News of the Mark, March 1898

[Borys]

January 3, 1898

Eormil Eorlson, Marshal of the Northern Seas, announced that the Northern Fleet would stage war games and gunnery training in March of this year. With the recent tensions with the Southern Sarumans (Rohan media name for the Anahuac Empire) the Marshal decided that it might be wise to get the fleet working together and to see just how accurate the new guns on the battleship Eomer really are. With the expected comissioning of the Fengel in February, it has been suggested that she partake in the games, or at least in the gunnery training. The old former battle/cruisers ex-Theoden, ex-Aragon, and ex-Faramir will be used as targets.

January 12, 1898

The battleship Brytta was laided down in slip number 3 at South Mithlond Naval Yard. As the sister ship to the Elfwine, it is expected that this ship will be excellent for long range patrols in the rough seas to the north and south of our territorial waters. This class is expected to be able to "show the flag" as the New Swiss say.

January 27, 1898

An interesting offer has been placed before the Marshals of the Seas and the King. The Confederate States of America is offering 36 of their old protected cruisers up for sale. It seems they are obsolete in the Confederate Fleet, but they don't simply want to scrap the ships. The King has made the Confederates of counter-offer....Ton for ton, old ships for old ships. The Mark has offered to trade the entire Dol Amroth Reserve Fleet in exchange for the 24 1885 and 1887 type cruisers. The King is awaiting a replay.

February 3, 1898

The new Combat Cruiser Romendacil was laid down in Eglarest, New Beleriand on Tuesday of this week. The Cruiser is the second of the Narmacil-class and is considered to be quite heavily armed for a ship its size. There has been no word yet on what the next design for a combat cruiser will be, or if the "belted" cruiser concept will overshadow the combat cruiser with its faster speed and 7.5 inch guns.

February 8, 1898

The Battleship Fengel was commissioned today with much cerimony in South Mithlond. Lady Lithel of Emyn Arnen christened the vessel personally. Being the second daughter of the King, she has been known to represent his interests from time to time. The battleship is expected to work up for the next month and a half before the naval games in late March.

February 16, 1898

Theocro King has reportedly gone to the Haven this last week. It seems he made many friends and wanted to attend a ceremony he called a "sweat". His guards say that while the King maybe 50, he can still elude them like he did when his father was King of the Mark. The only ones he took with him were his closest friends, the elites of the Grey Company he use to lead some thirty years ago. The King is said to be back in Edoras, safe and feeling quite relaxed.

February 18, 1898

The Confederates have responded to the King's idea of a trade with Rohan. They have agreed. Half of each class of vessels will be traded in early April and the rest in late October after each respective country has been able to adjust to the new vessels. This deal will grant the Rohirrim a substantial increase in light warships which it has been lacking for the last several years when the last of the old armored sloops and steam frigates were retired from service. The Confederates will gain some new potential coastal defense ships, depending on what they plan to do with the two battleships and four armored cruisers.

February 28, 1898

Cruiser Orodruin set forth this morning from Eglarest Base to attempt to set a new record for the fleet. She will attempt to go from one coast of New Beleriand to the other without refueling. The trip is expected to take 44 days at 10 knots.

March 15, 1898

The Red Day! The annual Ride of the Rohhirim was staged near Mundburg today in the Pelennor Fields. Theocro King personally led the charge today like he does every three years. It is a glorious sight to see a half Micelhusl of elite cavalry charge three Micelhusl of Infantry, all trained for this day since they were cadets. While the reenactment has been mostly show this last age, the event still carries meaning to the people of Rohan. With the ballons overhead, both to observe and to show the arrival of the Witch King, the event was heavily photgraphed this year. The King still says that the Nazgul ballon just isn't as frightening as it should be. "At least it is in the sky. Before we had a wagon with black wings attached to ride into the battle at the proper time. Aragon King (the Twelveth) was nearly killed by one of those two hundred years ago". The King suggests that someone should try to make something that could swoop down at least, and maybe even look menacing...the ballon is just too comical, even with all the tathered black robes and the iron crown on top.

