The Battle of the Java Sea: Last Dice and Darkness

"Japanese light cruiser closing, sir! Guns says she's at extreme range now, but we've got the shot lined up when you want to take it sir." The captain paused only briefly to take stock of the situation before replying, "Tell Guns to wait. We've not got anything left to waste. When we shoot we have to hit, no point making the bugger look more important than she is!" "Aye, aye Captain."

Minutes passed with the Japanese light cruiser edging closer. The posturing seemed seemed to last an eternity.

"Guns reports, Japanese cruiser opening fire sir. Guns says she's well within our effective range now sir, permission requested to open fire sir?" A barely audible sigh, then the captain of the HMAS Perth replied, "Permission granted," then adding to those within earshot "She's a persistent little Sheila that one, doesn't get the hint, but she needs to know we're not interested in her. Earlier in the dance I'd have given her my full attention, but right now I'm just after her pretty little sisters over he horizon." There was a grim chuckle from around the bridge and a few wry smiles but no real laughter.

The encounter was brief, a resounding crash amidships and damage control reported "X" turret was out of commission (another half armament box damage, leaving the Perth at exactly half strength), however no hull or engine damage meant that HMAS Perth could charge on. Collectively the bridge knew the last real moment of crisis was over and the tension slackened. 'Guns' then again earned his months pay. The first full salvo from HMAS Perth straddled the IJNS Naka and wrought considerable damage to her hull. From that point on she was in no position to give serious chase to the much faster HMAS Perth. With one last fling of the dice the IJNA Naka rolled a last straddle on the HMAS Perth, but it resolved to no actual damage inflicted, in return HMAS Perth was content to  "Check Fire" simply to conserve her precious ammunition for better things. As HMAS Perth moved out of her range, and with darkness fast falling the best the IJNS Naka (bottom right below) could do was interpose herself between the last American WWI destroyer (top left below) also trying  to reach the 'over the horizon convoy' (see below).
 

The last act of the Battle of the Java Sea were the two dull explosions only faintly heard on the bridge of HMAS Perth. One "coup de grace" for HMS Exeter (despite 'damage control' having regained 2cm of "creep speed") being despatched with a close range Long Lance torpedo and the other for the Dutch Java, at likewise short range but from a combination of gun and torpedo. Guessing the cause of these ominous explosions the Perth's captain visibly shook with rage. "That makes us the Wolf now gentleman, rest assured we have a long and bloody night ahead of us gentlemen" being his final comment to his officers.

So finally end'eth The Battle of the Java Sea:

Result: 

ABDA [Minor] Strategic Victory as there is the (Opportunity) for ABDA via HMAS Perth to attack the convoy ABDA has exceed her historical counterparts and has the opportunity to attack the invasion convoy. This will dislocated the Japanese invasion schedule by weeks rather than days, plus there is a lot of very badly damaged Japanese ships that will be heading back to The Sea of Japan for repairs, making them unavailable for use elsewhere.

IJN: Although a "Major Tactical" victory by essentially sinking ABDA (even HMAS Perth is unlikely to survive through the next morning), it is a very short-lived success considering the major mission objectives were to protect the convoy from harm.

This may well lend itself to a solo naval game, I'll have to put my thinking hat on. The Japanese invasion of Java will likely be delayed by a week as the Japanese forces regroup and take stock of the situation.

Thank you for you patience in reading about it all, I hope you found it as enjoyable as I did in the tale telling

:)

The Battle of the Java Sea: The Japanese Destroyers Attack

The ABDA cruiser line of battle braces itself (see below) for the long expected charge of the First Japanese destroyer flotilla. Six attackers in all, still each carrying half a payload of deadly long lance torpedoes.

Thankfully for ABDA the defensive fire from the cruisers was withering. The leading Japanese destroyer that posed the most imminent threat being shattered. All of her upper-works gone, armaments zero, she came on a blazing wreck. Another was left badly damaged, however their heroic sacrifice paved the way for the rest of the flotilla's attack.

On they came. The Japanese numbers meant "something" was likely to get through in the end (see above), if not this turn then maybe the next.

Meanwhile confusion reigned at the head of the ABDA line of battle. The flagship De Ruyter was still suffering from catastrophic loss of power and was barely making any headway. This drew murderous attention from the Second Japanese destroyer flotilla and she suffered yet another critical loss of power leaving her dead in the water.

HMS Exeter chose to plough on into the heart of the battle, lessening the range and confronting the IJNS Nachi to a personal duel. HMS Exeter was down to half gun strength, the IJNS Nachi as well as being a bigger beast to start off with, had three quarters of her guns and was better armoured. HMS Exeter was stalwart, she had been here before, against an even more deadlier foe (Note: The KM Graf Spee in the 1939 Battle of the River Plate) and knew someone had to be "under the guns".

