Sorry for not fulfilling promises once again...... time management proved difficult when your realty broker isn't up to the job......
And Canadian health care sucks not because it's a public system; it sucks because the hospitals' time management sucks, too.
In any case, something to go with this alt.-universe. Still working towards the first milestone in doing a timeline......
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Large cruiser
Zhen Hai (鎮海) was a result of an over-ambitious five-year naval reinforcement plan in 1934. As it turned out, it would be based on a flight deck cruiser design created in the US both to serve as the flagship of the new Chinese Navy and to provide scouting capability to the fleet. The eventual requirement of outgunning treaty heavy cruisers, however, led to the main gun batteries being changed to 12"/L50 Mk 7 in three two-gun turrets although the secondary armament of eight single 5"/L25 AA guns in the original design were retained, plus a number of 13.2mm Hotchkiss machineguns. The 24-plane airwing initially consisted of Grumman Model G-13 (developed from XSF-2 but ultimately ended up being a scout version of F2F) two-seat scout/fighter biplanes.
Ordered in 1935 and commissioned in 1939, the fact that
Zhen Hai was built in the US means that her construction went smoothly despite the Japanese invasion of China. Nonetheless, she was unable to return to her homeland and therefore unable to contribute much to the undeclared war as all coastal regions were effectively under Japanese control by the time of her commissioning. The Chinese Navy managed to resist all domestic and foreign (British) attempts to have them parting with
Zhen Hai or the aircraft earmarked for the cruiser, however, with the Americans turning a blind eye on training activities being carried out by the ship and her airwing before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Chinese Navy offered the service of
Zhen Hai in support of US operations, hoping that the overseas exploits of a Chinese warship against the vaunted Imperial Japanese Navy would help boosting the morale back home. But with an obsolete onboard airwing the flight deck cruiser would spend her time until Febuary 1942 patrolling off US West Coast, to free up USN warships for direct actions against the Japanese, without seeing combat. This is followed by a three-month refit that saw her receiving upgraded fire controls, including radars, and new 5"/L38 in single mounts replacing old AA guns. The G-13 biplanes were finally replaced at this point as well by former-USN Brewster F2A-2 Buffalo fighters and Vought V-156 Vindicator scout bombers. She spent her time before Leyte Campaign alternately using her guns and aircraft (both types ended up being employed as dive bombers) to support American marines on the ground, often times fighting alongside USS
Jolly Roger, an ex-German passenger liner turned fleet carrier (idea inspired by
sequoiaranger's USS Ranger) known for hosting US military's last active biplane scout bomber squadron and their rather eccentric US Marines aircrew.
Zhen Hai would continue to be outfitted with strengthened gears; Hotchkiss machineguns were quickly replaced with Oerlikon 20mm cannons as much for logistical convenience as it was for firepower, 40mm/L60 Borfors (two quad and four twin mounts) and radar-equipped main gun director were installed in 1943, and North American Model NA-97N, a navalized export version of the A-36 Apache (although the Chinese Navy acquired the type as a fighterbomber), replaced the Buffalos in 1944.
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I'll try to finish this one ASAP, too.
