Kolkata War 1916

[Carthaginian]

sent to the UNK task force sailing to Kolkata
18 MAR 16 @ 1400 London time

AAA AAA RESPOND IMMEDIATELY UPON RECEIPT OF THIS MESSAGE STOP HOSTILE UNITS OF SUPERIOR FORCE POSSIBLY IN OP AREA STOP SIZE COMPOSITION UNKNOWN AT THIS TIME STOP CLARIFICATION TO BE RELATED AT NEXT STOPOVER VIA PERSONNEL TRANSFER STOP OBSERVE ALL PREVIOUS PROTOCOLS STOP ADDITIONALLY DO NOT APPROACH ANY SMOKE ON HORIZON STOP USE MOST EXTREME CAUTION STOP G L STOP G S T K END


*information to be related to Majestic's CO upon their making landfall at the first convenient Italian port in Africa is as follows:
1.) two former Franj cruisers are now in service with Bharanian Navy; current whereabouts are unknown, but will update when they are spotted via these (is handed a stack of books) brand new code books.
2.) Gran Colombia reported a submarine attack against their vessels through normal military channels, transmission was recently relayed; number and type of vessels are unknown.

[maddox]

Ceylon, Tricomalee naval base.

March 18 Late evening, Admiral Jarre on board of the battleship Danton.

Admiral Jarre, the UNK admirality issued a Bharat submarine warning to their shipping.

Do they have submarines, Agent Orange? What does intelligence make from it?

We don't know for sure, but if you see how easy those barbarians aquired armored cars or 10 000 tons cruisers without anybody noticing it, I wouldn't be surprised that the Bharatis also bought submarines.
And there are enough countries willing to sell. Some unwittingly , others even giving them with the specific hope the submarines will hurt France badly.

I'll have to assume that Bharat has submarines. Probably with simular capacities as ours. I'll have to plan accordingly. Thank you agent Orange, for your insight. I hope you don't have more bad news?

Not at the moment sir. But Monsieur Grange has ordered me to organise an information gathering effort on Bharat soil. So, I'll be away for a while.

That's a pity, but I still don't understand how it comes that Securité is working so close with the navy now. In the past Securité was always a pain in the posteriour, spending more time and resources in hampering the dutes of the navy to further the goal of the politicians.

That one Admiral, I can answer. Your boss, and mine did become friends in the last decade, and those 2 ,with their political experiences see no reason to do what their predecessors did.Glorious France is their worry, not personal profit.

********************************************************************************************
After Agent Orange leaves, Admiral Jarre calls in his staf and confers with them about the submarine treat.

Solutions proposed.
Get ships with anti submarine warfare capacity in.  Demarce III's or if nothing else is available,  Chardons configured for that task.  The 4 Demarce III's from Djibouti are most accessible. With the Chardons from Med fleet as second.

Airship patrols. By using the 3 available aiships from Colombo,  fitting in nightbinoculars , marconi and if possible a small searchlight from a destroyer these airships will get a minimal, but still useable night search capacity.

More airships will be needed to get all the area patrolled. One of the officers recalls the earliest attempts on airships and asks what has come of the non rigid airships. He asks because Gran Colombia is operating such an airship from a cruiser.

Another officer recals the disaster with the submarine in the Ionian sea. And  proposes to use wires hung in loops from buoys to set a warning/deterent for submarines in the naval base entrances.

More to follow.  Will the Parisian ,decadent politicians free up the funding for these endeavours?

[The Rock Doctor]

Not 'til they've paid for all the sandbags they need at Gravelines...

[miketr]

March 16th

The familiar pattern of the campaign has been established with Hapsburg and French defenders are dug in at a river city while the Bharat 1st and 17th Corps move up.  This is now repeated at Barddhaman.  The commander of the 1st Army General Ardeshir Burzorji Tarapore asks that the 9th Corps be shifted to his command to better coordinate the attack on the French and Hapsburg Defenders.  The request is approved and for three days the corps will shift from second army to first army command.  The 9th Corps moves down the southern bank of the river towards a small village called Jamalpur.  The Damodar river about 15km to the east of Barddhaman takes an almost 90 degree turn to the south from its west to east course.  This village is about 15km down river of that turn point and would cut the Hapsburgs and French off from their supply route and eventually route of escape to Keshabpur where the 3rd Kolkata is creating defenses.   

