June-July 1942

Following the decisive battle of Algiers the Italian navy saw action again in June 1942 as opposing cruiser patrol groups met and clashed in the Ionian Sea. The allies were keen to press the Italian navy into action, to further weaken the axis and their hold on north Africa, so when the cruisers Pensacola and Salt Lake city came across three italian cruisers and their escorts they attacked immediately.

The action took place in shocking conditions for June in the Med, and both sides had difficulties landing telling hits on the enemy. However in an effort to get a better bead on Pensacola, the cruiser Garibaldi inadvertantly opened herself up to a coordinated torpedo strike by the american destroyers. The result was predictable and the Garibaldi went down with all hands in the rough Ionian sea. In the melee both sides lost two destroyer class vessels, and the Salt Lake City suffered some damage to her superstructure. However the Italians came off worst and the allies once again asserted their dominance in the Mediterranean.

Meanwhile the Germans were turning to a different tactic in the channel and north sea. In early June the disastrous loss of three surface raiders in a singla action made the Kriegsmarine wary of sorties, so the Luftwaffe decided to try out "big wing" actions with large numbers of Stuka divebombers. The first of these was tried against a convoy making its way along the channel, and included the an ocean liner full of troops, as well as munitions and supplies headed for north africa. The Luftwaffe attacked in force, but th Royal Navy escorts put up a storm of fire. Many of the divebombers were swatted out of the sky by AA fire, and although the troopship was damaged, casualties were not severe. The Luftwaffe had tried - and failed to stop the allies using the channel as their own private highway.

Battle of the North Sea

In June 1942 the german Kriegsmarine, emboldened by their success in the Baltic, made a major sortie into the north sea. The german high command were in the main confident, sending out the battlecruiser Scharnhorst along with the Prinz Eugen and pocket battleship Graf Spee. However some in the navy expressed grave concerns, citing that such a concentration of powerful warships had a serious drawback, no guns heavier than the 11" carried by Graf Spee and Scharnhorst.

The British navy were quick to respond to the sortie, having broken the german naval codes. The royal navy had organised into rapid reaction task forces, each consisting of a battleship, an aircraft carrier as well as escorting cruisers and destroyers. This enabled the British to split up their forces and cover the maximum area of sea, while still packing enough punch to deal with one, or maybe two of the german navy's surface raiders on their own. Now however they needed to deal with three.

Unperturbed, the home fleet sent their nearest battle group towards the expected breakout point of the german raiders. The force consisted of the aircraft carrier Corageous and the venerable Valiant, a modified WWI battleship which none-the-less sported 16" guns. Escorted by the cruisers Hermione and Naiad and a group of destroyers, the british ships made good time in the pleasant June weather and early morning on the 7th June the british and german vessels sighted each other.

Both forces closed immediately for battle, and confidence was high on both sides. The germans kept their forces together, and revealed they were protected by Luftwaffe fighters. The air strike launched by Courageous was easily dealt with by the german fighters, and realising the carrier was in 11" gun range, Graf Spee and Scharnhorst opened up on her, damaging the flight deck and forcing the british to disengage. Courageous played no further meaningful part in the battle.

The german ships now concentrated on Valiant, but found to their distress that her armour held up well to their 11" and 8" guns. Meanwhile accurate plunging fire from Valiant's 16" main battery began to take its toll, with Scharnhorst the main target. Hit several times the german battlecruiser was soon a burning mess. Now the british cruisers and destroyers charged into the fray, and although the destroyers were themselves sunk by the german ships' secondary weapons, they succeeded in torpedoing the Prinz Eugen, crippling the heavy cruiser, which later sank.

The Scharnhorst tried to get away, but Valiant continued to pour shells into her with some spectacularly accurate shooting. Soon she stopped dead in the water and sank at 09:07. The Graf Spee should have escaped, but the Valiant was not done. At 10:15 and at extreme range, the british ship landed a 16" salvo with almost pinpoint accuracy. Hit by five 16" shells the Graf Spee was fatally holed, and rolled over and sank in under twenty minutes.

