Shipbucket

Since I can't draw tonight, I wanted to correct a misstep I made earlier.

Early on, Tequilapoli was said not to possess a great naval tradition, but after thinking on it, I realised I had it wrong. Instead, the Navy should be a point of pride for the island nation. With this in mind, here's the basic career path for sailors coming in.

Enlisted

Servicemembers enlist in the Tequilapolian Navy for a period of not less than 6 years, of which at least 4 MUST be served on active duty (the remaining two years may be served either in the Fleet Reserve or the Naval Militia.)

Upon entering the Navy, new recruits enter Basic Military Seamanship School, a 14 week course.

The first 8 weeks are basic military training. The sailors learn the basics of being a member of the Armed Forces, including use of weapons, tactics, combatives, etc (the usual "boot camp"). Following completion of Basic Military Training,the new sailors (called "Sailor" as no rank is conferred yet) receive limited weekend liberty before attending a six-week seamanship course. Here they learn the skills necissary to serve aboard a military ship. Following completion of the Seamanship school, All sailors are granted the rank of Basic Seaman (E-1) and proceed to advanced training or to the fleet as deck seamen. Unlike foriegn navies, Tequilapoli does not award advanced rank enlistments unless the servicemember has a university degree (Bachelors or higher) doesn't qualify to become an officer. Following completion of advanced training, sailors are sent to the fleet. To advance to the rank of Petty Officer 3rd Class, Sailors must have attained the rank of Able Seaman AND received their branch warfare qualification (Surface Warfare, Air Warfare, Submarine Warfare, Fleet Medical Services qualification, Logistics Services Qualification, or Land Warfare)

For promotion to Chief Petty Officer, Petty Officers 1st Class must complete the Senior Sailor's Leadership Course, attain at least an associate's degree in a relevant field, have at least 4 consecutive years "good conduct" service, Pass the physical fitness test with a composite score of 75, and be selected by the CPO Review Board.

Promotion to Master Chief Petty Officer requires a composite PT score of 75, board selection, and good conduct service dating back to their promotion to Chief Petty Officer.

Officers
Officers are commissioned either from qualified Petty Officers, Naval academy graduates, or Collegiate Officer Corps graduates. Only Non-line specialists (Doctors, Nurses, Chaplains, Lawyers, etc.) Are granted commissions without the said pre-requisite.
Through collegiate officer training programs, future officers receive the basic military and seamanship training. After graduation, newly minted Ensigns attend advancved school for their chosen career paths.
Officers must serve for at least 18 months in the fleet to be promoted to Sub lieutenant.

For promotion to a command post, Officers must complete the Naval Command and Leadership course. Once completed, officers may become Command Officers (CO, XO, 2nd Officer) aboard a naval command.

For promotion to flag rank (Commodore, Vice Admiral or Admiral) Captains must qualify by attaining a graduate degree, pass the physical fitness test with a composite score of 75, and be approved by the Senate's Naval Forces committee. Qualified captains are recommended as flag posts become available by the Secretary of the Navy. Throughout their careers, Officers must continue to earn timely promotions, or risk their Commission being rescinded (ending their career). Officers must also keep in good standing, as any "black marks" on their records will seriously impair their ability to be promoted.

More to come later.

Your CLAA is progressing very nicely. It looks like you're taking the lessons people have been telling you.

Thank you. I came to a realization a while ago that I am not the superstar artist I had in my mind, and also realised I don't know nearly as much as I thought I did, and figured I should take the advice of wiser men and better artists.

Nobody on this forum started as a "superstar artist" right off the bat - not even AVALMA. Nope, not at all. Everybody here learned through practice and acquiring knowledge.

I should post some of my earliest drawings (they were mostly cut-and-paste hack jobs, anyway).

That would be cool to see....

As the CLAA nears completion, I've started working on additional projects to fill out the WWII Era navy. I've already posted a Destroyer design (which probably needs more work still), and I have the Light Cruiser, but also the fleet had 1 Battleship, 2 Fleet Aircraft Carriers, and 4 Heavy Cruisers.

The Battleship design is giving me trouble...I've changed my mind about three dozen times concerning the Victoria.

Currently, she's 820 feet long, 109 feet abeam, draws 25 feet of water, and has a main battery of 8 16"/50 caliber guns in two 4-gun turrets. The Main battery idea was inspired by both French and British designs. Originally, the plan was for Victoria to mount 10(!!) 16" guns in a manner similar to the British KGV class, but monetary and structural concerns meant the deletion of the 2-gun superfiring forward mount.

