[center][h1][color=yellow]Kingdom of Etelia[/color][/h1][/center]

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[i]Insignia of the Etelian Royal Navy[/i][/center]

The Bendetto-class dreadnoughts were designed by Rear Admiral Engineer Edoardo Masdea, Chief Constructor of the Etelian Royal Navy, and were ordered in response to Frienian and Foulici fleets at the time. They were intended to be superior to the Frienian Slagschip class dreadnoughts and to remedy the Etelian's earlier's perceived flaws of weak protection and armament. As upgrading a warship's protection and armament on a similar displacement typically requires a loss in speed, the ships were not designed to reach the 24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph) of their predecessor. They were still given a 1.5 to 2 knots (2.8 to 3.7 km/h; 1.7 to 2.3 mph) advantage over the 20-to-21-knot (37 to 39 km/h; 23 to 24 mph) standard of most foreign dreadnoughts. Foreign dreadnoughts were being designed with 340-millimeter (13.5 in) guns, but the Etelian Royal Navy was forced to use 305-millimeter (12 in) guns in the Bendetto because Etelia lacked the ability to build larger guns. An additional gun, making a total of 13, was added to offset this deficiency.

Taking advantage of the lengthy building times of these ships, other countries were able to build dreadnoughts that were superior in protection and armament, with the exception of the Foulici. Construction was delayed by late deliveries of the 305-millimeter guns and armor plates as well as shortages of labor. The Etelians imported the raw nickel steel for their armor from Estaratia and Vinheim and processed it into their equivalent of Stepp cemented armor, called Terni cemented, but there were problems with this process and suitable plates took longer to produce than planned.

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[i]Etelian dreadnought Fenice, circa 1910[/i][/center]

The ships of the Bendetto class were 168.9 meters (554 ft 2 in) long at the waterline, and 176 meters (577 ft 5 in) overall. They had a beam of 28 meters (91 ft 10 in), and a draft of 9.3 meters (30 ft 6 in). They displaced 23,088 long tons (23,458 t) at normal load, and 25,086 long tons (25,489 t) at deep load. The Bendetto class was provided with a complete double bottom and their hulls were subdivided by 23 longitudinal and transverse bulkheads. The ships had two rudders, both on the centerline. They had a crew of 31 officers and 969 enlisted men.

The original machinery for all three ships consisted of three Fornnik steam turbine sets, arranged in three engine rooms. The center engine room housed one set of turbines that drove the two inner propeller shafts. It was flanked by compartments on either side, each housing one turbine set which powered the outer shafts. Steam for the turbines was provided by 20 Blechynden water-tube boilers in [i]Bastarda[/i] and [i]Fenice[/i], eight of which burned oil and twelve of which burned both oil and coal. [i] Monarca[/i] used a dozen each oil-fired and mixed-firing MIAT boilers. Designed to reach a maximum speed of 22.5 knots (41.7 km/h; 25.9 mph), none of the ships reached this goal on their sea trials, despite generally exceeding the rated power of their turbines. They only achieved speeds ranging from 21.56 to 22.2 knots (39.93 to 41.11 km/h; 24.81 to 25.55 mph) using 30,700 to 32,800 shaft horsepower (22,900 to 24,500 kW). The ships could store a maximum of 1,450 long tons (1,470 t) of coal and 850 long tons (860 t) of fuel oil that gave them a range of 4,800 nautical miles (8,900 km; 5,500 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph), and 1,000 nautical miles (1,900 km; 1,200 mi) at 22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph). Each ship was equipped with three turbo generators that provided a total of 150 kilowatts at 110 volts.

As built, the ships' main armament comprised thirteen 46-caliber 305-millimeter guns, designed by Costa Agnelli in five gun turrets. The turrets were all on the centerline, with a twin-gun turret superfiring over a triple-gun turret in fore and aft pairs, and a third triple turret amidships, designated 'A', 'B', 'Q', 'X', and 'Y' from bow to stern. The turrets had hydraulic training and elevation, with an auxiliary electric system.

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[i]Bendetto-class Dreadnoughts of the Etelian Royal Navy[/i][/center]

The secondary armament on the first two ships consisted of eighteen 50-caliber 120-millimeter (4.7 in) guns, also designed by Costa Agnelli mounted in casemates on the sides of the hull. These guns could depress to −10 degrees and had a maximum elevation of +15 degrees; they had a rate of fire of six shots per minute. They could fire a 22.1-kilogram (49 lb) high-explosive projectile with a muzzle velocity of 850 meters per second (2,800 ft/s) to a maximum distance of 11,000 meters (12,000 yd). The ships carried a total of 3,600 rounds for them. For defense against torpedo boats, the ships carried fourteen 50-caliber 76 mm (3.0 in) guns; thirteen of these could be mounted on the turret tops, but they could be mounted in 30 different positions, including some on the forecastle and upper decks. These guns had the same range of elevation as the secondary guns, and their rate of fire was higher at 10 rounds per minute. They fired a 6-kilogram (13 lb) AP projectile with a muzzle velocity of 815 meters per second (2,670 ft/s) to a maximum distance of 9,100 meters (10,000 yd). The ships were also fitted with three submerged 45-centimeter (17.7 in) torpedo tubes, one on each broadside and the third in the stern.

