Let's Play "Rule The Waves" w/ Steve's Custom Country "Cascadia"

[Steve]

No, I got that before superfiring B turrets. In April 1904.

The tech I need to make a dreadnought is the Main Battery Wing tech. Which I should be getting soon.

[Eternal_Freedom]

Awesome.

[Steve]

July 1905

Design teams working on submersibles reported success in working diving planes for new submersibles.



After deliberation, the Cascadian Navy laid down the Reprisal, selecting that design over the Repulse.



The Japanese-Cascadian alliance signaled a drop in relations with Saint Petersburg. The Russian Empire was naturally suspicious that the two Pacific Powers were combining against it and its own Asian ambitions.

Russia Tension at 5


August 1905

President Matthews, concerned about the state of the Navy, proposed another shooting competition. The Admiralty agreed to the contest.



The raiding cruiser CRS Fairbanks won the best marks.



Naval Design teams delivered to the Office of Naval Design and Procurement a new destroyer design of 700 tonnes. The design in question would employ 4" guns in the same arrangement as the Blake and a lightweight machinery plant for 30 knots design speed. The first ship in the class was named the William T. Sherman after the victor of the Battle of San Joaquin River, an Ohioan who had emigrated to California after the Union's defeat. The other ships were named for abolitionists, as well as the late leader of the Mexican Republicans: Theodore D. Weld, Harriet Tubman, Harriet B. Stowe, John Q. Adams, and Benito Juarez.






September 1905

Sources in St. Petersburg reported that the Russian government was raising their naval spending. All indications were that the extra funds would be used to fortify and expand the bases in the Far East out of fear of the Cascadian-Japanese alliance.

The prospect of a stronger Russian Pacific Force was not welcome in the Admiralty. Some of the expansionist inclinations of the hawks were growing there as well. There was a growing dislike of Russian ambitions in China and Korea that formed a solid basis for the Japanese alliance. As a result, there were many voices supportive of Foreign Secretary Roberts when he issued a condemnation of the Russian naval increases, declaring them a potential threat to Cascadian security interests. The Russian Embassy released its own condemnation of this reaction and tensions with St. Petersburg worsened.




Russia Tension to 7

Naval Artillery reported success with new automatic range transmitters to use in ships' fire control systems. Naval Ordnance delighted the Admiralty with a report that new HE shells with improved explosive filler were being manufactured for the fleet's ammunition lockers.




Errors with supplying contractors caused a shortage in parts necessary for the new Sherman-class destroyers. As a result, Moran Brothers was forced to delay work on the Harriet Tubman.



October 1905

The Admiralty
Portland, Federal District
10 October 1905


Jake Lakeland was not a man used to being told no.

The new Cascadian Naval Secretary had spent most of the year seeking to better understand his service. His home province of Klamath had a Pacific coast, but it was a rugged portion of the coast with few harbors and no large seagoing segment. He had thus little knowledge of what precisely mattered to mariners.

So like many a proud man looking to broaden his knowledge, he had read voraciously. Not with his own experts, of course, because that would be admitting a lack of knowledge he could not accept showing. And with his reading done, he had a natural inclination that these well-founded arguments in the book he'd just read were complete wisdom and something any unblinkered, clear-minded intelligent man would embrace.

Of course, to Admiral Wilburn and Admiral Garrett, that just made their jobs all the more harder.

"All of these large ships are expensive, and wasted," Lakeland insisted to them. He thumped a book authoritatively on the desk.

Admiral Garrett spied the cover. It was from a retired Cascadian captain, John Tetzel, who had left the service at the turn of the century when the Navy had curbed the cruiser program to fund the new battleships. Tetzel had been a good sailor and captain, a hero during the North American War who had caught and sunk three of the worst Confederate raiding cruisers during his career, but very much a man of the older Cascadian Navy who considered a battle line a waste of time and funds for the nation.

And apparently his voracious book on the subject was now influencing the Naval Secretary.

"We should cancel that new vessel, it's too large. We could build three, maybe four cruisers of sufficient size and range for the same price!", Lakeland insisted. "A new cruiser fleet would be just the thing the Navy needs. Imagine getting fourteen of them out on the Pacific, too fast for the enemy to intercept! We would destroy their Pacific merchant shipping in just a few months!"

Wilburn had the look of a dying man dealing impatiently with a waste of his time. "Mister Secretary, Captain Tetzel is a smart and bold man, yes. But the idea of a cruiser-only fleet leaves our nation vulnerable to enemy forces with heavier ships."

"Rubbish!", Lakeland declared. "No battleship can endure a squadron of cruisers torpedoing them!"

"Torpedoes are not as accurate as the Captain would lead you to believe, sir," Admiral Garrett pointed out. "Otherwise I might not be sitting here right now."

"We have always been a cruiser navy…", began Lakeland.

"...and we still are," Wilburn pointed out. "Our cruisers are still the heart of our force. The Warrior and the Ranger are cruisers with battleship-grade firepower and protection. The same with the Reprisal. I assure you, Mister Secretary, we know what we are doing."

Lakeland clearly didn't accept that. "No, I know what you are. You are more of the small-minded men who think only in terms of the vaunted battle line. You want to bleed our nation dry for your battleships without considering a superior course of strategy!"

Admiral Garrett wanted to wince. Tetzel had always been good with the passion and turns of phrase. If only he hadn't been demented by his contempt for battleships to control space. He no doubt believed, earnestly, that a handful of cruisers could demolish a battle line with torpedoes. He'd never seen what those weapons could actually do. And how many cruiser-shredding guns could be mounted on a battleship.

"The number of cruisers you wish to build is impractical," the Admiral pointed out. "We lack the funds. Even if we were to cancel every ship in construction now, we would lack the funds."

"Indeed." Wilburn shook his head. "We cannot do this."

"I am the Secretary of this Goddamned Navy!", Lakeland roared. "Do as I order or I will have you removed!"

It was a bad threat. A threat that should never have been uttered. Lakeland had lost his temper, had let his ego and pride overcome that instinct politicians must have for remembering that which is possible. Both of the Admirals before him knew that his threat was foolhardy. The Hawk Coalition government was still fragile, very new, and facing an election in the coming years. The slightest shift under it could topple the entire thing. It was highly unlikely President Matthews or Secretary of State Morales would let Lakeland shake things up by trying to sack the venerable Admiral Wilburn nor his intended successor, the Victor of Manila Bay.

After a moment Lakeland realized that as well. His cheeks were still red and hid any embarrassment he felt. He picked the book up and left the room wordlessly.

"He will cause us some trouble," Wilburn said.

"Yes. I know. But we couldn't give in on this. Civilian control of the military is all proper, I know, but this wasn't about that.

"Indeed not. Anyway, we should be discussing how to deal with the likely reaction. Politics or not, we have just angered the Naval Secretary..."



Naval Secretary Lakeland did indeed go to the Cabinet about punishing the Chief and Vice-Chief of Naval Operations. But the Secretary of State wouldn't hear of it. Morales knew full well that Lakeland's newfound adoration for Tetzel's cruiser attitudes would only serve the Hawks' enemies in Parliament. He did admit to his own irritation at the Admiralty chiefs' obstinate stand. But to move against those men would likely bring down the Government. He limited reprisals to a snubbing of the two Admirals and a slight re-allocation of the defense budget to fund Lakeland's teams on developing cheaper and superior cruisers.


November 1905

Damage to a critical rail-line to mineral deposits inland caused a shortage of steel in the Puget Sound area markets. The reduced access to steel caused another month's delay to the Harriet Tubman.

Steel shortage delays Tubman

December 1905

Naval Secretary Lakeland persisted in his cruiser obsession. He persuaded the Liberal Representative who had introduced him to Captain Tetzel and his book, Rep. Thomas Layard of Surrey, to produce a private bill in the House to call for the Navy's budget to be expanded to produce his ambitious Tetzelian cruiser navy of fourteen more armored cruisers and protected cruisers. He hoped the bill would be referred to the Naval Committee where he could champion it, but the pro-battle line lobby in the Parliament was joined by the Dove lobby against more military spending. Hawks and non-Hawks alike voted to crush the bill.

In South America, Peru had a long-standing trade and military relationship with the Cascadian Republic. Cascadia was a major purchaser of some of Peru's raw materials - Peru a major buyer of Cascadian products, including weapons and warships. Virtually every ship in the Peruvian fleet was built in a Cascadian yard or a Cascadian design.

Near the start of the month, Peruvian and Chilean forces skirmished along the common border. The Chilean government dispatched its ships north to threaten the Peruvian coast and sent a demand that Peru withdraw its military from the region.

The Hawks in Portland could not allow a Cascadian ally to be mistreated. The Warrior, the Defiant, and the Reliant were dispatched south with a squadron of destroyers to a port visit to Quito. Under orders from President Matthews and Secretary of State Morales, the ships were then ordered to steam south to the edge of Chilean waters to conduct joint exercises with the Peruvian Navy.

Chile vigorously protested this action and won some support from London. The Balfour Government had recently fallen due to the growing divide between the Free Trade and Protectionist wings of the Unionist/Conservative Party. While the country waited for the January General Election, the Foreign Office issued a protest to the Cascadian Embassy for its 'unnecessary and aggressive' deployment of the Cascadian fleet to South America.

The Russian Government echoed the British protest and accused the Cascadian Government of threatening stability in the Pacific.



Naval Ordnance reported improvements to the compressed air supply mechanisms in torpedoes, improving Cascadian torpedo performance.



A shortage of wiring caused a delay at Hunter's Point for the construction of the John Q. Adams.

The Navy ordered two more Sherman-class destroyers. In keeping with the prior theme, they were named for figures of honor to the American abolitionist movement: late Whig Congressman Joshua Reed Giddings of Ohio, who had died in Montreal while US consul general in Canada, and the martyred American President Abraham Lincoln, killed by Confederate cavalry raiders in September 1862.



The year showed a marked deterioration with two nations Cascadia had usually enjoyed warm relations with. The new aggressiveness in Portland had impacted the normally good relations with London and Ottawa. The Canadian government was considering increases to the size of their armed forces. Relations with Australia and New Zealand remained stronger due to long-standing trade links, but the Dominions were still loyal to London and would remain on their side if a conflict began.

