Strategy in Great War at Sea: Jutland
Operational Scenario #29: Jutland, Part 2
By Doug McNair
August 2007

The second day of operations off Jutland dawns in today’s episode of my Great War at Sea: Jutland Operational Scenario 29 replay. As Day 1 came to an end, advance scouting fleets from both sides steamed past each other in the dark, right after zeppelins spotted three British fleets but failed to locate any of the battleships or battlecruisers which the High Seas Fleet is gunning for.

The zeppelins currently on scouting duty are nearing the end of their endurance and must head back to base soon, but more zeppelins are waiting at Cuxhaven to take the next watch, and three zeppelins left base last turn after being picked up as escorts by German forces cruising up the coast from Wilhelmshaven. Neither side knows where the enemy battle line is, but that could change abruptly if the weather continues to cooperate with search efforts.

The Battle of Jutland continues.

Day Two: May 31st, 1916 — Turn 7

The weather stays Misty, which means the zeppelins can continue to scout for the enemy at full effectiveness. The three German scout fleets continue northward, and the forward units of the German battlefleet move aggressively toward the British fleets that steamed past the German scouts last turn. The zeppelins head back to base, and the only one that can afford to fly slow enough to scout for British fleets is L13, which moves past British Fleet 11 and gets an approximate read of 12 ships.

British Fleet 2 steams southeast and then due east, right into the wake of German Fleet 7, and makes contact. German Fleet 8 fails to make contact with British Fleet 3 before it steams northeast, where it makes contact with German Fleet 9. British Fleet 4 steams one zone southeast and then one zone east, and makes contact with German Fleet 1.

The northern British fleets move southeast and east. British Fleet 7 moves into the patrol zone of a German sub east of Cromarty and the sub makes contact, and after reporting that Fleet 7 has just five light ships the sub decides to attack. ASW from the fleet’s destroyer’s is ineffective, but the sub’s torpedo attack misses. The British seaplane carriers Campania and Engadine then do air searches and spot German Fleet 3, reporting that it contains eight light ships.

Finally, the German fleets that rendezvoused with the zeppelins at Cuxhaven spread out as they move north. Surface combat then ensues between the patrol-line fleets that contacted each other in the middle of the North Sea.

British Fleet 2 vs. German Fleet 7: The Brits win initiative and close range on the Germans, who are not interested in a fight since no British capital ships are present. The Germans run and stay outside gunnery and torpedo range for the first round, but lose initiative again on the second round, allowing the Brits to close to two hexes almost immediately.

The parting of the mist reveals the Germans as the light cruiser Rostock escorted by three torpedo boats. Rostock only has tertiary guns and can’t fire at the Brits two hexes away, but the light cruisers Gloucester, Yarmouth, Falmouth, Dublin and Southampton all have secondaries and open fire (the six Admiralty-class destroyers with them prepare to fire torpedoes when they close the range to one hex). All nine shots from the cruisers miss Rostock, but the Brits get four more salvoes this round, and if the Germans keep running they’ll almost certainly get taken apart by British secondaries without firing a shot in return.

The Germans turn and fight, and Rostock scores a hull hit on sinks one of the Admiralty-class destroyers (5 German VPs) while the torpedo boats prepare to go after the cruisers. The British destroyers fail to hit the light,fast torpedo boats, but the British light cruisers knock out all of Rostock’s guns plus a hull box. All three German torpedoes miss, and with Rostock de-gunned there’s no point in the remaining five British destroyers firing their torpedoes. The cruisers and the destroyers finish off Rostock and the German TBs (17 British VPs), wiping out German Fleet 7.

British Fleet 3 vs. German Fleet 9: Once again the Brits win initiative, and once again the outnumbered Germans run. This time they are successful, winning initiative on the second round and ending the round outside British sighting range. The encounter ends with a report of four German light ships having escaped eleven British light ships, with neither side having gotten close enough for a positive ID on the other’s ships.

British Fleet 4 vs. German Fleet 1: The Germans win initiative, and British Fleet 4’s seven light ships find themselves hotly pursued by five German capital ships and fifteen light ships. Six S49-class German destroyers quickly close to range 2 and ID their quarry as the light cruisers Cordelia, Champion and Birkenhead and the scout cruiser Fearless, escorted by three Tribal-class DDs.

The light cruisers fire their secondaries and miss the German DDs, but then primary guns from unidentified German ships three hexes away erupt out of the mist. They knock out all but two of the guns on the British cruisers, score two hull hits on the light cruiser Birkenhead and slow her to speed 1, and kill a tertiary gun on one of the British destroyers to boot.

