Dutch-Siamese War

[Jefgte]

Cool battle

Thanks for your work Guinness


;)

[Korpen]

Oh, and your bathymetric data would be helpful, too.

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/ams/indonesia/txu-oclc-21752461-sb49-16.jpg
There is mentioned in some reports about the evacuation of the port during ww2.

The troops are the East indian (base defence) marines, added which bases exactly it is they are defending.

[The Rock Doctor]

And to whom did the 16,000 marines at Surat Thani belong?

[Guinness]

Looking at that map, coming from the east, the water is at it's shallowest around 5 fathoms, and relatively close in still 10 fathoms or more. To the south near Probolinggo, it's 10 fathoms right up next to the shore.

For those not down with random Imperial measurements, a fathom is 2 yards, or 6 feet (or 1.8 odd meters).

So is the issue that the DKB heavy stuff couldn't just steam up to the docks in Surabaya, or is the issue that you don't think it likely they could get close?

[Korpen]

And to whom did the 16,000 marines at Surat Thani belong?

The there are two naval infantry corps, one specialist for amphibious operations, and one "heavy" for base defence and follow-up operations.

So is the issue that the DKB heavy stuff couldn't just steam up to the docks in Surabaya, or is the issue that you don't think it likely they could get close?

Outside the very narrow man-made (and mined) channel it is not really possible for anything but the smallest ships to manouver safely, at least not close (20km) to the city itself. So the problem is vere the DKB was supposed to have landed?

[Guinness]

I'm still confused, as the map you posted says it's over 5 fathoms (9.1 meters, 30 feet) deep right up to the city in the Madura Straight. Or am I reading this wrong?

[Guinness]

October 4, 1916

The Kingdom of Siam and the Nation of Firanj do hereby agree to a ceasefire, effective immediately, pursuant to the following conditions:

1. The Nation of Firanj should return those Siamese subjects which were removed from the Andaman Islands, while at the same time evacuating all Firanjian nationals and any related forces which currently occupy those islands. The Nation of Firanj agrees to undertake the evacuation of it's own forces and replacement of Siamese forces immediately and with all prudent haste.

2. The Kingdom of Siam will investigate the plight and general well being of any and all foreign nationals living and working within it's borders. This investigation will only take place after the present hostilities between Siam and the Kingdom of the Netherlands are resolved, and after the ceasefire takes effect.

EDIT: realized I put the wrong month in the date, so I fixed that.

[sgdn]

thats correct

[The Rock Doctor]

1 October

A DKB squadron centred around two battleships departs Bali, steaming south.  As they exit the Lombok Strait, lookouts on the battleship Neue Helgoland sight two torpedo wakes closing on their ship.  An emergency turn causes one torpedo to pass in front of the bow, but the other weapon explodes against the starboard beam, below the bridge.  The battleships turn north again as Brandenburger torpedoboats search for a submarine they never do find.  

3 October

A Dutch gunboat, CGB-10 is patrolling the Java Sea when it sights capital ship fighting tops approaching from the east.  She is subsequently engaged and destroyed by a DKB kleiner kreuzer and two torpedo-boats, though she manages to inflict a few hits on the cruiser in return.  Her sighting reports, transmitted by short-range wireless, are picked up by another gunboat, so eventually are relayed back to Singapore.

On Bali, Dutch troops are being pushed west towards the coast.  DKB forces are keeping up pressure, mindful of the need to conserve supplies and ammunition.

That evening, a Dutch submarine is sighted while attempting to close in on a cruiser.  She takes a number of bullets from machine gun fire and several near-misses from 88mm guns before successfully crash-diving.

On the Kra Isthmus, Siamese artillery begins shelling the Dutch marines around Phun Phin.

4 October

Siamese troops of the 3rd Jungle Corps launch assail the northern and western perimeter of the Dutch marines' positions around Phun Phin.  Casualties are modest - the Siamese are wearing gas masks that hinder their movement and marksmanship - but the Dutch are pushed back.

The Siamese pre-dreadnought Bangkok, protected by a motley crew of escorts, sorties from the capital.  Mid-afternoon, a quartet of small Dutch torpedo-boats begin shadowing the Siamese squadron, using their superior speed to avoid the Siamese screen.

5 October

The Dutch torpedoboats, units of the K-3 type, attack the Siamese squadron at 0100 hrs.  Siamese gunnery is poor under the circumstances, but one of the Dutchmen is struck forwards by a medium-caliber shell and breaks off her run.  The other three boats press forward, then veer off near the maximum range for eighteen inch torpedo attacks.  Bangkok takes evasive action, but is struck once on the starboard stern, causing significant damage.  

Come daybreak, the Siamese are observed steaming for Bangkok.

