A and B turrets, HMS Hood 1940
HMS Hood’s forward 15" turrets, with a 4" gun’s crew under training in the foreground.

HMS Hood was the pride of the Royal Navy, she was a massively armed battlecruiser with what was thought to be armour equal to her armaments. To all intents, HMS Hood was considered to be one of the most powerful battlecruisers afloat in World War Two.

HMS Hood was 44,600 tons, had a crew of 1,419 and was faster than the Bismarck with a maximum speed of 32 knots. The Hood had been launched in 1918 and was armed with 8 x 15 inch guns, 12 x 5.5 inch guns, 8 x 4 inch AA guns, 24 x 2 pound guns and 4 x 21 inch torpedoes.

However, the Hood suffered from one major flaw – she did not have the same amount of armour as the Bismarck. The fact that the Hood was faster than the Bismarck by 3 knots was as a result of her lack of sufficient armour for a naval battle fought in World War Two. What had been considered sufficient armour in 1918 when Hood was built, was to prove a fatal flaw in 1941.

On May 24th, 1941, the Royal Navy tailed the Bismarck and Prinz Eugen when they attempted to break out into the Atlantic. If both of these ships had got into the Atlantic, they could have created havoc amongst the Atlantic convoys that were vital to Britain. The Hood relied on information sent back to it by the cruisers Norfolk and Suffolk. The Bismarck and Prinz Eugen had night time and sea fog on their side and for a while both cruisers lost both German ships.

However, by 02.47 on May 24th, the Suffolk had regained contact with the Bismarck. The information sent back by the Suffolk led the Hood to believe that she would be just 20 miles from the Bismarck at 05.30 on May 24th. At 05.35, the lookout from the Hood made out the Prinz Eugen and the Bismarck at a distance of 17 miles.

Admiral Holland, on the Hood ordered the battlecruiser to turn to the German ships and at 05.45 they were only 22,000 metres apart. At 05.52, the ‘Hood’ opened fire and shortly afterwards was joined by the ‘Prince of Wales’. At 05.54, both the Prinz Eugen and the Bismarck fired their guns primarily against the ‘Hood’.

The Prinz Eugen hit the Hood and set alight some anti-aircraft shells kept on deck. The fire this caused was not particularly dangerous for the ‘Hood’ even though it produced a great deal of smoke. At 06.00 a salvo from the Bismarck hit the Hood. The Bismarck had fired from 17,000 metres and the elevation of her guns meant that the shells that hit the ‘Hood’ had a high trajectory and a steep angle of descent. The Hood had minimal horizontal armour and one of the shells from the Bismarck penetrated the Hood’s deck and exploded in one of her magazines. A massive explosion tore the ‘Hood’ in half. Those who saw the explosion said that the bows of the ‘Hood’ were raised out of the sea before they sank. The ship sank extremely quickly – within two minutes – and 1,416 men out of a total crew of 1,419 died. (historylearningsite)

May 23, 1941. Operation Rheinübung

At 0722 hours, German battleship Bismarck and cruiser Prinz Eugen are spotted by British cruisers HMS Suffolk and HMS Norfolk in the Denmark Strait. After HMS Norfolk is almost hit by shellfire from Bismarck, both cruisers retire to a safe distance. They shadow the German warships using radar while battleship HMS Prince of Wales and battlecruiser HMS Hood close in from 300 miles to the South.

Photo: HMS Hood steaming toward the Denmark Strait, on or about 23 May 1941.

Pearl Harbor Attack - Sunday 7, December 1941
Panoramic view of Pearl Harbor, during the Japanese raid, with anti-aircraft shell bursts overhead. The photograph looks southwesterly from the hills behind the harbor. Large column of smoke in lower right center is from the burning USS Arizona (BB-39). Smoke somewhat further to the left is from the destroyers Shaw (DD-373), Cassin (DD-372) and Downes (DD-375), in dry-docks at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard.
Observers quote, “This must be the second wave, because of all the flak that’s up. Apparently one of the reasons that there wasn’t a third wave was that American antiaircraft fire had greatly improved in effectiveness on the second wave, and that’s when most of the 29 Japanese aircraft were shot down.”
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Catalog #: 80-G-32792
Color by Facundo Filipe

