WesWorld

Overlaps with late 1933 as well...

Reports of the NATO agreement in Bermuda between the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico, and Atlantis were met with decidedly mixed reactions in Washington. In a press conference announcing the agreement, President Roosevelt explained why the United States initiated efforts to form the alliance: "The primary focus of this alliance is the prevention of war, hence its being specifically defensive in nature. It has become apparent that many have mistaken the United States' neutrality for pacifism and seek to exploit it to expand their sphere's of influence in the hemisphere. By joining together with like minded nations in a defensive alliance we hope to prevent war in the future by presenting a strong, united front against any aggressor and the alliance will give member states the peace of mind that comes from the knowledge that they are not alone in a crisis, allowing a more reasoned and less reactionary response to potential threats." When asked if the events in Mexico and the Bolivian war had influenced the creation of NATO, the President said: "Absolutely! It is quite clear that outside powers have been attempting to take advantage of the situation in Mexico to further destabilize the nation and Mexico is not only a neighbor and strategic ally but a friend and it must be allowed to resolve its internal crisis without the interference of others. The conflict in South America has already involved at least one outside power and with the close proximity of territories belonging to or heavily influenced by the great European powers it is a potential powder keg for a new Great War." Asked if other nations are being courted as possible members, the President said there were several but refused to discuss who they were for diplomatic reasons.

The President's Democratic supporters in Congress were enthusiastically supportive of the agreement, while his opponents vowed to filibuster the treaty in hopes of killing it, claiming it will almost guarantee United States involvement in any future global war. That left the Socialists in the rather interesting position of holding the fate of the treaty in their hands and they moved quickly to make demands on the President in return for their support. Two of the most important were the Wagner Act to protect Labor unions, and a "Social Security" act to provide for retirement benefits to Americans as well as measures to provide unemployment benefits to fired workers. Finally, with the Socialists satisfied, the Senate was finally able to halt the Republican filibuster and voted to ratify the treaty in late September.

Almost immediately, NATO faced its first crisis in South America as the Bolivian war came to a conclusion and the various parties began to divide up the spoils of war. Peruvian requests for Japanese troops to help stabilize the situation caused tremendous concern in Washington. The US moved to send forces of its own in cooperation with NATO, but was limited in what it could send due to the small size of the Army. Only the Marine Corps had the resources and training to conduct operations so far away and they formed the core of the American response and a Marine General was named to head the combined forces there. On the heels of the Bolivian matter, the wheels began to finally fall off the cart that was the Cleito Treaty. India had already announced its decision to withdraw, which while serious, was not seen as fatal. Then Italy began to strongly hint that it would leave as well. Then came the announcement that American military planners had expected, Japan was leaving the treaty immediately. While publicly still calling for the treaty to continue, American military planners began preparations for its end. Plans were put into motion to build new construction ways, especially on the West Coast and work began on new warship designs as well as improvements to the 16" and 18" naval guns left stillborn by Cleito. Early in the new year, Congress quickly passed the Byrnes-Trammell Act, which would authorize, AND fund the expansion of the United States fleet to the maximum levels permitted under the Cleito treaty. Previous efforts that authorized construction often failed to then provide the funding for that construction since the two were frequently voted on separately. Under the Act, the United States would build nearly two dozen new cruisers and over four dozen new destroyers over the next few years. Almost immediately work began on the last group of heavy cruisers permitted under the treaty. The New York City class had been authorized by Congress as early as the 1929 fiscal year, but never funded. They would be finished by the end of 1935. Plans were also finalized for the New Orleans and Brooklyn class light cruisers and the Tillman class of large destroyers.

Meanwhile, the Navy announced that its search for new dive and torpedo bombers had been narrowed down considerably. Northrop and Vought were invited to produce several examples of their SBT and SB2U monoplane dive bombers for extended testing to complement, and eventually replace, the biplane Curtiss SBC which had only entered service a year before. Douglas' TBD design was seen as far superior to any of its possible competitors in the torpedo bomber competition, with an all-metal, monoplane construction far in advance to anything in the US arsenal at the time. The search for new, more advanced fighters narrowed as well. As a stop-gap measure, the Navy decided to purchase the Grumman F3F, despite it being a biplane. It then focused its efforts on monoplanes, with designs from Grumman, Northrop, Boeing and Curtiss eliciting considerable interest.

