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Post by dickturpin on Oct 8, 2015 15:11:28 GMT -6
I worked on a mod of the Grand Campaign earlier this year. I got to around mid 1916 and got frustrated with a few errors I had made. I recently came back to it and fixed things.
As it seemed interesting (to me at least) I thought I would have a go at doing an AAR.
Due to the historical strategic situation in WW1, the Germans were unable to influence matters outside the North Sea due to the British control of the main egress points and their lack of overseas bases. The German strategy was based upon use of the Army to secure victory and the fleet was used primarily as a deterrent against British close blockade, actions against the German coast and the important Baltic trade. The British were sufficiently deterred and implemented a distant blockade of questionable effectiveness (in the short term) and predominantly, a continental strategy with her army. Consequently both sides accepted the status quo and the naval campaign consisted of a series of indecisive skirmishes.
As the subject of a game and assuming you i not want to sit and watch the other side whilst the Army decides events, I need to represent a "what if" scenario that assumes the naval arm will be used in a decisive and aggressive manner. The standard campaign confines itself to the North Sea; much of the associated coast line being of low strategic value. For more decisive action, I expanded the map to include the Western Baltic and the Channel. This involved more ships and coastal infrastructure. I have dispensed with reach missions (except those involving seaplane carriers) and replaced them with go somewhere and do something missions. I have included lots of new ships and researched and adjusted the existing ones to ensure consistency. I have made amendments to the data file.
One of the main amendments has been to replace generic Torpedo Boats with representations of the real vessels in realistic numbers; these can be quite dangerous and are very numerous early in the game. It is necessary to thin out these coastal patrols if I want to take action near the enemy coast.
Experience with the original version of the Campaign suggested to me that the German side was easier to play so I have taken the role of the British (also some of the navigation is more difficult from the British side and the AI is not so good at this aspect - I have used some "suspected minefields" to smooth out the coast in some areas to help the AI).
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Post by dickturpin on Oct 8, 2015 15:14:46 GMT -6
1914
Following the declaration of war at 23:00 on 4th August 1914, naval operations began in earnest on 5th. Dramatic events unfolded with a major attack on the Heligoland Blight by forces from the Battlecruiser force and the Dover Patrol to cover an attack by the 8 Battleships of the 3rd Battlesquadron on Borkum; all its forts were destroyed in the attack. The Germans lost 2 small cruisers, 10 torpedo boats and a trawler in one day. Meanwhile in the western north sea, the German Battlecruiser Von der Tann was lost following an attack by a RN Submarine.
The only British loss was the old protected cruiser St. George.
That a German ship of almost 20,000t should be accounted for by a 600t submarine led to speculation as to the effectiveness of German warships and to confident predictions in the Admiralty that the war would be over for Christmas.
Further British attacks on the Blight accounted for a further 8 torpedo boats and 3 trawlers by the end of August. The British only lost 1 submarine in this period.
British attacks continued during early September accounting for further German light forces but the Germans struck back with a major attack on the Kent coast doing considerable damage. The Germans returned on 17th September hitting not just coastal installations but also British units from the Harwich Force returning from the Blight, coastal patrols and merchant ships. British losses in September off Kent amounted to 9 merchants, 6 Destroyers and 3 cruisers. The light cruiser Southampton was sunk in the same area by a U-Boat.
Mid September saw a change in British strategy with an attack on the Baltic. On 17th September the major battle of Bomholm occured between a British force of 8 Armored and 3 Light Cruisers and a German force of 2 Armoured and 3 Light Cruisers. The weaker German force was almost wiped out including the loss of Fredrich Carl and Furst Bismarck. The only German success of note was the Gazelle (which survived the battle) managing to torpedo HMS Natal and putting her out of action for 2 months.
The British also lost HMS Lion for a month following her hitting a mine.
A major battle took place on 1st October in the Blight with the British Harwich Force and Dover Patrol in combat with German patrols. The Germans lost the cruiser Berlin and 9 Torpedo Boats for the loss of the Destroyer Viking.
The Germans struck back on the 16th with 3 transports sunk by the scouting forces off Ramsgate. The first brush of heavy units took place on 14th with British Battlecruisers Queen Mary and New Zealand enganging the rear of a large force of German Battleships. The Germans ships engaged posed little threat as they were old and outranged vessels but the shooting of the British was very poor and no hits were achieved before nightfall ended the engagement.
The month closed with a major action in the Blight. The British Chanel Fleet Battleships attacked Borkum again causing heavy damage and destroying two forts whilst the attack was covered by the British light forces from Dover and Harwich together with the Battlecruiser Fleet. The British sank a Destroyer, 2 Torpedo Boats, a Divisional Boat and 3 Trawlers for the loss of the old cruiser Sappho and the Destroyer Zulu. The Queen Mary and New Zealand exchanged gunnery with Seydlitz, Moltke and Blucher, successfully holding them off with the help of a flotilla attack. When the action was curtailed by nightfall, the Seydlilz had been damaged by 3 hits from heavy shells.
