1904-1905: Russo-Japanese Naval War Literature References

Following of from my hypothetical WWI Naval Russo-Swede battle at CoW-2023 I had a wide ranging conversation with Toby Ewin (a Naval Historian) who kindly passed on these references for the Russo-Jap War (see below, I never knew there was so many and so much to read!): 

I have to confess to once having Julian Corbett's history of the Japanese War but could not get into them (I did read his WWI histories cover-to-cover, so I do not know what mental block I had for the Russo-Jap) and so passed them onto a friend for a 1/3000 figure [ship] swap [I received a modern USN Carrier Battle Group]. I am content with the battles in Avalanche Press' 1904-05 Russo-Jap Naval War board game and David Manley's White Bear and Red Sun rules and scenarios (see below, the amount of detail in the reference list is fascinating):  

I am pleased just to have the complete range of Russo-Jap ships [bar the full number of destroyers] represented in the Navwar 1/3000 figure range for this period (see below, more and more references): 

Final page just to be complete (see below, as the wife says, this is what libraries are for - get it on Kindle if you must!): 

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I look forward to Toby's book on Russian Imperial Naval Wargaming in the History of Wargaming Project in due course at it is a fascinating subject (that will probably find its way to my book shelf as it has wargaming in the title).

The French Admiral Suffren - Bane of the Royal Navy

After finishing listening to Mahan's "Influence of Sea Power on History" (although I have to say, it was a much longer than expected slog), I was delighted to uncover an aspect of naval history I was completely ignorant of, namely the illustrious career of the French Admiral Suffren, who was the bane of the Royal Navy on the India station in the late eighteenth century. I have to confess to my relative ignorance of the of both the "Age of Sail" and this great French admiral (other than a class of French WWI vintage armoured cruisers being named after ), things I am trying to address (see below, the Wikipedia link is a very useful starting point):  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Andr%C3%A9_de_Suffren

There is also a wonderfully titled tomb (Satan's admiral) on Admiral Suffren's career, but it is somewhat outside of my price range and budget (see below, I ask you is there nothing [in theory] you cannot buy on Amazon?):  

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Admiral-Satan-Life-Campaigns-Suffren/dp/185043686X

From my internet poking I see there are plenty of other wargame bloggers have tread the Suffren path before: 

http://jjwargames.blogspot.com/2020/12/admiral-satan-life-campaigns-of-suffren.html

http://devonwargames.blogspot.com/2013/02/battle-of-sadras-1782.html

There are even board games to play: 

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/31251/monsoon-seas-naval-warfare-south-atlantic-and-indi

Interesting "Age of Sail" web-site:

http://www.larsonweb.com/transfer/miniatures/sail/sailhomepage.htm

More doubtless to follow ;) 

Interesting Podcast and Website: Naval History Podcast

This is a fascinating Podcast Series which sadly seems to have stalled at Episode 7. Well worth a listen to while it is still there.

www.navalhistorypodcast.com

It started off doing a very in depth analysis of ancient naval history. 

A "Splendid Set of Naval Rules" by Long Faced Games

One of the problems that besets "Naval" wargaming (IMHO) is the seemingly implicit fascination with the kit and by this definition,  you get complexity .. too much for what you need to game it. You are required to have a Byzantine level of understanding of how things operates and procedural minutia before a dice is rolled. The Long Faced Games IMHO give a refreshing antidote over the "kit oriented"  approach. A fast play set of rules for squadrons of ships, one that has enabled me to shine a light on a few naval collections that were "hiding their light under a bushel" (namely my hibernating Russo Japanese 1904-05 and WWI: RN versus SMS Kaiser Fleet).

Russo-Japanese War: 

WWI:

Future periods of interest include:

WW2:

And the NEW period - Spanish American War

Watch this space for AARs.

Rediscovered this great little Naval Gaming Blog .. well worth a look

http://redinthemorning.blogspot.com/

All sorts of stuff
Will pop in there again for inspiration

Oooh .. Spanish American Naval War 1898 .. "Shiny thing"

On my internet travels I discovered this little shiny gem:

Part 1 (Models): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NI565sn0OaY
Part 2 (Painting): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4J19rw1sOCg
Part 3 (History Lesson): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFjoeBPQSI8&t=111s
Part 4 (Wargame Rules): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uwJ2P2c-zc
Part 5 (Wargame I): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQoEDyj-a0E
Part 6 (Wargame II): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpY0ZHR1Zgk
Part 7 (Wargame III): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGE7fwnDk-A

I must confess I have not watched them all, but rather skipped through.
A brilliant project that I sense I seem fated to follow at some point!
Plenty of other things to paint first!

