WesWorld

October 1, 1925
The Royal Chosen Navy announced the ships it is sending to the SATSUMA exercises, which will be held in several weeks time. The ships in question are the Armored Cruisers Nisshin and Aso, the Protected Cruiser Chitose, the Destroyers Arara and Ariake and the Gunboat Yodo.
A spokesperson of His Majesty Yi Ch'ok, told AWNR: CFJ “I doubt we will make much of an impact during the exercises but our men shall definitely do our best to get a good result.”

October 2, 1925
It has been announced by a spokesperson of the Imperial Military Air Force (IMAF) that the Fuerza Aerea Filipinas has put in an order for a total number of 40 fighter aircraft of the type Nakajima Ko-4.

October 3, 1925
It has been announced by a military spokesperson of the Imperial Military Air Force (IMAF) that he made a mistake in yesterdays announcement and that the ordered number of the plane in question is 50 and not 40.

October 4, 1925
Ships of the Royal Formosa Navy left Tahei (=Tai-Pei) today. The ships selected for the First SATSUMA exercise are Armored Cruiser Kasuga, the Protected Cruiser Tsugaru, the Light Cruiser Tone and the Destroyers Asakase and Asatsuyu.
“We don’t expect much,” Captain Zu Yang Tao of the Kasuga told AWNR: CFJ. “We expect to get our buts kicked all over the Sulu region. We have adequate materials, but these vessels are no match for a reasonable sized and/or modern navy. But we shall go down fighting.”

October 19, 1925
A great welcome in the Philippines for Japan’s great Naval Hero, Count Togo Heihachiro. He was on the bridge as his former flagship arrived in Davao’s harbor.
“Looking at the ships out there makes me feel good and incredibly proud. We shall see what SATSUMA’s forces can do,” the Count told AWNR: CFJ.
More than twenty years ago, Togo, then an Admiral, scored a decisive victory over the Russian Forces the Tsushima strait. The Mikasa was his flagship during the Ruso-Japan War.

October 24, 1925
Post SATSUMA exercise.
Japanese Vice Admiral Naoe wasn’t too happy with the various decisions by the Filipino referees.
“I think they were too eager with some aspects of the engagement and ignored some of the other aspects that should have been more effective. I’m fairly sure that in a real engagement, things would have been different. Well, we’ll see what will happen during the next SATSUMA exercise. Should I be selected to participate there, I will use the knowledge of this exercise to make sure that my performance will definitely be better.”
"What did I tell you?"Captain Zu Yang Tao laughed when meeting with AWNR: CFJ reporter Huang Kuan-yin. "We got beaten up badly!"

November 7, 1925
Both the Emperor and the Shogun sent their congratulations to Filipino President Enrique Monastario with his victory in the November 2 elections.
(Still they are curious if there was an opponent or that Enrique Monastario was the only candidate that could be selected.)

November 12, 1925
Antarctic explorers and builders set out from Japan’s Antarctic Station for Environmental Observation (JASEO) with materials for the construction of the Mount Erebus Volcanic Observation Station (MEVOS). It will be a long and dangerous journey, but the group is confident they can make a start to the observation station.

November 18, 1925
There were a lot of celebrations going on in Osaka as today the Ocean Liner Empress Yoshiko was completed. Her construction went smoothly and the launching of the vessel was a low profile business. For some odd reason AWNR: Japan was not allowed to make any reports on the launching of not only the Empress Yoshiko here in Osaka, but also the launching of her sister ships the Empress Yasuko in Kobe and the Empress Asako in Yokohama. According to estimates, the Empress Yasuko will be completed in the spring of 1926 and the Empress Asako will be finished somewhere in the fall of 1926.
Somewhere in the coming weeks, this large Ocean Liner will set out to sea for various trials before she will start performing her task of transporting passengers across the world.