Niaid and Hermione picked up survivors, while the Valiant's crew could hardly believe their crushing victory. In one morning the Kriegsmarine had lost three of their most dangerous surface raiders, almost a third of her capital vessels, for the loss of three destroyers, a handful of swordfish and some damage to Courageous and Valiant's superstructure. Immediately the british were reporting the great naval victory, although it took the german regime several weeks to admit their losses. Hitler was furious, forbidding any further "rash actions" by the Kriegsmarine. The initiative in the atlantic naval war had shifted heavily in favour of the allies.

Repulse sank running Sydney blockade

Japanese fleet sinks Repulse. Nagato crippled

Battle of the western Med

With the Russians pushing through the Dardanelles in the eastern Mediterranean, Winston Churchill ordered that the Italians be cleared from the Western Med, at any cost. Churchill suspected Stalin was playing power politics over the future of Europe, and he was determined to show the Russian dictator the British resolve to keep the Mediterranean under British influence. To support this, the Royal Navy would have to clear the Italians out of the way.

Admiral Cunningham was determined to use every advantage he had over the Italians to the fullest. With Ark Royal refitting, air power could not be the deciding factor in the battle to come, but radar and night fighting ability could. Cunningham therefore resolved to attack at night. The second problem would be luring the Italians to battle, so the British made the decision to sail in force past Malta with a force of battleships. They would bombard first the African coast and if that failed to rouse their enemy, shell Taranto itself if necessary. The British stripped their other areas of control of all but the most vital assets. Cunningham now had Duke of York, Nelson, Resolution and Revenge, as well as three cruisers and a flotilla of destroyers. On 25th May 1942 this force sailed into Axis controlled waters, daring the Italian navy to come out and fight.

As it turned out the Italian Navy, despite their losses to the US fleet earlier on in the year, were spoiling for a fight and had already sent a powerful force to sea to face the Russians. This force now turned to intercept the British, but as planned Cunningham dodged the Italian fleet until night had fallen. Worse still an unseasonal gale blew up in the region, making conditions particularly difficult for both sides. Knowing his force had radar and were better trained in night fighting, Admiral Cunningham now attacked the Italian fleet.

The Italians soon detected the lead elements of the British fleet, and sent their light forces to investigate. The cruisers London, Dorsetshire and Norfolk were soon fighting a furious action against the italian cruisers Trento and Bolzano, and the arrival of the Italian battleship Ciao Dullio spelled disaster for the british vessels. Norfolk and London were sunk by a combination of gunfire and torpedoes, although the trento was reduced to a wreck by determined torpedo attacks from the British vessels.

Hearing these reports the Italian admiral felt that he had isolated a portion of the British fleet and would now eliminate it with his superior forces. The super dreadnoughts Littorio and Roma, accompanied by the modernised Guilio Cesare rushed to join the action, oblivious to the presence of the British battleship Nelson, which had kept her guns silent. Suddenly the italian searchlights played along the squat structure of the British battleship. Alarmed, the Italians launched a torpedo run by their destroyers, but to their dismay most of the torpedoes missed or failed to explode. Nelson suffered two hits, neither causing significant damage. Despite this setback the Italians still had four battleships to the British one, or so they thought. The Italians engaged Nelson and the Dorsetshire for around twenty minutes, before they were rudely awoken by lines of gun flashes along the horizon. The remaining British battleships had arrived, and took up station line astern of Nelson.

The Italian admiral now had a stark choice. Facing four British ships similar to his own, but with more destroyers who had yet to loose their torpedoes, at night and in bad weather knowing the British had radar, the Italian chose to run. In a well executed manouvre he ordered the about turn of Littorio, Roma and Guillio Cesare. The Littorio suffered a torpedo run from Cunningham's destroyers, but the giant ship was able to evade them by making wild turns. The Ciao Dullio was still fixated on the British cruisers however, which would cost her dearly.

The Ciao Duillio belatedly realised the Italian fleet was fleeing the battle and turning for home. She also turned for home, but by now the old battleship was facing the combined gunfire of five British dreadnoughts. Nelson. Duke of York, Revenge and Resolution poured fire into the ageing italian warship, and within one hour the vessel had rolled over and sunk. The remaining Italian vessels had escaped, the Roma having recieved no hits at all, and returned to port.

