The Battle of Kantsi Strait - A 'Mighty Armadas' Action.

First salvoes of the battle - Ra'esharn quickly gets the range.

The disastrous battle of Omez Strait, which saw the destruction of half Kiivar's battle fleet, brought home the problem of how to deal with the Ra'esharn fleet of Cacadaemon Class monster battleships. In that battle, four of Kiivar's Leviathan class battle wagons were sunk by just three Cacadaemons - for the loss of just one of the latter. True, at the outset of the war, another, RNS Kitsune, had been sent to the bottom by a hunter group comprising a Leviathan Class and a couple of much lighter battlecruisers, in the action off the River Salver.  But that success, it seemed, flattered to deceive.  

After several months of waiting, suddenly an opportunity presented itself. A squadron of Ra'esharn battleships had been found lying up in a southern Omez seaport, undergoing minor refit and revictual. A large scale bombing raid had failed to register a single hit upon the warships, but had pretty much put the port facilities out of commission for a long time to come. The Ra'esharn Squadron Commander, Runosuke Suzuzuki requested and was granted orders to quit the sea port, and sail home for a destination on the east coast of Ra'esharn Island itself. But to get there, the battle squadron had to pass through the Kantsi Strait - no very narrow a  passage between Ra'esharn's east coast and the main island of Saabia, but dangerous if an enemy were to be encountered there.

Woeful gunnery from Kiivar ships!

Sure enough, an enemy was. Unbeknownst to the Ra'esharn Naval High Command, a large squadron of warships, en route from the Kiivar to the Saabian archipelago, about to pass through the strait at the same time. This squadron comprised four Leviathan class vessels that had been joined by a pair of Saabian warships. So the enemy squadrons, unaware, were approaching on slightly converging routes that remained unchanged when they sighted each other.  

The following action used my 'Ultra-simple Naval Games' rules.  The scenario was designed to pit two reasonably matched fleets together.

The Combined Squadron comprised:
Kiivar 'Division': Admiral Shang Wong
KNS Cerberus
KNS Leviathan (Flag)
KNS Behemoth
KNS Tarasque
Saabia 'Division': Rear Admiral Sachusetts
SNS Nyurung (Flag)
SNS Pijar

Stats for:
Kiivar Leviathan Class: Strike value = 8  Protection = 11
Saabia Nyurung Class: Strike value = 10 Protection = 9

The Ra'esharn Squadron had:
Admiral Runosuke Suzuzuki
IRS Krampus
IRS Dantalion (Flag)
IRS Rakshasa
IRS Bushyada

Stats:
Ra'esharn Cacadaemon Class: Strike value = 12 Protection = 16

The two forces seemed to be evenly matched, the outcome chancy.  The combined strike power was in favour of the allies (52-48); the protection marginally in favour of the monster Cacadaemons (64-62).

One rule I added to my earlier 'Ultra-simple' set.  When a ship's Protection' (Floating Points, if you will) had been reduced to one quarter (rounded) of its original, it had, if it could, to withdraw from the action. It could still fire any guns in range and able to be brought to bear.

The dice showing '1' means no hits at all from their
shooting. KNS Cerberus at last finds the 
range effectively

As the courses converged, it became early apparent that the head of the Allied column was rather further forward than the Ra'esharn. At once Admiral Shang Wong ordered a slight change of course, to try and 'cross the T'  of the enemy line; a move promptly answered by the same change. At that moment, the lead Ra'esharn ship, IRS Krampus found the third Kiivar ship, KNS Behemoth just in range of its guns. In the brief exchange of gunfire that followed, Krampus found the range and put two 18-inch shells aboard Behemoth. The latter's salvos were altogether ineffectual.

The change of course took the two vessels out of range of each other, and a duel developed between Krampus and the lead Kiivar vessel, KNS Cerberus. Again, the superb gunnery aboard Krampus at once straddled the Kiivar vessel, knocking large holes and starting serious fires as no fewer than 4 shells struck.  Three Kiivar vessels - Cerberus, Leviathan and Behemoth failed totally to find the range, possibly confused by each others' shell splashes - not a single shell found its way aboard Krampus.

The ship behind, IRS Dantalion, was less lucky.  IKS Tarasque landed two 15-inch shells onto the Ra'esharn flagship for just the one 18-inch received.  

The Saabia ships attempt to close the range...

