A thought on bombardments

[Feinder]

The RN and USN made several bombardment forrays vs. targets in the Home Islands in 1945.  I'd list the dates and ships involved, but Knavey's got my book.  There were also bombardments vs. the installations in SRA in support of landings in Burma as well.
 
-F-

[1275psi]

I have not got the book here -but i know that the Warspite conducted several "drive by's" in the Med -her record of movement if one could find it[8|] makes great reading.

[niceguy2005]

ORIGINAL: bradfordkay

Naval bombardments are one of the more, shall we say, controversial aspects of this game. I have heard many times the argument proposed that, aside from the "Tokyo Express" bombings of Guadalcanal, one can't find any instances of "drive by" naval bombardments.

In perusing the Churchill Centre website, I came across this paragraph from a speech the Prime Minister gave in February of '41:

"How far-reaching these resources are we can see from what happened at dawn this morning, when our Western Mediterranean Fleet, under Admiral Somerville, entered the Gulf of Genoa and bombarded in a shattering manner the naval base from which perhaps a Nazi German expedition might soon have sailed to attack General Weygand in Algeria or Tunis. It is right that the Italian people should be made to feel the sorry plight into which they have been dragged by Dictator Mussolini, and if the cannonade of Genoa, rolling along the coast, reverberating in the mountains, reached the ears of our French comrades in their grief and misery, it might cheer them with the feeling that friends-active friends-are near and that Britannia rules the waves."

I am trying to find out more about this attack, but here is at least one instance outside of the Tokyo Express where we had such an occurance. Perhaps there are several more we haven't uncovered as well.

IMHO it's not that naval bombardment was rare (though in certain periods of the war it was), it is that the scope of casualties we often see in witp, is almost unheard of.

[bradfordkay]

1275ps wrote:"I have not got the book here -but i know that the Warspite conducted several "drive by's" in the Med -her record of movement if one could find it makes great reading."



Try this page: http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono ... rspite.htm

[rtrapasso]

ORIGINAL: blam0

ORIGINAL: Mark VII

That was by Sub if I remember correctly.

ORIGINAL: blam0

Quite overlooked is the late 1941 bombardment of a Southern California amusment park, which destroyed the ferris wheel there.[8D]

You are correct!

Heh - my Dad's ship accidentally bombarded Ventura, California one day during AA gun practice - the Navy officially declared a Japanese sub had done it... his ship left port rather abruptly after the incident. IIRC, they left SO abruptly they hadn't got their anchor completely up before getting underway that they snagged and cut an important underseas communications cable... [X(] [8|]

[Charbroiled]

ORIGINAL: rtrapasso

ORIGINAL: blam0

ORIGINAL: Mark VII

That was by Sub if I remember correctly.

You are correct!

Heh - my Dad's ship accidentally bombarded Ventura, California one day during AA gun practice - the Navy officially declared a Japanese sub had done it... his ship left port rather abruptly after the incident. IIRC, they left SO abruptly they hadn't got their anchor completely up before getting underway that they snagged and cut an important underseas communications cable... [X(] [8|]

That "underseas communications cable" was the direct line from Washington DC to Japan and negotiations were underway when the line was cut. Each party thought that the other had hung up on them and....well, the rest is history (and created a good game).[:D]

[rtrapasso]

ORIGINAL: Charbroiled

ORIGINAL: rtrapasso

ORIGINAL: blam0




You are correct!

Heh - my Dad's ship accidentally bombarded Ventura, California one day during AA gun practice - the Navy officially declared a Japanese sub had done it... his ship left port rather abruptly after the incident. IIRC, they left SO abruptly they hadn't got their anchor completely up before getting underway that they snagged and cut an important underseas communications cable... [X(] [8|]

That "underseas communications cable" was the direct line from Washington DC to Japan and negotiations were underway when the line was cut. Each party thought that the other had hung up on them and....well, the rest is history (and created a good game).[:D]

[:D] [:D] Well, that WOULD be a good story... but it happened well after war had been declared (1944, iirc).

[crsutton]

ORIGINAL: witpqs

If sys damage is applied to BB's for bombardments then the same should apply to any occasion their main batteries fire.

Probably, but surface action tends to add plenty of sys damage when the enemy shells start hitting, so I am not as worried about this as I am the shuttle bombardment runs. Surface fights are not a constant element of the game but this would force players

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: rtrapasso

ORIGINAL: Charbroiled

ORIGINAL: rtrapasso



Heh - my Dad's ship accidentally bombarded Ventura, California one day during AA gun practice - the Navy officially declared a Japanese sub had done it... his ship left port rather abruptly after the incident. IIRC, they left SO abruptly they hadn't got their anchor completely up before getting underway that they snagged and cut an important underseas communications cable... [X(] [8|]

That "underseas communications cable" was the direct line from Washington DC to Japan and negotiations were underway when the line was cut. Each party thought that the other had hung up on them and....well, the rest is history (and created a good game).[:D]

[:D] [:D] Well, that WOULD be a good story... but it happened well after war had been declared (1944, iirc).

I thought you were going to say it happened several years after the war was over - that would have caused a stir!

[blam0]

ORIGINAL: rtrapasso

ORIGINAL: blam0

ORIGINAL: Mark VII

That was by Sub if I remember correctly.

You are correct!

Heh - my Dad's ship accidentally bombarded Ventura, California one day during AA gun practice - the Navy officially declared a Japanese sub had done it... his ship left port rather abruptly after the incident. IIRC, they left SO abruptly they hadn't got their anchor completely up before getting underway that they snagged and cut an important underseas communications cable... [X(] [8|]

I wish I could find the name of the sub, but it was led by Commander Mitamuru [;)]