Wiggy
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Post by Wiggy on Oct 24, 2021 14:37:47 GMT -6
And so ends 1916! Here are the losses so far:
German, 1 BB / 2 CL / 16 DD The most painful loss is the modern and powerful Bayern, having succumbed to her wounds after the Sunderland Action. The pair of light cruisers were lost off the Frisian Islands against enemy cruisers, while destroyer attrition has been alarmingly high.
British, 14 BB / 4 B / 4 CA / 10 CL / 21 DD Dreadnoughts galore! British Admirals must be quaking in their boots. A surprising number were lost in night actions, but Sunderland saw seven sunk. The lion's share of their heavy losses were older models, so the Grand Fleet still deserves that name, especially with the new ships coming off the lines.
Curiously, no battlecruisers have copped it for either side. Perhaps speed really is armour.
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Wiggy
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Post by Wiggy on Nov 5, 2021 18:21:37 GMT -6
Week 49 - Happy new year
It's 1917, and there is a lot on my desk. The first documents to sign, when the New Year's cards and drinks are moved aside, are slips approving the withdrawal of a number of older warships. The powers that be seem to think that the High Seas Fleet needs to trim some fat, so to the chopping block go the oldest light cruisers - München, Stuttgart, Danzig, Stettin and Hamburg. Although they've made a good account of themselves, they are too slow for the pace of modern battle, and their decommissioning will partially solve our manpower issues. The old A-boats are being pulled out too.
A more concerning prospect is the loss of a dozen U-boats to grand plans for an unrestricted campaign in the Atlantic. Having a large number of subs on hand was a great boon to fleet operations last year, owing to their sighting reports and the occasional torpedo, so this will be a real dent in my ability to know what's going on out there. Sometimes I think we are on the cusp of breaking the blockade, but clearly few other Germans are as optimistic as I. Perhaps they think using the subs to starve the British will make them give up.
The Treasury have managed to fenagle funding for replacements to the light cruisers I just struck from the books. These should arrive in autumn next year, if we can stave off shortages. More immediately, two more cruisers, Graudenz and Regensburg, have been sent to replace their 4-inch guns with 6-inch ones as well as receiving a few minor modifications:
Before and after.
With all this cruiser bureaucracy over, the next minefield is set to be laid this turn.
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Wiggy
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Post by Wiggy on Dec 10, 2021 9:25:08 GMT -6
Operation Feder
The operation opens with destroyers; five of ours have caught two of theirs near Harwich. A chase ensues as the enemy makes for home.
Firing from small ships in rolling seas is no easy task, and few hits are scored in the pursuit. Luckily, a shell from B112 strikes the leader and causes her to belch thick black smoke. The other of the pair makes good her escape in the meantime, but the war is over for HMS Gurkha. The group catch an unlucky merchant as a bonus before picking up survivors and heading home as night falls.
By this time, the minelaying force has done its business.
The layers are sent home while I AG snoop around for a while. A vague submarine report filters in - something is approaching the new minefield from the west.
We soon come across a pair of scouts. I begin to worry about what they might be leading.
To my surprise, and relief, it turns out to be the last ship of the British pre-dreadnought squadron. Perhaps she was being transferred back north and got lost, or perhaps her captain is particularly brave, disliked, or idiotic. A signaller on Hindenburg's bridge flashes a message asking for her surrender. The reply is simple - "No".
So you have chosen death...
... for yourself and your crew.
What a waste of lives and ammunition. The two cruisers go down with her, while a third escapes unharmed.
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Wiggy
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Post by Wiggy on Dec 11, 2021 8:54:54 GMT -6
Week 53 - out of reach
There is still activity in Wilhelmshaven harbour, despite the winter. Moltke is in drydock for refit, as is the minelayer Brummer and light cruiser Rostock, the latter being last to trade in her 4-inch guns for heftier 6-inchers. Submarines are steadily being wrenched out of my hands and sent to hunt merchants, and the older model of A-boats have now been fully relegated to coastal patrols.
As I celebrate the first anniversary of my appointment, one of my colleagues returns from a conference in Berlin with important news. Last year we lost a Zeppelin over England, but luckily the crew survived the crash landing. After some wrangling in the embassies of Geneva, the British agreed to a prisoner exchange - some rescued destroyer crewmen for our fly-boys, and now the repatriated crew have written a full report of the action, providing useful information to the conference: British fighters can make over 13,000 feet, the service ceiling of our airships! New airships need to go higher, if not faster. Therefore, I've ordered the fleet at Tondern to go on a crash diet, dumping bombs, machine guns, and even engines in the name of altitude. All new models must make 20,000 feet to be competitive, even if it means wearing oxygen masks and braving sub-zero temperatures. Hopefully this will mean they can see further on a clear day, and shadow the British unmolested. Some are even suggesting a Zeppelin raid on Scapa Flow.
