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RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 9/20/2009 5:17:16 PM   
Extraneous

 

Posts: 1810
Joined: 6/14/2008
Status: offline 		HMAS Perth

A large portion of the gunnery crew was involved in the training of new gunners on other ships. Of the compliment of 682 who had commissioned the HMAS Perth into the RAN, forty remained. The shortfall consisted of new, raw recruits and reservists with experience manning merchant cruisers.

_____________________________

University of Science Music and Culture (USMC) class of 71 and 72 ~ Extraneous (AKA Mziln)

(in reply to warspite1)
Post #: 1411
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 9/20/2009 8:11:40 PM   
warspite1


Posts: 41353
Joined: 2/2/2008
From: England
Status: offline 		And the next of the Aussie light cruisers

[4007 Sydney - by Robert Jenkins]
.B Engine Output: 72,000 hp
.B Top Speed: 32.5 Knots
.B Main armament: 8 x 6-inch (152mm), 4 x 4-inch (102mm) guns
.B Displacement (full load): 9,150 tons
.B Thickest armour: 3-inch (belt)
.P The Amphions were a sub-class of the Leander-class light cruisers, although
some sources state they were a separate class. The main difference between the
two types was the layout of the boiler and engine rooms, resulting in the earlier
Leanders having just one funnel, while the Amphions had two.
.P All three ships that made up this sub-class were ultimately transferred to the
Royal Australian Navy (RAN). In Royal Navy (RN) service they were named after
Roman or Greek mythological characters, but their names were changed upon
transfer to the RAN and they were re-named after major Australian cities.
.P The treaty that followed the London Naval Conference of 1930 allowed Britain
to build 91,000 tons of cruisers up to the end of 1936. The original plan was to
build fourteen Leander-class at 6,500 tons each. However the class ended up
heavier than planned, resulting in a reduced number of this type being built. The
first ship completed was significantly over-weight and subsequent ships had their
weight pared back. As a result, the Amphions were lighter than the Leanders.
.P As was by then standard for the RN, the class were fitted with a six-inch main
armament, backed up by four, high-angle, four-inch secondary guns that provided
the main anti-aircraft (AA) defence.
.P The design proved very rugged and capable of withstanding severe punishment,
although the Amphions proved unluckier than the Leanders; two of the three ships
were sunk early in the war.
.P HMAS Sydney was completed in September 1935. When ordered for the RN, she was
to be named Phaeton; after the son of Helios in Greek mythology. However, her
transfer to the RAN was agreed whilst she was under construction and she was
commissioned directly into the RAN with the name Sydney, after the state capital
of New South Wales.
.P At the outbreak of the Second World War, she was based at Fremantle, Western
Australia. From there she was deployed until the end of the year in the Indian
Ocean and off the west coast of Australia on convoy defence and patrol duty,
searching for commerce raiders and blockade runners.
.P In January 1940, she was part of the convoy escort, whilst in coastal waters,
for convoy US.1 that took Australian and New Zealand troops to the Middle East
(see Transport Counter 4728). After detaching from the convoy, she was ordered to
Sydney for a refit, and this was completed in time for her to take part in the
second large troop convoy, US.2, in April. She escorted this convoy as far as the
Cocos Islands after which, she was ordered to sail for the Mediterranean to join
the Mediterranean Fleet in Alexandria, Egypt. At the end of May, with Italy just
weeks from declaring war, Sydney joined the 7th Cruiser Squadron (CS) and carried
out fleet exercises in early June.
.P She took part in the first fleet sortie after Italy entered the war on the
10th June (see HMS Calypso) and took part in the last Anglo-French operation in
the Mediterranean on the 20th and 21st June (see HMS Neptune). At the end of the
month, the 7th CS were covering convoys in the Eastern Mediterranean when they
came across an Italian destroyer force. In the ensuing action, the destroyer
Espero was sunk by Sydney (see HMS Liverpool).
.P At the beginning of July, Sydney was part of Vice-Admiral Pridham-Wippell`s
cruiser force that played a key role in what became the Battle of Calabria (see
HMS Royal Sovereign). Later that month, she claimed her second Italian warship
when she took part in the Battle of Cape Spada. Sydney was patrolling in the
Aegean with five destroyers, four of which were operating some distance from the
Australian Flagship. Two Italian cruisers, Bande Nere and Bartolomeo Colleoni,
were sailing to Leros on a supply mission to the island, when they came across
the four destroyers on the morning of the 19th. The Italians gave chase as the
smaller British ships withdrew, purposely leading the unwary Italians toward
Sydney. Although the Australian vessels was no more powerfully armed than the
Italian cruisers, she did have the advantage of better armour protection. Just
before 0830hrs, Sydney opened fire on the advancing Italians who quickly turned
around and tried to outrun Sydney with their superior speed. However, Colleoni
was hit by a shell that damaged her steering gear, and further hits soon caused
her to stop dead in the water. The crippled Italian ship continued to fight for
as long as she was able, but two of the destroyers, Ilex and Hyperion, were able
to get close enough to launch torpedoes, and ninety minutes after commencement of
the battle, Colleoni blew up. Bande Nere however, was able to outrun Sydney and
the destroyers.
.P At the end of that month, Sydney was back with the Mediterranean Fleet,
covering convoy operations in the Eastern Mediterranean and the fleet carried out
subsidiary attacks against Italian shipping and installations (see HMS Capetown).
Her next operation came in August when she took part in Operation HATS, a complex
operation to reinforce the Mediterranean Fleet, supply Malta and attack Italian
targets (see HMS Calcutta). At the end of the operation Sydney, the cruiser Orion
and two destroyers were deployed to shell Italian positions on Scarpanto.
.P At the end of September, Sydney took part in Operation MB.5, in which she was
part of the Mediterranean Fleet that covered the cruisers Gloucester and
Liverpool that were delivering troops to Malta (see HMS Liverpool). On the return
journey at the beginning of October, she teamed up with Orion once more, this
time to bombard enemy airfields at Stampalia. She was then deployed with the
fleet as distant cover for convoys MF3 and MF 4 (see HMS Calcutta) and at the end
of the month Sydney and Orion undertook a further sweep in to the Aegean Sea.
.P At the end of October, Sydney remained in the Eastern Mediterranean and then
helped to escort a convoy to Crete at the beginning of the following month. This
was part of a wider operation, MB.8 (see HMS Malaya), that culminated in the
famous air attack on the Italian Fleet at Taranto (see HMS Illustrious). At the
end of the operation, Sydney ventured into the Aegean and in company with Orion
and Ajax, they managed to sink a four ship Italian convoy off Brindisi.
.P At the end of November, Sydney took part in another multi-pronged operation,
Collar, that was used to supply Malta and Crete and re-position naval units in
the Mediterranean (see HMS Despatch) and then took part in Operation Hide at the
end of the year. This was another operation with a number of varied objectives
and that resulted in Sydney making another sortie into the Strait of Otranto. She
returned initially to Malta and from there she sailed for Alexandria as part of
Operation Excess at the beginning of January 1941 (see HMS Southampton).
.P Following this, Sydney was replaced in the Mediterranean by HMAS Perth, and
she sailed for her namesake port in mid-January 1941. She was diverted briefly on
route as she was ordered to search for the German commerce raiders Atlantis and
Pinguin, but reached Sydney harbour in March. She underwent a refit upon arrival
and was then deployed for convoy escort. Her war was very different from that
experienced in the Mediterranean, and the following months were marked for their
lack of enemy activity. That changed in November when Sydney was ordered to take
part in the search for the commerce raider Kormoran.
.P On the 19th November, while off the west coast of Australia, Sydney came upon
the German ship. Captain Burnett in the cruiser ordered his ship to approach to
identify the merchant vessel. Kormoran tried to pass herself off as a Dutch
merchant, but Sydney kept closing the range while trying to get confirmation.
This gave Kormoran the chance to surprise Sydney and open fire from close range.
They were just 1,600yds from each other when the order to fire was given.
.P It is believed that Sydney was hit over 150 times and she also took a torpedo
that badly damaged her bow. However, she began firing back and both ships were
soon mortally wounded. The engagement was broken off as the two crews became more
involved in saving their ships than fighting each other. Kormoran eventually sank
but 320 of her crew were rescued.
.P There were no survivors from the 645 officers and crew of the Sydney, which
was the largest ship to be lost with all hands from any navy in World War II. No
one knows exactly what happened to her, but at the time she broke off the
engagement with the Kormoran, she was on fire and seemingly unable to steer.

_____________________________

England expects that every man will do his duty. Horatio Nelson October 1805



(in reply to Extraneous)
Post #: 1412
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 9/25/2009 1:03:52 AM   
NBC_man

 

Posts: 3
Joined: 9/25/2009
Status: offline 		Looking at the list of unit counters and force pool. I think there is an aircraft type missing from the Japanese force pool, the Nakijima G8N Renzan (Allied code name Rita). It is a four engine bomber developed late 1944 to 1945. Four were built of which one was taken back to the US for flight testing. Range up to 4600 miles, max speed close to 370mph, up to 8000lb bomb load, defensive armament 6 20mm and 4 13mm.

(in reply to warspite1)
Post #: 1413
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 9/25/2009 1:16:44 AM   
Extraneous

 

Posts: 1810
Joined: 6/14/2008
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: NBC_man

Looking at the list of unit counters and force pool. I think there is an aircraft type missing from the Japanese force pool, the Nakijima G8N Renzan (Allied code name Rita). It is a four engine bomber developed late 1944 to 1945. Four were built of which one was taken back to the US for flight testing. Range up to 4600 miles, max speed close to 370mph, up to 8000lb bomb load, defensive armament 6 20mm and 4 13mm.


