WesWorld

Tuesday, January 3rd, 1928
Monday was a momentous day in American shipbuilding history as the two largest vessels ever built in this country slid down the ways in simultaneous launching ceremonies in New York and Virginia. The super liners Columbia and Liberty are based in part on components intended for the canceled Battlecruisers United States and Constitution and will be the fastest, largest, safest, and most luxurious transoceanic liners ever built. At 11 am sharp on a cold, crystal clear winter’s day, First Lady Smith of New York christened the Liberty, while First Lady Byrd of Virginia christened the Columbia in a ceremony coordinated by radio. Then, with the sounds of horns, whistles, and cheers, the two liners slid down the ways into the East River and the James River respectively. They were then towed to docks where the long fitting out process will begin. It is hoped to have the two giant ships finished by early 1930.

Launch of the Liberty and artists conception of the Columbia underway

Washington Post, Monday, January 23rd, 1928
Inspections by U.S. Navy engineers have discovered serious structural cracks in several American destroyers, according to anonymous sources inside the Navy Department. What is even more stunning is that these discoveries were made over a year ago! The Navy apparently reported its findings to Secretary of the Navy Wilbur, who then passed that information on to Secretary of War Davis and the President. According to sources inside the administration, it was decided that the political situation would not support the major expenditures needed to replace the aging destroyer fleet, all of which is now eligible for replacement under the Cleito Treaty, especially after the large capital ship construction program which ended only a couple of years earlier and was quite unpopular with President Coolidge’s fiscally conservative Republican Congressional allies. Instead it was decided to undertake clandestine emergency repairs in the hope that the ships could sail on for a few more years until they could be gradually replaced. According to the Navy’s report, the recently lost U.S.S. Drayton was one of the most seriously effected ships known to have cracks. Her late 1926 visit to Boston was reportedly to have reinforcements surreptitiously added to the cracked areas. While it can not be confirmed that the cracks were the cause of the disaster to the Drayton, one source inside the Navy Department is quoted as saying: “We’ve no doubt that’s what happened. The suddenness of her loss makes it almost certain that there was a massive structural failure. Those b******s in the White House and War Department might as well have marched those eighty six men up against a wall a shot them!” So far the Navy, War Department, and the White House have refused official comment.

Washington Post, Wednesday, January 25th, 1928
A terrible tragedy Tuesday morning in Washington as Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover slipped and fell on patch of ice in front of Commerce Building while walking to the building from his car. He struck his head on the sidewalk and was knocked unconscious. The Secretary was rushed to George Washington Hospital where he is reported to be comatose with a severe head injury, including a fractured skull. Mrs. Hoover is reportedly at his bedside. His prognosis is rumored to not be good. His duties in the Commerce Department will be taken over temporarily by the Deputy Commerce Secretary. Secretary Hoover was rumored to be a leading candidate for the Republican Presidential nomination later this year.

Washington Post, Monday, February 20th, 1928
The Post has learned of yet another potentially embarrassing and costly mistake by the Navy. It seems that the Battlecruisers Lexington and Saratoga are in violation of the Cleito Naval Treaty! According to a classified Navy report leaked to this paper, the two ships are each over five hundred tons over the absolute limit permitted under the treaty. No capital ship is supposed to exceed 40,000 tons standard displacement. The Lexington and Saratoga are 42,587, or over six percent over the treaty limit. Navy officials are reportedly mortified at the discovery. Solutions to the problem are varied. One proposal would limit the amount of ammunition carried and remove nearly half of the five inch secondary guns. A more costly and time consuming proposal would be to update the ships’ turbo-electric power plant with lighter, more modern components. The treaty itself has no provisions for correcting violations. It is not known how this mistake could have escaped Navy officials’ attention but combined with the growing Drayton scandal; it is undoubtedly a major headache for Navy Secretary Wilbur.

New York Times, Monday, March 19th, 1928
The Amarillo Helium plant goes into service this week, boosting production of the miracle floating gas to over 100 million cubic feet per year, a tremendous increase. Even so, with the Atlantian airship agreement and planned future Navy airships, an additional plant may well be required. Kansas and Colorado are rumored to be possible locations for a future plant.

Thursday, March 22nd, 1928
Representative Carl Vinson has called for Congressional hearings into the loss of the Drayton and the possible knowledge of structural problems with the Navy’s destroyer fleet, as well as the reports that the United States is in violation of the Cleito Treaty on Naval Armaments. In a press conference at his offices in Washington, the Georgia Democrat called it “inconceivable that the Coolidge Administration would permit American sailors to put their lives on the line sailing in unsafe warships simply for political expediency. It is essential that wee get to the bottom of this, and that those responsible are held to account!” He went on to comment that if the United States is in violation of the Treaty, then it is essential that every effort be taken to quickly come back into compliance and that steps be taken to ensure that future problems do not occur.

