Naval Battle of Sunderland 1911

This scenario was inspired by an Admiral of the Fleet game run by the Seekrieg Admiralty at the HURRICON 2026 game convention in Kissimmee Florida. Photos of that convention game (which used 1/2400 scale miniatures) are in this Google photo album (at the bottom of the album).

The description of the scenario is from the HURRICON events guide:
“In the summer of 1909, the fires of conflict began in the Balkans. They then raged out of control in Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia, brought in Austria-Hungary and Russia in 1911, and in turn brought in Germany and Great Britain. No one was ready. The weather in the North Sea was somewhat mild, so the Germans decided to take the chance with an immediate attack before the reality of war had Britain prepared, choosing to make a quick strike directly on British soil. A bombardment of the area around Sunderland was selected. “

The convention game featured eight British and eight German dreadnoughts. For this replay, armored cruisers, light cruisers and destroyers 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:

NarrativeDownload

Photos (1/6000 scale miniatures):
Photo album (Google)

Plots:
Full scenario plot:

sund-allDownload

Simplified plot of dreadnought division movements:

sund-BB-leadsDownload


0820 to 0840 Hrs. Screening light cruisers report initial contacts and open fire. The German force turns southeast to close the contacts.

sund-0820-0840Download

0840 to 0900 Hrs. Opposing dreadnoughts are identified. Armored cruisers engage. Each side deploys its two dreadnought divisions into a single line. Dreadnoughts open fire. When the range reaches about 15,000 yards, both battle lines turn in succession to the southwest.

sund-0840-0900Download

0900 to 0940 Hrs. The range between the battle lines closes gradually to about 12,000 yards. Damage accumulates on both sides. Superb, leading the British battle line, drops out and the lead shifts to Bellerophon. Cruiser units move to take station ahead and destroyer flotillas take station on the disengaged sides.

sund-0900-0940Download

0940 to 1010 Hrs. Superb and St. Vincent sink. The British force turns east to disengage. Several German dreadnoughts dodge a torpedo fired by a British cruiser.

sund-0940-1010Download

Status at the end of the game:

Sund output summaryDownload

Gunnery Logs:

Gunnery Logs Sunderland SupriseDownload

Hit Logs:

Hit Logs Sunderland SupriseDownload

Comments:
Several test runs of this scenario were performed. While the British came out ahead in some cases, most outcomes favored the German side.

Suffolk Raid, November 1914

5th Battle Squadron November 1914
Harwich Force November 1914
A.G.I November 1914


On November 14, 1914, the British naval forces on the east coast were reorganized to defend against raids such as the bombardment of Yarmouth on November 3rd. The 5th Battle Squadron of eight pre-dreadnought battleships was moved to Sheerness. Vice Admiral Burney’s orders were “that at the first intimidation of a hostile expedition he was instantly to attack it, regardless of its strength…”. (Corbett, “Naval Operations” Volume I, page 250, Volume II, page 10, and Marder, “From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow” Volume II, page 130)

This scenario assumes that the German force used in the Yarmouth raid returned to the coast of Suffolk later in November, and that the 5th Battle Squadron and the Harwich force intercepted it.

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

The orders of battle are listed in the narrative file:

SK-Narrative-suf-2026-5-17Download


Plots:
Full scenario plot:

suf-plot-allDownload


Simplified plot of lead battleships and battlecruisers.

suf-plot-blDownload

Plot from 08:20 to 09:00. The German light cruiser screen and the Harwich Force engage.

suf-plot-8:20 to 9:00Download

Plot from 09:00 to 09:30. The German battlecruisers and the 5th Battle Squadron of the Channel Fleet deploy and open fire. A German battlecruiser is hit by a torpedo from a Harwich Force light cruiser. German fire is initially concentrated on the nearest British pre-dreadnought, which sinks.

suf-plot-9:00 to 9:30Download

Plot from 09:30 to 10:00. The battle lines circle each other. The British pre-dreadnoughts take far more hits than they inflict. One pre-dreadnought capsizes and sinks.

suf-plot-9:30 to 10:00Download
Situation at 10:00 Hrs
5th BS and Harwich Force, 10:00 Hrs
AG-I and AG-II, 10:00 Hrs

Plot from 10:00 to 10:30. The British force attempts to disengage. German torpedo boat flotillas attack and score torpedo hits on two pre-dreadnoughts, sinking one of them immediately.

suf-plot-10:00 to 10:30Download

Plot from 10:30 to 11:15. The modern destroyers of the Harwich force and the older destroyers of the Channel Fleet attack. Two hits are scored on German battlecruisers. The German force retires to the north. A fourth British pre-dreadnought capsizes and sinks due to progressive flooding.

suf-plot-10:30 to 11:15Download

Status at the end of the game:

suf-final-outputDownload

Gunnery Logs:

Gunnery Logs Suffolk RaidDownload

Hit Logs:

Hit Logs Suffolk RaidDownload

Comments:
This game and several other replays indicate that the old ships of the Channel Fleet are outmatched by the German battlecruisers. On the other hand, there is little reason for the battlecruisers to engage, since sinking old ships will not help redress the balance of forces in the North Sea.