NWS "Rule the Waves 2" Developers Journal

[garrisonchisholm]

NWS Beta Team Logbook #03

The Pain and Pleasure of Alpha Testing, or...

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Beta Testing.

We are currently testing version 18 of the Alpha.  Each version has given us some new features but new bugs to find, though except for 1 single brief bug it has remained amazingly playable throughout.  I had been given the tentative go-ahead to write a full AAR of a play through, however the game has just not remained the 'same' for long enough to warrant the enterprise yet.  So at the moment we continue to test new features to the breaking point, though we don't yet have a "full" game.

At present we have 'testable' air forces, which means the player can build air bases, request aircraft designs, convert and build carriers, and equip bases and carriers with squadrons of their choice.  These air units can then fly missions, search or strike.  However at the moment the AI cannot launch strikes.  Fredrik is still hard at work on that.  The enemy can build carriers and put up CAP, but otherwise their surface units are the only foes the player faces.  There are some additional issues I should lay out, most notably that we have found that at present torpedoes are much more accurate than bombs.  Dive bombers in clear calm weather deliver at 1 or 2 % accuracy, while torpedo attacks yield ~15% accuracy.  This is obviously on our bug list, but at present if you want to test the efficacy of naval strikes torpedo bombers are the preferred units.  Also there is no evidence yet that enemy AA weapons produce any effect.  It is clearly a testing environment.

So bearing all this in mind, I thought I would recount an end-game action that I had 2 or 3 versions ago, both to highlight the process of bug finding and to illustrate an action that almost certainly will Never happen in a game.  :]

Playing as Germany, I decided to focus on Europe this game.  As such, I didn't see much point in building carriers at all.  Almost all the action zones I would encounter would be within range of land-based air, so I embarked exactly upon that policy.  I would build a Naval Air Station at each port/base, but I chose to deploy all the aircraft I could afford at Emden, as it would be closest to the most vital battle areas.

Unbeknownst to me, in this version of the alpha the max capacity for land-based air was 20 planes, essentially 1 squadron.  So I should have only been able to deploy that many for testing.  When I established my first squadron though I was disappointed when the ticker didn't climb and higher than 20 planes.  "Oh, well I must need to build multiple NASs then."  So I did, not knowing I shouldn't be able to, but the code didn't stop me.

At Emden I decided 5 squadrons would suffice, so I fielded 90 TBs and 10 fighters.  As time marched on, better and better planes were rotated in.  The first time Emden appeared as a base in a battle however, I discovered that my unknowning exploit had found a glitch, or rather perhaps caused one.  I didn't have 90 TBs.  For some reason I had 10x that many.  The game had given me 10 NAS's for each 1 I built, so in actuality (due to one of the 5 squadrons being a game recommended 9 TBs 9 Fs & 2 PBs) I had 810 torpedo bombers at my disposal.  Sweet!  Now, I wonder if the game could handle that many...

Fast forward to far 1964, just a few years before the games mandated 1972 end date (anyone remember when the Goeben was finally scrapped?).  I was at war with the French, and thus far the Emden Air Wing had not been able to contribute to an action.  I finally had a fleet action and they accepted, but my early hope was dampened when I saw the weather was very low.  None the less my surface units searched the soup under 8,000 yard day-time sighting ranges and intermittent light to heavy rain; 19 BBs, 3 BCs, a couple cruisers and 40 destroyers.  I had the planes armed and warmed up on the tarmac, waiting for a decent sighting report.

I finally had one, just in the channel's open.  My battle cruisers fleshed out the enemy line, while my battle line maneuvered to get the wind gauge and also cut the French off from home.  Once I had a decent idea from scouting light cruisers what the enemy's movements were, I decided to launch the Emden Wing.  I had no idea if they could find a target as I had yet to have a successful strike under rain, but then I hadn't fought in the 60's yet either.  About a 75 minutes later I figure I had 800 planes orbiting over where I presumed the French line was, but they couldn't see a thing as at this point radar was broken.  I *literally* said out loud, "If only the rain would lift!"- when the rain lifted.  I immediately grabbed a screen capture, because I also caught the first air combat I had seen.



The French apparently had had CAP up regardless of the rain.  However many fighters the French had however, the ensuing hour proved them entirely irrelevant.  Ladies and gentlemen, I present for you the unlikely, improbable, glitch induced result of 800 torpedo bombers suddenly being given a battleline as a target, in a game where AA is not yet what it should be.
















Please bear in mind, none of this 'as-is' is ever likely to be possible in the end product, but I do think it is an amusing tale worth telling.   :]

[jwsmith26]

NWS Beta Team Logbook #04

This post describes some of the air operations that are conducted automatically by carriers in RTW2. The actions that I describe in this post occurred fairly early, following one of the first releases that included air code for the game. The overall flow of what I describe continues to occur but the details of how it is currently implemented have already changed in some cases or will change prior to the game being released.

Immediately below I discuss the process I observed in detail as a carrier automatically deployed and maintained a combat air patrol. In the second section I describe how operational air damage and repair was handled during one battle. I've included my impressions that I recorded at the time about things that went right and things that didn't seem right, as well as suggestions I made for what might be improved. These have been lightly edited. I've included current comments, made while writing this log, in brackets and in red text. Black text was written while or shortly after observing and recording the events.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[In RTW2 the combat air patrol is handled automatically, with each carrier making its own decisions about when to ready, spot and launch fighters, as well as when to land them, while attempting to maintain a consistent number of fighters over the task group. While this is going on the carrier is turning into and out of the wind to accommodate each launch and landing, as well as any searches and strikes that have been ordered. The player is largely hands off with CAP. He is able to set the size of the CAP, but after this the AI takes over and handles the rest. Attempting to handle the set of ongoing tasks that I describe below manually would be a nightmare. The automated process is quite impressive to watch (assuming you have time while a battle is raging).]

I found myself in a cruiser mission that started with just 20 minutes left until twilight. I had a small force of 1 BC, 1 DD and 1 CV, the Kaga. The Kaga carried 80 planes, 16 of those were fighters. It was much too late to contemplate launching a strike but as soon as the mission began the Kaga immediately began preparing its fighters for a combat air patrol, fueling, arming and spotting the planes for takeoff. About 40 minutes later the Kaga started launching CAP fighters. By now twilight had arrived, but the Kaga persisted, putting 12 fighters into the air in about 8 minutes. She continued to put fighters up about every 4 minutes until full night was imminent. The total CAP aloft rose to 12 at its max but that total was slowly reduced as night approached and a larger number of fighters began landing than the carrier launched.

