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whitey_nl
Post subject: Dominion of Newfoundland and LabradorPosted: December 30th, 2017, 2:54 pm
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Joined: March 6th, 2011, 5:37 pm
Location: Newfoundland and Labrador
Howdy all. Has been a long, long, loooong time since I've posted on here. Always lurked and tinkered with various designs but never really have it to a place where I felt comfortable enough posting :oops: , but that time is over. And just like with my first idea, this is a version of a continued, independent Newfoundland and Labrador. Ships and nation will be described below; but it is basically a what-if modern view of what my idea of a Newfoundland navy and later, air force, would look like not only if Newfoundland had maintained its independence, but also if Great Britain hadn't been so restrictive on immigration to the island. When Newfoundland was a colony, its importance for fishing meant the British didn't allow colonization anywhere near the scale of other future dominions and nations, and in fact made it very difficult for several centuries to move here. So, in this version of events, the Brits see the emigration of Scots and Irish as more of a concern, and see Newfoundland as a good alternative to the United States, so greater numbers move there than in real life.

Anyway, enough prattle. On with the show.

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Dominion of Newfoundland and Labrador

[ img ]

National Background

History

Originally inhabited by indigenous First Nations such as the Beothuk and Dorset peoples, it was first 'discovered' by the Vikings around 1000 AD, and then rediscovered by explorer John Cabot in 1497. Declared a colony for England by Sir Humphrey Gilbert in 1583, and declared a full colony in 1610.

The colony of Newfoundland grew slowly, being a proprietary and fishing colony, it took several centuries before large scale communities developed. Starting with the beginning of the industrial age that the population really started to grow and expand. As tensions increased in the United Kingdom developed due to poverty and famine, the Colonial Office lifted the previously stringent measures preventing immigration. By the mid 19th Century, the colonial population was granted self-government, and in 1910 was declared a full dominion of equal status to others such as Canada and New Zealand. By the middle of the 20th Century, Newfoundland quickly became an important trade area, as its' favourable trade agreements with the United States meant many countries used Newfoundland as point-of-entry to circumvent more expensive tariffs or import duties.

Newfoundland was a member of the British Empire and contributed to World War I, including the disastrous battle of Beaumont-Hamel in which the 1st Newfoundland (Royal) Regiment suffered 90% casualties. Newfoundland was also an allied power in World War II, and contributed non-combatants in the Korean War. Newfoundland was a founding member of NATO, and to this date hosts various allied air forces in Goose Bay, Labrador. Newfoundland also participated in the First Gulf War, the Afghanistan War, and various United Nation peacekeeping missions. Newfoundland however has on several occasions bucked the trend, most recently during the 2011 Libyan Intervention, declining and opposing the operation.

Governance

Newfoundland and Labrador is a constitutional monarchy that uses a parliamentary system of government with Queen Elizabeth II as the Queen of Newfoundland and Labrador, represented by the Governor-General.

Newfoundland uses a unicameral parliament, consisting of the House of Assembly, with the three major political parties – the United Party, Labour Party, and National-Liberal Party – holding the majority of the seats.

Foreign Relations

Newfoundland enjoys excellent relations with all nations within the Anglosphere - especially Canada and the United Kingdom. It was a founding member of the United Nations, an active member of the Commonwealth of Nations, and a founding member of NATO and NORAD. Newfoundland is striving to achieve better relations with the nations outside North America and Europe and is actively trying to improve relations with South American nations; and much of its foreign aid goes to the countries to its immediate south. Newfoundland has also established free trade agreements with the European Union, Australia, New Zealand, China, and is a participating partner - but not original signatory - to NAFTA.

Geography, Population, and Climate

The nation is a combination of the islands of Newfoundland, comprising the main island and over 100 smaller islands scattered around its coast; and the "big land" of Labrador on the mainland of North America. With a total area of 405,212 square kilometres, Newfoundland and Labrador is the 60th largest nation on earth in terms of landmass. Newfoundland and Labrador has a population as of its last census in 2009 of 1,437,212 with an estimation in 2014 of 1,440,000. Of the above, approximately 1,200,000 reside on the island, with the remainder residing in Labrador. The majority of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are of Anglo-Irish or French descent, with the largest minorities being First Nations, Indo-Pakistani, and Saharan Africans.

Due to the diverse geography of the nation, it has a varied climate. The island spans 5* of latitude, which is comparable to that of the Great Lakes of Canada/US. While technically divided into six-climate types, Newfoundland has a cool summer-humid continental climate as no part of the island is more than 100km from the sea. Most of Labrador has a subarctic climate, while Northern Labrador has a polar tundra climate.

Economy

Newfoundland and Labrador has a market economy with moderate-to-high GDP per capita and relatively low rate of poverty, and the Newfoundland Dollar is the currency of the nation. It is currently the 66th largest economy in the world. The main industries are mining, petroleum and natural gas, aquaculture, services, transport equipment, food processing, and tourism. Due to its export of large quantities of renewable and non-renewable resources, the country is amongst some of the most affected by global financial fluctuations, despite decades worth of efforts to diversify the economy.

