TNS Valmistaja
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_starboard_bow_view.jpg) TNS Valmistaja Underway in the North Lutentian in 1938
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Builders: | Kingdom of Talvistova |
| Operators: | Royal Talvistovan Navy |
| Preceded by: | N/A |
| Succeeded by: | N/A |
| Built: | 1929-1935 |
| In commission: | 1936-1950 |
| Planned: | 1 |
| Completed: | 1 |
| Active: | 0 |
| Retired: | 1 |
| Preserved: | 1 |
| Talvistova | |
| Name: | Valmistaja |
| Namesake: | Vuori God of Rain |
| Laid down: | 15 September 1929 |
| Launched: | 8 December 1935 |
| Commissioned: | 2 January 1936 |
| Decommissioned: | 20 December 1950 |
| Struck: | 17 October 1952 |
| Status: | Currently preserved as a museum ship moored at the Royal Naval Institute in Ljustad. |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Battleship |
| Displacement: | 40,000 tons |
| Length: | 850 ft (260 m) |
| Beam: | 100 ft (30 m) |
| Draft: | 30 ft (9.1 m) |
| Propulsion: | 8 superheat boilers |
| Speed: | 35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph) |
| Complement: | 1,750 |
| Armament: |
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| Armor: |
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| Aircraft carried: | 3x Floatplanes |
| Aviation facilities: | 1 x catapult |
The TNS Valmistaja was the first and only member of the Valmistaja-class of Battleships built for the Second Great War. The ships where designed to act as force projection over the Gulf of paajarvi and North Lutentian Ocean, and was meant to act as a counterpart to the Englean Battleships of the same time period, and it would ultimately prove to be an icon of the Second Great War due to it's crew's dogged determination to keep it in action, impressive firepower, and it's imposing figure being seen as a comfort to uneasy Talvistovan Sailors in the early stages of the war.
The Valmistaja has persisted into the 21st century as a cultural Icon of her home country, with countless monuments dotting the country, as well as many businesses donning one of the ship's many nicknames, including 'Valiant Val', 'Big V', or the naval community's preferred name of 'Vikki the Vicious Virgin', a nickname she earned from her initial combat involvement at the straight of good faith.
The Valmistaja is widely accepted by navy historians as Talvistova's first true capital ship.
Background
Due to rising global tensions that would eventually result in the breakout of the second great war, the Ministry of War found itself of a flagship to use for the sake of recruitment and enforcing talvistovan superiority over the nearby waterways. This need would eventually be filled when a contract was reached with shipbuilding powerhouse Donbosk Iron Works to construct the Kingdom of Talvistova's first - and to this day - only Battleship, the TNS Valmistaja.
Description
The Valmistaja was designed in the early 1920's in order for the Kingdom of Talvistova to keep pace with their more western counterparts in preparation for what was believed by many to be a second, much larger, world war in the coming decade. She was designed to use be able to hold her own in combat while still being relatively fast for it's size.
Her main armament was her nine 15 inch guns organized in 3 triplet turrets, 2 of which faced forward on top of one another, and one faced the rear. Her secondary surface weapon were twelve 6 inch guns, placed in triple turrets on either side of the main superstructure of the ship. The 6 inch guns were themselves supplemented by four 4.7 inch guns, which, while outdated, still proved effective when used for the purpose of illumination. Her anti aircraft battery was made up of twelve 90mm anti air cannons in single mounts, twenty 37mm guns in 8 twin and 4 single mounts, and sixteen 20mm guns in 8 twin mounts. It was proposed in 1943 for the ship to receive an additional eight 20mm guns, but the stress of wartime on the shipbuilding industry made such upgrades, which was seen as "impractical and frivolous" my the ministry of war, nearly impossible.
The ship was protected by a primary armor belt that measured in at 11 inches thick, and a secondary armor belt that was 3 inches thick, bringing the total horizontal armor to 14 inches thick. In critical areas, the deck was around 6 1/2 inches thick, although this was shorted to 3 in less important area. The main batteries had armor approximately 15 inches thick, with lower turrets being housed in barbettes 14 inches thick.
Service History
The Valmistaja 's keel was laid down at the Suomi Naval Shipyards by Donbosk Iron Works on 15 September 1929, and after several setbacks involving the electronic systems, launched 6 years later on 8 December 1935. Following the Talvistovan Naval regulation as doing as much in the shipyard as possible, the Valmistaja went through a short stint in the dry dock in order to allow for the addition of the 20mm mounts, and it was formerly commissioned into the Royal Navy 2 January 1936.
The ship spent most of the pre war period after it's completion preforming propaganda tours along the southern coast, and occassionally patrolling the Librian coastal regions when the need arose, with the only notable incident being a malfunction in the rear 15 inch turret which required the ship be drydocked for several months in 1937, which would prove to be a running theme throughout the time period.
Outbreak of War
The val began the war patrolling the Strait of Good Faith, mostly in an attempt to prevent the Rezuans from being able to exit the Gulf of Paajarvi and fully encircle Talvistova navally. Here it would earn it's beloved nickname of "Vikki the Vicious virgin", where on 12 December 1939, it ambushed a Rezuan naval convoy attempting to break the Talvistovan blockade of the straight. A Rezuan blockade runner initially sunk a destroyer, which left the Val in turn the only combat capable vessel in the way of the Rezuan convoy. They responded in turn by firing her powerful 15 inch guns full broadside at the blockade runner, which halted the convoy. The smaller guns placed on the covoy's defense ship proved fruitless on the thick armor belt, and another 3 ships in the convoy would be sunk, with another 1 being critically hit and later scuttled, before the convoy turned back. For her actions, the Valmistaja was given a battle commodation for excellence, as well as the ship's commander, Junior Admiral Karl Gustav Lindholm being given a gold Star for Gallantry for his actions is defending the Strait of Good Faith.
Friendly Fire Incident
On the night of 21 February 1940, She would be misidentified and fired upon by a talvistovan PT boat, which in turn was interpreted as a foreign attacker, due to a snowstorm obscuring both vessel's flags. In a stroke of luck, the PT boat was too close for the torpedo it launched to be able to arm itself, although it did end up leaving a dent near her leftmost propeller. The PT Boat would not be so lucky, however, as one of the rear dual 20mm mounts fired off a burst at it before was waved off, which ended up killing a deckhand and wounding 3 others. For the incident, both vessels were cleared of all wrong doing, as it was waved off as an Act of God, with no one being pinned as the one at fault. However, the gunner in charge voluntarily stepped down from his post as the rear 20mm gunner, something widely attributed to his guilt over the death of a fellow countryman.