Below is a table showing the timing of fighter launches and landings used to maintain a CAP over the Kaga



Surprisingly, fighters began landing on the Kaga one minute after the 12th fighter became airborne, having been aloft for less than 10 minutes. They weren't very good at it in the reduced light. During the twilight period there were 18 landings. Of these, 2 fighters crash-landed and another 6 were damaged upon landing, while 10 landed safely. A further 4 landed after full night had arrived. Of those, 2 were damaged, 1 crashed and just 1 landed safely. [There are more than 16 plane landings mentioned here because some fighters took off and landed more than once.]

In all, 8 fighters were damaged upon landing and 3 crashed, leaving just 5 undamaged fighters out of the 16 that were available when the mission started. All that damage and crashing occurred without an enemy air unit in sight. The number of damaged and crashed planes seems excessive for the twilight period. Carriers typically maintained a CAP through the twilight hours, so even green pilots quickly gained a lot of experience with the process. I have no quibbles with the damage rate for those planes that landed at night. BTW, the fighter pilots of this carrier were rated as experts.

For missions that start in daylight, I think that any carriers in the force should start the mission with fighters already aloft as (medium?) CAP or at least spotted on deck ready to take off. In this mission the fighters started unready and had to go through the entire readying and spotting process before they could get aloft. By the time the first fighter took off it was already twilight.

[For aircraft, experience ratings are applied at the squadron level, but in this build those ratings did not yet affect game play. Note that the overnight repair rate for damaged planes is currently around 80%-90% successful, so the starting fighter complement for day 2 would likely have been about 12 fighters on the Kaga. Looking at this now it strikes me that the fighter turnover is much too rapid in this example. Most Allied combat air patrols lasted between 1 and 2 hours. In this example some planes were landing after just a few minutes and none were aloft longer than 28 minutes. The AI has no problem handling that turnover rate but it does result in an excess amount of carrier maneuvering as the carrier turns in and out of the wind.]

[Seeing all those damaged planes spurred me to look more closely at the damage system for aircraft. I did that in the battle that is briefly described below, which took place in a later game while playing a different nation. In the battle covered by my report below the enemy had very few aircraft and AA fire was not yet operational, so all of the losses recorded are purely operational losses. I compiled the following report on how damage was handled on carriers.]

I had noticed for the first time in my previous battle that damaged aircraft were being repaired in an ongoing effort throughout the day and night. In some cases, planes listed as damaged were converted to destroyed during this process, but most of the damaged planes were being repaired and converted back to operational status. This was very cool so I decided to watch it more closely. The following report is the result.

Below is a table showing the losses and subsequent gains through repair for 2 fleet carriers that were engaged during the day and then spent most of the night repairing damage.


The battle was a large Italian bombardment raid against the Japanese that took place mostly during the day in late 1944. My Italians deployed 6 BBs, 1 BC and 2 CVs with 160 a/c on board. The Japanese had 1 BB, 4 BCs, and 1 CVL (unknown number of a/c). Both sides had an array of smaller ships. The result was an Italian victory after sinking all 4 Japanese BCs and their CVL for a loss of one Italian BB. There were also a few other smaller ships lost.

Each Italian carrier carried 80 aircraft into the battle as follows: 24 F, 28 DB and 28 TBs divided into six 12 or 14 plane squadrons. Both carriers were involved in the battle, with most TBs and DBs flying two strikes during the day. In each carrier, one squadron of fighters was used as escort, the other was left to fly CAP. There were no carrier planes used in reconnaissance, which was carried out by flying boats out of nearby NAS and by floatplanes embarked on my cruisers and battleships. The dive bombers flew 112 sorties and recorded one hit. The torpedo bombers also flew 112 sorties and reported 10 hits. [Hit probabilities for DB and TB are still in flux but heavily favored TBs in this build.]

I took some time to record air losses as well as repairs. Most planes landed on prior to dusk, though there was one straggling squadron that landed during twilight and one that mostly landed in twilight but overlapped slightly into night, increasing the losses in those two squadrons. At the conclusion of the day the two carriers had just 99 operational aircraft, with 43 damaged and 12 destroyed. The damages and losses were pretty evenly distributed among the three types of planes. That left 6 planes unaccounted for by the game display. Perhaps planes lost in the air are not included in the total displayed in the game? Or perhaps I miscounted somewhere.

For the attached table of losses and repairs I recorded the state of the aircraft just after nightfall and then again at turn 999 just prior to the end of the mission. On turn 999 it was still several hours until dawn, so it is likely more planes would have been repaired prior to the next day if the mission had continued. During the night the two CVs combined to repair 32 planes, leaving just 11 in a damaged state. The two carriers had 135 operational planes at the mission's end and would have probably repaired another 5 or 6 by morning. This would have left the carriers with 140 operational planes or 88% of their starting complement for use on the second day. Of course these were unopposed strikes.

In many carrier battles fought in WW2, USN losses to the enemy were about equal to operational losses incurred by such events as navigation errors, landing accidents, running out of fuel, etc. With inexperienced ship crews and aircrew the operational losses could be much higher. By the end of the war Allied operational losses often exceeded combat losses. But assuming losses to the enemy equal to operational losses, this battle would have resulted in an available air strength on the second day of battle of 75% or around 120 planes out of the original 160. That doesn't sound too far off historical averages. Early WW2 battles tended to be more costly in aircraft, resulting in second day operational strength of 50% or less, but later battles resulted in many fewer air casualties, so 75% feels very much in line with what historically occurred assuming relatively balanced forces and abilities. Of course we have not seen actual combat losses yet, so this is highly speculative.

[For determining the percentage of operational losses I would think that the experience level of both the aircrew and the ship's crew would have a strong impact on both the number of landing/takeoff accidents and also the success rate of repairs. Other factors that should probably be considered are aircraft durability, carrier tech advances, regional climate and local weather. Some or all of these may already be part of the operational loss equation.]

Regardless of the system's eventual accuracy, I have to say that I find it extremely cool to see most of those damaged planes getting patched up overnight, and even cooler to see some planes initially judged to be damaged to end up being unsalvageable (and possibly pushed over the side - we need a graphic for that :-).

[jwsmith26]

NWS Beta Team Logbook #05


In the latest build Fredrik enabled enemy aircraft to execute strikes and operate out of the carriers of AI controlled nations.  Here's what happened on one fine day in 1931 ...

-----------------------------------------------------------

It was a medium cruiser battle that took place in 1931. My small German main force consisted of a single older BC, (the Hertha, 26 kts, 12 13" guns) a CV, the Peter Strausser, with 75 planes, and an AV carrying 6 floatplanes. They had no destroyer escort. This small force was backed up with a support force that contained 2 older BBs, a CL and 3 DDs. The battle took place in the North Sea within long range of 3 German airbases at Kiel, Emden and Wilhelmshaven. Between them, these airbases had 360 aircraft, with around 200 bombers (TBs, DBs, and MBs) capable of reaching the battle area. However, the German fighters lacked the range to reach the site of the battle, so any strikes would fly without escorts.

