BATTLE OF CAPE GOLENROS
Also known as the Second battle of Bernolli (April 2, 1789), was the largest battle between battleships during the Alliance War (1787-93), and the last major battle of these units. Although during the rest of the war, several other combats between battleships took place, none of them was as large, or as important. Strategic victory in this battle secured Bernolli as a base for Northern Pact naval forces until the Alliance ground forces break through the Pact defense twenty five months later. Fleet based there allowed the Pact to threaten Alliance shipping and trade routes in the middle area of the Inner Sea, and also allowed to supply Pact forces in Lepos via Nortor. Strong naval presence also forced Joint Naval Staff to abandon its idea about naval invasion into the Wonland in late 1789 or early 1790, which was considered as the main strategic objective for the Alliance since the moment it was formed.Language note: My ability to correctly translate naval terms and phrases is limited. I will upgrade that part in time, but so far, I'm sure people experienced in "naval" English will be aghast. Sorry for that.
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 Battle of cape golenros |
Although after the carrier Battle of Thorness Banks in March 1789, allied forces controlled the open sea, their ability to defend the coastal areas against the raids of Pact light forces and even battlecruisers was limited because of extensive air cover, provided by ground-based aircrafts.
The raiding forces were based in the main Santean port, Bernolli. After the battle, there were plans for other heavy forces, including modern fast battleships from Dalianetar Northern Fleet and new carriers, to reinforce them. Such concentration of force would represent significant threat to the Alliance trade routes to the Northland, which represented about one third of all Alliance shipping in the Inner Sea. Also the base on Tarsin was in grave danger, as these ships could attack it long time before any heavy reinforcements from Liwau should be able to intervene.
Because all attempts to neutralize Bernolli failed – both heavy bombers and carrier-born forces were defeated with medium or heavy losses – plan was prepared to neutralize that danger by battleship guns during a night raid. Darkness should eliminate the threat represented by more than three hundred aircrafts based in Bernolli and nearby bases and allowed the ships to complete the task.
Joint Naval Staff prepared original plan for Operation Blueberry in late February, to counter several successful raids of Dalianetar and Santean cruisers against both Liwau frontlines and Tarsin base. Especially audacious attack of commodore Greunner, which hit ground troops less than two hundred kilometers from allied main naval base, Liwau, caused loud criticism of naval operations. Although actual damage to both assaulted sites was minimal, impact on morale was much worse, especially after the Thorness Banks battle.
The task wasn't easy. The main line of defense od Brenolli were more than fifty long-ranged torpedo bombers, supported by three times more light and medium bombers and by the same number of various fighters. Crews of these forces proved to be effective combatants over the sea, and their threat was considered so high that the allied command was very reluctant in sending carriers within their range.
Despite this, plans were prepared some times ago to disable Bernolli by battleships raid. Key to this plan were Argosian Worset class battleships. They were fast enough to cross the area covered by Pact aircrafts during the night, attack Bernolli and than retreat into area where they can be protected by carrier forces. In mid February 1789, it was decided that such operation would be launched before the end of the month, when the nights were still long enough. Unfortunately, it was not possible to fulfil that timetable. Only on March 28, two days after another cruiser raid, vice-admiral Wecheter, commander-in-chief of Argosian battleships, was able to take an action against Bernolli.
TF 35 was originally formed on February 26, two days before Inteligence General learned about Dalianetar plan to disable the Tarsin base. Three battleships (Worset, flagship Anthor the Great and brand new Ramoss XII), accompanied with four anti-aircraft cruisers and ten destroyers as a screen were assembled at Liwau under the personal command of vice-admiral Wecheter. He was preparing his forces, when orders came to form task force to stop Dalianetar fleet. Ships of TF 35 were returned back to their core units with an intention to reform TF 35 after the threat is dealt with. After the following Battle of Thorness Banks, however, Ramoss XII was sunk and both remaining battleships damaged. It took four weeks for them to be repaired, and during that time, Dalianetar reinforced Bernolli with another light task force and battlecruiser Seevald. Two battleships were now clearly insufficient to deal with the base, and there were indications more reinforcements were on their way.
Thus, joint operation was mounted. TF 35 was reinforced with Trident, Nemo class battleship, and Leposian fleet formed Force B by combining their 4th and 2nd battle division. To boost their anti-aircraft defense, five AA destroyers (two of Wonland, three Leposian) were attached to the Force B as an escort.
Vice-admiral Wecheter was sure that with seven modern, fast battleships, he would be able to destroy the port of Bernolli and any ship stationed here. The first target of his ships was, however, the cordon of airbases around the city. Most of them were less than 20 km from the coastline, so a strike just before the sunrise should devastate them, giving him enough time to attack the port itself and then retreat before more distant air force arrives.
Problem was, that Leposian battleships were deployed elsewhere or under repairs and refits at that time. More, on March 29, IG warned that significant Dalianetar reinforcements are on their way. The original information assumed that two Dauntless class battleship will arrive around April 4, so it was imperative to launch the operation before that happens. Although vice-admiral Tarwon, commander of Force B, was eager to meet Dalianetar forces in battle, vice-admiral Wecheter, who was appointed as the supreme commander of both units, was afraid that this kind of endeavor in the area where enemy dominated the air asked for unnecessary losses. It was then decided that the attack would take place during morning hours of April 2. Only if the primary objective had been successfully completed, enemy fleet would be attacked.
The decided date, however, meant that Force B had to put together on the way and that TF 35 had to depart immediately. At the case that Leposian ships would be delayed, TF 35 would still be able to attack the airfields and thus save more time for Force B to join it. Although this kind of harsh made things very difficult, vice-admiral Wecheter manage to leave Liwau at 15:00 hours, April 1. Behind him, units of Force B were gathering from all other allied ports with their top speed.
