The situation at the end of turn three. The C.S.S. Little Rebel was settling by the bows (the white markers indicate how many game turns before she slips beneath the waves) whilst the U.S.S. Carondelet is busily attempting to deal with two separate fires. Both the C.S.S. Atlanta (top centre) and the C.S.S. Albemarle (top right) are steaming at best speed to engage the two Union ships - the timber-clad U.S.S.Lexington (bottom centre) and the U.S.S. Essex (bottom left)
Back to the Missenhitti….Part 2
Aboard the burning U.S.S. Carondelet the scene was one of abject chaos. Fires flared and died, seemingly of their own volition, whilst the crew scurried hither and thither, tackling each new inferno as it arose. All the while the coffee coloured river water poured into her riven hull. Her decks leaned first one way and then the other, drunkenly lurching as she settled ever lower in the water. Finally, some welcome respite as the fire that was blazing around the powder store was finally extinguished. It was short lived though, as a dull boom was heard coming from the engine space as flames leapt through the open gunports and hatches. With a ghostly sigh as the flames were slowly extinguished, the Union ironclad slipped unceremoniously beneath the waves. Her crew, bobbing about in the river or clinging on to whatever would float, made for the shore as best as they could and into certain captivity.
The crew of the C.S.S. Little Rebel gave a ragged cheer as the Union ships disappeared from view but it sounded curiously hollow. The ship was sinking, slowly to be sure, but sinking nevertheless. At least though, the crew had the advantage of being able to leave the ship in a relatively orderly fashion and with the closest shore still under Confederate control, they would soon be back at Pratt’s Landing.
End of Turn 4. Both of the Confederate ironclads turned to starboard in readiness to engage the two Union ships. The C.S.S. Atlanta, passing by the stern of the sinking C.S.S. Little Rebel and the blazing U.S.S. Carondelet, heads for the U.S.S. Essex whilst the C.S.S. Albemarle goes for the U.S.S. Lexington.
Captain Fox, aboard the C.S.S. Atlanta, had noticed that the great, looming bulk of the U.S.S. Essex had managed to slip her moorings and was slowly getting underway. A ram attack head on could be risky, so he ordered the spar torpedo deployed instead as the ship lined up to face the Union vessel.
So far the two Union ships appeared to be holding station, almost as though they were waiting for the Confederate vessels to close with them. Captain Fox considered this and assumed that the caution being exercised was merely to draw them closer in, by which time the mysterious smoke cloud in the distance would doubtlessly be making an appearance. Quickly calculating the odds he made the only decision he could - the two ironclads would close with the Union vessels, deal with them promptly, and then head back before the smoke cloud arrived. It would be a race, and given the miserable speed of his two ships, he would need a head start for his plan to work.
End of Turn 5. The Confederates won the initiative, and so opted to move first. The C.S.S. Atlanta attempted to use its spar torpedo against the U.S.S. Essex only for the mechanism to fail! The Union ship threw her engines into reverse and slowly backed away from the rebel ship, firing as she went. The C.S.S. Atlanta then returned fire once the spar torpedo crew had cleared the foredeck. Meanwhile, the U.S.S. Lexington opened fire against the C.S.S. Albemarle who promptly returned the compliment with both ships taking damage.
Captain Fox cursed his decision to use the spar torpedo against the Union ironclad, frantically backing away from the bow of his ship. His experienced eye noticed the three gunports, now open, that pointed ominously towards his bow. Without wasting a moment he ordered the ship to open fire, knowing that he would likely come off worse in a prolonged exchange of artillery fire. A cacophony of noise - firing guns and the great clang as shot after shot struck the casemate and foredeck. The C.S.S. Atlanta fought back as best she could but to little effect. She could attempt to close and use the spar torpedo against or even ram the Union ship - either would be preferable to turning away and exposing her flank. Little did Captain Fox know but any decision he made was about to be overtaken by events elsewhere - and not in a good way.
