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Note: This was a complex article to write. There are probably errors or omissions. Let me know what you find.

I will attempt to post a map at the top of this article in the next hour or so...


REPORT ON SATSUMA EXERCISE II: 1926

Acronyms

BNS: Bharatiya Nau Sena, the Indian Navy
CN: The Chosenian Navy
FN: The Formosan Navy
IJN: The Imperial Japanese Navy
MdF: Marine del Filipino, the Filipino Navy

Note: Both India and Japan currently designate their submarines with the letter “I”, followed by a number. For the purposes of this report, submarines will have either an I or an J appended to their name, ie. I-3I, to denote country of origin.

THE SCENARIO

Green Force:

In 1926, the scenario called for the Andaman Islands to simulate an independent member of the SATSUMA alliance, with a small force of coastal defence vessels and a SATSUMA squadron available to it. This island nation was initially designated as “Friendland” by the exercise design team; after the first evening of carousing by Filipino and Chosenian sailors in Port Blair, the nations was generally known as “Andamania”.

The local naval contingent was designated as “Green Force”, although the men of the contingent referred to themselves primarily as “The Andamaniacs”. This force assembled in Port Blair on 25 September and undertook seventeen days of intensive training prior to the commencement of the exercise. The core group of officers arrived even earlier, 4 September, to prepare for their duties in this unfamiliar area.

Green Force Flag: Contra-Almirante Wilhelm Adama (MdF)

Local Defence Force: Commodore Ignacio Torres (MdF)

CDS Dagupan (MdF)
CE Bugsuk (MdF)
TB Terror (MdF)
MAS boats M21 to M30 (MdF)

Chosenian Expeditionary Squadron: Commodore Bhae-Jin Shin (CN)

AC Iwaki (CN)
CL Yahagi (CN)
PC Chitose (CN)
DD Arare, Ariake (CN)

Blue Force

Blue Force was based in Sittwe, in eastern India and assembled on 13 October. Its mission was to reinforce Green Force defenders once Article 22 of SATSUMA was triggered. Until such time as this took place, Blue Force was to remain on station and was not to engage Red Force. The only exceptions to this rule were the deployment of the Indian submarines I-3 and I-6, which were ordered to begin the exercise at pre-set map locations and proceed on patrols from there.

Blue Force Flag: Vice-Admiral Neshi Shoblak (BNS)

Battle Squadron: Rear-Admiral Fadil Epp (BNS)

BB Dara Shikoh, Babur (BNS)
CL Calayan (MdF), Jaipur, Kalyan (BNS)
DD Rabihorcado, Alcatraz, Pelícano (MdF), Jamshedpur, Johdpur, Meerut, Ghaziabad (BNS)

Carrier Squadron: Commodore Kayhan Dosanji (BNS)

CV Otta (BNS): 12 Marut fighters, 12 Toofani scout-bombers, 4 Dhairya-C trainers (employed as scouts)
DD Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam (BNS)

Striking Force: Commodore Mohammed Ukkhoy (BNS)

CA Hyderabad, Male (BNS)
CL Lucknow (BNS)
DD Dhanbad, Guwahati, Gwalior, Thimphu (BNS)

Sittwe Defence Force: A mix of Filipino and Indian subchasers, gunboats, and motor-torpedo boats

Submarine Force: I-3I, I-4I, I-6I

Red Force

Red Force was assumed to be an expeditionary force from an imperialist European nation. Its mission was to neutralize Green Force defences, take and hold Port Blair via amphibious landing, and to repulse Blue Force efforts at relieving Green Force. Red Force assets deployed to Columbo on 12 October to prepare for the exercise, though for exercise purposes it was assumed that they had deployed from the Red Sea with logistical support. The two Red Force submarines were assigned to random map coordinates west of the Andamans and had orders to proceed with offensive patrols from there.

Red Force was allowed to engage Blue Force assets at will, but was not aware of the rules of engagement affecting Blue Force.

Red Force Flag: Vice Admiral Taniguchi Naomi (IJN)

Covering Force: Rear Admiral Nagano Osami (IJN)

BB Fuso, Yamashiro (IJN)
CV Zuiho (IJN): 24 1MF5 fighters, 36 B1M2 bombers, 5 2MR1 reconnaissance aircraft
CA Miyazawa Yukino, Sakura Tsubaki (IJN)
CL Yura, Kinu, Abukuma (IJN)
DD Fubuki, Shirayuki, Inazuma, Ikazuchi, Hatsuyuki, Murakumo, Akatsuki, Hibiki (IJN)

Scouting Force: Rear Admiral Araki Jiro (IJN)

CL Tama, Isuzu (IJN)
DDL K-16 to K-20 (IJN)

Assault Force: Commodore Zhou Abahai (FN)

B Mikasa (IJN)
CDS Atatake (IJN)
AC Kasuga (FN)
CL Tone (FN)
PC Suma (FN)
DD Asakase, Asatsuyu (FN)
LSM Go ni II-1, Go ni II-2 (IJN)

Support Forces: Rear-Admiral Yonemura Sueki (IJN)

SC A-11 to A-15 (IJN)
SS I-1J, I-2J (IJN)

15 October

In Columbo, the Red Scouting Force, with Rear-Admiral Araki aboard the cruiser Tama, sortied at 0700. The morning was spent sanitizing the waters around Columbo. Once Vice-Admiral Taniguchi was satisfied that the are was secure, he ordered Araki to proceed to the north end of the Andamans.