March 23, 1898

War Games: Encounter off the Riddermark

The Fleet set forth on Monday to conducts the games these last two days. The fleet split into two groups for this game:

Green Fleet:

Battleships:
Eomer
Brego

Combat Cruisers:
Ondoher
Ostoher

Protected Cruisers:
Calenhad
Halifirien
Minrimmon

and

Blue Fleet:

Battleships:
Fengel
Goldwine
Gram

Combat Cruisers:
Araval
Argeleb

Destroyers:
Haleth
Leofa

Fengel being added to the Blue Fleet was a shock for the Green Fleet for sure, as that gave the Blue Fleet a tactical edge with both heavier battleships and torpedo equipped ships.

Day one was a staight line action to be sure the fleets could operate in standard formations and that the gunnery was even remotely decent. The judged on each force was mildly impressed by the skill the crews of the older model ships, but were not impressed with the crews on the newer ships. They lacked the skilled of the older crews, but that was expected. By the end of the day, the judges has declared Blue Fleet the winner due to the actions of the crew of the Goldwine. The oldest of the modern battleships present, the crew had more experiance training the six big guns and using the secondaries on seperate targets from the primaries to avoid confusing splashes. The Fengel was considered lost late in the engagement due to the constant pounding she would have received from the Combat Cruisers Ondoher and Ostoher along with the Battleship Brego.

Final count, day one:

Green Fleet loses:

Battleship:
Eomer

Combat Cruisers:
Ostoher

Protected Cruisers:
Calenhad
Minrimmon

Blue Fleet loses:

Battleships:
Fengel
Gram

Destroyers:
Haleth
Leofa

The remaining Green Battleship, Brego, was considered to have escaped, but would likely be scrapped once she returned home with half her engines destroyed and all her guns disabled or destroyed. The two surviving Green cruisers got away relatively unharmed, but with the Goldwine and the two Combat Cruisers on their heals, they would have to make good time to escape.

Day Two:

Gunnery Practise:

The fleet assembled again as Blue and Green, but only to make testing easier. Today live rounds would be fired at the target ships, all former battleship/armored cruisers of pre-1881 design. The gunnery of the newer ships was remarkably better then expected from the previous day's results. It seems the six guns per guns type works fairly well for finding a target. Eomer's guns nearly ripped the old Faramir in two when she hit with a full broadside. The testers wanted the crew to do it again, but the chances of all six guns actually hitting the target were slim and they could not repeat the result they got, as the old target sank an hour later.

March 30, 1898

Dol Amroth says goodbye to half of the Reserve Fleet today. The battleship Folcwine and the armored cruisers Orodreth and Barahir set forth one last time from Rohan. They will head for San Diego to be turned over to the Confederate Navy.

[Ithekro]

Just for reference:

The Battleships of the Mark that were used as targets that day in 1898.

Theoden - 1875 (rebuilt 1886)
Freawine - 1876 (rebuilt 1887) (scrapped prior to these events)

Rohan Battleship laid down 1875

Displacement:
5,405 t light; 5,719 t standard; 6,100 t normal; 6,381 t full load

Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught
340.00 ft / 340.00 ft x 50.00 ft x 19.00 ft (normal load)
103.63 m / 103.63 m x 15.24 m x 5.79 m

Armament:
2 - 9.00" / 229 mm guns in single mounts, 342.64lbs / 155.42kg shells, 1886 Model
Breech loading guns in Coles/Ericsson turrets
on centreline ends, evenly spread
12 - 6.00" / 152 mm guns in single mounts, 101.52lbs / 46.05kg shells, 1886 Model
Breech loading guns in casemate mounts
on side, all amidships
6 guns in hull casemates - Limited use in all but light seas
12 - 3.00" / 76.2 mm guns in single mounts, 12.69lbs / 5.76kg shells, 1886 Model
Breech loading guns in deck mounts
on side, evenly spread
Weight of broadside 2,056 lbs / 932 kg
Shells per gun, main battery: 150

