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Superb! Down goes Tirpitz, and good riddance!
 
Bloody fine work by the boys of the navy and the air force in co-operation. I would say you have been able to give those Germans a good licking in return for their sinking of your carrier. Just continue this way and I am sure in the end there will be no German navy left. Good work :)
 
A British, naval-centric AAR! I am in for the ride! Could you give us an idea of your doctrinal research?

Vann
 
Payback hurts, except when you are then one delivering it :D
 
The Battle of Norway

It was only a short while before the Home Fleet saw action once more.

Hitler, seeking to secure the Baltic and supplied of Swedish ore, ordered the invasion of Denmanrk and Norway in March, 1940.

Denmark quickly capitulated to the German panzers, but Britain was determined to secure Norwegian independence and a bulwark against German expansion northwards.

Under protection of the Home Fleet, 2nd Transport Squadron sailed promptly from Liverpool with a brigade of 51 Highlanders Division to secure the port and airbase at Bergen. RAF Spitfires and Hurricanes swarmed over the North Sea in a three-day operation, their ground crews transferred in any vessel capable of the voyage.

Within a fortnight, six British divisions occupied the South of Norway, and Tovey's Cruiser Squadron of Cornwall, Cumberland, Suffolk, Kent, Colombo and Cardiff was making Bergen harbour their home port, while RAF fighters dealt with 'softening up' raids by German bombers.

40febnorway15ab.jpg


In spite of the serious naval reverses Germany had suffered, the Fuhrer ordered an amphibious invasion force to set sail. He hoped to catch the Royal Navy flatfooted and land without a sea battle.

And indeed the invasion fleet, headed for Bergen, evaded Kattegat air patrols and the Norwegian navy. It was Tovey's cruiser squadron who, patrolling off Bergen, identified the invasion attempt and engaged, on March 30th.

40febnorway27dh.jpg


Tovey's squadron inflicted casualties, but the Germans were able to withdraw under cover of darkness, with a handful of ships feinting as if to enter the Baltic while the remainder steamed west by southwest to evade contact.

However, the troopships were too slow and exposed to survive long. The Home Fleet battle squadron located them the following day. HMS Hood, and the cruisers Aurora and Galathea, got behind the enemy fleet resulting in total encirclement. Many of the troopships, seeing their destroyer escorts blown out of the water, heeded signals and struck their colours. Those who captains insisted on flying the swastika until the last moment paid the price.

40febnorway45uo.jpg


To add further injury, shortly afterwards Coastal Command caught the pocket battleship Admiral Scheer and the cruiser Emden in transit of the Kiel Canal, sinking both.

40febmorenavbombing8ax.jpg
 
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Smashing, TheLand! It always has felt like the British could've easily prevented the invasion of Norway (at least in the game if not IRL), but they are seldom aggressive enough to actually stop it. Well done! And keeping those harbors out of KM hands will do you some good as well.

Vann
 
Thats the spirit! Pound the Kriegsmarine into oblivion! :)
 
You must have really pared back most of the German surface fleet by now.
 
therev said:
Your cruisers have been very close to German coastal waters. Have you had any trouble with bombers attacking them?

No, though German bombers have been encountered attacking sub patrols and raiding convoys in the Med. Their tactical bombers and CAS spent a fair bit of time shooting up Southern Norway.

I'm using the unofficial 1.1b to stop the AI's suicide air missions, but am still slightly perturbed by the lack of serious opposition. :)
 
Jolly nice work saving Norway. Great to see the RN doing so well, I am looking forward to more and I hope you shall soon have destroyed the German Navy :)
 
The Mediterranean Operation

By the Spring, the Kriegsmarine had been reduced to a handful of cruisers, destroyers and auxiliary craft, its main operations now submarine raiding of merchant shipping and mineplaying.

But there was little let-up for the naval war. By the end of June, with the invasion of France ongoing, Italy had joined the war on Germany's side, hoping to carve out a Meditteranean empire for herself.

Italy had been an ambitious, if unsuccessful, naval power since her unification. Unlike Germany, however, she was permitted to retain a navy under the Naval Treaties following WWI. At the outbreak of war, she possessed four battleships, like the Conte di Cavour, which though built during World War I had been substantially upgraded through the 1930s. Also under construction were the ships of the Littorio class, of equal weight and arguably superior firepower to the King George V class.

Just as importantly, the Italians had a dominant strategic position in the Mediterranean. The Italian peninsula,Sicily and Sardinia dominate the Central Med, providing plentiful airbases and anchorages. Italy also controlled the North African shore of Libya. The continuing Axis expansion in Eastern Europe threatened an invasion of Greece, while Italian land forces were aimed at the French posessions of Algeria and, of course, British Egypt.

The Mediterranean Fleet had for a number of years been an 'old ladies squadron' of Queen Elizabeths. However, with the North Sea considered relatively safe, the brand new Duke of York and Anson were despatched to Alexandria. While in winter the Med was a considerably better posting, the crews would, by July much have preferred to be in the temperate North Sea than enduring the scorching Egyption heat!

The Mediterranean war got off to a slow start, with destroyers on anti-submarine patrol in the Eastern Med intercepting troopships en route from the Adriatic back to Taranto.

40julskirmish11fr.jpg


The original Admiralty plan was to wait until decisive superiority could be achieved; two new aircraft carriers were entering service shortly, freeing up more capital ships from the Home Fleet, while a range of Coastal Command aircraft were being trasferred transferred to bases like Malta.

However, pressure from the Army to cut Italian supply lines in North Africa led to a change of plan. The Italian forces depended entirely on food, fuel and munitions from Europe, and the Med Fleet Battle Squadron was eminently suited to denying sea space to enemy convoys.

The Italian fleet decided to risk an engagement, but British shellfire at long range was accurate, and able to penetrate the armour on the Italian Andrea Doria, causing fire to break out. The Italian fleet disengaged, and damage to Andrea Doria was irreversible; many of the crew were able to escape as the ship's innards burnt out. On the British side, several 15" shells impacted on Rodney; while her armour held, much of her secondary armament was taken out of action.

40julbattle14ws.jpg


40julvictory12pq.jpg
 
A good blow against the Italians!
 
Good start against Regia Marina.

Do you have an Intelligence estimate of the Italian forces?
 
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lifeless said:
excellent! i know this is a navy aar but...how goes the land war in egypt?

At this stage, not badly; the British troops were able to conduct a bit of an encirclement outside Tobruk and were soon brewing tea by the harbour. You'll see it shortly ;-)