Armada Naval 1588: Battle for Britain Series

Still on a nautical theme and still being inventive with "paper" (and granted with graceful permission to photocopy ship pages for personal use), being a much cheaper entry point into a wargaming period than metals or even plastics for that matter, plus some simple wargame rules (see below):

I must confess this was something of an "impulse purchase" while doing a more boring Amazon book purchase. I wonder how much "Amazon trade" is generated this way ;)

Audible Book: To Rule The Waves

Following on from the C17th century naval game (The Battle of Soleway 1672) I decided that my naval knowledge had to be expanded to cover the pre-Napoleonic era. I am good for modern backwards to Napoleonic, but my knowledge of where the Royal Navy ethos comes from is scant. So imagine my surprise to find this lovely tome (some twenty nine hours of delicious listening .. the car journey to work is flying by). I didn't realise we owed so much to Samuel Pepys. (see below):

Methinks a nautical phase cometh!

Dogger Bank Information - WWI Naval "YouTube" Lecture: courtesy of Simulating War forum

Gawd bless those little Internet elves they keep finding gems like this and then posting them to forums like Simulating War:

Thanks must go to Mircea Pauca who pointed this one out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuFgJULHI7g

The slides used to support that lecture:

http://www-users.york.ac.uk/~nm15/MacKayUSNWC.pdf

Have only had a "peak" but like what I saw (the whole lecture is a just over an hour)

Enjoy 

:)

More Audible Books .. Pacific WWII

There is a theme developing here, I am currently listening to Ship of Ghosts about the USS Houston by James D. Hornsfischer. Interesting as a few years ago I wargamed The Battle of the Java Sea (1942) in which she took part. A third of the book is about her battles and "back history", two thirds about the subsequent fate of her survivors and those of the HMAS Perth lost in the same action (following the Java Sea) against the backdrop of the unfolding war (see below):

In addition, already listen to is The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors again by Hornsfischer, regarding the heroic actions of the destroyer captains in saving Taffy Three in (1944) The Battle of Leyte Gulf (see below):

If truth but told this book was the more gripping, perhaps because of the scale of the action and the wide variety of interest as non-destroyer participation is explored, particularly that of the airman of Taffy Three.

Lined up in my Aiudible library up are two other Hornsfischer titles covering the Marianas (1944) Island Campaign and the earlier Guadalcanal Campaign (1941-43). Already I have been rooting around in the loft for my WWII Navwar 1/3000 unfinished Pacific Theatre toys.

The USS Marblehead Story (1941) : Pacific War

Going back to my epic naval battle refight of The Battle of the Java Sea (epic in the sense it took four sessions spread over months) and my continued interest in "the start of the Pacific War hostilities", I came across an interesting "prequel" history. The story of an obsolete (by the standards of he day) US WWI's cruiser caught up in the "next generation" of war, one to which it was not very well suited (see link below):

http://www.cityofart.net/bship/uss_mhead_story.html

It has got me started thinking again ;)

Found it! A vehicle for my WWII Naval Games - Tokyo Express (Victory Game)

Eureka, got it! A tactical WWII Pacific theater board game with strategic map moves that is solitaire (so I can practice before I roll it out to my fellow wargamers at the club). Yet again it is quality production from Victory Games (see below):

My source was an electronic version, which is a pain in that you have to source a decent printer for the map ans "print" what you need to make the charts and counters up. Makes it all worth while in teh end, no pain no gain ;)

KM Blucher (Cont) "Moving Towards the Stern"

With the "bow" and "amidships" done it is time to move towards the "stern" of the ship, please note the obligatory cup of shipyard "tea" (see below):

All the gaps are now covered over (see below):

Just a case of building up the "pointy bits" at the back (see below):

Note: The KM Blucher had a brief combat life (1939-40), but her sister the KM Admiral Hipper lived through to 1945 (even venturing forth into the North Atlantic and fighting in the Battle of the Barents Sea) as did her infamous big sister KM Prinz Eugen (same armament but a bit longer and more sea worthy, Battle of the Denmark Strait and the Channel Dash).

KM Blucher (Continued) : Front bit done ...

The main mast and associated tricky bits have all gone onto the front (bow) end of the ship.The construction, moving as per the instructions, moves down the middle sides fitting in the various things that poke up here and there, stop me if I get too technical (see below): )

All-in-all it's coming together nicely!

Note: Please see the upgraded canteen facilities this week of "cup of tea and mini muffin" ;)

Mediterranean 1914/1915 including Gallipolli Books (Naval) - Notes to Self

For me there are the big five main reference works to the Naval situation in the Mediterranean during the early period of WWI. You cannot escape the mass of detail in the Official/Unofficial Admiralty (endorsed if not actively sponsored the RN) of the  Naval History of WWI by Sir Julian Corbett (see below):

"Naval operations (History of the Great War based on official documents, by direction of the Historical section of the Committee of Imperial Defence)"

In addition there are two other books by Dan Van Der Vat (nope that' his real name fokes) worthy of reading. First, there is his "one that got away" the SMS Goeben book (see below):

 
Then there is the follow on story about the (naval) events were a consequence of the fiasco (see below):

What was also fascinating was the finding of a FREE digital copy (courtesy of Microsoft and Toronto University) of the book published privately in the 1920's (at the Admiral's own expense) by the Senior British Naval Officer (C-in-C of the Mediterranean Fleet) basically defending his decision-making and actions (see below): 

All of this rich history has a certain connection with Sir Winston Churchill, sadly not in a positive light. 