On April 1, 1879 High Admiral Iccero had in Bernolli at his disposal battleships King Giaccomo and Santean, and battlecruisers Marshal Dordi and Dalianetar ship Seevald. Other battleship, Prince Seppio, and battlecruiser Protector, were under repairs and refits. This main force was supported by totally six heavy cruisers, three of them of the Dalianetar Albatross class, four obsolete light cruisers and twenty destroyers. Of these ships, Santean was obsolete, weak ship, and Marshal Dordi, despite her numerous heavy guns, was also less potent combatant than her impressive size and guns prompted. Even Seevald, despite strong armament and high speed, suffered from weak and wrongly distributed armor.
Because of this weakness and because Bernolli was now, after several defeated raids, considered safe, admiral of the fleet Dirk Brunnhled, commander of Dalianetar Battlefleet ordered captain-admiral Lorenh to reinforce Bernolli with a group of modern battleships: 3rd and 11th battlesquadron, forming Battlegroup 5. Three escort units were assigned as a screen. Lorenh assembled his forces in Palmoor on March 25, and the next day, he leaved to Bernolli.
Battlegroup 5 mission was simply doing in much larger scale the same job as commodore Greunner: assault the Allaince coast, threaten their shipping and bind enemy forces in Liwau. There was, however, also an unofficial reason for sending battleships to the south. From the beginning of the war, Battlefleet was humiliated several times and needed a clear victory to boost up its prestige. This was even more important after the Thorness Banks battle, where its pride, superbattleship Dalianetar, was sunk by Alliance carrier forces. Only audacious actions of Triumvirate carriers saved the Battlefleet from much worse loosed. So captain-admiral Lorenh was instructed to offensively attack enemy ships in order to achieve some important victory.
Lorenh arrived to Bernolli on March 30. He has two great advantages: first, his ships weren't spotted by enemy reconnaissance, so he could hope for a surprise. The second one was potentially even more important, although admiral and his captains were very skeptical about it: few days before the departure, battleship Duke was equipped with the first Dalianetar radar. Skepticism of Dalianetar commanders to this equipment was increased during “Sleiberhn Incident”, when during the first night, radar informed about group of enemy contacts seventeen kilometers at the port. Captain MarWollen of Duke informed the flagship, the Triumvir, and opened fire with main batteries. After two volleys, the contact was lost. Examination after the dawn confirmed that “enemy contacts” were false echoes from nearby coast. Eight shells fired by Duke's main guns hit a village nearby city Sleiberhn, causing great damage of property, killing five and wounding thirty-two people. Despite great disillusion and distrust to the radar, captain-admiral Lorenh learned an important lesson here that paid him well during the next week.
After leaving Liwau, TF 35 headed northwest to the open sea, before turning to Bernolli, in an attempt to evade enemy reconnaissance. For the most part of its journey, it was accompanied by two light carriers of Leposian Force F for a fighter protection. At 17:45, fighters of ship Thipany destroyed Dalianetar long-ranged scout hydroplane. Twenty minutes later, another scout plane was destroyed. Vice-admiral Wecheter now feared that his ships were watched. With no information about Force B, he ordered his battleships to separate from the carriers and set course for Bernolli, hoping that enemy would not expect direct assault against the base. His hope, however, was thwarted by Santean submarine Dagger. She spotted his ships at around 19:50. Although her report was incorrect because of darkness and long distance, it was enough for admiral Lorenh, already alerted by an aerial reconnaissance, to deduce the most probable target for the enemy task group. He leaved the port immediately and positioned his ships sixty kilometers out, as close to the coast of Cape Golenros as possible to baffle Argosian radars. Meanwhile, admiral Iccero organized his own forces and following Lorenh at 1:15, April 2, he headed directly against the enemy.
This move was quite risky, but both admirals agreed that the very first enemy targets had to be airports, and that the best time for strike is the dawn. Under this assumption, even if position of enemy ships, reported by the Dagger, wasn't entirely correct, they were able to assume with great portion of certainty where they may expect TF 35.
Meanwhile, Argosian ships were approaching their target. About one hour after the midnight, vice-admiral Wecheter was informed that Force B would be able to meet him at first at 7:30, two hours after sunrise. This was too late, so the only way to prevent air forces around Bernolli to cripple his force was by guns of his own ships. He ordered to increase speed to 52 km/h despite the fact that Trident's engines were to be overloaded, and preceded to the target zone – directly into the enemy trap.
At 4:59, while still 60 km out of Bernolli, the radar of TF 35 flagship Anthor the Great reported contact 21 km ahead. Two minutes later, it was confirmed that group of at least two, probably three large ships is patrolling the area, heading upright to TF 35's own course.
Wecheter's primary concern in this situation was to reach the airfields. Although the dawn was coming, vice-admiral believed that because he's heading from the south, by turning west, he could sneak between the coast and enemy stern. He could have shell the airfields and then return to deal with the enemy ships at the time Force B would arrive, and locking the hostile forces between his own. It was necessary, however, to reduce the speed and thus reduce the bright wake of his ships. TF 35 changed its course to the northwest and slowed down to 35 km/h despite the fact that this delay increased probability of aerial attack before the airfields should be neutralized.
For half of the hour, it looked as Wecheter's gambit was working. But, 2 minutes after the sun rose, another contact was reported. Group of unknown large ships was detected southwest from TF 35, heading northeast. The distance was less then 20 km, well within the range of battleship main guns. Trident spotted Battlegroup 5.
At that time, admiral Lorenh was aware of the presence of enemy ships for eleven minutes. Lorenh's radar had an effective range only about 15 km, but Argosians were east of him, clearly visible against the brightening horizon. First, captain-admiral was uncertain about these ships, because in the same general direction, Santean fleet was supposed to patrol. However, he feared if the ships are of Argosian Worset class, they would be able to outrun him. To prevent that, he broke the radio silence to ask admiral Iccero about his exact position, and ordered his ships to increase the speed and lay an intercept course. During the turnover, he cleared the coastline and enabled Argosian radar to detect him.
