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The first round in a long fight. Of course, things might not go all peachy.
 
I'll delurk for a moment, just to say I agree with Polynike. It would be a crying shame if the truly magnificent buildup part of this AAR was followed by an easy-peasy "home before christmas" war. Don't get me wrong, Draco's writing is still fantastic, but an intro of this quality really deserves an epic conflict, one were there's a real danger of losing. I've never actually played HoI, being more of an EU2 guy (which hasn't stopped me from getting hooked on this great AAR), so I don't know how much of a pushover it is for a good player to beat AI Germany. But the harder it is, the better it would make this AAR, in my opinion. Take a look at my other favourite HoI AAR, "The Cobras are Smoking" by LM+, to see what a good story an uphill struggle against the odds can be. I'd love to see that kind of challenge combined with Draco's excellent storytelling.

Anyway, I've been following this story, and I'll keep on following it until the end, even if I may not delurk again. Keep up the great writing!
 
Hey guys! Thanks for sticking with me so far.

Now for some feedback to your coments.

Vann - thanks for your concern over Spenser. As for the Kriegsmarine... ah, it was nice and sweet to read the results of that first all important battle! :)

Commander-DK - Welcome aboard and glad to have you! Sit back and enjoy the read, it gets more interesting as we move deeper into the war.

lifeless - Remember, things ain't over yet!

Dead William Hey DW, nice work there sir, I may just have to steal that for some useage! :D Thanks for your thoughts and concern over Spenser.

VILenin - Very true. One thing will be made clear, the RN is not about to play things safe in this war. The war WILL be carried to the enemy, regardless of the risks!

Rensslaer - Thanks, Renss. As a kid who grew up reading stories about WWII submarines (my dad was a ASW flyer for the U.S. Navy so I was raised to have a love hate relationship with submariners! :D ), I knew there was no way our submarine heroes could keep up, but no one has been able to design a away to out run radio waves... at least not in this time period!

Lord E - Thanks for your concern, Lord E! As for the rest of the Kriegsmarine... well, let's just say that the AI did not go gently into that good night... and still hasn't!

Vincent Julien - I would have much rather scrapped the Graf Spee, but I really didn't get a vote in the matter, bloody AI! :rolleyes:

caffran - Thanks, caff, both for the concern over my little havoc maker and for your kind comments. Finishing them off is the plan for the Germans and their fleet... but some plans just seem to hit snags along the way, as we'll soon read about.

Jape - Many thanks, sir. Stay tuned and we'll reach a conclusion of sorts.

stnylan - Well, so far it's gone well for the Royal Navy, but not exactly as they would wish... I mean, who wouldn't want a replay of Jutland only with the Royal Navy sailing away with little to no damage and the Germans slipping beneath the waves?

GhostWriter - Thanks for your concern over my little man. You are so right about having an edge your enemy doesn't know about. Hopefully I'll be able to keep that in all my encounters with Germany, eh?

Kurt_Steiner - Hey, I'm hoping that they never learn! What better training ground for the Royal Navy, eh? :D

Polynike - Never fear, things don't always go so smoothly... as we will soon read about! :(

Nikolai - :rofl:

Sir Humphrey - Exactly, my friend, exactly.

Kamelen - Thanks for delurking and welcome aboard! Your words are making me blush, but thanks for them! Just to relieve your concerns, this is all far from over and there will be quite a few instances in which things do not go my way at all. But from those problems, not only do some cool story plot twists come into being, but some pretty cool game twists open up as well.



okay guys, work was busy today and Spenser is at the stage of his recovery where he is very clingy to his mom and dad (which I'm gonna eat up 'cause we all know that won't be the case when he's a teenager, eh?), so I won't get the next post up until tomorrow sometime. But stay tuned 'cause the Kriegsmarine ain't done with the Heligoland Bight yet! :D
 
Draco, thanks for this wonderfull AAR! Although you have put a very serious crimp in my play time of HOI2 (about 2 hours in 5 days) I have spent that time reading this aar instead. Keep up the great work! (I know you will regardless)

I hope your son feels better real soon....So you can give us another post :rolleyes: :D
 
Draco Rexus said:
VILenin - Very true. One thing will be made clear, the RN is not about to play things safe in this war. The war WILL be carried to the enemy, regardless of the risks!
That's the spirit! Baton the hatches and damn the torpedoes! Onward, onward, haha! (runs off in manic charge).

