CSA News Catchup

[Borys]

JohnnyReb     
Posted: Dec 11 2006, 10:59 AM


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(Q4/1901)

Forces stand down following the brief war with the Island Commonwealth, with the last troops pulled out of Jamaica by mid-November. The 3rd Battalion of the 7th Infantry Brigade is assigned to garrison duty on Antigua; a few additional troops are provided to man the ex-IC gun emplacements.

The battleship California, having been heavily damaged by torpedo, is considered for scrapping, however the decision is made to repair her instead. The need to drydock no fewer than three battleships points to a distinct lack of suitable facilities, and with the ever-increasing size of naval vessels, plans are drawn up for an expansion of dockyard space. Congress, however, declines funding, stating that the 'one-time extraordinary event' does not prove a distinct need. There is wailing and gnashing of teeth...

In foreign affairs, President Clark decries the actions of the Chinese, Swiss, Austrians and Spanish, calling for 'sensibility and peace'. He pledges that the CSA 'will not become involved in other peoples' wars'.

Finally, residents of south Florida note a significant amount of construction on a high point in the swamps near Homestead. It is stated that this is the first of a series of new facilities to permit usage of the new 'Air Ships' by the CSN.


(1902)

The CSA offers economic and humanitarian aid in the wake of the Volcano Taal disaster. The Spanish refuse, however some does make it in 'unofficially' aboard private vessels.

Intervention by the Baltic League in support of the Spanish Socialists in Cuba is given mixed reviews. Many support the 'new world order' of 'glorious equality of the common man' however a growing majority is seeing the 'hidden evils' of the socalist way. The CSA officially decries the issue, and issues trade embargoes on the League and the PESN, drawing acerbic comments from certain newspapers. Meanwhile, the palace coup in Austria is treated with guarded optimism, the actions of the previous Habsburgs not having won much acclaim within the Confederacy.

The new Farragut type second class cruisers are commissioned in August and form the new Fourth Cruiser Squadron, to be based at Tampa. With a broadside of six 200-pounder guns these are very strong vessels, with the 7.5-inch calibre seemingly seeing a rennisance after its unfortunate introduction in the unsuitable role of a battleship's secondary. However there is a growing sentiment among CSA naval officers that our naval rifles are underperforming compared to those of other nations. Lt. Cmdr. Taylor of the Buchanan says our guns need "More Power".

The Design Bureau also begins noting a number of innovations appearing in foreign designs, such as triple turrets, superfiring turrets, equipping battleships with all main guns, and so-on. While commerical difficulties foundered an early effort for co-operation with Rohan with regards to the installation of oil firing boilers on their Arcadia, the Naval Attache to the Mark maintains a cordial relationship with his hosts, and even makes some quiet inquiries as to a possible purchase of the quasi-orphaned Swiss ship Hawaii, although these come to nothing due to a lack of funds in the budget.

As a partial response, work on the Davis type first class cruisers is briefly slowed, as a new 9.2", 45-calibre BL Mk III 380-pounder weapon is hurried through development to be used on these ships. Improvements for other guns are planned, however plans for a new battleship are put on hold 'to allow maturation of the necessary technologies to allow these to be the finest ships in the world'.

In early campainging for the 1903 presidential elections, Theodore Roosevelt, riding his fame acquired in operations against the Anahuac, declares his candidacy against the incumbent President Clark.

In shocking news, the Confederacy's Bureau of Investigations conducts a series of arrests, with nearly 200 people charged with planning an insurrection. A significant number of them are white socialists, and the fallout of this combined with rising anti-Socialist sentiment fanned by the actions of the PESN leads to a mob attacking the offices of the pro-Soclialist Richmond Observer. There are no fatalities, however the paper does go out of business; the socialist movement is largely shattered, and its remnants go underground to wait for a more auspicious time.
   
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JohnnyReb    
Posted: Dec 11 2006, 03:01 PM


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4 February 1903
Confederate Navy Artillery Test Range, Isla Tiburón, Sonora

The scientist was blathering "It's the 'more power' you said you wanted, Commander. Calibre of thirteen-point-five inches firing a twelve-hundred-and-fifty pound shell over a range of -"

"How close is it to production?" Lt. Commander Timothy "Tim" Taylor had been a vocal critic of the CSA's current naval artillery, describing its power as "pathetic" compared to, say, Brandenburg's new 45- and 50-calibre weapons. So he'd been plucked from Buchanan and sent out to this desert island to oversee testing of the new heavy artillery.

"Close? Commander, we could put this gun on a ship right now if you wanted to."

"Oh?" Behind them, the test-ground crew was loading the weapon.

"Indeed. This test is the last scheduled, we've had good performace so far. Of course you will need to tool up the factories to produce them, but the technology is sound."

