Sortie 2 saw much of the same action with the Westfalen and Derfflinger playing close in and the cruisers handing back. This time the Derfflinger's pump worked well and the Suffren was busy using it's stern guns on whatever was at hand. Without luck on their side, the opposing team had to work harder and longer and take a significant about of damage in the process. Finally bb's ran out and the battle was called.
Sortie 3 found Ceara cold and wet and not willing to stand out in the now pouring rain for the battle so a different captain was found for the Adm Scheer. The Suffren took advantage of the inexperienced captain and made a good showing by pounding on both of the cruisers and getting some shots in on the Westfalen as well. The Derfflinger kept up the pressure as well and the opposing team was finally driven from the pond.
Sortie 4 got off to a slow start as the Derfflinger was too waterlogged to continue. As the battle started, the Suffren went dead in the water, probably due to a wet transmitter. (It was stilling raining hard.) The remaining ships kept at it but with the Westfalen being unable to catch the cruisers and the cruisers not being able to do much damage to the Westfalen there was much running around and little actual damage. The Westfalen gave up after emptying it's guns and went to push the Suffren in to shore. The Suffren made it most of the way to shore before sinking in about three feet of water. At this point we realized that both of the other cruisers were out of control on the pond and the Westfalen a and unarmed Inflexible went out to help steer them back to shore.
Gear and ships were hauled back to the cars in a drizzle and we turned our thoughts to the winter building season. This year has been the best ever for the Washington Cascade Column with several new captains and ships. The battling has gotten better as we gain experience and larger ships. With several new ships on the ways, next year looks to be even more deadly for ships on the pond!
1st Sortie: All I remember was trying my hardest to get Garths boat. And being estatic that my boat was running and running well.
2nd Sortie: Same plan but because I was so intent on getting his boat I didn't notice that I crossed Keira's T and she peppered me a good 8 shots. I made sure not to be so intent on one that I got tunnel vision after that. :)
3rd Sortie: Decided that I would try to play with the Suffren a little bit. It was very difficult to get my guns into a good spot because it is so manuverable and he saw me coming. More often than not we would both try to line up and have our guns facing each other.
4th Suffren: Due to a Captians error I had no air when battle was called. Called 5 with in 1 minute. I bumped the hose when I put the battery in and I thought I got it closed in time but I guess I didn't or it still had a leak somewhere else.
The Washington Cascade Column's 2nd NW Regionals a huge success. Captains from Sacremento CA to Portland to Bainbridge Island to Spokane joined in the fun. We were greeted with a hot but windy day. Shade shelters were set up early, but there was a concern all day as to whether or not they would be blown down. The water was cool and clear, and many battlers waded or swam to cool off during the day.
We set several club records, most good, at this event. Number of warships on the pond for a battle: 12. Farthest traveled to one of our battles: Brandon Smith from Sacramento. Number of cargo ships: 3. Number of dead warships on the beach for the entire day: 4. Percentage of damp radio boxes on sunken ships: 75%.
Dead and dying ships: The USS North Carolina showed up for her first battle. Radio trouble sidelined her before the start of the battle so John reverted to the Invincible. The Foch got an overhaul on Saturday and was working fine. Sunday morning the receiver was shorted out. Brandon shifted over to the Suffren for the second and third sorties. The rudder servo on the Adm Scheer was totally dead and having the only Airtronics radio, no spares were available. The Roberts was low on CO2 but this proved not to be an issue, as she wouldn't fire at all.
THE TEAMS
GREEN RED Warspite 5.5 Bayern 5.5 Q.E. 5.5 Yamashiro 5.5 Mutsu 6 Richelieu 6 Invincible 4 Westfalen 4 Deutchland 3.5 Chester 3 Suffren 3 Colbert 3THE RED FLEET PLAN
We chose to split the fleet into (3) units.
The fast battleships Yamashiro and Richelieu would stay out in deep water and make the Green fleet take the battle to them Yamashiro would use its dual afts and aft side mounts to advantage. Richelieu would save her ammo until late in the battle and try to use her speed to pound on ships when they went "on five".
The slow battleships Bayern and Westfalen would stay close to shore and make life miserable for the Green team. The idea being to take advantage of their better maneuverability to punish the Green team in more congested water. The slow battleships had the additional task of defending the Red safe zone if it was needed. If a Red ship went "on five" and was in trouble they had a designated area to go to and the slow battleships would fend off any attackers.
