Zipang Republic

Haruryū Class Battlecruiser

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Developed out of a need for a brand new battlecruisers, to replace the rapidly aging first-generation battlecruisers that had been constructed less than a decade earlier. The Haruryū class represented a huge leap in Zipang battlecruiser development, in fact upon their commissioning in the latter part of the 1910s, for a brief moment they represented the most powerful class of capital grade warship in the world. 4 class members would be constructed between 1912 and 1915, all of them carrying a main battery of 8 356mm guns in 4 twin turrets, the secondary battery on the other hand, was comprised of the same 127mm guns, that could be found on older generation Zipang battleships and battlecruisers, albeit in much larger numbers than on previous warships, with a grand total of 16 guns, with 8 guns per broadside. the main armour belt was relatively thin even compared to its contemporaries, but one aspect that made her revolutionary when it came to her armour belt design, was the fact that her belt was slope at 10 degree angle, meaning that the effect of thickness was of the belt was much greater then the on paper numbers of the armour belt would suggest.

three out of four members of the class will be commissioned in time for World War 1, serving with the British battlecruiser squadrons of the grand fleet, Haruryū, Soraryū and Ginryū as part of the grand fleet, would partaking many battles throughout the First World War, all three members of the class will be involved in the Battle of dogger bank, with the German battlecruiser Blücher, being destroyed by the Haruryū, when she scored a lucky hit with one of her 14-inch gun turrets.

The Battle of Jutland, was the largest and only large battleship engagement ever to be fought in history, and it was as an engagement that many Zipang were present for, Haruryū, Soraryū and Ginryū all included. And during the frantic and historic battle, all three sisters would encounter and fight many German ships. With the German pre Dreadnought Thüringen, being sunk by combined gunfire from Haruryū and the British battlecruiser HMS Tiger. And by the end of the battle on the 1st of June, Haruryū, Soraryū and Ginryū would ultimately come out of the Battle of Jutland, worse for wear but ultimately still afloat and capable of fighting.

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Haruryū, as she looked at the end of the first world war, painted in type 10 dazzle camouflage

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Ginryū, after her first major refit in 1928

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Of course war eventually gave way to peace, with the early 1920s themselves being a relatively boring period for Haruryū class as a whole, with the most noteworthy thing happening to them being Chiryū the final member of the class, and the only one that didn't participate in WWI actively, nearly colliding with the ocean liner in 1926. However with the 1930s approaching, tensions between the Japanese and Zipang began to flare up drastically, with the Japanese taking it upon themselves to aggravate the situation whenever possible, in a desperate attempt to provoke their Asian neighbors into a war. However, the current Zipang political establishment of the time could easily see that the Japanese were trying to provoke them into a war. So as a result instead they simply focused on building up a strong the military, in particular the navy and army air service received extra funding, the navy getting most of this funding match to the air forces disappointment. And this would continue into the 1930s, with both Asian countries gradually building up their militaries, and too many outside observers of the time quickly stepping down the road that would lead to war. And Haruryū class despite having been replaced by a new and more powerful battlecruiser class in the 1920s, were still considered frontline units, as a result all four members received refits to varying degrees, Haruryū in particular since she was the oldest receiving the most extensive and thorough refits, making her a truly capable battlecruiser for the 1930s.

Eventually on the 1st of September 1934, tensions between Japan and Zpang would boil over into a full-scale conflict, with the Japanese initiating a surprise strike using both submarine and aircraft, with the intent to destroy any ships located at the main Zipang anchorage located at Tajima Bay. This surprise attack would set the main tempo for the short but bloody conflict, which was primarily a naval and air battle.

Sadly Ginryū would ultimately be lost, along with her sister Soraryū, being heavily damaged and a small but violent skirmish between Japanese heavy Cruisers, and the Zipang 1st battlecruiser Squadron. But Ginryū would ultimately be the first of many Zipang capital units that would be lost over the following weeks of the war, and after a hard fought struggle. The war would ultimately commentate in one of the largest fleet battle engagements up until that point, with the Japanese combined Fleet and Zipang combined Fleet, engaging in a massive surface action on the 5th of November 1934, Haruryū and Chiryū would be the only members of their class to actually partaking the battle, with Soraryū been laid up permanently, due to severe damage taken during the early stages of the conflict.

