Texel Turkey Shoot
19 November, 1946
After almost a year and a half of fierce fighting, Amiral Morier is exhausted. As the French Atlantic Fleet heads into the North Sea yet again, they hope to break the bloody stalemate that has fallen over Europe. The Axis is certainly getting the worst of the attrition, but France needs a victory, and soon, or the superior budgets of the Axis may overcome the temporary advantage France has fought so hard for.
In the last year, a few surprising developments have occurred. French ASW has proven extremely capable, with the pre-war 60 strong Axis submarine fleet proving quite vulnerable. The Italians lay down some 80 new submarines during the war, hoping their new designs will fare better
By the end of 1946, only 9 axis submarines are operational, their attempt at an unrestricted submarine warfare campaign is met by second generation ASW mortars aboard French surface vessels, and guided ASW torpedoes launched from Naval Patrol Aircraft and carrier based torpedo bombers.
German carrier fighters have, up to this point, proven more than capable in taking on French pilots head on, and both German and Italian AA has taken a severe toll whenever French strike power has been brought to bear, especially unescorted land based bombers, which were expected to be able to protect themselves.
Most of the victories the French have scored have been deep in the Atlantic, where often no carrier or land based aircraft can be brought to bear, in single or division actions ranging all down the western seaboard of Europe. The modern, and well integrated French fast forces have repeatedly triumphed over equivalent numbers of German or Italian battlegroups attempting to hold the blockade lines, so much so that 2 months ago the Germans finally abandoned the idea. French intelligence believes that Germany is now trying to concentrate its forces for a decisive battle in the North Sea, before reinstituting a blockade to close off French supply lines to the land conflict. And so, on the evening of 18 November, Morier sails northeast from Brest with the combined French battle and carrier fleet, hopeful for victory, with a new card up his sleeve.
Losses so far in "WWII", October 1946, the Axis battleline and cruiser forces have taken heavy losses, but their carriers remain untouched.
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The surprise the French have in store comes in two sizes. On the smaller end, there is the AM-45 lightweight anti-ship missile, designed to replace 1500 lb bombs on dive and torpedo bombers, carrying a 500lb warhead. The AM-46 heavyweight anti-ship missile, launched exclusively from Potez 180 Medium Bombers, carries a larger 1000lb warhead out to much greater range. Independently developed, but inspired by the German missiles that have been so irritating to French forces this last year, both were tested operationally last month, and a supply of about 70 AM-45s is available on board Morier’s 9 flattops, with a similar store of AM-46s at air bases in Northern France. The French intelligence service has also put a significant amount of effort into electronic warfare, and it’s expected that the German HS-295s can now be jammed, while they will have absolutely no counters to the new French missiles for some time.
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Unbeknownst to Morier, the Germans have a surprise of their own, 28 Carrier based HS.140 Light Jet Fighters, their hopeful counter to the French D.172b fighters. However, Moriers force has 113 of the now upgraded and more reliable fighter, with 20 more sitting at Dunkirk ready to escort the dozens of naval bombers stationed there.
Every air action so far in the war has been indecisive-despite so many other ships now resting at the bottom, no carrier has yet been sunk, although many have been damaged. This first clash of jets may change things.
The light carrier Dauphine burns, damaged by an Italian carrier strike on her task force in January
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As dawn breaks on the coast of Texel around 07:30, Morier’s 8 battleline units find themselves skirmishing with the radar blips of German screening units, and eventually engaging with 5 of the 10 remaining German battlecruisers. Having learned their lesson on surface action from past engagements, the German units retire North, calling out to their carriers and land bases for air support.
However, French floatplane scouts have already found a straggling German light carrier, and a massive strike wave is heading towards the expected location of the German carrier force.
The 10 German flattops, 5 light and 5 heavy, are an incredible threat, carrying their own stockpile of anti-ship missiles and capable aircraft. It is not, however, what it should be. Luckily for Morier, 4 of the German fleet carriers are under repair or maintenance, and they are filling the gap with the light carriers. The German CAP, thus, also is lacking today, even with the addition of the new jet fighters. The French escorts make contact about 8:20, fifty minutes after the first contacts to the South, and carve through the German CAP. Today, the D.172Bs, on escort, and CAP duty, would score 44 confirmed kills of German aircraft, while incredibly taking no losses.
D.172s on patrol
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The German fighters do not flee. Despite losing in the air to both conventional and jet French fighters, they push their attacks against the French bomber squadrons, causing painful amounts of casualties all day.
This morning though, the French forces break through, and follow the attack plan rehearsed so many times. In between the attack group and the large formation of enemy carriers sits a number of German escorts, and a significant portion of the group’s missiles are fired at the AA escorts. The German captains, at this point, expect nothing. As the first salvo is fired at the outermost escorts, the old destroyer Z-66 is hit first, two AM-45s punching into her engine rooms amidships. The combined thousand pounds of explosives shatters her hull, and she is abandoned immediately. 5 more German destroyer pickets are hit in the next few minutes. 4 of them are hit along the hull, each one will be abandoned over the next few hours from flooding and fire, the blast easily perforating many compartments of the thinly constructed ships. Z-62 is the lucky exception, the missile detonates in her aft spotting station, killing most of the crew of X turret but leaving the rest of the ship surprisingly intact.