Wednesday, March 28th, 1928
The airship Susquehanna and her crew are finishing final preparations for their upcoming trip to the North Pole. A Curtiss O2C two-seater is being modified with skis for landing on the ice after being detached from the airship over the Pole. Commander Byrd will attempt the landing at the North Pole after flying over it two years ago. It is rumored that Colonel Lindbergh will join him on the flight. Later, a system of harpoons will be used to attempt to secure lines from the airship to the ice below in an attempt to make a landing as well. Tests have been conducted at Camp Kearny and have been described as successful, if at times harrowing! The Susquehanna’s commanding officer, Lt. Commander H.W. Hoyt, says that the ship and crew will be ready to leave for Alaska May 28th, with a planned arrival at Anchorage by the 2nd of June, then on to Barrow by the 5th, then finally on to the North Pole, with a planned arrival of June 8th. The Susquehanna should return to Camp Kearny near San Diego before the end of the month. There are already rumors that if the mission is a success, President Coolidge will invite the airship and her crew to Washington for a July 4th flyover of the capital with her sisters Shenandoah and Los Angeles. This summer will surely see busy times for the Navy’s senior airship!

Quoted

It seems that the Battlecruisers Lexington and Saratoga are in violation of the Cleito Naval Treaty!

Now maybe we can test procedures as to what happens when the treaty is violated?

Proposal One:
Reduction of a different or related treaty limit for the violating nation to balance the "offending" limit breaker vessel(s).

(I've always wanted to test these sorts of treaties...just to see how they hold up, or if they are inherently flawed).


Also that's sad about Herbert Hoover...I wonder who will be president this time around if his condition does not improve.

Sounds like a good excuse for a refit! Add some additional range and that weight should disappear!

Quoted

Originally posted by CanisD
Tuesday, January 3rd, 1928
The super liners Columbia and Liberty are based in part on components intended for the canceled Battlecruisers America and Constitution

Did United States get renamed in Wesworld?

As in the Liner or the Battlecruiser United States?

CC-6.
The liner won't be relevant for another 30 years or so, no?

Sorry, typo on my part. It should be United States, not America.

I wondered why I hadn't noticed this before. I checked the post in the encyclopaedia and there lies the answer. The design has been changed. I swear that she was 31knts and with 1372lb shells before. That extra growth, in 1knt and much heavier shells must have added quite a lot of weight.


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The Italian government has chosen to overlook this admission by the US administration. It would prefer the status quo to be maintained and so will not press the matter further.

Interesting news....

I just wasn´t aware that our Gentlemen´s Agreement is known _in character_.... I always thought it is for us players only because of inaccuracies when using spring*. What sense would it make to set treaty limits and then allow to bend them officially? :o/

I edited out references to the Gentleman's Agreement. Makes it look more egregious since they are now over 6% above the limit.

As for why Red didn't notice the problem...I did change the design a bit when I first entered the sim, when I was still sorting out my designs. I think she was actually 33 knts and I dropped her down to 32 to add a bit of deck armor.

February 22:

Foreign Minister Jal Kadharni says that India is dismayed by reports that American warships are in violation of the Cleito Treaty. "We're certainly concerned and will be paying close attention as the American government works to correct the violations committed by Lexington and Saratoga."

While the Indian government is disappointed that it took a media leak for the violations to become publically known, Mr. Kadharni noted, "It is an embarassing thing to have happen, and embarassments are unhealthy for elected politicians. We anticipate that the American government will now be more forthright in this matter, advising the Contracting Powers how the violations came to be committed and how they are to be fixed."

Mr. Kadharni said it was too soon to consider any disciplinary actions on the part of the remaining Contracting Powers. "Recognizing that complex, technical matters are involved, we are willing to give the Americans several months to work things out before we consider any kind of action."

Meanwhile, there will be no immediate call for inspections of other American capital ships. A source within the navy told AWNR that the other classes are all clearly well below the 40,000 t limit.

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OOC: Nice work. I'll be following the polar expedition story with interest.

Quoted

The Post has learned of yet another potentially embarrassing and costly mistake by the Navy. It seems that the Battlecruisers Lexington and Saratoga are in violation of the Cleito Naval Treaty!

Morskoi Sbornik - Petrograd, 22 February 1928

We note report in Washington Post of 20 February 1928 that US Battlecruisers Lexington and Saratoga exceed capital ship Standard displacement limit of Cleito Naval Treaty. Sourcing of this report is unknown, as source's motivation, and therefore is insufficient to ground any official accusation against United States government.