Armour:
- Belts: Width (max) Length (avg) Height (avg)
Main: 9.00" / 229 mm 140.00 ft / 42.67 m 10.00 ft / 3.05 m
Ends: 5.00" / 127 mm 200.00 ft / 60.96 m 10.00 ft / 3.05 m
Upper: 5.00" / 127 mm 140.00 ft / 42.67 m 10.00 ft / 3.05 m
Main Belt covers 63 % of normal length
Main belt does not fully cover magazines and engineering spaces

- Gun armour: Face (max) Other gunhouse (avg) Barbette/hoist (max)
Main: 9.00" / 229 mm 5.00" / 127 mm -
2nd: 5.00" / 127 mm - -
3rd: 0.75" / 19 mm - -

- Armour deck: 1.00" / 25 mm, Conning tower: 9.00" / 229 mm

Machinery:
Coal fired boilers, simple reciprocating steam engines,
Direct drive, 2 shafts, 2,930 ihp / 2,186 Kw = 12.97 kts
Range 4,000nm at 7.00 kts (Bunkerage = 686 tons)

Complement:
344 - 448

Cost:
£0.496 million / $1.986 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
Armament: 257 tons, 4.2 %
Armour: 2,194 tons, 36.0 %
- Belts: 1,325 tons, 21.7 %
- Torpedo bulkhead: 0 tons, 0.0 %
- Armament: 564 tons, 9.2 %
- Armour Deck: 240 tons, 3.9 %
- Conning Tower: 65 tons, 1.1 %
Machinery: 653 tons, 10.7 %
Hull, fittings & equipment: 2,300 tons, 37.7 %
Fuel, ammunition & stores: 695 tons, 11.4 %
Miscellaneous weights: 0 tons, 0.0 %

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
6,609 lbs / 2,998 Kg = 23.4 x 9.0 " / 229 mm shells or 1.3 torpedoes
Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.11
Metacentric height 2.2 ft / 0.7 m
Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 77 %
- Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.66
Seaboat quality (Average = 1.00): 1.55

Hull form characteristics:
Hull has rise forward of midbreak
Block coefficient: 0.661
Length to Beam Ratio: 6.80 : 1
'Natural speed' for length: 18.44 kts
Power going to wave formation at top speed: 33 %
Trim (Max stability = 0, Max steadiness = 100): 50
Bow angle (Positive = bow angles forward): 0.00 degrees
Stern overhang: 0.00 ft / 0.00 m
Freeboard (% = measuring location as a percentage of overall length):
- Stem: 18.00 ft / 5.49 m
- Forecastle (20 %): 14.00 ft / 4.27 m
- Mid (50 %): 14.00 ft / 4.27 m (13.00 ft / 3.96 m aft of break)
- Quarterdeck (15 %): 13.00 ft / 3.96 m
- Stern: 13.00 ft / 3.96 m
- Average freeboard: 13.82 ft / 4.21 m
Ship tends to be wet forward

Ship space, strength and comments:
Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 68.3 %
- Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 96.8 %
Waterplane Area: 12,992 Square feet or 1,207 Square metres
Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 110 %
Structure weight / hull surface area: 116 lbs/sq ft or 564 Kg/sq metre
Hull strength (Relative):
- Cross-sectional: 0.94
- Longitudinal: 1.75
- Overall: 1.00
Hull space for machinery, storage, compartmentation is excellent
Room for accommodation and workspaces is adequate
Ship has slow, easy roll, a good, steady gun platform
Excellent seaboat, comfortable, can fire her guns in the heaviest weather
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aragorn - 1877
Faramir - 1878

Rohan Battleship laid down 1877

Displacement:
5,646 t light; 5,936 t standard; 6,300 t normal; 6,566 t full load

Dimensions: Length overall / water x beam x draught
340.00 ft / 340.00 ft x 50.00 ft x 19.00 ft (normal load)
103.63 m / 103.63 m x 15.24 m x 5.79 m

Armament:
2 - 9.00" / 229 mm guns in single mounts, 293.46lbs / 133.11kg shells, 1877 Model
Breech loading guns in Coles/Ericsson turrets
on centreline ends, evenly spread
12 - 6.00" / 152 mm guns in single mounts, 86.95lbs / 39.44kg shells, 1877 Model
Breech loading guns in casemate mounts
on side, all amidships
6 guns in hull casemates - Limited use in all but light seas
12 - 3.00" / 76.2 mm guns in single mounts, 10.87lbs / 4.93kg shells, 1877 Model
Breech loading guns in deck mounts
on side, evenly spread
Weight of broadside 1,761 lbs / 799 kg
Shells per gun, main battery: 150

