Historical Naval Losses MWIF Turns and Named Ship Counters

[warspite1]

Sep/Oct 1942

I noticed a major problem with the Flotillas and Squadrons data. Unfortunately I didn't think through what would constitute a destroyer before embarking on this. The problem is that many destroyer sized vessels were called torpedo boats - particularly so for the Italian navy. This means that losses for the Regia Marina are understated. There is a similar problem with destroyer escorts, and destroyer conversions.

So rather than give up, I will continue with just the named ships (which was the original idea anyway as its more relevant to comparison with MWIF (especially if using Cruisers in Flames)).

[warspite1]

Nov/Dec 1942

The fighting for Guadalcanal comes to a head and sees the Japanese lose their first battleships. At the start of 1943 they will decide that fighting on Guadalcanal can no longer be sustained. The Japanese inflicted a lot of damage on the USN in the naval battles around the Solomons but they mostly damaged, rather than sunk, their foe. The US could - and did - repair these ships, and that was in addition to the impressive array of new ships coming off the stocks. Things were going to get a lot worse for the IJN as they entered the New Year....

Things took a dramatic turn for the worse chez Berlin and Rome too - In addition to the unfolding horrors of Stalingrad and the wider southern Russian sector, El Alamein was followed up by Torch. The folly that was the Vichy regime was highlighted (as if it needed any more illumination) by Operation Lila. Many of the Vichy warships, scuttled at this time, were raised, but would see no further action in Vichy hands and so are recorded as lost here (a couple of the light cruisers - La Galissonniere and Jean de Vienne - were handed to Italy but they weren't repaired before the armistice).

[warspite1]

Jan/Feb 1943

Losses (of named ships) for the Allies have now peaked. With victory at El-Alamein, Malta was now secured, reducing RN losses. The Japanese giving up the fight at Guadalcanal also meant a reduction in surface and carrier battles while the USN prepared its two pronged assault against the Japanese.

There will still be some more losses to come, but these will be a handful in number, and mostly cruisers. Indeed, apart from the IJN, the losses for all combatants will now sharply reduce.

The destroyers, submarines, and other smaller ships continue to take the brunt of the losses as the Battle of the Atlantic comes to its climax during 1943, the Allies conduct landings - big and small - and the USN whittle away at the Japanese merchant shipping.

[warspite1]

Mar/Apr 1943

A relatively quiet 'turn'. The only named ship loss being the Italian heavy cruiser Trieste as the Allies continue to apply pressure; reducing Axis resistance in Tunisia.

[warspite1]

May/Jun 1943

Things go from bad to worse for the Japanese and this time it was self-inflicted.

Bari was in reserve and awaiting conversion to an AA cruiser when she was bombed. The reality was that, given the resources required and the overall situation, the proposed conversion was never going to happen - and the USAAF simply made sure of that!

[warspite1]

Jul/Aug 1943

Although Guadalcanal was given up by Tokyo, other islands in the Solomons group were still being contested. Two separate battles saw a cruiser loss for the US and Japanese.

[warspite1]

Sep/Oct 1943

The end for Italy... and a final slap in the face for the Regia Marina as the battleship Roma was sunk by the Germans while sailing to surrender to the Allies.

HMS Carlisle was damaged by air attack and returned to Egypt. However, repair was not considered worthwhile given the age of the C-class ship and so her war was over. HMS Charybdis was sunk while sailing to intercept a German blockade runner.

[warspite1]

Nov/Dec 1943

A further loss for the IJN as they stubbornly tried to reinforce islands in the Solomons....

The Kriegsmarine continues to be whittled down while trying to stem the flow of supplies to the Soviet Union via the arctic. The German auxiliary cruisers, relatively successful in the opening half of the war are essentially done with the sinking of Michel.