The Red Covering Force sortied at 1400, the eight destroyers forming a broad hemispheric arc around the battleships, cruisers, and Zuiho. Rear-Admiral Nagano flew his flag on the Fuso, while Vice-Admiral Taniguchi, the overall Red Force commander, operated out of Yamashiro. The Covering Force took up a course that would bring it to a point south of the Andamans.

Zuiho began flight operations, maintaining a combat air patrol of four fighters. Scout-bombers were launched to conduct sector sweeps in a ninety-degree arc ahead of the force.

The Red Assault Force sortied at 1600, with Commodore Abahai flying his flag aboard the Kasuga. It followed the Covering Force at a distance of thirty nautical miles.

In Port Blair, Contra-Almirante Adama was advised that SATSUMA intelligence had detected Red Force assets approaching Ceylon the previous day. He deployed four of his submarine chasers to stations west of the islands. The remaining two boats maintained a patrol outside Port Blair itself, if only to prevent submarines from scouting the harbour.

Wary of an air attack by Zuiho, he ordered the rest of his force to sea. His larger ships, under Commodore Shin, steamed into Diligent Strait, about forty nautical miles north of Port Blair; here they would have room to maneuver if attacked, and also the option of passing through Andaman Strait to the west side of the islands.

Meanwhile, the torpedo boats deployed to a cove on Cinque Island, twenty nautical miles south of Port Blair. Here they would have quick access to the Duncan Passage between Little Andaman Island and South Andaman islands, these being the Red Force’s expected course.

[Side Note: many of the Andamans’ geographic features were named by Britain during its domination of India in the early to mid nineteenth century. These features have not been renamed, and are identical to the historical names.]

In Sittwe, Blue Force assets were put on a state of alert, and light forces began patrolling the area around the port for Red Force submarine activity.

16 October

Red Force commander Vice-Admiral Taniguchi received an intelligence report indicating a Green Force naval depot at South Sentinel Island, southwest of South Andaman Island. Unable to verify the report (it was, in fact, false), Taniguchi had it added to the list of locations to be scouted from the air.

The Red Assault Force had several alerts to consider as its lookouts attempted to identify possible threats among the various civilian trawlers and fishing boats that it passed by. A false submarine sighting reported by Tone resulted in some evasive action.

Green Force pickets reached their patrol stations by the afternoon. Four Indian scout-bombers assigned to the “Andamaniac Army Air Command” began flying scouting missions to the west of the islands.

At midnight, after cruising at an average speed of fifteen knots, Red Force units were approximately four hundred nautical miles southwest of the Andaman Islands.

17 October

The Red Force submarines sailed around the north and south extents of the Andamans in the early hours, both boats having to dive on account of unidentified surface traffic. The boats continued eastward, to take up their assigned patrol stations east of the islands along the expected route of Blue Force.

By late afternoon, Zuiho launched her 2MR5 recce aircraft towards the islands. Flying over several of the towns, the aircraft were seen by a number of civilians, a few of whom reported the sightings to local authorities. One such report made its way to Green Force Headquarters by evening, but staff officers were uncertain whether the report was genuine or not. Significant was the lack of any Japanese aircraft over-flying Port Blair itself, the staff concluding that the Red Force would surely have scouted out the islands’ main port.

Nonetheless, it seemed reasonable to assume that Red Force would be in striking range soon, so Contra-Almirante Adama ordered his forces to be at a heightened state of alert come morning.

At sea, one of the Green Force scout-bombers ditched off South Sentinel Island after a bird strike. The crew were picked up by local fisherman.

As night fell, Vice-Admiral Taniguchi ordered Zuiho to prepare for a strike against Port Blair the following morning.

18 October

Zuiho began launching her strike at 0610. Armed with a single large bomb each, half of her strike aircraft were tasked with attacking naval shipping in the harbour. The other half, carrying small bombs, were to attack the town’s air strip and military targets of opportunity ashore. Twelve of the fighter aircraft were sent aloft to accompany the strike.

The strike package overflew South Sentinel Island, and the Indian aviators who had ditched there the previous day watched them fly overhead. Unfortunately, the village hosting them had no wireless set, and no warning could be passed on to Green Force (which still had two submarine chasers searching for them to the west, no less).

The strike package was finally spotted by an observation post on the outskirts of Port Blair and two Green fighters made a pass through the Red bombers. Four Red fighters peeled off to engage the attackers while the remaining aircraft overflew the town, looking for targets.

Air raid sirens began to sound only as the Red aircraft swept over the harbour. Although Green had expected an attack, Red still had a brief minute or two of tactical surprise in which to overfly the town. Ground fire was initially ruled to be light by referees on the ground, but intensified as the army personnel manned their stations.

As military personnel ran for their stations, civilian activity in Port Blair came to a stop while the people watched the simulated battle with considerable interest. As one businessman later noted, “Most of us had not seen fifty aircraft in our lives, let alone all at once in an attack on our home town.”

The attack on the airfield was successful. A group of four Green fighters, lined up in a neat row along one side of the strip, were ruled destroyed by a single strafing run. Hangers were bombed, barracks were machine-gunned, and many of the defending personnel were “killed”. Less successful was the anti-shipping component of the strike, given the lack of legitimate targets in the harbour. A tugboat was bombed on the incorrect assumption that she was a submarine chaser, but the strike commander chose to ignore the more obvious civilian craft and instead attacked the army’s base and gun emplacements with modest success.