Having sunk one battleship and one cruiser for the loss of two cruisers, the British were able to claim victory. More importantly the Italian navy had fled rather than face the British guns, and now the Western mediterannean was firmly under the control of the allies.

Russia enters the naval war!

In spring 1942 the Russian navy made its presence felt for the first time in the war. After securing the agreement of neutral Turkey to pass their navy through the Dardanelles, in exchange for the relinquishing of territorial claims in the east, the Soviet navy prepared to sortie through the Sea of marmara into the eastern Mediterranean. Stalin had a geopolitical agenda as well, aiming to show Russian strength in the Mediterranean to support his claims over eastern Europe. This wasn't lost on the British, who began to step up their own campaign against the Italians.

The Russian sortie composed of three cruisers and four destroyers, but the news they had sailed was quickly leaked to the Italians, who dispatched Three Zara class vessels and four destroyers to intercept them. The two forces clashed in the eastern Agean, with the Italian destroyers making a torpedo run on the Russian vessels. Although they managed to sink one crusier, the destroyers paid the ultimate price, being sunk in turn.

The battle now revolved around the remaining cruisers, as of the two Russian destroyers which weren't sunk, only one managed to get off any torpedoes, and the Pola, damaged, quickly retreated under a smokescreen. The Italians now formed a battle line of their two remaining cruisers, and repeatedly crossed the "T" of the Russian cruisers, who focussed on presenting as small a target to the enemy by constantly pointing to face the Italians. The Italian shooting was poor anyway, and the Russian tactics only highlighted this fact. Another cruiser was crippled but the Italians in turn had Zara badly damaged by the front guns of the two soviet light cruisers. What should have been a victory for the Regia Marina turned into defeat, as Fiume and Zara also fled the scene, leaving the eastern Agean open for further Russian sorties.

In the Baltic the soviet navy also sortied in strength,, and the Kriegsmarine were alarmed to find that the Russians had completed and commissioned a super Battleship, the Sovetsky Soyuz class Sovetskaya Belorussiya. Displacing nearly 60,000 tons and armed with nine 16" guns, the ship left Leningrad and was quickly spotted by the German navy. Escorting her was the Kronshtadt, a recently commissioned battlecruiser, and the old WWI battleship Gangut.

In response the Germans sent Tirpitz, along with Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, and soon enough the two forces met in the Baltic. The judgement of the Soviet Navy was quickly called in to question as the Tirpitz opened fire on Gangut at extreme range. The ageing battleship was totally at a loss to reply, and within minutes was blasted apart by the superior firepower of the german monster. Kronshtadt and Sovetskaya Belorussiya replied with their heavy guns, damaging the Tirpitz, but not decisively. Eventually poor weather forced both sides to return to port, but the Germans now had the upper hand in the Baltic, although the discovery of a Soviet Super-dreadnought was cause for concern. 

US attack on troop convoy fails

During April 1942 the US became increasingly concerned by intelligence reports of a lareg troop buildup in the Marshall Islands. Following the US recapture of Wake Island, the Japanese Empire seemed to be preparing for the next big strike at American posessions in the eastern Pacific. The most likely target was Midway, and to disrupt the Japanese while the US prepared to defend their island bases, a task force was sent to attack the troop convoys now arriving regularly at Kwajalein Atoll.

Because the US fleet was still recovering from the events of Pearl Harbour, and new vessels were still undergoing construction or undergoing sea trials, the Japanese still enjoyed naval superiority in the Pacific. Despite the retaking of Wake Island the US forces were vulnerable, and British reinforcements would not arrive until May at the earliest.

The US admiral Chester Nimitz sent the carrier Saratoga, escorted by a flotilla of destroyers, as well as four Gato submarines to the area. The Saratoga soon found a large convoy of five troopships, escorted by a powerful Japanese fleet which included an aircraft carrier and two battleships. Saratoga and her escorts launched an attack wave of dauntless and devastators, while the Japanese similarly launched an aerial attack on the small US task force. The US carrier turned away under the cover of a smoke screen, while the Japanese and American fighters duelled in the air.

