Rhetor
Member
In January 1916 somwhere in the middle of the North Sea German Battlecruiser force was doing a reconaissance sweep. Unexpectedly, even though many Zeppelins were scouting the seas, they came across British Battlecruiser Fleet - nine mighty BCs and numerous lighter vessels.
Since there were only four hours of daylight remaining, German Admiral decided to accept the battle, while steaming away towards the Hochseeflotte. And that was his first surprise. When he went to his chart room and looked at the campaign map, he suddelny realized that the exact position of the Hochseeflotte was not marked! Somebody has forgotten to keep track! Strange indeed. Nevertheless, he decided to set a SE course, to the last remembered location of the Battle Fleet. Since British BCs, encumbered by the slower, older battlecruisers, were two knots slower than the Germans, it seemed reasonable to keep the distance and slug it out, trusting the superior skill of the gunners and thick armour of the German BCs.
Thus, the German Admiral decided to make an abrupt turn, close within 15 000 meters, and then return to the SE course. And then everything started to fall apart.
First of all, the superior skill of the German gunnery officers proved to be a hoax. The Admiral allowed his gunners to choose targets themselves. Only after a few salvos he realized that they all have selected the second ship in enemy line - the Princess Royal. He had to intervene, and after a few quick orders the four Cats were engaged. The delay proved decisive. The very first accurate shell from the Lion knocked out one of the turrets on the Seydlitz. That was only the beginning. Soon Von der Tann took three hits, which also smashed a turret. German admiral decided that there is no point risking it any further. He ordered his BCs to make a simultainous turn SE, while bringing up three DD flottillas to make a torpedo run. His only mistake was to trust his gunners once more. While he was busy selecting and ordering the light units to turn and close in, three leading BCs targeted the Lion! Only the oldest Von der Tann fired at the Invincible, scoring some hits and slowing her down two knots. Meanwhile more 13,5 inch shells smashed into German BCs - Moltke lost two turrets in a quick succession, all the other BCs were also hit, albeit with minor damage.
Meanwhile the DDs were closing in and firing. After all the problems with the gunners, the admiral thought that in daytime his DD commanders would fire their torps at the selected targets. Alas! Most of them refused to fire at selected ships. They trained their tubes, and suddenly reported that they have been given no targets! German Admiral hat to personally direct all the three flottillas selected for this attack; after one of the turns captains from one flottilla apparently decided that the conditions were favourable, and fired at the three leading British BCs. It was a huge salvo. Other DDs either fired only one torpedo, or they delayed inexplicably, thus waisting the possibility of firing simultainously. Anyway, many torpedoes were speeding towards the British BCs. They made some turns and avoided all of them but one which hit the Queen Mary in the stern, slowing her to 21 knots. Even though the actual damage done to the enemy was not substantial, he lost his formation, allowing the German BCs to get out of range.
That's all for now. The coming night might prove costly. Some screenshots included.
Since there were only four hours of daylight remaining, German Admiral decided to accept the battle, while steaming away towards the Hochseeflotte. And that was his first surprise. When he went to his chart room and looked at the campaign map, he suddelny realized that the exact position of the Hochseeflotte was not marked! Somebody has forgotten to keep track! Strange indeed. Nevertheless, he decided to set a SE course, to the last remembered location of the Battle Fleet. Since British BCs, encumbered by the slower, older battlecruisers, were two knots slower than the Germans, it seemed reasonable to keep the distance and slug it out, trusting the superior skill of the gunners and thick armour of the German BCs.
Thus, the German Admiral decided to make an abrupt turn, close within 15 000 meters, and then return to the SE course. And then everything started to fall apart.
First of all, the superior skill of the German gunnery officers proved to be a hoax. The Admiral allowed his gunners to choose targets themselves. Only after a few salvos he realized that they all have selected the second ship in enemy line - the Princess Royal. He had to intervene, and after a few quick orders the four Cats were engaged. The delay proved decisive. The very first accurate shell from the Lion knocked out one of the turrets on the Seydlitz. That was only the beginning. Soon Von der Tann took three hits, which also smashed a turret. German admiral decided that there is no point risking it any further. He ordered his BCs to make a simultainous turn SE, while bringing up three DD flottillas to make a torpedo run. His only mistake was to trust his gunners once more. While he was busy selecting and ordering the light units to turn and close in, three leading BCs targeted the Lion! Only the oldest Von der Tann fired at the Invincible, scoring some hits and slowing her down two knots. Meanwhile more 13,5 inch shells smashed into German BCs - Moltke lost two turrets in a quick succession, all the other BCs were also hit, albeit with minor damage.
Meanwhile the DDs were closing in and firing. After all the problems with the gunners, the admiral thought that in daytime his DD commanders would fire their torps at the selected targets. Alas! Most of them refused to fire at selected ships. They trained their tubes, and suddenly reported that they have been given no targets! German Admiral hat to personally direct all the three flottillas selected for this attack; after one of the turns captains from one flottilla apparently decided that the conditions were favourable, and fired at the three leading British BCs. It was a huge salvo. Other DDs either fired only one torpedo, or they delayed inexplicably, thus waisting the possibility of firing simultainously. Anyway, many torpedoes were speeding towards the British BCs. They made some turns and avoided all of them but one which hit the Queen Mary in the stern, slowing her to 21 knots. Even though the actual damage done to the enemy was not substantial, he lost his formation, allowing the German BCs to get out of range.
That's all for now. The coming night might prove costly. Some screenshots included.
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