Enjoy your time with your son. All too soon will come the time when he listens to music you don't like and/or can't understand, constantly asks for money and wears whatever will pass for clothing in a decade or so. ;)
 
VILenin said:
That's the spirit! Baton the hatches and damn the torpedoes! Onward, onward, haha! (runs off in manic charge).

Enjoy your time with your son. All too soon will come the time when he listens to music you don't like and/or can't understand, constantly asks for money and wears whatever will pass for clothing in a decade or so. ;)


Baton the hatches? Why do I have a sudden image of marching bands stomping accross the ships' deck?

I agree about the time with Havoc! I agree that the only time he will get clingy as a teenagers is when he is sticky with beer...


Borrow away! I would be honoured!
DW
 
As requested:

CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX - Part Three

Still mor majestic shalt thou rise,
More dreadful from each foreign stroke;
As the loud blast that tears the skies,
Serves but to root thy native oak.

Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves:
Britons never will be slaves.

Rule Britannia


The Heligoland Bight
225 miles from Wilhelmshaven, Germany
September 9, 1939
9:58 p.m.


“I knew that the Frenchies were not the best seamen in the world, skipper,” Lt Cdr. Joseph “Jape” McKenzie muttered upon the bridge of HMS Suffolk, “but how is it they could have lost battleship, a heavy cruiser and two destroyers to the same Jerry task force that we took on three days ago?”

TheChannelFleetonthehunt.jpg

The Channel Fleet on the hunt

Tossing his cigarette from his lips and into the wind off the flying bridge wear they were standing, Suffolk’s captain, Cmdr. Joseph Storeyville, grunted in reply. Despite wanting to correct his officer’s scorn, Storeyville was just as dismayed. Lifting his binoculars to his eyes to give him a chance to think of an appropriate reply, he grimly recalled the radio signal that was sent in the clear by the French destroyer L'Audacieux. The screams of both incoming fire and dying men could be heard over the airwaves as the only surviving member of L'Audacieux’s bridge crew cried for help and alerted the Channel Fleet of the loss of the Bretagne-class battleship Provence, the Suffren-class heavy cruiser Dupleix, and the running chase by the Kriegsmarine battle group that resulted in the destruction of the Vauquelin-class destroyer Maille Breze, the Aigle-class destroyers Épervier and Vautour, and the Guépard-class destroyer flagship Guépard.

What an unmitigated bloody botch job, Storeyville grumped to himself. At best the German battle group could only consist of Graf Spee, Blücher, Nurnberg, Emden, Koln, and Leipzig, and several destroyers. Despite the Provence being almost twenty-five years old, she was a battleship with more guns than Graf Spee and should have been able to pound the Germans from a distance that would have prevented the French from even getting wet from misses fired by the Germans. Lowering his binoculars and casting a glance at McKenzie he muttered, “Well, the idiot responsible is surely enjoying his ice water mansion at the bottom the sea, Number One. Let’s just hope that the French didn’t run into anyone more than who we fought, otherwise this might get dicey.”

“Contact! Bearing 242,” called out a seaman standing above the bridge in his lookouts position.

Well, what do we have hear, wondered Storeyville as he raised his binoculars to his eyes again. In the distance, the descending sun light illuminating her superstructure brightly, sailed Graf Spee and her consorts. Storeyville could tell from the angle of the oncoming Germans in relation to his ship that all they could see at the moment was his one solitary cruiser, the staggered formation of the rest of the Channel Fleet hiding Suffolk’s consorts on her port quarter. Knowing he had to react quickly in order to get the German pocket battleship into his main gun’s range, the Suffolk’s captain barked out orders to his bridge crew. “Guns! Begin plotting firing solutions on Graf Spee. Number One, signal the Admiral that we have our prey spotted and will await his orders to execute Plan Hermes!”