Nakajima G8N Renzan

The initial prototype was completed in October 1944, a mere one year after the Navy ordered development to start, and delivered in January 1945. However, the worsening war situation and a shortage of aluminum led to the project's cancellation in June. Four examples were built between October 1944 and June 1945.


_____________________________

University of Science Music and Culture (USMC) class of 71 and 72 ~ Extraneous (AKA Mziln)

(in reply to NBC_man)
Post #: 1414
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 9/25/2009 2:26:01 AM   
Shannon V. OKeets

 

Posts: 22095
Joined: 5/19/2005
From: Honolulu, Hawaii
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: NBC_man

Looking at the list of unit counters and force pool. I think there is an aircraft type missing from the Japanese force pool, the Nakijima G8N Renzan (Allied code name Rita). It is a four engine bomber developed late 1944 to 1945. Four were built of which one was taken back to the US for flight testing. Range up to 4600 miles, max speed close to 370mph, up to 8000lb bomb load, defensive armament 6 20mm and 4 13mm.

Welcome to the forum.

I read all the posts and take all the comments seriously (well, almost all).

Your suggestion is outside my area of expertise, but then my task is to transport the board game of World in Flames to the computer. Adding new units is (mercifully) not something that I am contracted to do. But the unit data files are easy to edit and purposefully designed to let players make changes such as what you describe here. You could even add your own writeup.

< Message edited by Shannon V. OKeets -- 9/25/2009 2:28:32 AM >

_____________________________

Steve

Perfection is an elusive goal.

(in reply to NBC_man)
Post #: 1415
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 9/25/2009 2:31:29 AM   
paulderynck


Posts: 8201
Joined: 3/24/2007
From: Canada
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: NBC_man

Looking at the list of unit counters and force pool. I think there is an aircraft type missing from the Japanese force pool, the Nakijima G8N Renzan (Allied code name Rita). It is a four engine bomber developed late 1944 to 1945. Four were built of which one was taken back to the US for flight testing. Range up to 4600 miles, max speed close to 370mph, up to 8000lb bomb load, defensive armament 6 20mm and 4 13mm.

From RAW: An aircraft unit represents 250 aircraft in 1939 gradually increasing to 500 aircraft by 1945.

Four aircraft do not make a unit in WiF. (When I clip my air counters, I probably destroy that many. )

< Message edited by paulderynck -- 9/25/2009 2:33:53 AM >

_____________________________

Paul

(in reply to NBC_man)
Post #: 1416
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 9/25/2009 3:19:58 AM   
NBC_man

 

Posts: 3
Joined: 9/25/2009
Status: offline 		How about as a counter for the 45 to 47 time frame to represent a potential unit?

(in reply to paulderynck)
Post #: 1417
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 9/25/2009 6:42:00 AM   
warspite1


Posts: 41353
Joined: 2/2/2008
From: England
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: paulderynck

quote:

ORIGINAL: NBC_man

Looking at the list of unit counters and force pool. I think there is an aircraft type missing from the Japanese force pool, the Nakijima G8N Renzan (Allied code name Rita). It is a four engine bomber developed late 1944 to 1945. Four were built of which one was taken back to the US for flight testing. Range up to 4600 miles, max speed close to 370mph, up to 8000lb bomb load, defensive armament 6 20mm and 4 13mm.

From RAW: An aircraft unit represents 250 aircraft in 1939 gradually increasing to 500 aircraft by 1945.

Four aircraft do not make a unit in WiF. (When I clip my air counters, I probably destroy that many. )

Warspite1

Yes but WIF have loads of "What if" counters too where the required number were not actually built (or built at all) so that would not be a reason for not having the unit. Interestingly, the aircraft does not feature in the America In Flames counter-mix either. Most likely reason for omission is the age old problem with cardboard games - the restriction on counter numbers.


_____________________________

England expects that every man will do his duty. Horatio Nelson October 1805



(in reply to paulderynck)
Post #: 1418
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 9/25/2009 6:55:16 AM   
Froonp


Posts: 7995
Joined: 10/21/2003
From: Marseilles, France
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: NBC_man

How about as a counter for the 45 to 47 time frame to represent a potential unit?

It's a good candidate for a future countersheet, and also for a future MWiF expansion.

Edit :
Nakajima also had 2 other long range bomber projects :
G5N1 Shinzan (Liz) (4 engines)
G10N1 Fugaku (6 engines)

How far did their developpment went compared to the G8N ?

< Message edited by Froonp -- 9/25/2009 7:03:00 AM >

(in reply to NBC_man)
Post #: 1419
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 9/25/2009 4:29:36 PM   
brian brian

 

Posts: 3191
Joined: 11/16/2005
Status: offline 		interesting stuff folks, thanks. I think they could always use new counter ideas down there in Australia....what fun would a new WiF kit be without some new cardboard pieces to play with?

(in reply to Froonp)
Post #: 1420
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 9/25/2009 5:30:26 PM   
Extraneous

 

Posts: 1810
Joined: 6/14/2008
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Froonp

It's a good candidate for a future countersheet, and also for a future MWiF expansion.

Edit :
Nakajima also had 2 other long range bomber projects :
G5N1 Shinzan (Liz) (4 engines)
G10N1 Fugaku (6 engines)

How far did their developpment went compared to the G8N ?



G10N1 Fugaku (6 engines)

Mitsubishi successfully built the 2-row 22-cylinder Ha-50 engine for the Kawanishi design, testing three units in May 1944.


G5N1 Shinzan (Liz) (4 engines)

Only a mere six or seven Shinzans were built.


_____________________________

University of Science Music and Culture (USMC) class of 71 and 72 ~ Extraneous (AKA Mziln)

(in reply to Froonp)
Post #: 1421
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 9/26/2009 9:59:35 PM   
warspite1


Posts: 41353
Joined: 2/2/2008
From: England
Status: offline 		.....and the last of the Amphions - the one that survived

