WCNAW Submitted Scenario Thread - WW2

[asnrobert]

Side 1 is the Kriegsmarine, Side 2 the Allied forces in the following scenarios.

Hel Roadstead 3 September 1939: German destroyers Wolfgang Zenker and Leberecht Maas enter Hel roadstead, to bombard the Polish naval base there. They receive fire from two Polish ship, destroyer Wicher ('Whirlwind') and minelayer Gryf ('Griffin') as well as 6" batteries on land, and are forced to withdraw. Sadly, both Polish ships are sunk by air attack later that day. Wicher was built in France and based on their Bourrasque class, so I used one of those to represent her. The Gryf was a minelayer/training ship/state yacht armed with six 4.7" guns (two twin and two single mounts) and a top speed of 20 knots (she had diesel engines), so I used a J/K class DD to represent her (however, the Polish ship didn't carry torps).
Action off Ushant 9 June 1944: The German destroyers Z32, Z24, ZH1 and T24 are sent from Brest to attack the Normandy landing forces. Near Ushant they are intercepted by a force of 8 British, Canadian and Polish destroyers. HMS Tartar is damaged, but ZH1 blows up and sinks and Z32 is badly damaged and run aground, and is later finished off by Allied aircraft. The Polish destroyer Blyskawica (which first appeared in the Operation Peking scenario) is again represented by a Tribal class DD. The ZH1 was an ex-Dutch destroyer Gerard Callenburgh that was seized by the Germans and completed by them. She was armed similar to the Z1-17 class (though her 5" guns were in two twin and one single mount), albeit slightly smaller. The German Flottentorpedoboot 1939 class are not yet in WCNAW, so I substituted the Italian Sauro/Turbine class, which is fairly similar in size and armament (and which is used for the same purpose in the following scenario). HISTORICAL NOTE: Two of the ships which took part in this battle (HMCS Haida and ORP Blyskawica) have been preserved as museums by their respective nations (Haida in Hamilton, Ontario and Blyskawica in Gdansk).
Death in the Biscay 28 December 1943: German destroyers and torpedo boats are sent to escort the blockade runner Alsterufer (which unbenownst to the Germans has already been sunk by Allied aircraft). In heavy seas they encounter the British cruisers Glasgow and Enterprise which despite being outnumbered manage to sink the destroyer Z27 and torpedo boats T25 and T26 with minimal damage to themselves. The title of the scenario comes from the Fighting Steel scenario of this battle created by Michael Emmerich.

[asnrobert]

I was recently skimming through my copy of M.J. Whitley's Destroyer! while researching information on the destroyer battles I've recently posted, and noticed there were a number of interesting skirmishes involving torpedo boats that I thought would make for good WCNAW scenarios. As in the scenarios attached in the previous post, the Italian Sauro/Turbine class reprises its role as the Flottentorpedoboot 1939 class TBs in these battles. Side one is the KM except otherwise noted.
Plateau des Triagoz 4 October 1943: German torpedo boats on patrol encounter the British destroyers Grenville and Ulster and 4 Hunt class escorts. During the following running gunfight, torpedoes are fired by both sides without effect, but the two British destroyers receive several hits with no damage to the German ships. The Hunt III class DEs (1000 tons, 2 twin 4" mounts, 3 TT) are not in the game, and there really isn't anything that comes close (I suppose I could use the Wickes-40 class but didn't want to use USN ships), and they didn't take much part since their slow speed (29 kts) meant they were left behind, but I decided to throw in an 'O' class DD to stand in for the three ships (but with speed reduced).
Death of Charybdis 23 October 1943: German TBs sent to escort the German blockade runner Münsterland encounter a British force sent to intercept it. The German ships torpedo and sink the cruiser HMS Charybdis and the Hunt class escort Limbourne with no loss to themselves. Two 'O' class DDs (with speed reduced to 29 knots) represent the four Hunt III class DEs.
Île de Vierge 27 April 1943: Two torpedo boats catch the Canadian destroyers Haida and Athabaskan by surprise. Athabaskan takes a torpedo and blows up, but her sister gets revenge by turning T27 into a blazing wreck (and which subsequently runs aground). There are two versions of this scenario- side 1 is the player side (nationality of side 1 indicated in parentheses in the file name).

