By Dave V
A little write up on last nights game, the Battle of Coronel, 1st Novembner 1914.
This took place near to the coast of Chile, the nearest city and port of the same name.The German East Asia squadron, under the command of Vice Admiral Graf von Spee, were intercepted by a British squadron, under the command of Rear Admiarl Christopher Cradock.
The Germans had the two sister armoured cruiser ships, the Scharnhorst (Spee's flagship) and the Gneisenau, and 3 light cruisers, the Dresden, Leipzig and Nurnberg, each of different but similar classes. The British had the armoured cruisers HMS Good Hope, (Cradocks flag) the HMS Monmouth, and the light cruiser HMS Glasgow. The remaining vessel was the armoured merchant cruiser, the HMS Otranto.
Image Sourced from <here>
Phil and Rupert drove the Germans, Mat and Ollie the Brits. Mark and Steve were spectators as the game got off quite quickly.
Phil started off, as is his want, on the edge of the Ocean, and the Brits making best speed to intercept them. As the fleets closed, the German big ships commenced firing, as they had the longest range with their 8" guns, in both double and single turrets. The Brits turned to starboard, the Glasgow going out to lay smoke to cover the rest of the fleet. The poor old Otranto, with no armour and slow speed, brought up the rear but was determined to get in on the action.
By now the fleets were in range of another, and Glasgow received many hits which eventually sunk it. The Good Hope, with two single 9" guns, (one fore and one aft) started to cause Critical Hits on the German big ships. As they got closer, torpedoes were fired by both side, but had no real affect as the target managed to evade.
Both fleets were now getting really close, in fact a German light cruiser fired torpedoes at point blank range at one of the British ships, but missed!
By now the gallant Otranto was in range to open up with some of its pop guns, .
By about 10pm, it was all over the Scharnhorst had been sunk, the Gneisenau was dead in the water, but the 3 light cruisers had reduced speed and guns due to damage. The HMS Glasgow was the only Britsh casualty, being sunk quite early on. So it was deemed a victory for the British, although the Good Hope and Monmouth were also damaged.
In reality, the Good Hope and the Monmouth were sunk with all hands, the Glasgow and Otranto got away. The German ships were hardly damaged, the only casualties were 3 men slightly injured, but worryingly for Spee he had used up a load of ammo during this encounter, which was to cause him problems when the British reappeared with more ships, seeking revenge against Spee.
Historic Movements during Battle, Wikipedia Article <here>
This will be next week, Battle of The Falklands, December 1914, but to make a game of it, all the German ships as above will be present. The Glasgow was the only British ship that was present at both fights.
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