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[W. Clark]

A Night in Bharu and Singora Too

It was midnight with a Quarter Moon, but the overcast made the moon like new. The wind was a Force 4 Southerly at 15 knots. There were no squalls or sea haze, so it was a dark but not stormy night and smoke was still an option.

 

0000 hours. Force Z was at sea heading due North at 25 knots looking for those Sons of Nippon. The Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere was reported to have landed another Beach Party at Koto Bharu the RN intended to voice its objection at this blatant repeat of earlier trespasses at this same location.

The steward brought Admiral Phillips a cup of tea with a bit of brandy in it. It was after all a new year and that called for a bit of cheer. HMS PoW (Prince of Wales) the flagship led a column of cruisers (1^st Div. Exeter, Mauritius & Emerald; 2^nd Div. Danae, Dragon and Durban) under RAdm Palliser. There was a destroyer division in column to the port and to the starboard of the central column respectively. Repulse had been left in port. This would be a torpedo ambush if Phillips had his say. He might not have Enterprise, but he did have Emerald, and he intended to boldly go where he had not gone three weeks ago.

 

Unbeknownst to Phillips, the invasion convoy was still at sea and was closing on Force Z from the NE on a heading of 225 degrees at 11 knots. That made for a closing speed of about 36 knots. Also unbeknownst to Phillips was that the Port IJN destroyer column could see 16.000 yards (I rolled a 1!) which equaled the best (DesDiv 1) RN radar return but DesDiv 1 was to port of the central column. Those Sons of Nippon would get first peek. This would allow the IJN to accelerate and maneuver to port opening up their arcs.

 

0012 hours. PoW and Electra both made radar contact some 12,000 yards off PoW’s starboard bow. This was the exact opposite of Phillips’ expectations, whoops. PoW fired star-shell from her SS SB and illuminated the second and third ships of what appeared to be a 4-ship division of destroyers.

 

0015 hours. Phillips accelerated Central column to 29 knots and turned 2 points to port. He had DesDiv 1 accelerated to 35 knots and for it to take station ahead of the Central Column. Phillips had DesDiv 2 (S&T class) fall in behind the Central Column. PoW now engaged the first illuminated DD with it SS SB and whiffed completely. Mauritius fired at the other illuminated DD and hit it 6 times.

But PoW found herself under fire from very large guns indeed, the Nagatos were putting in their two cents.

The Isonami took a hit to her DC racks that started a minor fire. She also lost 2 turrets, had a bulkhead damaged and suffered critical hits to her bridge and engineering. PoW was straddled but not hit with shell splashes that went as high as her main mast.

 

0018 hours. Phillips turned the central column and DesDiv 2 away together under smoke to break LOS and used DesDiv 1’s SWR to keep situational awareness. This was not the fight Phillips had hoped for.

 

0021 hours. Phillips turned back into column on a heading of 340 degrees and continued to smoke. He needed to get them within 8,200 yards to torpedo them and he needed to do it without them shooting his cruisers and destroyer to pieces before they could launch. It was obvious that at least some of the Japanese could see as far his radar. DesDiv 1 could still see the damaged DD. It had put out the fire but still had 2 EDR fires burning.

 

0024 hours. Phillips decided to separate PoW from the cruisers. PoW radar was currently good out 12,000 yards and her SB could fire star-shell that far. He’d light the DDs up again at 12,000 yards and pray that the Nagatos were further away when he did it. If he could get lucky and avoid damage, he might just be able distract the IJN while he slipped his cruisers and DDs within 8,000 yards. If he could pull that off then he would launch torps and let the chips fall as they may. He was going to get Napoleonic on the Japanese, engage, then wait and see.

 

0030 hours. PoW illuminated another contact at 12,000 yards that turned out to be anther DesDiv of 4 Asashio class DDs.

 

0033 hours. PoW engaged the lead illuminated DDs with her MB and her SS SB. PoW MB inflicted 4 hits on the Oshio and her SB hit Arashio once. Oshio took a hit to her DC racks that started a minor fire, lost her fore turret and two engineering hits that threatened to knock her DIW. Arashio took a hit in her DC racks and a minor fire. PoW was fired upon by the Nagatos and they missed again.

 

0036 hours. Phillips had his cruisers and DDs turn together towards the gun flashes that he believed were the Nagatos and turn back on course together while moving the last half of their movement straight ahead. He then had DesDiv 2 fire star-shell in an attempt to illuminate what he believed were the Nagatos. PoW engaged the DDs again with her MB & SB. PoW hit Oshio 4 more times but missed Arashio. Oshio took 3 hits to her hull and a bulkhead. Nagato hit PoW once knocking out a TB and a SL. DesDiv 2 illuminated Nagato and Mutsu.