Transport

Newfoundland and Labrador possesses a moderate highway system which connects all major cities on the island, and is supported by an extensive network of inter-island and inter-division ferries. Newfoundland and Labrador also contains a modest rail transport network, used primarily as a bulk freight shipper. St. John's International is the main commercial and personal travel hub for air travel, but Gander, Deer Lake, Goose Bay, and Labrador City being other major air transport hubs. Gander and Goose Bay also double as the main RNFAF air hubs, and Goose Bay served as an alternate landing area for the Space Shuttle during its operation. The Port of St. John's is a major trade hub in the region and is the 45th busiest port in the world by cargo tonnage, with Argentia and Corner Brook also serving as major sub-hubs.

Royal Newfoundland and Labrador Navy - RNLN

World War II Era
Escorts

Terra Nova Class Light Destroyers
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HMNFS Terra Nova, 1934

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HMNFS Terra Nova, 1943

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HMNFS Terra Nova, 1952

Cold War Era
Frigates

Philip Francis Little Class Light Frigates
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HMNFS Philip Francis Little, 1960

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HMNFS Robert Bond, 1962

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HMNFS Philip Francis Little, 1968

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HMNFS Philip Francis Little, 1974

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HMNFS Philip Francis Little, 1982

HMNFS Philip Francis Little F83
HMNFS John Kent F84
HMNFS Robert Bond F85
HMNFS Robert Stanley Monroe F86


Caen Class Frigates
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HMNFS Caen, 1972

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HMNFS Caen, 1989

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HMNFS Caen, 2001

HMNFS Caen, F88
HMNFS Ardennes, F86
HMNFS Monte Cassino, F87


Smaller Escorts
WIP!

Auxiliaries
WIP!

Modern Era
Frigates

John Cabot Class Frigates
[ img ]
HMNFS Cabot, 2004

[ img ]
HMNFS Corte-Real, 2020 (Projected)

HMNFS John Cabot, F100
HMNFS Gaspar Corte-Real F101


Smaller Escorts
Beothuk Class OPV
[ img ]
HMNFS Beothuk, 2012

HMNFS Beothuk, P17
HMNFS Mi'kmaq, P18
HMNFS Innu, P19


Auxiliaries
Labrador Class Support Ship
[ img ]
HMNFS Labrador, 2006

HMNFS Labrador, L180

William Amherst Class Amphibious Warfare Ship
[ img ]
HMNFS Amherst, 2009

HMNFS William Amherst, L181


Last edited by whitey_nl on July 24th, 2018, 8:42 pm, edited 9 times in total.

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eswube
Post subject: Re: Dominion of Newfoundland and LabradorPosted: December 30th, 2017, 10:13 pm
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Six years is indeed a " long, long, loooong time", so welcome back. :)
I'm not going to comment about potential technical issues (maybe just that Ikara looks IMHO tiny bit dated on late 1970s ship), but the drawings themselves are good looking. After all, even doing "just a kitbash" needs some effort to make it a "good kitbash". :)


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whitey_nl
Post subject: Re: Dominion of Newfoundland and LabradorPosted: December 30th, 2017, 10:53 pm
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Joined: March 6th, 2011, 5:37 pm
Location: Newfoundland and Labrador
eswube wrote: *
Six years is indeed a " long, long, loooong time", so welcome back. :)
I'm not going to comment about potential technical issues (maybe just that Ikara looks IMHO tiny bit dated on late 1970s ship), but the drawings themselves are good looking. After all, even doing "just a kitbash" needs some effort to make it a "good kitbash". :)
Six years is about how long it took me to finally get off my duff and post. I currently have about 300 or so such files kicking around my hard-drive, but I only now thought I'd found the right balance of ship designs (thanks to an old Heuhen file) to work for my AU.

For Ikara, while I certainly agree it is dated, it will be recycled from their immediate predecessors which I'll be posting up next. Newfoundland, being comparatively cash strapped for its defence budget, even for its vaunted Navy, has to frequently make use of previous systems and either update them, or use them as best they can until the funds are available for new vessels.


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whitey_nl
Post subject: Re: Dominion of Newfoundland and LabradorPosted: February 15th, 2018, 2:14 pm
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Joined: March 6th, 2011, 5:37 pm
Location: Newfoundland and Labrador
Felt like re-posting a design I've been tinkering with for a while. Have been trying to move out of the kitbashing with some designs I've had floating around. So here is my first hash at it:
[ img ]
Freedom Class
HMNFS Freedom
HMNFS Justice


Redo of the Freedom Class frigate. The Freedom entered service in 1998 and the Justice followed in 2000. A unique design, and continuing the usage of British weapon systems in the RNLN, it's armed with a 76mm gun (featuring the Local Control Unit which I first saw on Blackbuck's posting for Tol Galen). 16 VLS Sea Wolf missiles. Two quad Harpoon/Narwhal launchers; two triple torpedo tubes, and a Phalanx CIWS. Complete with a modified version of the Type 996 radar, Type 2050 sonar, and a towed sonar array.