"Well I reckon we'll see in a minute how good your work is."

"Hmpf." The grumpy scientist - what was his name, Taylor couldn't remember, Rod something? - scoffed. "My work is always the best, Commander."

The crew signaled their readiness, standing next to the gun like a regular gun crew, instead of the brainiacs they actually were. "And now, Commander, witness the firepower of this fully armed and operational battleship gun. FIRE!"

The explosion that followed caused the very ground to shake, and both men hit the ground as bits of shrapnel flew through the air. As the smoke cleared, it revealed that the entire breech end of the gun had disintegrated. As the entire team - with the exception of their leader of course - had been standing around it, they'd also been disintegrated..

"'Could put this gun on a ship right now', hmm?" Taylor shook his head.

"Well I suppose it could use a bit more work..."

"Uh-uh. You're fired."
   
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JohnnyReb    
Posted: Dec 12 2006, 10:41 AM


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(1903)

Domestic Politics and Events:

President Clark commits political suicide when he proposes to pardon the white "Socialist Revolutionary Conspiritors". Several senators from western states immediately move to impeach him, while pro-white, pro-black, pro-Socialist and anti-Socialist demonstrations at the Richmond jail and courthouse begin turning into riots. With Clark refusing to back down or step down some begin predicting civil war, until late May when Clark is found dead in his office with a note, in his handwriting, on his desk reading "I just can't take this anymore!" The CBI suspects foul play but can't prove anything. Tamulipas-born Vice-President Luis Santiago assumes the Presidency but declines to run for office, leaving the Democratic Party scrambling. The nomination finally falls on Alton B. Parker, who recognises the hopelessness of his position but puts up what more than one paper calls "a splendid fight" nontheless.

Heavy rainfall from a stalled tropical storm in June causes a dam collapse on the Flint River in Georgia, flooding most of the town of Albany with heavy casualties.

The "Socialist Conspiritors" are, to a man, found guilty in a trial in August. With the radical heart ripped out of the movement, the CSA Socialist Party completely disowns them and adopts a policy of "moderate socialism", which includes denouncing the "radical monarcho-communism" of the PESN. The re-opened Richmond Observer remains the virtual mouthpiece of the party, but has a much moderated tone as compared to up to 1902.

In November, Theodore Roosevelt wins the Presidential election in a landslide, with 62.2% of the popular vote. The Socialists make a surprising showing, candidate Eugene Victor Debs receiving 31.8% of the vote. Parker wins a mere 3%, while the Federalist Party's candidate Thomas Watson draws only 0.8%. A scattering of minor, independent and radical candidates split the remainder of the vote.

Starting in late September a "freakishly cold" winter sets in hard. By the end of the year, the vast majority of Chesapeake Bay is frozen solid, as are most of the North Carolina sounds, while chunks of ice are observed reaching the Gulf in the Apalachicola and Mississippi Rivers. Heavy snows blanket most of the country, extending deep into Sonora along the Sierra Madre; even northern Florida sees a white Christmas.

In late December a party of hunters arrives in Miami reporting that they had been trapped in their camp in the Big Cypress Swamp for three days by "a large, foul-smelling primate". Despite zoologists' statements that the presence of such a beast is 'highly unlikely', the "Skunk Ape" quickly becomes a favourite subject of the state's newspapers.


Foreign Politics:

The Confederacy continues an economic embargo of the PESN throughout the period, while the embargo against the Baltic Confederation is lifted in June. The end of the Spanish Civil War is nevertheless applauded, with the CSA being among the first nations to recognise King Carl's regime in Aragon-Navarra. The takeover of Cuba by Gran Colombia is viewed with wariness; while the eviction of the "monarcho-communists" is cause for happiness, there are many in the CSA who are uncomfortable with Colombia's approach to government-as-business.

The collapse of New Switzerland following "worthless elections" is viewed with some concern, although the CSA has little sympathy for either group. Upon taking office Roosevelt issues a proclamation that "any members of the New Swiss 'Lost Fleet' who wish to come in from the cold" would be accepted in Confederate ports; speculators believe that most of the 'missing' ships were, in fact, sunk although rumours persist about several of them having survived and potentially gone rogue.

The Confederacy denounces the actions of the "pirate king" Agrival as attributed atrocities accumulate, although the CSA adds nothing to the astonishing price on the man's head.

Following the various incidents in the Caribbean late in the year, the CSA appeals to the various countries involved to "play nice". While three canals is considered just a bit of overkill, the Confederacy doesn't see why violence and skullduggery against the other players in the game is called for.


Naval Events:

The commissioning of the Davis type first class cruisers in March gives the Confederacy cruisers that are among the very best in the world, although any advantage is known to be fleeting, with many countries planning "supercruisers" capable of outgunning the CSA's battleships and outrunning even its scout cruisers. The planned 1903 battleship is delayed by one more year, as designers bicker over whether to scrap the vessel altogether in favour of something more radical.