As yet the Saabian ships were not yet in range, at which Rear-Admiral ordered a parallel course change to bring his two vessels more quickly into the action. That brought all battleships into the fight, but two of the Kiivar vessels - Leviathan and Behemoth - seemed still unable to find the range. On the other hand Cerberus got some revenge for the damage taken, though still taking some knocks still. At the rear of the columns, Tarasque scored another hit on the Ra'esharn flag, whilst the Saabian ships found themselves each in a duel with one of the Ra'esharn ships. Less protected than the other vessels, they had to hope that the Kiivar ships could put the lead two enemy ships out of action before they went under.

... and that proves costly!

It became soon plain that there was no question of the Ra'esharn ships' superior gunnery, or that their two lead ships could be soon knocked out of the action.  Krampus scored yet another direct hit upon Cerberus.  Although she and Leviathan scored two strikes back, that was the end of the battle for Cerberus.  Smoking heavily from several raging fires, she dropped out of the line.  

Meanwhile IRS Dantalion slammed four shells into Behemoth. Badly damaged, that vessel was barely able for the moment to keep its station, and that not for much longer. At the rear of the line, the ships had shortened the range, with consequently far more damaging salvoes from both sides. Five hits on each brought both Saabia vessels close to a sinking condition, but they were handing out several damaging licks of their own.  

You have to admire Ra'esharn gunnery!

Hardly a half-hour into the action, and only Leviathan and Tarasque - the latter hardly having received any gunfire at all - continued able to stay in the battle line. As they turned away, the others could bring only their rearward guns to bear, whilst the Ra'esharn gunnery continued their mercilessly accurate battering. Before they could escape beyond the enemy gun range, both Saabian vessels received more damaging hits than they could possibly survive. Within minutes of each other, both went down, flaming wreckage from end to end until the closing seas put out the fires. For their part, they managed to concentrate their salvos onto IRS Rakshasa. Reduced to a near sinking condition, that ship also pulled out of the battle line.  

With the sinking of the two Saabian battleships, the action came to an end, as the Kiivar ships, which had never got closer than long range, made off, away from the punishing Ra'esharn gunfire.   

There was no questioning this Ra'esharn naval victory: two Allied battleships sunk and three reduced to a wreck for just one Ra'esharn battleship seriously crippled.  Here follows the tally:

Kiivar: 
Cerberus - 8/11 hits, withdrew from the battle line Turn 5
Leviathan - 6/11 hits
Behemoth - 10/11 hits, withdrew almost sinking from battle line, Turn 6
Tarasque - 9/11 hits, forced out of the battle line Turn 8

Saabia:
Nyurung - 10/9 hits, attempted to withdraw from battle line, Turn 6, sunk, Turn 7
Pijar - 9/9 hits, also sunk, Turn 7, attempting to withdraw from the battle

Ra'esharn:
Krampus - 8/16 hits
Dandalion - 9/16 hits
Rakshasa - 15/16 hits, withdrew from the battle line, Turn 7
Bushyada - 7/16 hits

Poring over the battle reports, naval analysts on both sides remarked upon the inexorably devastating gunfire of the Cacadaemon class monster ships.  For every three hits scored by the Allied guns, the Ra'esharn handed out four.  At that rate, there was but one way this battle could have gone.  For a long while to come, Ra'esharn had established a hegemony of the seas... 

Fleet Action: Battle of Omez Strait (2)

Facing due north. Respective squadrons on converging courses,

Kiivar sailing due south, the Ra'esharn, sou'sou'east.

I may have something to say in a future article about how the Kiivar

line  has been placed.

The following action was fought using Kev Robertson's very simple rule set, slightly amended to 'fit' my gridded table.  In effect, 2 grid areas on my table represented 1 foot (30cm) in Kev's system.  I think I would prefer 3 hex grids (which would have the virtue of equality!) but it is not a huge table! There is one other amendment I made. Rather than 'all battleships are equal', I gave each vessel a strike value of 1 point per gun, modified by plus or minus 10% per inch greater or less than 15-inch. Vessels' protection or endurance (the latter word, having just occurred to me, might be the better choice), a value equal to the weight of the vessel as a multiple of 4000 tons, rounded.

IRS Akem Manah in the forground; the Kiivar squadron
on the horizon.

The action opens at 11:00 hours, with the respective squadrons upon converging courses. In the following, I rather arbitrarily determined that each turn represented 10 minutes. Another point I should make right now, is that even with a maximum speed of 2 hexes the turn, one could very quickly run out of table. The beauty of the grid system, is that one may 'scroll' the table in any direction as ships approach the edges. I had to do this a couple of times in the course of the action, but it takes a minute or so, tops, so not so very inconvenient.