But relations with Russia were at an all-time low. There were increased incidents in the Bering Sea over the fisheries. The Russian Government had voted through new laws impeding the trans-Bering trade that had once been fruitful for the Alyeskan Cascadians. The two nations were becoming increasingly competitive in China, with old delineations of interest starting to become ignored. And to top it all, the Cascadian-Japanese alliance was viewed in St. Petersburg as a grave threat to Russia's Far East. The prospect of a war with the Russian Empire was not at all unlikely.

If such came, it would be a question of whether France would side with their natural European ally against Germany or with their current treaty ally. Many French appreciated that the Cascadians had indeed sent so many thousands of troops to fight at their side. That the war had ended before they could be deployed did not change that fact.

Nevertheless, as an ally against Germany, Cascadia was limited to being primarily a threat, with France, against the German overseas colonies. It would take many months for Cascadian troops to sail across the world for Europe. And they didn't provide the prospect of a second front like Russia did. With the Revanchists starting to recover from 1903 and clearly focused for another go at Germany, it remained to be seen if France would renew the Security Treaty when its initial term expired in May of 1906.

For the moment, relations with Paris were as warm as they had ever been.

Berlin was another matter. The Germans smarted over the surprise of 1903. They had expected to crush the French Army, march on Paris, and with France knocked out of the war dispatch their mighty war fleet to overwhelm the Cascadian Navy around Samoa and the Philippines. But the Marine Nationale's boldness had thrown them off and the losses to French machine guns had stunted their offensive. Worst of all, the refusal of Germany's naval commanders in East Asia and the Pacific to engage Cascadian forces on anything approaching even terms had hinted to an unseen lack of confidence in the Kaiser's beloved navy. Those commanders had been removed and replaced and there was a general feeling, an urge, to come to grips with Cascadia again to wipe clean the shame.

But the German government, for the moment, is content to watch and wait and to build up the German fleet. The new Japanese-Cascadian alliance jeopardizes Tsingtao and the rest of the German Pacific. Germany is better served watching and waiting to see whether this new pact, or Cascadia's treaty with France, lasts.

Relations with the US had improved fairly well since the last incidents of border problems. With each passing year, more and more Americans were accepting the existence of their Pacific Coast neighbor. While the sensibility of Manifest Destiny would be unlikely to fade, the prospect of another North American War was distasteful to the newer leaders of the nation who still remembered, with horror, the bloodshed of the one twenty years ago… and remembered the Cascadian blood that had been shed at the Union's side.

Cascadian-Japanese relations were at a zenith not seen in years. The issues that were appearing in 1902-03 had been smoothed over. Though there is prospect for strain if war with Russia leads to the two falling out over war spoils, for now the alliance stands and ensures security for both against European powers and their colonial holdings.

UK and German tensions at 6
Russia at 8
US at 2
France at 1
Japan at 0

[Steve]

It's time.

What is it time for, you might ask?

I think this shall enlighten you...

[Purple]

This is turrets. But like had you wanted to could you have built a casemate dreadnaught? As in one with lots of main guns all in casemates?

[Borgholio]

If they were all in casemates then it wouldn't technically be a dreadnought.

[Steve]

Theoretically, yeah, I could build an All Big Gun ship that used casemates for the guns along the side. I just tried. At least it'll work now... I'd have to load a new game to see what the game said about trying before. I suspect the Main Battery Wing Turret techs also apply to casemates.

And since I'm a nice guy...

[Eternal_Freedom]

(Background music from O Fortuna starts blaring)

Awesome! Especially since you've actually jumped a bit ahead of the OTL Dreadnought, since you have a superfiring B turret and 13" guns rather than 12". Somewhere between the Dreadnought/Neptune/Colossus classes and the Orion class.

Plus, calling it the Sovereign class, nice touch

[U.P. Cinnabar]

So, we can pretty much gurantee we'll see an Enterprise, which, IIRC, is a town in Washington State.

[Steve]

So, we can pretty much gurantee we'll see an Enterprise, which, IIRC, is a town in Washington State.

And a township area in Florida too, along the north shore of Lake Monroe. That is, if the City of Deltona hasn't eaten it yet...

[LaCroix]

Compared to this, all other nations have sticks and stones in rowboats...

[Steve]

January 1906

With tensions with Russia increasing, President Matthews managed a naval increase spending bill through Parliament.



With approval from the Imperial Government, Japanese shipbuilders offer the Cascadian admiralty schematics on new longitudinal framing in ship construction. The offer is accepted.




Engineers from Reilly & Collette introduce new weight control practices to further improve hull design. The updates include a new torpedo protection scheme in the underwater spaces to make ships more survivable from torpedo hits (the data from damage taken to the Anchorage in its duel with the Hela proved invaluable).

Naval Artillery engineers design an improved hoist system for turrets.

An engine-plant firm, Simnel & King of Vancouver in Olympia, sell plans for small tube boilers to the Admiralty, improving the quality of engine machinery.






Naval intelligence increases funding to the Russian Office in light of growing tensions.

February 1906

The Marine Nationale approached the Cascadian Government with an offer to buy schematics to the hoist mechanisms used in Cascadian gun turrets. With some hope of ensuring the renewal of the security treaty, the Admiralty approved of the sale.



Burleigh & Armstrong reported that a shortage of machinery toolings was causing a delay to the construction of the Theodore D. Weld.

Delay in equipment for Weld

March 1906


West Portland, Oregon
10 March 1906

The house was now in the family. Admiral Garrett had decided to buy it toward the end of the year. The neighborhood was one of the best in the city and the price had required him to dip into the bank accounts, but it seemed a worthwhile purchase - no sense in renting when he'd be working at the Admiralty for God knows how long.

Plus it made the family more settled. The boys had known the Vallejo estate as home when they were little, but after six years in Portland they'd adjusted and considered it home. For Sophie, she had been too young to remember much of her grandfather's estate: Portland was home to her. Gabriela would undoubtedly feel the same.

It was a pleasant Saturday. The weather was on the wet side - winter had not quite released them yet - and the air was brisk, if not too chilly, so everyone was in the parlor reading or talking. Rafael was helping Sophie with some schoolwork while Thomas, as always, buried himself in books. Rachel was holding Gabriela and reading to her. The Admiral had a magazine and was quite pleased. It held another Holmes story.

He set the magazine down and looked over everyone. Time had continued its inevitable march. Just this morning his shave had shown him the first gray hairs forming above his ears. His figure was not as kept as it had been when he was at sea for much of the year. Rachel's face was creased with the lines of her smiles and frowns, so plentiful with the unexpected addition to their family.

And the children. It was something for him to see his sons grow toward manhood and develop into such fine young men. Rafael had blended the family features well. His dark hair and eyes, the fine patrician nose, his father's wide cheeks. The Admiral wondered with some humor how many hearts his son was melting. And he would make such a great officer when he graduated from Esquimalt. For that was where he was due; he had turned eighteen recently and had already been accepted to begin classes at the Naval Academy in the second half of the year.

Thomas was not like his brother. Which sit his father just fine, because he wanted his boys to be their own men. While he accepted he would likely see national service of some sort Thomas had made it clear he was seeking admission to one of the nation's top universities. Indeed, he had his heart set on admission to Berkeley, with its fine colleges for science, law, and medicine. And he was doing the studying to gain such an admission.

Sophie was still the Admiral's precious little girl. Nine years old, soon to be ten, and growing in intelligence every day, it seemed. She took after her mother and already showed the sharp mind to match. The Admiral pondered if perhaps she would be going to University as well. There were some that were setting up fine womens' colleges, after all.

Gabriela… was still so young. Just reaching 17 months of age, there were only glimmers of the girl and woman she would grow into being. From what the Admiral could tell, she would be quite a handful. Gabriela loved nothing more at her age than to grab a toy from her sister's pile and go running through the house with it, as fast as her little legs could carry her. Which were, of course, not very fast.

"The world continues on," he murmured to himself.

Rachel heard him. She set the small book aside, shifted Gabriela on her knee, and looked to him. "Dear?"

"It is the march of progress," the Admiral said. He put his hands together. "We all age. And the world ages. Science brings us new wonders. Like those fellows living out in North Carolina and their heavier-than-air flying machines. Can you imagine what that will mean for the world? One day our children and grandchildren may live in a world where great flying machines as big as our sea ships fill the air."

"Perhaps."

"Who knows what other wonders may come about?" He sighed. "To see
such things…" Noticing their children were looking at him now, he smiled at them. "Perhaps I shall see some in my time. But that world will belong to you."

"Don't worry, Pa, you'll be around for a long time to come," Thomas insisted.

"Tom, my boy, you know well enough how the saying goes. Tomorrow is never guaranteed. No…"

The maid entered the room. They'd had to hire a new one after Miss Stamper married. Young Josephine, a teenager, was African-descended, with a dark bronze complexion common to the descendants of the freed slaves of the late, unlamented Confederacy. She was a smarter girl than a normal maid, certainly, and Admiral Garrett had often seen her discussing issues with Thomas on his studies. From what he knew of her, her parents were industrial workers in that district in the south of the city. She had a brother who had taken a job at the docks. Rachel had approved of her giving him food from the pantry on his way home. The sort of act of kindness that her aristocratic father had often shown to his own hired help.

The well-dressed young lady was here on business. "Admiral," she said, her accent coarsened by her upbringing and only softening with time and effort, "there's a man here to see you." She offered him a card. Captain Holmes.

Garrett left the parlor and went to the greeting room for his house. Captain Holmes stood in his blue-gray uniform, looking quite neat and refined. He saluted and the Admiral returned it. "Sir, I have received a wire. It was from Admiral Hayworth up at Esquimalt."

"Yes?"

Holmes' expression was neutral. It was clear the news was mostly bad. "Admiral Wilburn died this morning, sir. Complications from the cancer. They found him in his quarters at the Academy."

Admiral Garrett drew in a breath. Despite his decllining health Wilburn had insisted on his yearly practice of a lecture to the upperclassmen at the Naval Academy on naval command practice. He had been due to depart Esquilmalt today and return to Portland. "Have the others been notified?"

