the course of one night with more with more coming over the next couple days. the land campaign quickly proved to be very successful with Zipang being caught completely by surprise and not being prepared for the Japanese troops ruthless fighting style, with Japanese troops indulging in mass rapes and mass murders as well as many other war crimes, however the battle at sea was a much different story, Japan had woefully underestimated the strength of Zipang fleet when provoked, however with Japan's use of night attacks, Powerful torpedo strikes and superior naval aviation capabilities, this meant that the battle at sea began to turn in Japan's favour, another thing that didn't help matters was the chain of command of Zipang severely disrupted, with many of the high ranking officers either being captured and executed along with many more high-ranking military officials. On the 5th of November Admiral Shinji Orimura the highest ranking Admiral left in the fleet, ordered the entire Fleet to sail for the Japan,Zipang Straits to meet the Japanese combined Fleet, Kazusa was placed in temporary command of the entire battle line due to the battleship Sanuki being hit by two aerial torpedoes from Japanese torpedo bombers and was currently undergoing some very crude and rough repairs. as a result of being the first ship in the battle line she would be exposed to the full firepower of the Japanese combined fleet for the first part of Engagement, at 17:23 the Japanese combined fleet was sighted Admiral Shinji ordered the fleet to open fire the battle quickly ensued, with both sides taking substantial casualties and losses, on the Japanese side the combined fleet lost the battlecruiser Hiei when she was focused by two 16 inch armed battleships quite literally tearing her to pieces, with her finally capsizing at 20:34, the battleship Ise was hit several times amidships by 14,16 and 12 in gunfire rendering her completely dead in the water at 18:15. the flagship of the grand fleet nagato also suffered substantial damage with her forward most 16 inch gun turret being knocked out early in the battle, the heavy cruiser Myoko was lost when she was focus fired by the Kazusa, with two shells from Kazusa destroyed Myoko rear most torpedo tubes this in turn causing a massive explosion ripping the ship into with both flaming halves finally going under at 21:10. At 21:46 the Zipang fleet disengaged from the Japanese combined fleet and returned Tajima naval base arriving at 2:34 on the 6th of November however two days later an official order was issued by the government stating that all Zipang armed forces would surrender to the Japanese force, all ships that could sail were ordered to depart for yokosuka in Japan with the ships arriving on the 8th of November still led by Kazusa who had not been repaired since the previous fleet engagement. all ships officially surrendering at 13:26 the 7th of November 1934 bringing the conflict to an end.
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After the surrender the remaining fleet was interred at yokosuka awaiting disposal with all of their Crews ironically enough being taken as Prisoners of War, as the ships continue to swing at anchor over the following months eventually all of the ships were readied on the 25th of September 1935 and sailed for Zipang which have been turned into a puppet state of Japan. When all the ships arrive on the 28th, work immediately began repairing and refitting them. Kazusa who had suffered severe damage in the final of Fleet engagement needed an entire year of work to be in fighting form again, in 1936 she was fully repaired and ready for service. she was immediately assigned to the newly created first battleship division, taking up the role as flagship, however in 1937 it was decided that she would undergo and experimental and expensive rebuild, this rebuild was so extensive that it basically turned her into a new ship built upon the hull of the old one she emerged from the yards on the 17th of April 1939, with Japan expanding into the Pacific and beginning to plan the attack on Pearl Harbour she spent most of her time still as flagship of the first battleship division however is 1941 she was assigned to escort the Japanese aircraft carriers kaga and akagi for the attack on Pearl Harbour. 1942 she took part in the battle of the Coral Sea as part of the Escort for the 5th carrier division, taking multiple from hits from US dive bombers and a single torpedo at her bow forcing her to slow in Speed luckily she was covered by aircraft from the carrier zuikaku while the flooding was brought under control, she returned to yokosuka for repairs as well as a slight modifications to her anti-aircraft Armament. on June 5th 1942 as part of the Escort for the Japanese aircraft carrier akagi and kaga, she would be heavily engaged by US aircraft along with the Japanese aircraft carriers, however due to the aircraft focusing on her instead of the carriers akagi and kaga it meant the Japanese aircraft carriers did not receive mortal blows, however Kazusa would receive 15 Direct bomb hits and 4 torpedo strikes to her Portside, listing heavily order was given to abandon ship as she finally capsized 22:34 allowing the two wounded Japanese aircraft carriers to escape with many of the survivors being picked up a Japanese Destroyer early in the morning on the 5th
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Ships in class: (laid down-launched-commissioned - fate)

Chikugo 1907-1911-1912 - lost to internal magazine explosion 1929
Kazusa 1908-1912-1913 - sunk in battle 1942
Sanuki 1909-1913- not completed-reordered as aircraft carrier in 1919

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