Rule The Waves 3 - A Graphical Experiment - Complete

It is April of 1978. We are to begin building new destroyers as other ships are commissioned. How many should we build? At least five divisions, as this war has gutted our heavy destroyer force.

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Destroyer Force
A cruiser division, operating in concert with the British Super Cruiser HMS Duke of Edinburgh, engages and sinks a German light cruiser operating in the Aegean. The Duke of Edinburgh, an under defended ship with insufficient air defences, detaches from the formation and is quickly hit by three missiles. Perhaps the British will learn a modicum of patience or how to rebuild their capital ships.

The Army requests additional resources to make their next push into enemy territory, intending to reach Frankfurt and Milan before Summer properly reaches us. This delays our building program significantly, but we will survive so long as they make real gains into enemy territory. Finally, not only have we begun closing the noose around Italy and Germany, but Italian troops in Greece and Crete finally surrender and give up. We can reinforce our divisions, relieve crews and brigades, and begin construction of additional coastal forces in the area. With Spanish assistance we even manage to briefly institute a blockade around Italy.

Fleurus and Wattignies, old members of the Condor-class and the last true gun cruisers of the French Navy, engage a German raider in the North Sea. Closing the range to just 4,000m, with heavy fog all around, the modern missile-armed protected cruiser Bonn is sunk in under an hour of action.

In an action off the coast of Alabania, a coastal missile battery fires in anger for the first time, firing a long range shot based on targeting data from warships in the area. In the same engagement, Duplieux, Forbin and the destroyer Pique all take enemy missile fire. Pique, name ship of the class, sinks after several hours of damage control efforts and continued action, while the two cruisers turn and limp for Durazzo. This single lost destroyer is paid for in Italian blood - three protected cruisers and four destroyers are sunk by missile and gunfire.

Widespread demonstrations are reported across Italy. Surely they can only hold on for so much longer.

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Carrier Group
The Duquesne, fourth ship of the Bearn-class carriers, finally joins the fleet. Once she is up to speed and her air wings are properly instituted she will make for the Mediterranean to bolster our air forces there. Meanwhile in the Med, a combined cruiser force engages and sinks three Italian cruisers and five destroyers while protecting a convoy from enemy action. Not only is more of the Italian Fleet at the bottom of the sea, but the Army breaks through across the front and makes significant gains into Germany and Italy both.

With our budget freed up, we finally begin laying down destroyers. Four of the Hova-class to begin with, with more to follow as money becomes available. We do, however, finally lose a Suchet-class cruiser for the first time in two years. The Jean Bart is struck by multiple missiles and while her crew battle to save her for hours it is not to be. In a series of running battles across the Med we finally reduce the Italian Navy to a smaller tonnage than hours for the first time since long before the war started. Their massive pre-war cruiser and destroyer force has been reduced to just seven Armoured Cruisers, four Protected Cruisers and twenty-nine destroyers. We will not stop sinking them either.

It is January of 1979. We have been at war for 32 months. We have been offered peace and denied them several times. The people back us. We will continue to prosecute this war whether the enemy likes it or not.

Tomorrow: The last year.

January 1979
As the year turns, there is a sea change in the Meditteranean. The Italian Navy refuses to leave their ports and fight, allowing us to move convoys almost unopposed and operate off the Italian coastline with little concern for enemy action. February is remarkably similar, as is March and the Army asks for even more resources in order to conduct a third offensive. We would object but it seems the Italians are too busy suppressing dissent at home to actually do anything about our Navy operating in their waters.

In the North Sea, the old cruisers Fleurus and Wattignies have been conducting anti-raider patrols, intercepting German cruisers breaking for the Atlantic. While they have achieved some small success, it has always been a dangerous duty as these ships have only limited modern anti-missile countermeasures. On the 11th April, the crew of the Fleurus pay the price for this, ambushed by the German cruiser Darmstadt and sunk by missile fire before her companion could move to support. Fortunately the well trained gun crews of the Wattignies managed to find revenge for their sister and sink the Darmstadt in just twenty minutes of action.

Less fortunately, Wattignies herself is lost on the 31st of May, along with a British Armoured Cruiser group that were on patrol in the bay of Biscay. A German hunting force that included four Super Cruisers and two Carriers made a series of long range missile attacks that overwhelmed our defences and crushed our ships. Somehow, despite the loss of all three cruisers and five destroyers, it is not a total loss - Aircraft from Brest and Plymouth were able to find and sink the German carrier Walkenried.