Christmas day at Bougainville
A group of RNZAF airmen are being served Christmas dinner by their superior Officers, as is traditional at Christmas time.
Christmas day, 1944
The man serving the drink (extreme right) is Laurie Counsell.
RNZAF Official photo
Colourised by Daniel Rarity

OPERATION ‘BARBAROSSA’
The invasion of the Soviet Union, June 1941
Operation ‘Barbarossa’ - named after the all-conquering Medieval Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I - was launched on 22 June 1941. Over three and a half million German and other Axis troops attacked along a 1,800-mile front. A total of 148 divisions - 80 per cent of the German Army - were committed to the enterprise.
Seventeen panzer divisions, formed into four Panzer Groups, formed the vanguard with 3,400 tanks. They were supported by 2,700 aircraft of the Luftwaffe. It was the largest invasion force to date.
(Colors by Irootoko jr., Royston Leonard, Richard Molloy)

28 November 1941: the BIG E leaves Pearl Harbor
Today, 80 years ago…USS Enterprise (CV 6) sails from Pearl Harbor for Wake Island to ferry Marine aircraft to the island. A delay due to weather on her return trip, the “BIG E” would not be at Pearl Harbor as scheduled on 6 December leaving no carriers left during the Japanese attack on 7 December.
This luck would hinder the Japanese for the rest of the war as USS Enterprise would become the most decorated WW2 ship in United States Naval History and fight the Japanese in just about every major engagement in the Pacific.
On three occasions during the war, the Japanese announced that she had been sunk in battle, inspiring her nickname “The Grey Ghost”. By the end of the war, her planes and guns had downed 911 enemy planes, sunk 71 ships, and damaged or destroyed 192 more. She is the one and only BIG E.

5/3/1945
A BF-109-E was successfully grown from root stock.

November 13 1941. Battle of the Atlantic

The Aircraft Carrier Ark Royal was launched on April 13th, 1937 by Lady Maud Hoare, wife of Sir Samuel Hoare, then First Lord of the Admiralty. The bottle of champagne thrown against Ark Royal’s bows did not smash until the fourth attempt. She was commissioned on December 16th, 1938.

Displacing 22,352 tons standard and 28,143 tons fully equipped and capable of 31 Knots, she had the capacity to carry 60 to 72 aircraft. Ark Royal’s armament was designed with anti-aircraft warfare in mind, as aircraft were expected to be the main threat.

On November 13th, 1941, while returning to Gibraltar after taking aircraft replacements to Malta, she was attacked by German submarine U-81. The torpedo ripped a huge hole in Ark Royal’s hull and she immediately began to take on water, with a list to starboard, reaching 18° from centre within 20 minutes. The crew were ordered to abandon ship and although it was towed the list reached 45° before Ark Royal capsized and sank at 06:19 on 14 November. Able Seaman Edward Mitchell was the only fatality, killed when the torpedo from U-81 struck the ship.

Photo: Imperial War Museum. Colourised by DB Colour

June 13 1944

On July 30 1945, USS Indianapolis CA-35 was struck by two torpedos from a Japanese submarine, having the ship sink within twelve minutes. After 4 days the Navy spotted survivors from this terrible tragedy. Out of 1,195 crew members, 316 had survived and been rescued.

@Entek
Game History

Round: 18

    Research Technology - Austria
        Austria spend 5 on tech rolls
            Austria roll 6,3,4 and gets 1 hit
        Austria removing all Technology Tokens after successful research.
        Austria discover convoys

    Combat Move - Austria
        1 field_gun and 1 fighter moved from Galicia to Odessa
        5 infantry moved from Galicia to Odessa
        1 infantry moved from Galicia to Odessa

    Purchase Units - Austria
        Austria buy 1 cavalry, 2 cruisers, 4 field_guns, 1 fighter, 4 heavy_guns, 14 infantry and 8 trenchs; Remaining resources: 0 PUs; 0 techTokens; 

