Shipbucket

Ah, finally got back to drawing a few ships and structuring shit up... So, with the show.

Archipelagia consists of a series of fairly large islands and archipelagos(hence the name) in the western Pacific Ocean. There are four larger islands(High Point, Drake’s Peak, Lord‘s Landing, and Glaivehead), and seven smaller( ). On Glaivehead lies the capital, sharing name with the Island, but most industry is focused to Lord’s Landing and High Point. Climate is mostly tropical.

In 1629 an English expeditionary force landed on what is today known as High Point. The islands had very few inhabitants, but was rich on resources, so a trading post was established. In 1642 the Island group was named “HMS Colony of Archipelagia.” Soon the citizens would consider themselves “Archipelagians” rather than English. While taxes would continue to be paid, during the centuries a reluctance towards these would show itself. At the same time as the American Revolution was in full swing, another revolution was carried out on the Islands of Archipelagia, but after three years it was thoroughly beaten down. In 1796 the second revolution came, and this one succeeded to a greater or lesser degree. The English authority on the islands, which was actually fairly sympathetic towards the idea of an independent Archipelagia, would be forced to accept a treaty in which Archipelagia became an independent state, which would gladly ally itself with England if so wanted, but would not pay taxes to the crown. Four frigates and eleven corvettes were captured, and these would be used to narrowly deflect two British attempts at retaking the islands. A new, official treaty was written, and in 1803, Archipelagia lost the epithet “HMS Colony”. One of the terms was that Archipelagia would return half of the captured ships and aid in the was against Napoleon. What aid could be sent was, even though it was very little.
During the 1830s close connections would be bound with the American Government, leading to an increased trade and exchange of technology. With their help, a strong navy was built up, but the army would remain little more than a territorial defence force.
Staying neutral during WW1, since Archipelagia remained largely unscathed by the war, she got no benefit from any treaties afterwards. After the Washington treaty was signed, Archipelagia would follow it only loosely, and build the occasional treaty-buster, ending up with a small, but very potent navy.
At the beginning of WW2 a large part of the Archipelagian navy was put out of service by an attack by the Japanese similar to the one at Pearl Harbour(The Attack of Outer Yard).

The eleven islands of Archipelagia:


I'm well aware that the story isn't... very plausible, it's just a rough basis on which I work around. When working out a story, I prefer the "While perhaps implausible, at the very least not completly impossible!" kind of approach. So strike me.
This AU will be mainly centered around cruisers and destroyers, but I'll try to fling in some other vessels into the mix as well(I'm hoping of making at least some mine warfare ships of different kinds). All classes will be represented by one ship in one drawing(unless I feel like making modernations), and will feature a badge of entirely own design and concept. I will focus mainly on the time between the Great Wars, with some ships excepting this rule(like the A-class destroyer, laid down in 1917).

I'll file more on details, such as marking the islands with names, listing the cities, and so on later(it's 1:15 AM now, and I'm way too tired...). I'll reserve the following four-five posts for different ship types(Capital Ships, Cruisers, Escort, and Support/Misc. etc.)

Some ships might not recieve their story at first, but rest assured those will be delivered in due time.