With a huge hole in the line of destroyers protecting the German ships, ND.174 dive bombers and Loire 165 Torpedo bombers continue to close, and fire another salvo at the center circle of cruisers, battlecruisers, and aircraft carriers. The old battlecruiser Graf Spee is hit by two AM-45s to the belt and Y turret, while they both fail to penetrate, the shock of the thousand pound blast disables the turret for a half hour. Karlsruhe would bounce a missile off her belt, but the older Bremen is hit broadside, the 2” belt collapsing as the blast fills her engine rooms. She will later be finished off by French gunfire, along with 2 more light cruisers(one Italian) who tried to protect her. Karlsruhe would not survive either, an 1000lb AP bomb amidships dooming her. Rostock is also hit, but manages to retire.
Finally, the French missiles reach their intended targets, the German carriers. The light carrier Salzach is hit 3 times on her side, one abreast the hangar, and burns for an hour before being abandoned. The fleet carrier Roon is also hit 3 times, the first hit igniting a conflagration that dooms her, the burning hulk being sunk later in the day by a half dozen more conventional hits. Lastly, Roon’s sister Windeck is hit twice, the first hit obliterating her conning tower and wiping out the senior officers. Windeck proves exceptionally survivable, as the French force now switches to its dive and torpedo bombing portion of the attack, mainly falling on the two fleet carriers. Hit by 2 torpedoes, a 1000 lb AP bomb to her hangar, and a near miss, Windeck will actually manage to get both fire and flooding under control by 10:16. 9 Minutes later though, her luck runs out, and two torpedoes from French land-based bombers execute the poor ship. The first French strike also disabled the battlecruisers Moltke and Hindenburg with torpedoes and 2 more destroyers with bombs. The light cruiser Strassburg is especially unlucky, as she hits a mine while avoiding the French strike, and is then hit by an AP bomb and sunk.
Just as the Germans are recovering from the first French strike wave, the land based bombers from Dunkerque, under heavy jet escort, arrive and fire off their missiles before commencing torpedo runs. The escort destroyer Z-148 is just broken in half by the first combat use of the AM-46, while Z-201 is severely damaged. One also finds its way to the slowed battlecruiser Moltke, but her 11” belt defeats the missile.
The Germans at this point have managed to get their own strike up, but it is absolutely chewed up by the well prepared French CAP, which is coordinated using fighter directors aboard air-search equipped picket destroyers. Two of Roons dive bombers manage to make it through to damage Catinat with 500lb bombs(She would not make it home due to a mine strike), while the battleships Republique and Diderot manage to shrug off an AP bomb and an HS-295 missile, respectively. In exchange, at least 82 German strike aircraft and numerous escorts are downed.
The second French strike, now equipped exclusively with conventional weapons, finds a weary German force, with many ships already damaged, and a withered CAP. The CVL Isar is hit by a torpedo, then 3 thousand pound bombs, then 2 more bombs in a third wave. Despite the valiant damage control efforts of the crew, she will founder just after 21:00, 7 hours after she is last hit. The fleet carriers Grunow and Blankensee are both hit by 2 thousand pound AP bombs, disabling their flight operations temporarily and forcing retreat, without threatening the loss of either ship. A flight of torpedo bombers from Rochambeau would hit the light carrier Schwentine with three perfect hits at 11:04, with their unfortunate target capsizing an hour later. The CVL Vils is disabled by a single bomb, but survives. The final German operational light carrier, Dinkel, manages to shoot down 6 attacking aircraft before she is hit, but is then repeatedly subjected to dive bombing hits, before being sunk by an aerial torpedo. Somehow, the German flagship Horstdof would survive the battle undamaged, but her 111 aircraft airgroup is decimated.
The Germans, by the time they retired, lacked any semblance of the proud striking force that had gone to sea. 6 of their 10 carriers were sunk(2CV, 4CVL), 3 more were damaged. 6 Cruisers were sunk and 2 were damaged, while 9 destroyers were sunk with 7 damaged. One battlecruiser was lost while two were more severely damaged. 454 German aircraft were lost, 181 of those in combat. The loss ratios are truly astounding for the German strike squadrons, 130 out of 190 carrier dive and torpedo bombers had been lost. 8 German Medium Bombers had taken off to attack the French force with glide bombs-6 had been shot down and 1 was written off.
24 of the 28 new German jets had been lost, although 22 of those were on sunk carriers, and only 2 were shot down by French D.172s. Their 9:2 debut kill ratio would have been celebrated by the German high command, if it wasn’t in the context of the massive defeat and the 44:0 French jets.
In exchange, the French would lose Catinat, 4 destroyers and 2 cruisers damaged in the surface action, and 121 aircraft, 40 of those to heavy German AA fire.
All told, 35 German ships had been put out of action compared to 7 French ships. Scoring almost 20 missile hits from carrier and land based bombers, the mix of surprise, better electronic warfare, and a complete lack of German countermeasures has led to incredible success for the first generation French missiles. It’s safe to say that the French now have a decisive advantage in the North Sea, so the question now is to use it to box in and cripple the German navy further, or send some of the forces south to crush the Italian carrier force. The experience at Texel also inspired some new developments for the French navy, which should enhance our abilities in both surface and air action.
French tech developments, November 1946
Apologies for the lack of visuals for the battle in this post, when I looked back I guess I was not saving most of them properly, and can't find the screenshots now. Instead, here's a wartime refit of the cruiser Chanzy
She was damaged and was gonna be out of action for 4 months, so I decided to refit her instead. Secondary suite was totally replaced for 8 double autoloading 80mm mounts, basically doubling her heavy AA ability, in addition to having the 8 new radar directed 30mm mounts . There's also an ASW mortar added, and torpedo reloads for the new deck tubes.
Unfortunately only made it up to radar level 3, as I didn't want to refit in the (friendly) USA who has level 4, but lacks my anti-aircraft technology. Also notice the 8 little RMAA graphics, this can be done by placing 2" mounts in the editor
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