Wiggy
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Post by Wiggy on Aug 10, 2022 5:57:03 GMT -6
I assume they are retreating to the north-west, which is seemingly confirmed by one of our submarines.
As dawn breaks, a second report comes in from far to the south. It details at least heavy cruiser-size warships heading towards the English coast. Is this the rear of the force I've just engaged? Or is the BCF out? Or an overzealous report of the Harwich force? I choose not to be distracted from the originally imagined chase, as it will bring me between them and the Scottish bases if it comes to that.
There have been no more reports from my U-boat picket in the north, while battleships are added to the southern sighting. I decide to turn south to investigate before I come into air-range of the British. More reports by those industrious airship crews shadowing give us an idea of their course towards Grimsby across Dogger Bank.
By midday we are halfway down there. To add to my confusion, a report comes in from Texel – surely that’s a different force? Sadly, night falls before we can find anything, so we hang around Dogger Bank until dawn. Some destroyers are at half-fuel by now. No new reports arrive in the morning. One of our destroyers spots and attacks a submarine, but the British may well have been using them to vector their ships away from ours. Just when I think I’m on a wild goose chase, contact is made by the battlecruisers – but not with battleships.
To my dismay, it's evidently light forces. It’s hard to grapple with such a blob of destroyers, but I try to get into gun range for some shots anyway – the battlecruisers are fast enough and have not yet used their guns this op. I‘d like to pursue, but the BCF could be at sea, so I don’t want to get caught far from the HSF. One of our cruisers sinks an M-class, and I withdraw satisfied with the token kill. With time running out as the third night approaches, we call it a day. We are close to our bases and I deem it unlikely for contact to be remade.
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Wiggy
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Post by Wiggy on Jun 10, 2023 18:04:11 GMT -6
Week 71 - Parity
There's some cause for celebration among the Navy staff. With another dreadnought sent to the bottom for no commensurate return, it looks like we are finally on an equal footing with the British, ships in repair and refit notwithstanding.
A Sisyphean task to get here, but here we are!
On the other hand, our best ships are battered and bruised. It is expected Bayern and Salamis will be in repair for months. They will need to clear the yards before any new ships are laid down.
After the shooting practice last turn, the rest of our battle line have excellent crew ratings all round. I don’t have the ops points to exploit this however, so a smaller operation is called for this week, in the form of another destroyer raid aimed at ambushing a Nordic convoy. Although more 2000-ton destroyers are arriving, they have not yet worked up, and will miss out on the op. Battlecruisers are on standby if the RN tries something.
A direct plan.
In other news, mutinies are persisting in the French Army - this must be a serious disturbance to last so long (and for the navy to know about it). The battle of Messines, near Ypres, has come to a close, while the Italians continue disastrous attacks on the Trentino. Finally, the King of Greece has abdicated under Entente and Venizelist pressure - pressure to declare war on the Central Powers.
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Wiggy
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Post by Wiggy on Jun 11, 2023 5:40:07 GMT -6
Operation Bremsstrahlung
Our destroyer flotilla makes steady progress towards the intercept area, unmolested through the night. There is hardly a breeze to shift the morning mist, which hides us from air patrols off the Aberdeenshire coast and cuts visibility to a minimum - favourable conditions for our destroyers so close to Scapa Flow. One of our subs posted ahead surfaces to radio in a contact on hydrophones.
The force bears eastward to fan out and stalk the expected convoy routes. It is not long before we run into something.
It turns out to be a pair of armed trawlers, perhaps on sub-chasing duty. As the wind picks up and the haze lifts, they are quickly despatched and their crews plucked from the cold water. One half-flotilla snoops around to the north while this is going on, and run into another duo.
A pair of R-class destroyers. Although maybe a match for us boat for boat, we have superior numbers and our opponents see sense and turn away making 35 knots. Our pursuit is half-hearted and quickly called off - we are here for merchants, not for picking fights in the enemy backyard. Upon turning back south, the intended quarry is discovered.
With their escorts either sunk or driven from the field, the helpless merchants stand no chance.
Night soon falls and we beat our retreat. Short and sweet - a successful raid I'd say!
