TNS Valmistaja
_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.
Libriran Campaign
The val began the war patrolling the Strait of Good Faith, mostly in an attempt to prevent the Librirans 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 librian naval convoy attempting to break the Talvistovan blockade of the straight. A Librian blockade runner initially sunk a destroyer, which left the Val in turn the only combat capable vessel in the way of the Librian 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. This would end up being it's only major action for the war with Librira, as it would end in a stalemate a few weeks later. It would stay in the Strait for most of the war, firing warning shots at enemy convoys and occasionally sinking blockade runners.
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.
Northern Sea Campaign
After the Agreement of 1940 with Libria was reached, the Kingdom of Talvistova Aligned itself with the Englean Kaiserreich and the Dronden Pact against the core. The Valmistaja would turn over the job of patrolling the Strait of Good Faith over to the Engleans, and instead focus it's attention on patrolling the north lutentian and escorting Rhodeve naval convoys from Corentia into the ports on the northern coast of Ventismar. Her only major action would come in second half of 1942, where a still unidentified submarine and cruiser launched an attack on a convoy being escorted by the Val. While she would end up sinking both, the cruiser would land a lucky hit into the deck, which killed 62 in a fore gunnery department, and injure 153 more. She would end up having to dry dock in Rhodevus, and was repaired over the course of 2 months while there. The Val would hearn her next two battle stars in the northern sea, but was withdrawn at the end of 1943, where it would assist the SMS Kaiser in fighting in Taoist Empire in the pacific.
Taoist Front
At the end of 1943, The TNS Valmistaja was withdrawn from service in the north seas campaign in order to join the SMS Kaiser in it's return to Taoist empire controlled water in order to assist the Englean Battleship SMS Kaiser in the hunt for the remainder of the Yashina-class Battleships. ***PLACEHOLDER***.
Return to Ventismar and the end of the war
After the Yashina classes were rendered either sunk or combat ineffective, the Kingdom of Talvistova brought the Val back to the waters surrounded Ventismar to return to assisting in the escort of Rhodeve convoys, now up to the point of the Strait of Good Hope in order to help supply the Englean Kaiserreich's industrial base. The Valmistaja would continue this duty up until the end of the war, where to commemerate the end of the war, she was anchored in the center of the Strait, and fired the little remaining ammunition left for her 15 inch guns as a show of faith that the hostilities where over. She would then circumnavigate the world to celebrate, becoming the first Talvistoan vessel to complete a full circumnavigation in a little over 50 years. At the conclusion of the war she was held in port while it was debated what would be done with her now that hostilities had ceased.
Post War Controversy
The end of the Second Great War brought peace to the world, but it also raised questions over what was to be done with the Valiant Val. Some wanted her scrapped as an ultimate show of hope for a future where such ships were unnecessary, while others saw her as a perfect oppurtunity for something to act as a National Symbol, which was badly needed for morale purposes due to the high cost of Talvistovan lives in the Second Great War. It was a hot button issue to say the least, as the evident demand for steel grew. Ultimately, however, the preservation side won out, thanks in part due to an outcry of support from the public after the death of beloved public figure Artemi Kapanen, who was a very big supporter of the navy during his time as the Grand Marshall and Surpreme Commander of Talvistovan forces in the war. And so, with the rally cry of "Do it for Uncle Kappie", the decision was made on Christmas Day 1947 that the ship was to be preserved as a monument to the sacrifices of those who served in the Royal Navy in the war. Her guns where fired at Artemi's funeral, which has carried on as a tradition to this day, with the main battery being fired 3 times at all military funerals, most recently the funeral of King Juren in 2018.
Modern Day
In 1950, The Valmistaja was moved from outside the coastal town of Skudenesstrøm, where it had been stationed since the funeral of Artemi Kapanen in a mostly ceremonial berth, to the Royal Naval Institution in Ljustad, where she was officially decommissioned on 20 December 1950. Ownership was officially transfered to the Royal Navy Alumni association, who then in turn allowed it to be used as an advanced trainer by the Institute. It was retired from this role in 1952, when it was officially struck from the naval registry on 17 October 1952.
In it's current capacity, it is active as a museum ship, and also fires off a salvo of blanks at the annual graduation of the academy it currently calls home.
Controversy
The Valmistaja drew controversy shortly after it was launched with the Librira due to similarities to their own State-class of battleships. Initially, the Department of War denied all allegations of the vessel's similiarities. But in the early 80's, with all the Libriran state classes scrapped in the previous two decades, the department of war acknowledged the extensive spy ring that was crucial in the creation of the class.