The Reforging of a Fleet and An Empire (A China AAR)

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Section VI

April 4th, 1903

To Admiral of the Fleet Ding Reaching, Commander-in-Chief

Sir,

    On the 2nd of April, my force, consisting of the new armored cruisers HIMS Liaoning and HIMS Shanxi was patrolling off Cam Ranh Bay, in hopes of intercepting an enemy convoy carrying military equipment to the French Army of Indo-China. At 10:13 lookouts aboard both of my ships spotted the enemy convoy along with its screening force. We quickly identified one of the ships as being an armored cruiser of the Admiral Charner-class. I am convinced that the convoy must have had a large number of troops aboard, in spite of the fact that we picked up no survivors, as the enemy cruiser was only french armored cruiser known to be operating in the South China Seas. I ordered flank speed and maneuvered to engage the engage the enemy cruiser first, with the knowledge that the convoy was likely too slow to scatter.

    Our first shot was fired at 10:30 and missed. The early part of the action did not go well for us, my force’s accuracy was poor, and the french cruiser inflicted several critical hits to HIMS Shanxi. She was forced to reduce speed and break formation with HIMS Liaoning. At this point, I ordered Liaoning to close with the frenchman in an effort to increase the number of hits being made by my gun crews. This was successful, and the frenchman began to slow down. It was at this point that I turned the attention of my force to sinking the transport ships, which was done in quick order. The french cruiser attempted to intervene, and was quickly set ablaze by rapid fire from HIMS Shanxi and her 6 inch battery.

    It was at this juncture that I made the decision to disengage and make for home. Although not critical danger, my ships were low on ammunition and were starting to take on water from ruptured plates. As we left, the french cruiser was observed to be settling on her port side, with lifeboats being launched by her crew. Due to the need to see to the needs of my own ships, I continued home, but signaled her position to a passing American freighter. The American was observed altering course towards the frenchman’s last known position.

    Admiral Cheng has my list of personnel deserving of commendation, and will be submitting it for your consideration in his report. I would like to say at this juncture how pleased I am with my officers and men. In spite of having no working up period since commissioning, my crew carried out their duty with enthusiasm and bravery.

I have the honor to be,

Commodore Lee Bohai

Commanding Officer, 1st Cruiser Squadron


Below: profile of French Admiral Charner-Class


Below: Side Profiles of Chinese Armored Cruisers

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My next update will take a while. I had several turns where the French (and I) wound't come out and fight, then a few bad cruiser fights, and then two glorious fleet actions.

[garrisonchisholm]

Huzzah!

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Section VII

August of 1905

    The white walls of the hospital ward were somewhat soothing to Lt. Commander Chao Ling. Yet the peaceful interior was of little comfort for the young officer. His eyes were fixed downward, staring that the stump that was once his left leg. He felt listless, and it seemed to him that the bad news just kept piling on. He’d been in the hospital for the last three months, ever since a metal splinter had sheared off his leg, almost killing him. He’d been put on the beach, and he figured it was likely for good.

    The war news was no comfort to him. The promising early actions of 1904 which had brought glory to the Imperial Navy had been replaced first by a stalemate, and then by disaster. During a period where the French had severely lacked the ability to resist any Chinese attack by sea, the Army had done nothing. No invasions, no offensives, no activity whatsoever. Every man in the navy felt that their victories at sea were squandered on land. Eventually French reinforcements arrived, and once again the Imperial Navy was back on the defensive.

    Worse was what had happened to his dear Shantou. In April, she and Shenzhen had once again tried to intercept a force of French armored cruisers off of Fort Bayard, and once again, they had ended up the worse for it. Not one shot fired by either ships had struck home, and shortly into the action, a shell had hit the gun Ling was standing near, and a metal splinter from the shield had almost cut off his leg. The surgeon didn’t have much choice but to amputate. Nightfall had saved the poor Shantou, and she limped home and Ling had been been sent ashore. After a few days of recovery, he’d been shipped to the Shanghai Naval Hospital by train to receive better care. In june, Shantou set sail to raid shipping near Cam Ranh Bay, and this time she did not come home.

HIMS Shantou: Overdue, presumed lost with all hands, June 1905

    That was her listing on the naval register. Ling wept when he had read it, so many friends and good comrades had died with the ship. Compounding his grief was the sense he had that he should have been aboard her. He knew it was irrational, that with one leg and still being in bad health he would have been a hindrance. Yet with all of his shipmates dead, and no prospects of further sea duty, he felt that he would have been better off at the bottom of the South China Seas. To make matters worse, he found out she’d been declared lost the day after his promotion had come through. He felt guilty to be promoted when his ship had been sunk, and certain that it was a tombstone promotion. A way of seeing that he had a slightly larger pension when he would be medically retired.