[4005 Hobart - by Robert Jenkins]
.B Engine Output: 72,000 hp
.B Top Speed: 32.5 Knots
.B Main armament: 8 x 6-inch (152mm), 4 x 4-inch (102mm) guns
.B Displacement (full load): 9,150 tons
.B Thickest armour: 3-inch (belt)
.P The Amphions were a sub-class of the Leander-class light cruisers, although
some sources state they were a separate class. The main difference between the
two types was the layout of the boiler and engine rooms, resulting in the earlier
Leanders having just one funnel, while the Amphions had two.
.P All three ships that made up this sub-class were ultimately transferred to the
Royal Australian Navy (RAN). In Royal Navy (RN) service they were named after
Roman or Greek mythological characters, but their names were changed upon
transfer to the RAN and they were re-named after major Australian cities.
.P The treaty that followed the London Naval Conference of 1930 allowed Britain
to build 91,000 tons of cruisers up to the end of 1936. The original plan was to
build fourteen Leander-class at 6,500 tons each. However the class ended up
heavier than planned, resulting in a reduced number of this type being built. The
first ship completed was significantly over-weight and subsequent ships had their
weight pared back. As a result, the Amphions were lighter than the Leanders.
.P As was by then standard for the RN, the class were fitted with a six-inch main
armament, backed up by four, high-angle, four-inch secondary guns that provided
the main anti-aircraft (AA) defence.
.P The design proved very rugged and capable of withstanding severe punishment,
although the Amphions proved unluckier than the Leanders; two of the three ships
were sunk early in the war.
.P HMAS Hobart was completed in January 1936 as HMS Apollo, named after the God
of the Arts in Greek mythology. Upon transfer to the RAN, she changed her name
and was named after the capital of the state of Tasmania.
.P Hobart was commissioned into the RAN in September 1938 and at the outbreak of
the Second World War, she was deployed on patrol in Australian home waters,
before being transferred to the 4th Cruiser Squadron (CS), based at Singapore the
following month. From there she was deployed in the Indian Ocean on convoy escort
duty, and she took part in the search for German commerce raiders.
.P At the start of 1940, still operating in the Indian Ocean, Hobart escorted the
large troop convoy US.1, that took Australian and New Zealand troops to the
Middle East, on the final part of its journey (see Transport Counter 4728). Then,
after undergoing routine maintenance at Colombo, Ceylon, she was deployed on
patrol in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea and covered US.2, the second major
troop convoy from Australia, at the start of May.
.P Hobart remained in the region as the following month Italy declared war on the
French and British, and she was used to provide AA defence at Aden and further
convoy defence. In August, Italian troops invaded British Somaliland and Hobart
was used firstly to assist the defenders by providing naval gunfire support, and
later, when it became clear that the colony could not be held, she was central to
the evacuation mission. During this operation, Hobart was lightly damaged during
enemy air attacks, but over six thousand troops and civilians were evacuated from
Berbera, the capital.
.P After a further period of convoy escort duty, in October, Hobart was sent to
Colombo for a refit. Then, after a further brief period back in the Red Sea,
Hobart sailed for Australia at the end of 1940. Back in home waters once more,
she was deployed on convoy defence and patrol duty until June, when she underwent
a further refit, after which she sailed to the Mediterranean once again.
.P In August she joined the 7th CS, Mediterranean Fleet, and she had a subsidiary
role in Operation Treacle that month when, from the 19th to the 30th of August,
the RN mounted a series of operations that were designed to bring supplies to the
besieged Tobruk garrison, and to get troops of the Australian 9th Division
replaced by Polish and British troops. Later that month, Hobart was used to carry
RAF and Army personnel to Cyprus to reinforce the garrison there. Hobart was used
in this subidiary transport and convoy escort role for the remainder of the year.
At the start of December she was escorting the fast supply ship Breconshire back
to Egypt from Malta, when she was called upon to assist the sloops Flamingo and
HMAS Yarra that were taking part in the last of the relief convoys to Tobruk.
Three days later, on the 10th, Hobart found herself sailing for Australia once
more, this time in response to the entry of Japan into the war.
.P On her way home, she was part of the escort for the military convoy BM9A that
took troops and supplies to aid Commonwealth forces fighting to contain the
Japanese then advancing through Malaya. The convoy arrived at Singapore on the
3rd January, and Hobart was transferred upon arrival to ABDA - American, British,
Dutch, Australian Command. Hobart was not to reach Australia for a while as she
was ordered to remain in the convoy escort role, to and from the colony. At the
end of the month, Hobart was nominally transferred to the control of ANZAC Force
along with other RAN and Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) ships (See HMAS Canberra),
although she actually remained deployed with ABDA at this time.
.P At the start of February, she was deployed at Tanjong Priok, Western Java, as
part of ABDA`s Western Striking Force. By now the Allies began turning their
attention to the defence of the Dutch East Indies. On the 5th, Hobart was
deployed with the British heavy cruiser Exeter in the Banka Strait off Sumatra,
where they were ordered to provide additional cover for a troop convoy to
Palembang.
.P On the 14th, Hobart sailed with Exeter, the Dutch cruisers De Ruyter, Java and
Tromp and a destroyer escort, in order to try and locate an enemy invasion convoy
reportedly heading for Sumatra. The Allied force achieved nothing in the face of
overwhelming air attack and had to turn back. During this sortie Hobart was
damaged by a number of near misses.
.P Hobart was next deployed with the old RN cruisers Danae and Dragon in an
unsuccessful search for enemy convoys, but by now, at the end of February, things
were looking desperate for ABDA command as Japanese invasions were in full swing
against the main islands of the Dutch East Indies. As part of the Western
Striking Force, Hobart was not part of the ABDA forces that took part in the
disastrous Battle of the Java Sea, and the equally catastrophic follow-up battles
(see HMAS Exeter and HMAS Perth). Instead, she and the two D-class cruisers were
ordered to sail for the safety of the main British naval base at Trincomalee,
Ceylon. During this voyage, the ships embarked refugees from Padang.
.P Hobart arrived in Ceylon in early March, but was quickly ordered to sail for
Australia, where she joined other ships of Task Force 44 (TF44), previously the
ANZAC squadron. As part of TF44, Hobart was deployed with, and under the ultimate
command of, the US Navy. She played a peripheral role in the Battle of the Coral
Sea (see HMAS Australia) and was used extensively in the convoy escort role as
the Americans built up their forces in the South-West Pacific, specifically for
the forthcoming invasion of Guadalcanal. After providing naval gunfire support
for the initial landings, she was deployed with the Allied cruiser and destroyer
force that guarded the transport fleet off the island. On the night of the 9th
August she was deployed with the USS San Juan to the east of the anchorage and so
took no direct part in the disastrous Battle of Savo Island that night (see HMAS
Canberra).
.P Hobart remained off Guadalcanal for the remainder of August, providing support
for the US carrier forces during the battles to evict the Japanese from the
island. She was ordered to return to Australia the following month and had repair
work undertaken. Following this, she was ordered to rejoin TF44 to assist the
operations in the South-West Pacific. This deployment lasted for the remainder of
the year, and then in March 1943, she was transferred to the operational command
of the 7th Fleet (and as such TF44 became TF74. Prior to this, she returned to
Australia for a further refit to prepare her for the forthcoming island-hopping
operations. She had her aircraft facilities removed and additional AA weaponry
was added.
.P In June, now part of TF74 along with HMAS Australia and four destroyers, she
was called upon to assist Operation Cartwheel; the invasion of New Georgia. US
naval losses had been high and as a result the two Australian cruisers had been
called up to fill gaps in the line. On the 20th, Hobart was struck by a torpedo
fired from Japanese submarine I-11. She had to be towed to Espiritu Santu for
temporary repair before she could begin the journey back to Australia in August.
The damage was extensive and it was only at the start of 1945 that she was ready
for active service once more.
.P In mid-February she rejoined TF74 in order to help support the landings in the
Philippines. For this she was part of Task Group (TG) 74.3, along with the US
cruisers Phoenix and Boise, that supported the landings of the Americal Division
at Cebu on the 26th March. At the end of the following month TG74.3 were
transferred to support the landings on Borneo; Operation Oboe I.
.P In a temporary change of scene, at the start of May, Hobart was joined by the
British cruiser Newfoundland and two Australian destroyers and they were ordered
to sail for New Guinea to assist operations at Wewak where the Australian 6th
Division were busily trying to end the resistance of the Japanese 18th Army.
Following this brief operation, Hobart was ordered back to TG74.3 and she took
part in further support operations on Borneo. Her last operation of the war was
in company with the Australian heavy cruiser Shropshire; together making up
TG74.1. This task group were used to provide naval gunfire support against enemy
shore batteries at Balikpapan.
.P In early July, Hobart was released from the Borneo operations and sailed for
the Philippines. She and Shropshire were present in Tokyo Bay for the formal
Japanese surrender ceremony on the 2nd September 1945.
.P HMAS Hobart was scrapped in 1962.


_____________________________

England expects that every man will do his duty. Horatio Nelson October 1805



(in reply to warspite1)
Post #: 1422
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 9/26/2009 10:06:14 PM   
warspite1


Posts: 41353
Joined: 2/2/2008
From: England
Status: offline 		2/3 the Aussie TRS

[4010 Transport Australian - by Robert Jenkins]
.B Name: AHS Centaur
.B Engine(s) output: 1,400 hp
.B Top Speed: 12.5 knots
.B Main armament: No weapons were carried upon conversion to a hospital ship.
.B Gross Tonnage: 3,222 tons
.B Thickest armour: Not Applicable
.P World in Flames uses two main types of naval transport counter: Transport
(TRS) and Amphibious (AMPH). The use of these counters depends to an extent on
what optional rules are being used. However, as a general rule, TRS represent
the types of ship that were used to transport men and material from one friendly
port to another, while AMPH represent the specialised shipping that could land
men and material on a hostile shore.
.P In World War II, ships of every type and from every available source, were
placed under the command of the British Ministry of War Transport (MOWT).
These ships were not only drawn from Britain`s own merchant fleet but also from
those of Britain`s Allies - the Norwegian contribution being particularly
important. In addition, enemy ships that were captured by the Royal Navy (RN)
also fell under the control of MOWT.
.P Some ships were commissioned into the RN and were given an RN crew, while
others were either totally crewed by civilians or had a mixed complement. By way
of example, some merchant vessels were equipped with heavy guns that required
operation by DEMS (Defensively Equipped Merchant Ship) gunners and these men
typically came from the RN or even the army.
.P TRS not only include troop ships but also other vessels that kept the troops
fighting overseas supplied. These vessels include tankers, munitions ships and
other cargo carrying vessels. These write-ups outline a few of the these vessels
that were so vital to ensuring a successful outcome to the Second World War.
This Australian write-up looks at the hospital ship Centaur and her loss in May
1943.
.P Centaur was built in the UK in 1924 for the Blue Funnel Line. She was
designed specifically for use as both a passenger vessel and a freighter capable
of carrying goods and livestock. She operated initially between Western
Australia and Singapore.
.P When the Second World War broke out, Centaur came under the control of the
MOWT. She was fitted with a 4-inch (102mm) gun and two machine guns, but with
Japan not in the war, she remained in her pre-war role. Following the loss of
the light cruiser HMAS Sydney in November 1941, an aircraft searching for her
came upon a lifeboat that was carrying survivors from the commerce raider
Kormoran; the ship that had sunk Sydney - but had also been sunk by the cruiser.
Centaur was directed to the lifeboat to pick up the German crew. Sadly, there
were to be no survivors from Sydney.
.P After the entry of Japan into the war in December 1941, Centaur was initially
used to ferry supplies to New Guinea. This duty did not last long. The
Australians had three hospital ships in service at that time, but none were
ideally suited to the shallow coastal waters common in that region. Centaur had
been specifically designed with a flat bottom for this reason and so the
Australian Department of Defence asked the British if the Centaur could be taken
under Australian control for the purpose of conversion to a hospital ship. This
request was granted and her conversion was completed in March 1943.
.P In accordance with laid down procedure, details of the ship were provided to
the Japanese via the Red Cross and her weaponry was removed. She was given the
markings of a hospital ship; a white hull with a green band and three red
crosses on each side. Lights were fitted to ensure that these markings were
clearly displayed during night time. She was well equipped for the role with
space for 252 beds and with her own operating theatre. Her role was the transfer
of casualties between Papua New Guinea and Sydney, and she left Sydney on the
12th May for what was only her second voyage in this role. She had on board 74
crew and just under 250 male and female nursing personnel. She was heading for
New Guinea when, in the early hours of the 14th May, she was torpedoed and sunk
by the Japanese submarine I-177 while off North Stradbroke Island, Queensland.
The torpedo ignited fuel and fire quickly raged on board. She took less than
three minutes to sink.
.P Of the 332 officers, crew and nursing staff aboard, only 64 survivors were
rescued. Those that did survive spent thirty-six hours in the water. There was
one survivor from the 12 nurses onboard, Ellen Savage, who won the George Cross
for her courage and example shown during the sinking and in the days before
rescue.
.P The Japanese denied the atrocity and it was only in 1979 that the identity of
the Japanese submarine became known. The commander of I-177 was Lt-Commander
Nakagawa. He survived the war but was never tried for the crime. However, he was
convicted as a war criminal for firing on survivors of a British merchant vessel
in the Indian Ocean later in the war. He died in 1991, having never revealed any
details surrounding the sinking of the Centaur.
.P As for Centaur herself; her wreck has never been found.