The weather was fine, with a gentle breeze and the battle started in the early morning with 500 minutes to play out. I sent out flying boats from the land bases and the Peter Strausser launched a search pattern of its own, seeking the enemy to the west and south of the main force. The wind was out of the SE, so any air operations would take my carrier away from the suspected direction of the enemy, while the opposite would likely be true for the enemy.

Within 20 minutes the carrier scouts located a French light cruiser just as the Hertha also visually located the same cruiser to its southwest. The French cruiser quickly realized its plight and ran. The Hertha pursued, lobbing long range shots that occasionally scored.

More aerial reports came in. It appeared that there might be heavier French ships out to the west somewhere but their location and distance was uncertain. I launched two small strikes totaling 30 planes from Wilhelmshaven and Kiel. It was a long shot but the strike might catch that cruiser if it was slowed by the Hertha. The Peter Strausser readied a strike, but didn't launch, hoping for a better target.

At around 10:30, the Hertha spotted planes overhead. The crew wasn't concerned, surely they were from the Peter Strausser, that is until they turned over and dropped like rocks. They most certainly weren't German. They came roaring down as the Hertha's AA guns blasted away, but fortunately all the bombs missed, though one near miss caused some damage. The Hertha was old and her AA armament had not been upgraded recently, still, one of the planes splashed into the sea, downed by light AA fire.

Almost simultaneously, the two battleships of the Support Force, some 30 miles to the east, come under aerial attack, this time by torpedo bombers. These pilots were much better than the those in the dive bombers that attacked the Hertha. They executed a classic anvil attack and scored a hit on the BB Thuringen, cutting her speed to 15 kts. She began taking on water and detached, grievously wounded.

Shortly, the Hertha discovered what had to be the source of those attacks. It was a French CVL and it was steaming right toward the Hertha, obviously forced toward my ship by the wind out of the SE as it recovered its recent strike. The light cruiser was of little importance now; the Hertha shifted her fire to the carrier. As the distance rapidly closed, the Hertha began to score consistent hits. The Peter Strausser and her consort AV were by now far to the east, barely within visual range of the Hertha. I decided to launch a strike from the Peter Strausser, but with the enemy CVL likely doomed, I held back most of my bombers; there might still be other enemies over the horizon. But now time was running out for my land-based bombers. If I waited much longer they would be forced to land at night. I launched them all over the next half hour, aimed in the general location I thought the enemy would be located. I could only hope I was right.

Apparently finished recovering its planes, the CVL turned to run, but it was too late. The CVL was hit repeatedly and soon slowed to a stop, continuing to absorb hit after hit. As the Hertha steamed past the the demolished CVL she spotted another CVL off to the west. So that's why I came under two aerial attacks. I launched the remainder of my carrier planes to strike this new menace but it would be 20 to 30 minutes before they could get in the air and onto the target. I tried to redirect the Hertha to target the new CVL but her gunners refused to switch and continued to rain shells on the smoldering wreck off her starboard bow. The second CVL was still coming on. She was either launching a strike or recovering one. I closed on the new CVL, intent on demolishing it as well, but the first CVL was too tempting and I was unable to get my gunners to target this new ship while the first CVL lingered so closely abeam. Before I could wrangle my stubborn gunners the new CVL apparently finished its air operations and turned away to flee. Finally I cleared the hulk and my gunfire shifted to target the newcomer, scoring several hits.

As the enemy CVL broke and ran my land-based air began to arrive on the scene. Several squadrons circled the burning CVL and put torpedoes into her twisted hull, but still she stayed afloat. Shortly after, my first carrier strike arrived as well and uselessly added to the carnage.

In the midst of this aerial assault I received another report from the Support Force. They were under attack again! More torpedo planes were attacking the damaged Thuringen and all was lost for her. She took two more torpedoes and a minute later plunged.

By now the Hertha had found the range and was beginning to score against the hapless CVL when unidentified ships were seen closing rapidly from the west. Within minutes it's became obvious that they were large and fast - battlecruisers, two of them.

I turned to run but my old ship was not fast and the enemy BCs quickly found their target, putting 3 devastating 16" rounds into the Hertha in short order. They were lucky hits - for the French. The first one holed the Hertha's hull and she started shipping water at 100 tons a minute. The second was even worse. It demolished the bridge, destroying any hope of fighting back with effect. The 3rd perforated her uptakes. She couldn't fight and she couldn't run. But run she did, turning northeast in an attempt to bring the remaining dreadnought of the Support Force into the battle. It felt like a hopeless cause. 16" shells continued to rain down on the hapless Hertha, though she gamely pressed on, slower every minute.

By now, the Peter Strausser had recovered her carrier strikes and her deck crews were frantically rearming the planes. Land-based strikes continued to arrive over the scene and they found the second French CVL somewhere off to the west, dropping bombs and striking her with torpedoes. That battle was too far to see but the relentless aerial attacks must have been doing damage. They had to.

Some land based aircraft chose to attack the Hertha's pursuers, dropping bomb after bomb, but each one missed. Torpedoes were launched, but they missed as well and the enemy BCs came on, apparently unaffected as they continued to put shells into the Hertha. Limping north, the Hertha finally managed to make contact with the Support Force, which briefly turned south to investigate, but then inexplicably turned north again, leaving the Hertha to her fate. Within minutes of that defection the Hertha churned to a final stop, listing badly. The enemy BCs seemed to want to engage the Support Force and charged past the Hertha, still putting rounds into her tilting sides. But the flaming wreck was too attractive to them, and abandoning any thought of the Support Force, they turned to circle the Hertha and blasted away at her. Finally, just before noon, the Hertha went down, the recipient of 84 heavy hits. Two of my capital ships were now below the waves and I had managed to sink but a single light carrier.

By this point the Peter Strausser, now far away to the southeast, had managed to ready some planes and began to launch them at the enemy BCs piecemeal as they became available. Finally my tired bomber squadrons began to show their mettle. They located the two enemy BCs, and in the course of just five minutes, turned a complete disaster into, well, just a defeat. They put two torpedoes into one enemy BC and 4 into the other. Even the woeful dive bombers managed to score a hit and several near misses. The two BCs, now reduced to 10 kts, staggered away from the scene in different directions. I sent in more marginal strikes from my decimated carrier squadrons and put one more torpedo into one of the limping BCs, sending it down. The other, much to the disappointment of the carrier aircrews, managed to escape with heavy damage.

