These are the ships I considered for this suggestion, but eventually decided against. If
anyone can think of a way they could be made to work in game, I'm all ears.
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BB3? Tosa
What was Tosa in real life?
The Kaga class were to be the battleship counterparts to the Amagi class battlecruisers.
They were an improvement on the preceeding Nagato class, with a somewhat wider and much
longer hull allowing the addition of a fifth twin 16.1"/45 turret aft. Speed, armor
protection and secondary armament were almost unchanged from the Nagato design.
Construction on two ships (Kaga and Tosa) was started in 1920; the two ships, along with
the two Nagatos and four larger battleships to be constructed later, would make up the
battleship component of the planned "Eight-Eight" fleet. Work on both ships was halted
after the signing of the Washington Naval Treaty in 1922. In 1923, the Kanto earthquake
destroyed the battlecruiser Amagi as it was being converted into an aircraft carrier, so
the hull of the incomplete battleship Kaga was substituted in its place. The incomplete
hull of Tosa was expended in gunnery tests in 1925.
Why was Tosa omitted from the suggestion?
Frankly I don't think there's any reasonable spot for Tosa (technically it's the Kaga
class, as Kaga was laid down first, but the name Tosa is used more often). It clearly
should be more powerful than Nagato, so it wouldn't make sense as a BB3, but it just as
clearly should be inferior to Yamato, so it couldn't be a BB4. With Vanguard being changed
from a BB3.5 to a full BB4 there's really no place for an intermediate tier ship like Tosa.
BB4? No.13 Class
What was No.13 Class in real life?
The final four ships of the "Eight-Eight" fleet are generally called the "Number 13"
class, referring to the hull number of the lead ship, since the design was far from
finalized when the program was abandoned, and it had not proceeded to the point where they
would have been assigned names and construction berths. The earliest of the Japanese
superbattleships to be seriously considered for production, the "Number 13" class were
loosely based on the preceeding Kii class. They would have been massive ships (longer than
the Royal Navy's Hood, which was at the time the world's largest warship), very fast
compared to their contemporaries at thirty knots, reasonably well protected, and armed
with a powerful main battery of eight 18.1"/45 guns in four twin turrets. It is generally
regarded as unlikely that Japan's economy could have sustained construction of all four
ships of this class even if design work on them had not been cancelled in 1923 following
the signing of the Washington Naval Treaty.
Why was No.13 Class omitted from the suggestion?
The biggest reason is that No. 13 is a purely speculative design. According to more recent
research, it was never finalized, and the layout pictured above is just a guess at what it
might have possibly looked like. So, there's that. Plus, although it's certainly an
interesting design, No.13 Class is sadly overshadowed by the more advanced superbattleship
class the Japanese actually built. I felt that Kii could have a different enough playstyle
from Yamato to warrant being an alternative choice for BB4 (although it's kind of a
stretch putting it there), but I really think No.13 Class in game would be almost exactly
like Yamato with worse AA, a worse turret layout and one fewer barrel, and I can't think
of any reasonable way to balance it.
BB2? Tegetthoff
What was Tegetthoff in real life?
The four ships of the Viribus Unitis class were the only dreadnoughts constructed for the
Austro-Hungarian navy. The Viribus Unitis class are puzzling oddities. In some ways, they
were the most advanced class in the world when launched in 1911; they featuring a
remarkably modern and effective layout of twelve 12"/45 guns in four triple turrets - all
on the centerline, with two superfiring over the other two. But at the same time, they
were plagued with crippling defects; the underwater protection was totally insufficient,
they had poor seakeeping and were unstable gun platforms, and the turret ventilation was
so inadequate that it has been estimated the gunners would have had only fifteen minutes
of oxygen once the ship commenced rapid fire. Three ships (Viribus Unitis, Tegetthoff, and
Prinz Eugen) were built in Austria, followed somewhat belatedly by one slightly modified
ship (Szent Istvan) completed in Hungary. An Italian motor torpedo boat sent Szent Istvan
to the bottom in 1918, and Viribus Unitis followed a few months later thanks to a bomb
planted by Italian commando divers. Prinz Eugen was assigned to France as war reparations,
where it was rather quickly sunk as a target. Tegetthoff went to the Italians, who by all
accounts were very impressed with the design and were suspciously slow about honoring
their promise not to retain it. Some sources have speculated that the Italian navy was
hoping to find a loophole allowing them to keep the ship, but international pressure
eventually forced them to sell it for scrap in 1925.
Why was Tegetthoff omitted from the suggestion?
