Indeed it was. The torp hit the rudder ( for some reason Bismarck didn't have a double rudder, something common since after the Titanic IIRC ) and the fact that she steamed right into the teeth of the British Home fleet as she couldnt maneuver.
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Indeed it was. The torp hit the rudder ( for some reason Bismarck didn't have a double rudder, something common since after the Titanic IIRC ) and the fact that she steamed right into the teeth of the British Home fleet as she couldnt maneuver.
So what's your opinion, without that lucky shot, could it have limped off to Brest?
Apparently the only reason it got hit was because the Prinze Eugen was sent away from her, reducing AA capacity...?
Most likely yes. From what I know the Rodney was relatively low on fuel and couldn't have pursued her, not to speak of the air threat.
Germans seem to be doing fine. You might have tougher battle ahead than you expected.
The bad news in 1940 would continue all year long. And no month would be worse than October. It wasn't so much that Italy demonstrated again how bold fascist were becoming...
...as the danger posed by a Victorious Japan, now enjoying an even stronger power base in mainland Asia, with it's army completely free for any expansionist desires that cross it's mind.
A danger they seemed determined to confirm, as the NKVD security in Vladivostok's Harbour quickly learned.
Not that November would be any better. As the Republican candidate won the American Presidency, self-declared fascists were made part of his cabinet.
The risk this posed for the USSR would soon become clear as well...
The New Year came, but the news didn't become any better for it.
A special submarine espionage mission to German Harbours proved our spies in the Reich weren't to be trusted much. The Nazis owned a lot more Capital Ships then expected, and the reputation of those we already knew kept on increasing.
International publications were calling the Bismarck and her class "the greatest battleship ever built", an obvious offence to our far superior Sovietsky Soyuz. No matter, the Red Fleet knew it better, and it was proudly that the three new Battleships of her class were commissioned.
Of course, pride should not get on the way of cold analysis, and given the ever increasing siege of aggressive fascist regimes, the Navy knew it couldn't defend the Motherland all on it's own.
Thus Commissar Viktorov ordered the cancellation of the third and final Black Sea Sovietsky Soyuz, as that was the scenario least likely to require naval defences - with the USSR already being far superior than all other Black Sea nations together.
Surprisingly - or perhaps not - Stalin did not like this "generous" act of the Commissar, and threatened to pull out funding if ever Viktorov would make such a decision again without consulting the Secretary.
What certainly was not surprising were the news from Leningrad's Shipyard soon after.
Increasingly more and more convinced that at least one war was incoming - the doubt being who would strike first, the Germans or Japanese, or both, or even the Americans - the Naval Commissariat continued to invest in ways to maximize the Ships it already had, conceal it's plans from the enemy, and build ships better and faster.
If that would be enough, only time would tell...
...as the danger posed by a Victorious Japan, now enjoying an even stronger power base in mainland Asia, with it's army completely free for any expansionist desires that cross it's mind.
A danger they seemed determined to confirm, as the NKVD security in Vladivostok's Harbour quickly learned.
Not that November would be any better. As the Republican candidate won the American Presidency, self-declared fascists were made part of his cabinet.
The risk this posed for the USSR would soon become clear as well...
The New Year came, but the news didn't become any better for it.
A special submarine espionage mission to German Harbours proved our spies in the Reich weren't to be trusted much. The Nazis owned a lot more Capital Ships then expected, and the reputation of those we already knew kept on increasing.
International publications were calling the Bismarck and her class "the greatest battleship ever built", an obvious offence to our far superior Sovietsky Soyuz. No matter, the Red Fleet knew it better, and it was proudly that the three new Battleships of her class were commissioned.
Of course, pride should not get on the way of cold analysis, and given the ever increasing siege of aggressive fascist regimes, the Navy knew it couldn't defend the Motherland all on it's own.
Thus Commissar Viktorov ordered the cancellation of the third and final Black Sea Sovietsky Soyuz, as that was the scenario least likely to require naval defences - with the USSR already being far superior than all other Black Sea nations together.
Surprisingly - or perhaps not - Stalin did not like this "generous" act of the Commissar, and threatened to pull out funding if ever Viktorov would make such a decision again without consulting the Secretary.
What certainly was not surprising were the news from Leningrad's Shipyard soon after.
