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Post by janxol on Apr 29, 2021 6:16:00 GMT -6
The real enemy - part 2
22:00, September 24th, 1899, Naksin Mikhail walked through the darkness, passing almost completely silently between the bushes as he headed into the less frequented part of the park. A path hidden in the foliage, used most often by couples seeking some privacy. Of course at this time the park was deserted anyway so there was little point in hiding. But Mikhail didn't want to hide, he was looking for someone. And there he was, standing next to a park bench. Berngards Afanasievich Leshev turned towards Mikhail, visibly surprised to see him emerge from the darkness. "Koshkin. I didn't expect to see you here.", he said. "No, you didn't.", confirmed Mikhail, taking a step towards him. If Berngards was worried, it was well hidden behind his polite smile and pretense of concern. His eyes, however, were as cold as always. "It is surprising to see you wandering around in the dark. Are you alright?", he asked. "No. My sister was murdered." "A tragedy indeed. And you can expect me to be aware of such things, considering she was my girlfriend for quite some time.", said Berngards, slightly raising his voice. But his eyes remained cold, a shadow of worry darting through them. "And yet you don't weep, don't despair... You weren't at the funeral... And not five days have passed since she was put to rest and you could be seen with another woman.", said Mikhail coldly. "It's a bit more complicated than that. And I would LOVE to tell you all about my personal affairs, but I must ask, why are you even here?" "You know very well why I'm here... You killed my sister." For a moment there was silence. Not a spark of surprise in his cold eyes, but Mikhail could see them dart to the side for a split second. He was looking for a way out. "You are distraught and for that I can forgive you... But make no mistake, I will not tolerate such accusations.", said Berngards, with a well-pretended anger in his voice. "It was you. You realized you can't quite manipulate her. You realized you'll never get money off her. So you slit her throat and watched her bleed. It was you. Everyone knows that it was you.", said Mikhail. "If everyone "knows", how come I wasn't even arrested?", asked Berngards, annoyed. "You're smug, because you're certain you covered your tracks. But you didn't. Not all of them." A shadow of both worry and interest in his eyes. Another look, seeking a way out of this predicament. "And I suppose you want to take me to the police to show them this supposed proof?", he said, this time angrily. "No.", said Mikhail. Berngards opened his mouth to respond, but closed it immediately upon realizing that he's staring down the unfriendly end of the barrel of Mikhail's personal revolver held right in front of his face. "It is true what they say.", he said finally. "Madness does run in your family." "Call it madness if you want. Good enough for your last words.", barked Mikhail. His finger twitched on the trigger, but despite wanting to, he couldn't quite pull it. This moment of hesitation was immediately spotted and used, as Berngards struck him in the arm, causing the gun to fall to the ground, and threw a punch at his face. But Mikhail was a soldier, trained to defend himself and responded with his own blow, dropping his opponent to his knees. Berngards immediately bull-charged him, causing both of them to fall to the ground. Mikhail came out on top, smacking Berngards' head into the ground. His fingers grabbed his throat and he held it in an iron grip as the man thrashed beneath him. There was only the fury, the rage, his own heart beating like a war drum as Berngards' struggles weakened. And ultimately, he stopped moving. It was done. Justice for Katya and vengeance for Mikhail, the deed was done. And yet somehow, he didn't really feel any better. He didn't feel like it was over... He got up from the ground, turning away from the body and kneeling down to pick up his revolver. He held it on his hands for a few seconds before opening the drum. Only one of the six chambers contained a bullet. Forever a memento of this night, forever a reminder of his hesitation. There it was, sitting in the chamber. Mocking him.
The year 1914 brought certain technological advancements. Improved armor bracing and stable explosive filler for shells were introduced, as well as a new 12tf rangefinder. In March the navy commissioned ten coastal submarines and work begun on a pair of light cruisers, ordered from an American shipyard as part of the deals meant to bring in improved technological processes into Russian shipbuilding.
In April the submarine development team came up with a design for a new "medium" submarine, larger and better armed and with more range than coastal submarines. It also implied the idea for an even bigger "large" submarine, though no word was received on that front. Regardless, 4 medium submarines were ordered. In May Russian navy sent battleship Gangut to evacuate Russian nationals from Morocco, following an uprising that took place in the country. The British immediately condemned this as a move that was meant as a threat and challenge to other navies. At this point tensions with Great Britain have reached a boiling point and the Russian fleet was fully mobilized, as the worst was expected. At the same time, time wasn't particualrly opportune, as multiple Russian warships were in need of major maintenance and soon others would join them in their need. Armored cruisers Vityaz and Voin of the Vityaz-class would be sent to drydock for an overhaul. Additionally, two 76mm guns would be removed and director systems would be mounted on both ships. s
Due to tensions with Great Britain it also became apparent that even ships that would otherwise receive no overhaul due to the plans of decommissioning in the near future, such as the pre-dreadnought battleship, would need to be made battle-ready. As much as Mikhail didn't want to spend money on these ships, he had no intention of fighting with rust buckets either. In September of 1914 a Russian spy managed to procure design plans of the new British Incomparable-class battlecruisers. Four of these ships were under construction and were expected to be finished within a year. With the two countries once again on the brink of war, it was very possible that the vessels will be a very real problem should it come to war.
In total the British were currently fielding a fleet of 10 dreadnought battleships, 4 battlecruisers and 18 pre-dreadnought battleships with 3 dreadnoughts and 4 battlecruisers under construction and expected to be complete next year. That was in comparison to the Russian force of capital ships. The Baltic Fleet consisted of 5 dreadnought battleships, 1 battlecruiser, 4 semi-dreadnought battleships and 6 pre-dreadnought battleships, with further 4 pre-dreadnoughts serving in the Pacific Squadron. Battlecruiser Fokshani was scheduled for commissioning next month, but apart from her, only battleship Andrei Pervozvanny was expected to be finished within a year. There was also the US Navy, as USA was allied with Russia, but Mikhail was perfectly aware that the majority of the American force, should they join the fray, will be operating in the Western Atlantic and pacific. Still, joint plans were being made in the event of the war and while Mikhail was far too much of a realist to rely on allied help, he wasn't entirely discounting it either.
The past you can't forget, the future you can't be calm about.
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Post by janxol on May 1, 2021 5:51:30 GMT -6
The real enemy - part 3
Early October of 1914 the Russian navy commissioned the battlecruiser Fokshani. Fokshani (1911) Ships in class: 2 (1 in construction) Fokshani, Rymnik Fokshani was the second battlecruiser design of the Russian navy, originally planned as a singular ship, the second vessel was ordered later on upon receiving an attractive offer from the shipyard. Despite the general-admiral being unconvinced by the battlecruiser concept, the ships marked a large technological step forward. Slightly smaller than the preceding Kinburn, they displaced 22 500 tons. Oil-fired boilers and steam turbine propulsion was producing almost 70 000 horsepower, driving four shafts for a design speed of 27 knots. Unlike German and Austrian vessels, the Russian ships maintained relatively thin armor more akin to the armored cruisers, rather than pretending to be thinly armored battleships. The belt was 7" thick amidships, tapering down to 3". The sloped deck was 2" thick. The ships also possessed the TDS anti-torpedo bulkhead layout. The class was the first Russian vessel to adopt a superfiring arrangement of main armament, carrying eight powerful 330mm obr. 1909 guns - the same as those on Imperatritsa Elizaveta Petrovna-class dreadnoughts - in four twin turrets. Two turrets were located forward in a superfiring pair, with turret B superfiring over turret A. The third turret was located immediately aft of the superstructure and turret Y was placed on the lowered quartedeck. While they were too far apart to be called a real superfiring "pair", the V turret was fully capable of superfiring over turret Y, at least assuming the deck immediately between them was kept clear. The secondary armament consisted of sixteen 130mm guns in casemates, eight per side. In lieu of the Russian doctrine emphasizing the use of torpedoes, the ships were equipped with four sumberged tubes, two per side. Originally designed with central firing, adjsutments were made during construction for the ship to be completed with directors. Fokshani performed excellently in the sea trials and vice-admiral Vedernikov was particularly pleased with the vessel. 16:00, October 6th, 1914, St. Petersburg, Admiralty building Mikhail stood on the top of the stairs leading to the admiralty entrance, watching as a group of four American officers were boarding an automobile waiting to take them back to their accommodations. The officers were part of the group which arrived aboard the battleship USS Missouri to meet with the Russian staff and establish something resembling a plan in an event either of the allied countries would face war. The planning wasn't nearly as smooth as Mikhail could hope for and his annoyance was shared by admiral Ellis Dawson. It wasn't personal annoyance, however, and both men understood that bureaucracies and procedures are to blame, or other matters they had no control over. Now Mikhail gave one last nod to Dawson before the car drove away, making a mental note to prepare for another meeting tomorrow better than for the one that just took place. "I wonder.", said Dmitri, standing next him. "How come they get a car and we tend to walk everywhere around here?" "Well, you see, Dmitri. These are what you could call "cultural differences" between us and the Americans.", said Mikhail. "They're too fat to walk and we're too drunk to drive." Both of them snickered and started to head back inside, but were interrupted by an unexpected voice. "Mikhail! I see you're making new friends. Do you still meet with the old ones?" "Andrei?", Mikhail turned immediately, surprised to see Andrei Yablokov, commander of the Pacific Squadron. "The hell are you doing here?" As the old admiral approached, once again a question of his age came to the forefront of Mikhail's mind. If Yevtushenkov said he was almost eighty, and the two of them were the oldest officers in the navy, it was fair to assume a similar age for Andrei. "Just taking care of some business that had to be done in person. Also wanted to take a look at the new dreadnoughts for myself. I have a feeling they won't reach the Pacific Squadron in my lifetime.", Andrei laughed. "And while I'm here, I hope you're prepared for the war." "As much as we can, seeing how uncertain the political situation is..." Andrei shook his head. "It's not uncertain at all. I can feel the tensions all the way over there.", he pointed east. "I would imagine it to be much worse here, closer to the source. The war is coming. I don't think it'll take them more than six months to snap and find a good enough reason." As it turned out, Andrei wasn't wrong. Tensions between Russia and Great Britain were critical and all it took was a spark. That spark proved to be a civil war in North Korea, into which both Russia and Japan tried to become involved with. In the end, Japan got both the head start and the upper end and refused to give up what it gained despite the Russian disapproval. This in turn was used by Great Britain as a pretext and the need to stop Russia before it would destabilize the region in the name of its own territorial gains.
