WesWorld

Well, with work, walking to work and back home (due to a flat tire of my bike), cleaning up my room, and no ideas to use for the news reports, I'm far behind with the news reports from Japan. ;;
I've thought a couple of them up. The reports are not as elaborate as they were before (pre 1921) but here they are.

Walter

News for the First Month of the Eigth Year of the Emperor Taisho.

Taisho 8 Nen 1 Getsu 1 Nichi (January 1, 1921)
Plans of the conversion of the Battleships Kaga and Tosa to carriers have been approved. Due to the conversion, the whole building schedule for both ships have been completely messed up and officials are not certain when the ships will be ready. The ships have officially been renamed as Zuiho (Kaga) and Shoho (Tosa).

Taisho 8 Nen 1 Getsu 4 Nichi (January 4, 1921)
Today the keel of the first vessel of the Atsusa class Coastal Defense ship was laid down. The Atsusa, meaning ‘heat’, will be the first coastal defense vessel to enter the Imperial Japanese Navy after the aging Chiyoda, the only coastal defense ship left after the end of the Great War, was scrapped in 1919. Estimates are that she will be ready late January or early February next year.

Taisho 8 Nen 1 Getsu 12 Nichi (January 12, 1921)
A representative of the Bakufu has today officially announced the existence of 7 submarines, two of the Ie Ichi class and five of the Ie Ni class.



News for the Second Month of the Eigth Year of the Emperor Taisho.

Taisho 8 Nen 2 Getsu 7 Nichi (February 7, 1921)
Happy Birthday to His Imperial Majesty Emperor Shodahito ! His 33rd. The palace did seem rather empty without the Empress, who is currently part of the Japanese Delegation still at Atlantis.

Taisho 8 Nen 2 Getsu 27 Nichi (February 27, 1921)
To the citizens of the world. The time has come. Be very afraid for Oonishi Manzo is on the move again after having been delayed at numerous occasions ! This morning, people saw his SPAD take off. This will be his second attempt to get to Coldmere to pick up the Coldmerian Flag. Let us hope that he will be more successful this time.



News for the Third Month of the Eigth Year of the Emperor Taisho.

Taisho 8 Nen 3 Getsu 8 Nichi (March 8, 1921)
The Japanese delegation boarded the Fuso today. After several months, delayed by some unknown problems, the flagship of the Imperial Japanese Navy finally leaves Atlantis. Their next destination will be Coldmere. Let us hope they are prepared for the extra visitors.

Taisho 8 Nen 3 Getsu 21 Nichi (March 21, 1921)
Many Coldmerians have waited a long time for this day, but today they got their first glimpse of the Fuso as it arrived near the coast of Coldmere.

It is rather strange (or maybe not) that Oonishi Manzo has not reached Coldmere yet. A report that came in yesterday from the Russian Federation indicating that the Akaryu was spotted by a man, who saw the plane flying south along the west side of the Ural.
The man, who wished to remain anonymous, told a Russian Official that when he saw this red and white plane he first thought it to be one of the Federation’s ally France since he recognized it as a SPAD XIII. However, when the plane came closer, he saw that the red field on the plane was a large oriental dragon.

Taisho 8 Nen 3 Getsu 24 Nichi (March 24, 1921)
Happy Birthday to Empress Kameko ! Her 31st. She celebrates her birthday in Coldmere.

The statistics of the submarines that have finally been released by the Bakufu...

Ie Ichi, Japan Large Submarine laid down 1917

Displacement:
1,082 t light; 1,117 t standard; 1,611 t normal; 1,735 t full load
Loading submergence 121 tons/feet

Dimensions:
290.00 ft x 27.00 ft x 18.00 ft (normal load)
88.39 m x 8.23 m x 5.49 m

Armament:
1 - 3.94" / 100 mm guns
2 - 0.98" / 25 mm guns
Weight of broadside 31 lbs / 14 kg
6 - 21.0" / 533.4 mm submerged torpedo tubes (4 forward, 2 aft)

Machinery:
Diesel Internal combustion engines plus batteries,
Electric cruising motors plus geared drives, 1 shaft, 3,036 shp / 2,265 Kw = 17.00 kts
Range 11,500nm at 8.00 kts

Complement:
64 - 83

Cost:
124,000 Ryo / 57.155 million Yen

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
Armament: 4 tons, 0.2 %
Machinery: 111 tons, 6.9 %
Hull, fittings & equipment: 967 tons, 60.0 %
Fuel, ammunition & stores: 198 tons, 12.3 %
Miscellaneous weights: 330 tons, 20.5 %