That was the last act, other than the refrain of damage and destruction that occurred when the tired returning pilots landed on board and ashore.

I found out after the battle that my land-based planes, aided no doubt by the 13" shells from the Hertha, had managed to sink the second enemy carrier after putting 4 torpedoes and a bomb into her. I learned that the enemy force consisted of 2 BCs (one modern with 16" guns and one older), 2 CVLs and a CL. Like my Main Force, the French force had no DD support. The battle ended as a major victory for the French, but it could have been much worse had it not been for the gallant effort put in by my exhausted carrier pilots.

During the battle there were a number of air to air encounters with both sides losing fighters and bombers. Light AA caused the most air casualties, but then it was far more common than heavier weapons. Medium AA came in a distant second. There seemed to be very little heavy AA guns deployed on ships in the battle and what few were present caused no damage. Altogether, there were 17 aerial torpedo hits (including 3 by the French) and 4 bomb hits, with several near misses. 28 German aircraft were shot down or crashed on landing. 41 German aircraft ended the battle damaged. The battle resulted in a major victory for the French. (But they lost their only two carriers.)

This superb battle was just about as scary, unpredictable and exhilarating as you could possibly hope for. Bravo, Fredrik!


      Images showing the ship movement tracks and shortly after the Germans sighted the second French CVL

[jwsmith26]

NWS Beta Team Logbook #06

----------------------------------  Carrier Hybrids  ----------------------------------

For those of you curious about the ability of the game to support hybrid carrier designs I offer the following examples that I have experimented with while playtesting. There is no specific prohibition about creating hybrids in the game but there are currently game mechanisms that may make their usage less than ideal. These revolve around how these hybrids are classified by the game. If a ship has a flight deck, it is classified as a carrier. This classification carries with it a certain set of carrier-specific battle behaviors that may compromise the effectiveness of ships that are designed to engage in both surface combat and aerial combat. This should hardly be surprising; similar concerns ultimately dissuaded most navies from carrying through on plans to build hybrids.

My first attempt at building a hybrid, the Europa, saw me first designing a battleship and then making modifications to the design that were intended to transform it into a hybrid carrier/battleship. However, the game has restrictions on the size of carriers at certain points in the game and I ran into those restrictions when converting the large initial battleship design into a design that the game considered a carrier. As a result the design was reduced in displacement, and based on its eventual level of protection and weaponry, ultimately resulted in a form closer to what most would consider a hybrid CA/CV.

The Europa was equipped with 4 sideways firing catapults to launch planes and a flight deck to the rear of the ship to recover them. I was hoping for at least 12" guns but 10" were the largest I could manage within the weight limits. Its 7" armor and 8 10" guns should allow it to successfully engage most enemy cruisers but it would not survive an encounter with a BC, so I gave it enough speed to, hopefully, escape those ships. The cost of that speed was a reduction in plane capacity of 12 planes, dropping capacity from 46 to 34, which was still a useful number.

I'll mention that the two 10" turrets were originally superfiring but the design checker objected to the use of superimposed turrets on a carrier so I had to shift to a non-superimposed forward centerline arrangement. It was a visually prettier design before I was forced to make that adjustment, although she is a bit of a squat tub from any angle..

As a comparison, at the time this hybrid was designed I was also building a couple of fleet carriers on the same displacement that carried 75 planes. This design hardly seems viable given that comparison but I built it anyway to see how it would function in combat.

I suspected that the constant shuffling of fighters flying CAP would be highly disruptive to any attempt at surface combat so I intended to equip the ship with dive bombers and torpedo bombers, but no fighters. Of course, that makes it rather vulnerable to enemy air strikes if it is operating on its own. That is also rather counter to the imagined use for these types of ships. Proponents felt they would be able to provide protection from air attack for their division as well as aerial reconnaissance and aerial strikes while being capable of taking on, or running from, any surface threat. It is possible that the game will eventually allow fighters dedicated to CAP to be launched via catapults without the need to turn into the wind, which would replicate historical capabilities. That ability is just a suggestion at this point, which may or may not make it into the final version. Allowing this ability would certainly improve the usability of hybrids.

As it turned out I found no opportunity to test the Europa in battle in the game in which she was built. Despite this disappointment I was determined to try again. Looking at my first effort, I felt that at a cost of 100 million it provided very poor bang for the buck, so my next design, created while playing the French, was quite a bit smaller at 16,000 tons, resulting in a cost of 62 million. This design, the Flèche, saw the amalgamation of a more typical heavy cruiser with a smaller but still useful air complement of 20 planes. Equipped with 8 8" guns, 4" of armor and a speed of 30 knots, it fell well within the bounds of a typical heavy cruiser of the period. Like the previous design it was equipped with catapults for launching its planes and a flight deck to the rear to allow for recovery of wheeled aircraft. As with the previous design, it was well equipped with a formidable array of anti-aircraft weaponry (for 1924). At 30 knots it was unlikely to outrun an enemy battle cruiser but then neither could most other heavy cruisers of the period. Increasing the speed by 2 knots would have increased weight and cost and would probably have resulted in a reduced air complement, armor or weapons, none of which I considered a good trade off. But once, again this ship never saw combat.

The issues surrounding the operation of wheeled aircraft mentioned above caused me to consider a third option, the creation of a hybrid cruiser capable of carrying a useful complement of float planes. These planes are much more limited in their range of uses. While late versions are sometimes capable of carrying bombs, most early floatplanes have a non-existent or tiny bomb carrying capability. Their air to air ability is limited as well, leaving reconnaissance as their primary function. That's fine, it's a critical function and every search carried out by a floatplane means one less torpedo bomber or dive bomber tied up in that task.

I started this design, the Horst, with the Japanese Tone class cruisers in mind. I again utilized an all forward gun design, which allowed the aft portion of the ship to be devoted to carrying floatplanes (this is not strictly required in RTW2). I gave the ship a conventional treaty cruiser armament of 9 8" guns in triple turrets and a decent AA suite of 3" and 4" DP guns backed up by 20 light and 8 medium AA guns equipped with 2 AA directors. The ship carries minimal torpedo equipment of two double tube launchers. It is decently armored and compares favorably to other heavy cruisers it might be facing. Overall, It is a pretty decent heavy cruiser for the period that just happens to carry a very useful complement of 8 floatplanes. It costs a reasonable 47 million, around 5 million more than a more conventional CA, similarly equipped, would cost.

Unfortunately, for all you fans of hybrids out there, I never got any of these designs into battle. It is a reality that playtesting this type of long-play game often results in testing being cut short when a new alpha build gets released. For this reason each of these designs went into the scrap heap without seeing battle. I'm still trying, throwing good money into bad hybrid designs and hopefully one will find its way into enemy sights. When it does I'll let you guys know how it fairs.

