The following is a short summary of one of our recent Naval Thunder engagements. Involving three players this small scenario provided a great couple of hours of gaming.
Early on the 13th December 1939, some 390 nautical miles from Montevideo, smoke was sighted to the north-west. Commodore Henry Harwood, commander of Force G, ordered Captain Bell of HMS Exeter to move out of line to investigate. Lieutenant-Commander Richard Jennings, Exeter's gunnery officer remembers events soon after. "As I was crossing the compass platform [to his Action Station in the Director Control Tower], the captain hailed me, not with the usual rigmarole of "Enemy in sight, bearing, etc", but with "There's the fucking Scheer! Open fire at her!" [1]
Of course it wasn't the pocket battleship Admiral Scheer, but instead her sistership Admiral Graf Spee.
As the Exeter came to grips with the situation Graf Spee turned to the south and soon after opened fire at a range of 19,000 yards with her forward 11" guns. A couple of minutes later HMS Exeter returned fire, also using her forward main gun turrets. However, unlike the historical engagement initial German gunnery was somewhat inaccurate. In contrast that from Exeter was more accurate and within five minutes Exeter had managed to achieve a hit on the Graf Spee, knocking out one of her starboard secondary gun mounts.
Below, the Graf Spee under fire from HMS Exeter. The Naval Thunder rules require the fire from larger guns to be marked by splash markers, with fire from multiple ships creating additional challenges with ranging.
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On the bridge of the Admiral Graf Spee Captain Hans Langsdorff was struck with a difficult decision. He could concentrate on the HMS Exeter or move to at least partially engage the lighter armed light cruisers HMS Achilles and HMS Ajax. Langsdorff determined to concentrate on the Exeter. As such he ordered the Graf Spee to turn further to starboard to a course almost at 90 degrees to her original bearing. Now he could engage HMS Exeter with his full broadside.
With the range now rapidly closing the Graf Spee's main armament belched fire which was now supplemented by her port secondary armament. Finally the German pocket battleship had the range and a number of shells hit HMS Exeter causing a fire and knocking out a secondary 4" turret. The return fire from Exeter in contrast was ineffective. Below, HMS Exeter comes under heavy and accurate fire.
Meanwhile from the north-east HMS Achilles and HMS Ajax were rapidly closing the range. Now the first 6" shells from HMS Achilles, firing at extreme range, began to fall. Below, HMS Achilles is followed by HMS Ajax.
Onboard HMS Exeter, Captain Frederick Bell was alarmed at the significant damage caused by the Graf Spee's fire. His ship could simply not afford to take such damage for long. Despite this threat he was determined to continue to close the range. Therefore, as HMS Exeter moved forward she completed a number of evasive manoeuvres which would frustrate the fire of the German gunners. While Exeter manoeuvred HMS Achilles continued to close the range, though her fire would continue to be ineffective.
As the range between the the Graf Spee and Exeter reduced Exeter's manoeuvres continued to frustrate the Graf Spee's fire. In contrast Exeter's main guns scored several hits including one that knocked out the Graf Spee's forward main turret. A cheer went up on the bridge of the Exeter when it became apparent that the forward guns were off-line. Simultaneously the Exeter's secondary guns began to score hits, though these only causing superficial damage against the well armoured ship. Below, the Graf Spee now under intense fire.
With the threat posed by HMS Achilles and HMS Ajax increasing, and the fact Exeter was continuing to conduct evasive manoeuvres, Langsdorff ordered Graf Spee to changed her course. Now moving to port she could engage HMS Achilles with her remaining main gun turret. Soon German 11" gun fire bracketed Achilles before scoring several hits one of which started a fire. Fortunately for Achilles this was soon under control.
HMS Achilles was now well positioned to be able to bring her full broadside into play. In the resulting exchange one 6" shell caused a fire on the Graf Spee. This quickly spread to a secondary ready ammunition magazine resulting in an explosion in 5.9" gun turret. With HMS Ajax also in range a further barrage straddled the pocket battleship.
Above, a general view with the Admiral Graf Spee in the distance. On the left is HMS Exeter and in the foreground HMS Achilles and HMS Ajax. The white marker with denotes a fire. Below, the Graf Spee at the same time, also subjected to a fire.
As mentioned HMS Ajax was now lending her weight to the battle. However, unlike Achilles HMS Ajax's fire was limited to her forward turrets, though she would seen be able to deliver a full broadside. Yet despite this limitation fortune favoured her. A lucky hit resulted in the destruction of Graf Spee's rear main gun turret!
With her second and final main gun turret out of action the pocket battleship's only remaining defence was her remaining secondary (and tertiary) gun turrets, and some of these were already disabled. With little options remaining the once proud pocket battleship of the Kriegsmarine attempted to break-off. Under cover of a smoke screen she set a course to the neutral port of Montevideo. Alas, she wouldn't make it and soon after succumbed to the relentless fire of her pursues.
It was without doubt a stirring game with the action running for around 90 minutes, though it would be shorter if we were more familiar with the rules. Soon after we reset the scenario and refought the action again. This time both the Exeter and Graf Spee were lost, while Achilles was badly damaged. As to the models used they are all from my collection and are from Navwar's 1/3000th range. The table measured 1.8m x 1.2m.
References:
1. Arthur, Max (2004). Forgotten Voices of the Second World War. London: Random House. ISBN 978-0-09-189734-5.
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