Singapore Convoy details and units

[m10bob]

http://www.cofepow.org.uk/pages/ships_c ... m_sail.htm





Here is another and it mentions the 53rd Bde El Cid was inquiring of:

http://www.fepow-community.org.uk/month ... to_war.htm

[Buck Beach]

The first article relating to the Convoy William Sail was excellent. I am an old Cimarron (AO-22) sailor who was on her awhile until Nov 22, 1963. I had know idea she was there during those times. That year I was on her she was the oldest continuious active ship in the fleet some 25 years. Again great article.

[el cid again]

I boarded her en route to Subic from a destroyer in Tonkin Gulf in 1968. At that time she was the oldest ship in the Navy. There was a rumor - wholly false - that if you chipped the paint down enough layers you would find white - from the days of the Great White Fleet!

[m10bob]

Sid...With all the detailed info here on these ships and the land units they carried, do tou think RHS will ever bring them all together (historically) at Cape of Good Hope?
Presently, the 18th UK division "magically" shows up in Karachi (IIRC), and the arrival of some of the ships (Wakefield,West Point,etc.), arrive incidentally, elsewhere..
BTW, In an earlier thread, you had asked for details of the UK 53rd Bde..
The exact component of that group is in the 2nd link of my initial thread post(above)..
It was a detached component of the 18th division.

[Buck Beach]

Old she was Sid, and cockroach infested. It was more fun watching the cockroaches scurry around on the mess deck in the light of the nightly move than to watch the itself. She had a rich history and was well decorated. One of the things I remember very well is when other ships would pull along side to be unrepped, we would play the song "The Stripper" to welcome other ships for refueling.

A yes memories.

[el cid again]

ORIGINAL: m10bob

Sid...With all the detailed info here on these ships and the land units they carried, do tou think RHS will ever bring them all together (historically) at Cape of Good Hope?
Presently, the 18th UK division "magically" shows up in Karachi (IIRC), and the arrival of some of the ships (Wakefield,West Point,etc.), arrive incidentally, elsewhere..
BTW, In an earlier thread, you had asked for details of the UK 53rd Bde..
The exact component of that group is in the 2nd link of my initial thread post(above)..
It was a detached component of the 18th division.

In all RHS scenarios (of the latest release) 18 Division appears at Aden - a change from Kerachi. It also appears later in time than in any other WITP version. The division is split from the rest of the convoy - although interestingly enough half the convoy DID go to Aden from South Africa. The air units and AAA units appear at the nearest available point:
Aden in Level 5, Capetown in Level 6 or Durban in Level 7 - and ships to carry them also appear at the same date (which varies so the units can arrive at Singapore on the right date depending on entry point). Not that players must or even often would send them to Singapore. I did not have ship data and did not pick the right ships - but merely reassigned ships of the right appearance date and theater and nationality - and then only for the air units and AAA units - not for the 18th Division. As I reported somewhere above, I decided that breaking up the division was a bad idea.
Technically it requires at least 3 slots. Functionally it removes a rare early UK division which is probably more effective when together - and which you can always divide into 3 parts anyway. Further - I did not have difinitive enough entry data for each part to go the other way anyway. If there is enough data in the material submitted, it theoretically could be worked in. The practical problem is we cannot do that and meet - or even approach - finishing work by goal dates.
Working at this level of data for every ship is not very practical. Nevertheless, we do use the data when possible. It is hard to describe how difficult that is - time wise - because one must convert text to game terms (hex, date of appearance, etc). And one must think about other impacts as well. We are basically out of slots - and we need many many more to get the Soviet Army close - and one should never use all the slots on principle - so taking a fine UK division and dividing it up is not my first choice. But ship appearance might be correctable. A big problem is - where is the ship? You can see it in an alpha listing - but what is the slot? Finding it can take a lot of time. It would be much more practical if someone worked it out - like AKDreemer did for LSTs - and produced a list - this ship appears on that date at such and such a location.

[Don Bowen]

ORIGINAL: el cid again

I boarded her en route to Subic from a destroyer in Tonkin Gulf in 1968. At that time she was the oldest ship in the Navy. There was a rumor - wholly false - that if you chipped the paint down enough layers you would find white - from the days of the Great White Fleet!

So how come you didn't wave to me?? On the Cacapon enroute Tonkin about the same time.