WesWorld

Danish News Summary 1934

January
12th - It was a bitterly cold morning, not helped in any way by the Northerly breeze, as Flotilleadmiral (Commodore) Rolf Forsberg walked along the quayside, and he wasn't going to let his promotion stop him from casting his own eyes over his new command in Roskilde during his morning "constitutional".
In the distance he could see the figure of Chefsergent (Master Chief Petty Officer) Michael Laudrup, standing on the quayside, gesturing to the men tying up the first of the new MTC's.
I can only HOPE that you WILL get these vessels tied up BEFORE they become obsolete!" he called out in exasperation.
"DO NOT make me come down there Schmidt. Not even the Flotilleadmiral will be able to save you if I have to come down that ladder!"
No, Chefsergent. Sorry, Chefsergent." Schmidt replied as he retied the bow lines.
Laudrup started to turn away, brushing some debris of the new crowns on his sleeves, when he noticed the Commodore approaching.
"Section, Atten-SHUN!", he bellowed as he snapped to attention.
On the decks of the 3 MTC's below him, 15 pairs of heels came together with practiced precision as his charges came to attention smartly.

"As you were, gentlemen. Good Morning Chefsergent." Forsberg said as he returned the men's salutes. "How are the new boats?"
"I think they are going to be very good Sir", Laudrup replied. "I must admit that I am looking forward to getting to grips with one properly".
Forsberg looked down at the boats and noticed some chalk writing on the bridge side of MTC001. On closer inspection he could make out the name "ANDERS".
"I see someone has defaced one of the boats already! Is nothing sacred?" he asked, he turned away, trying to hide the smile that was trying to spread across his face.
"Sorry Sir. I will have it removed immediately" the Chefsergent said, as he followed his commanding officer, the disappointment in his voice barely disguised.
"Yes, you will. And then you will take it over to the Paint Shop and have Johann Anders name properly memorialised on your boat by young Arup". He turned to face Michael and smiled, as the Chefsergent failed to keep to stunned look off his face. "Did you really think, old friend; that I wouldn't discover your nefarious scheming to find out which of the MTC's was to be your new boat? You really should give me a little more credit!"
"Well, I suppose that after so many years of in close proximity with me, that some of my bad habits had to rub off on you sir!"he chuckled.

February
26th - Designs for Armoured Cars and Armoured Personnel Carriers for the Army and Marines have been received from Germany, Italy, and from Maskinfabriken Dana of Copenhagen, and De forenede Automobilfabrikker A/S of Odense; the two companies that collaborated on the Bille project.
R.A.M.S.E.S. will review the designs, and sample vehicles will be ordered for trials in the near future.

March
15th - R.A.M.S.E.S. has issued Trial Vehicle Orders with each of the 5 companies that offered designs in the recent competition. 4 vehicles from each company are to be delivered to R.A.M.S.E.S. for evaluation, no later than 30th June, 1934.
From Germany - Sdkfz 231 8-rad & Sdkfz 251
From Italy - Breda AB.35
From Maskinfabriken Dana - an as yet un-named design
From De Forenede Automobilfabrikker A/S - The "Stridsvogn" (Chariot)

April
1st - The Army has announced that the preparations for the invasion of Mars are now complete and the operations will commence next Friday!

6th - Due to an inconvenient clash of dates, the Invasion of Mars was postponed when it was discovered that it clashed with the Copenhagen Derby.

May
13th - It has emerged that the Army N.1 Band may have some internal competition.
It seems that the R.D.R.C. is putting together an "orchestra", no less!!

June
3rd - The company formed by De Forenede Automobilfabrikker A/S and Maskinfabriken Dana to develop the "Bille", Hydrema, have delivered their first development of the tank. The "Traebuk" (Long-Horned Beetle) was developed in response to a request to investigate the concept of mobile coastal artillery.

July
2nd - R.A.M.S.E.S. have taken delivery of all 20 vehicles for evaluation for the Army and Marines. De Forenede Automobilfabrikker A/S also delivered an additional vehicle, a derivation of their Chariot design for perusal, even though it was not requested. A spokesman for the company said that they had included the additional vehicle to show the versatility of their design.

August
17th - Outside the office of the camp Commandant, Camp Schumacher, Jylland.

"Well that went well, didn't it, your Highness!" enthused the Sergeant"
Holsted, you have a distinct gift for understatement!" chuckled Prince Frederik, "We have just received all the authorisation we needed to make the Orchestra a going concern! Now, get the men together; we will need more equipment, so get onto the quartermaster; and we are going to need suitable vehicles as soon as possible. I want to be able to demonstrate a full line up by the end of November"
Holsted saluted the young Premierløjtnant (First Lieutenant) and turned to leave to carry out his orders."And maybe now we can finally retire that old truck before it falls apart!" he called back as he headed off towards the barracks.
".....and I have an idea as to what will be our perfect vehicle." The prince thought to himself as he headed towards his office

September
21st - Project Octopus Office, Admiralty Headquarters, Copenhagen.

