Adlivun Class

(Artist's Note: In case your wondering whats with the rear-facing turret, the USS Maine and USS Texas of Spanish-American war fame both carried their turrets in 'En Echelon' configuration. This meant that each turret was not center line but instead sat on the port and starboard respectively with the main superstructure in between. as seen in the right side of the image these turrets were so far to the sides of the ship a sort of turret-well sponson was built into the hull to accommodate the machinery. This Image was drawn entirely on the laptop and took several hours mostly because few good angled images of the USS Maine or USS Texas exist. The same could be said for really good reference images of Tripod masts or British turret design of 1910.)



History
"It was once thought that nothing could possibly infuriate the American population more then the sinking of the Maine near Havana. The capture of the USS Houston and the recovery of the sunken USS San Antonio by the Alaskan Navy seems to have stirred a hornet's nest of nationalist fervor. It is no understatement to say that the American navy put considerable effort into attempting to sink both captured vessels before they could reach an Alaskan port. The interesting thing is how the American press reacted with sensationalist images of savage looking Alaskans killing surrendering American sailors, and the usual claims of war crimes and butchery." -Henry Nevillis, London Times

Overview
It is a well known fact that the very existence of the Maine class would not be were it not for exceptional paranoia on the part of the United States Navy. When the Brazilian battleship the Riachuelo was launched the American navy seemed to literally pitch a fit, they believed in a standing lapse or reason that their naval superiority was threatened in the Americas. This gap in reason is the sole cause for the existence of the Maine class. The two original ships of the type took a long twelve years to complete and this time cost them as they were antique by the time they sailed. The loss of the USS Maine was a well manipulated event by the American government that was utilized to propagate the Spanish-American war.

The original Maine type design was inherently flawed, by the time the first of the class, the USS Texas set sail it was already obsolete. Obvious flaws of the design appeared in poor storage of coal, bad placement of munitions and, the consistently troublesome placement of sponson turrets along the hull that made refueling a dangerous experience. Fatal flaws included the disastrous arrangement of superstructure on the hull which reduced the effectiveness of the ship's armament. The placement of the Maine class's two main turrets in echelon formation meant that the ships of the class had a 45 degree blind spot on the bow and stern where the turrets could simply not take aim due to obscuring superstructure. Further aggravating the problem was the fact that ships of this class also bore the ability to theoretically but both guns towards the bow or stern, to do so would result in heavy damage to the deck and superstructure.

The Alaskan rebuild of their two war prizes was in fact somewhat ambitious but recognized the limitations of the ships now in the service of Alaska. The first thing to change was the removal of the forward and rear superstructure that hampered the combat effectiveness of the ship's guns. The actual placement of the turrets could not be changed, without great cost to the point it might be feasible to build a new ship. The response to this was simply to modernize the two turrets to improve their basic handling and with that install more powerful cannon. The original 10" cannon were replaced with modern 16" guns and a much more modern turret housing which reduced the overall area of the turrets. The change in turrets effectively meant the actual turrets sat more on the hull and thus the extended semi-sponson became irrelevant. As the bulge could not be removed, again without costing more then the ship was worth only one action could be taken. Alaskan Naval architects along with British aid armored the extensions and incorporated the gap into the deck of the ship as a inspection walkway. The effect of leaving the bulge intact had forced the change in plans for the placement of secondary armament. Instead of a uniform battery of sponson mounted 14 pound cannon, the entire battery was offset in the opposite direction of the bulge and each gun was specifically fitted with a angle block to prevent accidental firing into the turret bulge. The effect of thishas been referred to as "exceptional en echelon' or as one naval architect termed it 'Spiral Armament Configuration' which deserves from a top down look at the design as the ship's weapons seem to be spiraling outward from the central superstructure. In light of modern air and torpedo boat threats within the superstructure lay eight multi-purpose barbette emplacements that serve as anti-air and anti personnel roles, these emplacements comprise of dual 8lb guns and four heavy machine guns, which is served by a crew of ten. In early trials versus wire-guided gliders simulating torpedo runs the emplacements proved heavily effective albeit ammunition hungry. Finally are the four 20" torpedo tubes, all four of which are forward firing and submerged.

It is worthwhile to note that with distance and the usual fog of war, the reconstructed Adlivun type ships almost exactly resemble the Maine class upon which they originated. It is speculated this is entirely intentional if only to further aggravate the American press and more so to further shame the American navy.

Deployments:
As of the current time, the ACRS Sedna is operational, mostly due to the demolition of her superstructure in combat, the ACRS Sedna has been posted to the 1st fleet.
The ACRS Adlivun is expected to be sea worthy in a few months and is expected to remain with the 2nd fleet.