"Falklands, 1914 " Topic

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Amicalement
Armand

Our group did this in 2014. The Germans rushed the harbor and did a bit more damage but once the 12" guns got going it was ugly.

Pretty much the same outcome in the games I've played. The Germans can get some licks in, but the overwhelming weight of fire from the two British BCs usually determine the outcome.

ISTR from Massie that the weight of fire from the two BCs was rather underwhelming, because their gunnery was so poor it almost all missed. Eventually, because there was a distinct risk of shooting their magazines empty without sinking either German CA, the battlecruisers had to close to a range at which not only the German 8.2", but also their 5.9" secondaries were both reaching and hitting them.

This rather defeats the idea that BCs could shoot up CAs with impunity from ranges at which the CAs could not hit back.

A major upset was entirely possible…!

Have they torpedoes?…

Amicalement
Armand

4th, that goes down to poor shooting rather than a poor concept.

Personally, I think from a RN point of view, the concept of a Battlecruiser was a good one.

Must disagree with you on that point, 4thC. Aside from a golden BB through a turret gun port or some such, the Invincible Class BCs were pretty much proof against German 21cm and 15cm. A great deal of 12in ammunition was indeed expended by Invincible and Inflexible in sinking Schernhorst and Gneisenau. My books are still not unpacked from the house move, but the Brits actually scored a respectable number of hits, particularly when they were able to close the range down to </= 10,000 yds or so (neither ship yet had directors). My suspicion is that the problem was not so much inaccurate shooting as poor effect of the British 12in shells, which were later (post-Jutland) tested and found to perform poorly when striking armor >/= 1/3 caliber (i.e. – 4+ inches of KC).

My opinion, FWIW.

B

It I recall, there was a also problem of smoke interference with the British BC's. I know the Germans wanted to lure the British into 5.9" range. Frankly, I doubt a half dozen 5.9" guns would have made a great deal of difference against battle-cruisers. Sometimes luck happens. It wasn't happening to the Germans that day.

With respect to my above comment that "the Brits actually scored a respectable number of hits, particularly when they were able to close the range down to </= 10,000 yds", it should be mentioned is that neither British battle-cruiser scored any hits upon either of the two German armored cruisers during the initial period of stern chase – due IMO to a combination of factors: narrow target aspect, target weaving/salvo-chasing, restriction of fire to two forward-bearing turrets only and difficulty in spotting short/overs when fire was missing so often in deflection. It wasn't until Sturdee had closed to about 10,000 yards and von Spee finally turned to engage that the British ships started to score. My earlier post, as written, was misleading.

Re CampyF's post – yes the British ships suffered from considerable smoke interference. The account written by Rudolf Verner (gunnery officer of Inflexible) discusses this. My recollection is that at least some of this was the result of von Spee doubling back upon his previous course, which forced Sturdee to come about and pass through his own drifting smoke. An argument might also be made that Sturdee's maneuvering often placed Inflexible in a difficult position with respect to Invincible's smoke. How much smoke are we talking about? There is a famous photograph from the battle of Invincible steaming at utmost power during her pursuit of von Spee; she was putting out enough smoke (somehwat hyperbolically speaking) to blot out the sun.

B