7 men sat around the table; none in uniform, but none of them were civilians.
"..and so, Gentlemen, I believe that we have been able to maintain complete security over the project so far, and I have no reason to doubt continued operational security in the final phase" the speaker closed his folio, and sat back.
The strongly built man at the head of the table nodded to the speaker, and moved his gaze to the man 2 places to his right, "And how is the schedule?" he asked.
"Well Sir, despite the necessary delays brought about by security concerns, we are only approximately 3 weeks behind schedule. I must add however, that due to these delays, the last structures will not be ready for fitting out until mid December, so we may not be operational as originally planned"
"That is unfortunate, but the secrecy of this project is paramount. We must not jeopardise that just to keep to schedule. This is to say however that we cannot allow delays to creep in unnecessarily."
He cast his eyes over the assembled group who nodded their assent.

October
19th - The Ministry of Defence has issued purchase orders to the following suppliers for military vehicles following the trials conducted by R.A.M.S.E.S.
To Germany - Initial batch of 48 x Sdkfz 231 8-rad armoured cars
To Italy - Initial batch of 96 x Breda AB.35 armoured cars
To Denmark - Initial batch of 96 x "Chariot S" armoured personnel carrier
To Denmark - Initial batch of 48 x "Chariot M" support vehicle
To Denmark - Initial batch of 12 x "Chariot C" command & communications vehicle
Although it did not win within the confines of the competition, the entries supplied by
Maskinfabriken Dana did impress due to the excellent cross-country capabilities of the design under heavy loads. As a result, the planned competition for heavy transport vehicles has been cancelled and the contract awarded to Maskinfabriken Dana for an undisclosed number of the vehicle in the 5 variants currently proposed by the company.

November
1st - The Army has requested that Hydrema examine the possibility of rearming the "Bille" with a larger calibre main gun. This is in response to the information regarding to the larger calibre weapons being mounted on the tanks of other nations.

30th - 20 miles off the coast of Jylland.
Premierløjtnant Jan Van Der Zee stood on the bridge of the Lake class patrol boat Rodso. It was a cold, dull but calm day with a thick blanket of grey clouds overhead. Jan was sure that the heavens would open any moment, despite what the meteorologists had said. He glanced at his watch.
He opened one of the pipes fixed to the front of the bridge, and blew into it.
"Radio room, aye" the pipe replied.
"Contact Lolland and inform them we are on station and the area in clear"
"Aye aye, Sir!" the pipe replied.
"Alright men, keep your eyes peeled. Let's not have any surprises, shall we?"
A chorus of "Aye aye Sir" came back from the lookouts and other officers on the bridge. Jan's curiosity had been peaked about this whole mission from the beginning; they had been given a position to hold, and were told to ensure that no vessels got between them and the coast. He looked at his watch again, and then turned his attention to the coast, barely visible due to the weather. A dark grey smoke plume formed on the shore, only noticeable due to it's darkness against the horizon."Ahhh" Jan thought to himself, "A firing trial of something new possibly?"
He scanned the horizon, looking for the splash of an impacting shell in the distance.
"Nothing so far, a few more seconds....." his thoughts drifted into the background, as he calculated flight times in his head.
Seconds ticked by, but still no splash.
"Hmm, must have been a misfire" he said quietly to himself.
"Sorry Sir?" his 2nd in command, Løjtnant (Lieutenant) Christensen queried, "I didn't quite catch that?"
"Ehh...Sorry Hans, I was just thi.....SWEET MOTHER OF GOD" he cried out as the sea approximately 1 kilometre off the starboard bow erupted in a sheet of flame. A wall of water almost 50 metres high leapt into the sky, accompanied by a deafening roar, causing an area of water almost 500 metres square to be churned into maelstrom.
The shockwave from the explosions rippled across the sea, vibrating through the hull of the Rodso.
Heavy spray from the explosions fall over the open bridge, carried on the offshore breeze, drenching the men assembled there.
"Does that qualify as a surprise, Sir?" quipped Christensen, as he turned to his C.O.
"Oh, ha ha, Mr. Christensen. Very Droll!!" Jan smiled at his number 2, as he wiped the sea spray from his face

December
31st - Annual Planning meeting, Admiralty Headquarters, Copenhagen.".....And so finally Gentlemen, as you are no doubt now all aware, South America is at it again. This time it appears to be Argentina and South Africa, but as we know from the recent operations by the Iberians with Peru, it is only a matter of time before someone else gets involved. As a result, we need to ensure the safety of Danish shipping in the region, and although ships of neutral nations should not be targeted, we must be prepared. Inform St. Thomas and Guinea Bissau to increase their readiness, and see what we can do to with Home assets to bolster their numbers, but do it subtly, we don't want to spook someone into thinking we are getting involved on one side or the other"

ok, so the danes have managed to convert an orchestra into a coastal defense artillery system. Obviously a rocket launching pipe organ is involved, possibly using martian technology.

I suspect we will re-ignite the debate about armoured personell carriers as a result of this post.

No need, it's just smoldering, we can add air to cause it to blow up anytime!

