After the strikes on Pearl Harbour, the Japanese have launched a lightning offensive against Britain's colonial holdings in southeast asia.
Now, a Japanese invasion force has been spotted approaching Singapore.
The choice is made to attempt interception.
After a number of furious arguments, it is decided that all available air assets will be used to protect Force Z from air attack on the way in.
The plan seems to be working, at a heavy price to ABDA airpower, until large enemy vessels are detected between Force Z and the projected location of the landing force.
The Imperial Japanese Navy's escort force has intercepted the British.
Force Z is led by the brand-new battleship Prince of Wales.
With her teething problems fixed since her fight against Bismarck, she is among the most effective battleships in the world at this time.
Supporting her is the battlecruiser HMS Repulse, adding a considerable amount of 15-inch firepower.
As a screening force, the destroyers HMS Express, HMS Electra and HMAS Vampire are joining the capital ships.
A significant force.
But will it be enough? The fate of Singapore hangs in the balance.
Opposing them is part of the IJN cover force.
Fast battleships Kirishima and Hiei were in position to respond.
Though neither is a match for a battleship like PoW solo, they do posess significant firepower.
Kagerou-class destroyers Amatsukaze and Yukikaze have also rushed in, ready to support the grand old ladies of the IJN and hopefully introduce some capital ships to the merits of the Long Lance torpedo.
Turn 1 initiative goes to the Royal Navy, who decide that the IJN will have to move first.
The Japanese vessels charge forward, with the destroyer screen turning straight towards the Brits and going to flank speed.
The British force also goes to flank speed and turns hard to port, hoping to cross the T of the Japanese force.
This also means their destroyers are now essentially leading the capital ships in a column.
All ships are still outside effective range, though that should change any minute now.
In turn 2, the IJN win initiative and decide to go first.
Both destroyer screen attempt to rush forward at flank speed, but in both cases things go wrong.
Amatsukaze and HMAS Vampire both strain their propulsion too much, damaging it and forcing their squadronmates to slow down so they can stay together.
The IJN battlecruisers also move forward, into firing range of HMS Prince of Wales.
The British destroyers open fire at Yukikaze, dealing minor damage but causing casualties and chaos among the engineering sections. However, their attempts at a higher rate of fire disregarding safety procedures results in some guns on Express and Encounter out of action.
Return fire from the front guns on the IJN destroyers scores some hits, but to no effect.
Prince of Wales turns further to port, preparing to face the IJN battlecruisers broadside on.
Repulse can't complete the turn in time and remains out of range.
Then, Hiei's foreward guns open fire at Prince of Wales and find their range almost instantly.
Minor damage is dealt and a fire is started.
Kirishima follows up with a full broadside, also finding the range thanks to a stroke of luck. All her fire bounces off PoW's thick armour, though.
Her secondary weapons also range in on HMS Express, though they deal no damage.
Prince of Wales returns fire, also ranging in and damaging Kirishima's A turret.
Effective damage control manages to keep the turret in action, though.
Similarly, Amatsukaze's engines are restored to full functionality.
On the other end, damage control crews on PoW also manage to put out the fire.
Problems on Yukikaze's engineering and Vampire's priopulsion are not so easily fixed, though.
Turn 3.
Royal Navy win the initiative and elect to go first.
Both capital ship squadrons turn to almost-parallel course, allowing them to engage broadside on.
Then the Brits open up, disregarding safety for fire rate.
Unfortunately for the Brits, the broadside mostly misses, with the sole hit actually deflected by Kirishima's armour.
Repulse is much more fortunate. Her ranging volleys are almost immediately on target and score multiple hits focused around Kirishima's secondary armaments, which are knocked out. Fires also start raging around them.
Kirishima's return fire is rather limited, scoring some hits but very little damage, only disabling some secondary guns.
Hiei's fire, on the other hand, is devastating. She manages to score plunging hits down into PoW's engineering spaces, dealing heavy damage, starting fires and reducing her effective speed. Her captain decides to keep her in the fight, though.
Hiei's tertiary guns also deal light damage to Express, setting her aflame.