Turning his eyes back to the approaching foe, Storeyville only hoped that the Admiral’s plan would allow his cruiser to come to grips with the Germans before their pocket battleship’s heavier guns pounded Suffolk into floatsom.

Five minutes later, arriving at the same time that the flash of light alerted Suffolk’s bridge crew that Graf Spee had opened fire with her 11” guns came the signal from Admiral Dreyer aboard Dorsetshire to execute his battle plan. Faintly hearing the roar of the oncoming freight train that was the shells fired by Graf Spee, Storeyville smiled tightly and ordered, “Come right full rudder to bearing 121, increase to full speed. Guns, have A and B turrets open fire as soon as Graf Spee comes into range.”

Makingtheturn.jpg

Opening phase of Plan Hermes

“Aye-aye, sir,” came the reply as Suffolk and her sisters wheeled about to the right to approach the Germans directly, Suffolk in the van with Dorsetshire, Forbisher, Cumberland, Berwick, and Kent in staggered behind and to her right. Curaco and Caledon with the Channel Fleet’s destroyers were to the left and further behind. As the ships came to their new heading the engine rooms in each ship increased the speed to their maximums, each ship racing forward to close the range with the Kriegsmarine vessels in the distance. For five full minutes the British warships raced forward, their guns silent, their crews grimly counting the time between the flash of Graf Spee’s guns and the arrival of the shells. Twelve salvos of 11” shells were fired in that time, a full thirty-six rounds. Suffolk’s gunnery officer, Lt. Evan Humphrey, a notorious gambler within the Channel Fleet, began taking bets with his gunnery crew as to how long it would take the Germans to land one of the big shells upon Suffolk. Despite several near misses that drenched the decks of the cruiser with seawater, none of the first twelve salvos found their mark on any of the British ships.

The firing of Graf Spee’s thirteenth salvo marked the moment when Suffolk's own main batteries came into range of the German pocket battleship, and for the first time since the battle began, the guns of the Royal Navy responded.

returnfire.jpg

Suffolk enters the fray

Seconds later, Lt. Humphrey’s betting pool was nearly cashed in when two of Graf Spee’s three rounds straddled Suffolk close abeam. As the rest of the Channel Fleet watched on grimly, wondering if she had been struck, Suffolk steamed through the towering geysers of water and responded by firing a second salvo of her 8” inch guns. While none of the eight shells struck Graf Spee, it did not matter as following the plan of Plan Hermes, Captain Storeyville ordered another starboard turn, tacking in front of Suffolk’s closet companion, HMS Forbisher, confusing the German gunners but more importantly allowing Suffolk to bring to bear all her guns.

At the same time that Dorsetshire was making her second turn, Forbisher, opened fired with her foremost main guns, also targeting Graf Spee. This point also marked the range of the German cruisers that were accompanying Graf Spee were able to open fire, and KMS Leipzig was the first, targeting Dorsetshire with her 5.9 inch guns. Over-flying sea gulls watched as for the next ten minutes the two opposing fleets continued their actions, the British heavy cruisers firing a salvo before turning before the following cruiser and tacking to the right, while the German ships continued forward and bore along almost parallel to their enemies. As the combatants continued to fire, due to their evasive maneuvers neither side had yet to claim anything more than near misses that killed many fish and drenched the decks of their opponent’s ships.

HMSAcastatakingfire.jpg

Battle ensues

After nearly one half hour of shelling, the Channel Fleet’s Captain Storeyville spotted a chance to draw blood. Without lowering his binoculars from his eyes he called out above the thunderous din of his ship’s guns, “Number one! Bring is to heading 083 now! Guns! Leipzig is concentrating on coming to grips with Curaco and Caledon, and has presented us her backside. I want a full broadside poured upon her!”

