It is rare to see the Italians sail out in force and if you have eyes you might be able to predict the result. With their colonies mostly gone and their fleet in tatters will Italy finally give up?
This campaign was recorded using Admiralsnackbar’s balance mod which you can find here https://forum.game-labs.net/topic/40790-uad-rebalancing-mod-for-13-v1/
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Captain of the 1st Company: Treefrog
Lieutenants: Armande Christoph
Veteran Sergeants: 1stplaceonion, LCG Canyon, Welshy
Sergeants: Jackie, Twitchyknees, Alerik Rahl, paga1985s, Haytor, King Memphis
Veterans: Telemonian Dan, Sunless Sky Nova, Threadoflength, Darth Vendar.
Battle Siblings: Jacky Chan, nagebenfro, scurvekano, Cpt Graftin, Icd, Iroey, Zadrias, JT Bismarck.
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This has been interesting to watch, but doesn't seem to really be challenging you. After this series you should do one where you can design ships at the beginning and only build a small number of each class to add to whatever ships you are given at the start. Going forward your only way of gaining more ships would be by building for your allied minor nations that may be close enough for you to use from time to time and collecting a hodgepodge assortment of AI designed ships at the peace treaty menu at the end of wars. Maybe at the halfway mark or something you could design and build a few more ships if things are going really bad.
Foyle is a bit of a hero isn’t she!
a question: how do you continue in the battle after it's over, I can't find anywere were they explain it, will be waiting a response
When turrets go flying, is that the ammunition exploding or is it something else? If it is the ammunition detonating why is the flame blue? just curies
22:00 there are two BCs in your battle line and 2 blew up in May 1916. Are you having Jutland syndrome????
26:12 'Bullshittius Maximus'
Perth: keeping the pacific British since teatime 1910. No capital ships needed.
Top notch torpedo avoidance this episode, I guess you're not feeling so tired of late 🙂
Love to see the Perth again, Perth fan club when?
5:08: Weren't these the guys the Singapore Fleet were sent to quell after they finished liberating German New Guinea? Have to commend that Admiral's gunboat diplomacy.
'Foyles war' is going rather well!
A joke for Englishman of a certain age 😂
Hmm. When did Greece get Northtern Greece off the Ottomans? I remember when the War Department was suggesting the Admiralty support an invasion of that province.
It's a pity you can't give conquered or treaty surrendered provinces to your allies. Taking Albania from Italy and giving it to Greece would have been a good strategy.
Keeping the Otranto Strait Open
The Times: 20 January 1923
The Marina Militare is committed to keeping the Otranto Strait open and maintaining communications with their Balkan province of Albania. Therefore they sent after of their remaining destroyer strength, the recently built Nicola Fabrizi II, named after the Nembo class destroyer sunk in October of 1921, and the Astore to challenge the patrol by HMS Concord and HMS Duke, C-class and D-class destroyers of the Royal Navy and the HHMS Lochinvar, C-class destroyer of the Royal Hellenic Navy.
The two Italian destroyers closed on the HMS Concord as she opened fire. With inferior guns and only one load for their eight torpedo launchers, Astore and Nicola Fabrizi II needed to get the correct launch position to catch multiple ships in their strikes. They sent their spreads down the throat of the allied destroyer division, which wasn’t the best solution. HMS Concord led her division out of danger. The two forces then began exchanging shell fire with Astore and Nicola Fabrizi II wreathed in smoke and the allied ships brazenly sailing in the clear air. HMS Concord passed within a 100 meters of the stern of the trailing Astore, distracting their crew from the torpedo spread HMS Duke was about to launch. HMS got three hits and one dud right amidships of the Astore, flooding the aft half of the ship. Astore sank with only nine survivors of her 140 crew of officers and ratings.
