Exercise Rhine in 2009

Battle of the Denmark Straits 2010 (sortie #1).
I decided that I would try to stick close to the Bismarck in order to support him, but at the same time, I planned to concentrate on the Hood, as she had the smaller pump of the two British ships.
I had planned to set the P/E. up with a pair of 75 round stern cannons, but in the early hours of the morning, as I was trying to get the ship finished in time for the battle, I simply could not get the cannons to fit in the stern of the boat. So I re-located them into the bow. So I had the ability to chase the battle, and try to keep the British from directing all of their attentions at my larger running-mate.
It seemed to be working out rather well, as the two British heavy units seemed content with trying to get the Bismarck in a sandwich.
And the Bismarck seemed comfortable taking them both on at one time.
So I simply chased the three larger boats around taking what shots I could at the Hood mainly, and the POW when the opportunity presented itself.
Roland seemed to be doing really well, as he was running his ship as it is pretty much always set up.
Where Phil was running his POW for the first time since the same battle last year, and he generally runs cruisers. And Buddy was running the Hood for the first time ever, and she was set up with all side-mounts.
I got rid of all of my ammo fairly early on, and called my 5 minutes, as I was not sure how my new cruiser would handle damage, or if the pump would work as it should. So I certainly didn't want to cost my team a victory by sinking for some unknown reason.
So as the first sortie drew to a close, all three of the capital-ships were pumping to some extent. Hood and Bismarck probably the most. Prince of Wales perhaps less. And my Prinz Eugen had very little damage, and was almost as dry as a bone.
Things were looking rather good for the German team.

 

Sortie #2
As sortie two began, it looked as if the Prince of Wales was the British ship to concentrate on, as she had some really nasty damage in her stern from the Bismarck's side-mounts, and she was pumping pretty good.
So I started trying to add to that damage, and chased her around for the most part. And normally, I wouldn't worry too much about her side-mounts, as Phil isn't used to using them.
But fairly early in the sortie, it became apparent that he was in fact getting the hang of them, as he got the goods on me on several occasions with them. And to make matter worse, Buddy had moved "B' turret up over the bow, and "X" turret back over the stern on the Hood, and I hadn't noticed until I found myself getting long-balled by the sneaky British fellow, when I wasn't expecting it. So I was taking some pretty good damage early on in the second sortie, which was not part of my plan at all.
Then something interesting developed.
The Bismarck was seen to be low in the water, and not pumping at all.
And Roland mentioned that he had forgotten to turn on his pump at the start of the battle. The pride of the German navy was sinking.
The allies allowed him to turn on his pump, so that the sortie could go on, but that was that.
Not long after that, the Hood took on a noticable list, and settled deeper in the water. Her pump was trying to clog up.
And my Prinz Eugen has a fair amount of damage, and was listing to one side as well.
Hood went on 5-minutes, as did the Prinz Eugen, and the Bismarck went in after the Hood to try to finish her off, but the Prince of Wales stuck by her running-mate, and held the big German off long enough for the Hood to survive her time.
Prinz Eugen survived her time as well.
So sortie #2 ended with the Prince of Wales in control of the pond for the British, and the Germans having lost a 6.5 unit battleship.
It didn't look like the Prinz Eugen had much of a chance of sinking both of the British ships, which is what it would take for the Germans to pull out a win, and some of the other captains had shown up to battle, so we decided to get a fleet battle started so that everyone could have some fun.
So ended the battle of the Denmark Straits in 2010.
So until next year..
Rule Britainia!
Mikey

 

Exercise Rhine 2011 up-date.
Phil will be running the German heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen this year instead of the Prince of Wales.
Roland will be running his Bismarck.
Vance and I will be running the two British boats.
We are not sure who will run the Hood, and who will run the POW just yet.
I am planning on running the Hood myself.
Which would put him in the POW.
That would give him a battleship pump.
We shall see.
Mikey

 

On this day in history...
Bummer!
Mikey

 

On this day in history..
The Bismarck was sunk.
Mikey