Operation Vigorous June 1942

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

At least the Blackburn Roc isn't an option...

[Last Hussar]

fully enclosed cockpits - luxury!!

When I was lad we had to wear woolly hats.

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

But they could have been, still around til 44 in Bermuda

[pierre the shy]

Finished adding 0.8mm brass masts, painting and basing 18 Italian and British cruisers today....just got to do some destroyers now I have finally unearthed my remaining ones to be done from the very bottom of my lead pile.

Not sure how I managed to acquire so many Dido class cruisers over the years but they'll all be useful.....plenty of Med based scenarios for them to appear in, though their names are all Greek to me

[pierre the shy]

The Admiralty regrets to announce the loss of the battleship HMS Warspite during recent convoy operations in the Mediterranian Theatre of Operations.

Our naval forces inflicted heavy damage on at least one Italian battleship and destroyed many enemy aircraft.

However the convoy was forced to turn back short of its destination due to the presence of superior enemy naval  forces.

Further communicques will be issued in due course.

Opps     

[fsn]

Not the Warspite!     

[T13A]

The Admiralty regrets to announce the loss of the battleship HMS Warspite during recent convoy operations in the Mediterranian Theatre of Operations.

Nooooo!   

Must be a fault with the rules (or the umpire)!

Cheers Paul

[Steve J]

Oh dear!

[paulr]

Mi dispiace molto

[Ithoriel]

Mi dispiace molto

I bet you're not!

[d_Guy]

Peter, I wonder if you have read C. S. Forester's "The Ship"?
A short novel describing an RN light cruiser squadron (and some destroyers) defending a convoy to Malta from a sizable portion of the Italian fleet.

It was written at the height of the war and is an iconography of the RN. Still it is much in Hornblower style and I remember enjoying all the tactical and operational details.

Enjoy your game (and Liscarroll as well  ). Awaiting reports on both (and pics, don't forget pics).

[d_Guy]

Incidentally, before Kitty pounces (as he sometimes does when he sees language use as a ball of twine), I did consider both "hagiography" and "paean to" before using "iconography". It is a study of iconic RN officers and rating types with much of thier interior life exposed. 

[fsn]

Peter, I wonder if you have read C. S. Forester's "The Ship"?

Excellent book! One of my favourites. It may be called "the Ship" but it is all about the frail humans it carried.

[pierre the shy]

Yes I have read most of C.S Forester's works, including "The Ship", which is based on events at the Second Battle of Sirte. He also wrote "Gold from Crete" about the exploits of a British destroyer flotilla in the Med during the early part of the war.

If you want a slightly gritter human story of the wartime RN from a contemporary author try Nicolas Monserrat's "The Cruel Sea" which was made into a very good film in the early 50's when the last Flower Class corvettes were still in service. "Snorkers for dinner!!" 

There are several other Malta convoy actions that I'd like to try at some stage now I know the scenario concept worked pretty well overall. But with a lot of aircraft and two tables we did not get quite as many turns as I had hoped as each turn takes a while to work through. Still we got a fairly decisive result in the time we did play. Warspite was the only ship that was lost on either side, though as you will see the Italian flagship had a lucky escape.
 

[fsn]

If we're going down that path, I'd add Alistair MacLean's "HMS Ulysses", which about Arctic Convoys, and Monsarrat's short story "HMS Marlborough Will Enter Harbour" - but "The Ship" is most relevant to the thread.