_____________________________

England expects that every man will do his duty. Horatio Nelson October 1805



(in reply to warspite1)
Post #: 1423
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 9/26/2009 10:16:19 PM   
warspite1


Posts: 41353
Joined: 2/2/2008
From: England
Status: offline 		Finally 3/3, an example of one of the two Aussie ASW`s. I will post one final counter tomorrow - the heavy cruiser Canberra - and then, subject to any comment, that will be the Royal Australian Navy done. Next stop the three ships of the Royal New Zealand Navy

[4009 ASW Australian - by Robert Jenkins]
.P The date on the back of these ASW and ASW Carrier counters do not relate in
any meaningful way to actual build dates for the ships that undertook the
convoy escort role during World War II. The counter date should therefore be
ignored. In addition, the counter mix is unbalanced in terms of origin
of the escorts and those with an aircraft component. As a result there will be a
degree of Royal Navy (RN) ship write-up on Canadian counters and non-carrier
units being described on ASW Carrier counters.
.P These counters do not represent an individual convoy or any specific ships,
but are designed to represent convoy escort groups. They have mixed values
reflecting the fact that the make-up of an escort group could differ from one
convoy to the next. Additionally, they show that as the war progressed, the
escorts allocated to convoys grew, not only in number, but also in anti-aircraft
(AA) and anti-submarine (ASW) capability. This was due to the great shipbuilding
programs; particularly in the US, Britain and Canada, that churned out
substantial volumes of specialised escort vessels.
.P There were three main threats to convoys: Surface raiders, U-boats and
aircraft.
.B
.B Surface Raiders
.P See individual unit counters for details of action against convoys.
.B
.B U-boats
.P Unrestricted submarine warfare by the Germans in the First World War brought
the United Kingdom to the brink of defeat. The UK survived thanks largely to the
introduction of the convoy system which provided the previously unguarded and
mostly unarmed merchant vessels with warship protection.
.P At the outbreak of World War II convoys were re-introduced as quickly as
possible, but there had been a lack of investment in time and resources devoted
to the subject of convoy defence during the inter-war years. As a result, there
were initially insufficient escorts for the task. In consequence, the RN had to
use precious fleet destroyers that were badly needed elsewhere, and after losses
incurred during evacuations off Norway and France, this problem became critical.
Fortunately for the British, the Kriegsmarine were equally, if not more
unprepared, and actually started the war with only fifty-seven U-boats. Of
these, just twenty-six were capable of Atlantic operations. This situation did
not last long however, as under Karl Donitz, head of the U-boat arm, a large
scale U-boat build program was instigated. Winston Churchill said that the only
thing that frightened him in World War II was the U-boat threat and for a time
the U-boats threatened to sink more merchant ships than could be replaced. In
the end though, the greater resources open to the Allies; more ships and better
technology, ground the U-boat menace into oblivion.
.B
.B Aircraft
.P During the Second World War, the potency of aircraft as ship killers became
evident. Most convoy routes came under threat from air attack at some point
along their length. To reach out into the Atlantic and Arctic, the Germans
employed their long range Focke-Wulf FW200 Condor aircraft that had a range of
2,212 miles (3,560km) and a 14-hour endurance. For more confined waters like the
North Sea, the English Channel and the Mediterranean, the Axis forces were able
to employ their shorter range aircraft in the ship killer role. Ultimately, the
Allies were able to employ both escort carriers and escorts with better AA
capability to neutralise this threat.
.P Of all the convoy routes, the Atlantic was the most important. The Battle of
the Atlantic was to be the longest battle in World War II. Had the Allies lost,
the UK could have been literally starved into defeat. It is worth remembering
here that the men of the Merchant Navy suffered a higher percentage of losses
compared to the British Army, RN or Royal Air Force in World War II, mostly in
bringing food and supplies to the UK. In addition, the movement of troops from
the United States and the far flung colonies and dominions of the Commonwealth
to the frontline; France, India, North Africa etc would have been much more
hazardous if the Axis had control of the sea lanes.
.P These counters give information on the main types of convoy escort that were
available to the RN and the Dominion navies. This Australian write-up looks at
the Grimsby-class sloops and in particular HMAS Yarra.
.P The term sloop re-appeared in the RN during the First World War after a
period of non-use. They were designed then as small, multi-purpose warships,
initially heavily involved in the minesweeper role but later in the escort role.
It was for this latter purpose that the Grimsby-class sloops were designed in the
mid-thirties. To this end the class had a heavier armament than their
predecessors. The Grimsby-class totalled thirteen ships, eight built for the RN,
four for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and one, slightly larger version, for
the Royal Indian Navy.
.B
.B Name: HMAS Yarra
.B Engine(s) Output: 2,000 hp
.B Top Speed: 16.5 knots
.B Main Armament: 3 x 4-inch (102mm), 1 x 3-inch (76.2mm) guns
.B Displacement (full load): 1,500 tons
.B Thickest Armour: N/a
.P HMAS Yarra was completed in January 1936, and was one of four such ships
built in Australian yards for the RAN. Her first year of war saw her undertake
patrol and escort duty in home waters.
.P She left Australia in August 1940 and was transferred to the Red Sea Force
based at Aden, where she was under the command of the RN. So began an intense,
but dull, period of patrol and escort duty. She provided escort for convoys that
had come either from the UK around the Cape of Good Hope or from Australia,
India and New Zealand. She fired her first shots in anger on one such convoy
operation in October 1940, during which an Italian Sauro-class destroyer was
sunk.
.P Red Sea deployment ended in March 1941 when she sailed to Bombay for a refit.
Upon completion, Yarra took part in the campaign to put down the revolt in Iraq,
escorting a troop convoy to Basra in early April. She was then stationed off
Basra, providing naval gunfire support for the ground forces until the end of
May, when the short-lived revolt was put down. In August, the British launched a
joint occupation of Persia with the Soviet Union and Yarra was part of a small
naval force of sloops, trawlers, gun-boats and other assorted small craft tasked
with seizing the Persian naval base at Khorramshahr. During this action, Yarra
sank the Persian sloop Babr and forced the surrender of a number of Persian gun-
boats. She and the sloop Falmouth then landed Indian troops who were tasked with
securing the base. The mission was accomplished within a day.
.P Another refit in Bombay followed in September and in October, she and her
sister ship, Parramatta were sent to Egypt to reinforce the RN forces at
Alexandria. From there, the sloops were part of the force tasked with supplying
the besieged garrison at Tobruk up until the port was finally relieved on the
8th December. During these runs, Yarra came under intense air attack. Her sister
failed to survive, being sunk by a U-boat on the 27th November.
.P Yarra`s Mediterranean experience was as brief as it was intense, and in early
December she sailed for the Dutch East Indies. The Japanese had entered the war
with the attack on Pearl Harbor and quickly followed this up with an assault on
Malaya and Singapore. In January 1942, Yarra joined China Force (see HMS Durban)
and took part in convoy escort between the Sunda Strait (between Sumatra and
Java) and Singapore.
.P At the start of February, the last convoy to reach Singapore, BM12 (see HMS
Durban) was attacked from the air. Yarra was one of the escorts and when the
troop ship Empress of Asia was bombed and set ablaze, Yarra was responsible for
safely embarking well over 1,000 troops, despite being under ferocious air attack
and with the possibility she could capsize.
.P Sadly, Yarra was not to survive much longer. She continued providing escort
in the Dutch East Indies as the Japanese offensives in Malaya and Singapore came
to their successful conclusions; the Dutch colony was next. The Allied defeat at
the Battle of the Java Sea and then the subsidiary battles over the next few days
(see HMS Exeter), spelt the end of any Allied hopes of holding the Dutch East
Indies. All that could be done was to evacuate as many troops as possible to
fight another day.
.P At the beginning of March, Yarra was the sole warship escorting a convoy to
Fremantle, Australia. Unfortunately, a force of Japanese cruisers and destroyers
were in the area searching for any remaining Allied shipping; and they found
Yarra and the convoy. In the early morning of 4th March, three heavy cruisers,
Atago, Takao and Maya attacked. The captain of the little sloop, Lt-Commander
Robert Rankin, knew what he had to do. He ordered the convoy to scatter and set
about placing his ship between the merchant vessels and the enemy. He could call
upon just three 4-inch guns against the thirty 8-inch guns of the Japanese
ships. Despite the heroic efforts of the Yarra and her crew, the Japanese ships
sunk the four Allied vessels in turn; Yarra the last to disappear beneath the
waves. Captain Rankin and all Yarra`s officers died. Just thirteen survivors from
the sloop were picked up five days later by a Dutch submarine.

