Beneath the Claws of the Eagle….Game Number 75, Part 1

To my eternal shame I have not read any of the Hornblower series although I have read some of the the other titles by C.S. Forester. The film is a cracker though and as well as Gregory Peck and Virginia Mayo also featured Christopher Lee, James Robertson Justice and a young Stanley Baker.

Following on from the completion of my new fort the next step was of course to get it into action. Inspiration for naval scenarios can be gained from many places and in this case my point of reference is the 1951 film Captain Horatio Hornblower, starring Gregory Peck, Virginia Mayo and Robert Beatty. This was in turn was based on three books from the Hornblower series by C.S. Forester - The Happy Return, A Ship of the Line and Flying Colours. C.S. Forester is also credited with writing the screenplay for the film, most of which was shot in the UK, including Rye in Sussex. There are also another couple of sources for the scenario - tenuous links I know but that make perfect sense to me…

So, how did this work out? Well, what really started this latest flight of fancy was the fact that the sister ship of the Royal Navy ironclad H.M.S. Superb was the Turkish ship Messudieh. In the film Hornblower’s 74 gun ship of the line is H.M.S. Sutherland - a captured French ship. In other words a (class) of ship that served under two flags so to speak. The rest was easy. I could use H.M.S. Superb in the role of H.M.S. Sutherland (under two flags etc) and the four Turkish ironclads I have currently built became the anchored ‘targets’. I would need a fort and the only one I currently have is Confederate flagged. This provided the spur to build a Turkish fort to guard the anchorage. Obviously the Turkish lookouts could have easily mistaken H.M.S. Superb for the Messudieh - especially if she was able acknowledge the recognition signal from the fort previously obtained by the interception of a small Turkish cutter.

The Bombardment of Alexandria, 11th to 13th July, 1882

Of course the British and Turks did not go to war in 1879 although the former certainly did with Egypt in 1882 which of course included the bombardment of Alexandria by the Royal Navy Mediterranean squadron, in which H.M.S. Superb took part. It is also worth pointing out that the British ship spent a number years being modified after she was compulsorily purchased on 1878 by the government and so was not in service when this action was set. I have used the original Messudieh specs for H.M.S. Superb as found in David Manley’s excellent supplement for the Russo-Turkish War.

I shall be building more ships for this particular 19th century match up - seven more for the Royal Navy and four for the Turks - these will be the main fleet units although I fully expect there to be some supporting vessels as well.

The Players

Royal Navy

H.M.S. Superb - Size: Large, Speed: 4, Manoeuvrability: Medium, Hull Factor: 4, Armour Factor: 6, Hit Points: 12. Guns: (F) 2/3, (P, S) 4/4, (A) 2/3

H.M.S. Superb

Turkish Navy

Feth i Bulend and Mukaddeme-i Hayir - Size: Medium, Speed: 4, Manoeuvrability: Medium, Hull Factor: 3, Armour Factor: 6, Hit Points: 9. Guns: (P, S) 3/4

Feth-i-Bulend and Mukaddeme-i Hayir 

Avnillah and Muin i Zaffir - Size: Medium, Speed: 4, Manoeuvrability: Medium, Hull Factor: 3, Armour Factor: 6, Hit Points: 9. Guns: (P, S) 3/4

Avnillah and Muin i Zaffir

The fortress - Adler Kalesi - Size: Large, Hull Factor: 4, Armour Factor: 4, Hit Points: 12. Guns: (FW) 4/4, (P, S) 2/2, (AW) 4/4.

The Turkish Fortress of Adler Kalesi

Rules and Scenario Specific Points.

The action was fought using the Portable Ironclads Wargame but with a few hints as to what to expect in the next book! The observant amongst you will notice mention of Manoeuvrability. This featured in David Manley’s excellent Dahlgren and Colombiad rules and were applied by using turning devices. For my rules I have managed to allow for varying turns depending on the ship’s manoeuvrability - high, meaning that a ship can make its first turn at no cost and one movement point thereafter. Medium is as per the existing rules i.e. a turn equals one movement point and for low manoeuvrability a ship has to enter two hexes before it turns. I shall be using a system of markers for turns that go over the end of a move - these are currently being designed.

You may also note that the maximum armour factor is 6 as opposed to the 5 in the book. This is the optimal armour rating for the rules and is designed mainly for ships built from around the early 1870s - the rationale being that developed construction techniques made for more effective protection.

