Rohirrim Rider: December 1908

[Ithekro]

July 2, 1908

News of the invasion of Swiss Aluetians Islands has caused a stir in Edoras.  "North America has been invaded for the first time in over a hundred years, and this time it is from the west."

July 6, 1908

California officially joined the Kingdom of Rohan under the ancient name of Umbar.  San Francisco, being nearly completely destroyed a year ago has kept its name, though some are calling in Umbar and the land California still.  The nomenclature will settle itself over time.  The intent of the renaming is to end the confusion over the Confederate state of California which is just south of Rohan.

July 7, 1908

Yesturday the Mithlond Conference began the process of developing the Wynson Points into a workable peace between the Alliance of Dutch, Japanese, and Germanics verse the Swiss.  It is hoped for a quick resolution to end the bloodshed.

July 18, 1908

Reports of African activity near the southern tip of South America has caused some debate in Edoras.  A small fleet of ships is to be detached from the Northern Fleet and sent to Puerto Montt to maintain a military presence in the region.

July 19, 1908

With the impass at Mithlond, Thorin and Durin, the old Dwarven Battleships of the Mark, have been kept on active duty in Umbar along with the recently purchased ex-Confederate Armored Cruisers Brethil and Dorthonion, to maintain security during these trying times.

July 20, 1908

A cease fire was called between Swiss, Austrian, and Brandenburg forces at Mithlond yesterday.

July 25, 1908

Eomer, Battleship of the Mark has left Dol Amroth.  She will lead the detachment in South America along with several of the Rohan and Gondorian built Protected Cruisers of the Mark.

July 29, 1908

An official cease fire was called today at the Mithlond Conference between the Swiss and Japanese.  An unofficial cease fire was called between Swiss and Dutch forces as well.  Rumors of Iberian aggitation spilling over to talks of war with the Dutch has been heard in the hallways at Mithlond.

August 1, 1908

Shadowfax and Arcadia, Battlecruisers of the Mark, has been sent to Dutch Harbor and Anchorage to deliver the cease fire agreement to the Japanese and Swiss forces operating in North America.

August 3, 1908

Snowmane, Battlecruiser of the Mark's captain has reported that the vessel's weapons and engines handle as designed.  The firepower seems overwhelming, but with the reports of the activities of the Brandenburg Battlecruiser Scharnorst, the increased firepower may be a good thing.

August 7, 1908

Eight ships have been laid down in New Beleriand for the Confederate States of America.  These eight destroyers are the first of two confirmed batches to be built by Rohan for the Confederacy.  All these vessels will be deployed on the western coast once completed next year.

August 9, 1908

A Dutch and Japanese signiture on the Torres Peace Treaty at Mithlond early this morning ends the nearly year long conflict in the Pacific today.

Diplomatic relations between Iberia and the Neatherlands seems to have peaked and they have withdrawn their representatives from their respective countries.  The Iberians stopped short of a declaration of war due to the peace signed between the Dutch and Swiss.  The peace may help reduce the tensions between these two European powers as the need for the Dutch inspections and interdictions of Iberian vessels has ended.

August 10, 1908
(Theoden's Day)

Today we remember one king who helped shape our destiny. Theoden King is remembered as a legend, but is considered to have been an actual living person by historians, as the written evidence from the archives of Edoras, Mundburg, and Dol Amroth along with some mention from other coninental sources indicates that he did live and that he was king of Rohan 8,206 years ago. His grave is also still present in Edoras. While most of his reign is lost to history, just that he was considered to have decayed during the last decade of the Third Age until his spirit was rekindled just before the great battles before the Hornburg and Mundburg that pushed the darkness back to Mordor. Theoden died in front of Mundburg at the hieght of the battle, but his spirit remains to remind us to keep our head in the light and charge when the worse seems to be upon you. Some say his tactics imply that the best defense is a good offense. They may be correct, and Rohan has followed this logic for land and naval warfare. While on land the days of the horse are ending, they still are a heavy and quick offensive tool that reminds our potential enemies that we can strike them back fast and hard should they attempt to take our lands or those of our allies. On the sea, this has brought about the practice of arming our ships heavily. They have to come to us, unless they wish to wait for us to come to them, but we will make them pay dearly should they try either option.