The land action Bangkok was to support continues anyway.  As the Dutch half-suspected, a second Siamese attack develops south of Surat Thani.  In this case, the Siamese troops give every indication of being regulars, rather than reservists.  The senior Dutch commander calls for a withdrawal from the beachhead as the scale of the attack becomes apparent.  The 3rd Marine Division fights a stubborn battle to preserve the perimeter long enough for the 2nd Marines, withdrawing from Phun Phin, to reach safety.

7 October

The Siamese ease up their attack as their leading elements begin encountering naval artillery fire from frigates off Surat Thani, allowing the Dutch to complete their final evacuation in relatively orderly fashion.  Approximately 2,400 marines have been killed, wounded, or captured.  Siamese casualties are around 3,500.

In the Arabian Sea, an Iberian freighter spots an old German cruiser which, curiously, breaks off its approach without issuing a challenge.  When the ship reaches Suez three days later, her master reports a possible sighting of the Touch and Go.

A Dutch torpedo-boat, K-38, is caught and sunk while attempting to attack DKB shipping off Padangbai.  Torpedoes from a second boat fail to strike any targets, but that Dutchman makes a clean escape.

8 October

Per the peace agreement with Siam, a squadron of Firanji ships return to the Andaman Islands, land the previously removed Siamese garrison to the town of Port Blair, and retreive their own troops.  They steam south as if bound for their homeland.  Other Firanji ships, having previously been anchored at Singapore, have also steamed south in recent days.

9 October

In the Java Sea, just before dawn, SK Moltke shudders as a geyser of water erupts on her port bow.  With no submarine or torpedo boats sighted, the Brandenburgers execute an emergency turn and head back the way they came.  

10 October

The Siamese garrison at Port Blair, having just settled in again, sight Dutch frigates and other ships approaching the town.  The Dutch land marines at 1400 hrs, and encounter limited but determined Siamese resistence.  However, through superior numbers and naval gunfire support, the Dutch secure the town and take the surrender of the Siamese battalion.

Dutch marines lose 400 casualties; the Siamese lose 200 casualties, plus six hundred captured.

Off Padangbai, a DKB freighter holding significant stocks of artillery shells explodes and sinks within minutes of being torpedoed near dusk.

11 October

Using a variety of small civilian craft, the remaining Dutch troops on Bali evacuate over to the eastern most coast of Java.  DKB troops secure the remainder of Bali.

Total Dutch casualties in the campaign:  1,500 of 4,000.  DKB casualties:  2,600 of 25,000.

13 October

The Dutch submarine K-22 is sunk in an abortive attack on DKB shipping off Padangbai.  Her captain and three others manage to escape the conning tower before the boat sinks.

14 October

In the South Atlantic, a large Dutch force, including capital ships, lands marines on the DKB island of Sint Anzelm.  The small DKB naval presence is annihilated, causing no significant damage to Dutch ships.

15 October

Sint Anzelm is secured by Dutch marines.

In Singapore, an ESC freighter reports sighting a Dutch-style sloop of war, flying DKB colors, operating in the South China Sea.

[The Rock Doctor]

Mmm...medications...

16 October

In the Banda Sea, a DKB troop convoy is spotted by a Dutch submarine during the afternoon.  That night, a freighter (2,200 t GRT) bearing a variety of military goods is torpedoed and sunk.

17 October

A coastal liner (3,500 t GRT) in the DKB convoy is torpedoed.  A battalion of troops is aboard her, and nearly all are safely evacuated, but its heavy equipment is lost as the ship sinks from progressive flooding two hours later.

A Dutch trench raid on the east coast of the Kra Isthmus brings back not Siamese prisoners, but Brandenburger prisoners.

18 October

In the third night of action, a torpedo-boat in the DKB convoy manages to sink a Dutch submarine as it attempts to penetrate the screen after dusk.

19 October 

On its final night before reaching Bali, the DKB convoy is struck by a group of coastal torpedoboats and a submarine within hours of each other.  The DKB loses a fisheries patrol vessel that had been part of the screen.  A troopship is torpedoed but damage control measures are enough to keep her afloat and underway.  A freighter (4,100 t GRT) bearing a large component of the DKB corps-level artillery is less fortunate, and breaks in two after being torpedoed amidships.

20 October

The DKB convoy arrives at Padangbai and begins unloading troops and materials as quickly as possible. 

21 October

The French passenger ship Lucie Montcalm, two days out of Port Suez and bound for Ceylon, radios in that she has apparently struck an unmarked shoal or underwater object.  As she is taking on some water from her damaged bow, she turns about and steams for Suez.

Dutch troops in the Kra Isthmus find themselves under intense artillery bombardment

22 October

A Dutch coastal torpedo-boat attack costs the DKB a collier and several thousand tonnes of coal.  One of the Dutch attackers is set afire and burns out after being abandoned by her crew.