During the withdrawl, concern was had over the worstening condition of the Battleship Prince of Wales that had been heavily damaged by the shore batteries. She eventually made it back to Harwich but the Venerable was not so fortunate as she struck a mine and sank.
With the shortening daylength, November saw a general slowing of the pace of the fighting. On the 12th and 13th however, a series of significant actions took place. In the late afternoon of the 12th, the British Battlecruiser Fleet including the Lion, Queen Mary and New Zealand engaged the van of the High Seas Fleet at ranges exceeding 16,000 yards. Whilst favoured by the wind direction, the British outshot their German opponents achieving 10 hits for only 5 recieved. The Queen Mary scored 7 hits on the Possen and the Lion hit the Nassau 3 times. The Lion received 3 hits and New Zealand 1 from Nassau and Possen, the Queen Mary was hit by Westfalen. Some concern was experienced when New Zealand started falling back but she retained sufficient speed to maintain the range.
On the 13th, a British force based around the 2nd and 6th Cruiser Squadrons attacked German patrols in the Baltic sinking the coastal Battleships Hagen and Odin together with 2 light cruisers. Beowolf managed to torpedo HMS Shannon which left the battle to limp home. In all, the British deployed 12 Cruisers with Destroyer support against a German force of 4 small Battleships and 3 Cruisers. On the same day, the German Scouting Group attacked Hartlepool doing significant damage and sinking 2 old cruisers.
Most of December was quiet but on Christmas Eve, the Harwich Force ran into the German Fleet in the Blight. In a viscious close range fight, Graudenz and Rostock were sunk by torpedos and Princess Margaret Thetis and Laforey were lost to Gunfire; Thetis exploding in spectacular fashion. Helgoland was torpedoed and almost sank, it took 4 hours to bring the flooding under control and she finally limped into Wilhemshaven. Thuringen, Ostfriesland, Konig Albert, Prinzregent Luipold and Blucher were all torpedoed in the action.
By the end of 1914, British losses amounted to 1 Battleship, 9 Light and Protected Cruisers, 10 Destroyers, 7 Auxilleries, 4 Submarines and 13 Transports. The Germans had lost 1 Battlecruiser, 2 Coastal Battleships, 2 Armored and 11 Light Cruisers, 4 Destroyers, 4 Division Boats, 33 Torpedo Boats, 10 Trawlers and 1 Submarine.
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Post by dickturpin on Nov 2, 2015 16:09:05 GMT -6
Early 1915
British Admiralty plans for the winter and early spring were for a scaling down of operations during the dark months to allow for training. These plans were disrupted by reports of enemy actions and requests for operations by the high command. Heavy attrition of the German patrolling light forces in 1914 resulted in a slightly less dangerous environment for actions by heavy ships in the Blight and the Baltic. British mining operations to seal off the Blight were ongoing and the Danes mined their coastal waters in the Baltic leaving a narrow channel in Sweedish waters as the only access point.
January got off to a violent start when elements of the Harwich force encountered the High Seas Fleet on the night of the 5th off Ameland. The German flagship Friedrich der Grosse was sunk by torpedoes fired by Lawford and Murray. The British lost a destroyer and old cruiser in the engagement. The British Battlecruiser Fleet was at sea hunting for German forces and covering actions further south. On the afternoon of the 6th in the Battle of Terschelling, the Lion, Priccess Royal, Queen Mary, Tiger and New Zealand attacked the rear of the High Seas Fleet sinking the old Battleships Wittesbach and Mecklenberg. British losses consisted of the destroyer Morris.
Joy at the successes was tepered by news of a disaterous attck on Ostend in which the British Channel Fleet was driven off by shore batteries with the loss of Bulwark and Hannibal. The flagship Lord Nelson was also badly damages and limped out of the action, requiring dockyard attention until 16th March. The Second, Seventh, Eigth and Nineth Squadrons were involved in the attack. The Battleships were decisively out shot by the shore batteries in the engagement.
Later in the month, the British launched a full scale operation involving the Grand Fleet, Battlecruiser Fleet, Harwich Force and 2 squadrons from the Channel Fleet. This was prompted by rumors of a German operation and a planned attack on Borkum.The Germans struck first with a Cruiser force of Coln, Straslund and Pillau accompanied by Destroyers attacking Wissant and merchant shipping in the eastern Channel and off the Dutch Coast; 3 merchants were sunk. This force was intercepted by the Battlecruiser fleet with Coln , V3 and V90 lost in a running battle. The Battleships destroyed the Borkum forts using overwhelming force; Frauenlob was mined and despatched by the Grand Fleet along with 3 Destroyers.