The cruisers would make up the third fleet. Their job was to work with the fast battleships. We felt that they would most likely be the targets for the Green fleet. The cruisers would look for opportunities to attack any distracted Red fleet that was attacking either Richelieu or Yamashiro.
Our targets of choice would be Mutsu and Q.E. The idea would be to concentrate damage and try to get a sink.
THE BATTLE
Sortie #1
The plan started to unravel right from the start as ships started to have problems. Richelieu was having some range trouble and randomly shot most of her ammo at nothing. Chester had no working guns so Mike took her out and stayed out of the battle. We all accused him of not wanting to get his pretty boat shot up. Mutsu was also having range trouble, but this worked to our advantage, because that forced her in where our slow maneuverable ships were. As expected the Yamashiro was one of the main targets for the Green team. The Q.E. came right out after her. George was ready however and turned tail unloading his dual sterns into the Q.E.'s sides. The Deutchland was having trouble near shore and appeared to be stuck. This drew attention from Bayern, Westfalen, and Yamashiro. Westfalen and Bayern prowled the near shore making life miserable for all that ventured in close. Mutsu received quite a lot of attention, as she didn't have the range to get away.
Looking at damage between sorties, the Green team looked in worse shape. Q.E. had two large holes above water line. Yamashiro's aft cannons had done a nice job. Deutchland had taken a pounding, and Mustu, and Invincible were both showing a lot of holes. Red team did not have a boat that had enough damage to worry about. Brandon took over the Suffren from Danny for the second Sortie.
Sortie #2
The second sortie started poorly for the Green team. Phill had been working hard trying to fix problems in the fleet. As the battle drew near Phill let the Mutsu just float and went on helping other captains. As battle was called Phill was told the Mutsu was very low in the water, but his attention was divided. Mustu pumped for a bit then started forward. She rolled as soon as she tried to turn having not pumped out enough of the water taken on before the start of the battle. Not long after the Deutchland appeared to be sinking near shore. This drew a lot of attention from the Red fleet. Bayern gave it an accidental nudge pushing it under. It was counted a ram instead of a sink. Suffren having been sent out with a low battery went out of control. Bayern and Yamashiro took advantage of the easy target and put her under the water. The next ship in trouble was the Invincible. She was out of control on the far side of the pond near the Island. Paul and George in a traitorous act pushed the Invincible closer to the near shore, where the Invincible suddenly came back under control. Invincible's luck didn't hold out however, because she sank later in the battle.
FINAL SCORES
GREEN TEAM above on below sink penalty total Warspite 31 0 17 1160 Q.E. 68 7 25 2105 Mutsu 36 10 3 1000 1685 Invincible 32 6 1 800 1345 Deutchland 27 2 4 520 Suffren 46 3 6 700 1535 Total 8350 RED TEAM above on below sink penalty total Bayern 7 0 0 700 770 Yamashiro 23 6 9 830 Richelieu 21 1 0 235 Westfalen 8 0 3 155 Chester 0 0 0 0 Colbert 7 0 1 145 Total 2135CONVOY
For sortie #3 we chose to play some convoy. The two liberty ships were pulled out and set out on the water.
Our club has been too busy building ships to build any port facilities yet, so the idea was to see how many times you could run the convoy ship around the buoys. You could chose to protect your convoy ship or try to sink the other teams.
Immediately after launch the green teams Liberty ship Fond Du Lac was unprotected. Westfalen charged in and dumped first the aft then the bow sidmounts. Fond Du Lac did not make it to the first buoy. Red teams Liberty ship made one trip around the buoy's then came in for patching. While the Fond Du Lac was being retrieved the Komit was made ready for replacement on the Green team. After about 1/2 a lap, the Komit's receiver was dropped and control was lost. This made the Komit a sitting duck for the Red team to shoot up with almost predictable results. Much to our delight, we found out that the Komit won't sink. She settles until only the top section of the deck house and the cargo masts are still above the water. On reflection, all of her previous sinks were close to shore where she hit bottom before going totally underwater. We soon ran out of ammo and targets and called the sortie over.
Soggy radio boxes, low batteries and gusting wind brought the day to an end. A fun time was had and another successful NW Regional can go in the books.
As our fleets continue to get larger the battling continues to get more complex and fun. Captain skill and more powerful ships have resulted in many more sinks.
A warm and sunny day greeted four captain as they unloaded their ships and carried them up the trail to the pond.
