WesWorld

I have been looking at the naval needs of the Philippines in the out-years and I am not certain in which direction to take things from 1947 forward, particularly in the realm of surface combatants.

I don’t see a need for additional battleships, battlecruisers or even repeats of the recently constructed armored cruisers. With China quiescent, building them seems unnecessary.

The heavy cruiser force presently comprises four units of the Basilan class, and at the moment I have two large (13,000 ton) heavy cruisers programmed to build from 4Q46/1Q47. If proceeded with, they would eat up most of my available tonnage until 1948. However, I am not certain that they are the best choices.

The light cruiser force comprises four Ticao and two Poro class AA cruisers recently refitted, with six of the Surigao class 7500 ton light cruisers and four similar Dumarao class due to complete by the end of 1946. That’s a total of sixteen.

By the end of 1946 the Philippine Navy will have a total of seventy-two modern destroyers – either recently refitted or constructed within the last six years. All of the older vessels have gone one way or another.

Given this situation, what would you be building for the Philippines? I’d like your input.

I would go with light cruisers, coastal forces and amphibious forces. With over 120 islands to govern, amphibious forces need not be used only offensively but at home moving around military and civilian assets.

I suppose a pertinent question to ask is this stage is, have you reached the limits?

That list of ships equals more than most major European navies ever managed in the real world, let alone an island archipelago. I think most navies in WW are becoming maxed out and its getting harder to become more inventive to use tonnage in a myriad of smaller ways.
Scrapping and rebuilding seems the only step left, but of course with a glut of recent building that might not fit the Philippines as well.

A few transports would be ideal, but I guess that's not going to eat up that much tonnage.

Quoted from "Hood"

I suppose a pertinent question to ask is this stage is, have you reached the limits?

That list of ships equals more than most major European navies ever managed in the real world, let alone an island archipelago. I think most navies in WW are becoming maxed out and its getting harder to become more inventive to use tonnage in a myriad of smaller ways.
Scrapping and rebuilding seems the only step left, but of course with a glut of recent building that might not fit the Philippines as well.

A few transports would be ideal, but I guess that's not going to eat up that much tonnage.

Yes, as we move towards the end-game I think most of WW's navies are becoming far larger than realistic - the Philippines certainly is. Trouble is, I've been scrapping and building since I took over from Perdy - other than auxiliaries there isn't much left to scrap. And there are no real demands for infrastructure, unlike Yugoslavia or Germany.

Wes's suggestion to increase the amphibious lift has merit and is something I will consider; so too is the idea of building some newer auxiliaries. I'm not certain whether I will build the two heavy cruisers presently in the plan - though they do soak up a bit of tonnage.