Shipbucket

Evening all,

Although drawing for 5+ years now, I've never actually posted any of them on here. So I've decided to change that and post some on here now.

My drawing "style" (if you can call it that) is inspired by/attempting to emulate that of the Royal Navy surface combatants drawn by Ro-Po Max, Gunship, and GarethDavies1. Thank you to you chaps for the drawing style, I hope to have done your style justice. I have attempted to credit but please do correct any crediting errors! (Apologises in advance if names are in the wrong order or anything like that)

These are vessels of my AU Royal Navy - in short, the individual colonies and Commonwealth Realms have not raised their own independent militias and defence forces and as such the British Armed Forces (British Army, RAF, Royal Navy) are still responsible for the defence of Commonwealth Realms. Commonwealth Realms have raised their own say, Army regiments, RAF squadrons, and RN vessels exist entirely crewed by Commonwealth personnel but they all form part of the larger British Armed Forces. For example - the Royal Navy has a large number of vessels based in Canada crewed entirely by Canadian personnel (minus a few officers) but they are still part of Royal Navy squadrons and formations.

But enough explaining.

Starting with a DeWolf-class ice strengthened OPV. The Royal Navy operates 17 such vessels, all built and designed in Canada from 2003-2019. They are operated by 3 squadrons of the Royal Navy - the 5th (Canadian) OPV Squadron, based at HMNB Halifax; the 7th (Canadian) OPV Squadron, based at HMNB Esquimalt; and the 9th OPV Squadron based at HMNB Chatham. The 9th OPV Squadron also provides a DeWolf-class vessel as part of the Royal Navy commitment to Falkland Islands security and the 7th (Canadian) OPV Squadron also occasionally deploys a vessel to New Zealand and Australia for Antarctic patrol duties. All vessels (with the exception of HMS DeWolf) are named after Royal Navy officers involved in Polar exploration. The vessels are armed with a Royal Navy standard 30mm DS30M Mark 2 and carry a Global HU.3 (Bell 429) helicopter, the standard Royal Navy medium utility helicopter for non-combat vessels.

Cheers to Lazer_one for the original DeWolf-class drawing that I used as a base for this project.



I've got other vessels (MCMVs, OPVs, utility craft, Submarines, FAC etc.) drawn in this style as part of this AU which I'll upload as and when I update them to a "publishable" standard (checking credits, scale, description etc.)

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Currently working on:
- AU Royal Navy
- Various FD scale aircraft

The Upholder-class conventionally powered attack submarine (SSK)

Entering service in the 1990s to replace the older Oberon-class SSKs as the mainstay of the Royal Navy submarine force alongside larger (at the time) nuclear powered Trafalgar and Swiftsure-class SSNs, all 36 Upholder's were built in Britain from 1990 to 2006 and are today operated by multiple SSK squadrons of the Royal Navy in Britain (HMNB Faslane, HMNB Devonport, HMNB Chatham, and HMNB Portsmouth), Canada (one Canadian manned squadron at HMNB Halifax and another at HMNB Esquimalt), Australia (one Australian manned squadron at HMNB Sydney and another at HMNB Perth), Malta (as part of the Mediterranean Fleet), and Hong Kong (as part of the Pacific Fleet).

The Upholder-class vessels are a workhorse of the RN fleet, capable of conventional anti-shipping and land attack missions as well as reconnaissance/surveillance and special forces support. They support the more capable, longer ranged nuclear powered attack submarines of the Trafalgar and Astute-class with their unique shallow water and quiet running capabilities.

The oldest vessels of the class are nearing retirement and are due to be replaced by the new Solent-class from 2025 onwards, based on the BMT VIDAR-36 design.

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Currently working on:
- AU Royal Navy
- Various FD scale aircraft

Really interesting concepts here. I've always thought that something like the Imperial Federation would be an interesting jumping-off point for an AU scenario, with the various Commonwealth/Federation states maintaining their own sovereignty and having their own parliaments, being equal in status to the constituent countries of the United Kingdom. However, in place of the Parliament of the United Kindom, you'd have something like a Commonwealth/Imperial Parliament which would function similarly to the European Parliament, unifying the member states under one legal and legislative framework.

In this situation, it would be interesting to see what an enhanced defence cooperation would look like between the various member states. Would Canada have built the Halifax - class or Australia built the Adelaide/Anzac - classes, or would they have been fielding different variants of Type 23 frigates, much like what is being done now with the Type 26s? The same with guided missile destroyers - perhaps a single class would have been adopted in place of the Iroquois/Type 42/DDL classes, incorporating features of each and adapted to the requirements of each navy that fields it. Perhaps the Commonwealth navies standardize on Sea Dart for long-range air defence, and Sea Sparrow/Skyflash (Seaflash?) for short-range air defence. There are many avenues one can go down when considering how defence cooperation between the Commonwealth countries could have taken place.