Teams were Keith and Ceara Maxwell taking on Phill and Danny Lowe. This pitted the Westfalen and Adm Scheer against the Mutsu and the Suffren.
The first sortie started off with a few rounds from the bow gun of the Mutsu, since this gun was not working in the previous battle, this was seen as a good (if inaccurate) omen for the outcome of the battle. Most of the battle consisted of the larger ships sparing and occasionally coming closer to use sidemounts with the cruisers hanging back and shooting from a distance. One of the Mutsu's rudders could be seen flapping in the current. By the middle of the battle, an odd sound was heard as the Mutsu passed the shore. After the sortie, it was found to be the servo for the Mutsu's pump switch. With no trace of water coming from the pump, the Mutsu sank lower and lower in the water. Eventually, she eased towards shore and settled to the bottom in shallow water. The battle continued with very little enthusiasm. The Adm Sheer was out of bb's in the bow gun. The Suffren is far too fast for the Westfalen to catch so after a couple of minutes to assess the situation, the remaining bb's were dumped and battle called.
Alligator clips are your friend and were used to hot wire the Mutsu's pump. In addition the flapping rudder was reattached to the rudder servo. The early part of this battle mirrored the first with the large ships closing. As the battle progressed, the Mutsu gradually lost maneuverability and the Westfalen spent more time just staying out of the way. With a large swampy pump running, the Mutsu was in no danger and continued to try to bring it's guns to gear until steering was reduced to about 5 degrees. As the score will prove a 24 second ship can't out run a 28 second ship when it is going in circles.
At one point the Westfalen was able to get along side the Suffren, and Danny learned the hard way not to let that happen as he limped away pumping hard.
The battle between the cruisers was fairly indecisive with the Suffren mostly running and the Adm Scheer alternating between chasing the Suffren and trying to get in a few shots on the Mutsu at a distance. With only the Mutsu having bb's, her guns were emptied and battle called.
Limited CO2, the Mutsu's need of repairs and a desire to head out for ice cream evaporated the desire to hold a second battle. With a few folks stopping to watch and a family group showing up after having seen the WCC web page, the cruisers were rearmed and put back on the water for a demonstration sortie. Ceara proved to be hard to catch and matched the damage she took when Phill ran the Suffren onto a rock and got hung up for a couple of minutes.
There is a Baskin Robbins a mile or so up from the pond and the captains celebrated our first sanctioned battle.
The Pain recorded: Westfalen 12 - 2 - 5 420 Adm Scheer 14 - 2 - 1 240 660 Mutsu 50 - 7 - 26 sunk 2975 Suffren 27 - 0 - 12 970 3945 Mutsu has set a mark to aim for.
Sortie 1
Green Fleet: Bayern, Yamashiro, Augusta, Chester Other Fleet: Mutsu, Westfalen, Adm Scheer, Colbert, Suffren
Bill's Indiania is making progress but is not ready for battle so he took the helm of the Suffren for the first and second sorties. Green team hugged the side, shots from a distance. Yamashiro and Westfalen tangled with Yamashiro taking damage. The Bayern charged in and tangled with the Westfalen, in the process her secondary gun deck got pounded and a large chunk of it collapsed. The Chester got too close to one of the larger ships and lost several of her smaller guns to slightly high sidemount fire.
The Yamashiro escaped the main fray, called 5 and tucked into shore on the south side. The Mutsu followed and got several more belows in then got fouled up in a plastic bag. Bayern showed up to give the Mutsu trouble but was out of ammo very quickly. Mutsu wasn't an easy target and she hammered the deck of the Bayern when the Bayern got close. The Bayern lost a small boat and backed off. She was then attacked by the Westfalen but didn't realize that the attacker had no ammo left.
Sortie 2
Green Fleet: Bayern Yamashiro 38-2-33 sunk Augusta 22-5-2 Chester ?-?-15 Other Fleet: Warspite, Mutsu lots-6-4 Westfalen 7-2-5 Adm Scheer 26-3-3 Colbert ?-?-? sunk Suffren ?-2-1
The Mutsu fried a connector inside the radio box when the props were fouled so she underwent repairs during this sortie. The other team went after the Yamashiro since she was pumping at the start of the sortie. After a close encounter with the Warspite, the pump stayed on and she started to list. Shortly after she started to roll and settled to the bottom.