[asnrobert]

Calabria 13 July 1940: Also known as the battle of Punto Stilo. An Italian force screening a convoy encounters a British force screening a convoy. Fire is exchanged with minor damage to both sides. Both sides claimed victory, but in reality was a draw. During the battle the Warspite scored a hit on the Giulio Cesare at a range of 26,000 yards, a record for hitting a moving target. Side 1: RM Side 2: RN
Cape Spada 19 July 1940: British destroyers lure two Italian CLs into a trap comprised of the Australian light cruiser Sydney (represented by a Leander class CL) and additional destoryers. The Aussie ships sinks the Bartolomeo Colleoni. Side 1: RN Side 2: RM
Cape Passero 12 October 1940: The cruiser Ajax is providing distant screen for a convoy at night when she is attacked by a force of Spica class torpedo boats and Soldati class destroyers. Due to the poorly coordinated attacks of the Italian force, the British ship is able to sink two of the TBs and badly damage the destroyer Artigliere, which is finished off the next day by the cruiser York. Since the Spica class TBs aren't yet present, the scenario focuses on the battle with the destroyers. Side 1: RN Side 2: RM
Cape Bon 13 December 1941: Two Italian light cruisers are loaded with supplies for the troops in North Africa when they are ambushed by four destroyers (three British, one Dutch) and sunk with heavy loss of life. As the Italians are surprised, there are two versions of this scenario, with the navy in parentheses in the filename as side 1 (the player side).

I plan to upload more Mediterranean scenarios in the next couple days.

[asnrobert]

For the following scenarios, the RM (Regia Marina- Italian Navy) is Side 1 and the Royal Navy is Side 2, except as noted below.

Spartivento 27 November 1940: The battle of Cape Spartivento (aka Cape Teulada) occurred when the Italian fleet attempted to intercept a Malta bound convoy. The sides were evenly matched, but the Italian commander, Admiral Iachino, withdrew when he received orders to disengage. One Italian destroyer was disabled and had to be towed home, and the heavy cruiser Berwick had X turret knocked out. The battle lasted less than an hour.
Sirte I 17 December 1941: The First Battle of Sirte. A British force screening a convoy encounters a much larger Italian force also screening a convoy. The British disengage, and the Italians choose not to pursue, as the sun was setting and Admiral Iachino did not wish to get involved in a night action due to British radar superiority. The Royal Navy loses the light cruiser Neptune and destroyer Kandahar to mines.
Sirte 2 22 March 1942: The Second Battle of Sirte. The Italians engage a screening force for another Malta bound convoy during a storm. Several British ships are damaged, and the screening force has to return to Alexandria after losing contact with the convoy. The convoy reaches Malta but is savaged by Axis air attacks, so most of their cargo is lost. The Italians lose two destroyers to the weather.
Duisberg Convoy 9 November 1941: A British force of two light cruisers and two destroyers take advantage of radar and moonlight to get the drop on a convoy consisting of 7 German and Italian freighters and tankers escorted by 6 destroyers, with a distant screen of 2 heavy cruisers and 4 destroyers. Despite being heavily outnumbered, poor coordination among the Italian forces along with superior tactics and shooting of the British ships enable them to annihilate the convoy along with an escorting destroyer with minimal damage to themselves. The Italians lose an additional destroyer the next day when it is torpedoed by a British submarine while attempting to pick up survivors. The Italians are surprised in this scenario, so there are two versions- as usual, player is side 1 in each (nationality indicated in parentheses in the filename. For those who are interested, forum member Vince O'Hara has an essay on this battle at the link below:
http://www.regiamarina.net/detail_text.asp?nid=67&lid=1

[asnrobert]

The Italians are Side 1 and the British side 2 except as noted below...