As the strike group flew back to Zuiho, referees at Port Blair conferred; by noon, Vice-Admiral Taniguchi was advised by wireless that he had lost two fighters and three bombers, three of them to the pair of Green fighters that had bounced the strike group. One fighter and four bombers would also require twenty-four hours of repairs upon their return to Zuiho. This did not trouble Noami, who learned that in fact eight Zuiho aircraft would require genuine servicing to be operational again the next day.

In the afternoon, Zuiho launched her scouts again. This time they found Commodore Shin’s squadron and reported its approximate strength. After the scouts disappeared out of sight, however, Shin took his ships west through the Andaman Strait, so as not to be in the same place if Zuiho sent a strike that way. It was a wise precaution, as twenty bombers arrived at 1925 to find Diligent Strait empty of military vessels.

Through the evening, the Red Covering Force passed through Ten Degree Channel, south of the islands, to take up station east of the islands, while the Red Assault Force, preceded by the Red Scouting Force, skirted around Little Andaman and entered the Duncan Passage.

19 October

At 0113, starshells fired by the Green torpedo-boat Terror illuminated the Red light cruiser Isuzu, and ten Green MAS boats surged forward to attack the Red Scouting Force. The Red light cruisers fired star-shells back, and the battle began in earnest.

With the moon two days past full, there was sufficient ambient light to illuminate the large wakes left by the fast-moving vessels on both sides. With the starshells adding additional light, the referees determined that gunfire would be somewhat accurate.

Isuzu began engaging Terror, while Tama and the five Red light destroyers engaged the incoming MAS boats. Terror was soon sunk by 14 cm shells, but the MAS boats closed the range to make their attack. As the distance dropped, orders were given to fire torpedoes, and both sides veered away - the MAS boats speeding away to safety, the Red ships manoeuvring to avoid torpedoes.

At 0210, the referees announced by wireless that Isuzu and a light destroyer had been torpedoed, fatally in the latter case. The light cruiser was badly damaged and was detached to join the Assault Force; if necessary, Commodore Abahai would order her “beached” to provide close-in fire support to the landing force.

Meanwhile, Terror and four MAS boats had been destroyed, with three others damaged to various degrees. The six surviving boats withdrew to their depot at Cirque Island to refuel, re-arm, and repair.

As dawn rose, Blue Force put to sea. The Battle and Carrier squadrons sortied together, with Otta maintaining an air patrol and flying scouting missions. The Striking Force steamed ahead of the other groups, seeking to link up with Green Force before it was engaged (as it turned out, this would not take place).

At about 0800, the Red Scouting Force cruised past Port Blair, followed three hours later by the Assault Force. The Assault Force cruised up and down the coast, examining possible landing sites before it took up position off Corbyn’s Cove, three miles south of Port Blair. This was an indent in the coast that also offered a break in the reefs that surrounded much of the town, and was deemed favorable for a landing. The Japanese marines began preparations to land as the armored cruiser Kasuga and the lamed Isuzu began “bombarding” the shoreline in the evening.

Meanwhile, Commodore Shin’s Green Force was heading south, along the west shore of South Andaman Island at its best speed. It was a more indirect route, but Shin was leery of returning to Diligent Strait in case Zuiho had it under observation. With good intelligence in hand on the composition of the Assault Force, he was confident that he could overwhelm it if only he were to make it into range.

20 October

The sound of a saluting gun, fired at 0640 signalled the start of a simulated naval bombardment against shore defences at Port Blair. There were, in fact, few defences to speak of - some bunkers housing heavy machine guns and 3.5 cm cannons, and a few ad-hoc trenches.

Soon the Red transports turned in towards shore. They were able to beach within thirty metres of shore and Japanese marine struggled through the surf. A number had considerable difficulty and one corporal was swept out to sea by a riptide, his body never being recovered. Once on shore, the attackers were met with a hail of “gunfire” from two companies of Green infantry (part of Port Blair’s regular garrison). After a lengthy and bloody battle, the attackers secured the beach head and began marching inland.

“Fighting” ceased once the Red marines had pushed their way into the town’s outskirts, primarily to avoid disrupting the town or endangering its inhabitants. It was acknowledged that in a genuine battle, such issues would not be a factor, so the Red marines were not allowed to actually claim the capture of Port Blair until the next afternoon.

Zuiho’s scouts found Commodore Shin’s force once again as it passed Herbertabad at twenty knots. The scout was able to loiter long enough to see the Green force drop anchor in a bay north of Manglutan. There, Shin wasted two valuable hours attempted an indirect bombardment of the Japanese transports off Port Blair. Shooting eight miles across the island at the transports produced no hits, even with the assistance of a spotter aircraft that was to guide the gunners aboard the coastal defence battleships in Shin’s squadron.

The Red Scouting force moved to cut off the Green Force before it reached the transports and Port Blair. Bolstered by the Mikasa, Atatake, Kasuga, and Tone, it left only the old protected cruiser Suma, the damaged Isuzu and two destroyers defending the beachhead. Rear-Admiral Araki was, however, able to make this decision as Zuiho had not reported any other surface threats in the area.

(Rear-Admiral Araki had, incidently, also requested support from the Covering Force, in the form of a Zuiho air strike, but Vice-Admiral Taniguchi had declined, citing the need to be ready for the Blue Forces if and when they made an appearance. In particular he was worried about the small Blue carrier Otta which, despite its slow speed and small size, happened to be very experienced.)

