WesWorld

All the news that's fit to print...and some other stuff, too.

4 January

From Antarctica, the Lady Anneke has reported by wireless that she is underway in generally open waters. The ship, carrying survivors of the Sharmilla expedition, will head home for Durban, and should arrive by the end of the month if ice conditions remain acceptable.

17 January

The Indian Government says it won’t be handing Prince Feisal of Hejaz back to Saudi authorities.

“The Prince has requested asylum on behalf of himself and his servants; given the rather heated rhetoric from Saudi Arabia over the past few weeks, we’ve granted that request”, said Foreign Minister Jal Kadharni.

The Saudi government, meanwhile, said that it would take the matter to the League of Nations. “The League exists to set right the wrongs of individual nations”, said Saudi ambassador Hamad Farouk Ibn-Saud. “We will see to it that the League addresses India’s effort to shelter criminals.”

26 January

The battleship Akbar was out for her first trip yesterday, making a short cruise along the coast before returning to Chennai. The warship proceeded at a leisurely twelve knots and was followed by a number of small craft filled with curious civilians.

“Akbar’s crew has primarily been engaged in learning every aspect of their new home”, noted Admiral Sanjay Das. “She’ll be out more over the coming months.”

2 February

A crowd of several thousand lined the piers of Durban to welcome home the Lady Anneke. The ship tied up just after three in the afternoon.

It was a particularly emotional afternoon for the South African survivors of the Sharmilla expedition and their families, who were re-united after two years of separation. At least one man was introduced to a daughter born after his departure in late 1924, while another came home having lost his wife several months earlier.

The Indian passengers and crew were booked into a hotel on the waterfront for several days of relaxation, although there were reports of the Himalayan Infantrymen conducting a pub-crawl through the city’s entertainment district. The Indians will return home on the royal yacht Hindustaan, sent specifically to Durban for the purpose.

12 February

Atlantean Foreign Minister Maren Xanthus arrived in Hyderabad yesterday morning. It’s the first visit to India by such a senior Atlantean official in over two decades.

Mr. Xanthus joined the Rana and Crown Prince Shrinivas for a tour by motorcade of the city, before the party returned to the palace for dinner. The Rana and the minister exchanged gifts, with the Atlantean visitor receiving a copy of the Mahabharata.

“It’s an old work, written by the Emperor Ashoka during his reign over what is now India”, remarked the Rana. “Minister Xanthus’ interest in ancient history is well known, so my husband and I thought he would enjoy this particular book. Perhaps after he’s read it, he’ll comment on the theory that the basis of the book - a war between the Azvin and Rama empires - actually corresponds to ancient India and a major European culture.”

13 February

Yesterday’s meeting between Atlantean Foreign Minister Xanthus and India’s own Jal Kadharni is said to have been productive.

“We’re in a peculiar situation”, noted Minister Kadharni. “We’re at opposite ends of the world, and have had little to do with each other; yet we finding ourselves occasionally flinging barbs at each other on account of our diplomatic ties to third parties.”

The ministers discussed issues such as Asian decolonization, the military situation in China, and the Middle East. “We talked about the rather arbitrary borders that split some colonies, mandates, and nations, and how that could be a future risk to regional stability. It’s not necessarily an issue that directly affects India, but as the world’s largest Muslim state, we do feel some obligation to look out for our brethren in western-most Asia”, Minister Kadharni commented. “We will be consulting with our respective leaders about follow-up steps to tackle this issue.”

[Note: India qualifies as both the largest Muslim and largest Hindu nation in Wesworld, with the two representing around 40% and 55% of the nation’s population respectively].

20 February

The League of Nations has declined a Saudi bid to force the return of Prince Feisal from India. A League spokesman said, “The League has many powers, but forcing the extradition of accused criminals is not among them - otherwise, the Allies might well have got their hands on Wilhelm II years ago.”

The Saudi government called the decision “unjust”, while the Indian government expressed no comment whatsoever.

22 February

Led by the battleship Babur, surrounded by dozens of civilian vessels, the royal yacht Hindustaan arrived in Mumbai yesterday to a huge reception.

An estimated twenty thousand people flooded the harbour district to cheer the arrival of the yacht and her passengers - the survivors of the Sharmilla expedition, and the rescuers from the Lady Anneke, The passengers disembarked to thunderous cheering that clearly stunned many of them, accustomed as they were to small groups of people.

After the men and their families were reunited, the Rana gave a simple speech, congratulating them on surviving their experience. “Fate stole away your work, your shelter, your supplies and your comrades; yet you refused to let fate take your life. You endured the cold, the squalor, the loss, and the boredom, and in the end, you survived. I am in awe of your feat.”

22 February

Meanwhile, the Raj was in Hyderabad, reviewing registration papers for potential candidates in the spring municipal elections.

Sources within the government say that the Raj has disqualified approximately twenty percent of the candidates to file papers. “People with professed anti-monarchist attitudes...people with criminal records...people with no relevant work experience. Those were fairly straight-forward decisions.”

Apparently some candidates with generally harmless but somewhat unusual views were also rejected. “There was a candidate in Amritsar who opposes cooking vegetables. One in Dhaka who advocates putting Bangladesh on stilts; not the homes and buildings...the state . And a gentleman in Cochin who promised a flapper dress for every woman in the city if he won. The Raj concluded that these candidates, if allowed to run, would distract some voters from serious candidates with serious ideas.”