Vice-admiral Wecheter now had to make some hard decisions. He was well ahead of both enemy task forces, and there was fair chance he still would be able to reach the airfields and attack them. On the other side, that required him to let himself closed in relatively limited space of Baer Bay by a superior force, and increase his distance from both Force B and Force F. It was also doubtful if he would be able to damage the airfields enough in the short amount time before the enemy will be able to force him into the fight.
At this situation, unwilling to risk his ships, he decided to make his way out. He also hoped that he would be able to lure the enemy to the Force B far enough from the Bernolli that Force F should be able to provide an aerial cover and engage enemy. This decision was considered in direct opposite to his nature – he was known to be sometimes too much aggressive and reckless. The reason for this course of action remains unknown; the most probable explanation is that he was much too aware of the threat represented by aircrafts to the uncovered naval force.
At 5:37, TF 35 changed course away from Dalianetar forces, increasing its speed to 45 km/h. Although this course led it directly after Santean fleet, admiral Wecheter was sure that he could fight these ships, while fleeing. Admiral Iccero, who lacked visual contact with the enemy, had to be warned about it by admiral Lorenh. He turned his fleet to the south course, but this maneuver took time and it also disorganized his fleet. TF 35 changed formation from linear to echelon to clear forward turrets of all its ships, and opened fire at 5:52.
Meanwhile, BG 5 increased speed to 53 km/h – maximum for both Dauntless class battleships - and started to chase fleeing Argosans. However, that maneuver took some time, as well as recognition of the TF 35 true heading, and meanwhile, the distance between these fleets increased over 20 km.
At that time, admiral Iccero lost his chance to cross TF 35 course. Guns of Santean ships were short-ranged, but the distance was dropping rapidly so he could finally open fire. Unfortunately, during the turnover, Santan line formation broke and Marshal Dordi was now on parallel course with Seevald, on the same side as Argosian battleships. This efficiently screened the most powerful batteries Iccero had. Worse, Seevald was the only of his ships with the visual contact to the enemy, while TF 35 guns, aimed by radars, quickly locked on the Santean ships. It took fifteen minutes to reform Iccero's formation, while his ships got hit many times. At that time, TF 35 was well behind Santeans, firing full broadsides from only 12 km. The consequences were disastrous.
Shortly after 6:00, already heavily damaged Marshal Dordi, with two turrets disabled, under-deck partially flooded and afire, stopped because of hit into the after engine room. King Giaccomo, after seven heavy hits, had her quarterdeck afire, Y and Q turrets destroyed and her superstructure was severely damaged. Only Seevald was still fighting with full power, despite one hit that penetrated her main belt under the waterline and another that damaged the first funnel.
That changed at 6:06. Seevald, evading disabled Marshal Dordi, was hit by at least five shells from salvo fired probably by Trident. Officers of admiral Iccero's staff reported two or three explosion on the forward superstructure, one at stem and two or three on the side belt near the waterline. Less then half of minute later, Seevald exploded, probably because the fire, set by shells that penetrated her main belt, ignited ammunition storage under the forward turrets. From her complement of thirteen hundred, only seven people survived.
At 6:07, vice-admiral Wecheter was on his way out of the enemy trap. He eliminated one flank of enemy forces, and steadily increasing distance between TF 35 and BG 5 was now 23 km. He had space for maneuvering, and finally got information about Force B, which was now only about 110 km away. His ships, so far, were only slightly damaged. The worst thing was the destruction of the aft surface warning radar of Anthor the Great, while the fore one was damaged by intense shakes from the gunfire. That meant the flagship hadn't any surface warning radar with range longer than 20 km and she was unable to pinpoint the exact position of the enemy. Worset took one hit from Seevald, under the waterline, but the damage was only limited. There was also concern about Trident's engines because of prolonged high-speed run. Overall minor damage of all three ships, however, didn't reduce their combat capability.
Captain-admiral Lorenh was aware of the dire situation of Iccero's forces, and he tried to help him as much as he could. Despite extreme range, his ships opened fire at 5:57. At 6:02, one of 350mm shells destroyed the aft radar on Anthor the Great. For this hit battleship Fearless is credited, despite the distance over 22 km, making it the longest-range hit ever scored by a naval gun. However, BG 5 did scored no other hit, despite firing from thirty two major guns, half of them 37.5 cm, half 35 cm. On the other side, TF 35, concentrated on Santean fleet, didn't return fire at all.
This changed at 6:10, when vice-admiral Wecheter ordered change of course to the south. The most probable reason was the fact that the battle was, so far, evolving totally in his favor. Despite his general respect for carrier forces and aerial power, he was still an old-style, "gun era" officer with great endearment for large, “face to face” battle of conventional naval forces. It is probable that he was also confident that Argosian qualitative superiority over repeatedly humiliated Dalianetar Battlefleet was so great that three slightly damaged ships should be able to defeat four adversaries, despite these being of the most modern Dalianetar classes. From the situation up to now, the only thing that could endanger him were aircrafts from Bernolli, and by setting the southern course, he was retreating from them. Even more, on this heading, he should by able to meet Force B within one hour. Decreased distance from Dalianetar ships also should be his advantage at the moment that enemy would be in the range of his gun control radars, which was about 19 km.
Unfortunately for Wecheter, Dalianetar gunners were firing at him for thrirteen minutes now, and their accuracy was increasing. After ten minutes, at 6:20, the distance dropped to 16 km and BG 5 was forced to cease fire, because afire, motionless Marshal Dordi screened Argosian ships. By that time, however, situation of TF 35 worsened dramatically. Worset was hit three times, one of her main turrets was damaged and she made five hundred tons of water because of underwater damage. Situation of Trident was even worse: half of ship's superstructure was demolished and afire, with most of her light AA guns and half of the radars destroyed. Her damaged stem forced her to slow down to 39 km/h and maintaining her course was difficult. So far, only the flagship escaped serious damage.
