WesWorld

Read in El País Newspaper, dated 28th-December-1934.

With the growing danger of a naval arms race, this newspaper has had news of the new ship the Navy wants to build.

A behemoth, a monster, the most powerful ship to have ever crossed the oceans, our reporters have found out details on the "Imperio Ibérico" class of battleships to be built soon.

More than 300 metres long, more than 40 metres wide, this ships will displace in excess of 95 thousand tons under normal displacement. With a main battery of twelve 500mm, assasine anti air battery, speeds of around 32 knots and armor plates 20 inches thick, this class, consisting of five ships, will spell doom to anything trying to threaten Iberian imperialism throughtout the world.

Eyebrows are raised everywhere as for the capability of Iberia to build such a ship. The Altos Hornos de Vizcaya steel works, in Bilbao, will supply the slips with the armor plates required. When asked if making plates that thick was possible, a worker of AHV, born in bilbao reportedly said "We're from Bilbao, we can make anything happen"!.

THe economic impact of such monsters won't be noticed by the average iberian citizen, because of the good job of the ministry of Economy. Knowing the ammount of coal AHV would need to make the armor plates for this class of ships an asturian mining business was asked if the coal mines in Iberia could produce enough coal for the project.

The answer was "if them workers do double-time work shifts, yeah, we'll produce more than what's neccessary". When asked if there will be more miners hired, or if the workers would see a salary raise if there is not, the answer was "They are paid well enough to eat and live, so they'll have nothing to complain about. We are the ones to tell them how much to work. If they don't like it, they may go asking for a job elsewhere".


The navy is really happy with this class of ships "with those battleships, and our planned 65k-ton aircraft carriers, Iberia will rule the seas again", an undisclosed source said.


So, it seems, soon the Iberian Navy will be what it used to be. Way to go!.

Um, looks like the PR machine is going full whack here...

Either that, or be afraid. Very afraid.

She'll only take 9 years to build, and will occupy a slip for nearly four of them.

Soyuz Nerushimy & sisters will be nearly completed and the second set launched by the time Imperio Ibérico and sisters are launched.

The construction time on monsters like this (or H-44, etc) is generally prohibitive, unless the fleet building them already has a dominant fleet. So the Abwehr rates this as, at best, speculative design studies that leaked out.

Not to mention the infrastructure of Iberia's potential advasary's could easily match this supposed program.

The Blue Screen of Death.

Useless! I think what you need are a couple of Fritz Xs...


... and I wouldn't be surprised if Germany would have them available by the time Imperio Ibérico and her sisters become operational.

Quoted

and I wouldn't be surprised if Germany would have them available by the time Imperio Ibérico and her sisters become operational.

Laid down Q1/35.

Consumes ~2600 tons per quarter each.

Completed Q4/43.

Completes sea trials Q2/44.

Yeah, it looks like our Dutch Trickster is correct.

... but don't forget that this is Wesworld... where we are a little bit ahead of schedule with things... so the Fritz might make an appearance here a bit sooner...

Nah, no fancy space age wepons needed, just a really[SIZE=3] BIG[/SIZE] bomb!



*goes of to convince Wes that Mexico really does need heavy strategic bombers*

Quoted

Nah, no fancy space age wepons needed, just a really BIG bomb!

You know, there is nothing fancy space age about the Fritz X. Obviously you haven't watched that link Gavin posted with the video (in Italian) about the loss of the RM Roma some time ago.
... Link no longer works though...

For all those who believed this news:



you have bitten! ...

28th december in most mediterranean countries, it's called "innocent's day"...our version of April's fools day.

Here in Spain the newspaper and the media usually publishes stupid/funny fake news in that day, easily recognizable as such...but now and then a fake new is taken as truth, with much laughter when the media involved declares it was a fake afterwards.

