All Guns Blazing — January 2019

1 All Guns Blazing! Newsletter of the Naval Wargames Society No. 291 – JANUARY 2019 EDITORIAL Another Year again. It is nice to look back and reminisce but let’s not forget to look forward with hope. And a big well done and thank you to all the service people who gave up their Christmas so that we could enjoy ours in peace and safety. Norman Bell Maritime forces from France, Australia and the United States participated in Ship Anti-Submarine Warfare Readiness and Evaluation Measurement (SHAREM) 195 exercise in the Arabian Sea, Dec. 14-18. Participating ships included French navy F70AA-class air defense destroyer FS Cassard (D 614), and Royal Australian navy Anzac-class frigate HMAS Ballarat (FFH 155), guided-missile destroyers USS Stockdale (DDG 106) and USS Spruance (DDG 111), Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarine USS Louisville (SSN 724), and Military Sealift Command dry cargo and ammunition ship USNS Richard E. Byrd (T-AKE 4). Additionally, U.S. P-3C Orion aircraft and a French Atlantique 2 maritime patrol aircraft supported the exercise from the air. ARABIAN SEA (Dec. 18, 2018) The Royal Australian navy frigate HMAS Ballarat (FFH 155) transits the Arabian Sea during the anti-submarine warfare exercise SHAREM 195, Dec. 18, 2018. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Ryan D. McLearnon/Released) GULF OF ADEN -- The guided-missile destroyer USS Chung- Hoon (DDG 93) interdicted a shipment of narcotics aboard a stateless vessel while conducting maritime security operations in the international waters of the Gulf of Aden, Dec. 27. Chung-Hoon’s visit, board, search and seizure (VBSS) team seized over 11,000 pounds of hashish while conducting a flag verification boarding.

2 SEA QUIZ 78…………… More ‘SeaMew’ than ‘Octopus’ this time! The early questions with line drawings or illustrations of warships or parts of them, unfortunately died out in around 1955, and the quizzes were often downgraded to odd corners, rather than the standard half page of earlier times. Try these-no points scores! 1. Name the first HM Ship from which an aircraft was flown off at anchor. 2. What was the first RN warship to be hit by a ‘Kamikaze’? 3. In which year was the term HMS first used for the King’s, or Queen’s ships? 4. Which warship led in the German High Seas Fleet to surrender in 1918? 5. Which operational RN submarine base was abandoned for that specific use in 1940? Not a bad group of questions this time. Rob Morgan ############## I see from the websites that in excess of 2,500 people have signed up in advance to buy the re-prints of, “The Hunters”, “The Hunted”, “Silent Victory” and “Beneath the Med”. Are these submarine themed games little more than rolling a die against probability tables? Perhaps I am totally wrong and someone can put me right. I am currently looking at the Folio Game “Battle of the Atlantic” and hope to include a review in AGB soon. Norman Bell ############# RFA Tidespring and her three sister ships are flexible, state-of-the-art vessels that will provide key support to the Queen Elizabeth aircraft carriers

3 ARABIAN GULF. An F/A-18F Super Hornet assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 41 launches from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) in the Arabian Gulf, Dec 29th, 2018. The John C. Stennis Carrier Strike Group is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations in support of naval operations to ensure maritime stability and security in the Central Region, connecting the Mediterranean and the Pacific through the western Indian Ocean and three strategic choke points. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Grant G. Grady (Released) 181229-N-OM854-1289. Sea Quiz 78…answers. Not too complicated a list this month, though I thought April 1945 just a little late, given that there were Kamikaze strikes back in Autumn 1944, and HMAS Australia was hit and put out of action on October 21st! Harwich I didn’t know, but it is a little too near the opposition. 1. It was HMS Africa in 1912, at Sheerness. 2. This was HMS Indefatigable, the carrier on 1st April 1945. 3. 1795…you all knew that one. 4. It was the Light Cruiser HMS Cardiff. 5. Harwich. Rob Morgan.

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6 SIGNAL PAD The Naval Wargames Society will be running a participation game at SALUTE 2019. Here's wishing NWS Members a Happy New Year! "The final issue of volume 37 of Battlefleet is nearly ready to go out. There is still some space left for another short article or two, so if you've been itching to put pen to paper (or even better finger to keyboard) please can you send any remaining submissions through to me via email at simonjohnstokes@aol.com. As usual any subject matter is welcome so long as it pertains to naval wargaming in some way shape or form. If it's of interest to you then chances are it's also of interest to other NWS members. Simon Stokes (Membership Secretary / Caretaker Battlefleet Editor)" Best Regards Simon JOINING THE NAVAL WARGAMES SOCIETY If you have been lent this newsletter and would like to join the Naval Wargames Society, please follow this link to join our Society: www.navalwargamessociety.org. Membership secretary: simonjohnstokes@aol.com NWS Events and Regional Contacts, 2019 NWS Northern Fleet – Falkirk East Central Scotland Kenny Thomson, 12 Craigs Way, Rumford Grange, Rumford, Stirlingshire, FK2 0EU Tel: 01324 714248 e-mail: kenny.thomson@hotmail.com - Website: http://falkirkwargamesclub.org.uk/ Falkirk Wargames Club meets each Monday night at 7pm with a variety of games running each evening. Naval games are popular with 2 or 3 run each month. Campaign games sometimes feature in our monthly weekend sessions. Games tend to be organised week to week making a 3- month forecast here a waste of time. Please get in touch if you’d like to come along.  Popular periods – Modern (Shipwreck), WW1 and 2 (GQ), WW2 Coastal (Action Stations), and Pre-dreadnought (P Dunn’s rules) Devon and the West Country Naval Wargames afternoon/evening/all day on a regular basis. Contact Stuart Barnes Watson to arrange the details. stuart_barnes_watson@hotmail.com 3 Clovelly Apartments, Oxford Park, Ilfracombe, DEVON, EX34 9JS Tel: 01271 866637 Uruguay, SCOW: Southern Cone Orientales Wargamers • Games erupt, inquire to set one off: Bill Owen US telephone is 217-619-0202,

7 Uruguay 099 834 544 WmOwen@aol.com • If Spanish speaking, email & I will get someone who speaks it better. • Soca, Canelones or in Montevideo we can arrange a "Graf Spee 3 Gun Salvo": see her 5.9” gun, anchor & rangefinder salvaged from the ship resting in the harbor, a Real English Tour conducted by British expat staff who were associated with the British Ambassador who won the post-battle diplomacy and subterfuge plus, of course, a GQ3 refight of the battle (fees for features like museum & tour). • Most of the Salvo can even be done during a cruise ship stop in MVD from a Round Cape Horn itinerary between Santiago<->Buenos Aires. • wargamecampaign.wordpress.com THE NAVAL WARGAMES SOCIETY http://www.navalwargamessociety.org (Victorian Division “Cerberus”) Email: nws.victoria.au@gmail.com Membership by e-Subscription to NWS BATTLEFLEET magazine.