Her luck ran out immediately after BG 5 reopened fire at 6:23. After five minutes, Anthor the Great was hit four times by 375mm shells and situation of the flagship became dire. Moreover, Dalianetar ships, despite some damage and few disabled guns, were able to maintain high speed, and they started to cross TF 35 course. At 6:28, vice-admiral Wecheter ordered his units to change their heading to the east. This was his last order, because one minute later, two shells from Duke's volley hit the superstructure, destroying ship's bridge, staff room, communication center, radar room and map room. Vice-admiral, along with his entire staff and most of ship's officers, was killed instantly. Three other hits came in no time, with at least dozen more in next ten minutes. By that time, the ship was out of action and crippled.
Immediately after her bridge was hit, Anthor the Great turned hard to starboard and slowed down, leaving her place in formation. What was left of her superstructure was afire, and because of smoke, it was impossible to determine her true state. Obviously she was in no shape for fight or command. Because of that, captain Yohnferet, commander of Worset, assumed command. He ordered hard turn from the enemy, despite the fact that he exposed his ship's stern to the BG5, and then he ordered his destroyer screen to deploy smoke and launch torpedoes in an attempt to slow down the enemy and break contact.
Two destroyer divisions under the captain Shen-Hai started their run immediately. Six of his eight ships increased speed to 70 km/h and in widespread formation, they enclose the enemy. At 6:33, under heavy fire from both screen and secondary batteries of Dalianetar battleships, they launched their torpedoes from the distance around 9 km.
From Dalianetar point of view, this looked like destroyers were forced to retreat because of BG5's barrage. This impression was only increased when a large explosion destroyed one of the attacking ships, Marauder. It was probably caused by a secondary damage to her torpedoes. Other ships took hits too, and their attempt to lay smoke screen was considered another proof of their dire situation. Nine kilometers launch was viewed as a desperate move, and no general evasive action was ordered, as the doctrine presumed each ship evade long-ranged torpedo launches individually.
That confidence turned into the shock at 6:38. Four or five minutes before the predicted time, Triumvir was hit by one torpedo short after the second main turret, any by second one only few seconds later, near the stern. Ship immediately slowed down, then she turned hard to starboard in an attempt to evade two other torpedoes. Surprised Duke followed the flagship, which saved her from being hit herself – at least two torpedoes were spotted in her vicinity. Fearless ended up worst: three torpedoes hit her, one near the main ammunition stock, another directly at the second stokehold, the last one at stem. Her speed dropped to 20 km/h and she took 12 degree heeling very quickly. Dauntless, the last of Dalianetar battleship, took one hit too, but this time, the damage was far less severe, although the explosion tore six meters leak in her port side.
Battleships weren't the only ships that made closer familiarization with Argosian oxygen-powered Mk VI torpedos then they ever wanted. Destroyers B19 and B23 were trashed by a single hit each. Another torpedo tore away the stem of the light cruiser Chieftain up to her first turret, and the ship sunk in ten minutes. She still ended much better than the light cruiser Gallant. Three torpedoes hit the middle of the ship in less then ten seconds, and the cruiser capsized half minute later, with all but twelve sailors lost.
In less then two minutes, clear victory turned into the disaster. Shocked captains, unsure of what happened, maneuvered with their ships - if they were even able to move - wildly in an attempt to evade both real and put-up torpedoes. Some destroyers started to deploying depth charges in the belief that submarines, cooperating with Argosian battleships, were responsible for the attack. The charges explosions only increased overall chaos, letting battered Argosian ships to brake off and disengage.
Approximately at 6:40, Dalianetar battleships, so far nearly undamaged, were in great trouble. All ships ceased their fire and were in total disarray. Their escort ships were too busy either sinking or attacking supposed submarines. Meantime, remnants of TF 35 were receding. The speed was, because of Trident damage, limited to 32 km/h, and both remaining battleships were covered by smoke from many fires. Anthor the Great, afire and motionless, was sinking behind them. Near of her, Marshal Dordi laid still, covered by heavy smoke.
After captain-admiral Lorenh was able to create some order between his ships, he learned that he lost two destroyers and two light cruisers, and that Fearless was severely damaged. Although fire, endangering her main ammunition storage, was quickly localized and was not presenting any actual danger any more, the ship was still slowing down due to large damage and flooding of her engines.
On the other side, Duke was mostly undamaged, except for minor damage to the hull from two Argosian shells. Also, her radar was lost. Although hit by one torpedo, and water took because of it, Dauntless was also still able to maintain top speed. She also lost half of her second main turret, few secondary guns and suffered minor damage from fire, which was however under the control now.
Lorenh's flagship was in much worse shape. Her second turret was disabled, so she lost half of her firepower. More, for some time it seemed that fires, ignited by torpedo hits, are spreading, and they nearly reached the ammunition storages for her AA batteries. Damage to the engines also slowed her down.
The main question admiral had to answer now was, what happened to his ships. There were reports of spotted torpedoes, but it was considered unlikely. Even if BG5 had been hit by torpedoes, it was supposed they would have not come from Argosian destroyers. Also power of explosions was thought to be an argument against that, as no torpedo known to Triumvirate Navy carried such large warhead. The final conclusion was that somehow, TF 35 was accompanied with submarines that laid down a minefield and later launched their torpedoes, which damaged BG5's screen.
Under that assumption, it was imperative for Dalianetar ships to start moving again. Soon, it became clear that the damage to the Triumvir isn't as dangerous at is looked first. Captain-admiral Lorenh, minding the need of a victory for the Battlefleet, then ordered to resume pursuit of the retreating enemy. He ordered Fearless, accompanied with three destroyers, to return to Bernolli. At 7:25, remaining ships set course to the northeast in an attempt to find the enemy.
