Keynes' Cruisers Volume 2
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Story 2812
Sankt Polten, Austria, March 21, 1945
"ON THE WAY....."
The Churchill's cannon fired. The high explosive shell missed the machine gun nest by a few feet. A smoke grenade began to mask the tank and the section of infantrymen from Perth who were now making themselves small as they laid down a suppressive base of fire. The tank's machine gun started to chatter again before the cannon from the second tank fired. The German machine gun nest was now silent.
The advance continued.
"ON THE WAY....."
The Churchill's cannon fired. The high explosive shell missed the machine gun nest by a few feet. A smoke grenade began to mask the tank and the section of infantrymen from Perth who were now making themselves small as they laid down a suppressive base of fire. The tank's machine gun started to chatter again before the cannon from the second tank fired. The German machine gun nest was now silent.
The advance continued.
Two IOWAs --- Wisconsin never completed and Iowa has a mechanical problem that has her tied up to a repair ship at Guam for the past two weeks...
Story 2813
USS Massachusetts, Western Pacific 0453, March 21, 1945
The short hulled ship shuddered. A 14 inch shell from HIEI punched through the splinter deck before wasting itself against the main deck armor. Damage control center soon reported no casualties and no degradation to the fighting capacity of the ship from the first damage she had taken during the battle. Soon her guns roared again. Nine super heavy shells raced to a point 22,800 yards away. The shells tipped over and gained speed as gravity overtook the force of the propellant's conflagration. Seven shells punched holes into the sea. One shell scraped the already damaged bow of the battlecruiser. If the last shell had not penetrated the forward turret's roof, there would be no meaningful damage to a ship that could now only make 27 knots. However, the super heavy shell punched through the steel atop the twin turret, activating a fuse that splayed thousands of super heated steel shards in the complex array of machinery that was bringing bags of propellent up to the waiting gun crews. The turret catastrophically failed and only the incredibly rapid reaction of the turret officer who prevented a catastrophic powder explosion.
The short hulled ship shuddered. A 14 inch shell from HIEI punched through the splinter deck before wasting itself against the main deck armor. Damage control center soon reported no casualties and no degradation to the fighting capacity of the ship from the first damage she had taken during the battle. Soon her guns roared again. Nine super heavy shells raced to a point 22,800 yards away. The shells tipped over and gained speed as gravity overtook the force of the propellant's conflagration. Seven shells punched holes into the sea. One shell scraped the already damaged bow of the battlecruiser. If the last shell had not penetrated the forward turret's roof, there would be no meaningful damage to a ship that could now only make 27 knots. However, the super heavy shell punched through the steel atop the twin turret, activating a fuse that splayed thousands of super heated steel shards in the complex array of machinery that was bringing bags of propellent up to the waiting gun crews. The turret catastrophically failed and only the incredibly rapid reaction of the turret officer who prevented a catastrophic powder explosion.
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That is almost impossibly fast, at least you will have a barbette and turret explosion, with the roof coming off the turret and most likely blast through the ships bottom, not a Hood level blast, but just as fatal.
Seidlitz and IIRC Lion were saved by the quick thinking of crewmen to prevent catastrophic magazine explosions
Badly wounded and dying in the process in each case
I intended for the forward most turret complex to be wrecked but the magazine not blowing up and destroying the ship. Is that how it is coming across?
Question: What are the battle lines here? IIRC, the South Dakota was lost at Makassar Strait, so are the Americans there with 3 South Dakota class, 2 Iowa class and Washington?
Do the Japanese have Heie, 3 Yamato class and any other battleships?
Fester: Yes, it is coming across as a burned out turret but no magazine explosion. Like HMS Tiger at Jutland IIRC
Do the Japanese have Heie, 3 Yamato class and any other battleships?
Fester: Yes, it is coming across as a burned out turret but no magazine explosion. Like HMS Tiger at Jutland IIRC
Massachusetts, Alabama, Indiana, New Jersey, Missouri, North Carolina, Washington
(IOWA at GUAM)
vs.
Hiei (entering battle in good-ish shape), Yamato (torped by carrier strikes), Mushashi (torped & bombed earlier in the day), Nagato (torped and bombed) ---Shinano crippled by carrier strikes
Both were the turret officers as opposed to a crewmen in the lower barbette. Make that change and it becomes more plausable. The turret roof may peel off or back, but far less, damage; though an adjacent turret could be jammed in train.
