Shipbucket

FUTURE UPDATE:
I believe I've mentioned earlier that I'm using 10-years plans for the ErRN, and that I'm going to make one post for each plan, where I will include any new ships included in that naval plan, simply making a new post telling there's been an update and in which post. Any modernized versions will be included in same post, regardless of year of said modernation. I'm going with this system to make sure that there is some order to it all.
I will also make one post for each of the WWs, which means some designs will be double-posted, but these posts will only feature the relevant version(for example, the WW2 post will contain both the Manligieten CDSs of 1906, but only in their WW2 suit).
I just thought I should post this, so that you'll have an idea of what's going on and why I do this when the update comes around.

1893 Naval Plan:
No ships posted yet.

1903 Naval Plan

HErMS Manligieten
As the range of naval combat gradually increased, so did the requirements on the ships of Erikrike. Until recently, all coastal defence ships of the Erikrike navy had been typicaly armed with two 240mm guns and six-eight 152mm QF guns, and had been considered satisfying. As the range and offensive power of potential enemy nations growed, so would Erikrike’s ship have to do. Thusly, a series of project was made, with the focus to make a bigger, stronger ship with increased offensive and defensive capabilities. The resulting design was somewhat drastical.
The project had a max deplacement of ca 6100 tons, was armed with two 305mm guns and six 175mm guns, showing the desire to increase the practical range of combat.
Laid down in 1904, the HErMS Manligieten entered service 5th May 1908, already obsolete becouse of the arrival of the British Dreadnought. She was, however, still a strong ship for her deplacement, and the best Erikrike would have for nearly 30 years.
Her sistership, the Stoltieten was commissioned in 1910, 16th September, and together they formed the backbone of the ErRN, acting as flagships on their respective coast(Either the Atlantic or Baltic).
They went through several modernations throughout their careers, getting proper directors in 1917 and 1918. Mid-30s, they were largely rebuilt with new engines and am AA suit consisting of eight 75mm M/28 in twin mounts and several 40 and 25mm guns.
When Riksepplet entered service, both were transfered to the Baltic to lead the fleet there. In 1946 and 48, respectively, they were mothballed until mid-50s, when they were decommissioned and sold for scrap.

1913 Naval Plan
No ships posted yet.

1923 Naval Plan
No ships posted yet.

1933 Naval Plan

Riksepplet class
By the turn of the 19th century Erikrike’s navy was mainly formed by ten large CDSs, all of (relative) world class at their commissioning. In 1908 the last of these ships were completed, but becouse of the Dreadnought’s arrival they were made hopelessly obsolete.
By 1911 a project for a new ship had been evolved, armed with ten 240mm guns in five twin turrets, with a deplacement of 15 000 tons. This design was due to be built, but becouse of WW1 focus was shifted towards ship that could be completed faster(the armoured Cruiser design had been estimated to be completed in 1916, by which time the war was thought to have ended, for good or for worse.
In retrospect, this was somewhat regretted, as the ship would have provided the Erikrike Navy with a viable punch in most armed conflicts. During WW1 and after, several designs was made, but none truly considered and approved.
By the end of ‘20s, however, this changed. Earlier the old ships had been considered at least somewhat acceptable for use, but a series of accidents involving some of the older units showed that these were no longer fit for service. And thus, projects for a new ship was started.
It was not until 1932 that a design was finally worked out which was considered satisfactory. The design in question, project name Design H2, carried six 240mm rifles in two three-gun turrets, Eights dual purpose 105mm guns in four twin mounts, and a number of smaller AA guns, and completed with six torpeds in two tripple mounts. The armour was considered “thin but fully satisfactory for the ship’s mission”, with a 145mm armour belt, 100mm deck armour, and 250mm in turrets(main, front). Her speed of 27,4 knots was a feature that had held high importance in the designing, allowing her to truly fulfil the mantra “faster that the stronger, stronger than the faster”, in theory if not in practice.
The usuall debate about whether to build the ship was of course a fact. In the end, the navy’s supporters won, and in August 1933, building begann on the ship that would become known as Riksepplet, formally intered into the 1933 naval plan.
In December 1935 the ship was launched, and her trials begann in May 1937. During a four-hours test she managed to reach and keep the speed of 29,2 knots. At this speed she would vibrate heavily throughout the hull however, and closer examination of the engines afterwards showed that continious abuse of this ability would not be very healthy for anyone, except possibly the enemy.
She was officialy commissioned 8th September 1937. In November she started a world-around tour along with one of the armoured destroyers of the Kaperen class. Strictly talking, it wasn’t a tour around the world, only visiting harbours of the Atlantic and Mediterranean. The pair came home to Erikrike in Mars, four months later.
After this, she spent some time in dry dock, getting a thourough overlook, and recieving several minor improvements.
By the start of WW2 she was again in service, and had been instated as the flagship of the Erikrike Navy, being stationed on the Atlantic coast.
As Erikrike was never involved in the war, we will never know how the Riksepplet would have faired in actuall combat, but nonetheless, she was considered a great, if very costly, addition to the Erikrike defence forces. On at least one occassion she was sent out to mark the boundaries of her country for non-welcome ships abusing Erikrike’s good faith.
By the end of the war, however, smaller and faster units had proved their value, and the Riksepplet’s practical use was beginning to get severely questioned. By 1949, she would stop being in active service, functioning as mainly a training ship. In 1951 she got a break from the training sessions to visit the Naval Review in Portsmouth along with HErMS Gamen. After this, she was once again assigned a training ship, but left that service as well in 1959.
For five years she was mothballed, until she was decommissioned 1st August 1964, party scrapped, and converted to a pontone bridge.
Her 240mm guns were kept, and is to this day stationated in several fortifications.