Armour:
- Belts: Width (max) Length (avg) Height (avg)
Main: 10.0" / 254 mm 140.00 ft / 42.67 m 12.00 ft / 3.66 m
Ends: 5.00" / 127 mm 200.00 ft / 60.96 m 12.00 ft / 3.66 m
Upper: 5.00" / 127 mm 140.00 ft / 42.67 m 12.00 ft / 3.66 m
Main Belt covers 63 % of normal length

- Gun armour: Face (max) Other gunhouse (avg) Barbette/hoist (max)
Main: 10.0" / 254 mm 5.00" / 127 mm -
2nd: 5.00" / 127 mm - -
3rd: 0.75" / 19 mm - -

- Armour deck: 1.00" / 25 mm, Conning tower: 10.00" / 254 mm

Machinery:
Coal fired boilers, simple reciprocating steam engines,
Direct drive, 2 shafts, 3,000 ihp / 2,238 Kw = 13.03 kts
Range 4,000nm at 7.00 kts (Bunkerage = 654 tons)

Complement:
353 - 459

Cost:
£0.473 million / $1.892 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
Armament: 220 tons, 3.5 %
Armour: 2,565 tons, 40.7 %
- Belts: 1,673 tons, 26.6 %
- Torpedo bulkhead: 0 tons, 0.0 %
- Armament: 572 tons, 9.1 %
- Armour Deck: 246 tons, 3.9 %
- Conning Tower: 73 tons, 1.2 %
Machinery: 647 tons, 10.3 %
Hull, fittings & equipment: 2,213 tons, 35.1 %
Fuel, ammunition & stores: 654 tons, 10.4 %
Miscellaneous weights: 0 tons, 0.0 %

Overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
Survivability (Non-critical penetrating hits needed to sink ship):
7,830 lbs / 3,552 Kg = 26.7 x 9.0 " / 229 mm shells or 1.6 torpedoes
Stability (Unstable if below 1.00): 1.10
Metacentric height 2.1 ft / 0.6 m
Steadiness - As gun platform (Average = 50 %): 76 %
- Recoil effect (Restricted arc if above 1.00): 0.56
Seaboat quality (Average = 1.00): 1.53

Hull form characteristics:
Hull has rise forward of midbreak
Block coefficient: 0.683
Length to Beam Ratio: 6.80 : 1
'Natural speed' for length: 18.44 kts
Power going to wave formation at top speed: 34 %
Trim (Max stability = 0, Max steadiness = 100): 50
Bow angle (Positive = bow angles forward): 0.00 degrees
Stern overhang: 0.00 ft / 0.00 m
Freeboard (% = measuring location as a percentage of overall length):
- Stem: 18.00 ft / 5.49 m
- Forecastle (20 %): 14.00 ft / 4.27 m
- Mid (50 %): 14.00 ft / 4.27 m (13.00 ft / 3.96 m aft of break)
- Quarterdeck (15 %): 13.00 ft / 3.96 m
- Stern: 13.00 ft / 3.96 m
- Average freeboard: 13.82 ft / 4.21 m
Ship tends to be wet forward

Ship space, strength and comments:
Space - Hull below water (magazines/engines, low = better): 61.5 %
- Above water (accommodation/working, high = better): 96.6 %
Waterplane Area: 13,293 Square feet or 1,235 Square metres
Displacement factor (Displacement / loading): 112 %
Structure weight / hull surface area: 109 lbs/sq ft or 535 Kg/sq metre
Hull strength (Relative):
- Cross-sectional: 0.95
- Longitudinal: 1.65
- Overall: 1.00
Hull space for machinery, storage, compartmentation is excellent
Room for accommodation and workspaces is adequate
Ship has slow, easy roll, a good, steady gun platform
Excellent seaboat, comfortable, can fire her guns in the heaviest weather