The British destroyers charge towards the IJN battlecruisers, determined to deliver their torpedoes or sink trying.
Instead of trying to stop the Brits, the IJN destroyers speed past them, one launching a spread at the destroyers, the other at HMS Repulse...
The destroyers exchange fire, with only Yukikaze dealing some damage to HMS Express.
Damage control is mostly effective on both sides, with Prince of Wales extinguishing almost all her fires and restoring normal propulsion.
However, fire continues to rage on HMS Express, so her captain decides to vacate the battlefield.
Then, the torpedoes start hitting...
The already-battered Kirishima takes 4 more hits, leaving her barely afloat, crippled and breaking off from the battle.
Hiei also takes several hits.
Although they are mostly deflected by her armour, some fires and heavy flooding are caused.
Vampire's torpedoes were launched too eagerly and ended up out of range.
Amatsukaze's volley was dodged by the British destroyers.
However, three of Yukikaze's torpedoes manage to hit HMS Repulse.
These deal heavy damage, though Repulse's flooding-prevention efforts prove quite effective.
Our next turn will probably be the last.
The IJN win initiative on turn 4 and elect to move first.
Their first move is to send their destroyers into torpedo range for the British battlewagons.
The Brits respond by opening up against Hiei with maximum rate of fire.
However, some things go awry.
Prince of Wales's main battery turned out to be not quite fixed enough for this fire rate, leaving her quad 'A' turret non-functional and causing her other fire to miss in the confusion.
Her secondaries do manage to deal minor damage to Yukikaze, but not enought to stop a torpedo launch.
Repulse is much more effective, scoing multiple hits on Hiei's X and Y turrets, knocking them both out of action.
Yukikaze and Amatsukaze launch their remaining torpedoes, causing PoW and Repulse to turn into them to reduce their odds of being struck.
Hiei's A and B turrets continue pounding Prince of Wales, finding more gaps in her deck armour and doing enough damage that her captain decides he must break off to preserve the ship.
Her secondary armament also manages to finish off HMS Express.
Further firing between the destroyers forces Yukikaze to break off and causes slight damage to HMS Electra.
Repulse and Prince of Wales mostly succeed at their damage control, but PoW fails to rally and continues fleeing the battlefield.
Hiei has less luck with her damage control and gets crippled by the flooding damage.
Her captain refuses to break off, however.
Repulse and goes evasive as the torpedoes come speeding in.
Still, one hits home, dealing serious damage and causing some flooding, but nothing critical.
PoW gets lucky and avoids all four torpedoes heading her way.
With that, both sides have at least half of their force´s fighting strength broken off or destroyed, so both disengage to lick their wounds.
So, how must we judge the results of this battle?
The IJN have had two of their old fast battleships heavily damaged, to the point where they will need major repair.
Fortunately, aerial dominance in the region means that they should be able to return the vessels to a friendly port slowly but safely.
This might not work for Kirishima, though, if damage control had taken too long shoring up the flooding she had when fleeing the battlefield.
One of their two destroyers had also taken some damage, but Yukikaze should be fit for duty again relatively soon.
Having both Prince of Wales and Repulse heavily damaged is rather bad, but there is also the question of these nigh-crippled vessels would be able to make it back to a friendly port safely considering the amount of Japanese airpower around.
Losing a perfectly good destroyer is another loss, though at least Electra and Vampire should be fine.
While this might have been a draw (or slight British win) in a tactical sense, the strategic picture is a lot more dire for the Allies.
With the amount of damage sustained, a strike against IJN invasion forces is no longer possible, probably dooming Singapore.
While the temporary loss of a pair of fast battleships would be impractical for the IJN, fuel constraints mean this is less of an issue than one would think.
Overall, I'd say this result is better for the British than the historical one, though the historical outcome was pretty close to worst-case.
About Naval War:
Naval War is a free living ruleset (which means it gets regularly updated to correct errors and clarify issues) that can be found at https://www.naval-war.com/.If this seems interesting, do head over there, grab the rules and get some ships (or even just printed tokens to represent them) and head into the fight.
We in the community also really enjoy reading about your experiences with the game, no matter how glorious or horrendous they may be.
