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KNS Savrila CE9-10

KNS Savrila (Ex-KNS Tenebris) was the lead ship of its class of torpedo cruisers. Four ships were made to lead torpedo flotillas consisting of destroyers and torpedo boats. The ships entered service prior to the Great Depression with the navy having a 'juene ecole' revival among its officers. Improving technology and shipbuilding experience have prompted a push for a more torpedo centric fleet which was seen as a cheaper solution to battleships and heavy cruisers. Each cruiser was assigned to lead a Torpedo Division. The Tenebris-class remained in service throughout the depression and survived the 'divest to invest' related fleet downscaling. The ships' career were largely uneventful and decommissioned on April 14, 2025 after the Sivantse-class were commissioned. A proper torpedo cruiser replacement was considered but waning interest by the navy led to the efforts being dropped. The Sivantse-class were instead seen as a suitable replacement due to being more modern, with more guns, and had nearly the same amount of torpedoes. The Sivantse-class is apart of the Interception Force which has a similar mission sets as the Torpedo Divisions of old. The navy plans to replicate the Interception Force into multiple future formations.

The cruisers remained in the reserve fleet largely in limbo on whether the ships be sold to allies or scrapped. Fast forward to the establishment of the Naval Advisory Board, a comprehensive naval plan was formulated. The document established proposed tactics, doctrine, and force composition along with overall fleet size. This saw the navy rapidly expand its fleet of destroyers and frigates to better meet the desired fleet escorts.

However, cruiser construction continued to be delayed with the redesigning of KNS Outremer and cancellation of KNS Desidra. The navy realized the cruiser shortage won't be going away any time soon. As a stop-gap measure, the navy put out a request to modernize several old cruisers to fill the gap. The request was approved by the government but voiced concerns over maintaining such a large amount of cruisers. The navy had already established a request for 24 light cruisers as part of its comprehensive naval plan. However, now the navy wanted to modernize up to 8 more old cruisers. It would be economically unjustifiable to see these cruisers be replaced by newer ships right after undergoing extensive overhauls. The alternative of maintaining 32 light cruisers were also seen as too costly.

In order to keep spending under control, the government had granted a limited number of hulls per ship type. If the navy decides modernizing old cruisers was necessary, then the government wasn't going to stop them. However, it meant eating up hulls that could have been filled by newer ships. On the other hand, the navy can wait out the cruiser gap and build newer ships. The government decided not to micro-manage what the navy believes is the best course of action, but kept restrictions so the ever expanding fleet doesn't become a fiscal black hole.

To avoid these legal restrictions, the navy classified these modernized cruisers as training cruisers and gave it a unique identification code of "CE" which was unlike previous training vessels. Internally, the navy sometimes referred these ships as a light cruiser, but to differentiate first-rate modern cruisers from older second-rate, the latter became known as 'escort cruisers.' The escort cruisers were seen as smaller, cheaper ships that can act as fleet escort with greater capabilities than a destroyer but without the expense of a modern cruiser. Cost were still a concern to prevent the government from being too riled up about it. The ships were also expected to conduct various support duties, especially during peace time. While some of these duties included training cruises as its official designation implies, it's also used as a dispatch vessel, to conduct maritime patrols, goodwill visits, and open for public tours.

The navy had listed several options for modernization, including the Tenebris-class and Magnolia-class torpedo cruisers along with a old GPYF MMC-class destroyer, and a incomplete hull from Inxonia. Tenebris-class were ruled out initially as it was thought to be far too large for the intended purpose. The other three hulls had comparable depth, length, and beam. The navy initially down selected to the Magnolia-class cruisers as the Inxonia hull would have required far more work while the MMC-class required additional purchasing expense. Since the navy already owned the Magnolia-class cruisers, it could begin work immediately. However, work on the Magnolia was slow due to its age. The Magnolias were decommissioned back in August, 2022, and so were in much worse condition. As the scope of modernization expanded, it was decided the Magnolia-class were too small for all the desired upgrades. Ultimately, the Tenebris-class was selected instead. The Tenebris with its 4 ships still fell short of the navy's desire for 8 cruisers, so the Magnolia-class are still expected to be modernized but to a lower standard.

The Tenebris ended up being considered as an excellent choice. The ships had good free board, a very stable hull, and large enough for all the equipment planned. The ships all underwent a major rebuild, replacing the boilers, turbines, the bow of the ship for improved forward flotation, and even the screws were replaced with a more efficient modern design. All torpedo launchers were removed in favor for casemate guns in their place. To fit these new guns, cuts were made onto the side of the upper hull. The torpedo launchers were placed into storage for use on future destroyers. Armor was also increased by 50-100% in certain areas, albeit the belt armor was shortened to protect only the central citadel area to compensate for the increased weight. Additional weight were saved by tweaks to the superstructure in various places. To improve the utility of the ship in its escort role, four low-velocity 280mm anti-submarine howitzers along with a number of light anti-aircraft guns were mounted.

Once completed, KNS Tenebris was renamed Savrila since Tenebris was already in use by a new Sivantse-class destroyer. The upgrade is estimated to cost about as much as a destroyer. The cruisers are planned to be individually distributed to raiding formations known as 'Independent Action Groups' but also the navy's primary combat formations, the 'Surface Action Groups.' Although much of the plans are still tentative and flexible. For now, the four cruisers are de facto assigned to the 1st Surface Action Group led by KNS Crusader to bolster its cruiser strength to five. Officially they are unassigned training ships that are attached to the 1st SAG.

Ship list:
Savrila (Ex-Tenebris), Velzarra, Zarnakhel, Mirethane

[Ship Overview]
Operators: Khertland Navy
Laid down: January 7, 2019
Commissioned: January 10, 2019
Decommissioned: April 14, 2025
Recommissioned: June 12, 2025

[Class Overview]
Class: Tenebris-class Torpedo Cruiser/Savrila-class Escort Cruiser
Planned: 4
Completed: 4

[General Characteristics]
Type: Torpedo Cruiser/Training Cruiser
Displacement: 476,189
Volume: 19,646 m^3
Blocks: 8,980
Cost: 157,674
Overall Length: 176 m
Waterline Length: 174 m
Between Perpendiculars: 171.5 m
Beam: 19 m
Draft: 6 m
Freeboard: 5m
Propulsion: 4 shafts powered by 2x SSE-3 8C/1/1/1/1 Mk.I 2.2K4.4
Speed: 35 knots
Endurance: 9180 km
Turn radius: 355 m

Sensor and Processing Systems:
>1x RSS-YU-5 Mk.1 Surface Search Radar
>2x FCS-5 m5 Mk.1-L Fire Control Director
>1x REWR-9 Mk.1 Early Warning Radar
>Hydrophones

Armament:
>4x1 280mm L/23 SNG-1 Mk.1A
>8x1 M104 L/14 SS-3 Mk.1A
>4x1 05m L/8 SS-2 Mk.4A
>6x1 28mm L/71 AAG-9 Mk.1A

Other:
>4x 9m Rowing Cutter
>7x 4m Inflatable Rafts
>2x Paravane

Armor:
>Main deck: 3m metal
>Main belt: 3-5m metal
>Barbette: 1-2m metal
>Bulkheads: 4m metal