Battle was joined in MacPherson Strait, perhaps the most dangerous location that could have been selected. Barely a mile wide, with reefs to north and south, it presented little room for larger warships to manoeuver. The engagement lasted less than ten minutes before Commodore Shin reversed course and headed back out, having elected to skirt around Rutland Island and instead make his thrust in to Port Blair from Manners Strait, where there was more room for his ships to operate. Guided by Zuiho recce aircraft, Rear-Admiral Araki turned south to come down the east side of Rutland Island.

Firing resumed about an hour later, at 1455. What had been a relatively even match-up took a twist as the six surviving Green MAS boats sortied from nearby Cirque Island to attempt an attack on the rear of the Japanese formation. The four Red light destroyers, alerted by Zuiho’s aircraft, came round to engage them as Tama, Mikasa, Atatake, Kasuga, and Tone formed a line of battle in that order. Commodore Shin, with a similar number of heavier ships, formed his own line of Dagupan, Iwaki, Bugsuk, and Chitose. He ordered Yahagi and his two destroyers to break off and attempt to sneak around the battle to Port Blair.

To the east, it became evident that six MAS boats against four light destroyers, in broad daylight, was not an even match-up. Two of the small attack craft were sunk well outside torpedo range by the heavier guns of the light destroyers, which really only need a single hit to disable their tiny attackers. The surviving senior officer launched his torpedoes at long range and got lucky, taking out the K-18. But with their payloads expended, the other four boats broke off, tracing an irregular course to Cirque Island in case they were being observed.

Looking to give himself an advantage, Araki ordered his three remaining light destroyers and Tama to launch a torpedo strike against the Green Force, in particular the coastal defence battleship. Commodore Shin ordered Chitose forward to intercept the attackers as their intent became clear. This left Dagupan and Mikasa slugging it out, Bugsuk duelling with the heavier Atatake, and Iwaki and Kasuga having a fairly even exchange. Jiro's Tone sniped away at Yahagi but was unable to keep pace with her, and eventually began plugging away at Dagupan.

At the price of another light destroyer sunk and Tama damaged, Araki got what he wanted - not only did the Green Force turn away to avoid torpedoes, effectively allowing Araki to cross their T for several minutes, but one of the torpedoes found Dagupan astern, damaging a shaft and jamming her rudder. There was little for Shin to do but break off the action, as Bugsuk and Iwaki were not capable of winning the day on their own. He’d effect repairs and attempt a later return - if Yahagi and her companions didn’t manage to complete the job on their own.

That action did not go as Green intended either. Yahagi, while a powerful unit, found itself dealing with not just Suma and Isuzu, but also the two assault transports, which collectively outgunned the Green cruiser. By the time Isuzu had been sunk, Yahagi had taken sufficient damage to prompt her to break-off. Dodging the retiring Red Force on its way out, Yahagi and her destroyers met up with Commodore Shin in the evening.

21 October

Morning found Vice-Admiral Taniguchi in a quandary. Reports from Rear-Admiral Araki were blunt: he did not believe he could successfully repel another Green attack on the transports. His ships, while more heavily gunned than the Green Force, weren’t any better armored, and they had taken significant damage. Taniguchi’s assistance was required if a defeat was to be averted.

However, Taniguchi had to consider the Blue Force, which he fully expected to make contact during the course of the day. Diverting too many assets to assist Araki would reduce the edge he held over the Blue Force.

Nonetheless, the overall objective was to hold the Andamans, not to destroy the Indian fleet. Taniguchi ordered the Covering Force to turn west.

Zuiho prepared for another day of intensive operations following the relative quiet of the 20th. Two of her four serviceable scouts were launched in order to search for the Green Force, while a trio of bombers were sent north and east to watch for the Blue Force. With the spectre of an air strike from Otta in mind, the air group commander also strove to maintain a combat air patrol of four fighters over head at all times.

The first pair of scouts failed to find Green Force; the second pair were successful, finding Commodore Chin’s force assembled at Hut Bay, on the eastern shore of Little Andaman Island. Taniguchi ordered Zuiho to assemble a strike for launch at the earliest opportunity, but the earliest it could be done was noon - and even then, only twenty-one bombers would be available: three had been “lost”, three more were genuinely unserviceable, and the remaining nine were cycling through a search pattern intended to locate Blue Force.

Nonetheless, Zuiho launched the strike, with an escort of four fighters. Arriving over Hut Bay, the strike commander split his aircraft between Iwaki and Dagupan. While the flak was of moderate intensity, Shin’s force was still accelerating to full speed and therefore a set of slow-moving targets. Despite evasive action on the part of the warships, five bombs struck home - three on Dagupan, two on Iwaki. Neither ship was seriously damaged, but both suffered moderate damage to their superstructure, light guns, directors, and the crew stationed there. One bomber ditched off North Brother Island after the engine seized up, but the remaining twenty-seven aircraft were back aboard Zuiho by 1400.

Blue Force, meanwhile, was steaming southwest, on a course that would leave it north of the islands, rather than heading directly at the Red Covering Force. The two forces first noticed each other as their scouts observed each other, leading to a tense afternoon as each admiral waited to hear, “Enemy airstrike inbound”. Based on sighting reports from Green Force, Blue Force had a better idea of where to look, and a Dhairya C, in the scout role, found the Covering Force itself at 1730. Zuiho’s aircraft found the Blue Battle and Carrier Squadrons at 1910.