Ultimately the Japanese Zipang conflict would result in a complete surrender of Zipang units on land, sea and air. However despite the conflict being a victory for the Japanese, the true ramifications of the conflict with continued echo in the Japanese consciousness and economy for many years to come, in fact the losses that the Japanese Navy in experience during the conflict would leave a lasting scar on the Navy, permanently decreasing its fighting capacity even into the early days of the Second World War, however this was somewhat remedied with the addition of much of the Zipang navis surface and ariel assets.

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Haruryū, as surrendered to Japanese forces on the 8th of November 1934

As the 1930s progressed onwards, and the 1940s began to rapidly approach, the Haruryū class found themselves Incorporated into a different yet somehow eerily familiar navy, however the Japanese quickly realized that all three ships were quickly becoming obsolete, due to the progress of capital ship development. So as a result starting in 1937, all three members would be given extensive refits to improve their capacity, with their primary enemies most likely to be British and American heavy Cruisers, in whatever hypothetical war was on the horizon.

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Haruryū, as she looked after her major refit in late 1939

Haruryū would be refitted in a Japanese Shipyard, as a result a refit primarily centered around to the addition of a large pagoda style superstructure, which gave her an almost uncanny similarity to the Japanese battlecruisers that ironically she was originally built to fight against.

Her two sisters on the other hand, received extensive rebuilds, pretty much turning them into brand new ships built upon the same hull, as the original, as a result Haruryū would look almost completely unrecognizable to her two remaining sisters, to the point where it was easy to confuse them for two different classes, however despite these drastic changes, all three sisters would continue to save in the same battlecruiser division, which also included the Japanese Kongo class battlecruisers.

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Haruryū as she appeared at the Battle of Midway (4–7 June) Wearing a hastily applied version of type 24 camo

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Soraryū as she was sunk during the Battle of Midway (5 June) Wearing a non-standard camo pattern, replied by her crew at some point between the 1st and 3rd of June

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Chiryū as she was during the Battle of Midway (4-7 June) Wearing a standard version of type 24 camouflage

The start of the second world war would be relatively uneventful for Haruryū and her sisters, the most notable thing happening to them at this time being that Haruryū, managed to somehow lose to complete propellers without the crew notice until they had unexpectedly lost speed while trying to perform a high-speed manoeuvre.

However going into 1942 the entirety of the first battle cruiser division, Haruryū and her sisters included, would be represented to be the main escorts for the 2nd and 1st carrier divisions, as they assaulted the American base at Midway atoll, the battle would be a hard fought one for the Japanese, with several critical battle mistakes being made, which eventually leads to a complete American Victory, with many of the Japanese carriers being completely slaughtered by American aircraft, as a result of being the main escorts for the Japanese carriers, all members of the first battle cruiser division, what sustained serious damage over the course of the engagement, with most tragically Soraryū, after she was hit by 4 American airdrops torpedoes.

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Chiryū as present at the Battle of Surigao Strait (25th October) Wearing a slightly modified version of type 35 camouflage

1943 would be a relatively uneventful year for Haruryū and her sole remaining sister, however just because the two battlecruisers did relatively little. But it didn't mean that things were going to happen in the background. The Zipang population ever since the 1934 war, had always viewed their Japanese overseers with nothing but contempt, as a result immediately after the war's conclusion, many underground resistance units popping up throughout the 1930s. But it wasn't until the start of the second world war and the general chaos that caused. That these resistance groups which have been largely independent of each other, began to coalesce into one singular resistance against the Japanese occupation.

