Fought between Pete Charnley and myself, the battle was on a table 8 x 5 feet in size using the Fletcher Pratt rules as detailed in your "Naval Wargames". Although the 'estimating range' technique seems to have fallen out of favour from more recent Naval rules, the incredibly complicated systems of firing I have seen in some rules do not strike me as being any kind of improvement. In fact any improvements in accuracy are outweighed by the loss of playability. FORCES, POSITIONS AND TACTICAL SITUATION The Convoy Escorted by 2 corvettes and one destroyer (Ba Meadowland Task Force1 Cruiser, 2 Battle Class destroyers, 1 'B' Class destroyer. Detached Force in Harbour 1 'B' Class destroyer, 1 Corvette. Commerce Raider 1 Cruiser. Force at Scania 1 Cruiser, 3 W Class destroyers. On Black Rock 2; 4.5" guns in one turret. Manned by Teutanian personnel. On Landfall Peninsular 2 6.1" guns in one turret. Manned by Meadowland personnel. On Either Side of Fairhaven Harbour 2 5" guns in one turret. Convoy must arrive, move 1, anywhere on the eastern edge of the board. Meadowland Task Force must arrive, move 3, on southern edge of board, and at least 231, west of Black Rock. Ships in Harbour may leave AFTER move 6. Commerce Raider must arrive on eastern half of southern edge of board, move 1. Scanian Forces must arrive on EITHER the eastOrn half of the southern edge of the board OR anywhere on the eastern edge of the board. If coming on at the former location, arrive move 7. If the latter, arrive move 10. STRATEGIC SITUATION In its Titanic struggle with the evil Teutania, Meadowland relies heavily on supplies from the friendly, but officially neutral, Gargantus. These supplies are brought across the intervening ocean in convoys. The destination of the incoming convoy is the vitally important island of Fairhaven with its superb natural harbour built up and much augmented over many centuries of maritime development. Ships reaching Fairhaven are then emptied for the return to Gargantua, their cargo being transferred to mainland Meadowland by smaller craft, better fitted to negotiate the treacherous shallows off the coast. These shallows in conjunction with the chain of small islands (known as the "Smiling Isles") to the south help to make the Warming Sea totally free of enemy vessels either above or below the waves. In order to avoid as far as possible enemy aircraft operating from Mournfull Isle and at the same time skirting the shallows off that desolate place the convoys give the island a wide berth. Normally they then steam between uninhabited Lipp Island and enemy-held Black Rock (with its small but well manned battery of two 4.5" guns.) Sailing north-west of Lipp Island takes them clear Black Rock and under the protection of their own guns on the tip of Landfall Peninsular but it forces,them to risk the shallows between the Peninsular and Lipp Island. This is known as "The Second Passage". The commander of convoy BT24 intended to take "The Second Passage". He wanted the protection of the shore batteries as soon as possible. The fact that a highly dangerous Teutanian commerce raider was in the vicinity weighed heavily on his mind. He knew that in choosing the Second Passage he had to steam close enough to Mournfull Isle for enemy observations posts to spot him and inform their area Naval H.Q. on the island of Scania. He gambled on the Teutanians being unwilling to give away the position of their commerce raider by opening radio contact with her. His intention was thus to avoid the normal route south of Lipp Island where the raider could easily be lurking. He was much assisted in his designs by heavy fog keeping the aircraft on Mournfull Isle grounded as he passed. The commander of the commerce raider Nurnberg was at that moment straining every sinew to reach the area of Lipp Island in time to cut off convoy BT24 which Teutanian agents in Gargantus had informed him of. Meanwhile threading its ways through The Sound on its way north in search of the commerce raider was a Meadowland task force. It was also heading for Lipp Island. At Scania the Commodore of a mixed Cruiser and Destroyer force was congratulating himself on his good fortune when lie was told of the radio message from Mournfull Isle, reporting the position of BT24. An hour later his force slid quietly out to sea. At Fairhaven the captains of a Destroyer and a Corvette, recently detached from the Meadowland force hunting the commerce raider, to replenish supplies and refuel, sweated blood in an effort to get their ships to sea in time to assist convoy BT24. THE BATTLE AND AFTERWARDS The commander of the convoy escort decided, after discussing the situation with the Merchant Navy Commodore of the convoy, to split his charges into two. One half, including an enormous and very vulnerable tanker, he sent round The Second Passage. This group included two Corvettes. The rest of the convoy escorted by the destroyer in which he flew his flag and another corvette, were to go via the straits between Lipp Island and Black Rock. The situation was as described previously when the Commanderts destroyer entered the straits and the port lookout peering into the morning mist made out the blurred but unmistakable, shape of the Nurnberg approaching due south. The alarm was given and the captain of the destroyer (Lieut.Comndr. R. 