Pearl Harbor anniversary - Nevada's escape Part 1 - History

We all know about Pearl Harbor - or at least we really should know at least something as it is one of the pivotal events in the history of the last 100 years. We often try to re-enact historical battles as wargamers and as the anniversary loomed up I was pondering that attack and how it was such a one sided battle that it had little gaming interest. The Imperial Japanese Navy was very active and the United States Navy surprised and mainly just sat and took hit after hit. The USN did fight heroically, but with one hand tied behind it's back. So not much of a game for two players. Unless of course you happen to be in a lock-down situation where opponents are not easy to find. A little bit of basic research showed that there were in fact plenty of scenarios that could be played out as a solo game using Blood Red Skies \ Airstrike.  I fixed on the attempt of the Battleship USS Nevada to escape the confines of the harbour and out to the supposed safety of the open sea. 

Nevada attempts her breakout

Nevada was an old ship, launched just before WW1 started and designed in an age before air attack was even considered a threat to a Battleship. She was refitted between the wars but this did little to improve her horizontal protection, which was marginal at best. The refit did however improve her anti torpedo defences, something that came in very handy at around 8.10am on Sunday December 7th when she was hit by a torpedo dropped from an attacking Kate bomber from the first attack wave. The hit caused flooding but was not immediately fatal. 

Unlike the other battleships anchored in Battleship Row, Nevada was not moored to another ship. Also, the watch officer Ensign Joe Taussig had decided to run up the second set of boilers that morning - usually only one would be in use in port at any time, but Taussig was planning to switch them that morning as an exercise. These two coincidences probably saved the ship. As the attack developed Nevada was able to reverse out of her position and make way for the open sea where she would no longer be caught like a fish in a barrel. The torpedo hit caused some flooding, but not enough to jeopardise the ship. She steamed past the blazing wrecks of the rest of the Pacific Fleet Battle squadron, raising the badly shaken morale of everyone that saw her. 

Just before 9am she was clearing the bottom of Ford Island when the second wave of Japanese aircraft arrived, and was promptly attacked by three groups of Val dive bombers. 

Aichi D3A "Val"

She fought on, receiving numerous hits, the most serious of which caused a major fire around the main armament magazine. In another fortuitous coincidence the magazine had been cleared of shells in readiness for a resupply with newer shells planned for that afternoon, so unlike the Arizona, there was no magazine detonation. The ship was seriously damaged and bomb hits had started serious flooding, so the ship was grounded near Hospital Point.

Nevada grounded and fighting the fires

In the aftermath she was re-floated and refitted, and went on to give sterling service providing fore support to landings, including at D-Day.

So that's the history. Now let's drop some bombs!