 

0039 hours. PoW engaged Nagato with her MB and Arashio with her SB. Nagato returned fire. PoW missed and Nagato hit her once damaging her hull. Several IJN DDs fired at DesDiv 1 & 2 without effect.

 

0042 hours. All the RN cruisers and DDs fired their torps off at the Nagatos at 8,000 yards. All of Force Z then turned away under smoke to break LOS.

 

0045 hours. Phillips continued with Force Z almost in a line abreast away from the Japanese under smoke while Electra kept track of them on radar.

 

Nagato took 5 torps from the 31 fired at her from DesDiv 1, Exeter, Mauritius and Emerald. Mutsu took 4 torps from the 26 fired at her by Danae, Dragon, Durban and DesDiv 2. Nagato took 11 hull and sank after 7. Mutsu also took 7 hull and sank. Admiral Yamamoto went down with Nagato, never to rise again and that was a first for me.

 

0048 hours. Phillips knew that he had gotten hits but did not know how many or what he had hit. Phillips withdrew and 3 WAF invasions convoys succeeded. The Singapore Index moved to 4.

 

 

 

 

[simanton]

It was nice for once to see those older RN light cruisers get to use those heavy torpedo batteries!

[Peter M. Skaar]

That is a great AAR, W. Clark!  I like the way it is written like a real battle after action report.

[Mark Hinds]

Nice AAR; I have the campaign rules, but haven't yet finished the ships :-( 

MH

[W. Clark]

I pick a side (I'm biased towards the Allies but use who brought on the fight to determine) and wright it from the POV of the flagship's bridge. I make notes on the turn log as the scenario progresses to help me not to forget observations that I think would be of interest. I'm not a social media guy but the enjoyment I get from writing these gives me some understanding of why social media could become addictive. I enjoy answering questions about why it went the way it did. I normally construct a back story for each side using the information and their operational situation to give a menu of likely responses to variations that occur. That allows me to use a morale check when things would cause someone to think about whether to continue or abort with them having to pass their morale to have the option to take further risk. The greater morale of the IJN allows them to be more aggressive in pursuit of their operational objectives. I'd spell this out in the AAR but it would lengthen them quite a bit and so I leave to questions that anyone wants answers. Also, questions sometimes cause me to rethink how I did it and possibly make changes to improve spontaneous decision making. This is still a work in progress, and I hope progressing towards a better article. Also, there are weird situations that occur that I cannot predict like me rolling a full gale thrice in a roll that would have prevented the Japanese from being able to take Singapore during the 6 turns of the campaign because their amphibious operations were aborted by weather alone. 

[Mark Hinds]

Given the subject of your AAR, have you read "Scapegoat" by Martin Stephen?  I don't completely agree with his criticisms of the RN ships, but overall, he is convincing. 

 

WRT the ships, IMHO in 1941, Repulse is pretty similar to a Kongo, and yet she gets a lot of grief from British authors...  EDIT, and American authors too (thinking of the recent "Battleship Bismarck" book). 

[W. Clark]

The Refit and Repair class of BCs (their nick names in the fleet) can deal out damage but as with all BC armor do not stand up to big guns. They are great cruiser killers though. IMHO, you let PoW with her large battery and BA armor take on capital ships and preserve Repulse to kill 8-inch cruisers. Yes, PoW will be outnumbered and is bound to take a beating. But, Singapore has more dry dock ability than any other RN base and better to take pounding when just outside the most modern repair facilities in the Empire. Death comes to all ships soon or late. And how can a ship die better than facing fearful odds for King and Country? I have not read that book. 

 

WMC

[Mark Hinds]

The Refit and Repair class of BCs (their nick names in the fleet) can deal out damage but as with all BC armor do not stand up to big guns. They are great cruiser killers though. IMHO, you let PoW with her large battery and BA armor take on capital ships and preserve Repulse to kill 8-inch cruisers. Yes, PoW will be outnumbered and is bound to take a beating. But, Singapore has more dry dock ability than any other RN base and better to take pounding when just outside the most modern repair facilities in the Empire. Death comes to all ships soon or late. And how can a ship die better than facing fearful odds for King and Country? I have not read that book. 

 

WMC

Interesting comments WRT GQIII rules used in the Malay Barrier campaign. 

 

However, WRT Repulse versus a Kongo, I was referring to historical reality, as a starting point to reflecting that in a game.  In late 1941, WRT speed, protection, and firepower, they are pretty much equivalent.  True Kongo has longer ranged main armament, (the degree depending on whether you give Repulse supercharges and/or 6crh shells), but OTOH, when will you need that range, and Repulse has radar. 