    Combat - Austria
        Battle in Odessa
            Austria attack with 1 field_gun, 1 fighter and 6 infantry
            Russia defend with 3 field_guns and 1 infantry
                Austria roll dice for 1 field_gun, 1 fighter and 6 infantry in Odessa, round 2 : 2/8 hits, 2.00 expected hits
                Russia roll dice for 3 field_guns and 1 infantry in Odessa, round 2 : 1/4 hits, 1.33 expected hits
                1 field_gun owned by the Russia, 1 infantry owned by the Russia and 1 infantry owned by the Austria lost in Odessa
                Austria roll dice for 1 field_gun, 1 fighter and 5 infantry in Odessa, round 3 : 0/7 hits, 1.83 expected hits
                Russia roll dice for 2 field_guns in Odessa, round 3 : 0/2 hits, 0.67 expected hits
                Austria roll dice for 1 field_gun, 1 fighter and 5 infantry in Odessa, round 4 : 1/7 hits, 1.83 expected hits
                Russia roll dice for 2 field_guns in Odessa, round 4 : 1/2 hits, 0.67 expected hits
                1 field_gun owned by the Russia and 1 infantry owned by the Austria lost in Odessa
                Austria roll dice for 1 field_gun, 1 fighter and 4 infantry in Odessa, round 5 : 1/6 hits, 1.67 expected hits
                Russia roll dice for 1 field_gun in Odessa, round 5 : 1/1 hits, 0.33 expected hits
                1 field_gun owned by the Russia and 1 infantry owned by the Austria lost in Odessa
            Austria win, taking Odessa from Russia with 1 field_gun, 1 fighter and 3 infantry remaining. Battle score for attacker is 6
            Casualties for Austria: 3 infantry
            Casualties for Russia: 3 field_guns and 1 infantry

    Non Combat Move - Austria
        1 fighter moved from Odessa to Galicia
        1 field_gun and 3 infantry moved from Romania to Galicia
        1 heavy_gun and 3 infantry moved from Transylvania to Galicia
        1 infantry moved from Carpathia to Galicia
        10 infantry moved from Tuscany to Piedmont
        6 infantry moved from Venice to Tuscany
        4 field_guns moved from Latium to Tuscany
        1 fighter moved from Latium to Greece
        2 heavy_guns and 11 infantry moved from Latium to Rome
        6 infantry moved from Trieste to Venice
        1 field_gun and 2 infantry moved from Croatia to Trieste
        4 gass moved from Hungary to Venice
        2 gass moved from Vienna to Venice
        2 infantry moved from Belgrade to Serbia
        2 infantry moved from Belgrade to Romania
        3 infantry moved from Hungary to Transylvania

    Place Units - Austria
        2 heavy_guns, 1 infantry and 3 trenchs placed in Greece
        2 cruisers placed in Sea Zone 60 Central Mediterranean
        3 trenchs placed in Rome
        1 fighter and 3 infantry placed in Belgrade
        1 heavy_gun and 2 trenchs placed in Trieste
        3 field_guns placed in Piedmont
        1 field_gun, 1 heavy_gun and 2 infantry placed in Venice
        5 infantry placed in Trieste
        3 infantry placed in Hungary
        1 cavalry placed in Hungary

    Activate Technology - Austria
        Austria activating convoys

    Turn Complete - Austria
        Austria collect 115 PUs; end with 115 PUs
        Austria collect 8 PUs from War Bonds; end with 123 PUs

Combat Hit Differential Summary :

Austria regular : -3.33
Russia regular : 0.00

40124_aus18.tsvg

@dawgoneit 40309_tur6.tsvg

@Colt45554 France is up!

