OT- CV10's AARs

[cv10]

Jan 9, 2018 14:45:55 GMT -6 director said:

A good, solid victory - you not only got the heaviest elements of his scouting force but the newest and best, too. Of course, the odds were 11-to-3, but that's the Germans' lookout and not yours.

I understand your wanting to place the enemy between two fires and I'm not second-guessing that. But with the odds as they were there could be no expectation he would do anything but run. A pity you couldn't get at least a portion of your force across his line of escape... but that's the reality of command in this era. The ships move fast but the command arrangements are much more flexible than 'Follow me'.

Thanks!

In hindsight, trying to catch the Germans between two fires was probably a mistake. In part, it meant that part of my force was dealing with the "glare" hampering the accuracy of the BCF's fire control. Furthermore, it also meant that every time a torpedo fired, there was a chance that it would hit my ships if it missed the Germans. Luckily, my destroyers held fire until ordered to attack! One consolation is that my force fired off most of its ammunition, so at least missing out on sinking the 3rd German BC wasn't for lack of trying. From my last AAR, noticed that only the lead squadrons tended to expend all of their ammunition, but most of the BCs came in with less 20% of their magazines filled.

It was a shame that I could not cut off the Germans: death by a 1000 cuts seems to be working, but I'd have really liked to nail the 3rd enemy battlecruiser. Speed and my maneuvering were a part of the problem: the 2nd and 3rd BCS are 25 knot squadrons, so they can at best keep pace with the Germans, but not outrun them. However, I did no position my fleet adequately to pin the Germans to the coast. The good news is that in a few months, the Japanese battlecruisers will arrive and I'll have two full squadrons of fast BCs, so I optimistic about trapping them in the future. 

As a historical note, HMS Tiger managed only four hits in its first engagement. In this one it did slightly better: it got five. 

[cv10]

    The new headquarters complex was finally completed, and just about everyone who worked at the headquarters was bloody well glad that it was. The original wooden structure that had preceded it had been functional, but was entirely too small for its purpose. It had been far too crowded: not enough office space or rooms to house the number of staff that needed to sleep right next to where they worked. No privacy for confidential meetings. The electrical system was more a fire hazard, with cords and wires running about all over the place. What was worse was that the wood had been poorly picked, and had started to rot in the damp Orkney weather.

    The new complex was much better, as it was three separate two-story stone buildings that were formed into a sort of U shape with the open side facing the anchorage. The center building was the command center: it had a large and commanding office for Rowley, a reception room so that visiting officers would not wander into areas that they ought not to, a large map room with all sorts of charts on the walls and a big map-table of the North Sea where operations could be planned. A set of strong-rooms for the NID detachment, a communications room with everything from telegraph to wireless sets and coding machines, and suitable office space for all of Rowley’s staff officers. The top floor contained Rowley’s quarters, a dining room that could sit ten, and a spare room for any visiting dignitaries. The left building facing the anchorage contained additional office space for the junior staff officers and their quarters. Packed in tight, the myriad of sub-lieutenants and lieutenants could fit into it. The right building was part storage and part barracks for the ratings attached to headquarters.

    I just hope that this isn’t a white elephant Rowley heard himself say as he sat by the fireplace in his office and read several reports. Everyone on my staff knows that this new facility was needed, as there’s never enough space for all of the personnel that end up at a naval installation, and Scapa is going to be an anchorage for us in the future so we might as well have proper facilities. I just don’t want people thinking that I did it out of some vanity exercise about my own personal comfort. Still, the Admiralty and papers don’t seem to be screaming about it, so it must be all right. I’ll need to make sure that no one thinks I’m hiding in luxury from the Germans. Maybe I’ll go out on a sweep with the Harwich Force. Lurching around in a destroyer would probably make sure everyone knows I’m not attached to luxury, though it might shave a few more years off my life.

    The new buildings were badly needed at any rate: the size of Rowley’s staff had continued to grow. In addition to Vice-Admiral Sands, Commodore Osborne, and Captain Jones, he now had a multitude of new officers on his staff. He now had a flag lieutenant, a communications officer, a judge advocate and a provost, a chief engineering officer, a surgeon-commodore, and a supply officer. He was even stuck with a chaplain-to-the-fleet, a position that he had opposed vigorously in light of the well-known superstition against parsons on warships. Rowley himself was an indifferent adherent of the COE, and felt it was the height of hypocrisy to tell the gun crew of 15-inch gun turret to “love thy enemy” when their purpose was to blast said enemy to kingdom come.
    
