Post by bikefish on Aug 18, 2015 15:43:49 GMT -6
So my free time has been consumed by this wonderful game and after reading ccip's ongoing Japan AAR, I figured why not start one of my own. Setting are Russia with Very Large fleet size, historical resources, and Admiral's Mode for all battles. I'm going to try and break this up into year chunks, but may break out some of the more decisive engagements. Comments are appreciated. Without further delay...
January 1900: Tragedy strikes the Imperial Russian Navy when the Minister of the Navy, Pyotr Tyrtov, is killed in a ice skating accident. The Czar creates quite a stir by appointing a relative unknown to fill the seat. The new Minister of the Navy has quite the impressive, but nontraditional background. Despite the reservations held by some, the Czar's complete and unwavering backing of the new Minister smooths the transition greatly. The fleet composition he inherited, well the best thing that could be said was that it was not worse.
The first though of the new Minister was that the navy lacked any ships on permanent deployment to the Far East. With the recent Japanese victory over China and Japan's growing power from that victory, this was no longer acceptable. For what would be sent, the ships themselves needed thorough analysis first. He began with the fleet's seven battleships, two Imperator Nikolai I class and five Imperator Petr Veliki class ships.
At first observation, the two classes where quite similar. But the differences between the two in terms of protection were great enough to put the two Nikolai I class ship on the list as the capital component of the new Far Eastern Fleet. This would allow each class to operate as a homogeneous unit, a boon for the commanding admirals.
The next ships under the scrutiny of the Minister were the only class of Armored Cruisers in service with the Navy. The ships were older and slower then the minister would have preferred, but for the time being they would stay with the main fleet at home as the heavy scouting force rather the join the Far Eastern fleet.
The principal light cruiser of the navy was a decent enough ship. While they would work as fleet cruisers for the foreseeable future, there lowish speed and lack of medium caliber guns worried the minister. The ships did have the redeeming quality of being long ranged, so they would make for good raiders if they were not needed for fleet duty. Two were delegated to the new Far East Squadron. Fortunately, the cure for the Minister's cruiser ales had already arrived.
Now this is a real cruiser, was the Minister's first though. To bad I only have one of them, was his second. The Nadezhda would stay in home waters, to be joined by sisters as early as possible.
Regarding destroyers, the Navy had two types in service.
The Buinyi class was the more numerous, but regarded as undersized. The Bistri class corrected some of the problems, but was still far from prefect. They were comprible to most other destroyers in the world's navies, so more of the larger Bistri class would be constructed. Eight of the smaller Buinyi class were assigned to the Far Eastern Fleet.
With the fleet review complete and the Far Eastern fleet dispatched to its new home of Port Arthur, the Minister turned his attention to the ships presently under construction.
The Armored Cruiser Gromoboi immediately became highly desired. She would have the speed to make a proper scout for the battleships, something the current Rossyia class lacked. The three Tri Svyatitelya class battleships were more of a mixed bag. They fit well with the existing battleline of the home fleet, but there secondary guns would not fair well against torpedo boats of any size. The ships were being built in English yards, which carried some measure of risk if the international situation deteriorated into war. Also, the large cost of building three was using up almost all the funds available; the minister would be unable to work in improving the cruiser force until these ships were finished. The main upside is that all three would be ready within 18 months. After much deliberation, the decision was made to finish building the two most advanced units while putting the third on hold. This would allow the laydown of a sister to the Nadezhda, free up funds for gunnery training, and still allow for the "replacement" of the two battleships sent to the Far East in less time then laying down new ships. The third unit would be resumed when the first one completed. The minister made a note about not having any more of the Russian Navy built abroad if it could be helped.
Things continued smoothly for the first few months of the new Minister's reign over the Navy. In March, the private shipbuilding sector had expanded to the point where ships of up to 16000 tons could be constructed domestically. The Far East Fleet had arrived in Port Arthur without issue. Near the end of April however, international relations with Germany took a turn for the worse.
Events began to spiral out of control, until in August a great crisis emerged that had the Czar ask the Minister a question on which hinged honor, blood, and treasure.
Not wanting to give is doubters any ammunition, the minister told the Czar that the navy could and would fight. Later that month, war was declared.
