Post by RNRobert on Sept 29, 2015 8:33:56 GMT -6
Naval engagement that occurred during the during the Franco-Thai War.
At dawn on 17 January 1941, a French naval squadron consisting of the light cruiser Lamotte-Piquet and four avisos engages a Thai naval detachment near the Koh Chang anchorage, sinking two torpedo boats and forcing a coast defense vessel aground. It was a decisive victory, but the end of the month saw an armistice between France and Thailand (mediated by the Japanese) which resulted in France ceding some of its Cambodian provinces to Thailand.
I thought this would be an interesting scenario for WC-NAW, although a bit of a challenge as only one of the ships that took part in the battle is present in the database.
The largest Thai vessel in the battle was a coast defense vessel, the Thonburi. She was built in Japan and was 2,265 tons with a speed of 15 ½ knots. She carried four 8-inch guns in two twin turrets (the same that were used by the IJN’s heavy cruisers) and four 3-inch guns. I decided to use the German Schleswig class pre-dreadnought to represent them-not an ideal choice, as these ships were larger and more heavily armed and armored than the Thai vessel, but I felt nothing else in WC-NAW really came close. I also reduced her speed from 18 knots to the 16 knots of the Thai vessel.
The two torpedo boats (Chonburi and Songhkla) were Trad class torpedo boats, about 470 tons displacement, with a speed of 32 knots, with three three-inch guns and six 18-inch torpedo tubes (two twin and two single mounts). They had been built in Italy and based on that nation’s Spica class torpedo boats, and for that reason I had considered using the Italian Sella class to represent them. However, in the end, I decided that the smaller Wickes-40, with its weaker 3” armament, and carrying the same number of torpedoes as the Thai warships, was the better fit.
For the French, the Lamotte-Piquet was a Duguay-Trouin class light cruiser, which made that simple. Of the four avisos, the two Bougainville class (Dumont d'Urville and Amiral Charner) were the largest, about 2600 tons full load, with a speed of approximately 16 knots and three 3.9-inch guns. I decided to use the Pluton class CLs to represent them, as they had the same caliber main gun battery. They were much larger than the avisos, and had a secondary 3” battery which the Bougainvilles lack, but I figured that could be used to represent the two smaller avisos (Tahure and Marne) which were also present. I also reduced their speed to that of the avisos.
The scenario is perfectly balanced point-wise, although in playing it, the French seem to have the edge (even though all crews are average).
KOH CHANG.txt (1.47 KB)
At dawn on 17 January 1941, a French naval squadron consisting of the light cruiser Lamotte-Piquet and four avisos engages a Thai naval detachment near the Koh Chang anchorage, sinking two torpedo boats and forcing a coast defense vessel aground. It was a decisive victory, but the end of the month saw an armistice between France and Thailand (mediated by the Japanese) which resulted in France ceding some of its Cambodian provinces to Thailand.
I thought this would be an interesting scenario for WC-NAW, although a bit of a challenge as only one of the ships that took part in the battle is present in the database.
The largest Thai vessel in the battle was a coast defense vessel, the Thonburi. She was built in Japan and was 2,265 tons with a speed of 15 ½ knots. She carried four 8-inch guns in two twin turrets (the same that were used by the IJN’s heavy cruisers) and four 3-inch guns. I decided to use the German Schleswig class pre-dreadnought to represent them-not an ideal choice, as these ships were larger and more heavily armed and armored than the Thai vessel, but I felt nothing else in WC-NAW really came close. I also reduced her speed from 18 knots to the 16 knots of the Thai vessel.
The two torpedo boats (Chonburi and Songhkla) were Trad class torpedo boats, about 470 tons displacement, with a speed of 32 knots, with three three-inch guns and six 18-inch torpedo tubes (two twin and two single mounts). They had been built in Italy and based on that nation’s Spica class torpedo boats, and for that reason I had considered using the Italian Sella class to represent them. However, in the end, I decided that the smaller Wickes-40, with its weaker 3” armament, and carrying the same number of torpedoes as the Thai warships, was the better fit.
For the French, the Lamotte-Piquet was a Duguay-Trouin class light cruiser, which made that simple. Of the four avisos, the two Bougainville class (Dumont d'Urville and Amiral Charner) were the largest, about 2600 tons full load, with a speed of approximately 16 knots and three 3.9-inch guns. I decided to use the Pluton class CLs to represent them, as they had the same caliber main gun battery. They were much larger than the avisos, and had a secondary 3” battery which the Bougainvilles lack, but I figured that could be used to represent the two smaller avisos (Tahure and Marne) which were also present. I also reduced their speed to that of the avisos.
The scenario is perfectly balanced point-wise, although in playing it, the French seem to have the edge (even though all crews are average).
KOH CHANG.txt (1.47 KB)