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[W. Clark]

We Were Barreling Along in Iron Bottom Sound

This is a Solomons What-If

Watch: 2400 hours           Wind: Force 3 Northern   Wind Speed: 10 knots

Max Visibility: 20,000 yards      Smoke: 1 GT                        Squalls: Yes/3        

Sea Haze: No           Moon State: Quarter        Sky: Cloudy

Squall Visibility: 4,000 yards     Weather Change: Roll Every 5 Turns  

 

Allied Patrol: RAdm Scott

Hvy Cruiser Division                                 4^th DesRon

CA USS New Orleans FF                           DD USS Selfridge Ldr

CA USS San Francisco       7^th DesDiv                            8^th DesDiv

Lt Cruiser Division             DD USS Bagley                    DD USS Jarvis

CL USS Phoenix DF            DD USS Blue                        DD USS Mugford

CL USS Boise                       DD USS Helm                      DD USS Patterson

                                                DD USS Henley                   DD USS Ralph Talbot

Allied Set Up

Roll D12: 1-3 One Ft in     4-6 two feet in       7-9 three feet in     10-12 four feet in

The Allies are mid-way up the table. Pre-plot a series of headings and distances that cover the patrol pattern you want. You must follow that pattern until contact or acquisition. Your speed is 20 knots.

 

IJN Supply Run & Escort: VAdm Mikawa

CA Chokai FF                                               6^th DesFlot: Radm Kadzioka

6^th Cru Sqdn: Radm Goto             CL Yubari DL

CA Aoba SF                                      29^th DesDiv              30^th DesDiv

CA Furutaka                                     DD Asanagi              DD Mochizuki

CA Kako                                            DD Yunagi                DD Mutsuki

9^th Cru Sqdn: Radm Kishi             DD Yusuki                DD Uzuki

CL Oii SF                                                                                DD Yayoi

CL Kitakami

Japanese Set Up

Designate a 5” x 5” supply drop off point and record its location. It must be on the west table edge (Guadalcanal) and it must be more than half the table from the north edge. Roll as per the Allies to determine where you enter on the north edge. You must pre-plot a series of headings and distances that takes you from your entry point to the supply drop and back off the north edge. Your speed is 20 knots. If you acquire then you can do as you want.

In order to drop off supplies your supply ladened DDs must steam through the drop off point at 10 knots or less. You must deliver at least 4 loads to accomplish your mission.

Supply Laden Combat Restrictions

IJN DDs laden with supply have their gunnery dice halved and cannot fire torpedoes until they drop off their supply load or jettison it. It takes a whole turn to drop off or jettison.

Force Morale

IJN morale is veteran if VAdm Mikawa is functioning. It drops to regular if any of the RAdms succeed to command and to green if all admirals are gone.

USN morale is regular if RAdm Scott is functioning and drops to green if he is knocked out.

Star-Shell

A player firing star-shell places a marker on the table for each star-shell he wants. He then rolls a D12 for each marker.

On a 1-9 Japanese star-shells work

On a 1-6 US star-shells work

All other results are a dud but still inflict the two-column shift for acquisition.

Ships within 500 yards of a star-shell are illuminated.

Ships more than 500 yards from a star-shell, but located between the star-shell and other ship(s) are silhouetted (acquired) but not illuminated.

 

Responses

When a superior receives a report of an enemy contact that is not corroborated by his own acquisition or radar contact, he must make a morale check to act upon the report during that plot phase. Otherwise, he continues his pre-plot that turn. This accounts for the various delays that occur in rapidly developing situations during periods of darkness.

 

 It was a dark and stormy night or at least it was for RAdm Kadzioka in Yubari heading a long column VAdm Mikawa’s 8^th Fleet. They were heading 45 degrees in a squall. Chokai was some 3,000 yards to his rear and barely visible. RAdm Goto’s 6^th Cruiser Squadron followed the flagship, then RAdm Kishi (9^th Cruiser Squadron) and finally the 29^th and 30^th destroyer divisions of his 6^th DesFlot with their decks laden with supplies in barrels.

 

At 0024 hours Yubari popped out of the squall. And 6 minutes later Yubari’s masthead reported enemy destroyers off her port quarter and ahead at 12,000 yards. Yubari opened on the lead destroyer to port with everything and? Nothing, not a whiff of a hit for an unengaged ship.  And so, it began. RAdm Kadzioka reported the contact to VAdm Mikawa while increasing to 25 knots after making a 2-point turn to starboard.