In the south Bharat 8th Corps attempts to force the river 3km west of Baghdoba but are repulsed by the French.  Scouting and some prisoners reveals that in front of the 8th is a reinforced French corps fully entrenched.  The 8th Bharat corps will have to wait till the reinforced by the 15th and perhaps the 22nd Corps before they can launch a full attack with reasonable hope of success.

The Bharat 15th Corps has arrived at Hakala but the bridges that should be across the Damodar river are of course in it.  The Bharat Horsemen look for a way to cross the river with out success and sends scouts north while the bulk of the corps moves south towards the 8th Corps.  The 22nd Corps over 80km away is ordered to head south at their best speed but it will be some time before they can arrive.

March 17th

French F & G Brigade report the movement of the 9th Corps till their north to army HQ.  The danger to the defenders at Barddhaman is made clear.  The French and Hapsburgs at once begin to pull out and resume their flight down the river.  In the mean time the French F & G Brigade are ordered block the advance of 9th Bharat as best as they can. At a small village called Uchalan the two brigades dig in.  Over the rest of the day the French are subjected to repeated attacks in growing strength.  Because of their orders the two Brigades do not attempt to pull back when the Bharati's begin to flank and then surround them.  By night fall the French defenders are cut off but the movement of the 9th Bhartat corps is blocked.  The Bharat commander moves up his heavy artillery. 

March 18th

After a march of 50km the Bharat 2nd Corps and most of the 21st arrive north of Katwa.  To the east up till the Bengal border is a mass of rivers, streams and swamps. There is a strong temptation by the French to attempt to defend here but with the western flank hanging on air because of the abandonment of Barddhaman 20,000 French troops retreat south down river. 

A forced march of 30km in 24 hours brings 2nd Kolkata Corps and Hapsburg to Jamalpur and clear of the trap; but it is too late for the defenders of Uchalan.  Morning sees 100mm howitzers shelling the French trenches but afternoon sees a battery of 150mm guns on line.  The French are pounded over the course of the day and their defenses begin to collapse by night fall.  Of the 9,000 men the two Brigades started the battle with the last 36 hours have scene 4,000 killed or wounded reducing the French to half strength.  They have killed or wounded over double that at the same time.   

Elements of the French A Brigade which had been cut off are forced into Bengal.  The 1,300 French troops are interned by the Bengal Government.

March 19th

At dawn the Bharat 9th Corps has most of its combat power vs. the small village of Uchalan and after a sharp bombardment 30,000 Bharati infantry attack.  The French colonial troops fight valiantly but they are badly out numbered and short of munitions after two days of pitched battle.  20km to the east the French and Hapsburgs at Jamalpur and Keshabpur hear the Bharat artillery go silent.  Repeated calls over radio by the French command for a report from Uchalan go unanswered.  3,678 Colonial French troops have been captured; most of them wounded while another 2,000 Bharat troops are casualties.     

The Ville d'Oran a 3,000 GRT French bulk freighter was scheduled to arrive in Saigon on the 15th but is now 4 days overdo and declared missing.

March 20th

2nd Kolkata Corps and Hapsburg arrive at Keshabpur and occupy the field works.  The 3rd Kolkata Corps is sent 50km east to Chandannagar on the Hooghly to help the Northern French Brigades.

The French 10th Corps from Metropole has one of its two divisions fully assembled in Kolkata the rest of the corps should arrive by the end of the month.

The Bharat 3rd Corps has passed through Bharat 9th Corps which is reorganizing from its battle and arrived to the west of Keshabpur.