Increasingly more and more convinced that at least one war was incoming - the doubt being who would strike first, the Germans or Japanese, or both, or even the Americans - the Naval Commissariat continued to invest in ways to maximize the Ships it already had, conceal it's plans from the enemy, and build ships better and faster.
If that would be enough, only time would tell...
Ah, the assembly line technology! Now the ships will be sliding out of the slipways faster than you can make use of them!
Regardless of her real life success at least in this AAR the Bismarck and to a lesser extent the Tirpitz are causing the RN some serious headaches. I look forward to the Red Fleet hunting her down.
Oh and I like the way that you've not just built up a fleet in the Baltic and a second rate build in the Pacific (and ignored the Sevastapol based fleet entirely - I probably would have or at least limited it to CA's). Adds a lot to RPing and shows that the USSR must surely be thinking of liberating their Turkic cousins at some point in the future.
I can't wait to see what fate has for the Red Fleet in the future or that of the Rodina.
Tanesis,
Oh and I like the way that you've not just built up a fleet in the Baltic and a second rate build in the Pacific (and ignored the Sevastapol based fleet entirely - I probably would have or at least limited it to CA's). Adds a lot to RPing and shows that the USSR must surely be thinking of liberating their Turkic cousins at some point in the future.
I can't wait to see what fate has for the Red Fleet in the future or that of the Rodina.
Tanesis,
Another great update. I might not have cancelled that last BB, even though you might not need it in the Black Sea, the Med is a dangerous place.
Assuming you capture the Dardanelles.
Anyways, I too am worried about how you will have enought to face the Blitz, at least early on.
Also, are you using a speical AI or mod, I have never seen the Germans cause that much trouble with their navy, ever.
Assuming you capture the Dardanelles.
Anyways, I too am worried about how you will have enought to face the Blitz, at least early on.
Also, are you using a speical AI or mod, I have never seen the Germans cause that much trouble with their navy, ever.
Mauser's right, those sort of allied losses are usually american ships sunk by the japanese. its all down to some terrible allied naval AI, which sends out lots of little groups of escorts by themselves to get massacred.
I think that it's due to the U.K sending small groups of DD's/CL's with the occaisional rusty CA out to do ASW all over the North Sea including the Heligoland Bight and such.
Tanesis,
germanpeon - if only! Any of our adversaries still has more ships then we do in any given theatre.
General_Hoth - On Sea? Certainly!
Tanesis - Right now (and up to 1942) there are no plans for anything but to defend this Soviet Union of ours, but of course the Motherland of the Working Class does not intend to accept forever the shackles imposed on it by Imperialism...
Maj. von Mauser and BritishImperial - I installed the SEMP around mid-1941, but that's only events. No other mods aside from the graphic ones. The Bismarck and her friends simply turned out to be fine ships. As you'll see...
Storm501 - You think the Baltic War wasn't action enough? Hmpf... no pleasing some people.
Razbojnik and everyone else - thanks for the comments, I've been busy editing the screenshots for the next update, should be able to post it tonight.
General_Hoth - On Sea? Certainly!
Tanesis - Right now (and up to 1942) there are no plans for anything but to defend this Soviet Union of ours, but of course the Motherland of the Working Class does not intend to accept forever the shackles imposed on it by Imperialism...
Maj. von Mauser and BritishImperial - I installed the SEMP around mid-1941, but that's only events. No other mods aside from the graphic ones. The Bismarck and her friends simply turned out to be fine ships. As you'll see...
Storm501 - You think the Baltic War wasn't action enough? Hmpf... no pleasing some people.
Razbojnik and everyone else - thanks for the comments, I've been busy editing the screenshots for the next update, should be able to post it tonight.
Im in! Yeeesh Bismarck looks pretty impressive.
Now you just have to mkae sure that the Germans dont blitz all the way to your shipyards! :O
Now you just have to mkae sure that the Germans dont blitz all the way to your shipyards! :O
Japan got early victory over China. That's bad and may cause some troubles in the future.
The Soviet Navy can everything! Their I-grade battleships can kill 10 advanced carriers, I say! And one Soviet soldier can kill 100 of theirs!
Caught up with the most recent few pages. Really good reading, Freakie. Can't wait to see the encounter between the Baltic Fleet and the Kriegsmarine.
