Battle Report: Battle of the Hampton Roads, August 4th 1908

Aboard the USS Kansas, 36nm ENE of the Hampton Roads

Admiral Sperry, USN paced about the bridge of his ship, only occassionally allowing himself to glance at the coast of Virginia, just a few miles away. Every minute he and his fleet withdrew exposed more of the US coast to the depridations of the Royal Navy. Wireless reports had been spotty at best since the fleet had been ordered to withdraw from around Newfoundland, but had included tales of burning towns, massacred crews and other horrors. "I hate retreating." he muttered to no-one in particular.

The war was supposed to have ended by now, a crushing blow on land to knock Canada out of the war, while the fleet cut off the flow of British ships from across the Atlantic. The Royal Navy couldn't spare enough vessels to send against them had been the line from the War Department, so the fleet could trivially destroy the fragile lifeline that kept the British Dominion fighting. A line they had repeated over and over, right up until the day of the Battle of Gulf of St Lawrence. Sperry and his force had been sent after a supposed convoy, although in reality it turned out to be nothing more than destoryers and cruisers acting as if they were escorting something. He had pursued them for nearly a day, always closing, but never by enough to engage, before suddenly the British ships had sped away. Meanwhile, the rest of the fleet had moved into the Gulf, aiming to destory ports and other facilities to slow the flow of supplies and troops.

That was where the Royal Navy had struck. Sperry had received scattered radio reports as he rushed his force back with all speed. First the fleet had engaged what appeared to be a small force, then out of a bank of fog the main enemy fleet had descended upon them, a wall of steel and fire across the fleet's tee. Several ships were disabled or destroyed instantly, others ran aground in the treacherous waters. Hundreds of men were killed. When the fleet had turned to run, another British force had appeared behind them, destroyers and cruisers attacking with torpedoes, yet more battleships raining fire down.

Sperry and his ships had met some survivors as they tried to return, before receiving the general order to flee back to the Hampton Roads, where fortifications could protect the fleet from the enemy. Their ships had been battered, many had lost turrets, had damage to their engines and could only limp along, their hulls riddled with holes, compartments flooded, the bodies of the men who had drowned in them still floating there, carried like some macarbe cargo. Sperry had tried to escort three of the ships, but off the coast of New York the enemy had caught up. He hadn't even had time to take off their wounded or any crew who could be spared, and faced with an unwinnable fight he had ordered his ships to make best speed, leaving the Alabama, Massachussets and Indiana to face the British. He hoped to God some of the men from those doomed vessels had made it to shore.

Now here he was, feeling like a coward and a failure, only a few hours from relative safety. Perhaps he would be remembered as a disgrace to the uniform, but at least his men would be home. "Smoke on the horizon!" bellowed a man aloft in the conning tower. "To the North!" For a brief moment Sperry allowed himself to imagine it was the three ships he'd abandoned, but the cold hard reality was that it was the British. He rushed up to the conning tower, training his binoculars on the point indicated by the lookout. Sure enough, a black plume, no, several black plumes. Coal smoke. "Smoke on the horizon!" bellowed another looked "South East!" That could be other survivors making their way to the roads, perhaps help for the coming fight. He turned to scan for the other ships. "Get the squadron ready for battle." he ordered, clamour breaking out as the order was carried out.

An hour later, the ships to the north became just about visible. Their grey hulls cut a path through the waters as they bore down on their prey, the White Ensign fluttering in their upperworks. The ships to the south east appeared to have changed tack, cutting towards Sperry's ships, not towards the Roads. It had dawned upon him that this almost certainly meant they were British too. The race for home was on, and had just become far more deadly.

Game Setup

This is the latest game set up in an alternate history of 1908, where the US and Japan (now with UK support) have ended up at war after US arbitration at the end of the Russo-Japanese War failed. In this game, the US ended up going to war with the UK after boarding British merchants which had been running their blockade of the Japanese home islands. After initial successes, their advance into Canada was turned back when convoys full of British forces arrived, and the US fleet, when sent to cut the flow of troops, ran into the Grand Fleet off the Canadian coast. A general order had been sent out to all surviving US ships to rally under the fortifications in the Hampton Roads.

