WWI Naval Battle in the Great Belt 1914

In this fictional battle using the WWI naval game program, two players commanded British and German fleets in August 1914. The scenario was an attempt by the Grand Fleet to enter the Baltic Sea as part of one of Admiral Fisher’s schemes. The Germans manage to move some High Seas Fleet ships through the Kiel Canal and link up with old pre-dreadnoughts of the 4th and 5th Battle squadrons already operating in the Baltic. The fleets meet in the 10 nautical mile wide Great Belt near Nyborg Denmark.

The British organization is based on this list. The 4th BS (three battleships) has turned back due to mine damage. The flagship Iron Duke is attached to the 1st Battle Squadron replacing Colossus. The tactic of using pre-dreadnoughts as ‘mine bumpers’ in front of the fleet is from Usborne, “Blast and Counterblast.”

The German organization is based on this list. The flagship Friedrich der Grosse is attached to the 3rd Battle Squadron.

After 8 turns (40 minutes) the game was ended due to time constraints. Since the close range firing of the last few turns had not resulted in the expected carnage, the program’s hit probability range modifiers will be examined and possibly adjusted.

Data for individual ships after 8 turns: Belt2 IO Data end

Summary of firing results: Belt2 18DEC2013 Significant Results

Turn-by-turn plots: Belt2 Plots

After the game, the program was used to continue the battle (without the players or the miniatures). On the next turn (Turn 9) a German battlecruiser received 12 additional hits and sank. With her last few shells she blew up a British dreadnought (turret hit followed by magazine explosion). Within 3 turns the remaining two German battlecruisers had also sunk. After 8 additional turns the ship data was: Belt2 IO Data 16end