ROCN-NingHai [Vanilla]

Vanilla [918 Parts]

Ning Hai (Chinese: 寧海; lit. ‘Peaceful Seas’) was a light cruiser in the Republic of China Navy (ROCN) before World War II and the lead ship of her class. She was sunk in the early days of the Second Sino-Japanese War by aircraft from the Imperial Japanese Navy, and her wreck was raised and repaired by the Japanese, re-entering service with the Japanese Navy in the Pacific War as the escort vessel Ioshima (五百島). She was sunk again in September 1944 by a USN submarine.

By 1928, Chiang Kai Chek’s army overthrew the Beiyang government, unifying the entire nation at least nominally. This was the start of the so-called Nanjing Decade. So in 1930, the current government had the will to rebuilt and modernize the navy, based on the existing Beiyang fleet. However, no western yards would accept to built ships for China, not recoignising this government and rebuffed in general by political instability. Things seemed to stabilize and reforms were made by the new overnment however, but war reupted in the Central Plains in 1930, followed by the Japanese aggression in 1931, the Red Army’s Long March in 1934 and Fujian Rebellion of 1933–34.

In 1929, the new Chinese Naval Ministry made a cal for tenders to international shipbuilders, notably Great Britain, USA, Germany and Japan for a tailored small light cruiser. The Japanese “Harima Zosensho” design was eventually chosen and on 5.12.1930 a contract was signed to build the lead vessel, Ning Hai, in Japan. The same contract specified Ping Hai was to be built in China with technical assistance of Japan. In August 1934, some 50 Japanese experts headed by director of “Harima” yard, went in China and overseen the construction between 30.10.1935 and 18.6.1936 of the Ping Hai, later outfitted in Japan at the same yard.

It was a gamble for the Nationlist government to turn to Japan in retrospect, so soon before the aggression.

But at the time the Nationalist givermnent of China had sympathies for Japan, sharing some similar nationalist views. It was also close enough for the cruisers to be outfitted, maintained and repaired. Specifications were submitted for the light coastal cruiser were perfectly met by the proposal from Harima Dock Co., Ltd. which worked on very similar designes for the IJN, and theirs was approved with promises of a quick construction, and a hull laid down on 20 February 1931. The sister ship Ping Hai however suffered fro many issues mostly related to the difficult situation in China and was eventually completed much later. Her career was in fact particularly short. Both were not badly made cruisers and it can be suspected the Japanese already had plans either to create similar small cruisers for policing China in the future (they would not need such thing, just refloating them as seen later).

Ning Hai was based on the experimental Japanese cruiser Yūbari, which combined a small size with heavy weaponry, but in an even smaller displacement of only 2,526 t (2,486 long tons). As with Yūbari, Ning Hai has a single trunked smokestack, and a tripod bridge arrangement. Her weaponry was comparable to ships with a larger displacement: six 14 cm/50 3rd Year Type naval guns mounted in three double gun turrets, six 8 cm/40 3rd Year Type naval guns, and dual 533-mm torpedo tubes. Ning Hai also had a small hangar for two seaplanes; two Aichi AB-3 biplanes, one bought from Japan and one built locally using a spare engine and domestic materials, were assigned to it. There was no aircraft catapult, and the seaplanes were hoisted onto and deployed using a crane.

However, the vessel was underpowered, with three antiquated vertical four-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines, two of which were coal-fired, yielding a top speed of only 22 knots. The excessive top-weight of the design also created stability problems. Due to these issues, Ning Hai was suitable only for coastal operations against gunboats or smaller vessels.

More information on Wikipedia [zh.wikipedia.org] and Naval Encyclopedia [naval-encyclopedia.com]

Standard Displacement ：2526t
Full Load Displacement ：3015t
Length ：102.0m
Beam ：13.44m
Draught ：4.92m
Propulsion ：Three-shaft Reciprocating Engines; 4 coal/oil-fired boilers; 10,579 hp (7,889 kW)
Speed : 23.207 knots
Range ：5,000 nmi at 12 kn
Complement ：361
Armament :
6 × 14 cm/50 3rd Year Type naval guns
6 × 8 cm/40 3rd Year Type naval guns
8 × Vickers 2-pounder AA guns
10 × Vickers machine guns
4 × 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes
9 × depth charges
Armour :
Belt: 25 to 76 mm (0.98 to 2.99 in)
Armour deck: 19 to 25 mm (0.75 to 0.98 in)
Turrets: 25 mm (0.98 in)
Conning tower: 25 mm (0.98 in)
Aircraft carried : 2 × floatplanes

Here’s the link for ROC flag pack on Google Drive for anyone who needs it：
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1U3e6VPTOMDGWgEhmybE5jRxqLH0d1czV/view?usp=sharing

Tamura, Toshio (1984). “The Chinese Light Cruisers Ning Hai and Ping Hai (1930–1936)”. Warship International
Whitley, M.J. (1995). Cruisers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. Annapolis
章骞. 艨艟夜谭：章骞近代舰艇史话十二夜. 青岛: 青岛出版社. 2012. ISBN 978-7-5436-8615-1.
马幼垣. 靖海澄疆：中国近代海军史事新诠. 中华书局. 2013. ISBN 978-7-101-08730-7.
アジア歴史資料センター（公式） 防衛省防衛研究所
昭和19年1月〜6月達/6月. Ref.C12070125000.
陈悦. 力挽山河：南京国民政府海军“宁海”、“平海”号轻巡洋舰（上）. 现代舰船. 2012, (5月B刊).
陈悦. 力挽山河：南京国民政府海军“宁海”、“平海”号轻巡洋舰（中）. 现代舰船. 2012, (6月B刊).

you will have zero chance of winning with this ship in multiplayer lobbies