On November 25th 1914 Great Britain declared war on Russia.
That didn't take long at all. Second war with GB then.
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Post by janxol on May 5, 2021 4:06:46 GMT -6
Darkness and chaos
Following the declaration of war the Royal Navy moved immediately with the goal of establishing a blockade, which they did successfuly, as expected by the Russians. Between the geography and difference in total fleet strength there was no way to prevent that. The Norwegian bases changed things somewhat. While major fleet units were based in the Baltic ports, majority of submarines have been moved to Stavanger, Bergen and Trondheim in anticipation for the war, with submarine tenders and supply ships hidden between the fjords. Without the need to run the blockade and traverse the Baltic, the submarines could reach as far as into the Western Approaches from the Norwegian bases. The three Almaz-class cruisers - Voevoda, Oprichnik and Griden - were also stationed in Stavanger upon the outbreak of the war. These would be immediately sent out as raiders, despite the fact that they were in need of maintenance and overhaul, while the submarines were for the time being supposed to focus on fleet support and target major British warships as a priority. As the Russians started on conversion of ships into armed merchant cruisers it quickly became apparent that the British learned from their past mistakes. They weren't planning to allow for commerce warfare and prolonged blockade, they sought a decisive battle and as such were very aggressive in handling their own battleship force and not hesitating to send it into the Baltic. Declaration of war by the USA, in accordance with the terms of the alliance, didn't give them pause either, though it did open an additional front on the other side of the Atlantic and the need to protect the Canadian coast. The Russian navy was prepared for the war, but ultimately it was not prepared as much as Mikhail would've liked it to be. A lot of ships were still in drydock undergoing maintenance and overhaul, in particular all of the Russian pre-dreadnought battleships. Between that and some bad luck, when the Russian battleship force was first called upon into action, only five ships were ready for battle - dreadnoughts Imperatritsa Elizaveta Petrovna, Tri Ierarha and Sisoi Veliki and semi-dreadnoughts Imperator Aleksandr III and Imperatritsa Mariya. Regardless, the Russians sortied out.
16:30, December 22nd, 1914, Northern Baltic, Battleship Tri Ierarha Mikhail stood at the railing of the bridge wing, squinting his eyes at what may or may not have been a ship silhouette. The issue with making that distinction was the fact that it was completely pitch-black, a clouded night with no moonlight or starlight. "How is your new command?", he asked casually. Cherkashin, who was standing next to him and also tried to pierce the darkness with his eyes, raised his eyebrows. "Well, it feels like a step up after commanding the Bogatyr. Double the displacement, double the pride, I suppose.", he said. "Though I have to say the jamming turrets are the plague of this ship much like turning radius is of the Bayan-class. What even are we looking at, is that a ship or is everyone just seeing a phantom image in the exact same place?" "Well, it could be one of the battlecruisers...", mused Mikhail. He knew that the battleship was surrounded by the rest of the vessels, most of which weren't quite visible. He also knew that somewhere out there Dmitri lead a force of two battlecruiser, Fokshani and Kinburn. At the same time, it was just as likely that they have stumbled accross a British vessel, as they were expecting contact as per report of enemy movement received from one of the Russian submarines. Expecting contact was good and all, but in complete darkness actually establishing it was an issue. "What is the visual range, you reckon?", asked Mikhail. "Two thousand, maybe three thousand yards. I'd estimate closer to two thousand.", responded Cherkashin. And as Mikhail pondered that predicament, a shot was fired, followed by another and then more. In front, a few Russian destroyers were exchanging fire with their British counterpart. And just like that, all hell broke loose, gunfire filled the air and muzzle flashes illuminated the sea and two groups of ships that came into contact. "Hard to port! Target at relative zero-three-zero! Watch for torpedoes!", ordered Cherkashin. Watching for torpedoes was an optimistic statement. There was no doubt that both sides are launching, but being able to spot them and react in time was wishful thinking. All that could be done was preemptive maneuvering. As the battleship turned, what looked to be a British light cruiser emerged from the darkness, though she happened to do so in an inopportune moment, with all twelve main guns pointed in her general direction. As the guns roared, the effects were exactly what one would expect and exactly the opposite of what the British crew could hope for. Still, a torpedo, likely fired by the doomed cruiser, struck Tri Ierarha amidships. "TDS?", asked Mikhail. "No better time to see if it helps.", responded Cherkashin, before returning to giving orders. As the battle unfolded, it instantly devolved into chaos that was difficult to follow and even more difficult to command. The two fleets became completely mixed, formations were broken and the visibility was at best 3000 yards. Overall, it was a terrible place and time for a naval battle. But gradually Mikhail was trying to get his bearings, memorizing what he saw, guessing what he didn't see, trying to get some tactical overview built in his mind. And at some point with the corner of his eye he spotted Katya, who was standing beside him on the bridge wing, her yellow dress in great contrast to the otherwise uniformed crew. He tried to pay it no mind, to focus on the battle at hand, but in some way he was still aware of her presence, despite knowing she wasn't really present. The battleship maneuvered through the darkness, firing at any target that presented itself, while the crew did their best to un-jam turret two, which was refusing to comply with the needs of the situation for the past fifteen minutes. As such, when a British dreadnought presented herself broadside-to-broadside, only nine guns could fire, against the enemy eight and at a range of two thousand yards, armor was of no help to either ship. And just like that, Mikhail found himself on the floor, ears ringing, head hurting and spinning. Confused, he shook his head and tried to stand, only to be stopped by his failing sense of balance, which again threw him to the ground. He rolled over onto his back, taking a look around. Destroyed bridge, bodies of crewmen laying on the floor and among them a few wounded. And then there was Katya, still standing at the railing, looking at him with a surprisingly serious expression. "The bridge was hit. Call for help.", she said, her voice somehow piercing past the ringing in Mikhail's ears, something not even the sound of gunfire could do. But before Mikhail could even try to call out, someone else did. "Medic to the bridge!", yelled Cherkashin into one of the voice-tubes. "Tower, do you have control of the ship?" The captain wasn't exactly in good shape either, but when a bridge gets hit by a shell, such thing aren't exactly unexpected. In fact, it could be that with Cherkashin and Mikhail being on the bridge wing rather than inside the bridge itself, they had a greater chance to survive if the shell detonated inside. "Admiral? Are you alright?" Mikhail sat up. "No. But I hope the Brits are worse.", he barked, speaking louder to be able to hear himself over the ringing in his ears. The battle went on for hours. Hours of complete chaos that neither Mikhail nor the British admiral could hope to control. Hours of ships firing at point blank at randomly encountered opponents, hours of sailing through torpedo-filled waters. The fight wouldn't end until 6 in the morning of the following day and as sun started to slowly raise, time has come to count the losses of the battle that Mikhail wouldn't hesitate to call a disaster.
And a disaster he called it, despite the fact that the British suffered more. It was all by chance, luck or lack of thereof rather than by merit of tactics and strategy. Random encounters which could've gone either way. Mikhail was unwilling to use this encounter as a proof of anything, but one thing was certainly proven: the TDS system was effective. Both Tri Ierarha and Kinburn took a torpedo hit and were capable of continuing the fight and the flooding was easily controlled. At the same time, the Russians did lose a battleship, the semi-drednought Imperator Aleksandr III. The ship received a torpedo hit and about 19 hits from 13- and 14-inch guns. The crew was unable to save the vessel and the order was given to abandon ship shortly before she capsized in the night. Another loss for the Russians were two light cruisers - Izumrud of the Posadnik-class, the loss of which was disappointing as she was one of the newer vessels, and Vladimir of the Varyag-class, which would leave the cruiser Boyarin as the last surviving member of the class, with three remaining ships lost to the British. Additionally the Russian navy lost 10 destroyers, with further 8 being barely afloat when they got to port, all of which were unfortunately of the newest and latest Vidni-class. However, seeing the losses suffered by the British Mikhail had to be somewhat content with the outcome, especially considering the awful conditions in which the battle took place.
