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Author Topic: Enioch's naval shenanigans - RTW as Germany - [Image Heavy!]  (Read 136149 times)

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Offline Enioch

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Re: Enioch's naval shenanigans - RTW as Germany - [Image Heavy!]
Why is The_E responsible for this dummkopf getting the reigns?

Because he used one of his hard-earned omake-writing privileges.  ;)  :p

And because his suggestion fit like a glove.
'Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent'  -Salvor Hardin, "Foundation"

So don't take a hammer to your computer. ;-)

 

Offline crizza

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Re: Enioch's naval shenanigans - RTW as Germany - [Image Heavy!]
The real question is: Papen beeing the fool he is, would he sanction a black Ops strike at the Frauenlob, to start the war with France? ;7
« Last Edit: October 11, 2017, 10:28:40 am by crizza »

 

Offline Enioch

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Re: Enioch's naval shenanigans - RTW as Germany - [Image Heavy!]
The real question is: Papen beeing the fool he is, would he sanction a back Ops strike at the Frauenlob, to start the war with France? ;7

A very good question, that.

I'm glad you asked it.

What do you think? :)
'Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent'  -Salvor Hardin, "Foundation"

So don't take a hammer to your computer. ;-)

 

Offline The E

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Re: Enioch's naval shenanigans - RTW as Germany - [Image Heavy!]
It's exactly the kind of bull**** von Papen would come up with.

However, that opens just further questions. Such as, who would want to drive such a wedge between France and Germany?
If I'm just aching this can't go on
I came from chasing dreams to feel alone
There must be changes, miss to feel strong
I really need lifе to touch me
--Evergrey, Where August Mourns

 

Offline Spoon

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Re: Enioch's naval shenanigans - RTW as Germany - [Image Heavy!]
Belgium

You can't trust those waffleeaters I tell ya!
Urutorahappī!!

[02:42] <@Axem> spoon somethings wrong
[02:42] <@Axem> critically wrong
[02:42] <@Axem> im happy with these missions now
[02:44] <@Axem> well
[02:44] <@Axem> with 2 of them

 

Offline Enioch

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Re: Enioch's naval shenanigans - RTW as Germany - [Image Heavy!]
Oy. I live in Belgium.

 :nervous:

...Actually, yeah, that sounds par for the course.

(Srsly though, Belgium is probably the country that least wants a franco-german war...)

« Last Edit: October 11, 2017, 04:59:37 pm by Enioch »
'Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent'  -Salvor Hardin, "Foundation"

So don't take a hammer to your computer. ;-)

 

Offline StarSlayer

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Re: Enioch's naval shenanigans - RTW as Germany - [Image Heavy!]
Pseudo French Bastards!

“Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world”

 
Re: Enioch's naval shenanigans - RTW as Germany - [Image Heavy!]
It's exactly the kind of bull**** von Papen would come up with.

However, that opens just further questions. Such as, who would want to drive such a wedge between France and Germany?

Meanwhile, in Britain...

 
Re: Enioch's naval shenanigans - RTW as Germany - [Image Heavy!]
Oy. I live in Belgium.

Still the best country.

 

Offline Enioch

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Re: Enioch's naval shenanigans - RTW as Germany - [Image Heavy!]

It's exactly the kind of bull**** von Papen would come up with.

However, that opens just further questions. Such as, who would want to drive such a wedge between France and Germany?

Meanwhile, in Britain...
*snip*

Aah, Humphrey. Always a pleasure; and his comments are so insightful...


Oy. I live in Belgium.

Still the best country.

 :nervous:

 :blah:

...not exactly what I said.
'Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent'  -Salvor Hardin, "Foundation"

So don't take a hammer to your computer. ;-)

 

Offline The E

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Re: Enioch's naval shenanigans - RTW as Germany - [Image Heavy!]
[Excerpt of the report of the Frauenlob incident investigation by the french Navy]

Report of Lieutenant de vaisseau Éric Levett, commanding officer of submarine Q47 Circé

On the 25th of May, we received orders to enter german territorial waters near Emden. We were tasked with intelligence gathering; a bit of housekeeping, really. We were supposed to observe german training maneuvers there, to get an accurate picture of which vessels were currently on patrol duty and which ones were being pulled back.

