Menghean aircraft carrier Emil-si
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Operators: | Imperial Menghean Navy |
| Preceded by: | None |
| Succeeded by: | Menggang-class aircraft carrier |
| Built: | 1914-1918 |
| In service: | 1918-1940 |
| Planned: | 1 |
| Completed: | 1 |
| Lost: | 1 |
| History | |
| Federative Republic of Menghe | |
| Name: | Emil-si |
| Namesake: | City of Emil-si, Menghe |
| Ordered: | 20 February 1912 |
| Builder: | Hadaway Naval Yard |
| Laid down: | 15 September 1914 |
| Fate: | Seized 7 April 1916 by Tyran |
| History | |
| Tyran | |
| Name: | HMS Saint Christopher |
| Namesake: | Saint Christopher |
| Launched: | 21 January 1917 |
| Commissioned: | 18 July 1918 |
| Fate: | Sold to Menghe in 1919 |
| History | |
| Greater Menghean Empire | |
| Name: | Emil-si |
| Namesake: | City of Emil-si |
| Commissioned: | 22 December 1919 |
| Struck: | 31 October 1940 |
| General characteristics (as completed) | |
| Type: | Aircraft carrier |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: | 204.4 m (waterline) |
| Beam: | 23.4 m |
| Draught: | 8.29 m (normal) |
| Installed power: | 45 water-tube boilers |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 28.2 knots |
| Range: | 4,500 nautical miles at 14 kts |
| Complement: | 914 + 295 (air group) |
| Armament: |
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| Aircraft carried: | 48 |
Emil-si (에밀시) was an aircraft carrier built in Tyran for the Federative Republic of Menghe in the mid-to-late 1910s. Originally ordered as the third Hwaju-class battlecruiser, Emil-si and her sister ship Baekjin were seized by Royal Navy personnel in 1916 while still under construction for use in the War of the Sylvan Succession. While Baekjin was built according to her original design with only minor changes to the secondary armament, Emil-si was completed to a modified layout, with a flight deck covering two-thirds of her length and a two-level hangar underneath it. Commissioned as HMS Saint Christopher, she saw only limited service before the war's end.
After the War of the Sylvan Succession ended, Emil-si was sold to Menghe in her as-built configuration. As the Menghean Navy's first aircraft carrier, she proved to be a valuable platform for testing carrier landings and exploring carrier design. In compliance with the Septentrion Nine-Power Naval Treaty, her main battery guns were removed in 1923 and the flight deck was extended forward over the bow, with added hangar space beneath it. She underwent more thorough refits in 1925-1928, receiving a more efficient set of boilers, an expanded lower hangar, a secondary flying-off deck, and large anti-torpedo bulges to improve protection and stability.
During the Pan-Septentrion War, the Emil-si served as an independent fleet carrier for the Imperial Menghean Navy, with the Menggang and Ŭngang assigned to the First and Second Fleets respectively. After the Battle of the Portcullia Strait, she took part in extended commerce raiding operations in the Helian Ocean, supporting her sister ships which were completed as heavy cruisers. She was sunk by a Maverican submarine on October 9th, 1940, while returning to Menghean bases in Innominada for minor repairs.