The battleship and two cruisers lost by Russian navy. Top-to-bottom: Imperator Aleksandr III, Izumrud, Vladimir
In January of 1915 Russian cruisers Posadnik and Flora conducted a moderately unsuccessful raid against British coastal shipping, finding that this time the British have prepared for such tactics. The two ships were forced to retreat upon encountering heavier British vessels, but managed to sink a destroyer and a patrol boat, as well as one merchant ship during the retreat. With heavy units patrolling the coast, it appeared that Russian raids have a real chance of success only if they too bring the heavy units, an idea with which Mikhail was toying more and more seriously. 13:00, January 27th, 1915, St. Petersburg, General-admiral's office "I want more news on those convoys.", said Mikhail. "Clearly they're afraid of our raiders even before the AMCs finish conversion. They learned..." "The convoys appear to be moving under escort in the vicinity of the British isle. They seem to approach from the direction of Gibraltar, escort meets them somewhere in the Bay of Biscay and then even more ships join in as they approach the Irish Sea. Submarines can't get to them and sending cruisers appears risky.", said Dmitri, looking at the map. " So it seems... Still, this seems like an opportunity, not necessarily to sink the cargo, but to force an engagement on our terms.", said Mikhail. "Do we want to force an open engagement against the Royal Navy?", asked Dmitri. "I am beginning to think that we might... But it's something that I shall give more thought to.", said slowly Mikhail. "Are we done for today?" "Possibly. You were supposed to meet your new flag lieutenant. He's waiting outside the door." "Right.", said Mikhail sitting down at his desk. "Come in!" Mikhail has had two flag lieutenants after Eugeni was... Demoted. One of them has since moved up in rank and the other was unfortunately wounded when the bridge of Tri Ierarha was hit, and his wounds rendered him unfit for continued duty. And so in entered a young lieutenant. In fact, he looked incredibly young, like a teenager, who didn't quite hit puberty when he ought to. He had a soft face and small build and his uniform fit him rather loosely, as if a uniform couldn't be made small enough to fit him. "Lieutenant Aleksandr Dmitrevitch Tyomkin reporting, general-admiral, sir.", he saluted, his high-pitched voice prompting Mikhail to raise an eyebrow. For a few moments there was silence, and ultimately even Dmitri turned to face Mikhail, surprised by his lack of response. "Is there... Something wrong?", he asked quietly. "I don't know, you tell me. Is there?", asked Mikhail, directing his eyes at Dmitri with a very peculiar expression on his face. One that would indicate that he was unsure if Dmitri was joking or stupid, and as Dmitri wasn't joking and wasn't sure what he could possibly miss, it intrigued him. He turned back towards the lieutenant, who was still standing motionless, and clearly nervous from the moment he walked in. "How old are you, lieutenant?", he asked. "Twenty-one, sir. Just graduated academy, sir.", he responded. Young indeed. Dmitri looked again at Mikhail, who was still giving him that judgmental look. "If we have nothing more to discuss, vice-admiral Vedernikov, I believe you can get back to your duties.", he said. Dmitri nodded and headed for the door, slightly confused. As soon as the door closed behind Dmitri, Mikhail shifted his eyes towards the lieutenant. "Well then. First of all, at ease. Secondly, since coming into my office you've told at least one lie. It's not a great start, so I'm giving you a chance to correct yourself." The lieutenant looked at him, with a mixture of worry and surprise. There was uncertainty in his eyes. "I'm nineteen.", he said finally. Mikhail raised an eyebrow. "Not the clarification I expected.", he said. "We will get to the second thing in a moment then. Being nineteen after three years of academy is impressive, considering you need to be eighteen to enlist. And you must be aware that giving false information, such as age, in order to enlist is not exactly allowed. That includes the officer's academy." "Yes, sir.", he said only. There wasn't really anything else he could say. He knew that Mikhail could hand him over to the MPs and possibly have him arrested. "Now I'm even more curious about your other lie.", admitted Koshkin. "And I was plenty curious before." "I don't understand, general-admiral." "Well... You said you are fresh from the academy. The three-year course, seeing how you're a lieutenant. This is your first posting?" "Yes, sir." "And as your first posting you're being assigned as flag lieutenant of general-admiral? That would indicate you've scored better rather than worse at the academy, did you not?" "Yes, sir." "And so, having scored well, you must've surely qualified for the secondary course. So why would you leave to serve rather than continue the training? You'd graduate as a lieutenant-commander, would jumpstart your career a bit better... What would you say was the reason of that choice?" Silence. "The war broke out, sir. I wanted to serve, sir!", he said finally. "Is that so? While I don't dispute your willingness to serve, I believe one of the main reasons was... How should I put this...? You don't have the balls. What you have instead is a prize that many a fresh sailor is looking for: the fallopian tubes." "I don't understand, sir." Mikhail sighed. "You're a woman.", he said. Again there was silence, as the lieutenant looked at him in shock. "Are you, or are you not?", asked calmly Mikhail. "Yes.", finally came a response. "Now we're getting somewhere. What is your real name then?" "Aleksandra. Aleksandra Dmitrevna Tyomkin, sir.", she said with resignation in her voice, as if expecting the gendarmes to enter the room any minute. "Well then. It appears that you've given incorrect information with regards to your name, gender and age, which are arguably the easiest questions on the recruitment forms. By the fact that you posed as a male, I expect you are perfectly aware that women do not serve in the military. In that case the question arises, why did you enlist regardless?" "I wanted to serve, sir. I read about a woman who pretended to be a man and served in the army during the war with Japan. I thought I could do that too, so I tried to enlist by the end of the war with Great Britain." "But you didn't.", noted Mikhail. "You would've graduated a year ago if you had. Still you tried again a year later, despite the war having ended. Moreover, you didn't just "enlist", you joined the academy, which seems like you wanted more than just serve your country in a war, you wanted a military career." "I am confused, sir.", she said cautiously. "Am I being arrested?" Mikhail smirked. "No.", he said. "I am far too interested now. You've managed to get high marks at the academy, while also managing to keep your disguise in front of teacher and peers, and for at least one year you've been living in dormitories with said peers, which suggests that you have a certain degree of intelligence and capability of tactical and strategic thought. Now, I've been to the academy as well and I knew people who had their noses to the ground and looking for scent like rabid wiener-dogs at the mere mention of a female. Which makes me extremely curious as to how the hell you managed to stay hidden." "I suppose I've always been a bit tomboyish... Nobody really suspected anything, they just assumed I was a scrawny man who didn't properly go through puberty or something. How did you know I was a woman, sir?" "Well, what really tipped me off was the fact that you look like a woman pretending to be a man.", said Mikhail, raising an eyebrow. "And I find it somewhat amusing that nobody seems to notice that. I suppose I'd rather believe that growing up with an eccentric sister is the reason why I spot such things than believe that everyone at the academy is blind. I can't really speak for the army and their hidden women, if they have any, but to my knowledge there's never been such a situation in the navy. Apart from the social stigmas and superstitions, sticking a woman into a floating metal box with several hundred male crewmembers is something that doesn't exactly seem like a good idea. You should be aware of that after three years of academy, and yet you're still here." "Yes, sir." Mikhail looked at her for a few seconds. "In that case my last question would be the same most admirals ask their flag lieutenants: can you make good tea and coffe?"
You will note that the battlecruisers were not counted among the major warships that were ready for action despite being ready and present in battle. That is due to (AAR) Russian doctrine, which considers battlecruisers to be cruisers and not capital ships. I am sure Dmitri is greatly offended by that fact, but that remains Koshkin's offical position - for now at least.
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Post by janxol on May 7, 2021 14:31:16 GMT -6
Something still wrong with their bloody ships
12:15, February 15th, 1915, Irish Sea, Battleship Tri Ierarha Mikhail looked through binoculars at the columns of smoke rising from the British convoy, at least 20 merchant vessels, most on the larger size, now trying desperately to flee towards Britain. Among them a few destroyers and then a force of British battleships taking position between the convoy and the Russian vessels. Six dreadnoughts and three pre-dreadnoughts, not counting the supporting cruisers and destroyers. It appeared that he managed to force a battle before fully contemplating the merits of doing so. And merits aside, an issue remained of numbers. The Russian battleship force consisted of Tri Ierarha, Imperatritsa Elizaveta Petrovna and Sisoi Veliki, as well as semi-dreadnought Imperatritsa Mariya - the survivor of her class - and pre-dreadnoughts Imperator Pavel I and Imperator Petr Veliki, both of the Dvenadtsat Apostolov-class. As much as Mikhail regretted having the older pre-dreadnoughts instead of the remaining two dreadnoughts of the Russian navy, the ideal task force was a rare and endangered specimen. The numbers were not in his favor and he was operating very close to enemy home ports, but the sea was relatively calm, the weather was good and the Russians had an advantage of wind, as long as they remained on the western side of the battle. With good conditions and a long time until dusk, Mikhail could see, and so he could fight, but disengaging could prove more difficult should he need to do so. As he weighed his decision, the two forces were very slowly closing, but the British altered their course slightly, moving in a more southerly direction. This immediately prompted Mikhail to take a look what's going on. To the south of the main force, currently heading east, he could see the battlecruisers Fokshani and Kinburn and their escorting destroyers. Now he could also see something that he missed the first time, a British battlecruiser with three armored cruisers approaching from the west. As aboard the Fokshani Dmitri realized he's being surrounded, he had to make a choice: avoid both the battleships and the cruisers by turning south-east, letting the British separate him entirely from Mikhail's force, or turn north-west, towards Mikhail, but being forced to engage the British cruisers and damage that would leave his ships unable to escape the approaching battleships. "Battlestations.", ordered Mikhail. "Prepare to turn. Stand by for direction." The ship was already at battlestations, so this order served nothing more but to confirm the intention to take the offered engagement. As lieutenant "Aleksandr" was preparing the flag signals, Mikhail rubbed his beard in thought. The chessboard was set and the pieces were ready, but the first move belonged to Dmitri. Fokshani was too far to attempt to signal and there was not enought time to consider the radio and so this decision would have to be made by him alone. Depending on that, Mikhail would give his order. If Dmitri turned south-east, Mikhail would detach his armored cruisers - Latnik, Vityaz and Voin - to keep the British cruisers in check, while the Russian battleships continued east, straight towards the convoy and forcing the British force to turn back and maintain their position between the Russians and the convoy. This could potentially let Dmitri loop around and either regroup with the main force or engage the cruisers without the threat from British battleships. Should Dmitri choose to turn north-west, Mikhail would direct his force south, to join the battlecruisers and meet the British battleships line-to-line, with the wind on his side. And so he watched as Fokshani and Kinburn accelerated and started turning towards him, north-west. "Turn to starboard.", ordered Mikhail. "Head south. Maintain battleline speed of eighteen knots." It was slower than he would like, but it was the top speed of the Dvenadtsat Apostolov-class. He was contemplating leaving the pre-dreadnoughts behind and letting them operate together with Imperatritsa Mariya as a secondary division, but right now he needed all guns and full control. Soon the first shots were fired, with Fokshani opening with her rear guns against British cruisers, joined soon after by Kinburn. The British battlecruiser would respond shortly after, with shells straddling the Fokshani. Mikhail grimaced in spirit, realizing that each single one of these shells - being 13" caliber - could spell doom for the barely armored Fokshani. The battleship lines were now also close enough that the Russians opened fire and the British responded with their own salvo. As the ships started to maneuver, Mikhail kept his eyes on the convoy, still very much within sight and very much a target - or leverage to force British to maneuver. As the battle unfolded it became rather apparent that despite the numerical disadvantage, the Russian dreadnoughts were holding very well against the British line. The British were fielding the dreadnoughts of the Vengeance-class as well as Irresistible-class, but due to similarities between the two it was rather difficult to differentiate which is which and how many of the battleships are of which class.
