WesWorld

As always, there are various other threads that will be dealt with in the appropiate - er - threads.

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The Puerto Princesca Mariners' Gossip Gazette
5 August 1926

After its discovery by the Chilean Armada, the wreckage of a pirate ship, identified as belonging to the Iberian "Alf the 12th" class, has been towed into Puerto Princesca for examination by FINK.

The ship is nearly totally burned out and very low in the water - this writer estimates a maximum of two feet of freeboard!

After examination to determine (1) who owned it, (2) what killed it, and (3) which, if any, guns can be salvaged, the wreck will be towed back out to sea and used for a torpedo target.

According to the Filipino Marines guarding the pier the shattered hulk is tied up to, investigations are expected to take "about two months".

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The Manila Times
12 August 1926

The Chinese cruiser Ying Jui, rebuilt in Las Filipinas, was handed over to the Chinese Navy today.

However the rebuild of the Chinese battleship Lee Siu-Lung has been suspended, as the offensives against warlord factions have drained the Chinese treasury.

As a result, the Chinese have sold the ship to the Marina de Filipinas...

(The Filipinos will pay 0.3 IP for the ship in Q4, in addition to needing 444 tons to complete the rebuild...)

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The Manila Times
23 September 1926

CHINESE WARLORDS SUPPORTING PIRATES!

According to information from the prisoner taken last month, the Pirates of the South China Sea have had the support of various warlord factions in southern China.

In today's stunning announcement, it was revealed that "at least two, and possibly more" factions in Eastern and Southeastern China have been funding, supplying, and "making considerable profits from" a variety of pirate vessels, ranging from sailing junks "up to, and absolutely including," predreadnought battleships.

"These warlords have long been regarded as China's problem, for China to solve," said El Presidente. "It is now clear that these various warlords have been waging a 'privateers' war' against many of the world's powers. The time has come to put a stop to this!

"The Republic of the Philippines gives its full support to the Guangzhou government. We also propose that military action - primarily naval, of course - be taken against the 'Warlord Pirates' by the powers that have suffered by their depredations..."


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The Manila Times
30 September 1926

The Marina de Filipinas today placed an order with the American Boeing company for twenty-five FB-4 floatplane fighters.

No reaction to my Chinese expose? Tsk, tsk...

I'm licking my wounds. Having been told there is no such problem...then having a ship nearly blow up followed some proof that the Chileans were correct....the Chilean government is....oh...slightly miffed at the world...but doesn't have the firepower to go into China just yet....not unless Chile wanted to reactivate the wartime use transports to get the army over to China to take out suspected pirate camps....and even the, it would take a bit to support such an effort without a forward base of operations...(Parcels Islands). Only our Dreadnougts, Predreadnoughts and Armored Crusiers will likely have a chance if these pirates have what we suspect they have...and only something like above will be able to deal with "Deathshadow"...but that is an different target....one that might actually help against the Chinese Pirates.

Well, so far American shipping has not yet fallen prey to these nefarious brigands. If that were to happen, our response would be...decisive. One major American hot-button issue is freedom of the seas. We went to war with the Barbary States and England over it.

Atlantis is still not convinced that there are any "pirates" in the area, merely rouge bandits who obviously have greivences with the Philippino's.

If Atlantis had a similar problem, the situation would call for "an Atlantian Bull in a China shop" scenario, to which the problem would be short lived.

Unfortunately the Filipino 'Bull,' as it currently is, is not as big as the Atlantean 'Bull'. (of course that is the Japanese point of view)

The Atlantian bull is older, wiser and more even tempered, picking its fights wisely, while the Philippino Bull is... well you can fill in the blanks.

You are aware that I am talking about BS, are you?
:-)

(Walter, your avatar pic.... Are these shells or empty bottles?)

I would have to look at the bigger picture to be certain, but I believe that they are (shell-shaped) bottles.

The original picture can be found here.

Helium tanks.....

Reported in the Indian media, 25 September 1926

Foreign Affairs Minister Jal Kadharni says that India is concerned by allegations that Chinese warlords are supporting piracy in the South China Sea.

"It would not surprise us if this is the case, and that's among the reasons that we are supporting General Chiang. That said, it's important that there be no mistake on this volatile issue, so I ask that our allies release their data to the world at their earliest convenience.

"Obviously, action is necessary, and I am confident that General Chiang's forces will, over the coming months, ferret out and destroy those responsible. We would also expect that perhaps there is more hope for the pirate vessels being intercepted and dealt with."

The Minister noted, "We will not begrudge foreign assistance offered to, and accepted by, General Chiang's forces - however, we will not be pleased with foreign incursions that do not enjoy Chinese government support."

Meanwhile, the Raj's only comment on the matter was, "It seems to me that this is not the first time an Iberian-built warship has been found in the hands of pirates. I will be calling in the Iberian ambassador for some consultations."