ANS Ephinyfield (BC-1920)

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The Amazonian Navy had not followed on with the battlecruisers after the Andromache Class. When the British laid down the Admiral class, the US Navy the Lexington Class, and the Japanese the Amagi class battlecruisers, the Amazonian Navy knew that it would have to respond if it was to keep up with the Jones's. Being able to 'maintain the range' is the pinnacle of naval warfare. That is where your ship with its big guns is able to fire at an enemy ship that can not hit you. The range of its guns is less than yours. Your ship is able to maintain that range because your ship is faster than theirs. There is a write up under the British 15" Mk-1 guns where the 5th Battle Squadron taking on the German Battlecruisers, did exactly that. Engaged the battlecruisers outside the range of their guns. Blasting the battlecruisers while taking no damage themselves. (see 15" Mk-1 guns)

The other problem with the battlecruisers being ordered was the sheer size of the vessels. All of them were over 40,000 tons and expected to be faster than 30 knots. When the Murovian designers got their slide rules out and did the sums, then showed them to the Admiralty, the cost of producing monsters like that would be beyond the Amazonian Treasury. But the designers had produced alternative designs where a battlecruiser type could be built for a lot less. The designers pointed out that it was the speed requirement that made the ships so big. Admiralty class to make 32 knots with 8x15" and 12" armour needed to be 42,000 tons. Reduce the speed requirement and the size of the ship reduces dramatically. 30 knots with 11" armour and 8x15" dropped to 38,000 tons. And so it went on. The Amazonian Navy had to decide what it wanted and juggle the figures to keep the ships within a reasonable size and cost.

The end product of this was a battlecruiser armed with 8x16" (the same as the newly ordered Penthesilea class) with 10" armoured belt, and 28 knot speed. Two ships were ordered in 1915 with expected completion in 1918-19.

Then came Jutland.

That changed the worlds thinking on Battlecruisers. Beatty's famous line "there seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today" summed it up nicely. Three British and one German Battlecruiser were lost. The British ones in spectacular magazine explosions while the German one received so much damage it could not make port and foundered. The German combination of slower speeds and more armour proved better than the British combination of faster ships with less armour. The immediate effect was the return of the Repulse and Renown for armour upgrades, and more armour put into the Hood (then under construction) that raised the nominal tonnage from 36,000 to 42,000 tons. The Amazons were lucky in that construction had hardly begun on the new ships whose construction was halted after Jutland to allow for serious thought on whether to proceed or cancel the ships and order another pair of Penthesilea class ships.

The designers came back and showed that an increase of belt armour from 10" to 12" would cost the ship one knot of speed. That was all that was considered necessary for the design to go forward as is. The Admiralty went over the changes and approved them The Ephinyfield would live.



The first ship was laid down in September 1916, the second ship in March 1917 once the first of the Penthesilea class was launched and cleared the slip for the next ship. Eight months later the ship was suspended and a new design to be implemented. The Smyrna would be completed as the Murovian Empires first full aircraft carrier. In the summer of 1917 the priority of the Ephinyfield was downgraded and work on the ship slowed considerably. It was launched in late 1918 and finally accepted for service in February 1920.

The Ephinyfield was a magnificent ship and matched the overseas competition. The armour scheme was more comprehensive than the Hood, while the big 16" guns out performed the 15". There would be no 'maintaining the range' against this ship. In service, as built, till 1938, when the ship was taken in hand for its rebuild to a modern looking warship. When you start with an excellent design, upgrading all the major systems must give you an even more capable ship than what you started with. And that is what happened.

1940 and the Ephinyfield is out hunting. Somewhere between Mu and Chile an Argentinian raider is sinking merchantmen. The dawn is coming up and the order is given 'Launch!". One of the ships floatplanes is launched with orders to search back and forth looking for the raider. Trying to cover as much ground itself, the Ephinyfield zigzagged along its course, its radar reaching out to the horizon seeking for the enemy. A report comes in from the aircraft "30 minutes, no contact". Time passed on, another report "60 minutes, no contact". All the commanders had thought to have found the enemy by now. They were searching along the path that the sunken ships were showing. The longer the search went on, the higher the tension ratcheted. A report came up from the radio room "RRR call from position plotted as 48 miles to the South East". they were that close. The order went, "launch the ready aircraft". Off it went to the southeast. The other aircraft that was to the north was recalled. The Ephinyfield itself turned from East to South East and increased speed from 15 knots to 24 knots. Not full speed but moving quick. 15 minutes passed and the call comes in "Contact, Argentinian battlecruiser (see Porto Nueva)". Knowing the type of ship, the Captain of Ephinyfield knew his ship was far superior to the Argentinian ship. It would be a great pleasure to send another Argentinian ship to the bottom of the sea. With the spotter aircraft guiding it in the Ephinyfield quickly closed the range, till the observers at the top of the mast reported "contact to the South". It was now only a matter of time. At about 30,000 yards both ships fired for effect, the four forward guns of the Ephinyfield versus the triple aft turret of the Porto. The difference being that the Ephinyfield had the spotter aircraft to call the shots. The speed advantage of the Ephinyfield was starting to tell with the range dropping all the time. At 24,000 yards the Ephinyfield turned enough to allow the aft turrets to join the action. Regular hits started appearing on the Porto. The Porto's speed dropped markedly and only one triple turret was in action. Another few salvoes from the Ephinyfield and the Porto had nothing left to reply with. The Porto was down by the head and continued to dip its bow further until the screws and rudder aft raised out of the water. The Porto rolled to starboard and rushed under the sea, disappearing from view. "Launch boats" and a search was undertaken for survivors. There were not many.

That was the highlight of the Ephinyfield's war. The completion of two new aircraft carriers, and the formation of a Task Force around them, saw Ephinyfield appointed as Task Force Command ship, carrying the Rear or Vice Admiral in command. The rest of the war was spent watching aircraft take off and land. An aircraft spotters dream.
 

Long time member of the Sisterhood Ephinyfield.

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