South China Sea Scenario Preview
By Mike Bennighof, Ph.D.
October 2013

Great War at Sea: South China Sea is the one game or supplement in either of our naval series that comes with separate Ship Data for each scenario. It includes the map from our long out-of-print U.S. Navy Plan Orange game and follows the course of a potential naval war between Britain and the United States in the Far East. As such it’s a companion piece to U.S. Navy Plan Red.

The separate Ship Data sheets for each scenario make South China Sea by far the largest of our comb-bound supplements, and it only just barely fits our comb-binding machine (and then only with a lot of careful fitting and a great deal of cursing – the comb-binder reacts to foul language much better than our deceased book-printing machine). Otherwise, it’s a pretty standard 10-scenario supplement of Anglo-American naval action, though it has fewer battle scenarios than others of its type.

All told, I’m very pleased by Kevin’s creation. It’s the sort of product we won’t do again in the future, but it met its goals very nicely.

Battle Scenario One
Float Like a Butterfly,
Sting Like a Bee
Summer 1919
Although Fisher often recited his favorite maxim that “speed equals protection,” it was based on his assumption that faster warships with heavy armament could use speed to control a battle’s range and positioning. This would allow friendly forces to inflict a decisive blow against an opponent, all the while dodging shots of the slower foe. The fallaciousness of this claim was all too evident when opposing groups of “ocean greyhounds” and their consorts met.

Note: This scenario uses pieces from Jutland, Sea of Troubles and U.S. Navy Plan Gold.

Notes
Two small squadrons of battle cruisers and light cruisers fight it out in a no-holds-barred clash: neither side is allowed to retreat and neither can win without doing vast damage to the other.

Battle Scenario Two
Black Shoe Admirals’
Tap Dance
Spring 1921
Most Plan Red scenarios deemed it only a remote possibility that both powers would reinforce their Far Eastern fleets with significant numbers of heavy units. However, even the temporary deployment of a dreadnought squadron to the region by one combatant would have forced a comparable countermove by the other. In the close quarters of the South China Sea, aggressive admirals would have sought out the other for a decisive engagement.

Note: This scenario uses pieces from Jutland and U.S. Navy Plan Gold.

Notes
It’s a pretty straightforward slugfest between two battle squadrons: four British dreadnoughts face off against four American battleships, and neither side is allowed to leave the tactical map. The Americans have the edge in firepower and protection, but they also have the sterner victory conditions.

Operational Scenario One
Opening Bell
Spring 1924
The Far East was not a major theater of action in the Red war plans. The bulk of the American and British fleets was concentrated in the Atlantic, and would most likely face each other there or in the Caribbean. However, each power did maintain a token force on station in their colonial possessions. The weak American Asiatic “Fleet” was rarely expected to perform more than token commerce interdiction in the event of war. Britain, on the other hand, maintained large numbers of older armored cruisers and newer light cruisers throughout her far-flung empire to protect shipping arteries and “show the flag.” Leaders on both sides expected aggressiveness and ingenuity on the part of commanders in the theater.

Note: This scenario uses pieces from Jutland and Plan Red.

Notes
American commerce raiders break out of Cavite to sow havoc on British shipping routes and mine the approaches to enemy ports. The British, of course, must stop them. Both sides have very small fleets of a handful of armored cruisers plus some light cruisers.

Operational Scenario Two
Modern Corsairs
Fall 1920
Mahanian dogma dictated that the US Navy should attempt to interdict an enemy’s commerce and troop movements through blockade and raiding. The Asiatic Squadron would be given ships specifically suited to this task. Britain, on the other hand, would have to play a reactive role, trying to keep the sea lanes free of marauders.

Note: This scenario uses pieces from Jutland, Plan Red and U.S. Navy Plan Gold.

Notes
The British have the firepower, the Americans have a pair of light, fast battle cruisers and two more fast armored cruisers with which to wreak havoc on their convoys. The British player has little information about his own traffic, as the convoys are arriving from outside the theater on their own schedule.

Operational Scenario Three
The Edge of Insanity
Summer 1915
Fighting a two-ocean war would be difficult enough for the US Navy given its numerical inferiority to the Royal Navy, so the possible entry of other combatants was of great concern to American war planners. Although the Anglo-Japanese Alliance had expired by the early Twenties, planners during the Teens had to assume Japanese intervention on the side of Great Britain. An Anglo-American conflict in her own backyard would doubtless have given Japan an extremely tempting opportunity to snatch up several choice territories “on the cheap.” Japan would have an easy pretext for war once America started interdicting British shipping bound for Japanese ports. However, Japan’s limited troop transport capacity would complicate her efforts to capture US possessions.

Note: This scenario uses pieces from Jutland, Plan Red and Cruiser Warfare.

Notes
The Japanese are coming! The Japanese invaders come out of the north, in a classically overwrought scheme to seize multiple objectives at once. This allows the Americans to concentrate their outnumbered force, built around two modern battleships, to string along the Japanese as they are not allowed to commence their invasion without first fighting the surface engagement called for in their incontestable doctrine. If the Japanese become frustrated and split their force to bring on battle, those two American dreadnoughts will shred the semi-dreadnoughts and over-gunned armored cruisers that make up most of the Japanese forces.