_____________________________

England expects that every man will do his duty. Horatio Nelson October 1805



(in reply to warspite1)
Post #: 1424
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 9/27/2009 6:04:10 PM   
warspite1


Posts: 41353
Joined: 2/2/2008
From: England
Status: offline 		..and the final Aussie example - the heavy cruiser Canberra

[4002 Canberra - by Robert Jenkins]
.B Engine(s) output: 80,000 hp
.B Top Speed: 31.5 knots
.B Main armament: 8 x 8-inch (203mm), 4 x 4-inch (102mm) guns
.B Displacement (full load): 13,400 tons
.B Thickest armour: 1-inch (belt)
.P The Counties were a class of thirteen heavy cruisers built for the Royal
Navy (RN) and Royal Australian Navy (RAN) during the twenties.
.P The class were split into three sub-classes, Kent, London and Norfolk, whilst
a fourth, the Surrey-class of two ships, was cancelled in 1930 following the
decision to cease the building of large 8-inch gunned cruisers and instead to
concentrate on smaller and more numerous 6-inch types.
.P The Counties were the first RN cruisers built in accordance with the 1922
Washington Naval Treaty. This set cruiser limits at 8-inch for the main armament
and 10,000 tons displacement. In theory, any ships above these levels would
count against battleship allowances. The setting of limits with these dimensions
was largely the result of the RN already having cruisers of similar size, the
Hawkins-class, that that they wished to keep.
.P However, these cruisers were bigger than the RN really required and in order
to get more ships for the same allowed tonnage, the RN cancelled both the
planned Surrey-class and the last three York-class.
.P Upon completion, the class had a sensible anti-aircraft (AA) defence and this
was augmented during the thirties when the Counties were modernised. Their main
weakness was the lack of armour protection, although additional protection was
added during the thirties.
.P World War II gave the County-class the opportunity to prove themselves as
excellent all-round vessels, noted for their combination of range, strength, sea
-worthiness and weight of fire. Note - the statistics above are as at the
outbreak of the Second World war.
.P As the class name suggests, the RN ships were named after English counties,
while one of the Australian vessels was named after the country she served and
the second, after the capital city. One of the RN ships, Shropshire, was
transferred to the RAN during the war, but she kept her RN name.
.P HMAS Canberra was completed in July 1928. She was the only ship of the class
not reconstructed in the thirties. At the outbreak of the Second World War, she
was deployed in the Indian Ocean on trade defence and she ended that first year
in New Zealand, preparing to escort the military convoy US.1, that carried over
13,000 Australian and New Zealand (ANZAC) troops to the Middle East (see
Transport Counter 4728). After this, she was deployed back on trade defence and
patrol duty until May, when she was transferred to RN control. She then took part
in escorting the second large troop convoy, US.2, that included the famous liners
Queen Mary and Aquitania that took further ANZAC troops to the UK (see Transport
Counter 4717).
.P Following this, Canberra was deployed back in the Indian Ocean, where she
remained on convoy defence and interception of commerce raiders until the end of
July, at which point she returned to Australia. From there she assisted the
escort of convoys between Sydney and Fremantle and took part in searches for
enemy commerce raiders. Canberra remained in this role for the rest of the year,
and then underwent a refit at the start of 1941.
.P Upon completion, she resumed duties in the Indian Ocean. This spell included
the unsuccessful search for the pocket-battleship Admiral Scheer (see HMS
Hawkins). In March, Canberra intercepted the German freighter Coburg and the
captured Norwegian tanker Ketty Brovig. Both ships were scuttled by their crews.
The following month, she was deployed in the Indian Ocean for further convoy
escort until the end of the year.
.P Upon the entry of Japan into the war on the 7th December 1941, Canberra was
transferred to the defence of military convoys in the South West Pacific. The
cruisers HMAS Perth, HMNZS Achilles and Canberra assisted the escort of a troop
convoy that originally set out from San Francisco at the end of November, and at
the end of December, Canberra escorted convoy ZK5 from Sydney to Port Moresby,
New Guinea. This second convoy delivered over 4,000 troops and 10,000 tons of
supplies to Port Moresby.
.P After escorting convoy S2, taking reinforcements to Singapore at the end of
January, Canberra was briefly deployed with the ANZAC squadron (see HMAS
Australia). She was in Sydney when the Japanese launched a midget submarine
attack on shipping in the harbour. No significant damage was inflicted on any
ship. From June, Canberra was sent for duty with the US Navy and her first
operation was to sail from Sydney with fellow cruisers Australia, HMAS Hobart,
USS Chicago and USS Salt Lake City. These ships operated within Task Force (TF)
44 and together, took part in Coral Sea Sweeps in June and July.
.P On the 8th and 9th August, following the landings by the Americans in the
eastern Solomon Islands, the Japanese sought to attack the Allied transports
with a cruiser force commanded by Vice-Admiral Mikawa. The transports were
protected by an Allied screening force of eight cruisers and fifteen destroyers,
commanded by Rear-Admiral Crutchley aboard Australia. The overall commander of
Allied naval forces in the Guadalcanal and Tulagi operation was Vice-Admiral
Fletcher. Fletcher was also in charge of the carrier force. Following strikes by
Japanese aircraft based in Rabaul, Fletcher decided to withdraw his carrier
fleet. This decision was taken despite the fact that not all the transports had
been unloaded and were still vulnerable to attack. Mikawa was based in Rabaul,
and he assembled all the available warships he could, in order to attack the
transports. In addition to his Flagship Chokai, he had the heavy cruisers Aoba,
Furutaka, Kako and Kinugasa and the light cruisers Tenryu and Yubari. Without
carriers of his own, Mikawa sought to bring the Allies to battle in a night
engagement.
.P Crutchley had split his forces into three groups: a southern group, Australia
and Canberra, the US cruiser Chicago and two destroyers; a northern group, with
the US cruisers Vincennes, Astoria and Quincy and two destroyers and finally an
eastern group, consisting of the US cruiser San Juan, Hobart and two destroyers.
As the Japanese force neared the Allied ships, they were spotted by a US
submarine, and then later on by two patrolling aircraft. However, the reports
were not sent to the fleet until much later. Mikawa decided to attack the
transports at Guadalcanal first and then Tulagi if the opportunity presented
itself. American reconnaissance of the area was non-existent despite specific
requests from the commander of the transport fleet, and so Mikawa was undetected
as he moved closer to Guadalcanal. Captain Bode on board Chicago was in charge of
the southern group as Crutchley had left in Australia to attend a conference on
the evening of the 8th. The US commanders had by now heard of the reports from
the aircraft and submarine, but concluded that the enemy would not be a threat
that night. At the end of the conference, Crutchley did not return with Australia
to the southern group, but did not inform Bode of this. The Japanese cruisers
approached in a single column with the Flagship Chokai at the front. A radar
equipped destroyer, USS Blue that Crutchley had placed to guard the southern
passage, failed to detect the Japanese, who were able to sail right past her. At
just before 0130hrs on the morning of the 9th, Mikawa gave the order for his
ships to attack independently. They came upon the southern group and prepared to
attack. Although the destroyer Patterson spotted the enemy and began firing, the
Japanese launched flares to illuminate Canberra and Chicago. Canberra`s captain
immediately set about keeping his ship between the Japanese and the transports.
However, before she could open fire, Chokai and Furutaka opened up quickly,
followed by Aoba and then Kako. Canberra was almost immediately without power
and was not able to get a single shot or even a warning off. It was now the turn
of Chicago, which was hit by a torpedo from Kako. A second torpedo hit but
failed to explode and the US cruiser steamed away leaving behind the transports.
.P Having left a trail of destruction where the southern group previously were,
the Japanese now split into two and made for the northern force. Surprisingly,
despite the noise coming from the southern group`s area and the warning from
Patterson, the ships of the northern group took some time to react. Astoria was
hit by shells from four of the enemy cruisers and set ablaze. Quincy, like
Canberra, was struck before she had a chance to bring her guns to bear. She was
then hit by two torpedoes, and although she eventually fired a few main gun
salvoes, hitting Chokai, further shells and torpedoes smashed into her and she
sank just after 0230hrs. Meanwhile the Vincennes began a dual with Kako and was
hit a number of times before being struck by two torpedoes. Kinugasa joined Kako
in firing at the American cruiser, and although Vincennes managed to damage her
latest attacker, Vincennes was hit over seventy times and she sank about twenty
minutes after Quincy.
.P Mikawa now had a decision to make. Should he return to engage the transports
or withdraw? A number of reasons combined to influence his decision to withdraw;
not least of which was that he would be without air cover once it got light. It
was an opportunity missed for the Imperial Japanese Navy.
.P Meanwhile back on Canberra, Patterson had come alongside to assist the cruiser
in fighting her fires, and these were put out. However, the order was given to
scuttle any ship that was incapable of withdrawing under her own steam. Two US
destroyers sank Canberra with torpedoes and gunfire. 84 officers and men from
Canberra had died or were to die from their injuries as a result of the battle.
Astoria was unable to control her fires and sank that morning. It was a crushing
defeat, but could have been much worse if Mikawa had realised the damage he could
have done to the undefended transports.



_____________________________

England expects that every man will do his duty. Horatio Nelson October 1805



(in reply to warspite1)
Post #: 1425
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 10/1/2009 7:37:39 PM   
warspite1


Posts: 41353
Joined: 2/2/2008
From: England
Status: offline 		From the When Thread

Units, Map, and Scenarios
.........Alain sent me his current master copy of the land unit writeups, including some new ones from Adam and David Hughes. David is new to the team and is writing very informed descriptions of the Commonwealth units (ask him about his book).


Warspite1

Can we see some of these new land units please?

Thanks in advance.

_____________________________

England expects that every man will do his duty. Horatio Nelson October 1805



(in reply to warspite1)
Post #: 1426
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 10/1/2009 10:07:13 PM   
Shannon V. OKeets

 

Posts: 22095
Joined: 5/19/2005
From: Honolulu, Hawaii
Status: offline 		I believe Alain has asked David to integrate what David has written into some of the previous writeups on these units. The earlier versions contained information on the territory (population, goverance, size, etc.).