HMS Concord led her division in a tight turn to port to come back around and attack the Nicola Fabrizi II. Nicola Fabrizi II put her fire on the hated Greek and started the HHMS Lochnivar flooding fore and aft. She then began pounding on HMS Duke, getting flooding on her as well. HMS Duke was ordered to retire. The Allied formation broke up with HMS Concord and HHMS Lochnivar trying to get hits on the Nicola Fabrizi II. After some maneuvering around HMS Concord got a lock on Nicola Fabrizi II and started getting flooding hits. With all her engines disabled and flooding in six compartments Nicola Fabrizi II took another hit forward that opened the rest of the ship to the sea. Nicola Fabrizi II sank with nine survivors.
HHMS Lochnivar took seven casualties. HMS Concord took ten. HMS Duke suffered forty-six officers killed or seriously wounded.
Enjoying the Italian Riviera
The Times: 16 January 1923
On patrol for Italian merchant ships or transports in the Western Mediterranean near the Italian Riviera, HMS Foyle, a Royal Navy F-class destroyer, accompanied by the D-class destroyer HMS Duchess, found a convoy of nine Pontiere class 12 thousand ton 84 man crewed 4.3” and 3.1” armed transports escorted by the Nembo class torpedo destroyers Pontiere and Corazziere. HMS Foyle detected the enemy and the division closed in on them. Sighting an enemy destroyer who immediately burned smoke and dropped out of sight HMS Foyle prepared for the usual, launched too early, enemy torpedo strike. And as expected the first Nembo launched on once again spotting HMS Foyle at a range too far to get a hit. The spread from the second Nembo as rather better timed, forcing HMS Foyle into a hard turn to port and drawing a panicked launch of her own torpedoes.
The two Royal Navy destroyers focused their fire on Pontiere, getting critical flooding hits fore and aft. With five compartments flooded and a sixth filling, Pontiere was in trouble. When another hit started flooding amidships Pontiere went down with nine survivors of her 140 man crew.
Taking hits around her main tower, Corazziere was flooded in two compartments amidships with another filling when another hit her 4.2” B turret, resulting in fire with her ready shells then flashed into her magazine, sending the turret blasting into the air followed by her A turret and then her Y turret and her 2.1” turrets as their magazine exploded. Fully flooding in five compartments forward she now started to take water aft. Corazziere sank with twenty-five survivors just as the convoy was sighted.
The destroyers came up on the convoy and began shelling the transports. Dante Alighieri sank with twelve survivors. Daga II surrendered with forty-nine survivors. The crew of the Aquila d'Oro abandoned their sinking ship just as torpedoes were about to smash into her. Forty-six men got off.
HMS Foyle then worked her way up the remainder of the convoy as HMS Duchess caught the transports they had passed HMS Foyle sank Mercuirio with fourteen survivors. Ferro had fifteen survivors. Ruggiero Settimo II wisely surrendered saving the lives of fifty of her crew.
HMS Duchess sank Valor Coronato III with eight survivors, the Crown of Valor not being willing to submit. Torricelli II and Anfitrite thought better, and surrended thus saving fifty-one of their crew members each.
The Italian Merchant Marine lost 112 thousand tons of shipping capacity as well as 459 officers and merchant seamen. The Marina Militare lost two of their last six destroyers and 246 officers and ratings.
HMS Duchess went through the battle without a scratch. HMS Foyle, showing her usual luck, took sixteen casualties from hits from the transports 4.3” and 3.1” guns. Notably a nice big hit from Aquila d'Oro, which might explain why she was torpedoed.
Threat of Violence From (or to?) Belgium
The Times: 14 January 1923
Members of Parliament have pressed the government to respond to the wild threats and accusations of the new leader of Belgium against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Empire of Greater India. The Royal Navy has been pressed into service supporting an expeditionary force of the Royal Army.
