WATCH YOUR SIX AAR July 24, 2009
Zeebrugge Mole February 1917
The Mole is a very narrow spit of rocks that have been augmented by the efforts of man to create a narrow spit of land and a canal connects the position to the port of Bruges.
The seaplane base is closest to the base of the mole, followed by Submarine Shelters. A number of sheds hold fuel and supplies that are located still farther down the mole. A heavy concentration of artillery/anti-aircraft guns are located towards the end of the mole. The final position is the light house. On the land near the mole are a number of airfields from which Army and Navy aircraft operate.
After our disappointing performance at Tondern, we have been transferred to Belgium. It appears those in charge feel we would benefit from association with other interceptor units with more experience. Once again we have been equipped with Albatros D.3 aircraft. These are not new aircraft but have been recovered and repaired. Our ground crews lack experience with this model and we have had no end of troubles with the rebuilt engines.
Schreiber is still in command. This civilian trained bank teller has the gift of gab and tells our superiors what the want to hear rather than what they should be hearing. Our aircraft are in poor repair and our unit training is laughable. Formation flying is out of the question.
We have been assigned response missions. These require our KEK remain on alert, engines turning for two hours at a time. We are to aggressively engage any intruding Allied Aircraft.
Yesterday the cold clear air held no clouds. Just the same, ice crystals in the air created a kind of haze that somewhat limited visibility. Just the same, you could see for several kilometers. Four British aircraft appeared near the end of the day as the sun was setting. Two Sopwith two seat 1 ½ Strutter aircraft and a pair of the new Triplanes.
To meet them four of our Albatros D.3's took off from four different locations. Schreiber reasoned that this approach would place us in the air more rapidly and we could then find each other and attack the intruders. Schreiber, Pippart, Laraud and myself (Jacobs) were on duty at the time. We all got away quickly but no sooner had we risen to 2000 feet, Laraud's aircraft and my own developed severe engine problems.
The cowardly Schreiber remained well to the rear climbing to about 6,000 feet before turning to engage. In the mean time our remaining three aircraft (at 4,000 feet) went right at the British aircraft in spite of our doubtful power plants.
The Strutters dived and gained speed which allowed them to shoot right through and by Pippart and Laraud. Around this same time a Triplane descended on my sputtering bird. I could hear the characteristic pop pop pop pop' of the British machine gun. Fortunately for me, the rate of fire generated by British aircraft is much less than our own.
I came out of my first experience with a Triplane without so much as a scratch and attempted to maneuver behind the Triplane as he passed overhead. I might have saved myself the effort. The Triplane is wonderfully maneuverable and this coupled with my engine (which was at about 50% power at this point in time) put me at a hopeless disadvantage. All I could do was zig and zag and beat a hasty (well as hasty as 50% engine power allowed) retreat.
Laraud took on the other Triplane at 8,000 feet. An Albatros is a heavy aircraft and the higher you climb the thinner the air which in turn negatively impacts your ability to maneuver. Laurad's engine was running at about 50% power as well. He had a rather better time of things driving off the Triplane as he approached it head on. Before the Triplane could come around, Laurad dived away to safety. But Laurad had done his job. The Triplane was so far away from the Strutters after this exchange it could not possibly intervene when our remaining aircraft engaged them.
This left Schreiber and Pippart to deal with a pair of Strutters escorted by a single Triplane. The Strutter crews were experienced veterans and able to squeeze every bit of potential out of their under powered two seaters. As the pair of Strutters approached a harbor facility on the landward side of the harbor, Pippart blew by them and performed a climbing wing-over. He lost some airspeed in doing this but quickly regained what was lost as he dived on the British two seaters.
Pippart nearly collided with the trailing Strutter as he blew by it and locked onto the tail of the lead Strutter. The lead Strutter attempted to out dive Pippart but in so doing developed a fabric tear in its upper wing plane. The pilot clearly was having trouble controlling his aircraft when Pippart struck, firing a long burst of blue beans into the tail of the crippled British bird! The Strutter wavered, then a loud crack' was heard, and then the doomed crew slammed into the harbor shallows!
Schreiber attempted to maneuver into position to attack the trailing Strutter but inexplicably broke his turning maneuver and shot directly in front of the trailing British Triplane! I suspect no one was more surprised by the development than the Triplane pilot! At first he could not believe his good fortune and suspecting a trap, did not react. After he had a chance to look around Schreiber was still flying right in front of him, straight and level.
Pop, pop, pop, pop the Triplane could hardly miss! Yet despite such a target, Schreiber remained unscathed and the rugged Albatros absorbed all the punishment the Triplane could dish out! Schreiber then came to his senses and attempted to evade the Triplane. The Triplane may suffer from inferior fire power but it does not lack for maneuverability. Schreiber could do nothing to evade his tormentor and after an extended running chase, Schreiber's aircraft disintegrated in the air!
This left Pippart in pursuit of a Strutter and being pursued in turn by a Triplane. A fair fight!
The evening was well advanced and darkness crept across the harbor as the Trio jockeyed for position. None could gain an advantage and the British, unable to perform meaningful observation, broke off the action.
ANALYSIS:
The British flew very experienced aircrews in their Stutters and well trained but inexperienced pilots in their Triplanes. This enabled the Strutters a very high level of maneuverability and a very nasty sting if the Germans got too close.
The Germans had nothing to match the Strutter crews and were on a par with the Triplane pilots.
This game was highly unusual because of the frequency and severity of engine trouble with the Albatros D.3 aircraft. In the four years I have been playing this game, this is the very worst day I have had for mechanical failures. The Albatros D.3 can be an effective aircraft but you need to operating at an optimal level. I essentially lost half of my complement in the first couple turns of the game and was very fortunate to drive off a Triplane and withdraw the sputtering Albatri without any losses.
Things have a way of evening out. The lead Strutter was badly over stressed in its dive and nearly came apart in the air. The Pilot was doing everything he could to prevent a disaster and the observer was attempting to spot the objective when Pippart fired on them. Pippart's fire was nothing remarkable but given the Strutter's highly vulnerable situation Pippart's damage tipped them over the edge. They went into a spin and could not recover.
Schreiber was a talented civilian trained pilot. His career could best be described as a series of miracles dotted with constant good fortune. Today his luck ran out. He attempted a very tight turn, pulled too many G's and lost it for a short period of time. Normally this is not a big deal but if you happen to do it right in front of a Sopwith Strutter, the resultant disadvantage can be profound. There was no way no how, Schreiber was going to shake that Triplane and he was literally picked to pieces.
This was the first segment in our Destroyer raid mini-campaign. The British successfully observed one of four objectives. The Germans shot down the best British pilot and observer. Technically this was a draw. But from the German side of things, this was a huge victory.
Three of my pilots advanced in this segment (very lucky rolling -- but I was due for some luck) and now all of my pilots have military training. The RNAS pulls a lot of Canadian pilots and these are often much better than the replacements I get -- so it is very difficult for the German Naval KEK (we get cast offs) to achieve parity in pilot skills. I have that right now so I'm a very happy camper.
mjc
dips his toe into the Russo-Japanese War.