Westfalen was pumping but still tried to chase the faster crusiers. Bayern and Warspite finished off their ammo against each other. Somewhere in this battle the Chester's aircraft was shot off as were a couple more guns. The Colbert backed out of trouble only to find that the sensor on the pump was set too high. Her stern settled under the water just as the pump came on.
Sortie 3
Green Fleet: Bayern, Westfalen, Adm Scheer, Chester, Augusta Other Fleet: Warspite, Mutsu, Yamashiro, Suffren
The Scheer got rammed before battle was called. A quick patch job and she was back on the water. The Scheer backed up and took water over the stern and sank. Water in the radio box put her out of the battle. The Colbert was not behaving so Paul took the helm of the Suffren.
Shortly after battle was called, the Mutsu went out of control and finally backed into the island at full speed. The Yamashiro and Warspite got in close with the Bayern and Westfalen. The Cruisers hung back and sniped as good shots appeared. The Yamashiro found the Chester running slow and opened up with her sidemount. She was chased off by the Augusta and went back to shoot at the Bayern. The chester slowly headed northinto the shallows with no pumping. Unmolested, she slowly listed and then gracefully sank in shallow water.
The Yamashiro wandered to the south side and got fouled in fishing line right at the shore. The wake of the Bayern showing up pushed her on shore and the Bayern happily emptied her sidemounts. Just before the end of the battle, the Yamashiro's deck dropped below the surface of the pond.
Sortie 4
Green: Westfalen, Bayern, Suffren, Augusta Other: Warspite, Mutsu, Yamashiro
Yamashiro had limited rudder control so stayed out of the middle of the battle. She took closely grouped hits causing splintering. The Mutsu started out fine but progressively lost stearing as the rudder servo mount broke up. Bayern took 25 of it's 43 aboves in the bow and finally decided that the only way to stay afloat was to stop moving. The battle was called when no bb's were left. All of the ships had taken damage but none were in danger of sinking.
Bayern 43-10-15 Yamashiro 23-0-15 Augusta 13-1-0 Chester Warspite 19-7-26 Westfalen 14-2-0 Mutsu 57-7-23 Adm Scheer wet Colbert n/a Suffren 23-5-2
Driving north Sunday morning in bright sun, listening to the radio talking about overcast and 40 degrees in Everett (further north), I looked at the bank of clouds ahead and tried to make up my mind if the pond would be under them or not. After the weather for our last battle, mother nature decided we needed a break (or maybe just a bit of sunburn) and the pond was in bright sunshine all day.
We saw a major shift in both the fleet and the battling today. Both fleets started three capital ships and ended the day with two capital ships still operating. Much of the battle was slugging between capital ships. The WCC has only seen bits of this in the past. If this day is a taste of what is to come, future sorties will be longer and more heavily contested.
Thanks need to go to Keith, Greg, George, Paul and Darrell for their additions to this account. The battling is getting far beyond my ability to report coherently.
The fleet saw two brand new ships on the water. Keith with the Westfalen and Garth's still damp Derfflinger. Also almost in this category was Greg's Bayern and George's Fuso. George's Fuso still hasn't recovered from spending most of a week on the bottom of the lake and Darrell, being sidelined anyway, was gracious enough to loan him the veteran Warspite and to coach him on battle tactics. This made George a much more difficult target than we were hoping for. Eric launched the Augusta but radio noise forced him to bring her back in before the battle started. The Derfflinger had rudder and pump problems but choose to battle anyway.
Sortie 1: RED GREEN
Andrew Queen Elizabeth Greg Bayern
George Warspite Keith Westfalen
Paul Colbert Phill Mutsu
Garth Derfflinger Ceara Adm Scheer
Ceara chose the honor of calling "Battle!" and both fleets advanced. Bayern, Mutsu, and Westfalen attempted to coordinate but it devolved into "Hey Phill bring those six units over here" while the slower Westfalen and extremely overspeed Bayern use their maneuverability to frustrate the enemy. The Mutsu had only a few guns working and had control problems beyond a limited range. She came in after being rammed by the Colbert but pushing the balsa back into position and a swampy large pump was enough to send her back into the battle. The Derfflinger charged into the thick of battle. She went toe to toe with the Mutsu and Bayern and took several belows and many above waterline hits. The rudder control became a problem and she hid out along the delta till late in the battle. The lack of a working pump proved fatal and she slowly settled until water flowed over the bow.