Today the King went to the mound of his fathers, his great-grand mothers, and uncles that were King of Rohan. Vistiting the 274 graves of the kings and queens of old, Theocro is reminded that one day he will be grave number 275. The Simbelmyne (Evermind) still bloom on every grave. The traditional reading of the names was done as is done when a new King is put on the throne, but the line breaks at Theoden to drink then continues until Theocro King is named, then the second drink is had. Rememberance of Theoden still takes centerstage on this day.

Work began today on Firefoot, Battlecruiser of the Mark.  This is the third of the Snowmane class battlecruisers and will be the last of that line.  An improved design is said to be in the work for next year.  With the recent production delays, the vessel may take a while before it is completed.  Theoden's Day seems to be the day of Battlecrusiers for the Navy.


August 11, 1908

Aside from telegraph messages, several ships of the Mark have been dispatched to deliver the news of the Peace to the engaged forces in the Pacific.  It is exected that all engage and unengaged parties will be made aware of the Peace by the ides od September, thus their will be peace for the King's birthday.

August 15, 1908

The Southern Fleet (Detachment) has been established in the harbor at Puerto Montt.  Work continues of the base and port facilities at that location.  The four cruisers and one battleship are maintianing themselves of two colliers and two support ships along with supplies from merchants that come in to the harbor.

August 18, 1908

Tochiro Oyama, has gifted a sum of money he recieved for the head of Agrival Mars from the Austrian government to the Kingdom of Rohan.  This money was specified by Mr. Oyama to go to the completion of the New Beleriand Canal.  With the extra funding the canal should be completed before the end of the year.

August 24, 1908

With the war over, Rohirrim naval planning has to reconsider many things about the nature of the fleet.  With the estimated 80+ warships lost by the New Swiss alone in this war and the highly effective nature of both mines and torpedoes in the last few years, the design bureaus have begun considering advanced defenses to be used against torpedoes and mines in the future.  The Mark has refused to use mines in her territorial waters and has not until recently considered the torpedo to be all that effective a weapon.

September 3, 1908

A new wargames for the Mark has be decide to be held in November after much delay.  The prospect of advanced anti-torpedo boat gunnery and long range fire has been put forth as possible topics to be be explored in the wargames.  Gunnery training will also be placed high on the items to be tested for all ships involved in the wargames.  A second wargames are to be announced for the Caribbean Fleet later this year.

September 15, 1908
(The King's Birthday)

The King did not slip out of his party today, mainly because he did not attend the party, being bedridden with a cold.  Lady Areen of Isengard, the King's wife, has stated that he is doing well, jst did not feel like attending in his condition.  The betting pools were a complete bust on the time it would take him to slip out this year.

September 22, 1908

The King is reportedly better and taken a trip to San Francisco to inspect the repairs on the city.

September 26, 1908

After a minor celebration, the Theocro King acknowledged the people of California and San Francisco for all their spirit in these times of hardship and promised that the city will be rebuilt to be better than it once was, cleansed of the poverty in places, and marked with a better light than it had seen in recent years.

September 30, 1908

Theocro King has returned to Edoras after a few days on the train from Umbar.  He has stated that while the people of Califonia are his new subjects, he believes they will operate as indepently as they have done before.  He does not mind as long as they do not break his laws.  A unit of the California Army will be intengrated into the Army of the Mark (after being retrained) next year, and thus give California a stake in Rohan just as all the other allied domains have.

[Ithekro]

October 3, 1908

Work on several acquired technologies has been continuing.  In the plains near Anfalas, tests with a flying machine has been seen by the curious, and heavy gunfire has been heard near the Isengard Test Ranges.  What these things will bring, no one knows.

