WesWorld

...to the governments of Japan, the Philippines, and Chile, dated 10 February 1926.

Sirs:

Earlier this month, the Empire of India heard of shooting incidents involving vessels of your respective nations and reputed pirate vessels of unknown origin.

The Raj requests that your military attaches in Hyderabad attend him at their earliest convenience. He wishes to be briefed on the incidents involving your forces, the rules of engagement binding their actions, and the description of the suspected pirate vessels.

Finally, the Raj observes - without levelling accusations - that he will not support careless use of armed force, nor will he support a nation which finds itself in an international incident because of it.

(signed)

Kadharni, Foreign Affairs

...to the Empire of India, dated 14 February 1926

Sirs:

We are preparing a detailed report on what the American press has tagged 'The Groundhog Day Incident', including all details as we know them, which will be conveyed to our Naval Attache in Hyderabad, who will then provide a full briefing, as soon as possible.

(signed)

de la Vega, Jefe Filipinas Armed Forces


(ooc: I'll ship along a "Filipino Version" of events via PM in the morning.)

...To his eminance the Raj. on February 15, 1926.

Our preliminary report as stated in the South American Naval News is the majority of the after action report from the Protected Cruiser Negro on her way to Edo to deliver an item of importance.

Negro's captain, after receiving a distress signal, decided to render assistance in hunting for this pirate cruiser, as is required by international law. The Negro searched for some time before encountering a vessel fitting the description of the pirate cruiser "Deathshadow" based on an encounter with said vessel on November 8 of last year. As per regulations the Negro signalled twice for the vessel to identify itself. The vessel did not respond. The pirate ship dissapeared into the cloud bank and Negro turned to intercept. nearly 30 minutes later a cruiser sized vessel was sighted again. As visiblity was still poor, and the vessel was not Japanese, the target must have still been "Deathshadow" as logic suggested no other non-Japanese vessels to be in the area so close to Japan. This time a warning shot was perpared. The shot was fired as about or nearly the same time as the "pirate" ship firing in return. The Captain judged the situation with the vessel having not answered by identifying itself, not being of Japanese design, and firing on our vessel in responce to our warning shot, the "Deathshadow" it must be. A heated exchange ensued with heavy fire coming from the "pirate" ship. Only one shell hit the stern deck of Negro. Visibility became even poorer so the gunners could not confirm any hits on the "pirate" ship. Unconfirmed accounts from the gunners suggest three hits. The engagment broke off after eleven minutes due to worsening weather conditons mixed with coal and gun smoke. Contact with the "Deathshadow" was lost at 0223 hours.

We hope this enlightens you as to our vessels situation and responces in accordance with combat at the high seas and to our best knowledge, international law.

signed,

Gerold Romeriz, Chilean Ambassidor to Asia

"Senor Romeriz:

"The Raj thanks you for your prompt communication and explanation of the recent engagement.

"He remains concerned with some aspects of the engagement: namely:

"-That the Negro assumed the first ship spotted was the same as the second ship despite losing visual contact for a half hour.

"-That Chile can not necessarily require a response from another vessel in international or non-Chilean waters.

"The Raj does commend Chile on its stand against piracry. He would ask that Chile attempt to compile a composite sketch of the pirate vessel and provide it to other governments concerned with its presence, so that it may be better tracked down and destroyed.

"(signed)

"Kadharni, Foreign Affairs"

To his eminance the Raj. on February 19, 1926.:

We will keep in mind your recommendation on ship indentification the next time we encounter a similar situation, and note that we are rather new to international waters, so our practices might be a little outdated.

We will send a sketch of the pirate ship as soon as we can get an artist to take statements from crewmembers and officers of the Negro at the Pitcairn Islands.

signed,

Gerold Romeriz, Chilean Ambassidor to Asia

Quoted

Originally posted by Ithekro
and note that we are rather new to international waters, so our practices might be a little outdated.

So the Chileans are a danger to all men and ships at sea!

UrgH! Beware!

Perhaps we will learn quickly....or get our hulls shot out from under us.

To his eminence the Raj. on March 23, 1926.:

We have finally been able to get a sketch of the "Deathshadow" from a sailor on the Negro that saw the ship on two different days.



Our best naval architects have gone over the sketch and the reports. The image it not perfect, as the ship is mostly black but with a grey paint schemes. The scale of the ship is hard to gauge with no reference points, so this was the best they could do with what information was available. The turrets are in grey and might be too small or too large in this sketch. The superstructure is done in black here as best as it could be defined thought there actual color is a dark grey and black. The funnels seem to be a multi-shades of grey paint to mask their size and number. The bow wave is not know to be real or painted on but was in the sailors original sketch. The skull and crossbones under the superstructure was visible but they might have a way to cover it when they don't wish to be seen. In low light it might blend with the sea, so it might be a grey or grey blue.

signed,

Gerold Romeriz, Chilean Ambassador to Asia

(Final out of character note: Walter designed the ship's specifications, I'm just filling in an image as best I can to suit the needs of the story...which I think Chile's playing a secondary or trinary roll at best. But more on that later from Walter and Swamphen....my part is "finished" as the ship that was in the wrong place at the wrong time.)

Attention getting only...might add something later if I think of anything. Check above post for image of Deathshadow.

(scale of estimated sketch...1 foot per pixel)