Jon Kunac-Tabinor Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Right you lot, seeing as Im enjoying this. I'm in on a late pass if I may!! Heres the back story: 2 March 1882, Roderick Maclean, a supposedly disgruntled poet, but in reality extreme Fenian, Sian Killpatrick assasinates the much loved Regina Imperiatrix Victoria at the Windsor Steamline Terminus. Plunged into chaos by this ruthless act, The Pax Britannica which has held Europe in relative peace since the end of the First Era of Napoleon disintegrates. Nations rush to gain any advantage while a reeling British Empire attempts to stabilise the Irish Rebellion ("The Easter Uprising") that the assasination forments. Hurredly, as the new young Rex Imperator Edward VII is crowned, First Counsel to the RI, Gladstone asks the Imperial Fleet to ferry troops back from the Empire's New Carolinan dominions, where with the aid of Native levies, they have been pushing westward to support their Texican allies in their stirring war of Independence from the Spanish Empire. Embarking 30,000 seasoned troops on Imperial turbine carriers, the Imperial-Dominion force sets sale from Old Charelston on 5th July 1882. The Germanic League, nominally ruled by the ailing Frederick III, and with its Steel Chanceller, The Duke of Lauenburg, plots to take maximum advantage of the chaos, and decides upon a daring gamble that will change the balance of power in Europe. In a secret alliance with King Louis Napoleon III, the League relinquishes claims to Alsace in return for use of French port facilities in the Indies de l'Est, and sends several Zeestaffeln of their new and highly secret Schnelltorpedierenboot across the Atlantic. Powered by the latest Benz steam compression systems, these fast and large Torpedo Boats arrive at Villeroi in Jamiaque only 3 days after the imperial fleet has set sail. The French have promised any and all help, so the arriving Torpedo Boats are quickly repainted using Monsieur Devillbiss' patented aerographique spray system. The perfidy of the French is such that the head of their Service a L'Exterieur Artistique, Surat "le Camo" is at hand to ensure that the Germanic League boats are accurately and quickly reborn as ships of the Spanish Empire, even down to the lastest Mimetica Azteca paint scheme. Alone in his cluttered worskhop, with the waves of Lake Coniston lapping gently onto the test jetty, Geoffrey Whitetail ponders why his experiments are not working as he had pre-calculated. Surely the new Texican watercoal must be pure enough? Perhaps it is a problem with the pre-ignitor? Whatever. Tomorrow will doubtless provide an answer, and now the village is free of Fenian infilltrators and guarded by loyal Gurkharis he can continue his secret work in peace... On the 10th July 1882, Graf Von Scharnhorst leads his ersatz Spanish Fleet out of the Golf du Villeroi, and heads into the Atlantic at top speed: His prey, the 6 Imperial Turbine Carriers HIMS Bellerophon, Colossus, Britannia, Black Prince, Spartiate and Malvinas ( the latter only newly commisioned as a gift from the Kingdon of Argentine as a gift for the newly found and lucrative penguin guano deposits). With a top speed of 35 knots the Torpedo squadrons rapidy catch up with the Imperial carriers, and by the 14th July Scharnhorst has sighted his quarry. With his command flag on Britannia, Imperial High Sea Lord "Boy Jack" Cochrane, aided by Archpatriot Marconi's Wireless Telerangefinders notices the arrival of the "Spanish" boats from afar and orders several escorting Fast Turbine Gunboats to ward off the approaching armada. The FTGs are proven designs, and have bested many a Spanish warship before in clashes off the coast of Texicana. Amongst them are HIMS Alamo - crewed by Texican allies, and Temeraire with its replacement crew of mostly raw sailors, fresh from a crew swap at Port Ponchartrain. Captain Jellicoe, Commander of the FTG squadron chooses to give benefit of doubt to the Spanish boats, and as they come within range of his Armstrong 18" rifle projectors he orders a hold fire, believing that his secondary armament of 12" mine launchers will be more than enough to deal with any "Spanish dinghy" ( as they have before) should trouble arise. And so the seeds are sown for an Imperial tragedy, one that will bring down an Empire, but also usher in the age of the Turbinic Combustor.... To be continued Jonners Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deon Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 Very interesting! I wonder if the Marconi telerange finders( the same as that fitted the the Laird built HMS Excelsior ( walking ship)) used to spot ground targets during the Somali incident of 1886? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Kunac-Tabinor Posted February 8, 2012 Author Share Posted February 8, 2012 Very interesting! I wonder if the Marconi telerange finders( the same as that fitted the the Laird built HMS Excelsior ( walking ship)) used to spot ground targets during the Somali incident of 1886? Yes I believe they were later variant installed on Excelsior in which the fluidic stabilising compensator was controlled by a Lovelace Mk IV gear-bombe, as opposed to the STGs which used the admittedly advanced but slower Menabrean punch-card reader. Jonners Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Kunac-Tabinor Posted February 8, 2012 Author Share Posted February 8, 2012 (edited) Part 2: As Scharnhorsts "Spanish" fleet passes close to the Imperial FTG squadron, he can scarely beleive his luck, thoroughly expecting to have lost several STBooten by now, he gives the signal to his captain by red-light-semaphore " Execute plan". In the lower bows of each Schnellboot 2 doors open and from them lurch 70 cm diameter LangeLansen torpedoes - the latest and most secret weapon of the Germanic League's fleet. Powered by compressed oxygen with a counter rotational cloak-screw, the torpedos trail behind them 10 metres of rubberised wire. On board each Boot the torpedo guidance team start to pick up the tell tale click and whistle as each torpedo tranmits its guidance beam signal by Marconic wave. Meanwhile the "spanish" fleet cruises gently past Jelicoes now curious FTG crews, who can only laugh at the Sullivan-esque outfits that the "Spaniards" on deck are wearing. Deep below them 42 silent topredos cruise slowly thorugh the FTG screen towards the Turbine carriers some 2 miles away. Realising he can no longer count on fortune to spare him - Scharnhorst slowly manouevres his small fleet away - maintaining as clear line of sight for guidance teams on their "Wasserjager" as he can get away with. The teams know that for the Marconic wave system to work, the fish must travel slowly at first until they are close unough to signal the "kill" command for a final sprint towards the Imperal Turbine carriers. Captain Halsey of the Alamo is puzzled, why are the "Spanish" not attacking? Something doesnt make sense, so he flash beam signals Jellicoe, "Commander- y'all think this is a bit Houdini?" Jellicoe replies, "Halsey, try and speak the Emperor's English will you, I shall certainly try and forget the Alamo for this." The Germanic LangeLanse torpedoes are as reliable as any new untried weapon can ever be, and as the flash beam signals are exchanged, three of them start to develop buoyancy trouble - as compressed air leaks from the pressure flask housings into the cases. Suddenly in Alamo's wake 2 long grey topedos float lazily to the surface, and an eagle eyed Texican rating spots them. Halsey, suddenly aware of what is going on flashes Jellicoe, "Forget us hell, there's fish aimed at the carriers. Y'all remember the Alamo now!" and pushing his turbines to maximum, reals away and back towards the Turbine carriers. Germanic guidance teams now see their plan unravel, and quickly line up the LangeLansen on best guess courses towards the Turbine carriers, now only a mile away. With a final marconic wave command the Torpedos accelerate to their 20 knot kill speed. Jellicoe sends a flash to Cochrane on Brittania warning him of the attack, then wonders whether to pursue the Spaniards or turn back with Halsey. His indecision leaves him caught helpless. On board Temeraire, Captain Scott has been busy berating his whiskerless whelps, but as the flash signal is mirrored to him he comprehends with a sudden shudder of the attack and hurriedly orders full shaft revolutions. He can see Alamo's fast turn and understanding Halseys actions, heels round too, pausing only to order his aft 12' mine thrower crews to action, "12 inchers, shard fire on the Spanish!" Despite their inexperience Temeriare's gun crews manage 4 rounds per projector, and with the Marconi Telerangerfinders only having a partial onlock, their shard rounds fall wildly amongst the Germanic boats - but just enough to shred several sets of the delicate Marconic Wave feather vanes and their brave operators, sitting exposed in the direction cupolas. Too late for the Imperial Turbine carriers however as most operators have sent their kill commands, but 3 more torpedos now go beserk and head off into the open ocean. 39 huge torpedos now power at the 6 Turbine carriers, and Cochrane , ordering his charges to turn into the oncoming attack, hopes he has not been too late. He has. First to be hit is Colossus. 