I like this design a great deal more than the original design I did above; and I feel it is a better fit for the navy of a smaller country like Newfoundland to have an older, but still modern, design that entered service around the same time-frame as many other good late-90/early 2000's classes. I'll be posting their post-midlife updates shortly.

Am also finishing off their immediate predecessors, a newly drawn version of the Rangers, but am not yet satisfied enough with it to post. Those pesky late 60's early 70's ships have always been an Achilles heel for me.


All feedback welcome, as always.


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acelanceloet
Post subject: Re: Dominion of Newfoundland and LabradorPosted: February 15th, 2018, 7:48 pm
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Just one minor thing: RNLN is often used for Royal Netherlands Navy, could lead to confusion :P
That said, this is not an bad design, I would even say it is an pretty good design! I would have filled the midship a bit more with the boats and air intakes myself, but that does not mean this is impossible.
I have to say I somewhat dislike the radars without black outlines though.

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adenandy
Post subject: Re: Dominion of Newfoundland and LabradorPosted: February 15th, 2018, 11:17 pm
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Excellent work Whitey... These are two very handsome looking ships :!:

Jolly well done my dear chap :D

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Hood
Post subject: Re: Dominion of Newfoundland and LabradorPosted: February 16th, 2018, 9:03 am
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I'm not sure the gas turbines and their gearboxes would fit in that space. At best it would be very tight. Nothing wrong with having a compact machinery box but this might be pushing things.

Overall its a good design though.

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whitey_nl
Post subject: Re: Dominion of Newfoundland and LabradorPosted: February 16th, 2018, 2:27 pm
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Joined: March 6th, 2011, 5:37 pm
Location: Newfoundland and Labrador
Slightly re-arranged version. Created a little more space amidships for the funnel.

[ img ]

[ img ]

And this is my take on it after the mid-life upgrade, circa 2018-2019. Aside from internal changes that are (thankfully for my drawing skills) not visible, several updates were made to the sensors and systems. The mast was covered over to try and reduce radar returns, and the Type 996 was replaced with the Thales NS100 radar. The Sea Wolf is being replaced with the Sea Ceptor, and an upgraded Phalanx. The addition of SAAB fire control radars are, primarily, as a redundancy.

Appreciate all the feedback thus far. I'll definitely need it when I post the reworked Rangers.


Last edited by whitey_nl on February 28th, 2018, 2:06 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Blackbuck
Post subject: Re: Dominion of Newfoundland and LabradorPosted: February 16th, 2018, 5:42 pm
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Not bad at all. I would however note that you don't need those directors for Sea Ceptor. You do however need somewhere to mount the domes associated with the data-linking capability of it.

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whitey_nl
Post subject: Re: Dominion of Newfoundland and LabradorPosted: February 28th, 2018, 2:27 am
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Joined: March 6th, 2011, 5:37 pm
Location: Newfoundland and Labrador
Back again. Amended my last image to update the data links for the Sea Ceptor, thanks to Blackbuck's suggestion.

Now I'm back with my new version of the Ranger Class Frigate. Initially conceived as the ASW escort in a high/low fleet, as budget priorities changed, it was decided to turn them into a more general-purpose escort. As a result, the navy's design bureau did their best to accommodate the changes, but it resulted in a rather truncated version of the original AAW destroyer, with the original air defence sensor suite; but the ASW weapon and sonar suite of the original frigate concept. The initial ship was launched in 1968 with the fourth being launched in 1974.

The main armament system was the Ikara missile launcher, which was complemented with a Bofors 375mm ASW rocket launcher and two triple torpedo launchers. Supplementing it was a 3"/70 Mk6 main gun, two quad-Sea Cat missile launchers, and a pair of 20mm Oerlikons. The design was never considered a full success after launching. Cramped quarters, both for the crew and machinery, made for an uncomfortable time. As well, short legs and a relatively high amount of ambient noise made them poorer performers than initially envisioned.

[ img ]

Below is them after their MLU in the early-mid 80's. The Ikara was replaced with the Harpoon/Narwhal mixture later seen on the Freedom class. The Narwhal didn't enter full operational service until the mid-90's, by which time the three remaining active ships in the class were nearing retirement, they did attain operational status on the Rangers. A new 76mm gun replaced the old British 3" providing a practical quantum-leap in performance over their predecessors. The Sea Cats were also replaced with two Sea Wolf launchers.

[ img ]

While the noise deficiencies were addressed, the ships never overcame their cramped and mishmashed design. It was a testament to the RNFN that they managed to keep this ships in effective operation for so long, despite their numerous shortcomings.

Finally got them posted. Have been tinkering with them off and on, and still feel that I could clean them up a bit, but I felt they were good enough to post to gain some useful feedback. There were two competing designs I've been working on, and these fit my AU better. May post the others soon as well to give an alternate-alternate idea.


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