November 26, 1925
“Welcome to the Antarctic club!!” Tsuda Odoshiro shouted after hearing that the Filipinos made a claim on a sector on the continent of Antarctica. “But what on Earth will you be doing in this cold and godforsaken frozen region of the world when you could be in always warm Manila?!?”
Tsuda Odoshiro is head of the Japanese Antarctic Researchers Organization (JARO) stationed at Japan’s Antarctic Station for Environmental Observation (JASEO).
“Well, it will probably become busier in the region but it still damn cold here!” Odoshiro said with a grin. “Good thing I’m from Hokkaido. I’m used to winters, but a Hokkaido winter can’t match the temperature of an Antarctic summer. The sun shines here every day during the summer, but that does not seem to help raise the temperature. I hate to be here in the winter. Should be much worse then.”

4 December 1925

The Imperial Navy today announced that the Marina de Filipinas made an order for 30 Yokosuka E1Y naval reconannisance floatplanes. While a number have already been constructed, they have yet to replace the current planes stationed on the capital ships. It is quite possible that the two ships of the Yukino class recently completed will be the first ships to be equiped with the E1Y.

December 5, 1925
Today the Empress Yoshiko has set out on her trials. It is expected that she will start her passenger service somewhere in June.

December 29, 1925
Japanese explorers made an unusual discovery under the icy surface of the Antarctic, discovering a large, odd ring-shaped object in an ice cavern.
Upon hearing the news Peter M. Olson, a British explorer who is part of Tsuda Odoshiro team told AWNR: CFJ “We can’t be sure what it is... but I seem to remember hearing a story that the Atlanteans once had a colony here a very, very long time ago. Something before there was all this bloody snow and ice here on Antarctica. Perhaps this story is nothing more than a load of rubbish, but we think it is definitely worth investigating what it is.”
Asked for the location of the cavern, Olson replied “This is the frikkin’ Antarctic!! How the hell can one give the exact location of a tiny cavern in the middle of frikkin’ nowhere of this huge continent... covered by nothing but bloody snow?!?!”
Asked about the influence he has on his boss, Tsuda Odoshiro, in regards of the bad language, Olson replied “No bloody comment, mate!”
AWNR: CFJ has a suspicion that Olson has been lying about his nationality when he joined up with Tsuda's team of explorers, but has not been able to proof anything yet. The Shinsengumi seem to know it, but they refuse to make it public. “We checked his background and he checked out okay,” A Shinsengumi spokesperson informed AWNR: CFJ. “No need to bother him any more.”

I think I have posted the stats before when I announced her construction in 1921-1922, but here are the stats of the Empress Shoken Ocean Liners. These vessels, of course, have been build using the civilian output of the factories. It has been a while since I did the accomodation, but I think I based this on the Passenger list of Titanic (but can't be quite sure).

Empress Shoken, Japan Ocean Liner laid down 1921

Displacement:
40,392 t light; 41,424 t standard; 51,576 t normal; 59,491 t full load

Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught
879.61 ft / 860.00 ft x 93.00 ft x 37.00 ft (normal load)
268.11 m / 262.13 m x 28.35 m x 11.28 m

Machinery:
Oil fired boilers, steam turbines,
Geared drive, 4 shafts, 126,167 shp / 94,121 Kw = 28.00 kts
Range 6,500nm at 27.00 kts (Bunkerage = 18,274 tons)

Complement:
1,710 - 2,224

Cost:
£5.147 million / $20.587 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
Armament: 0 tons, 0.0 %
Machinery: 4,345 tons, 8.4 %
Hull, fittings & equipment: 16,048 tons, 31.1 %
Fuel, ammunition & stores: 11,183 tons, 21.7 %
Miscellaneous weights: 20,000 tons, 38.8 %

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
92,521 lbs / 41,967 Kg = 856.7 x 6 " / 152 mm shells or 4.7 torpedoes
Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.05
Metacentric height 4.9 ft / 1.5 m
Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 30 %
- Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.00
Seaboat quality (Average = 1.00): 1.20

Hull form characteristics:
Hull has a flush deck
Block coefficient: 0.610
Length to Beam Ratio: 9.25 : 1
'Natural speed' for length: 29.33 kts
Power going to wave formation at top speed: 45 %
Trim (Max stability = 0, Max steadiness = 100): 15
Bow angle (Positive = bow angles forward): 10.00 degrees
Stern overhang: 10.00 ft / 3.05 m
Freeboard (% = measuring location as a percentage of overall length):
- Stem: 54.50 ft / 16.61 m
- Forecastle (20 %): 45.80 ft / 13.96 m
- Mid (50 %): 45.80 ft / 13.96 m
- Quarterdeck (15 %): 45.80 ft / 13.96 m
- Stern: 45.80 ft / 13.96 m
- Average freeboard: 46.50 ft / 14.17 m