One other rule I shall be making use of concerns firing arcs. I have tidied these up from the original and so they are now far less confusing to use. This is not a change for change’s sake - rather it is me realising that the revised version is actually far simpler to understand than the original and, I believe, is closer conceptually to Bob Cordery’s ACW rules in his book Gridded Naval Wargames. Anyways, I will try it out and see how it goes. It will feature as an option in Developing the Portable Ironclads Wargame.

Somewhere, off the southwest Turkish coast….

Captain Hadley Hornblower - the grandson of the Admiral of the Fleet, Horatio Hornblower - surveyed the wine-dark Aegean Sea for any sign of enemy shipping, indeed of any shipping, for this cruise had been anything but eventful. For some ten days H.M.S. Superb had been criss-crossing this small corner of the Aegean Sea hoping for a sight of the four missing renegade Turkish ironclads - even though he was under strict orders to avoid engaging the enemy until the rest of the squadron under the command of Rear Admiral Sir David Leighton (known by the lower deck as the “Buzzard” after his rather large nose), was able to concentrate. Hornblower’s instructions on this point were crystal clear and so he needed to be mindful of his actions. Thus far though, nothing had come to pass and all was quiet so Hornblower revisited in his mind the events that had led to the situation he, his crew and his ship now found themselves.

The Russo Turkish War had recently ended in an ignominious defeat for the Ottoman Empire but there were some, especially in the navy, that felt that the Sultan and his cronies were to blame. Kemal I Fateful - an admiral in the Ottoman navy  - one of the new breed of modern naval officer that found defeat a bitter pill to swallow - had taken matters into his own hands and, together with some similarly disposed brother officers, had decided to offer their services, along with their ships, to any foreign power that would take them. After a long and frank exchange of views (that very nearly came to blows) the general consensus was that Egypt would offer a safe haven as well as suitable employment and remuneration. So with this destination in mind the four ships would make their way to Port Said. First of all though, they needed to take on coal and so the first port of call would be the small, out of the way island of Navarone, safe under the guns of the formidable fortress  the castle of the eagles or the Adler Kalesi as it was known locally.

“Sail off the Larboard bow!” Came the cry from the foremast. Hornblower immediately looked in the direction indicated. “Looks like a local cutter Captain, should we order her to heave to?” Hornblower was about to speak when two signal flags ran up the foremast of the small and innocuous looking Turkish ship. “Mr Shrub, do we recognise that signal?” Asked the captain, his telescope still trained on the the Cutter. The first officer shook his head. “It must be a recognition code captain - and if we don’t know the correct response he will  take to heels - look, he is hoisting more sail!” Hornblower had already decided that the enemy ship must have mistaken H.M.S. Superb for their own ironclad Messudieh - an understandable mistake given that they were sister ships and had not seen their flag. Her captain was probably unaware that the Turkish warship was currently in Black Sea but even so, the cat was out of the bag and Hornblower could not allow the Cutter to escape and give warning as to her whereabouts. “A shot across her bows Mr Shrub, if you please” he said, urgently. No sooner had the order been given that a strident crack rang out followed by a plume of gun smoke. 

No sooner had the shot fallen in the sea than the Cutter hastily hove to. “Well done Mr Shrub, have a boat sent over to take the ship and bring the crew aboard - I want to see her captain in my cabin”. He turned and headed below.

The interview with the Turkish captain was brief and he was unusually cooperative - probably due to the (unfounded, but theatrically effective) imminent threat of personal harm offered by Hornblower who now knew several previously undisclosed facts. To begin with he had the Turkish recognition signal although for how long it would be valid for was unknown. He also learned the destination of the enemy cutter - the small and out of the way island of Naverone. Finally, and most tellingly, that the cutter was carrying a cargo of coal - and coal could mean only one thing - steamships, in this case most likely the four missing ironclads.

“Mr Shrub, put a prize crew aboard the cutter and send it find the rest of the squadron. In the meantime we will head for Navarone at best speed and have the sailing master make me a Turkish flag!” Hornblower was convinced that he had found his quarry and that there was no time to waste in catching up with them -despite orders to the contrary, he could not wait.

Two days later H.M.S.Superb sighted the small island of Navarone and so Hornblower and his crew made ready for action and for the execution of his outrageous and possibly career-ending, plan.

To be continued….