Battle Report - Sector 31, Spring 1941

Sector 31 Spring 1941

British Forces:
     HMS Rodney
     HMS Euryalus
     HMS Javelin
     HMS Jervis
     HMS Tynedale
     Submarine (Proteus)
     Land-based (2-turn re-arming)
          Sea Hurricane Mk. 1B
          Spitfire Mk IA (x2)
          Swordfish Mk. II
     Land-based (4-turn re-arming)
          Bristol Blenheim Mk.IV

German Forces:
     Bismarck
     Graf Spee
     Köln (x2)
     Karlsruhe
     Z20 Karl Galster
     Z18 Hans Ludemann
     U-66
     Land-based (2-turn re-arming)
          BF 109
          BF 110 (x2)
         Ju87B (x2)

The weather is fine with four islands (B6, E1+E2, G5, and I3). Three 25-point objectives were placed in the standard locations (F1, F4, and F7).

START: The Rodney and Javelin start together in A2 with the Euryalus and other two destroyers above them in A1. The British submarine covers the gap between the islands in E3. The Germans start in the opposite corner of the map, the heaviest units, the Bismarck and Graf Spee together in K5, the Karlsruhe and both destroyers in K6, and then both Kölns in K7. The u-boat starts in G2. The Kölns immediately use Lead the Attack to advance to I7.

Turn 1: The Germans win initiative. The British units all advance, the ships keep in formation and move to C2 and C3 while the submarine advances to the objective in F4. The Germans also advance but more toward the center of the map than directly toward the British with the Bismarck's formation advancing to I5, the Karlsruhe's to I6 and the Kölns to G7. The U-66 moves to cut off the British submarine and moves to G3. The British send the Swordfish, escorted by the Hurricane against the u-boat, drawing the response of the BF 109 in defense. Offensively, the Germans send both Stukas and both BF 110s, in strafing mode, against the lighter of the two British formations. The Spitfires move to defend. The Swordfish's attack is aborted while one of the BF 110s is able to get through the flak and fighters to land a hit on the Jervis.

Turn 2: The Germans again win initiative and the proximity of the big German guns forces the the British formations to maneuver. The Rodney's engines fail to get maximum speed, limiting it and the Javelin to a move to D4. The crippled Jervis moves behind the Battleship to C3 while the Euryalus and Tynedale move past the big ship to C4. The submarine advances toward the flanking Kölns to F5. The Bismarck's formation moves to H4, lined up for range 4 shots against the Rodney, while the Karlsruhe's formation moves to H6. The Kölns remain in place, avoiding the Rodney's big guns and the U-66 advances onto the objective at F4. Safe from intercepting fighters, the Blenheim makes an appearance and successfully cripples the u-boat with depth charges. The big guns of both sides open up. The Bismarck's salvo misses while the Graf Spee scores a hit on the Rodney. In return, the Rodney hits the Graf Spee. The British submarine, only 2-spaces away from the heavy German ships, makes a Risky Attack, but fails to land with any torpedoes.

Turn 3: The British finally win initiative and watch the Germans charge toward them. The Bismarck's formation rushes to F4, joining the crippled u-boat while the Karlruhe's group moves to F6 and the Kölns beside them in E6. The British submarine moves back to E4, to avoid the destroyers while the Javelin joins it, hoping to make a successful torpedo attack on the German battleship. The crippled Jervis follows behind to D4 while the other three British units all join together in D6 to concentrate on the lighter German units. The Javelin cripples the Graf Spee with its guns, but misses with the torpedoes. In return, the Bismarck's secondaries and tertiaries sink it. The crippled Jervis is ineffective and quickly goes down to the Graf Spee's secondaries. The Rodney's main guns hit the Bismarck while its secondaries damage one of the Kölns. The guns from the Tynedale and Euryalus are ineffective, but the Euryalus finishes off the Köln with a torpedo. In return, the main guns from the German heavies both miss the Rodney but the German destroyers sink the Tynedale and the three lighter cruisers sink the Euryalus. The u-boat has no remaining target in range and the British submarines torpedo attack on the Bismarck misses.

Turn 4: The Germans win initiative and the Rodney's engines again fail to produce full power, forcing the lone British ship to retreat only as far as C3. The British submarine, while undamaged moves to avoid being an easy kill for the German destroyers and moves to D4. Wary of the incoming British air power, the crippled Graf Spee and U-66 stay together and move to F5. The Bismarck chases the Rodney at full speed, ending up in E5. The remaining Köln moves to point blank range to the Rodney with the Karlsruhe's formation just behind them in D6. The German stukas, escorted by the BF 109 go after the Rodney while the two 110s move to defend the Graf Spee and U-66 from the incoming Swordfish and escorting Hurricane. The two Spitfires predictably move to defend the Rodney. Anti-air fire is effective, with the Rodney destroying one Stuka and the Spitfires aborting the other. The Graf Spee's gunners destroy the Swordfish, resulting in no offensive air power left to attack. The Rodney's main guns damage the Bismarck, but the secondaries fail to sink the crippled Graf Spee. The Rodney, however, faces a barrage of gunnery and torpedo attack, taking a torpedo from the Galster and hits from the main guns of both the Bismarck and Graf Spee, leaving the Battleship crippled. The British submarine again fails to land a hit with a torpedo.

Turn 5: Losing initiative and facing the inevitable, the Rodney charges back toward the German formations while the submarine also closes. The Rodney's main guns miss the Bismarck but is able to finally sink the Graf Spee with its secondaries. The submarine even lands a hit, crippling the Karlsruhe. The Bismarck's main guns, however, end the charge, sinking the Rodney.

Turn 6: The German destroyers hunt down the British submarine and sink it. The Blenheim had flown in, in an attempt to hit one of the attacking destroyers, but was aborted by the flak.

Surviving British Forces: 
Sea Hurricane Mk. 1B 
Spitfire Mk IA (x2) 
Bristol Blenheim Mk.IV 

Surviving German Forces: 
Bismarck (damaged) 
Köln 
Karlsruhe (crippled) 
Z20 Karl Galster 
Z18 Hans Ludemann
U-66 (crippled) 
BF 109 
BF 110 (x2) 
Ju87B

AFTER ACTION (UK): I knew this battle would likely cost my entire surface force unless both the Battleship and Cruisers were all lighter variants. Still, though, I knew that leaving a force this size free for offensive action next turn while I held back a Rodney to the flee penalties would not be wise. I therefore went in planning to do as much damage as I could before going down and I accomplished that pretty well. The Bismarck is afloat, but will be lacking its Extended Range 4 SA next turn due to damage, the Graf Spee was sunk and only one of the other cruisers is combat worthy. While still a powerful force, it no longer has the punch to be a threat without pulling support from other sectors.

AFTER ACTION (GER): This was another important battle for the Germans. Destroying the Rodney is another blow to the British offensive striking power in the fall of 1941. I hope to contain British advances to their current gains. The fact that I destroyed his entire surface battle group will limit British possibilities for consolidation. The Bismarck is damaged but still a threat. He will be reinforced as much as possible. With all this I believe the British will have the advantage for the short term.