October 6, 1908

Bombadil Motors has been testing what looks like a very large metal autocoach.  Some rumors say that it has a machine cannon attached to it, but the steam powered contraption is said to break down often and is rather slow compared to the racers build a few years ago.

October 28, 1908

Mithlond Yards, Harlond Shipwrights, and Gates from the Mountain, Incorperated, have been found  a way to standardized their production and are expected to gain a 50% increase in productivity in the next three months.  With this is an estimated expansion of many existing factories of these companies and other companies such as Isengard Arms, Brandybuck Engineering, and Wizard.

November 5, 1908

Arcadia, Battlecruiser of the Mark, along with her sistership Shadowfax and several Cruisers and a single destroyer left Mithlond, Dol Amroth and Umbar Bases today for Ammon-In-Gelydh Base.  These vessels will take part in a five day Wargames to start in two weeks time.

November 12, 1908

Increased activity in some regions of South America and the Pacific have put some Rohirrim forces on alert.

Novermber 23, 1908

The gathered fleets of the Mark left Ammon-In-Gelydh and Vinyamar Bases to participate in the Wargames.

Novmeber 28, 1908

All forces have returned to Ammon-In-Gelydh and Vinyamar Bases for Rest and Refueling before the Arcadia and Shadowfax, Battlecruisers of the Mark, and their accompaning Northern Pacific Fleet ships return to Rohan.  The reports on the wargames is still being investigated.

December 1, 1908

Alerts have been set back to normal levels now that the rest of the Northern Fleet is on its way home.

December 20, 1908

Rights between the citizens of Dale and their Cree neighbors escalated again when the buffalo herds stampeded just to the East of the Lonely Mountain again, damaging some of the outer towns of the Greater Dale and Erebor Area.  Cree hunters are said to be the blame for this stampede, attempting to get a good kill this year before they have to move towards Rhun and Lake Winnippegosis.  The citizens of Dale are somewhat still not sure just how the Cree and some of their other nieghbors to the east can still act like hunter-gathers after all these centuries of living so close to the Rohirrim.

December 25, 1908
Fellowship Day

With the end of the Pacific War, the restrictions on Brandenburg, Dutch, and Swiss merchants to Rohirrim and Gondorian ports is officially lifted.  Local merchants have noticed that the number of Swiss flagged ships has dropped to almost nothing and Japanese flagged ships have increased by 25% since July of this year.  Some resident of Ahtena have reportedly become nervious with the increased Japanese actions and the closenese to the war they have when Anchorage was attacked.  Those decendents of the 1500 Fuji eruption along with many Chinese Ming from the Zheng He era, are slightly wary of their old homelands coming to  them in North America.

December 31, 1908

Economic advisors to the King suggest that the world may be coming out of a moderate recession and states that while money may not be anymore avalible than before, product seems to be more avalible than ever before.  Theocro harkens it to the 1880s and early 1890s when naval production was in ful swing, before the material shortages and the maintainance probelms that started in 1896 and reached a height in 1898 when almost half the fleet needed to be retired or placed in reserve.  The years following the Anahuac War seem to have been part of this depression, but the building industry began to construct more and more factories in an effort to rectify the situation, which stabalized during 1905 to become just a depression from 1906 to present.  Now with the improvements in factory output the depression seems to have ended with perhaps boom times ahead.  "Now if only the world would stay peaceful during these years of plenty," stated the King.