We arrived on station near the frisian islands the next day. Supplemental reports we received indicated that SMS Frauenlob had set sail that day, and so we were loitering near Borkum. We sighted Frauenlob in the late afternoon, and began shadowing the ship from a safe distance of at least 500 yards at all time. On May 27th, Frauenlob began the day with a bit of gunnery training; live-fire exercises, from what we could tell. This lasted until around 1130, when she proceeded to rendezvous with another imperial ship, which we tentatively identified as SMS Prinz Adalbert, one of their new heavy cruisers. The two ships then started to engage in a mock battle, presumably to test Prinz Adalbert's fire control systems.

At around 1420, we saw Frauenlob enter into rapid evasive maneuvers. My sonar operator informed me that he heard torpedoes in the water, heading towards Frauenlob at high speed. We observed a hit on Frauenlob, and I quickly decided that it would be best to abort our mission lest we get spotted by the germans, so we made best speed to open waters and then back to our home port.
If I'm just aching this can't go on
I came from chasing dreams to feel alone
There must be changes, miss to feel strong
I really need lifе to touch me
--Evergrey, Where August Mourns

 

Offline Enioch

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Names, lives and individuals are unimportant when Germany's final fate is at stake.

-From the personal notes of Franz von Papen, quoted in Piotr Fiyodorowski The French Matter, Berlin : Hauser Vlg. 1958





Hindenburg is ready to tear his mustache off at the utter incompetence of his new Chancellor. Germany's wars live and die by preparation; by having a plan, by communicating and by allowing the military to draw up a satisfactory strategy before pulling the metaphorical trigger. This has not taken place here. Certainly, war with France was a very real danger, that the military was making preparations against - but nobody expected a war this soon. The Army is not fully mobilised; the Navy is still in its harbours.



For a few days, Hindenburg lives in a nightmare, certain that what he will have to deal with is a reversal of 1870. But the French, surprisingly, seem to be as unprepared as the Germans, and they do not press their advantage. As the regiments reinforce the defensive line against the border, Hindenburg reaches out to the Navy. Out of all the German armed forces, they are at the highest readiness status. They need to buy him time; they need to push the French and regain the initiative; keep the enemy's attention focused on them, while the Army gets its act together and prepares for an offensive.



Galster responds by authorising a massive fleet patrol along the Dutch coast. Stresemann backs him by outright declaring that Germany will guarantee Dutch neutrality; and her fleet is on station to block the eastern mouth of the English Channel.

The British Fleet cowers in its harbours, as the Zähringens sail out...



...and so do the French. The Netherlands are safe, under the protection of the German Schlachtkreuzergeschwader. Now for Belgium...



The Admiralität takes advantage of securing the North Sea to sail in several large resupply convoys.



The French do not dare to leave their ports.



This is not enough for Galster. He needs to draw the attention of the French High Command; he needs to present them with a challenge that they must respond to. So, on the 2nd of June, the Zähringen and the Graf Spee, escorted by the Bremen, sail past the French garrisons in Armorique and enter the coastal waters of La Rochelle. It is a flagrant challenge; a contemptuous slap on the face of the French; and the French finally respond.



9:45am, and the Bremen, approaching the French coastline from the North-West, spots enemy smoke. At least two ships; and one of them is a capital. Behind her, Hipper, on board the Graf Spee, rouses his crew to action stations; alarms blare loud enough to wake the dead.



Bremen, captained by Fregattenkapitän Markus Vogler safely identifies the nearest ship as an Epée-class destroyer. She's laying smoke, to conceal her allies; Vogler opens fire against her with Bremen's 6-inchers, as the Schlachtkreuzer charge in.



The French destroyer is driven away, and the German capital ships push through her smoke screen, spotting a French light cruiser and...two more ships (?) in the distance. The lookouts are uncertain; gunnery, for now, focuses on the French cruiser.





But then the Bremen rejoins the fleet, the Epée safely driven off, and her veteran lookouts identify the enemy ships as capitals. Specifically, two Marseille-class 14-inch battlecruisers closing from the south...



And a French Toulouse-class 36k-ton dreadnought approaching from the north. Holy crap. OK, this thing has only a 9-inch belt, but it carries 12 14-inchers, as many as the Bismarcks...

Hipper doesn't give a flying ****. He has charged his ships into British 15-inch fire; it's not the French peashooters that will scare him.



SCHLACHTKREUZER RAN AN DEN FEIND!