Ship space, strength and comments:
Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 70.3 %
- Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 295.1 %
Waterplane Area: 57,850 Square feet or 5,374 Square metres
Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 180 %
Structure weight / hull surface area: 128 lbs/sq ft or 625 Kg/sq metre
Hull strength (Relative):
- Cross-sectional: 0.85
- Longitudinal: 4.07
- Overall: 1.00
Hull space for machinery, storage, compartmentation is excellent
Room for accommodation and workspaces is excellent
Good seaboat, rides out heavy weather easily




Empress Yoshiko laid down October 1, 1921
Empress Yasuko laid down April 1, 1922
Empress Asako laid down October 5, 1922
Construction time 49.5 months = 4 years 1.5 months

Empress Yoshiko completed November 18, 1925
Empress Yasuko completed May 22, 1926
Empress Asako completed November 27, 1926


ACCOMMODATION
First Class Accommodation:
One-berth: 83 cabins (83)
Two-berth: 80 cabins (160)
Three-berth: 99 cabins (297)
Total: 540 passengers

Second Class Accommodation:
Two-berth: 65 cabins (130)
Three-berth: 10 cabins (30)
Four-berth: 110 cabins (440)
Total: 600 passengers

Third Class Accommodation:
Two-berth: 90 cabins (180)
Four-berth: 185 cabins (740)
Six-berth: 80 cabins (480)
Eight-berth: 15 cabins (120)
Ten-berth: 8 cabins (80)
Total: 1,600 passengers

Miscellaneous weight breakdown:
16t / first class cabin passenger . . . 540 passengers = 8,640 tons
7.5t / second class cabin passenger . . 600 passengers = 4,500 tons
2.8t / steerage passenger . . . . . . 1,600 passengers = 4,480 tons
Total passengers. . . . . . . . . . . 2,740 passengers = 17,620 tons
Cargo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .= 1,800 tons
Extras. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .= 580 tons
Grand total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .= 20,000 tons

Have you got any stats for the E1Y? I can't find anything about it part from 320 being built for Japan.

The Nakajimi Ko-4 is a licence built version of the Nieuport -29 anyway. Why isn't the Philipines merely ordering aircraft from the French?

Because the French are French and part of FAR and the Japanese are Japanese and part of SATSUMA.
I'll see what I can find on the E1Y.

Exactly. Although I do plan to arrange joint production of a/c with an European country or two...stay tuned for Q2/26.

Searching for data on the E1Y appears to be similar to hunting down hen's teeth.


Are you sure "Peter M. Olsen"'s real name isn't O'Neill somethingorother?

Might be that the data was lost during all that US fire bombing.
You know Swamphen, after having found nothing (I looked at both Yokosuka E1Y and Naval Type 14 reconnaissance floatplane), I had hoped you had something. Now I will have to look in my books and hope I can find something in there. If not, we can always make our own data, based on various planes that existed.
I do have a picture of the Y2 and Y3 from a site that I can't access anymore. :-(
As for mr. Peter M. Olsen, I guess the Canadians might recognize something of this guy (Got beer?). Also remember that it wasn't Mr. Olson who made the discovery.

Quoted

I had hoped you had something.

Even the folks on What-If Modelers came up dry, and when that happens you're really up the creek!

http://www.geocities.com/flugzeugfiles/a…t/yokosuka.html

E1Y1 navy type 14-1 reconnaissance seaplane: shipborne; 2x0,77 MG (twin); 220 lb bombs; developed by Yokosho not yet Yokosuka. reconnaissance seaplane. Type 14 Modified was a transport seaplane. officially accepted by the Navy in January 1926. Over several years it was developed into three distinct models. The 400hp Lorraine powered model was the Navy Type 14-1 reconnaissance seaplane; the model B previously described. It was originally a two-seater, later changed to have three seats. maximum speed 96.5kt; Range 530nm

320 built between 1925 and 1934.