[miketr]

Current Map...

http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/5319/phase4.png

[Guinness]

The following orders were issued on March 17, 1916:

From: Chief of Staff, Confederate Navy
To: All Commands
Re: Orders Pursuant of Current Conflict Between France and Bharat

Effective immediately, a new command, the South Atlantic Squadron is created under the command of Admiral James. Ships to be attached to that command are provided in the attached list.

The South Atlantic Squadron is tasked with assuring the safe transit of Confederate, Allied, and Neutral shipping in Confederate, French, Italian and international waters in an area broadly bounded by Haiti, Dakar, The Cape of Good Hope, and Montevideo.

It is expected that Admiral James will appoint the ships attached to this squadron to patrol that area following a loop between Haiti, Montevideo, Italian Chuvosa, the southwest coast of Africa, Bandama, and Dakar, refuelling as needed in any of those ports, but primarily in Montevideo, Bandama, and the Southeastern Confederacy.

The rules of engagement are as follows: Any Bharati flagged military ship seen within the patrol area should be considered hostile and engaged on sight. Officers should also be aware of the potential for piratical activities and deal with those accordingly. As always, Officers should also be aware of the potential for Colombian, Orange, or other non-allied naval ships to be present in the area and to treat those ships with the utmost respect and professionalism. Finally, if any non-allied ship does take threatening or aggressive action toward Confederate or allied vessels, they should be dealt with reciprocally.

There have been no reports of hostile submarines in the vicinity, but standard precautions with respect to course changes and minimum cruising speeds should be taken at all times.

Intelligence reports as to current threats in the vicinity will be included under separate secure cover.

The attached forces description:

South Atlantic Squadron composition:

CSS Lincoln, Flagship

CSS Mobile with CSS Panama City

CSS Biloxi with CSS Bakersfield

CSS Vicksburg with CSS Pulaski

CSS Buchanan with CSS Nashville

CSS Farragut with CSS Charlotte

CSS Hatchitgibee with CSS Roswell

CSS Bukatunna with CSS Opelika

CSS Spruce will provide logistical assistance in the Italian Chuvosas.

CSS S-28 will position herself roughly in the center of the patrol zone to relay wireless communication as necessary.

[miketr]

March 21st Bharat 22nd Corps arrives on the flank of the 8th Corps with the 15th performing scouting functions and has two brigades being held back as a reserve.

The 1st Division of the French 10th Corps moves out from Calcutta to cover the eastern flank of the Keshabpur defensive position.

Bharat 1st and 17th Corps have arrived outside of Keshabpur to the north and to west across the river is the Bharat 3rd Corps.  The defensive lines in front of Bharat troops are nothing like what they have scene yet.  A multi layered system of trenches with a depth of 3 km around the city.  To break the defense will clearly need a maxium effort attack; so the 7th Corps is called forward and the 3rd Corps is ordered to get across the river one of its divisions and ready its artillery brigade to support the offensive.   

March 22nd In the south the Bharat 8th and 22nd Corps launch a determined attack on the defensive line setup by the French 5th Corps.  The French defenders are driven back 2km and loose 5,000 men but at the price of 10,000 Bharat troops. 

French Kolkata 4th and 5th Corps work to expand the trench lines.  A second set is created 30 km out from Kolkata and SW towards Hakala; it's more of a series of strong points rather than a continuous line.

March 23rd The 8th and 22nd Bharat corps resume their attack the next morning but the attacks are repulsed with light losses for the French 1,000 men and 5,000 for Bharat.  Also the Bharat troops are disorganized and need time to reorganize.

French A-E Brigades arrive at Chakdaha and begin digging. 

French J Brigade is combined with the H and I Brigades to create a weak division and used to hold the river between Keshabpur and Tamluk. 

Raid on Madras:

French Fleet leaves Tricomalee for Madras; as fleet leaves port the Bharat Submarine SS-3 notes the fleet leaving but is not able to get into position to get an attack off.  Once fleet is at sea sub surfaces and attempts to alert fleet base.  SS-4 puts to sea from Madras on patrol for French Fleet.  Rest of Madras Squadron placed on alert.   