However, calculations by naval architects at Admiralty Yard, Petrograd, indicate that USS Lexington and USS Saratoga are indeed at very limit of Cleito Naval Treaty Standard displacement limitation, and possibly exceed it. Russian Federation Navy invite United States Navy to clarify this issue.

Morskoi Sbornik - Petrograd, 30 March 1928

We note with interest United States polar expedition which will be mounted this summer. We wish intrepid explorers good luck and all success, knowing well ourselves risks they courageously face. If required, Russian Navy seaplane base on Georga Ostrov, Franza Iosifa Zemlya, will be alerted to respond to any accident or emergency.

So....where are the hard-liners in relation to the treaty?

Chile herself doesn't care, but would almost expect there to be a big political boondoggle from several nations that are not exactly friendly with the United States, or have the strictest policy where it comes to treaties (or this treaty at least), or the more clever ones that want to distract the world while they go off and do sometime else as the heat comes down on the United States.

Sounds like something that would happen in the late 1920s and 1930s.

(And again I just want to see if there is any reason why anyone would need to follow the treaty, or if the world will just look the other way each time. I know the United States's case is pretty much an accident and a limited case, but will this set a precedent that "historically" sneaky nations can use to get around the treaty legally. If they are no reprecussions to treaty violations...why have a treaty?)

The Philippines could, honestly, care less.


As for the polar flight, however, they are watching it closely, and a sucessful conclusion to the endeavour might net Señor Bird an invitation to explore the Filipino holdings on the Continent of Penguins.

Atlantis is not responding due to the Philippino rumors that "some nations" will pull out of the treaty. If that occurs it matters little that a battleship is 500 tons over the limit.

The bigger consern is that if several nations do pull out of the treaty it will collapse.

The easiest fix would be to go back to the regular 14" shell instead of the heavy shell developed after Cleito shelved the 16". That would put her under 42K. Option B is to reduce ammo to about 60 rounds per gun and remove half the 5" secondaries. Option 3 is the major one, spending 2 years updating her engines and turbo electric drive, modifying her secondaries, and modifying the torpedo bulkhead. I had wanted to hold that off until the mid to late 1930's. Granted since the treaty doesn't say how to rectify violations, how I fix the problem is pretty much up to me, as long as I make her treaty legal. I'd certainly prefer a refit over a rebuild!

Quoted

Atlantis is not responding due to the Philippino rumors that "some nations" will pull out of the treaty.

I thought that comment was OOC...

Quoted

So....where are the hard-liners in relation to the treaty?

You always sound disappointed when the rest of us don't wind up in a brawl over something.

But I have to admit, you've got a bit of a point. It's one thing to react cautiously, as India and Russia have. It's another to outright declare that another Contracting Power doesn't care about the violation, as three other nations have done. In that case, you're correct - why bother with a treaty?

There are no enforcement clauses outside of diplomatic embarassment, same as historical. If one is immune to embarassment, or if nobody else is willing to cause it, then there's no enforcement measure at all.

Italy doesn't really care too much because the status quo given by the treaty suits her. With Lexington, she was not deliberated designed to flaunt this, so there is no need to cause an incident. Any ships over c. 45000tons and Italy would take decisive action.

Quoted

You always sound disappointed when the rest of us don't wind up in a brawl over something.

Sometime I'd like to see some excitement that tests the treaty system. Historically the treaty system broke down in 1927 and never really became more then an building debate over smaller warships between the British, Americans, and Japanese afterwards in an attempt to maintain superiority in other areas aside from battleships until 1936 when the whole treaty fell apart and only the Americans and British kept time until the war started.

The Cleito Treaty covers more areas then the Washington Treaty but again has no clause for treaty violations. If as I see it, there is nothing to stop someone from breaking the treaty and the world more or less doesn't care...the treaty will become pointless, and turn into what the Washington and London Treaties became. A farce. This actually caused an increase of naval weapons and made battleships more like political chess pieces then weapons of war.

Chile, not being a signer of this treaty, and vocally an opponent of the treaty, of course doesn't care about the American's violation. But if nothing happens, Chile will point this out as another weakness of the treaty system, and yet another reason why it should not enter in such a flawed international pact.

I was actually wondering what what the other large powers will do. The historical issue would be between the United Kingdom and the United States over who has the biggest fleet and Japan trying to maintian an edge in the Pacific. The smaller powers more or less left future talks (France and Italy). So what will Wesworld Japan and Britian do?