Cape Matapan 27-29 March 1942: The British learn from Ultra that the Italian fleet is in the Eastern Med and sorties to intercept it. The surface forces skirmish briefly, and later British carrier planes damage the battleship Vittorio Veneto and cripple the cruiser Pola. Pola's sisters (Zara and Fiume) and four destroyers are left behind to aid her. During the night they are ambushed by British battleships; all three cruisers and two of the four destroyers are sunk. The battle is covered by two scenarios: the first one covers the daytime engagement and the second one the nighttime battle. In the second one, the Italians are surprised (NOTE: WC-NAW 1.05, due out soon, fixed the surprise issue doing away with the need to have two separate scenarios; the Italian side will always be surprised regardless of which side the player chooses). Play the Italians if you want to see if you can do better, or play the British if you're just in the mood to kick some butt.
Operation Halberd 26 September 1941: The Regia Marina sorties to intercept a convoy that left Gibraltar for Malta, but breaks off when the Italians learn the British have battleships as escort. The PoW and Rodney attempt to engage the Italian ships but are unsuccessful.
Pantelleria June 1942: The British run Operation Harpoon, a convoy from Gibraltar to Malta, which is engaged by surface units of the Regia Marina, as well as air and submarine attacks. Only two of the merchantmen in the convoy reach their destination. During this same period, The British also ran Operation Vigorous, another convoy that left Alexandria for Malta, and which was forced to turn back after being mauled by air and submarine attacks. These two convoys were the high-water mark for the Regia Marina. After this time, fuel shortages hampered the Italian Navy's ability to operate. NOTE: A Coventry class CL is used to represent the minelayer Welshman which was about the same size and carried the same type of 4" HA gun (although it only carried six, not 10 guns, but I figure the extra firepower could be said to represent some of the Hunt class DEs present). It was also much faster (38 knots) so the speed has been edited to reflect this. On the Italian side, the destroyer Premuda was the ex-Yugoslav Dubrovnik, which had four 5.5" guns and six TT. I chose the French destroyer L'Adroit to represent her. The Premuda was 37 knots (compared to 33 for the French ship) so her speed in the scenario has been edited as well.
Nightmare Nostrum 8 August 1943: I first saw this scenario in Ubisoft's Destroyer Command game. According to the description in that game, two Italian cruisers and some destroyers were sent to interfere with the Allied landings off Palermo, but turned back when they saw "three cruisers." A while back I recreated the scenario for WCDB. I've recently done some research, and from what I've gathered, the Italian cruisers that were in the scenario did in fact leave Genoa for this purpose, but aborted the mission when a British sub sank one of the destroyers. From what I could find, the US ships in the scenario were operating off Palermo at the time. In any case it is a fairly balanced scenario. The OOB in this scenario is identical to the one in Destroyer Command. Side 1 is the USN, side 2 the Italians.

[asnrobert]

Komandorski Island 27 March 1943: US Intelligence learned of a Japanese supply convoy headed for Attu. Admiral McMorris sortied with the heavy cruiser Salt Lake City, light cruiser Richmond and four destroyers. He was expecting easy pickings, but to his surprise the convoy was escorted by 2 heavy cruisers and 2 light cruisers and four destroyers under Admiral Hosogoya. Thus began a long range gunnery duel, primarily between the heavy cruisers. The Salt Lake City was hit a few times, and at one point wwas disabled, but Hososgoya failed to take advantage of the situation and withdrew. Side 1 is the USN, Side 2 the IJN. When playing the USN, I recommend setting the AI aggressiveness to low to reflect Hosogoya's timidity. Forum member Vince O'Hara has an essay on this battle at http://microworks.net/pacific/battle...ki_islands.htm
Ormoc Bay 3 December 1944: Three brand-new destroyers of the Allen M. Sumner class (Allen M. Sumner, Moale, and Cooper) enter Ormoc Bay to attack Japanese transports. They engage two Matsu class destroyer escorts (Kuwa and Take). The Kuwa is reduced to a blazing wreck, but the Take unleashes a spread of torpedoes, one of which hits the Cooper and blows her in two. This was the last successful attack using Long Lance torpedoes in the war. Side 1 is the IJN, Side 2 the USN. NOTE: The Matsu class DEs are not in WCNAW so I used the Kamikaze-41 class, as they are similar in size and armament (although they had 5" instead of 4.7" guns, and they were installed in two mounts, a single forward and a twin aft). The US ships crew quality is Fair as they were brand new ships and most of their crews had never been to sea before.
Last Battle off Penang 16 May 1945: Five British destroyers attack the heavy cruiser Haguro and destroyer Kamikaze. The Haguro is hit by several torpedoes and sinks; the Kamikaze is able to escape. This was the last surface action of WW2. Side 1 is the RN, Side 2 the IJN.

[asnrobert]

While searching through Vince O'Hara's website on the Pacific war, I came upon a page covering some of the other battles in the NEI: http://microworks.net/pacific/battle...ngagements.htm

I thought the first one would make for an interesting WCNAW scenario. Four old four-stacker destroyers (the only ones to escape the Java Sea battle) were proceeding through Bali Strait at night when they were challenged by four Japanese Hatsuharu class destroyers. The two sides exchanged fire for about an hour before the strait widened and the American forces were able to make good their escape, arriving in Australia three days later. For a more challenging battle, refrain from using torpedoes when playing the USN (Side 1) as they had expended their torpedoes during the battle of the Java Sea (according to the web page account, they had stopped in Surubaya after the Java Sea battle, but gives no indication on whether or not their torpedoes had been replenished- I would guess not).