This week's plan entails a return to Great Yarmouth for the battlecruiser squadron. They may be getting a major reinforcement in a fortnight, if the sea trials go well.
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Wiggy
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Post by Wiggy on Dec 14, 2021 18:08:16 GMT -6
Operation Stockente
Our ships slice through the mirror-like sea, their wakes overlapping like ripples on a pond. This is no flock of mallards however, but our best battlecruisers, with a beefy destroyer escort.
As they press westwards, intel informs us of a light cruiser force, most likely from Harwich, making its way past the Norfolk Banks towards our minefields off Texel. A combination of Zeppelin spots and radio intercepts allow us to track their course and speed with surprising accuracy.
With this information, we plot an intercept course for a rendezvous by the minefield. We arrive exactly on time, as expected, with typical German punctuality.
"Mr. Hindenburg will see you now sir."
A chase begins as the cruisers, which prove adept at dodging our shells, turn to flee. Our own scouts close the range to get a few shots in, but there is nothing of consequence to happen before the fading light cuts things short, leaving me the decision of whether to continue the journey on to the English coast or not.
Before I have to consider this, a lingering destroyer puts a torpedo into von der Tann, causing heavy flooding and severely limiting her speed. I order her detached for home port.
This is enough to convince me to call off the rest of the operation - the Harwich force will have radioed detailed information about our movements to British command, and I won't countenance a fight with the fast and powerful BCF, especially when a ship down. Carrying on is just asking to be intercepted.
So the force turns back. von der Tann, with some lead on them, encounters an unknown ship - but her destroyers fend it off without ever identifying the intruder. It may just have been one of our patrol boats, but it's hard to be sure.
"Do you see torpedo boats?"
In the end, all make it back to base in one piece. I can't call this a victory - a capital ship torpedoed and Great Yarmouth untouched, all thanks to some plucky cruisers and the BCF in being - but at least our intel was good this turn.
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Wiggy
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Post by Wiggy on Dec 15, 2021 8:48:41 GMT -6
Week 55 - a new addition
At long last, she's arrived!
Well armoured, well armed, and making a tidy 28 knots, Mackensen and her three sisters (slated for completion by September) look to be a potent addition to the fleet. This new battlecruiser class mirrors the Bayerns in up-gunning from the previous 12-inch standard, allowing me to consider standing my ground against the BCF, when they are all in service. To quicken working up, some gun crews have been relocated from the refitting Salamis, a ship bearing the same 25cm guns, but it will be a few weeks yet before I take our new warship to sea.
In other news, all of the elderly HSF light cruisers have now been withdrawn except for Hamburg. They will still give good service as guardships and training vessels, although some enterprising young officers want to convert one or two into fleet seaplane carriers, carrying three planes each for scouting purposes. I'm partial to the idea, but it will take low priority given the already intense workload the yards always have.
To give the hard-worked battlecruisers a break, this week we’re launching a destroyer raid, aimed at intercepting an enemy convoy bound for Norway. G95 and G96 have drawn the short straw - they will be carrying mines to be laid on the way.
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Wiggy
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Post by Wiggy on Dec 19, 2021 17:31:15 GMT -6
Operation Bauer
A hearty helping of destroyers head out at midday. This force represents a significant chunk of the Fleet's light forces, so I plan to keep an eye on the weather and on coal reserves, lest disaster befalls them. Radio silence is to be observed.
As much as I like having proper names for destroyers, the German numbering system keeps things uncluttered.
Having made their steady transit through the night, the force searches off the Scottish coast for the purported convoy. Signals intelligence provides some intercepts even further north, but these aren't likely to be what we are looking for - a group of colliers bound for Bergen from Lerwick. The seekers aren't helped by a persistent rain that hasn't let up all morning.
Finally, something is spotted in the distance. Turning to investigate, B97 discovers an unfortunate column of transports, caught separated from their escorts in the drizzle.
Handelsschiffe - jackpot!
The line hardly have time to turn away before they are overrun by the massed swarm of boats. Without any sign of the escorts, the time is taken to pick up survivors after the initial hurried rush of violence.
Six of the best for the Tommies.
Soon night falls, covering our retreat. All the destroyers make it home safely.
Track map of the operation. It looks like the Brits were out in force.
Although on paper a great success, the outcome of the raid has to be put in context: On the one hand, the total destruction of a convoy will embarrass the Royal Navy, especially in the eyes of the Norwegians, and will force them to divert larger escorts to that route - more destroyers and cruisers, meaning fewer hunting our U-boats or escorting their battleships. (I imagine old pre-dreadnoughts would have suited the job well, had they not all been sent to the bottom.) On the other hand, there is the moral question - these were colliers exporting coal to Norway, a neutral nation fearing a coal shortage. It is hard to look good internationally when neutral Scandinavian merchants are sunk, by gunfire no less, even if they are under British escort. Such is a war of tonnage, I suppose. The British press are raving about lifeboats being shot at; I hope these are false. Meanwhile, our press is lapping up the victory, and I've made sure to score a few extra political points by treating the survivors to the best hotel in Kiel before they are repatriated.