The German ships turn, to pursue the French battlecruisers. They are slower than the enemy ships, but the French have, foolishly, allowed themselves to enter the range of the German 12-inchers. Zähringen scores the first hit, from a range of over 20k yards. The new 15-foot rangefinders work perfectly.

Meanwhile, Bremen moves to the north, in a screening action. She drops smoke, that interferes with the Toulouse's targeting. Hipper wants his duel with the French battlecruisers to remain uninterrupted; Vogler does his best to oblige him.



He succeeds. Oh God does he succeed.

Over the course of twenty minutes, and while the French are still trying to find the range on the relentlessly charging German behemoths, the Graf Spee and the Zähringen lock on to the two Marseilles and pound them, mercilessly. Hipper knows that his time is precious, and orders double-time for the loaders; the Schlachtkreuzer guns bark again and again and again, a never-ending hail of steel, walking its way to the French ships. German fire control logs at least fourteen 12-inch hits as the enemy tries to open the range. The French only score one hit, before they turn and run in terror; the 14-inch shell bounces harmlessly off the Graf Spee's B-Turret top armour.

On the other hand, the Bremen is not so lucky. As she seeks to keep the Toulouse occupied, the French dreadnought scores a hit on her bows, smashing them to kindling. The ship staggers and falls back, barely responding to the wheel; Zerstörer close in to lay smoke and cover her escape. She has suffered major casualties, but her crew (veterans one and all) manage to keep her in the fight.



Meanwhile, the two Marseilles have been mauled. The leading ship has taken one major hit on her center turret, which has smashed through the turret armour and blown the entirety of the mounting off; the ship is trailing smoke and fire.



The other ship (the one Graf Spee has been favouring with her attention) is already dead, all of her turrets blown to smithereens. French sailors are jumping overboard, as the ship develops a list to port and slowly, gracefully, capsizes.

The German Schlachtkreuzer overtake the enemy from the south and curve around towards the north, to keep the leading Marseille under fire. Once again, the German ships demonstrate that they are in a class of their own. Zähringen fires a broadside, at a range of 8k yards. One 12-inch shell strikes the Marseille on the waterline, just behind her A-Turret...





...and the French ship goes up like a firecracker, her escorts scattering like headless chicken.



At this point, the Toulouse is out of sight, somewhere behind the smokescreens to the north; and Hipper has no reason to pursue. This is a great victory, that demands an answer from the French; his mission is accomplished. He turns to the north, leaving La Rochelle behind.



And uses nightfall to sneak past the French patrols near Brest.



What a bloody victory!



Out of all the ships participating in the fight, it is little Bremen that scored the highest hit percentage, peppering the Toulouse and enemy destroyers with high-explosive shells. But it is the two Zähringens that have finally come into their element. Between them, they have scored (wait for it) a hundred and seventy hits on their opponents, the German 12-inchers firing almost continuously throughout the engagement. In fact, upon her return, Graf Spee immediately enters drydock, to have her guns re-bored, after the repeated use essentially destroyed their rifling.



The French lose their two Marseilles; the name ship herself and the Nantes. The Toulouse reached the safety of La Rochelle without suffering any significant damage.





But, while von Papen rejoiced and trumpeted Hipper's success from the rooftops, the Admiralität remained skeptical - and, surprisingly, so did the Kaiser. His Majesty now spent hours in the Admiralität building, discussing with his officers; and, for the first time, he was actually listening.

The situation was critical. The French did not possess the massive capital fleet of the Brits; but they did have a significant raiding and submarine force; and whereas the Germans had concentrated their fleet in the Northern Atlantic, to make sure that the flow of supplies would continue to reach Germany unimpeded, the French had dispersed their forces around the world, skirmishing with German patrol forces all over the Pacific. This was an unsung war, hardly comparable with the large capital ship battles in the North Sea; but no less desperate and no less brutal. The Piepers and Zerstörer in German Polynesia had their hands full, dealing with French raiders and submarines, not to mention the infamous Aigle and Herrault, the two 4k-ton French light cruisers that utterly dominated the Pacific; the Admiralität was very much aware that the situation there was hanging from a very fine thread indeed.



OK. R & D? We love you, and we very much appreciate your hard work. But we are no longer building light cruisers. When we want to kill things in the high seas...?





...we send our U-Boote out.