Early February saw simultaneous attacks on Belgium and the Baltic; Ostend was attacked successfully by the Channel Fleet with long range support from the Battlecruiser Fllet whilst Kaiser Friedrich III and 2 light cruisers were sunk in the Baltic. British losses were 1 Destroyer lost and Prince of Wales badly damaged. The Germans stuck back against the Harwich Force later in the month sinking 3 modern M class Destroyers for the loss of 2 of their own boats. However, 2 Derflinger and Moltke were torpedoed.
Early March saw a skirmish off Texel in which Seydlitz was torpedoed by Undaunted, who was in turn sunk by Pillau. Pillau was in turn torpedoed and sunk by Aurora. An attack was launched on Danzig by a British force consisting of the third and sixth Battle Squadrons and Cruiser support; the Cruiser Undine was also sunk. Later in the month, the Battlecruiser Fleet raided off the coast of Denmark sinking 2 Light Cruisers and 3 Destroyers.
4th April saw the German scouting forces successfully attack Sunderland and sink a merchant. On 15th, there was a night battle of Texel in an 11 minute engagement at less than 3,000 yards. The Blucher was the solitary large ship in the German force. The first Battlecruiser squadron fired off a handfull of rounds before they lost sight of the target but Tiger fired a torpedo which hit home. In a 2 minutes exchange of fire, New Zealand scored 2 main battery hits and 6 secondary battery hits on Blucher wrecking 2 turrets; she was also hit by Lurcher. In another exchange of 4 minutes, she received a further 12" hit by Indefatigable but scored three 8" and four 6" hits in return. The British force of seven Battlecruisers must have been hopefull of locating and finishing off the lone damaged Blucher in the morning but Queen Mary and Tiger became detached from the main body and Queen Mary blundered into a minefield and British efforts became concentrated on extracting their cripple.
British Cruisers were active in the Baltic during April sinking 3 Merchants and a Destroyer. In a change of tactics, the Galatea laid a minefield in the Baltic which had immediate success accounting for the Brandenberg.
Losses 1st January - 30th April
British - 2 Battleships, 2 Protected Cruisers, 2 Light Cruisers, 9 Destroyers, 1 Submarine, 7 Merchants, 1 Auxillary.
German - 5 Battleships, 8 Light Cruisers, 8 Destroyers, 2 Torpedo Boats, 1 Divisional Boat, 2 Submarines, 6 Trawlers, 3 Merchants.
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Post by dickturpin on Nov 2, 2015 16:20:44 GMT -6
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Post by dickturpin on Nov 2, 2015 16:23:09 GMT -6
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Post by dickturpin on Nov 11, 2015 16:14:56 GMT -6
Mid 1915 Part 1
The main campaigning season got underway with a series of raids in mid May. A German force centered around Moltke and Seydlitz ambushed the Harwich force off Ameland sinking the old cruisers Naiad and Sirius. They followed up with an attack on Dunkirk, Calais and Wissant and sank 2 merchants. The Harwich Force raided the Blight sinking 6 torpedoboats, 4 Merchants and a trawler. Amphion was badly damaged following a torpedo hit from T73. The old cruiser King Alfred was lost to an internal explosion. Further raids occured with the British 1st and 2nd Cruiser Squadrons attacking Danzig and sinking 4 transports. On 29th May, they sank the Kaiser Karl der Grosse. German A class torpedoboats sank 4 transports in the channel. Battle of Dogger Bank 8th June 2015
The British forces consisted of 22 Dreadnought and 8 older Battleships, 7 Battlecruisers, 15 Armoured and 12 Light Cruisers plus 42 Destroyers. German forces consisted of 2 Battlecruisers, 4 Light Cruisers and 9 Destroyers. The British received intelligence that the Germans were planning a minelaying action off the British coast. The Royal Navy put to sea in force and intercepted the Germans to the east of Dogger Bank; a running fight occurred as the Germans retreated in the direction of the Danish coast (see chart). Birmingham sighted the Moltke at 12:50. Action began when Seydlitz opened fire on Nottingham at 12:59; Birmingham returned fire at 13:00. At 13:04 there was a near miss on Nottingham from Seydlitz. The British Battlecruiser Fleet was well to the east of the Grand fleet when action opened. The Battlecruisers on both sides were exchanging fire and at 13:15 Queen Mary scored a heavy caliber hit on Moltke and Oak was also hit. The Germans initially had better visibility but the pursuing British managed to work round to the South of the Germans to both gain the advantage of visibility and also cut the Germans off from their bases. Ranges in the Battlecruiser engagement were 13,500 - 18,500 yards. The Germans had the worst of this engagement which was unsurprising as the British had a 7:2 advantage; Moltke suffered 14 hits and Seydlitz 7 whilst Princess Royal was hit 3 times and Tiger once. One of the hits on the Princess Royal smashed through her decks doing