What Zuiho did not find were the two Indian heavy cruisers and their escorts, and that worried Taniguchi. He reasoned that they were most likely even closer to the Andamans, possibly preparing for a night attack on the Assault Force off Port Blair. Such an attack could be devastating, given the tired and battered state of the forces there. Reluctantly, he ordered the heavy cruisers Miyazawa Yukino and Sakura Tsubaki and two destroyers to detach from the formation and proceed at their best speed for Port Blair.

Neither force attempted to launch a strike against the other at such a late hour, but both intended to do so in the morning - and similarly expected their opponents to do the same.

22 October

North of the Andaman Islands, twelve Toofani scout-bombers began arming and fuelling in Otta’s hanger at 0330. East of the Andaman Islands, Zuiho began arming her available strike aircraft - now down to twenty-four with losses and unserviceability. The strike forces were ready by 0500; the difference was that Otta promptly launched hers in the pre-dawn gloom.

As Zuiho ran up to flank speed for flight operations at 0600, a section of four aircraft appeared overhead. Mortified, Vice-Admiral Taniguchi watched them make an attack run on his carrier, and then waited for the report from the referees.

The referees aboard Zuiho considered the circumstances of the attack. Flak had been light, so none of the attacking aircraft were hit. They’d attacked from starboard, rather than from astern, so accuracy would be reduced. On the other hand, Zuiho hadn’t taken evasive action despite her high speed. It was decided that one bomb of the four dropped would strike the carrier. It landed aft, amidst the armed and fuelled strike force.

“Zuiho hit once astern. Fires aft”, was the first report, at 0603. A minute later, the carrier signalled, “Secondary explosions aft. Fire spreading.” At 0607, the report was, “Fire engulfing air group. Additional explosions. Aborting air operations.” Frustrated, Taniguchi visualized Zuiho with a roiling plume of grey-black smoke towering over her aft deck and a raging inferno creeping forward along her flight deck.

A course of action was decided upon. Zuiho, with escorts, would continue to sail northeast (into the wind, for fire control purposes), while the battleships and other escorts would steer northwest. Naomi would use his superior speed to run down the Indians and destroy them in a surface engagement.

A second group of Otta aircraft arrived overhead at 0635. Unaware of what had already transpired, they also attacked Zuiho. Two bombs struck, aft and amidships. Under the circumstances, the referees did not feel that the bombs inflicted any additional damage to the carrier, and decided that one of the bombers had been shot down. The third quarter of Otta bombers returned to their carrier having not sighted any of the Red Force.

Otta’s Dhairyas began tracking Zuiho soon afterward, being careful to keep outside the range of Japanese anti-aircraft guns. As Taniguchi’s intentions became more evident over the course of the morning, however, Commodore Dosanji decided that Zuiho was probably out of action and re-focussed on the Japanese battleships.

Vice-Admiral Shoblak and Rear-Admiral Epp were none too keen to engage the much larger Japanese battleships. With ongoing observation by Otta’s aircraft, Shoblak was confident he could evade the now-blinded Red Covering Force. At the same time, however, he wanted to keep the Covering Force away from Port Blair itself while his colleagues attempted to defeat Red forces there.

Shoblak therefore ordered Commodore Dosanji to continue shadowing the Red Covering Force, and for the scouts to fly directly back to Otta rather than making any effort at hiding their final destination. The same was true for the strike he ordered sent against one of the Red Covering Force light cruisers.

This strike, arriving at 1323, was not particularly successful; Otta had “lost” one aircraft, had a second one unserviceable, and three more were monitoring the Japanese force. This left only seven strike aircraft, and the one hit on the wildly jinking Abukuma only inflicted light damage upon the cruiser. Two of the bombers were gunned down.

Vice-Admiral Taniguchi’s staff suggested following the departing aircraft, and Naomi agreed, noting that he was being led away from the islands. He was not troubled by this, and remained confident that Rear-Admiral Araki’s reinforced squadron was sufficient to defend the Assault Force.

Now bolstered by the arrival of the two Japanese heavy cruisers, Rear-Admiral Araki was indeed breathing easier. He stationed his two light destroyers as pickets to the south and north, and put the protected cruiser Suma to the east as a precuation. He then formed a reaction force consisting of the two heavy cruisers, CL Tone and Tama, and two destroyers. Mikasa, Atatake and Kasuga, being rather slow and unsuitable for a night action, would remain at Port Blair, with two destroyers as escorts.

The Blue and Green Forces had their own plans. Commodore Ukkhoy, with his three cruisers and four destroyers, would attack Red Forces from the north, coming down from Diligent Sound. Commodore Shin would renew his attack from the south. Finally, the surviving Filipino MAS boats would attempt to stage a raid of their own. There was no confirmation of the Japanese heavy cruisers having joined the Assault Force, but their absence from the Covering Force suggested the possibility, and all three units were expecting to encounter them.

23 October

By midnight, the waters around the Andamans were alive with groups of warships, all converging on Port Blair. The various force commanders were aware that they would essentially have the seas to themselves - the town was theoretically under martial law, so there were few civilian vessels out to be concerned with.

(In reality, the territorial governor had ordered civilian vessels to remain in harbour for a week, and had a budget to compensate all fishermen who obeyed this order. For the most part, this strategy was quite successful, the locals finding it a good opportunity to repair their boats without losing income.)

