ORIGINAL: brian brian
I thought someone was re-working the write-up of the Sydney in light of the discovery of the wreck site last year? There was some discussion about it here, I think in this thread.
A CX write-up could include some other things instead, like the CX that entered the Pacific through the Bering Strait, courtesy of some Soviet ice-breakers... also somewhere I have an entire book solely about the cruise of the Orion.
Warspite1
On the two points you raise:
1. I put in a request to the original author of the Sydney to be allowed to change his original write-up but never got a response. However, that request was for reasons un-related to this. Having re-read that write-up (post 758), I don`t think there is too much I would change anyway on the Kormoran episode. The write-ups I have done (with a few exceptions) refer only to WWII history (plenty of wrecks have been found subsequently, but unless they help to evidence a change of view as to why a ship was sunk, I haven`t bothered to mention it) . Exceptions re post WWII comment tend to be for ships without much else to say e.g. HMS Hermes, flagship of Sandy Woodward in the Falklands War (HMS Elephant in WIF), although again its no more than a passing comment.
2. Re your second point, I dont understand. The draft write up telling the story of the Kormoran....is for the Kormoran counter. The other CX will have their own write ups including the Orion (which I have not done yet) and the Komet (which made the journey to the Pacific) and is shown below (again in draft form):
[4803 Komet - by Robert Jenkins]
.B Engine(s) output: 7,500 hp
.B Top Speed: 15 knots
.B Main armament: 6 x 5.9-inch (150mm), 1 x 2.4-inch (60mm) guns
.B Displacement (full load): 3,287 tons
.B Aircraft: 2 x Arado 196 float plane
.P During the First World War the Germans employed auxiliary cruisers to
attack Allied shipping. During the Second World War the Kriegsmarine revived the
concept, requisitioning fast merchant vessels and modifying them to fulfil their
new purpose. Due to a lack of detailed planning pre-war, there were no laid out
plans for each ship`s conversion and in some cases this delayed the completion
of the vessels.
.P The conversions were not standard and the final specification could differ
from ship to ship, although the 5.9-inch gun was most widely used. They also had
torpedoes and a variety of smaller weapons.
.P The ships were of sufficient size to carry at least one Arado 196 aircraft.
These provided vital reconnaissance capability in the vast expanse of the oceans
they patrolled. One of the drawbacks of this type of raider was the complete
lack of armour and so action against enemy warships was to be avoided if
possible.
.P Each ship was given a Handels-stor-Kreuzer (HSK) number and a pennant number
identifying them as "commerce disruption cruisers". Komet was known to the
British as Raider B.
.P World In Flames allows the German player to build up to ten of the most
famous examples of the auxiliary cruiser.
.P Komet (HSK-7) began life as the merchant vessel Ems. She was built for the
Norddeutscher Lloyd Line and was launched in 1937. She was requisitioned by the
Kriegsmarine at the start of the Second World War for the purpose of being
converted into an auxiliary cruiser, although was not commissioned until June
1940. She was the smallest of all the auxiliary cruisers but despite this, she
carried her own Motor Torpedo Boat (MTB).
.P She was unusual in that she arrived at her hunting ground, in Komet`s case
the Pacific Ocean, via the Arctic. Despite her neutrality at the time, the
Soviet Union assisted the German ship with a number of ice-breakers to ensure
her safe passage through to the Pacific.
.P Once there, Komet, commanded by Kapitan Eyssen sank a total of seven vessels
and captured a further one. Two of these ships were sunk in company with the
auxiliary cruiser Orion. Komet returned safely to Germany in November 1941.
.P For her second operation, she was commanded by Kapitan Brocksien. She had
had a major refit that included removal of her obsolete 2.4-inch gun, her two
aircraft and her MTB. She was given four 37mm and four 20mm anti-aircraft
weapons. She left Germany in October 1942 and this time attempted to breakout
into the Atlantic via the English Channel.
.P For the journey west she had an escort of minesweepers, and the flotilla
were attacked by British MTB`s while still in the eastern Channel. The British
were beaten off and Komet continued until she lost much of her escort to a
minefield off Dunkirk. Eventually, Komet made the port of Le Havre and there she
picked up a new escort of MTB`s.
.P However, Komet was spotted by a British reconnaissance aircraft and Brocksien
made the fateful decision to continue west rather than put into to Cherbourg. A
force of Royal Navy destroyers and MTB`s were already at sea and sailed to
intercept the German ships. What exactly happened next is subject to some debate
but in the confused action that followed it is believed, certainly by the
Germans, that Komet`s escorts were badly shot up, not by the British, but in
error by the forward gunner of the Komet who panicked under attack. Although it
was believed initially that a torpedo from MTB 236 had sunk the Komet, the
Germans believe she sank due to the effects of gunfire from the destroyers.
.P A fire, caused by a British shell raged out of control on board, and when the fire
reached the forward magazines, Komet blew apart taking all 269 officers and crew
with her to the bottom of the English Channel.