I should also mention that the air system in the game is still in flux, so it is possible that additional restrictions may make these types of ships less appetizing to build, but it is equally possible that abilities may be added that make them more useful. Personally, I'll be lobbying for the latter. They are weird critters but oddly appealing.   

[Fredrik W]

RTW2 will have an immunity zone calculator in the design screen to help ship designers.

[jwsmith26]

NWS Beta Team Logbook #07

--------------- The RTW2 aircraft procurement and deployment systems ---------------

Below is a description of the way you acquire planes in RTW2 and how you deploy those planes to your airbases and carriers. This posting does not deal with the intricacies of actually operating your planes during a battle. That system, while fairly mature, is still in a bit of flux, so a description will have to wait.

The system does a nice job of representing what historically happened when a navy acquired combat aircraft. While the player doesn't actually issue specifications he utilizes a simplified version of that process. You request a specific type of aircraft that emphasizes certain traits and the manufacturers respond by providing prototypes that represent their best effort at fulfilling those requests. You first pick the type of function you want the plane to perform. I should mention that this role is not exclusive; for instance, a torpedo bomber can also level bomb, perform searches and be used for ASW activities. Currently there are 6 aircraft roles you can pick from:

Fighter
Dive bomber
Torpedo bomber
Floatplane scout
Flying boat
Medium bomber

You then pick a first and second priority from a set of aircraft characteristics you would like to see emphasized in the prototypes that the manufacturers present. The available traits that can be emphasized are:

Speed
Firepower
Maneuverability
Range
Bomb load
Firepower
Toughness
Reliability

You then submit the request and wait for the manufacturers to present you with prototypes. You can submit one request at a time. It will take several months (varied by type of plane and other factors, but always faster in war) before you see a result. When the prototypes are ready, they are presented to you as a group, so you can look them over and decide which prototype you would like to develop. Once one is selected (or all rejected) you then wait again as the manufacturer ramps up production, at which point the selected model becomes available for deployment. Note that you do not deal with the details of aircraft design. You inform the manufacturers of what you want and they provided their best effort using the latest available technology.



Even after the plane model is selected and delivered the manufacturer is seldom done. They will continue to work on their planes and will often present you with an upgraded version that has one or several characteristics upgraded, sometimes quite significantly. Occasionally a manufacturer will develop a new plane on its own and offer the new plane to you for consideration. It's up to you to decide whether you want to purchase these spontaneous offerings.

When deploying planes to carriers and airbases, and for most operational purposes, you do not deal directly with specific airplane models, rather you deal with your airplane squadrons by role. For instance, you may decide that you want to equip a carrier with 1 torpedo squadron, (as well as 2 dive bomber squadrons and a single fighter squadron, to borrow the early war USN configuration). Once the squadron is created the game will then deploy a specific torpedo bomber model to fill that squadron. As your navy develops new models and older models become obsolete the game will automatically update the planes that populate your squadrons, replacing obsolete models with new models. This process can take some time to complete, so you'll sometimes be forced to deal with torpedo squadrons that have varying ranges or cruising speeds because they are operating different TB models.



Another quite nice feature of the system allows you almost complete freedom to decide on the size and roles of your squadrons. A squadron can be any size from 4 planes up to 20 planes. There are give and take reasons for wanting various sized squadrons. If your carrier is small you might be forced to create small squadrons, unless you want to put all your eggs into a single large bomber or fighter squadron. Larger squadrons are better able to overwhelm the enemy defenses and penetrate to release their ordnance. Smaller squadrons give you the ability to be more selective in your targets. Sending out a strike is always a risky proposition. You don't really know if that reported force is actually 4 BB and 2 CAs or perhaps is 4 corvettes and a tramp steamer, or simply open ocean. Having the flexibility of a second squadron, even if it's smaller, can save your bacon when you miss, or it can be a waste of resources if it sits waiting for a better target and never gets in the air.

It is just as easy to change a role as it is to change the number of aircraft in a squadron. You simply open the "Air groups" display, select an airbase or carrier, and make the modifications. The game will populate the squadron with the new planes required. However, changing roles means changing the type of plane that will be operated by the squadron and will therefore lower the experience level for the squadron. The same can occur if the player increases the number of aircraft in a squadron beyond a certain point.

The system developed to handle aircraft procurement offers ease of use and great flexibility, while quite neatly capturing the process that navies historically went through to obtain aircraft. The air deployment system relieves the player of the tedium of dealing with an endless churn of constantly updating aircraft models, while still allowing him to be intimately involved with the creation of those models. The player is free to concentrate on what the squadron is supposed to do rather than worry about the details of each individual plane model.

[williammiller]

This brief update is to announce that as of today (2-2-2019) Rule the Waves 2

is out of Alpha and has its first full Beta release out for internal testing!

---

I would like to thank Fredrik for his hard work on the game and the complex code, as well as all of our Beta Team members for their testing and feedback. I would especially like to thank all of you forum members for your suggestions and feedback as well, they really are helping us make a better game.

---

Thanks!

[williammiller]

Quick Dev 'sneak peek':

One of our beta testers was surprised (in a good way I think) today by something he noticed in his latest test game:

[Fredrik W]

A little tidbit from testing. In RTW2, the player will be able to design custom made aircraft shapes fore the map display. The aircraft shown below were designed by one of our beta testers. (Aircraft enlarged compared to the carrier for visibility in the picture).

[Fredrik W]

Italian Battleship Roma under heavy air attack.

[garrisonchisholm]

Here is something that has been long discussed and desired from RTW1 days, and I am sure someone has Beethoven's 9th queued up for the occasion. To wit;



A ship which is Obviously not a battle cruiser, operating as the core vessels of the Scouting Group.
In fact, I have built no BCs at all in this game, a 1920 start which had a WNT in effect for the first 15 years.

(please forgive my crummy free-hand arrows)

[jwsmith26]

NWS Beta Team Logbook #08



Playing as the Italians I had managed to get toeholds in both SE and NE Asia. I built up those bases and their associated airbases, an activity the Japanese were not thrilled with. War broke out in early 1950 and several months saw minor encounters in both regions. This particular battle happened to the east of Peliulu, far from any assistance that I might have received from my land based air. As the Italians, most of my battles had taken place within the close confines of the Mediterranean an area largely dominated by land based air. This was to be the first time the Italians fought a carrier vs carrier battle without the support of land based air.

