The Dutch Navy fought with 1920s warships against 1940s Japanese heavy cruisers and destroyers during the 1942 Java Sea battle… Would it make any difference if the Dutch had their intended Battlecruisers, new cruisers and new destroyers available?
What was the Dutch Fleet plan?
The major part of the Dutch Fleet was supposed to defend her large colony Dutch East Indies in Asia (the current Indonesia). Large parts of the Dutch fleet consisted of 1920s licht cruisers and destroyers. Just before World War 2 one light cruiser was added (HNLMS De Ruyter) and 1 Destroyer Leader (HNLMS Tromp). The Fleet didn’t have any heavy cruisers or battleships. Realising the Japanese threat (but also counting on the help of the British and the Americans), a Dutch plan was made in the late 1930s to build 3 Battlecruisers and more modern cruisers and destroyers. The Battlecruisers were supposed to outmatch Japanese heavy cruisers. The Dutch design of project 1047 Battlecruiser was based on the German Scharnhorst class with 3 triple 11-inch turrets, except that the dual purpose 12 cm. secondary armament replaced the German secondary 15 cm. and 10 cm. AA-guns. The Dutch battlecruisers were focused on speed (vice radius) for their anti-cruiser role. Planning for the battlecruisers started in 1938 and several design variants were ready but Germany invaded the Netherlands in May 1940 and no Battlecruiser was ever build.. It was planned they would be ready around 1944…
Two new light cruisers were planned as well (replacement of the 1920s cruisers). Both ships were in an early stage of construction when the Netherlands was occupied. They should have been launched in 1943-’44. They have been launched early 1950s to a new design. Anyhow the original design had 10 Swedish Bofors guns of 152 mm. in 2 triple turrets and 2 double turrets, which was 30% more than the 1938 HNLMS De Ruyter.
The new fleet destroyers would replace the 1920s fleet destroyers. Those 1920s destroyers were based on a British design of 1600 tons, armed with 4 x 12 cm guns (in open shields, not dual purpose). The new destroyers would be of Dutch design: 2200 tons with 2 modern double 12 cm. closed turrets and one superimposed single 12 cm. turret aft. The machinery increased from 31.000 hp to 45.000 hp. and they would get 8 torpedo tubes instead of 6. Only 2 of the 4 new destroyers had been launched just before May 1940. The Callenburgh was scuttled but HNLMS Isaac Sweers fled to Great Britain (without armament or fire control systems; not yet installed!). The 2 others were destroyed on the spot to prevent German use.
The ‘what if?’ scenario
Two new light cruisers were planned as well (replacement of the 1920s cruisers). Both ships were in an early stage of construction when the Netherlands was occupied. They should have been launched in 1943-’44. They have been launched early 1950s to a new design. Anyhow the original design had 10 Swedish Bofors guns of 152 mm. in 2 triple turrets and 2 double turrets, which was 30% more than the 1938 HNLMS De Ruyter.
The new fleet destroyers would replace the 1920s fleet destroyers. Those 1920s destroyers were based on a British design of 1600 tons, armed with 4 x 12 cm guns (in open shields, not dual purpose). The new destroyers would be of Dutch design: 2200 tons with 2 modern double 12 cm. closed turrets and one superimposed single 12 cm. turret aft. The machinery increased from 31.000 hp to 45.000 hp. and they would get 8 torpedo tubes instead of 6. Only 2 of the 4 new destroyers had been launched just before May 1940. The Callenburgh was scuttled but HNLMS Isaac Sweers fled to Great Britain (without armament or fire control systems; not yet installed!). The 2 others were destroyed on the spot to prevent German use.
To play this scenario we were 2 times ‘lucky’. First, General Quarters 3.3 has a Dutch Supplement in which those new Dutch ships are included. So we had ship data on the Battlecruisers, new light cruisers and new destroyers (Callenburgh was repaired by the Germans and used as ‘ZH 1’ (Zerstorer Holland 1) during the war. Second: NAWAR makes all these models in scale 1:3000: N8902, N8911 and N8924A respectively.
So I developed a scenario in which a Dutch modern Taskgroup, consisting of 1 BC (Blue flag), 1 CL (HNLMS Eendracht) and 2 destroyers (HNLMS Callenburg & Tjerk Hiddes) would search for a Japanese covering force of the Japanese landing fleet around 1943/’44. Assuming the war in Asia didn’t start in 1937-’38, but in 1943…. What would be a realistic or playable Japanese Taskgroup? I choose for playability, so 1 BC (the 1930s modernized IJN Kongo, with 8 x 14-inch guns; red flag), 1 CL (IJN Agano, with 6 x 6-inch guns) and 2 x 1940s Kagero-class destroyers (IJN Kagero & Yukikase, each with six 5-inch guns). Both Taskgroups had 35 victory points (VP) and individual ships were comparable (also in VP’s).