Larger, better armored and carrying more guns, the two Imperatritsa Elizaveta Petrovna-class dreadnoughts dominated the engagement despite the atrociously frequent jamming and innate reloading issues of their triple turrets. As the fire exchange continued at a range of about 10 000 yards, Mikhail once again thought of the convoy. As the two lines moved away from it, he could turn his battleships around and head for the convoy and with his advantage of speed the British would not be able to catch up or intercept him. On the other hand, his focus was already shifting from the convoy to the British battleships, seeing them as more worthwhile prey, of only he could create that one spark to throw them into disarray. One ship losing power or otherwise forced to leave the line. One damaged rudder. As it turned out, that spark would appear on its own. A salvo from Fokshani hit the British battlecruiser, there was a large plume of fire rising from her forward turrets and shortly after the ship's magazine detonated. The British battlecruiser was gone and this would shake the British, in addition to allowing more freedom of operation to Dmitri. Ideally, Mikhail would have Dmitri follow the convoy, as the battlecruisers were of little use against the battleships and at far too much risk. At his order, the dreadnoughts turned inwards, towards the British line, before reversing course and heading north, in the general direction of the convoy, maintaining the wind advantage and forcing the British to turn around in order to prevent the Russians from heading for the convoy. Meanwhile, Fokshani and Kinburn turned north-east, with Dmitri deciding to take position on the far side of the British line. At the same time, the battlecruisers were now no further than 8 000 yards from the British battleships, a position too aggressive in Mikhail's opinion. Dmitri gambled heavily that the British will have their guns pointed to port, towards the dreadnoughts, rather to starboard, towards him. And indeed at least one British battleship wouldn't do that, opting to instead fire at the battlecruisers. Mikhail didn't like it one bit, but as he started to think about the possibility of somehow relaying a message to the Fokshani, Dmitri's flagship returned fire on the British dreadnought in question, causing it to instantly detonate. And then, not five minutes later, a second British battleship exploded upon being struck by the salvo from Tri Ierarha. "Something still appears to be wrong with their bloody ships.", said Mikhail, turning briefly to Cherkashin. "Close the range, prepare torpedoes. Destroyers stand by for flotilla attack." The ship turned towards the British line, just as an enemy salvo flew in. Though hit, Tri Ierarha appeared to have shrugged off the rounds. Except then it kept turning. "Rudder jammed to starboard! Rudder jam!", reported the helmsman. The ship continued the turn, and singals were made with regards to the current situation so that the remaining ships wouldn't follow. Also the flotila attack order was given and the Russian destroyers charged forward to prevent any attempt of the British to capitalize on the crippled ship. The battle continued and Mikhail did his best to keep track of everything as the ship turned in circles, which wasn't making things particularly easy for his sense of direction. Somewhere to one side, a British battleship was on fire and trying to get away from the battle and being chased down by Fokshani and Kinburn. Somehere on the other side, a British armored cruiser exploded. Somewhere to yet other direction a British dreadnought was hit by a torpedo. Generally, the battle was very much developing in the Russian favor. By the time Tri Ierarha finally unjammed her rudder and returned into the fray, the British were making desperate attempts to retreat. Fokshani and Kinburn broke off pursuit of the burning battleship, deciding they were getting to close to the Irish coast, and returned to the main engagement, bringing their guns to bear on the British battleships. Mikhail took in the sight of British warships pummeled by large volumes of Russian gunfire, their numerical advantage having brought them no good, their pride shattered once again. Victory belonged to the Russians. And yet Mikhail was still vigilant, still keeping a cautious eye on the ships, countless possible scenarios running in parallel in his head. And beside him, with the corner of his eye he could see Katya, watching the battle with focus equal to his own...
The battle was very much a success for the Russian fleet. The newest dreadnoughts have proven they can stand against a more numerous force and make up for the lack of numbers with the size of their battery, and that their armor holds well against the British guns, while the Russian 330mm obr. 1909 gun proved as deadly in battle as it did during the testing. Multiple British warships suffered a detonation of their magazines, mostly caused by flashfires of their turrets. The battlecruiser Fokshani managed to cause a detonation of both an enemy battlecruiser and a British dreadnought and despite the aggressive stance taken during the battle managed to get out of it with relatively minor damage. Of 5 dreadnoughts lost by the British, two were lost to detonations, one burned down before reaching port, and two were lost to flooding from gunfire and torpedoes. With that battle, the dreadnought force of the Royal Navy was cut in half, while the Russian suffered no significant losses.
Seems the British vessels are as explosive as ever. The situation doesn't appear to be that bad, even though it appears Mikhail is starting to hallucinate.
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Post by captaintrek on May 8, 2021 2:08:44 GMT -6
The British have seven dreadnoughts under construction and you've destroyed nine so far. It's always nice to be able to outpace the ol' Royal Navy Treadmill.
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Post by janxol on May 13, 2021 5:16:10 GMT -6
Another day, another day
In March of 1915 the US Navy finally stopped bickering with congress to the point of actually being able to start doing "something". The American forces were mostly operating in the Canadian and Australian waters as well as South-East Asia, though a small force under command of admiral Ellis Dawson was also sent to Europe. Battlecruisers Independence and Ranger in conjunction with Russian armored cruiser Gromoboi would be responsible for sinking of a small British cruiser force near Singapore, but beyond that the month was rather quiet and it wouldn't be until April 13th that another notable battle would be fought, as two opposing forces met in the Baltic.
USS Nebraska, an Arkansas-class dreadnought battleship
Account of the battle of April 13 by captain Jack Wyatt, USS Nebraska
It was an interesting one, that's for sure, and an opportunity to watch the Russian navy work. And I admit I was both nervous and skeptical about the whole ordeal at first. I suppose I didn't trust them and not necessarily that I distrusted the Russians, but more of a fact that we have never before operated so closely. We have never conducted a joint exercise, all out mutual defense plans were theoretical, we had second-hand knowledge of their doctrines and tactics and quite frankly we weren't even sure if they used the same signaling system as we did. And yet, we were supposed to work closely integrated with the Russian fleet. Nebraska would be flying the flag of admiral Dawson and we were accompanied by two other dreadnoughts, Iowa and Missouri. We also had our own - American, that is - destroyers for escorts, but everything else was the Russians. We were supposed to follow in line behind the Russian dreadnoughts, the two Imperatritsa Elizaveta overgrown monstrosities, and their first dreadnought, the Gangut. The Tri Ierarha would act as flagship of general-admiral Koshkin. And on top of that, speaking further about that unfortunate integration, another Russian division, consisting of their three semi-dreadnoughts, was supposed to follow us, which meant we were sandwiched between two groups of foreign ships which had, quite possibly, a very different philosophy when it came to warfare. Now, of course Dawson was aware of that and arrangements were made so that he had the freedom of judgement on whether or not to follow the Russians and similarly the Russian rear-admiral on the Imperatritsa Mariya behind us would have similar capability to act on his own discretion, especially important since his division would be slower than the dreadnoughts. The British we have met around 9 in the morning and very rapidly we have closed to engage and indeed it baffled me how rapidly the Russian dreadnoughts closed in particular. The thing is, that their dreadnoughts were about 1 knot faster than ours. Usually this would matter little, because with every course adjustment they would lose speed and their size didn't let them accelerate away from us. In this case they just stopped maneuvering. At all. They picked a course, stuck to it, crossed the British T and wrecked havoc. And in fact almost immediately Dawson exercised his right to abandon the line, as one thing became apparent. Our ships are designed to fight at a certain range and so we are trained to maintain this range, which is what Dawson intended to do. The Russians, on the other hand, had no such reservations, not hesitating to keep advancing on the British and engage at a distance of as little as 8000, maybe 6000 yards. And quite frankly it was astonishing how well the Russian ships withstood the enemy fire. The British very soon realized that the need to retreat and attempted to disengage, and so ultimately the battle wasn't particularly long considering the size of the two forces. Still, one dreadnought, one pre-dreadnought, a light cruiser and a few destroyers didn't return to the British ports after this fight, while on our side not a single ship was lost.
American Missouri-class dreadnought. Both Missouri and Iowa were of this class.