Here are 4 of David's additions:
============
#2875: Kenyan Territorials
Although most of the soldiers that garrisoned East Africa belonged to the King’s African Rifles, the white settlers of Kenya did form their own territorial unit, the Kenya Regiment. It never saw action, instead being used as source of officers for the native regiments. More active was another ‘white’ unit, the Kenya Independent Scouts. This took advantage of the polo-playing passion of the rich settlers, and was used as a horse and mule mounted reconnaissance unit, fighting against the Italians in Ethiopia.

#2876: Uganda Territorials
The King’s African Rifles was a very large regiment that enrolled in Uganda, Kenya, Nyasaland and Tanganyika and eventually consisted of no less than 41 battalions. Many of these served with the African and East African Divisions in Ethiopia and Burma but some remained at home as garrison and training units. Uganda was the least active (or war-like) of the three colonies, raising only eight of the battalions.

#2877: Tanganyika Territorials
This, the former German East Africa, had provided the much-respected ‘Schützentruppen’ that had fought against the Allies from 1914 to 1918. When British rule was imposed the colony continued to provide some of the best recruits for their former opponents, the ‘askari’ of the King’s African Rifles. Indeed by 1943 some of the original German-led soldiers were called back to serve the King as local security forces to replace the battalions sent overseas. These belonged to the Tanganyika section of the Defence Forces, a sort of East African home guard.

#2879: Northern Rhodesia Territorials
This was protected by the men of the Northern Rhodesia Regiment. Only a single battalion in 1939 it was expanded to eight battalions and a garrison company by 1943. Three of them served in the 27th Northern Rhodesia Brigade which went to Madagascar in 1942. However many of the battalions remained at home, necessary in order to control the inter-tribal disputes and the natives ‘assigned’ to work in the copper mines of the colony. For example the 2nd Battalion of the regiment was forced to fire on rioters in 1940, killing many of them.


_____________________________

Steve

Perfection is an elusive goal.

(in reply to warspite1)
Post #: 1427
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 10/2/2009 7:20:55 AM   
warspite1


Posts: 41353
Joined: 2/2/2008
From: England
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets

I believe Alain has asked David to integrate what David has written into some of the previous writeups on these units. The earlier versions contained information on the territory (population, goverance, size, etc.).

Here are 4 of David's additions:
============
#2875: Kenyan Territorials
Although most of the soldiers that garrisoned East Africa belonged to the King’s African Rifles, the white settlers of Kenya did form their own territorial unit, the Kenya Regiment. It never saw action, instead being used as source of officers for the native regiments. More active was another ‘white’ unit, the Kenya Independent Scouts. This took advantage of the polo-playing passion of the rich settlers, and was used as a horse and mule mounted reconnaissance unit, fighting against the Italians in Ethiopia.

#2876: Uganda Territorials
The King’s African Rifles was a very large regiment that enrolled in Uganda, Kenya, Nyasaland and Tanganyika and eventually consisted of no less than 41 battalions. Many of these served with the African and East African Divisions in Ethiopia and Burma but some remained at home as garrison and training units. Uganda was the least active (or war-like) of the three colonies, raising only eight of the battalions.

#2877: Tanganyika Territorials
This, the former German East Africa, had provided the much-respected ‘Schützentruppen’ that had fought against the Allies from 1914 to 1918. When British rule was imposed the colony continued to provide some of the best recruits for their former opponents, the ‘askari’ of the King’s African Rifles. Indeed by 1943 some of the original German-led soldiers were called back to serve the King as local security forces to replace the battalions sent overseas. These belonged to the Tanganyika section of the Defence Forces, a sort of East African home guard.

#2879: Northern Rhodesia Territorials
This was protected by the men of the Northern Rhodesia Regiment. Only a single battalion in 1939 it was expanded to eight battalions and a garrison company by 1943. Three of them served in the 27th Northern Rhodesia Brigade which went to Madagascar in 1942. However many of the battalions remained at home, necessary in order to control the inter-tribal disputes and the natives ‘assigned’ to work in the copper mines of the colony. For example the 2nd Battalion of the regiment was forced to fire on rioters in 1940, killing many of them.

Warspite1

I had no idea the KAR numbered over 40 battalions .

This is really interesting stuff . Keep `em coming.


_____________________________

England expects that every man will do his duty. Horatio Nelson October 1805



(in reply to Shannon V. OKeets)
Post #: 1428
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 10/5/2009 1:13:50 PM   
warspite1


Posts: 41353
Joined: 2/2/2008
From: England
Status: offline 		The Kiwis have three surface ships in WIF and I intend to post one example (although may do a second if I am a little unsure of some of the facts. Here is the first, which includes stories from the British Pacific Fleet operations in 1945. I would be interested to know how she was crewed when transferred to the Kiwis i.e. did she have an English crew that changed when she visited New Zealand in early 1945 (unlikely I would have thought), or had the crew of Leander and /or Achilles previously sailed for the UK?? (Help please anyone?):

[4012 Gambia - by Robert Jenkins]
.B Engine(s) output: 72,500 hp
.B Top Speed: 31.5 knots
.B Main armament: 12 x 6-inch (152mm), 8 x 4-inch (102mm) guns
.B Displacement (full load): 10,450 tons
.B Thickest armour: 3.5-inch (belt)
.P The Colony-class consisted of eleven light cruisers built for the Royal
Navy (RN) during the Second World War. They were built in two groups; Fiji and
Ceylon, with the latter ships being built to a slightly revised design.
.P All but two ships were were actually laid down before the outbreak of World
War II and were designed within the confines of the Second London Naval Treaty.
This lowered the 10,000 ton cruiser limit set in 1922 to 8,000 tons. The class
were in many respects smaller versions of the last two Town-class cruisers,
being 35 feet shorter and with a slightly thinner 3.5-inch belt armour. The
supply system for the anti-aircraft (AA) weaponry was improved over that in the
last two Town-class ships.
.P The three ships that made up the Ceylon group were built with no X-turret and
this allowed additional AA weaponry. Most surviving members of the Fiji group
had their X-turrets removed in the latter stages of the war. Aircraft facilities
were also removed from all ships. Note, Fiji and Kenya were not fitted with
aircraft capability at completion.
.P Visually, the Colonies differed from the Town-class as they featured straight
funnels and masts as opposed to the raked design of the earlier ships. They
proved to be an excellent design that served the RN well in all the main theatres
of the Second World War.
.P HMS Gambia was completed in February 1942. World In Flames depicts this ship
as a unit of the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN), although she began life in the
RN before being lent to the RNZN in 1943 (see below).
.P Gambia was earmarked for deployment with the 4th Cruiser Squadron (CS),
Eastern Fleet and after working-up with the Home Fleet, she sailed to her new
station in April, escorting a military convoy as far as South Africa on her way
to Kilindini, East Africa. Kilindini was the port to which the Eastern Fleet had
had withdrawn in April, following Admiral Nagumo`s Indian Ocean raid (see HMS
Cornwall). Now, with the Japanese having been checked by the US Navy at the
Battle of the Coral Sea, the RN were looking to re-establish their forward base
at Trincomalee, Ceylon. Gambia sailed with the battleship Warspite and the
carriers Illustrious and Formidable for Ceylon in May.
.P However, the Eastern Fleet was in no position at that time to undertake
offensive operations against the Japanese, and Gambia was deployed on convoy
escort and patrol duty in the Indian Ocean until August, when she was ordered to
return to East Africa to prepare for Operation Stream. Stream was the code-name
for the landings at Majunga, on the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar, planned
for that September and was designed to complete the occupation of the island that
was originally invaded in May (see Amphibious Counter 4712).
.P For Stream, Gambia was deployed in Force M alongside Warspite, Illustrious
and the cruisers Birmingham, Caradoc and Dauntless. For the actual assault,
Gambia escorted the transports taking the 29th Infantry Brigade to Majunga along
with the cruisers Birmingham and the Dutch cruiser Heemskerck. Although progress
was slow for the Allied forces, they eventually took the capital, Tananarive, and
the fighting ended on the 18th October. Gambia remained in the area to assist
operations until October, when she returned to Bombay, India and convoy defence
duty in the Indian Ocean once more. This deployment continued until March 1943
and included the escort of the Pamphlet convoy that took Australian troops back
home from the Middle East (see Transport Counter Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary).
.P In March, Gambia was briefly named as Flagship of the 4th CS and took part in
fleet exercises in the Indian Ocean as the RN prepared to go back onto the
offensive in that region. She sailed to the UK in June and underwent a refit,
during which she had her aircraft facilities removed. She was at this time lent
to the RNZN to replace the damaged cruisers, Achilles and Leander. Her actual
commissioning took place in September. After work-up with the Home Fleet, she was
transferred to Plymouth on the English Channel coast for service in the South
West Approaches. There, Gambia was deployed with the cruisers Glasgow and
Enterprise off the Azores for interception of supply ships and blockade runners;
Operation Stonewall (see HMS Enterprise).
.P In January, Gambia was prepared for service with the Eastern Fleet once more,
and she sailed for Ceylon at the end of that month to join the 4th CS. Upon
arrival in Ceylon, she was deployed on convoy escort and patrol duty and then in
March, she took part in the large-scale fleet exercise, Operation Diplomat (see
HMS Queen Elizabeth).
.P The following month, Gambia was part of the newly reinforced fleet that was
now able to mount its first offensive strike against the Japanese; Operation
Cockpit, against Sabang on the island of Sumatra. This was followed by Operation
Transom against Soerbaya, Java the following month (see HMS Nigeria). In June,
Gambia took part in Operation Councillor, a carrier strike operation launched
from Illustrious against Padang, also on Sumatra (see HMS Ceylon).
.P In July, the Eastern Fleet, having been reinforced earlier that month by the
carriers Victorious and Indomitable, launched Operation Crimson. This was another
carrier strike against Sabang. It was also the last operation for Admiral James
Somerville, who had led the Eastern Fleet since the dark days of early 1942. For
Crimson, the fleet consisted of the carriers Illustrious and Victorious; the
battleships Valiant and the Free-French Richelieu; the battlecruiser Renown; the
cruisers Ceylon, Cumberland, Gambia, Kenya, Nigeria, Phoebe and the Dutch cruiser
Tromp; and ten destroyers. Fleet Air Arm (FAA) Corsairs attacked Japanese
airfields and surrounding targets, while the rest of the fleet took part in
bombardment of enemy positions in and around the harbour. During the mission, the
fleet came under attack from Japanese aircraft, and two British fighters were
shot down. However, none of the attackers penetrated the AA screen and suffered
heavy losses themselves in the process. The only other damage was to Tromp and
two destroyers, which were hit by enemy shore batteries. Following this
operation, Gambia was to receive a refit to prepare for her next deployment; the
Pacific.
.P Gambia joined the British Pacific Fleet (BPF) upon its formation in November
1944, although at the time she was in Australian waters. She then sailed for
Auckland, New Zealand and her first visit to her adopted home country, where she
received her refit ahead of her physically joining the BPF. The BPF had by
February reached Australia to begin preparations for service in the Pacific.
However, even after their arrival in Australia, it was by no means certain what,
if any, future role the BPF would play.
.P Ultimately, it was agreed that they would operate as Task Force 57 (TF57), as
part of the US 5th Fleet and at the end of March, they were tasked with assisting
5th Fleet during the invasion of Okinawa. The BPF were given a subsidiary
operation, Iceberg One, against Japanese airfields and installations on the
Sakishima-Gunto island chain, west of Okinawa (see HMS Swiftsure). After a period
of replenishment, TF57 returned for a repeat operation, Iceberg Two, in May (see
HMS Howe). During both of these operations, the fleet was subjected to Kamikaze
strikes, but Okinawa was secured; the American forces, with their Allied support,
were now at the gates of the Japanese home islands.
.P In June, the BPF sailed for replenishment once more and to prepare for the
final strikes against mainland Japan in July and August. The BPF were now named
Task Force 37 (TF37), operating as part of the US 3rd Fleet. Gambia took part in
these operations (see HMS Black Prince, HMS Formidable and HMS Newfoundland).
.P On the 11th August, TF37 was reduced in size due to problems with getting
sufficient fuel supplies to the fleet, although Admiral Nimitz had in any case,
only agreed to allow a token British force to remain off Japan as part of the
occupation force. Task Group 38.5 (TG38.5), as this small unit was known,
consisted of the carrier Indefatigable, the battleship King George V, the
cruisers Newfoundland and Gambia and nine destroyers. With the Japanese surrender
still not confirmed, strikes against Japan continued and on the 13th August,
TF37`s FAA squadrons attacked airfields and shipping in northern Honshu and
Hokkaido. The final strikes were made the next day, during which a Seafire pilot,
Sub-Lt Hockley, was hit by flak while east of Tokyo. He was able to bail out, but
was then captured and executed that same afternoon.
.P After operations ceased, Gambia arrived in Tokyo Bay with TG38.5 at the end of
August and was present when the Japanese formally surrendered to the Allies on
2nd September 1945 (see HMS Duke of York).
.P Back with the RN after the war finished, HMS Gambia was scrapped in 1968.

