WWI Naval Battle – Skagerrak, July 1914

After the battle in the Fehmarn Belt, the surviving British ships passed through the Kattegat to the Skagerrak. There they were met by the other division of the 2nd Battle Squadron (four Orion class dreadnoughts) and the battlecruiser New Zealand (assigned to the 1st BCS at this time). This force was then intercepted by German ships from Wilhelmshaven.

Scale: 1/6000 miniatures, 500 yards/in ground scale.

Rules: Computer code in development.

Visibility 16,000 yards. Wind northerly at 16 knots. Seastate 3.

Status at the end of the game: belt4 IO

Damage output file: Belt4 output

Plot: belt4plot

 

WWI Naval Battle – Fehmarn Belt, July 1914

In June 1914, units of the British fleet were in the Baltic Sea. A division of the 2nd Battle Squadron (four King George V class dreadnoughts) commanded by Vice Admiral Sir George Warrender and three light cruisers were in Kiel, Germany between June 23rd and June 30th. The 1st Battlecruiser Squadron commanded by Rear Admiral Sir David Beatty visited Riga, Revel and Kronstadt, and was in Kronstadt on the 28th when the assassination of Austrian Archduke Ferdinand occurred.

This hypothetical engagement assumes (1) that the Austrian government promptly responded to the assassination with a declaration of war on Serbia, (2) that a state of war existed between Britain and Germany on July 1st, and (3) that the Germans sortied their available ships to intercept the British squadrons before they could exit the Baltic.

The composition of the German force is extrapolated from the ships mentioned in von Hase’s description of the Kiel visit. British light cruisers are assumed to have also accompanied the 1st BCS.

After leaving Kiel, Warrender cruises in the Fehmarn Belt waiting for Beatty to arrive from the east. The 1st BCS leaves Kronstadt on the 29th in order to reach the Fehmarn Belt on July 1st. Beatty is still a Rear Admiral at this point and Warrender will be in overall command when the two forces join.

References:

George M. Nekrasov, “Expendable Glory: Russian Battleship in the Baltic, 1915-1917” [for the presence of the 1st BCS at Kronstadt on July 28th]

Commander Georg von Hase, “Kiel & Jutland” [for details of the Kiel visit and the ships present]

 

Scale: 1/6000 miniatures, 500 yards/in ground scale.

Rules: Computer code in development.

Visibility 16,000 yards. Wind northwesterly at 14 knots. Seastate 2.

Status at the end of the game: Final status belt3

Damage output file: Belt3 output

Plot: belt3-plot

 

WWI Naval Battle – North Sea December 1916

In this hypothetical engagement, the newest units of the Grand Fleet and High Seas Fleet duel in the North Sea.

Scale: 1/6000 miniatures, 500 yards/in ground scale.

Rules: Computer code in development.

Visibility 20,000 yards. Wind northeasterly at 14 knots. Seastate 3.

Status at the end of the game: NS16L final summary

Damage output file: NS16L output

Plot: NS16L plot

The game was ended at this point due to time. A few additional turns were played on the computer. The German dreadnoughts avoided the torpedo attack, although two light cruisers were hit.

Extended output file: NS16L extended

WWI Naval Battle – Gulf of Finland May 1915

In this hypothetical engagement, the Germans send a portion of the High Seas Fleet into the Gulf of Finland in an attempt to engage and destroy the Russian Baltic Fleet.

Scale: 1/6000 miniatures, 500 yards/in ground scale.

Rules: Computer code in development.

Visibility was 18,000 yards. Wind was southerly at 8 knots and the seastate was 2.

Status at the end of the game: Finland End Status

Damage output summary (special damage only – flotation hits not listed): Finland short output

Plots: Finland plot 1  Finland plot 2a

 

With one pre-dreadnought sunk and several large ships heavily damaged, the Russians give up the game.

WWI Naval Battle – Copenhagen 1914

Copenhagen the verb that is. In May 1914 the British finally accept Admiral Fisher’s suggestions (made in 1904 and 1908) to preemptively attack the German fleet in the naval base at Wilhelmshaven. A routine flight by the German Navy’s only dirigible, the L 3, spots the British in the North Sea in time for the German fleet to sortie.

Visibility was 14,000 yards. Wind was westerly at 8 knots and the seastate was 2.

Status at the end of the game: Cope-end-status

Damage output summary: Cope-damage

Plot: Cope-plot

Plot showing flotilla torpedo attacks: Cope-plot-flot

Analysis:

Examining only the battleship action, the British hit rate was 9.3% and the German hit rate was 14.1%. This difference was the result of the westerly wind blowing the gun and funnel smoke in front of the British line, while the German smoke was blown to the disengaged side. The British needed the guidance in the Grand Fleet Battle Orders (~ May 1916):

Weather …The leeward position, with the wind on the engaged bow, is usually the better … the main consideration is that of being in a position where the gun and funnel smoke from our own ships do not interfere with gunlaying… [page 15]

I don’t know if there was any such guidance in May of 1914.

The British suffered gun losses due to 29 turret face penetrations. Four British battleships were lost to explosions as a result of turret fires reaching the magazines. Turret hits represented 14.7% of all hits on British ships and 12.7% of all hits on German ships. These numbers are consistent with the algorithms. The consequences (for the British) of turret hits are so significant that the algorithms for turret face hits and penetrations will be elaborated in future code modifications. For example, the probability of a turret hit for flat trajectory shells will be examined, and the curvature of British turret faces might need to be modeled.

The strategic lesson is that a preemptive attack should have been considered at an earlier date, ideally before the Germans developed effective AP shells.