@Colt45554
Game History

Round: 3

    Combat Move - Italians
        1 Infantry and 1 Tank moved from Provence to 43 Sea Zone
        1 Infantry, 1 Tank and 1 Transport moved from 43 Sea Zone to 41 Sea Zone
        2 Fighters moved from 43 Sea Zone to E.Morocco
        1 Artillery, 2 Infantrys and 2 Tanks moved from 41 Sea Zone to E.Morocco
        3 Infantrys and 2 Tanks moved from N.Algeria to E.Morocco
        1 Artillery and 2 Infantrys moved from N.Tunisia to 42 Sea Zone
        1 Artillery, 1 Cruiser, 2 Infantrys and 1 Transport moved from 42 Sea Zone to 41 Sea Zone
        2 Infantrys moved from 41 Sea Zone to E.Morocco
        1 Artillery moved from 41 Sea Zone to E.Morocco
        1 Infantry and 1 Tank moved from S.Algeria to E.Morocco
        1 Tank moved from N.Tunisia to E.Morocco
        1 Carrier moved from 43 Sea Zone to 41 Sea Zone
        3 Artillerys, 4 Infantrys and 1 Tank moved from Serbia to Greece
        2 Infantrys and 2 Tanks moved from Rome to 50 Sea Zone
        1 Destroyer, 2 Infantrys, 2 Tanks and 2 Transports moved from 50 Sea Zone to 48 Sea Zone
        2 Infantrys and 2 Tanks moved from 48 Sea Zone to Greece
        1 Artillery and 1 Infantry moved from Kufra to Darfur
        1 Infantry moved from French Equatorial Africa to Darfur
        1 Tank moved from Nigeria to Darfur
        1 Battleship moved from 47 Sea Zone to 48 Sea Zone

    Purchase Units - Italians
        Italians buy 2 Artillerys, 1 Carrier, 1 Cruiser and 12 Infantrys; Remaining resources: 0 PUs; 

    Combat - Italians
        Battle in Darfur
            Italians attack with 1 Artillery, 2 Infantrys and 1 Tank
            British defend with 3 Tanks
                Italians roll dice for 1 Artillery, 2 Infantrys and 1 Tank in Darfur, round 2 : 2/4 hits, 1.33 expected hits
                British roll dice for 3 Tanks in Darfur, round 2 : 1/3 hits, 1.50 expected hits
                2 Tanks owned by the British and 1 Infantry owned by the Italians lost in Darfur
                Italians roll dice for 1 Artillery, 1 Infantry and 1 Tank in Darfur, round 3 : 2/3 hits, 1.17 expected hits
                British roll dice for 1 Tank in Darfur, round 3 : 1/1 hits, 0.50 expected hits
                1 Tank owned by the British and 1 Infantry owned by the Italians lost in Darfur
            Italians win, taking Darfur from British with 1 Artillery and 1 Tank remaining. Battle score for attacker is 11
            Casualties for Italians: 2 Infantrys
            Casualties for British: 3 Tanks
        Battle in Greece
            Italians attack with 3 Artillerys, 6 Infantrys and 3 Tanks
            Neutral defend with 1 AAGun, 1 Fighter, 5 Infantrys and 1 Tank
                Italians roll dice for 1 Battleship in Greece, round 2 : 0/1 hits, 0.67 expected hits
                Italians roll dice for 3 Artillerys, 6 Infantrys and 3 Tanks in Greece, round 2 : 1/12 hits, 4.00 expected hits
                Neutral roll dice for 1 Fighter, 5 Infantrys and 1 Tank in Greece, round 2 : 3/7 hits, 2.67 expected hits
                1 Infantry owned by the Neutral and 3 Infantrys owned by the Italians lost in Greece
                Italians roll dice for 3 Artillerys, 3 Infantrys and 3 Tanks in Greece, round 3 : 1/9 hits, 3.50 expected hits
                Neutral roll dice for 1 Fighter, 4 Infantrys and 1 Tank in Greece, round 3 : 3/6 hits, 2.33 expected hits
                1 Infantry owned by the Neutral and 3 Infantrys owned by the Italians lost in Greece
                Italians roll dice for 3 Artillerys and 3 Tanks in Greece, round 4 : 3/6 hits, 2.50 expected hits
                Neutral roll dice for 1 Fighter, 3 Infantrys and 1 Tank in Greece, round 4 : 3/5 hits, 2.00 expected hits
                3 Infantrys owned by the Neutral and 3 Artillerys owned by the Italians lost in Greece
                Italians roll dice for 3 Tanks in Greece, round 5 : 1/3 hits, 1.50 expected hits
                Neutral roll dice for 1 Fighter and 1 Tank in Greece, round 5 : 0/2 hits, 1.00 expected hits
                1 Tank owned by the Neutral lost in Greece
                Italians roll dice for 3 Tanks in Greece, round 6 : 1/3 hits, 1.50 expected hits
                Neutral roll dice for 1 Fighter in Greece, round 6 : 0/1 hits, 0.50 expected hits
                1 Fighter owned by the Neutral lost in Greece
            Italians loses 0 PUs for violating Greeces neutrality.
            Italians win, taking Greece from Neutral with 3 Tanks remaining. Battle score for attacker is -1
            Casualties for Italians: 3 Artillerys and 6 Infantrys
            Casualties for Neutral: 1 Fighter, 5 Infantrys and 1 Tank
        Battle in E.Morocco
            Italians attack with 2 Artillerys, 2 Fighters, 8 Infantrys and 6 Tanks
            British defend with 1 Fighter; French defend with 1 AAGun, 1 Artillery, 1 Factory, 5 Infantrys and 4 Tanks
                French roll AA dice in E.Morocco : 0/2 hits, 0.33 expected hits
                Italians roll dice for 1 Cruiser in E.Morocco, round 2 : 1/1 hits, 0.50 expected hits
                1 Infantry owned by the French lost in E.Morocco
                Italians roll dice for 2 Artillerys, 2 Fighters, 8 Infantrys and 6 Tanks in E.Morocco, round 2 : 5/18 hits, 6.00 expected hits
                French roll dice for 1 Artillery, 1 Fighter, 4 Infantrys and 4 Tanks in E.Morocco, round 2 : 3/10 hits, 4.17 expected hits
                1 Artillery owned by the French, 4 Infantrys owned by the French and 3 Infantrys owned by the Italians lost in E.Morocco
                Italians roll dice for 2 Artillerys, 2 Fighters, 5 Infantrys and 6 Tanks in E.Morocco, round 3 : 11/15 hits, 5.50 expected hits
                French roll dice for 1 Fighter and 4 Tanks in E.Morocco, round 3 : 2/5 hits, 2.50 expected hits
                1 Fighter owned by the British, 4 Tanks owned by the French and 2 Infantrys owned by the Italians lost in E.Morocco
            Italians win, taking E.Morocco from French with 2 Artillerys, 2 Fighters, 3 Infantrys and 6 Tanks remaining. Battle score for attacker is 32
            Casualties for French: 1 Artillery, 5 Infantrys and 4 Tanks
            Casualties for Italians: 5 Infantrys
            Casualties for British: 1 Fighter

