Tsushima, May 27th 1905

2nd Pacific Squadron
Combined Fleet

This scenario was based on the battle of Tsushima during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905.

Both sides were run by the code‘s automation algorithms.

The orders of battle are listed in the narrative file:

SK-Narrative-tsu4-2026-2-6Download


Plots:
Full scenario plot:

tsu4 full plotDownload


Animated plot:

tsu4 animated plotDownload


Plot of battleships and armored cruisers from the start to 14:05. Both sides have deployed from cruising formations to single line ahead and have engaged on opposite courses.

Points 0-35 Battleship Armored Cruiser plotDownload

Plot of battleships and armored cruisers from 14:00 to 14:30. The Japanese battle line has reversed course to follow the Russian line north.

Points 30-60 Battleship Armored Cruiser plotDownload

Plot of battleships and armored cruisers from 14:25 to the end. The Japanese gradually catch up and inflict heavier losses on the Russians. The 2nd Pacific Squadron retires to the northeast at 15:20, and the Combined Fleet disengages at 15:35.

Points 55-150 Battleship Armored Cruiser plotDownload

The destroyers with their short range torpedoes were of little use in a daylight action. The code algorithms generally kept them on the disengaged side, however the code decided late in the battle to launch the entire Japanese destroyer flotilla (five divisions of four boats each) against the supposedly weakened Russian battle line. All five divisions were dispersed by damage from the tertiary guns of the battle line and supporting fire from protected cruisers Bogatyr and Aurora. This plot shows the flotilla attack from 15:11 to 15:30:

Japanese flotilla attack plotDownload


Status at the end of the game:

tsu4 final outoutDownload

Gunnery Logs:

Gunnery Logs Tsushima 4 ship unitsDownload

Hit Logs:

Hit Logs Tsushima 4 ship unitsDownload

Comments:
The 2nd Pacific Squadron attempted to disengage at 15:20 due to heavy losses. The Combined Fleet followed until 15:35 when lack of ammo and operable guns caused it to break off the action.

The results were more even than would normally be expected, likely due to the early loss of 30 cm guns on the Combined Fleet’s battleships. Mikasa, for example, lost her after turret to a 254 mm hit and both guns of her forward turret to premature explosions of Shimose shells.

Naval Battle of Tunis 1901

This scenario was inspired by an Admiral of the Fleet game run by the Seekrieg Admiralty at the HURRICON 2025 game convention. Photos of that convention game are in this Google photo album (about halfway down the page).

The description of the scenario is from the HURRICON events guide:
“After the French acquisition of Tunis in 1881, Italian aspirations regarding Tripoli were generally recognized by the Great Powers but tensions between the two countries eventually led to armed conflict in North Africa when Italy began a naval blockade of Tunis. In May of 1901, Italian battleships and cruisers meet their French counterparts in the Gulf of Tunis …”

While the French battleships, armored cruisers and their weapons were already included in the game codes, it was necessary to add the Friant class protected cruisers and all of the Italian ships and weapons. Code revisions were required to accommodate the long reload times of the Italian heavy guns. None of the new ships were available in the Figurehead 1:6000 scale line, so they were created by conversions or 3D printing. Small destroyer units (not present in the AOTF game) were added to each fleet.

Both sides were run by the code‘s automation algorithms.

The orders of battle are listed in the narrative file:

Narrative fi1901Download


Photo album (Google)

Plots:
Full scenario plot:

fi1901-allDownload

Simplified plot of battleship movements:

fi1901-BBDownload


Status at the end of the game:

fi1901 final statusDownload

Gunnery Logs:

Gunnery LogsDownload

Hit Logs:

Hit LogsDownload

Comments:
Although neither of the computer-controlled forces had yet chosen to break off the action, the loss of three Italian battleships and the French fleet’s attempt to open the range provided a reasonable opportunity to end the battle after a hour and twenty minutes.

Italian losses were much greater than French, primarily due to the ineffectiveness of the 17 inch guns of the two leading Italian battleships. These guns did not make any hits, with their long reload time (8 minutes) and consequent inability to achieve a good fire control solution. The two ships (Italia, Lepanto) fired only 9 and 8 heavy shells, respectively, so even one hit would have been a good hit rate. Putting the Re Umberto class ships in the van might have had better results, but their 13.5in/30 guns had a maximum rate of fire of only 0.3 rounds per minute, compared to 1 round per minute for the 305mm guns of the French battleships.

The destroyers with their short range torpedoes were of little use in a daylight action. The code algorithms kept them on the disengaged side so that they did not take many hits.

1/6000 Naval – Late 19th Century

The bottom two rows are 3D printed Italian battleships. The top row wreck markers are made from failed 3D prints, resulting from a two year hiatus in using the printer. The Italian and French cruisers are crude conversions of Figurehead models. The British Edgar and Blake class are Figurehead models, with only slight changes to reflect the modified armament of HMS Crescent and Royal Arthur.