HMS Perth tried gave as much support as possible as she turned in succession.

Ominously the Japanese Second Destroyer Flotilla (led by the IJNS Naka, a light cruiser) split into two torpedo attack groups. One aimed at HMS Exeter (see the three destroyers top right) the other (middle right) at the struggling De Ruyter.

At the requisite GQII phase the Japanese admiral announced: Fish in the water, many, many fish ...

The Battle of the Java Sea: A mighty big melee.

Several actions occur simultaneously.ABDA shows it's card to the Japanese destroyers and the IJN heavy cruisers take on the ABDA destroyer screen.

To the ABDA left, HMS Electra stops making smoke and the ABDA cruiser line is deployed. Stunned silence from the Japanese commander. The concentration of ABDA cruisers is somewhat unexpected, he was briefed to expect perhaps something like three enemy "light cruisers". He also now knows (see last post) he has to get in far closer than he would want to do in order to deliver an "effective attack" on fast moving targets. Being on the receiving end of the broadsides from these five cruisers is definitely going to hurt/sting.

And hurt it does, from line-of-battle top to bottom the cruisers belch fire at the destroyers.

• De Ruyter (Flag)
• HMS Exeter
• HMAS Perth
• USS Houston
• Java

Back on the far ABDA left the plucky HMS Electra is suffering badly, particularly from the attentions of the IJNS light cruiser giving chase and is all but reduced to a burning wreck topside defiantly firing back with one gun, but importantly hull (and hence speed) intact.

The IJN destroyers start their attack runs at the ABDA battle line know they have at least three turns 'under the guns' before they are in effective torpedo range. The damage is savage and with one turn or so left to press on the formation is approximately down to half strength armament strength and battered hulls.

Meanwhile at the van of the ABDA formation those Japanese heavy cruisers (IJNS Nachi and IJNS Haguro), assisted by their float planes reporting fall of shot, start a deadly game of destroyer hunting (their only targets). Running out of options Doorman signals attack as the Japanese "eyes in the skies" means that they will be able to shoot through any smoke screen, while ABDA would be blind. The RN/Dutch destroyers find to their dismay the IJN heavy cruisers to be very powerfully armed indeed and it looks certain to be a one way trip.

The Dutch "Witt de With" (bottom left) is the first to be sunk, followed by the Dutch Kortenaer (top middle) left dead in the water with no functioning armaments, their stoic sacrifice and the van of the ABDA cruiser line coming into sight (De Ruyter and HMS Exeter) allows HMS Encounter, though badly damaged (down to half strength) to make an attack run on the heavy cruisers.

All the time the Japanese left hand side counter draws closer, rather too aggressively to be considered as likely non-combatant transports. The last remaining fully functioning ABDA destroyer HMS Jupiter (above far right, HMS Encounter top left) closes to investigate revealing:

Another IJN destroyer flotilla and light cruiser (flag). Doorman seethes in a low guttural voice that he is caught in a classic "horns of the buffalo" Zulu style attack.

The Battle of the Java Sea: IJN revealed [Middle Counter]

The left Japanese screening force cuts down the left flank of the ABDA force. HMS Electra responds by laying shielding smoke to hide the remaining ABDA counters (one dummy and one representing the ABDA cruisers and American destroyers) from direct IJN line-of-sight.

The IJN right flotilla is now in line astern formation of:

• IJNS Jintsu (Light Cruiser) chasing HMS Electra
• IJNS Hatsukaze (Destroyer)
• IJNS Oshio (Destroyer)
• IJNS Yukikaze (Destroyer)
• IJNS Shiratsuyu (Destroyer)
• IJNS Asashio (Destroyer)
• IJNS Shigure (Destroyer) lagging at reduced speed due to a GQII "critical boiler hit"

To Doorman's (ABDA's Commander) surprise the Japanese central counter moves relatively closer to the ABDA forces. The tactical tabletop units can go up to their speed, but non-revealed hidden counters can only move 6" at best. Two turns and they should be in eye-to-eye contact with the invasion convoy? All ABDA has to do is continue on its course and fend off the close escort an be amongst the transports. The ABDA commanders senses an opportunity.

The leading RN/Dutch destroyers report (incredibly) that they are under torpedo attack. The secret "Long Lance" torpedoes from the IJN destroyers (fired the turn before). This is rather unnerving to the ABDA player who was subconsciously thinking of combat only in terms of what his weapons could do. Calculations reveal that the ABDA destroyers are travelling too fast and outrun or dodge the fish (without even the need to roll the dice). A salient lesson for the IJN player in the use of is wonder weapon, pity he "only" used half of the left flotilla's complement to learn it.