July 1979
The Italians finally show their faces again, losing a protected cruiser to surface actions and an Armoured Cruiser to the submarine Gymnote. Elsewhere, Army Group North drives North, following the line of the German Autobahn's to gather up Cologne and Bonn, while Army Group South finally takes Milan and begins the long drive towards San Marino.
We lay down six more of the Hova-class, bringing the total under construction to 16, as Spain joins the war against Italy properly. The Regia Marina returns to their ports and refuses to come out, ceding control of the Med to us. A scouting force in the Channel, containing two of the new Cosmao-class cruisers encounters a major German force and directs air power from both sides of the Channel onto it. Enemy air forces, including prop-driven dive bombers, attack the old British Super Cruiser HMS Duke of Edinburgh and several are shot down for their trouble. Soon after, however, this unsupported Super Cruiser, way out of position for the support of our forces, is hit repeatedly by missile and torpedo attacks. We are unsure exactly what the Royal Navy was planning, but getting their last Super Cruiser sunk can not have been it, surely.

With this loss, and continuous losses to our submarine forces, we begin an emergency building program to reinforce our submariners. Twelve regular hunter-killer submarines are laid down and while they are not equipped for the modern missile war they will be perfectly effective at harassing enemy merchant shipping.

October 1979
The Italians were apparently gathering their strength, as they attempt a break out invasion of Sardinia as the next phase of their war plan. We gather the full force of our three Fleet carriers in the Med as well as a large cruiser and destroyer group. The cruiser force makes contact and the carriers begin developing a strike package. Meanwhile, our missile forces engage and record a large number of hits even as Sakalave and HMS Firedrake are hit repeatedly in return.

The first carrier based strike packages arrive over the enemy forces at 1400, with fifteen jet attackers from the carrier Duquesne making the first runs. One is plucked from the air by a SAM, even as ECM disrupts several other launches. Multiple ASM hits are reported, potentially as many as eight, which is solid enough accuracy. Joffre receives a missile hit high in her superstructure which starts a small fire, but it's the only hit of an enemy air attack.

Suchet's advanced cruiser group, commanded by CA Bois, sights the invasion transports and moves to engage directly. They move to gun range and being firing their 125mm guns in earnest, without a thought for the troops aboard those cramped ships. Despite this, Joffre is struck repeatedly by enemy air attack and is detached to return home. Hopefully her crew can save her, though losing her air capacity will be something of a cramp in our capabilities for this fight. Bearn is detached an hour later, burning and we can but pray they will both make it to port at Cagliari before the fire overtakes them.

It is not to be. The crew of the Bearn abandon ship at 1602, and the Joffre an hour later while attempting to slip the mine fields around Cagliari. Fortunately the Duquesne is able to make it into port, saving at least one of our carriers. To make matters worse, the Forbin is sunk and the Montcalm runs aground while attempting to enter port in darkness.

The attempted invasion of Sardinia was a tragic day for the Marine Nationale. Two fleet carriers, a prestigious and well known cruiser, five destroyers and 204 aircraft (36 of those in air to air combat) were lost. However, it was a much, much worse day for the Regia Marina. They have lost, in the course of a day:
- The fleet carrier Centauro, sunk by two missile hits from the Olbia air wing.
- The fleet carrier Antares, disabled by missile attack from the Durazzo air wing, then sunk by bombs dropped by the Olbia squadron.
- The fleet carrier Vega, hit by eight bombs by the air wing at Cagliari.
- The fleet carrier Aldebaran, disabled by a single missile fired by the Toulon squadron, then sunk by missile attackers out of Tunis.
- The fleet carrier Condor, sunk by a single missile fired by the Italian destroyer Comandante Orsini.
- Four small carriers sunk primarily by dumb bombs dropped at night by land based bombers.
- The Armoured Cruiser Trieste, disabled by missiles fired by Forbin and Montcalm and then sunk by air attack out of Nice.
- Fourteen destroyers and all seven troop transports.
- 463 aircraft, almost all of which were sunk with their carriers.
This is, frankly, the end of the Regia Marina as a serious force. The Battle of Foce will go down in history as a remarkable day for freedom and anti-autocratic warfare. The pilots of several squadrons are featured in magazines, including 5553 Escadrille (Jet Attack) who achieved 24 confirmed bomb hits on enemy ships, 6112 Escadrille (Heavy Fighter) with the same record, 10494 Escadrille (Jet Attack) with 11 bomb hits, and 12111 Escadrille (Heavy Fighter) with 7 bomb hits.