CAPITAL SHIPS

Glaivehead Class: The epitome of Archipelagian naval building, the Glaivehead class was bigger than anything previously, and later built.
The design process for these ships begann in the late 1920s, when the treaties had set the standards for cruisers, heavy and light. The Japanese cruisers entering service at the time worried the Archipelagian naval strategists, and work for a ship capable of hunting down the ships in question. The size of the ships were upped several times, until the final design was decided upon in 1933, with a standard displacement of 20 600 tonnes, armed with nine 245 mm 51 cal. rifles, complemented by eight 120 mm guns in two twin and four single mounts, a new design theoretically capable of DP firing, a function let down because of the hand operated elevation and loading. The ships were protected by an armour belt of 190 mm by the magazine, 180 mm at the engines, and tapering to 150-120 mm and the ends. The deck had a thickness of 120 mm at the engines and magazines, the turrets protected by 280 mm fronts and 250 mm in barbettes, with the conning tower being armoured with 210 mm armour steel. The engines were capable of propelling the ships at speeds of up to 33 knots(on trials they would reach over 34, wartime service never exceeded 32,5), and allowed for a range of 10 000 nautical miles and 12 knots.
The first unit was laid down in late 1934, the second half a year later, and the last in 1937(using the same slip as the first). The first ship was christened after the central island of Archipelagia; Glaivehead, and after five months of trials, commissioned April 18th, 1939, and flagship. Along with RAS Beachhead and RAS Hotspur, she would go on a tour round the world, cut short in September, due to the war in Europe(she had just left Portsmouth), and returned in January 1940.
She was relived of her flagship service in November the same year by RAS Drake’s Peak, one of her sister ships, but put back into the role after the latter was struck by three torpedoes at the Attack of Outer Yard, a PH-esque attack by Japanese forces.
The Drake’s Peak would remain out of service until 1944, when she was finally scrapped, the main turrets being kept as spares for the two remaining units, and her secondaries being transferred to two destroyers under construction.
Glaivehead and High Point fought at several battles in the pacific war, switching roles as flagships, claiming several cruiser kills, proving their talent for the role they were intended. Both survived the war, and remained in service into the late 50’s, when Glaivehead was scrapped in 1959, and High Point intended for conversion to CG, but halfway through the process the order was recalled due to the expense, and she was scrapped soon thereafter.
Ships in class:
RAS Glaivehead, 1939-1959
RAS Drake’s Peak, 1940- 1941
RAS High Point, 1942-1961

CRUISERS

Southport class: A typical Tin-Clad, the Southport class was a class of heavy cruisers consisting of three units laid down in 1932 and 33. They were designed to fill the standards of a treaty cruiser, with a focus on armament and speed, and so they were designed. The displacement just reached the upper limit of the treaty - 10 030 tonnes standard - and carried eight 203 mm 55 cal. rifles for surface work, and six 120 mm 30 cal. to down any aircraft coming their way. The speed was that of 33 knots and a range of 8000 NM at 12, with the armour belt being only 70 mm at it’s thickest, the highest armour value on the ship in the conning tower and turrets - 120 mm at max.
The first ship was commissioned in spring 1936, and named in honour of the southernmost of the four largest cities of the Archipelagian Isles - Southport. The first of the two sisters, RAS Swordpoint entered service the same autumn, and the last, RAS Stuartown in summer 1937.
The class would not fare well during the war; Stuartown was sunk during the Attack of Outer Yard, and Southport never got the sustained damage properly repaired, something that proved fatal during the battles for Guadalcanal, when her engines would collapse, leaving her dead in the water, and easy prey for torpedoes from her Japanese adversaries. While Swordpoint survived the war, she was decommissioned and scrapped in 1946, due to the heavy warping of the hull after having run aground on the return home to the Isles.

ESCORTS

A-Class 1917
Ships In Class
RAS Arrow
RAS Altair
RAS Ardent
RAS Anthony
RAS Andreas
RAS Active
RAS Acasta
RAS Almond
RAS Axe
RAS Ajax
RAS Achilles


G-Class 1934:
Ships In Class:
RAS Gladius
RAS Grenade
RAS Gallant
RAS Gargoyle
RAS George
RAS Greyhound
RAS Ghoul


H-Class 1936:
Ships In Class:
RAS Hotspur
RAS Hardy
RAS Havock
RAS Hero
RAS Hostile
RAS Hunter

(Yes I realize the badge wasn't very imaginative.. it looks cool though, IMO)

-Reserved-

-Reserved-

Fine looking ships KHT.

Nice ships indeed. Looking forward to see more.

Thanks! I've added the A-class of 1917 in the Escort post.

Yes, this means the B, C, D, E, and F destroyer classes are planned as well.

I like these ships.

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Supreme Commander of the Astrofleets