Battle Report - Sector 33, Spring 1941

Sector 33 Spring 1941

British Forces:

      HMS Prince of Wales

      HMS Belfast

      HMS Javelin (x2)

      HMS Tynedale

      Land-based (2 turn re-arming)

           Spitfire Mk.1a (x2)

           Blackburn SKUA

           Bristol Blenheim Mk. IV

German Forces:

      Bismarck

      Admiral Scheer

      K20 Karl Galster

      K18 Hans Ludemann

      U-66

      Land-based (2 turn re-arming)

           BF 109

           BF 110 (x2)

           Ju87B (x2)

Weather is fine with four islands on the map (C5, E2, G5+G6, J3). Three 25-point objectives were placed in the standard locations (F1, F4, and F7).

START: The Prince of Wales and a Javelin are grouped together in A1 while the other three ships are immediately below them in A2. The Germans also use two formations, with the Bismarck and Scheer together in K1 and the two destroyers in K2. The U-66 begins forward in G3.

TURN 1: The Germans win initiative and observe the two British formations moving forward and centrally to C2 and C3. The Germans respond by having their formations cross, the destroyers moving to I1 and the heavier units to I2. The U-boat advances to cover the objective in F4. The British send the SKUA (as a dive bomber) and the Blenheim against the Destroyers, with a Spitfire along to keep the Germans honest. The Germans send the BF 109 to defend the destroyers while sending both Stukas and both BF 110s, as strafers, against the lighter British formation. This forces the British to commit their final Spitfire to help defend the ships. The German flak and even BF 109 fire is off target allowing first the SKUA to hit and then the Blenheim to sink the Karl Galster. The British defensive fire is far better, aborting both of the Stukas. The strafing BF 110s damage and cripple the Javelin.

TURN 2: The Germans again win initiative, so the British get a bit cagey. The Prince of Wales makes a lone run toward the top objective, and behind the island at E2, moving to D1. The uncrippled Javelin, the Belfast, and the Tynedale combine and move forward to E3 while the crippled Javelin moves behind the other light ships to D3. Wary of the big guns of the battleship, the German formations swing away from the top of the map, the heavier ships to H4 while the remaining destroyer moves to I3. The U-66 retreats away from the ASW threat and moves to G3. The undamaged Javelin immediately pops smoke to both cover the formation and prevent the damaged Javelin from being targeted. Despite its expertise in the area, the Belfast’s main guns miss the Scheer due to the smoke, but the smoke does work better defensively, preventing a barrage of gun and torpedo attacks on the Belfast and Javelin. Only the Scheer’s gunners are able to ignore the smoke’s effects and score a hit on the Belfast..

TURN 3: The British win initiative bringing groans from the German crews, especially those on the submarine. The U-boat moves toward the Battleship to G2 while the ships advance to the center, the heavy ships moving to F5 and the destroyer to G4. The Prince of Wales advances to capture the objective at F1 while the lighter vessels aggressively chase down the submarine, all three uncrippled ships advancing to G2. The crippled Javelin remains in place, waiting for a better time to risk itself. Unhindered by smoke, the gunfire is vicious. Both destroyers focus on ASW, but only the Javelin is successful, crippling the U-66. The Belfast makes up for its poor earlier gunnery by hitting the Scheer and destroying the Ludemann with a torpedo. The Prince of Wales fires its main guns, hammering the Scheer and crippling it. The crippled Javelin just pops smoke in case it is needed later. In return, the German heavy guns bounce harmlessly of the Prince of Wales well armored sides while the light guns score a hit each on each ship in the light formation, crippling all of them. The U-boat, crippled and dodging two destroyers is ineffective with its torpedoes. At the end of the turn, the British claim the F1 objective.

TURN 4: The Germans regain initiative so the British, heartened by last turn’s events advances aggressively. The Prince of Wales, Belfast, and Tynedale move to F3 while the Javelins move to E3 and G3 respectively. The Germans return the aggression, moving their remaining ships to F4, setting up an almost point blank exchange. Re-armed, the aircraft from both sides enter the fray. The BF 110s close in to make strafing attacks on the two Javelins, with the 109 joins the 110 in G3, but in an anti-air role. The Stukas are held back. The British send a Spitfire against each 110 while sending the Blenheim and SKUA, as a dive-bomber, against the Germans ships in F4. The British fire against the BF 110s is unbelievably poor, with both aircraft surviving to continue their attacks and sink both Javelins. The German defensive fire is little better, with only the SKUA’s attack aborted, but the Blenheim fails to hit, and sink, the Scheer. The German guns open fire, the Scheer’s secondaries sinking the Belfast while the Bismarck’s tertiaries sink the Tynedale. The main batteries of both ships, however, fail to score a hit on the Prince of Wales. The return British fire is devastating. The Tynedale’s guns sink the crippled Scheer while the Prince of Wales main guns blast into the Bismarck with enough force and accuracy to score a vital hit, blowing it out of the water. In the stunned silence following the explosion, the U-66 is able to score a hit on the loan ship still afloat, scoring a hit on the Prince of Wales.

TURN 5: There is little left. The Prince of Wales moves away from the U-boat down to F6 while the submarine follows to F3. The two Stuka’s held in reserve last turn strike now. One is driven off by flak while the other fails to hit the heavily armored battleship. The U-66’s torpedoes fail to score a hit and the forces separate, with the Germans no longer having a chance to either win the battle or even damage the British battleship before it can leave the area.

Surviving British Forces:

HMS Prince of Wales

Spitfire Mk.1a (x2)

Blackburn SKUA

Bristol Blenheim Mk. IV

Surviving German Forces:

U-66

BF 109

BF 110 (x2)

Ju87B (x2)

AFTER ACTION (UK): Taking out a Bismarck while suffering effectively no damage to my battleship was a huge win, but I wish I had been able to save more of my light units. Poor anti-air and bombing rolls on Turn 4 prevented that from happening, but considering my vital hit on the Bismarck, I probably shouldn't complain.

AFTER ACTION (GER): Losing another sector and its defending battle group is a huge blow to German plans for expansion. Taking out all of the British support ships is little consolation for the loss of a Bismarck and his battle group. I had hoped for a little more of a slugging match between the Prince of Wales and Bismarck. It seems the British are having more trouble with my Scharnhorsts and Deutschlands than the Bismarcks.