The Bendetto-class ships had a complete waterline armor belt that was 2.8 meters (9 ft 2 in) high; 1.6 meters (5 ft 3 in) of this was below the waterline and 1.2 meters (3 ft 11 in) above. It had a maximum thickness of 250 millimeters (9.8 in) amidships, reducing to 130 millimeters (5.1 in) towards the stern and 80 millimeters (3.1 in) towards the bow. The lower edge of this belt was a uniform 170 millimeters (6.7 in) in thickness. Above the main belt was a strake of armor 220 millimeters (8.7 in) thick that extended 2.3 meters (7 ft 7 in) up to the lower edge of the main deck. Above this strake was a thinner one, 130 millimeters thick, that extended 138 meters (452 ft 9 in) from the bow to 'X' turret. The upper strake of armor protected the casemates and was 110 millimeters (4.3 in) thick. The ships had two armored decks: the main deck was 24 mm (0.94 in) thick in two layers on the flat that increased to 40 millimeters (1.6 in) on the slopes that connected it to the main belt. The second deck was 30 millimeters (1.2 in) thick, also in two layers. Fore and aft transverse bulkheads connected the armored belt to the decks.

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[i]Bastarda and her sister ship Monarca in the Etelian Sea on sea trials, circa 1908[/i][/center]

The frontal armor of the gun turrets was 280 millimeters (11.0 in) in thickness with 240-millimeter (9.4 in) thick sides, and an 85-millimeter (3.3 in) roof and rear. Their barbettes also had 230-millimeter armor above the forecastle deck that reduced to 180 millimeters (7.1 in) between the forecastle and upper decks and 130 millimeters below the upper deck. The forward conning tower had walls 280 millimeters thick; those of the aft conning tower were 180 millimeters thick. The total weight of the protective armor was 5,150 long tons (5,230 t), just over 25 per cent of the ships' designed displacement. The total weight of the entire protective system was 6,122 long tons (6,220 t), 30.2 per cent of their intended displacement.

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The [b]Etelian Ambassador to the [color=lightblue]Republic of Foucil[/color][/b] was an amateur statesman known as Gabriele D'Annunzio. A former artilleryman, he realized that politics had all the heart thumping characteristics of war without the shrapnel and shitty food. Still, Foucil was a homely place reminiscent in certain ways to the Etelian peninsula. It was not the shoddy backwater of Chaegon or worse the frozen and decrepit steppes of Frienia. ". . [i]It was as if I was at a summer home, though it snowed frequently and often[/i]," D'Annunzia wrote in journal in 1907, a year after he had received the post.

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[i]Gabriele D'Annunzia, circa 1910[/i][/center]

Still, D'Annunzio had been in talks with the [b]Foucili[/b] for months. The Foucili, one of only two of the Great Powers with the industrial capacity and seamanship to challenge Etelia at sea, the Etelian Royal Navy found that instead of alienating the Foucili, a friendship might better yet be in order. The Foucili and the Etelians had decidedly different interests. The Etelians eyed the west, the Serranthian coast and the islands there. The Foucili instead favored the more exotic jungles of Faresia, a place which few Etelians cared much.

The [b]D'Annunzio Accord[/b], penned by Gabrielo D'Annunzio himself, reached the Foucili delegates office three days after the Etelian declaration of war on the Empire of Chaegon.

[hider=D'Annunzio Accord (1910)]
Article I. [i]The Kingdom of Etelia formally and permanently recognizes the claims of the Republic of Foucili in Centran as home territory as well as Foucili Faresia.[/i]

Article II. [i]The Republic of Foucili formally and permanently recognizes the claims of the Kingdom of Etelia in Centran as home territory as well as Etelian Serranthia[/i].

Article III. [i]The nations of the Republic of Foucili and the Kingdom of Etelia declare a [b]Pact of Non-Aggression[/b] lasting no longer than five years, upon which both parties will be free to negotiate further.[/i]

Article IV. [i]The Chaegonian island, hereby called Miozzona, is formerly and permanently recognized as Etelian sovereign territory by the Republic of Foucil[/i].

Article V. [i]In the case of war, the Kingdom of Etelia promises neutrality in any affair directed against the Republic of Foucil[/i].

Artivle VI. [i]In the case of war, the Republic of Foucil promises neutrality in any affair directed against the Kingdom of Etelia[/i].

[X] -- Gabrielo D'Annunzia, Foreign Ambassador to the Republic of Foucili

[] -- Foucili Delegate[/hider]