Yeah Irma is looking like a real pisser of a storm. Stay safe yourself.
A New Balance
- Thread starter Jim Smitty
- Start date
In unfortunately I'm worried about it to. I live just north of Tampa.
Battle of Denmark Straits Pt VI
USS Langley, CV-21
North Atlantic
February 8 1939
For Vice Admiral Armbruster’s Carrier Task Force had a wild night. Armbruster had order his carrier to turn their lights last night to help his planes land after returning from their strikes against the Limeys. Further he had ordered his destroyers to fire up their main guns with star shells to help find their way home. Finally he had ordered his pilots to land on any carrier. It when against standard operating procedure, but so did his call to launch a massive second strike knowing it would return at night. It did pay off through with his planes bagging all five British carriers that had been on the board yesterday.
This however did cost him. The fucking limeys had a submarine near his task force when he lit off his lights and had the destroyers firing their star shells to get his pilots back home. The fucker fired a six-torpedo spread and two of them had hit the Valley Forge. Those torpedoes had put massive holes in the ship and gave her a 9 degrees list to port. It also knocked out her engines leaving her dead in the water. Armbruster had already order back to Halifax with the Houston towing her and three destroyers escorting the two ships. Another one of those torpedoes found the destroyer Hightower and sunk her. What pissed off Armbruster was that limey sub got away scot free. Plus from the strike itself he had lost 74 aircraft that didn’t return home. Some made for Greenland, others were forced to ditch. Armbruster didn’t envy those who had to ditch in the cold ass waters of the North Atlantic.
Yet it wasn’t time to moron the dead as the battle was still on. He was trying to keep the limeys on their toes. He wanted to help the American forces on Iceland and the only way he could to that was to take out the British naval forces supporting the landings on Iceland. It was for this reason he was launching another massive strike with his aircraft today. He was down to four carriers, but he wanted to bat clean up now. He had order his carriers into the wind to launch. The squadrons were reforming in the air so they could attack together in this attack. Yet he want to punch the road open to retaking Iceland before the battleships got the chance as they have moved forward last night and were now operating in front of his carriers as they moved in to attack as well.
North Atlantic
February 8 1939
For Vice Admiral Armbruster’s Carrier Task Force had a wild night. Armbruster had order his carrier to turn their lights last night to help his planes land after returning from their strikes against the Limeys. Further he had ordered his destroyers to fire up their main guns with star shells to help find their way home. Finally he had ordered his pilots to land on any carrier. It when against standard operating procedure, but so did his call to launch a massive second strike knowing it would return at night. It did pay off through with his planes bagging all five British carriers that had been on the board yesterday.
This however did cost him. The fucking limeys had a submarine near his task force when he lit off his lights and had the destroyers firing their star shells to get his pilots back home. The fucker fired a six-torpedo spread and two of them had hit the Valley Forge. Those torpedoes had put massive holes in the ship and gave her a 9 degrees list to port. It also knocked out her engines leaving her dead in the water. Armbruster had already order back to Halifax with the Houston towing her and three destroyers escorting the two ships. Another one of those torpedoes found the destroyer Hightower and sunk her. What pissed off Armbruster was that limey sub got away scot free. Plus from the strike itself he had lost 74 aircraft that didn’t return home. Some made for Greenland, others were forced to ditch. Armbruster didn’t envy those who had to ditch in the cold ass waters of the North Atlantic.
Yet it wasn’t time to moron the dead as the battle was still on. He was trying to keep the limeys on their toes. He wanted to help the American forces on Iceland and the only way he could to that was to take out the British naval forces supporting the landings on Iceland. It was for this reason he was launching another massive strike with his aircraft today. He was down to four carriers, but he wanted to bat clean up now. He had order his carriers into the wind to launch. The squadrons were reforming in the air so they could attack together in this attack. Yet he want to punch the road open to retaking Iceland before the battleships got the chance as they have moved forward last night and were now operating in front of his carriers as they moved in to attack as well.
Irma is one of the few storms that I want nothing to do with. The barrier islands on the Space Coast can handle about 8-10 feet of surge, so Matthew wasn't a problem. I saw evidence of about four feet of water rise after that. I stayed on the barrier island and didn't loose power or cable.
Irma is going to be a monster when at landfall, high-end Cat 4 or Cat 5 about the size of Floyd. Best case is it turns up between Florida and the Bahamas and Miami gets storm-force winds. Current models are looking at landfall along the Keys-Miami barrier and a curve up along the peninsula, which would subject the entire peninsula to hurricane-force winds. Surge would be the big threat at landfall, but as long as that stays away I'll be safe from wind and rain.