March 24th

Bharat 2nd and 21st corps arrive at Chakdaha at once and attack; both sides loose 2,000 men and the French continue to withdraw south down the Hooghly towards Kalyani 15km away.  The French 1st Armored Car regiment conducts a fighting withdrawal.

SS Cap des Palmes a 4,000 ton Freighter due in Saigon on the 20th is declared MIA and the SS El Mansour a 3,000 ton Freighter due in Montevideo on the 19th is declared MIA.

Attack on Madras: The French fleet has arrived late and attack occurs at 8:10 AM.  French Airship scouts harbor in the early morning and notes large some civilian shipping in harbor and 5 torpedo boats.  French Fleet moves towards harbor; airship notes submarine running on the surface and its location is radioed to Fleet it is off the harbor to the south. French Depth Charge armed ships are vectored towards submarine.  When French ship are sited and then identified a contact report is sent in by submarine which then dives.

Three French Chardon Sloops are vectored into last known location of submarine by the airship.  After patrolling for 5 minutes Chardon Glorious hears a submerged contact on its hydrophone.  At once Glorious moves to attack and sets its depth charges for a depth of 50', 100' and 150'.  Soon Chardon Furies joins the attack.  After another 4 minutes of depth charge attacks an oil slick rises to the surface.       

In the mean time Bharat defense squadron has slipped out of harbor and headed south. 

French soon notice the Bharat torpedo boats but the three sub hunters are out of position and too slow to catch the torpedo boats racing past at over 30 knots.  The report is sent to French fleet; the Danton Battleships and heavy cruisers turn away while the light cruisers and four remaining Chardon sloops lay smoke and move to intercept the Bharat attackers.  Over the next 10 minutes four of the five Bharat Torpedo Boats are hit and left sinking but the fifth has broken past the French screen.  A single 57mm Bharat shell hit back in return but with little effect.  The French fleet comes about to face the one torpedo boat; the 500 ton torpedo boat leader.  The French fleet opens fire with thirty 70mm guns on the small torpedo boat.  As the Bharat ship attempt to close the distance to firing range no less than seven 70mm shells land on the small boat; several of which failed to explode but the remainder were enough to finish the torpedo boat.  A single torpedo is launched before the torpedo boat founders but it passes between Mirbeau and Diderot.       

As the French move on the port itself the Battleships begin a duel with the coastal defense guns.  Only the 240mm have the range and power to do any type of damage.  French 340mm and 275mm guns begin to shell the batteries; the batteries are silenced after 10 minutes. Then the army defense citadels are shelled for half an hour.  At which point the French fleet switches fire too the ships in harbor.  50,000 tons of Bharat deep sea and oceanic shipping are soon left sinking in the harbor and tied up along the docks.
 
The battle for Keshabpur is ready to begin.  The Bharat 1st and17th with and elements of the 3rd and 7th corps are to attack for about 144,000 Bharat troops.   The French and Hapsburg defenders have 68,000 men in their lines.  The Bharat attack is a dismal failure with 15,000 troops lost and the remainder disorganized.  The defenders have lost 3,000 men but held their trench lines.   

March 25th A 3,000 ton French Freighter the Victor Scoelcher is due in Montevideo on March 19th is declared MIA

March 26th

French Fleet returns to port in Tricomalee; Bharat submarine once again misses the French entry into the harbor. 

March 27th Having spent the last several days re-organizing the Bharat 8th and 22nd Corps renew their offensive in the south vs. the French 5th Corps.  A massive bombardment of all the artillery by the Bharat 8th, 15th and 22nd open up and lasts all morning.  In the afternoon tens of thousands of Bharat troops leave their trenches and charge the French trenches.  The French are driven back another kilometer and loose 4,000 men in exchange for over 10,000 Bharat troops.   

