HMAES Audacious (1941)
The Audacious is my fifth battleship made in NA. Just like my other ships, I took inspiration from British battleships. This one in particular was inspired by the King George V-class.
This took by far the most time to complete, taking me almost a month. This might’ve been due to the amount of detail I crammed in, which is a lot more compared to my older ships. While there are some kinks to work out, such as her spawning deep below the water due to engines doing some wonky stuff regarding spawning positions, I consider this ship mostly completed aside from a few things.
Hopefully you’ll enjoy her as much as I did!
If you’re the type of person who enjoys lore, continue reading on. Otherwise, skip that section for further information regarding the ship itself.
The Audacious-class battleships are the last class of battleships built for the Imperial Aurellean Navy in the late 1930s to the early 1940s. Two ships of the class were built: HMAES Audacious (1941) and HMAES Illustrious (1942).
A signatory of the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922, Aurelle saw its battleship fleet significantly downsized, with only seven battleships, below half of its old fleet size. The Admiralty started making plans in 1929 for a new battleship to complement the aging Aurora-class dreadnoughts as flagships. The government decided to not renew the London Naval Treaty in 1936 and started redesigning the plans made by the Admiralty. Design C12 was chosen, calling for a main battery of nine BL 406mm Mark IV naval guns.
The Audacious was the main part of the naval arm of the 1934 Rearmament Programme, which planned for five of the class to be built. Audacious was laid down on 8 May 1935 while Illustrious was laid down on 14 June 1935. However, the Admiralty decided to change the gun size to 457mm, resulting in drastic modifications to the design and affecting the laid-down hulls of Audacious and Illustrious, severely increasing the cost of the battleships.
The Labour Party won in the 1938 elections, and they curtailed the budget for the 1934 Rearmament Programme. Coupled with the Imperial Proclamation of 1940 announcing the neutrality of Aurelle, meant that the other three battleships were cancelled. Audacious entered service on 26 March 1941 and Illustrious on 4 June 1942.
Their service mostly consisted of neutrality patrols around the waters of the Aschestia coastline. Their Second World War career was uneventful, and their post-war service mostly consisted of patrols and a few cruises around the world, with Audacious participating as the Aurellean representative in the 1953 Coronation Fleet Review of Queen Elizabeth II.
The outbreak of the Aurellean Civil War in 17 August 1956, and the Illustrious, was almost seized by Republican sailors. She, along with the Audacious joined the remaining Loyalist fleets in the provisional capital of Wittenham. The two battleships saw extensive service in the Civil War. Audacious participated in the Battle of Blythedow Bay in 6 October 1957, sinking the Unionist fast battleship Formidable. Illustrious fought in the Battle of the Bloomcook Islands in 1 February 1958. Audacious was on convoy escort duty from November 1957 to April 1958, where her convoy was intercepted by the Republican dreadnought Revolution, the Audacious sustaining significant damage and temporarily knocking her out of action for a year.
Illustrious was paired up with the dreadnought Aurora on the interception of the Republican flagship Peter Wells in 7 September to 16 September 1959. She was afterwards the new flagship of Force C and provided fire support on Operation Sceptre in 17-26 December 1959. The Audacious newly repaired and refitted, was instrumental in the sinking of the Unionist flagship Blackburn on the Battle of Maulogne Sea on 26 February 1960. She would go on to accept the surrender of the remnants of the Unionist navy on Bridgeport on 8 July 1960.
The Imperial Navy would continue on whittling down the Republican Navy in strength until in 14 January 1961, where the Illustrious, flagship of Task Force H, sunk Republican ships on port during the Raid on Greyharbour, crippling the fleet altogether. The two Audacious classes were present at the surrender of the Republican forces on Brougham in 10 April 1961, finally marking the end of the Aurellean Civil War.
Shortly afterwards, the Audacious was paid off, while the Illustrious now served as the flagship. She would receive a refit in 1966, arming her with Exocet anti-ship missiles. Illustrious would participate on RIMPAC 1971 as the Aurellean flagship. As the 1970s passed on however, she was growing obsolete. A small fire in 1980 provided the Admiralty an excuse to finally withdraw her from service. She would be paid off afterwards with 38 years of service.
A group of veterans formed the Audacious Trust in 1982 in order to purchase the two ships and save them from potential scrapping. While Illustrious was still repairable, the Audacious was in dilapidated condition. After a massive campaign for preservation, both ships were bought off and repaired. The Illustrious opened up as a museum ship on the mouth of the River Leine in Wittenham in 4 June 1983, her 40th anniversary. The Audacious would undergo a lengthy repair period, opening in 7 May 1985 in Brougham. Both ships, part of the Imperial War Museums, are popular tourist attractions, receiving close to half a million visitors combined per year.
* means they might be subject to change
- Length – 242m
- Beam – 33m
- Height – 70.3m
- Power – 125744 hp*
- 3 shafts
- Full speed time – 42.2s
- Full rudder time – 14.2s
- 3×3 457mm guns
- 8×4 112mm dual-purpose guns
- 26 quadruple 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun mount*
- Belt – 340mm
- Citadel – 410mm
- Hull – 25-100mm*
- Superstructure – 16mm
- Rigging – Not started
- Catapult – 30% complete
- Deck Details – 95% complete
- Hull – slight rework