The light destroyer K-16 detected an enemy first, sighting Iwaki and then her companions. Her commanding officer sent a wireless message back and elected not to attack but to shadow the Green Force.

Araki debated whether to commit the Assault Force or his cruisers, and in the end, decided on the cruisers. With Araki aboard the Yukino, the four cruisers and two destroyers sped south at flank speed. At 0120, K-16 began firing flares in the direction of the Assault Force. Araki’s lookouts had no trouble detecting the oncoming attack.

Ordering his force to reduce speed, he turned east and began volleying torpedoes as the range reached an estimated ten thousand metres. He then turned south again and began to close the range once more. Not until the range had dropped to seven thousand metres did the Green Force detect him and open fire. As searchlights lit up and illuminated each ship’s targets, blinker lights transmitted details of the torpedo attack to Dagupan, where the referee’s staff frantically worked out the mechanics of the attack and informed the referee.

The range was long enough to cause most of the torpedoes to miss, but the Japanese weapons were big, and the few hits were spectacular. Bugsuk took one hit and came to a stop, her crew deluged with reports of flooding and loss of power. Yahagi took another and blew up.

The battle devolved into a gunfight. On one side, slow ships with heavy guns and a low rate of fire; on the other, faster ships with lighter guns but more of them and greater rates of fire. Yukino engaged Dagupan, her sister took on Iwaki. The light cruisers attacked Chitose in concert.

The fast moving Japanese cruisers were difficult targets for the slow-firing Green big guns, but the few hits were devastating. At the same time, however, the Japanese heavies were shooting six gun half-salvoes every twelve seconds, and at such tight ranges, only Dagupan’s belt was sufficient to defeat even some of the shellfire. Iwaki and Tsubaki each destroyed two of the other’s main turrets, leaving the old armored cruiser toothless while Tsubaki continued to fire her remaining eight guns. She shifted fire to Dagupan, whose belt continued to keep her vitals intact but failed to protect her upperworks, secondary guns, or bow and stern spaces.

Araki withdrew as word came in of an attack by the Indian cruisers to the north, leaving behind him the badly damaged Dagupan, the disarmed Iwaki, and one destroyer. Bugsuk, Chitose, Yahagi and the other destroyer were all sunk. Of Araki’s force, both heavy cruisers had moderate damage, Tama was sunk, and the other three ships were in good condition.

The attack up north had been similar in scope and execution to what Araki had done - in this case, fifty-six smaller Indian torpedoes spread out to strike against Mikasa, Atatake, Kasuga, and their two destroyers. Only Mikasa survived this wave of destruction in fighting condition, somehow avoiding any damage whatsoever.

The old battleship was, however, quite the handful for the Indian cruisers. Both of the heavies engaged her, using their high speed to spoil the slow-firing Mikasa’s aim. Lighter guns were damaged, the bridge struck early on (“killing” Captain Togo Ryoko, leaving observing Captain Yamamoto Isoroku in command). Her armor, however, was formidable and kept her intact long enough to do significant damage to the Male. Lucknow and the four destroyers, meanwhile, attacked the transports, dispatching one and damaging the other.

The return of Araki’s force - detected early on by the Indians as a result of some wireless traffic - shifted the odds back in favor of the Red forces, and Commodore Ukkhoy recognized it. Before Araki was even sighted, he called his attack off, leaving behind the destroyer Guwahati, which had been crippled by fire from the transports.

With Araki still in control - barely - of Port Blair, the Japanese admiral elected not to pursue the withdrawing Blue cruisers. Given that exercise ended at noon, he doubted they would be able to return before then.

And he was right; there would be no further action this day, apart from some submarine chasing off Sittwe. Thus the exercise came to a halt.

24 October

It was determined that Red had been victorious, having successfully (though barely) held the Andaman Islands. Despite the Red Force’s heavier losses, it was recognized that the two Japanese battleships remained a significant obstacle to Blue/Green recapturing the islands.

Red Losses:

1 CDS, 1 AC, 2 CL, 2 DD, 3 DDL, 1 LSM sunk
1 CV, 1 PD, 2 CA, 1 CL, 2 DDL, 1 LSM damaged

Blue/Green Losses:

1 CL, 1 CE, 1 PC, 2 DD, 1 TB, 2 DD, 6 MAS sunk
1 CDS, 1 CA, 1 AC, 2 DD, 3 MAS damaged


25 October

Most of the SATSUMA fleet gathered in and around Port Blair for a debriefing, but a few ships were not quite done. The Five Nations Cup was to be the object of competitive gun and torpedo firing at a target range in the north part of the islands. Competing vessels were:

Capital Ships: Mikasa, Dara Shikoh, Dagupan
Heavy Cruisers: Yukino, Hyderabad, Bugsuk, Iwaki, Kasuga
Light Cruisers: Abukuma, Lucknow, Calayan, Chitose, Tone
Destroyers: Akatsuki, Thimphu, Pelicano, Arare, Asakase

Each group of ships fired twenty shells at a long-range target while the vessels were anchored, with the assistance of a spotter aircraft. A second pattern of twenty shells was fired while the ship was steaming at its top speed. In the case of the destroyers, they also fired a pattern of torpedoes at a target area while at top speed.