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Post by zederfflinger on Jun 12, 2023 10:08:47 GMT -6
The legend returns! Glad to see you are posting again, I've always enjoyed reading these whenever they come out.
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Wiggy
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Post by Wiggy on Jun 15, 2023 10:53:51 GMT -6
Thanks! Its amazing how quickly a year slips by, especially with all the RTW3 excitement. I promise I'm not trying to play the year 1917 in real time!
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vox
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Post by vox on Jun 19, 2023 17:01:31 GMT -6
Nice post . I like the operational planning and FOW surprise in this gameii
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Wiggy
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Posts: 163
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Post by Wiggy on Jun 20, 2023 18:01:54 GMT -6
Operation Falkenhayn
I said I was sending everything, however that is not entirely truthful, since both the new Graf Spee and the old pre-dreads are sitting this one out. I have a certain fondness for those older battleships - despite being slow, having a comparatively anaemic main broadside, and expressing frighteningly submersible tendencies when torpedoed - since they can put out a decent barrage of secondary fire when the range closes, aren't terribly underarmoured, and they provide an extra sixteen 11" barrels to the fleet.
Soon after departure, the fleet is beset by a clinging mist. Intelligence indicates the enemy operation is still going ahead; perhaps poor visibility was what they were awaiting in order to avoid counter-detection.
We proceed east towards our own objective off Dogger Bank. The mist begins to disperse as the order is given to turn south towards the second objective, battlecruisers leading. Concurrently, there is an unwelcome surprise as one of our minesweepers violently blows up near Wilhelmshaven.
There are no further reports throughout the day, and the second objective is reached in the dark.
The patrol is continued back north-east, passing Oyster Ground as day breaks. I consider heading home, objectives all met, but we are expectant of the Royal Navy still, somewhere and sometime.
U-52 radios in a sighting of a lone destroyer off Whitby. Hardly interesting in itself, but it is so far from the coast and known patrol routes that it may be worth investigating - perhaps the screen of an unseen force, or a detached or lost lone warship. With little better to do, the HSF makes westwards.
The sweep nears the English coast, and with no following reports it is called off. A dead end. At that time, patrols call in a hurried report of cruisers near the Danish coast, headed south past our Zeppelin bases. Blast! We've been lured to the far side of the sea by that destroyer, because I have broken my own rule of waiting for multiple reports first. We could have been in a prime position to intercept, had I been more apathetic!
The contact is soon updated to include battleships. A silver lining of my position is that I can move to cut off our opponent's retreat, so long as sighting reports keep filtering in. However, they begin to dry up as nearby patrol boats are presumably eliminated one by one.
We are only halfway there by 17.00, meaning we have lost the race against the Sun for a daylight intercept. A light rain picks up. As new reports from Borkum vector us towards the coast, the sun sets and we cannot find the target.
Too late.
The fleet stays at sea overnight, and is rewarded with new reports in the morning - once again off Denmark. Are multiple forces at play here? In any case, the fleet lurches away once again, just as some destroyers report being low on coal. Finally, investigative zeal pays off.
Just a few cruisers, not the heavies we’ve heard about. Hindenburg lands an early hit, but otherwise our gunnery is fruitless against the small and fast targets. They make smoke and haste, northwards. The light cruisers, destroyer leaders at heart, are speedy and soon disappear for good. Giving up, we head home empty handed. Less than that, in fact:
Overall, a fruitless operation.
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Wiggy
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Post by Wiggy on Jun 21, 2023 6:01:42 GMT -6
Week 77 - all clear
Good news! The next of our 14-inch battlecruisers has arrived:
We had quite a successful commerce raider bearing the same name back in 1915.
This brings V AG. back to a strength of two ships, accounting for the loss of Mackensen. Speaking of battlecruisers, top brass wants a sweep with them towards Norway. With many battleships in repair or refit, and OPs low, the plan is fairly conservative, with mines to be laid off Horn’s Reef by Bremse and Brummer to give some tangible purpose to the trip. Intel reports an enemy operation, but I’m choosing to ignore it if possible – I’m not looking for trouble right now. Soon our new additions will have worked up crews. A quick check of the lists gives estimates of about one capital ship arriving every two months or so, though shortages of pretty much everything are starting to bite.