The Japanese and US bombing runs were ineffective, with the US pilots suffering at the hands of combined heavy anti-aircraft fire. Few made it back to the carrier after discovering the devastator torpedo bombers were particularly slow and vulnerable to AA fire. Only one torpedo found a target, the Japanese battleship Ise, and this did minor damage. An attack from two US destroyers on the Japanese carrier came to nothing, the Japanese battleships eaasily sinking the US escorts at long range before they could make a torpedo run.

The US did enjoy more success with their submarines, who had been radioed the positions of the Japanese convoy. Four submarines converged on the Japanese, managing to sink two enemy troopships and damaging the Japanese carrier before a determined attack by destroyers forced them away from the convoy. One Gato class vessel was sunk by the destroyers, but one of the Japanese escorts was also lost. The destroyer action bought time for the convoy however, and the remaining three troopships, crammed with Japanese soldiers, were able to get away from the slow moving submarines.
The US had inflicted some damage on the troop buildup but they had been unable to strike a critical blow. Now the US forces in the pacific waited for the next blow to fall.

Battle for Wake Island

Between the 10th and 12th of February 1942 the much awaited allied counter attack in the Pacific finally took place at Wake Island, which the US high command had decided to retake as a prelude to greater operations and a test of the resolve of their Japanese enemy.

The main landing force was protected by three battlegroups. To the north the battleship New York provided cover for the American flanks while the Yorktown formed the heart of the southern force. The main force of US carriers and battleships never saw action and the landing proceeded to plan on the 10th of February. Taken by surprise by the landings, the Japanese chanced upon the Yorktown with routine patrols, and launched an attack immediately.

A carrier battle developed to the north of the island even as the US forces landed on Wake. The Shokaku launched waves of bombers before retiring in the face of US aircraft bearing down on her, eventually disappearing over the horizon and out of range of the bombers. This also meant death for the Japanese pilots, but they pressed home their attacks with vigour, damaging the Yorktown badly and sinking the cruiser New Orleans.

The US pilots, robbed of their chance to sink a flattop did manage to sing the Japanese cruiser Aoba, but the result of the initial battle was a tactical victory to their enemy. Many Japanese pilots, forced to ditch, were picked up by Japanese destroyers once the US fleet had withdrawn to lick their wounds. Admiral Spruance was concerned, but the landings continued as no major Japanese had yet taken place.

During the night of the 12th however, the Japanese attacked again, this time with the super-battleship Musashi and the battleship Kongo. However the night action favoured the Americans, whose use of radar proved the decisive factor, as well as the presence of two US submarines in the area, who managed to inflict some damage to the Musashi, possibly influencing the Japanese commander to withdraw.

Between the battleships, who barely fired a shot at each other, a furious destroyer battle took place which quickly involved the cruiser Brooklyn. Both sides suffered horrendous casualties in their destroyer fleets, both losing eight escort vessels, and the American cruiser was sunk during the action, the Japanese torpedoes proving deadly. Repeated American torpedo attacks on the Kongo, along with a few salvoes from New York severely damaged the Kongo, and with the Musashi losing A turret out of action and suffering damage below her waterline, the Japanese withdrew. The landings on Wake continued unmolested, and the Japanese committed no more forces to the battle. By the end of February Wake had been retaken, the first step in what the allies hoped would be a fight back in the Pacific.

Graf Spee driven off!

During February of 1942 the British faced increasing air and submarine attacks from axis forces off the south western approaches of the British Isles. In response the admiralty ordered that shipping approaching the UK was escorted at all times. By this time the allies had still not employed full convoy operations on their atlantic operations, because up until now, although the u-boat threat had always been there, the axis had never truly committed to "total" war. Now with the US involved, the gloves came off.

