Thiaria: Reboot

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3.3. Oirirceas-Class
With Ogleidhras and Rinnfiain laid down, Thiaria had exhausted her allowance of heavy cruisers under the LNT. They however were entitled to build light cruisers of up to 8.000 tons now, rendering their existing light cruiser force quite inadequate. Thiaria's total light cruiser tonnage was set at the same 45.000 tons as stipulated for heavy cruisers; the seven existing ships ate up this allowance almost completely. In early 1933, the Thiarian government officially announced its intention to get rid of the already ageing - if recently rebuilt - Cathgangaid and Mioscais and replace them with two 8.000-tonners by 1937. Funds for one ship each were provided under the 1933 and 1934 estimates. Although the Ogleidhras-class was a well-conceived cruiser and perfectly suitable for a downscale as basis for the new light cruisers, the Thiarians decided to start from scratch so they could get the most modern design. They devised a wholly new hull shape with a transom stern and a bow bulb. Twin-screw machinery with 90.000hp was installed, providing a design speed of 34 knots on 8.000 tons design displacement thanks to the very efficient hull shape. Protection included a 110mm belt, topped by a 50mm deck, the same as the Ogleidhras-class heavy cruisers. Internal subdivision was even more extensive as in the Ogleidhras-class. Although the engines were arranged in two autonomous units, the uptakes were trunked into a single amidships funnel to increase available deck space. The pyramid-shaped bridge complex resembled the one of Ogleidhras, but had one deck less to retain stability on the smaller hull. Behind the bridge was a full-width boat deck served by two small cranes, followed by twin hangars aside the funnel, which were larger than the ones on earlier cruisers and capable of accommodating heavier aircraft. The single catapult was offset to port; the starboard hangar was provided with an asymmetrical platform, so airplanes could be rolled directly onto the catapult from both hangars without using the single large aircraft crane, which was offset to starboard in order to allow the catapult a greater angle of traverse. Normal airplane complement was three, two in the hangars and one on the catapult; a fourth could be stowed in a disassembled state. The ships were armed with three triple turrets mounting a newly developed 60-calibre 155mm gun, firing 60 kilogram projectiles to a range of 25.500 meters at a theoretical maximum RoF of one round every eight seconds (11-12 seconds was a more practical - and sustainable - figure); compared with contemporary foreign gun designs in the same category, these were exceptionally powerful weapons, though somewhat lacking ROF. Two new model directors were provided, one on the bridge, one aft. Ten of the established 45-caliber 100mm guns in five twin mounts were installed as heavy flak, two abreast the bridge, two abreast the aft main director and one on the centerline, superfiring the aft 155mm turret. Two AA directors with all-round horizon on top of the main gun directors provided fire-control. Four of the newly developed 37mm/70 quad turrets were provided as light flak, all mounted superfiring the lateral 100mm twins and each controlled by its own director. Eight 559mm torpedoes in two quad sets and six quad 13mm machinegun mounts completed the armament. As might have been expected, the total package was impossible to fit on an 8.000-ton hull, and the final draft displaced nearly 9.000 tons standard. Due to the added displacement, design speed dropped to 33 knots; on trials, all four exceeded 100.000hp, with Fulaingt as the fastest one making 34,3 knots on 104.000 hp. The sad fact that they were 10% larger than allowed did not concern the Thiarian government very much, and the ships were always officially referred to as 8.000-ton cruisers. They received the names Oirirceas (Gaelic: Fame) and Ardcheim (Gaelic: Dignity). Both were laid down in early 1935, Oirirceas at the private CSCA yard, Ardcheim at the Nuatearman Naval Yard. As usual, CSCA built very fast and completed Oirirceas within thirty months; she was in service by September 1937. The naval yard took over three years to complete Ardcheim, which commissioned in April 1938. Both completed without their 37mm quads, which were not declared fully serviceable before mid-1939; they substitutied semi-automatic 37mm twins for the meantime. At the time of their completion, Oirirceas and Ardcheim looked like this:

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In 1936, the second LNT abolished tonnage limits for light cruisers, and the Thiarians immediately laid down two additional sister ships, Spleodar (Gaelic: Vivacity) at the Riordain Yard and Fulaingt (Gaelic: Toughness) at the Abernenui Naval Yard. As the basic design was considered exceptionally sound, virtually no changes were implemented. Both took about three years to build, commissioning in May and September 1939, respectively; unlike their older sisters, they had the 37mm/70 quads from the beginning. Even as they were building, these cruisers influenced foreign cruiser design. From the beginning of the ironclad era, Thiaria had often followed France's lead, sometimes (especially in submarine design) into some bizarre dead ends; now the Oirirceas-class obviously influenced the outer appearance of France's upcoming De Grasse class, although the latter was smaller, faster and less well armed. Initial Thiarian service experience with Oirirceas and Ardcheim proved that these were very capable ships. They were comfortable and economical and displayed excellent seakeeping, and were all worked up and operational when the second world war started; their life-raft complement was augmented late in 1939. Spleodar was the first Thiarian warship with operational main artillery fire control radars, looking like this:

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All four belonged to the carrier strike force; by 1940, all cruisers and capital ships mounting 37mm/70 quad mounts were assigned to protect the carriers. In the battle of Daicheadach, Oirirceas was hit by an airborne torpedo, which caused some flooding amidships and reduced speed to 28 knots, but did not otherwise impair her operational capability. Spleodar fared worse; she came under fire by the heavy cruisers HMS Lancaster and Somerset and suffered eleven hits and a 533mm torpedo into her stern. Her sturdy construction saved her, and she barely managed to escape. Her own return fire was ineffective; as the last of her class to be commissioned, she had achieved FOC as late as December 1939, and her crew was still inexperienced. Ardcheim and Fulaingt escaped undamaged and were both available for the battle of Poncportan in early June 1940, where they aided the heavy cruiser Ogleidhras in the sinking of HMS Kent, which hit back at Fulaingt with seven hits, necessitating repairs. In the following months, Ardcheim stayed close to the carriers and were not involved in any surface actions before December. Her sister ships returned to service in August, October and November, respectively, and joined the main strike fleet. As strength was recovered, the Thiarians made several sorties during the second half of 1940 to try and intercept British convoys on the Cape Route. Despite having excellent Humint resources in South Africa, the Thiarians acted overly cautious at first, and the paper-thinly spread British-Recherchean escorts managed to effectively keep them away. It took them till late spring to relax a little; in December, the Thiarians scored a smashing success and sank nine merchants out of a cape convoy, plus five escorts, in December 1940. Ardcheim was credited with a Recherchean destroyer and two merchants. During 1941, Thiarian attention shifted west. Prime Minister Murchada's scheme to incite an anti-British revolt in South Africa had faltered miserably when his sympathizers among the reactionary boers learned that the Thiarians also had contacts with the ANC, so the planned African campaign never happened. When Fulaingt came back in service in late November, she had been modernized with spray shields to the forward heavy and intermediate flak turrets, radar guidance for the heavy flak, and a full complement of surface and air search radars. They also had landed their 13mm AAMGs and replaced them with sixteen 20mm cannon in ten twin mounts. Ardcheim was given the same refit between December 1940 and February 1941. Oirirceas missed the initial phase of Thiaria's attack on Brazil in March 1941; the other three were with the fleet, and looked like this:

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During the battle of Cairnmallacht, Fulaingt sank the crippled and already abandoned Brazilian aircraft carrier Independencia with four torpedoes (no duds this time; they typically worked when not much was at stake). Spleodar was recalled for refit immediately after the battle; Fulaingt and Ardcheim supported operations around New Portugal till the Brazilian surrender in May. By June 1941, all four had received the full refit. When Thiaria's government ruptured after June 22nd, 1941 in the wake of Operation Barbarossa, the crews of Ardcheim and Spleodar were partly mutinous and purged; the other two were entirely unaffected and among the Thiarian ships which remained operational throughout the whole turmoil. To fool the enemy about the distress Thiaria's fleet was experiencing, Oirirceas and Fulaingt were twice sent on highly visible raids against Brazilian shipping between Recife and Sao Paulo, but both times failed to locate anything to sink and retreated when enemy airplanes came in sight. All four were back in service by mid-October 1941; after the purges, Ardcheim and Spleodar had been retrofitted with radar guidance for their 37mm quads, improved communications and jamming gear, hydrophones and eight additional 20mm cannon, bringing the total to 28, but they took till mid-1942 to get their crews back to peak efficiency. In November, all four covered Thiarian landing operations in Uruguay against little resistance; Oirirceas shot down a single enemy airplane. While Thiaria's ground forces advanced into Brazil during the first half of 1942, the carrier strike fleet was continuously cruising off the Brazilian coast; at least two Oirirceas-class ships were always with them, with the other two covering New Portugal. Oirirceas and Fulaingt received the same improvements as Ardcheim and Spleodar during this time. In August, when all had been brought to the same standard, they covered a major carrier raid against Capetown. Spleodar and Ardcheim shelled a British airfield during the mission, destroying 25 British and Recherchean airplanes on the ground under the cover of night after Thiarian commandoes had taken out a nearby ground radar station. In September, the Thiarians operated half a hemisphere away and attempted to catch a supply convoy for Brazil in the central Atlantic north of the equator. During this mission, they looked like this:

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They were intercepted by the numerically superior British distant cover force in the battle of Meanhchiorcal and had to retreat under heavy losses; all Oirirceas-class ships except Ardcheim were present, and Fulaingt was hit by a 500kg bomb from a FAA Bermuda that went straight through her funnel and detonated in the forward turbine room. She remained operational at reduced speed, but the internal damage suffered required nearly half a year's worth of repairs. Oirirceas was also hit, but only by a 250kg bomb which disabled Turret A. When a powerful Thiarian task force sortied for the Panama raid in October, the two still operational Oirirceas-class ships stayed behind and went on a raiding mission towards Capetown in November together with the battlecruiser Caithreim and the heavy cruiser Trasolas. While Caithreim battered the British battleship Malaya and Trasolas went hunting for the merchants, Ardcheim and Spleodar engaged three enemy light cruisers with smashing success, sinking the Recherchean cruiser Norseman (credit went to Ardcheim), heavily damaging HMS Bermuda and chasing the old HMS Dauntless away. Spleodar was hit eleven times in return by HMS Bermuda and was under repair for the rest of the year. During her reconstruction, she was also considerably modernized. Her M2L airplanes were replaced with more modern M6S scoutplanes with limited air-to-air capability; her LA fire control, surface search and air search radars were replaced with a new generation of much more efficient sets, and the number of 20mm guns was increased to an impressive 36. The other three were needed for patrol duty as the Panama raiding force was away and got this upgrade afterwards; when the Thiarians sortied for the battle of Faoigabhar in May 1943, Oirirceas, Ardcheim and Spleodar were modernized and sported the most modern electronics outfit in the whole Thiarian fleet, while Fulaingt was still under refit. The other three looked like this:

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During the initial phase of the battle, Oirirceas sank a British destroyer that tried to protect the Brazilian battleship Niteroi, which had been crippled by an airstrike. She then tried to deliver the coup the grace against Niteroi, but her torpedo volley marked the utter nadir in the operational history of Thiaria's infamous 1925 pattern torpedoes: Four of four hit the target, zero of four detonated. The battleship escaped as Oirirceas hurried away to keep up with the Thiarian main body, which tried to rescue the already doomed Thiarian transports. Ardcheim and Spleodar had to stay close to the Thiarian carriers as the other Thiarian ships gave general chase to the dispersed Brits; they were among the few Thiarian surface vessels to return home from that battle without having scored. Three weeks after the battle, Fulaingt joined the fleet again; none of the class took part in the last Thiarian fleet-level raid into the Indian Ocean. They replaced their torpedoes with 1943 pattern oxygene-powered ones during spring and escorted several supply convoys for the Thiarian ground forces in Brazil. The army stabilized the front after the recall of Patton to North Africa, and the Allies started staging surface raids against Thiarian convoys from August. They could usually be turned away by a combination of land- and carrier based air power, but simultaneous submarine attacks took a steady toll. The Oirirceas-class vessels were frequently called upon for escort duty, and the class ship was torpedoed amidships by a Recherchean submarine in October 1943 and under repair for the rest of the year. When the Allies tried to unhinge the Thiarian front by a tactical invasion in December 1943, Thiarian intelligence learned of the plan soon enough, and the allied fleet was turned away by concentrated air attacks from New Portugal and the Thiarian carriers, which were again accompanied by Fulaingt and Ardcheim (Spleodar being under refit during that time). Oirirceas returned to service in January; she had her 20mm guns re-arranged and a fifth 37mm twin installed aft, and the heavy flak directors received new radars. For escort duty, Asdic was installed; unlike older cruisers, who were almost exclusively used as convoy escorts, the Oirirceas-class received no ASW weaponry. The same improvements were fitted to Spleodar in December, Fulaingt in February 1944 and Ardcheim in April. By that time, the class looked like this:

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For the battle of Anfa Caolas, all except Ardcheim were available. They came under very heavy air attack while accompanying the Thiarian carriers, and shot down 25 planes between them. None of them was damaged, but they did not significantly influence the outcome of the engagement either. The Thiarian carrier fleet was kept out of harm's way after the loss of Andraimeide, and failed to intervene in the allied invasion of New Portugal. Three times, they sortied as distant cover for supply convoys to Montevideo, but when one important convoy was destroyed by allied forces in May, they were just a little too distant. During June 1944, Spleodar and Fulaingt received new air search radar sets. The next major sortie occured after the Thiarian civil war had already started; Ardcheim was staying behind because of sabotage, but the other three were accompanying the last loyalist fleet operation against a British/Recherchean/Free French incursion into Thiarian waters in August. Spleodar damaged two enemy destroyers with gunfire as the Thiarian ships finished off a Recherchean cruiser that had been crippled by aerial torpedoes. It was the last surface action of the Thiarian fleet on the axis side. Soon afterwards, parts of Oiriceas' crew mutinied and tried to take over control of the ship; loyalist elements set off demolition charges, and she capsized on the Noyalo roadstead in deep water on September 16th, 1944. The other three went over to the rebels on October 11th and surrendered to the Allies on November 30th. The three surviving units were in fine shape and were selected to join the battleships Athartha and Caithreim and the heavy cruisers Caitriona and Trionaid to the Pacific for operations against the Japanese. They landed part of their 20mm guns (the ones on the hangar and those on the forecastle and quarterdecks) and replaced them with 37mm pieces in navalized single army mounts; their AA now consisted of 32 37mm and 16 20mm cannon. Fulaingt was painted blue all over, the other two received an US style paintjob. When they met Japanese/Kokoan forces for the first time in the battle in the Philippine Sea in June 1945, they looked like this:

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The Thiarian ships were little more than interested spectators during the huge air battle over the Philippine Sea, but they assumed a much more active role in the battle in the Leyte Gulf in October 1944. Fulaingt and Ardcheim were heavily engaged with Japanese destroyers and light cruisers when the Thiarian flagship Athartha was under attack by the enemy battleships Nagato and Nakamori. Ardcheim sank the Kokoan light cruiser Kochiya and the Japanese destroyer Umigiri with gunfire and torpedoes and damaged two more Japanese destroyers, and Fulaingt sank the Japanese destroyer Kawagiri. They cleared the way for four Thiarian destroyers to attack the Kokoan flagship Nakamori with torpedoes and heavily damaging her; three of the destroyers and Fulaingt were sunk in return, the latter after having been hit by 58 127mm shells, 35 140mm shells and three torpedoes. Only 180 of her crew survived this inferno and were rescued by the Americans. Ardcheim got lucky, apart from having her hull and superstructure peppered by over 30 127mm hits and nine 140mm hits (none of which penetrated into her vitals), and escorted the damaged battleship Athartha to safety. Spleodar stayed with the battlecruiser Caithreim during her pursuit of the Japanese battlecruisers Kongo and Owari and attacked them at extreme range with torpedoes to zero effect, but was not damaged herself either. After repairs, both Spleodar and Ardcheim were present at Okinawa in 1946, where both came under attack by Kamikazes, but managed to shoot down or evade any that came through the US fighter cover. Spleodar was credited with four Kamikazes, Ardcheim with seven. When the Japanese surrendered, both cruisers were already on their way back. They returned to Thiaria in late October 1946 and were decommissioned and laid up. Their 20mm guns and 37mm singles were removed, as were the aviation facilities and the torpedoes. Under conditions of the 1948 peace treaty, Thiaria was allowed to keep six cruisers for her postwar fleet, and Spleodar and Ardcheim were the largest of them. They were refurbished from mid-1949 to early 1950 and brought back to an operating condition, but at much reduced capability due to crippling budget restraints. They lost their heavy flak (obsolete anyway) including directors and radars. Main gun directors were fitted with US Mk.13 radars. The Thiarian air search and surface search sets, although obsolescent, remained on board. So did the 37mm quads and their directors, which were fitted with US Mk.28 radars in place of their outdated Thiarian ones. Their boat decks and forward cranes were removed too and replaced with additional superstructure holding C3I, accomodation and office space for command and training duties; the boats were relocated to the former flight deck amidships. The hangars remained on board and were used as cinema and gym. For the next five years, they assumed patrol duties with limited crew and no ammunition for the main guns on board. During that time, they looked like this:

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In 1955, many of the limitations on Thiarian armed forces were lifted. The 37mm quads - which were hopelessly obsolete and worn out in 1955 - were replaced with 76mm twins of US manufacture (including new Mk.56 directors), who used the former magazines of the 100mm guns. The surface search radar was replaced with an SPS-4 short-range air/surface search unit; the long-range air search set was replaced by a SPS-6. Extensive new communications gear was installed and a helipad was fitted, although the ships were not equipped to carry or service helicopters. The crane was replaced by a smaller one and boat complement was reduced. Both ships were under refit in 1956 and re-emerged early in 1957, still as pure gun cruisers with very limited air defense capabilities. Compared with current foreign developments, they were quite backward, and looked like this:

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Further conversion to guided missile cruisers was demanded almost as soon as they were back in service. Plans for a much more complete reconstruction were drafted in 1958/9, but the Eisenhower administration refused to provide Terrier missiles. Both ships, now the largest in Thiaria's inventory, served mainly as administrative flagships and gunnery training vessels; from 1958 onwards, they also ventured abroad a couple of times to show Thiaria's somewhat discredited flag again. Ardcheim made a world tour in 1960/1, visiting Argentina, Chile, Koko, Japan, Vietnam, India, Egypt, Italy, France, Portugal, and the USA. Early in 1962, the new Kennedy administration finally agreed to deliver Terrier missiles and the associated radars and electronics. Reconstruction of Ardcheim started in November 1963 and took 18 months. Spleodar followed from July 1965 and took nearly five years. Both had their engines refurbished and electric power generating capacity increased by 500%. Designed hp fell to 80.000, and speed dropped to 31 knots. The aft turret and aft 76mm twin were landed and replaced with a Terrier launcher including magazine (placed where the 100mm magazines used to be; the former 155mm magazines were converted to generator rooms); the aft superstructure block was totally reworked to take the twin SPG-55 fire control radars and enlarged forward. Both pole masts were cut down and lattice masts erected, the high forward one between bridge and funnel on the former boat deck and the much lower aft one on the former flight deck. The forward mast carried ECM gear, state of the art communications equipment and a domestically developed navigation radar (the first post-war Thiarian built radar set). The aft mast was initially supposed to carry a SPS-30 height-finder, but this was changed early in 1965 and a SPS-26 3D-radar was installed. There was also a SPS-12 surface search radar. All 76mm guns and their directors were retained, but the directors were relocated. The heavy crane was landed altogether, and boat complement was further reduced; all boats were put into derricks. The whole bridge structure was replaced with a much more spacious bridge containing modern computer systems and fleet-level command and control facilities. The original optical main gun director was again placed on top of the bridge. A third short lattice mast was erected between the main gun director and the former foremast for the SPS-28 long-range air surveillance radar. Only one of these was delivered to the Thiarian navy, and it was installed on Spleodar; Ardcheim retained her old SPS-6 air search radar. Spleodar on the other hand did not get a 3D-radar, but the SPS-30 on the aft lattice mast; this arrangement proved troublesome, because the SPS-30 had a 90-degree dead angle forward. Ardcheim also received a state-of-the-art sonar under the bow and two french-built triple banks for 550mm ASW torpedoes. Spleodar got neither. When both returned to service in 1965 and 1970, they looked like this:

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and this:

Unfortunately, politics prevented further modernization for many years. By the time Spleodar was docked and stripped, Thiaria got a left-wing government, which severed all military co-operation with the USA. This also was the reason that delivery of Spleodar's sonar and 3D radar was first delayed, then entirely held back by the USA. Both cruisers were employed against the Brazilians in the 1969 New Portugal crisis, but had no opportunity to employ their Terrier missiles. Afterwards, lack of American technical support and the necessity to improvise spares without license resulted in rapidly deteriorating capabilities of both cruisers. Their systems, essentially mid to late 50s vintage, were exhaustively studied by the Soviets in the early seventies, but apart from Ardcheim's SPS-26, they did not find any of them particularly impressive. Spleodar, although still in fine running condition, was reduced to training duties and partly cannibalized in 1973 in order to keep Ardcheim operational. Although the Soviet Alliance was terminated in 1974, Thiaria remained isolated and was ignored by the Ford and Carter administrations. They nevertheless managed to keep Ardcheim in active service till 1978. Spleodar was struck in 1976 and scrapped in 1979 after over 40 years of service. Ardcheim, whose strong hull still had some life in her, lost all her armament in 1979, but was used as a trials vessel throughout the 1980s, until she was finally scrapped in 1993 at the ripe age of 55.

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GD

Shipbucket

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