Admiral Wu Bai's flagship's first salvo.  The other ships
didn't yet have the range.

As the courses converged, the Kiivar flagshop, Argus Panoples exchanged salvos with the leading Ra'easharn vessel, the Kiivar flagship Akem Manah. The Ra'easharn vessel found the range the more quickly, registering at long range three hits to the Kiivar's one. This was far from a good augury for the action as a whole, and henceforth the impression remained that Ra'esharn gunnery perhaps had an edge on their opponents.  

Akem Manah's response: 3 hits - very good shooting at long range!

At this point Admiral Mojo made a radical tactical decision, ordering a turn to port onto a 90 degree bearing (i.e. due east), all ships turning independently to form a line abeam.  His justification was that he wanted quickly to shorten the range, and figured upon his forward batteries alone (six  18-inch guns) would be a match for the enemy's full 8 15-inch gun broadside (6 + 30% = 6 + 1.8 = 8 rounded - equal to the enemy). Unfortunately the execution of the manoeuvre left something to be desired, as the line was echelonned back to larboard in such a way that at the next exchange of salvos, IRS Agra Mainya was still out of range.  

Admiral Mojo's unorthodox tactics - and feeble shooting by
Kiivar.  But that was to change!

In response, Admiral ordered a 30-degree course change to starboard. In effect the Kiivar found themselves 'crossing the T', all four ships bringing their full broadsides to bear against the forward batteries of only two of the Ra'esharn ships.   

The Kiivar quite failed to make the most of their opportunity (ain't that always the way?!). Concentrating their broadsides against Akem Manah,  Polyphemus and Argus Panoples registered just four hits between them.  Akem Manah was able to put three more into Argus Panoples, already taking in water and hurting badly.  The gunnery of the Hyperion and Tethys was even more woeful, the former failing to register a single hit (long range, looking for 6s with 8 dice), and the latter one only. At long range, Aeshma was able to give as good as received, as Hyperion took a hit.  (As an aside, with 16 guns firing at medium range and another 16 at long, I might have expected 8 hits, rather than the mere 5 actually registered.  Having said that, the 4 hits by the Ra'esharn ships was about what one might have expected.  So we were looking at woeful Kiivar gunnery here, not outstanding Ra'esharn.  But wait...!)

The next few pictures simply show how the dice rolls get transformed into shell splashed and explosions for a more picturesque image.

Seeing the unsatisfactory results of his manoeuvre, Admiral Mojo ordered a 60-degree turn to starboard, to bring his ships once more in line astern. This brought the head his line rather astern of the Kiivar, such that Polyphemus could bring only its stern battery to bear.  On the other hand, his squadron was definitely 'crossing the T' now, and took this time rather better advantage of it. Excellent shooting from Polyphemus, Argus Panoples and Hyperion put ten shells aboard Akem Manah, reduced now to a point not far from sinking.

  

Further course changes; Ra'esharn back to line astern;
Kiivar 30-degree turn to starboard.

For its part, Akem Manah had to split its fire between Argus Panoples and Hyperion (As the ship could not bring its full broadside to bear upon Argus Panoples, I might have concentrated its fire upon Hyperion, but the decision to split the two seemed reasonable.) Both Kiivar ships took further damage.  By now, Admiral Wu Bai's flagship was in no better shape than the lead Ra'esharn vessel. At the rear of the Kiivar line, the hitherto untouched Tethys came in for a battering, taking five hits in less than ten minutes.

'Crossing the T'.  Akem Manah comes in for a battering
but stays afloat.

Tethys receives the undivided attention of Aeshma and
Agra Mainya.

To bring the forward battery of Polyphemus into action, Admiral Wu Bai signalled a further starboard course change, still in line astern. Once again Akem Manah had to split its fire,  but its gunnery was equal to the challenge as the range shortened still further. Taking nine hits, Akem Manah registered eight of its own, six aboard Polyphemus, and two more upon Argus Panoples. It was all too much for the Ra'esharn vessel, however.  Twenty four hits were far more than the ship could endure. Capsizing and turning turtle she disappeared beneath the waves.

Superb gunnery by both sides!  Akem Manah does not survive it...

This success flattered to deceive.  True, the Ra'esharn ship was the first to succumb, but the fact was that all Kiivar ships had taken fearful damage, and were themselves not far from sinking.  

