Fleet's First AAR: Spanish Empire Resurgent

[thefleetofoceans]

I this AAR I hope to document my current Spanish game, as this my first AAR ever this might be a bit scuffed so bear with on this. More Posts to follow.

[thefleetofoceans]

The Spanish Empire, As
it stood at the beginning of May 1926:



Spain stands at it's greatest Territorial extent, greatest health of economic strength, and greatest health of military arms since it's fall from grace at the start of the 19th century. The turn point was the war which most thought would be the final nail in the coffin of the Spanish empire, the Spanish-American war of 1897. In a stunning move the man who would go on to lead Spanish naval revival, the then captain Cervera gathered together his most capable torpedo boats and as many of Spain's capable and precious torpedo boat destroyers as possible and in a stunning night time torpedo attack Sank the whole of the Indiana class of american pre-dreadnought battleships, and badly damaged the USS Iowa sending her limping home for repairs. This stunning reversal was followed only day's later when the sole Spanish battleship Pelayo, accompanied by all six of spains protected cruisers fell on the recently victorious American Asiatic Squadron in manila bay and destroyed it. A powerful protected cruiser the Olympia might have been, but against Pelayo she was helpless. The protected cruisers dealt with other older and less capable US warships with relative ease with only one falling victim to a lucky torpedo fired at the last minute from one of the sinking US ships.

In just a few short weeks the Spanish-America War went from a forgone conclusion, to an unexpected Spanish Triumph. Spanish Armoured cruiser where soon prowling US supply lines to cuba, and the competent and well led spanish troops on cuba needed no additional help save healthy supply lines to steadily drive the US forces back to towards their now flimsily supplied bases. The final action of the war would be when in one last desperate attempt to reopen a route of supply (and failing that retreat) to US forces in Cuba the hurriedly repaired Battleship Iowa and the US's only two armoured cruisers New York and Brooklyn emerged to sweep aside the spanish armoured cruisers and save the war effort. At least that's what the US had hoped for. What they actually encountered was a full Spanish fleet centered around the Pelayo and the Spanish Armoured cruisers. What followed was a confused melee in which both sides lost their only battleship and most of their armoured cruisers, primarily to torpedo strikes from light forces. But at the end of the battle, the spanish remained in command of the sea and any hope from a US victory died on the vine. 

The peace that followed saw the united states pay a massive up front payment along with 3 years of reparations to Spain. Which allowed it to not only completely modernise it's fleet along lines laid out by the now chief of the spanish navy Cervera, but mean't that upon entering the 20th century the spanish navy boasted one of the most modern fleets in the world. With most ships barely a year or two in age. This unfortunately however whipped the US out it's isolationist phase for good, with newly elected President Teddy Roosevelt declaring that if only he'd have had the navy he'd wanted as secretary for the navy prior to the war. The US would've won it. This led to public and media pressure forcing the US to open the floodgates for funding for the now reduced the US navy and it ballooned rapidly. (This is my explanation for the vast size of the USN in Rule the waves 2).



The next 25 years saw wars against, Italy and Germany which added yet more territory to the empire and quick thinking by the governor of the Spanish Philippines added the island of Hainan to the empire in the wake of collapse of the Qing in the mid 1910's. The Spanish empire has seen 25 years of victory and resurgence, and can confidently claim it's place once again as one of the great powers of the world. Whether it will retain that position as the decades go on remains to be seen. 

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