WesWorld

The board says it's Saturday. That means it's time for...

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The Manila Evening Times
1 October 1925

El Presidente today announced a radical restructuring of the orginization of the Filipino armed forces.

Effective immediately, the holder of the office of Presidente will also hold the rank of Generalissmo. Vice-Almirante Juan Diego de la Vega, formerly head of the Marina de Filipinas, is promoted to Almirante and appointed Jefe, Filipinas Armed Forces...

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The Manila Times
2 October 1925

Wasting no time, Almirante de la Vega today announced that the "antique" air fleet of the Fuerza Aerea Filipinas will be upgraded as quickly as possible.

50 Nakajima Ko-4 fighter aircraft have been ordered from Japan, to replace the SPAD VIIs that currently equip the fighter squadrons of the FAF.

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The Manila Times
8 October 1925

The Arsenal de Manila 155mm/52 gun has been cleared for service, and none too soon as the gun, which suffered from some teething problems, is planned armament for the battlecruiser Samal currently under construction, and the rebuild of the Chinese cruiser Ying Jui, which begins in October.

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The Manila Times
9 October 1925

The Mexicans desire to upgrade their navy, and the Filipino Government wishes to help.

Last week the Mexicans announced that they wish to have their exsisting capital ships - the ex-US predreadnought Santa Anna and the ex-Brasilan coast defense ship Anahuac - rebuilt or replaced, and also have a requirement for two light cruisers.

Yesterday the Mexican Ambassador received a package containing the MdF's offer. The plan includes:

-Rebuilding of the Santa Anna along the same lines as its sister ship, the Chinese Lee Siu-Lung, which will begin its rebuild in the Manila Shipyard next month.

-Replacement of the Anahuac with a pair of Panabo-class coast defense battleships.

-Construction of two new-design light cruisers, each displacing 5,700 tons, armed with six 130mm guns and capable of reaching 32 knots.

The Mexicans plan to announce a decision next month. Of course if the Filipino offer is accepted, it will be subject to approval by India and Japan under the SATSUMA Treaty...

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The Manila Times
11 October 1925

Almirante de la Vega today announced the "decentralization" of Filipino munitions factories.

"Up until now, all our artillery and aviation factories have been centered in Manila, which is good from an orginizational standpoint but makes them militarily vunerable," said the Almirante.

Two new aircraft factories will be built:
-the Cebu Aero Factory on Cebu
-the Davao Aero Factory on Mindanao

In addition, the new Arsenal de Davao will focus on "major-caliber" naval artillery, allowing the Arsenal de Manila to focus on medium and small caliber guns and land artillery, as well as experimental work.

The Almirante said that some foreign companies have expressed interest in the Philippines, and "near-future" contracts may help defray the cost of the new factories.

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The Manila Times
13 October 1925

While "organized resistance" may have ended, the anarchist group known as SALSA still has pockets of support in northwestern Mindanao. Several small-scale skirmishes have occured in the past few months.

Elements of the Filipino Army continue to make sweeps into the jungles of Mindanao and often bring back prisoners...

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The Manila Envelope
15 October 1925

...'El Jefe' was overheard yesterday during a meeting screaming "you mean theres NOONE in these islands who can design an aircraft!?!?!"...

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The Manila Times
17 October 1925

The Filipino Parliment today approved the 1926-1931 Naval Construction Estimates.

Authorized under the Estimates are the following vessels of 601 tons light displacement or greater:

One battlecruiser
One coast-defense battleship
Two aircraft carriers
Two heavy cruisers
Two light cruisers
Two minelaying cruisers
Eleven destroyers
Six patrol submarines
Two assault transports
One sail training ship
Two "polar exploration ships"

Smaller vessels are not required to be authorized by the Parliment, but rather are counted as "contingency expenditures".

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The Davao News-Press
18 October 1925

The Japanese fleet - the "Red Force" portion of it - arrived here today for the first annual SATSUMA exercises.

Notably missing are any aircraft carriers, but we have been informed that they will arrive tomorrow...

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The Davao News-Press
19 October 1925

The harbour shook with cries of "Banzai!" today, as the Japanese carrier Zuhio arrived to join the Japanese fleet along with its escort, the famous battleship Mikasa with none other than Count Togo of Tsushima on its bridge...

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The Manila Times
20 October 1925

While the Chinese cruiser Ying Jui rebuilds at San Fernando, Marina de Filipinas naval architects have finalised the plan for their next Chinese contracted project, the battleship Lee Siu-Lung.

According to Commander de la Croix, chief of design for the MdF, the battleship's rebuild will include replacing all of her main and secondary armament with a uniform caliber, making her a "semi-Dreadnought".

"The design is such that we can swap out the twin eight-inch turrets for single twelve-inch ones," said the Commander. "We will also replace the existing twin twelve-inch guns with new ones, all of which will be the 55-caliber Skoda model that's being installed in our Panabos."

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The Manila Times
21 October 1925

The Filipino Government announced today that they have reached a deal in which the Chilean Government has purchased a licence to build the Panabo-class Coast Defense Battleship...

(ooc: license fees will be 0.1 IP per hull or variant of hull laid down, due in the quarter in which the hull is laid down.)

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The Manila Times
22 October 1925

The Marina de Filipinas is watching with interest British trials of launching heavier-than-air aircraft from lighter-than-air airships.

In the most recent test, on 15 October, the airship R.33 sucessfully launched a de Havilland DH53 Hummingbird...

Despite the recent crash of the USS Shenandoah, the MdF believes that "aerial aircraft carriers" have a good deal of potential.

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to be continued...

Wow, Mexico passed up U.S. and Iberian builds? Isn't that a bit odd, and waaaay outside the sphere of influence of the Philipines?

Maybe the price was right.

Quoted

The Manila Envelope
15 October 1925

...'El Jefe' was overheard yesterday during a meeting screaming "you mean theres NOONE in these islands who can design an aircraft!?!?!"...

The Philipinos don't really have experience in this field. With the Ko.4 you are licence producing a licenced production aircraft? That is nearly 8 years old? Why not buy more modern aircraft, there are plenty of types on offer. You know it makes sense when the Ko.4 is slower than the Macchi 26 (which is a flying boat!)



How about something more radical?

Quoted

Wow, Mexico passed up U.S. and Iberian builds? Isn't that a bit odd, and waaaay outside the sphere of influence of the Philipines?

Mexico hasn't passed up anything yet. Watch for Part III, coming December 26th. ^_^

Quoted

With the Ko.4 you are licence producing a licenced production aircraft? That is nearly 8 years old?

We're not licensing the Ko-4, just ordering a bunch direct from Nakajima as a stop-gap measure to replace the creaky old SPADs. I have some ideas for more modern equipment, which will become clear in Q2/25:

"The Almirante said that some foreign companies have expressed interest in the Philippines, and "near-future" contracts may help defray the cost of the new factories"

Stay tuned.


RA - is that the "strike fighter" you made in PlaneBuilder?

Quoted

RA - is that the "strike fighter" you made in PlaneBuilder?

Yep, thats the one, the TSF.1

I need to work a lot on the picture, as at the moment I've just adapted it from a monoplane i drew. Note the enclosed cockpit, with long overwater flights i reckoned that a few pilot comforts are needed. Shes more or less identical to the Gloster Gladiator in most respects, but with less power, and a heavier airframe. Maneuvarbility is hardly excellent, but still fairly good actually.