    While he was pondering this, he failed to hear Simon knock on the door and then enter. Simon gave a polite cough, and Rowley turned to look at him. The poor steward has carrying a crowded tray, and Rowley was surprised that he’d been able to open the door on his own.

    “Lunch sir,” Simon said.

    Rowley nodded, and then went over and helped him find a suitable place to put it (not on anything labeled “classified”, “Urgent”, or “confidential”). He looked down at it: lobster bisque with buttermilk scones and a plate of white asparagus taken out of a German prize served up with hollandaise sauce. He admired the sight of such a well-made lunch, thanked Simon, and then split his attention between his lunch and his reading.
    
    The Grand Fleet’s rigorous training program had started to include its destroyers in the hope that some drill would make them more accurate at firing torpedoes. This might be a forlorn hope, but Rowley and Jellicoe would cling to it for lack of any other confidence in the accuracy of the destroyer force. At the very least, it would provide the destroyers with a better chance of hitting something with their guns as well.

    The Battlecruiser Fleet had little to report: it was still recovering from the battle off Cromer. The newly arrived engineering officer had reviewed each of the damage reports concerning the ships, and it did not look good. HMS Lion was to be out of action for at least another two months, and the entire 2nd Battlecruiser Squadron was still under repair, though they would be back in a few more weeks. On the other hand, HMS Princess Royal had escaped damage entirely while scoring 17 hits. HMS Tiger had a less staller performance: she achieved 5 hits.

    The Harwich Force was much as it has always been: excellent. Rowley deeply respected Tyrwhitt. He was an excellent commander and had the good sense to know when to fight and when to run. His judgment could be trusted, and he was capable of seizing the initiative. A combination of training and “live-fire” practice against German patrol vessels in the German Bight had made their cruiser squadrons some of the best in the Navy. Rowley pitied the poor German cruiser that had the misfortune to run into them. This had paid off handsomely in a recent sweep, as the Harwich Force ran into a German battlecruiser. They executed a textbook example of how to disengage from a superior force. Their destroyer force had immediately made a torpedo attack at the German force, and while the Germans were turning to avoid, the Harwich Force made its escape. The destroyers even reported a torpedo hit on the German battlecruiser, but intelligence reports indicated that the damage had been minor. Still, he was content with that result: the shame was on the Germans for failing to sink even one ship, not on the Harwich Force for withdrawing in the face of a vastly superior enemy.
    
    One last report came from the new provost marshal. Apparently there was a marked increase in the number of brawls that were breaking out. This was more of a legal issue to be decided at defaulter’s parade. However, so many of them had occurred that the provost had decided to write a report. Rowley rubbed his temples: it wasn’t that he was annoyed with the report, but he did not like being worried with things largely out of his control. Discipline was the purview of the commander of the Grand Fleet, which was Jellicoe. Short of ordering the grog stopped for every man under his command (and he certainly would not do that!), all he could really do without interfering with the responsibilities of his subordinates was review courts-martial for personnel under his command.

    Rowley set the report down and focused on the remainder of his lunch. The buttermilk scones were excellent, and he was particularly pleased, as they were an old favorite of his. He’d served as Naval Attaché at Her Majesty’s Embassy in Washington D.C. and had thoroughly enjoyed what the Americans called “biscuits”, though he never liked the bizarre custom of contaminating them with gravy. She-crab soup and crab cakes were also favorites, though he never found anyone outside of the States who could make them as good. Rowley smirked at his reflections on the best American food. If someone could read my mind right now, they’d probably think that the food was the most lasting part of my time in Washington. Yet that was in the early days of American naval expansion, and it was fascinating to see a power effectively bootstrap itself into a naval power. Still, damned glad I didn’t go to Cuba as an observer: Yellow Jack might’ve killed me.

    Rowley finished off his lunch and moved from his desk to a couch placed adjacent to the fireplace. He stretched out and let the heat of the fire overwhelm him. The cool weather was still making his joints ache. Before the war, he would have taken a bit of leave and gone to one of the spa towns on the Continent. Carlsbad was a bit too far for his liking, but he enjoyed taking the waters at Bad Mondorf. In war, the fire would do. As the fire burned, his mind began to drift to the coming weeks. With the Grand Fleet still training and the Battlecruisers being repaired, the Harwich Force would have to carry the weight. Still, he was not worried, the Force could outrun anything that it wouldn’t outfight, and with a man like Tyrwhitt in command, he could rest easy.  