Major Fleet Action in the Mediterranean, Part 2
The Times: 10 January 1923
The End of the Marina Militare
Fire shifted immediately to the Ichnusa class Ammiraglio di Saint Bon. With the battle lines now closer hits began to take a toll quickly with Ammiraglio di Saint Bon losing a casemate gun and taking flooding fore and in her aft engineering space. But a hit on her A turret ignites a fire in her ready powder supply that flashes into her 15” power magazine. The A turret blasted into the sky but the Ammiraglio di Saint Bon fired her last 15” salvo and then her main guns fell silent. With one engine disabled she was flooding in eight compartments and trying to keep the flooding away from her two other engines, she turned away from the battle.
The Royal Navy battle line turned their fire on the Miseno class heavy cruiser Gaeta. One hit from an 18” shell by HMS Leviathan blasted into her main deck. Gaeta started flooding in three forward compartments and also started to retreat. But in retreating she had turned her stern to the enemy and while a smaller target then her broadside, with was also weaker and took a flooding hit that filled three compartments as her forward flooding breached a bulkhead and spread toward the center of the ship. Unable to control the flooding and suffering an explosion in her torpedo magazine Gaeta sank with 826 of her 943 crew on board.
Generale Antonio Chinotto didn’t have a chance. The protected cruiser took eight hits including 5” shells, but one 18” shell from HMS Leviathan shattered the ship and only forty-one members of her crew survived the 37 seconds of sudden hell on the seas that was the end of the existence of the Generale Antonio Chinotto.
Ammiraglio di Saint Bon was still trying to drag herself away from the fight but now the British battle line was again targeting her. With eight compartments fully flooded and one more filling, the 1382 remaining crew struggled to save their ship with only one damaged gun turret able to fire back on her tormentors. Flooding breached her final bulkheads but the ship broke apart from the strain with 126 survivors of her 1971 man crew.
The Italian destroyer, which had stayed behind her larger cousins the whole battle and already damaged from the occasional attention paid her, now burned smoke and tried to get away with two engines disabled. But HMS Leviathan caught her with two 18” shells and she sank with fourteen survivors of her 133 man crew.
Though the Marina Militare tried to claim the Royal Navy had lost 125 men in the battle they were counting in men lost in earlier engagements. In fact HMS Emperor of India lost a total of 101 men to hits from Leon Coronato and Ammiraglio di Saint Bon and HMS Queen Elizabeth lost twenty-seven men. HMS Renown and HMS Indomitable had combat related accidental deaths, one each.
Major Fleet Action in the Mediterranean, Part 1
The Times: 10 January 1923
The Marina Militare Makes One Last Bid to Save Sardinia
In December HMS Fennel reported sighting but per doctrine did not engage the Ichnusa class super dreadnought Leon Coronato and the Miseno class heavy cruiser Gaeta moving west through the central Mediterranean. Later that month HMS Faraham sighted the Piemonte class protected cruiser Generale Antonio Chinotto escorted by the Nembo class destroyer Carabiniere in the western Med. Apparently they all rendezvoused with the newest Ichnusa class, the Ammiraglio di Saint Bon, which somehow slipped past the Royal Navy unreported, and her Nembo class escort Ippolito Nievo, dropping Carabiniere off for another mission. Having failed in numerous attempts to supply their forces on Sardinia, the Marina Militare had assembled this battle squadron with the intention of attacking the covering fleet of the invasion of the Island of Sardinia.
The force they were challenging was rather more than they could handle. The flagship was the L2 class battleship HMS Leviathan, one of the two greatest warships afloat in the world displacing 61 thousand tons and armed with eight 18” guns. With her were three Queen Elizabeth class super dreadnought with eight 15” guns each, HMS Queen Elizabeth, HMS Barham, and HMS Valiant. The fleet also had the Iron Duke class dreadnought HMS Emperor of India with her ten 13.5” guns, the HMS Renown, lead ship of her six 15” armed battlecruiser class, and the Indefatigable class six 13.5” armed HMS Indomitable. Their escorts where the famed 11” armed County class heavy cruiser HMS Norfolk, the G-class destroyer HMS Gallant, and the D-class destroyer HMS Delphinium.