The operation goes to plan and is fairly uneventful. Weather is good, mines are laid, and the objective is reached. One of our subs bags a warship down south, so perhaps the Harwich Force were out.
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Wiggy
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Post by Wiggy on Jul 9, 2023 16:17:02 GMT -6
Week 79 - Over There
Crud. There will only be more to come. Intelligence (and Jane’s) suggest the Americans may be willing to send perhaps two battle divisions over, and here arrive the first few ships. Texas and New York are coal-burners that reduce the logistical burden on the British, I imagine. In any case, much needed reinforcements for the Grand Fleet, and bad news for me - the boulder has rolled back down the hill.
Arrival of the Yankees. (View from HMS Queen Elizabeth, unknown hand.)
Now is not the time for dejection, however - operations must continue. Brass wants a destroyer sweep in the Norfolk-Netherlands gap. Knowing the Harwich Force is prone to transit this area on its frequent mining operations, I am laying on two light cruiser divisions and some minelayers for a more involved operation than required. We may still be bottled up in the North Sea, but in turn we can bottle up Harwich at least. Eight battleships are in the yards, and the battlecruisers need some much needed drill and gun re-calibration, so there is little scope for anything grander at the present - may as well save strength for what may be a big operation in a fortnight.
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Wiggy
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Post by Wiggy on Jul 10, 2023 15:07:52 GMT -6
Operation Steinbecker
It is a quiet day, for both the wind and the wireless. The afternoon is spent cruising leisurely to the objective area, and Bremse and Brummer break off to deposit their deadly cargo. Just as the mines start gracing the water, the escorting light cruisers sight smoke on the horizon - the smoke of multiple warships. Is this a chance encounter, or have we been tracked and intercepted?
Meeting off the coast.
The minelayers aren't at liberty to change heading until they are finished, so they must be screened at all costs. Fortunately, it only appears to be a few destroyer leaders, their entourage in tow, attempting to interrupt us. A running battle develops to the south-west. Stralsund scores a hit at extreme range. The two forces keep at arm's length, producing plenty of shell-splash and the hollow clanging of spent casings, but few hits of note. The precious minelaying cruisers throw caution to the wind and get stuck in too - the more 15cm guns brought to bear the merrier - but in fear of getting too close to English coastal waters I give the order to break off at dusk. So ends the turn.
One of our quick and nimble opponents.
As always, I want to preserve my paltry helping of light cruisers, in a navy that seems to prefer the tonnage extremes of capital ships and destroyers. Some would say this is good min-maxing for the North Sea - why risk a CL when you could hedge with destroyers or go all-in with the battlecruisers - but you always need some scouts, minelayers, and raiders (and to show the flag abroad in peacetime) at less expense than a capital ship and with greater endurance that a DD. Anyway, the top-heaviness is due to to pre-war machinations in the Reichstag, I suspect, rather than any operational considerations. Some interesting new designs are on the stocks, however...
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Wiggy
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Post by Wiggy on Jul 12, 2023 5:08:28 GMT -6
Week 81 - Flash!
The time has come for another large operation. Our newest battlecruisers, Graf Spee and Prinz Eitel Friedrich, have worked up, ironed out some mechanical issues, and have been declared fit for action - and action is the intent with this operation. With our 15-inch battleships also repaired, the plan is a sweep of the Norwegian coast with the battlecruisers (letting them be spotted by coast-watchers and local shipping), covered by the HSF, with an option to press even further north and attack the Nordic convoy routes if the situation permits it. In any case, the goal is to bait out the elusive BCF and break its back with our combined force, even if it means lunging far from our bases. We will have to see if it works.
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Wiggy
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Post by Wiggy on Jul 12, 2023 11:26:17 GMT -6
Operation Ackermann
By this point of the war, most captains have become used to general sorties without radio traffic, the entire dance being a flag-and-lamp affair. This one goes without a hitch. Hindenburg continues to be the flag of the scouting forces, with the necessary facilities on Graf Spee not yet completed, and the best destroyer forces accompany them, the thinking being the 'fast wing' would be better able to get a decent jumping-off position in a battle. Anyway, northward ho!