[cv10]

To Commander-In-Chief North Sea:

    Pursuant to orders, the Harwich Force sortied to sweep the area just past the Dover Straits of any German torpedo boats. As your orders noted, the German A-Class torpedo boats have been particularly irksome to our coastal patrols. In particular, one managed to sink HMS Adventure, and their continued presence at Oostende and Zeebrugge is a perpetual danger to our shipping in the area. The full Harwich Force sailed, with three cruiser squadrons and the entire 10th Destroyer Flotilla in support.

    Our sweep of the area found no German warships in the area, nor did patrols or intelligence turn up any evidence that they were. Desiring not to return to port prematurely, I made the decision to have the Force sweep into the North Sea in an effort to locate and destroy any German light forces, or any blockade runners that had slipped by the Northern Patrol. Several sightings by spotters on the Coast of Norway caused me to alter course to investigate these reports, though we did not locate any German ships. This entire period, including the sweep for A-Boats, took about 36 hours, and on the 10th of May, I ordered the Force to return to Harwich.

    At 5:00 PM and while approaching Oyster Ground, lookouts of the scouting cruisers of the 5th Light Cruiser Squadrons reported smoke on the horizon. I ordered the Force to maximum speed in order to investigate the new contact. As it transpired, we had found three of the Deutschland-Class [Pre-dreadnought] Battleships, and we had found them without spotting a single escorting vessel. I must confess that my following actions, though I believe them to be successful, could be considered reckless.

Enemy Force Spotted at Oyster Ground

    I ordered the Harwich Force to immediately close with the German Force. While sending in the light cruisers was a risk, I felt it necessary to draw enemy fire off of the destroyers. I also believed that the 6-inch guns of the cruisers could cause enough damage to the enemy’s secondary and tertiary batteries to suppress them and give our destroyers as much a chance as possible to close into torpedo range and fire. Luckily, German gunnery was remarkably poor, and was certainly not helped by the accurate fire from the 2nd Light Cruisers and 3rd Light Cruisers. Our destroyers then launched a flotilla attack on the enemy force, which was successful as no fewer than three torpedoes struck SMS Deutschland. Unfortunately, HMS Manly was sunk after being sunk by gunfire from the battleship. HMS Milne was heavily damaged, but made it home to Harwich after being detached from the Harwich Force.

SMS Deutschland being finished off by a number of torpedoes

    At this juncture the remainder of the German force tried to escape to the southeast. However, a quick pursuit was made and before long, our light cruisers and destroyers caught up with the Germans. By this point, the sun had gone down, and German fire became even more inaccurate while our destroyers and cruisers continued to land hits. Several torpedoes exploded against SMS Hannover, with one of them setting off the magazine.

Pursuit of the enemy towards the German Bight

Magazine hit and enemy battleship explodes

    SMS Lothringen was set on fire by a large volume of 6-inch and 4-inch gunfire. The ship went dead in the water and a torpedo delivered the coup-de-grace.

SMS Lothringen set on fire

    With all German ships having been sunk, destroyers were detached to pick up survivors from the wrecks. 167 German sailors and officers were rescued and were taken with the rest of the Force back to Harwich. HMS Milne was put into dry-dock while the Germans, with the exception of the wounded, were transferred to the custody of the Royal Military Police for transfer to prison camps.

    I would like to conclude by expressing my satisfaction with my entire command, and with HMS Milne and HMS Manly in particular. With regard to the latter ship, I request that the survivors of her crew be kept in the destroyer squadron. Their experience with the M-Class destroyer and as destroyer sailors, which is a specialty all its own, will be invaluable. I further wish to commend the officers and men of HMS Southampton, which scored 85 hits on the three Germans.

    I am Sir,

    Admiral R. Tyrwhitt

Final Screen

Torpedo Hits on Enemy Fleet

Map of engagement

[garrisonchisholm]

Reckless or Not, that was Heroic !!! 3 Cheers!!!!

[cv10]

Jan 10, 2018 17:49:24 GMT -6 garrisonchisholm said:

Reckless or Not, that was Heroic !!! 3 Cheers!!!!

The Harwich Force was ordered to splice the mainbrace upon returning home

[director]

Tyrwhitt was always one of the bright spots on the British command board.

I must ask...

HMS Manly was sunk after being sunk by gunfire

That cannot possibly mean what it says (LOL).

[cv10]

Jan 10, 2018 20:56:50 GMT -6 director said:

Tyrwhitt was always one of the bright spots on the British command board.

