Post by Airy W on Sept 10, 2017 12:00:49 GMT -6
War breaks out in 1904 over some imperialistic european bastards violating the monroe doctrine. First contact of the war is a cruiser battle off the coast of florida. One enemy 5500 ton cruiser with a 3100 companion against the CL San Francisco, at 5000 tons. On the face of things I seem outmatched, the enemy has thicker armor and more firepower, each flagship having 6 8 inch guns but the supporting ship contributing another 6 5 inch guns. On the other hand, San Fran has a well trained crew and newly upgraded 6 inch guns so I like my chances. I keep at cruising speed long enough to bring the enemy flagship into range and then go on a long range artillery duel all along the coast of Florida. And my confidence seems well warranted, I'm scoring about 3 times as many hits as I take. Eventually the enemy flagship loses speed and so naturally I do what any captain would do and wheel around to attack. Of course this means coming in range of both enemy ships so now I am taking a lot more fire then I am giving out. But by closing to extremely close range it's possible for me to let lose with my secondaries from both sides of the ship, so that evens things out a bit. The San Fran is taking some bad hits and losing speed but the larger enemy is crippled and the smaller has lost speed as well. I'm looking forward to the prospect of sinking both enemies. That is of course when a third enemy cruiser appears...
This new arrival makes my situation seem very dire, my speed is down to 17 knots so there is no way I can outrun them. But at least I can stay close to the crippled enemy flagship and take one of the bastards with me. I do so, allowing the smaller enemy to escape but pounding the flagship until it starts sinking as the third cruiser closes to combat range. Now the tables have turned a third time, from prey to predator back to prey. I can no longer control the range so the new cruiser chases very closely and scores hit after hit. I lose speed and then stop dead in the water. The cruiser passes back and forth, clearly setting up a torpedo launch. Then the heroic engineer of the San Francisco manages to get one of the engines to lurch into action again. She crawls forward at 2 knots while a torpedo sails past. (I saw this by checking the log after). Then the engines are brought to a stop again by a funnel hit. Dead in the water again but the gunnery crews are not deterred by the rapid flooding on their ship. The casemates of the San Fran are hit by enemy fire with 6 disabling hits, every one of them is repaired except for the casement that was outright destroyed. Finally a high explosive shell to the aft causes the enemy to lose speed. The enemy commander wisely withdraws at 12 knots, barely able to keep his own ship afloat. On the San Francisco the damage control team manages to get all six of the flooded compartments under control. Then for a second time the engines are repaired and at dawn the USS San Francisco sails into Orlando harbor at a triumphant 5 knots.
The aftermath of this battle is clear. The resilience of the crew of the San Francisco would make them instant legends. The ship would eventually return to the harbor that is it's namesake so that future generations of sailors would learn how ingenuity and resilience could defeat superior numbers even when a ship seemed broken. And eventually the nautical arts would be taken to the stars as San Francisco becomes the headquarters of a fleet of starships for a United Earth. It would be in San Francisco that the future crew of the USS enterprise would learn the fine art of making a vessel do the impossible and fight back no matter what the damage.
This new arrival makes my situation seem very dire, my speed is down to 17 knots so there is no way I can outrun them. But at least I can stay close to the crippled enemy flagship and take one of the bastards with me. I do so, allowing the smaller enemy to escape but pounding the flagship until it starts sinking as the third cruiser closes to combat range. Now the tables have turned a third time, from prey to predator back to prey. I can no longer control the range so the new cruiser chases very closely and scores hit after hit. I lose speed and then stop dead in the water. The cruiser passes back and forth, clearly setting up a torpedo launch. Then the heroic engineer of the San Francisco manages to get one of the engines to lurch into action again. She crawls forward at 2 knots while a torpedo sails past. (I saw this by checking the log after). Then the engines are brought to a stop again by a funnel hit. Dead in the water again but the gunnery crews are not deterred by the rapid flooding on their ship. The casemates of the San Fran are hit by enemy fire with 6 disabling hits, every one of them is repaired except for the casement that was outright destroyed. Finally a high explosive shell to the aft causes the enemy to lose speed. The enemy commander wisely withdraws at 12 knots, barely able to keep his own ship afloat. On the San Francisco the damage control team manages to get all six of the flooded compartments under control. Then for a second time the engines are repaired and at dawn the USS San Francisco sails into Orlando harbor at a triumphant 5 knots.
The aftermath of this battle is clear. The resilience of the crew of the San Francisco would make them instant legends. The ship would eventually return to the harbor that is it's namesake so that future generations of sailors would learn how ingenuity and resilience could defeat superior numbers even when a ship seemed broken. And eventually the nautical arts would be taken to the stars as San Francisco becomes the headquarters of a fleet of starships for a United Earth. It would be in San Francisco that the future crew of the USS enterprise would learn the fine art of making a vessel do the impossible and fight back no matter what the damage.