11:00, May 1st, 1915, St. Petersburg, General-admiral's office Mikhail rubbed his chin as he read the report in front of him, before looking up from the desk and directing his gaze to Artem. "I take it then that you judged airplanes to be suitable for use by the navy?", he said. "Well, not the same ones as the army is using, but the aircraft can certainly be of use. We are partnering with Polikarpov design bureau to develop a floatplane that can land and take off from water. While we have a prototype which can both float and fly, transitioning between the two states is proving somewhat tricky. I'll notify you when we're happy with the craft. Additionally the Mikoyan-Gurevich bureau approached us with of their prototypes which were rejected by the army for being too large and we're going to evaluate if that plane can also be adapted to suit our needs.", said Artem. "Good. Keep me informed, Artem." "I will. Is there anything else, general-admiral? I was supposed to oversee a test of a new... thing..." "Oh, well, go on then. Test the new thing, whatever it may be.", said Mikhail, chuckling. As Artem left the room, Mikhail turned his attention to Dmitri. "I sent a small cruiser force to poke the blockade. The British refused to engage. What do you make of that?" Dmitri raised an eyebrow. "They've lost a lot of ships rather quickly. They must've realized they need to go on the defensive and according to our information they've been focusing more and more on trade protection. They're wary of our raiders and they know we're about to finish conversion on the first batch of armed merchant cruisers. They don't want a repeat from the previous war." "Indeed. And the longer I think of it, the more it becomes clear in my mind... I don't think we want to get fully committed a commerce warfare, not while they're behaving like this. What I want is a decisive battle...", said slowly Mikhail. "Get your ships, poke the blockade, see if they send out large units against the battlecruisers." "As soon as the ships are ready." "Speaking of battlecruisers, I have noticed you've been handling them extremely aggressively. On that last battle you weren't further than seven thousand yards from the British dreadnoughts and I wish to remind you that speed can't stop shells. Armor can do that, and your ships have none." Dmitri raised an eyebrow. "I do not think my tactics are any more aggressive than they've always been.", he said. Also note that Fokshani has as much armor as the Bayan, which I did always handle in a similar way. Some could say Bayan was a battlecruiser to other armored cruisers." "And yet times changed. Bayan's seven inches of armor could stop a battleship shell when she was built. Fokshani's seven inches are insignificant to heavy guns now, a concern which I have expressed countless times already.", said Mikhail. "Do not take unnecessary risks. I also want to pass a message to Andrei. Far East has been rather quiet, which means it could be the opportunity to brush the dust off those ambitious plans we had in the last war..."
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Post by janxol on May 14, 2021 11:13:43 GMT -6
Role reversal
6:30, May 11th, 1915, Irish Sea, Battleship Tri Ierarha Mikhail watched through his binoculars as the British warships emerged from the morning mist, four dreadnoughts leading the way. Assuming the intel was accurate, those four dreadnoughts were the entirety of British dreadnought force currently operational, though the status of the ships which were under construction at war outbreak was uncertain. "There they are.", he said. "I was starting to think they'll let us sail all the way to Isle of Man." "The previous battle in the Irish Sea didn't go in their favor.", said Cherkashin. "It's only natural they're reluctant." "The previous battle in the Irish Sea didn't even happen in the Irish Sea.", responded Koshkin. "It was the Celtic Sea, though I fear it's an error the historians will just keep repeating as it's already too stuck in the name." The two fleets were closing and engagement seemed certain, which was good news for Mikhail. He wanted this battle. Three dreadnoughts and three semi-dreadnoughts against the British force which seemed to consist of four dreadnoughts and three pre-dreadnoughts were good odds, considering the advantage of size and firepower of the Russian ships. "Be ready to turn east, I don't actually want to go to the Isle of Man. That's just asking to get mined.", he said, as first shots were exchanged. As the battle was in its opening stages, Mikhail immediately sensed an opportunity. Ordering his dreadnoughts to top speed and leaving the semi-dreadnoughts trailing behind, he utilized his advantage of speed over the British line, crossing their T at a distance of about 8000 yards and the results were more spectacular than he hoped for, with one of British ships detonating after being struck by the Russian salvo. As he maneuvered against the battleships, he could see in the distance as battlecruisers Fokshani and Kinburn were engaging a British battlecruiser and a pair of armored cruisers. "Torpedoes in the water!", someone screamed. Mikhail immediately scanned the water between the Tri Ierarha and the British vessels, but it wasn't until the torpedoes were about a hundred yards out that he spotted the two white trails. The Tri Ierarha was in a sharp turn, but there was no way to avoid the impact, with both torpedoes striking the ship amidships. "Engine damaged, admiral. We're losing speed and have flooding to deal with. I must recommend disengaging.", said Cherkashin after receiving report from one of the voice tubes. "Make it so.", agreed Koshkin. "But make sure to keep firing as we retreat. These things are barely afloat." He gestured at the British dreadnoughts, and he was right, they were heavily damaged and their crews were porbably more preoccupied with remaining afloat rather than returning fire, as the density and frequency of incoming salvoes has decreased. It was unfortunate to need to retreat so soon, but Mikhail was unwilling to risk any of major ships so close to the enemy ports, well in range of any destroyers that may pour of the harbors and hunt for the damaged dreadnought. The engagement, as short as it was, was coming to an end.
Despite the early retreat to ensure the safety of Russian ship, the battle was a victory. Of the British dreadnoughts, three of them were damaged heavily enough that they were unable to make port, despite proximity to the British shore. This was a great success, as the British dreadnought force could be effectively considered destroyed, with one operation dreadnought remaining and two to be commissioned within two months - or already commissioned but in secrecy. What became apparent is that the British no longer had enough heavy units to maintain the blockade of Skagerrak, which immediately caught Mikhail's interest. After a few provocative excursions into the North Sea and the Atlantic, the Russian navy in an ambitious move established a naval blockade of the British Isles. It was a development Mikhail didn't count on, but one he was more than willing to capitalize on.
Interestingly, the first batch of Russian armed merchant cruisers have just finished conversion and were ready to raid British commerce, except the blockade left them with no commerce to raid. As such, they were employed in the role of minelayers and Q-ships, as it has been noted that Great Britain has taken to a new submarine construction program. Many of the Russian ships have also finished their overhauls, while others could finally begin the overhauls. One such case was the Almaz-class. The ships were small and had no free tonnage to spare and their usefulness was questionable. While conceived as raiders, they lacked the speed - having failed the sea trials even before the emergence of turbines doomed their prospects of being considered "fast enough". Still, a ship is a ship and something was to be done with them and for a price that didn't approach the pricetag of the entire vessel - that meant that ultimately very little could be done. Apart from general overhaul, the ships would be outfitted with central firing and mine rails with a capacity for 20 mines. To facilitate this, two of the four torpedo tubes would be removed (forward and aft), leaving the ship with broadside tubes only.
Voevoda of the Almaz-class in her post-refit configuration
Later in May the dreadnought battleship Andrei Pervozvanny was commissioned.
Andrei Pervozvanny (1911) Ships in class: 1 Andrei Pervozvanny was a dreadnought battleship the construction of which was caused largely due to a favorable change in budget. Enough to fund a battleship but not enough for a proper class to follow the Elizavetas, Andrei Pervozvanny was squeezed into the budget as a stepping stone between the Elizavetas and the Pervenets-class originally meant as their successors. The ship displaced 30 000 tons and was equipped with oil-fired boilers and steam turbines producing about 45 000 horsepower for a top speed of 21 knots. The belt was 12" thick, tapering down to 4" and the sloped deck was 2.5" thick. The ship was also equipped with an underwater protection system, improved from that of the Elizavetas. The anti-torpedo bulkhead was thickened and its coverage extended and compartmentalization was further improved. To differentiate it from the earlier scheme, it was classified as a TDS-2 standard of protection. The main battery consisted of ten 330mm obr. 1909 guns in five twin turrets. Two were mounted forward in a superfiring pair and two were mounted aft in a similar arrangement, with the fifth turret placed amidships. While the ship lacked two guns compared to the preceeding Imperatritsa Elizaveta-class, the twin mounts were utilized to avoid the problems of Elizavetas' triple turrets. The ship also featured improved protection while having the same displacement. The secondary battery consisted of twenty 130mm guns in casemates, ten per side. Of those ten, eight were mounted below the freeboard deck and two were placed in the forward superstructure. The ship was also equipped with four torpedo tubes, two per side. During construction the plans were also altered so that the ship would be completed with a director system.
Well that's a uno reverse on the blockade.
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Post by captaintrek on May 14, 2021 13:20:18 GMT -6
So the Brits have lost 10 BB with 1 still operational and 3 soon to be commissioned. But I thought they only had 10 total with another 3 to be commissioned this year.
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Post by janxol on May 14, 2021 16:10:22 GMT -6
So the Brits have lost 10 BB with 1 still operational and 3 soon to be commissioned. But I thought they only had 10 total with another 3 to be commissioned this year. Good catch. One of those three is active and I have missed when it entered service exactly. The other two are either working up or soon to be commissioned, intelligence is unsure.
(Intelligence is unsure largely because I am unsure if AI does actually work up their ships)
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Post by captaintrek on May 15, 2021 3:19:50 GMT -6
Kewl. The Brits got any other designs besides the Vengeances and Irresistibles yet?
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Post by prophetinreverse on May 16, 2021 16:08:28 GMT -6
At this point, the sailors of the Royal Navy have probably tried to mutiny against their incompetent leaders, only for all their ships to spontaneously blow up at anchor.
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Post by janxol on May 25, 2021 5:03:40 GMT -6
Such is war
12:00, July 26th, 1915, St. Petersburg, General-admiral's office Mikhail tilted his head, raising the trinket with Katya's photo so that it's at his eye height. He looked at the photo for a few second, before looking past the trinket at Katya, who was half-lying on the sofa, feet dangling over the armrest and head moving in rhythm of music that only she could hear. Even worse, Mikhail knew exactly what music that is based on her movements. Then Mikhail looked back at the photo, then back to her and back to the photo. But the Katya he was seeing was looking exactly as she should, no imperfections, no missing features, she was exactly as he remembered her, not a single detail omitted in his mind. "Come in!", said Mikhail, hearing a knock on the door. As he put down the trinket and cast one last glance at the hallucinated Katya, lieutenant Tyomkin entered the office. "Your tea, general-admiral. And an additional report which came in just now from Stavanger.", she said. "Vice-admiral Vedernikov and lieutenant-colonel Sapalyov are also waiting to see you." "Thank you. You can let them in.", said Mikhail as she put down the cup with tea and the envelope on his desk. As Aleksandra left the room, he opened the envelope to read the report, very quickly realizing it wasn't one that contained good news. A few minutes later the door opened and in came Artem and Dmitri, with Dmitri suspiciously eying Aleksandra as she let them inside, still unable to see what is "wrong" with "him". "Gentlemen. I hope your mixture of good and bad news is favorable. It already started on the sour note with this.", said Mikhail, raising the report in his hands. "We've just lost a battleship. Petropavlovsk struck a mine in the North Sea, crew couldn't save her."