I must ask...

HMS Manly was sunk after being sunk by gunfire

That cannot possibly mean what it says (LOL).

Is is evidence of why I should not proofread things that I write!

Tyrwhitt and the Harwich Force have done really well so far: if promotions become due, he might just find himself commanding more than a pack of cruisers and destroyers!

[randomizer]

I would bet that any escorting German torpedo boats (or perhaps the battleship division) became detached during the night and never managed to rejoin. With 42 boats at sea and the short May nights, this seems a reasonable explanation for catching a division un-escorted. Admiral Rowley better look out for his job, there's a new Collingwood in town and his name is Tyrwhitt.

[cv10]

Jan 11, 2018 0:15:26 GMT -6 randomizer said:

I would bet that any escorting German torpedo boats (or perhaps the battleship division) became detached during the night and never managed to rejoin. With 42 boats at sea and the short May nights, this seems a reasonable explanation for catching a division un-escorted. Admiral Rowley better look out for his job, there's a new Collingwood in town and his name is Tyrwhitt.

That's my thinking too. Since the High Seas Fleet was out with 20 capital ships, that averages out to 2 destroyers per capital ship, and that's only if the German light cruisers were acting as support or scout unites attached to the HSF itself and not the German scouting force. The numbers just don't add up for the German Fleet. I don't know if any naval officers ever felt that a capital ship could simply bull its way through a swarm of TBs or DDs (I think more of them tended to appreciate the danger), but if there were any in the German Navy at this time, there certainly won't be after this action!

Admiral Rowley is currently pleased that the Tyrwhitt is both capable and lucky, as well as being just a tad too junior to do his job. Admiral Beatty on the other hand is worried, as one false move with the Battlecruiser Fleet and the powers that be might just decide to see if Tyrwhitt is ready to command a fleet of capital ships. At the very least, such an action will probably earn Tyrwhitt a big reward in the long-term: a title, a plum posting, maybe even an appointment as Governor-General somewhere. 

[cv10]

    The smell of hospital disinfectant nearly overwhelmed Rowley as he walked through the wards of the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. The wards at the hospital were crowded with men in naval uniform, and Rowley could barely suppress a wince as he saw some of the more gravely injured men. As a junior officer, he had taken part in the occupation of Egypt in 1882 and had seen what bullets, swords, and shells could do to people. Yet he was only just realizing how gruesome injuries from naval battles could be. Shards and splinters caused by explosions could cause the most dreadful wounds: men could be blinded, have their limbs mangled. If steam lines ruptured and burst, they could cause horrific burns to anyone standing near them.

    Most of the causalities were from HMS Queen Mary, which had been heavily damaged by a torpedo and gunfire, with the more serious cases being transferred from the naval hospital at Rosyth to the Infirmity in Edinburgh. Rowley’s visit had two purposes. One was to visit with and cheer up the wounded, but that would have to wait until the second purpose was achieved. The nurse that he was following led him through the wards until they came to a section of the hospital with private rooms. The nurse gave three knocks on the door, and then entered. She closed the door behind her and Rowley waited until it was opened again.

    “You may come in,” She said. “But please try not to agitate or disturb the patient too much. He’s still recovering and the doctor is afraid that any more sudden shocks would have an injurious impact on his recovery,”

    Rowley nodded and entered the room. Sitting up in bed was Admiral Beatty. Beatty was decidedly pale: Rowley knew that he had lost a lot of blood recently, yet Rowley thought that he would have recovered more color by now. The blankets piled on Beatty hid his legs, and stumps that had once been his feet. Rowley had already read the reports from the Infirmary concerning Beatty’s feet: a near hit to the bridge of HMS Tiger had sent a metal shard flying low across the deck of the bridge, and it had mangled Beatty’s feet beyond all hope. HMS Tiger’s medical officer had amputated them before Beatty bled to death, but only just so. Even then, Beatty was lucky: a number of those poor men on HMS Queen Mary who had lost limbs had died several hours after the battle had ended. One destroyer captain that Rowley had chatted to remarked how brave the wounded men that had been laid on her deck for want of places to put them, as they had cheered as the rest of the Battlecruiser Fleet had steamed on past to get at the fleeing Germans. Yet that same captain also noted his own sadness when he had found out that many of those brave men had passed on.

    “Sir, I beg your pardon for not standing” Beatty started. “However, my doctor assures me that attempting to do so would be the height of foolishness,”

    “I’ll excuse it this once,” Rowley said, deciding to reply to the grin on Beatty’s face by playing long with the joke. “Yet I expect you to find some suitable way of coming to attention.