Set up
So I developed a scenario in which a Dutch modern Taskgroup, consisting of 1 BC (Blue flag), 1 CL (HNLMS Eendracht) and 2 destroyers (HNLMS Callenburg & Tjerk Hiddes) would search for a Japanese covering force of the Japanese landing fleet around 1943/’44. Assuming the war in Asia didn’t start in 1937-’38, but in 1943…. What would be a realistic or playable Japanese Taskgroup? I choose for playability, so 1 BC (the 1930s modernized IJN Kongo, with 8 x 14-inch guns; red flag), 1 CL (IJN Agano, with 6 x 6-inch guns) and 2 x 1940s Kagero-class destroyers (IJN Kagero & Yukikase, each with six 5-inch guns). Both Taskgroups had 35 victory points (VP) and individual ships were comparable (also in VP’s).
On a 4 x 6 feet table, both 1:3000 scale task groups were 130 cm. apart (26,000 yds), able to see each others smoke. Distance scale: 1 cm. = 200 m. Wind: from Northwest; moderate force. Each Taskgroup had 1 gunnery division (battlecruiser & cruiser) and 1 destroyer div. At the start of the game those ships sailed towards each other at 15 kts.
Turn 1
On the detection of smoke, the Dutch destroyer Div. increased speed towards 25 kts; the Dutch cruiser Div. increased towards 20 kts. and turned 20 degrees to starboard. The Japanese divisions increased speed as well. Both battle cruisers tried to fire at each other with their forward turrets at a range of more than 26.000 yds. but missed.
Turn 2
On the detection of smoke, the Dutch destroyer Div. increased speed towards 25 kts; the Dutch cruiser Div. increased towards 20 kts. and turned 20 degrees to starboard. The Japanese divisions increased speed as well. Both battle cruisers tried to fire at each other with their forward turrets at a range of more than 26.000 yds. but missed.
Both Taskgroups manoeuvred to be able to fire all their main guns at the enemy. The Dutch destroyer div. turned 40 degrees to starboard. The Japanese destroyer division crossed the course line of their cruiser division, partly limiting their free firing sector ….
The Dutch battlecruiser fired with 3 x 11-inch turrets at IJN Kongo at 22,000 yds; miss again! HNLMS Eendracht fired with all her 152 mm. guns at the nearest Kagero destroyer (at 20.000 yds): miss. And HNLMS Callenburgh missed IJN Yukikase at 16,600 yds. Luckily the Japanese were also unable to hit the Dutch Taskgroup.
The Dutch battlecruiser fired with 3 x 11-inch turrets at IJN Kongo at 22,000 yds; miss again! HNLMS Eendracht fired with all her 152 mm. guns at the nearest Kagero destroyer (at 20.000 yds): miss. And HNLMS Callenburgh missed IJN Yukikase at 16,600 yds. Luckily the Japanese were also unable to hit the Dutch Taskgroup.
Turn 3
Both Dutch destroyers increased speed to 35 knots and prepared for a torpedo attack. It seemed that the Japanese had the same idea. The closest distance between both destroyer divisions was still outside 10,000 yds. and the Japanese torpedoes had a much longer reach. The Dutch cruiser div. increased speed to 30 kts. The Dutch BC 11-inch guns did hit IJN Kongo and destroyed her middle double 14-inch turret at a range of 19.000 yds! However IJN Kongo did hit the Dutch BC as well, resulting in 1 hullbox, limiting her speed to 31 kts. The Dutch BC opened fire with her secondary armament at IJN Kagero at 14,500 yds, but missed. Only 1 other Dutch ship (HNLMS Tjerk Hiddes) did hit IJN Yukikase, resulting in an engineering hit, limiting her speed suddenly to 23 kts. The Japanese had much better results: IJN Kongo secondary 6-inch guns did hit HNLMS Callenburgh, taking out one of her 12 cm gun mounts. IJN Agano did hit HNLMS Eendracht, taking out one of her modern 152 mm double turrets. And IJN Kagero did hit HNLMS Callenburgh for a second time, taking out a second 12 cm. gun mount!
Turn 4
In the damage control phase we tried to understand what ‘unit engineering (UE)’ provided to a ship. Anyhow, all damage from turn 3 was unrepairable..
While the Japanese ships tried to close the Dutch, both Dutch Divisions tried to keep a certain distance to the Japanese.. During this phase IJN Yukikaze launched a spread of 8 torpedoes over starboard (which travelled 3200 yds during this phase).