I like Tegetthoff, it's one of my favorite dreadnought classes and certainly one of the
most interesting both in appearance and design. It's also a close contemporary to some of
the lower-tier BBs already in game, and would be well-balanced against them. But at the
same time, it really wouldn't have a place in any nation we have in game right now. I
think it would make a great PBB for the Italians, when they're added.
BB1? Iron Duke
What was Iron Duke in real life?
The Iron Duke class were the last dreadnoughts built for the Royal Navy before the start
of WWI. Their design was an incrimental improvement over the preceeding class, but they
were reliable ships in service and well-matched against contemporary German and American
types. The Iron Duke class carried ten 13.5"/45 guns in five twin turrets, with a rated
top speed of 21 knots. Iron Duke was the flagship of the Royal Navy at Jutland, and all of
the ships in the class took part in the battle. The four ships (Iron Duke, Marlborough,
Benbow and Emperor of India) were retained in the immediate postwar era, but by 1932 all
except Iron Duke had been broken up; Iron Duke was converted to a training ship and had
its superfiring turrets removed. In 1939 Iron Duke's remaining turrets were removed for
use in shore batteries and it was converted to a depot ship, and it served in this role
until being scrapped in 1946.
Why was Iron Duke omitted from the suggestion?
My initial thought was to put Iron Duke as the first battleship in the York line, bumping
Renown up to a BB2. Right now the gaps between ships in York line are pretty big following
the BB34AA patch, but I decided that messing with the level balance of existing lines was
a can of worms I didn't want to open. It might work as a third BB1 choice (with Canada as
the BB2, see below), but honestly, UK already has a ton of battleships, and if the point
of this suggestion was to make the number of choices available to each nation a bit more
even, it wouldn't make much sense to give them a whole new line.
BB2? Canada
What was Canada in real life?
As with Agincourt, the two ships of the Canada class had been ordered by other nations but
were appropriated by the Royal Navy to fight in WWI. Considered an Iron Duke subclass, the
design had a similar layout, but with a slightly larger 14"/45 main battery, somewhat
thinner armor, and a higher top speed of 23 knots. One ship, Libertidad, was ordered by
Chile in early 1911, and a second was added later that year. When the second was ordered,
the first was renamed, with the two ships now being Valparaiso and Santiago. They were
renamed (again) in 1912, becoming Almirante Latorre and Almirante Cochrane. The keel of
Almirante Latorre was laid in 1911; it was launched in 1913 and finished working up in
1914 just in time for the British to somewhat heavy-handedly convince the government of
Chile to sell it back. Renamed (again) to Canada, it fought at Jutland as part of the
British battle line. Construction of Almirante Cochrane did not start until much later
than Almirante Latorre, as the yard it was ordered from was occupied building Brazil's Rio
de Janeiro until 1913. Work was halted because of the war, and eventually the partially
completed ship was purchased back by the British government, and converted into Eagle, one
of the first flush-deck aircraft carriers. Canada, renamed (again) to Almirante Latorre,
was resold to Chile at a considerable discount in 1920 and served in the Chilean navy
until 1959. Eagle was retained by the Royal Navy after the war, and remained in frontline
service until it was sunk in the Mediterranean by U-73 in 1942.
Why was Canada omitted from the suggestion?
I would probably put Canada as a remodel of Iron Duke, since they're very similar in
design and appearance. If Iron Duke were added as a third UK BB1, Canada would probably
make a good BB2 for that line, although it's still kind of wimpy compared to the other
BB2s. Agincourt I would prefer to keep as a branch choice that could be skipped in favor
of a 'normal' BB2, since it's so bizarre and potentially unplayable.
BB5? N3 Class
What was N3 Class in real life?
Design plan N3 was the battleship counterpart to the G3 battlecruiser design. The G3
class, although given the label of battlecruiser, was armored and armed better than any
battleship at the time it was to be launched; the heavier N3 class had the same general
layout and displacement, but a much lower top speed of 24 knots would have enabled it to
carry even heavier armor protection and an unprecedented main battery of nine 18"/45 guns
in three triple turrets. Four were intended to be built, but the planned G3 class ships
were given a higher priority and none of the ships had been authorized or ordered before
the signing of the Washington Naval Treaty resulted in their cancellation.
Why was N3 Class omitted from the suggestion?
N3 Class would be at least a BB5. It's hard to convey just how advanced N3 Class and G3
Class were compared to their contemporaries at the time they were designed. I think N3
Class would have been a better BB5 choice than Lion II from a historical standpoint,
actually, and that historically it would have been closer in capability to the BB5s of
other nations. BB5s are outside the scope of this suggestion, though. I just included it
here because I think it's neat.