    Yet his problems didn’t end there. Meihui had gone up to Beijing and he had not yet written her about his leg. He didn’t want to burden her, and a woman like her didn’t deserve to be stuck with a crippled husband.

    As he lay in bed brooding, a nurse came up.

    “Commander, you have visitors,” She said. Before he could tell her to send them away, Admiral Ding and Meihui rounded the curtain screen.

    “Admiral sir,” Ling said “I didn’t think-”
  
    “You didn’t think that I would find out that you were in hospital, and that I would write to your fiance thinking you’d have the decency to have told her already,” the Admiral said evenly, but with a hint of reproach in his voice. Meihui just stood there, a look of anger well hidden behind flat lips.

    “Well yes sir,” Ling said “I didn’t think a injured Lieutenant was general a matter that merited the attentions of the Commander-in-Chief,”

    “It is when that Lieutenant was once the Commander-in-Chief's flag lieutenant,” Ding said “and whose career has been a lively interest to that C-I-C. Ling , I respect your desire to avoid being accused of favoritism, but you were picked to be my Flag lieutenant because of your abilities and intelligence, not in spite of them.”

    “Thank you sir,”Ling said, “I only wish that they’d been given to someone else as now it seems that they’re squandered on me,”

    “What do you mean” Ding said, his voice raising ever so slightly

    “There’s not much use for a cripple aboard a warship, is there sir?” Ling said, a hit of sadness in his voice.

    “That stops right now Commander,” Ding said. “You’ve lost a leg. Admiral Nelson lost an arm and an eye and he was one of the most important admirals of all time, and most of his fame came after he was maimed. You still have a purpose, and you still have a job,”

    “I thought I’d be medically retired,” Ling said.

    “Hardly,” Ding replied. “We need every man we can get, and we need officers now more than ever. Not just at sea, but on land. Do you have any idea how many people on shore it takes to put so much as a garbage scow to sea?”

“No sir,” aid Ling.

“Well you’re going to find out,” Ding said. “There’s an opening in the Office of Historical Analysis. Once you get out of here, I’ll want to back at Admiralty House,”

“Doing what sir?” Ling asked. He had no idea what the Office of Historical Analysis was.

    “Every time one of our ships meets a french ship and makes it back, you will be responsible for examining why whatever outcome occurs. If one of our ships runs away. You will examine if that was the right course of action. If one of our ships sinks an enemy ship, you will examine why we one. If we lose the entire fleet, you will investigate why. Your work will not be to condemn or commend officers. Your work will not be used in courts of inquiry, we have a separate bureau for that. You will be focused on tactics, and how we can best improve,”

    “Yes Sir,” Ling said

    “Since you’re recovering, we won't have you there just yet, but we need you to start sooner rather than later. So I brough this report along, I’ll like your analysis on my desk a week from now.” Ding said

    “What happened?” Ling asked

    “In short, a calamity. We lost the Shanghai and the Beijing to a french armored cruiser. Neijing blew up with all hands, and Shanghai’s survivors are in a french prison somewhere. Like I said, on mine desk within a week. All the information we have is in this file,” Ding said, placing a parcel on the desk next to Ling’s bed.

    “Yes Sir,” Ling said. “I’ll get right to work. Any other war news?”

    “Not really my boy,” Ding replied. “If we have superior force, the French refuse to come out, and for my part, I will not order the fleet to engage if we face too large an enemy fleet. So far, we have held our own in this war, and the people know it. We’re not under blockade or threat of invasion. I will not throw away our fleet glory hunting, not when we have just rebuilt it. Besides, we’re doing a fine job of smashing their commerce. There are disadvantages to having some of your most profitable colonies so close to an enemy,”

    Ling nodded in approval. “Patience will win out eventually sir,”

    “I have every confidence that it will,” Ding replied. “And now my boy, I leave you to the justifiable fury of your fiance. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned,”

“Thank you sir,” Ling replied. Ding left, leaving him alone with Meihui.

    “I have only this to say,” She said. “Our wedding is scheduled for December 25th, and I will hear no talk of it being cancelled,” She strode out after 

[garrisonchisholm]

Ouch. >.< "Hell hath no fury..."

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Section VIII

A Report on the Battle of the South China Seas

Commander Chao Ling, Office of Historical Analysis

December 31st 1905

Summary of Action

    On the 10th of December 1905, the Southern Fleet under Admiral Cheng Biguang comprising of 1st Battle Squadron (Xihe, Khuiten, and Zhenyuan) and the 2nd Battle Squadron (Zhu Dai,Wang Hui) and supporting destroyers engaged a French fleet of Seven battleships and supporting cruisers and destroyers in the South China Seas. The Southern Fleet engaged the enemy at 12,000 yards, but Admiral Cheng ordered the fleet to close with the enemy, and within an hour, this distance had decreased to less than 3,000 yards. During the opening part of the engagement, French fire caused moderate damage to the Zhenyuan, which received several hits to her belt extensions. However upon closing with the French, the Southern Fleet achieved multiple main battery hits against the French Battleship Redoutable, which fell out of the line of battle. While the French Fleet consisted south, likely hoping to draw our fleet nearer to Cam Ranh Bay, Admiral Cheng broke off and continued to fire upon the Redoutable for an hour after the sun set, until she finally sank. The Southern Fleet returned home to Fort Bayard, nursing the Zhenyuan, which had received further hits, and was suffering flood damage. However with the exception of Zhenyuan, our fleet was largely undamaged, and should be fully ready for sea after a short period of refit. The Zhenyuan will require several months in the shipyard, but is none the worse for it.