Shortly thereafter, the German navy attempts to push into the Eastern Baltic Sea to disrupt Russian merchants. The Russian Navy sorties with three battleships plus escorts in an attempt to stop them. For most of the morning, the Russians do not make contact with the Germans, the patrolling path zig-zaging back and forth across the Baltic. Reports are then received of merchants taking fire from German ships closer to the Gulf of Finland then the Russian Fleet is, the Germans have gotten behind them! A squall makes it difficult for the Russian fleet to catch up to the Germans and in the interim time a merchant and a small patrol ship are sunk. Finally, in the mid afternoon the Russian battleships catch there German counterparts. Both sides are equal in number of battleships, and the German armored cruiser does not do more then harass his Russian counterpart from range, making the battle almost exclusively a battleline vs battleline duel. For the several hours until twilight begins to fall, the two battlelines trade salvos, with nether side breaking formation. As the light begins to fade, on of the German battleships begins to drop off the back of the line.
The Russian Admiral realizes the stroke of luck that has happened to his side and begins maneuver to cut the straggler off from the rest of the German line. The fading light, coupled with an apparent unwillingness of the German Admiral to stand and fight, allows the Russian fleet to totally isolate the Zahringen class ship from any and all support. Even with this isolation, it takes many shell hits plus five torpedoes before the German battleship slips beneath the waves. After picking up survivors, the Russian fleet heads for home. In trade for the German battleship, later identified as the SMS Brandenburg, a single destroyer was lost.
Before the month is out, two of the Diana class cruiser are dispatched on raiding duties and a formal coastal patrol is established with eight of the smaller destroyers. These two raiders cause enough disruption that the Germans opt to try the Eastern Baltic in force again at the beginning of September. A squall that lasts for most of the day with gathering intensity prevents the German and Russian fleets from making contact. After getting no reports, the Russians opt to return to port in Hango to ride out the remaining storm after the light cruiser Flora takes light weather damage. During docking, two destroyers collide but the damage to each is light. After this indecent, a War Emergency Program of twelve patrol boats is laid down to free up destroyers for the main fleet.
As the year draws to a close, the last naval action of 1900 is a brief encounter in the North Atlantic between a Russian light cruiser and a raiding German Armored Cruiser. The Russian ship, being significantly outgunned, flees and is able to escape unharmed. The same raider is later intercepted by the armored cruiser Rossiya, which then chased the German ship away from a convoy. As the calendar year draws to a close, the Russian Navy has so far gotten the better of its German counterpart in battle. As 1901 unfolds, whether this advantage will be confirmed or extinguished will be decided.
The Czar's Bathtub: 1900
January 1900: Tragedy strikes the Imperial Russian Navy when the Minister of the Navy, Pyotr Tyrtov, is killed in a ice skating accident. The Czar creates quite a stir by appointing a relative unknown to fill the seat. The new Minister of the Navy has quite the impressive, but nontraditional background. Despite the reservations held by some, the Czar's complete and unwavering backing of the new Minister smooths the transition greatly. The fleet composition he inherited, well the best thing that could be said was that it was not worse.
The first though of the new Minister was that the navy lacked any ships on permanent deployment to the Far East. With the recent Japanese victory over China and Japan's growing power from that victory, this was no longer acceptable. For what would be sent, the ships themselves needed thorough analysis first. He began with the fleet's seven battleships, two Imperator Nikolai I class and five Imperator Petr Veliki class ships.
At first observation, the two classes where quite similar. But the differences between the two in terms of protection were great enough to put the two Nikolai I class ship on the list as the capital component of the new Far Eastern Fleet. This would allow each class to operate as a homogeneous unit, a boon for the commanding admirals.
The next ships under the scrutiny of the Minister were the only class of Armored Cruisers in service with the Navy. The ships were older and slower then the minister would have preferred, but for the time being they would stay with the main fleet at home as the heavy scouting force rather the join the Far Eastern fleet.
The principal light cruiser of the navy was a decent enough ship. While they would work as fleet cruisers for the foreseeable future, there lowish speed and lack of medium caliber guns worried the minister. The ships did have the redeeming quality of being long ranged, so they would make for good raiders if they were not needed for fleet duty. Two were delegated to the new Far East Squadron. Fortunately, the cure for the Minister's cruiser ales had already arrived.
Now this is a real cruiser, was the Minister's first though. To bad I only have one of them, was his second. The Nadezhda would stay in home waters, to be joined by sisters as early as possible.
Regarding destroyers, the Navy had two types in service.