French A-E Brigades have dug in at Kalyani and has the armored cars move behind them the Bharat infantry moves up on the trenches.  Another hasty attack is conducted which dislodges the French at a cost of another 2,000 losses for each but the Bharat infantry is disorganized and unable to launch and effective pursuit.  The French fall back to the defenses at Chandannagar where the 1st division of the 10th Corps is at; the French 3rd Corps at Chandanagar starts extending defenses west towards the Bengal border to lengthen the front.

SS Mont-Blanc a French merchantmen that is loaded with a great deal of artillery, explosives and small arms munitions explodes in the river Hooghly; it was 15 km away from the city of Kolkata when it was destroyed.  The explosion is heard up to 100 km and the ship exploded with the force of well over two kilotons of TNT.

March 28th When the Bharat 8th and 22nd look to resume their offensive the French Heavy Cruisers are able to intervene in the battle with their heavy guns.  The Bharat attack is temporarily stalled by the French artillery attack. 

The First Army commander is going to use his artillery advantage; over the last several days additional shells have been brought down the Damodar River.  A stock pile of 200,000 shell has been created and over the day they are dumped on the French and Hapsburg Defenders as every single artillery piece of the 1st, 3rd, 7th and 17th opens fire.  The French defenders are forced to stay in their trenches while parties from the 1st and 17th advanced on them.  Some of the Bharat attackers are hit by their own artillery but when the artillery stops the Bharat troops are very close to the defenders.  As the battle rages the attackers carry the first set of trenches and in places take the 2nd line of trenches but in no place is their a break through; 6,000 French and Hapsburg troops are lost in exchange for 12,000 attackers.     

Rest of French 10th Corps has arrived in Calcutta and works to assemble itself.

March 29th The Battle for Keshabpur continues.  During the night the French and Hapsburgs attempted to construct a new line of trenches.  The Bharat artillery bombardment is no were near as fierce as the day before with many of the shells used up but there is enough to suppress the French and Hapsburg defenders.  Another 6,000 French and Hapsburgs are lost for 9,000 attackers but original defensive lines have been at last taken.  The defenders have fallen back into their newly dug 4th line of trenches.  The last three days of combat has sapped the defenders now reduced to little more than a Corps.  The French and Hapsburg's fall back 9km to Chanpadanga.

The Bharat 2nd and 21st Corps have at last got themselves reorganized and begin to move south once again.  French armored cars contest their movement and limit their advance.

A French liner while entering the Bay of Bengal under escort is struck by two torpedo's.  The liner is beached on some mud flats for little loss of life.

March 30th Once again the troopers of the Bharat 8th and 22nd corps attempt to drive back the French defenders.  The pre-dawn assault is a massive failure with 10,000 Bharat troops lost in the space of a few hours and both corps are once again disrupted.  French losses are 2,000 men and no additional territory.  The 9th Corps is ordered down from the North and will arrive in about a week.

French and Hapsburgs do a fighting withdraw towards Chanpadanga.

March 31st

Bharat 2nd and 21st Corps examine the large earth works in front of them and look for a way to out flank the defenses.

With French and Hapsburgs at Chanpadanga Bharat launches a hasty attack to dislodge them before they are dug in.  The result is a bloody success for Bharat as both sides loose 2,500 men and the defenders are forced to continue their retreat towards Calcutta.

A Single Engine aircraft is scene flying high above Haldia at midday; through binoculars Bharat national colors are scene on the wings.

Losses to date by Corps

Bharat
1st   12
2nd   3
3rd   9
7th   8
8th   17.5
9th   12
15th   0
17th   13
21st   4.5
22nd   17.5
Total   96.5

French & Hapsburg
1K   19 (split into brigades)
2K   13
5F   12
10F   0
1AF   9
Total    53

Front Lines
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/3421/phase5.png

[Desertfox]

The depth charge attack sounds way to modern. How many submerged submarines where actually sunk during WWI?

[Carthaginian]

"Way too modern?"