The sun was rising over Leningrad, and only it's early rays told Viktor the time.
He had lost the habit of looking at the clock, sleeping when he was exhausted for a couple of hours, and going back to work in his office right away. It was new, comfortable and well-equipped, but Viktor was sick of it already, having spent the better part of the last three weeks essentially living in it.
His thoughts, broken away from work because of the sun's interruption, now took him back to that April 25th when a phone call from Moscow all but ordered the Commissariat to give Admiral Kuznetsov a research team so he would develop a firmer doctrine on how to use carriers to support the Soviet fleets.
Of course, the Admiral already had a mighty fleet to lead, but no-one would dare tell Stalin that. No-one, but Commissar Viktorov, who was confident on his relation with the Secretary General - and angry at having orders given directly to his offices - to get on his car and drive all the way to Moscow to explain why the Navy could make a better use of resources than more investment in carriers.
His article on the Pravda, praising our Great Leader and explaining how he decided the best way to serve the USSR was dedicating fully to the Pacific Fleet, was indeed very moving.
At the time Viktor had enjoyed the promotion and new desk, but fate would have it that such bliss would last less than two months, when Germany declared war, and the new Commissar took the Fleet out into the Baltic to meet the Kriegsmarine, leaving "Comrade Andreev" de facto in charge of the office.
His immediate concern back then was organizing the transfer and escort of troops from Leningrad to Riga's harbour, but right in the first return trip the modestly named 17th Fleet was faced with a Finnish attempt to hold the Finland Gulf, taking advantage of the new battleship's absence.
They were expelled, without losses.
It had been Viktor's idea and initiative to remove the Moskva from the 17th Fleet and send it to help Kuznetsov's hunt, and while it had been the Admiral who requested the Naval Infantry be transported to the shores of Turku again, it fell on Viktor to arrange it.
Now, Kuznetsov was sailing back to support the Turku disembark and minimize the Moskva's exposure. Viktor had spent the whole night preparing transports to support the Naval Infantry, and he was almost ready.
A knock at the door.
It was a messenger, and he looked nervous.
Before Viktor could ask, he yelled the news.
- SIR! It's the Bismarck!
He had lost the habit of looking at the clock, sleeping when he was exhausted for a couple of hours, and going back to work in his office right away. It was new, comfortable and well-equipped, but Viktor was sick of it already, having spent the better part of the last three weeks essentially living in it.
His thoughts, broken away from work because of the sun's interruption, now took him back to that April 25th when a phone call from Moscow all but ordered the Commissariat to give Admiral Kuznetsov a research team so he would develop a firmer doctrine on how to use carriers to support the Soviet fleets.
Of course, the Admiral already had a mighty fleet to lead, but no-one would dare tell Stalin that. No-one, but Commissar Viktorov, who was confident on his relation with the Secretary General - and angry at having orders given directly to his offices - to get on his car and drive all the way to Moscow to explain why the Navy could make a better use of resources than more investment in carriers.
His article on the Pravda, praising our Great Leader and explaining how he decided the best way to serve the USSR was dedicating fully to the Pacific Fleet, was indeed very moving.
At the time Viktor had enjoyed the promotion and new desk, but fate would have it that such bliss would last less than two months, when Germany declared war, and the new Commissar took the Fleet out into the Baltic to meet the Kriegsmarine, leaving "Comrade Andreev" de facto in charge of the office.
His immediate concern back then was organizing the transfer and escort of troops from Leningrad to Riga's harbour, but right in the first return trip the modestly named 17th Fleet was faced with a Finnish attempt to hold the Finland Gulf, taking advantage of the new battleship's absence.
They were expelled, without losses.
It had been Viktor's idea and initiative to remove the Moskva from the 17th Fleet and send it to help Kuznetsov's hunt, and while it had been the Admiral who requested the Naval Infantry be transported to the shores of Turku again, it fell on Viktor to arrange it.
Now, Kuznetsov was sailing back to support the Turku disembark and minimize the Moskva's exposure. Viktor had spent the whole night preparing transports to support the Naval Infantry, and he was almost ready.
A knock at the door.
It was a messenger, and he looked nervous.
Before Viktor could ask, he yelled the news.
- SIR! It's the Bismarck!