On the wireless, radio intercepts seem to indicate enemy major fleet units off Scotland, near the known convoy routes, headed south-west towards their own bases. A sortie in response to us? A heavy convoy escort? Perhaps the Americans are getting used to Grand Fleet signalling practises? Whatever it is, we have only one data point so far so it is no cause for deviation. As we pass Jutland Bank, the calm boredom of the cruise is shattered by an explosion. Sailors line the rails to try and see the sight - a great plume of water falling back to sea as Lutzow rocks. A mine.
Slowed, and taking on water, she is sent home with a pair of attendant destroyers. The battlecruisers had peeled off by this time to head for Norway, leaving the main fleet shadowing off Little Fisher Bank. Out of the blue, there is a contact to port! A light cruiser. And a lot of smoke on the horizon.
Our scouting cruiser opens up. The opponent turns away to the west and more, larger, ships come into view.
Action stations!
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Wiggy
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Post by Wiggy on Jul 14, 2023 9:38:51 GMT -6
The Battle of Little Fisher Bank
Its the Battlecruiser Fleet! Frantic signals are exchanged to divert our own battlecruisers from their objectives off Norway.
Our most able ships - Bayern, Sachsen, and Württemberg - are well situated to start the afternoon's shooting. They open up at near maximum range with their 38cm guns, before the Kongos reply in kind. Unfortunately, the formation of parallel columns is to our detriment for once. It is better suited for a head-on engagement, where we can quickly make a right turn into line, whereas here each division must awkwardly shuffle over to join battle - causing an unrehearsed jumble. For a long few minutes our van has to do the best part of the fighting and receives the full attention of the enemy. The British score a number of hits, with a remarkable rate of fire, knocking out one of Sachsen's fire control positions. Eventually the battle develops into two clear lines snaking to the north. Where are our battlecruisers? Where is the Grand Fleet? These two unknowns could abruptly change the course of the engagement. In any case, it seems the BCF commander wants a fight, or at least feels forced to. An opportunity for the taking.
It is soon apparent that the pendulum has swung the other way. Our force is larger and better armoured, able to take hits that the battlecruisers simply cannot withstand for long, and our second division is able to dole out accurate fire without return. The one advantage the British have is speed, and they are not using it, nor will they keep it for long if the blows keep landing again and again - and they do. The leader of the Japanese division falls out of line with a damaged rudder. This leaves the enemy van to receive further attention, and soon there is a blinding flash and deafening roar.
This is too much for the second ship in line, command thrust into its captain's hands as it dodges through the smoke and flotsam, and it tries to turn and disengage after a few minutes of bewildered confusion.
At the rear of the battle our old pre-dreadnoughts, unable to keep up, are detailed to try and finish off the helplessly circling Kongo-class.
She manages to restore steerage and fights wildly like a cornered animal, restoring good speed and giving Preussen a pasting for her trouble - she falls out of line and is sent home still taking on water. Few hits are scored in return by the elderly main batteries, but the 6-inch gunners do some good work before the range opens again.
Down but not out!
Further up, the sea again rumbles as fire reaches another magazine.
This is the cue for a mass and general retreat. They really are biting on granite, and must cut their losses or it will turn into a total slaughter. Our battlecruisers finally arrive on the scene as the British scatter into disarray, each ship making what speed it can away.
Not all one-way, however.
We start a general chase to suit. The main line, battlecruisers, and pre-dreads all hound the enemy towards the setting sun.
Our battlecruisers catch the wounded Indefatigable-type and colander her. She is left a smouldering wreck, with few discernible surface features remaining, a barren jagged mess of the molten and mangled, burning and barely afloat. They saw sense to flood the magazines, at least. The scene with the sunset would be poetic, if it weren't so grim.
The chase for more continues as the darkness grows. There is a short panic as the pre-dreadnoughts, sauntering ahead with reckless abandon, come under attack by destroyers. Luckily, no hits are scored. Meanwhile, our own destroyers from the main fleet have been sent forward in a flotilla attack, and one finds a lucky hit amid the maelstrom of mixing divisions, both friend and foe.
Searching continues into the night, but to no avail. The action is concluded. Most crews are exhausted, and with ammunition largely spent the order is given to turn for home. Both sides will count their losses in the morning.
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