Matapan: The Naval Battle for Greece. March 1941.

 Over the years I have saved various battles and campaign scenarios I have come across that may be useful for the future. This is one of those campaigns, or rather mini-campaign

I cannot recall where I found this now, my apologies to the authors. It spans 3 days, 27th to 29th, March, 1941 totalling 24 turns each split into 3 phases.

The rules are simple which I have slightly amended for GQ3. Ship movements are rated Slow (convoys, damaged ships), Normal (Battleships), Fast (Cruisers, Destroyers, Vittorio Veneto and HMS Formidable). Movement per turn is 1, 2 and 3 hexes respectively. 

Fuel issues with the Italian destroyers gives them 16 turns at normal speed with 2 turns used at fast speed or in action, and nothing used at slow speed.

Rather than type out the rules in full I will allude to various aspects as the game progresses. 

A brief explanation of the Orders of Battle:

British - Force C can be created by ships assigned from other groups. Greek destroyers are based in Piraeus and will only be activated on a roll of 4,5 or 6 as soon as an Italian force has been positively identified or Ultra/Enigma has cracked Italian code revealing their plans.

AG9 and GA8 are convoys sailing along the allied convoy lane - more of that later.

Italian - The battleships Caio Duilio and Guilio Cesare were not available in the historical battle but they are provided as an option in the rules. I have selected them to provide more balance and hopefully a more exciting game. The British already have the advantage of radar and better night action training along with the presence of an aircraft carrier.

Continued -

A list of aircraft available to both sides. In GQ3 an aircraft model typically represents a flight of 3 or 4 aircraft. Given the small number of aircraft available, I have reduced that to 2 (rounded down) to make it more interesting. 

Any aircraft flights receiving damage from AA will lose 1 aircraft, a destroyed flight will lose 2. 

The winner will be the side that has accumulated the most victory points, awarded as follows:

Allies:
5 vps for sinking Vittorio Veneto, the pride of the Italian fleet.
4 vps for sinking Caio Duilio or Giulio Cesare
3 vps for sinking an Italian cruiser.
1 vp for sinking an Italian destroyer.
2 vps if Vittorio Veneto does not get as far east as Cape Matapan('s longitude - the hex line north-south or east of it.
1 vp if no Italian ship gets as far east as Gaudo Island('s longitude, north or south of Crete).
1 vp for sinking an Axis sub.
-2 vps (from total) for getting alerted by Ultra/Enigma at the start of the game.

Italians:
4 vps for sinking a British battleship or Formidable.
2 vps for sinking an Allied cruiser.
1 vp for sinking an Allied destroyer.
1 vp for bombarding Maleme airfield (which destroys any aircraft on the airfield); 2 vps for bombarding Suda Bay.
2 vps for a div of heavy cruisers or a battleship circumnavigating Crete and surviving
1 vp for each Allied freighter sunk.
1 vp for sinking a British sub.
½ vp for or each air unit (1 flight).

Game-turn Sequence: :
- Aerial reconnaissance.
- Air Strike Launches.
- All Ship/Task Group Movement - Italians first - with Contact Resolution and Surface Battles at the instant of any same-hex contact - Air Strikes during middle (Fast, Slow) movement pulse..
- Sub contacts and attacks

The situation at the start. Convoy AG9 is heading north to Piraeus and GA8 south to Alexandria. Force B is at sea.

An Ultra/Enigma test failed so the British will receive not intel from that source.

The entire Italian force enters the map as indicated having sailed out of Taranto.

Italian Plan -

Main Body – Head towards Alexandria to destroy main British battle fleet
1st Cruiser Div – Bombard Malemo and Suda Bay
3rd Cruiser Div – Move towards Crete supporting either main body or 1st Cruiser Div
8th Cruiser Div – Target convoys. Initially head to Gaudo

British Plan

Force A – Move out to south of Cape Matapan and destroy main Italian body.
Force B – Cover Crete and engage any Italian forces approaching island
Force C – Consider detaching up to 4 destroyers from Force A and use as recce force.
Greeks – Protect convoy routes
Convoys – Maintain course and speed

Turn 1 was quiet with the only notable event being the failure of the Ultra/Enigma test which will delay Force A's departure from Alexandria until turn 3. 

This is the situation at the end of turn 2. Still being a night turn no long range aerial reconnaissance missions are possible. 

A note regarding submarines. British subs are operating in the area marked to the north west. A roll of double '1' or double '6' is required to make contact with any surface forces in this area. They dice for each hex containing surface forces and so far have failed. 

Italian subs can either operate in the area marked near Alexandria or target the convoys. They have elected to patrol the marked area. They make contact in the same way but with the addition of an '11' rolled. The British get this bonus on any Italian ships returning through their patrol area.

