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Article
The October Rout
by
Ty Siouxpancic
SCRAP's October 4, 2008 battle was a rout by any measure. The winner - faulty ship systems.
The morning dawned cool and clear. It was a bit windy but the rangers had recently mowed and cleared the shoreline so we had perfect access to the slightly lower shoreline.
However, even before we launched, ship issues started to surface. Both of Brian's CO2 bottles were leaking at the valve. As the day wore on they got worse which prevented his participation in the third sortie.
In the intervening month, Brian had installed fancy new push buttons on my radio (watch for the article), but I hadn't checked anything prior to battle and it turned out that the trim and end points needed to be adjusted. Having failed to do so, my bow cannon servo swung over and started venting CO2 until the system froze solid and blew a hose (when you see liquid CO2 in your lines, you can only wait for the inevitable and be thankful you're wearing eye protection).
I also learned that, with only three push buttons, I'd lost control of my pump switch. Thankfully it turned out that the pump switch in my water-tight box was switched on, so I did not need to crack it or hardwire anything. While I dealt with the hose repair and reprogrammed my radio, the entire German fleet and Inflexible underwent successful speed trials.
We were finally all ready to battle around 0900 and the first sortie fleets were:
Team Allies
Captain Ship Units Speed
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Brian Eliassen USS South Dakota 6 26
Brandon Smith HMS Inflexible 4 26
Ty Siouxpancic HMS Warspite 5.5 26
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Team Axis
Captain Ship Units Speed
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Todd Olson SMS Derfflinger 4.5 24
Steve Thrall SMS Konig 5 28
Tanner Thrall SMS Von der Tann 4 26
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When battle was called, the British ships planned to focus on Derfflinger while the mighty SoDak planned to target the crafty Konig, leaving the impenetrable VdT to wreak havoc. Shortly after the call of battle however, Derfflinger was rammed by one of the other German ships without her captain's notice. As Warspite sailed over to add some BB holes, I pointed the gaping hole out to Todd. He asked, "When did that happen?" I explained that I'd seen it happen a few moments earlier and was wondering if he was going to call "ram." Then Derfflinger sank.
Unfortunately, ship problems plagued everyone as this was the point when Inflexible went dead in the water and Brandon called "five out of control". The VdT maneuvered in to pummel the hapless Inflexible when the SoDak arrived to provide some incentive for the VdT to leave. The Von der Tann made a valiant effort to escape and then went dead in the water as well so Tanner was forced to call "five out of control" as she slowly drifted over to shore thanks to the favorable wind. SoDak was able to exploit this situation briefly with some triple stern fire into the VdTs bow, but only until VdT's five minutes were up. Brian complained later that it was quite difficult to line up on the VdT with the strong breeze and shallows that appeared to be eating ships. The SoDak has a five inch draft.
Meanwhile, without the Derfflinger to push around and the VdT being pulled out of the water, the remaining Allies turned their attention to Konig. Earlier, as Konig and Warspite were battling stern to stern, a strange grinding sound was heard. We later discovered that Konig lost one of her wooden drag props. We speculate that the grinding sound was made as Konig's drive prop devoured her own drag prop. Shortly thereafter, after fleeing from the remaining allied ships, she rolled over gently and settled to the bottom. Thus ended the 1st sortie.
The second sortie was delayed for ship repairs and patching for the ships that sank. Motor wiring in Konig had become unsoldered (perhaps the motor overheated as it devoured its drag prop?) and VdT's guns were taken apart to diagnose intermittent firing. As Konig was unable to effect repairs, it was agreed that HMS Inflexible would be rechristened "SMS Unbiegsam" and join the Axis cause. By this time (approx. 1040) the winds had picked up a little, so we launched our second sortie on slightly rougher seas.