 

MH

[W. Clark]

Dave Franklin pointed out a mistake I made early on. PoW took 4 hull hits in the first fight. The fact that Singapore could repair that much hull in one GT does override the fact that amount of damage to the hull of a 7-hull box ship renders her crippled and requires (per the RAW) her immediate withdrawal. That means that Repluse would have had to take PoW's place. Repulse has = rather than - SW radar. That means her contact range with the die roll applied to PoW would have required her to get closer than 12,000 yards to make contact. But that is almost moot when you consider that she would have had to use her SB to fire star-shell to illuminate the Japanese and that has a max range of 8,000 yards rather than the 12,000 of PoW's 5.25". That coupled with her BC armor would have placed her at least one range band closer to the Nagatos. I just don't see her surviving that exchange for the 3 turns it took for the cruisers and DDs to get into position to launch torpedoes. I just cannot see her getting away afterwards. So, I'm going to rule her sunk and that will redress the VP imbalance somewhat. Sorry for the mistake but the memory just is not what it was.

 

WMC

[W. Clark]

I never take the Tiger, or the Scharnhorst knock offs as capital ship options for the Dutch. Their BC armor means that they have the same lack of ability to resist 14" fire as is Repulse's problem. I sometimes take Mackensen class at its BB belt armor makes them more than a match for the Kongo's. But when it gets down to it, I prefer the Dutch versions of Cruiser D (Panzer Schiff copies). They count as cruisers for LBA so only an over report will allow a torpedo/heavy bomb loadout. There are three of them in a division and if they get the first shot in then their 11" MB can really hurt the Kongos. They are also good cruiser killers. But there is a lot that can go wrong. They don't have radar and its Dutch night acquisition versus the Japanese. I've seen it go really well, and I've seen it go really bad and just about any variation in between. Also, they have quad TT so there is another possibility besides just gunnery. 

 

WMC

[Mark Hinds]

While plans for the Dutch BCs (and models even) are available, not so much for 11" cruisers.  If I had a nice side-view, I suppose I could scratch-build...  I found some interesting speculative plans never-built Dutch ships here  https://shipbucket.c...pic.php?t=10892 , and here  https://ptdockyard.c...00-ship-models/ , but no cruisers with 11" (unless I missed something). 

 

MH

[W. Clark]

I might be somewhat mistaken, but I believe that the line drawings of the "Kruizer D" design look a lot like Admiral Scheer or Graf Spee, particularly in 1:6000. And the Cruiser D design is the basis for the Dutch PBs. The problem of Dutch capital ship options at all IMHO is that the Dutch Legislature did not perceive their need until after Khalkin Gol when it became obvious to even the most obtuse that Japan was not going satisfy its need for resources in Siberia. That meant that the DEI was next up on the plate with Japan and the Navy had been arguing that it was first up since 1908. The Dutch seemed to believe that they needed to go with German designs regardless. And the problem with that is Hitler. If you look at the Dutch capital ship options offered including the two post published options; you'll see that Tiger is the only non-German choice. Either the Mackensens or the PBs were possible if coupled ""in time" with the "will" from the legislature because both predate Hitler coming to power (although it is very tight with the PBs). The Scharnhorst knockoffs are pie in the sky for the same reason. Hitler was repeatedly publicly on record both in writing and verbally that he absolutely despised the Dutch for having sat out WWI. And if it was ever in his choice; that he would not let it happen again. The invasion of 10 May 1940 proves that he meant every word of it. The timing of the negotiations for the plans for Project 1040 that began in late November 1939 and ended in mid to late March 1940 could not have been in good faith on the part of Germany. There is no way that Hitler intended to arm the Dutch against his ally, Japan. Nope, he intended to conquer them instead and then did his best to starve to death during 43-44. 

 

I cannot remember now for sure whether I simply used the actually PBs for the Dutch or if Figurehead also makes Cruiser D. In either case they work. And for the record I don't really disagree with your assessment that the R class BCs are the equivalent of the Kongos. I see them both as cruiser killers that are compromised in their ability to stand up battleship armament.

 

WMC

[Mark Hinds]

(text removed)

 

I cannot remember now for sure whether I simply used the actually PBs for the Dutch or if Figurehead also makes Cruiser D. In either case they work. And for the record I don't really disagree with your assessment that the R class BCs are the equivalent of the Kongos. I see them both as cruiser killers that are compromised in their ability to stand up battleship armament.

 

WMC

 

Figurehead doesn't make any Dutch never-built PBs.  I guess one could use a German PB and speculatively modify the bridge tower and funnel to look "Dutch".  Perhaps the final result would look similar to the first image in my first link. 

 

MH

[W. Clark]

I just reexamined what I have painted for the Dutch PBs and it appears to me that I just used the Figurehead Deutschland class to represent them. If you look closely and know what you are looking for then you can tell that the Lutzow is not a Cruiser D. Otherwise the only difference that is noticeable between Admiral Scheer and Graf Spee and the cruiser D profile is that cruiser D has quad TT and that does not really stand out in 1:6000. IMHO they work in that scale.