As a good overview read of WWI Naval in general  you cannot go wrong with "Castles of Steel" (see below):

I feel a stirring in my "dreadnought 1/3000 fleets" before Xmas 2013 (perhaps 2014 would be more appropriate)

For those of Naval (WWI) disposition ...

Something for the weekend sir?

The curious affair of the Goeban and the Breslau in the opening weeks of the First World War is a compelling "murder mystery" that could have well had many different endings.

Thanks to the Internet Archive a rare book by one of the admirals involved is available through this link:
http://openlibrary.org/books/OL7024818M/The_flight_of_the_Goeben_and_the_Breslau

It is not a 'heavy' read but best read after a more modern history book (For example Van Der Vat's book on the Goeban, or Castles of Steel), it puts quite a 'sad case' (IMHO) of 'why it was not my fault' and was written in response to the 1920 Admiralty 'Official History' by Sir Julian Corbett

It all but begs for a mini-campaign (which I believe is available in an old issue of Strategy and Tactics) 

Naval WWII "Heavy Metal"

Ahoy there sailor!

Over the Xmas holidays I managed a couple of 'late nights to myself' with a 'brandy and lemonade' (yes I was raiding the drinks cabinet in the small hours) putting together my last two 1/1200 unmade kits from the Airfix "Sink the Bismarck" party pack box set, the mighty KM Bismarck herself and one of her taunting shadowers, HMS Suffolk (see below):  

I have to say, it was not a chore, but something I have been meaning to do for a long, long time. My naval wargaming comes in fits and starts, but the 1/1200 scale KM Bismarck kit is a "quick assembly" pleasure to put together (see below). Note: I already have one done from the Revell 1/1200 waterline series, as well as possessing a 1/1200 metal kit, but I think the Airfix one is far superior (or am I just getting nostalgic?), a side effect perhaps of already having the 1/600 scale model kit available to shrink down (and thus 'reduce' any modelling errors). 

HMS Suffolk was another delight (see below), again Airfix make her in 1/600 too so the same short odf "error reduction" is probably at play here again. 

As per my original "Sink the Bismarck" post way back, I was extremely lucky to be gifted two of these RN County class cruisers in my "Sink the Bismarck" set by some kind Airfix "packing elf" (I just hope no one was one short somewhere else in the world). I briefly toyed withe idea of converting the second 'County' cruiser into the historic "scouting cruiser" partner (HMS Norfolk) but when I discovered it was slightly more fiddly than "raising up and filling in" the lowered stern (HMS Suffolk has a stern that drops down just a tad for an eighth of the ships length) I "passed" and will  happily call her HMS Berwick (an identical Suffolk sister that did sterling convoy work) or generically refer to her as "an eight inch RN cruiser".
  

A Mine Laying U-Boat Whatever Next (Type VII D)

How about this for a dastardly and cunning idea, the Germans developed the Type VII D mine laying U-Boat. Longer than the Type VII C with a mid-section inserted carrying five static moored mine laying silos. This was a bit like modern ballistic SSBN's, except that they dropped out of the bottom of the hull and were permanently flooded being outside the pressure hull (see picture below): 

Another birthday present, stuck together and glued, I seem to be slipping into a "put it together" mode drifting away from painting and finishing things off.

North Atlantic rendezvous, a Type VII D, meets up with a Type VII C (see below):   

A game idea, a game idea, a kingdom for a decent game idea?

PS: There is no shortage of water where I live currently live as we've had above a months worth of "typical rainfall" for the season in just over twenty four hours (see above, there is usually a good two foot extra space beneath that footbridge).

Birthday Present - Das Boot in 1/350 Type VIIC U-Boat

It can be nice to be surprised. In short I am a happy man drifting through my forties (another birthday down) still making plastic models that I never asked for but when opened are a nice piece of history (see below):

This is the 1/350 scale Revell Type VIIC German U-Boat and it is a lovely detailed kit. Destined methinks to be painted as U-81 which sunk the Ark Royal (boo hiss) in the Mediterranean in 1941.

Once fully completed I will have to find a wargaming use for it ;)

The Naval Past and Climate Research

God bless the RN and their log books say the climatologists (if this indeed is the correct title for the set of learned people endeavouring to an understanding of when/how much/why the earth's climate has changed or is changing).

The pedantic way the RN records in minute detail the weather on watch (under pain of punishment for falsification) can give a wealth of previously hidden data to past periods in places (namely at sea) untapped but equally as important to the study of climate (we are on an aquatic planet after all). Circa WWI.

Trouble is, it's one thing to electronically scan past documents en masse, but it is quite another to have the AI to understand them

Enter:
http://www.oldweather.org/
BBC News article on the Project:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11532534

Akin to various astronomy projects, Joe Public has been asked to step into the breach and record (i.e. data entry) it for them, all in the name of a good cause. Actually seeing where WWI ships travelled to has a certain appeal to me. Their wanderings are quite interesting, rather than just popping up in the pages of a naval history tome to fight a battle it is just as interesting to see where they travelled to.

I hope it succeeds and it is an interesting source of information in itself.