considerable damage and reducing her speed to 19 knots. She had to be detached as a consequence. An attack by British Destroyers forced the Germans to turn away and into the path of the pursuing Grand fleet. Grand fleet cruisers sighted the Germans at 16:00 and by 16:50 the Battleships had visual contact with German forces. The resulting situation appeared hopeless from the German perspective as they were now caught between the two British forces and their destruction appeared inevitable. A lull in the fighting of about 15 minutes occured as the British closed in for the kill but by the time action resumed at 19:00; darkness was the only possible salvation for the Germans. For the next 45 minutes, the Germans were battered, Moltke received a further 14 hits (for a total of 27) Seydlitz a further 16 hits (for a total of 23) Strasburg suffered 36 heavy and 21 medium hits whilst Kolberg blew up at 19:58 when her mines were hit. Ranges were 10,500 - 17,500 yards for the fighting between capital ships. Moltke was suffering severe flooding and was on fire. Her speed had dropped to 19 knots. Seydlitz was not in much better condition and Strasburg was sinking. However, the fading light enabled the Germans to slip away. At 20:10, the British lost the Destroyer Staunch and at 21:03 Colossus was hit by a torpedo. The Germans managed to slip past the British in the night. Thus final losses were 2 light cruisers on the German side and 1 Destroyer on the British side. Attachment Deleted
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Post by dickturpin on Nov 12, 2015 16:14:49 GMT -6
Mid 1915 Part 2
July saw the Germans launching raids on the English east coast. Early in the month, Great Yarmouth was bombarded by Derfflinger. A second raid was however preempted by the British who had put to sea with the Grand Fleet and Battlecruiser Fleet following intelligence of the German operation. The German force was based around 2 old cruisers with Destroyer support and was ambushed by the Battlecruiser Fleet on 24th July. Prinz Adalbert and D45 were sunk. Hansa was damaged and only avoided destruction through the fall of darkness. Hansa suffered 3 heavy hits from Princess Royal and 6 light hits. D45 exploded following a hit on her mines. Prinz Adalbert was hit for the first time at 19:10 at over 21,000 yds by Queen Mary. She was hit 6 times by Lion, 4 times by Queen Mary, 5 times by Tiger and twice by Inflexible (hits from Queen Mary at long range caused fatal damage). At the end of the action, ranges were down to 7,000 yds. Lion was hit by 3 6" shells.
On the morning of 9th August, Worth was sunk by British cruisers in the Baltic. She suffered 92 hits by 6 - 9" guns, 2 hits from light guns and a torpedo from Lancaster. No hits were received in return. S127 was also sunk and Kiel was attacked with Garden and the Imperial Dockyards bombarded.
Derfflinger and Blucher attacked the Sunderland battery also sinking 2 transports and a destroyer.
Battle of Scarbrough 20 -21 August
Seydlitz, Derfflinger, Blucher, Straslund and 9 Destroyers attacking the east coast were intercepted by a British force consisting of Lion, Princess Royal, Qeen Mary, Tiger, Indefatigable, Australia, Invincible, Inflexible, Indomitable Lowestoft, Nottingham and 10 Destroyers.
The Germans attacked Whitby and Scarbrough bombarding the towns and sinking 4 merchants. The British caught the Germans against the coast and chased them down to Grimsby. Contact was lost at night but the British found the Germans the following morning and a further brief engagement occurred.
Lowestoft sighted smoke at 11:26 and identified the ships as Germans at 11:39. Tiger opened fire at 11:40 and Queen Mary hit Blucher at 11:46. Visibility was favourable for the British and ranges were 15,000 - 23,000 yards.
Seydlitz was badly damaged by 2 hits by Lion at 12:05 and 12:08 suffering severe flooding. She had to be detached as a result. Blucher was badly damaged by a hit from Tiger at 12:40 and suffered flooding; a further hit at 13:29 caused fires to break out. Blucher hit a mine at 16:35. Contact was lost at 20:23 when a British flotilla attack petered out. Derfflinger was hit by a torpedo fired by Landrail. The German force was battered and scattered at this time.
Further contacts were made in the night before the Germans were sighted again the following morning. At 4:06 Seydlitz fired on British Destroyers and Derfflinger was hit by Princess Royal at 4:44. The British were however running out of ammunition by this time and Queen Mary had no shells left. Action by the capital ships was therefore suspended and an attack by light forces was made and the Germans were driven through British minefields. Straslund hit a mine at 8:17.
Derfflinger suffered 28 heavy, 1 medium, and 2 light shell hits and was torpedoed.
Seydlilz was hit by 20 heavy and 2 medium shells.
Blucher was hit by 7 heavy and 1 medium shell and was mined.
Princess Royal and Lion were each hit 3 times by heavy shells.
Inflexible was hit by 2 heavy shells.
