WesWorld

October 6, 1927

Public questioning has lead the Navy to give this reason for the Cruiser Esmeralda's sudden scrapping yesterday. "The damage sustained by Esmeralda two years ago at the hands of the Argentinian cruiser Nueve de Julio was greater then expected. Structural fractures too small to notice have grown larger in the last 20 months since she was repaired and while at sea two months ago, Esmeralda was hit by a very large wave which twisted several major supports and stressed the hull into the point where several hull plates ripped loose. Had these fractures been detected earlier a solution might have been found. However, given the age of the vessel, it is probably that the damage would still have been too great to repair cost effectively. So the Navy has decided that it is Esmeralda's time. She is being scrapped, and a the Capitan Tylor will replace her as soon as possible."

Some are skeptical about this explanation, thinking that something else might have happened to the Esmeralda, but the Navy denies anything else as a probable cause aside from stress damage induced by combat nearly two years ago.

October 10, 1927

The Capitan Thompson has left port again with the new subchasers, floatplane carriers, and the light destroyers Teniente Aldea and Teniente Serrano. The submarines H1 and H5 left yesterday in what will be a true submarine hunt over the next five days.

October 11, 1927

The Chilean Government has expressed interest in the new Trans-Mexican Canal the Americans and Atlantians are preparing to build. What constribution Chile can give is still to be deturmined.

October 16, 1927

With the return of the training group late yesterday, it is assumed the hunt was a success, since the submarines came in escorted by the light destroyers. The Navy has not released any information as to what concussions they've drawn from this exercise.

October 17, 1927

It has been reported that the third cruiser of the Atacama-class, the Mapuche, was laid down in Atlantis during the last week.

October 25, 1927

Cruiser O'Higgins will not return to the Pacific Patrol in the near future. With the loss of the Esmeralda, the O'Higgins is the only avalible armoured cruiser in the fleet and will be remain in home waters for the foreseeable future.

October 29, 1927

Battleship Libertad encountered the Danish Armed Transport Loki near the Santa Cruz Islands on Tuesday. Their was a courtious exchange between the officers and crew as they appeared to share a patrol for several two days before splitting into seperate paths, the Chilean vessel heading south for her return leg and the Danish vessel north.

November 14, 1927

The Floatplane cruiser Guardia Marina Hyatt was floated out of her dock at Valparaiso today. The finish work will be done at the Oyama Works in Talcahuano Yard. The vessel was able to run on her own power.

November 23, 1927

The Guardia Marina Hyatt began getting her fittings today at a pier of the Oyama Works in Talcahuano Yard. She sits near where the "light" cruiser Picunches is currently under construction. Mr. Oyama seems to be taking a personal interest in the Hyatt and is reportedly working on the vessel himself.

December 1, 1927

Work on the "light" cruiser Picunches has slowed down since the Hyatt arrived in Talcahuano. However work on the Tylor has increased as Oyama Works personel tinker with the new floatplane cruiser.

December 17, 1927

The Battleship Libertad has located a wrecked vessel near the Santa Cruz Islands. The vessel appears to be a tramp freighter that was burned out. The ship, Lady Charlotte, was registered to a Dutch company. No survivors were found. Evidence suggests that the vessel was hulled by medium caliber fire and then probably boarded, the set ablaze. As the vessel was not sunk, it has been suggested that whoever did this did not want to waste time with explosives, or has a tight schedule to keep, perhaps to avoid the various naval patrols in this region.

December 18, 1927

Chile has beguns a design study for a future battleship to be built in the next five years. With this study was the idea of rebuilding or reconstruction the nation's dreadnoughts in the near future. Also a privately owned fountry in Chile has begun to experiment with building a 432mm cannon barrel.

December 21, 1927

Chilean officials have released one finding from their sub hunting exercise this last September and October. They've come to the conclusion that a floatplane carrier alone does not have the number of aircraft to adequately search for, maintain contact with, and destroy, a submarine. The Hyatt will not have many more aircraft then the current carriers do, so another option has been presented, an aircraft carrier. In light of this concussion, the Chilean Government will begin looking into the carrier concept more and more in the coming four months before making a choice as to what they will do.

December 24, 1927

Battleship Libertad has loacted another wrecked vessel north of the Santa Cruz Islands. However this one was armed. What appears to have been a modifed fast steamer equipped with what look like 100 - 130 mm cannon was found hulled and slowly sinking. No survivors were found, but no bodies were found either. A flag at half staff appears to be similar to the pirate flag found earlier this year by the cruiser O'Higgins. The large number of light caliber holes in the ships hell suggest it was attacked by something with a lot of machine guns, or a lot of somethings with machine guns.

December 30, 1927

Chile has placed a qualiftying order to the Atlantean Naval Yards. Chile will order two "heavy" cruisers based on the "light" cruiser design, if the trails for the first "light" cruiser, Atacama, go as expected. If they do go as expected the first "heavy" cruiser will be laid down immediately after the approval from the trails comes in from the Chilean Admirality. However funding for this project might be tight. The Chilean Navy is currently pondering the recently laid down "light" cruiser Mapuche, and if it should continue or be replaced by the two "heavy" cruisers...one to be built in Atlantis and the second in Chile.