Dutch AVP Arend: Scenario 1 Exploits

[WEXF]

Another day has passed in the Perth repair facilities.
This screen shows that the 5 Destroyer Minesweepers are progressing on schedule at the Pier Side, Looks like only 2 more days will be needed to complete their conversion.
AM Bunbury is the only AM remaining in the repair queue as AM Ballarat has been returned to service.
AVP Arend shows no change in the degree of damage still sitting at 51 major flotation.
O23 has reduced the major flotation from 22>21.
The progress toward further improvements are shown in the next two screens.

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[WEXF]

O23 is showing that it has 53 repair points and is 96% of the way toward reducing the flotation damage from 21-20. The calculation of 53/.96 = 55.2 repair points needed. It is likely that after one more day the flotation damage will actually be only 19 as about 86 repair points were credited to O23 this turn (33 to get from 22>21 and 53 that are outstanding).

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[WEXF]

Arend is getting closer to reducing the flotation damage from 51>50 and it may just happen next turn. This day the repair points went from 14>28 and will likely only be 42 tomorrow. The calculation of 28 (68%) = 41.2 so it will be close!
If it does reduce to 50, it will be interesting to see if Arend will be able to handle a floatplane once again!

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[WEXF]

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LCDR Goerk, U. was also thinking about what he, as commander of Arend, should be doing while the repairs were ongoing. He knew that soon his ship would be ready to rejoin the war effort but that there was no aircraft available for his use. He wasn't rated very high for Admin (30) or Leadership (27) but he knew he had to take action. He drafted a letter to the ranking naval officer at Perth requesting that AVP Arend be assigned a float plane.
Originally Arend was supposed to be equipped with a CXI-W Dutch plane but none were ever assigned to him. He knew that all of the Dutch float planes were now serving on larger vessels or sitting unassigned in supply depots without any unit or pilots available to use them.
LCDR Goerk suggested to the command that perhaps a British or Australian floatplane could be assigned to Arend along with their pilots. He referenced the fact that he spoke English having been educated in London and that many of his crew also spoke English as well.
His letter was received by command and the initial thought was to possibly have one of the anticipated new arriving units assigned to Arend. There was one British unit that was being considered for rebuilding after it had been destroyed early in the war. It would be flying 2 Walrus II float planes but it would arrive in Aden at some unknown date.
Unfortunately, after checking the arrival timing of the rebuilt unit it was informed that it would not arrive at Aden until 5Aug42 more than 100 days in the future. Another plan had to be developed.
The process of rebuilding units took PP and there was an unknown time lag (within a range) for when the unit, without its aircraft, would appear.

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Notice the small "w" after the squadron designation. That identifies the unit as one that is being rebuilt.

[WEXF]

Allied Command came up with another plan to get a float plane assigned to Arend. It was a bit far out but it had the ability to work despite the fact that it would take some time to implement. Knowing that Arend still had time to spend in the SY convinced command to move forward.
No. 700 Squadron, FAAS-13 was sent orders to prepare for movement to Perth. This British unit was originally assigned to a light cruiser, CL Emerald. That ship had arrived in January and was scheduled to leave the Pacific region on 30 June with a scheduled return on 20 August 1943. 700 squadron was detached some time ago, and CL Emerald had already left for its new assignment.
When LCDR Goerk received the news he immediately started to think through what this meant for his ship and crew.
He dug out his books on allied aircraft and quickly realized that his ship was going to be better than ever before.
Comparing the Walrus II to the CXI-W made it clear that the British plane would be an upgrade and that it would be able to operate from Arend.
Although slower and not able to fly as high as the Dutch plane, the Walrus had a better range, could carry a decent bomb load to attack enemy subs, could stay in the air twice as long and was a bit more durable. He found that the wingspan of both planes were close (13-14 meters). The Walrus was heavier with an empty weight of 2220 kg while the Dutch plane would have only weighed 1715 kg. Talking with his engineer, it was felt that the equipment on Arend would be sufficient to handle the heavier plane.
More planning was needed, as Arend was not designed to carry 250 lb bombs, but this too was considered easily dealt with by minor alterations to Arend's storage bins.

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Goerk was not provided with any detailed information on the pilots that would be coming with the new squadron, he was only told that there were 2 pilots. More info would be forthcoming.

[WEXF]

Information on the 2 pilots that would be joining Arend was received. The senior pilot was WO Hazard, P. He had pretty decent experience of 59, was well trained for naval search and had decent experience in naval bombing, recon and ASW. The back up was PO Caruthers, V. Although he had decent experience in naval search, he was untrained in any of the other skills that might be needed like ASW, recon and naval bombing.