Invincible and Indomitable were hit by 1 heavy shell each.
Queen Mary achieved 15 hits, Tiger 11, Lion and Princess Royal 9 each and the 12" gunned Battlecruisers 13 between them.
Battle of Rostok 21 August
K Wilhelm der Grosse & K Wilhelm II were sunk by a British force consisting of 11 Armoured and 3 Light Cruisers.
Concerns were being expressed in the Royal Navy as 2 major engagements had seen massively outnumbered German forces survive without the loss of a major capital ship. Factors such as poor shells, poor shooting by the Battlecruisers and failure to close gunnery ranges were all considered as potential contributory causes. Previous confidence over the weakness of German ships had now evaporated.
British losses: 1 Armoured, 2 Light and 1 Protected Cruiser, 3 Destroyers, 12 Merchants, 3 Trawlers, 1 Submarine German losses 4 Battleships, 1 Armoured and 2 Light Cruisers, 3 Destroyers, 6 Torpedo Boats, 8 Merchants, 8 Trawlers.
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Post by dickturpin on Dec 4, 2015 15:47:42 GMT -6
Late 1915
September 1915 saw a lull in the fighting; the most notable event being the loss of the old cruiser Skirmisher sunk by Moltke off the Humber.
October began with an abortive raid in the Baltic. HMS Natal was lost following a torpedo hit from S91. The only German loss in this raid was S94.
Mid October saw a clash between light cruisers and destroyers in the channel. The British lost an AMC minelayer but sunk Munchen, Hamburg, Danzig and 2 destroyers.
A large action occured on 30th October when the British Battlecruiser Fleet encountered the High Seas Fleet off the Dutch Coast. The battle initially whent the way of the British but German reinforcements turned the tide and the British were forced to flee.
The British force consisted of 9 Battlecruisers, 3 Light Cruisers and 14 Destroyers. The Germans had 24 Battleships including 13 Dreadnoughts, 5 Light Cruisers and 40 Destroyers, although Straslund was badly damaged following a torpedo hit from the E16 the previous day.
Lowestoft spotted a number of German ships heading north at 11:20. Her fellow scout Birmingham came under fire from German Battleships at 11:39. Lion was the first British ship in action at 11:53. She scored the first hit of the battle at 12:17 hitting Deutschland at 14,000 yards.
The British sensed an oportunity to secure a decisive victory as the ships engaged were all old vessels. The Germans were out shot by 12 hits to 4 in this fight that lasted until 13:07. Schlesien was the most heavily damaged of the German ships following 6 hits from Queen Mary. Pommern was hit twice by Tiger and once by Australia; Deutschland was hit twice by Lion and once by Princess Royal. On the British side, Princess Royal was hit twice by Hanover and Lion received 2 hits from Preussen. Ranges were 11,500 - 17,000 yards. Schlesien began to fall behind the rest of the German line and looked certain to be lost. One of the other German Battleships also appeared in distress. However at 13:01, the British spotted the first of the German Dreadnoughts; the van of the High Seas Fleet had reversed course and was heading south to offer succor to their hard pressed collegues. Visibility was favourable to the Germans and their heavy shells soon began to fall among the British ships. The British reversed course and Beatty ordered full speed and sent his destroyers to cover the retreat.
In the second phase of the battle, the Germans out shot the British 14 hits to 2 and the Indefatigable and New Zealand dropped back due to flooding caused by heavy calibre shell hits. Ranges were 9,000 to 18,000 yards. All British ships were however able to pull away and the destroyers managed to force the German van to turn away from a torpedo attack.
Nassau was hit by Lion and Indomitable. New Zealand suffered 6 hits from Kaiserin, Preussen, Nassau, Oldenberg Kaiser and Helgoland. Indomitable suffered 3 hits from Kronprinz and Possen. Tiger was hit twice by Rheinland and Konig Albert. Lion was hit by Knonprinz whilst Indefatigable was hit by Helgoland and Thuringen.
Between 12th and 14th November, the British attacked Oostende again and in actions in the Baltic, the Germans lost Kaiser Barbarossa to the gunfire and torpedoes of the British Cruisers but she managed to torpedo the Armoured Cruiser Duke of Edinburgh which also sank. The British also sank 3 transports in this operation.
The British lost another Armoured Cruiser when Achilles was torpedoed by a Submarine off the Scottish Coast.
Second Battle of Terschelling 26th November
A German force of 1 Armoured and 2 Light Cruisers accompanied by 3 Destroyers was intercepted by a British force of 8 Battlecruisers, 4 Light Cruisers and 14 Destroyers of Terschelling.
The British sighted the German cruiser Wiesbaden at 13:34 and gave chase; soon the first Battlecruiser squadron was travelling a full speed of circa 27 - 28 knots. At 13:40 the Princess Royal opened fire and she scored a hit on the Cruiser at 14:10.