Examination of Combat

    The Battle of the South China Sea will in all honesty, have little impact upon our material situation. We continue to be numerically inferior to the     French in terms of ships of all classes except destroyers. However the impact of it in terms of morale in both the fleet and the country, as well as the place it will come to hold in the traditions of the Imperial Navy are incalculable. For the first time in modern history, a fleet of an asian power has met and defeated that of a European power and have sunk a European battleship.

    In terms of the battle itself, it is easy to find fault with many of Admiral Cheng’s decisions. In particular, the fleet opened fire at too great a range, and wasted a good deal of ammunition. Conversely, one might argue that he closed far too close to the enemy and greatly increased the risk of torpedos. His decision to continue the engagement after dark can be considered foolhardy, our fleet is not trained for night fighting.

    However on the whole, Admiral Cheng made, in my opinion, the right decision to both engage the enemy at a range of less than 3,000 yards. Our gunnery was rather pitiful, and it was only after the fleet closed in on the enemy that it achieved 5% hits for the main battery. Had the fleet kept its distance, the fight would likely have favored the French, whose fire control is better than ours. At best, it would have been a draw, with neither fleet being able to score hits on the other, and been like two near-sighted men trying to hit each other with slingshots. Additionally, Admiral Cheng’s decision to concentrate the fire of his two battle squadrons on a single ship was well-advised. Although it reduced accuracy, it did ensure that at least one french battleship was damaged to the point it fell out of their line-of-battle. Nor do I think it was wrong for him to have disengaged from the French battle-line to finish off the French battleship: it was much better to do so and be sure of sinking one, then to consider her sunk only to have her appear again in three months time.

Recommendations

    Recommend further research into the field on fire-control and similar systems. Our fleet must be able to hit the enemy from farther away, particularly as the deadliness of torpedos seems to be increasing at an alarming rate. Until we are able to do so, such close engagements will be necessary. Also recommend further research into the improvement of our armor-piercing shells. Currently our best hope of sinking an enemy ship is to set it on fire using high explosive shells.
In the course of the action, it was noted that there were many signaling errors, and I recommend better signal training and more frequent fleet maneuvers as often as war allows. Additionally, for purposes of fleet cohesion, recommend speed be kept at 2 knots below maximum speed during engagements, and that speed be reduced during turns to ensure close cohesion.

    Overall, a most credible action, and the discipline, professionalism, and skill of the officers and ratings of the Imperial Fleet showed a distinct superiority to that of the French. Indeed, this section is rather brief as every man in the fleet carried out their duties in a manner which ensured that few corrections or alterations are needed. Would suggest that many problems would be best alleviated by further innovation and research by the Directorate of Shipbuilding and Engineering, the Naval Artillery Factory, the Naval Munitions Factory, and the Naval War College's Board of Tactical Studies

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Section IX

April 1906

    The war was by now in its 4th year, and money was pouring into the Navy coffers. Some of it went to continue building more ships, the Liaoning class had proven a hit and two more had ordered. Yet many hoped that the war would end before the ships were delivered. However the new project at the moment was the expansion of Chongming, the three island-district in the middle of the Yangtze Estuary. Dredging operations were deepening the channel, and the islands were being connected with massive stone blocks from the interior. Once the project was finished, Chongming was to serve as the new headquarters and dockyard of the Navy. Admiralty House, the Naval Hospital, the Arsenal, the Naval Gun Factory. And the Research Directorate were all going to be moved there. In the soon-to-be replaced Admiralty House, Ling sat at his desk reviewing his report on the recent Battle of Cam Ranh Bay. It was little different than the one he had written for the Battle of the South China Sea. Indeed, Admiral Cheng noted as much, and his official report to Admiral Ding was simple:


To the Commander-in-Chief

We Won.


Admiral Cheng,

Commanding Officer, Battle Fleet

Officer in Tactical Command, Southern Fleet

    Same start: Chinese and French battle lines spot each other. Chinese and French battle lines close on each other. Chinese and French battle lines hammer away at each other until an opportunity arises. In this case, through the skill of Admiral Cheng and and the incompetence of the French, that opportunity was for the Chinese. The French battleship Richelieu had become separated from the rest of the french fleet and was battered into a flaming wreck before the usual onslaught of torpedoes hit her. That was one criticism that Ling had made.

