Post by RNRobert on Sept 23, 2015 17:39:56 GMT -6
This month is the 75th anniversary of Operation Menace, the unsuccessful attempt by Great Britain to capture the Vichy French port of Dakar by landing Free French troops under Charles De Gaulle. Therefore, I have decided to create two scenarios for WC-NAW based on this event.
Part I- Cruiser Action, 18 September 1940: A few days before the attack on Dakar, the heavy cruisers Australia and Cumberland spotted three French La Galissoniere class light cruisers en route to Dakar from Toulon. Two of the cruisers slipped away in the dark, but the Gloire had engine trouble and was compelled by the British warships to sail for Casablanca.
Part II- Assault on Dakar, 23-25 September 1940: Over a two day period, The British battleships Barham and Resolution traded shots with the French battleship Richelieu and shore batteries. The Richelieu had one of her main gun turrets knocked out, and the Barham suffered a couple hits from the shore batteries. The French submarine Bévéziers torpedoed the battleship Resolution and damaged her so badly she had to be towed back to Cape Town. The cruiser Australia scored hits on the destroyer L'Audacieux and damaged her so badly she had to be beached. In the end, the stiff resistance by the Vichy forces and the reluctance on the part of General De Gaulle to have French soldiers killing their countrymen resulted in the invasion force being withdrawn. This attack, and the attack on Mers-el-Kebir two months earlier (Operation Catapult), strained relations between Great Britain and Vichy France (Vichy French airplanes bombed Gibraltar in retaliation), and caused De Gaulle to lose standing among the Allies.
For Part II I did a few things for the sake of play balance:
1) In early July, a torpedo bomber from HMS Hermes scored a hit on Richelieu, causing severe damage. Emergency repairs were made, but Richelieu was used primarily as a floating gun platform. However, in this scenario, she has her normal speed.
2) On the RN side, I left out one CA, two CL and seven DD that were part of the invasion force. On the French side, I used two L'Adroit class destroyers to represent the Bouganville class avisos (basically, small unarmored cruisers about 2,000 tons displacement, 17 knots, three 5.5" guns) and other light forces present. I adjusted their speed to reflect the actual speed of the avisos. The destroyers carried torpedoes, which the avisos, didn't, but I figured they could represent the torpedo attacks made by the submarines present.
OPERATION MENACE PART I.txt (1.23 KB)OPERATION MENACE PART II.txt (3.12 KB)
Part I- Cruiser Action, 18 September 1940: A few days before the attack on Dakar, the heavy cruisers Australia and Cumberland spotted three French La Galissoniere class light cruisers en route to Dakar from Toulon. Two of the cruisers slipped away in the dark, but the Gloire had engine trouble and was compelled by the British warships to sail for Casablanca.
Part II- Assault on Dakar, 23-25 September 1940: Over a two day period, The British battleships Barham and Resolution traded shots with the French battleship Richelieu and shore batteries. The Richelieu had one of her main gun turrets knocked out, and the Barham suffered a couple hits from the shore batteries. The French submarine Bévéziers torpedoed the battleship Resolution and damaged her so badly she had to be towed back to Cape Town. The cruiser Australia scored hits on the destroyer L'Audacieux and damaged her so badly she had to be beached. In the end, the stiff resistance by the Vichy forces and the reluctance on the part of General De Gaulle to have French soldiers killing their countrymen resulted in the invasion force being withdrawn. This attack, and the attack on Mers-el-Kebir two months earlier (Operation Catapult), strained relations between Great Britain and Vichy France (Vichy French airplanes bombed Gibraltar in retaliation), and caused De Gaulle to lose standing among the Allies.
For Part II I did a few things for the sake of play balance:
1) In early July, a torpedo bomber from HMS Hermes scored a hit on Richelieu, causing severe damage. Emergency repairs were made, but Richelieu was used primarily as a floating gun platform. However, in this scenario, she has her normal speed.
2) On the RN side, I left out one CA, two CL and seven DD that were part of the invasion force. On the French side, I used two L'Adroit class destroyers to represent the Bouganville class avisos (basically, small unarmored cruisers about 2,000 tons displacement, 17 knots, three 5.5" guns) and other light forces present. I adjusted their speed to reflect the actual speed of the avisos. The destroyers carried torpedoes, which the avisos, didn't, but I figured they could represent the torpedo attacks made by the submarines present.
OPERATION MENACE PART I.txt (1.23 KB)OPERATION MENACE PART II.txt (3.12 KB)