    Beatty let out a roar of laughter, and Rowley was relieved. His own personal detestation of Beatty had softened a bit since he took up his command, but he still felt awkward around Beatty. And her certainly would have felt out of his depth had Beatty been more morose, as Rowley well knew his own remarkable lack of mirth.

    “Well sir,” Beatty said, smiling. “I think a pair of prosthetic feet might be a bit easier. At least it’s only my feet. It could have been my arm, eyes, or both legs. Once I get fitted with something that I can learn to walk on, I’ll be up and around in no time,”

    “That’s good to hear,” Rowley said. “After all, we can hardly do without a man who knows how to turn German battlecruisers into artificial reefs,”

    “Thank you sir,” Beatty replied. “That’s generous of you to say. As you can imagine, once I recovered from the initial surgery, I started to worry about who was going to command our battlecruisers while I’m in hospital,”

    “Well,” Rowley began. “I certainly won’t be replacing you. Yet the period of time you will need to recuperate from will require me to designate a temporary commander. If you had been rendered permanently unfit for sea-duty, I’d have simply bumped Tyrwhitt up from the Harwich Force,” Noting that Beatty flinched ever so lightly at the mention of Tyrwhitt’s name, Rowley continued. “However, I was thinking that one of the squadron commanders might be a more appropriate choice. Who do you think would be suitable?”

    Beatty nodded and said “Pakenham. He’s got the seniority for the job, he was Fourth Sea Lord and Aide-de-Camp to His Majesty, and the Second has done pretty well in battle. Not to mention that he was an observer with the Japanese during their war with the Russians. He was even at Tsushima and he’ on good terms with the Japanese: they gave him some sort of decoration too. Since their battlecruisers will be arriving before I recover, he’d be an ideal commander,”

    Rowley nodded. He’d come to this conclusion on his own, and since it was his decision, he would have appointed Pakenham anyway. However, this approach at least let Beatty feel like he was being consulted, and truth be told, Rowley had no desire to antagonize a naval officer who had just lost both his feet on active service.

    Rowley did a mental eye roll. He knew that Beatty could not control what the newspapers said about him, but Rowley had already started to read the articles comparing the loss of his feet to Nelson’s loss of an arm and an eye. He did not deny that Beatty had a right to good press, considering his victories, but he found the articles they generated annoying. The papers rarely mentioned anyone aside from Beatty, which infuriated Rowley due to the exclusion of other officers and men.

    Damn me, Rowley thought, if it isn’t vexing to see one man get all the credit for a victory. For the love of God, I was at Cromer and they completely ignored me. It’s inconceivable that a C-In-C should be at a battle and no one in the press even mentions it. Lord knows if we had a bloody disaster, they’d pin all the blame on me. Still, that ain’t Beatty’s fault, and I can’t say for sure that if it were only my name that was being praised across Britain that I’d be up in arms over the lack of praise for others. Besides, my brother officers, friends, and superiors know the work I do, and holding my present position is about as high an honor as they can give me without naming me First Sea Lord or making me a Duke with a mumping great pension from the Civil List.

    “Tell me Beatty,” Rowley said. “What happened in the action? I’ve read the reports, but an eyewitness account would be better,”

    “It’s a long story,” Beatty said “So I’d sit down if I were you sir,” Rowley took his advice and then he continued. “So we sortied on the 22nd as your orders said. The Harwich Force was to sweep the end of the Channel and then go up to the Frisian Islands, and the Battlecruiser Fleet was to cover them. We made good time down to Texel, and we arrived off of our minefield there shortly before twilight on the 23rd. That’s when we got the NID flash that there was a German cruiser force steaming west from their bases at Emden and Wilhelmshaven. Tyrwhitt was still sweeping the end of Channel, so I decided to steam due east to investigate. By this point in time, the sun had come up, and as visibility got better, lookouts of the 3rd Battlecruiser Squadron reported smoke to the west of our position,”

    “I take it those were the Germans,” Rowley said.

    “Yes sir,” Beatty replied. “At first, we thought that the lead ship was a battleship, and I admit that for a moment I was worried that I had steam right into the teeth of the High Seas Fleet. Lucky for us, it was their battlecruiser force. So I ordered the fleet to come about, as we were still headed east, and we turned and engaged the enemy,” Rowley nodded, and Beatty paused for a moment to catch his breath.