The US fleet was made up of two squadrons:

1st Squadron

USS Kansas, USS Minnesota (Conneticut class Battleships)
USS California, USS Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania class Armoured Cruisers)

2nd Squadron


USS Virginia, USS Georgia (Virginia class Battleships)
USS Missouri (Maine class Battleship)
USS Wisconsin (Illinois class Battleship)

The Royal Navy pursuit forces consisted of:

1st Squadron

HMS New Zealand, HMS Dominion (King Edward VII class Battleships)
HMS Caesar (Majestic class Battleship)

2nd Squadron

HMS Cornwallis, HMS Exmouth (Duncan clas Battleships)
HMS Vengeance (Canopus class Battleship)
HMS Victorious (Majestic class Battleship)

3rd Squadron

HMS Agamemnon (Lord Nelson class Battleship)
HMS Swiftsure (Swiftsure class Battleship)
HMS Achilles (Warrior class Armoured Cruiser)

The odds were definitely stacked against the US forces, even with the presence of two land forts. The game set up was simple, the US forces needed to scape into the Roads to evade the British, while the British needed to destroy the US forces.

Forts on the coast, under orders to protect the Roads from the expected British forces

For the game we used the Perfidious Albion rules which, if a little silly, are fun and fast. The models come from Tumbling Dice's Age of Battleships range.

From: Admiral Fanshaw, RN HMS New Zealand

To: Admiralty, London

Report on the Action of the 4th August, 1908

Sir,

It is my honour to report on the action my force took part in off the coast of Virginia on the 4th of August, 1908. Visibility was good, with calm seas and light winds. Early in the morning, at approximately 0840 we sighted vessels on the horizon and moved to intercept. HMS Cornwallis' squadron was closest to the sighting and led the pursuit. Soon we were about to get close enough to confirm that the vessels were American. My squadron and that led by the HMS Agamemnon's pursued the enemy directly, while the HMS Cornwallis and her squadron closed on them from the East.

The fleets engage, the USS Georgia and USS Virginia coming under fire

Shells rain down around the lead US vessels

Fire was opened at about 2 nautical miles by the HMS Cornwallis and her squadron, firing on the lead two US vessels of the nearest squadron, now identified as the USS Georgia and the USS Virginia. The USS Georgia exploded very suddely, testimony from the survivors indicate that the ammunition hoists were hit and a fire spread to the magazine.

Disaster strikes the US fleet as the Georgia explodes, taking most of her crew with her to the bottom

American fire was concentrated on the HMS Agamemnon, who took several hits, two of which penetrated her armour and hit ammunition hoists. Her crew managed to successfully flood both magazines before any fires could spread to them, but this did leave all her main armament without ammunition. A major fire also broke out onboard the Agamemnon.

HMS Agamemnon burns as her crew floods the magazines to prevent their ship following the Georgia's fate

While the Agamemnon was unable to fire, the Swiftsure and the Achilles fired on the USS Wisconsin. Several shells were seen to hit near the Wisconsin's stern. After this firing, she began turning to starboard, apparently out of control, so we presumer her rudder or steering gear was hit.

While the first US squadron continued their run for safety, the second squadron turned into the fight, while the Cornwallis moved to cut off the American retreat and the Agamemnon pressed the US vessels in.

British forces harry the US fleet as they attempt to escape

With the Agamemnon's heavy guns disabled, her squadron were only able to direct fire from lighter guns onto the enemy, achieving no immediately apparent damage. The Cornwallis' squadron again split their fire, with the Cornwallis and Exmouth targetting the lead battleship of the second US squadron (identified as the USS Minnesota) while the Vengeance and Victorious fired on the USS Virginia. In a testament to the excellent gunnery of the crews, both vessels exploded within a few minutes of each other.

 

The USS Minnesota explodes after being hit in the magazine

USS Virginia suffers the same fate as her sister

 After some more manoeuvering, the HMS New Zealand's squadron was able to join the fight, coming upon the USS Wisconsin, which was still stuck in a starboard turn, although she had slowed. The fire from the Wisconsin slackened after the first broadsides from the squadron. The Cornwallis' squadron engaged the Missouri and the Kansas. Once again, excellent gunnery was rewarded when the Kansas exploded.