The huge Boeing "BLR-1", now redesignated XB-15, took to the skies for the first time in early February in Seattle before being turned over to the Army Air Corps for testing. The Army announced that they would enter the aircraft in the upcoming MacRobertson air race from the UK to Australia, calling the race "a perfect opportunity to test the aircraft under real world conditions". Some commentators also say it would provide a none to subtle example of the long-range reach of the bomber, considered capable of reaching targets nearly anywhere in the hemisphere and across the Atlantic. Boeing also neared completion of a smaller cousin to the massive bomber. The XB-17 would have a similar payload over a shorter range, but was also faster and cheaper. Martin's XB-16, still unfinished in its Baltimore factory, none the less scored an important victory in its competition with the Boeing aircraft when Brazil announced that it would buy several for a maritime reconnaissance role, with the first aircraft to be delivered in 1935. Martin was also reported to be working on an even larger bomber and Douglas Aircraft was reported to be in the early design stages for its own "super bomber". New fighter designs continued to be narrowed down as well, with the Curtiss Model 75 being the leading contender, followed closely by the nimble and fast little Hughes XP-37, based on the H-1 racer. The Army ordered several examples of each for further testing. Many observers noted that the main advantage the Curtiss had over the Hughes entry was greater manufacturing capacity. Hughes was still in the process of setting up a factory to produce the plane and there were reports that he would possibly sell the design to an established company if the Army ordered full production and he was unable to keep up with orders.

With the completion of the airship Macon, the Navy began design of a follow-on design, larger and with a greater aircraft capacity. Based heavily on the "Clipper" civilian design, the new airships were officially named the "Bismarck Class" in an effort to garner support from Midwestern and Mountain state Congressmen. All would be named for cities in landlocked states, with the lead ship named for the North Dakotan capital. The first ship was scheduled for completion in mid 1935, with a second ship being built almost simultaneously at a specially modified dry dock in South Carolina as part of recently retired Admiral Moffett's plan to build airships in Naval shipyards. The "Pacific Clipper" began construction at Goodyear's Los Angeles factory, for completion in early 1935. She would be almost identical to the "Atlantic Clipper" which would begin trans-Atlantic operations in the spring of 1934. The Army, after over a decade of failed attempts to get its own rigid airships was finally given permission to build two such vessels. The first would be a virtual copy of the "Bismarck" and would be built at the new hanger at Scott Field in Illinois. The second Army airship would be a much larger version of the Navy's unusual ZMC-2, an airship that used aluminum sheets for its envelop instead of canvas. The MC-50 would be smaller than the "Bismarck" but its unusual design promised greater speed and strength, as well as weight savings over a conventional design.

Y'know, I was looking through your PhotoBucket stuff last night, and just happened to notice a number of aircraft with airship-recovery hooks...



Sienar Fleet Systems notes the U.S. Navy's requirement for a new scout-bomber and decides to make an unsolicited submission of its V-19, currently entering production for the FAB:

Germany approves of the name of the new American airships.

An american build BISMARCK?! What link do the americans have to this name?

The capital of North Dakota, an American state, was named for Otto von Bismarck. After all, lots of Germans emigrated to the US in the 1800s....

That'll make the second ship USS Pierre, right?

Think that's crazy? Australia will have a Battlecruiser called Bismark.

US/Oz/German joint exercises could certainly be entertaining...

Heh, there's that. I'll have to be sure to not send KM Bismarck to those exercises, but KM Tirpitz will be available not long after her sister so it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Thought it would be fun, and historically the states without coastlines were loath to spend money on the Navy, so I threw them a bone. I'm thinking of names like Denver, Casper, Rapid City, Des Moines, and even Pierre.