First contact with the enemy. Initial panic over battleship sighting

    “Now,” He resumed. “German gunnery is usually pretty good, but with the sun in their eyes, we gave them a pretty good pasting without suffering too much, at least at first. We really tore up this Seydlitz-Class, with our first full salvoes scoring hits and bracketing her pretty well. Now, the Germans turned and ran to the south-southwest and we pursued. We were losing them, and even the damaged Seydlitz-Class was slipping away to the edge of our guns’ range. However, we were able to shoot her up badly enough even at that distance that she was brought too. We ran south right past her, pouring even more fire into her and into two German destroyers that tried to come to her aid. Soon, they were all burning,”

Enemy battlecruisers brought under fire. Seydlitz-Class bracketed and hit

General chase ordered, enemy pursued to the south

    “Is this when Queen Mary was torpedoed?” Rowley asked

    “Yes sir,” Beatty replied evenly. “You see, the other two German battlecruisers were splitting up, and one of them, a Moltke-Class, had somehow got around us and back to the northeast, so I ordered the 1st to go around the Seydlitz-Class and chase the Moltke while the 2nd and 3rd went after the other German, which had disappeared south. While the 1st was doing this, HMS Queen Mary was hit by a torpedo and detached to make for home. I was damned glad to hear that she made it!”

    “Yes,” Rowley said. “So was I, though she’ll need at least three months in the yard. Please go on Admiral,”

    “Well sir, “Beatty continued. “There’s not much else to tell. We went after the Moltke, but her shooting was good and her head-start was too great. Then she put a shell right by Tiger’s bridge and that’s when my feet got mangled. Admiral Brock kept up the pursuit, but the Moltke slipped away into their minefield-zone. She even had the damn cheek to sail just outside of our range but within our sight, back and forth, for a little while. But the arrogant bugger that commanded her slipped back into range for a bit and we scored a few final hits before he sod off back home. As you probably know, the third battlecruiser was not located, and made good her escape,”

Pursuit of enemy Moltke-Class

    “Yes,” Rowley said. “It was still a fine victory. I think that people are starting to move away from Trafalgar expectations, and our current strategy of careful engagements has cost the Germans six capital ships to for none of our own,” Beatty nodded in agreement, and before anymore could be said, a nurse came in and ushered him out with some comment about visiting hours being at an end.

    

[garrisonchisholm]

The Germans ought to learn soon to stop sortie-ing lone triads of capital ships. They were darned lucky to only lose one. - but well done.

[cv10]

    Admiral Pakenham was able to join Admiral Rowley at the deck of HMS Lion for the upcoming ceremony. It was an excellent Scottish morning: not too cold for Rowley, and a cloudless sky let the sun shine glorious heat down on Rosyth. The ships of the Battlecruiser Fleet, at least those that were not in the docks having damage repaired, road at anchor in the waters of the Firth of Forth Each of the ships had ben freshly painted, and were being scrubbed with the focus on shining decks and brass work that had been the obsession of the pre-war Navy. Indeed, the crew of HMS Lion was still scrubbing and polishing, and would be until the absolute last minute.

    Pakenham was standing next to Rowley, and they made as much pleasant small talk as could be expected. Rowley had nothing against Pakenham, but he did not know the man very well. Still, he’d been one of the few officers to that had witnessed a fleet action: he’d been a Tsushima as an observer aboard the battleship Asahi. He had watched the battle from her quarterdeck, coolly taking notes as the shells exploded all around. He was also known to be one of the most pro-Japanese officers in the Service. Personally, he seemed quite affable, but then again, no one outside of the Lords of the Admiralty was likely to act rude to a C-In-C.

    A messenger came from the ships wireless room with a piece of paper. He handed it to Pakenham, who scanned it. Pakenham nodded at the fellow, who then returned from whence he came. Pakenham turned to Rowley and said “Sir. A column of four battlecruisers with escorting destroyers and minesweepers have entered the Firth of Forth,”

    Rowley acknowledged this with a nod. It was more of a formality, as the smoke from the approaching ships was plainly visible. Within a few minutes, their masts became visible as well, and before long, four large battlecruisers came steaming into view. Ordinarily, the sight of battlecruisers steaming into the Firth of Forth was not an occasion for note. Battlecruisers had come into the Firth numerous times: as main anchorage to the Battlecruiser Fleet, it was perfectly normal. However, these ships were drawing an unusual amount of attention from the shore. People were starting to be able to see the flags flying from the ships’ masts.