The situation of TF 35 was much graver. Shortly after they broke contact, fire and water forced the crew to abandon two engine rooms on Trident. With other engine room destroyed by direct hit, the ship was able to maintain top speed only about 21 km/h. In combination with the damaged stem, maintaining the course became impossible for her and she nearly rammed light cruiser Polecat. Many of her guns were destroyed, she lost most of her radars and her fore mast was down. Even Worset was damaged, but she was at least still able to maintain high speed and to fight.
Fortunately for captain Yohnferet, underdeck fires on Trident were quickly localized and greasers were able to stop flooding. At 6:52, ship returned to the northeastern course and her speed started to rise. At 7:00, she reached 30 km/h, and ten minutes later, it was 35 km/h. Her main armament was also mostly undamaged, although with so much sensors lost, her accuracy at long ranges was disputable at best. What was evenly as important, survived destroyers had their tubes reloaded now.
Captain Shen-Hai asked Yohnferet for permission for another run at the same time Trident regained control over her course. He was sure that he could cripple remaining Dalianetar ships enough to be helpless against incoming Force B. His claim, however, was denied. Yohnferet didn't want to risk his screen in such dangerous endeavor. In case of enemy aerial or submarine attack, two damaged battleships needed all support they could get, and five Fighter class destroyers, even damaged, were able to double their AA defense – and were the only thing that could protect them against submarines.
Despite the damage to its ships, BG5 was still able to exceed 40 km/h. Although it lost contact with TF 35 for some time, captain-admiral Lorenh estimated that the most logical course for Argosian fleet is east or northeast. Shortly after his ships resumed the chase, he learned he was right, as enemy ships were reported north of his position, little more than 20 km away. Argosians spotted him about the same time and turned away from him in an obvious attempt to keep as much distance as they could. Battlegroup 5 followed them with the highest speed possible. To increase accuracy, Lorenh ordered to launch the only undamaged aircraft that he had.
The situation of TF 35 was desperate. Shortly after the contact was restored, it became clear that enemy is able to reach higher speed than Yohnferet's damaged ships, and they were forcing him to the enemy coast. Approximately at 7:40, the range dropped under 20 km and BG5 opened fire. Argosian magazines were nearly empty, so they didn't fired back. Instead, Yohnferet ordered destroyers to lay the smoke once again, hoping that enemy would either stop firing or waste ammo. His hopes, however, failed because fresh wind drove the smoke away from his ships. The situation was worsening rapidly. At 7:52, direct hit disabled the only fully functioning engine room of Trident. The battleship slowed down immediately.
At this situation, Yohnferet saw no other option but to allow captain Shen-Hai to launch his attack. But at 7:56, before his destroyers broke off for the run, BG 5 stopped firing and turned away from his ships.
The reason for this action was simple: Dalianetar ships came under heavy fire from an unknown source. At first, because of extreme dispersion of the shooting, it was assumed that enemy heavy bombers are engaging – or even allied aircrafts from Bernolli – but at 7:51, observation aircraft, launched twenty minutes ago, reported hostile ships about 30 km south from BG 5. Two minutes later, the report was upgraded that four battleships in echelon formation, two of them of Nemo or Resolution class, with several cruisers and numerous destroyer screen, are chasing BG 5.
Although the distance was enormous and according to the aircraft's report, the speed of Force B was only about as high as BG 5's, arrival of these ships changed everything. Although Argosian ships were at his mercy, captain-admiral Lorenh learned than against fresh force with at least forty-two 40cm guns, exceeding his own remaining firepower twice, there's no chance to win. He ordered to change the course back to Bernolli with the highest speed possible, hoping that damaged ships of their allies would occupy Leposians long enough for him to escape. This change of heading also meant that he had to stop firing on TF 35, as the only ship with aft turret he had was Dauntless, and that turret was disabled by a hit about two hours ago.
That order, however, was a death sentence for the Fearless. This battleship was much closer to the Force B, and once it became clear that BG 5 is disengaging, vice-admiral Tarwon ordered to deal with her. Although screening destroyers attempted to cover damaged battleships by smoke, combination of strengthening wind and Force B's radars made it useless. In fifteen minutes, Fearless took at least twenty hits. Fore and aft firing, with all guns and engines destroyed and the hull holed, Fearless stroke her flag at 8:16, and seven minutes later she disappeared under the water. One of her escorts, E135, was also hit. Two 1,000 kg shells changed the destroyer into the burning wreck. Remaining ships escaped and joined retreating BG 5.
After Dalianetar forces broke off, captain Yohnferet, finally informed about Force B position, turned his attention to badly damaged Trident. Although his own Worset wasn't in a good shape too, situation of the Trident was rapidly changing from bad to catastrophic. So far mostly localized fires spread out of control after the last hit, and at 8:09, all remaining engines stopped. Not only battleship's movement ceased, but also the pumps feeding fire hoses and sucking water from the underdeck were useless. Crew attempted to fight the fire using board extinguishers, fire blankets and even wet sails. Shortly after 8:30, light cruiser Stoat and destroyer Shikari joined them, using their own pumps and fire hoses. About an hour later, destroyer Wonder came with help too. For more then two hours of nearly heroic effort, all four crews fought the fire and water, and their joined work seemed to be fruitful.
However, at 10:47, the radar on Stoat detected hostile aircrafts over Bernolli. All three ships have to leave to be able to defend themselves. But, in their absence, fires flamed out of control once again, and the battleship sunk even deeper into the water. At the time rescue ships returned again, Trident's quarterdeck was only three meters above the waterline and half of her underdeck was aflame. Because it was clear that a new raid would come soon, vice-admiral Tarwon ordered to evacuate all survivors and sink the ship. At 11:25, just in time when another wave of bombers was spotted, Trident sunk along with 255 of her 1475 men.
