Almost 25 years to the day the next Khmer battleship was completed after the Wong. The French assistance is plain to see with the secondary, and tertiary armaments and superstructure. The main armament was a home grown 16" twin turret. The guns were 45 calibre and fired a 2500 pound shell. With the turrets having a 35 degree elevation, the shells could travel up to 35,000 yards before going bang. There was nothing really special about these two ships, they were the equal of any of those ships of similar size and age. The best feature was the heavy battery of 40mm Bofors in quadruple mountings. While a battleship with 8x16" may not have scared anybody in 1941, these two ships were part of a now powerful squadron that guarded the Straits around Singapore. It would need a large Fleet to force the Straits against what the Khmer Navy and Air Force had.
Further refits in 1942 and 1943 added Radar for both search and director control. Predictors were added for the 40mm turrets during 1943 which greatly aided to their knockdown ability. Tertiary AA weapons of 25mm in single and twin mountings were continually added, with the 16 original barrels going out to over 50 by the end of 1943. To compensate for the extra top weight being added the aircraft handling facilities were removed in Jan/1943. The hangar being split up into offices and extra accommodation, both badly needed.
Now all I have to do is to figure out how I am going to sink them. Blaze of Glory, or slowly battered to death. Maybe one of each. Decisions, decisions.