However, at 14:10, the British spotted a large two funnelled cruiser that was soon recognised as the Blucher. This represented a significant oportunity as her 24 knot top speed was slower than all the British Battlecruisers pursuing her and she lacked any large consorts or a large force of escorting destroyers. The only real hope that she had was the short daylight hours may enable her to escape.
The first hit was scored at the impressive range of 19,000 yards. Following several 13.5" shell hits, her speed had slowed to approximately 15 knots. The sun was becomming low in the sky but the range was closing as more and more shells smashed into her and her speed slowed still further. The four Splendid Cats turned away rather than risk being torpedoed but some of the 12" vessels closed to almost 2,000 yards of their now helpless victim. As darkness fell, the proud cruiser slowly slipped beneath the waves having suffered some 67 heavy and 37 light hits together with 2 torpedoes.
In what was to be a black couple of days for the Germans, British Cruisers attacked Kiel and Rostock, sank 3 Coastal Battleships and 5 merchants in attacks in the Baltic.
The German Battlecruisers attacked Lowestoft on 11th December and the British AMC/minelayer was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine. This was a serious blow to the British minelaying capability.
The British Armoured Cruiser Cressy blew up at anchor on 23rd December.
Battle of Vlieland 23rd/24th December
Much of this battle was fought in fog. The British Battlecruiser Fleet was in a potentially dangerous position being caught between the German High Seas Fleet and the Scouting Group.
German destroyers encountered the British screen in the darkness of the late afternoon of 23rd. Between 17:30 and 17:53, four German destroyers were sunk by torpedoes following an attack by a more numerous and concentrated British Destroyer force.
On the foggy morning of the 24th, Dover was attacked by Derfflinger, Moltke, Seydlitz and Elbing. The British Battlecruiser Fleet was diverted to intercept them.
By 10:56 the fog had not lifted when contact was made between the two Battlecruiser forces. For the next three hours, a confused action ensued with frequent losses of contact. Lowestoft was torpedoed by Elbing and sunk rapidly. Seydlitz was torpedoed by Acheron. Tiger was hit by Seydlitz which was in turn hit by Inflexible. Ranges were around 10,000 yards. The Germans were making away in a north easterly direction whilst the British pulled away toward the south west.
Around 14:05 the fog began to clear and large numbers of German Battleships were sighted off the island of Vlieland. The British turned away toward the north and retreated at full speed. Visibility favoured the fleeing British and a number of hits were obtained before contact was lost around 14:22. Ranges were 10 - 15,000 yards.
Nassau was hit twice by Inflexible, Westfalen was hit by Inflexible & Indefatigable, Posen was hit by Australia.
The most severely damaged ship on the German side was Elbing which was hit twice by Queen Mary, once by Tiger and also suffered two medium calibre hits from Lowestoft.
Losses in late 1915:
British: 4 Armoured and 3 Light Cruisers, 9 Destroyers, 2 Auxillaries, 1 Submarine and 4 Merchants.
German: 1 Battleship, 3 Coast Defence Battleships, 1 Armoured and 3 Light Cruisers, 8 Destroyers, 2 Torpedoboats, 2 Submarines, 10 Trawlers and 5 Merchants.
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Post by dickturpin on Jan 3, 2016 15:09:01 GMT -6
Early 1916 (part 1)
1916 got off to a fairly slow start. The British Channel fleet bombarded Oostende on 7th January. The 4th Light Cruiser Squadron raided the Baltic sinking the coast defence Battleship Beowulf and 5 transports. The German Battlecruisers penetrated the Channel and attacked Cherbourg. The Beowulf sank after 49 6" hits and a torpedo hit from Cordelia. Third Battle of Terschelling 4th February
The British Battlecruiser Fleet and Harwich Force fought a German cruiser and destroyer force off Terschelling (see map). The Battlecruiser Fleet consisted of 9 Battlecruisers, 2 Light Cruisers and 16 Destroyers; the Harwich Force consisted of 6 Light Cruisers, 1 Auxillary and 21 Destroyers; The Germans had 2 Battlecruisers, 4 Light Cruisers and 11 Destroyers. The Battle began on the night of the 3rd when the Harwich Force encountered German forces in the darkness. The British were originally only aware of the presence of a Light Cruiser but launched a mass attack by the Destroyers backed by gunfire by the Light Cruisers. Stralsund was torpedoed by Minos at 23:20 and also received one 6" and 5 light hits. She retired into the darkness badly damaged but with the withdrawal of their screen, the accompanying Battlecruisers appeared as dark menacing shapes in the darkness. The British launched a mass of torpedoes at the desperately evading German Capital ships. Further encounters occurred in the night. Moltke was torpedoed by Laverock at 01:32 and by Lucifer at 03:05. Derfflinger was