Turn 3 pulse 2. (The map provided states air strikes are conducted in pulse 3 but rules state pulse 2. I have gone with the rules and believe this is an error. It makes sense that aircraft launch pulse 1, strike pulse 2 and return pulse 3). 

The naval groups within a red box are those that have been contacted by aerial recon. 

Having contacted British force B the 2 flights of SM79 torpedo bombers launch from Rhodes at the limit of their range (8 hexes. Swordfish based on Crete are limited to 6 hexes). 

Force A sets sail from Alexandria and no sub contacts are recorded this turn. 

The only action is the air strike on Force B.

The 2 Italian flights swoop in to launch their torpedoes at the lead British cruiser, HMS Orion. 1 flight aborts have received damage from AA fire. The remaining flight fails to score any hits.

A note here about aircraft losses for the game. I have determined that a damaged result from AA fire equates to 1 aircraft unavailable for the rest of the campaign. If a destroyed result then both aircraft in the flight are out of action. 

It takes a complete turn for the aircraft to rearm and refuel. For the next mission one model will represent 3 x SM79's.

Turn 5 pulse 2. Turn 4 was uneventful with no sub contacts. This turn more aerial recon contacts have been made by the Italians and air strikes launched.

Italian destroyers accompanying the cruiser divisions have taken a risk by increasing their speed to 'fast' and burning through their precious fuel in the process.

The SM79's target a convoy and the Swordfish from Maleme attack the 3rd Cruiser Division. 

The SM79 torpedo bomber flight attack on convoy AG9 targeted a cargo ship. It survived the incoming AA fire unscathed but failed to score any hits with its torpedoes.

The 2 Swordfish flights from Maleme attacked the 3rd Cruiser Division. The target for its torpedo run was the rearmost cruiser Trieste. Italian AA fire proved more accurate damaging one flight. The remaining swordfish completed their attack but failed to score any hits.

Turn 6 after completion of 1st pulse. No further aerial recon contacts and no air strikes. The British finally get a message through to the Greeks requesting assistance. Greek destroyers immediately put to see at maximum speed out of Piraeus. 

The Italians move first resulting in two surface actions. The 1st Cruiser Division destined for Maleme cannot resist reports of a nearby convoy sailing north and intercepts AG9.

To their south the 3rd Cruiser Division has also been made aware of a British light cruiser force to their south east. The Italian commander seeks to take advantage of his heavier guns before nightfall and moves into contact with Force B.

1st Cruiser Division intercepts Convoy AG9

The British convoy sights the Italian ships approaching from the north west. The Italians are first to open fire with their 8" guns at long range, but prove to be wide of the mark.

The Italian cruisers flanked by 4 Oriani class destroyers.

The two elderly British 'C' class cruisers have been refitted in an AA role and their 4" guns will be no match for the Italian 8". They will therefore be tasked with targeting the Italian destroyers with the British destroyers taking on the Italian cruisers with their torpedoes. As the British warships reposition themselves the convoy makes a ponderous turn away from the action.

The Italian cruisers make a turn bringing their broadsides to bear but their salvoes register no hits. Their destroyers reform into their squadron with the intention of offloading their torpedo tubes into the slow moving cargo vessels.

The Italian cruisers lead by Fiume attempt to close on the convoy but the nearly suicidal charge by the British destroyers proves rather distracting! HMAS Vampire leads the attack and is the first to fire off its entire complement of torpedoes. 

The Italians struggle to score any hits from their 8" guns on the rapidly manoeuvering destroyers and for a time it is only their secondary 3.9" that has any impact. That is until Vampire was struck by 2 x 8" shells one of which jammed its rudder resulting in untrolled turns to starboard (top left).

The other 2 destroyers launch their torpedoes meaning there are now a total of 19 torpedoes in the water. HMS Jaguar (top right) benefits from Radar Fire Control and that enhanced accuracy proves decisive when one of its 4.7" shells strikes the hull of Fiume but fails to penetrate the thicker armour.

Alfieri leads the destroyer squadron towards the convoy and is headed off by HMS Carlisle (top of photo). 

Carlisle uses rapid fire pouring 4" shells into Alfieri damaging its hull and engineering as well as crucially destroying one of its torpedo mounts.

It is now turn 7 and an overview of the situation. To the right the cargo vessels have been ordered to scatter. All British torpedoes have missed and is now a case of every ship for itself!

In the foreground Jaguar is on fire having been hit by an 8" broadside and its superstructure is something of a mess! To the right of Jaguar, Defender is also in trouble having been hit by multiple 8" shells jamming its rudder and an engineering hit reduces its speed.

The fight between the 2 British light cruisers and the Italian destroyers becomes rather intense. Carlisle to the right has inflicted a fair amount of damage on the destroyers as it sailed past them firing broadsides. Alfieri is dead in the water having suffered 2 engineering hits. Carducci is on fire and Oriani has suffered a bulkhead breach leading to flooding.