The second sortie fleets were:
Team Allies
Captain Ship Units Speed
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Brian Eliassen USS South Dakota 6 26
Ty Siouxpancic HMS Warspite 5.5 26
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Team Axis
Captain Ship Units Speed
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Todd Olson SMS Derfflinger 4.5 24
Brandon Smith SMS Unbiegsam 4 26
Tanner Thrall SMS Von der Tann 4 26
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At the start of battle, Derfflinger and Warspite dueled with their sterns, each trying to gain the advantage, while SoDak tangled with Unbiegsam and the VdT. VdT sank due to all the holes in her bow from the previous sortie within a minute of the battle starting. This left the SoDak to battle the SMS Unbiegsam
A few minutes into battle, Brandon called "five out of control" and had to wait out the rest of the sortie on the horizon. It was later discovered that one of her rudders was jammed sideways, probably the result of backing too far into shore. (I need to strengthen the rudder system AFTER I reinstall internal armor)
The Derfflinger ran out of CO2 so Todd called five and headed to the horizon. After five minutes of being chased by slower ships, he pulled his ship off the water.
Without any German targets left on the water, SoDak decided to empty her guns in the general direction of Warspite. Warspite, uncertain as to SoDak's motivation, returned directed fire. In the end the Axis cause would benefit from this "misunderstanding", but not enough.
After the first two sorties, SoDak was out of commission due to CO2 bottle problems, Inflexible was out with rudder problems, Konig was out with wiring problems and VdT was sunk and had cannon issues. Thusly, the final sortie came down to:
HMS Warspite vs. SMS Derfflinger
As Derfflinger had a malfunctioning cannon, the crew of Warspite agreed to disable one stern cannon before launch. Once battling commenced however, it became apparent that both ships had additional gunnery problems. Warspite's bow and stern side-mounts only fired intermittently which left her with just the one reliably working stern cannon. The crew of Derfflinger exclaimed that none of her guns were reliable and she quickly called five. The battle degenerated into the more maneuverable Warspite trying to chase the faster Derfflinger. The sortie ended once Warspite had dumped all of her cannons in the general direction of a sporting and fairly cooperative Derfflinger ("Hey Todd, slow down for a second." "Hey Todd, what happens if you stop right there?")
In the end, the final scores were:
Team Allied
Captain Ship A O B Pen Sink Points
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Brian Eliassen USS South Dakota 15 6 8 0 0 1084
Brandon Smith HMS Inflexible 17 1 4 0 0 433
Ty Siouxpancic HMS Warspite 18 1 5 0 0 1463
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Total 2980
Team Axis
Captain Ship A O B Pen Sink Points
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Todd Olson SMS Derfflinger 36 7 18 0 800 -236
Brandon Smith SMS Unbiegsam 17 1 4 0 0 188
Steve Thrall SMS Konig 1 0 3 0 1000 -577
Tanner Thrall SMS Von der Tann 24 4 13 100 800 -524
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Total -1150
Note: As Inflexible played French, her damage was divided equally between the two sides of the conflict.
The final lesson is: Reliability is the name of the game. That Saturday we faced CO2 problems, cannon problems, wiring problems, power problems, and radio problems. Basically, every possible system failed in one boat or another.
On the bright side, we had a great time and the weather was cool. Konig and VdT sank, and thus baptized, they can move past that symbolic threshold towards becoming formidable battle wagons.
Furthermore, the Axis can be proud because one or more amongst them has very hard hitting cannons; at the build session I discovered that two of Warspite's fiberglass stringers had been shattered.
After lunch at Ichima, we went back to the garage and worked until 2300. Warspite's hull is now a composite with the addition of brass and bamboo reinforcements.
Admiral Graham's Birthday Battle in November should be great. Brandon Smith says he's going to bring IJN Fuso, so if Admiral Graham captains Inflexible, we'll have 7 ships on the water!!! Once David's Helgoland and David's Hindenburg are launched, the Allies are going to find themselves in deep water.
Time to get busy Allies! Admiral Graham? Mark? Craig?
Copyright © 2008 Ty Siouxpancic
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