    Non Combat Move - Italians
        2 Fighters moved from E.Morocco to 41 Sea Zone
        2 Tanks moved from Tunis to 47 Sea Zone
        2 Tanks and 2 Transports moved from 47 Sea Zone to 46 Sea Zone
        2 Infantrys moved from Rome to 46 Sea Zone
        2 Infantrys, 2 Tanks and 2 Transports moved from 46 Sea Zone to 48 Sea Zone
        1 Tank moved from Tunis to 47 Sea Zone
        1 Infantry moved from N.Tunisia to 47 Sea Zone
        2 Destroyers, 1 Infantry, 1 Submarine, 1 Tank and 1 Transport moved from 47 Sea Zone to 48 Sea Zone
        3 Infantrys and 3 Tanks moved from 48 Sea Zone to Tobruk
        2 Fighters moved from S.Tunisia to 47 Sea Zone
        3 Infantrys moved from N.Tunisia to N.Algeria
        1 Infantry moved from Tobruk to Kufra

    Place Units - Italians
        1 Carrier and 1 Cruiser placed in 47 Sea Zone
        1 Infantry placed in Tunis
        4 Infantrys placed in Provence
        2 Artillerys and 7 Infantrys placed in Rome

    Turn Complete - Italians
        Italians collect 66 PUs; end with 66 PUs

Combat Hit Differential Summary :

French regular : -1.67
Italians regular : -0.17
Neutral regular : 0.50
British regular : 0.00
French AA : -0.33

40353_ita3.tsvg

@dawgoneit 40309_aus6.tsvg

@dawgoneit 40309_ger6.tsvg

@dawgoneit 40309_com5.tsvg

@dawgoneit yeah…it happens lol

@dawgoneit use this file 40309_tur5 edit.tsvg

@captainwalker I forgot to roll for bonds for Austria. I don’t know why that tech works in our team game but won’t here [dice 2d6]