Operation Excess.
Allied Order of Battle.
. Admiral Sir Andrew Browne Cunningham had a supreme sense of confidence in the capability of his armoured carriers."
- Force A included Illustrious, Valiant, Warspite and seven destroyers.
- Force B comprised the cruisers HMS Gloucester, Southampton, Ilex and two destroyers carrying 500 troops to Malta before joining convoy MC4 as escort.
- Force C was the screen for MC5, the anti-aircraft cruiser HMS Calcutta and two destroyers.
- Force D was a covering force made up of the heavy cruiser HMS York and the cruisers Orion, Ajax and HMAS Perth with four corvettes.
- Force F was MC4’s close escort of four fleet destroyers and the anti-aircraft cruiser HMS Bonaventure.
- Force H was responsible for MC4 for the leg between Malta and Gibraltar. It was made up of HMS Ark Royal, Malaya, Renown, Sheffield, and five “F” class destroyers.
- Convoy MC4’s nine freighters were to travel to Alexandria from Gibraltar. Convoy MC5’s
Historical Sequence of events.
Royal Navy personnel accustomed to Regia Aeronautica SM.79s were surprised by the intensity of X Fliegerkorps operations encountered during Operation Excess.
6 January 1941.
Convoy MC 4 left Gibraltar feinting toward the Atlantic before turning toward Malta after darkness concealed them from the view of Axis agents near Gibraltar.
7 January.
Force H sailed from Gibraltar to cover convoy MC 4. Force A, Force D, and convoy MW 5 with Force C sailed from Alexandria, and Force B sailed from the Aegean toward Malta. Force A was located by Italian air reconnaissance that afternoon.
8 January.
Force B landed its passengers in Malta and proceeded west to meet convoy MC 4. Wellingtons bombed Naples damaging Giulio Cesare with three near misses and causing the only operational Italian battleship Vittorio Venito to retreat from the approaching convoys.
9 January.
Force A was joined by Force D and HMAS Sydney 210 nautical miles southeast of Malta. Force B joined convoy MC 4. Convoy MC 4 and Force H were discovered by Italian aircraft and attacked unsuccessfully by ten SM 79s from Sardinia. Two SM.79s were shot down by Fairey Fulmars from Ark Royal. A later attack by 15 Fiat CR 42s carrying 100kg bombs was similarly ineffective. Force H left convoy MC 4 that afternoon after Ark Royal launched six Swordfish for the defense of Malta. Force A joined convoy MC 4 at dusk.
10 January.
Italian ships from La Spezia searched unsuccessfully for Force H Italian submarine Settimo and Torpedo boates Circe and Vega launched torpedoes unsuccessfully against convoy MC 4. Bonaventure and Hereward sank Vega six miles south of Pantellaria at 0830. Circe escaped undamaged. Bonaventure sustained some damage and two of her complement were killed. She spent 75 per cent of her ammunition in the engagement. Two of Vega 's crew survived.
Gallant struck a naval mine at 0835 The bow was destroyed and 65 men were killed. Mowhawk took Gallant in tow toward Malta while the Force B cruisers provided protection from air attacks. Convoys MC 4 and MW 5 arrived at Malta and convoy ME 6 departed for Alexandria. Few ships survived dive bombing attacks of the intensity Illustrious endured from these Ju87 Stukas.
Fulmars from Illustrious shot down an Italian aircraft shadowing Force A at 0930. Valiant avoided torpedoes launched by two SM.79s approaching under the radar horizon at 1230 As the combat air patrol Fulmars dropped altitude to engage the SM.79s, Force A was attacked at 1235 by 18 He 111of KG26 and 43 JU 87s of StG 1 and StG 2 escorted by 10 BF 110s of ZG 26 .
Illustrious completed launching relief Fulmar and Swordfish patrollers as the attack developed. Illustrious was the main target and was enveloped in waterspouts and mist of exploding bombs. Some bombers diving from an altitude of 12,000 feet delayed bomb release until their pullout altitude was lower than the height of Illustrious ' funnel. The five air patrol Fulmars had not returned from chasing the SM.79s which attacked Valiant; and the four recently launched Fulmars were unable to gain altitude rapidly enough to break up the attack. The Fulmars claimed eight enemy aircraft downed during the continuing air strikes against Force A as they shuttled to Malta airfields to refuel and re-arm Warspite was lightly damaged by a single bomb. Illustrious was hit by five bombs, including one which failed to explode; and a near miss disabled her rudder mechanism. A bomb striking a lowered elevator caused extensive hangar damage with many casualties among aircraft maintenance personnel and destroyed nine Swordfish and five Fulmars. At 1530 Illustrious headed for Malta steering with engines. The bombing attacks continued.
Seven SM.79s were discouraged by heavy anti-aircraft fire, but an attack by six Italian Ju87s at 1600 scored another bomb hit and two near misses. Fourteen German Ju87s missed Valiant and Janus and a later attack by 14 He111s was similarly ineffective. Illustrious reached Malta at 2130 with 126 dead and 91 wounded.
The Game.
Malta Scenario 6. Operation Excess 10th January 1941.
Briefing.
Rules.
All rules for naval action and cards for suitable ships can be found in Neil's Files.
http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/dow...p?do=cat&id=40
Please read my preamble and Operation Shadow before you begin this game.
http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/sho...eration-Excess
The cast of players.
Allies.
One aircraft Carrier (HMS Illustrious)
One Battleship HMS Warspite) Admiral Cunningham's flagship.)
Two heavy cruisers.
Four Destroyers.
Four unarmed Merchantmen.
Fighter Escort Four Martlets or Fulmers. or any similar masquerading as such.
Axis.
Two waves of three German/ Italian, Stuka Dive bombers, SM79s or Fiat Cr 42s. or combinations of each.
An alternative could be an attack by three HE 111s.
All these types of aircraft were involved in the bombing at one stage or another.
Layout.
Fleet in any formation you choose on the mat in one half of the table protecting Illustrious.
Axis aircraft enter from the edge of the table on the other mat farthest from the fleet.
Objective.
Is to inflict at least serious damage upon the Illustrious.
ie.50% of its hit points, or to disable it enough to prevent it from moving off the table.
Do this and the Axis forces are victorious. Anything else and Malta is relieved, and so is Air Commodore Kyte.
Rob.
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Originally Posted by Skafloc
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