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[WEXF]

Two of the three parts of the plan to get AVP back into action had been implemented. The ship was being repaired and a float plane unit had been identified for assignment to Arend. All that remained to be done was to get the float plane to Perth.
Naval command created Cargo TF 236. It was not a typical large TF with many ships of various types. Instead TF 236 only had two ships a DD and an xAK.
The destroyer was (Editor #3731) DD Nizam, an N Class Australian ship that had only arrived in the region in early January. It was fast, well armed, could travel long distances and had some radar equipment. It had a pretty well trained crew with day/night experience of 58/58. The commander, CDR McEwen L. (a random assignment) was quite good.

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Looking at a possible replacement for CDR McEwen showed that he was as good as most and better than many. The decision was made not to spend the 1 PP required to replace him as commander of his ship and as commander of the TF.

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The cargo ship (Editor #9202) in TF 236 was xAK Clan Maccinness, a 3700 ton, British Pacific L Class ship that was by no measure one of the better ships in the Allied fleet. It has a slow cruise speed of 10, had only several small AAMG for defense. On the other hand it could dock in small ports, had an excellent endurance of 12000 and could carry 3900 tons of supplies. She had arrived in the region in early March. The crew was not highly experienced (20/15) although it had improved from the (20/11) it had arrived in the region with. The Captain (random assignment) was CPT Tomlin I. He had about the worse numbers a ship commander could have.

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If TF 236 was a large TF it might be OK to leave CPT Tomlin in command. But his ship was the only cargo ship in the TF. A better commander was needed and there were many available and none would cost any PP. This chart shows just how bad the numbers for CPT Tomlin were. The decision was made to put CPT Shaw, RJ in command. This change improved the numbers of the commander roughly 300%.

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Does the commander of a cargo ship matter in WITP-AE? I have to believe it does. The game is full of details on how the experience of commanders impact what happens. Will it be less likely that the xAK will develop system damage on the trip? If it does will it repair faster at sea with a better commander?
Before setting off on the trip scheduled for TF 236 that will take a bit less than a week (the place of sailing and the destination are classified), the xAK will have to load the 3900 tons of supply. That will take sometime although not very much as the port it is in is quite large. Unloading the cargo is another matter as it is likely that it will take between 7-10 days.

[RangerJoe]

Don't waste prestige points on the captains of your merchant ships. They are NOT naval officers, they are civilians. Save those good captains for your combat ships as well.

[BBfanboy]

Ship captains do matter. Higher Naval skill makes it more likely they can avoid torpedoes and bombs and other ships! If the ship does get damaged, higher Naval skill makes it more likely the ship can be saved. For that reason I change my merchant captains to those with Naval skill in the 25-35 range. It can usually be done without spending PP (the Commonwealth captain pools are quite dismal). I also try to get low Aggression score so the captain does not decide to duke it out with a submarine on the surface.

BTW, those 3900 tonners convert to a very handy xAP of 1000/2200 capacity - very good for small ports or when you want to land a small unit quickly and get out of there. I give my xAP captains Naval skill in the 30-45 range, again usually without spending PP. Why not use Captain Shaw with his 60/50 score? I think the British merchant captains can also be captains of AMCs and other conversions so I save them for that.

And another thing - If you want that float plane to be operational soon after landing in Perth, make the TF an Air Transport TF instead of a cargo one. That will allow the plane to be ready in one day instead of three.

[WEXF]

I agree that a Air Transport TF will be used for the final part of the trip bringing the Walrus to Perth.
Shaw was given command for zero PP.
My thinking is to only improve the commanders of cargo ships when they are sailing in small groups or singly. I don't have a grasp on how deep the pools are for cargo ship commanders.

[RangerJoe]

I agree that a Air Transport TF will be used for the final part of the trip bringing the Walrus to Perth.
Shaw was given command for zero PP.
My thinking is to only improve the commanders of cargo ships when they are sailing in small groups or singly. I don't have a grasp on how deep the pools are for cargo ship commanders.

It is not so much the depth of the pool of cargo ship commanders but the depth of good commanders and that commander looks better on the bridge of a combat vessel. It is also the amount of PPs that you have and the sheer number of merchant ships that you will receive.

[WEXF]

It is not so much the depth of the pool of cargo ship commanders but the depth of good commanders and that commander looks better on the bridge of a combat vessel. It is also the amount of PPs that you have and the sheer number of merchant ships that you will receive.

I would not spend any PP on changing a cargo ship commander.
Two questions:
1. Do the commander pools for all the Allied nations and Japan grow as the war continues?
2. How can you tell is a commander if able to be assigned to either a cargo or combat ship? Does it have anything to do with the references on the bottom of the leader screen where it identifies some as able to do both?
I did notice that the pool of the Commonwealth and I think Australian cargo ship commanders were pretty small.