On 23rd February the German navy and air force combined their efforts in combing the western approaches. In a daring move the Admiral Graf Spee, who had narrowly avoided destruction in 1939, now put to sea to search for convoys, while in the skies near Brittany Stuka dive bombers were scrambled as a pair of merchantmen, escorted by a British cruiser and trio of destroyers. The Graf Spee homed in on her targets, but the Luftwaffe got their first. They bombed both merchant vessels but were harrassed by the British escorts and failed to concentrate their attacks. Bombs hit both merchant vessels, but the Germans lost a number of aircraft. By the time the pocket battleship arrived the Stukas were out of ammunition and heading home.In an effort to protect her charges the light cruiser Persephone charged the Graf Spee while the destroyers were defending the merchantmen from air attack. She suffered minor damage and scored a couple of minor hits on the far larger German vessel, before turning away behind a smoke screen. The Graf Spee was now in range of the merchant vessels, but with the aircraft heading back to base, the British turned their torpedo armed destroyers towards the german surface raider, approaching the Graf Spee at speed from behind the Persephone's smoke screen. Unwilling to risk his ship, captain Langsdorff turned for Brest as soon as he saw the destroyers approaching, and the British never completed their attack run. The British press made much of the German pocket battleship being "scared off" by three destroyers, but their victory was more a propaganda coup than anything material.

Battle of Hood vs. Bismarck (December 1941)

In late 1941, following an abortive attempt at a breakout in May the Bismarck, escorted by the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, sortied into the Atlantic. In the Denmark Strait the two German vessels were intercepted by the British battlecruiser Hood and battleship Prince of Wales. The British and German ships closed with each other and the battle of the Denmark Strait began.

Outnumbering the Germans in terms of heavy guns it might have been expected that the Bismarck was overmatched, but the German vessel was brand new, while the British ships, especially the Hood were either ageing or so new as to be suffering teething problems. Early on in the battle the Prince of Wales was hit in her engineering section and brought to a standstill. The Hood closed to avoid plunging fire but the accuracy of the German gunnery was devastating. After less than an hour of fighting the legendary Hood was sunk.

The battle wasn't over however. The combined fire of the British vessels had slowed the Bismarck to a crawl and caused her significant damage. The Prince of Wales and Bismarck, both unable to disengage, now participated in a macabre duel, until finally the Bismarck succumbed, sinking slowly into the cold North Atlantic.

The Prince of Wales, heavily damaged, was not to escape the victor however. Having been largely left unmolested during the battle and sensing the British battleship was unable to manoeuvre, the Prinz Eugen moved in for the kill. At short range she pummled the Prince of Wales until the British battleship was little more than a burning hulk. The remaining crew abandoned her and she sank sometime during the ensuing night.

The battle of the Denmark Strait was viewed as unacceptable to both sides. A gunnery duel between giants that seemed to hark back to the previous war, the battle had left neither side the victor. The Bismarck had been prevented from commerce raiding, but the British had lost two capital ships in the process. It was clear that neither side would accept such an encounter on equal terms again unless they had no choice...

Order of Battle:

Great Britain
 - Battlecruiser Hood SUNK
 - Battleship Prince of Wales SUNK

Germany
 - Battleship Bismarck SUNK
 - Cruiser Prinz Eugen

**Historical note: The Bismarck sunk the Hood but was sunk in turn after the Royal Navy expended all their energies to sink her. In our encounter, the Prince of Wales and Hood managed to take down the mighty German Battleship, with Prinz Eugen finishing off the British!

Battle of Malta

While the British were sending forces to the Far East, the US, convinced by Winston Churchill of the plan to knock Italy out of the war, sent a powerful naval fleet to the Mediterranean. It would be months before the US army could build up a meaningful presence in Europe, and US public opinion was fixed on Japan. However to signal their intent to carry the fight to the axis in Europe, the Tennessee, California and five cruisers were sent to Europe immediately, escorted by destroyers and two submarines.

During 1940 and 1941 the British and Italian fleets had largely avoided each other, concentrating on escorting their respective convoys carrying supplies to their forces in Africa. With the Axis on the offensive on North Africa the British could hardly afford to carry out offensive operations against the Regia Marina, but this restriction did not apply to the forces of America.

Prelude to Malta

The first action between the US navy and the Italians occured on 2nd January 1942, almost as soon as the American task force lead elements had arrived. The Americans aided the British by blockading the seas around Malta, acting as a screen against the Italians sortieing from Taranto.

In the early morning of an extremely windy day, and in poor visibility, the Italian Cruiser Gorizia suddenly stumbled across US forces picketing the area. US destroyers raced to intercept her, having detected the Italian vessel on radar, supported by the cruiser USS Phoenix. An extremely one sided skirmish followed and the Gorizia was soon sunk.