Operational Scenario Four
Passive-Aggressive Behavior
Summer 1924
The Philippine Archipelago is a defender’s nightmare, with dozens of routes between the islands to open to incursion. Interdiction of vital shipping would be far too easy for the Royal Navy, since British raiders could slip in undetected and lay minefields to choke off supplies to critical areas. Indeed, Britain had several fast minelayers available for just such as task – converted light cruisers and the “Large Light Cruiser” Courageous had been specially fitted to carry mines. The U.S. Navy would be hard-pressed to patrol its territory and intercept these speedy intruders.

Note: This scenario uses pieces from Jutland, Plan Red, Zeppelins and Plan Gold.

Notes
This time it’s the British who play the mouse, and the Americans a very frustrated cat as the Royal Navy lays mines in its sheltered Philippine waters and destroys shipping there. Catching the British is going to be tricky: the Americans have no heavy warship to match the (limited) big guns of Courageous, but they do have the awesome torpedo batteries of a flock of Wickes-class destroyers.

Operational Scenario Five
Gumption
Summer 1922
Although an invasion of British possessions in the Far East was not part of the original War Plans, an examination of the only executed War Plan (Orange) shows that American planners usually tried to peer into the future only up to the mid-war period. While the overarching goals of Plan Orange remained intact, actual military or political events often tended to alter objectives. Here, it is assumed that the USA has been unable to neutralize the vital port of Hong Kong through purely naval means, and determined that a direct assault would allow her to pluck out the annoying stinger. Without the benefit of a large fleet train and significant shipping, America would be hard-pressed to pull off the assault without relying heavily on speed, stealth, surprise and a little ingenuity.

Note: This scenario uses pieces from Jutland, Plan Red and Plan Gold.

Notes
Now it’s the Americans’ turn to strike, with an invasion of Hong Kong. The British have an out-gunned force of older ships (pre-dreadnoughts and armored cruisers) to try to stop them, but the American fleet is far from the top of their line, either.

Operational Scenario Six
Red Rover, Red Rover
Fall 1924
After several weeks of raiding in the Sea of Japan and the Western Pacific, two American cruisers attempt to return to Cavite for badly needed repairs and reprovisioning. Alerted to the American ships’ movements by intercepted distress signals, Britain attempts to intercept them on their return journey. The Americans prepare a small welcome party to shepherd the wolves to safety.

Note: This scenario uses pieces from Jutland, Plan Red, Plan Gold and Zeppelins.

Notes
It’s a pretty classic naval situation: the American has a fast but outgunned force trying to get home, and a relief force that can help if only they get close enough. The British must interpose themselves between the American squadrons and defeat them in detail. Neither American squadron has the firepower to match Princess Royal, but united they can likely shell her to pieces. Helping the American cause is the zeppelin Los Angeles, allowing them to suss out British deployments.

Operational Scenario Seven
Operation Falling Coconut
Spring 1924
The U.S. Navy always assumed any Anglo-American conflict would be centered in the Atlantic, with the Caribbean as a significant secondary theater. The Far East was seen as a minor sideshow, certainly not worthy of a significant commitment of the all-important battleships of either fleet. If anything, light forces and possibly as-yet-untried aircraft carriers could be expected to pull duty halfway around the world to secure each side’s colonial possessions. Certainly both sides foresaw the importance of aircraft in deciding ground combat situations; what was less clear was their role in a purely naval action.

Note: This scenario uses pieces from Jutland, Plan Red and Plan Gold.

Notes
Cat and mouse, as both sides deploy cruiser-carrier task forces in Philippine waters. The British are out to invade the Philippines and the Americans have to either stop them outright or strangle their reinforcement efforts afterwards.

Operational Scenario Eight
Punching the Ticket
Summer 1924
Were a stalemate to occur in the Atlantic, Britain or America (or both) might be tempted to go for the perceived “soft underbelly” of her opponent. In this situation, Britain has successfully invaded the Philippines, taking control of all American airbases there and establishing a working beachhead on Luzon. But unbeknownst to Britain, the Americans were able to ship a substantial garrison to Cavite just before the invasion, and that port is still holding out. The U.S. Navy has sent a reinforced relief squadron to the region with orders to lift the siege, and the Royal Navy has dispatched a force from Singapore to intercept them.

Note: This scenario uses pieces from Jutland, Plan Red, Zeppelins and Plan Gold.

Notes
This one’s based on a situation the U.S. Navy studied a lot during the interwar period: enemy forces have seized control of Luzon except for the American fortified bases. A large American fleet is on its way to relieve the besieged garrison, while a strong British force is available to help support the invaders. It’s a complex set of operations for both sides to manage, making each player act aggressively and defensively.

Fight the Naval War That Never Happened!
Order South China Sea now.