The C.S.S. Albemarle maintained her station on the port beam of the C.S.S. Atlanta but in doing so attracted the attention of the U.S.S. Lexington. Although the Union timber-clad had already sustained some damaging gunfire earlier in the action, she was still game and up for the fight. Despite the diminutive size of the Confederate ship the Union ship was still able to score some telling hits against her better armoured opponent. The C.S.S. Albemarle’s captain quickly realised that he would be outgunned by the Union ship and so needed to close the distance as soon as possible, potentially with a ram attack as an option. As with the C.S.S. Atlanta though, events elsewhere would soon take the decision out of the hands of the captain of the Albemarle’s captain..
End of Turn 6. The C.S.S. Atlanta (top left) sees the U.S.S. Essex backing cautiously away from her whilst the C.S.S. Albemarle prepares to engage the U.S.S. Lexington. The initiative for turn seven would be critical….
Whilst Captain Fox pondered his options in respect of the Union ironclad directly ahead and the C.S.S. Albemarle had turned to engage the rapidly reversing U.S.S. Lexington, the ominous smoke cloud sighted earlier transformed into not one, but two Union monitors. To make matters worse, the two ships were heading directly down the middle of the river and so would be between the two Confederate ships that were currently facing the wrong way.
What had appeared to be a straightforward ‘butcher and bolt’ operation had become something entirely different and nigh on impossible to achieve. With the Union advantage of numbers as well as outgunning the two Confederate ships, there was little doubt that they faced an uncertain future. Captain Fox, to his eternal shame and chagrin, ordered the helm hard over to port and prepared to enter the Union maelstrom.
The C.S.S. Albemarle, seeing the approaching Union monitors, opened fire immediately at the leading vessel, scoring some minor damage. It was scant consolation though, given the situation that the two Confederate ships now found themselves in. Essentially they were separated by two powerful Union monitors and outflanked by a pair of gunboats whilst facing up river.
With the U.S.S. Canonicus in the van, followed by the U.S.S. Winnebago, the two monitors make their appearance. Directly ahead is the C.S.S. Albemarle whilst the U.S.S. Lexington backs away from her.
Due to time constraints we had to call the action at this point.
Taking everything into consideration, it would be highly unlikely that both of the Confederate ships would be able to get back to Pratt’s Landing. The biggest difficulty they have is that they are both facing the wrong way and will need to turn to retreat. Therein lay the problem as turning uses up distance. This means that the Union monitors would be able to draw level with them and be able to engage at close range where their turrets could be used to maximum effect. The C.S.S. Atlanta had been heavily hit and had suffered roughly fifty percent damage whilst the smaller Albemarle had lost a third of its flotation points. Of the two ironclads I think that the Albemarle is potentially the more likely to get away but only because she has already begun to turn, but even then, she is dangerously close to the U.S.S. Lexington which would certainly look to impede her. As for the Atlanta, well her problems are many. She would have to turn across three Union ships at very close range in order to be facing the right way - and they would be very keen to ensure that she did not do so!
From the Union perspective, the timely arrival of the two monitors without a doubt turned the tide. Considering only the lead ship actually got to fire that is a bold statement to make. Prior to their arrival the Union were definitely on the back foot as both ships attempted to keep away from their assailants. It worked in a rather unexpected way in that the further they retreated, the more the Confederates came on. As it turned out, this proved to be decisive.
The Rules and other Stuff
It was a cracking action with plenty of ‘what if’ moments to savour! If the Confederate spar torpedo has worked then the U.S.S. Essex could well have joined the U.S.S. Carondelet at the bottom of the Missenhitti. The U.S.S Carondelet was unlucky in sustaining two fire critical hits but it did not stop her from sinking the plucky C.S.S. Little Rebel. Gunnery between the two sides varied from good to bad and threw up an issue to be addressed in a later post. Nothing serious, just a minor tweak in respect of the effectiveness of smoothbores versus rifles.
Once again my thanks to Messrs Fox - the funnel smoke was from his collection of pyrotechnic effects - and Huband for their willing participation and input - always a pleasure for and I hope never a chore for them!
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