"Others are on their way to see them, sir. And a wire was sent to the Presidential Estate."

"Yes. Very well, Captain. I shall be at the Admiralty Office soon. You are dismissed."

As his subordinate left, Admiral Garrett's head swam with the implications. His family noticed the expression on his face as he entered the parlor again. "Stephen?", Rachel asked.

"Admiral Wilburn has passed on. This morning," he informed them.

"God rest his soul and give him peace," was his wife's reaction. She'd liked the old man.

Rafael was the first to react to the implications. "Then, Pa. That means you'll…"

"I expect the President and Naval Secretary to call for me tonight, yes. I will be at the Admiralty when they do." While Secretary Lakeland was still rather angry over the cruiser plan being rejected, he knew there was no candidate from Tetzel's school of following the Jeune ecole that could take Wilburn's place. With Matthews and Secretary of State Morales both enthusiastic about Admiral Garrett's proposals for the future of the Cascadian fleet, it was almost guaranteed he would be made Chief of Naval Operations.

A Fleet Admiral. Five stars. The highest rank in his service and in virtually every service in the world. He would be the equal of the likes of Tirpitz and Fisher. The future of the Cascadian Navy was in his hands.

Six years before, he had never imagined it might come to this. Yes, the Office of Naval Design and Procurement was a plum posting. But he had always imagined he would get sent back out to sea eventually. Made Commander of the Battle Fleet once Cascadia's battleship program had finished bearing fruit. That sort of thing.

But that hadn't happened. Wilburn had liked him too much. Liked his ideas, his vision for the future. He had stayed in Portland, running the direction of Cascadian technical development…

...and now he would run it all.


Later in March, Japan's technical firms again approached Cascadia, this time offering design work for improved, more survivable coastal submersibles. The Admiralty, now under Admiral Garrett, agreed.




April 1906

The first three Sherman-class destroyers and the CRS Juneau were commissioned.



Juneau commissioned

The US Government approved the offer of plans to new, larger torpedo warheads to the Cascadian Admiralty. At the insistence of the Naval Ordnance Office, the deal was approved.




With the new Japanese plans and other developments in hand, Admiral Garrett approved the construction of two more submersibles for further testing of this new ship type. Burleigh & Armstrong were given the contracts for the Stingray and Tarpon.

Two more subs, Stingray and Tarpon, started

May 1906

New Dock expansions were completed.

New Docks COmpleted

Two more destroyers, the John Q. Adams and Theodore D. Weld, were commissioned.

Adams, Weld, commissioned

The Admiralty approved a request from the US Navy to purchase automatic range transmitters.



Admiral Garrett's design teams reported completion of a long-standing project; a new battleship that would be able to mount main battery turrets as wing turrets on the ship's sides.





The Admiralty
Portland, Federal District
15 May 1906


Admiral Garrett watched patiently as Captain Holmes briefed President Matthews, Secretary of State Morales, and Naval Secretary Lakeland on the plans they were being shown. The plans that would, in one fell swoop, make all of the massive battleship navies of the world obsolete. A clean slate, with Cascadia and its growing economy given a chance to actually compete on a more equal footing.

Lakeland had been the most hostile at the beginning of the meeting. Tetzel's cruiser theories had embedded themselves heavily in his mind, which enjoyed the idea of saving resources and getting more out of less. But Captain Holmes' no-nonsense, straightforward and scientific presentation had been just the thing to make the Naval Secretary realize the chance here.

When Holmes was done, he waited for his superiors to look his way. "Admiral?", Matthews asked.

"Captain Holmes' presentation was elegant enough," Admiral Garrett answered. "But allow me to reinforce the point, Mister President. The Sovereign will change the world. She will change the way the world views naval power, how the navies of the world build their ships. She will carry more big guns than any two of the other nations' battleships. Her broadsides will be worth two such ships in a fight, and her protection is the best ever devised. Her speed will enable her to chase down and destroy even those 21 knot battleships the Russians have built." He swept an arm out the window to the river below, and all of the boats floating there. "Can you imagine it, sir? This time it will not be the British, or the French, or even the Americans who make the leap. It will be us. The history of the world will record that it was the Cascadian Republic that made the battle lines of the Atlantic powers obsolete. With just two ships."

"A great national achievement, Admiral," Morales declared. "You sign the contracts and I will do everything I can to keep the money flowing."

"But cruisers…" Lakeland began.

"...cannot face a battle line. They cannot bombard an enemy coastal fort into silence. They can threaten enemy commerce, yes, but the enemy can always try to convoy. To get the amount off cruisers for the effect you desire, Mister Secretary, would cost even more than my Sovereign will. And they will not be the symbol of pride this ship was." The Admiral sat up straight in his chair. "We once were the envy of the world for our armored cruisers. The Defiant and her sisters were the finest ships of that type in the world. Then we built Warrior and her sister Ranger. The world's first battlecruisers. The Royal Navy, the German Navy, every navy in the world now scrambles to match that accomplishment. Reprisal was to be our next step, but even she has been outdone by this one. The Sovereign is the future of the world's navies. If we don't built it first, one of them will. This is our chance to again make the world respect our Navy, to respect our flag. Let us seize it, gentlemen."

Lakeland deflated in the face of that argument. Even he had to admit that the idea of beating every world's navy, even the British, to a new standaard was one that was intoxicating. Cascadia had a greater place awaiting them in the world. This was a chance to take it.

Matthews nodded. "Sign the contracts, Admiral. Make history."

"Thank you, sir…"



Admiral Garrett and the Admiralty order two new battleships of an all-big-gun design. The Sovereign and the Superb are ordered from Reilly & Collette of Bremerton. Laid by the end of the month in the two brand new massive docks on the property, the ships are designed to carry ten 13" guns in five double turrets, arranged in an A-B-Y turret formation along the center with two wing turrets in the front amidships. In combat their broadsides will consist of eight guns, twice that of any floating battleship.

14 5" guns in individual casemates provide secondary battery firepower, supported by 12 deck guns of 3" caliber. The machinery plant generates enough horsepower to provide a design flank speed of 22 knots. The armor protection of the ship is made of an armor belt of up to 11" thickness and 2" deck armor. A new torpedo protection system below the waterline gives the ships some survivability from torpedo hits.






More funds are used to further expand the docks in Cascadia.

Dock Expansion Ordered


June 1906

The Harriet Tubman is commissioned.

France orders the Courbet, their first partial all-big-gun ship. Although they maintain secrecy of the planned armament to hide the ship's capabilities from other powers, it is not a full Sovereign-type battleship, having only six main guns in three double turrets much like the CRS Repulse. However, the new French 14" gun is the one being employed, giving it tremendous firepower.

(OOC: I actually opened the save file to see the armament description. Cascadia does not know this IC. Sadly, I have yet to unlock 14" guns.)



And here's my current construction queue.

[Eternal_Freedom]

You just had to call it Superb didn't you...somewhere beneath the waves, Orion's ONS Conqueror is waiting

[Steve]

You just had to call it Superb didn't you...somewhere beneath the waves, Orion's ONS Conqueror is waiting

We'll see about that.

[Steve]

Okay, the delay is over. The reason for five days with no new posts are as follows.

A) My brother bought me a gift. Stellaris. Paradox games are addictive as hell to me.
B) I wanted to get some lead-time for the upcoming posts, so I could assemble a more coherent narrative with more of what was to come known so I could build up to those events. This post covers the rest of 1906 - My last turn was mid-1908. When shit has hit the fan.



July 1906

New methods in industry have helped spark enhanced productivity in the Cascadian economy. The result will be increased taxation receipts.

This was all the more astounding given the devastation in April of San Francisco in a great Earthquake that claimed thousands of lives and destroyed much of the city in a raging fire.

The increased receipts provide grist for the mill of the 1906 General Election. The Cascadian Democratic Party was starting to come apart at the seams, caught between the Morales-Muniz faction of Hawks and the Crabbins faction in favor of military cutbacks. Some of the most left-wing of this faction were threatening to caucus with the Socialists, now firmly under the leadership of Representative Flagg of Surrey and his anti-military, anti-alliance policy stances. Flagg's goal in the 1906 election was to ride the growing wave of popular discontent with the threat of war. If his party gained enough urban-based House seats, no coalition could form with a majority in the House without Socialist support.

Nevertheless, the Hawk Coalition, as it was known, had strength to its position. With tensions with Russia and Germany high, and the clear signals from the Campbell-Bannerman Government in London at British distaste with Cascadia's growing power, many people felt that the Hawks represented the right policies for protecting Cascadia. The Japanese Alliance had guaranteed Cascadia stronger economic ties to Northeast Asia and the French alliance, now up for renewal, was widely popular.

It was clear that the Hawk Coalition's success in the Election would be determined by that renewal. If Paris chose to renew the alliance, the Coalition would survive. If it chose to let it expire, then the Coalition would likely collapse even before the Election.

And so the members of Parliament hit the campaign trail while the Senators consulted with their provincial legislatures and governors, looking to see which way the electorate would go in the coming months.



The laying of the Sovereign had a great impact in Great Britain. While some aspects of the Cascadian design were unknown, it was known that the vessel was a true all-big-gun battleship, with at least ten heavy guns. Once she steamed into the waters of Puget Sound, the Royal Navy's massive battle line was going to be completely obsolete. Just as the CRS Warrior had made the great British fleet of armored cruisers obsolete just a couple of years prior.

First Sea Lord John "Jacky" Fisher had pushed for a similar design for years. The Dreadnought had been considered and reconsidered, simply to be rejected by the Government for fear that it would spark a new naval arms race Britain could not afford, not when she was already aggressively building the new battle cruisers. Now Fisher's predictions had proven true: Britain had not built Dreadnought, so someone else had started first.

With this in hand, Fisher finally won permission to begin. The first British all-big-gun battleship, the Majestic, was laid.

Japan also joined the race. But lacking the design knowledge for wing turrets, they were forced to go for an Inflexible-style turret layout like Cascadia's building Reprisal. The Iwami thus had only six big guns, arranged in three double turrets on the centreline. The new battlecruiser class Tsukuba was given the same.