During the gunnery phase HNLMS Eendracht did hit IJN Agano twice, damaging her searchlights and torpedo tube battery. Both Dutch destroyers had closed the Japanese destroyers within 9,000 yds and used rapid fire of their (remaining) 12 cm. guns, resulting in 2 hits at IJN Kagero. One of them was an engineering hit, so both Japanese destroyers slowed down to 23 kts. Both BC’s fired at each other but missed. IJN Agano missed as well! However, the 5-inch gunfire of both Japanese destroyers at this close range was devastating for the Dutch destroyers: HNLMS Callenburgh lost her last 12 cm. gun mount and HNLMS Tjerk Hiddes got 4 hits (picture)! Her bulkhead was destroyed (flooding!), depth charges were damaged and at 3 places fire started. The crew was overwhelmed with damage control! The morale check of HNLMS Callenburgh (no main battery anymore) was still positive, so she stayed in the fight.
During the damage control phase it was clear that the engineering of IJN Kagero was unrepairable. The crew of HNLMS Tjerk Hiddes was overwhelmed with the amount of damage and was unsuccessful to stop the flooding. Result: the destroyer had 3,5 destroyed/damaged hull boxes and the flooding and fires continued…Because it was a more modern destroyer than the actual Dutch types during the 1942 battle, she had 2 more hull boxes than her predecessor.
During the gunnery phase the Dutch BC did hit IJN Kongo twice at 14,000 yds. She lost another 14-inch double turret! The 12 cm secondary guns of the Dutch BC did hit IJN Yukikaze at 12,000 yds, resulting in a devastating second engineering hit… The destroyer was now dead in the water (DIW)! HNLMS Eendracht did hit IJN Agano at 14,000 yds and destroyed 1 hullbox (picture). HNLMS Tjerk Hiddes continued rapid fire towards IJN Kagero at 7,000 yds, hitting her once. Ofcourse the Japanese returned fire: IJN Kongo destroyed with her remaining 14-inch guns 1 triple 11-inch turret of the Dutch BC! And IJN Yukikaze did hit HNLMS Callenburgh at close range twice, hitting a destroyed gun mount again. HNLMS Callenburgh speedlimit was now 33 kts.
The brave crew of HNLMS Tjerk Hiddes managed to stop the flooding at the damaged bulkhead but the 3 fires raged on… resulting in additional damage to a total of 5,5 hull boxes (and a speed limit of 17 kts.). The compulsory moral check (more than half of her hull boxes) however was positive! IJN Yukikaze remained Dead in Water (DIW).
The Dutch destroyer Div. did split up (picture): the now complete unarmed HNLMS Callenburgh turned port, pointing the Japanese destroyers and showed the smallest silhouet possible (hoping she was more difficult to hit).
During the Torpedo Phase HNLMS Tjerk Hiddes managed to launch 8 torpedoes over port side, towards the Japanese. However, HNLMS Callenburgh came into the torpedo spread fired by IJN Kagero (turn 5). She was hit three times and did sink immediately with a loss of many men.
During the gunnery phase the Dutch BC missed on IJN Kongo and IJN Kagero and HNLMS Eendracht missed on IJN Agano. However at close range HNLMS Tjerk Hiddes executed rapid fire at the DIW IJN Yukikaze (at 7,000 yds) and did hit her 6 times! During this duel HNLMS Tjerk Hiddes was hit once by IJN Yukikaze, resulting in a fourth fire. The many hits on IJN Yukikaze resulted in a huge ammunition explosion. She was sunk.
The Japanese battlecruiser IJN Kongo did destroy HNLMS Eendracht forward 15 cm. double turret with a 6-inch salvo from her secondary battery. And IJN Kagero did hit HNLMS Tjerk Hiddes, who had accumulated now a lot of damage. She was crippled: 7 out of 8 hull boxes were destroyed and her max. speed was limited to 6 kts. Although her main gun battery was still operational, the gun crews were needed the battle the huge damage. The Dutch Taskgroup Commander had no other choice to send her to port for repairs (if she would make it anyhow). It was probably better to disengage completely from this battle; the Dutch BC lost 33% of her 11-inch main battery and HNLMS Eendracht 40% of her 15 cm. battery.
The Japanese Task Group was also in problems and were much further away from port. IJN Kongo lost 50% of her 14-inch main battery (repairs would take at least more than 6 months) and had a speed limit of 26 kts, IJN Kagero had a speed limit of 23 kts. and had to reload her torpedoes. Only IJN Agano was more or less fully operational…with damage to searchlights and 50% of her torpedo mounts.