Search effort for Anthor the Great, performed by cruisers Ferret and Rovin and four destroyers of both task forces, proved to be futile. The rescue party located only burning Marshal Dordi, still afloat, but abandoned. Two torpedoes from T-184 were enough to finally sink the battlecruiser. Destroyer then rescued two hundred sailors from the ship, when Santean destroyer Giaccomo Bersculli appeared. Leposian ship had no intent to fight much larger opponent, so her captain ordered to withdraw. Meanwhile, he learned from rescued Santean officers, that Argosian battleship sunk in the vicinity. Information was passed to rest of the group and at 10:15, large group of castaways from TF 35's flagship was located. All ships manage to rescue 640 men, when bombers from Bernolli appeared and vice-admiral Tarwon ordered them to join his forces. Later, Santean ships located another groups of survivors, counting 535 men total. 796 crewmembers of the battleship, however, died.
The last of Argosian battleships, Worset, was also severely damaged, but this time, things went another way. Her engines were undamaged, and all fires were quickly put under control. Water, drew into the port tanks, increased heeling, so the holes in the starboard were above the sea level, and the ship was able to join Force B formation just after both units met around 8:40.
On the Pact side, the most damaged ship that was able to survive was King Giaccomo. Admiral Iccero's flagship withdrew shortly after 6:00, and headed for her homeport, slowly, but steadily. With the help of her screening destroyers, the crew was able to extinguish most fires. Around 9:20, the ship and her escort, except for two destroyers, reached Bernolli.
Lorenh's ships, although damaged, escaped Force B without taking any additional hit, and they arrived to the port shortly after Santean fleet.
Until naval forces of the Pact weren't at port, air units based around Bernolli were ordered to wait. This was result of a staff meeting between officers of both Santean Navy and BG 5. Officially, primary concern of captain-admiral Lorenh was that Santean crews, unfamiliar with Dalianetar ships, might confuse Dalianetar and Alliance ships, with disastrous consequences. After the meeting, however, he admitted to his staff that he doesn't believe in Santean ability to hit anything, and he only didn't want any disputes about who won the battle.
After the return of naval forces, however, he was in no position to stop vice-admiral Terrescucci from launching massive attack against the Alliance fleet.
At 10:40, the first wave of 19 torpedo-armed Catapults took off and with escort of 13 Falcon fighters, they departed to the southeast. Shortly after that, they were detected by radar and Force B regrouped to be prepared for them. This, however, proved later to be fatal for battleship Trident.
The first wave went into the combat range of Force B at 11:06, when secondary batteries of Worset, aimed by radar, and main weapons of Leposian and Wonland AA destroyers opened fire. Worset was using the first generation of proximity fuse shells for her 75mm guns, and their effect proved to be devastating. Although Santean pilots were prepared to attack from every possible direction to evade concentrated barrage of Worset's 50mm IAS weaponry, they weren't prepared for the same barrage twice as far from the battleships. Within two minutes, three Catapults were destroyed and two other heavily damaged, including the leading aircraft. Other bombers suffered damage too, and they quickly aborted attack and returned home.
Unaware of the result of his first attack, vice-admiral Terrescucci launched the second wave at 11:15. This time, he sent 21 Runner medium bombers accompanied by 9 Falcons. They reached the area of the battle only ten minutes after Trident sunk. Force B and the remnants of TF 35 just set the course for home, when Runners started their attack run. Although they were sure that altitude about 4 km will protect them against IAS, they were as unprepared as their colleagues for heavy radar-aimed guns with proximity fuse fragmentation shells. Two Runners were shot down immediately, four others heavily damaged (three of them crash-landed near Santean destroyers rescuing sailors from Fearless and Marshal Dordi), several more suffered mediocre damage. Also, three Falcons were shot down or damaged beyond repair. Men of Runners, however, proved to have better morale than Catapult crews, and they manage to drop their 250kg bombs in the close vicinity of Force B. Aside for two wounded and little splinter damage to the heavy cruiser Valkyrie, however, they achieved nothing, although their combat report claimed at least five hits of three different ships, one of them set afire.
The third wave of 17 Runners reached Force B at 12:30. This time, they managed even worse – six bombers were shot down far from Alliance ships and the remaining ones disengaged quickly.
So far, the defense of the Force B was excellent, mainly because of new heavy AA systems onboard the Worset and escorting ships. But during these three attacks, almost 70% of their heavy AA ammo was used. Especially very useful proximity fused shells for Worset's guns were all depleted. Now, more conventional weapons have to be used, reducing the defensive capability of the fleet dramatically.
Vice-admiral Terrescucci was not prepared to give up. After all, it was his AeroFleet what was the main protection of Bernolli for so long. To let escape battered battleships with no aerial cover would be serious blow to that protection. Although he had to admit that Force B had extreme accurate and deadly long-range AA defense, he also correctly anticipated that intense battles had to exhaust their ammunition supplies.
So, at 13:00, he ordered to launch fourth wave of 31 Catapults, 12 Runners and 22 Eagle II fighter-bombers, armed with unguided missiles. Their purpose was to use their speed and maneuverability to attack enemy ships and try to silence as much light AA defense as possible. 15 Falcons provided fighter escort.
This huge armada formed over Bernolli and headed southeast, to the reported position of Force B. One hour later, exactly at 14:00, Alliance ships were spotted and as planned, bombers started to form a gigantic circle around them, while Eagles set for the attack.
This time, no easy victory awaited Force B. Leposians didn't created sophisticated, integrated system of AA defense, and even with Worset in the best shape, they wouldn't be able to incorporate their ships into the Argosian-style defensive net. Also Santean tactics of widespread attack coming simultaneously from many directions mostly caused usual barrage useless the same way Dalianetar naval air strikes did during the Thorness Banks battle. Unusually high proportion of defense now, with new proximity fused shells depleted, laid on the close-range armament.