The alarming tend of American ships to explode under fire continues with the USS Kansas

American return fire was concentrated on the HMS Cornwallis, several shells penetrating her belt armour and causing damage in her machinery spaces. The engineers of the Cornwallis are to be commended on their repeated efforts throughout the battle repairing the damage and keeping the Cornwallis in the fight. Fire from the USS Wisconsin struck the HMS Swiftsure, destroying her conning tower and killing Rear Admiral May. She was also forced to flood the magazine supplying her secondary battery after a hit on an ammunition hoist.

Despite now being massively outnumbered, the US forces continued to fight, tuning in to the action. The Wisconsin came under the fire of the entirety of the HMS New Zealand's squadron at near point blank range. The concentrated firepower proved too much for her. Before she exploded a raging fire was seen breaking out on her decks.

The crippled USS Wisconsin finally succumbs after being pounded by a full British squadron

The US armoured crusiers took fire from the Exmouth and Cornwallis, with the lead vessel, USS California, exploding shortly thereafter.

USS California explodes after point blank range fire.

In a final act of defiance, the last two US ships launched a charge towards our ships. The USS Pennsylvania took the full weight of fire from the HMS Cornwallis and her squadron, with predictable results.

Burning wreckage is all that remains of the US 1st Squadron

That left just the USS Missouri in action, on her death charge towards the Agamemnon's squadron. The HMS Swiftsure, with the damage to her conning tower impeding her ability to manouever, was unable to avoid being rammed, taking very heavy damage and experienceing major flooding. The Missouri took fire from the Swiftsure, Achilles and Agamemnon before surrendering, her upper works having taking significant damage.

Before she is forced to surrender, the USS Missouri rams the HMS Swiftsure, causing massive flooding.

Thus it is my duty to report the destruction of three enemy battleships, two enemy armoured cruisers and the capture of one battleship for no permanent loss to our side. The state of our ships is as follows:

HMS New Zealand: No damage, 10% ammunition depleted
HMS Dominion: No damage, 10% ammunition depleted
HMS Caesar: No damage, 15% ammunition depleted
HMS Cornwallis: Significant machinery damage, torpedo tubes disabled, heavy damage to prow, forward funnel lost, one port side secondary gun destroyed, moderate flooding. 48 casualties 45% ammunition depleted
HMS Exmouth: No damage, 40% ammunition depleted
HMS Victorious: No damage, 50% ammunition depleted
HMS Vengeance: No damage, 47% ammunition depleted
HMS Agamemnon: Ammunition hoists to A and Z turrets destroyed, one secondary turret destroyed, minor machinery damage, one funnel destroyed. 23 casualties. 95% ammunition rendered unusable
HMS Swiftsure: Conning tower, one funnel and two port secondary guns destroyed, extensive damage to hull, massive flooding in machine spaces. 88 casualties. 35% of ammunition depleted.
HMS Achilles: Minor machinery damage, damage to prow. 12 casualties. 70% of ammunition depleted.
USS Missouri (Captured): Fire damage to upperworks, port side secondary batteries destroyed, heavy damage to prow, heavy flooding. 94 casualties.

In addition to the 467 survivors of the Missouri, we rescued an additional 640 men from the water.

Your obedient servant
Admiral Fanshaw.

Onboard the HMS New Zealand, 4th August 15:30h 

Admiral Fanshaw looked over the water, where boats from the British ships were pulling the dazed American survivors from the water. A short distance away, the Agamemnon and the Achilles were helping the crew of the Swiftsure with damage control, pumping out the water she had taken on after being rammed, the Missouri still buried in her flank even now. With the guns of the forts silenced, the delicate process of seperating the vessels could begin.

His squadron had performed well, the total destruction of the enemy fleet had been accomplished with only light losses. All he needed now was a supply ship and his fleet would be back up to full combat readiness, apart from the Swiftsure. Even the Agamemnon was reporting she'd have her guns back in action by dawn.

He looked back at the shore, where smoke from the small fires caused by the bombardment marked out the forts' locations. With the entrance to the Roads now sealed, the US fleet was as good as doomed, which meant the convoys from home would now be safe for the duration of the war. Hopefully that would help bring it to a conclusion rapidly, before too many more died.