Battle of Malta

Reports soon reached the main body of the Italian fleet in the Mediterranean, that they had lost a cruiser to "light American forces". The Italian admiralty was at first delighted, despite having lost a Zara class vessel. The inexperienced US navy had brashly entered the "Mare Nostrom", and now, with the super dreadnought Vittorio Venetto  at sea, escorted by two WWI battleships, Italy had the chance of scoring a major victory over the new entrants to the war.

The super dreadnought was accompanied by the battleships Andrea Dorea and Guilio Cesare. Both vessels were serviceable WWI battleships, but the Vittorio Venetto was one of the finest battleships in the world. Around the small besieged island of Malta the Italian force closed with the US fleet, unaware of just how large it was and lacking the radar to work it out before it was too late.

Amid rain squalls and heavy seas the two fleets met. The Italian commander was slightly surprised by the size of the enemy fleet, and the presence of two American battleships initially gave him pause for thought. However, his three battleships should have been a match for the Americans, even if they also possessed a fleet of four fast cruisers.

The battle took place in appalling weather, and despite early success with the Vittorio Venetto scoring multiple hits on the California, the Italian shooting was generally ineffective, thanks largely to the bad weather. The Italians particularly struggled to deal with the US destroyers, who quickly closed on the italian fleet, launching their torpedoes at the Guilio Cesare.

The Italian dreadnought had not been sufficiently modified in the inter-war years, and now her age counted against her. The battleship took several hits below the waterline from accurate American torpedo strikes, and within minutes the old dreadnought heeled over and sank.

Suddenly the wind was knocked out of the Italian fleet. With their heavy guns still failing to reduce the effectiveness of the two US battleships and the American cruisers crossing their path in front of them, the Regia Marina force began to turn to port to disengage. However at this moment the fire from Tennessee and California dealt a fatal blow. Lucky shots from the two US vessels slammed into the Vittorio Venetto just as it seemed she must escape. Crippled, the super dreadnought was temporarily brought to a stop and unable to fire, her main systems knocked out. Now she was a sitting duck. Within minutes the American vessels poured shot after shot into her, and it may have been the cruiser Northampton which dealt the killing blow.

The Italian destroyers, who had had their own private duel with American submarines, now launched a torpedo run of their own against the California. They managed three hits, but the US had fitted torpedo belts to their battleships, and despite inflicting some damage, the California only briefly slowed before continuing the pursuit of the Italian fleet.

The "fleet" now consisted of the Andrea Doria who was now performing a series of evasive manoeuvres, desperately attempting to shake off her pursuers. Eventually the Italian vessel escaped behind a rain squall, but not before she had been seriously damaged by another destroyer torpedo run.

The battle ended with spectacular success for the US fleet. Not a single ship had been lost and the damage to the California was superficial. In exchange the Italians had lost - overall - two battleships and a heavy cruiser, with another battleship crippled. This included a Littorio class, one of four, the finest Italian ships they could put to sea.

Order of Battle:

Prelude to Malta:
USA
 - Cruiser Phoenix
 - 3 Destroyers

Italy
 - Cruiser Gorizia SUNK

Battle of Malta:
USA
 - Battleship Tennessee
 - Battleship California
 - Cruiser Northampton
 - Cruiser Chicago
 - Cruiser Pensacola
 - Cruiser Portland
 - 4 Destroyers
 - 2 submarines (Ray, Sawfish)

Italy
 - Battleship Vittorio Venetto SUNK
 - Battleship Andrea Doria CRIPPLED
 - Battleship Guilio Cesare SUNK
 - 4 Destroyers 2 SUNK

Disaster at the Solomon Sea!

Following the attack on Pearl Harbour the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill decided to send a force of British ships to the Far East to deter Japanese aggression against British posessions in the region. Forze Z was formed with Rear admiral Charles Edward Barrington Simeon hoisting his flag on the battlecruiser Renown. Joining this force was the aircraft carrier Illustrious and the cruisers Bonaventure and Newcastle, escorted by four destroyers.