The planned secondary armament is a little wierd. twelve twin-mounted 105mm dual-purpose, quick firing guns make up the secondary battery. 5 mounts will be mounted on either side of the superstructure, and one mount superfiring over each main-battery gun.

The problem I'm having is, study as I might, I'm having artist's block with Victoria's superstructure. Here's what I've got.

So I posted in General Discussion that I was looking for a place that would have information on sea conditions in the Makassar Strait. The Makassar Strait is the body of water that seperates Tequilapoli's two main islands, Borneo and Sulawesi. This information would be valuable in helping design vessels, both civil and military, operating within the strait.

Civilian ships operating within the straight would include ferries, Cruise Ships, fishing vessels, and research vessels.

Military vessels designed to operate there would include Poice Cutters, Naval Patrol Boats and corvettes.

Okay, still working on the CLAA (Almost done I promise!) and started work on the CA. Also a work in progress, I wanted to expand on Tequilapoli without spamming the board with Duefenschmirtz-like backstory, so I created a Wiki:Republic of Tequilapoli Wiki

Working on something to get the artistic juices moving again.

From Quervo City Press-Pioneer newspaper, 26 September 2009

Members of the Legislation's Naval Forces Oversight Committee today heard testimony from Fleet officers, Civilian leadership, and Naval experts on the subject of the Nation's primary battlefleet, consisting of Cruiser Division 1 and Frigate Divisions 1 and 2.

Rear Admiral Michael G. Abry, Chief of Naval Construction, noted before the assembled legislators that the average age of the Navy's 4 Cruisers and 8 Frigates is roughly 31 years 8 months, or approximately 12 years older than the average sailor who serves in these ships. Many of these vessels have served the Navy proudly in their three decades, but maintaining the vessels in a state of readiness compatible with national defense priorities has become taxing, both in terms of capitol expenditures and manpower.
Battle Forces Commander Rear Admiral Amir Mohammed stated that, of the four cruisers and 8 frigates currently assigned to the Battle Force, he can regularly count on 2 Cruisers and 5 Frigates to be “battle ready”, with 1 additional Cruiser and 2 Frigates in a state of “Semi-readiness.” According to the Admiral, “It is inconsistent with the needs of the country to have half our cruisers and nearly half our frigates unavailable for routine duties, some ships only available in the event of a National crisis.”
Mr. Geoff McMillian, Executive Director of the Tequilapoli Naval Academy’s Center for Naval Warfare, stated that potential naval threats exist from the People’s Republic of China, as well as potential missile threats from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Additionally, the aging Frigates in particular do not provide a flexible enough option for supporting allied ground forces during a limited war. His recommendation to the national leadership was to invest in American technologies, which are in his words, “advancing towards the goals of surface ship-based, mobile missile defense” and have proven multi-role functionality against Surface, Submarine, Air, and Naval Force Projection.

In response to the session of the NFOC, the Congress called upon the Nation’s shipyards in Victoria and Quervo City, as well as members of the Admiralty to propose a plan to modernize the fleet.
Among the plans, Admiral Abry recommended purchasing Destroyers from US or Japanese shipyards (Burke type Destroyers, Either American or Japanese Atago class). Admiral Mohammed suggested a locally built “Light Guided Missile Cruiser”, fitted with AEGIS and carrying as many as 128 missiles and either a 155mm main gun or an Italian 5” gun.
The Quervo City and Victoria Yards produced two variations for a double-ended frigate in early 2010. The ship features a 479.5 foot overall length, 50 foot beam, and is armed with 2 32-cell Mk. 41 VLS pads and a british 4.5” Mk. 8 gun system. As of 2011, the Electronics had yet to be selected for the ship, although AEGIS was considered the leading candidate.

Multi-Role Warship, Variant 1- double-wide funnel

Variant 2-two stack Frigate

It seems that pictures got accidentaly resized, and ships themselves have terribly deep draught (to keel - if it was with sonar dome - so the keel was higher, I guess it could be ok) compared to length.

http://www.shipbucket.com/forums/viewto ... f=5&t=3743

NavyBrat, I'd like to direct you to this thread for information about using Photobucket for your image hosting needs.