Metacentric height 0.8

Remarks:
Hull space for machinery, storage & compartmentation is excellent
Room for accommodation & workspaces is extremely poor

Estimated overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
Relative margin of stability: 1.04
Shellfire needed to sink: 1,165 lbs / 528 Kg = 38.2 x 3.9 " / 100 mm shells
(Approx weight of penetrating shell hits needed to sink ship excluding critical hits)
Torpedoes needed to sink: 0.5
(Approx number of typical torpedo hits needed to sink ship)
Relative steadiness as gun platform: 0 %
(Average = 50 %)
Relative rocking effect from firing to beam: 0.00
Relative quality as seaboat: 0.00

Hull form characteristics:
Block coefficient: 0.400
Sharpness coefficient: 0.29
Hull speed coefficient 'M': 7.56
'Natural speed' for length: 17.03 kts
Power going to wave formation at top speed: 35 %
Trim: 50
(Maximise stabilty/flotation = 0, Maximise steadiness/seakeeping = 100)

Estimated hull characteristics & strength:
Underwater volume absorbed by magazines and engineering spaces: 70.5 %
Relative accommodation and working space: 0.0 %
(Average = 100%)
Displacement factor: 276 %
(Displacement relative to loading factors)
Relative cross-sectional hull strength: 3.49
(Structure weight / hull surface area: 133 lbs / square foot or 651 Kg / square metre)
Relative longitudinal hull strength: 1.96
(for 0.00 ft / 0.00 m average freeboard, freeboard adjustment -10.51 ft)
Relative composite hull strength: 2.26

Operational Depth: 226 ft
Emergency Depth: 361 ft
Crush Depth: 565 ft



Ie Ni, Japan Small Submarine laid down 1918

Displacement:
308 t light; 318 t standard; 469 t normal; 508 t full load
Loading submergence 53 tons/feet

Dimensions:
190.00 ft x 18.00 ft x 12.00 ft (normal load)
57.91 m x 5.49 m x 3.66 m

Armament:
1 - 2.95" / 75 mm guns
Weight of broadside 13 lbs / 6 kg
4 - 21.0" / 533.4 mm submerged torpedo tubes (2 forward, 2 aft)

Machinery:
Diesel Internal combustion engines plus batteries,
Electric cruising motors plus geared drives, 1 shaft, 769 shp / 574 Kw = 14.00 kts
Range 8,000nm at 8.00 kts

Complement:
25 - 33

Cost:
39,000 Ryo / 17.940 million yen

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
Armament: 2 tons, 0.3 %
Machinery: 28 tons, 5.9 %
Hull, fittings & equipment: 279 tons, 59.4 %
Fuel, ammunition & stores: 61 tons, 13.0 %
Miscellaneous weights: 100 tons, 21.3 %

Metacentric height 0.4

Remarks:
Hull space for machinery, storage & compartmentation is adequate
Room for accommodation & workspaces is extremely poor

Estimated overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
Relative margin of stability: 1.03
Shellfire needed to sink: 261 lbs / 118 Kg = 20.3 x 3.0 " / 75 mm shells
(Approx weight of penetrating shell hits needed to sink ship excluding critical hits)
Torpedoes needed to sink: 0.2
(Approx number of typical torpedo hits needed to sink ship)
Relative steadiness as gun platform: 0 %
(Average = 50 %)
Relative rocking effect from firing to beam: 0.00
Relative quality as seaboat: 0.00

Hull form characteristics:
Block coefficient: 0.400
Sharpness coefficient: 0.29
Hull speed coefficient 'M': 7.47
'Natural speed' for length: 13.78 kts
Power going to wave formation at top speed: 35 %
Trim: 50
(Maximise stabilty/flotation = 0, Maximise steadiness/seakeeping = 100)

Estimated hull characteristics & strength:
Underwater volume absorbed by magazines and engineering spaces: 90.9 %
Relative accommodation and working space: 0.0 %
(Average = 100%)
Displacement factor: 279 %
(Displacement relative to loading factors)
Relative cross-sectional hull strength: 3.44
(Structure weight / hull surface area: 88 lbs / square foot or 429 Kg / square metre)
Relative longitudinal hull strength: 2.00
(for 0.00 ft / 0.00 m average freeboard, freeboard adjustment -8.21 ft)
Relative composite hull strength: 2.29

Operational Depth: 229 ft
Emergency Depth: 366 ft
Crush Depth: 572 ft

News for the Fourth Month of the Eigth Year of the Emperor Taisho.

Taisho 8 Nen 4 Getsu 1 Nichi (April 1, 1921)
Happy Birthday to the Shogun, Tokugawa Kaetuza ! His 29th. Another birthday far away from the Homeland.