Winners were:

Capital Ships: Mikasa
Heavy Cruisers: Hyderabad
Light Cruisers: Calayan
Destroyers: Arare

Overall, however, the Indians beat out the other four nations to take the inaugural Five Nations Cup, as Dara Shikoh and Thimphu were only narrowly beaten out by the respective winners in their categories.

Captain Alagaratnam of the Hyderabad noted afterward that he was relieved that exercise referees had under-estimated Mikasa’s accuracy during their “battle” of a few days earlier.

26 October

As the people of Port Blair enjoyed an opportunity to visit a number of SATSUMA warships, their captains gathered in an auditorium to hear some preliminary assessment of the exercise (which will be mentioned, at some point, in respective news reports by SATSUMA player-nations). They heard the MAS captains talk about the need for depots and support craft in any island chain they would operate in. The cruiser captains talked about how close their opponents got at night, and how this might affect future vessels intended for night operations. The carrier air group commanders noted the difficulties of sustained flight operations, and Zuiho’s captain talked about the gruelling fire control drill inflicted upon his ship.

And, with their work done, the many men and one woman (Mikasa’s Captain Togo) returned to their ships and departed for home.

... WOW!!! More comments when I get back home.

Are you saying "Awesome" because you won, or because you weren't entirely wiped out by MAS boats?

Sounds like we start getting our Third Quarter Reports ready then, followed by our news?

(never mind....that's a 1926 fleet games)

That's right - I'm three quarters late, not two quarters early.

Quoted

Originally posted by The Rock Doctor
Are you saying "Awesome" because you won, or because you weren't entirely wiped out by MAS boats?

Awesome because I won.
Awesome because I didn't get wiped out by the MAS boats.
Awesome because it is an great piece of work. Definitely worth the wait. (I doubt I'll be able to get anywhere near that with the 1927 exercise).
:-)
I think you're right, Ithekro. We should be slowly move toward Q3, unless someone has objections.

Still need to get the reports together for my joint exercises with Atlantis off of Venezuela. Been a bit under the weather so I haven't gotten as much done as I'd like to.

News theater report from the deck of the Mikasa before the start of the 2nd annual SATSUMA exercise.
========================================

Akaibara Yayoko: Well, my job has kept me extremely busy the last few years but I managed to free up some time for the SATSUMA Exercise. When in the winter you are in Yokosuka and see the Mikasa arrive, the deck is dark blue due to the Mikasa's crew... well almost dark blue because there is one idiot on deck wearing a light blue uniform. The same goes for the summer time when the deck is white except for that light blue idiot.
Togo Ryoko: (Who are you calling an idiot?!)
AY: My guest for this short session is the current captain of the battleship (*cough, cough*) HIJMS Mikasa.
TR: *bows* Konnichiwa! Togo Ryoko desu!
AY: Ryoko-chan's grandfather is none other than the famous Admiral Togo Heihachirou! And for those who do not know it, he is the man who destroyed the Russians at Tsushima. Ryoko-chan, it is an extremely great honour to meet you.
TR: The pleasure is all mine, Yayo-chan.
AY: Now what are you doing on a warship?
TR: I’m the CO of the Mikasa.
AY: But you’re like me. Not like the 99.99% of the navy that is male.
TR: So? You have a problem with that?
AY: Well, how many nations do you know have women as officers? Other nations laugh at us, saying we are so desperate for officers that we assign women to those positions.
TR: I guess that makes Japan stand out among the other Military Powers. We can all blame Kaetuza for that. As for those nations, let them laugh.
AY: Don't we always blame him for women in the Japanese Military Forces. I was told that he was striving for a Military Force that has as many male as female members, just like the Daimyou no Houmentai (*) which is pretty much the vollunteer part-time military job and it allows pretty much everyone into its ranks. Because that way you can have a much bigger Military Force. If you only use the men, then you have certain limits with size.
TR: True.
AY: Something that seemed to have failed miserably.
TR: Ha! I wonder what it was that hit his head before he thought about that.
AY: Manzo’s plane of course!!
AY+TR: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
AY: He’s a real idiot, isn’t he? Just like you.
TR: Pot calling kettle black.
AY: And what hit your head?
TR: Good question. As for my position, Kaetuza's belief is that a woman has the capabilities to be just as good a commanding officer as a man. He rather has a male/female mix of very capable officers rather than to have all male officers with a number of bad ones among them because there aren't any more men around who are capable enough to hold such an important position.
AY: I myself would definitely choose the "very capable" option.
TR: I guess every nation would want that... but if they stay as narrow-minded as they are now, they probably won’t be able to achieve that.
AY: True, Kaetuza tried to look further, broaden his view on the situation and not limit the military forces to male officers only. How many women did he manage to lure into the Navy anyway?
TR: I don't know. The pay in the Daimyou no Houmentai is much better. Dammit!! I get a mere 30 Ryo for my hard work each month! A guy like Hamano Eijiro, who is the captain of the Fuso, gets ten times as much!! It's an utter disgrace! That's Kaetuza's real reason! That way the military expenses fro personel won't be that high. We women demand equal rights! I deserve to be paid as much as Hamano!!
AY: (Errr... Isn't he like 20 years older than you are? I know a few other captains who get a lot less that Captain Hamano.)
TR: (Age shouldn’t matter. We all do the same job!)
AY: How did you get command of the Mikasa?
TR: How? It should be noted that the only reason, and I mean the only reason, why I am the captain of the Mikasa is because I am the grand daughter of Togo Heihachiro.
AY: ... that's it?
TR: Yes. I guess that they didn't want a woman to wreck the newer ships...so I am stuck with that old thing. Hell, this thing is older than I am!
AY: Well, it's not that old... Only a year older than you...
TR: I want a new ship!!
AY: That's the last thing we want. You’ll just wreck it.
TR: WHAT?!?
AY: I said that you definitely need a warship that defines your gracefulness in battle.
TR: ... yeah right!
AY: *looks over shoulder* (Why are all those guys looking at us?)
TR: (That means that they need a holiday badly. Happens now and then.)
AY: Last thing I'll be saying: Kick some male buts for me! Show them what we can do!
TR: Don't worry, I will!

