Battle Report - Sector 27, Spring 1941

Sector 27 Spring 1941

British Forces:

      HMS Ark Royal

      Martlet Mk.II

      Hurricane Mk. IB

      Swordfish Mk.II

      HMS Belfast

      HMS Ajax

      HMS Kent

      HMS Javelin

      HMS Croome

      Land-based (2 turn re-arming)

            Fairey Fulmar

            Sunderland

German Forces:

      Graf Zeppelin

      BF 109 (x2)

      Admiral Graf Spee

      Z20 Karl Galster

      Z18 Hans Ludemann

      U-66

The weather is fine with two islands on the map (B2, C6+D7). Three 25-point objectives were placed in the standard locations (F1, F4, and F7).

START: The British are in two formations, with the Kent, Ajax, and Croome together in A3 and the Belfast and Javelin right below them in A4. The Ark Royal is alone in A7. The Germans also start with two formations with the Graf Zeppelin and Graf Spee in K4 and the Galster, and Ludemann at K5. The U-66 is a forward screen at G7.

TURN 1: The British win initiative and advance their combat formations toward the Germans, to C4 and C5 respectively. The Ark Royal places itself safely behind the large island in C7. The Germans advance as well, straight to I4 and I5 with the submarine advancing to the objective at F7. The German fighters move to protect the vulnerable submarine so the British attack planes attack the destroyers instead, leaving the carrier based fighters to dogfight the German fighters. The Fulmar stays at base, waiting for a better time to use its Shadowing ability. Over the German destroyers, the Swordfish is aborted by Flak, but the Sunderland is able to land a mighty bomb strike, sinking the Galster. The British do well in the dogfight as well with the Martlett knocking out one of the BF 109s.

TURN 2: The Germans win initiative so the British merely advance into E4 and E5 with the Croome changing to the Belfast’s formation in order to get closer to the submarine. The submarine moves up to F6 while the Germans advance to G5 and G6 respectively. The British send the Sunderland the all of the carrier-based aircraft after the U-66, with the fighters as escorts. The Germans predictably send their lone fighter to defend the submarine. The BF 109 is able to abort the swordfish attack, but the Sunderland is able to land a hit with depth charges on the U-66. At range 2, the two sides open up on each other. The Kent, Belfast, Croome, and Javelin all take hits while amazingly the cruiser fire only hits the Graf Spee once. The Belfast’s secondaries, however, hit the Ludemann and the Javelin finishes it off. The crippled U-66, despite the damage and pressure from both destroyers and patrol planes is able to hit the Belfast with a torpedo, sinking it.

TURN 3: The British win initiative and watch the German units consolidate to G5. The Kent and Ajax follow for point blank shot while the destroyers close to F6. The Sunderland and all of the carrier based air, from both sides, swarm to G5. The Fulmar is finally committed, moving to F6 in order to use its Shadowing if called upon. The air battle is vicious and flak blows the Swordfish out of the sky and aborts the Sunderland’s attack. The British surface gunnery is brutal. The Graf Spee sinks, with the Kent’s guns taking the final shots. The Graf Zeppelin also goes down, damaged by guns and finished off by a torpedo from the Javelin. The German return fire is even more brutal. The Ajax is blown out of the water by a vital armor hit by the Scheer, the Graf Zeppelin’s main guns cripple the Kent, and the combined secondaries sink the Croome. The BF 109 is unable to make it back to land after the loss of its carrier, chalking up a third kill for the Javelin.

TURN 4: There’s not much left and the Germans win initiative. The remaining British warships move to F5 while the submarine moves to F6. The only air that matters at this point is the Sunderland, which finishes off the submarine, getting its second kill of the battle. The Ark Royal remained safe behind the island.

Surviving British Forces:

      HMS Ark Royal

      Martlet Mk.II

      Hurricane Mk. IB

      HMS Kent (crippled)

      HMS Javelin (crippled)

      Fairey Fulmar

      Sunderland

Surviving German Forces:
     None

AFTER ACTION (UK): I had a significant edge so the goal was to wipe out his force while minimizing my casualties. Unfortunately, while things started well, the abysmal cruiser gunnery on turn 2 keelhauled those plans. The vital armor hit on the Ajax just added salt to the wound.

AFTER ACTION (GER): I should have followed my gut on this one and retreated. Lesson learned. I have learned over these first to battles that the U-66 type subs are very durable and, perhaps, the best use of sub construction points I currently have. I have also learned that the Deutschland class Pocket Battleship are a sound investment for both their hitting power and the concern they cause the British during our tactical engagements. We did take a fair number of the British ships to the bottom with us. Not worth losing this entire carrier battle group though.