4 LangeLansen hit her, and their huge conical shock charge warheads tear her into 5 peices in seconds. She sinks with all hands taking 6000 men with her in a matter of minutes. Bellerophon is next as 5 more torpedos find their mark: 5900 men are lost as she disintegrates from the shock of the impact. On HIMS Malvinas, Captain Horatio 'H' Jones casts the die of chance and survives. An emergency firing of Malvinas's projection nets catches the 5 deadly fish a hundred yards from his flank, exploding them. The conical shock warheads are still powerful enough to buckle his side plating, but he breathes a sigh of relief none the less. Black Prince and Spartiate both suffer single hits, enough to flood them and drown several hundred unlucky soldiers and sailors. On Brittania, Cochrane can only look on in shock as his fleet is wrecked in less than 2 minutes, and still there are several torpedoes heading at him. "I shall be remembered as a failure", he muses, rubbing the Magnolens straps around his neck. Suddenly, as if filmed in the new Lumierescope moving picture tape , Alamo and Temeraire pass across his carrier's bow at full emergency speed, criss-crossing each other like suicidal land-steam-racers. At 45 knots each, their turbines screaming to blowing point, the two FTGs pass each other with yards to spare, and the water boils in their turbulent wakes, detonating the torpedoes' sensitive contact fuses. Britannia emerges from a huge boiling geyser of water, unharmed. "By god, that was a close run thing" Cochrane signals. "Alamo and Fighting Temeraire, you have saved our souls this day!" From a distance Jellicoe, enraged at his own hesitation, and at the carnage he and his crew can see, orders full power for his beloved Hood and sets after the "Spanish". Pushing his FTG to the limit, he gains 45 knots after 4 minutes, and with a stern chase on his targets, manages belately to range his 18" rifle projectors on 3 of them. As he closes in on their burning wrecks, he is in no mood for quarter, and his crew, with their war lust engorged have little problem following this direct order to Hiram-gun the survivors in the water. Though a few Jack Tars do find it strange that their victims seem to plead for mercy in something very un-spanish before the staccatto crack of the Hirams drown their cries. As the fleet limps towards home, its pleas for help are marconi waved out, and once the Empire's stratodirigible electrophore network picks up the signals, news spreads within hours back to London of the disaster. The Imperial Home fleet sorties to provide cover and an angry mob surrounds the Spanish Embassy on London, shouting "Gibral-tar, Gibral-tar, you murdered our brave Tars". In Downing Street, First Counsel to the RI, Gladstone has already told The Imperator of the news, and having weathered a storm of rage, he now considers what to do next. At the Imperial Admiralty, their Lordships too, ponder this disaster, and also take note of Hood's signals about the definite lack of Spanish heard from the "shark devoured survivors" as their tame Newsgraph spinners have dubbed them. One week week later. Geoffrey Whitetail is a releived man. Some reformulations of his Watercoal to air mixing proportions have finally let him run a Combustor at close to full power. Increasing the bleed valve settings have meant the combustor has run at almost the correct temperature, with an added, unforseen affect of increasing the final HorsePush output to nearly 5,000. Amazing he thinks, as he watches his Gurkhari sentries exchange a rather coarse joke in Khas, and chuckles at the Anglo-Gurkhari punchline. He knows a chap that actually did do that! In the Xyston shed , he can now lower his two prototype combustors into place. And as Conistons' soft water slaps softly under the shed doors, a sleek device now has its powerplants plumbed in and lolls languidly in the smalll swell. "Now we'll see who wants to spend himself on the Empire", mutters Whitetail as his crumpled copy of the Thunderer Newsgraph falls onto the damp floor. [Cyper Flash to Admiralty, Level Most Secret //Flash copy to Whitehead: Xyston has her shaft. Send the tip. Whitetail// Ends.] Deep within the armoured citadel of Fort LeTissier on the Solent, an Imperial Navy armoured steam carriage pulls away. Hiram gunners scan their cupola firefields as it moves out, for onboard are Lord Whitehead's latest pride and joy; Spearfish, headed north for Coniston... Jonners Edited February 8, 2012 by Jon Kunac-Tabinor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deacon Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 Brilliant. The Hood must survive at all costs (Pleaseeeee) Deacon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Kunac-Tabinor Posted February 11, 2012 Author Share Posted February 11, 2012 Gentlemen - the kits for Xyston are purchased: to whit, one Revell JU88 and two Airfix Kingfishers. It seems a shame to do what Im about to do to the Revell Ju88 because it is a spectacular model. But the Rex Imperator demands it. Here we go.... Jonners Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Ogilvie Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 Excellent news old chap, your audience awaits with eager anticipation. Humbly, I J Ogilvie BF GnT and Bar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Kunac-Tabinor Posted February 11, 2012 Author Share Posted February 11, 2012 I hope. Sir, that you shall not recognise the aforementioned models, once the induction