Antara 2.5

Sinclair class light cruiser

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Designed as long range Scyllic scouts, the Sinclairs had an excellent range of 10 000nm at almost 16 knots, with a decent speed of 33 knots. Although originally meant to displace significantly less tonnage with a smaller armament, it was decided the class would use the maximum tonnage allotted, and went 10 000 tonnes and a large main caliber count of 15 152mm/60 guns. However by the time the first three vessels were laid down in 1332, the Preson Naval Treaty had passed - restricting light cruisers to 8000 tonnes. Although the leadership wanted the already under construction vessels to be modified to fit the limit - and the remaining vessels to adopt a different design altogether - the Navy refused to budge. Instead, the Navy lied about the specifications - stating that the armor belt and deck thickness were reduced to comply with the treaty. Nothing changed and the Sinclairs remained the only pre-1338 light cruiser to break the treaty limits.

Sinclair, Paige and Beckett were commissioned in 1334; Ryland, Cleo and Hadley were commissioned in 1335; Felix, Juniper, Rown and Jameson were commissioned in 1336-1337. The first five were assigned to the Scyllic Fleet, whilst the remaining five were assigned to the Freyatic Fleet.

The Freyatic Sinclairs were less than spectacular and were rarely involved in surface action with other warships and were mostly relegated to shore bombardment and convoy escort. Their relative inactivity saw several of them transferred to the Pacific in 1346-1348. On the contrary, the Scyllic Sinclairs churned out the most decorated light cruisers of the war and were very active. Paige holds the record for the most survivors rescued, picking up a total of 1100 survivors from 1342-1349 - both Osoran and Antaran - and would also survive a kamikaze attack with no casualties in 1347. Sinclair was present for four major naval battles from 1342-1344 and credited for sinking destroyer Kasumihaze and cruiser Kama in 1344. Beckett spent the most time in dockyard after taking an aerial torpedo in 1343, receiving extensive gunfire damage in 1344, being rammed by an Osora destroyer in 1345 and struck by a kamikaze in 1347. After finishing repairs once again in 1348, Beckett was scrapped the following year, much to the dismay of many. Cleo is controversially cited as sinking cruiser Numara, in competition with Juniper. Ryland was torpedoed during the surprise attack at Port Isla and had the shortest career of any of her sisterships.

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Ships without camo - https://imgur.com/a/xbNCrEO

Displacement - 10 400 tonnes normal
Speed - 33 knots average
Range - 10 000nm at 15.8 knots
Armor belt - 127mm
Armored deck - 30mm
Main battery - 5x2 155mm/60
Secondary battery - 4x2 127mm/45
Torpedoes - 2x4 610mm with 4 reloads

Ships in class

Sinclair - sunk in surface action, 1345
Paige - sunk as target ship, 1360
Beckett - scrapped, 1349
Ryland - Sunk during attack on Port Isla, 1342
Cleo - sold to foreign navy, 1354
Hadley - scrapped, 1360
Felix - scrapped, 1350
Juniper -scrapped, 1360
Rowan - sold to foreign navy, 1354
Jameson - sunk as reef ship, 1352

Quite nice! I like that the hull markings are an abbreviation for the vessel's name instead of a hull number. It's an interesting change of pace. Looking forward to more!

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Fantastic looking drawings.

Beautiful cruiser, truly.

Another beautiful ship from Antara.

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Nobody expects the Imperial Inquisition!

Saint Azia class light cruiser

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Requested during the planning of the Invasion of Osora in 1347, the St Azia class of three ships was designed primarily as an air defense escort cruiser. Previous experience with kamikaze attacks, particularly during the invasion of Usabi, showed that there was a weakness in AA defense which culminated in a grave number of casualties and sinkings. One of the first parameters requested for the cruiser was dual purpose main battery artillery as well as autoloading mechanisms. The previous year a twin autoloading 127mm mount had entered the final stage of testing and even though it was a mechanical nightmare, it was still to be mounted, however only as part of the secondary battery. Development into a 203mm autoloading mount had already begun development and an extension was requested in the form of a smaller 155mm mount which was better suited for tracking aircraft. Features of the new mount included the mechanisms to be loaded at any angle, allow for higher elevation and vastly improved and fully automated loading procedures.