Birkenhead is the only cruiser with guns left, so she stays behind while the rest of the Brits run (they leave her through use of the Crippled Ships rule). Admiral Hipper’s battlecruiser squadron breaks out of the mist to give chase to the fleeing British light cruisers, while the destroyers ahead of him close to finish off Birkenhead with torpedoes. Birkenhead fires at her tormentors and knocks out two tertiary guns on the German destroyers, but then the battlecruisers open fire and sink all four British cruisers before the German destroyers can even launch torpedoes (31 German VPs).

The three remaining British destroyers bravely turn to make a torpedo run on the German battlecruisers (they can’t outrun them so there’s no point in doing anything else), but two of them are sunk as they close the range to two, and the third is sunk just as it gets into torpedo range (12 German VPs). British Fleet 4 is wiped out, but the Royal Navy now knows the location of Hipper’s battlecruiser squadron.

Turn 8

The weather stays Misty, and all three zeppelins make for base at full speed while zeppelins L16, L17 and L21 head out from Cuxhaven with Scout missions. The German scouting forces keep heading north, with Hipper’s battlecruisers making slowly for the Norwegian coast and one of her screening forces heading toward British Fleet 11.

The German battlefleet’s patrol line spreads out, as do the three fleets out of Cuxhaven. British Fleet 2 moves east but fails to contact a German patrol line fleet pulling back toward the German coast, and Fleet 3 also fails to catch German Fleet 9, which outdistances it moving north. The northern British fleets make their way slowly eastward and southeast, while the British reserve fleet down south at Harwich finally leaves port, moving one zone to the east. No fleets make contact on the surface, but the carrier Engadine’s planes now have four German fleets within range, and they spot and maintain contact with Hipper’s battlecruiser squadron.

Turn 9

The weather stays the same, and zeppelins L11, L13 and L14 put into Cuxhaven for refueling. Zeppelins L16, L17 and L21 head north at full speed, eager to find those British battleships before night falls. Hipper takes the battlecruiser squadron two zones east/northeast toward Norway (he finds the British aerial surveillance disturbing), while his two screening task forces steam slowly northeast across the British avenues of approach.

The three German fleets out of Cuxhaven continue northwest, and the patrol line forces pull back east. But British Patrol Fleet 2 catches German Patrol Fleet 8, while British Patrol Fleet 3 moves right into the same zone with zeppelin L17 (whose captain reports that the fleet consists of 11 light ships).

Then British Fleet 11 contacts German Scout Fleet 2 northwest of Hipper’s battlecruisers, and the fleet out of Harwich steams northeast. Air searches by the carriers don’t spot any fleets, but the captain of Zeppelin L17 (who along with his fellow sky commanders has been told repeatedly by Graf von Zeppelin that the airships need to prove their worth) bravely goes in for a bombing run against the 11 British ships.

The Brits get four AA shots against the zep but fail to roll any hits, and then the zeppelin rolls a 6 and hits the light cruiser Nottingham, destroying both of Nottingham’s secondary gunnery factors (one hit to a secondary box plus an extra destroyed through excess damage on an unarmored location) and leaving her gunless! Graf von Zeppelin radios his personal congratulations to the zeppelin skipper.

Then the surface actions between the opposing scout and patrol fleets happen:

British Fleet 11 vs. German Fleet 2: The British get initiative, and find themselves outnumbered 12 light ships to 9. With no high-value targets in the German fleet, the British have no reason to move in and find out whether the Germans outgun them as well as outnumber them, so they withdraw.

British Fleet 2 vs. German Fleet 8: The Brits get initiative once again, and this time they outnumber the Germans 11 to 4. They pursue the Germans, but lose initiative on the second round and the Germans are able to end the round outside sighting range and escape.

Turn 10

There’s no change in the weather, but evening is fast approaching and the Germans still haven’t spotted a single British battleship. Hipper sticks his neck out and moves the battlecruiser squadron one zone northwest, tempting any British fast battleships in the area to make a night run against him while the zeppelins are blind. Scouting fleets 2 and 3 move northeast across the British line of approach, two of the three fleets out of Cuxhaven head north while the third heads west, and the patrol fleets spread out to screen them. Zeppelins L16 and L17 fly out ahead of Hipper’s battlecruisers toward the mass of Royal Navy task forces heading in from the northwest, while L21 flies a patrol pattern at the mouth of the English Channel to try and get a read on the task force out of Harwich.