As a result going into late 1943 the free Zipang Resistance Army as it's members referred to it. Began to do even more daring raids against the Japanese installations, as well as doing everything in their power to get the discontented populace on their side. Which didn't take very much effort, considering the absolutely appalling things that the Japanese army had done during its occupation of the Zipang Island chain. And eventually going into late 1943 and early 1944, a large majority of the Zipang populous, would openly begin to revolt against the Japanese occupation. However instead of simply just being a grassroots movement with no power behind it, much of the previous Zipang military structure supported the resistance in secret, giving them access to weapons and ammunition that they would otherwise never have access to. And eventually this would ultimately commentate in much of the Zipang's military structure, openly supporting the resistance, and doing everything in their power to hinder the Japanese occupiers.

Haruryū would be one of the first, ships to officially break away from Japanese control, the crew of the ship initiating a mutiny against the Japanese command staff on board the ship, and after the hard-fought battle against the Japanese command structure of the ship, Haruryū would be the first large capital grade unit that was at the disposal of the resistance, her sister Chiryū was captured only a few days later, as a result of being in dry dock for a much-needed overhaul at the time of the uprising.

After Zipang managed to regain its independence completely, and beat back the Japanese from their home. The new free Zipang Republic, would immediately be folded into the allies of the Second World War, being welcome with open arms by Britain, a result of Zipang and Britain having a close relationship that date it all the way back to the mid 19th century, America on the other hand was not so welcoming at first, considering that up until very recently Zipang military unit have been shooting at American units. However despite this, and whether the Americans liked it or not, Zipang played a active role in the final years of the Second World War, their ships been present for some of the most historic battles of the Second World War, Chiryū being one of the fastest capital grade units at Zipang's disposal, would participate in many battles including the famous Battle of leyte Gulf, in which she would sink one of her long time Japanese rivals , the Fuso class battleship yamashiro.

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Haruryū as she looked on the 2nd of September 1945, wearing a special custom coastal camouflage, applied to her by her crew in early 1945

Haruryū however unlike her sister, would do relatively little for the rest of the war, which was mostly a by-product of being refitted in a Japanese shipyard, meaning that many of her components, such as boilers, turbines and other important ship equipment. Could not easily be repaired or replaced once it was worn out, so as a result after two of her main turbines broke down in early 1945. She would serve out the rest of the war as a floating anti aircraft battery, and artillery barge, her guns remaining trained out to sea, just in case of any potential Japanese counter attack. However the war eventually came to an end, without the mighty battlecruiser ever being able to fire any more shots and anger. And as a result of her dilapidated condition and non-standard parts, she was quickly decommissioned in 1946 and sent for scrap, Her sister Chiryū, would be decommissioned in 1948 due to her age, but instead of immediately being sent for scrap like her sister, Chiryū would spend the next decade in mothball, as an insurance policy in the rapidly escalating Cold War, however the tensions in the cold war could not save her, so as a result the old girl was sent off to the scrapyard on the 16th of October 1959.

Specifications

(Haruryū-1914)

Displacement - 28,500 tonnes standard
Main battery - 4x2 356mm/45
Secondary battery - 16x1 127mm/45
Speed - 28.1 knots
Range - 8000nm at 17 knots
Main belt - 228mm

(Chiryū-1946)

Displacement - 31,200 tonnes standard
Main battery - 4x2 356mm/45
Secondary battery - 8x1 127mm/45, 6x2 127mm/38 DP
AA battery - 14x2 30mm Autocannons, 12x1 20mm Machine Guns
Speed - 31 knots
Range - 9000nm at 14 knots
Main belt - 228mm

Ships in class

Haruryū (BC-3) - scrapped 1946
Soraryū (BC-4) Sunk in action, 1942
Ginryū (BC-5) Sunk in action, 1934
Chiryū (BC-6) - scrapped 1959

Dewa Class Battleship

With the Japanese rapidly increasing their navy with the acquirement of brand-new battleships from the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 1890s. The Zipang Admiralty which for much of the preceding decades have been hamstrung by the parliament's unwillingness to spend excessive amounts of money on acquiring brand new capital ships of any kind, after the building of the first-class ironclad Wanryu in 1874, which had been extensively built the counter rumoured Japanese ironclads that ultimately never materialised.

