Thunder on the North Sea

 A Game of Broadsides: Empires of Steel

Since the start of hostilities in 1914, the Kaiserliche Marine had proved superior to the Royal Navy in its gunnery skills. In an urgent effort to counter this threat, the boffins at the Admiralty's Office of Naval Ordnance had developed new range finding and targeting systems. It was time time to put these new inventions to the test.

Somewhere in the cold waters of the North Sea...

The  three crew of the patrol airship SSZ-28 huddled further down into the car slung below the inflated envelop above them. It was a bitterly cold morning and they were a long way from there base at Folkestone. As the sun grew higher, there, 30 points to starboard they saw the  black smoke plumes of warships. The small airship drew closer, and there, steaming in line ahead, was the low and menacing grey silhouettes of German battlecruisers. "Enemy sighted'! was quickly radioed in, as the airship lifted higher to stay well out of range of the German warships below.

The German battle line of SMS Seydlitz, Blucher, Von Der Tann and Moltke.

Following the main battle line were the German cruisers. They ended up being deployed too far out and unable to get into any firing range, thus had almost not effect on the coming encounter. 

Not far to  the south east, HMS Thunderer, one of the first super-dreadnaughts of the Orion class  steamed along side its smaller companion HMS Superb  of the Bellerophon class of dreadnaughts. They were closely  screed by the light cruisers HMS Weymouth, Falmouth and Yarmouth. Ahead of these was a destroyer squadron of three Acasta class destroyers, lead by the destroyer leader, HMS Lightfoot. They were there to test out the new targeting systems and hunt any of the Kaiser's ships they could find.

It was still early morning when HMS Thunderer received the message Enemy sighted! Action Stations sounded throughout the little fleet as the massive dreadnaughts swung about on a  new intercept heading. The hunt was on!

The Royal Navy clears for action.

Soon the spotters on HMS Thunderer see the approaching German battlecruisers, lead by SMS Seydlitz. HMS Weymouth lays out a smoak screen to cover the two dreadnaughts to her starboard side as the other screening light cruiser clears the fire lane. The new targeting system was designed to allow both dreadnaughts to co-ordinate their fire on the one enemy vessel. It was time to see if the boffins had got it right.

Then at long range, the guns of HMS Superb are the first to open up. Eight 12 inch guns fire in unison, finding the range Seydlitz is hit! Moments later, Thunderer's massive ten gun broadside spoke. Again Seydlitz was the target, but the guns were yet to find their range. 

The heavies of the Royal Navy

The German now slewed about taking evasive action in an attempt to avoid the incoming fire. Their guns also answered back, but the range was too long for their smaller guns to mark any hits.

The guns of Superb spoke again and again Seydlitz reeled under successive hits, fire erupted below  decks and two of the main turrets were now out of action, but she sailed on gun firing back in impotent defiance. Thunderer had now found her range and shell after shell smashed into Seydlitz, No ship could stand this level of punishment as she was  reduced to a burning and sinking wreak. 

The Royal Navy hammers the German Battlecruisers.

SMS Blucher was the next German ship in the battleline, and she was the next victim of the twin fury of Thunderer and Suburb. Two broadsides smashing the old armoured cruiser in an instant as she too headed for the deep.

SMS Blucher under fire.

Still the German guns tried in vain to hit the closer British light cruisers, great plumes of water erupted around the RN ships, but they sped on untouched. 

Now it was SMS Von Der Tann's turn to meet the fury of Thunderer and Superb. Von Der Tann and Molke tuned hard to starboard in an attempt to close the range with the British dreadnaughts. Von Der Tann staggering as the big guns of the royal Navy did their dreadful work.

The British destroyer flotilla had been sprinting ahead of the dreadnaughts. The German turn now brought the two German battlecruisers close enough to begin their torpedo runs. The destroyers, engines at full speed ahead, surged forward, oblivious to the desperate defensive fire  from SMS Von Der Tann and Molke. 

The British destroyers entre the fray.

HMS Spitfire was the first to get her fish away, two striking SMS Molke amidships. HMS Shark also loosed her torpedos at Molke, hitting her astern, breaking the German ship apart. 

Attack of the destroyers. 

SMS Von Der Tann would go down fighting to the last.  Her secondary batteries ranged in of HMS Lynx and pounded the plucky destroyer to a burning wreck. In her dying moments, Lynx came hard about and loosed her fish at the giant battlecruiser. The leader of the destroyer flotilla, HMS Lightfoot, drove headlong towards the burning Von Der Tann, her deadly torpedoes finally avenging the death of Lynx. 

The German cruiser squadron had born witness to the systematic destruction of their battlecruisers. They turn away from the enemy ships, laid smoak and fled east. 

The patrol airship SSZ-28 circled the cold waters of the North Sea. They had borne witness to the fire and fury of the battle far below. Burning wreckage of the once proud battle cruisers was all that marked the once proud battlecruisers of the Kaiserliche Marine. Eventually, SSZ-28 turned to the south, it was time to head home.

 

A huge thanks to Chris from Ocker Games, erstwhile German admiral and supplier of his great new gaming matt. Hit him up if you want a very nice indeed North Sea one.