The Great White Admiral

For the last year or two our Imperial Skies releases have mostly been concentrated on the South American project, where we’ve added fleets for almost every country in that great continent (almost – there’s one more to go, Venezuela, and they’re nearly ready). But in those two years, the great aerial fleets of the rest of the world haven’t been idle, continuing the arms race around the globe.

And today’s new release is a great example, as we debut the latest US battleship, the USS Rogers class. Built in the same Coyote Flats airship yards near Fort Worth as the Texas class, the familial resemblance to the earlier vessel is readily apparent. But the Rogers class is more heavily armed with a pair of two-storey superimposed main turrets fore and aft. Secondary armament is concentrated in four oval turrets, located on the superstructure corners. These are mounted low on the ship to allow a battery of quick-firing small calibre guns in the superstructure to fire over them – although their traverse is restricted by their placement deep in the sloped sides, so their utility must be limited.

The lead ship of the class is named for Vice-Admiral Jonathan E. Rogers, who distinguished himself particularly in actions in the Pacific, but also during the Spanish-American War and various conflicts in South America in his early career. He led the US First Air Fleet both in war against the Japanese and in peacetime when it acquired the moniker ‘The Great White Fleet’ during a series of courtesy visits to allied nations around the world. During a brief visit to Great Britain he was dubbed ‘The Great White Admiral’ by British newspapers, a nickname which stuck when he returned to the US. He remains in command of the First Fleet to this day.

VAN-225 – Rogers class Battleship – £8.00