It's not like this is air-to-air conflict in a Wright Flyer, DF. :P
No, this is WELL within France's tech level and well within the rules. Perhaps the sub wasn't necessarily actually 'sunk', either. There WAS an oil slick, and I'm sure that the crew of the French ship CLAIMED the kill... but a fuel tank can be ruptured without sinking the sub, and a wily commander might even have ordered the tank vented to the sea to fool the attacking ships into stopping.

Here is the list of U-boats that were KIA during WWI. There are many who's destruction involved depth charges, so it is well within the realms of possibility- especially as the first actually occurred in 1916.
http://www.uboat.net/wwi/fates/losses.html

[miketr]

Uboat Losses 1914-1918:178
Lost due to mines:48
Lost due to depth charges:30
Abandoned:26
Lost to reasons unknown:19
Lost due to accident: 19
Lost due to ramming:19
Lost due to sub attack:17

Source: The Uboat Wars:1916-1945 by John Terraine page 141-142

Here is what I said when Maddox brought up the issue...

Who says the sub is dead?  There was an oil slick thats all...  whats to say the sub captain didn't vent some oil and then bottom the boat?

Michael

edit: put torpedo down instead of depth charge

[Desertfox]

It's not like this is air-to-air conflict in a Wright Flyer, DF.

Which happened in OTL before WWI during the Mexican Revolution. And the aircraft in question was NOT an early Wright Flyer.

Here is the list of U-boats that were KIA during WWI. There are many who's destruction involved depth charges, so it is well within the realms of possibility- especially as the first actually occurred in 1916.

The first depth charge kill not occuring untill December 1916, after nearly 3 years of full blown war. You can count all the pre-1918 depth charge kills on one hand. Plenty of submarines where sunk in WWI, but hardly any with depth charges.

A succesful coordinated depth charge attack using sonar, is not something you see until mid-WWII. And if there is an oil slick the sub is dead. Period subs are just not strong enough, nor does the captain have enough experience.

[miketr]

Fox...

1) Its two years and 4 months  August 1914 -> August 1915 -> August 1916 ->  December 1916.
2) There were no depth charges before that point so its kind hard for them to kill anything.  France has them.
3) Perhaps the commander has more of a clue than you give credit for.
4) It wasn't sonor but via hydrophone and an airship and those DID occur in WW1.  It was rotten luck for Bharat; their sub was caught on the surface and the airship watched it dive.

What really happened will be known when the Bharat losses are posted at the end of the war.

[Desertfox]

Its not the sub sinking that is the problem, but the manner in which it happened. Maybe have it be rammed while submerging.

The problem is that no sub has yet been sunk underwater with depth charges, yet every single destroyer laid down in the last few years has a comprehensive ASW suite. Submarines have not yet shown themselves to be anything other that mobile defensive minefields, and yet everyone already has an irrational fear of them. Look at WWI, subs were at first seen as nothing more than toys, it wasn't untill they began sinking hundreds of thousands of merchant tons (with guns) that they began to be seen as a threat and measures taken against them.

Look at the ships I have for New Zion. New Zion knows the power of the submarine (from NS sources), has some itself, and yet none of my ships carry any depth charges. The Lavis have hydrophones, but those are to detect surface ships at night. A period hydrophone will tell you there is something around. It might even give you a rough direction, and if the quality and operator are good then even a hint of range. Definately not enough to sink a submerged submarine. You might get a rough location if you have at least three stopped ships, very good equipment and experienced operators.

[miketr]

Fox depth charges were the 2nd most likely source of killing a sub in ww1. There we also examples of vectored attack and of hydrophones.  I am sorry you have a problem but what is reported is what is reported.  It may be true or false but its what I wrote up.

[ctwaterman]

Excellent Combat Mike,

DF,  I think Im putting Depth Charges on my new Destroyers to combat those floating Torpedo Batteries.  But the question remains without a major war why are we designing new ship designs.  Why are we putting forward firing machine guns on our aircraft, why are we designing new Infantry combat techniques, and why all the changes.  The Answer is probably perceived threats.