< Message edited by warspite1 -- 10/5/2009 1:21:20 PM >

_____________________________

England expects that every man will do his duty. Horatio Nelson October 1805



(in reply to warspite1)
Post #: 1429
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 10/5/2009 5:24:38 PM   
warspite1


Posts: 41353
Joined: 2/2/2008
From: England
Status: offline 		I have finalised one of the previously written TRS counters - a rather sad story....


[4718 Transport - by Robert Jenkins]
.B Name: RMS Lancastria
.B Engine(s) output: 13,500hp
.B Top Speed: 17 knots
.B Main armament: 1 x 4-inch (102mm) gun
.B Gross Tonnage: 16,243 tons
.B Thickest armour: Not Applicable
.P World in Flames uses two main types of naval transport counter: Transport
(TRS) and Amphibious (AMPH). The use of these counters depends to an extent on
what optional rules are being used. However, as a general rule, TRS represent
the types of ship that were used to transport men and material from one friendly
port to another, while AMPH represent the specialised shipping that could land
men and material on a hostile shore.
.P In World War II, ships of every type and from every available source, were
placed under the command of the British Ministry of War Transport (MOWT). These
ships were not only drawn from Britain`s own merchant fleet but also from those
of Britain`s Allies - the Norwegian contribution being particularly important. In
addition, enemy ships that were captured by the RN also fell under the control of
MOWT.
.P Some ships were commissioned into the Royal Navy (RN) and were given an RN
crew, while others were either totally crewed by civilians or had a mixed
complement. By way of example, some merchant vessels were equipped with heavy
guns that required operation by DEMS (Defensively Equipped Merchant Ship) gunners
and these men typically came from the RN or even the army.
.P TRS not only include troop ships but also other vessels that kept the troops
fighting overseas supplied. These vessels include tankers, munitions ships and
other cargo carrying vessels. These write-ups outline a few of these vessels that
were so vital to ensuring a successful outcome to the Second World War.
.P RMS Lancastria was completed in 1922. She was originally built for the Anchor
Line with the name Tyrrhenia. However, she was transferred to the famous Cunard
Line whilst being built, and two years later, refitted and renamed (her proposed
name was considered non-user freindly), Lancastria began work for her new owners.
Initially, she sailed regularly from Liverpool to New York, although in the early
thirties she became a cruise ship, operating in both the Mediterranean and in
northern waters.
.P At the outbreak of the Second World War, the Lancastria was cruising in the
Caribbean when she was given the order to sail for New York. There, she was
refitted as a troopship and was soon after sailing between the United Kingdom and
Canada, bringing Canadian troops to join the fight alongside the mother country.
This trans-atlantic steaming came to an end with the German invasion of Norway
and Denmark in April 1940. After less than two months, the Allied troops were
evacuated from their last toe-hold in northern Norway, and Lancastria was part of
the evacuation convoy (see Transport Counter 4720).
.P Her next - and last - role saw her take part in Operation Aerial. While the
story of Operation Dynamo, the "Miracle of Dunkirk" is well known, Operations,
Cycle and Aerial, the evacuation from northern and western French ports
respectively, are less well documented. After the evacuation of the BEF from
Dunkirk there were still over 150,000 British troops in France. Winston Churchill
sent a second Expeditionary Force of two divisions to join the original BEF in a
bid to help save the French from defeat. However, there was little prospect that
this force would be able to achieve anything, and within a couple of weeks, they
too were in need of evacuation - along with thousands of Royal Air Force and army
non-combatants.
.P On the 15th June, with the French Army in retreat and - despite Prime Minister
Reynaud`s best efforts - with the French soon to exit the war, Operation Aerial
was put into operation. Troops and civilians were embarked, the majority from
four ports, St-Malo, St-Nazaire, La Pallice and Brest. On 17th June, the newly
installed President of France, the World War One hero Marshal Petain, ordered his
troops to cease firing but fortunately, by the end of that day, the majority of
the remaining British troops had been evacuated. The Luftwaffe sought to hamper
the British operation through bombing attacks and aerial mine-laying, and in this
they were only modestly successful in terms of shipping sunk. Sadly, their one
big success was to prove costly for the evacuees and crew aboard the Lancastria.
.P As part of Aerial, Lancastria had left Liverpool and arrived at the Loire
river estuary on the 16th. By the afternoon of the following day, while off St
Nazaire, she had embarked a large number of troops and civilians. The actual
number embarked is not known and the official records will not be available
until 2040, but all ships were overloaded with evacuees and Lancastria was no
exception. Despite her capacity being officially 1,580, she is believed to have
taken onboard anywhere between 4,000 and 9,000 evacuees. Just before 0400hrs, she
was bombed by German Ju-88 aircraft, hit four times, and sank within twenty
minutes. Many evacuees were crammed into the cabins and holds below deck and they
had little chance of getting to safety in the time available; if indeed they had
not been killed outright by the blast from the bombs. To make matters even worse,
Lancastria was carrying an excess of fuel oil and this leaked into the sea and
then caught fire after German aircraft began strafing the survivors.
.P Losses that day are difficult to judge given the confusion surrounding how
many were embarked in the first place, but it is generally accepted that a very
minimum of 3,500 people lost their lives. To put this into context, that is more
than died due to the loss of both the Titanic and Lusitania combined. This makes
her loss the worst single maritime disaster in British maritime history. So
serious were the events of that day taken, that at a time of one defeat after
another, the British Government initially withheld the news in the interests of
public morale.
.P The Captain that day, Rudolf Sharpe, was a survivor of this tragedy and later
went on to captain the troopship Laconia (see Transport counter 4719) in which
he was to lose his life in 1942.
.P During Aerial, the Allies were aided by the fact that the advancing German
troops found keeping up with the retreating Allied soldiers difficult and the
enemy bombers had to fly long distances to reach the western ports. As a result,
in total, 163,225 men were evacuated during this operation. These included over
30,000 men from Cherbourg, 21,000 from St Malo, 32,000 from Brest, 57,000 from
St Nazaire and 2,000 from La Pallice. A further 19,000 were rescued from other
smaller ports.