Also, the 1st AeroFleet used two new features. Rocket-armed Eagles were the first one. They started their attack at low altitude, and behaved as torpedo-bombers. Facing that, Force B turned their sterns to them. This maneuver screened many of their AA guns, others were attacked by both missiles and cannons of the Eagles. Although nearly a half of Eagles was shot down, mostly by crossfire and after their attack, they scored many hits, and most importantly, distracted Force B long enough for Squadra “Speta” to reach attack position. Fifteen Catapults of Squadra were equipped by new type of aerial torpedo, called the Cruiser. Dropped on parachutes from 3 km, they were deployed ahead of Force B, where they start to run in circles.
Leposian destroyers T-186 and T-193 were first to hit. While T-186 damage was limited, T-193 engine room suffered large damage; destroyer stopped and started to sink. Other ships turned aside in desperate attempts to avoid this circling minefield, breaking their formation. Not all of them succeeded: one hit damaged cruiser Stoat. At this moment, the rest of the Santean aircrafts attacked. 16 remaining Catapults, with the Runners diving simultaneously – dive tactics was used for the first time by Runners too – launched their torpedoes. Broken formation and disarray in the fleet largely decreased the efficiency of their AA fire. No Runner was shot down, and only three Catapults. In return, however, they scored another two hits to Stoat, one torpedo and few bomb hit previously damaged destroyer Wrestler and battleships Orka and Victory suffered damage too. Most ships were also damaged by friendly fire, as gunners of AA weapons were too focus on their targets to watch out for ships of their own site.
With these loses – Stoat was afire and sinking, as well as T-193 and Wrestler – damage to their AA weapons and remaining ammunition, Force B was now in a very bad situation. They were only about 200 km away from Bernolli, damage reduced their speed to 28 km/h and it was clear that another attacks would come, not only from Bernolli, but also from Nortor, where Dalianetar Naval Airgroup X was stationed.
Despite the Alliance commander's fears, however, the First AeroFleet was no in shape to mount any immediate attack. Although not shot down, most of its aircrafts were damaged and their crews needed rest. Vice-admiral Terrescucci was satisfied with the last attack too, as the returning crews reported heavy damage to two battleships, which were disabled, and many hits to other, smaller vessels. He was sure that the disabled ships would not escape him, so he had time for some repairs, rest and evaluation. The next wave was scheduled to start at 18:00.
Meanwhile, Airgroup X was finally permitted to launch its own attack. Although the chance for clearly naval victory was considered lost, struggles between Air Naval Service and the Battlefleet caused significant delay. At 14:22, when the last Santean aircraft cleared the battlefield, commodore Meuheirs finally launched his own aircrafts. Mix of medium bombers, torpedo biplanes and fighter-bombers departed to the northwest, coordinated from MRTHC-35-U heavy bomber watching over the Force B.
However, this aircraft silenced shortly after 15:10. Despite this, the wave continued to its target.
This time, however, they were to encounter much more dangerous opponent. Shortly after the last Santean attack ended, vice-admiral Tarwon, knowing that situation is bad, broke the radio silence and asked for help. In less then hour, he received it – 6 fighters and 10 divers from Force F arrived, dealing immediately with the enemy observation aircraft. Another 34 aircrafts were ready to boost the defense in any case of need. Rear-admiral Hellsern, informed about the state of Force B, was prepared to launch all operational fighters he had, leaving his carriers virtually defenseless. He even ordered 14 of his Sea Maiden dive-bombers to join the screen, as they proved to be very suitable to stop older Pact light and even medium bombers.
Dalianetar bombers were detected at 15:21. Dedicated aircrafts took off from Force F immediately and guided by fighter control onboard the Orka they headed for the enemy. Contact was made at 15:43; still about 30 km away from Force B. Airgroup X wave was divided into two groups, with faster MAC-C55 medium bombers well ahead of the slower, obsolete carrier-born types. With no fighter escort, they were easy prey for airmen of Force F. Half of the Dalianetars was shot down, the rest, mostly damaged, forced to run. Then, fighters and divers focused on the rest of the wave. SEC-W11 fighter-bombers were forced to drop their bombs and run by Leposian Swordfish fighters, which scored 10 victories out of 22 enemies, with only 1 own loss. Meanwhile, Sea Maidens hunted down defenseless AT-11 biplanes, shooting down 9 of 12 deployed without losses.
With this help, vice-admiral Tarwon was finally able to reach for safety, because vice-admiral Terrescucci decided that with strong enemy aircraft presence and limited range of his own fighters, he cannot risk his remaining bombers. The battle was finally over.
Immediately after the battle, both sides claimed victory.
Admiral of the fleet Dirk Brunnheld announced: “While heavily outnumbered and outgunned, Battlegroup 5 was able to defeat the night attack of enemy twice as strong against our allied base of Bernolli”. He also admitted that losses were high, including one battleship and one battlecruiser, ignoring Santean losses, while High Admiral Iccero admitted loss of a battlecruiser and heavy damage to a battleship. With no names released because of war censure, the impression had to be that only two capital ships were destroyed or damaged at all. Dalianetar also claimed the destruction of three Argosian battleships, two of them of the Worset class, while they stated no additional heavy ships were sunk during the air raids. On the other side, Santean stated that their aircrafts manage to sink three battleships, with one additional sunk by joint effort of the Navy and BG 5 during the night combat. Despite these different claims, both Santean and Dalianetar were officially satisfied with the outcome of the battle.