The Vice Admiral commanding formed all his ships into one battle line led by HMS Queen Elizabeth, followed by HMS Emperor of India, HMS Valiant, HMS Barham, HMS Leviathan, HMS Indomitable, HMS Renown, HMS Norfolk, HMS Delphinium, and HMS Gallant. This put the heavier guns further back where they would not be disadvantaged by range. They closed on the approaching enemy until the Italians chose to turn south. The Royal Navy turned south as well to open their broadsides, firing as they went with Italian shells splashing around HMS Queen Elizabeth.
The first hit was on HMS Emperor of India, a fore belt penetration that killed or wounded seventy-two men. HMS Emperor of India replied to the Leon Coronato with a 13.5” shell that hit the main deck causing ten casualties. HMS Emperor of India took a second hit through her fore deck that wounded or killed twenty-eight men. Now the Leon Coronato really started taking it, getting two 13.5” hits from HMS Emperor of India, two 15” hits from HMS Queen Elizabeth, and an 18” hit from HMS Leviathan. Then another 18” shell came in through Leon Coronato’s fore belt starting flooding and wounding 40 men. With over 100 men not answering to stations, Leon Coronato was flooding in four compartments forward. HMS Emperor of India got another hit with her 13.5” guns, able to fire more often and more accurately and thus causing the Iron Duke class dreadnought to be the target of the two Ichnusa class super dreadnoughts.
Leon Coronato kept taking hits from the Royal Navy battle line, losing her secondary tower and a casemate gun to another 18” shell from HMS Leviathan. With flooding controlled in her forth compartment, the forward three were still filling up. The bow of the ship was wrecked except for the barbettes of the forward turrets. Leon Coronato was still firing a full salvo of eight 15” shells but turned to fall back in her battle line, foolishly turning towards the Royal Navy ships. The British battleships kept their fire on the Leon Coronato, intending to drive her totally out of the battle. The seams she had stoppered in her fourth compartment sprang open, as did her fifth compartment and Leon Coronato began taking more flooding. With all her main turrets damaged her fire became less effective. HMS Queen Elizabeth hit Leon Coronato aft below her destroyed secondary tower, starting flooding in a sixth compartment as Leon Coronato lost her B turret and then A turret. With two massive hits through her main belt Leon Coronato broke apart, leaving 335 of her 1971 man crew floating amidst the debris that was their ship.
Our New Allies
The Times: 5 January 1923
With our new alliance with the Empire of Japan the Imperial Japanese Navy has been pressing us to cooperate in their operations against German’s protectorates in the Chinese Mainland. Our first contribution was the venerable Tribune class semi-armoured cruiser HMS Perth. The enemy ship the IJN Urakaze class destroyer Isonami found to attack was the Seeadler class protected cruiser Nassau. HMS Perth brought four 6” guns in two twin turrets along with at twenty-two 3” secondary, the Isonami two 4” guns in single turrets mounted on the forecastle and behind and below on the main deck and one 3.7” twin turret mounted behind the secondary tower to match against Nassau’s four 6.4” guns in twin turrets, four 4.2” guns in twin turrets, and eight 3” guns. Nassau displaced more than the two allied ships combined but in torpedo armament she was severely outmatched.
Isonami closed at 39 knots and fired her two twin deck launchers, sending four torpedoes at Nassau, dodging the one sent in reply. Nassau easily turned to avoid the Japanese destroyer’s launch from her trained but inexperienced crew. Nassau turned to fire her other torpedo but the Isonami dodged this while reloading her two launchers, a faster process then loading one quadruple launcher. With Nassau’s torpedoes expended HMS Perth could now attempt to close with relative impunity. Isonami however had to continue to hound the Nassau to keep her from simply sailing away. Though built in the style of a protected cruiser because of the German Republic’s woeful state of naval technological development, the Seeadler class is their most modern, appearing in last 1921, and has a top speed of 30 knots, much faster than the refitted but still slow Tribune class.