 

But Mikawa was confused by the report (he rolled a 12 and he could only see 6,000 yards) and continued straight ahead at 20 knots. Yubari fired again and missed again and Kadzioka intended to engage with his Type 90s but it was not to be. A torrent of fire from what turned out to be 4 Bagley class DDs, 2 Brooklyn class CLs and a New Orleans class CA smothered Yubari, knocking out all her forward guns and exploding her forward magazine before all damage reports had come in. Kadzioka died in the ensuing eruption before he could explain what was happening to Mikawa. Mikawa failed his morale (he rolled another 12) over the loss of the Yubari. This should have ended the fight but it was known that the Japanese had entered the war believing that the Allies could not take a sharp blow without just giving up. RAdm Scott was not going to let the Japanese off that easy and the fight continued.

 

At the same time RAdm Goto behind Mikawa had seen the leading destroyer on her port quarter and opened on her and missed. The flash of Allied gun fire across Mikawa’s front coupled with the destruction of Yubari woke him to the fact that he was in a battle. Mikawa made a 2-pont turn to starboard and increased to 25 knots. RAdm Goto followed him round, but not before Chokai and the entire 6^th Cruiser squadron had fired all their port torpedoes at the destroyers to their port quarter.

 

Chokai fired at a Brooklyn class cruiser inside 9,000 yards and missed. Aoba fired at a destroyer and missed. Furry Taco (Furutaka) and Kaka engaged destroyers and hit them a couple of times each. The Allied cruisers and several destroyers now smothered Aoba, knocking out all her turrets, causing serious structural damage, setting her afire and then sinking her quickly, killing RAdm Goto. Three non-penetrating 5” hits jammed Kako’s rudder to port. Mikawa responded to the loss of yet another subordinate by failing morale (he rolled an 11). But, RAdm Scott still had lessons to impart and continued the fight (Just how many times do we have to lose to pay for Pearl Harbor?).

 

Chokai and Furutaka made chemical smoke and turned away. Meanwhile RAdm Kishi had turned to port inside the squall (it seemed very unhealthy to starboard) and increasing speed to 25 and then 30 knots was heading 345 degrees and turned again to 340 degrees. Oi could see the eastern column of Allied destroyers and fired all her starboard torpedoes at them.

 

As for the torpedoes that Chokai and the 6^th Cruiser Squadron had fired; they hit Bagley class DDs, Helm and Henley twice each and Blue once. Helm and Henley practically dove for the bottom while Blue was reduced to 5 knots and suffered other serious damage. It is believed that these destroyers and 2 others fired torpedoes at Mikawa’s heavy cruisers but there is no way to tell from the results. What is certain is that the Allied western column of 4 DDs fired torpedoes at Mikawa’s cruisers and Kaka felt a bump and heard a thud. It is unknown if the suspected torpedo hit caused any flooding as Kako by the point was being pommeled at point blank range the western Allied DD column and was suffering accordingly.

 

Oi and Kitakami exchanged gunfire with Selfridge and Bagley resulting in minor damage either way before Kishi made smoke and withdrew. The supply laden DDs withdrew with him. Oi’s torpedoes hit both Brooklyn class CLs once each.

 

As for Kako, her crew in attempting to fix her rudder, broke it beyond repair and she continued to circle to port in what became a downward spiral to the bottom.

 

Needless to say, the Japanese soldiers on Guadalcanal received no supplies, support or comfort from the Navy’s effort and the Army hatefully pointed that out to them until they all died.

 

This AAR has been written from the Japanese POV and all mistakes are the author’s.

 

[Kenny Noe]

Exciting!!!   <grin>

[W. Clark]

I knew it was going to be one of those scenarios when I missed completely my first 14 die rolls while I am hitting on 1, 2 & 10. I think I got less than 10 hits all together from close to 40 die rolls where I was mostly hitting on 1, 2 & 10 and that was mostly because of EDR. Believe me when I say that I longed for rapid fire as I rolled a lot of 11 & 12. But it was the 12 I rolled for Mikawa trying to make sense of what Yubari was telling him that fixed my bacon. Gone was any chance for Mikawa to maneuver and we ended up way too close. My cartoon brain gives me a mental image of Mikawa saying; "What the? Have him say again." and just then Yubari blows up in front of him. Mikawa still wasn't sure of what was happening until the acquisition shift for a ship firing its guns allowed him to see 4 cruisers and 9 DDs where there had been nothing the turn before. At last, I could make smoke and turn away.