Today, Princess Bethanie of Coldmere together with Empress Kameko, and the empress’ sisters Maeko and Mieko made a trip to Oslo to visit the many fabulous stores there. Nordmark security was tight, but it seems that it was there to protect the citizens rather than the four shoppers since the Yagyu clan Daimyo, Yagyu Minoru, and his three colleagues, Chosokabe Benjiro, Asano Toru, and Ogawe Morio were seen shadowing the four. It was reported by a spokesperson of Nordmark that despite this situation, no problems occurred during the visit.

Taisho 8 Nen 4 Getsu 2 Nichi (April 2, 1921)
Today the keel of the second vessel of the Atsusa class Coastal Defense ship was laid down. The Zansho, meaning ‘Lingering [summer] Heat’, is estimated to be ready late April next year.

Taisho 8 Nen 4 Getsu 5 Nichi (April 5, 1921)
Today the keel of the third vessel of the Atsusa class Coastal Defense ship was laid down. The Asasamu, meaning ‘Morning Chill’ or ‘Morning Cold’, is estimated to be ready late April next year.

Taisho 8 Nen 4 Getsu 12 Nichi (April 12, 1921)
Today the Hosho has been commissioned. She’s Japan’s first operational carrier. The crew is busy to prepare for the shakedown cruise after which she will be attached to the Fuso battlegroup.

The signs were there but now it has been made official: the Empress is pregnant again. This will be the fourth child of the Imperial couple.
In Coldmere's famous casino, 'The Ice Pit', news quickly spread regarding the pregnancy of the Japanese Empress and it does not look good for the family line when it comes to betting there. Most of them believe the Imperial couple will get another daughter.

Taisho 8 Nen 4 Getsu 24 Nichi (April 24, 1921)
Hosho left Hakodate today and is heading for Yokosuka where she will be loaded with planes.



News for the Fifth Month of the Eigth Year of the Emperor Taisho.

Taisho 8 Nen 5 Getsu 3 Nichi (May 3,1921)
After a long stay at Coldmere, the Japanese delegation has left Coldmere. There still has been no sign of Oonishi Manzo in Coldmere, who was last seen flying circles around Lady Liberty.

Taisho 8 Nen 5 Getsu 5 Nichi (May 5, 1921)
After 30 planes have been loaded aboard the Hosho, she now sets sail on her shakedown cruise. The plane list given consists of 10 N-1, 5 N-2 and 15 N-3 planes.



News for the Sixth Month of the Eigth Year of the Emperor Taisho.

Taisho 8 Nen 6 Getsu 7 Nichi (June 7, 1921)
Congratulations to the Emperor and Empress with the birth of their fourth child, princess Chitsuko… a daughter (again).

The Bakufu gathered with the Emperor and some of his advisors today and it has been decided to declare the Emperor’s Nephew Hirohito, son of Shodahito’s elder deceased brother Yoshihito, as heir to the throne.

Taisho 8 Nen 6 Getsu 10 Nichi (June 10, 1921)
Today, the Coast Defense Ship Atsusa has been launched from Slip II-5A at Fukuoka Navy Yard, Fukuoka (Kyushu).

Taisho 8 Nen 6 Getsu 21 Nichi (June 21, 1921)
We do not know how he did it, but he finally did it !
Oonishi Manzo has managed to get to Coldmere. On his way down he bounced off the deck of the KS 'Lord Helmbart' and crashed into the water. The crew of the KS 'Lord Helmbart' were relieved that the ship escaped without any damage and that they only suffered one casualty, a man who had to be taken to sickbay. He nearly suffered a heart-attack when (as the victim stated later) “that crazy Nip bounced down on the deck right in front of me, screaming ‘Eremdloc siht si ? Dneirf gninrom doog !’ at me ! He looked like some fiend from hell, that he did !”

This result means that anyone who has bet on the KS 'Lord Helmbart' as target of the crash (or anywhere close) is a winner at 18 to 1. One of the better known winners out there is from India: The Raj's wife, the Rana, who has put 50,000 rupees down on the destroyer as the point of arrival.
The crash of the Akaryu II results officially in the 7th Plane lost by Oonishi Manzo.

Nice read!

Keep it coming!

HoOmAn

Thanks, I'm doing my best.
I just realized that I forgot an article about the 16 inch guns that were to be used on the Kaga class BBs, before the plans were made to convert them to carriers (while I was busy with it, I nearly forgot the birthdays; very important in order to give it a bit more depth ;.
It wouldn't surprise me if there is something else I forgot.

Walter