August 1906



Central Station
Portland, Federal District
4 August 1906

The day was hot and on the humid side, making for additional discomfort as the family made their way by rented cab to Central Station. The Station was built along the north of the city, near the River (Note: Right by our world's Portland International Airport), and served as the nexus for the Puget Line, which started at the terminus of the Klamath-California Line in Salem and went all the way up to Seattle, and the Trans-American Line that joined the northern half of Cascadia to the United States, allowing one to inevitably take a train to Minneapolis, Chicago, Cleveland, and finally New York City and Boston.

Admiral Garrett pondered that trip, one he was so familiar with. The Puget up to where it split off for the North Olympia Line, then up past Bremerton to Port Townsend, and from there the ferry across the water to Victoria Island and the base and Naval Academy at Esquimalt.

But he wouldn't be the one taking it today. Indeed, he wasn't the one in uniform either.

The blue-gray uniform of a cadet looked good on his eldest. Rafael showed all of the nervousness he had once known, trying and failing to hide it. His bag was over his shoulder, carrying gifts from the family and personal effects that he would be allowed to keep in his dorm. Behind them the train was starting to board. The call was out - departure in ten minutes and counting.

"I don't want you to go, Raffie," Sophie protested. She hugged her big brother tightly.

He patted her head with affection. "I know, and I'm sorry. But you don't need me, Sophie. You're a bright girl, you're smarter than I am."

While she held on Thomas gave his older brother a hug. "Take care, Raf. Don't worry about the girls. I'll still be around for awhile."

"Hopefully you do get into National," Rafael said. He clapped his brother's shoulder. "You've always been the smart one."

Thomas blushed a little at the compliment.

Rachel was holding Gabriela in her arm. The baby was nearly two years old now and was capable of recognizing family by sight,. "Raffie," was the one word that came out of the baby's mouth. It had been one of her first words.

"Gabbie. Be a good girl," he urged. "I love you." He gave his baby sister a kiss on the forehead.

"Write home whenever you can, please." Rachel embraced her firstborn. There were tears in her eyes. For the first time, one of her children were leaving. "I need to know you are doing well."

"I will, Mama," he promised.

That left father and son. "Rafael." Admiral Garrett pulled his son close. As he did he thought about all of the years he hadn't been there. All of the time he had lost with Rafael and his brother when they were little, time he had spent at sea. It made the memories they had shared together all the more precious. "My boy."

"Pa." He smiled thinly. "I guess I should say 'Sir' for now on, though."

"Only in uniform," the Admiral insisted. He gestured to his plain green shirt and trousers. "I'm here as your father, not Fleet Admiral Garrett."

"I understand." Rafael swallowed. He had tears now. "I'll do you proud, Pa. I promise. I'll make sure to keep up the family name."

"I know," he assured his son. They hugged again. "I know you won't disappoint any of us. You'll make a great officer."

"Thank you, Pa."

There was another call. Five minutes from departure. Rafael took up his bag and went to the entrance line. His family watched him go through the line, show his ticket to the conductor, and enter the train. He appeared at a nearby window seat.

This let them all wave goodbye when the train finally lurched into motion and steamed north.




The last two Sherman-class destroyers ordered, the Lincoln and the Giddings, were commissioned into the Navy. They were joined by the second Juneau-class raiding cruiser, the Las Vegas.



Simnel & King approached the Navy with early prints for new oil-fired boilers. Cascadia was rich in oil - the Californias in particular, with new deposits being found across the Rockies in Alberta - and the Navy would benefit greatly by switching fuel types.



Tensions with Russia continued to heighten. Relations with London were of a more diverse sort, with clear growing discomfort between the traditional friends, but no real source of tension to drive this relationship into trouble.

Russia Tensions to 10

UK tensions to 5

Russia joined the naval arms race for new Sovereign-type battleships by laying the Dvenadtsat Apostolov, the first Russian all-big-gun battleship. She will have 10 12" guns in double turrets, three centreline and two wing (OTL Dreadnought layout).



In response, the Admiralty offered bonuses to Reilly & Collette to accelerate production of the Superb.

A new government in Chilè signed a treaty with Peru ending the prior tensions. The Chilèan Navy followed by placing orders for a new 700 ton destroyer from Cascadian shipyards. Concerned with Argentinian naval expansion, the government in Santiago also considered ordering a new armored cruiser for their Navy from Cascadian yards.



September 1906

"I looked at the Fleet Admiral, the leader of the Cascadian Navy, and asked the question I knew that our people had on their minds. Who was likely to be our nation's enemy in the next war? It is a credit to the older man that he remained silent for several moments. His mind was calculating his answer. He would need to given the delicate climate of the nation.

'Who is likely to be our next enemy?', you ask?" The Admiral gave me a stern look. "I suspect it will be Germany."

I admitted to my surprise with frankness. Our relations with the Russian Empire had declined terribly. War with Russia seemed far more possible. Indeed, far more desirable.

The Admiral was quick to speak on that risk. "Perhaps, perhaps. But Germany has never been satisfied with the outcome in 1903. Nor have we. It is Germany that desires Cascadia's Pacific holdings and Germany that despises our alliance with France. We may yet find a diplomatic solution with the Tsar and his Court. But peace with Germany is only likely, in my opinion, once we have shown the Kaiser and his nation that we can defeat them upon the Pacific. Perhaps it may not even be peaceful then, not until they have been ejected from this ocean. I am no prophet to say for sure either way. But that is my answer to your question, good sir. We will be at war with the German Empire again."

- Excerpt from The Oreganian, September 14th Edition, by William Ward

The German Ambassador protested the Admiral's remarks. They also earned him the ire of the Socialists, who saw his words as proof that the Cascadian Navy was an imperialist organization seeking war with Europe to build an empire in the Pacific. Representative Flagg led an anti-war march to the doorsteps of the Admiralty, where he pledged disarmament and the dissolution of the Admiralty as campaign promises of any Socialist government that might be formed.

The election year had indeed proven tumultuous. The rise of the Hawk Coalition and the central place of the Populist Party in ensuring it the majority in the House had shaken the main parties of the Cascadian political establishment. McInnes and Crabbins were fighting bitter internal struggles to retake control of their parties from the Hawks. But so far the Hawks continued to work together even as they caucaused with their parties, threatening those same parties with fatal weakening should they expel those parts. Newspapers across the country decried, or embraced, the growing social tumult. A few Conservative papers even used the dreaded word "Revolution" to describe what might yet occur.




In light of the growing tensions, a fleet deployment was ordered forward. The Defiant and other units began to sail for Manila.



Toward the end of the month, news came of a social disruption on the island of Rhodes, brought on by climbing food prices and the ongoing political instability in Turkey.



October 1906


Citing the destruction of a German bank in Rhodes, the German Empire announced that it had dispatched a squadron with marines to restore order to the island, with the connivance of Turkish officials.

The prospect of German possession of a base in the Mediterranean was too much for several powers. It could threaten the line of communication between Cascadia and France. For Britain, it threatened the Suez Canal, and Italy was hostile to the idea as well. Cascadian diplomats, operating under orders from Matthews and Morales (who had begun to run the Foreign Office directly due to Roberts' lack of diplomatic acumen), were able to help these disparate powers overcome their own lingering disagreements and unite to challenge the German action. A joint task force of the Mediterranean naval powers met at Rhodes and helped Turkish authorities restore order before the Germans could finish steaming around Europe.



Germany might have challenged this collection of powers. Had it done so, none were under orders to actually fire on German ships. The German marines might yet have seized the main port in a fait accompli. But in Berlin there was no nerve for pushing Italy and Britain toward the Franco-Cascadian alliance. The German force withdrew. And relations between Berlin and Portland further soured.



Tension with Germany at 9

Meanwhile the German garrisons in the Marianas Islands grew ever larger. German troops began to displace residents from "sensitive locations" and demanded ever greater requisitions from them as a means to stockpile food for the garrison to withstand a siege. Protests from several leading landowners (still mostly Spanish and some mestizo) led to the brief military arrest of three by the military commander in charge. Protests were lodged with the German governor in Herbertshöhe on East New Britain.


Naval Artillery reported that major difficulties had arisen in the researching of a mechanical firing computer for use in fire control systems. Research would have to start from scratch in key areas to make progress.



Burleigh & Armstrong presented a new 7" gun of superior quality to existing Cascadian models. The Admiralty considered it for a new "light armored cruiser" class that was being considered when oil-fired boilers were available.



Naval Intelligence received increased funding for its Berlin office.

With tensions rising, Admiral Garrett ordered that enhanced gunnery and torpedo training be re-instated across the fleet. To help fund the increased costs, the accelerated construction of the Superb was scaled back to a normal pace.




November 1906

With the Election only days away, the Morales Cabinet received its salvation. The French Government signaled on the 2nd of November that the French legislature had officially renewed the Franco-Cascadian Security Treaty.

This outcome had not been fore-ordained. Russia was the preferred ally for many Frenchmen in a war with Germany for obvious geographic reasons. They had again been seeking a Russian alliance, even as Russo-Cascadian relations soured, and a number of French leaders were willing to let the Cascadian Security Treaty expire if it won an alliance with Russia.

But the Russians had undergone their own political shifts. The Pan-Slavists, who were willing to countenance a French alliance as a means to make gains in the Balkans, had fallen out of favor in St. Petersburg. The Russian ministers were increasingly men more concerned with Russia's Far Eastern territories and saw Germany as an ally for suppressing Polish aspirations. Allying with France against Germany was not something they were interested in, not without heavy French concessions: to not go to war with Germany unless attacked first, to make no provocation against Germany, and to support Russia against Turkey so Russia might gain the Bosporus and Dardanelles.

France was not willing to make those concessions. Once this was made clear, Russia immediately terminated the alliance discussions.

France's only remaining option was thus to renew the alliance with Cascadia and Japan.



With tensions with Germany again on the rise, this renewal invigorated the Hawk Coalition's efforts going into the election. The Liberal Party officially endorsed the Hawk platform and the Conservatives, despite their Anglophile preferences, declared their willingness to join a new Hawk government. This served to counterbalance Crabbins' dogged opposition to the Democrat Hawks.

