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DesertWolf101 -> RE: Empire of the Sun (7/23/2020 6:48:33 PM)
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March 7, 1942
Bay of Bengal
The British SAG, made up of the battleship Royal Sovereign and nine light cruisers, heads straight at the troop convoys a few hexes away, and every Japanese warship available throws itself in its path!
The first encounter is with a Japanese destroyer squadron composed of the light cruiser Nagara and seven Japanese tin cans. In a ferocious and long night fight, the vast bulk of which takes place between 2,000 and 3,000 yards, the Nagara is severely pummeled with 27 6inch shells and goes down shortly after the engagement. The gallant Japanese punch back hard however, using their long lances to good effect. CL Colombo takes 5 torpedoes and immediately sinks, CL Caledon takes one fish and is heavily damaged, and the big beast, BB Royal Sovereign, is slowed down with another torpedo.
Somehow the night battle where Nagara made its last stand was enough to keep the British force from moving more than a hex or two towards the convoy. During the day, a Japanese composite force of cruisers and destroyers, sent at flank speed from further south, encounters the British SAG. In another long engagement at very short range (mostly 4,000 to 5,000 yards), events start off badly for the Japanese when the light cruiser Naka takes a single shell hit and immediately blows up with a magazine explosion. This was the worst of it for the Empire’s fleet however, as a flurry of long lance torpedoes take their toll on the British. CL Ceres is hit with three and sinks like a rock, while the Royal Sovereign goes down to another two torpedoes before it gets a chance to open up with its main guns. The previously wounded CL Caledon is also sunk.
Next, the British SAG, now battered and likely with low ammo, encounters the heavy cruiser Ashigara and three destroyers. Ashigara does a fantastic job, sinking CL Glasgow with two fish and CL Danae with one, and wrecking CL Enterprise with 20cm gunfire.
At the end of the turn, the once mighty British SAG is kept away from the troop convoys and is much reduced. Of the three remaining light cruisers, Hobart and Durban are relatively intact, and the light cruiser Dragon is heavily damaged.
During the air phase, 13 Nell bombers finally find a break in the bad weather and head towards the British cruisers only to be intercepted by Hurricanes on LRCAP and annihilated.
Unfortunately, more bad news arrived when the heavy cruiser Maya, who I had sent towards the retreating British carriers in the hopes of finding and finishing of the Hermes, is instead seen by the British and hit with two bombs and two torpedoes and rendered in sinking condition.
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The tally so far is 2 CVLs, 1 CA, and 2 CLs lost on the Japanese side and 1 BB and 7 CLs lost on the Allied side. A compelling Allied naval victory I would say, but the most important thing at this stage is that the Japanese forces are landing largely intact.
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