Pobeda-class battleship. Petropavlovsk was her sister ship.
"Mines in the North Sea seem to have become a rather common phenomenon. During the past three months at least nine ships run into mines, though thus far Petropavlovsk was the only one to be lost.", said Dmitri, as he and Artem took a seat. "We're already converting trawlers into minesweepers, but perhaps expanding the minesweeper force in general is something we should look into." Mikhail nodded. "It may be necessary.", he agreed. "Do we know anything about British plans of breaking the blockade?" "Not really, I do not think they have ships with which to break it at this point. For now, at least...", said Dmitri, before glancing at Artem. "Right, about that.", started the lieutenant-colonel. "It appears the British have deceived us as to their battleship force. The latest dreadnoughts have already been commissioned in secrecy. In fact, we have already sunk one. As per latest reports, the British dreadnought force consists of three Irresistible-class dreadnoughts. It is also fair to assume that the four Incomparable-class battlecruisers are kept in equal secrecy, which means they are either already working up or will be commissioned very soon." "I may also add that Golubov has noted that these four battlecruisers would probably be enough for the British to effectively contest the blockade.", added Dmitri. "And I would be inclined to agree with him." "Blockading the British was never a plan, it was an opportunity.", mused Mikhail. "At the same time, if the British shipyards will start spewing out battleships, we'll once again find ourselves on the other side of that blockade. Apart from the three Irresistibles they have and four Incomparables in construction, what other large warships are the Brits working on?" "Well... None." "None?", repeated Mikhail. "They have the budget where is it gone?" " It appears they have changed tactics after the treatment they got from us.", said Artem. "They have started a submarine construction program instead." "Submarines? How many are they building?" "About a hundred." Mikhail choked on his tea. "That can't be right.", he said, fighting against hot liquid in his lungs. "It may not be, but that's the report we received. We may soon have more problems than a sea full of mines.", said Dmitri. "Right. How is the new battleship performing?" "Andrei Pervozvanny performed well in the trials. Just the usual trim adjustments to make and she's ready for workup.", said Artem. "No major issues." "Well at least that's some good news...", mused Mikhail. "Any new developments in the Far East? I believe Andrei was scheduled to move forward..."
15:00, July 27th, 1915, Yellow Sea, Armored Cruiser Rossiya Andrei looked from the bridge wing as the two Rostislav-class battleships, Imperator Nikolai I and Imperator Aleksandr, fired the guns, moving at a leisurely pace along the coastline. And soon, the shells fell onto the shore, yet another salvo of this bombardment. Off to the side, a group of cargo ships with destroyer escorts was approaching the shore, carrying regiments of marines, weapons and supplies necessary to establish a foothold on the coast. The Russian invasion of Weihawei was in progress. And not a single British vessel was in sight. The coastal batteries long silent, their resistanse discouraged by the Russian bombardment. The British forces were probably consolidating further inland, where the Russian naval guns couldn't assist the ground forces. "Ship spotted!", cried out the lookout. "East!" Andrei calmly took his eyes away from the explosions on the shore and moved to the other bridge wing to take a look. There it was, a British armored cruiser, keeping her distance and cautiously moving around, trying to get a better look, perhaps seeking to check if a cargo ship was left with inadequate escorts. "I don't want it looking at us while the troops are landing.", said Andrei. "Chase it off." And so Rossiya turned towards the enemy, accelerating. As the distance closed, first shots were fired, but the British cruiser immediately turned away and the fire exchange was rather mild, with only two Russian guns and one British gun firing and at long range the odds of actually inflicting damage were miniscule. That was okay with Andrei, as he didn't expect either cruiser to win this engagement, all he wanted was for the British to leave the invasion transports alone. While the odds of hitting were low, they weren't zero. And so a British 10-inch shell struck the top of Rossiya's forward turret. While the turret remained undamaged, splinters hit the deck, the superstructure and the bridge of the ship. As multiple people were hit, Andrei was also thrown to the ground by a stinging pain. He knew this pain, he was hit by shrapnel before in his life. It was a pain he knew but hoped to forget, like burning embers embedded into his body. Arguably, this time it was worse. Back then, he was hit in the arm, now it was the chest that hurt. "Admiral!", he heard the captain. "Get him to the doctor!" Andrei started getting up, but even before he had a chance to realize the idea was questionable, two sailors grabbed him and lifted him up, carrying him down from the bridge and into the superstructure, towards the doctor's cabin. As they laid him down onto the cot, Andrei started to feel better. The hot shrapnel used to burn, but now the this burning feeling was subsiding, replaced by cold. Not even pain, just cold. As the doctor readied his surgical tools with a grim expression, Andrei pondered the phenomenon of this cold, reaching a conclusion rather quickly. "At least I'm not dying of old age.", he chuckled. "That would've been terribly boring..." And as he rested his head on the cot, the admiral's service has come to an end.
AAR continues, slower due to time constraints, but continues.
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Post by janxol on Jun 8, 2021 7:26:45 GMT -6
Nothing lasts forever
21:00, September 2nd, 1915, St. Petersburg, General-admiral's office Mikhail took another sip before setting the glass back on the desk. His eyes darting between the objects lied before him - the tarot deck, open trinket with Katya's photo and the bullet with which he was so well acquainted. He tapped his fingers on the wooden surface, taking a deep breath before again reaching for the glass. The alcohol flowing through his veins proved incapable of drowning the sorrow that beset him, but that didn't stop Mikhail from drinking, emptying the glass and indeed emptying the bottle, forcing him to look for a new source of beverage. A source which he knew was inside the desk, and so he reached for it, another bottle to drink, this time wine instead of vodka, but it will do. It has to. And as he poured the drink, something moved. Katya slowly walked behind him, passing to his left and then to the front of his desk, her steps extremely quiet, in part due to being barefoot, in part due to her uncanny sneaking abilities and in part - because she wasn't really there. She sat down on the chair in front of the desk, looking cautiously at Mikhail. As Koshkin took the first sip of wine, it became apparent that ignoring her will be difficult, and just a minute later it was clear that it would be impossible. There was just no way to look past her, no way to avoid her when she was sitting so close, no way to avoid eye contact. And so Mikhail was forced to look straight at her, unsure of anything. Unsure what he was thinking, unsure what she was thinking, what she wanted. "You're dead...", he said very slowly, for the first time breaking silence with the apparition, and the very words he spoke seeming to cause him pain. "Which means you can't be here. You're only inside my head..." "Where else would I be?", she asked, smiling slightly. "Why am I seeing you?", he asked. "I know you're not real..." "I promised I'd never leave. I suppose you took that to your heart...", she said. "And therefore I am real. As real as you consider me to be, no more and no less." "I doubt I can trick myself into believing you're alive." "You've already tricked yourself into talking to me. You cling to it, you can't let go." "Can't let go...", he repeated. "It's been fifteen years since you're gone. Fifteen years! For fifteen years I've been waking up at night, hearing your voice. For fifteen years I've been haunted by memories of you. The good, the bad, bound together in a way I cannot untangle... Bittersweet, because I can't stop thinking how it all ended and how it will never be again... Fifteen years of being haunted by... What I failed to do... And what I've done. I live with that pain. I hold it tight, till it burns my hand... And I say to myself that one day it has to end. And it doesn't." He paused for a few seconds. "If it makes you feel better... I have avenged you...", he said slowly. "I am dead, Mikhail. It can't make me feel anything.", she said sadly. "Does it make YOU feel better?" He didn't respond. He couldn't. And so instead he reached for the glass with wine. "You shouldn't be drinking to forget and you shouldn't do it alone. You should drink to remember and it should be Andrei's name on that glass, not mine.", said Katya. "All of your names are on this glass.", responded Mikhail, raising it a bit higher and taking a good look at the beverage inside. "Father, Zavragin, Mother, you, Andrei... All of your names, all of your faces. There are more of my friends and loved ones on this glass than there are still alive..." There was silence for a few seconds. "There is another...", said Katya, and Mikhail's expression changed immediately to a grim and stern look. "He's not one I would call friend or kin... He has already been forgotten." "You have been saying that for years. And yet you can't seem to forget him...", she noted. Before any response could be made, someone banged on the door. "Come in!", said Mikhail, taking the bullet from the desk and putting it into his pocket. As expected, it was Dmitri. The admiral poked his head in, taking a look around the room. "What bring you here at this hour, Dmitri?", asked Mikhail. "Well... I knew you're still here... And considering the current time of year and recent events it wouldn't be against your character to drink yourself into another promotion, so I decided to check on you and... WHERE did you get Hungarian wine?", asked Dmitri, clearly put off his pace. Mikhail raised an eyebrow, looking at the bottle of Imperial Tokay in his hand. "Well... Remember how Latnik was in Austria-Hungary for a goodwill visit...?", he said. "Yes, that was about five years ago and I'm pretty sure that crate was emptied." "Technically yes, but by a mysterious an opportune set of circumstances there were five more bottles in that crate than the manifest would claim.", said Mikhail, smiling like a child very proud of himself. "Of course, yes.", sighed Dmitri. "Where are the remaining four, if I may ask?" "Well that was five years ago, so obviously emptied. I am willing to share that last bottle though, if you want to drink to Andrei or something." "For your own safety, I can't let you drink that bottle alone.", he chuckled. "Though I must admit I didn't take you for someone who drinks wine in the first place." As Dmitri headed for the cupboard to get a glass, Mikhail glanced at Katya, who got up from the chair and moved around his desk, soon disappearing from his field of vision and possibly from the office as well. "Firstly, the fact that I'm used to vodka doesn't mean I can't enjoy a soft drink for its flavor. Secondly, I don't actually need everything I drink to kick like a donkey. Thirdly, I have already drunk a bottle of vodka today.", he said, prompting Dmitri to narrow his eyes in mixture of concern and amusement. They sat down together, with Mikhail pouring the wine and Dmitri seemingly judging his sobriety by the way he was doing it. Admittedly, while Mikhail was intoxicated, he was nowhere near as drunk as one would expect a person to be after downing a whole bottle of vodka by themselves. "Did we finally learn how old Andrei was?", asked Mikhail. "Eighty-six." "Eighty-six...", repeated Mikhail. "An eighty-six year-old officer in active duty... I suppose that would mean Yevtushenkov is the younger one." "So it would seem. And while Yevtushenkov has a chance to live longer than Andrei, I don't think anyone is breaking his record of years of active service any time soon. Sixty-six years. He has devoted to this navy more time than either of us has been in this world, Mikhail. It makes me look at things a bit... Differently...", said Dmitri. Mikhail nodded. "And we're all worse for no longer having him around...", he said. "How did you meet him, by the way? I was introduced to him through Zavragin, who used to serve on his ship, but by then I believe you and Andrei were already well-acquainted." "Back in the day when all of us held lower ranks - and some of us had no rank at all - I was a captain of a cruiser serving as flagship of then-kontr-admiral Yablokov. That's how we met and got to know each other.", said Dmitri, smirking slightly. "I learned a lot from him. And quite a lot about him as well. For example I know his greatest fear was to grow old and frail." Mikhail chuckled. "That explains why he opted to die so young..." "I suppose so...", chuckled Dmitri. "He may have grown old, but never frail. He was always incredibly energetic for his age. Always kept his body and mind in shape, until the very end... May he watch over us from above." Dmitri lifted his glass, for Mikhail to respond with the same gesture. "And may he call out all ships he spots, because that's a damn good vantage point."