Most of the northern British fleets either stay to the north or maneuver around German scout fleets and zeppelins to remain undetected, but British Fleet 12 crosses paths with German scout fleet 2, and the Germans contact them. Fleet 13 out of Harwich steams into zeppelin L21’s patrol zone, and L21 reports that the fleet is composed of 23 light ships. A British patrol fleet then moves toward the Jutland coast and within two zones of one of the three fleets out of Cuxhaven. The seaplane carrier Campania’s planes can’t quite get to the Cuxhaven fleets yet, but they locate Hipper’s battlecruiser squadron again.

The one surface contact is German Scout Fleet 2’s sighting of British Fleet 12, just off the Norwegian coast and three zones northwest of Hipper’s battlecruisers. The Germans get the initiative and find themselves in contact with a fleet of 9 British light ships. The Germans outnumber them with 12 ships, but both sides have three ships on “long” counters, so there’s no way for the Germans to know if they outgun the Brits or not. Since there are no high-value targets in the British fleet, the Germans withdraw into the mist and west toward the majority of the unspotted British fleets.

Turn 11

Night falls and the zeppelins and seaplanes are blind, and the weather stays Misty. Hipper, spooked once again by the British aerial surveillance, moves his battlecruisers two zones east/northeast to the Norwegian coast, but Scout Fleet 2 moves northwest to try and intercept the northern line of British fleets while Fleet 3 heads northeast to try and intercept the closest unspotted fleet to Hipper.

One of the three fleets out of Cuxhaven moves north along the Jutland coast while the other two move west, and two patrol fleets form a line just west of the two westbound Cuxhaven fleets. German Scout Fleet 2 successfully intercepts British Fleet 10 (six zones northwest of Hipper), and German Scout Fleet 3 contacts British Fleet 1, five zones west of Hipper. The zeppelins head north to scout the outermost British fleets come daybreak, and British fleets head south toward Hipper, the patrol line, and the Cuxhaven fleet heading up the Jutland coast.

German Scout Fleet 2 vs. British Fleet 10: The Brits get initiative, and German wireless transmissions quickly become frantic, with the scout fleet of 12 light German ships reporting contact with a British fleet of 16 light ships and 12 capital ships, and that two of the capital ships are moving much faster than the others.

The lead British group quickly closes range to two hexes (maximum nighttime spotting range), and ten British primaries open fire on the Germans, immediately knocking out all the guns on the light cruisers Pillau and Wiesbaden. Those two get one shot at the Brits along with a third light cruiser, and their six secondaries knock out one lightly-armored primary gun factor on the British battlecruiser Invincible.

The Germans run, because with the British having the initiative they can’t make a successful torpedo run on the battlecruisers (which would just pull back and let the ten slow capital ships — almost certainly battlewagons — blow the Germans out of the water). They’ll have to hope they can outrun the slower ships and then get initiative next round for a torpedo run.

The battlecruisers pursue with their smaller escorts, and the slower capital ships follow behind. The next salvo destroys one hull box on the light cruiser Frankfurt, and Frankfurt scores another hit on Invincible but only knocks out her torpedo mount.

Both sides miss on the third salvo . . .

. . . and on the last salvo of the round.

And on the next round, the Germans get the initiative. Suddenly, the British battlecruisers realize they’ve pushed their luck too far, assuming their primaries would wipe out the Germans in short order. That hasn’t happened, and now the Germans have run well beyond sighting range of the slower British ships and are coming about for a torpedo run on the battlecruisers.

Primary gunnery from the battlecruisers shifts rapidly to the German small ships, which are either torpedo boats or worse, destroyers with two torpedo factors each. Urgent necessity clarifies things for the British gunners, who promptly score three hits and sink two V25-class German destroyers (10 British VPs) along with the four torpedo factors they were carrying.

But then Frankfurt fires her two secondary guns (the ones the British battlecruisers had three chances to knock out last round), scores one hit, and rolls a 12 for critical damage, destroying 3 Hull on Invincible!

The Germans then make the torpedo run. British gunners target all and sundry, with the scout cruiser Bellona and fifteen Tribal and Admiralty-class destroyers pouring in their tertiaries to kill the German destroyers before they can launch. Invincible hits Frankfurt four times, but three of those hits are from her Invincible’s tertiaries which do no damage (they bounce off Frankfurt’s light hull armor). The one primary hit knocks out both of Frankfurt’s secondaries (finally). Then the battlecruiser Inflexible scores three hits on Pillau, doing 6 hull (through excess damage on light to no armor) and sinking her (9 British VPs).