Story 2814
Deggendorf, Germany March 21, 1945
Every rifleman nervously walked forward. The point man had his eyes rapidly moving left and right, up and down. They were walking into an ideal ambush position as they walked across a bridge spanning the Danube. But no one was firing. It was not just because there were a trio of Shermans and a quartet of half tracks a few dozen yards behind the rifle platoon. The lead tank had its cannon pointed down the street while the second tank was aiming at the buildings on the left side and the trailer was covering the right side. The half track gunners kept their machine guns swiveling across their zones every few seconds.
No, it was an unusual sight. Every house had a white sheet either hanging from the second floor balcony or covering a first floor window. There was almost no one in the streets besides a few scared dogs. The point man nervously stepped forward as a screech broke the monotony of clanging tracks of the tanks. He was ready to shoot until he saw two tom cats claw at each other in the first alley that he walked past.
An hour later, a captain from battalion had hurried forward to take the surrender of the town from the mayor. The platoon kept on walking until they were out of town. Riflemen quickly scrambled to grab cigarettes and snacks from bags left in the half tracks before they mounted up and headed east to keep on pushing until they finally found the next line of German resistance.
Every rifleman nervously walked forward. The point man had his eyes rapidly moving left and right, up and down. They were walking into an ideal ambush position as they walked across a bridge spanning the Danube. But no one was firing. It was not just because there were a trio of Shermans and a quartet of half tracks a few dozen yards behind the rifle platoon. The lead tank had its cannon pointed down the street while the second tank was aiming at the buildings on the left side and the trailer was covering the right side. The half track gunners kept their machine guns swiveling across their zones every few seconds.
No, it was an unusual sight. Every house had a white sheet either hanging from the second floor balcony or covering a first floor window. There was almost no one in the streets besides a few scared dogs. The point man nervously stepped forward as a screech broke the monotony of clanging tracks of the tanks. He was ready to shoot until he saw two tom cats claw at each other in the first alley that he walked past.
An hour later, a captain from battalion had hurried forward to take the surrender of the town from the mayor. The platoon kept on walking until they were out of town. Riflemen quickly scrambled to grab cigarettes and snacks from bags left in the half tracks before they mounted up and headed east to keep on pushing until they finally found the next line of German resistance.
Story 2815
Western Pacific, Dawn March 21, 1945
USS Essex turned into the wind. A squadron of Hellcats with rockets under their wings were warming up their engines. An even ten Avengers with heavy antiship torpedoes in their bellies began their runs down the deck, dipping slightly once their wheels left the wood and gripped the cool mist filled morning air before the General Motors built bombers clawed for altitude.
Half a mile away the other two fleet carriers in the task group were also launching strikes to finish off whatever cripples that had survived a ninety minute brawl with the American battle line.
USS Essex turned into the wind. A squadron of Hellcats with rockets under their wings were warming up their engines. An even ten Avengers with heavy antiship torpedoes in their bellies began their runs down the deck, dipping slightly once their wheels left the wood and gripped the cool mist filled morning air before the General Motors built bombers clawed for altitude.
Half a mile away the other two fleet carriers in the task group were also launching strikes to finish off whatever cripples that had survived a ninety minute brawl with the American battle line.
Story 2816
Belfast, Northern Ireland, March 22, 1945
HMS Audacious entered the water.
The core of her crew was still being assembled. Half of the long service professionals that had served aboard HMS Hermes were now plank owners for a ship that could eat their former ship as a light bite at tea. Two escort carriers had been placed in ordinary with the first dedicated fleet carrier and their crews had either been discharged to civilian industry or re-allocated to the new fleet carrier.
Work gangs from the shipyard would still be fitting out the ship for most of the year, but by Christmas, she would be underway for a training cruise near Gibraltar and North Africa where good weather and no U-boats would allow her time to train.
HMS Audacious entered the water.
The core of her crew was still being assembled. Half of the long service professionals that had served aboard HMS Hermes were now plank owners for a ship that could eat their former ship as a light bite at tea. Two escort carriers had been placed in ordinary with the first dedicated fleet carrier and their crews had either been discharged to civilian industry or re-allocated to the new fleet carrier.