At this stage the Dutch cruiser Div. was probably 6-8 kts. faster than the Japanese Taskgroup, so the Japanese could not run away, but the Japanese gun mounts were still a threat to the Dutch ships…
The Dutch destroyer Div. did split up (picture): the now complete unarmed HNLMS Callenburgh turned port, pointing the Japanese destroyers and showed the smallest silhouet possible (hoping she was more difficult to hit).
During the Torpedo Phase HNLMS Tjerk Hiddes managed to launch 8 torpedoes over port side, towards the Japanese. However, HNLMS Callenburgh came into the torpedo spread fired by IJN Kagero (turn 5). She was hit three times and did sink immediately with a loss of many men.
During the gunnery phase the Dutch BC missed on IJN Kongo and IJN Kagero and HNLMS Eendracht missed on IJN Agano. However at close range HNLMS Tjerk Hiddes executed rapid fire at the DIW IJN Yukikaze (at 7,000 yds) and did hit her 6 times! During this duel HNLMS Tjerk Hiddes was hit once by IJN Yukikaze, resulting in a fourth fire. The many hits on IJN Yukikaze resulted in a huge ammunition explosion. She was sunk.
The Japanese Task Group was also in problems and were much further away from port. IJN Kongo lost 50% of her 14-inch main battery (repairs would take at least more than 6 months) and had a speed limit of 26 kts, IJN Kagero had a speed limit of 23 kts. and had to reload her torpedoes. Only IJN Agano was more or less fully operational…with damage to searchlights and 50% of her torpedo mounts.
At this stage the Dutch cruiser Div. was probably 6-8 kts. faster than the Japanese Taskgroup, so the Japanese could not run away, but the Japanese gun mounts were still a threat to the Dutch ships…
Verdict
This fictional naval skirmish assumed those ships operated without the radar developments which actually took place in the early 1940s and without an air threat. It took us 4 hrs play time to conduct those 6 turns (including making pictures, taking notes and looking for rules).
The first conclusion is that the game uses very realistic & fast shooting tables (Combat Rating Tables). If you use those CRT’s you can see at once which guns/torpedo’s have which range. The torpedo rules work also very well.
This fictional naval skirmish assumed those ships operated without the radar developments which actually took place in the early 1940s and without an air threat. It took us 4 hrs play time to conduct those 6 turns (including making pictures, taking notes and looking for rules).
The first conclusion is that the game uses very realistic & fast shooting tables (Combat Rating Tables). If you use those CRT’s you can see at once which guns/torpedo’s have which range. The torpedo rules work also very well.
And now the big question: did the more modern Dutch warships made a difference? Yes I think so (although this was just 1 game). First, with 3 triple 11-inch turrets the Dutch battlecruisers had a real chance against Japanese heavy cruisers (with multiple 8-inch guns); even against a 14-inch armed battlecruiser she was able to ‘hold the fort’. The more modern destroyers of the Callenburgh-class had 33% more hull boxes than their 1924 predecessors and better gun & torpedo armament, so it was harder to sink them and they could better defend against the very capable and heavy armed Japanese destroyers. The new Dutch light armored cruiser ‘Eendracht’ didn’t impress very much during this game, and lost 2 double gun turrets due to 2 x Japanese 6-inch hits. As we saw in the actual 1942 Sea Battle, light cruisers are very vulnerable when heavy cruisers or battlecruisers are around…
The Dutch lost 1 destroyer (2,5 VP), 1/3 of the main guns of the BC (1/3 of 16 VP?), 40% of the main guns of the CL (40% of 4 VP?) and probably 1 VP of the crippled HNLMS Tjerk Hiddes. The Japanese lost 50% of their BC armament (50% of 16 VP?), 1 destroyer (2,5 VP) and from both remaining Japanese ships 0,5 VP each (due to damage)?
VP score: the Netherlands: 11 (BC) + 2 (CL) + 1,5 (DD) = 14,5 (out of 35)
Japan: 8 (BC) + 3,5 (CL) + 2 (DD) = 13,5 (out of 35)
Definitely a draw (which is much better for NLD than the actual 1942 battle)…
VP score: the Netherlands: 11 (BC) + 2 (CL) + 1,5 (DD) = 14,5 (out of 35)
Japan: 8 (BC) + 3,5 (CL) + 2 (DD) = 13,5 (out of 35)
Definitely a draw (which is much better for NLD than the actual 1942 battle)…
Idea: next time a fight between 1940s Dutch battle cruisers and 1930s Japanese 8-inch heavy cruisers?
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