Meanwhile the leading Dutch destroyer moves into view of the IJN middle counter to reveal, two rather heavily armed Japanese er, non-transports:

These are Japanese "heavies", 8" cruisers in fact. Ulp! Not the slow fat merchantmen Doorman was hoping to see. The IJN heavy cruiser scout planes now overhead are in perfect spotting spotting position of the ABDA destroyer screen and next turn they will be able to clearly see the ABDA cruisers too. The way the Japanese left (ABDA right) hand side counter is also converging to the battle area suggests more "non-transports".

The Battle of the Java Sea: IJN revealed [Left Counter]

The ABDA destroyer screen manoeuvres itself table-top into a position to "see" the left hand side IJN counter. Five ABDA destroyers deploy in line abreast and correspondingly a clump of IJN ships appear from the Umpire's "toy box".

There is a slight audible gulp from Rear Admiral "Doorman" as he was hoping for far less enemy ships, a destroyer picket rather than the flotilla above. Although the absence of anything "heavy" (8" or greater) is a great relief. He would happily take Japanese light cruiser and a flotilla of IJN destroyers if that was all their ships. Certainly something for "Doorman" to ponder, especially since the GQII player knows more than his historical counterpart and mutters "Long Lance" under his breath.

The Japanese and ABDA destroyers form a line of battle and engage in a bit of long range destroyer gunnery.

All else behind this front battle-line is still approximation via 'poker counters', though the hum of the Japanese float planes is getting ominously louder. The gunfire duel lasts but two rounds, a scattering of hits across the RN destroyers and a return pebble dashing of the leading Japanese destroyers, with the added interest of a critical hit down in a boiler room which means one IJN destroyer pulls out of line (in order that he does not slow the formation down) and starts straggling.

Doorman sees that enemy 'gun' numbers would soon aversely tell as the Jap light cruiser is about to enter the fray. Discretion being the better part of valour and wanting to hide the main ABDA line of battle for as long as possible "Doorman" orders a covering smoke screen to be laid.

The destroyers comply (Dutch destroyers to the right hand side, RN destroyers to the right).

The Battle of the Java Sea: The Scenario

The ABDA Fleet has been concentrated to counter the threat of a Japanese amphibious invasion. Returning from a fruitless patrol a reconnaissance plane reports sighting the IJN fleet, ironically exactly where the ABDA fleet has just come from. A case of looking in the right place but at the wrong time.

The ABDA fleet does an about turn in sight of their own harbour and heads straight for the vulnerable Japanese invasion force spread out in an unseemly, non-military gaggle for some twenty miles. The head of the convoy points directly at Java.

The Japanese escorting force has been caught napping as the IJN did not expect a concentration of Allied assets so rushes all of its available forces to defend the convoy crammed full of troops.

Because of the multi-national nature of his fleet, the Dutch Rear Admiral Doorman has but one tactical command in his itinerary, literally "Follow Me".

The ABDA Fleet heads out with a fan of the five RN and Dutch modern destroyers screening a cruiser line of battle:

• Dutch De Ruyter (Flag Doorman)
• HMS Exeter
• HMS Perth
• USN Houston
• Dutch Java

The American WWI destroyers are kept to the rear as a reserve force and try desperately to keep up with the more modern elements of the ABDA task force. .

Tabletop game:

To try and introduce an element of the "fog-of-war" a set of counters represented the sides formations until direct visual contact was made. The ABDA player could see three IJN counters, one of which was assumed to be the convoy, the others probably escorts. The ABDA commander was given two real and one dummy counters to represent his forces. The dummy would disappear if sighted by an enemy ship.

An immediate annoyance for the ABDA commander was the sight of Japanese (float) planes on the horizon, an asset he was without.

Next: What lurks beneath the IJN counters?

The Battle of the Java Sea: ABDA [2] The British and Australian

The Royal Navy had an odd box of kit floating around in the Pacific at the start of hostilities. The better side of the selection (away from Force Z) did however fight at the Battle of the Java Sea (see below).

They are/were:

• HMS Exeter (leading cruiser)
• HMAS Perth (trailing cruiser)
• HMS Electra (top left)
• HMS Encounter (top right)
• HMS Jupiter(bottom)

HMS Exeter, veteran of the Battle of the River Plate, packed the biggest punch with her 6x8", whereas HMAS Perth carried a lesser calibre but respectful 8x6". Of the destroyers HMS Jupiter was the pick of the bunch. HMS Electra's claim to fame being the recovery of the three survivors from HMS Hood after the Battle of the Denmark Strait . 

Away from the historical forces there were "in area" veterans RN cruisers from the end of the First World War era  that were best kept out of the way of the modern IJN kit.

Scenario Notes: Reference to David Manley's Naval Wargame Page and Jimmy's Sperling's GQ scenario found there as inspiration for my efforts

Next the USN ...