Edit:
For reference, Floyd's maximum strength was 921 mb with 155 mph winds, making it one of the lowest pressure Cat 4s ever. Hurricane David in 1979 attained 175 mph sustained winds at 924 mb. At that pressure, any reduction in size would lead to an increase in wind speed to Cat 5. The US weather model is saying landfall at 891 mb, lower than the 1935 Labor Day hurricane, which was the strongest hurricane to ever hit the US. Of course, models are notoriously bad at predicting storm strength and wind speed.
Also for reference, Katrina made landfall as a high-end Cat 3 (125 mph winds) and a central pressure of 920 mb. Again, the very low pressure compared to wind speed is indicative of a very large storm and recent weakening due to interaction with land. Landfall for very large storms comes more as a process than an event, so Katrina was already beginning to weaken before the center moved onshore. Andrew, on the other end of the size spectrum, made landfall in Homestead as a Cat 5 (160 mph winds) with a central pressure of 922 mb.
When looking at storm surge, storm size and central pressure typically matter much more than wind speed. While Andrew and Katrina made landfall at similar pressures, Andrew's storm surge was 10-12 feet while Katrina's reached 28 feet in place. Other hurricane notable for their weak winds but large surge were Ike (110 mph, 950 mb, 22 foot surge) and Gustav (110 mph, 955 mb, 15 foot surge).
Irma is going to be a monster when at landfall, high-end Cat 4 or Cat 5 about the size of Floyd. Best case is it turns up between Florida and the Bahamas and Miami gets storm-force winds. Current models are looking at landfall along the Keys-Miami barrier and a curve up along the peninsula, which would subject the entire peninsula to hurricane-force winds. Surge would be the big threat at landfall, but as long as that stays away I'll be safe from wind and rain.
Edit:
For reference, Floyd's maximum strength was 921 mb with 155 mph winds, making it one of the lowest pressure Cat 4s ever. Hurricane David in 1979 attained 175 mph sustained winds at 924 mb. At that pressure, any reduction in size would lead to an increase in wind speed to Cat 5. The US weather model is saying landfall at 891 mb, lower than the 1935 Labor Day hurricane, which was the strongest hurricane to ever hit the US. Of course, models are notoriously bad at predicting storm strength and wind speed.
Also for reference, Katrina made landfall as a high-end Cat 3 (125 mph winds) and a central pressure of 920 mb. Again, the very low pressure compared to wind speed is indicative of a very large storm and recent weakening due to interaction with land. Landfall for very large storms comes more as a process than an event, so Katrina was already beginning to weaken before the center moved onshore. Andrew, on the other end of the size spectrum, made landfall in Homestead as a Cat 5 (160 mph winds) with a central pressure of 922 mb.
When looking at storm surge, storm size and central pressure typically matter much more than wind speed. While Andrew and Katrina made landfall at similar pressures, Andrew's storm surge was 10-12 feet while Katrina's reached 28 feet in place. Other hurricane notable for their weak winds but large surge were Ike (110 mph, 950 mb, 22 foot surge) and Gustav (110 mph, 955 mb, 15 foot surge).
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Ok guys a little if of an update on myself, I'm hold up now and finally my nerves have calm down some to the point there might be an update today. Its depended on how long I have power however. After this however I honestly can't say when the next update will be even if I get this one up today.
Battle of Denmark Straits Pt VII
USS Langley, CV-21
North Atlantic
February 8 1939
Vice Admiral Armbruster was currently listening to his task force’s meteorology officer. This report by the met officer was not giving him much hope to keep air operations going on today. His strike force had just return from attacking the limeys with the first air strike of the day. There was still enough time for a second strike today without having to pull the crazy stunt he had to pull yesterday. The first strike hadn’t didn’t find the battleships that the British have supporting their invasion of Iceland. Instead they found a cruiser squadron that was supporting the battleships and sunk 3 light cruisers and damaged another 2 light cruiser. But Armbruster wanted to finish off the remaining capital ships of the British Fleet that they have sortied to take Iceland and Greenland before Vice Admiral Samuel Greene and his battleships could do it.
“Admiral the front is moving in faster than we projected. With sustained winds of 70 to 80 knots it will be possible to launch a strike but it will be outright impossible to land it. Given the sea state I doubt even the battlewagons will be able to go at it.”