Despite the loss of admiral Andrei Maximovitch Yablokov, Russian invasion of Weihawei proceeded as planned. The troops have landed successfully, but the fight for control of the territory would likely last. For the time being, command of the Pacific Squadron fell to vice-admiral Osip Ilyitch Tretyakov. Mikhail had never met him and had little knowledge of him, but he was second in command under Andrei and at the present time he had the additional benefit of being in the Far East rather than needing to travel to the Far East to take command. On September 6th the navy commissioned the battlecruiser Rymnik, second ship of the Fokshani-class. With sea trials showing her performing just as well as her sister, the ship was promptly delegated to proper work-up before joining Fokshani and Kinburn in the battlecruiser division.
Russian battlecruiser Rymnik (Fokshani-class)
It was also in September that the Imperial Russian Navy accepted into service its first airplanes. Polikarpov Po-1 (1915) Floatplane Scout
The Polikarpov design bureau was working in cooperation with the Engineering Committee to develop a floatplane that would suit the navy's needs for quite some time. The program produced a few failed prototypes and was set back by a few incidents, including a lethal one, but eventually resulted in a vehicle designates as the Po-1. The aircraft was a single-seat, single-engine biplane with a primarily canvas construction, resting on two floats extending below the fuselage while on the water. It was capable of reaching speeds of 85 knots and had an operational range of 87 nautical miles at speed of 74 knots. The plane's only armament consisted of a 7.62mm machinegun, mounted on the right side of the fuselage and shooting through the propeller blade. The test pilots described the aircraft as maneuverable and the technicians were pleased with relative ease of maintenance. Reliability was one of the focuses when developing the prototype, and while the full judgment on that front couldn't be made until the plane actually spends some time in service, it appeared to be much less temperamental than most of the aircraft employed by the army.
Mikoyan Gurevich MiG-1 (1915) Flying boat
Shortly after work on Po-1 begun Mikoyan Gurevich design bureau approached the navy with a design for a plane that had been rejected by the army. After some debate and evaluation of the prototype the design was accepted with major modifications enabling it to land and take off from water surface, resulting in the MiG-1 flying boat. The plane was significantly larger than the Po-1, and equipped with two engines sharing a single nacelle located above the fuselage, between the lower and upper wing, with propellers arranged in the push-pull arrangement - one in the front of the nacelle and one in the back. The arrangement had its drawbacks but the twin engines were necessary to push the plane to a top speed of 52 knots, as larger fuselage and larger fuel tanks meant a lot more mass. Regardless, the plane had an operational range of 164 nautical miles at 44 knots, about double that of the Po-1. The armament consisted of a single 7.62mm machinegun mounted in a swivel mounts in an open gunner position in the nose of the aircraft and the crew consisted of three people - two pilots and an observer/gunner. While Po-1 received some praise from its pilots for being maneuverable and responsive, the MiG-1 was routinely sweared at by its pilots for flying like a drunken, heavily pregnant cow and indeed the maneuverability of the aircraft leaved much to be desired, to the point where an ambitious airship pilot could try to perform more acrobatic maneuvers. Apart from introduction of the aircraft, the two Sapfir-class cruisers were commissioned by the end of September. Sapfir (1914) Ships in class: 2 Sapfir, Veliki Knyaz Konstantin Sapfir-class light armored cruisers were ordered from American shipyards as part of the agreement to share shipbuilding knowledge for the benefit of Russian industry and were essentially a smaller version of the preceding Yakhont-class cruisers, though there were some changes. Displacing 5300 tons, the ships were equipped with oil-fired boilers and reliable steam turbines producing 35 000 horsepower, driving four propeller shafts - and also making it the only light cruiser incapable of single-shaft cruising, though advancements in technology and increased fuel efficiency should be more than enough to compensate for it. While ships were designed for a top speed of 27 knots, trials have shown that they are well capable of exceeding that, pushing 28 knots with ease. The armor scheme was somewhat different than that of the Yakhont-class. Sapfir-class cruisers had a narrow armored belt 3" thick amidships and tapering down to 2". They also had a flat 1" deck on top, rather than a sloped deck behind, giving up the additional protection for decreased weight. The ships also lacked underwater protection as it was deemed to heavy for a ship of their size. The armament consisted of seven American 6" guns, designated as 152mm (S) in Russian service, mounted in shielded deck mounts. Compared to the Russian domestic equivalent, the 152mm (S) model had superior range and accuracy and overall better qualities as a naval gun, though the differences weren't staggering. Three guns were mounted on the forecastle, one forward and two on sides of the bridge, one was placed between the fourth funnel and aft superstructure, one on the stern and one on either side of aft superstructure. The ship was also armed with four 3" - 76mm (S) - guns in unarmored deck mounts and four submerged torpedo tubes, two on each broadside. The cruisers were also equipped with mine laying rails with capacity for 50 mines. In Europe the blockade of British Isles continued, with regular, but relatively minor engagements. While it was thought that Fokshani and Kinburn would be the most active ships in the blockade, it was actually Latnik - operating in squadron with Vityaz and Voin - that would see the most action, even if said action was far frombringing decisive results. While aging, the cruiser was comfortably outgunning any vessel short of battleships and battlecruisers - which the British didn't have much to spare at the moment. Thing would change, however, in October of 1915. Starting with an unsuccessful convoy attack, in which the Russians lost 3 destroyers for literally no gain, the British have once again increased their activities. With the newest Incomparable-class battlecruisers confirmed to have entered active service and indeed all four of them being spotted operating off the British coast, it was clear that Russians can no longer maintain the blockade. As the US Navy were still committing bulk of their forces to bully Canada and Australia and politely refusing to make themselves useful to a greater degree - making both Mikhail and USN's own admiral Dawson somewhat annoyed. Regardless, in the current situation the Royal Navy was once again in the open seas and quite clearly looking for battle, as if British leadership realized that it's now or never and that the new ships were their best chance to turn the tide.
Incomparable-class battlecruiser
Blockade is over and the Brits appear to put all of their faith into the new ships. Will it be the Empire strikes back or more detonations...
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Post by janxol on Jun 21, 2021 7:57:23 GMT -6
Semi-unsinkable
By the end of October of 1915 the Russian navy managed to lay down twelve more vessels. Ten of them would be Pripyat-class minesweepers, meant to alleviate any future issues with overabundance of enemy mines. In addition to that, two cruisers of new Polkan-class were laid down.