Looking up from what was serving as his fire solution table after fragments of a near miss took out his plotting station, Humphrey raised his binoculars quickly and spotting Leipzig, growled wolfishly, “Aye-aye, sir!”

Grabbing the intercom mouth piece from his signal man while keeping his eyes on his prey and running through the firing solutions each turret was going to need, Humphrey announced to the gun crews. “Ahoy all guns, ahoy all guns, this is Fire Control. Full battery fire has been ordered. Main batteries load with armour piercing, secondary load with H.E. Respond when ready.”

In the thirty seconds that it took for the individual guns to reply with a chorus of, “Gun ready!” Suffolk’s gunnery officer continued to watch the German cruiser while plotting the correct firing solution for his ship’s guns. Just before speaking, Humphrey realized that in the heat of the ongoing battle Leipzig’s crew had completely failed to notice Suffolk’s stalking. “Target bearing two eight two, heading one six two, mark...

Range 2500 yards...

On my command…

all batteries…

FIRE!”


Norfolkopensfire.jpg

HMS Suffolk's salvo

With a bone jarring blast, HMS Suffolk’s eight 8” inch guns and four 4” inch guns, threw several tons of projectiles into the air with aims to have those projectiles land upon her enemy, KMS Leipzig.

KMSLeipzig.jpg

Suffolk's prey, KMS Leipzig​

Aboard the unsuspecting German cruiser, her captain, Kapitän zur See Heinz Nordmann, and his bridge crew were attempting to race their ship into position to fire upon the HMS Caledon while overcoming the damages from a near miss that had somehow caused the cruiser’s engines to become problematic. A shout from a lookout on the aft section of the bridge caused Nordmann to turn with a scowl and an angry retort for the young seaman, a retort that died stillborn as he look past his young sailor and saw the fast streaming smoke moving pastSuffolk’s turrets.

Gott haben gnade*,” the German muttered, not caring if the die-hards of der Führer aboard his bridge heard. Knowing with a practiced eye that it was useless, he began yelling orders to try to save his ship. “Left full rudder! Full reverse! Come about…”

Leipzig’s helmsman was unable to comply with his captain’s orders for at that moment the full weight of Suffolk’s fury arrived on target, slamming into the German cruiser about the deck and hull, several of large 8” inch shells striking below the waterline and bursting through Leipzig’s armoured belt and allowing the North Sea to rush in the former water-tight compartments with a vengeance. A minute later a second salvo of fire from the British cruiser arrived, straddling Leipzig and causing even more damage to her upper decks and more seriously opening more holes in her hull to the hungry sea. Rapidly filling with water and completely unable to protect herself from the damages ravaged upon her by Suffolk, the German cruiser quickly listed to port and began sliding beneath the waves. While many of the crew had been severally jolted by the explosive arrival of the Royal Navy ordnance, they were suitably disciplined to transition from attempting to save their ship to saving themselves and as many of their wounded shipmates as possible. Unfortunately, while Leipzig slowly rolled upon her side and began to sink beneath the waves, a fire started below decks reached her main magazine and a mere six minutes after first being hit, Leipzig exploded with tremendous fury.

shipexploding.jpg

The death of KMS Leipzig​

Several hundred yards away upon Graf Spee, Konteradmiral Ciliax watched in horror as debris began returning to the sea from the funeral pyre that had been Leipzig. While his ships were more numerous than his Royal Navy adversaries, the crews of his Schlacht-Gruppe could not match the training nor the aggressiveness of the British ships. In two separate encounters the Channel Fleet had caused more that a fair share of damage to his Schlacht-Gruppe and had been able to come away relatively unscathed. Realizing that discretion was truly the better part of valor, Ciliax turned to his Flag Captain. “Kaptain Woldag, signal all ships to break contact immediately! Have the Zerstörer* make smoke and screen the Kreuzer* and the flagship. With a bit of luck, the setting sun and the gloom of the smoke screen will allow us to withdraw with no further losses.”