In terms of the drawings themselves, I like what you've done with the shading, although I don't know if I love the dark colour of the bridge windows on your modified DeWolf - class. One of the biggest criticisms this class has faced is the lack of firepower due to only fielding a single 25 mm gun. Since this is an AU scenario, I wonder if it would be worthwhile to upgrade to something like the Bofors 57 mm Mk 3 gun paired with the Saab CEROS 200 fire control radar, as fitted on the Halifax - class. The upgraded Upholder - class is also very nice, they would truly be capable boats with that range of armament.

Anyway, apologies for the long-winded post - great work here and I'm looking forward to seeing more!

The updated Upholder does look good, some interesting mods there.

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Hood's Worklist
English Electric Canberra FD
Interwar RN Capital Ships
Super-Darings
Never-Were British Aircraft

I don’t really have too much to add as far as commentary and critique goes, but I’ve got to say that these are some rather beautiful designs and I can’t wait to see more of them.

Thanks for the compliments (it means a lot to actually get some feedback from people other than my flatmates on this stuff!); this AU originally started (in my head on long commutes) as something very similar - Commonwealth nations "separate but equal" similar to the EU, albeit with the individual armed forces kept (originally just using the same/similar equipment to Britain). Gradually as I started putting pen to paper (or should I say, 1-pixel size curser to screen?) I began to simplify, traditionalise, and consolidate these elements, first with all the separate Commonwealth Armed Forces using the same equipment/colour schemes, and then gradually to the point it's at now with all the Commonwealth nations just contributing finances and locally raised units to the larger British Armed Forces. One day when I'm not spending all my time writing university essays on long-dead American political theorists or the decline of the British coal industry ( ) I'll properly write this AU up, including social and political elements (that will include aspects such as legal frameworks and legislation).

In this AU the Royal Navy frigate and destroyer squadrons manned by Canadian, Australian, and New Zealander Royal Navy personnel operate the T22/T23/T26 and T42/T45 respectively - the ANZAC and Halifax (as well as former types like the Iroquois) don't exist (part of this AU was to eliminate foreign - excluding inter-Commonwealth and US - equipment from the British Armed Forces). For example, all RN destroyer squadrons Commonwealth wide operated T42 or T82 destroyers as standard. I did consider the 57mm on the De Wolf-class, but ultimately it looked disproportionally large and I wanted to draw a distinction between OPVs and corvette type vessels (based on the Bung Tomo-class) in regards to role and mission.

The decline of SSKs in the RN and French Navy has always been a pet hate of mine (yes, if you think I'm that anonymous British twitter account that rants about this and IR, you are correct ) so I had to do the Upholder justice with a new drawing and history.

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Currently working on:
- AU Royal Navy
- Various FD scale aircraft

Thank you, much appreciated to get some validation on these from the SB community

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Currently working on:
- AU Royal Navy
- Various FD scale aircraft

The Armidale-class Patrol Boat, mainstay of Royal Navy Coastal Forces

Entering service from 1999 onwards to replace the Island-class patrol vessels, the Armidale-class is the mainstay medium size patrol vessel (alongside the larger River-class vessels and smaller Archer and Cutlass-class) used for patrols off the coast of Commonwealth nations like Britain, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, as well as in locales such as the Caribbean, Malta, Hong Kong, and the South Atlantic. The Armidale-class have good oceangoing capability, allowing patrols out at sea including in the rough weather of the North Atlantic, they often support vessels of Her Majesty's Revenue, Customs, and Excise (HMRCE) in enforcing customs and smuggling regulations, as well as patrolling the shipping lanes for maritime safety and piece of mind. Recent combat roles have been patrols in the Middle East (out of HMNB Bahrain), off Ireland to counter IRA smuggling (out of HMNB Haulbowline), off Libya (out of HMNB Malta), and in the South Pacific during the Solomon Islands conflict. In addition, the vessels perform fisheries enforcement roles alongside other, larger RN OPVs. The vessels are armed with a single RN standard 30mm DS30M Mark 2, as well as crew served machine guns; they carry 2 Pacific series RHIBs.

A significant number of Armidale-class vessels are in service with the Royal Navy across the Commonwealth (including vessels crewed by Australian, Canadian, New Zealander, Maltese, Caribbean, Mauritian, and Fijian personnel) having been built in Australia, Britain, and Canada.