In return a lucky single 4.7" hit struck Carlisle's engineering reducing its speed

Luck ran firmly against the British in turn 8. The light cruiser Calcutta turned hard to port with a view to emulating Carlisle and pour close range broadsides into the approaching Italian destroyers. In doing so she placed herself in the path of 3 torpedoes fired by Carducci. 2 torpedoes struck (upper middle of photo) reducing her to a sinking wreck.

Although Carducci failed to extinguish its fire, both her gun turrets were still working. They attempted a fairly long range shot at the nearest cargo vessel, Empire Spring, which proved remarkably accurate. The 4.7" shells breached a bulkhead causing flooding and set fire to one of her cargo holds (lower middle of photo).

It is now turn 10 with both Defender and Jaguar hit with multiple 8" shells reducing them to sinking wrecks. In the one-sided exchange Jaguar did succeed in knocking out Zara's 'Y' turret. A rather forlorn Vampire (upper left of photo) could only conduct a slow turn to port but still had operational 4" guns which it fired towards the Italian cruisers. 

Zara was tasked to deal with this irritation before supporting the Italian destroyers. The path was now clear for Fiume and Pola to bear down on the cargo vessels (bottom right).

Empire Spring continued to burn and also struggled to contain flooding as it was struck by more shells from the Italian destroyers. Kinross had fallen behind the rest of the cargo vessels (left of photo) which proved unfortunate as 8" shells fell around her including some hitting home leading to extensive flooding. 

The last of the British light cruisers, Carlisle (top left), raced towards the now dispersing convoy hoping intercept the Italian destroyers.

It is now turn 12 which sees the Italian heavy cruisers, Fiume and Pola mauling the merchant vessels as they try vainly to escape the powerful warships. Kinross and Empire Spring are sunk and the tanker Scottish Maiden on fire with multiple bulkhead floodings.

The fastest of the cargo vessels, Clan Macaulay (bottom right), fires its single stern mounted 4" gun towards the onrushing destroyer Gioberti (middle right) and is elated to see hits shell score a hit knocking out the forward gun turret.  

In the foreground Zara fires a punishing 8" broadside into Vampire (off camera bottom left) leaving it a floating wreck. It has just one 4" gun operational out of the initial 4 and is not giving up yet. 

Carlisle is proving to be the hero of the British fleet. The destroyer Carducci (far left) succumbs to the punishment meted out by Carlisle and sinks. Carlisle has insufficient ammo to maintain rapid fire but nevertheless scores multiple hits on Oriani (middle top) severely damaging its hull.

Turn 14 and Fiume has overhauled Clan Macaulay and pummelled her with 8" shells causing extensive flooding and 2 hold fires. 

Vampire's charmed life has come to an end and is the last of the British destroyers to be sunk. An 8" salvo from Zara proved too much for the elderly destroyer.

The last 2 Italian destroyers with loaded torpedo tubes took the opportunity to fire them off while they still could.

At the top of the photo, Oriani launched her torpedoes at Carlisle before turning away to disengage. All missed as Carlisle continued to close on the surviving cargo vessels.

In the foreground Westbury was not so lucky. Carducci fired her torpedoes at close range directly into the path of the cargo vessel with one striking its hull. With Westbury sinking it was beginning to look like a wipe out.

A lesson here never to assume you are safe. Clan Macaulay was about to sink but Fiume decided to finish her off in style. Firing all her 8" and secondary 3.9" guns failed to score any hits on the now almost static Clan Macaulay. The single 4" gun on the merchant vessel, in a last act of defiance, fired on Fiume and in a stroke of remarkable luck struck the floatplane causing a fire. This in itself need not have been much of an issue but Fiume struggled to extinguish it before sustaining hull damage.

It was the last act of Clan Macaulay before it sank to the bottom. Fiume will be able to continue the campaign but unable to achieve maximum speed.

The battle drew to a conclusion as the Pola (far right of photo) sank the last of the merchant vessels, Sepoy. 

Carlisle (top right) momentarily pursued Oriani and succeeded in knocking out one of its gun turrets before deciding that it was time to leave upon observing Zara steaming towards them.

The Italians called off any pursuit of Carlisle not risking any further damage when they had to turn their attention to their primary roll of bombarding Crete.

Carlisle was the sole survivor of the convoy but remained unscathed despite being in the thick of the action from the start. 

A great victory for the Italians but not without cost. Of the 3 surviving destroyers, one was dead in the water, both the other two could only muster one operational gun turret between them and their torpedo tubes were empty. All will have to return to port for repair but a calculation would have to be made as to whether the crippled Alfieri can be towed successfully given their limited fuel. She may have to be scuttled!

The Italian cruisers will be able to continue with their bombardment but without any destroyer escort.

To prevent this post being overly long, I will save the next action for the following post.