The destroyers and Bellona shoot very well, sinking three destroyers and destroying the torpedo mount of a fourth (15 British VPs), but that still leaves three German DDs plus two cruisers with deck mount torpedoes to fire at the British. After Frankfurt fires her last gunnery shot and knocks out a tertiary on Invincible, eight torpedo factors streak toward her. Four of them hit, and Invincible takes 6 Hull damage and sinks (41 German VPs)!

With all their guns destroyed (the German V25-class destroyers only have torpedoes) and their torpedoes expended, the Germans have nothing left, and die bravely as Inflexible and the British destroyers finish them off (38 British VPs). And while the Germans would rather that more of their destroyers had survived to torpedo Inflexible as well, at least the Germans have scored the first major blow, sinking one of the three BCs they need to win the game.

German Scout Fleet 3 vs. British Fleet 1: The Brits get initiative again, and again the Germans send another frantic transmission saying they’re being pursued by a British fleet of 10 capital ships and 12 light ships.

The lead group closes range at Speed 2 and fires, to MUCH GREATER EFFECT than British Fleet 10. Fully 42 primaries and three secondaries erupt out of the darkness. The light cruiser Regensburg takes two hull hits which slow her to Speed 1, the light cruiser Ebling takes two secondary and three Hull hits and sinks (9 British VPs), and one V25-class destroyer goes kablooie (5 British VPs). Elbling does very well with her dying shots, hitting her target twice, but her first damage roll of 11 (2 Hull, lose 1 movement) is negated by heavy hull armor, and she has to settle for knocking out a tertiary.

Running from such a fusilade is pointless when the group firing at them is just as fast as they are, and Regensburg is slowed to Speed 1 anyway, so the German destroyers come about for an Ave Maria torpedo run, hoping they can chase off their pursuers and get within torpedo range of the slower ships behind them.

The destroyers briefly get close enough to their pursuers to ID them as the battlecruisers Queen Mary, Princess Royal, Tiger, Lion, New Zealand, Indefatigable and six Tribal-class destroyers, but then the British move off to the northwest (out of torpedo range and also out of sighting range of Regensburg) and kill three of the destroyers (15 British VPs), leaving just two remaining.

Those two press on toward the slower British group as Regensburg flees in the opposite direction, and the battlecruisers move northeast to stay out of torpedo range and then obliterate the remaining two German DDs (10 British VPs), before they can get close enough to the slower group to ID them. But Regensburg ends the round outside sighting range, and survives!

So, while Hipper has now lost his screening forces, they did sink one British battlecruiser and tie-up the rest of the forces they intercepted to keep them from getting any closer to Hipper this turn.

Turn 12

The weather stays Misty, and with the positions of at least two British battlecruiser squadrons known, Hipper turns south, but slowly. He’s got to bring the British to the German High Seas Fleet, not just outrun them. Regensburg (the last remnant of Hipper’s screening forces) moves southwest, trying to get away from the Brits now that she’s slowed and without escorts. The three fleets out of Cuxhaven go north along the Jutland coast, northwest toward the British and due west toward Britain (respectively), and the patrol fleets move eastward. The zeppelins move into position so they can flyover as many British fleets as possible in the morning.

British Scout Fleet 2 moves into the same zone with German patrol fleet 8, but rolls a 1 and fails to contact it. British Scout Fleet 3 then cuts right across the wake of the German fleet out of Cuxhaven that’s moving up the Jutland coast, but also rolls a 1 and fails to contact it. A British fleet that’s been hanging back near Rosyth moves away from zeppelin L21, two British fleets converge four zones northwest of Hipper, a British fleet five zones west of Hipper fails to contact a German fleet there, and the fleet out of Harwich moves adjacent to the southernmost fleet of the German patrol line. Many ships steam right past each other in the night, but none make contact.

At the end of the second day off Jutland, both sides have spotted enemy battlecruisers but neither has gotten a positive ID on enemy battleships. Both sides have lost numerous light ships as the opposing scout fleets fight each other in the mist, and the VP score stands at Britain 128, Germany 89. But the Germans have sunk a BC while the British have not. And the Germans have an approximate fix on two British battlegroups, while the Brits have no idea where the German battleline is and will have a hard time catching Hipper. It’s still anybody’s game.

What will Day 3 bring? Tune in next time and find out!

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