Italy is reduced to just 360,000 tons of warship in a single battle. They now operate two fleet carriers, five cruisers and just nineteen destroyers, and their active aircraft have been cut from around 1800 to around 1100. What happens next is surely up to the people of Italy.

We have some money, what should we do with it?
[ ] Coastal air power has been vital - expand on that.
[ ] More destroyers, we promised ourselves at least twenty.
[ ] A new fleet carrier, to replace the Joffre.
[ ] Something Else.

I need a break after that one. I'm going to keep writing this until this war ends, and surely it can't be much longer now...

We have some money, what should we do with it? A new fleet carrier, to replace the Joffre.

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In Memoriam
The Arromanches will replace the Joffre and the Bearn, a new class of carrier for a new future. A distillation of the Bearn design, the Arromanches slims the class by 500 tons and makes no other significant changes. Shipping an additional SAM launcher would have been ideal, but would require the growth of the hull significantly without any other serious capability enhancements, so the slimmed Bearn it is.

Elsewhere, in the Bay of Biscay and emboldened by the war with Italy, a carrier group sets out to engage the Germans Reichsmarine. The two Republique Francaise-class carriers are joined by the Lyon and the Bois Bellau, as well as the small day carriers of the Sans Cullotes-class. Intelligence reports just three carriers arrayed against them, and it is considered plausible that the fleet might do to the Germans what they did to the Italians just a month ago.

Sailing in heavy mist, with dusk not far away, Republique Francaise is the first to put out a strike package with twenty one light jets - half bombed up and half readied as escorts - take off and vector onto a distant sighting. A series of jet aircraft are put into the air and stream west to make attacks on the enemy. Sadly the first sortie of the day earns nothing but planes shot down. The second, however, occurring deep in the night of the 27th of November records at least five missile hits against enemy warships. Spanish aircraft, flying out of Gijon and Santander, harass the German fleet continuously through the night with missile and bomb attacks. A 3am night raid by unescorted attackers from the Lyon and Bearn, attempting to slip the enemies defensive net, records another six suspected missile hits on targets.

Having expended their missile stocks, Lyon and Bearn switch to glide bombing strategies with their air groups and while this exposes them to ballistic AA weapons, they also report some seven bombs landing on flat-tops. With daylight fast approaching, the Republique Francaise and the Jean Jacques Rousseau are finally able to develop strike against and immediately put out some thirty light jets for a similar strike.

The emboldened carrier commanders were not wrong. The only damage to the French surface fleet is a breakdown of the engines of the destroyer La Bayonnaise, and while the fleet and coastal air arm suffered ninety losses it is nothing compared to the German losses:
- The fleet carrier Europa, 51,500 tons, is hit by a single missile from the Bois Bellau's evening attack and burns down.
- The fleet carrier Peter Strasser, 36,600 tons, is hit by two missiles launched by Brests squadrons in the early morning and then sunk by six bombs dropped by Bois Bellau's squadron.
- Several other major surface vessels were damaged by missile, torpedo and bomb attack.
- 203 aircraft are lost, including several squadrons worth of veteran carrier crews.
The French people respond to the Battle of the Bay of Biscay with celebrations, high spirits and a lot of alcohol. The German Fuhrer responds by declaring total war. We are apparently in this to the death, which we knew but apparently he did not. We lay down the first Arromanches-class carrier and look forward to a future where the seas are ruled by French aircraft.

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Cruiser Actions
The first action of the Cosmao-class is just of the coast of Brest and St. Nazaire. Engaging an enemy cruiser group, multiple hits are recorded and heavy damage is suffered by the Friant and two destroyers. After a short but intense duel, several cruisers and destroyers are sinking (though not the Friant) and with the enemies radar pickets removed from play the coastal air force sweeps in to clean up. Two small carriers are sunk, one by French strikes, the other by Spanish, and the Cosmao-class has proven itself in combat conditions.

Intelligence proves itself mildly useful, handing us the plans for a remarkably attractive Japanese fleet carrier, the Shinano. Despite being nearly 20,000 tons heavier, she is not remarkably more capable than our Arromanches though we must wonder whether or not she can survive a bomb hit to her deck with that much armour.

The Dupleix and the Dupetit-Thouars, both Montcalm class AA cruisers, intercept an enemy raider approaching Gibraltar to presumably attempt to slip into the Atlantic. The first missile strikes the enemy at 1047, and the last at 1101, penetrating the Fiume's magazine and detonating her.