1 March

The Indian Navy has a new commanding officer. Admiral of the Navy Kashiram Paswan took over from retiring Admiral of the Navy Sanjay Das today. He’s the third officer to hold the rank. AWNR spoke with Admiral Paswan in his new office in Mumbai.

AWNR: Congratulations.

KP: Thank you.

AWNR: For the benefit of our readers, could you tell us a bit about your service?

KP: I’ve been a navy man virtually all my life. I joined when I was nineteen, in the first class of men trained by the Germans. My first command was a torpedo boat, which I got when I was twenty-nine, just a few months before Diego Garcia. We were there for the battle, traded fire with the Iberians. I don’t think we managed to torpedo our target, though.

AWNR: And you commanded most of the training squadron, it seems.

KP (chuckling): Yes...I had Mysore between 1900 and 1902, and Ashoka from 1908 to 1911. Good times, mostly.

AWNR: Now, you were leading the naval forces in the war with the Dutch, were you not?

KP: Initially I was. I oversaw the landings in the Andamans before the Dutch were alerted to our activities, and commanded until the Battle of Little Andaman. I caught a fair number of splinters during the battle, though, lost a bit of blood, and was evacuated afterward. Sanjay took over, of course, and preserved our gains against the counterattacks.

AWNR: Tell us about your post-war service.

KP: I headed the training command for a couple of years, then took on the Central Maritime District in ‘21. Held that position until 1924, took over the Administrative Command for a bit, and then we started preparing for the transition last year.

AWNR: What do you see as the challenges facing the navy?

KP: We have a number. First, there’s the constant balancing act we undertake in managing quality versus quantity. We have a large coastline, some outlying territories, but neither the resources nor the legal right - thanks to the Cleito Treaty - to be extravagant in their defence. That’s particularly an issue for cruiser and destroyer construction, as we’re already committed to courses of action with our capital ship and carrier programs.

KP: There’s a matter of ensuring we have adequate support facilities, by which I mean assets tasked with repair and maintenance. Prior to 1924, we thought we had adequate levels, yet after a relatively modest engagement with the Danes, some of our ships were waiting months to enter drydock for repairs. We can’t afford to have our limited numbers of ships indisposed like this. So I want to ensure that we have additional drydocks available, in secure areas and also in our frontier regions. Conversion of Otta into a repair ship will further enhance this capability.

AWNR: Last year we were hearing something about a “Hornet’s Nest” strategy. What happened there?

KP: Hornet’s Nest is a plan that will see our forward bases and territories protected by large numbers of light craft - coastal torpedo boats, coastal submarines, small minelayers, minesweepers - while our major units are based at our interior bases and tasked with more strategic missions. The building programs initiated last year are a big part of making this work, and I expect we’ll see some major re-deployments in the latter part of the year, once we have the minimal level of forces available.

AWNR: Will the navy continue to give equal weighting to its operational areas?

KP: My sense is that we will be more heavily weighted in the east.

AWNR: Can we expect some significant new construction in the near future?

KP: We’ll start down the road of coastal defence armorclads next year, and after that we can expect a new class of aircraft carrier. Both design processes are well along, but Urumi’s first year of service will go a long way in helping us finalize the subsequent carrier design.

AWNR: Best of luck in your new position.

KP: Thank you.

17 March

The battleship Akbar ran her speed trials yesterday at the navy’s test range near Columbo. Captain Saraswathi told AWNR that the battleship reached her designed speed of twenty-eight knots without difficulty, but would not disclose how the overload trials went.

A number of guests were aboard the battleship for the occasion, including her designer, Dhiren Naidu, and his three children. Naidu, who appeared misty-eyed, said, “I’ve been waiting a long time for this moment.”

The ship proceeded on to Mumbai, in anticipation of sailing to the Laccadive Firing Range for the first test of the ship's guns in a few day's time.

The Navy has confirmed that Akbar will take a cruise up into the eastern Mediterranean starting next month. The only significant stops reported so far are in Turkey, where the battleship is expected to stay for three to four days, and in Asir, where her presence is expected to send a political message. Upon completing the cruise, the ship will head south again, probably stopping in at a South African port or two before returning home.

Hornet´s Nest again, eh? Good to see you haven´t forgotten about it - I´m sure most readers have. Including myself, that is. :o)

I wonder what you have in mind with this Saudi thing but we´ll surely see in the foreseeable future, right?

Interesting news in general, keep them coming!

Cheers,

HoOmAn

Hadn't forgotten about it, but figured it made more sense to "pull the trigger" once some of the light units were actually active, and once the transition between new and old generations of BB/CV was completed - later in 1927.

Naw, I'll just build the Saudi thing to a point and then never speak of it again.

Actually, I need to do a little research so I can pin down exactly how the Saudis react to the latest developments in the situation.

Nice news report Rocky, very interesting and deverse reading. I think we can all rest safe knowing your title is aptly earned.

I know the feeling about being stalled due to lack of information, I quite often get stalled in my Turkish news reports (or simply don't post any) because I'm unsure how their govt. system works.

It works like most governments...not very well.

Much appreciated. One does what one must to keep amused during my long commutes home each day.

Seriously, though, I'm gradually wrapping up the Sharmilla story, and am, in various fashions, progressing another half-dozen story arcs. Takes a lot of words to do this.

I trust the 12/13 Feb articles were to your satisfaction?

Yes Nicely done, I will however post my own version of the events in my Atlantian news post (vertually the same post), with the apropriate gift exchange.