rivet and Xenonic beam melting are completed. I mention them purely as a whim. Xyston isnt pretty but she's hard to forget! Very hard to forget if you are a Germanic League BootKapitan ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Kunac-Tabinor Posted February 12, 2012 Author Share Posted February 12, 2012 Righty ho chaps - I can give you access to Whitetail's study models of the Xyston. Mr Whitetail assumes you all know what a Ju88 and a Chance Vought Kingfisher look like. For those of you used to seeing later Turbinic Combustor powered machines you will be intrigued to see the initial inlet configuration favoured by Whitetail, and note with some amusement the early efforts at ncreasing Horsepush for war-power moments though the use of a basic post-efflux-recombustor system. My how times have changed... So here are a few components As you can see the port turbinic combustor housing is being created while the Staerboard housing still needs forming. Heres a mock up of configuration - the enclosed bridge still needs it final postion confirming though it will be afore the TC housings on the main hull. Also to be situated are the defensive Hiram gun cupolas. Offensive armament will be 3 Whitehead Spearfish Autonomous-Hunting-Torpedos (WAHTs) ingeniously mounted on external carrier mechanisms, plus a double brace of rapid-fire .8inch Hiram guns. The Rex Imperator's Bureau of Private State Affairs would like to remind anyone thinking of "borrowing" these electro-daguerres that these E-Ds remain Cypher Level: Most Secret. Punishment by enforced rendition to HIMS Penal Continent Australis Horribilis is mandatory for any such miscreant. Jonners Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 So "Most Secret" involves an unencrypted broadcast on t'th'internet No wonder those pesky "Spanish" knew where to find the troop carriers. Or was that Iain's story? I think you might have a few of those parts out of position there Jonners Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Kunac-Tabinor Posted February 12, 2012 Author Share Posted February 12, 2012 So "Most Secret" involves an unencrypted broadcast on t'th'internet No wonder those pesky "Spanish" knew where to find the troop carriers. Or was that Iain's story? I think you might have a few of those parts out of position there Jonners Dear Mike - as you well know - only subjects of the Rex Imperator have unrestricted access to the Electro-webnet, thanks to the Empire's system of electrophore high altitiude anchored dirigible repeating stations. In order to allow other nations to benefit from a simplified form of the E-WN it has been necessary to simplify content to make it compatible with the Germanic Leagues Zeefaxgerat, and even more so for the French Empire's Pomme-Vu network. Fortunately this downgrading of content for non-Imperial systems has allowed the Rex Imperator's Bureau of Private State Affairs to apply a Level XVII Lovelace algocode which prevents those who should not be seeing such things from seeing them. This conversation would, for instance, appear to a Zeefaxgerat viewer in Neue Aldstat as a description of a walking tour of Barnstaple, while to a Pomme-Vuer in Toulouse it be a recipe for Roasted Mutton with Colmanic sauce. As yet the Empire uses Most secret for its most intimate secrets, with its highest level of security," Really Most Secret", reserved for matters about which even consuls dare not speak ( though I beleive the Rex Imperator's breakfast menu, and trouser size are within this .) To borrow from words of the famed music hall combo Wise and Morcombe, "Sunshine, I've got all the right parts, just not in the right order!" Jonners Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Ogilvie Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 (edited) Gosh, jolly spiffing looking contraption you have there, fair brimming with the latest in technology I'l wager! Iain Edited February 12, 2012 by Iain (32SIG) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Kunac-Tabinor Posted February 12, 2012 Author Share Posted February 12, 2012 Gosh, jolly spiffing looking contraption you have there, fair brimming with the latest in technology I see!Iain Yes Whitetail was a man before his time. Mind you he was also keen to not put out the Old-Hats too, so if time permits I may be able to add the on-board botanists cubicle too. Jonners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjhm Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 Any progress on this one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Kunac-Tabinor Posted May 10, 2012 Author Share Posted May 10, 2012 Hi Mate - yes - will post some pics and story. Jonners Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 (edited) Now there's an elegant contraption! More! More! Edited June 13, 2012 by per ardua ad ostentationem Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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