George got blasted by the Westfalen's stern side mount because he didn't see it and came up along the side "without a gun". The rapid fire of a gun quickly revealed the mistake and he pulled back with a number of holes.
Paul tried to use the speed of the Colbert against the Westfalen but gave up after it proved too difficult to hit. With little ammo left, ships from both fleets called 5 and soon the battle was declared over.
Sortie 2: RED GREEN
Andrew Queen Elizabeth Greg Bayern
George Warspite Keith Westfalen
Paul Suffern Phill Mutsu
Eric Augusta Ceara Adm Scheer
Mike Chester
After looking at the number of problems needing repair, Garth chose to withdraw the Derfflinger for the day. A good showing for a new rookie ship that had only become operational 12 hours earlier! Mike showed up late in the first battle having added even more detail to his already pretty USS Chester. Paul failed to get the 2nd gun working on the Colbert so ran the Suffren.
Ceara called "BATTLE!" and the fleets converged. Having gained confidence in the first battle, the Q.E. decided it was time to slug it out and spent most of the battle close to the Mutsu, Bayern and Westfalen. George brought the Warspite into the fray but shortly found he was out of CO2 so had to stay back and threaten from a distance. The Bayern was having a jolly time chasing less dangerous targets than the brit boats when she lost complete control. She hit the beach in reverse and did something to her drive train. She called 5 and then spent the rest of the battle undergoing repair. The battle ended with the Mutsu still trying to put belows in the Q.E. and all other ships out of bbs.
Sortie 3: RED GREEN
Andrew Queen Elizabeth Greg Bayern
George Warspite Keith Westfalen
Paul Suffren Phill Mutsu
Eric Augusta Ceara Adm Scheer
All ships patched belows and some also worked on rams and aboves. Just before the battle started, the Chester backed out. This is very hard on propellers but what can you do when you have no control over your ship?
The green fleet moved to the delta and radio interference seemed less. The fleets stayed close to their respective captains and most of the early excitement was due to Ceara taking the Adm Sheer into the enemy fleet and then being able to escape with limited damage. The Mutsu stayed close to the delta and only got off a few shots. It suddenly dawned on the captain that the radio problems seemed to be linked to having the pump running. So shutting off the pump, the Mutsu suddenly could roam the entire pond.
The Suffren's pump failed to come on due to a connector issue and as she visibly settled low in the water, the green fleet tried to finish her off. They had limited success but without a working pump, it was only a matter of time before the stern of the Suffren dropped below the surface and her bow rose briefly in a very classic sink.
The green fleet encouraged by this sink, quickly chased the Augusta off the water and all too soon ran the British ships off while loosing only the Adm Sheer to it's "on 5". At this point, Greg's transmitter came off his neck strap and dropped into the pond. It looked like it bounced because Greg pulled it out so fast, but that was the end of the Bayern for the day. Points or not, the green fleet has chased the red fleet from the pond!
Sortie 4: RED GREEN
Andrew Queen Elizabeth Ceara Adm Scheer
George Warspite Keith Westfalen
Paul Suffren Phill Mutsu
Ceara called "Battle!" and the remaining ships converged. Adm Scheer had a low battery and was running slow. Ceara kept complaining but there is not much that can be done during the battle. Paul took advantage on the situation and pounded the Adm Scheer. Better teamwork on the red fleet could have resulted in a sink. Phill had replaced the pump in the Mutsu with one that had capacitors, and seemed to solve the radio range trouble. The Queen Elizabeth took a beating from both the Westfalen and Mutsu. She was running on tired batteries and was pumping slowly and listing. Sensing the possibility of a sink, the Mutsu and Westfalen kept at it. The Suffren placed it's self between the Q.E. and the frustrated attackers. The Q.E managed to get through 5 minutes without sinking. The Suffren also called 5 and became scarce.
The Warspite was on her own, out of CO2 and being hounded by the Westfalen and the Mutsu. She came up with an ingenious strategy. She would try to get the two ships to come up on her opposite sides, then slide out of the way so they would fire into each other. According to George it worked only once. She survived her 5 but again the green fleet had cleared the pond of opposing ships.
Quotes:
"Bayern come over here!" soon followed by "never mind, she's going!"
(Phill looking at the Derfflinger)
"Watch out for that small boat... Its nasty!"
(George after encountering the Westfalen)
"You have joined the Swiss Navy!"