In the day before the election, Representative Flagg held an open-air meeting with workers in San Francisco. He urged the working class of Cascadia to vote Socialist and "put an end to the arms-dealers and imperialists preparing to send you to die for an empire we do not want". The crowd approved. A coalition of Trade Unions called for a protest strike if the Hawks won the Election.

Election Day came and went. Again, the anti-hawks lost. The Democrats lost half of the seats they had gained in 1902. The Socialists lost some seats but gained others, a disappointing performance to Representative Flagg. He nearly lost his seat in Surrey to a challenge by Liberals and Hawk Democrats under a common candidate.

The gains were primarily by the Liberals, with a couple of seats regained by the Conservatives and two by the Populists. With a plurality again gained, and the Liberals entirely taken by the Hawk faction, they would form the Government with the Conservatives, the Populists, and what was left of the Hawk Democrats. Secretary of State Morales immediately informed President Matthews of the results and Matthews promptly dissolved the Government.

When it reformed, James Lakeland of Klamath was made Secretary of State. For Naval Secretary he granted the Conservatives the seat, giving it to Representative Peter Chumsleigh of Esquimalt. McInnes, outmaneuvered internally, was nevertheless called in to become Foreign Secretary, while Roberts was reshuffled to the War Office. The Conservatives were also granted the Attorney-General office. Biddle was appointed Ambassador to France. Defeated in his home district by the Liberals, former Representative Alonso Muniz was given portfolio to replace the aging Ambassador Anderson as Ambassador to Great Britain. Juan Morales was made Secretary of the Treasury and fellow Hawk Democrat Paul Linfield of Bakersfield was made Postmaster-General.


Simnel & King, working with designers from Naval Engineering, provide to Admiral Lewis' office plans to boilers fueled by the burning of petroleum, not coal. The Admiralty immediately purchases the plans. Oil-burning ships offered several distinct advantages such as superior range per ton and no need for stokers to keep the ship powered, avoiding the issue of exhausted stokers slowing a ship in combat.




Naval Ordnance reported that new bursting charges with TNT were preparing to go into testing.



December 1906


The new Parliament met and immediately ratified the renewal of the treaty with France.

The German Ambassador sent a note to Secretary Chumsleigh, calling on Cascadia to curb its naval spending in the interest of international peace. Admiral Garrett urged immediate rejection of the note, but even he did not foresee what the new Secretary of State would do. The note was met with scorn and derision by Lakeland, who responded by personally summoning the German Ambassador and upbraiding him for the "arrogant suggestion" and for daring to give such a note to a Cabinet secretary and not himself or the President. Lakeland launched into a tirade against Germany and its policies toward the Pacific in general and Cascadia in particular, calling Kaiser Wilhelm II "the gravest threat to the peace of the world since Napoleon Bonaparte was alive".

The scandalized Ambassador informed Berlin, where sources in the Foreign Ministry leaked Lakeland's words to the public. Several leading German newspapers howled in rage at the insult offered to the German Empire by the Cascadian Premier. A number of leading politicians called on the German government to reinforce the Pacific holdings and prepare for war - it was time to make good on the failure of nerve in 1903 and put the Cascadians in their proper place. The Government responded with plans to increase Pacific Garrisons with several thousand troops, a fateful decision with unexpected consequences.




German Tensions to 10

As soon as the House met and prepared the budget for the following year, Representative Flagg took the floor. He denounced the Government as imperialists who would get Cascadian workers killed to conquer other nations. It was a usual speech for the man, fiery and passionate and vitriolic, and the Socialists in the House responded with rapturous applause even after the Speaker held him to be out of order.

The speech was a signal for greater problems. For three days afterward, a general strike struck several Cascadian cities with heavy industry. The strikers demanded higher wages, government pensions and unemployment insurance, and an immediate freeze to further naval spending bills.

The strikes increased unrest across the country. In Oakland gangs of toughs hired by local magnates and owners clashed with the strikers. Four men died and many were wounded. In Bremerton the shipyard workers refused to strike, in line with their union's refusal to do the same, so the Socialists in the city barricaded the entrance to the yard to keep shipments of materials from being brought in. The workers turned on the Socialist activists and advanced with tools. Only the quick thinking of a foreman kept it from becoming a bloodbath.

The strikes did cause economic loss and some disruptions, but ultimately failed in their objective. While Cascadia was more pro-labor than many other world powers, the strikes only served to further inflame social tensions and divide the working class further. Many workers associated with shipbuilding were in favor of increased naval spending, as were workers from the dock and shipping industries. The Cascadian Navy was the guardian of the nation's maritime trade, which was what gave them work. The Socialists looked like pacifist rabble-rousers to these groups; in turn the Socialists held the maritime labor unions in derision and scorn for their clear alliance with Lakeland's bellicose government.

Some Conservatives and Liberals called for the Socialist Party to be fined for the strikes, including the new Attorney-General. President Matthews put his foot down, refusing for fear it would seem an attack on free speech and on workers' rights.

On the foreign front, the Government acted to ease relations with London and keep Washington friendly. The Liberal Government in London was pleased to see McInnes back as Cascadian Foreign Secretary, but alone would not mean lasting peace.

The most prominent action of the new Government in its first month was the Treaty of Military Assistance with Chilè. The new Chilèan government, like their Peruvian neighbor, were drifting toward Cascadia, and deemed access to Cascadia's advanced armaments as necessary for their defense against Argentina.


And so 1906 came to an end. Cascadia again found itself on the apparent verge of war, while her shipyards enjoyed their lead in building the most powerful warships the world had yet seen.

[Jub]

Hey Steve, all of your images seem to be broken on my end. Not just in this post, but for all of your posts in this thread.

[Steve]

Hey Steve, all of your images seem to be broken on my end. Not just in this post, but for all of your posts in this thread.

Might have been an issue with photobucket.

[Steve]

January 1907

The German Navy finished clearing the necessary ways to lay the Posen, their first sovereign battleship.

Teams reported trouble with developing High Capacity pumps for flooding control.




February 1907

In need of new orders after completing a run of heavy merchant ships, Hunter's Point's board of directors offered the Admiralty a discount to build a third ship to the Sovereign's specifications. Admiral Garrett could not find the necessary budget space for the proposed vessel, however, and turned down the offer.



Word arrived from Lourenço Marques that the Mozambique rebels had sparked a new round of fighting and violence in and around the main cities of Portuguese East Africa. President Matthews sent ships to join an international squadron under British command. Due to his familiarity with the area, Captain Reginald Etps was picked to lead the Cascadian contingent from his command, the CRS Reliant.

Unlike before, there were no incidents with other nations' crews. The prompt Cascadian action did seem to further rankle the Tsar, though, with Russia accusing Cascadia of becoming an aggressive, expansionist state threatening world stability.



Russia tension to 11

After months of working around failure, Naval Artillery reported that one of their engineers had discovered the error that had halted their process. With the error accounted for, months of work were suddenly made good and the mechanical firing computer was a working concept.





After months of wrangling with Congress, the US Navy finally won permission to lay their first all-big-gun battleship, the USS Connecticut.



March 1907

Relations with Russia improved slightly due to an unexpected source. Tsar Nicholas II had recently accepted the aid of a Siberian holy man, Grigori Rasputin, in caring for his hemophiliac heir Alexei. Rasputin was a man with a magnetic personality and, while at the Tsarskoe Selo, advised him that a war would be horrible for Russia. Nicholas had his own concerns, given rising social problems, and counseled his ministers to draw back from the brink. A war against Cascadia and Japan and France at the same time could mean the end of the Russian Far East.

Russia tension back down to 10

Metallurgists and engineers in the Naval Armoring Office reported to Admiral Lewis, Chief of Naval Design and Procurement, an improved process for annealing in ship armor.

Naval Ordnance meanwhile announced that new HE shells with TNT bursting charges had completed testing and were available for employment in the Navy's ammunition lockers. Orders were immediately placed for the new shells.





April 1907

An incident along Tierra del Fuego between Argentina and Chilè led to an escalation in world tensions. Argentina threatened Chilè with armed force if the Chilèans did not deploy ships further north of the strait, accusing Santiago of planning an attack against the Argentine half of the (southern island, look up name).

Upon hearing of the Argentine threat, President Matthews authorized the dispatch of the Ranger to lead a squadron of cruisers and destroyers to Chilè. Their arrival tilted the balance against the Argentine fleet. Germany immediately responded with a threat to send their own cruiser forces if Cascadian ships did not immediately depart the region.

Great Britain also deployed its new battlecruisers to the Falkland Islands, to monitor the situation, while Sir Edward Grey invited Ambassador Morales and his German counterpart to discussions over the standoff in South America.



Germany Tension to 11

UK Tension to 6

Naval design teams finished work on a conceptual turret layout to permit cross deck firing, effectively allowing wing turrets limited firing arcs across the deck.



With the threat of war looming, work on the CRS Superb was again accelerated.

Superb construction accelerated


May 1907

The dock expansion was completed.



The Marine Nationale prevailed upon the French Government to request permission to purchase the plans for oil-fired boilers from Simnel & King. The Admiralty approved the request.



Naval Engineering teams reported they were close to finishing economizers for use in ship machinery.

Meanwhile the threat of enemy submersibles required a response of some sort. Naval Ordnance offered an initial solution with explosive sweeps, to be employed against enemy submersibles.




A shortage of steel due to worker stoppages and political agitation forced Reilly & Collette to suspend production on the Sovereign for much of the month.



The Admiralty ordered another dock expansion.



June 1907

The new submersibles Stingray and Tarpon were finished. They were attached to 2nd Submersible Division for continued testing trials with the new ship type.


Unpopular ordinances declared from Copenhagen caused some rioting and violence in the Danish Virgin Islands. Cascadia did not respond on the grounds that the Caribbean was outside of Cascadia's zone of interest.



Work on new economizers was completed. Design teams reported advances in their next project, while training practices in the Admiralty have led to the employment of screening formation for Cascadian destroyers accompanying larger ships into combat.





The steel shortages in the Puget Sound area continue to bedevil construction there. This time Superb was delayed.