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Peace in our time
That, it turns out, is enough for the enemy. Despite our insistence that a continued blockade will cause the end of fascism in both the North and the South, despite our armies deep in enemy territory, despite the total destruction of the Italian Navy, the lawmakers insist on signing a peace treaty. With the dawn of a new decade, they do not want to see this war enter its fifth year and they will negotiate with autocrats to achieve that. Damned Liberals.

We take over administration of the German and Italian colonies in Angola and Eritrea, depriving the Germans of an Atlantic port and finally restricting the Italians to the Mediterranean properly. We plan to liberate them after a short period of transference, but for now they will stay under European leadership. The war is over, and so is my career. I will be retiring next month, to spend time on the South Coast.

The Post-War World
France is not the most powerful nation in the world, but we have a remarkable ability to control and restrict shipping through our global holdings. The world map as of today (January 1980) looks like this:
Note, if you will, the near global reach of our bases and ports, stretching from the Antilles to Polynesia and with many, many colonies in between. The centre of the map is particularly remarkable when you consider our ability to control trade around the Horn of Africa and the Mediterranean, with Rhodes, Greece, Tunisia and Sardinia all being delightfully placed to keep watch over Italy and on any ships passing through that Sea.

Ships of the Line
We will briefly review the first and last ships of several classes, out of sheer curiosity:

Super Cruisers - The first of the Super Cruiser class was laid down in 1911 as the Indomptable and served for some thirty years, receiving two refits, before being sunk in action against the Austrian Navy in 1946.
The last of the type was, fittingly, also the Indomptable. Laid down in 1946 and commissioned in 1950, the ship fought Italians and Germanys for fifteen years before being scrapped in the horrendous drawdown of the mid-1960's that almost destroyed the Marine Nationale.
Protected Cruisers - The first protected cruiser of the modern fleet was the Tage, laid down in 1887 and in service by 1890. She operated for fifteen years, mostly serving as a colonial port ship, and was promptly scrapped in 1905.
Meanwhile the Suchet is not the last protected cruiser ever laid down, but she is an exemplary model of the type. Laid down in 1968, she first saw action in 1976 around Cape Matapan. She earned twelve battle stars across the course of the war, nine of those under the command of Captain de Fregate Infernet. She was hit by missiles and gunfire and was mined at least once and after repairs always re-joined the fight. She is still in service today under the command of CF Grossetti.
(Infernet is now Contre-Amiral Infernet, and commanded 2 Carrier Division (Lyon, Bois Bellau) during the Battle of the Bay of Biscay against the German Navy)

Aircraft Carriers - Our first aircraft carrier was a remarkable ship. The Republique was first laid down in 1897 as a ironclad battleship, and in the course of that career she earned three battle stars against the Germany navy. In 1919 she was written off, sent to the docks, and completely rebuilt as a small training carrier. She served in this role for eleven years before being scrapped in 1930, 40 years after she began her service.
The carrier Joffre was the largest ever built for the Marine Nationale. Laid down in 1958, she was intended to be the last word in carrier design, before it became clear that she was far too expensive for the governments intentions. With the ability to deploy 112 aircraft, she was a remarkable ship and she served adequately right up till the vital Battle of Foce where she was sunk shortly before the complete destruction of the Regia Marine.

Torpedo Boats & Destroyers - Once, long ago, torpedo boats were tiny things with a handful of tons and a single tube. At 300 tons, the Fauconneau was just such a ship, and her most famed action was the gun attack on the Germany Armoured Cruiser Roon in 1895. She served for fifteen years before being scrapped.
The Marocain is, on the other hand, exemplary of what destroyers became after eighty years of development. Laid down in 1970, she was part of the vital defence of Crete during the war, earning eleven battle stars and surviving both missile and gun attacks before being sunk during the Battle of Foce after three years of near constant fighting.

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Thank you for joining me on this 90 year Lets Play of Rule the Waves Three. We may have been cursed, but we also had some remarkable victories. If you would like to know anything more about the save circa Jan/Feb 1980, or any historical events that may be recorded, please don't hesitate to ask and I will endeavour to answer.

I'm planning to do another of these in the not too distant future. Probably the Yanks to really get the most out of the ship builder and do interesting things, but also maybe China or Japan. Uncertain right now.

My next project is going to be a similar quest, in the vein of a RTW game but using the Traveller RPG rules to run a sci-fi naval fleet command game. I will try to link it here when I start.