The Japanese floated a fleet with 3 BBs, 3 BCs, 3 CVLs (carrying around 100 planes) and 7 DDs. My fleet also contained 3 BBs, 3 BCs and 15 DDs, but my air component was comprised of 4 fleet carriers equipped with around 350 planes, almost all rated for experience as "Good". The battle took place during the day with clear skies and dead calm winds.

The battle started about an hour and a half before dawn. I readied my planes and my fleet sent out searching floatplanes just before full light. The enemy did better. They found my fleet before dawn and launched air attacks against my battleships that struck during the pre-dawn twilight and before my carriers had launched any CAP. They attacked in an uncoordinated manner with torpedo planes, and about 10 minutes later, with dive bombers. The Japanese managed to put a torpedo into one of my destroyers and hit another with a bomb but my major fleet units escaped harm. The Italian AA fire was fierce and damaged or disrupted most attacking elements.

About 20 minutes later I got my first report of enemy ships, and being cautious, I launched a single escorted, but uncoordinated deckload strike from one of my carriers, CV Massena, aimed at the early report location. More reports came in and I launched a second deckload strike at a different target. The sighting reports remained scarce, so I held two deckload strikes in reserve.

As I waited, another Japanese strike streamed in with what appeared to be 1 dive bomber and 2 torpedo bomber squadrons. They struck my carrier force. This time there was CAP up and they demolished the incoming Japanese bombers, putting 10 bombers into the ocean. Nevertheless, the Japanese came on, but the AA fire from the Italian carriers was even more ferocious than from the battleship line and dropped or disrupted many of the enemy striking planes. The Japanese dive bombers managed to put a single 500 lb bomb into CV Massena. Fortunately her decks were clear, having been the first to send off her strikes and she, rather amazingly, sustained absolutely no damage from the bomb, which failed to explode.

 The lucky CV Massena

That attack was quite scary, especially with carriers that had full decks of readied planes. I could not wait any longer and I sent my two remaining deckloads off, aimed at the latest sighting reports.

By this time my first strikes began finding targets and they had much better success than the Japanese. In fact, my planes had found the enemy battleships. I didn't have much hope that they would sink any of those enemy battleships but I'd be satisfied with damage that would make it easier to fight them when our lines finally met. All of the Japanese capital ships were superior to mine, at least they started the battle that way.

The Japanese battleship's AAA was better than the French and British AAA that I had faced in previous battles and it caused a fair amount of damage, death and disruption, but when it did fail to hit effectively, my planes were able to score successfully. The Italian planes managed to put several torpedoes and bombs into the enemy battleships. The enemy CAP made appearances but they were never able to hit my planes before my attacks were completed. I did lose a number of planes to enemy fighters but not before they had released their ordnance.

My two late strikes hit gold. They found the enemy carriers and pounded them thoroughly. The Ryujo was struck by several 1,000 pound bombs and then brought to a halt with two torpedo hits. Dead in the water, she was pounded into oblivion before she sank under the weight of 10 torpedo hits (stationary targets are easy targets) and 5 bombs. Even the escorting Italian fighters got their licks in, hitting the listing Ryujo with two bombs in a glide bombing attack. Her two sister ships did not escape attack. Each took either a bomb or torpedo hit, possibly several, before my planes headed home.

By now my first strikes had returned and landed and the day became a production line of refueling, rearming, spotting and launching as each squadron returned to its carrier. I found the Japanese battleships again and hit them harder. The Japanese carriers made a run for Peliulu, which was just over the horizon, but my planes found them again as they entered the port's protective minefield. The CVL Unyo went down after 3 more torpedo hits and the Ryuho barely staggered into port, bearing the wounds from 4 bomb hits. My escorting fighters, which were apparently far superior to the Japanese planes, had a field day downing enemy bombers.

No contact was ever made with the enemy surface forces. By the end of the day my planes had hit the enemy fleet with 23 bombs and 16 torpedoes. The Japanese had lost 2 CVLs and two light ships, while sustaining heavy damage to another CVL and light to medium damage to 3 BBs and a BC. I had lost 3 DDs to bomb and torpedo hits.

The Italians lost 14 planes to AA fire and 8 more to enemy air attacks. The Japanese lost 11 planes to AA fire and 26 to air attacks. A further 20 went down with their carriers.

The Japanese did well to find my fleet so quickly and they struck with skill and resolve. With apparently inferior fighters and insufficient AAA, the Japanese carriers were unable to defend themselves and once hit could not put a counter strike into the air. While the Italians were quite lucky not to sustain heavy losses from that early Japanese strike, even had they lost a carrier their superior number would almost certainly have prevailed.

The battle shattered the Japanese presence in SE Asia, at least temporarily, and they withdrew to the north. But they have 2 new and much larger carriers building and more CVLs waiting at home. I expect them to be back.

[Fredrik W]

This French battleship was hit by almost everything possible while covering an invasion of Sicily. Bombs, airdropped torpedoes, destroyer torpedoes and a submarine torpedo! She was lucky in that the destroyer torpedo was a dud, otherwise she would definitely not have made it back to port!

[williammiller]

Latest update for RTW2 Release and Details:

Ok folks, we now have a solid release date for RTW2, one designed to give us plenty of time to make sure the game sets sail smoothly & with as much stability as possible:

APRIL 25, 2019

The price for the game will be $34.99 (US), which was the same price for the original RTW upon its release in 2015.

Everyone who has purchased, or purchases, the original RTW game before April 25 will be offered a special price of $29.99 for RTW2.

This discounted price is our way of thanking everyone who has stood by us during the last ~ 2.5 years of RTW2 development...thank you very much!!!

[jwsmith26]

NWS Beta Team Logbook #09

The following battle took place in 1957 during a war between Japan and Great Britain. 

---------------The Battle off Zanzibar---------------

The Japanese task force was small, but it was powerful, just four ships, but one was the newest Japanese fleet carrier, the Koryu. She was 33,000 tons, not the biggest carrier in the Japanese fleet but beautifully balanced and heavily protected. Still she was a compromise, as all naval ships are. She did not have the massive armored deck and large air capacity of the 44,500 ton Taiho, the fleet flagship, but she also cost half as much and carried a solid and well trained complement of 82 bombers and fighters divided into 5 squadrons. There were 2 torpedo bomber squadrons equipped with the older, reliable Yokosuka Myojo B and a single squadron of the fast new Kawasaki Setagayas, as well as 32 Kiyushi Adachi Cs in 2 squadrons, a jet fighter that was to prove far superior to its British opponents.

The Koryu was accompanied by some of Japan's finest destroyers of the Shigure II class, built as multi-purpose boats but with an emphasis on anti aircraft armament. They were a fitting escort for the Koryu and would be sorely tested this day.