Boxed in and already flooding forward, Nassau tried to close on HMS Perth and get some kind of hit with her 6.4” guns. HMS Perth was taking none of it but was dishing out 3” and 6” hits on Nassau. Sensing the danger she was entering in coming within the sweep of HMS Perth’s port underwater torpedo tubes, Nassau began to turn away. HMS Perth however sent two in a tight spread right at the engineering spaces of the Nassau. One torpedo was a dud but the other exploded, disabling #1 engine, causing fire and flooding.
Nassau sunk with twenty-four survivors of her 354 man crew. Isonami suffered three casualties from her 147 man crew. HMS Perth took no hits.
Desperate to hold Their African Colonies
The Times: 18 December 1922
The new government of the Republic of Italy seems to feel they cannot make peace with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Empire of Greater India unless they can retain control of their African colonies. So in a continuing attempt to boost the support for their troops in southern Algeria they keep sending convoys into the Central Mediterranean between Sicily and Tunisia. This time it was seven Ruggiero d' Lauria class 13 thousand ton 88 man crewed 3.7” and 1.8” armed transports escorted by two Nembo class destroyers, Circe and Zeffiro.
They were intercepted by the D-class destroyer HMS Duke and the F-class destroyer HMS Foyle. The Italian escorts sighted the Royal Navy destroyers first and made smoke, waiting for the HMS Duke to close until launching their torpedoes. The sonar operators on HMS Duke are veterans however, and detected the splash of the torpedoes entering the water, allowing HMS Duke to change course. The shapes of the two Nembos became distinct enough to fire on and HMS Duke and HMS Foyle started firing at them with 5” shells. HMS Duke however took the first hit, a 4.2” shell that opened her bow to the sea, then another that opened her stern. HMS Duke was ordered to retire leaving the attack solely to HMS Foyle.
As HMS Foyle got in range of her 2” secondary she finally started to get hits. Before leaving HMS Duke fired her torpedo spread at Zeffiro and got one hit on Circe, flooding her aft. HMS Foyle then sent out her torpedo spread at both and didn’t get either. Her 5” fire was more effective, and the Italians began to take damage and losses with Zeffiro also beginning to flood. HMS Foyle closed on Zeffiro, damaging her #1 engine and destroying her main tower. With the Italians out of smoke HMS Foyle’s 5” shells hit more often and harder. Zeffiro sank with fifteen survivors of her 140 man crew.
HMS Foyle closed on Circe. With two compartments flooded aft and flooding spreading forward, one engineering space flooded and one engine disabled, the aft main gun destroyed, and nineteen casualties, Circe was slowed and reduced in combat capability. Further hits and Circe lost her second engine and her senior officers. Her third aft compartment had fully flooded and flooding began to creep into the compartment forward of her flooding engineering space. Flooding finally took the ship and Circe sank with five survivors.
As HMS Duke retired she had spotted the enemy convoy and informed HMS Foyle. HMS Foyle now turned to run down the fleeing transports. HMS Foyle sank Francesco Caracciolo II, leaving twelve survivors of her 88 man crew. Still closing HMS Foyle then sank San Giovanni II with only eight survivors. Nearly up to the transports, Alfa was sunk with eight survivors.
Closing on the last four transports, HMS Foyle torpedoed Giovanni Da Procida after passing her. The 13 thousand ton transport tore apart, spilling the fifty-one survivors into the water, floating with the debris. Passing up the column, HMS Foyle hit each transport in turn until she passed ahead of the convoy leader Ruggiero d' Lauria. Ruggiero d' Lauria surrendered with fifty-one survivors as HMS Foyle turned back to come at the two remaining transports. Gemma II also surrendered after losing thirty-nine men including her captain. Galileo Ferraris surrendered with fifty-three survivors.
In all the Republic of Italy had lost 91 thousand tons of transport capacity and 382 officers and merchant seamen killed or lost at sea. The Marina Militare lost two more Nembo class destroyers and 260 officers and ratings killed or lost at sea with another twenty taken prisoner. The Royal Navy took nineteen casualties.