It was predicted that the Invasion of Osora would commence in mid to late 1348 and conclude mid 1349, before St Azia could be finished, but the Navy went ahead with the construction of a single ship, stating she was to be an excellent test bed for upcoming advances in technology. St Azia was indeed that, despite being rendered obsolete only a few years after commission, she was kept in service and constantly modified in order to test new concepts.

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St Azia depicted as she was designed. She sported 38mm AA guns instead of the 76mm mounts she would mount in service. Additionally she was to have an aircraft catapult and had space for two scout planes. Her design notes also stated that she was to mount a twin 5" DP mount (Mk48), of which would also be used sparingly aboard the Syce class destroyers, however due to its low success St Azia would mount a newer single mount (Mk49) when they became available.

Rough plans for her camouflage scheme also existed however they were abandoned soon after the initial drafts, which was common in 1347 due to the fact that Antaran naval units were no longer expected to engage surface targets.

During construction, St Azia had her planned aircraft catapult removed to make space for a helicopter instead. Along with the previously mentioned changes, her fire control suite was changed. The 6" and 5" directors were removed in favor of the Type 15 director, designed to control the batteries of 5" and 6" DP mounts. However the 6" range finders were left in place in case there was a need to engage surface targets with the main battery.

As predicted, St Azia arrived several months after the World War had concluded, but her service life was far from over.

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By 1359, along with regular gradual improvements to her radar and electronics suite, St Azia had her secondary mounts changed once again. While the previous Mk49 were far from bad, the new Mk53 mounts were far more efficient and were here to stay this time.

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Late 1359 to 1361 saw many changes to St Azia. While all changes and tests were documented, few were photographed. Most experiments and tests related to the use of ship borne guided missiles. Her 6th 'build' being the last, which ended in July 1361. The results of the testing set in stone the design of future guided missile cruisers.

St Azia was photographed in her 6th test configuration on 7 August 1361. Major changes included the removal of her aft main battery, a 5" mount and several smaller AA mounts - all of which were replaced with a MkL3 (the third ship borne missile launcher approved for serial production, dubbed 'Mickael 3') and a magazine for RIM-3 guided missiles, complete with target illuminators. Additionally her helicopter and aft crane was removed, most likely to make modifications during the testing easier.

Another change was the addition of torpedo launchers with homing torpedoes for ASW work, with sonar domes to compliment.

Even with the new anti-air missiles, her role as an anti-aircraft escort cruiser remained the same, and thus her classification had not changed from 'light cruiser - CL'. Like with most WW era cruiser missile conversions, their old classifications remained in place so long as their original main battery existed as the missiles were an upgrade to their AA suite.

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St Azia's 1363 configuration officially set the standard for missile conversions of older cruisers. Following the success of the tests, the extensive modernization of over 15 other vessels was ordered. The success also prompted the request for dedicated missile cruisers.

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In the late 1360s, St Azia was plagued with engine troubles which cut her lifetime shorter than most wartime cruisers. Following a long career as both pure gunboat and semi-gun and semi-missile boat, it was determined it would be too expensive to maintain her worn propulsion and engine system. In September 1384, St Azia was decommissioned and scrapped in January 1385.

Specifications

Displacement - 21 000 tonnes standard
Speed - 35 knots at 165 000 horsepower
Range - 8000nm at 16 knots
Armor - 152mm belt
- 90mm deck
- 152mm barbettes
- 127mm main battery front plate
- 76mm main battery top and side plates
- 25mm secondary turret plating

Main battery (As launched) - 5x3 155mm/60
Secondary battery (as designed) - 6x2 127mm/45
Secondary battery (as launched) - 6x1 127mm/52
Missile battery (as of 1958) - 1x2 MkL-3 launcher with 46 RIM-2s

Ships in class

St Azia - scrapped, 1385
Mizriah - cancelled, 1347
CL28-3 - cancelled, 1347

Forgot to repost this here. I'm working on some more fluff, I'm having fun writing it

Removed for being outdated.

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