 

WMC

[Mark Hinds]

I just reexamined what I have painted for the Dutch PBs and it appears to me that I just used the Figurehead Deutschland class to represent them. If you look closely and know what you are looking for then you can tell that the Lutzow is not a Cruiser D. Otherwise the only difference that is noticeable between Admiral Scheer and Graf Spee and the cruiser D profile is that cruiser D has quad TT and that does not really stand out in 1:6000. IMHO they work in that scale.

 

WMC

You have a "Cruiser D" profile drawing?  If so, where can I find it? 

 

MH

[W. Clark]

There is a profile and top-down view under Cruiser D on Wikipedia. I believe Jim O'Neil had a better example but I'm not sure of that as it been a few years. In any case when you see it, I believe that you will agree that it looks a lot like the latter two Deutschlands. This design is what morphed into the Scharnhorst. They could increase the speed or add a third turret but not both, on the 20,000 tons limit they initially intended. IMHO this was the most effective anti-cruiser design available to them. It is a great 8-inch cruiser killer and politically it does not upset the balance of power as any true capital ship(s) is going to. The only nation that was going to be really unhappy about it was Japan (based on what they had to say about any Dutch naval construction). Of course, it was going to cost and require additional upgrades to the naval yard at Surabaya. And that alone made it unrealistic in the reality of the time. Of course, the intentions of any nation with the naval strength of Japan that was concerned about the strength of the Dutch navy (given how small it was) was not worried about its defense. So, it seems to me to be further evidence of Japan's evil intentions against the DEI. The Dutch Navy certainly saw it that way.

 

WMC

[W. Clark]

In comparing the R class BCs with the rebuilt Kongos let me first state my POV on what I'm looking for in any given ship class vs another. I'm looking for a fight where I have an advantage. I see war as State sanctioned murder and not some kind of sporting contest. I don't want a fair fight, and I didn't want to serve under someone who did. That probably comes from spending three years in Bavaria with some 45 Soviet divisions, 5 East German and 3 Cech across the border in East Germany and Czechoslovakia, many within 12 hours road march of my barracks. I just did not see where any attempt at fighting fair equaled survival, let alone victory. We were going to have kill some 13 to 1 just to stay even. So, I evaluate ships classes and their opponents to determine what kind of fight favors and what does not. As an example, let me compare the New Orleans class CAs with the Myokos, Takaeos and Mogamis. The New Orleans with their CA(CA) armor vs the Japanese CA(CS) armor want to stay outside 15,000 yards where their armor protects their firepower, hull and speed while the Japanese firepower and their torpedoes are vulnerable. And in any case they need to stay outside 10,000 yards to negate the Japanese torpedoes. I'm not saying they can't lose but the dice have to be so bad that it is very unlikely.

 

Having said that let's look at the R class and the Kongos.

MB: The R class 15" gives them an increased chance to hit (1,2 & 10 vs 1 &10) when firing over 12,000 yards but not over 18,000. In addition, the EDR is 1.5 to 1 vs the 14" 1 to 1 against BC armor. But the Kongos having 2 more guns and get a fourth die. And both the 14" and 15" penetrate BC armor at any range.

Speed: The Kongos are 30 knot ships where the R class are 28 knots.

 

There is no fight in which one side has the kind of advantage I'm looking for. Whoever hits first generally wins. That IMHO is a fair fight that I don't want if I can avoid it. Either class of BC versus a CA is the kind of fight that I'm looking for.

 

So, I agree that they are equal and that is why I use a quarter line and smoke from PoW to shelter Repulse to protect it from a fair fight.

[Peter M. Skaar]

Very interesting discussion here, W. Clark.

In gaming generally whether naval or land or air, we are looking for a "fair" fight.  By that, I mean that both sides will have a chance to win via the victory conditions even if historically one side or the other does not really have a good chance of winning the historical battle.  I feel that adjusting the victory conditions for a game goes a long way toward the "balanced" game that most players are looking for.  The players that maximize whatever advantages they have and minimize their disadvantages will generally do well as you have illustrated above.

 

[W. Clark]

I completely agree with that POV when I'm writing rules or running a game as why should anyone give their time to something that is rigged. But when I'm playing, then I treat my pieces as if they were flesh and blood like the people I served under, over and with. They and the mission are all important and the enemy deserves and receives no consideration. I regret each loss in achieving the mission and feel that I should have prevented it somehow. That is why I'm quick to withdraw if things don't go well early in a campaign as preservation of force is just as important to me as winning is until they conflict. Of course, at that point accomplishing the mission comes first. What can I say, the army got me early at 17 and I'm still indoctrinated 55 years later. 

WMC