    It was not the white ensign of the Royal Navy, or the Union Jack. Nor was it the Southern Cross and Union Jack combination that was the Australian flag which typically flew somewhere on HMAS Australia (a compromise that she fly the White Ensign, but be allowed to wear her national colors). No, each ship was flying the Kyokujitsu-ki, the Rising Sun.

    The ships sailed majestically to their designated anchorage, slowly came to a stop, and Rowley gazed at them as they dropped anchor. The destroyers and minesweepers that had seen them up from Dover split off for the docks: they were needed in the south, and would be refueled and underway as soon as possible. As the last Japanese anchor splashed into the water, a signal went out, a barge was lowered away from HIJMS Kongo. The barge was quickly manned and a gangway lowered, and several officers, senior ones by the looks of them, climbed into the barge, which then rowed over to HMS Lion.

    Pakenham’s flag captain was already prepared by the time the ships had come in sight, so it was not surprise that when the barge came along HMS Lion, the sides were already manned, Royal Marine honor guard in place, and side boys, manropes, and gangway in place. The shrill cry of boatswains’ whistles sang out, and a Japanese Vice-Admiral came up the gangway, stopping at the top of it.

    “Permission to come aboard sir?” He asked the Officer of the Watch in perfect English, though with a slight American accent.

    “Permission granted Admiral Takeshita,” The officer replied. “Welcome aboard His Majesty’s Ship Lion,”

    Takeshita’s staff followed him off the gangway, keeping a proper and respectful distance between themselves and their commander. Takeshita made polite acknowledgement of both the side boys and the marines, taking a moment to look over the later for the signs of any imperfection. He found none: the reputation of the Royal Marines was such that he did not seriously expect too. He came to a halt in front of Admiral Rowley, and saluted Rowley returned the salute, but before he could say anything, Takeshita began to talk.

    “Sir,” Takeshita began, taking an envelope from an aide, opening it, and reading aloud. “To Vice-Admiral Takeshita Isamu, by order of His Imperial Majesty, you are herby directed to report and repair aboard His Imperial Majesty’s ship Kongo, presently at Kure Naval District, there to hoist your flag as commander of squadron consisting of Kongo, Hiei, Kirishima, and Haruna. Thenceforth you shall take your squadron from Kure Naval District to His Britannic Majesty’s Naval Base at Portsmouth and place yourself and your squadron under the command of the His Britannic Majesty’s Navy, there to take any and all orders given to you by those appointed to command over you until such a time as we shall direct you. By His Imperial Majesty’s Command, issued by Minister for the Navy Katō Tomosaburō on this, the 1st day of May, 1916”

    Takeshita finished, and as he did, Pakenham gave a nod and HMS Lion’s band struck up a very solemn tune. Rowley had heard them practicing it earlier, and he recognized it as the Kimigayo, the Japanese national anthem. Rowley had an appreciation for ancient things, and the Kimigayo was that. While the music to it was more modern, the lyrics to it came from a poem that was written sometime between the life of Cynewulf of Wessex and Richard the Lionheart. Rowley made a mental smile: ‘the Americans think a hundred years is a long time’ he said to himself. As soon as the tune ended, a Japanese band across the way began to play, and every British spine stiffened a little more as the melody of “God Save the King” floated across the water. A 21-gun salute in honor of His Imperial Majesty concluded the pageantry.

    Later, after the remainder of the formalities, Rowley had been treated to a tour of the Kongo. He had already inspected her once when she was under construction in Britain, but he affected interest in it, and to be frank, it was mildly interesting to see the difference in how a ship looked before ever being manned and once manned. After all, none of his commands had ever been right off the slipway, though he fondly remembered each of his ships.

    His guide was one of the ship’s officers: a young lieutenant commander whose name escaped Rowley. He pointed out each British innovation that had been a gift of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, as well as proudly noting each Japanese-designed machine. Even in the short time he spent with the fellow, Rowley felt that this was an officer that could go far. He had a certain force of personality to him that Rowley had seen in others, such as Mr. Churchill, Admiral Fisher, and Theodore Roosevelt. Indeed, Rowley thanked God that they were allied to Japan, as he knew that he would not want to face this fellow in command of a fleet.