The small group was sailing just off the coast of Africa, within a few miles of the Japanese outpost of Zanzibar, which after its capture in the last war, the Japanese had built into a major airbase to protect the southern Indian Ocean along the eastern coast of Africa. There had been reports of enemy naval activity in the area, so the Koryu was alert to danger. Before first light she sent off a search using her long ranged torpedo planes, probing south and east where the enemy was suspected to lurk. The Japanese had to use caution; the wind was out of the SE, meaning any air activity would push the carrier to the south as it turned into the wind. With no notable surface battle ability the task force would have to be careful to avoid contact with the enemy who might well be the squadron of battlecruisers reported to be in the region.


  

By 05:30 all of the search planes had been launched and a strong CAP was put up shortly after. Ashore, similar activity was taking place at Zanzibar and at far off Djibouti. Both bases sent out flying boats on their long range reconnaissances. By 06:14 the air was filled with 18 searching planes. The Koryu began arming and fueling her bombers in her hangar. There was danger in doing so but it is often the first to strike that wins the day. With everything as prepared as possible, the ships waited. Soon our planes would surely find the enemy.

But it was the enemy who found us. Shortly after dawn, at 06:30, planes were spotted coming in fast. They were the enemy. The Japanese fighters rushed to intercept them and met them in mid-air before they could attack. It was an advance group of Bromsgrove dive bombers, fast planes at 380 kts but they were no match for our newest Adachi C jet fighters that were capable of 483 kts. Six of them piled in and took out two of the attackers, but the remaining 3 plunged on one of the Japanese escorts and one placed its 800 lb bomb on target. The resulting explosion demolished the Umikaze's boiler rooms and the boat sustained massive flooding. This was not a good start.

The rest of the dive bomber squadron arrived and now they had drawn the attention of every Japanese fighter aloft. 15 Adachi's streamed in to attack the dive bombers. Every remaining dive bomber was either shot down or sent packing with damage. None were able to drop their bombs. The pilots of the small jet fighters looked around and saw with satisfaction that not one had been damaged in the melee, while the British DB squadron had been effectively destroyed as a combat unit. The brief encounter had lasted just 3 minutes. Though they had destroyed the enemy, a Japanese destroyer was foundering, wreathed in smoke, which told the truth of the encounter.

This attack was somewhat confusing. There were British naval facilities in the area, but I didn't believe they had airbases. My observers were keen and they noted that the enemy planes have arrived from the SW and retired in that direction. Though I'd had no sighting of enemy ships, this seemed to be a strong indication that they may have originated on a carrier somewhere to the southwest. That attack had been quite a scare and I still had no word of the enemy.

Without a positive sighting, I turned back north to put distance between my ships and what just might be a powerful surface force to my south. In most battles I had had with the British, they included one or two heavy ships, often battle cruisers, with their carriers. If even one of those appeared my vulnerable force could do nothing but run.

At 07:02 another wave of British planes was spotted approaching my ships. They were Hawker Hampton torpedo bombers and they had company. They were escorted by a squadron of Short Stanford fighters, early jets, roughly on a par with my own fighters, though slower and less heavily armed. My CAP was still up and still formidable. The Adachi fighters engaged the torpedo bombers before the Stanfords could intervene and they demolished the squadron before most could drop their torpedoes, shooting down or damaging 10 of the 11 bombers. When the British fighters finally decided to mix it up, they too fell victim to my superior pilots and planes, losing 6 out of 12 fighters engaged without managing to damage one of my fighters.

Yet four of the enemy fighters somehow missed the aerial battle and came in low and fast, strafing the Koryu's AAA positions with telling effect. Despite this, the Koryu's medium AA fire nicked the lone remaining torpedo bomber, causing it to drop its torpedo prematurely and run for safety. In 6 minutes it was all over and the survivors had scattered for home.

The British weren't done. More squadrons were arriving. There could be no doubt now, there was a carrier out there, a big one. Or, and this sent a chill down my spine, more than one carrier.

My tired fighters had no respite as fresh British squadrons rumbled in, a smaller group of torpedo bombers and a full squadron of dive bombers, escorted by another fighter squadron. The Adachi's dashed in, ignoring the enemy escorts and desperately slashing at the enemy bombers, as it had become obvious that the Koryu was now their primary target. They downed four more Hampden TBs and sent 2 others winging out of formation with damage, but they couldn't stop them all this time.

The rest plowed through the curtain of heavy AA fire with no casualties, though as the survivors came into range of the Koryu's furiously banging medium AA guns one more was hit and broke formation. Those TBs were coming in strangely high for torpedo bombers and then it became obvious why. They weren't carrying torpedoes at all, but were armed with bombs, which they released after a shallow gliding approach. Several splashed wide or in the Koryu's wake but one hit the water just short of the ship and exploded against her side. The ship shuddered as side plates caved in. The Koryu was shaken and water was streaming in from crushed hull plates but she could still maintain 29 knots and maneuver well.

More attackers were diving on the evasive group of ships. One section of DBs tried for DD Samidare but paid with a loss to her AAA. The DBs could not hit the wildly dodging boat. Most of the enemy concentrated their anger on the Koryu, which was now twisting about as well, but in a more ponderous, almost dignified, series of S turns that felt like they were taking place in slow motion as bombs splashed around her.

The air to air battle was fierce and the Japanese fighters continued to prevail, shooting down several more bombers and fighters. The Japanese AAA took out several more bombers as they made their runs. A dozen bombs missed, dropped by torpedo bombers and dive bombers working together. The British knew their stuff, but their aim was spoiled by the relentless fighter attacks and a serious wall of AA fire. The last of the bombers made their final fruitless drops and raced away, trailed by a few poorly disciplined Japanese fighters. The entire episode has taken just 7 chaotic minutes.

As the last of the British bombers limped away, the Koryu briefly turned into the wind to recover her CAP fighters, now low on both fuel and bullets. Replacements were quickly catapulted into the air. The Umikaze, hit in the first attack and unable now to make even 10 knots, was detached. The stricken destroyer would sink within the hour. Her combat patrol refreshed, the Koryu and her 2 remaining escorts raced north to put space between themselves and an enemy that was now obviously both powerful and determined.

But they couldn't steam fast enough. At 07:30 more enemy planes were sighted inbound. The Koryu's CAP was up and active. The fighters ripped into the incoming dive bombers, destroying 3 of the first 5 to attack. But a chink in the Japanese defense appeared as the first Japanese Adachi fighter fell in flames. Just as the fighter hit the water, an 800 lb bomb struck one of the Koryu's main guns, obliterating the 5" turret and crew. Unslowed, the Koryu continued to cut through the water in graceful curves, skillfully avoiding the rest of the bombs.