However, unlike the rumoured Japanese ironclads of decades past, these new rumoured Japanese capital ships were very much a reality with confirmation reaching the Admiralty and the Zipang Parliament that Japan had ordered a class of brand-new battleships from the renown shipwrights Armstrong and Whitworth with the commission date for these Japanese battleships theorised to be in 1897 or 1898.

As such with this outside factor finally forcing their hand, the Zipang Parliament passed a new bill that allocated the appropriate funds to acquire a class of brand-new capital ships, as one might expect initially the admiralty and the Navy was very much in favour, with the admiralty and particularly Grand Admiral Arashi Masashi taking it upon himself to draw up multiple plans and design studies to present to before parliament for this new as of yet undetermined class of capital ship.

Even with the Admiralty trying to persuade the Parliament and Admiral Arashi threatening and ultimately resigning from his post over the issue. The government to reconsider ordering a new capital ship based on the Renown design, the government's mind was ultimately made up, the funds were allocated and an order was placed with Armstrong Whitworth in early September 1895 for a class of 2 capital ships based on the Renown design to be laid down at the Armstrong Whitworth shipyards in Elswick Great Britain.

However much to the anger of the Admiralty and Admiral Arashi, the Parliament chose to order a derivative design based on a British design which itself wasn't necessarily the main problem, considering the friendly relations between Britain and Zipang. The problem that Admiral Arashi and the Admiralty had, was the fact that the British design that had been chosen as the basis for the Zipang Navy's new capital ship, was the second-class battleship Renown, which even upon her commissioning in 1894, was considered woefully inadequate for a battleship on battleship engagement, befitting her nature of a second class battleship.

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KNF Dewa as she looked upon her commissioning on the 1st of June 1898

Dewa as complete and delivered to the Navy was very much under welding and every aspect of her design, her guns being only 10 inches in calibre had absolutely no hope in penetrating even the thinnest of Battleship grade armour. Her own armour was only proved against 8 and 10-inch gunfire, meaning that in any capital ship on capital ship engagement against any potential Japanese battleships, she would be at a dramatic disadvantage. However despite the navy not being overly proud or satisfied with Dewa and her sister that would join the navy in 1899. the one aspect of her design that was some whatever saving grace was her relatively high speed for the time of 19.5 knots. Which despite her disadvantages in both firepower and armour meant that Dewa could dictate the terms of the engagement.

Dewa and her sister Shimotsuke would spend the final year of the 19th century as part of the newly formed first battleship Squadron, because despite their inferiority to the Japanese battleships that were coming into service around the same time as them. They were still at the end of the day the most powerful and capable capital ships that the Zipang had at its disposal, however, their time as the most capable capital ships in the fleet would quickly come to an end in 1902 with the introduction of the two strong Awa Class battleships. Dewa and Shimotsuke with the introduction of the Awa Class, would be moved from the first battleship squadron, and become the flagships of two brand new armoured Cruiser Squadrons, this choice was made due to the fact that both Dewa and Shimotsuke had the speed to keep up with the armoured Cruisers.

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Shimotsuke as she appeared in early 1908 wearing the new standard type 1 grey paint scheme, introduced by the navy in 1907

Dewa and Shimotsuke would spend the remainder of the 1900s and the first 4 years of the 1910s performing their duties as flagships of their respective Cruiser squadrons, however, due to the rapidly approaching obsolescence, and the fact that the newest generation of Armoured cruisers actually outpaced them in a straight line and in some cases had more firepower, Dewa and Shimotsuke would be shortlisted for being placed into reserve, with the expected date of the decommissioning to be in early 1914, which would coincide with the commissioning as of yet unnamed battlecruiser class that could take their place as flagships of the Cruiser squadrons.

But the geopolitical state of the world at the time would have other ideas, because, with the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand on the 28th of June 1914, tensions between various European powers finally boil over, commentating in the beginning of what would become known as the Great War. However even with the Great War now winding up, Dewa and Shimotsuke despite having been called back into full active service would still do very little over the course of the conflict, with the most exciting thing they would partake in, being the shelling of the German wireless station on Germany held New Guinea in support of the Australian Navy and military expedition Force.