    “Recommend Destroyer commanders be instructed that no more than three torpedos be expended on any ship already burning and dead in the water. Preferable that torpedoes be fired at as yet undamaged enemy ships,”

    One Destroyer skipper was ruined. He fired a torpedo right as the battle-line sailed by the burning frenchman, and had hit the Xihe instead. Admiral Cheng had almost ordered the battle line to open fire on the hapless destroyer, but his flag captain pointed out the folly of punishing an entire crew for the idiocy of one man. Cheng had relented, but upon retiring to port after the action had called a court martial and the court, made up of officers from the Xihe, condemned the captain to death for “Gross negligence of incalculable value to the enemy”. Naturally, Admiral Ding and the Judge Advocate of the Navy had recognized the trial as the farce it was, and asked the Court of Emperor’s Bench to quash the verdict. The Emperor and Prime Minister Sun agreed and forwarded their requests too. The court had obliged, and a considerably more impartial court found that dismissal for “gross professional negligence” was more appropriate. The hapless captain lost his career, but that was so much better than being hauled up the Xihe’s spotting mast with a noose round his neck.

    Still, to have lost no ships and to sink an enemy battleship was a triumph, and with two such actions, civilian morale had shot up considerably . In the fleet, pride was filtering back after the disasters of 1905, and sailors walked with heads held high when ashore. When the Xihe came in for drydock repair, shore crews had to be mobilized to do just about everything as the citizens of shanghai seemed determined to drown the crew in free liquor, free food, and certain other desirable services. As soon as the ship could, the Captain had her moored in the harbour and crimped down on shore leave.

    “The hands deserve to celebrate, but by god I need a crew of sailors, not a howling mad pack of drunkards infected with social disease. ” Ling had heard her captain say when he visited Admiralty House. He also put an end to wives visiting the ship, as far too many “non-wives” (as the captain termed them) had snuck aboard, saying “I command a fighting ship, one of His Imperial Majesty’s battleships, not some cheap Chongqing Knocking Shop!” Although slightly worried about crew morale, Admiral Ding agreed: the crew needed to be sobered up.

    As he contemplated this, Ling heard a bell start to ring. Sacred Heart Church was not too far away, and on a good day, one could hear the bells. Still, it was not a sunday, and after checking his clock, it was not either a full, half, or quarter hour. Still more, the bells kept ringing, and soon more bells started to ring. Ling got up and walked out of his office. He was not alone, many officers had dropped what they were doing and were jogging for the door to see what was going on. Perhaps part of the city was on fire.

    It was not, instead crowds in the street cheered, ships in the harbor blew their foghorns, and newspaper boys shuffled around hawking their papers. Ling bought one and gazed at the headline.

Peace With France! War Ends as Diplomats Agree to Treaty in Secret Honolulu Conference


    Ling ran back into Admiralty House straight to Admiral Ding’s office. He burst in without knocking: Ding was at his desk, scribbling notes on a memorandum.

    “Admiral, we’ve made peace with France,” Ling said. Ding continued to scribble away on the paper, not even acknowledging Ling’s presence. This went on for a full minute. Ling repeated himself “Sir, we’re at peace with France,”

    Ding looked up, gestured to the telephone on his desk. “I am aware Commander,” He said. “The Emperor telephoned me two hours ago when the peace was signed,”

    Ling deflated somewhat. He felt ridiculous, having barged into the Admiral's office without even knocking only to tell the Admiral something he already knew.

“Status Quo ante Bellum,” Ding said. “They way things were before the war. The American president Roosevelt himself chaired the meetings, and it was agreed that since neither side had conquered any territory, neither side had much of an ability to make demands,”

    “I see sir,” Ling said, wilting.

    “I’d like that report on the Cam Ranh Bay action before the end of the day,” Ding said. “You may go,”

    “Yes Sir,” Ling replied “Thank you sir,” Ling saluted and returned to his office

[garrisonchisholm]

A not-loss! Unfortunate if you were ahead in points, and it sounds like you were. However, this;

"Admiral Cheng had almost ordered the battle line to open fire on the hapless destroyer"

- made me laugh.

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Mar 19, 2017 23:19:59 GMT -6 garrisonchisholm said:

A not-loss! Unfortunate if you were ahead in points, and it sounds like you were. However, this;

"Admiral Cheng had almost ordered the battle line to open fire on the hapless destroyer"

- made me laugh.

The not-loss was a bit disappointing, but at this point I'll take it. France was already starting to replace its loses and my people were starting to get bothered by the war. I was ahead in points, but not by too much (those cruiser losses hurt the point count). Admiral Cheng's fury was representative of my own. If I could have fired on that destroyer, I would have!