The Buinyi class was the more numerous, but regarded as undersized. The Bistri class corrected some of the problems, but was still far from prefect. They were comprible to most other destroyers in the world's navies, so more of the larger Bistri class would be constructed. Eight of the smaller Buinyi class were assigned to the Far Eastern Fleet.
With the fleet review complete and the Far Eastern fleet dispatched to its new home of Port Arthur, the Minister turned his attention to the ships presently under construction.
The Armored Cruiser Gromoboi immediately became highly desired. She would have the speed to make a proper scout for the battleships, something the current Rossyia class lacked. The three Tri Svyatitelya class battleships were more of a mixed bag. They fit well with the existing battleline of the home fleet, but there secondary guns would not fair well against torpedo boats of any size. The ships were being built in English yards, which carried some measure of risk if the international situation deteriorated into war. Also, the large cost of building three was using up almost all the funds available; the minister would be unable to work in improving the cruiser force until these ships were finished. The main upside is that all three would be ready within 18 months. After much deliberation, the decision was made to finish building the two most advanced units while putting the third on hold. This would allow the laydown of a sister to the Nadezhda, free up funds for gunnery training, and still allow for the "replacement" of the two battleships sent to the Far East in less time then laying down new ships. The third unit would be resumed when the first one completed. The minister made a note about not having any more of the Russian Navy built abroad if it could be helped.
Things continued smoothly for the first few months of the new Minister's reign over the Navy. In March, the private shipbuilding sector had expanded to the point where ships of up to 16000 tons could be constructed domestically. The Far East Fleet had arrived in Port Arthur without issue. Near the end of April however, international relations with Germany took a turn for the worse.
Events began to spiral out of control, until in August a great crisis emerged that had the Czar ask the Minister a question on which hinged honor, blood, and treasure.
Not wanting to give is doubters any ammunition, the minister told the Czar that the navy could and would fight. Later that month, war was declared.
Shortly thereafter, the German navy attempts to push into the Eastern Baltic Sea to disrupt Russian merchants. The Russian Navy sorties with three battleships plus escorts in an attempt to stop them. For most of the morning, the Russians do not make contact with the Germans, the patrolling path zig-zaging back and forth across the Baltic. Reports are then received of merchants taking fire from German ships closer to the Gulf of Finland then the Russian Fleet is, the Germans have gotten behind them! A squall makes it difficult for the Russian fleet to catch up to the Germans and in the interim time a merchant and a small patrol ship are sunk. Finally, in the mid afternoon the Russian battleships catch there German counterparts. Both sides are equal in number of battleships, and the German armored cruiser does not do more then harass his Russian counterpart from range, making the battle almost exclusively a battleline vs battleline duel. For the several hours until twilight begins to fall, the two battlelines trade salvos, with nether side breaking formation. As the light begins to fade, on of the German battleships begins to drop off the back of the line.
The Russian Admiral realizes the stroke of luck that has happened to his side and begins maneuver to cut the straggler off from the rest of the German line. The fading light, coupled with an apparent unwillingness of the German Admiral to stand and fight, allows the Russian fleet to totally isolate the Zahringen class ship from any and all support. Even with this isolation, it takes many shell hits plus five torpedoes before the German battleship slips beneath the waves. After picking up survivors, the Russian fleet heads for home. In trade for the German battleship, later identified as the SMS Brandenburg, a single destroyer was lost.
Before the month is out, two of the Diana class cruiser are dispatched on raiding duties and a formal coastal patrol is established with eight of the smaller destroyers. These two raiders cause enough disruption that the Germans opt to try the Eastern Baltic in force again at the beginning of September. A squall that lasts for most of the day with gathering intensity prevents the German and Russian fleets from making contact. After getting no reports, the Russians opt to return to port in Hango to ride out the remaining storm after the light cruiser Flora takes light weather damage. During docking, two destroyers collide but the damage to each is light. After this indecent, a War Emergency Program of twelve patrol boats is laid down to free up destroyers for the main fleet.
As the year draws to a close, the last naval action of 1900 is a brief encounter in the North Atlantic between a Russian light cruiser and a raiding German Armored Cruiser. The Russian ship, being significantly outgunned, flees and is able to escape unharmed. The same raider is later intercepted by the armored cruiser Rossiya, which then chased the German ship away from a convoy. As the calendar year draws to a close, the Russian Navy has so far gotten the better of its German counterpart in battle. As 1901 unfolds, whether this advantage will be confirmed or extinguished will be decided.