Work gangs from the shipyard would still be fitting out the ship for most of the year, but by Christmas, she would be underway for a training cruise near Gibraltar and North Africa where good weather and no U-boats would allow her time to train.
well get the rest of her sisters launched by the end of the year and the future of the RN postwar looks a lot brighter
Story 2817
Western Pacific, 0725 March 22, 1945
USS Billings began to accelerate. The tow cable was being collected over the stern. Behind the heavy cruiser, USS North Carolina's funnels were beginning to puff steam and smoke out. Two boilers had never shut down. Two more had been relit after midnight and steam had slowly built up to help power the ship's escape from any kamikaze and submarine attacks. One engine room had been effectively ruined and the fourth engine room probably would be available to make steam before nightfall.
She had absorbed the vast majority of punishment among the American battleships. An eighteen inch shell had jammed B turret, another had ripped open a large gash on her bow. Another shell had punched through a mast, bringing it down to the deck before the shell entered the sea a hundred yards further away. A few more massive shells had straddled the ship, and her belt had defeated a pair from doing anything other than spring leaks. The eighteen inch shells were not dangerous. Too many had missed.
She had been lamed by nine sixteen inch shells. The old Japanese battleship had straddled North Carolina on her third salvo, and landed a hit on her fifth salvo. The next five salvos had six hits, including one that effectively destroyed the bridge. Another shell eliminated an engine room. Nagato's accuracy soon declined as she was getting smothered by the weight of fire from Washington, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Billings, Jacksonville and Los Angeles. She was the only Japanese battlewagon that gave anywhere near as good as she got. Massachusetts had shifted fire from the crippled battlecruiser after her seventeenth full salvo, joining her two sisters bludgeoning one of the massive ships in the middle of the Japanese line, while the two fast battleships with their longer guns battered the other behometh to a flaming wreck.
As dawn broke, the American surface ships broke away as torpedo bombers and fighters were incoming. Several hundred aircraft over several hours finished off three of the cripples before destroyers used the few torpedo tubes that had not been pulled off for more Bofors to finish off the Yamato. Even as the Japanese cripples were being put down, American sailors struggled to save North Carolina and the torpedoed cruiser Biloxi. In the early afternoon, the decision had been made to scuttle the destroyers Saban and Conway.
USS Billings began to accelerate. The tow cable was being collected over the stern. Behind the heavy cruiser, USS North Carolina's funnels were beginning to puff steam and smoke out. Two boilers had never shut down. Two more had been relit after midnight and steam had slowly built up to help power the ship's escape from any kamikaze and submarine attacks. One engine room had been effectively ruined and the fourth engine room probably would be available to make steam before nightfall.
She had absorbed the vast majority of punishment among the American battleships. An eighteen inch shell had jammed B turret, another had ripped open a large gash on her bow. Another shell had punched through a mast, bringing it down to the deck before the shell entered the sea a hundred yards further away. A few more massive shells had straddled the ship, and her belt had defeated a pair from doing anything other than spring leaks. The eighteen inch shells were not dangerous. Too many had missed.
She had been lamed by nine sixteen inch shells. The old Japanese battleship had straddled North Carolina on her third salvo, and landed a hit on her fifth salvo. The next five salvos had six hits, including one that effectively destroyed the bridge. Another shell eliminated an engine room. Nagato's accuracy soon declined as she was getting smothered by the weight of fire from Washington, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Billings, Jacksonville and Los Angeles. She was the only Japanese battlewagon that gave anywhere near as good as she got. Massachusetts had shifted fire from the crippled battlecruiser after her seventeenth full salvo, joining her two sisters bludgeoning one of the massive ships in the middle of the Japanese line, while the two fast battleships with their longer guns battered the other behometh to a flaming wreck.
As dawn broke, the American surface ships broke away as torpedo bombers and fighters were incoming. Several hundred aircraft over several hours finished off three of the cripples before destroyers used the few torpedo tubes that had not been pulled off for more Bofors to finish off the Yamato. Even as the Japanese cripples were being put down, American sailors struggled to save North Carolina and the torpedoed cruiser Biloxi. In the early afternoon, the decision had been made to scuttle the destroyers Saban and Conway.
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