 

But the fickle finger of fate was not done with me yet. Kako (untouched to that moment) took a slew of 5" hits that EDR reduced to 3 non-penetrating hits. The first two bounced off her armor. But the last one was anther 12 and I then rolled another 12. Rudder jam and a subsequent 2 had her circling to port right into the middle of a US DesDiv. I tried to repair but rolled a 10 and broke to the point where it required a dockyard. So there Kako looking for a tow home. Not going to happen.

 

The US DDs were so close that I could imagine sailors fixing bayonets to the 5"L38s. Of course, with her turning and shooting at DDs with her 8"; her gunnery was even more atrocious than it had been. I know they fired torpedoes at her, but the thump of each dud was like her fate knocking on the door of eternity. So, they pummeled her with rapid 5" fire at point blank range for three turns before the waves closed over her in what by that point was almost protective.

 

But my torpedoes got some back for me. I ended up sparing Selfridge as I just like the look of the Porter class too much to sink one.

 

WMC

[healey36]

"What ifs" are a favorite of ours. We rarely have all of the correct ships on-hand for historical replays, so the hypothetical format provides an opportunity to empty the fleet cabinets and line 'em up under a plausible script. Great fun.

 

I will not comment on poor dice, as it will lead to a dissertation that sounds a bit caustic. Suffice it to say that here in the game room, one has to keep his/her head down, as flying dice are a chronic problem (especially those d20s).

 

The Furutaka-class is a personal favorite, especially following their 1937 rebuilds (although it would be fun to game their original six single 7.9-inch turrets instead of the three twin 8-inch, armor thickness aside). The way I roll dice, it would take an entire day to knock out six turrets.

 

 

[W. Clark]

The whole idea behind the scenario was to get the 9th cruiser squadron (Oi & Kitakami) onto a table in the Solomons rather than have them sit it out in the Inner Sea. I have a modified OOB for The Solomons Campaign where I offer DesRon 2 (mostly Sims class) to the Allies (they got it historically along with Hornet) on GT2. But if they take it, then the IJN gets the 9th cruiser squadron at Rabaul. I played it once but ran into the North Carolina and Washington with max visibility of 6,000 yards. They lit me up with star shell and sunk both cruisers in one turn of gunnery (I did not live long enough to fire torpedoes) and this is the first time I've tried them out again. I had them third in line behind the 6th cruiser squadron and they spent most of the game in a squall before Oi saw Selfridge. Oi fired at Selfridge and missed her astern but the torpedoes ran on and hit Phoenix and Boise once each. Didn't sink them but took the joy out of the engagement they had been having to that point.

 

I saw Mikawa's predicament as a kind of Kharma after Savo Island and it did not really bother me that I was the one pushing him through it.

 

WMC

[healey36]

I played it once but ran into the North Carolina and Washington with max visibility of 6,000 yards.

 

 

Yes, that whole non-simultaneous/gunnery/damage-resolution sequence is brutal if you're on the wrong end of it. Taking fire from a pair of North Carolina-class at such close range would be murderous (as Kirishima discovered in November 1942).

 

I seem to recall that Washington was part of the covering force for PQ-17, along with Duke of York, detaching at some point on errant reports that Tirpitz had sortied in the convoy's direction. Had that been the case, that might have made for an interesting dust-up.

[W. Clark]

I would not give odds for the Tirpitz versus any of our newer bats. Given the lack of visibility in her area of operation, their radar FC would go hard with her. It's not quite like the Gulf War, but along those lines. I remember discussing the news coverage at the time during Line-Up and the guys were concerned about all the Iraqi armor and arty that the news types were touting. I told them not to worry and explained it this way. We had thermal and owned the skies. My analogy was that it would be like taking Ali on in his prime, but his head is in a bag, and you get a Louisville slugger. You can win that.

 

WMC

[healey36]

We...owned the skies.

That's the kicker...once you get up to the northern end of Norway, the Germans owned the skies. I don't think Victorious could have done much to blunt the onslaught. That said, I agree with you, two modern BB’s lined up on one seems long odds.

[W. Clark]

​On a clear day for sure. But if the weather up there is anything like I experienced in Alaska then clear days are few and far between. I figure at those moments' visibility must suck also and radar FC comes into its own when the mark I eyeball isn't all that is needed. I doubt that Scharnhorst at the end felt like she was steaming under friendly skies.

 

WMC