“You told me yesterday this front wasn’t going to move in till the 9th!” Armbruster wasn’t happy. He wanted to get the British more than the black eye that he had given them so far.
“Sir, metrology isn’t not an exact science. Something has happened that has moved this front forward faster than we thought it would.[1]”
Armbruster turned and walked to walk to the edge of the bridge. There he looked out at the window and he could see the signs of a storm on the horizon. He knew what to look for from a life time at sea. But it still rubbed him the wrong way that he couldn’t finish off the British here. But he already had taken a major bite out of the British and he decided it would be best to retire now and save his air group for another day. “Orders for the task force, Air operations is to end at 1500 today. We are to head back to Halifax.”
[1] The US doesn’t know about or understand the Jet Stream.
North Atlantic
February 8 1939
Vice Admiral Armbruster was currently listening to his task force’s meteorology officer. This report by the met officer was not giving him much hope to keep air operations going on today. His strike force had just return from attacking the limeys with the first air strike of the day. There was still enough time for a second strike today without having to pull the crazy stunt he had to pull yesterday. The first strike hadn’t didn’t find the battleships that the British have supporting their invasion of Iceland. Instead they found a cruiser squadron that was supporting the battleships and sunk 3 light cruisers and damaged another 2 light cruiser. But Armbruster wanted to finish off the remaining capital ships of the British Fleet that they have sortied to take Iceland and Greenland before Vice Admiral Samuel Greene and his battleships could do it.
“Admiral the front is moving in faster than we projected. With sustained winds of 70 to 80 knots it will be possible to launch a strike but it will be outright impossible to land it. Given the sea state I doubt even the battlewagons will be able to go at it.”
“You told me yesterday this front wasn’t going to move in till the 9th!” Armbruster wasn’t happy. He wanted to get the British more than the black eye that he had given them so far.
“Sir, metrology isn’t not an exact science. Something has happened that has moved this front forward faster than we thought it would.[1]”
Armbruster turned and walked to walk to the edge of the bridge. There he looked out at the window and he could see the signs of a storm on the horizon. He knew what to look for from a life time at sea. But it still rubbed him the wrong way that he couldn’t finish off the British here. But he already had taken a major bite out of the British and he decided it would be best to retire now and save his air group for another day. “Orders for the task force, Air operations is to end at 1500 today. We are to head back to Halifax.”
[1] The US doesn’t know about or understand the Jet Stream.
Well the British force in Greenland is small and toast, they are simply waiting to surrender in all practical terms. Depending on how much has been landed on Iceland they may hold out longer. The bad weather will mean no naval support for their operations and nothing is going to be landed either. Given that the British have lost all those carriers and most of their air crew, the British forces on Iceland will be operating without any air support and any US aviation that can be there (bombers form Greenland or carrier air) will have a field day. Aside from considerations of fuel and munitions, major British surface units who stay around Iceland are simply targets for US air once the bad weather clears.
A lot depends on the status of the battle on Iceland. If there are still organized US forces on Iceland, if the British have not secured a significant airfield, then the land forces are in big trouble as the British will run out of supplies pretty quickly, the US forces should be better off as this is "home field advantage". If the US forces have been reduced to isolated bands and the British have a major airfield, some supplies can come in by air things are better for the British but they are still isolated with no major relief coming. Supplying a field force by air alone did not work well for the Germans at Stalingrad...
Hang in there hope you don't have any issues with the storm.
A lot depends on the status of the battle on Iceland. If there are still organized US forces on Iceland, if the British have not secured a significant airfield, then the land forces are in big trouble as the British will run out of supplies pretty quickly, the US forces should be better off as this is "home field advantage". If the US forces have been reduced to isolated bands and the British have a major airfield, some supplies can come in by air things are better for the British but they are still isolated with no major relief coming. Supplying a field force by air alone did not work well for the Germans at Stalingrad...
Hang in there hope you don't have any issues with the storm.
This and Current Events have just led me to wonder: Has anybody tried an ISOT of a major storm? Finding Hurricane Irma in the middle of the Armada or hitting Columbus's ships or whacking Xerxes might have possibilities.
On the other hand, perhaps they have happened ITTL and the Japanese call them a "Divine Wind".
There's a short story in the book "Rising Sun Victorious" that plays a little with this theme, the story is called "Victory Rides the Divine Wind" by D.M. Giangreco, its a good read.
I guess you Floridians are getting it worse than we are, but who knows with those other Hurricanes forming we could have the entire east coast laid waste.