9:30, November 16th, 1915, Baltic Sea, Battleship Andrei Pervozvanny Mikhail watched through binoculars as silhouettes of British ships emerged from the fading mist. A lot of them, in fact, to Mikhail's slight surprise, but still his confidence didn't wane. He knew the British lacked capital ships, with only three dreadnought battleships left in service the rest of the line would be pre-dreadnoughts. And of course there were the Incomparables, which Mikhail spotted immediately. Two of them, visually much larger than remaining ships, sailing right in front of his bow but well out of range, crossing his T in a maneuver that could threaten no-one but yet still seemed to be an attempt of mockery. Mikhail wouldn't have that, as he gave orders to adjust course, the two forces closed range. British battlecruisers have separated somewhat from the main line and Mikhail could see Fokshani and Kinburn accelerating on his right, with Dmitri clearly having his sights on enemy battlecruisers, though as agreed the Russian vessels wouldn't be set loose until the battlelines engaged with one another. As for the British battleline, Mikhail could see three dreadnoughts, followed by what seemed to be nine pre-dreadnoughts. With Russian force including all six Russian dreadnoughts, as well as eight semi- and pre-dreadnoughts, it was apparent that the battle will not be a short one. Well, at least assuming one of the lines won't spontaneously detonate. This was the counter-attack prepared by the British, their attempt to turn the tide of war - clearly commissioning of new ships gave them a boost of confidence and morale, but only two of four new battlecruisers were present. One was in repair after being torpedoed by a Russian submarine a week ago, but the reason for absence of the last ship was unknown. Regardless, while the ships weren't to be ignored, Mikhail didn't believe their influence on the battle would be as great as the British would hope. Russian force turned to starboard, heading west, with British turning to port to head west as well. The opposing fleets were lining up, prepared to open fire and soon first shots were exchanged. Before focusing on the battleships, however, Mikhail once again looked to the Incomparables in the front, knowing that they intend to get ahead and cross his T at relatively safe range to get to the opposing side of his line. He couldn't have that. "Signal Fokshani. He's free to hunt!", he said, turning briefly to lieutenant Tyomkin. Flag signals were relayed, Fokshani acknowledged and both Russian battlecruisers immediately ran ahead of the line, chasing after the Incomparables - despite the fact that most would say the British battlecruisers outclassed their Russian counterparts. "Captain?", asked Mikhail, turning his attention to the British battleships. "We're starting to straddle the target, enemy fire largely ineffective thus far.", he reported. Starting to straddle indeed, and it was certainly better than missing entirely. Still, the ship was new and so was the crew, which was one of the reasons why Mikhail set up his flag on Andrei Pervozvanny and not Tri Ierarha, following second in battleline. He trusted Cherkashin's command, but on Andrei he wanted a close watch on things. As the opening hour of the engagement passed, Mikhail liked what he was seeing. Conditions were good and shots were falling on target and the Russians were claiming an advantage of both numbers and firepower in the battlelines. Especially in the front, where the dreadnoughts were, the British were already starting to crumble under the onslaught of Russian 330mm gunfire. In the back, Latnik and a pair of Bayan-class cruisers were engaging in a gunfight against British armored cruisers. Everything was developing well, even Dmitri's force was successful in engaging the British battlecruisers, in no small part due to inaccurate British fire. As smoke was starting to accumulate over the battlefield, the first detonation of the battle occurred and it was to nobody's surprise that it was one of the British dreadnoughts that underwent rapid disassembly. Between that and general damage to enemy ships, with several being either on fire and having developed a visible list, the British battleline was slowly starting to fall apart. And so the British line turned south, attempting to perform an organized retreat, and Mikhail had his ship follow closely, not allowing them to disengage. The Incomparables in front also turned south and back toward the main force. At this point in the battle the Russian battlecruisers were feeling the effects of British gunfire, especially Kinburn was damaged and battered, with heavy list and of her wing turrets completely destroyed. In fact, Kinburn took the opportunity to retreat from the battle entirely, while Fokshani rushed back towards the fleet, not as much following the movement of Incomparables, but rather because Dmitri understood there can be no good outcome in the engagement he had on his hands. With that, the Incomparables themselves shifted their fire towards Russian battleships, inaccurate at first but soon first shells found their marks. Mikhail understood that the 15-inch guns of the battlecruisers are more capable than any previous naval gun and so their fire was not to be discounted. At the same time, he temporarily had another issue on his hands. Visibility was worsening, as the November sun was descending towards the horizon and smoke was accumulated over the battlefield and so British destroyers opted to perform a charge in an attempt to shield the retreating battleships. The Russian line immediately started evasive maneuvers and their own destroyers rushed forward to defend. The British would pay the price for this maneuver, but still the torpedoes were launched and some found their marks. One struck Gangut, and two hits were scored on the Tri Ierarha. In fact, Tri Ierarha wasn't in particularly good shape, as she seemed to have been the focus of enemy fire throughout the battle. Much of the superstructure was ruined and there were visible signs of flooding - and Mikhail became worried that the two torpedoes could be too much. And then a salvo from one of Incomparables struck the Tri Ierarha, causing a spectacular explosion of her L-turret. Now with fire and smoke trailing from the vessel, the battleship signaled the need to retreat and started to turn out of line, rolling substantially as she did so. At this point, however, Mikhail could do nothing but wish Cherkashin luck and focus on the enemy. As another British vessel detonated under Russian fire, Mikhail ordered his line to split, in part to restore order after the hectic evasive maneuver during the destroyer charge and in part to make sure the Incomparables have something on their plate. With Andrei Pervozvanny, Imperatritsa Elizaveta Petrovna and Gangut altering course and traversing turrets to lay down fire on the battlecruisers, the remaining battleships returned to the task of pursuing the British battleships. As minutes passed it was becoming clear that many wouldn't be able to retreat, while others could only be saved by the coming night. As for the battlecruisers, Mikhail had no illusions about being able to catch them. The only ship capable of that was Fokshani and the odds were not in her favor. And so the Incomparables would escape relatively undamaged and Mikhail could merely watch their silhouettes disappearing as darkness descended upon the seas. 22:00, Battleship Tri Ierarha The night was bright, with clear skies and starlight and moonlight illuminating the waves as the wounded battleship crawled towards safety. In the distance, Cherkashin could make out the Finnish shore, and he knew the port of Hango was near. And yet never did a port this close seem so distant to him. He turned towards the first officer as he dashed onto the bridge. "Captain, sir! Second bulkhead just ruptured, the flooding is out of control.", he reported. "How much?" "Too much, sir. The ship is sinking, she can capsize any minute now..." For a few seconds there was silence, as Cherkashin looked at the shore in the distance. Then he glanced to the side, where he could clearly see armored cruiser Voin and a pair of destroyers, ready to assists the crew of the battleship. And yet it was so close... "Fires?", he asked. "All extinguished, but it's the flooding that's going to kill us." There was the shore. It wasn't even about the port, the shore was right there. So close and yet so far. "Abandon ship.", he said. "Signal Voin and organize the evacuation, commander. I'm staying behind." "Captain..." The evacuation alarm was sounded and the order to abandon ship was being passed, with crew starting to ready themselves on the deck. "As long as the ship has an inch of freeboard, it's not sunk. I might be able to beach her. Go, evacuate the crew.", ordered Cherkashin, approaching the engine room voice tube. "Engine room, how many men do you need to keep the engine running for the next ten-to-fifteen minutes?" "Just keep it running - eight.", came a response from chief engineer. "Then I need that many to stay behind." For a moment there was silence. "Me and nine others will stay to operate the engine, captain.", he heard chief engineer. "You said eight, that's ten." "Ten volunteers." "Understood. Be ready to give me top speed once the crew is off." "We are at top speed." "We are at six knots." "Correct." Cherkashin sighed, again looking at the shore before approaching the helm and relieving the helmsman to grab the wheel himself. On each of his commands came a point when he'd steer the ship himself, though he did wish that in case of Tri Ierarha it would be under more opportune circumstances. All he had to do was to keep her steady and pointed towards the shore and avoid being capsized by the waves. Soon he saw that the boats that survived the battle were launched, but for many there was simply no place in them and so most of the crew was in the water. Cherkashin didn't envy them, but other ships were already in the process of taking them up, launching their own boats and keeping the searchlights on the men in the water. With that, Cherkashin focused on the ship, crawling through the night towards the shore, and no other distance ever seemed this large. And as time passed he could see that the ship was not only listing to port, but also pitching forward significantly. And even worse it seemed as if water was washing over the bow more and more, a testimony to the steadily decreasing amount of freeboard. And then he heard the ship groan, the metal straining under the forces put on it by water unevenly filling the compartments. "Captain, we just heard a bulkhead rupture. Unsure which one.", came a voice from the engine room voice tube. Four thousand yards. While telling distance in the night was difficult, the shore couldn't be further. Another groan, and looking down he could see that water is washing over the bow and around the base of the forward turret. The port casemates were now underwater, allowing for more flooding and the ship started to roll over. Cherkashin could do nothing to counteract the motion, gentle at first but then increasing as more water poured into the hull. Two thousand yards. In the pale moonlight Cherkashin could clearly see the beach, but while it was so close, he now understood it was too far. The ship's stability was lost and as the casemates flooded, she was about to capsize. And then a loud noise and vibration going through the ship, and Cherkashin was almost thrown off-balance at the impact - because quite clearly it was an impact. The bow raised up slightly, and ever so little it seemed like the ship's roll decreased, even as the forward motion ceased completely. "Full stop! Full stop!", yelled Cherkashin into the voice tube. The hull groaned and creaked and then everything stopped. To say that the ship was stable was an overstatement, but the sudden rigidity and lack of wave motion seemed to confirm Cherkashin's suspicion that the keel is relatively firmly planted in the ground. "All stop on the engines. Did we make it?", asked the chief engineer. "Not quite. But we hit the shallows and sitting on the bottom is technically preventing us from sinking any deeper." As the battle came to an end it was clear to be a great Russian victory. Even though neither Incomparable-class battlecruiser was heavily damaged, British battleship force was effectively no more, with one dreadnought and five pre-dreadnoughts left in service. While some of the Russian ships suffered very heavy damage, including Kinburn and two of the pre-dreadnoughts barely remaining afloat, the Russian losses were minor. Tri Ierarha's fate was the msot interesting, as technically the ship did sink, though ultimately it did so in a place that was shallow enough not to allow her to fully disappear beneath the waves. Interestingly, the shallow in which it stopped was deep enough for the dreadnought to clear it, were it not for the flooding making it sit deeper in the water. As such, the ship was deemed recoverable and efforts were planned to secure the area, perform repairs and raise the ship in order to tow it to a shipyard. It was estimated though, that it would be at least six months, possibly more, before she'd be fit to return to service.
That's Royal Navy isn't much of a navy anymore.
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Post by prophetinreverse on Jun 22, 2021 9:16:49 GMT -6
So how did that happen in game?
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