The force arrived in Darwin on 22nd January 1942, and then prepared to escort troop convoys to Port Moresby on 23rd, since Papau New Guinnea had just been invaded by Japanese forces. Force Z sailed into the Solomon Sea and on 26th January was spotted in good conditions by Rear Admiral Gunji Kogure aboard the battleship Mutsu, which was leading a flotilla based around her and a fleet carrier.

Realising the Japanese battleship had greater range, the British advanced with the Renown and Newcastle racing to get in range, the Illustrious dropping back escorted by her anti-aircraft cruiser Bonaventure, and launching an immediate strike with her Swordfish torpedo bombers. The Japanese also prepared an air strike, but Kogure turned his force leisurely to port, bringing the Mutsu's guns to bear on the British force. As the destroyers closed with each other between the two fleets, the Japanese opened fire a little after 3pm local time.

The first salvoes were a disaster for the British. Plunging shot from the Mutsu found its target, a shell passing through the Renown's relatively thin deck armour into the engineering section. The resulting explosion killed many engineers and stopped the engines dead. The screws stopped turning and for the next vital half an hour Renown was dead in the water.

Newcastle at first didn't notice the catastrophe and continued her charge towards the enemy fleet, now unaided. Renown managed to get a few shots off and inflict some damage on her enemy, but like a sitting duck the British battlecruiser took a pounding from the Mutsu's 15 inch guns, with more shells raining down on her, several adding to the carnage in the engine rooms. Eventually the crew managed to get the Renown slowly moving again, but by that time it was too late, the Renown had taken too much damage, and at 4:30pm, she rolled over and sank.

While the Japanese fleet concentrated on the Renown, to buy her time the Newcastle charged at the Japanese fleet, along with four destroyers. The destroyers were able to make a torpedo run before being sunk in turn by Japanese Long Lance warheads, and the Mutsu suffered significant damage. Her firing was put off for several minutes and she developed a list from internal flooding, but overall the Japanese vessel was still battleworthy. The combined fire of her secondary armarment and fire from the Japanese heavy cruiser eventually crippled the Newcastle. She was finished off by Japanese divebombers launched from the escorting carrier.

The Illustrious contributed to the battle by launching fighters and three flights of Fairey Swordfish. These slow biplanes managed to reach the Japanese battle line, but only because of the sacrifice of many a Fairey Fulmar pilot. Dogfighting above the ocean, the Fulmars were outclassed by the zeros, but they ensured the bombers got to their target. The Swordfish pilots braved anti-aircraft fire and managed to hit the Mutsu several times, causing further damage and internal flooding. Her speed was greatly reduced and X turret was put out of action, but her fires and flooding were controlled to allow her to limp home to port after the battle.

None of the swordfish returnded to the Illustrious, who by now had reversed course under a smokescreen, accompanied by the Bonaventure. Before the Japanese broke off to escort their battleship back to port, long range fire from her and the heavy cruiser slammed into the light British cruiser, causing her to heel over and sink in dramatic fashion. Only the Illustrious was able to get away.

The battle of the Solomon Sea was an unmitigated disaster for the British. They had badly damaged a second rate Japanese battleship and sunk one destroyer. In return the Japanese had all but sunk the British force Z and paved the way for the invasion of Papau New Guinnea. Port Moresby fell only a few weks later. Winston Churchill described the affair as "the Nadir of Empire".

Order of Battle:

Japan 
 - Battleship Mutsu - CRIPPLED 
 - Carrier
 - Cruiser Takao
 - 4 Destroyers - 1 SUNK 

Great Britain 
 - Battlecruiser Renown - SUNK 
 - Carrier Illustrious
 - Cruiser Newcastle - SUNK 
 - Cruiser Bonaventure - SUNK 
 - 4 Destroyers - 4 SUNK 

DECISIVE JAPANESE VICTORY

**Historical note: In late 1941 Winston Churchill did send a force to represent Britain in the pacific, but it was the Repulse and Prince of Wales. The two capital ships lacked air cover and were sunk by the Japanese air force with no naval loss to the Japanese. Just like in our campaign, the humiliating British defeat was a terrible start to the far east campaign!**