[RangerJoe]

It is not so much the depth of the pool of cargo ship commanders but the depth of good commanders and that commander looks better on the bridge of a combat vessel. It is also the amount of PPs that you have and the sheer number of merchant ships that you will receive.

I would not spend any PP on changing a cargo ship commander.
Two questions:
1. Do the commander pools for all the Allied nations and Japan grow as the war continues?
2. How can you tell is a commander if able to be assigned to either a cargo or combat ship? Does it have anything to do with the references on the bottom of the leader screen where it identifies some as able to do both?
I did notice that the pool of the Commonwealth and I think Australian cargo ship commanders were pretty small.

I do believe that you get more civilian captains and some captains are saved from sinking ships. I know that you get more military captains.

Yes, some can command combat ships as well as support ships. Some just aren't aggressive enough, you may note that a lot of the peacetime/initial US Captains have this problem. It comes from PYP aka CYA.

[WEXF]

Another day in the repair facilities at Perth has ended with some interesting data being generated.
Work was almost completed on the 5 refitting DMs and the AM at Pier Side. It looks like all could be completed in only one more day.
As expected O23 (high priority) reduced its major flotation damage from 21>19. The remaining repair points are 26(47%). This calculates to 55.3 which is consistent with previous calculations. Given the expected 86 additional repair points that will be allocated to O23 tomorrow, the flotation damage should be reduced from 19>17.
Arend (normal priority) also as expected reduced its major flotation damage from 51>50. Looking at the screen for the repair of Arend, no "repair points" are shown! That suggests that the number of repair points received by Arend this last day were exactly what was needed to reduce the flotation damage to 50. It is expected that Arend will receive 14 repair points tomorrow and will be on the way to reduce the flotation damage from 50>49.
A significant milestone has been reached for Arend. Looking at her detailed screen it now shows her "Aircraft Capacity" as allowing her to operate 1 aircraft, if she had one. The 1 is in white meaning operation is OK (it had been red meaning operation was not possible) and the 0 is still green, meaning there is no aircraft on board. This confirms that more than 50 flotation damage prevents her class, and maybe all classes of ships, from operating aircraft as stated in a post one of our followers (I think it was Ranger Joe). Maybe a total combined damage over 50 would make it impossible to handle aircraft.
LCDR Goerk needed to unwind so he decided to go to the officers club for a beer. When he arrived he noticed that CDR Bren, LJ from the US Navy and the commander of the John D. Edwards sitting alone at a table. He had seen the CDR in the yards as both men supervised the work on their ships. He decided to join the American and the two officers discussed the stories of their command over a glass of Fosters!

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There was an update on the progress of TF 236. There was some good news and some not so good news. On the plus side the cargo ship had completed loading all 3900 tons of supplies more rapidly than had been expected. This was probably because of the naval support in the large base and the fact that no other ships were being serviced. The bad news was that the paperwork reassigning Shaw RJ to the command of xAK Clan Macinness had not been handled efficiently by command (me!) and the TF sailed before the new commander arrived. The TF is now 120 miles out at sea.

[WEXF]

CDR Bren from DM John D. Edwards shared that he was frustrated by what he thought was confusion on the part of Allied high command as it related to mine warfare in the Australian region. His ship and the others currently undergoing conversion to minelaying destroyers each had the ability to carry 40 MK6 Mines. It was his understanding that the USN wanted the ability to deploy these MK6 mines in the region but before the conversions were ordered had no ships capable of doing the job in the area. Together the 5 DM being completed at Perth could handle 200 MK6 mines but everything Bren could find out about the availability of these mines made him wonder if the planning made sense.

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Bren had talked with the most senior supply officer he could find at Perth and found out that there were very few MK6 mines available (only 7) in the Allied pool and only 35 were being produced each month, an amount that had not increased since the start of hostilities. How would the 5 DMs in Perth be outfitted with their 200 MK6 mines? If they had to wait for anticipated production it would take around 6 months to get the 200 mines needed and that assumed that none were used elsewhere! Had they already been allocated as part of the decision to convert the 5 ships?

In looking at the record for his ship Bren saw that it showed that he would have the MK6 Mine device and that it showed in the "Ammo" line 40 (40)*. He knew that meant he could carry a maximum of 40 mines and since the (40) was in green he knew that Perth was large enough of a port to load the mines on his ship. What he did not understand was what the * after (40) meant? Would all 5 ships be fully loaded with mines tomorrow? Would they be empty of mines awaiting the formation of a "Minelaying TF"? Would the 7 mines in the pool be loaded on one or more of the ships?
He also wondered why the production of MK6 mines had not been increased as it was clear they were needed. Would the production be increased as time passed? He hoped so.
After several beers the two navy men decided to meet again the next day to see what had actually happened.