With the increased tensions, the Cascadian Navy ordered ships to support Japan in Northeast Asia.

[Steve]

I hope you're all happy... it's 1908 and I'm in the middle of a two on three Great Power War....

[Purple]

Only if there are many interesting battles with a lot of sunk ships in the mix.

[Eternal_Freedom]

As long as Warrior comes trough either intact, or dies a glorious death with a certain surviving XO to get a new ship to get revenge, I'm happy

[Steve]

July 1907

Prospectors in the Philippines discovered a major oil deposit in the island chain. This made Cascadia's impending switch to oil-fired boilers all the more useful, as Filipino oil would provide a ready source in the Southeast Asia squadrons.



Ship design experts completed conceptual work on an aft-facing superfiring turret.

Naval Ordnance developed new torpedoes with contra-rotating propellers. The Submersibles Office revealed a new aiming system for the submersibles' torpedoes.





August 1907

"It is clear to all that the Hawk Coalition must go. These detestable men care nothing for their fellow citizen. They care only for the wealth they can rip from our lands. Their eyes are always toward opportunity to fatten themselves on the wealth of society. They are parasites, nothing more. We, the representatives of the working class of Cascadia, must stand ready to be the voice of the common People, of the working man, the farmer, the fisherman, who stand to lose everything from the power games of the elite. We must stand for the rights of the starving multitudes, the uneducated children, against the interests that spend money not on food and schools but on the great engines of destruction they set upon the world's oceans.

Brothers, comrades, friends, let nothing deter us! March!" - Speech by Rep. Roger Flagg of Surrey, to the 12th Annual Congress of the Socialist Party of Cascadia

September 1907

The battle cruiser Reprisal is formally commissioned, the first Cascadian ship armed with 13" guns.



The French Government requested assistance with their own battleship design programs and the structural methods used to enable a ship to mount main battery wing turrets of 12"+ size. The Admiralty supported the French request and the agreement was made.


War games ordered by the admiralty showed that great difficulty remained in continuing to refine the Navy's fleet formations.




With the remaining budget for the year, the Admiralty ordered two new protected cruisers as successors of the old Olympias. The San Francisco comes armed with twelve 6" guns supported by eight 3" casemate guns along the sides. The armor belt was thickened to 3". Turret protection was made up of 2" plates. WIth steam turbines and other newer machinery, the speed of the San Francisco was designed to reach 28 knots. The vessels would have specialized spaces for extra marine detachments and stores to support protecting Cascadian holdings in the Asian stations of the Pacific. Two ships of this class, the San Francisco and the Bremerton, were ordered.





Landowners and natives on Saipan protested increasing German encroachment of their lands to be converted into garrison defenses and barracks. Several of the Islanders began to gather what means they could to stockpile arms.

October 1907

After a year, the enhanced gunnery and torpedo training was considered properly disseminated among the fleet, upping the capability and performance of Cascadian crews.



Naval Artillery reported the successful employment of stereoscopic rangefinders in fire control systems.



Naval Artillery and Reilly & Coleltte reported the development of a new 14" gun for use in warships and coastal installations.



To great fanfare, the German Navy commissioned a new raiding cruiser named Hela, in honor of the prior Hela that had fought CRS Anchorage in the War of 1903. Surviving crew from the lost Hela were part of the ceremonies. The German Navy made use of the morale boost, as tensions with Cascadia were again running high.

Germany commissions new Hela

November 1907

Cascadian Naval Intelligence reported a coup to Portland. Agents who had penetrated Germany's naval design organization had managed to purloin plans for new high capacity pumps to be used in damage control.



As this quiet success was celebrated, the world continued to darken. Tensions remained high between Cascadia and Germany, as well as Cascadia and Russia. Many Germans still smoldered over the quick peace of 1903 and were convinced that a longer war would inevitably see a German victory. The Kaiser was reported to be in an increasingly-bellicose mood.

German willingness to start another war was amplified by their new rapprochement with Russia. The Russians were deeply concerned over the Cascadian-Japanese Alliance; Germany offered them a free hand against Cascadia if the time came.

Cascadia was not innocent of the situation. The current Government under Secretary Lakeland was under severe internal threat in the Parliament. Representative Flagg's Socialists were openly caucusing not only with Peace Democrats but also with the "Dove Liberals", as they were dubbed, led by Senator Patrick MacIntyre of Lower California. The "Dove Coalition" was attempting to find some ground, any ground, to insist upon a vote of no confidence in the Matthews-Lakeland Cabinet. The Socialists were also active in the labor market, supporting several strikes and tense standoffs with owners across the country. Social unrest was gripping the country. Representative Flagg continued a steady campaign of peace marches, strikes, and other pressure in favor of a naval limitation and new social programs.

Therefore, many in the Government and its supporting coalition saw a war with Germany as a chance to unite the politically-divided country toward a common end: defeating Germany and/or Russia to expand Cascadia's power in the Pacific and to, for others, liberate the Pacific Islanders in the German Empire from German rule.



December 1907

Several shipyards completed private projects on expanding their shipbuilding docks.

[Steve]

January 1908

The wave of dock improvements continued.



President Matthews broached the idea of a new war with Germany, asking Admiral Garrett if Cascadia could win, especially if they had tof ight alone. The Admiral considered the question and replied Cascadia needed more funds to its Navy to be assured of victory.

The President, with SecState Lakeland, pushed the act through Parliament. Flagg retaliated to this defeat with another series of marches that caused increased unrest in the industrial cities. His goal of causing enough striking workers to impede naval building failed - those groups remained pro-armament - so he began attempts to win over the resource providers instead.



Unrest to 5

Cascadia was not the only nation facing domestic unrest. New battle line construction in Britain and Germany were impeded by strikes and labor efforts in their work forces.



February 1908

Naval Artillery designers working Reilly & Collette engineers perfected a new mechanism for turrets: Hydraulic Rammers, which would make loading naval guns faster.

The Submersible Office's testing with the four Cascadian submersibles in service led to the engineering of anti-submersible nets that could be placed in naval harbors to protect them from enemy submersibles.

Parker & Sons presented a new 900 ton destroyer design to the Admiralty.





The Parker & Sons design was a further improvement on the Sherman's capabilities. 3 centreline 4" turrets and two centreline torpedo mounts would now be joined by a torpedo mount on each side of the ship. New light machinery would permit an estimated design speed of 32 knots. The design was dubbed the Kirk-class.



Admiral Garrett approved the order with extra funds from the 1908 naval budget. Six ships of the 1908 design were laid: Kirk, Sisko, Sheridan, Adama, Cain, and Reynolds.




March 1908

An unexpected development came about in March. The German Embassy signaled to the Cascadian government that the German Empire was prepared to sign a security treaty with the Cascadian Republic.

With tensions as high as they were, the German announcement was considered peculiar, to say the least. Foreign Secretary McInnes was not sanguine about the possibilities and believed the offer was mostly a ploy in Berlin by a beleaguered von Bülow, who feared that Germany was teetering toward a war that might cost Germany its overseas empire. Others suspected that Foreign Undersecretary Holstein was using the initiative to drive a wedge in the Franco-Cascadian alliance. Germany's ability to swiftly overcome France had proven lacking in 1903 - a renewed war would inevitably lead to more fighting that would bleed Germany white while France awaited Cascadian and prospectively Japanese reinforcements. By isolating the French and Cascadian Republics from each other, Germany might take them on separately.
Whether the Germans were sincere or not was immaterial: Lakeland was steadfast against it. Lakeland, despite his Liberal alignment, was coming under increased sway of the Conservatives, who saw a war as a chance to invigorate and unify the nation and gain the powers necessary to suppress Flagg's Socialists. Furthermore, the Anglophile Conservatives would never ever approve a German alliance - the French alliance was only considered practicable to them because of the Anglo-French rapprochement of the years after Fashoda.

With Lakeland and McInnes squabbling over the reply in the Cabinet - Lakeland wanted a fierce refusal, McInnes a cautious offer to negotiate - President Matthews stepped in by proposing a reply of a counter-proposal. Cascadia would not sign a security treaty with Germany alone, but would willingly sign a general international security treaty for all the great powers.

The announcement did help Cascadian relations with the other powers. Russia replied with willingness to do the same, and submit the ongoing fisheries and China disputes to international arbitration. In London the Campbell-Bannerman Government signaled immediate appreciation of the Cascadian gesture.

But Germany would not, could not, accept such a thing. Nor could France. Matthews' proposal died over the wires.



Russia tension down to 9
UK down to 4


San Francisco, Upper California
20 March 1908

It was not a peaceful Friday in San Francisco. Nor had the city been very peaceful as of late, not since the terrible earthquake in 1906. One could still see the areas of the city being rebuilt here and there. Many of the laborers were Chinese, men brought across the Pacific from the land of their ancestors to work for cheap wages - although not so cheap for them - to rebuild the city.

The city's surviving workers, and those who had moved in ahead of the Chinese, were not happy with this. San Francisco was becoming the home to increased class and racial violence. The local trade unions and worker groups were among the more radicalized and even violent of their kind in the country.

And they had turned out in number to meet Representative Flagg.

The place was near one of the hardest hit neighborhoods, not far from the Cascadian Army base at the Presidio. Indeed, some of the attending were Army themselves, curious young soldiers and officers in civilian wear.

Workmen had raised a platform for him. A podium was in place. The leader of the Cascadian Socialists cut a fine figure as he stood before the crowd, many cheering.

"Look about you. Look at this devastation. Think of the lives broken that horrible day two years ago," Flagg declared. "And now consider that within a month of that horrible day, our government took money it might have spent on the victims of this natural calamity… and instead spent it upon a useless warship for the benefit of the Navy!"

Some of the crowd booed.

"A warship, meant to kill, meant to impose the will of the money men, the industrialists, the parasites of the world who grow fat upon our suffering!", Flagg continued. "A weapon to fight wars our people do not want! And what is it all for? For some phantom of pride?! While the people of San Francisco huddled in tents and starved!"

Another roar of anger.