    Eventually, he was lead to the Admiral’s day cabin for a private lunch. The Japanese officer knocked on the door, waiting for the required ‘Enter’ before showing Rowley in. Takeshita was a bit greyer than Rowley remembered, but it had been ten years or so since they had seen each other. His day cabin was beautiful in spite of having endured the wartime stripping that tended to rob a cabin of its flammable finery. On one wall was a painting of Mount Kongo, likely standard issue with the cabin, with another painting of Togo at Tsushima on the wall opposite it. There were a few more traditional Japanese works of waves and the sea.

    “Thank you Commander Yamamoto,” Takeshita said. “You may go, and inform my steward that he may serve lunch in five minutes,” Yamamoto bowed, and left Rowley alone with Takeshita. After the door closed, Takeshita replaced the severe frown on his face with a smile.

    “If I may say Arthur,” Takeshita said. “It’s good to be working with you once again,”

    “You may Isamu,” Rowley said in reply. “To be frank, I was damned glad to hear that they had sent you in command. I was a bit worried about who they'd send,”

    “I was surprised that the Naval Ministry sent me,” Takeshita replied. “I didn’t think that I had enough squadron command to merit the post of commanding all of our battlecruisers. I think they picked me because I speak English and am used to you British and the Americans,”

    Rowley nodded in agreement. “If that was the case, I think it was a smart one. After all, a lot gets lost in translation, and it’ll be easier for your force to operate with the Battlecruiser Fleet since you speak English. There’ll be no insubordinate quarterdeck muttering with you nearby,”

    Takeshita smiled. “Having Pakenham as commander right now should go a long way towards preventing any animosity on the part of my officers. They know of him, and some even remember him from the war with Russia. By the time Admiral Beatty is back in command, we’ll be pretty well settled in. And my officers know that this is a fighting force that’s already met the Germans and left them the worse off for it each time. They might be careful around foreigners, but they’ll respect a warrior,”

    “Excellent!” Rowley replied. “I’ll let Admiral Pakenham give you the general brief about the Battlecruiser Fleet and all of the other usual information, but before that, I thought that we should see to the appointment of liaison officers,”

    “Well,” Takeshita began. “I’ve got some English-speaking officers just for that purpose. I thought that one with the Commanding Officer of the Battlecruiser Force and then one for any British ship that gets put into a squadron with us,”

    Rowley nodded. “That’s fine. Admiral Pakenham as suggested that a small signal team of a few ratings and an officer be placed aboard each of your ships just to make sure that there is no confusion as to signals. I agree with it, as we had a few instances where better signaling could have lead to a more decisive victory. However, I can’t force anyone on you, and I wouldn’t want to,”

    “That’s a good suggestion,” Takeshita replied.

    “Finally, I’d like to have a Japanese officer on my staff,” Rowley said. “While you are under the command of the Battlecruiser Fleet CO, you’re also a unit of an allied power’s navy, and I feel that I should have a liaison from you on my staff. Would this be acceptable to you?”

    “Yes it would,” Takeshita replied. “I have just the officer for you,”

    “Who?” Rowley asked.

    “If you have no objections to a junior officer,” Takeshita said, “I’d like to give you the officer who gave you the tour: Commander Yamamoto,”

    “Yes,” Rowley said. “He’ll do just fine, and if I may say ‘Yon Cassius hath a mean and hungry look,’”

    He’ll probably be commander of the Combined Fleet the way he drives himself,” Takeshita replied, smirking as his old friend's Shakespeare quote.

    A knock on the door interrupted their conversation. Takeshita commanded the knocker to enter, and a Steward and his mates came in carrying trays of food. They were set down on the table and the lids lifted. The bowls were filled with rice and a shredded beef curry. Rowley smiled: another innovation from the Royal Navy to the Imperial Navy had been the serving of curry in the wardroom. They began to eat and reminisce about old times in Washington D.C, the cares of war being suspended for a half-hour.

[randomizer]

Nice update, after five days I was starting to go into Arena of Steel withdrawal, a most unpleasant sensation. Thanks for the posting.

[director]

One wonders if the Commander will be content with mere liason duties.

The four Kongos were splendid ships in their day - a Lion or Tiger reworked and perfected. Four of them should be able to handle anything the Germans can throw at them, and they more than bring the Battlecruiser Squadron back up to strength.

I have a copy of "With Togo" by HC Seppings Wright (autographed, no less) from 1905. The author has a good opinion of the Japanese Navy, its crews, officers and commanders.

[garrisonchisholm]

Their destroyer squadron in the Med garnered laudable reviews from the Brits for their professionalism, or so I understand.

cv10 I am curious, what is the painting you chose for your avatar picture? I suppose I should know, but I've forgotten so much since Zirakzigil...