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[RangerJoe]

The mine production is not increased, they come loaded with mines. Then use them for escorts.

[WEXF]

CDR Bren's frustration grew when he found out that the repairs on his DM and those on the other 4 DMs had not been completed. It looked like it would be another day of waiting for the final touches to be made on the conversions of the 5 ships. CRAP HAPPENS!
The work of the repair crews on the piers of Perth had been fully directed at reducing the level of system damage on AM Bunbury from 2>1. It now looked like all of the ships in repair at pier side would be ready tomorrow.
Major flotation damage on O23 had been reduced to 17 in the SY but that didn't make CDR Bren feel much better. He figured he would just have to down an extra Fosters tonight!

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[BBfanboy]

Alfred's Repair 101 talks about how damage is repaired in "bands" of about 15 points. It looks like repair of O-23's float damage is on hold while the system damage is being worked on (until it gets down to the same band level as the float damage). This is one of the reasons why it is desirable to repair the system damage at pierside using port repair points before putting the vessel in the SY where it can only use SY points.

[RangerJoe]

Alfred's Repair 101 talks about how damage is repaired in "bands" of about 15 points. It looks like repair of O-23's float damage is on hold while the system damage is being worked on (until it gets down to the same band level as the float damage). This is one of the reasons why it is desirable to repair the system damage at pierside using port repair points before putting the vessel in the SY where it can only use SY points.

Maybe I made a mistertake by not finding Alfred's repair guide and linking to it when I posted this:

by RangerJoe » Wed Nov 23, 2022 2:29 pm
Put the O23 at pierside to repair the system damage while the Arend is in the shipyard. When the subs systems are fixed, then put it in the shipyard and pull the Arend out. It is more efficient that way and any Naval Support will help repairs at the pier but not the shipyard.

[Ambassador]

Hi WEXF,
Interesting AAR, I like those who follow a small ship. A bit like Cuttlefish’s Small Ship, Big War (if you haven’t already, I advise you to search for it and read it - quite a journey for heroic Hibiki !).

It is not so much the depth of the pool of cargo ship commanders but the depth of good commanders and that commander looks better on the bridge of a combat vessel. It is also the amount of PPs that you have and the sheer number of merchant ships that you will receive.

I would not spend any PP on changing a cargo ship commander.
Two questions:
1. Do the commander pools for all the Allied nations and Japan grow as the war continues?
2. How can you tell is a commander if able to be assigned to either a cargo or combat ship? Does it have anything to do with the references on the bottom of the leader screen where it identifies some as able to do both?
I did notice that the pool of the Commonwealth and I think Australian cargo ship commanders were pretty small.

There is no such thing as a civilian or military commander. Regarding ships, the ability to appoint a given leader only depends on the following criteria’s :
- the leader is active : some are active starting 411206, others arrive during the war. You can see the dates for the historical non-random leaders in the editor
- the leader has the appropriate nationality
- the leader is defined as a « Ship » leader (you can also see nationality & category in the editor)
- the leader has an appropriate rank

For example, you can’t assign a captain (CPT) to a destroyer or a patrol gunboat. IIRC tonnage has no bearing, but type of the ship is everything, so you may appoint a CPT to a cruiser or most cargo/transport types, like an xAK, but not to a DD or a submarine. Likewise, you can’t have a rear admiral command a task force which only has destroyers in it, and in order to have a full admiral (ADM), you need at least 3 or 4 capital ships (BB/CV)*.

So, the choice all comes down to the leader’s skill values, and as has been said, for ships, Naval skill is the prime one. However, you don’t have 10.000 ship captains in the scenario databases : a lot of leaders are randomly generated to fill the gaps, and many of those have awful values. Good captains like the one you considered for the cargo should indeed be kept for combat ships (and possibly, later, for amphibious ships like APA/AKA which will find themselves in combat more often). Best ship captains should be put in command of the biggest surface assets (to be good default TF commanders).

Also, the main effect of a leader’s Naval skill on a ship is to improve ship combat, notably the possibility of the ship to find a target. A cargo with a couple of .303 MG might not be the best use of a good fightin’ skipper…

* surprisingly, USN leaders defined as « Headquarters » commanders in the editor may be put in command of such large TF. So everything said everywhere on the forum is always to be taken with a healthy dose of precaution, as exceptions do happen.