[Ithekro]

November Wargames:

Green Force:

Battlecrusiers:
Shadowfax
Arcadia
Snowmane

Combat Cruiser:
Valandil

Belted Cruisers:
Dwimorberg
Irensaga

Destroyers:
First Dawn
Hallow Field
Blue Hand
War Dawn

Blue Force:

Battleships:
Thengel
Gram
Aldor
Brego

Dwarven Battleships:
Thorin
Durin
Tarondor
Arveleg
Arvedui

Armored Cruiser:
Boromir

Belted Cruisers:
Aros (ex-Red Snapper)
Ramdal (ex-Salmon)

Protected Cruisers:
Kusa (ex-Socorro)
Umpqua (ex-Tucson)
Karok (ex-Torreon)

Destroyers:
Morwen
Folcred

Torpedo Boats:
Olwyn
Eogladden
Feolcwine
Eledhwyn
Eohdwyn
Bereth
Elfhild
Gálmód
Gárulf
Wídfara
Gamwym
Merithain
Waldmond

Conceived as a test of tactics for older warships verses fewer but more powerful newer ships, Green Fleet was assigned to attack the Canal (which is just days from completion) and New Beleriand Coast, while the superior numbers of Blue Fleet are assigned the task of defending it and the city of Vinyamar to the north. 

Blue Fleet is split into four groups:  The four main battleships and half the torpedo boats and the Destroyer Morwen (acting as a leader for the torpedo boats) will defend the canal directly.  The Dwarven Battleships will defend Vinyamar with the remaining torpedo boats and Folcred.  The three protected cruisers will be used as a scouting force. Boromir and the two Belted Cruisers are the Patrol Group that moves between the two locations. The two main forces can be send in full or in part to the other's location if the scouting force can find and determine where Green Fleet is heading.

Green Fleet is also divided, but into two groups, the Battle Line of Arcadia, Shadowfax escorted by the Belted Cruisers and Destroyers and the Scouting Force of Snowmane and Valandil.

[Ithekro]

November 23, 1908

The action begins with the Blue Scouting Force finding the Green Scouting Force several hundered miles west of the Canal Zone.  Kusa, Umpqua, and Karok each take off in separate directions and warn the Blue Forces of the Green intrusion, however the superior speed and firepower of Snowmane and Valandil dispatch all three vessels, with Kusa sinking from flooding after two heavy hits from Valandil early on at extreme range.  Umpqua and Karok were neutralized with minimal damage to Valandil and no damage to Snowmane.

Blue Patrol Force turned from Port Sirion south to the Canal Zone, expecting the Green Fleet to hit there.  Three hours later, Green Main Fleet attacked Vinyamar.

The charge of the torpedo boats was muddled by heavy fire from the many quick fire guns of the Green Fleet.  Folcred was put out of commission quickly by the 4.5 inch guns of Dwimorberg.  This was followed by the destruction of three of the torpedo boats to fire from the remaining Green ships.  The final run by the remaining torpedo boats resulted in their destruction before they launched torpedoes.  Folcred limped back to towards the harbor while the main guns of the battleships exchanged fire.  The first shell from Shadowfax started a fire on Durin at extreme range.  This was followed by a hit from Arcadia on Thorin that also started a fire.  All five Blue Dwarven Battleships opened fire at this point (both Durin and Thorin put out the fires fairly quickly), but missed, while Arcadia hit Thorin again.  Thorin scored a hit on Arcadia, but did little damage.  Arveleg hit Shadowfax fairly solidly with her twin 11 inch guns.  The Green Fleet ships kept the distance open between the two fleets, not allowing the 9 inch or 7.5 inch guns to come into effective range if at all possible.  Thorin scored another hit on Arcadia that took out some of her 4.5 inch guns.  Shadowfax takes Durin's after main turret out of action. Arveleg scores another hit on Shadowfax.  After a long while the Green Fleet withdraws to extreme range so that the older Blue Fleet main guns cannon engage them.  This results in a few more hits on Thorin and Durin, before the Green Main Fleet retires from the engagement.