"My friends, I stand against this. I stand with others, of many other parties, who see the folly of this Government. Who know that the only winners in a war with the Germans, or the Russians, or any other people… are the few, the elite, who stain hands with blood so that more gold can pass into their own! And we must not tolerate this. We must rise up, with one voice, and declare enough is enough! No more battleships! No more guns! The working class of not just our country but the entire world must rise up and refuse to tolerate this race of building arms before it becomes a race of shedding blood! Five years ago we had a warning of what a new war would bring! Let us not ignore that warning! Let us stand against that future, now, and demand that this Government do justice by the people of San Francisco, the people of Upper California, the people of the Cascadian Republic… indeed, the people of the entire world! We must avert this war before it destroys us all!I"

And the crowds cheered.

As they finished, Flagg took the time to declare his intent. "Words alone cannot be enough. Actions must work for us too. So I call upon my brothers in the world labor movements to join me, here, in a conference to submit a resolution to a trembling world for peace. I invite representatives of every democratic, socialist, workingman's party in the world to join me in Surrey this summer! Together we will find a solution to help our people avoid this war before it begins!"

The crowd cheered in reaction. Most of them, anyway. For a few, there was some surprise that he would go so far. What binding solution could such a summit give them?

Still, it was something to hope for, at least.

Now all the Representative from Surrey needed was time. Time to get his conference going, to embolden the peace parties of the world to stay the pace of arms.

It remained to be seen if he had that time left.



Unrest at 6

April 1908

Vancouver, Olympia
6 April 1908


Commander James Hawke considered the man in front of him. An honorable man, it was said. He looked resplendent in his blue-gray naval uniform, with honors and commendations upon his breast from his grateful country.

But that had evidently not been enough for Captain Andrew Hoplin of Spokane, former commander of the Intrepid and the Relentless, now of the Navy Planning Board.

The investigation had taken months. Careful tailing work, a surreptitious visit to the man's Portland flat, and lots of looking through bank records to find the money. It had been the money of course. The money trail that showed a Captain with a nice country estate in Centralia far above his means and a pricey mistress half his age in the City. It must have been the mistress, Hawke decided. The need for a man of his age to prove himself again, and needing the funds.

Captain Hoplin looked over the papers with a pale face. He knew he'd been caught.

"Your Russian friends were quite clever. The roubles never left Russia. They were converted to British pounds in St. Petersburg and then Cascadian dollars in London. The miracle of the telegraph wire." Hawke tapped the papers. "What, precisely, did you give them?"

"Nothing important," Hoplin insisted. "Some… some material from the Ordnance Office. A plan or two on the new destroyers, but never complete! I didn't have access!"

"So you didn't. But this is still bad for you, Hoplin. Very bad. None of your honors and distinctions can save you." Hawke shook his head. "Treason is what this is. And all for the attentions of a pretty thing."

"Oh God, have mercy," the older man blubbered. His deepest secret was out. And he was ruined. "My family will be ruined. My comrades humiliated. The Navy… the service will be disgraced when I am revealed!"

"Indeed. And the papers will be incensed at the Russian spying," Hawke pointed out. "And we can ill afford such with a German war looming over us again." Hawke seemed thoughtful for a moment. "There is a way to keep this discreet, Captain. To save yourself from disgrace. And to serve your country one last time."

Hawke reached into his jacket. In the dim light of the hotel room, the glint on the finished steel was obvious. It was a Colt revolver.

Hawke pulled out the cylinder. All of the chambers were empty. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a single bullet. With one motion he slid it into one of the waiting chambers. He turned it into the chamber was placed right and turned the cylinder back into place. Hoplin swallowed and watched Hawke set the pistol on the table. He took the incriminating papers and returned them to his jacket pocket. "For your children, sir," he said. "For your country. Perform one last duty."

Hoplin eyed the gun and swallowed. He didn't move, barely breathed, as Hawke turned his back and left the room.

Outside a young lieutenant in Naval Intelligence was waiting. He had dark hair, a plain face… an excellent agent's face, as far as Hawke was concerned. "Lieutenant ," he said to Edwin Bond.

"Sir." The young man had a bit of a thing with authority figures. He'd joined the Service to get away from his overbearing family, it was said, and he would have remained an Ensign and on his way to drumming out if Hawke hadn't found him and taken him under his wing. "How did it go?"

Hawke didn't answer young Eddie for a moment. The silence was punctuated by a single gunshot in the room. Hawke looked back in for a moment. Satisfied by the sight, he closed the door. "About as well as it could, Eddie. About as well as it could." He shook his head. "Men can be such fools. Promise me, Eddie, that if a pretty young thing ever tempts me like that, you'll do me in. For the Service."

"Yes sir," Eddie answered. He seemed thoughtful.

"Admiral Green will want a report. Let's not keep him waiting. And then you can get back to your pretty young thing."

"I wish you wouldn't refer to my Molly that way, sir…" There was a hint of anger in that voice.

Hawke laughed at that. "Always one for bucking authority, aren't you? But you'll make a good agent regardless, I think…"




In Germany, the peace party in Berlin was given a moment of hope when the Kaiser signaled willingness to accept American or British arbitration of Germany's renewed tensions with Cascadia. The German position was clear: Cascadia must reduce her naval presence in the Pacific and protect the rights granted German citizens in the Treaty of Westminster. Matthews signaled willingness to consider the arbitration.

Germany Tension down to 10

Naval design teams reported to Admiral Garrett preliminary work was complete on a new capital ship that would use four centreline turrets, in an A-B-X-Y layout, for optimal firing in the bow and stern while permitting full broadsides of eight guns. This promised a weight savings in comparison to wing turret layouts.



Issues at Parker & Sons delayed the Reynolds.

Equipment delay for Reynolds

May 1908

Another dock expansion was completed. The Navy immediately ordered another expansion project, as with 14" guns now available tonnages were expected to spike into the 35,000+ range.

Further problems with the yards delayed the Adama.

Secretary of State Lakeland responded to pointed questions by Representative Flagg in the House by declaring that it was the future of Cascadia to be the leading power of the Pacific. When pressed he admitted further support for the Polynesian unification movement, to be "guided" by the Cascadian government. This prompted protest both by Russia and by the French Government.

Furthermore, Lakeland's bellicose behavior contributed to the increasing social tension in Cascadia. Another attempt to overturn his government was attempted but failed by several crucial votes. Too many Parliament members were more concerned with the German threat.

Russia tension back to 10
France's to 3

Unrest to 7

June 1908

Reilly & Collette Yards
Bremerton, Olympia
8 June 1908

After two years of accelerated construction, the time had come.

Admiral Garrett stood proudly with two men in the uniforms of Captains as Rachel took a bottle of her father's finest wine and slammed it against the massive steel hull before them. A band struck up Press On Cascadia Fair! and the crowds cheered in the summer sun. The green white and blue bunting swayed in the wind as the ship's engines came to life. On her decks, hundreds of men in blue-gray stood at attention as the mighty engines beneath them begun to rumble.

It was the accomplishment of a lifetime. Even more than Warrior had been.

The Sovereign slowly backed out of the pier, formally commissioned into Cascadian service, and due in Esquimalt to begin her working up exercises. The world's biggest battleship. The first battleship with a broadside of eight big guns. The vessel that, singlehandedly, made the entire battle lines of Germany and Britain obsolete.

And Admiral Garrett's heart swelled with pride to see the Cascadian tricolor fluttering on her mast.

"Sir, I don't know what to say," said the Sovereign's Captain.

"Then don't say anything, Reg," the Admiral answered.

"It's a singular honor, sir," Etps insisted.

"You're the Hero of 1903," Garrett pointed out. "The best choice I could find. You'll serve well out on the Pacific."

"Yes sir."

"As will you, Captain." Garrett looked on to the other Captain. Phillip Wallace had been XO and then captain of the Warrior. "Superb will be ready for you soon."

"Thank you, sir," Wallace said. "I'm honored that you selected me as her Captain."

"O'Bannon's reports on you were glowing. And your captaincy of the Warrior has earned you praise from Admiral MacCallister." Garrett smiled and looked to his wife as she walked up. "Excellent, dear."

"Thank you." She looked back at the mighty ship now preparing a launch to pick up their captain. "There she is, Stephen. Your vision. Your dream."

"Not just mine. The dream of every Cascadian." He looked at the shining floating castle. "Proof that we can stand tall amongst the other naval powers. That we are a force to be reckoned with."

"With all of the marches and protests lately…"

"People will calm down. They'll do so when Germany attacks, as I suspected they would eventually. But now, they will have to face our vision. The Sovereign will show them what it means to fight the Cascadian nation." He kissed her on the cheek. "Come, dear, I think we have just enough time to catch a boat for Esquimalt. Raffie has been looking forward to seeing you again…"


"The commissioning of the Sovereign is a landmark the world will not soon forget. The vision of Admiral Garrett and his designers have swept the board clean. Our mighty battle line is obsolete. We must redouble our efforts to match this Cascadian innovation before other powers do so, at our expense.

As for our being beaten to this accomplishment, I can only say… who is more worthy of surpassing a parent than his child? For the Cascadians are indeed our children, and combine the best traits of America and England in their institutions and their attitudes.

Do any doubt this? Their ships bear the same names as ours. They celebrate the names of the English heroes, of Nelson and Rodney and Hawke. We should not be surprised she has the same genius upon the sea that Britain has long possessed. Rather than fear it, we should feel pride in it. The Sovereign-type battleship is as much a product of the British tradition as her builders are. Let us prove this by placing our energies into refining what our children on the Pacific have built, so that the Royal Navy remains supreme upon the oceans." - Winston L.S. Churchill, MP, during a House debate on the ramifications of the Sovereign's commissioning





The Pacific's peace was rocked by an outbreak of fighting on the islands of Saipan and Tinian. Natives to the islands, as well as others brought in by the Germans to supplement the native working force, launched an open revolt against German governance. Much of the interiors were seized, as were some coastal positions, while the main ports remained in German hands. The rebels were inspired by the continued tensions with Cascadia and, it was believed, were triggered into rebellion by the increasing German garrison on the island and the behavior of some of the German troops.

The German government immediately ordered reinforcements from the garrisons in Guam and the Bismarcks. A relief force from Tsingtao was ordered.

And news of what had happened spread across the Pacific, and then the world...