Development of new naval heavy artillery hits a snag as the majority of the development team is killed in an accident at the Isla Tiburón range. The leader of the project, a Dr. McKay, is fired on the spot, and is later reported to have applied for a UKA entry visa.

Congress approves a "slow and steady" expansion of the country's naval facilities. And there was much rejoicing...

In June the CSN receives its first "Ship of the Air". The Iron Mountain is of rigid construction, and is to be based at the Homestead "Naval Aerial Facility". Should trials prove successful the craft are expected to be procured in some number, as they could prove invaluable as scouts.

With the Hunley proving satisfactory in extensive trials, Congress agrees to provide for twelve 200-ton submersible vessels to be constructed in 1904.
   
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JohnnyReb    
Posted: Dec 14 2006, 10:00 AM


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(Q1/04)

Domestic Politics and Events:

Theodore Roosevelt is sworn in as President on a frigid, icy January morning in Richmond. He pledges to "lead a united county to a prosperous future." Socialists offer criticism but admit things could be worse, while the Democrats are most unhappy about losing their stranglehold on the chief executive's office.

The cold winter continues elsewhere, and although it does begin to moderate in early February, in the second week of March a truly massive storm sweeps out of the Gulf and up the East Coast. A surge more commonly associated with tropical storms wipes out several villages on the Florida gulf coast, and blizzard conditions develop as far south as Macon, Georgia, with an inch of snow falling as far south as Orlando, Florida, and snow flurries noted for the first time ever in the Florida Keys at Key Largo. Following the storm, a moderating trend begins again, and by the end of March the climate is approaching the norm for the time of year.

In the western part of the country, a combination of heavy rains and snowmelt leads to a minor disaster in southern California. A levee breach and landslide leads to the Colorado River being diverted into the Imperial Valley, quickly filling the Salton Sink, and flooding a portion of the California state capital of Mexicali. Workers from the Southern Pacific Railroad moves a large amount of gravel fill and dumps it into the diversion, restoring the proper flow of the river, but the Salton Sea and its inflows, the New and Alamo Rivers, have been born.


Foreign Politics:

President Roosevelt receives an invitation to resume the annual UKA-CSA talks in New York in the summer, and accepts.

The situation in Brazil has the Confederacy finding fault on both sides of the issue, France for allowing the problem to fester through ignorance (and for allowing the Anahuac in in the first place), with Colombia, Brandenburg and Austria critisized for what some political pundits refer to as "vulturing". Roosevelt calls for the various parties in the dispute to "behave as gentlemen" and offers the CSA's services as mediator to all parties, should it be desired.


Naval Events:

The CSA's naval attache to Brandenburg attends the keellaying ceremony of the new "battle cruiser" and, although the CSN takes the information provided with a few grains of salt, the presence of a capital ship capable of outrunning each and every one of the CSA's vessels larger than a torpedo ram causes a minor panic. The planned 1904 third-class cruisers are pushed back a year to allow for the provision of turbine power to increase their speed, and plans for larger, more powerful (and therefore faster) crusiers and torpedo rams are drawn up, the CSA finally realising that continuing its slow-and-steady status-quo development pace will in time leave the country a third-rate naval power.

The annoucement of a number of old ships for sale leads to an agreement for an "exchange" with Rohan. Six of the old Laredo-class third class cruisers and the two Hill-class first class cruisers are to be transferred to the Mark effective 1 July. In exchange, in addition to a small cash payment, the CSA will receive two sets of Rohan's capital-ship rated turbines to power the new battleship class. Some technological information is to be exchanged as well. Austria also commits to purchasing the two Samuels-class coast defense ships, although delivery for these will not be until October.
   
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Borys    
Posted: Dec 14 2006, 10:44 AM


Kaiser und Koenig Stefan
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The Habsburg Monarchy wellcomes the offer of mediation and the general moderation demonstrated by the CSA President, qualities rarely seen in elected Heads of State. Although wellcome and laudable, these overtures are seen by Austria to be premature. Nevertheless, CSA observers are invited to areas of Brasil protected by Austrian Crusaders. Their reports will doubtlessly refresh the president's memory as to what he had seen four years ago.

This post has been edited by Borys on Dec 14 2006, 10:59 AM
   
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JohnnyReb    
Posted: Dec 14 2006, 03:28 PM


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(ooc)
The CSA will decline to send observers; that would be too close to "becoming involved in someone else's war".

Teddy isn't forgetting the evil of the Anahuac religion, but rather wishes that the participants in this little drama will take heed to a word of caution: "Beware ye who hunt monsters..."