[Kyle Holgate]

I have built 3 scenarios with the focus on hypothetical surface combat that ‘could’ have taken place during the invasion of Leyte Gulf. In all 3 the US force is force 1. I gave the Japanese Average skill, but performance at the actual morning battle where Kurita’s force attacked the Taffy carriers wasn’t particularly good. Fair or even poor may be more accurate but I give them the benefit of the doubt.
Fast BB’s at Samar: This one pits Admiral Lee in task force 34.5 against Kuritas forces that survived the bombings the previous day.
Lee Vs Kurita: The Musashi survived the previous day, but Lee has the entire task force 34 with 6 modern battleships. I gave the Japanese Musashi just to balance the scenario out, historically she was sunk the day before by aircraft.
Oldendorf vs Kurita: The forces that historically were blocking Surigao strait – old BBs, many Pearl Harbor attack survivors are tasked with blocking San Burnadino strait instead. No Musashi for Kurita in this one!

[asnrobert]

French Connection October 1939: The Dunkerque class battlecruisers were built in response to the German '"pocket battleships." At the outbreak of war in 1939, they were used to help search for the Graf Spee and in this hypothetical scenario, one of them meets up with her. Side 1 MNF, Side 2 KM.
Mers-el-Kebir 3 July 1940: British warships under Admiral Somerville open fire on the French fleet after they refuse the ultimatum to sail their ships to England. The old battleship Bretagne blew up with heavy loss of life, and several other ships were damaged. Side 1: RN. Side 2: MNF.
Casablanca 8 November 1942: During the Operation Torch landings in North Africa, the French sortied the light cruiser Primaguet and seven destroyers to attack the landing fleet. They are intercepted by the heavy cruiser Augusta, light cruiser Brooklyn and two destroyers. By the end of the day, all the French ships were sunk or disabled (with help from the Ranger's air wing). Side 1: USN Side 2 MNF. NOTE: When I first created this scenario for WC-WW2 (and later for WCDB), I included the battleships Massachusetts and Jean Bart. In adapting the scenario for WCNAW, I left them out since the Massachusetts historically played only a minor part in this battle (although she did sink one of the destroyers toward the end) and the Jean Bart was little more than a floating gun platform.
Casablanca Nightmare 8 November 1942: According to Samuel Eliot Morison's volume on the North African campaign, there were fears that the Vichy French battleship Richelieu and other warships might sortie from Dakar to attack the landing forces. In this hypothetical scenario, their fears are realized. Side 1: USN Side 2: MNF.
Mare Romanum 1941: Hypothetical scenario between the French and Italian navies originally created for WCDB by another forum member. Side 1: MNF Side 2: RM.

[asnrobert]

In all of the following scenarios, Side 1 is the USN/RN, and Side 2 the KM.

Short of War 1, 2, 3 1941: In the summer of 1941, President Roosevelt authorized "short of war" measures which involved American warships patrolling the Atlantic and escorting British convoys. Three New Mexico class battleships and the carrier Yorktown were transferred from the Pacific to the Atlantic to assist in protecting British convoys. Germany was angry over a supposedly neutral nation assisting a belligerent, but at the same time did not wish to draw America into the war, so U-boat commanders were ordered to refrain from attacking American ships. Nevertheless, several incidents occurred: The destroyer Greer played cat-and-mouse with a U-boat for several hours, exchanging depth charges and torpedoes; Kearney was damaged and Reuben James sunk by U-boat attacks. The battleship Texas was spotted by U-203 but was unable to get into position for a torpedo attack. In these hypothetical scenarios, German surface raiders tangle with American warships. Scenario 1 involves the Texas and USN, RN destroyers versus a pair of pocket battleships; scenario 2 is a night action pitting the Arkansas and destroyers versus the Lutzow and Prinz Eugen; scenario 3 has New Mexico and destroyers up against the Tirpitz.
The next two scenarios are in a similar vein:
Old Sheepdogs: Originally created for WCWW2 by fellow NWS beta tester Kurt Schofield. A young wolf (Bismarck) is confronted by three old sheepdogs (New York, Texas, and Arkansas).
North Carolina intervenes: FDR decides to send the brand new battleship North Carolina to intercept the Bismarck during Rheinubung.