also torpedoed by Laverock at 01:51. Frankfurt was torpedoed by Aurora at 02:21. The Aurora had however pushed her attacks rather too closely and she was sunk following 24 Heavy, 19 Medium hits and a Torpedo hit. The Auxiliary minesweeper was also lost as she became detached and encountered Derfflinger at close range. The Harwich Force had done its job well as the Battlecruiser force had been notified of the location of the German force and was heading for the area at high speed to intercept the damaged units. At 09:04 action commenced and the Battlecruisers began to bombard the Germans; Moltke quickly fell behind her less badly damaged consort and by 10:45 she had received 16 heavy caliber hits at ranges from 22,000 - 10,000 yards (5 from Lion, 6 from Tiger, 4 from Queen Mary and 1 from Indefatigable). Her loss was now inevitable as she was detached and on fire and from 10:50 - 11:34 she was battered by a further 14 heavy hits (6 from Lion, 5 from Tiger, 3 from Queen Mary) at 8 - 12,000 yards before Botha delivered the final nail with a torpedo at 11:37. The wrecked ship did not strike her colours and was hit by a further 36 hits before finally disappearing below the waves at 12:35. The pursuit of Derfflinger resumed and she was hit by Lion at 14:47 at 19,000 yards and by Princess Royal at 15:43 at 17,000 yards. She was however able to maintain a reasonable distance from her pursuers and was able to slip away at nightfall. The damaged Light Cruisers were also dispatched; Stralsund was run down by Nottingham and dispatched by shellfire and torpedo whilst Frankfurt was finished off by Australia, New Zealand and Princess Royal. The Lion had received 3 heavy hits from Derfflinger in the original action (at 17,500 - 19,500 yards) and the British had 2 Destroyers badly damaged whilst the Germans had a Destroyer badly damaged. Attachment Deleted
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Post by randomizer on Jan 3, 2016 16:23:31 GMT -6
Being more than half way through 1915 in my own North Sea campaign as the RN, I very much enjoy reading these updates on your campaign. Thank you for posting them and please keep it up.
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Post by dickturpin on Jan 4, 2016 16:23:42 GMT -6
Early 1916 (part 2)
The 4th Light Cruiser Squadron raided the Blight in mid February sinking 3 Destroyers south of Helgoland. However, the danger of pursuing Destroyers too closely was shown when Calliope was lost following a torpedo hit from S92 on 18th.
A German force of 3 Destroyers and 3 Light Cruisers raided Whitby on 18th March. The British had received intelligence of an operation but were unsure as to the scale; consequently, the Grand Fleet, Battlecruiser Fleet and Harwich Force were already at sea. The Germans were caught between the Grand Fleet and the Harwich Force during the night. The Germans lost V1, V5, V6, Wiesbaden and Elbing; the only survivor was Regsenberg which escaped following her torpedoing of Canada. The British lost Royalist which was also torpedoed.
A British Cruiser force attacked Kiel on 1st April and also sank the torpedoboat T60. The danger of actions in the Baltic was shown by the heavy losses sustained by the British in this raid. The Armoured Cruiser Roxburgh hit a mine in the Kattegat; she originally survived and headed for home but subsequently a bulkhead ruptured, flooding deteriorated and she sank. The Light Cruiser Birkenhead encountered the S102 and pursued too closely receiving a torpedo hit for her trouble. She foundered in heavy seas on the way home and was also lost.
The Regsenberg was again in action on 13th April shelling Yarmouth. She was however caught by a large force of British Light Cruisers and Destroyers from Harwich and Dover and was sunk by gunfire and torpedoes.
The French Cruiser Jeanne d'Arc blew up in Cherbourg harbour on 27th April.
A series of long range skirmishes occured on 28th April. The British were deployed for a major operation against Zebrugge but encountered a German force including 3 Battlecruisers on the way.
The Black Prince scouting for the Grand Fleet sighted the Germans at 14:47 and 10 minutes later, she was exchanging fire with a German Light Cruiser. Soon Battlecruisers were sighted and Black Prince was hit at 15:15. Skirmishing occured until 16:30 when contact was broken as the faster German ships fled. Black Prince, Cochrane and Antrim each received 2 heavy caliber hits (3 from Lutzow, 2 from Seydlitz and 1 from Derfflinger). The Marlborough scored a hit on Derfflinger.
The Battlecruiser Fleet was south of the Grand Fleet and set off in pursuit in the direction of the Dutch coast. At 16:50 the Lion sighted the German force and they opened fire at 17:16. The British replied at 17:20 and a long range duel lasted until 19:25 when contact was lost. Derfflinger was hit twice with Lutzow and Seydlitz being hit once each (Lion achieved 3 hits and Princess Royal 1). For the British, the Lion and Queen Mary each received 1 heavy shell hit (from Derfflinger and Seydlitz).