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Wiggy
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Post by Wiggy on Dec 20, 2021 15:45:12 GMT -6
Week 57 - a quiet turn
There is only a minor minelaying op this week, allowing the battlecruisers to rack up a full month's winter rest. Submarines are now at a premium, so I am being more conservative with their deployment, ordering them to keep well clear of enemy bases.
The mining run goes without a hitch, with fields laid at a remarkably neat right-angle. To the north, a Zeppelin reports armoured cruisers on a sweep towards Great Fisher Bank - a tempting target, but I am trying to keep things quiet this week, and a mist descends before I have finished considering a sortie anyway.
In other news, I have greenlit the conversion of the old cruiser Stuttgart to a seaplane carrier. This idea was floated around a few weeks ago, but now I have seen some blueprints from the aviation bods that are to my liking. Unlike earlier experiments on steamers, she would be quick enough to keep station with the fleet, meaning we can have some integrated aviation that can scout ahead close to our ships (and maybe even call fall of shot one day!). There are murmurs from the Zeppelin division about reduced priority, but I've made it clear to them that this is only experimental - airships still rule the skies in the North Sea. Who knows, maybe we'll see aircraft-carrying Zeppelins in the future!
Baby steps, fly-boys...
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Wiggy
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Post by Wiggy on Dec 23, 2021 17:09:20 GMT -6
Operation Mausefalle
The day is calm, with few clouds in the sky. Our fleet heads out in the morning, hoping to catch the British at whatever they are up to, in a novel formation introduced during recent exercises - the battleships are in parallel columns. This should make the ships able to turn into line more quickly upon meeting the enemy, an important quality given our shortage of scouting light cruisers when compared to the RN. The pre-dreadnoughts are along for the ride as well, following the near-begging of their commanders, in a reserve line so as not to slow the fleet.
The hammer and anvil.
The first day at sea is spent heading roughly north. There is no word of Britishers, so that night the fleet heads south again to sweep closer to the Dutch coast. Unfortunately we stumble into a minefield on this transit, causing the loss of an old destroyer and leaving a cruiser limping her way back to Emden. To make things worse, a howling gale whips through the night as we near Dogger Bank. It is bitingly cold.
As morning approaches, the wind slows a little. We turn east, into the rising sun, to return to the Bight and ride out the rest of the turn. It looks like the British aren't coming out after all.
Or so I think. A frantic report from E-dienst is caught on the wireless. They say at least two RN battle divisions are in our area.
That can't be right, can it? Maybe they're misreporting our own battlecruisers as the enemy. E-dienst assure us, they are positive, positive the encryption format used is not ours. It looks like British warships are on our home turf. Increasing revolutions to investigate, Pommern is the first to sight the force that we have unwittingly been shadowing for hours. Enemy to starboard. Engaging.
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Wiggy
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Post by Wiggy on Jan 4, 2022 9:23:21 GMT -6
The Battle of the Rain
Upon making the sighting, Pommern swings to starboard to bring her rear turret to bear. The extra firepower isn't much use, despite the close range, against what appear to be a line of nimble destroyers being tossed about by the swell. Secondary batteries score no hits either - most of the casemates are inundated with seawater, and even then it is difficult to time shots to the roll of the turning battleship. The rest of the division turns away for fear of torpedoes while our escorting destroyers strain against the waves to do battle.
A running fight between the destroyers ensues while the fleet attempts to get into line.
Meanwhile, our other force finds more enemies to the south. Lookouts on Strassburg, a cruiser scouting ahead, make out the grey forms of two heavy ships through the rain. Reasoning his ship is unlikely to have been spotted yet, the captain orders gunners to hold fire while the ship makes an about-turn and lets slip her two submerged torpedoes.
Strassburg (alone) encounters the enemy.
By some miracle, one of them hits its target! This triggers a fusillade in response against the cruiser as she tries to escape, pursued by what appear to be British battlecruisers. If this is true, I'd very much like them to try and take on mine.
Strassburg leads the enemy onto us.
The lines clash.
In the downpour it is hard to identify the targets, but as our line's guns erupt some hits are observed. They are not without reply, as 15-inch shells splash about - these aren't battlecruisers we're fighting!
Gott und Himmel!
More shots are traded, but the fight isn't going our way. In a panic, Hipper orders a general turn to starboard before we are shredded, somehow managing a clean break from the dreaded Revenges. A strong gale picks up – I decide this is no weather for further battle. Visibility is now awful. A course is set for home.
