Hey all,
I have been looking at WW1 British history lately and came across a POD that I was surprised to find no thread on. Maybe it exists and I just haven't seen it, in which case please post a link.
OK, in the opening stages of WW1 Admiral Von Spee's Far East Squadron left Asia to raid Allied shipping on the west coast of South America. Von Spee's squadron consisted of:
-The two Scharnhorst Class armoured Cruisers, SMS Scharnhorst and SMS Gneisenau (8 x 8.3"guns, 6 x 5.9", 18 x 3.5")
-The Dresden Class Cruiser Dresden (10 x 4.1", 8 x 2")
-The Bremen Class Cruiser Liepzig (10 x 4.1", 10 x 3.7")
-The Konigsberg Class Cruiser Nurnberg (10 x 4.1", 8 x 2")
Sent to stop him was Admiral Craddock of the RN. At his disposal Craddock had:
- The Drake Class Armoured Cruiser HMS Good Hope (2 x 9.2", 16 x 6", 12 x 3" (12-pounder), 3 x 1.9" (3-Pounder))
-The County Class Armoured Cruiser HMS Monmouth (14 x 6", 10 x 3", 3 x 1.9")
- The Town Class Cruiser HMS Glasgow (2 x 6", 10 x 4", 4 x 1.9")
-The Armed Merchant Cruiser HMS Otranto (8 x 4.7")
Both Fleets were expecting to find only one ship. Von Spee was chasing Glasgow, and Craddock had intercepted signal traffic that made him believe that Leipzig was sailing alone. Von Spee's fleet was deployed together to try and chase down Glasgow that was heading away from them. Craddocks was spread out in line abreast, searching for Leipzig. The Germans sighted the British first, and started to chase. When Craddock realized that he was facing the entire Far East Squadron, he turned and started running south to where HMS Canopus (4 x 12", 12 x 6", 10 x 3", 6 x 1.9") was escorting Craddock's colliers. The warships could have made it, but only by abandoning the Otranto. Craddock turned to try and close with Von Spee while the sun was up, giving him the advantage of lighting and hopefully getting close enough to neutralize the German advantage in heavy guns. It didn't work, and Monmouth and Good Hope both ended up at the bottom.
But the interesting thing is this: Canopus was left behind because it could only steam at 12 knots. However, once they set sail it was found that they could actually steam at 16 knots and that their Chief Engineer (who advised that Canopus could only go 12 knots) was suffering from a mental illness. And according to Drachinfel the ship actually could have been fixed in a couple of hours and been capable of 17-18 knots.
So, if Canopus is able to steam with the fleet, what does Von Spee do when he realizes he is outmatched? Does he still try and fight? Try to disengage? If so, where does he go? How would the East Pacific campaign be likely to proceed?
I have been looking at WW1 British history lately and came across a POD that I was surprised to find no thread on. Maybe it exists and I just haven't seen it, in which case please post a link.
OK, in the opening stages of WW1 Admiral Von Spee's Far East Squadron left Asia to raid Allied shipping on the west coast of South America. Von Spee's squadron consisted of:
-The two Scharnhorst Class armoured Cruisers, SMS Scharnhorst and SMS Gneisenau (8 x 8.3"guns, 6 x 5.9", 18 x 3.5")
-The Dresden Class Cruiser Dresden (10 x 4.1", 8 x 2")
-The Bremen Class Cruiser Liepzig (10 x 4.1", 10 x 3.7")
-The Konigsberg Class Cruiser Nurnberg (10 x 4.1", 8 x 2")
Sent to stop him was Admiral Craddock of the RN. At his disposal Craddock had:
- The Drake Class Armoured Cruiser HMS Good Hope (2 x 9.2", 16 x 6", 12 x 3" (12-pounder), 3 x 1.9" (3-Pounder))
-The County Class Armoured Cruiser HMS Monmouth (14 x 6", 10 x 3", 3 x 1.9")
- The Town Class Cruiser HMS Glasgow (2 x 6", 10 x 4", 4 x 1.9")
-The Armed Merchant Cruiser HMS Otranto (8 x 4.7")
Both Fleets were expecting to find only one ship. Von Spee was chasing Glasgow, and Craddock had intercepted signal traffic that made him believe that Leipzig was sailing alone. Von Spee's fleet was deployed together to try and chase down Glasgow that was heading away from them. Craddocks was spread out in line abreast, searching for Leipzig. The Germans sighted the British first, and started to chase. When Craddock realized that he was facing the entire Far East Squadron, he turned and started running south to where HMS Canopus (4 x 12", 12 x 6", 10 x 3", 6 x 1.9") was escorting Craddock's colliers. The warships could have made it, but only by abandoning the Otranto. Craddock turned to try and close with Von Spee while the sun was up, giving him the advantage of lighting and hopefully getting close enough to neutralize the German advantage in heavy guns. It didn't work, and Monmouth and Good Hope both ended up at the bottom.
But the interesting thing is this: Canopus was left behind because it could only steam at 12 knots. However, once they set sail it was found that they could actually steam at 16 knots and that their Chief Engineer (who advised that Canopus could only go 12 knots) was suffering from a mental illness. And according to Drachinfel the ship actually could have been fixed in a couple of hours and been capable of 17-18 knots.
So, if Canopus is able to steam with the fleet, what does Von Spee do when he realizes he is outmatched? Does he still try and fight? Try to disengage? If so, where does he go? How would the East Pacific campaign be likely to proceed?
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