Executive Mansion
Portland, Federal District
15 June 1908

The word on the wire had come in over the weekend about the rebellion in Saipan and Tinian. Germany was facing a major revolt of the northern-most islands of the Marianas.

Which was an opportunity for Secretary of State James Lakeland.

The Premier of the Cascadian Government had assembled the Cabinet on this fine summer Monday to discuss this. Matthews, as President, attended as well. Not for the first time did Lakeland curse the idea of mixing the British and American systems; a less-powerful President would make his job easier.

So, with the leaders of Cascadia assembled, Lakeland divulged his intent.

"You would dishonor us to the world," McInnes protested, upon Lakeland finishing. "Openly backing the Marianas revolt? Germany would declare war! And they would be in the right!"

"They will declare war anyway!", declared Peter Chumsleigh, the Naval Secretary. The Conservative Representative represented the same constituency that enjoyed the presence of the Cascadian Naval Academy, making his portfolio obvious. "The Germans were never satisfied with the Peace of 1903. This provides us opportunity, a chance to strike at the Germans while they are distracted! The longer we wait, the more likely they will start a war on their terms."

"Chummy's got the right of it", declared Jake Roberts of Montana, the Populist politician who had been reshuffled to the War Office. His colleague winced slightly at the rough-speaking outdoorsman's diminutive of his surname. "That's the way ya have to do these things, man. Get yer kicks in 'fore they do! I say we send those rebs every rifle we can spare!"

"You are handing Flagg the next election on a silver platter!", McInnes insisted.

"Are we?" Juan Morales, the former Secretary of State and now Secretary of the Treasury, shook his head. "The people have no love of Germany. Most papers are lionizing the rebels. I think you overstate Flagg's powers of persuasion." Morales looked to Lakeland. "Count me in on it."

"And if France and Japan refuse to support us, what then?", Matthews demanded.

"Then we know their word doesn't mean a good Goddamn," Roberts roared.

Lakeland looked over the President. Matthews wasn't entirely persuaded either. But he was a politician. He recognized the risk if the Cabinet fell apart over the issue. Lakeland knew that risk too, but he was willing to take it. Cascadia might never have a better chance of taking on Germany than she had now.

Especially due to that damned Socialist Conference. The last thing Lakeland needed was the world's Socialists descending upon Surrey and coming up with some half-baked scheme to defuse tensions, it would only confuse the issue and could cost Cascadia valuable time. If a war broke out now, then the conference would be a no-brainer. No German Socialist would be able to come to Surrey, not without risking arrest or undermining his position back in Germany. The entire conference would collapse in Flagg's face.

No. This was their chance. He had to take it.

"Gentlemen, I recognize some of you are afraid," he said. "But we have an opening we must seize. Germany will always dog us, so long as they have holdings in the Pacific, so long as they covet our territories. The Kaiser's lust for world glory will not be satiated, it must only be rebuked, so violently that Germany can never again risk it."

"So I believe we must act. And now. Our people, whatever the Socialists are saying, will be behind a war to drive the Germans out of the Pacific and end their cruelty toward the Islanders they hold." Lakeland drew himself up in his seat. "I now propose that the Cabinet vote on the issue. I consider it a vote of confidence."

McInnes and Matthews exchanged uneasy looks. Lakeland had them and he knew it. If they defeated him in this vote, he would resign, and the Hawk Coalition would likely collapse. The Socialists would make gains in any such case. And if McInnes or any of the others voted against him and lost, they would be made to resign. He could then get people he would prefer in his government in position. And Matthews, while not out of a job, would find his own policies hard to push through Lakeland's opposition.

One by one, hands went up. Morales, Chumsleigh, Roberts… Soon Lakeland had a majority.

McInnes and a couple of Morales' less-devoted supporters gave uneasy looks. They kept their hands down. "I abstain," McInnes declared. The others did too.

Lakeland hid his contempt behind a politician's grace. Of course. McInnes took the coward's way out.

President Matthews sighed and shook his head. "By all rights, Mister Secretary, I should tell you to go to Hell," he declared. "And let the chips fall where they may. You are embarking us upon a course with just one certainty; it will be paved with blood."

"The Republic must stand strong, or we will forever be weak in the eyes of the world," Lakeland insisted. "And Mister President, be reasonable. We both know the Germans are going to try again. Perhaps in league with the Russians. If we strike now, when we have the Sovereign and they have none like it, we have a better chance. Admiral Garrett's innovations have given us an edge. We should seize it."

There was quiet. Lakeland's words were something Matthews knew could be true. Another war with Germany was likely inevitable. And if he caused Lakeland's Government to fall… he could still end up in a war, with a divided country at his back, uncertain allies, and an enemy attacking from a ready position.

He nodded quiet assent. "You may send the guns," Matthews stated.

"Thank you, Mister President. You won't regret this decision."


It did not take long before the Germans realized what was going on. Even with night-time approaches of supplies from Cascadian destroyers to evade German patrols, the sudden increase in firepower by the rebels and the recovery of new top of the line Burleigh & Armstrong rifles after several failed rebel attacks on the main ports were proof enough. Incensed, the German Government publicly revealed the Cascadian support to the world and demanded Portland immediately cease and pay reparations. The Kaiser was especially incensed and declared that nothing less than the immediate cessation of Samoa to the German Empire would do for compensation.

President Matthews countered with an argument proposed by Lakeland. He accused the Germans of abusing the Marianas Islanders and tramping upon their islands with excessive garrisons. "Germany has been a scourge in this ocean. We will not deny the truth of our admiration for the valiant Islanders struggling to reclaim their rights from the German Empire."

In Paris there was discontent with the Cascadian cause. Delcassé saw it as a prelude to official Cascadian endorsement of Hawai'ian centered Polynesian Unification and a campaign against French Polynesia. But in the intervening years the Revanchists had made good their comeback. For most Frenchmen, Alsace-Lorraine was far more important than Polynesia, and cut off from a Russian or English alliance, Cascadia and Japan were the best France had available. Declassè was outmaneuvered in the discussions and the French Government signaled their support to Cascadia. Plans were readied to mobilize the army again.

In Tokyo, the Japanese saw opportunity. A war with Germany would leave Tsingtao isolated. Japan would obviously gain something from the war; either Tsingtao or a mandate over the Marianas. The Imperial government cabled Portland: Japan stood ready to side with Cascadia against the German Empire.






Naval Armoring reported the successful replication of Krupp's cement material for use with naval armor.



With war on the horizon, Admiral Garrett ordered two more Kirk-class destroyers, the Riker and Carter.



July 1908

The CRS Superb was commissioned, under the command of Captain Phillip Wallace.



Naval Ordnance reported improvement to AP shells to perform oblique penetration hits.





Unlike in 1903, there was no last minute diplomatic intervention by Britain to delay matters, no desperate last minute talks or ultimatums.

On July 2nd, the German Empire ordered total mobilization. The German Ambassadors in Paris, Tokyo, and Portland requested their passports. This was an immediate signal to the governments in those nations. France immediately ordered mobilization as well. Japan declared mobilization several hours later.

In Portland the news was greeted without surprise. President Matthews was beginning to repent of letting Lakeland direct so much of the foreign policy. He was far closer to McInnes on the Hawk-Dove scale. But what was done was done: Cascadia could not safely retreat from the advanced line drawn for it. Even if, as Admiral Garrett had signaled earlier in the year, they were maybe not ready for a major war. In 1903 they had seemed to avoid the bullet: Germany and France had quickly realized that 1871 wasn't happening again and were ready to make a compromise peace. There was no telling where a renewed conflict would go.

But the Marianas Revolt had become the cast die. Cascadia's status as a growing world power was at stake. There was nothing to do but accept what had happened.

The President ordered the draft be enacted. The Navy was put on full alert and all army reserves and provincial guard regiments were called up. A war message was delivered to Parliament.

In Parliament, Representative Flagg was incensed. He denounced the entire situation as the result of Lakeland's imperialism and Matthews' incapability. He called on the House to reject the request for war powers and to demand immediate negotiations with Germany. "The workers of our nation will not let you drag them into this war for your imperialist aims!", he shouted at Matthews.

In vain. Lakeland's calculation had prevailed. The Parliament was not willing to back down from Germany now that the gauntlet had been thrown. After a rancorous debate, the leading coalition gathered enough dove votes to force cloture on the raging Socialists. A majority voted the desired war powers to the government. In protest, Flagg walked out with his entire Party.

The Government prepared to go further. Arthur Caldwell, the Conservative Attorney-General, was ready to order the National Marshals to arrest Flagg and other leading Socialists the moment he defied the Government with an anti-war speech. The argument was made that Flagg's party would undermine the war effort if allowed to meet publicly. Many Conservatives and some Liberals delighted at the prospect of putting the "Socialist rabble-rouser" in a prison cell. Better if evidence could be found that would let them sustain war sedition charges.

But there were lines that Matthews would not cross. Even Lakeland was uncertain about pushing things so far. The two men agreed that arresting Flagg at this point would be counter-productive. He was left free.

Meanwhile, the situation reached its ultimate, unavoidable conclusion.

On July 3rd, the Kaiser addressed the Reichstag. His argument was simple and undeniable: Cascadia had violated the German Empire's sovereignty and rights, directly and openly. German soldiers were being slain by Cascadian rifles fired by men being trained, it was believed, by Cascadian officers. The German Empire could not let this stand.

The Reichstag's response was immediate. For the second time that decade, the German Empire declared war on the Cascadian Republic. The Kaiser insisted that France and Japan remain neutral: Cascadia had violated the German Empire with support for a revolt. The French and Japanese could not tolerate such behavior in an ally.

His appeal fell on deaf ears.

The French Republic and the Empire of Japan declared they were honoring the treaty. On July 4th, 1908, both nations declared war on the German Empire.

The Peace of 1903 had turned out to be a mere five year armistice.

[Ziggy Stardust]

At some point would you mind posting a screenshot of the almanac? As I read along, I'm just curious to get an idea of what the relative sizes of all the world power's navies are.

[Steve]

I'll get a screenshot of the almanac as of the next point I play... which will be May-June 1909, mind you.