The battleships can hardly see their escorts, which themselves can hardly keep up.
Unfortunately, this ends up leading us back onto the enemy as the wind dies down a little.
A running theme today - rudders hard over as one side blunders into the other.
We manage to turn away north – Lützow is ordered to heave-to and deal with the flooding while the rest of the group covers her. However, this only leads us onto a point further down their line, so we double back. It appears there is no way past the enemy. As the rain betters and worsens visibility ebbs and flows, giving us a rough idea of where their line is, but it is like only being able to see half the board during a chess game.
Lets hope the HSF can get over here and sort things out.
We get too close to an enemy battle line. The bridge crew on Hindenburg stares in amazement as they watch fourteen huge muzzle flashes at once - a monstrous broadside from what can only be HMS Agincourt. It is the last thing most of them will ever see.
Admiral Hipper was mortally wounded.
By now night has fallen, and the decapitated Hindenburg can only sail straight away from the enemy, losing contact. It appears our foe have turned north again, as they meet the rear of our main force.
Some more torpedo hits are scored. By heading home some distance apart, my two forces seem to unwittingly be bounding the enemy force, leaving it to writhe back and forth between. Once more the battlecruisers get jumped, as the enemy have turned south again. This time, we are not so lucky. Suddenly, the night sky is illuminated by a deathly red-orange.
The offending Revenge-class, all guns blazing, carving alone through our stunned and disordered ships, is struck by torpedoes and keels over soon after.
The remaining enemy turn north to break out - perhaps in desperation, as we are very close to my minefields by now - and encounter our battleships once more. They are shot up a bit before disappearing into the night for the final time.
Nassau claims a torpedo hit.
Home at last!
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Post by zederfflinger on Jan 4, 2022 14:00:39 GMT -6
That was nasty, but at least I survived!
Keep up the good work! I am really enjoying this series, enough that I might have to actually buy this game!
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Wiggy
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Post by Wiggy on Mar 12, 2022 9:42:10 GMT -6
Aftermath of the battle
Initially, the mood amongst higher-ups after the battle is mixed. Without clear information on enemy losses, few conclusions could be drawn from the confused night-brawl owing to the lashing rain and heaving seas. A conference of captains and their logs does little to clarify things; the phrase 'unknown warship' pervades most reports. At first, all that can be said for sure is that SMS Mackensen exploded with all hands, a Revenge-class was torpedoed and keeled over soon after, and some other torpedo hits were exchanged.
As the week passes by, the narrative begins to shift. Our spies gently begin to notice a discrepancy in British ports - the sum of ships in port or repair appears to be less than what we think was sortied. It's impossible to cover up the loss of a capital ship forever, and this hunch is eventually confirmed through a variety of sources - leaks to the press, distraught family members, and, most telling of all, rumours of a sacking at the top. It appears the battle was more of a disaster for the Royal Navy than first thought.
The intelligence bods compile the enemy losses as they are confirmed:
Revenge, in her heroic charge that caught out Mackensen, received two torpedoes each from destroyers G92 and V47.
Agincourt, after landing her successful opening salvo on Hindenburg, was plastered by secondary fire, then the main batteries of our battlecruisers, then torpedoed thrice for good measure.
Marlborough, despite not being identified by any of our ships, was there: she was holed at the waterline by Seydlitz, then torpedoed in the same place causing uncontrollable flooding in the inclement weather.
Centurion took two torpedoes and couldn’t make it home either.
Monarch was slowed by a torpedo to the bow, then ambushed at close range by Hindenburg which caused a flash fire in the forward turrets.
And finally the overall report:
Five!? Medals all around.
The Kaiser is ecstatic. It's turned out to be another disaster for the Tommies. They’ll be especially bitter given the calibre of their losses – these aren’t the outdated 12-inchers of yore, but the better armed and armoured modern types (well, except for that accursed turret-farm Agincourt). I am extremely thankful to have bagged these, as they strike me as the kind of ships that could chew up my battle-line in better conditions. Torpedoes, night-fighting and bad weather carry the day yet again. I have a lot more confidence for 1917, now a grand total of 19 British dreadnoughts are at the bottom. We are near parity!
It's not all roses however. The simultaneous destruction of Mackensen and death of the Admiral Franz von Hipper have instilled a grievous sense of shock and paralysis into the battlecruiser force. Hipper had worked his way up from the cadets, and led the force on many successful sorties throughout the war. He was respected - some look up longingly at the blackened, mangled superstructure where his flag bridge once stood as they pass Hindenburg on the quay - and I fear his replacement, as yet unselected, will have a tough time filling those shoes. Without more new ships, the BCF will still cast a shadow on us.
A final thought – the Americans may be joining the war soon. I expect that they’ll be sending a few battle divisions the Brits’ way if they do.
Sorry for the long break.
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