The following day Zebrugge was subjected to a sustained and severe bombardment by the Grand Fleet, Battlecruiser Fleet and Channel Fleet and under cover of this hail of fire, the old cruisers Brilliant and Proserpine were scuttled as block ships in the harbour.
Losses in early 1916
British: 2 Armoured, 2 Protected (scuttled in Zebrugge) and 4 Light Cruisers, 5 Destroyers, 3 Auxillaries, 3 Submarines and 8 Merchants.
German: 1 Battlecruiser, 1 Coast Defence Battleships, 5 Light Cruisers, 5 Destroyers, 5 Torpedoboats, 3 Submarines, 5 Trawlers and 5 Merchants.
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Post by dickturpin on Jan 4, 2016 16:33:47 GMT -6
Being more than half way through 1915 in my own North Sea campaign as the RN, I very much enjoy reading these updates on your campaign. Thank you for posting them and please keep it up. How are you getting on? Thank you for the kind words and I will try and keep going to the end of the campaign. I believe that improvements in the representation of torpedoes from the earlier versions has greatly improved the gaming aspect of this campaign. The threat of being torpedoed necessitates much more caution when approaching damaged ships or torpedoboats. This is the first time I have played as the British and a significant number of German Battlecruisers have survived well into 1916; this is keeping the game much more of a contest and challenge in my opinion.
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Post by randomizer on Jan 4, 2016 19:06:29 GMT -6
How am I getting on? As of 2 September 1915 (Turn-55) it's Britain 381,548 VP vs. AI Germany -340,516 for a total spread of 722,064 VP.
House rules: 1. No turn do-overs 2. At least one Sortie every turn even if only light forces or mine laying. 3. The RN must maintain at least two offensive minefields in the Helgoland Bight. 4. At least one battle squadron per turn is training unless a mandatory reach objective for BB's is ordered. 5. Third Battle Squadron consisted of all eight of the King Edward VII class. 6. Rear Admiral difficulty. 7. Reduced Flash Fire Risk "ON".
Losses to date: RN HSF BB = 1 BB = 3 BC = 0 BC = 4 B = 1 B = 1 CA = 6 CA = 2 CL = 5 CL = 11 DD = 20 DD = 22 SS = 7 SS = 4 AMC = 6 AMC = 0 Misc = 9 Misc = 14
Losses to mines (Included above): RN = 1 x B, 2 x CA, 3 x CL, 5 x DD, 1 x SS, 8 x Misc HSF = 1 x CA, 3 x CL, 3 x DD, 2 x SS
Losses to torpedo only (Included above); RN = 2 x CA, 2 x CL, 1 x DD HSF = 1 x B, 1 x DD
Needless to say I'm pretty satisfied so far. I managed to wipe out the four German battlecruisers by catching them in between 2 BS (the KGV's and Orion's) and seven of my battlecruisers totaling 112 x 13.5" and 24 x 12" to 8 x 12" and 28 x 11" but lost Conqueror to gunfire and torpedoes from Derfflinger and G-98. Overwhelming firepower from two sides plus lots of daylight plus excellent visibility combined to create conditions for a decisive action. I initially encountered them at night and got a torpedo hit on Von der Tann by using the Flotilla Attack command while getting my big ships out of the way and not engaging. This slowed the fleeing Scouting Group down enough for 2 BS to catch the force by mid-morning and flank them with the BCF getting between them and their Base. One of the most decisive fleet actions that I have won in SAI.
I echo your observation regarding torpedoes since Conqueror received her death blow from a crippled Derfflinger. The former had been damaged by a torpedo earlier and detached but while under AI control she sorted out her flooding and got too close trying to rejoin her division I guess.
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Post by dickturpin on Jan 5, 2016 15:22:13 GMT -6
Sinking 3 Dreadnought types is good going; was this all in the same engagement?
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Post by randomizer on Jan 5, 2016 18:58:09 GMT -6
Sank the three dreadnoughts in two engagements. First action was 15 battleships (1st & 2nd BS) and three battlecruisers against eight battleships and resulted in sinking a Kaiser and a Helgoland. A couple of months later caught the four Koenig, two Kaiser and six Deutschland class with 2nd, 3rd & 4th BS (16 battleships, seven pre-Dreadnoughts) and five battlecruisers and sank one of each before increasingly bad weather caused me to break off the action.
My tactical doctrine for the Fleet is based on the British ability to hit hard at long range and this means picking fights in daylight and good visibility. In poor conditions or at night contact generally results in a Flotilla Attack order as the big ships break contact. One thing that SAI models quite well (in my opinion) is the relative ineffectiveness of the German 11" and 12" fire at long ranges whereas the British 13" can still do significant damage. If I cannot keep the range open, I won't accept a stand-up fight if I can avoid one and a close-in knife fight with capital ships against torpedo craft is always a bad idea.
I'm looking forward to your next update, thanks.
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