Sundsborj Class
The Sundsborj class represented a breaking of pattern in the usuall Erikrike destroyer designs. Most earlier ships had carried two-three 120mm QF guns. This class mounted four DP 105mm M/32 in two twin mounts, the same used on the Riksepplet. In fact, the Sundsborj class had originally been designed to provide for a strong escort for said ship. Considering the M/32 a satisfying enough DP gun, it was applied to this design as well. To completed this armament, a twin 25mm M/34 and two single 12,7mm MGs was added, along with six torpedos in two tripple mounts. Designated speed was at 35 knots, but several units reached up to 38 knots on trials. They were trusty ships, and highly regarded by their crews as well as the Naval Command.
A class of all in all six ships, it was one of the most numerus classes completed by Erikrike. They were among the big workhorses of the ErRN during WW2, and quite tired by the end of the war. Taking turns for refits, all units were ready for service in 1951 again. By the start of the 1960s they were converted to frigates, and dropped their twin mounts in favour for more effective equipment. As the post-war destroyer squadrons were gradually completed, they would be more and more phased out, until they faced scrapping or demotion to target ships, starting 1971 and ending in 1978.

1937-45 emergency naval plan

Örnen Class
The project for the Örnen class Aviation Cruiser started at the end of the 1920s, when the idea of a ship capable of carrying aircraft was brought up. While naval aviation was still in it’s craddle, the idea of a vessel with the increased scouting capabilty aircraft would grant still pleased the admirality.
Earlier sketches typicaly reminded of smaller aircraft carriers, but they were gradually phased out in favour of ships equipped with catapults and featuring a heavier armament, as this would allow for a multi-purpose ship.
In 1931 one of the old CDSs of the ErRN were converted to an aircraft tender, and much of the experiance from this ship was put to use when further designing the CLVs.
After the building of the Riksepplet had started, the government was unwilling to provide further funds for more ships, and so further work on the project was postponed, until 1937, when the 1937 Naval Plan was applied to counter the naval arms race starting in several other nations, set to expand the ErRN with four cruisers, six large destroyers, twelve smaller destroyers, Eights large MTBs, and an unset number of smaller vessels and support ships.
Two of the above mentioned crusiers were set for being CLVs, as the need for long range scouting, and a directing unit in the case of major fleet engagement was seen as utmostly importance. With three of the newly designed DP semi-automatic 140mm/56cal M/37 in a tripple turret as a main weapon, completed by four 75mm/60cal M/28 and a number of smaller AA guns and six torpedos, designed for carrying eight aircraft, she would be a craft optimised for scouting and air defence, with quite little to bring in a surface situation. As this was a very secondary role in the end, the design was approved, and building of the first unit, HErMS Örnen, started in April 1938. She was launched 8th December 1940, and officialy commissioned 1st January 1942. Her sistership, the HErMS Gamen entered service seven months later, 11th July. Something interesting to note is that they were the first units of the ErRN to mount any sort of radar system. The effectiveness of said radar system is open for debate however.
During the war they served faithfully, Örnen in the Baltic and Gamen in the Atlantic. They proved excellent seaboats, and after the war they took turns as flagship and traveling the seas to show the flag for foreign nations. Until the arrival of Leionet and Kronorna, they remained as squadrons leaders thanks to updated radar systems and their artillery. During the 1960s there were plans for converting them for helicopters instead, but this was judged to expensive, and they faced decommissioning and scrapping, Örnen in 1968, Gamen in 1963.

Post-War
No ships posted yet.

Erikrike Royal Navy vessels of WW1
No ships posted yet.

Erikrike Royal Navy vessels of WW2
No ships posted yet.