(Darrell to Andrew looking at the side of the Q.E. after sortie 2)
"I love the aft sidemount on the Mutsu"
(Phill looking at the belows in the Q.E. after sortie 2)
"Is that boat hydroplaning?"
(Andrew watching the Chester)
The Yamashiro and the Bayern met on lake Mulligan (henceforth referred to as the graveyard of Gonzaga for reasons stated later) for a little one on one action. The two ships armed themselves and went out onto the lake for a final shakedown cruise. The guns were acting up on both ships today, and where far harder to tweak (we never did get them all right) today than they were yesterday in dry-dock. The upside is that the dual sterns on both ships work marvelously but are difficult to tweak and require some time to get right. (note to self, must get plug to enable testing both cannons independently) my bow side mount was acting a bit strange and I will be checking it out more and his stern side mount was still acting up. Nevertheless all guns on both ships worked.... Sometimes... With both ships running fast but the Bayern slower than the Yamashiro by about 2 seconds, we decided to continue. The battle got underway slowly as neither of us really knows how to drive our ships, however my ESC appeared to provide a decisive advantage as I was able to putter along at a slow speed while the Yamashiro had to go all or nothing. It allowed me to tailor my speed to my turn and added a new dynamic because I would be running along at 2/3 throttle and he would come up beside me and I would pop it into full and kick the rudders over. The Bayern turns real well but needs about 8 ounces of ballast in the bow. We both had great difficulties with our cannons; both because they are set to close range, too close I believe. I put a few holes in his boat in the first battle and he got one on me. By this time we had expended all our rounds (most missing the other boat) and decided to rearm. We rearmed just the dual sterns to practice with them because the side mounts were acting up...(Note, less down angle on side mounts... check feed angle on magazines) We also learned that the extra ammunition in the 1.5 unit gun really doesn't do that much for you.
We went out on the second sortie when something went disastrously wrong. George rammed a rock and somehow caused his boat to only have 2 speeds... reverse and stop. In my haste to rescue him I stripped off both my propellers slightly and got something screwed up in the gearbox... there was much noise and mashing of gears... needless to say the Bayern was going no where and was luckily still beached... Then George, thinking that his transmitter was the problem, tried to reset it by turning the transmitter off and then back on. The moment he turned his TX off, the boat lurched backwards and sucked itself under the water in what appears to be the deepest part of the pond. Now, we being the geniuses that we were had not yet attached a float to it and the water is 40 degrees. After many futile attempts to retrieve the boat, George got very cold and we decided to swear a lot and go hire a diver. Unfortunately this is Sunday and we will have to wait till Monday to get a diver.... With luck we will be able to retrieve his Yamashiro off of the bottom of the lake.
A major thanks goes to Paul and Jodie for bring the shelters and getting them put up early. Without them, the day would have been miserable!
The first sortie split the American cruisers between the French and British ships. Warspite, Q. E., Roberts and Chester VS Richelieu, Suffren, Colbert and Augusta. The only experienced captains with their usual ships were the Warspite and Richelieu. Q.E. made her debut under Andrew's command. Gary stepped up to the Deutschland but when she wouldn't run, moved to the Roberts. Mike and his new USS Chester rounded out the red fleet. Rad took the helm of the Suffren as Danny didn't make it to the battle. Paul gleefully took the Colbert into her first battle and Eric and his Augusta finally started to settle down to serious combat. Within a couple of minutes of battle being called, the Warspite rammed into the Q.E. With a beautiful stream of water shooting into the sky, the Q.E. headed towards shore and settled to the bottom against the shore. Andrew pushed the balsa back together and let the pump clear out the water then rejoined the battle. Several minutes later, the Warspite backed into the stern of the Richelieu and left a large hole open. With a large swampy pump, the Richelieu choose to continue the battle and took paint off the Warspite later in the battle for revenge. (Warspite wins "Most Feared" for this battle!)
The second sortie saw the Deutschland make it to the water with a single gun working. Some investigation on why the Suffren had not fired any shots out of one gun revealed that that Rad hadn't understood that the control stick has to go diagonally to fire both guns. Lucky for the Red team. Chuck Amos showed up with his Abercrombie hull so he was placed at the helm of the Roberts.
The Roberts backed into the weeds on the far side of the pond and got stuck. Fortunately, no one had time to take advantage of a dead ship. The rest of the battle was mostly fire and retreat with only minor damage done to most of the ships. With a list of changes to make, Mike and the USS Chester headed home with a few holes but also with the knowledge that they had survived combat
Patrick Blaine showed up to watch, saying that his Derfflinger is making slow progress but is still under construction. Additional discussion was held towards hosting a battle in the Portland area this year.