El País is a leftist newspaper in Spain, I assume it is too in Iberia. It supports the laborist party and doesn't like a bit the Conservative party's plans to modernize the armed forces, nor the economic hit/labor condition worsening such a modernization may mean for the average worker (here enter the fake "mining business guy declarations" part). So, the new is a fake grossly exagerated and sarcastic joke and critic towards the government. A 95k ton battleship class????... A CV class displacing 65k tons each ship????...

hehehhee

In real life, El País it's also a radical pacifist cause supporter (but only when that cause favors the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, PSOE, interests... or goes against the Popular Party, PP, which is centre-right, ones).

In WW, during the electoral campaign, El Pais critized Pío Escudé as an alarmist warmonger who wanted to impose Iberian rule on the overseas provinces. The name of the class is self-explaining too: "Imperio Ibérico": Iberian Empire...when Iberia is a FEDERATION...


Thought at least some of you would get the joke, but I maybe should have over-done it a bit more...

but then none of you guys would've bitten, rofl .

Considering that sometimes the US Navy based its design estimates on reports in the Chicago Tribune, this could have major implications for American shipbuilding!

Quoted

Originally posted by Desertfox
Nah, no fancy space age wepons needed, just a really[SIZE=3] BIG[/SIZE] bomb!



*goes of to convince Wes that Mexico really does need heavy strategic bombers*

Well if you need em, I'll likely have em by that time!

El Presidente: *reading article* "I think I begin to smell a rat..."


Nevertheless the Philippines starts making inquiries about the "RB-16" the US is developing to that Brazilian contract...just in case.

"How will this new Iberian ship effect our planning?"

"Not it the slightest, it just might make it more convincing once the vessels are completed."

"At least Atlantis and Argentina already know of the possibility."

The Mexican Navy doesn't care if it's a joke, it's still good stuff to present to the Goverment when asking for more funds. After all Iberia is constructing some Battleships...

Imperio Iberico, yup definately bad guys, Wes! CanisD! I need more Big, Bad, and FREE ships!

Well, I have several CL's and DD's that need to be replaced that could provide usefull service in the Mexican navy. As for BB's, patience grasshoppa....

Actually, I could think of one or two uses for this in my own plotting...

El Mundo Newspaper, dated 30th-December-1934.

[SIZE=4]Tasteless Innocent's Day joke causes serious foreign concern[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]A fake ,tasteless new, published in El País worries several nations [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]The details of the new cause outrage between the government's ranks.[/SIZE]


-A fake new, published yesterday in the El País newspaper has raised concerns in most of the western hemysphere nations. The new, a tasteless joke where the iberian government was said to be holding an imperialistic desire, and where it was announced the building of five huge battleships and several giant carriers, has caused outrage in the government ranks as well.


El País releases an official apology in today's issue's first page, explaining the whole new was a joke that was taken "completely out of proportion" and that they meant "Not to harm" any foreign relations of Iberia with other nations , but just giving a "sarcastic critic" to the current government's policies which, as it is well known, El Paìs doesn't share at all.

A high representative of the Internal Affairs Ministry has confirmed that name of the reporter who wrote the fake new is known, and that the ministry of Justice will probably press libel and difamation charges against him. "there are enough grounds to press high treason charges as well" - our source confirmed - "because what that "joke" has caused is nothing short of a diplomatic earthquake with several foreign powers. A difamating new of this caliber, which causes this kind of reactions, is nothing short of treason".

When asked about the probable charges to be filed against the new's writer ,whose identity is still unknown for this newspaper, El País representantives answered that noone could be sentenced because a joke, even if the joke wasn't understood. "The intention was not to commit libel, much less treason. Noone can be found guilty of something he didn't ever wanted to do. The reaction to the new has surprised us all at the newspaper.". Sources from El País also affirm that, if charges are filed on the newswriter, it will be a "Direct attack against press freedom".


As it is now, the Foreign Ministry is trying to deal with the consequences of the poorly-thought joke. There are plans to contact several nations in a short lapse of time. "It's good we have a conference scheduled at La Habana with representatives of most of the nations who have expressed concern because of this new"- the Minister and vicepresident Bravo y Manzanedo said - "because it gives us a good chance to solve this matter and to clarify our respective positions. Still, this has been a serious blunder by one of our national-wide newspaper, and something someone must give some explanations about".