New Trade Agreements
The Times: 5 December 1922
The Republic of Indonesia has signed a trade and defense agreement with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, noting the friendly port visits by the Singapore Fleet returning from their recent conquest of German New Guinea.
The Republic of Venezuela has ordered two C-Class ’20 destroyers with the approval of the Admiralty.
Challenging Italy’s Balkan Possession
The Times: 3 December 1922
HMS Revenge, lead ship of her super dreadnought class, took a squadron into the Adriatic Sea to challenge Italy’s control of Albania. With her were the River class light cruiser HMS Tay, the Myrtle class scout cruisers HMS Intrepid and HMS Hobart, and the D-Class HMS Dashwood. The Marina Militare had only one Ichnusa class super dreadnought to meet the challenge and maintain Italy’s communications with Albania, the San Sebastiano.
The squadron sighted smoke closing on them and moved to intercept, HMS Dashwood scouting ahead, the cruisers in line astern with HMS Tay leading HMS Intrepid and HMS Hobart, and HMS Revenge closing at best speed. HMS Tay spotted the Italian battleship and HMS Revenge fired first. San Sebastiano immediately replied, and turned east to open her broadside. HMS Revenge mirrored her turn with the cruisers and destroyer continuing to close.
San Sebastiano got the first hit on HMS Revenge, a devastating blow to her superstructure taking out her main tower and killing or wounding twenty-four of her bridge crew. HMS Revenge’s effectiveness in battle was immediately reduced. She would need to close more to get hits. Now a torpedo strike by HMS Dashwood was critical, as only HMS Tay had torpedoes amoungst the cruisers. The Italians perceived the threat as well, as they targeted HMS Dashwood next, and getting a solid hit through the main belt they took out A turret and the destroyer’s 6” magazine as well as disabling #1 engine. HMS Dashwood lost a score of men, had four forward compartments completely flooded and flooding in a fifth, and was ordered to retreat under smoke. Now hope lay with HMS Tay.
HMS Tay and her division made smoke and continued to close with HMS Tay getting hits on San Sebastiano. HMS Revenge also got a solid hit, going through the fore belt and wounding twenty-five. HMS Tay took a 15” hit and sixteen casualties but continued to close. San Sebastiano then hit the HMS Hobart, damaging her rudder and wounding fifteen. HMS Hobart was ordered to retire. The Royal Navy now had three ships active in the fight.
HMS Tay came out of smoke closing on a converging course generally east with San Sebastiano. This was perfect positioning for a River class light cruiser carrying four underwater tubes on each side with 21” fast torpedoes. HMS Intrepid and HMS Revenge continued to close as well and pound away at San Sebastiano, with HMS Revenge getting three 15” hits in one salvo. San Sebastiano continued to fire on HMS Revenge as HMS Tay closed in, holding her torpedoes until the opportune moment. HMS Tay launched with just enough range to ensure the torpedoes would arm. All four torpedoes struck San Sebastiano on her main belt over the engineering spaces, disabling #1 engine and flooding the ship in every compartment. San Sebastiano had already taken over six hundred casualties and was only able to fully man their 15” guns. Her main tower was destroyed and she was being captained from her conning tower. She took another 15” shell through a casemate and broke apart, leaving ninety-five survivors floating in the wreckage.
Every Royal Navy ship had taken casualties. HMS Intrepid, which actually got the closest to San Sebastiano, had two men wounded. HMS Hobart, which was forced to retire, have five casualties. HMS Dashwood, which drew fire early in the battle and took a massive hit, suffered twenty-two officers and ratings killed or seriously wounded. HMS Revenge suffered no casualties after losing her bridge crew even though San Sebastiano had targeted her while HMS Tay closed. HMS Tay suffered ten casualties from her 999 men onboard in her dramatic charge and torpedo strike.