“Aye-aye, Admiral,” Woldag replied woodenly, clearly upset at allowing Leipzig’s death to go unavenged.

“Also signal Marinegruppenkommando West of our location and see if they can send some U-boats or the Luftwaffe to hunt for the Englanders,” Ciliax continued, pointedly ignoring his Flag Captain’s demeanor. “This battle is over, Woldag, but the war is far from over.”



* - Gott haben gnade – God have mercy
* - Zerstörer – Destroyers
* - Kreuzer – Cruisers




Not really a defeat for the British Empire, but the French Navy sure to a beating and that really threw my plans off since the silly French AI suddenly decided that all French naval forces needed to be sent to cover the approaches to the bloody Bay of Biscay... were there were no GERMANS!!!! Thanks France, thanks a lot! Thankfully the Royal Navy is still up to lining the bottom of the North Sea with German metal! :D

Okay, up next: an overview of things three weeks into the war. Stay tuned!
 
Nicely done, Draco! I hope your posting means that Spenser is feeling a bit better.

Vann
 
Hello! I just got here a short time ago and it's taken me three days to get caught up on this AAR. It's a masterful piece of work so far! I'm certainly hooked.

With Switzerland actually in the war, wonder if the Germans will launch Operation Tannenbaum? Truth is that it seems the French are determined to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory for the Allies.

I admit I would like to see a subplot or two dealing with relations and developements with neutrals... (I.E. USA) Perhaps you could send us Mosley so Mr. Hoover and his boys can discuss his attitude towards 'colonials'? (As to suggestions about the US returning to the fold... I think it best for all if we put that particular notion out of our minds.) Perhaps a piece on the Eagle squadron might be nice?

Always remember that your cousins on this side of the pond have a strategy... As long as you guys have plenty of Frenchmen to soak up Kraut fire, then it's no real hurry. ;) (After the war is over, you can send the ones from Quebec to repopulate the country.)
 
It is interesting to see that no matter what paradox game, France always seems to run its own fleets almost into the ground...

Volatile battlescene there Draco. yet antother articial reef in the north sea...

DW
 
Good show! The British sailors may be talking big, but not without a modicum of reason. A cruel end to a ship though. I am reminded, inevitably, of the Hood.
 
Good lord Draco what vivid writing! I could see that chap Storeyville in my mind as if he were alive today. Standing straight as a rod, clear of eye but with a slight squint from his years at sea. Tall and still dark haired he stands with his feet spread wide as only a salty seaman who’s weathered many a storm in his majesty’s naval would stand. Did I mention he was ruggedly handsome? A man’s man if ever I saw one. And don’t’ even get me started on the many women in every port of call that wait for his return. Oh and he has white teeth. Did I mention he’s ruggedly handsome? :D

Joe
 
That is one hell of a navy battle. Too bad you let Graf Spee off the hook but I reckon it's just a matter of her time is not up yet.
 
Thank God, I have caught up!
I have just spent the last month in a desperate attempt to catch you up, and I have just racked up over 30 pages in a row, only to find that it is now 4.00 am, and I have been up for nearly 26 hours!
(Even my physical strength has its limits!)
I have to complement you on your writing Rex, to keep me reading long past the point of medical safety, the quality of your work speaks for itself.
I hope your little lad is on the mend, best wishes.
Now I am going to bed, before I collapse. :)
 
Thrilling stuff that battle. :)
 
Draco Rexus: ...“Also signal Marinegruppenkommando West of our location and see if they can send some U-boats or the Luftwaffe to hunt for the Englanders,” Ciliax continued, pointedly ignoring his Flag Captain’s demeanor. “This battle is over, Woldag, but the war is far from over.”

clearly a wise (and dangerous) admiral here! ! :D

awesome update! ! :cool:

KiMaSa: It's a masterful piece of work so far! I'm certainly hooked.

agreed. and, we all are! ! :)

welcome to the Forum! ! i hope your stay is long and happy! ! :D