[Ithekro]

November 24, 1908

The next day the Blue Patrol Fleet is sent to engage in scouting duties since the Scout Fleet was destroyed.  No Green Fleet forces are found until late when the Green Fleet's Scouting Force attacks the Canal Zone Fleet at high speed.  The high speed run of the area prevents the Torpedo boat flotilla from engaging the two warships while they engage the Blue Battleline at extreme and long range.  After a while of being ineffective the Green Fleet ships swing around towards the Canal.  This brings them into long range fire from the four Blue battleships and later on the (still under construction) 14 inch coastal defense guns from the fortress.  Brego scores the first hit on Valandil causing some damage.  Valandil returns the favor in double as she lands several 9 inch shells into Brego.  Gram lands hits on Snowmane. Gram and Brego each hit Snowmane and Valandil for minor hits (knocking out Valandil's helmsman).  At this time Snowmane hits Thengel hard to which Thengel returns the favor.  Snowmane hits Thengel gain starting a fire.  The shore battery hits Snowmane for minor damage.  Valandil hits Brego, killing her captain.  Gram hits Snowmane in a ready use magazine that causes some damage.  Snowmane puts Thengel out of action.  Aldor hits Valandil, destroying some of her machine guns.  Valandil hits Brego starting another fire.  Snowmane engages Gram, knocking her foreward turret out of action and forcing her rudder to jam to starboard.  She then jams the other turret.  Valandil puts another group of shells into Brego which forces her from the field. Aldor hits Snowmane for a little damage.  Valandil takes one of Aldor's turrets out of action.  Snowmane then hits Gram, killing her captain.  She hits Gram again killing her XO and follows this with a massive hit that wrecks the ships.  Aldor surrenders after she is hit once more by Valandil.  The shore battery hits Snowmane again for little damage.  The two ships duel the shore battery for a while, causing heavy damage to Snonmane before they can silence the gun.  With the Patrol Fleet approaching they fire on the Canal lock doing some damage ruled to be enough to put it out of action for a month or so.

[Ithekro]

November 25, 1908

On the third day, the Blue Patrol Fleet stays near the Canal Zone with the "battered" remains of the Battlefleet  (Aldor and Brego) while the Dwarven Battleships stay at Vinyamar.  Greeen's Main Battle Fleet makes a run past several coastal cities and "bombards" the sea towns and ports while the Blue Fleet can do nothing about it.  It is ruled that the Green Fleet would then need to make for "home" to be resupplied, thus ending the Wargames with Blue Fleet still controlling the region, but the damage to the fleet and canal had been done.

Green Fleet suffered no losses, but Snowmane and Valandil were heavily damage in action against the four older Blue Fleet battleships.  Arcadia and Shadowfax suffered a little damage but disengaged due to the difficulty in hitting their targets verses coming into range of the more numerous 9 inch guns of the opposing fleet for which they had little response.  Plus the Belted Cruisers were not their to engage the Battleships, only to keep the destroyers and torpedo boats away, which they did admirably.  The high speed of the Battlecruiser and the last generation of Combat Cruisers have made the older Rohirrim torpedo vessels unlikely to engage much less hit their targets with torpedoes.  In addition to this the 4.5 inch cannon seems to be fairly effective in number at damaging and destroying torpedo craft at range.  The newer model destroyers would be more difficult to disable at range, but they would likely be softened up on the approach allowing for any smaller quick fire guns to be able to engage or any fleet destroyers that are in the area for defense.

[Ithekro]

November 26, 1908

On the Fourth Day was a Fleet Live Fire Gunnery Competition.  Target was on Clipperton Island.  Only the larger units involved in the Wargames were involved, the Belted Cruisers and below returned to harbor for the day.

Each ship would fire each of their batteries three times at the target and where then scored on primary, secondary, and tertiary if applicable.  All fire was at medium range.

Battleships:
Thengel
P:  4 hits, miss, 2 hits
S:  1 hit, miss, miss
T:   miss, miss, 6 hits (perfect hit)

