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[Stephen Taylor]

There was a couple of GQ3 naval actions this last weekend(Labor Day) at Conquest SF, held in the SF Bay Area.This will concern the second action.The scenario was modified from one in the Netherlands Navy Supplement. In it, a Japanese invasion convoy was en route to Java. The Dutch had put together a heavy striking force built around two of the new Battlecruisers of the "Amsterdam" class. There were additional allied ships involved as well.The Japanese had a small escort built around a CL and 3 DDs. They also had two covering groups. One, built around Myoko and Haguro, the other around Kongo and Haruna.The weather was force 5 plus, with 90% cloud cover and rain squalls moving south. The weather had a great impact on the action.The Japanese planned to use the squalls to cover their movement south, but things did not turn out as they had hoped .The game lasted fourteen turns and five plus hours, and when it was over, the Allies had scored a costly, yet major victory.The Amsterdam suffered a fire that led to the ship's loss. The USS Houston, HMAS Perth, HrMs Java, and three destroyers- one US, one British, one Dutch, were also lost.Significant damage was done to Amsterdam's sister Rotterdam, destroyer Banckert and the old Dutch(ex RN) battlecruiser Tiger.The Japanese, on the other hand were quite savaged, losing Haruna, Haguro, Myoko,Jintsu, three destroyers, and the convoy ships themselves.Significant damage was suffered by Yura as well as the destroyer Harusame. Events of note during the battle included the valiant sacrifice of the USS Pillsbury in taking a torpedo meant for the Tiger. The Japanese cruiser Yura, that suffered both fire and bulkhead damage, but whose crew remembered their damage control training.(The Dutch Amsterdam's crew should have paid more attention to fire fighting) A RN four torpedo spread that hit a Japanese destroyer and one of the transports. The transport sinking immediately, and the destroyer soon afterward. A glancing collision between a Dutch BC coming out of a squall and a Japanese destroyer. The point blank duel between Tiger, Haruna, and Kongo. In the last, Tiger took some damage, but Haruna blew up do to a failed ammunition critical roll. The last was at about 3000 yards.I hope to get some photos of the action to post as soon as possible.We had six players and all had a pretty good time playing.Steve Taylor