On the Kra Isthmus, an estimated hundred thousand Brandenburger troops attack Dutch positions held by approximately twenty-four thousand Dutch marines.  Badly outnumbered and outgunned, the Dutch are pushed out of their positions and begin a fighting withdrawal south. 

25 October

After a lull in action around Padangbai, Dutch submarines are back in the area, hunting DKB shipping.  The DKB screen benefits from clear skies and a full moon, allowing intense prosecution of one submarine that stays surfaced too long.  No vessels are damaged or sunk by the submarines, though several men on a DKB freighter assert that they heard a dud torpedo hit their ship's bow.

26 October

In the Gulf of Aden, the DKB kleiner kreuzer Arkona investigates smoke on the horizon and identifies the ship as the privateer Touch And Go.

On the Kra Isthmus, the Dutch marines are able to establish a new defensive line across the Kra Isthmus, approximately west-east from Hat Yai.  DKB forces are obligated to pause, as the damage inflicted by various Dutch raids against infrastructure targets continues to noticeably impair Siamese and Brandenburger logistics.  Approximately 2,700 Dutch casualties have been sustained, versus 4,600 DKB casualties.

27 October

ESC diplomats in Mughal note that DKB diplomatic personnel having been calling on the Imperial Palace.

28 October

DKB torpedo-boats sweeping the north coast of Bali encounter Dutch coastal boats heading for Padangbai.  Two Dutchmen are run down and sunk; one DKB ship is damaged by gunfire.

In the eastern Indian Ocean, the Dutch frigate Flandern watches with irritation as a French airship drifts overhead for the better part of an hour.

In the western Arabian Sea, the TAG has been unable to shake Arkona and know finds the SMS Prinz Heinrich approaching from the northeast.  After a lengthy but ineffective evening action, Captain Taugon is able to finally shake his pursuers in the night.

29 October

A DKB kleiner kreuzer at Padangbai is torpedoed and badly damaged, probably by a submarine.

30 October

A combination of Dutch submarine and torpedo-boats strike a heavy blow against the DKB force at Padangbai.  A passenger ship (5,700 t GRT) functioning as a tender to the DKB torpedo-boats is torpedoed twice, capsizes onto an adjacent torpedo boat, and sinks on her port beam.  The torpedo-boat is destroyed in the incident as well.

Soon afterward, a Dutch coastal torpedo-boat is destroyed by gunfire from a pair of torpedo-boats as it attempts to penetrate the Brandenburger perimeter.

31 October

By month's end, four Dutch merchant ships totalling 6,500 t GRT are reporting missing.



Guinness has a detailed battle report to follow...

[miketr]

Hmmm... lots of damage from Subs and TB's in close waters like the NEI.  Could it be that someone's design for their navy is working as intended?!?  Is this permited!

Good right up!

[Desertfox]

Friggin Germans, don't they know that Taugon is actually working on their side?

The 2nd Pacific War was fought in pretty much the same area. Almost all the ships lost on both sides where due to torpedo and mine damage. That is an area where subs and TBs are extremely effective.

[Guinness]

TAG vs. the DKB Cruisers:

1400 TAG sights Prinz Heinrich at 22800 yards, turns east southeast to try to evaid.

1402 TAG continues turn to east northeast

1406 TAG settles on a northeasterly course. Range from TAG to PH now 20,200 yards

1840  PH takes a hopeful shot with her forward 240mm gun, missing

1914  PH shoots her forward 240mm again, missing again.

1926  TAG-PH range now inside 14,000 yards

1938  Another miss from PH

2000  Range now within 13,000 yards

2014  PH misses again

2026  TAG-PH range now inside 12,000 yards, PH misses again

2032  PH Misses

2038  PH is encouraged that her next shot from her forward 240mm gun lands just short

2044  PH misses again

2056  Another PH miss

2102  PH now firing both her forward 240mm and her 210mms (in alternating volleys) misses twice more

2108 Sun now set. PH hits TAG with one 210mm round, which fails to penetrate her deck.

2114 PH just misses TAG again short with her forward 240mm. PH's gunlayers are now having difficulty making out their target.

2120  PH hits TAG with her forward 240mm, the round fails to penetrate her deck.

2122 In the darkness, TAG makes a very slight course correction to the north. Neither DKB ship now has a good enough view of her to make out the change in course.

Eventually during the night PH first loses all sight of TAG. Arkona keeps sight of her until shortly after midnight, when TAG slows slightly, executes a 180 degree turn to southwest and disappears.

[Sachmle]

Friggin Germans, don't they know that Taugon is actually working on their side?

Side is irrelevant, he has OUR ship.

[ctwaterman]

Falls off Chair laughing... *ok that was down right funny*