The third sortie saw the trading out of the Richelieu for the IJN Mutsu. Rad had to leave so the Suffren stayed on the beach. The Augusta was fighting intermittent problems so joined the battle late. Shortly into the battle, the Mutsu's pump noise died and she was brought in to investigate. The frozen pump was swapped out for a spare but still wouldn't pump. The spare pump was unhooked and the Mutsu launched without a working pump. This would prove to be a big problem later on. During this time, the Red fleet had been trying to inflict damage on the Colbert but had only limited success with this agile cruiser. The Mutsu made life interesting by erratically wandering around and firing various guns at inappropriate times. Gradually the battle petered out as the smaller ships ran out of ammo. With only the Q.E. remaining with bb's. The waterlogged Mutsu made a hard turn and as the water onboard sloshed to one side she rolled over. Being a wooden hulled ship, the hull stayed on top as the CO2 tank and battery dropped to the bottom three feet below. The props were still under control and would pull the stern 18 inches down but forward thrust just pushed the props clear of the water. The drysuit was pulled out and the ship, less the disconnected pump was retrieved.
Having drained both large CO2 tanks, the battle was declared over and the process of hauling all of the soggy equipment back to the cars started. The last thing taken to the cars was the drysuit. After letting the muck settle, a quick search pattern was executed and the lost pump found in very short order.
Bill Stubbings drove up from southern OR with a very nicely built from scratch South Dakota hull he is building as the USS Indiana. I'm sure we will see this ship on the water soon.
Melissa brought her Lutzow hull and between other activities, got far more advice than she really needs. She found 3/8th wide foam, door sealing tape and used it to mark the ribs on her hull.
Paul and Jodie's FS Colbert made it's debut with masking tape holding down the bare forward deck sections and a few rocks for ballast. Much work on this ship was completed the only day before so it wasn't surprising when she went dead in the water. Later it was found that she had thrown the dog-bone but with no way to keep it from happening again, she was beached.
The remaining ships split into teams with the Richelieu/Phill and Roberts/Keith vs the Adm Scheer/Ceara, Suffren/Danny and Augusta/Eric. Richelieu had serious radio problems and was only marginally under control and sinking. Later inspection showed a hole due to transport damage and a dead pump switch. The Roberts experienced gun problems quite quickly but continued to harass the opposing ships. The Augusta had participated in the recent building party but was only marginally in control. The Suffren was under Danny's command for the first time. The Scheer, being the only experienced ship/captain combo did do some damage to the Richelieu even though she too was experiencing control problems. The total number of hits on all ships was less than 5.
The rain appeared so we put up the tarp and huddled under it for a while. One of my co-workers showed up with her two boys. After a tour of the innards of the ships, the boys got bored and so we pulled out the Komit and the Fond Du Lac for the boys to run.
We finally got all the ships ready to run. One of the boys took over the Roberts and Keith took over the Suffren. Trading transmitters and hot wiring the pump solved the Richelieu's problems. The Roberts was put into a hard continuous turn and took on enough water to capsize. So with a mismatched group of ships, we called "everyone against the Liberty Ship!". We had a good time since the liberty ship's captain made it hard to catch. The sortie end with the Liberty ship doing a very nice sink near the far side of the pond. She was close enough to be retrieved with a stick and the new otterbox based radio box remained bone dry. I strongly recommend the otterboxes if you have a larger ship.
Eric took the August apart and started to work. After some discussion, he moved the antenna wire to keep it further from the main power wires. After spending quite a bit of time doing this, the ship still didn't behave. Some additional testing implicated the throttle servo so the various tool boxes were raided and the HiTec servo was swapped for a Futaba servo. That seemed to do the trick and she was looking great running around the pond. Of course, most of the other ships were already packed up but the Augusta did test out her guns on the beached Richelieu.
With more rain coming and a long list of repair items, we called it a day and started packing. While far from our best club showing, there is a lot of promise for the coming battles. Eric's Augusta is now through her teething troubles and will be a ship to avoid. The Colbert's superstructure and drive train will be done for the next battle. We also hope to see Mike's USS Chester, Keith's Westfalen and Phill's Mutsu take to the water for their first battle. We may see Bill's USS Indiana too. It's looking to be a busy year on the pond!