(I'll admit, this class - like the MCMVs, other patrol vessels, and utility craft I've drawn - is in such numerous service in this AU with so many squadrons and at so many bases I simply don't have the time to collate a full 50+ names, pennant numbers, squadron organisations, bases etc. however all vessels are named after towns in Britain or the various Commonwealth nations and are the most numerous patrol vessel in RN use, after smaller Cutlass/Scimitar-class boats)

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Currently working on:
- AU Royal Navy
- Various FD scale aircraft

The backbone of the Royal Navy SSN fleet - the Astute-class SSN. The Astute-class has its origins in Project SSN20, launched by the Royal Navy in 1986 to replace its existing Swiftsure and Trafalgar (Batch 1 and Batch 2) class submarines with a modern design. Construction began in 2001 and the first vessel entered service in 2007. A total of 24 vessels will be procured, replacing the 7 Swiftsure-class, 6 Batch 1 Trafalgar-class, and 10 Batch 2 Trafalgar-class vessels, with 16 already in service as of 2024. The final vessel will enter service in 2032, replacing the last Batch 2 Trafalgar-class vessel (HMS Tradewind, which entered service in 2003).

The Astute-class (alongside the Trafalgar-class) form the basis of the all-SSN 2nd and 8th Submarine Squadrons based at HMNB Faslane, as well as the (Anglo-Australian crewed) 7th Submarine Squadron at HMNB Perth and the (Anglo-Canadian crewed) 6th Submarine Squadron at HMNB Halifax. A total of 14 SSNs are based in Britain, with 5 in Canada and 5 in Australia. They complement the conventionally powered Upholder-class vessels of the RN, especially the 1st Squadron at HMNB Portsmouth, 2nd Squadron at HMNB Devonport, 5th Squadron at HMNB Malta, 4th Squadron at HMNB Sydney, and 9th Squadron at HMNB Esquimalt.

The class carry the Royal Navy standard Spearfish torpedo and UGM-84 Harpoon (being replaced by UGM-158C LRASM) for anti-submarine and anti-surface roles as well as the UUM-125A/B Sea Lance for standoff anti-submarine engagements. For operations against shore based targets, the UGM-109B TLAM can be utilised (and has been used operationally by the Astute-class in Libya (2011), Syria (2017/2018), Afghanistan (2021), and Yemen (2024). Royal Navy standard Mk 67 SLMM and Stonefish mines can also be deployed. The class is compatible with a standard Royal Navy pattern dry dock shelter (DDS), which "mates" with a dedicated attaching point within the sail (this requires part of the rear sail to be temporarily removed and replaced with a watertight skirt whilst the DDS is attached)

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Currently working on:
- AU Royal Navy
- Various FD scale aircraft

The Trafalgar-class, the first "modern" SSNs of the Royal Navy. Envisioned as an advanced/improved version of the Swiftsure-class, the Trafalgar-class rapidly evolved into a modern SSN design (akin to the Los Angeles-class of the US Navy) and were built in 2 batches from 1983 to 2003, constituting a total of 16 vessels. The Astute-class are now replacing the vessels, starting in 2012 and with the last Trafalgar-class vessel to be retired in 2032.

The Batch 2 vessels are a stretched version of the Batch 1 with improved onboard electronics and communications systems. Both vessels replaced the earlier Valiant and Churchill-class vessels and served alongside the Swiftsures as the backbone of the Royal Navy SSN fleet until the introduction of the first Astute-class vessel in 2007. In addition, the Trafalgar's were the first SSNs to be permanently based (and crewed) in Australia and Canada, starting in August 1989 with the introduction of SSNs to the 6th Submarine Squadron at HMNB Halifax in Canada. "T-Boats" have seen service striking shore targets in Kuwait/Iraq (1991), Yugoslavia (1999), Afghanistan (2001), Iraq (2003), Libya (2011), Syria (2017), and Yemen (2024).

All vessels carry Royal Navy standard submarine weapons including the Spearfish torpedo, UGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missile, UGM-109 TLAM, and UUM-125 Sea Lance anti-submarine missile. In addition the 5 youngest Batch 2 vessels will be integrated with the new LRASM anti-ship missile. Standard Stonefish and Mk67 SLMM mines can also be deployed. A standard Royal Navy dry dock shelter (DDS) can be mounted to the vertical hatch located directly aft of the sail.

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Currently working on:
- AU Royal Navy
- Various FD scale aircraft