(*) Daimyou no Houmentai = Armies of the various Feudal Lords in the Empire

News theater report from the deck of the Mikasa after the end of the 1st annual Five Nations Cup.
========================================
AY: AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! You’re dead!!!
TR: Bastards! They denied me a glorious victory!
AY: We didn’t win the Five Nations Cup, but you sure showed them with the individual performance right.
TR: PERFECT SCORE! 100 PERCENT! YAY!!!
AY: ...you know, I’m sure I saw a few splashes of your shells missing the target...
TR: ... that’s not true... must have been debris of the target hitting the water.
AY: Looking overall, it does appear that the referees under-estimated Mikasa’s accuracy.
TR: They probably do not know that every Sunday, I take the Mikasa to the firing range... except when she’s in port during the monthly museum ship routine... but I usually catch up by going to the range the day after the Mikasa starts her active routine. The guys of Mikasa’s Fire Control Department deserve all the credit. They work hard and do an excellent job to guide our guns to victory.
AY: Any final words?
TR: I’d like to wish Captain Nishiyama Aiko of the heavy cruiser Miyazawa a speedy recovery. She was struck down by the flue a couple of days before the start of the exercise. I also want to say hi to Captain Kusumoto Isami of the heavy cruiser Tsubaki. She is currently at her brothers wedding with her husband. Normally the three of us work as a team, but it’s a shame they couldn’t participate in the 1926 SATSUMA Exercise. Aiko-chan! Isami-chan! Let’s kick ass next year!
AY: Thank you for your time.
TR: Hey! Referee! Don’t we get a trophy for individual performance?! Give me one!

News theater report from the deck of the Mikasa after the end of the 1st annual Five Nations Cup.
========================================

AY: Captain Yamamoto. Thank you for sparing some of your time. What is your opinion of the 1926 SATSUMA Exercise?
YI: I think it went surprisingly well... for both sides for that matter, even tough Red Force won.
AY: A few points of interest?
YI: Commodore Shin was doing a good job, but I think he made a poor decision to try and shoot across the island in order to get to the Red Force Transports. He wasted time there, which allowed Rear Admiral Araki to fend off Shin’s forces a few times. Another would be the strike commander, Captain Ozutanui, when he and his men attacked Port Blair. He made an excellent decision to ignore the civilian ship present in the harbor and shift the attention to military land targets. There wasn’t anything of value in the harbor anyway. The pilots of the Otta did an excellent job to take out the Zuiho, although Zuiho's captain was wise enough to have her turn into the wind to prevent the situation from becoming even worse. And how about the fifty-six Indian torpedoes in the water? Excellent captaincy prevented any damage to that ship (I have a suspicion that Ryoko might have been distracting the referees a bit).
AY: I can see the front page news: “Mikasa captain performs striptease on bridge to distract Exercise Referees.”
TR: Yamamoto-kun! That’s a lie! You know it! You were there! And no, I did not perform a striptease act on the bridge, Yayo-chan!
AY: Better end this report now before something bad...
*Crash!*
*Black screen*

Rocky: Excelllent. :-) I'll see what I can do for post-facto newso.

Walter:

Guess I'm not that late for Q1/1927 exercises.

I don't have time to write quite that much, or enough ships to stage huge battles.

I'm can't wait to see what your post-facto news will be about, Swamphen. Glad you like the non-serious stuff. Be prepared for very serious stuff for the 1927 SATSUMA Exercise (when I manage to finish it next millenium).
:-)

... you know.. for some reason ":-)" doesn't fit at all in the post with Nobunaga as Avatar!!! It just looks too weird!!

Nice work!!

Hmmm. You wouldn't have an image of the Mikasa's captain would you?....or your reporter?

As for Quarter 3...when would be a logical time to start with the sim reports?

Yikes I still have news to post!, give me a few days.

I also have to write a little on the Atlantian/American exersises, been tough to colaberate a storyline via PM and with limited writing ability's, and work and...

Quoted

Hmmm. You wouldn't have an image of the Mikasa's captain would you?....or your reporter?

Typical male question! XD
Of course not! They're fictional characters!! (Read: Ï am currently at work and am unable to access the pictures from here)
:-)

Quoted

I also have to write a little on the Atlantian/American exersises, been tough to colaberate a storyline via PM and with limited writing ability's, and work and...

... lack of Hockey this season!!! :-D
Good to know that we can still expect reports from two exercises to appear. Good luck guys!

Acctually lack of Hockey this season gives me extra time, to instead do nothing on the computer as opposed to doing nothing watching TV!

If you have them next to each other, you can watch the Hockey on TV while working on the computer. Just make sure that you are looking at the TV at the right time or you'll miss all the exiting stuff!!
^_^