NationStates Jolt Archive

Having come out of the Anti-Fascist War (fought quite some time ago with Iansisle, Calarca, Canada, UK, and briefly France against Germany, Italy, Chiang Mai, and Ercolana) with her empire in one piece thanks largely to everybody getting tired of fighting and deciding to go home, Walmington on Sea embarked on a massive programme of re-arming and casually bombing the British Rebel Colonies (A.K.A. the US of A).

With the fleet restored to a significant strength counting six escort and five 1st class carriers, one pocket and five full battleships, four battlecruisers, fifteen heavy and seventeen light cruisers, sixteen corvettes, and thirty-six new fast destroyers, Great Walmington has agreed with the Admiralty over the notion of selling-off wartime destroyers to just about anyone who'll buy.

There are nine destroyers up for sale, built in two classes and proven in action.

The first are the I Class, specified as follows-

Dimensions:
Length (overall): 321'2"
Beam (overall): 31'11"
Draft (mean): 10'5"
Displacement (full): 1,841 tons

Crew:211

Power and Performance:
Engine: Two boilers, Wychwood, oil fired
Horsepower:30,000
Shafts: Two
Top Speed: 31.4 knots
Range:1,190nm at 31 knots, 2,850nm at 22 knots, 4,100nm at 12 knots

Armour:
Belt:1.55" to 2.25" steel
Deck:1" to 1.5" steel
(Primary) Turrets:1.15" to 4.55" steel
Conning Tower:1.3" to 3.9" steel

Armament:
Main: Three 4" guns (three turrets, single mount, two fore, one aft)
Secondary: Four 21" TT (2x2), four depth charge throwers, stern depth-charge racks
Anti Aircraft: Two 2x20mm AA gun, four .55" machinegun

Radar:
Air Search: Walmington Model A MkI
Surface Search: Walmington Model B MkI
Hydrophones: Chassire MkII

Walmington's first oil-fired destroyers, the I Class was five strong until His Walmingtonian Majesty's Ship Ajax was attacked and sunk by the dastardly Chiang, initiating Walmington's entry into the war.
There are now four I Class destroyers on offer, formerly named Stockshire, Southshire, Dolly, and Thresher, the latter having seen considerable refit after suffering splinter damage from the guns of no less than the Bismarck itself. Thresher successfully torpedoed and sank a German Hipper Class heavy cruiser in the same action.


The second sort is the II Class:

Dimensions:
Length (overall): 357'7"
Beam (overall): 34'8"
Draft (mean): 14'
Displacement (full): 3,001 tons

Crew: 237

Power and Performance:
Engine: Two boilers, Wychwood, oil fired
Horsepower:37,550
Shafts: Three
Top Speed: 32.3 knots
Range: 1,425nm at 30 knots, 2,970nm at 22 knots, 4,550nm at 12 knots

Armour:
Belt: 3.2" steel
Deck: 1.5" to 2.35" steel
(Primary) Turrets: 1.15" to 4.55" steel
Conning Tower: 1.5" to 4.1" steel

Armament:
Main: One 6" gun, four 4" guns (6" in Monday turret fore, two 4" in Tuesday turret fore, two 4" in Wednesday turret aft)
Secondary: Four 21" TT (2x2), three depth charge throwers, stern depth charge racks
Anti Aircraft: One 3" gun, two 2pdr guns, six 2x20mm guns

Radar:
Air Search: Walmington Model A MkI
Surface Search: Walmington Model B MkI
Sonar: Walmington Model C(S) MkI

II Class was five hulls strong (Longevity, Infamous, Constant, Magical, and Quixotic).


Further, the RWAF has gained clearance to sell-off its Mono Fighter Mk IV Siren aircraft after tiring of accusations that it is just a Spitfire without the label.

Maker: Wychwood Automation and various subcontractors including Stockley Motors, in factories at Little Stockton, Southend, Birminghampton, Chaspot, and several Norbray workshops.
Crew: 1
Weight Empty: 5,200lb
Weight Maximum: 8,100lb
Span: 33’9”
Length: 30’7”
Engine: 1,900hp Stockley Raven piston engine (improved Nexus)
Top Speed: 447mph with improved (five-blade) prop
Ceiling: 41,500ft with improved prop
Climb Rate: 4,280ft/min
Range: 720 miles, 1,100 miles with tanks
Armament: Two 20mm cannon and four .55” machineguns
The 20mm weapons are mounted close to the wing-roots and have impressive ammunition stowage, their positioning being intended to minimise recoil-induced warping of the wing and to help the aircraft in a role (by their considerable weight which would be a hindrance further out).

There are over two hundred of these aircraft existing, their airframes having seen very few flight hours before some inconsiderate person sold Walmington a jet engine.

Axis Nova will buy them all, without crew; we have need of some vessels that can be used to train our air attack crews.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Baron Alan Thunder-ten-tronckh arrived at the admiralty buildings in Southend in something of a flap. The worried little fellow was chattering about half-heard wireless newsbabble on the Axis Nova approach. It was the specification that the vessels were desired, "without crews" that had upset the Baron, who finally caught up with the First Minister for Defence, General Sir Jack Jones, after a bit of a chase across the south coast. Why did they feel the need to clarify that? Had the Admiralty somehow got Walmington a reputation for trading in human beings?

He reminded his knightly associate that slavery had been outlawed in the Empire since 1741, and that, "...anyone who feels the need to expressly indicate... as these fellows have... and with a name like that!" He rapped a finger against the word Axis, circled and underlined on some documentation associated with the destroyers. That was something of a no-no in Walmingtonian politics, for understandable reasons.

Still, nobody but the jittery Foreign Minister was concerned about the language used in off-loading a few old hulls ammounting to less than the weight of a single Walmingtonian battlecruiser.

The government of Axis Nova belatedly received a telegram (actually telegraphed to a Walmingtonian outpost and then flown to Axis Nova and presented by hand) informing it of the Empire's preparedness to transfer destroyers starting by the end of the month. It asked whether -if the ships were to be used as targets- there would be any need for systems such as the communications and sensors to be included. Stripped for seperate disposal by sale or re-use, they might shave a little off the already modest cost, unless they were likely to be required in AN.

In either event, the I Class hulls formerly Stockshire, Southshire, and Dolly would steam for Axis Nova inside a month, with skeleton crews to return by freighter, and further vessels would follow in coming weeks if no further foreign interest was forthcoming.