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Dewa as she looked, during the brief period of her wearing the experimental 16 x camouflage, April to July 1916

After the brief action they both encountered in the war's opening months, Dewa and Shimotsuke would be pulled back from the front lines, being tasked with Patrol escort and guard duties in and around the Pacific and Indian Ocean. However even these relatively mundane duties would not last very long, as in the latter months of 1916 Dewa and Shimotsuke would be called back to Zipang home waters, the crews of both battleships been moved to other ships, as both of the obsolete capital ships into first ready reserve, being kept in a ready and active state just in case they were needed, yet this would never come to pass as both of the battleships would spend the remainder of the war floating at anchor, occasionally venturing out on training cruises to help train new gunners and officers.

The end of the Great War would come and go, Dewa and Shimotsuke continuing just swing that anchor both ships beginning to grow a nice layer of surface rust, as the navy heavily considered scrapping both of the heavily outdated pre-dreadnought battleships. yet despite that the by now decrepit and rusty warships continued to languish in the reserve fleet, managing to hold on and not sink at their moorings just long enough to see the signing of the Washington Naval Treaty on the 6th of February 1922. However, with the treaties signed both Dewa and Shimotsuke, as well as the other pre-dreadnoughts of the Awa and Yoshino class were all slated to be decommissioned and disposed of, with many of the ships selected for disposal being scrapped in accordance with the newly treated with the restrictions.

Dewa however would be spared the cutters torch or being sunk by her own allies as a target ship, instead, she was towed to Taijma Naval Arsenal where she was demilitarised, all of her guns being removed and either scrapped or placed in shore-based coastal artillery installations, along with her guns, her engines and boilers were deactivated as she became a floating ammunition barge. A less glamorous yet still vitally important role that she continued to feel admirably for the rest of the 1920s and going into the first couple of years of the 1930s.

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Ammunition depot No:1 Ex BB-1 Dewa, as she appeared on the morning of the 14th of September, during the Japanese surprise attack on the Taijma Naval Arsenal.

In her new form as an ammunition depot badge, Dewa now renamed ammunition depot No:1 would serve in her new role without any fanfare, in fact, the entirety of the 1920s and going into the 1930s would pass without any kind of notability. However, with the rapidly increasing tensions between the Japanese and Zipang government's going into 1933 and 34, Dewa would begin to see much more lively service, often being guarded by several coastal defence ships, as well as being moved around Taijma Bay frequently as to avoid the potential of her being targeted during any potential Japanese attack, due to the ammunition she carried being valuable and also because of its explosive nature.

However, on the morning of the 14th of September 1934, Dewa along with a large majority of the Zipang Navy, which had been planning for a large-scale exercise that will take place on the 6th, would come under attack by a large squadron of Japanese carrier aircraft, the waves and waves of torpedo bombers and dive bombers syncing and destroying multiple ships in the harbour and surrounding Bay, as well as destroying numerous shoreside facilities. Yet surprisingly despite her status as an ammunition barge which was stocked entirely with ammunition for various kinds of naval guns at the time. Dewa would come out of the surprise attack almost completely, with only a single would 250 kg bomb hitting her on the bow just in front of her old A gun turret, the bomb punching through her thin deck armour yet failing to detonate.

The end of the short but violent conflict between Japan and Zipang would eventually result in a complete surrender of the Zipang armed forces, ultimately meaning a complete victory for the Japanese. As such on the 10th of November what remained of the Zipang battlefleet sailed to Yokosuka Naval Arsenal for internment. Dewa as an ammunition depot would obviously not go with the fleet, instead, she remained tied to her moorings at Taijma Naval Arsenal, continuing as an ammunition depot much the same as she had done before the war.