Coincidently, I'm going burning tomorrow...how about dem APCs?

Heh, well, what Germany submitted to Denmark for the "APC" competition was the historical Sdkfz 251 halftrack.

Well if cost would be an issue with larger nations in reguards to building "APC"s I'd suspect it would be doubly so with Denmark.

That Second one looks very impressive, and may influence the commanders of the Coastal Rangers in their choice of future mobile artillery.

My question on the Traebuk is weight: how much is it supposed to weigh, with a 120mm naval gun on board and some level of crew protection (judging by the plates surrounding the crew compartment. It's a little early for spade-equipped vehicles, too, the earliest one I can find right away is the US M12 GMC.

Quoted

Originally posted by Hrolf Hakonson
My question on the Traebuk is weight: how much is it supposed to weigh, with a 120mm naval gun on board and some level of crew protection (judging by the plates surrounding the crew compartment. It's a little early for spade-equipped vehicles, too, the earliest one I can find right away is the US M12 GMC.

Losing the turret, thinning of the armour plate on the hull, should help keep the weight down, and slower even though it's the same engine as Bille. The spade .....?

I can't find any weight for the Bille anywhere, so..... I don't know that you're going to be able to fit a 120mm rifle onto a light tank hull, the Nashorn was 24 metric tons and on the Panzer III/IV chassis and the M-12 GMC was over 29 tons on the M3 Grant/Lee chassis. The Nashorn, of course, only mounted an 88mm weapon, while the M-12 carried a 155mm.

The idea behind it was that a mobile unit is far more likely to survive along the coastal fringes of the Kattegat than any fixed emplacement that could be easily destroyed from long range.

So, lets use a little imagination..........

We have a tank, designed to take on the Panzer III, as Germany is Denmark's closest (and only,until the bridge across the belt!) land border, so let's call it an equivelant of the III.

We have a need to mount a gun big enough to cause damage to naval vessels forcing a passage through the Kattegat.The 120mm gun mounted by the KDM's destroyers was felt to be the smallest gun that could damage vessels of cruiser size and smaller (I have a suprise waiting for anything larger!)

During trials of the gun on the Bille hull, it was found that the vehicle was being moved an unacceptable amount by the recoil of the gun, so much so as to dramatically effect the time needed to reaquire the target. So they incorporated a recoil mechanism based on the larger towed artillery the army uses, and after further tests, decided that something was needed to arrest the vehicles backward movement.
"Towed artillery uses trails with blades" thought one bright engineer, "why can't a tank?"

And this is Mobile Coastal Artillery, not self porpelled support weapons; my idea is that it will head to the coast at times of tension, not run around the place supporting advances like the units listed already.

Too much?
Too early?
Too radical?
Too logical?

And this Denmark never existed anyway!

A shame about the Mars invasion, but you ought to have planned further ahead.

Hey, Germany can't be blamed for the Bille, the Danes accepted the design before the first Heer competition for a medium tank was held (in 1934) and over a year before the competition that actually resulted in an order (in 1935). So we're not responsible!


The spades are not a big issue, really.

I'm not sure about this unit. Being able to move is certainly no bad thing, but it also means that it will spend more time during an engagement finding the range than a fixed battery will (because it's not surveyed in). And it will have a rather limited ability to traverse the gun without having to pull up the spade and re-site itself.

The spade (assuming its not the one on the left side of the vehicle) isn't too far out. Its pretty similar to those big pads underneath mortars to absorb the recoil. Its probably the only way to go for mounting a 120mm gun unless the suspension is inordinately stiffened.

Quoted

Originally posted by Hrolf Hakonson
Hey, Germany can't be blamed for the Bille, the Danes accepted the design before the first Heer competition for a medium tank was held (in 1934) and over a year before the competition that actually resulted in an order (in 1935). So we're not responsible!


The spades are not a big issue, really.

I'm not sure about this unit. Being able to move is certainly no bad thing, but it also means that it will spend more time during an engagement finding the range than a fixed battery will (because it's not surveyed in). And it will have a rather limited ability to traverse the gun without having to pull up the spade and re-site itself.

Not all tall blonde Aryan types are German.......Can you trust all your staff???

There will be prepared sites for the guns to use, they will be "surveyed in", but considering how narrow the Belts are, I would expect a lot of firing to be over open sights, considering the size of the targets.

Quoted

Originally posted by Red Admiral
The spade (assuming its not the one on the left side of the vehicle).

Ahh, the great debate!!

I'd call it a shovel myself!!!

Quoted

We have a tank, designed to take on the Panzer III, as Germany is Denmark's closest (and only,until the bridge across the belt!) land border, so let's call it an equivelant of the III.

Heh, the Bille can't possibly be designed to take on the Panzer III since the Bille was accepted for production about the Panzer III specifications were determined. So it's more likely the other way around.

Quoted

Originally posted by Commodore Green

I'd call it a shovel myself!!!

Its definitely a spade. A shovel has a flat end and flanges on the sides. This has a pointy end and so is used for digging (or hitting)