Now, it is interesting to note that the French do not suffer as much as the British here. Nor do they fail as much in their counter-raiding. They have a modern force, of both submarines and patrol vessels; and their convoys are fewer and better protected than the British ones (not to mention less important to the country's survival); but they are inexperienced. The German Kaleuns, on the other hand, are both highly skilled and utterly merciless. And the Pieper crews do not fool around either.

The question is: the French have been humiliated in La Rochelle. Will they push back?





Yes. Yes they will.

With Hipper's force in drydock, it falls to Scheer to safeguard the home waters. And he does so in his trademark careful fashion, with patrols in force and tireless vigilance.

On the 7th of July, almost a month after the La Rochelle engagement, and with the ground forces preparing for the first large-scale offensive, Scheer is bringing his fleet back from a Long Patrol, trying to reach Helgoland before a summer gale hits. Visibility is minimal; the crews are wet, and tired and miserable.

And, suddenly, there are French ships less than two thousand yards towards the north, closing in fast.

The only appropriate response is 'Da stecken wir ja schön in der Scheisse'.



The northernmost German squadron comprises the Moltke and the Seydlitz with their Zerstörer escorts. The old veteran Schlachtkreuzer are not ready to engage enemy capitals; thankfully, their Zerstörers are. Kapitänleutnant Falke of the S-22 takes his little tin can on a suicidal run against the enemy ship silhouettes and launches torpedoes from point-blank range. As he turns to escape, his ships is blasted to near-oblivion by heavy-caliber fire; but his torpedo hits; and it buys enough time for the Moltke and Seydlitz to get to battle stations.

Further to the south, Scheer, from the conning tower of the Bismarck scans the seas with concern. He has heard the gunfire; and the Bismarck is sounding battle stations, rushing to the north, to assist the old Schlachtkreuzer. Visibility is **** and they must not allow themselves to be-



-ENEMY SHIP TO THE NORTH, RANGE 1500 YARDS! RUDDER HARD STARBOARD; ALL GUNS FIRE AT WILL!

The Bismarck responds to the rudder beautifully. Her wide beam and well-balanced metacentric height make her a very stable gun platform in high seas; and her 14-inchers boom against the silhouetted enemy. Wettin scores a hit; Bismarck scores two.

And, twenty seconds later, three more.





Whhooooooooooooomfffff.



The explosion serves as a beacon. Moltke and Seydlitz turn, to approach from the north, while Bismarck and Wettin turn to meet them. In the south-west, little Bremen fights against the waves, to reach her capital wards-

-and eats a torpedo for her trouble; a torpedo that blows her newly-repaired bows clean off.



Scheer takes his superdreads around, to investigate the area of the enemy explosion - and hopefully reach Bremen for assistance. Unfortunately, with the gale messing up signaling, his escorts fall behind. And he pays for it, when his lookouts make out French destroyers in the area, possibly looking to save survivors themselves. He orders an evasive turn to starboard; but it's too late. A torped hits the Bismarck amidships, on her starboard side.



And then - a few terrifying moments of fire and thunder, as what seems to be a bloody French battle-line slices right through the German forces. Some capitals are spotted; and the German Zerstörer loose their fish in a ragged volley, as they bear and as they see their opponents. At least one hit is scored-





-but the German forces suffer in return. French guns boom from insight the smoke, fog and rain; Seydlitz and Moltke are riddled with holes, both on the superstructure and the waterline. Moltke loses three of her four turrets, in the most horrifying carnage ever to have been inflicted on a German vessel; Seydlitz does not fare so badly above the waterline, but several underwater hits rob her of almost half her reserve buyoancy. She loses two of her boilers, is listing heavily and can only do 15 knots.



Nope. **** that ****. Scheer is out of there.



His ships limp into Helgoland four hours later. Morale is low. Scheer can only imagine what the French are going to be crowing from the-





-WHAT THE ****?





HOW THE **** DID YOU LOSE THREE BATTLECRUISERS, FRENCHIES?

OK, OK, let's count. One went up like a roman candle; one got torpedoed once and, OK, the Bismarcks may have scored a couple of underwater hits on a third one. But surely that's not enough to sink a capital ship?

Um Gottes Willen, Baguettes, what is your ****ing damcon doctrine like?

« Last Edit: May 31, 2018, 10:04:25 am by Enioch »
'Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent'  -Salvor Hardin, "Foundation"

So don't take a hammer to your computer. ;-)

 

Offline Enioch

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Re: Enioch's naval shenanigans - RTW as Germany - [Image Heavy!]
THE FROMAGE IS SOFT.