'Dicky' Bird) ordered ten torpedoes away. Captain Kurt von Snapper on the Nurnberg had spotted his adversary at almost the same moment as she had seen him. His elation soon gave way to dismay with the realisation that the morning mist bad permitted the enemy to get much nearer to him than she could normally hope to do. Consequently alone of his main advantages, the greater range of his 6" guns had evaporated. Also the slender distance between the two vessels meant that the destroyer captain was ideally placed for a torpedo attack, whilst he was perilously short of sea room in which to evade such an attack. Even as these thoughts flooded through his mind he described through his glasses a large number of torpedoes rushing towards him. As the detonations of his main guns, firing on the destroyer, reverberated round him he shouted frantic instructions to the engine room in a bid to manoeuvre away from the torpedoes. Considering the difficulty of his task he came within an ace of succeeding. Only one torpedo struck home. To the watchers on the Meadowland destroyer (which was HMMS Alamein) it seemed as though their torpedoes had been unsuccessful as Nurnberg turned into their path seeking to comb the tracks. The impressive explosion as one found its mark was greeted with some relief on board Alamein. The Nurnberg with several 411 guns and torpedo tubes knocked out; much reduced in speed and listing slightly to starboard, turned to port apparently with the intention of gaining the cover of the friendly shore batteries on Black Rock. Although quite severely damaged the Nurnberg continued to pour a heavy fire on to the Alamein. It was therefore with gratitude that the Alamein's skipper saw the Meadowland task force approaching from the south-west about twenty minutes after the first sighting of the Nurnberg. Lieut. Bird ordered the Alamein, by now considerably damaged by the raider's 6" guns, to follow the merchant ships which he had previously sent east of Lipp Island to rejoin the other half of the convoy on the Second Passage. Von Snapper, in seeking the cover of his own shore batteries committed a blunder. He denied himself the room to manoeuvre that alone would save him from the torpedoes of the Meadowland task force now dangerously close to the west. It was not long before Nurnberg was struck again and in a short time turned turtle and sank. About a third of her crew managed to gain the sanctuary of the friendly Black Rock and in fact are still marooned there with the shore gunners, victims of their homeland's weakened navy. As the victorious Task Force sped north to help escort the convoy their triumph turned to trepidation as the Scanian force steamed into view from the south-west and headed north-west to cut off the convoy between The Atoll and Landfall Peninsular. Although the Meadowland ships in the Fairhaven harbour were now beginning to move out, they could not hope to prevent the Teutanians from accomplishing their objective. All that stood in their path was HMMS Bulldog, a small 'B' Class destroyer. Undeterred by the odds Bulldog stood her ground and fired her torpedoes. The Scanian force was bunched together fatally as it transpired. Leipzig, the Cruiser of the force, managed to evade the missiles but one of her attendant destroyers was not so lucky. Struck amidships she sank instantly with all hands. The Meadowland shore batteries on Fairhaven, now came into play but with little effect. Similarly the destroyer and corvette from Fairhaven harbour engaged the enemy. However with the loss of one of his destroyers, Rea- Admiral Rudolph Beest, in command of the Teutanian force, had lost heart. He was unfortunate not to sink the Bulldog which made good her escape. Beest decided to retire whilst he could, but before he went he opened fire on a large Meadowland merchantman which he could see had gone aground on Landfall Peninsular. He was immediately rewarded with a hit, which was followed by an enormous explosion. The ship (SS Spirit of Capital Investment) had been a tanker and blew up instantly. With the same salvo he caused damage to another merchantman and so retired with these minor but face-saving successes to relate to his superiors. Thus the battle known to Meadowland as "The Battle of Fairhaven Roads" and to the Teutanians as "The Battle of Black Rock", ended as a defeat for the militarists and the temporary loss of any opportunity for them to threaten the vital supply routes across the ocean to Gargantus. Map Back to Table of Contents -- Wargamer's Newsletter # 154 To Wargamer's Newsletter List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1975 by Donald Featherstone. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com