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Description

"Heavy Armored Cruiser" CSS Virginia as planned, 1936. One of Jake Featherston's first rearmament programs would be to order the construction of a new class of modern battleships to replace the sunken or scuttled Great War battlecruiser fleet. As the first of four ships of the class, the Virginia would be armed with eight 14" guns in four turrets along with six twin 6" secondary mounts, primarily to ensure Confederate coastal supremacy with a secondary commerce raiding role.

As a result of budgetary concerns and general neglect of the Confederate States Navy in favor of the Army, little more than the ship's hull would be complete by 1939 with no others laid down. Government critics of the battleship noted its close resemblance in configuration to Great War-era battleships and lower estimated top speed than contemporary United States treaty battleships, with the battleship being dubbed "Featherston's Folly" by what free press remained. In 1940, the Virginia was ordered to be converted into the Confederacy's first airplane carrier and was rechristened as CSS Freedom.

Description

"Heavy Armored Cruiser" CSS Virginia as planned, 1936. One of Jake Featherston's first rearmament programs would be to order the construction of a new class of modern battleships to replace the sunken or scuttled Great War battlecruiser fleet. As the first of four ships of the class, the Virginia would be armed with eight 14" guns in four turrets along with six twin 6" secondary mounts, primarily to ensure Confederate coastal supremacy with a secondary commerce raiding role.

As a result of budgetary concerns and general neglect of the Confederate States Navy in favor of the Army, little more than the ship's hull would be complete by 1939 with no others laid down. Government critics of the battleship noted its close resemblance in configuration to Great War-era battleships and lower estimated top speed than contemporary United States treaty battleships, with the battleship being dubbed "Featherston's Folly" by what free press remained. In 1940, the Virginia was ordered to be converted into the Confederacy's first airplane carrier and was rechristened as CSS Freedom.