THE FROMAGE IS YIELDING.

I DO NOT HAVE A FROMAGE FETISH
'Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent'  -Salvor Hardin, "Foundation"

So don't take a hammer to your computer. ;-)

 

Offline JSRNerdo

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Re: Enioch's naval shenanigans - RTW as Germany - [Image Heavy!]
In the dark timeline where Jackie Fisher was hired by France...
Former Inferno lead, BTA fredder-ish and DE fredder. Driven out by ordinary fascists the_e, aesaar and general battuta. Will return if they're ever removed.

 

Offline StarSlayer

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Re: Enioch's naval shenanigans - RTW as Germany - [Image Heavy!]
Schlachtkreuzer Squadrons forced to retire without victory?



Not Yet Kameraden! Not Yet!
“Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world”

 

Offline AdmiralRalwood

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Re: Enioch's naval shenanigans - RTW as Germany - [Image Heavy!]
lol that turnaround "wow, I got my ass handed to me-- MAJOR VICTORY, TWO PRESTIGE?!?"

more than half of your VP from a battle you thought you lost
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Codethulhu GitHub wgah'nagl fhtagn.

schrödinbug (noun) - a bug that manifests itself in running software after a programmer notices that the code should never have worked in the first place.

When you gaze long into BMPMAN, BMPMAN also gazes into you.

"I am one of the best FREDders on Earth" -General Battuta

<Aesaar> literary criticism is vladimir putin

<MageKing17> "There's probably a reason the code is the way it is" is a very dangerous line of thought. :P
<MageKing17> Because the "reason" often turns out to be "nobody noticed it was wrong".
(the very next day)
<MageKing17> this ****ing code did it to me again
<MageKing17> "That doesn't really make sense to me, but I'll assume it was being done for a reason."
<MageKing17> **** ME
<MageKing17> THE REASON IS PEOPLE ARE STUPID
<MageKing17> ESPECIALLY ME

<MageKing17> God damn, I do not understand how this is breaking.
<MageKing17> Everything points to "this should work fine", and yet it's clearly not working.
<MjnMixael> 2 hours later... "God damn, how did this ever work at all?!"
(...)
<MageKing17> so
<MageKing17> more than two hours
<MageKing17> but once again we have reached the inevitable conclusion
<MageKing17> How did this code ever work in the first place!?

<@The_E> Welcome to OpenGL, where standards compliance is optional, and error reporting inconsistent

<MageKing17> It was all working perfectly until I actually tried it on an actual mission.

<IronWorks> I am useful for FSO stuff again. This is a red-letter day!
* z64555 erases "Thursday" and rewrites it in red ink

<MageKing17> TIL the entire homing code is held up by shoestrings and duct tape, basically.

 

Offline Spoon

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Re: Enioch's naval shenanigans - RTW as Germany - [Image Heavy!]
Losing 5 battlecruisers in just two engagements. I dunno france, maybe you should consider... surrender.
Urutorahappī!!

[02:42] <@Axem> spoon somethings wrong
[02:42] <@Axem> critically wrong
[02:42] <@Axem> im happy with these missions now
[02:44] <@Axem> well
[02:44] <@Axem> with 2 of them

 

Offline Enioch

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Re: Enioch's naval shenanigans - RTW as Germany - [Image Heavy!]

They're at it again.

I like the implication that Bismarck has studied the Necronomicon.
« Last Edit: October 14, 2017, 12:55:52 pm by Enioch »
'Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent'  -Salvor Hardin, "Foundation"

So don't take a hammer to your computer. ;-)

  
Re: Enioch's naval shenanigans - RTW as Germany - [Image Heavy!]
Hey Enioch,
Just wanted to thank you for the regular updates on this series. As an engineering student buried under a lot of work, taking a break every once in a while to read your interesting saga has reduced my own stress and given me something to look forward to in the evening. Keep up the good work and Erobere die Meere!

 

Offline Spoon

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Re: Enioch's naval shenanigans - RTW as Germany - [Image Heavy!]
https://youtu.be/5L68JCPsMxU?t=8m47s
A hundred years ago, the spy we often see in this game, died.
Urutorahappī!!

[02:42] <@Axem> spoon somethings wrong
[02:42] <@Axem> critically wrong
[02:42] <@Axem> im happy with these missions now
[02:44] <@Axem> well
[02:44] <@Axem> with 2 of them