_____________________________

England expects that every man will do his duty. Horatio Nelson October 1805



(in reply to warspite1)
Post #: 1430
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 10/10/2009 3:52:29 PM   
warspite1


Posts: 41353
Joined: 2/2/2008
From: England
Status: offline 		Help required please

Does anyone know any good sources of information for Japanese amphibious landing craft? I cannot seem to find any information on what they would have used to land troops in say, Malaya, Guam, The Philippines, the NEI etc. There is also next to no information I can find on troop transports either. I have reached a dead-end on planning the Japanese write-ups in the absence of this info

Thanks in advance

_____________________________

England expects that every man will do his duty. Horatio Nelson October 1805



(in reply to warspite1)
Post #: 1431
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 10/10/2009 6:06:11 PM   
morgil


Posts: 114
Joined: 5/9/2008
From: Bergen, Norway
Status: offline 		The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia http://pwencycl.kgbudge.com/index.htm
Might be an interesting site.



_____________________________

Gott weiss ich will kein Engel sein.

(in reply to warspite1)
Post #: 1432
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 10/10/2009 6:48:22 PM   
Froonp


Posts: 7995
Joined: 10/21/2003
From: Marseilles, France
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: morgil

The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia http://pwencycl.kgbudge.com/index.htm
Might be an interesting site.



Looks like a great resource !

(in reply to morgil)
Post #: 1433
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 10/10/2009 11:11:53 PM   
warspite1


Posts: 41353
Joined: 2/2/2008
From: England
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: morgil

The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia http://pwencycl.kgbudge.com/index.htm
Might be an interesting site.


Warspite1

Nice one Morgil - this at least gives me a place to start - thank you


_____________________________

England expects that every man will do his duty. Horatio Nelson October 1805



(in reply to morgil)
Post #: 1434
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 10/12/2009 5:50:47 PM   
mldtchdog

 

Posts: 61
Joined: 7/23/2006
Status: offline 		The U.S. War Department's Handbook of the Japanese Military (dated 1943/4 I believe) contains roughly 2 pages describing the typical landing barge used by the Japanese (it states that they relied heavily on these as most of thier transports had been lost by this time) and makes reference to at least three types by name but provides technical data for only one. Also describes flat bottomed assault boat used by them (river crossings?).
I was looking at a reprint of the guide just yesterday. No specific actions detailed, more in the line of "this is what to look for"

(in reply to warspite1)
Post #: 1435
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 10/13/2009 4:04:44 PM   
Extraneous

 

Posts: 1810
Joined: 6/14/2008
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: mldtchdog

The U.S. War Department's Handbook of the Japanese Military (dated 1943/4 I believe) contains roughly 2 pages describing the typical landing barge used by the Japanese (it states that they relied heavily on these as most of thier transports had been lost by this time) and makes reference to at least three types by name but provides technical data for only one. Also describes flat bottomed assault boat used by them (river crossings?).
I was looking at a reprint of the guide just yesterday. No specific actions detailed, more in the line of "this is what to look for"



Are you sure it’s the U.S. War Department's Handbook of the Japanese Military?

And not WAR DEPARTMENT TECHNICAL MANUAL ~ TM-E 30-480 This manual supersedes TM 30-480, 21 September 1942. HANDBOOK ON JAPANESE MILITARY FORCES ~ WAR DEPARTMENT • 1 OCTOBER 1944




_____________________________

University of Science Music and Culture (USMC) class of 71 and 72 ~ Extraneous (AKA Mziln)

(in reply to mldtchdog)
Post #: 1436
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 10/13/2009 9:46:30 PM   
warspite1


Posts: 41353
Joined: 2/2/2008
From: England
Status: offline 		Help required - can anyone assist with informing me what Aso was named after - or any Japanese ship really!

[4324 Aso - by Robert Jenkins]
.B Engine(s) output: 104,000 hp
.B Top Speed: 32 knots
.B Main armament: 12 x 5-inch (127mm), 89 x 25mm guns
.B Aircraft: 64
.B Displacement (full load): 22,800 tons
.B Thickest armour: 1.8-inch (belt)
.P The Unryu-class fleet aircraft carriers were ordered as part of the War
Construction Program of 1941. Six carriers were ordered initially with a view to
an additional eleven ships being ordered in 1942. The program was to prove
hopelessly ambitious, and none of the 1942 ships were laid down and only three of
the 1941 ships were completed.
.P The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) did recognise that the materials available to
build additional aircraft carriers in time of war would necessarily be in short
supply. As a result, the Unryu`s effectively took a step back in their design and
were based on the Hiryu-class, rather than the later Shokaku, or the planned
Taiho-class. The Unryus had more lightly armoured belt protection, but otherwise
their armour layout was basically the same as the earlier design.
.P The final specification for the six 1941 ships differed, with close range anti
-aircraft armament, aircraft carried and machinery all altered slightly. The
technical details above are based on the likely final specification for this
uncompleted vessel.
.P In order to improve the rigidity of the flight deck, the central lift was
removed. There were nine arrester wires fitted, capable of stopping aircraft
of up to 13,200lbs. The number of aircraft carried was still a respectable 64,
although aviation fuel stowage was more than halved at 48,000 Imperial Gallons,
compared to the Hiryus.
.P Aso was launched at the start of 1944, but a shortage of materials meant that
work was halted in January 1945.
.P Aso was broken-up in 1947.

< Message edited by warspite1 -- 10/13/2009 9:51:53 PM >

_____________________________

England expects that every man will do his duty. Horatio Nelson October 1805



(in reply to warspite1)
Post #: 1437
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 10/13/2009 10:46:51 PM   
brian brian

 

Posts: 3191
Joined: 11/16/2005
Status: offline 		Anyone have a set of issues of Avalon Hill's magazine The General from the mid-80s? We discussed this here a few years ago...one of my favorite wargaming articles ever was about the Japanese ships. It might have been in the issue with Victory in the Pacific on the cover, it might not. Indexes of these issues exist online, but no one posts the articles for fear of copyright infringement, which is well and good and honorable but frustrating when the copyright holder has gone out of business and posting the articles could do nothing but help stimulate interest in the AH products for the current owners of that intellectual content.

Be that as it may, that article listed both what the names of each Japanese capital ship meant, (VitP included most of the historical CVs, BBs, and CAs and also two of the CLs, the Oi and the Kitikami; the theoretically possible ships in WiF weren't included), and even better, it included a phonetic pronunciation guide to each ship. This has been nice information to know when gaming WWII over the years. "Zuikaku" = Zweee-kah-koo, an example I remember well. I don't think a translation of a Japanese word nor the phonetic guide to pronouncing it could be copyrightable information actually, nor do I think the original author would object to using that info in a new game if he could be found and/or credited from the original.

(in reply to warspite1)
Post #: 1438
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 10/14/2009 1:26:30 AM   
paulderynck


Posts: 8201
Joined: 3/24/2007
From: Canada
Status: offline 		I've got a lot of them. I'll look when I get home from the trip I'm on.

Weren't those the days then, eh? A new half-broken game every two months... make that every three months...

I remember my first job, leaning over the cubicle wall shooting the sh!t with the guy on the other side and saying I was waiting over a month for the next issue of a magazine I subscribed to. He said "oh, you must mean S&T". Here I was in a new city, sitting next door to a fellow gamer! Within a week we were playing Sniper.

Edit: Rats - you said The General, didn't you. Guess I can't help after all.

< Message edited by paulderynck -- 10/14/2009 1:36:18 AM >

_____________________________

Paul

(in reply to brian brian)
Post #: 1439
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 10/14/2009 6:14:32 AM   
warspite1


Posts: 41353
Joined: 2/2/2008
From: England
Status: offline 		Think I`ve found it.

[4324 Aso - by Robert Jenkins]
.B Engine(s) output: 104,000 hp
.B Top Speed: 32 knots
.B Main armament: 12 x 5-inch (127mm), 89 x 25mm guns
.B Aircraft: 64
.B Displacement (full load): 22,800 tons
.B Thickest armour: 1.8-inch (belt)
.P The Unryu-class fleet aircraft carriers were ordered as part of the War
Construction Program of 1941. Six carriers were ordered initially with a view to
an additional eleven ships being ordered in 1942. The program was to prove
hopelessly ambitious, and none of the 1942 ships were laid down and only three of
the 1941 ships were completed.
.P The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) did recognise that the materials available to
build additional aircraft carriers in time of war would necessarily be in short
supply. As a result, the Unryus effectively took a step back in their design and
were based on the Hiryu-class, rather than the later Shokaku, or the planned
Taiho-class. The Unryus had more lightly armoured belt protection, but otherwise
the armour layout was basically the same as the earlier Hiryu design.
.P The final specification for the six 1941 ships differed, with close range anti
-aircraft armament, aircraft carried and machinery slightly different for each
vessel. The technical details above are based on the likely final specification
for this uncompleted vessel.
.P In order to improve the rigidity of the flight deck, the central lift was
removed, giving the Unryus two lifts, one forward and one aft that serviced the
two hangars. There were nine arrester wires fitted, capable of stopping aircraft
of up to 13,200lbs. The number of aircraft carried was still a respectable 64,
although aviation fuel stowage was more than halved at 48,000 Imperial Gallons,
compared to the Hiryus, restricting the carriers operationally.
.P Aso was named after the largest active volcano in Japan, situated on Kyushu,
one of the four main home islands. She was launched at the start of 1944, but a
shortage of materials meant that work was halted in January 1945.
.P Aso was broken-up in 1947.


< Message edited by warspite1 -- 10/14/2009 6:43:18 AM >

_____________________________

England expects that every man will do his duty. Horatio Nelson October 1805



(in reply to warspite1)
Post #: 1440
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