Brego
P:  miss, miss, 4 hits
S:  1 hit, miss, 4 hits
T:  miss, miss, miss

Aldor
P:  2 hits, miss, 2 hits
S:  miss, 1 hit, miss
T:  miss, miss, 2 hits

Gram:
P:  miss, 1 hit, miss
S:  2 hits,  1 hit, miss
T:  miss, 2 hits, miss

Battlecruiser:
Snowmane:
P:  7 hits, miss, 9 hits
S:  miss, 1 hit, 1 hit

Arcadia:
P: 8 hits, miss, miss
S: 1 hit, miss, 2 hits

Shadowfax
P :4 hits, miss, 4 hits
S: 1 hit, miss, miss

Dwarven Battleships:
Thorin
P:  miss, miss, 3 hits

Durin
P:  3 hits, 2 hits, miss
S:  straddle but miss, 1 hit, 1 hit

Tarondor
P: 2 hits, 1 hit, 1 hit
S:  miss, 1 hit, miss
T:  miss, miss, 1 hit

Arveleg
P:  1 hit, 2 hits,  miss
S:  2 hits, 1 hit, 1 hit
T:  miss, miss, miss

Arvedui
P:  miss, miss, straddle but miss
S:  miss, miss, miss
T:  miss, 1 hit, miss

Combat Cruiser:
Valandil
P:  4 hits, miss, miss
S:  2 hits, 2 hits, miss

Armored Cruiser:
Boromir
P:  miss, 1 hit, 3 hits
S:  miss, straddled but miss, straddled but miss

[Ithekro]

November 27, 1908

On the Fifth Day the two newer Belted Cruisers, Arcadia, Shadowfax, Snowmane, and Valandil took on the combined torpedo and destroyer forces of the Central Pacific Fleet, plus the four newer destroyers, thus 13 TBs and 6 DDs.  While the newer Rohirrim ships were faster than the destroyers, they stayed at a slower speed of 17 knots to test the anti-torpedo boat power of the larger ships.  Each warship targeted a single destroyer first as soon as they were within 4.5 inch gun range.  Arcadia crippled Blue Hand on the first try while four of the others managed to just damage their targets.  First Dawn was untouched.  The second round, Arcadia switched to  the Torpedo Boat Olwyn.  First Dawn was destroyed by a critical hit from Dwimorberg's shell.  Hallow Field was crippled as well.  The other ships missed.  The third would bring the ships to just outside of torpedo range, so this was the last chance to engage the torpedo craft without worry of attack.  The two Belted Cruisers switched to Torpedo Boat targets like Arcadia had done.  Irensaga blows up Feolcwine while Dwimorberg straddles Eogladden without hitting the target.  Arcadia blows up Olwyn.  Shadowfax neutralizes War Dawn and Valandil neutralizes Folcred, leaving only the destroyer Morwen as active with the remaining 11 TBs.  This round the larger Rohirrim ships evaded while firing at close range, the Valandil and Snowmane's quickfire 1.5 inch guns targeting different TBs than the 4.5 inch guns.  This wave takes out four more TBs.  The remaining 7 TBs and Morwen launch torpedoes  4 x 16" at Shadowfax, 3 x 16" and 2 x 14" at Snowmane.  All the torpedoes fired at Shadowfax missed.  One 14" torpedo comes close to Snowmane but misses.  The next round to the clean up, plus a possible second attack by Morwen.  The group destroys five more TBs, but misses Morwen which fires her aft torpedo at Arcadia, this torpedo hits the target, but does minimal damage, the flooding is stopped in less than twenty minutes.  The remaining TBs and Morwen are destroyed as they attempt to escape the following round.

This exercise has been to prove to the Marshals of the Mark that the torpedo is still dangerous even with the increased firepower of the Mark's quickfire guns and the newer speeds.  Increased destroyer defenses are to be included in the new building programs in the form of new destroyers and perhaps even torpedo bulkhead in future battleships.  The local area commanders point out that if the torpedo boats and destroyers had been of Swiss design, the fleet would have been in serious trouble, as while a lot of the Swiss destroyers would have been stopped, the number of torpedoes from the survivors would have been four times in number to what the Rohirrim owned boats could put out, and of a larger size torpedo.  Rohirrim intentions still do not place much use on having torpedoes in large numbers, but being able to defend against large numbers of torpedo equipped craft.

The Caribbean Fleet Wargames has been held off to March of 1909.