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Dewa as she looked between April and December 1943, standard type-21 Coastal camouflage paint scheme

Much like her service during the Zipang, Japanese war of 1934, Dewa in her form ammunition depot, would do very little for the rest of the 1930s, continuing to perform her role as an ordinary and unremarkable ammunition depot without any kind of notability. In fact, even with the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbour and the start of the Pacific War, she would continue to languish in port embarking and disembarking and storing ammunition for various warships. In 1942 she would go into dry dock for the first time since 1930, mostly for needed repairs to her ageing and deteriorating hull, yet while she was in the dry dock she was also given some form of self-defence weaponry, this comprising of a single twin type-31 12cm gun, as well as 8 twin barrelled anti-aircraft cannons and a smattering of small calibre AA machine guns.

After this brief stint in drydock, she would again resume her duty as an ammunition depot ship, continuing to float an anchor which many events of the wat passing her by, even with the Zipang uprisings occurring in late 1943 and early 1944, Dewa due to her nature would contribute nothing to the uprisings, the event passing her by completely as she simply sat at her moorings. And eventually, the end of the second world war would come and go, Dewa by now approaching nearly 50 years old having seen the world change so drastically around her in the course of her unusually long life.

1950s and 60s were a quiet set of decades for the dilapidated but still somehow floating hull of Dewa, she was still occasionally as a ammunition depot ship, however as the gun armed vessels of the Zipang navy began to disappear in favour of the missile, her use would become less and less frequent, until eventually in 1968 with the retirement of the last of the primarily gun armed cruisers, Dewa would finally be decommissioned and straight from the Navy register, bring an end to her 70-year career of continuous service.

However instead of being sent to the scrap heap like her long ago departed sister Shimotsuke, Dewa's historical significance as a ship that was built in the last century, and the fact that she was the Zipang navy's first "modern battleship" meaning that instead of being towed away to the breakers, she instead would be taken into dry dock and over the course of the next 10 years would be returned to her original 1907 condition, much of her original fittings that have been removed in the 1920s, such as guns, deck and internal fittings, were able to be reunited with the ship, in fact even to the surprise of the Navy, all four of her original 10-inch guns were found stored at the back of one of the navy's long-forgotten warehouses, covered in a thick layer of surface rust but remarkably preserved giving their 40 years of neglect.

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Dewa as she looked on the 1st of June 1984 when opened as a museum ship

After a decade of restoration, Dewa would finally emerge from drydock now supporting her original 1907 condition, in fact, the site of the pre-dreadnought emerging from the dry dock, drew in crowds, naval infusers as well as media from various different countries. However despite externally having been returned to her original 1907 condition, much of her internal spaces were still largely empty and barren, as such instead of being opened as a museum ship right away, Dewa was moved to a temporary birth, where another 6 long hard years of expensive but ultimately necessary respiration work continued, with the majority of her internal spaces over the 6 years being completely restored.

In the early months of 1984, the restoration work for Dewa was finally complete, and after 16 years of hard work and millions upon millions of pounds spent on her, by the navy and the public at large. Dewa on the 16th of February 1984 departed from the Taijma Naval Arsenal for the last time, making one last voyage to Zipang's capital, Heguri, being moored at a permanent birth, and finally opening to the public as the centrepiece of the Zipang naval history Museum on the 1st of June 1984, Dewa along with her old rival the Japanese battleship Mikasa, being the only two pre-dreadnought battleships to survive into the modern day.

Dewa 1902

Displacement - 12,860 tonnes standard
Length: 412 ft O/A
Beam: 72 ft L.W.L
Draft: 27 ft At Standard Load
Installed power: 8x Goto Coal Fired Boilers
10,000 shp
Propulsion: 2x shafts; 2x Triple Expansion Steam Engines
Speed: 19 knots
Range: 8,500 at 15 knots
Complement: 654
Main Armament: 2x2 Type-95 25cm/43 guns
Secondary Armament: 10x1 Type-93 15cm/40 guns
Tertiary Armament: 12x1 Type-95 7.62cm/40 guns

Armour:
Main Belt: 15cm - 20cm
Conning tower: 41cm
Torpedo Bulkhead: 10cm - 25cm
Armoured Deck: 25cm max
Main Battery: 15cm turret face, 100cm sides/top, 25cm barbettes

Ships in class

Dewa (BB-1) - Preserved 1984
Shimotsuke (BB-2) - Scrapped 1922

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