The air battle was costly for the British, but the Japanese did not escape unharmed. As more and more Adachi fighters dropped out of the combat from lack of fuel or ammunition, their numbers fell and losses began to occur. They shot down or damaged 7 more dive bombers and a British fighter, but lost 4 of their own in the process. Over the next 30 minutes, 40 more dive bombers and torpedo bombers took shots at the Koryu or her escort but the British had no further success and lost more planes, mostly to AAA.

By 08:05 the skies had cleared of enemy bombers. Somehow the wounded Koryu had managed to dodge most of the bombs and torpedoes and remained capable of operating her planes. We waited anxiously for some report of the enemy but by now the search planes sent out pre-dawn had probably flown well past the enemy force without spotting it. We needed to find the enemy, so more torpedo bombers were ordered to search in the direction from which the enemy planes had approached. The planes were prepared and went up at 08:35. We anxiously waited as the planes made their way southward. A short 15 minutes later the first report came in. A searching torpedo bomber was under attack by enemy fighters! Despite being damaged the bomber managed to radio in a sighting report: 2 CVs and 5 destroyers almost due south of the Koryu and little more than 80 nm away. Now was the time. Our torpedo squadrons were directed to be brought on deck and spotted. Then in quick succession more reports arrived, all describing 2 CVs and escorts but each differing in location. Choosing the most central sighting report as the target, the 28 torpedo bombers surged into the air. All were aloft and forming up by 09:29.

At about the same time the Japanese land based air was taking action as well. The well stocked airbase at Zanzibar had also spotted the enemy fleet and about 09:30 a squadron of flying boats took off to find the enemy and bomb them. There were now some 40 Japanese bombers closing on the British carriers.

Just before 10:00 the first Japanese bombers located the enemy carriers. They were met by British Short Stanford fighters. Without escort, the Myojo bombers fought back, but one went down burning and two others were so damaged they had to turn back. They took more losses to the British AA but several managed to drop their torpedoes. As the last bomber turned for home they saw a pillar of white water rising from the center of one of the enemy carriers. A torpedo had struck home. They did not know it at the time but the CV Furious had been struck. The battle wasn't over for the Myojos. They were relentlessly and foolishly pursued by the British fighters as they broke for home. Two more were shot down before they could escape, while all but one of the remainder suffered damage.

However, the Myojo's sacrifice had not been in vain for within minutes the fast Setagaya torpedo bombers darted in to find the skies largely clear of enemy fighters. Unmolested by fighters, they leisurely lined up on the undamaged carrier Argus, whose guns banged away accurately and caused 4 of the attackers to abort. Ignoring this carnage, the remainder bored in and dropped their charges. A minute later they were rewarded as a fish struck home against their target and then one minute later, another.

The British CV Argus, shaken by dual torpedo hits, began to lose way and with the loss of speed went the ability to maneuver effectively as the next attacking squadron appeared high overhead. It was the squadron of flying boats sent from Zanzibar. These pilots had little experience but their target was now almost stationary and their bombs fell accurately. The Argus absorbed four 800 pound bomb hits in rapid succession, starting a fire in her hangar deck.

The Furious had suffered far less than the Argus, having taken a single torpedo hit, but that hit had flooded her engine rooms and she was able to make no more than 8 kts. From the outside, little appeared wrong. She certainly appeared capable of flight operations, if she could just get up to speed, but her squadrons were so cut up by the earlier attack that a second strike was apparently not judged prudent or possible. Both carriers began to slowly retire to the south, the Argus keeping pace with the slowed Furious. As they slowly proceeded the Argus battled to bring the hangar fire under control and succeeded quite quickly. She had been hit by two torpedoes but had gotten most of the flooding under control. The 4 bombs had demolished her ability to operate planes but she managed to work back up to a reasonable speed.

At about this time, with the enemy's location confirmed, airbase Zanzibar was launching a follow up strike, sending 12 medium bombers and 16 torpedo bombers out by 10:15. They were followed 30 minutes later by another squadron of torpedo bombers and 30 minutes after that a 4th torpedo bomber squadron was on its way. The Koryu tried to match this effort but its bomber squadrons had been seriously decimated by the enemy and she was only able to send 8 bombers pulled from the remnants of two squadrons.

By 11:30 the strikes from Zanzibar began to arrive over the stricken British ships. Their TBs were not armed with torpedoes but that did not matter against the almost immobile Furious. The Setagaya bombers arced in and dropped over two dozen bombs, striking the almost stationary ship with 9. As the Furious slowed to a stop the British CAP belatedly arrived to pounce on the remaining Japanese bombers. They downed 6 bombers in a tangled battle but lost 3 of their own and could not prevent more damage as 4 more heavy bombs smacked into the stopped carrier.

In a fortuitously coordinated effort the tiny strike from the Koryu arrived simultaneously and attacked with vengeance and skill. These bombers were armed with torpedoes and were flown by expert aviators. Two of their torpedoes struck home against the Furious and her fate was sealed. She began to settle with fires burning furiously.

A single torpedo struck the Argus but it did not do serious damage but the wounded ship had no choice but to abandon her consort to make a run for the nearby port of Dar es Salaam. The Argus was attacked once more and suffered a single additional bomb hit but she survived the battle, having absorbed 3 torpedo hits and 5 bomb strikes.

More Japanese bombers arrived from Zanzibar and they pounded the burning hulk of the Furious, while leaving the fleeing Argus, which had retreated to the west, largely unmolested. Opposition from the British fighters slowly evaporated as their planes ran low on fuel or ammo and ditched into the sea. The attacks from Zanzibar were non-ending over the next two hours. The Furious finally went down after being hit with 8 torpedoes and 17 bombs.

The Koryu and her two escorts survived the battle in largely operational order and would have been able to continue to fight, though her air complement had been decimated. By midday of the battle she had few operational planes. Given a few hours to recover and make repairs she may have been able to put up a respectable squadron or two though by that time the short battle was over. Her air losses did have an impact following the battle. So many of her highly trained crews were lost that they were never really elite again.

As for the British they had lost 90% of their aircraft along with many of their experienced crews. The Argus would be in dry dock for many months, and of course, the Furious was lost entirely. The crews and planes could be replaced, but their experience could not. The loss of two fleet carriers established naval superiority in the Indian Ocean for the Japanese for the foreseeable future. It also destroyed any hope that the British might succor their beleaguered troops under siege in Malaya, where they were desperately holding onto the last remnants of the British SE Asian holdings.

It is likely that the Koryu, had she been unassisted would have lost this battle. But the closeness and persistence of effort by airbase Zanzibar turned the battle in favor of the Japanese. Ultimately, it was the failure of the British to build comparable airbases in the area that resulted in a battle lost.