[warspite1]

Jan/Feb 1944

The New Year ushers in a sign of things to come for the IJN. Two more cruisers were lost during the carrier raid on Truk (in addiiton to aircraft, supplies and numerous smaller warships and other vessels). Once a main fleet anchorage, Truk became effectively unusable to the Japanese. Two more light cruisers were also lost to submarine attack in opposite ends of the Japanese Empire.

For the Commonwealth forces, the landings at Anzio and the fighting to hold onto, and consolidate, the beachheads resulted in the loss of two cruisers.

[warspite1]

Mar/Apr 1944

Another relatively quiet 'turn', but with US submarines making their presence increasingly felt all over the Pacific. Two more Japanese cruisers were sunk.

[warspite1]

May/Jun 1944

A disastrous turn for the IJN with the loss of three carriers during the Battle of the Philippine Sea.

Two Italian heavy cruisers are included in this turn although cases can be made for including them in previous turns. Bolzano was torpedoed by a British submarine in August 1942. She was able to make port but wasn't repaired by the time of the Italian exit from the war in September 1943. She was in the harbour at La Spezia - effectively abandoned by the Germans - when she was torpedoed and sunk in June 1944. Gorizia was damaged in the air raid that sunk Trieste in April 1943. She was able to reach mainland Italy, but repairs were not complete by the the time of the armistice. She was not sunk in the attack on La Spezia that sunk her half sister but the Germans made no attempt to repair her.

[warspite1]

Jul/Aug 1944

The effectiveness of the American submarines continued to be evidenced with no less than three more cruiser victims this turn. No area of the Pacific was safe.

The Royal Navy transferred the old D-class cruiser, Dragon, to the Polish Navy and - keeping her original name - she supported the bombardment of enemy positions following D-Day. Dragon was torpedoed by a German Neger one man torpedo and, declared a constructive loss, was used as a breakwater for one of the Mulberry harbours.

[warspite1]

Sep/Oct 1944

The Battle of Leyte Gulf. A series of four main engagements that were fought in a truly desperate last throw of the dice by the Imperial Japanese Navy. The results can be seen in the table below.

This result would take an 'interesting' series of dice rolls....

[warspite1]

Nov/Dec 1944

The end of 1944 sees the IJN further decimated through naval air and submarine attacks. There was simply no hiding place for the Japanese from the American carrier planes - and American submarines were proving every bit as destructive.

Meanwhile the Kriegsmarine was suffering a similar problem with the RAF.... Note: Schleswig Holstein was no longer a battleship (and frankly couldn't be really considered one in 1939) by the time of her sinking, having been used as an escort vessel.

[warspite1]

Jan/Feb 1945

Into the last year of the war and the last four 'turns'. The American carriers spread their destructive tentacles into the South China Sea. Note Lamotte-Picquet was a training ship at the time of her sinking.

[warspite1]

Mar/Apr 1945

With the end of the war looming in Europe, the Allied bombers continued to reduce the remnants of the Kriegsmarine. Meanwhile the IJN continued to throw away men and ships on suicide missions....

[warspite1]

May/Jun 1945

The war in Europe comes to an end. Hipper could have been included in the previous 'turn' because although scuttled in early May, she had been effectively finished as a fighting vessel in April due to air attack. Lutzow was actually sunk in an air attack in April, however she was in shallow water and some of her guns remained capable of firing and in that form she supported troops against the Soviets until scuttling in May.

[warspite1]

Jul/Aug 1945

The final 'turn' and the coup de grace for what remained of the IJN at the hands of the USN. The revenge for Pearl Harbor was complete and total.....Tone was the last Japanese named counter to have taken part in the Pearl Harbor attack in December 1941.

Takao had actually been damaged in October/November 1944 and was effectively irreparable. However her armament could have been used (indeed the British thought that was the case).

Note Ise and Hyuga are showing as BB but had been converted to hybrid BB/Floatplane carriers by the time of their sinking.

[warspite1]

I've set aside the pages so that there is no accidental additions to this thread other than the data for each turn.

[warspite1]

Project restarted (but in amended form, see explanation - Sep/Oct 1942)