However, the internal evaluation was entirely different. Especially captain-admiral Lorenh had to defend himself before both Naval General Staff and High Commissariat of the Navy. He was accused that because of his wrong initial deployment, TF 35 nearly managed to slip to Bernolli, and later it eliminated Santean fleet. He was also blamed for damage taken by his ships because of his carelessness, and for the loss of Fearless. There was also the fact that the remnants of TF 35 were able to escape at the moment they were at his mercy. Although most of that claims were based only on “battleship admirals” obsession for return to the old times of battleship dominancy, carriers favorers joint the effort to crucify Lorenh, as they've seen a great opportunity to finally break the mind of Navy at all and seize the ultimate position over the Battlefleet. At the end, captain-admiral Lorenh was beached. Because of official claims, he could not be accused openly. Instead, he was raised to the rank of admiral of the fleet and appointed as a commander of Dalingen base. Although a prestigious appointment, for an admiral who officially scored a great victory, it was nothing but demotion. Immediately after the war, he was retired.
Also admiral Iccero and vice-admiral Terrescucci had to face the fact that their forces took heavy beating. Iccero, however, was able to easily blame Lorenh for his losses. Both king Giaccomo and prince Seppio accused Lorenh that he left Iccero's fleet without support, what resulted in heavy losses. Another situation was with Terrescucci, who was accused that he greatly underestimated the threat and didn't take any appropriate action until the fourth attempt to stop the enemy, which resulted in losses and escape of the Force B. After the internal enquiry, Terrescucci was retired from active duty.
On the Alliance side, the situation was very similar. Joint Naval Staff claimed that sinking two battlecruisers and two battleships (they considered King Giaccomo destroyed for next two weeks, and because it's damage wasn't repaired until the fall of Bernolli, official statistics of RAN are counting the ship as destroyed even now), and inflicting heavy losses to the enemy air force meant the Alliance won. However, it was impossible to hide the loss of two battleships, and the death of vice-admiral Wecheter. With the true objective of Operation Blueberry secret, however, it was possible to claim a victory.
As in the Pact forces, however, the entire operation was considered failure. Immediately after the battle, special board was formed in JNS to identify and accuse people responsible for it. Soon, it was considered that vice-admiral Wecheter was the main culprit, as he was the one who promote the entire operation. Also, vice-admiral Tarwon had to face similar accusation.
At that moment, however, admiral Tivilik, the Commander-in-Chief of Leposian Navy, stepped in. He ordered all accusations against both commanders to be withdrawn, pointing out that it was, in fact, JNS itself – including him as a high-ranking member – that ordered the operation to be launched. He also pointed out that the original plan made by Wecheter was to use faster battleships, which could escape in case of meeting too strong opposition. Tivilik also questioned orders to launch the operation immediately in an attempt to strike Bernolli before Dalianetar forces could arrive, arguing that against anticipated two battleships, joined forces of TF 35 and Force B would be still overwhelming force. In effect, admiral Tivilik blamed mostly himself and admiral Tuenchawre, CiC of Argosian Fleet, as men with the final responsibility. Although actions of vice-admiral Wecheter were not flawless and he done his share of mistakes, in the final account, most naval historians agree with adm. Tivilik's evaluation.
battleships: Anthor the Great (flagship, sunk), Worset (Worset class), Trident (Nemo class, sunk)
light cruisers: Ferret, Stoat (sunk), Polecat (Otter class)
destroyers: Fighter, Wrestler (sunk), Warrior, Champion, Marauder (sunk), Battler (all Fighter class), Shikari, Trapper (Hunter class)
Force B, vice-admiral Tarwon
battleships:- 4th battle division: Victory, Illustrious (Resolution class)
- 2nd battle division: Orka, Kraken (Tarsin class)
- 15th cruiser task group: Valkyrie (Asalan Padishah class), Eldritch Abomination (Eldritch Abomination class)
destroyers: T-184, T-186, T-193 (sunk), T-197 (T-181 class), Wonder, Miracle (Wonder class), T-202, T-203, T-205 (T-200 class)
Force F, rear-admiral Hellsern
light carriers: Thipany (flagship), Azcona (Azcona class)light cruiser: Aelinay (Aelinay class)
destroyers: T-153, T-161, T-164, T-175, T-177, T-181 (T-145 class)
aircrafts, each carrier-group: 20 Swordfish fighter (2 lost), 20 Sea Maiden dive-bombers (1 lost), 8 Spearfish torpedo bombers
Battlegroup 5, captain-admiral Lorenh
battleships:- 11th battlesquadron: Triumvir (flagship), Duke (Prince class)
- 3rd battlesquadron: Fearless (sunk), Dauntless (Dauntless class)
- 17th escort group: light cruiser Gallant (Hero class, sunk), destroyers E122, E135 (sunk), E142, E143 (Escort class)
- 19th escort group: light cruiser Chieftain (Leader class, sunk), destroyers B17, B18, B19 (sunk), B25 (Battle 1 class)
- 4th escort group: light cruiser Boss (Leader class), destroyers B16, B20, B21, B23(sunk) (Battle 1 class)
Naval Airgroup X, commodore Meuheirs
15 MAC-C55-1 medium bombers (7 lost)12 AT-11 carrier-born torpedo bombers (9 lost)
6 MRTHC-35-U long-range reconnaissance/heavy bombers (1 lost)
22 SEC W-11 carrier-born fighter-bombers (10 lost)
Navy, High Admiral Germini Andria Iccero
battleships: King Giaccomo (flagship, King Giaccomo class)battlecruiser: Marshal Dordi (Marshal Dordi class, sunk), Seevald (Dalingen class, sunk)
destroyers: Ambio Feretti, Dorio Amalle Sccenti (Type 3 class), Villomede Espanti (Type 4 class), Giaccomo Bersculli (Type 6 class)
First AeroFleet, vice-admiral Terrescucci
42 Catapult triple-engine torpedo bombers (8 lost)55 Runner medium bombers (11 lost)
26 Falcon fighters (3 lost)
22 Eagle II fighter-bombers (9 lost)