Though giving out terrible punishment itself,
Akem Manah succumbs to a welter of
incoming 15-inch projectiles...

Sure enough, as the Ra'esharn line drew into a course parallel with the Kiivar, the range extended slightly.  Both sides' gunnery was proving lethally accurate.  Whilst still engaged in their successive turn to westward, Argus Panoples and Tethys were sunk in quick succession.  

The battle rages on, but the writing is on the wall for the
Kiivar ships.  The damage has been too great. Argus Panoples and Tethys
go down just after this pic was taken...

Polyphemus and Hyperion didn't last much longer. Though badly battered itself, Aeshma brought the range down and slammed in 9 hits upon Polyphemus. The lead  Kiivar ship blew up and sank at once.  Hyperion lasted no longer, overcome in an unequal gunnery duel with Agra Mainya.  

The end of Polyphemus and Hyperion.  

There ended the action, with the total destruction of the Kiivar battle squadron, for the loss of one Ra'esharn capital ship.  This was a devastating loss to the Republican Kiivar Navy - four of eight capital ships gone in a trice.  For all that the Ra'esharn propaganda machine crowed over the victory, the price had been a high one: the loss of one of its own monster ships, and the two others would require months - over a year for one of them - in the repair docks.

The above is the log of hits received by all vessels.  Both Akem Manah and Polyphemus took 8 more hits than would be required to sink them, but that is the nature of the salvo system.  Actually, at the end of the action, I did consider before she sank of splitting the fire of Argus Panoples, as it was clear that the forward battery fire should probably be enough to sink the lead Ra'esharn ship.  That might have made a difference, too.  But at the time it seemed to me a bit cheesy to do that.  Something to think about.

A sketch map made after the battle by the First Executive
Officer aboard Aeshma, and entered into the ship's log.

Fleet action: Battle of Omez Strait.

Four Leviathan Class battleships of the Kiivar Polar
Exercise squadron.

Log of RKS Argus Panoples:
Date: 14/10/66940 AA.  Time 09:17 hours.
Estimated position: 31.30 degrees N, 103.82 degrees E, some 30 kilometers off Ra'esharn west coast, almost due east of Cape and City of Lezrin, the southern-most point of Omez, some 150km distant;
Course: 180 degrees (due south).
Overcast cloud, and rain showers; strong breeze from the north to north by west, easing, and veering westward.
Barometer rising, weather clearing from the southwest, wind moderating.
Message from RKS Polyphemus received 09:17 hours ...

'Smoke seen to the southwest, sir,' the First Officer of the watch reported to Captain Hai Tee. All eyes but two turned toward the slowly widening sliver of blue, far off the starboard bow. The two apparently incurious eyes belonged to the inscrutable Vice-Admiral Wu Bai, then sipping his rice tea, patiently awaiting developments. A quiet disquiet descended upon the bridge.

'Anything from our own lookouts?' Captain Tee murmured. 'Kindly take a look all directions, at that. We don't need to fixate on our unknown distant arrivals and find ourselves under surprise attack from that murk to larboard or astern.'

It was just the squadron's bad luck to encounter a likely enemy with the Great Southern Ocean almost open before them, and the weather clearing. Why could it not have stayed foul a few hours longer?

Admiral Mojo's powerful three battleships of the
Cacodaemon class...

The Kiivar Squadron comprised four - and therefore half - of their latest battleships. Exercising in sub-Polar waters off the remote northern coasts of Kiivar, they had received too late the unexpected news of Ra'esharn's declaration of War. The Vice-Admiral had imagined a good six months might elapse for tensions to escalate so far as to put the disputants on a war footing. Now, isolated as they were, he figured upon a dash for home as the best chance to reunite these ships with the rest of the Republic of Kiivar Navy. The worrying part would be the Strait of Omez, the 1000km long stretch no wider than 200km - and where no doubt Ra'esharn hunter groups, surface and submersible, would be lurking in wait. To pass around the Island Empire of Ra'esharn, through the Saabian archipelago, would have added at least 1000 km - probably nearer 2000, to the journey. That way, the margins in terms of food fuel and ammunition were far tighter, and the risk of battle no less.

The Kiivar Squadron comprised
Commander: Wu Bai, Vice-Admiral of the White
RKS Polyphemus (12)
RKS Argus Panoples (15) Flag
RKS Hyperion (17)
RKS Tethys (18)

All four vessel were battleships of the Leviathan Class: 42,000 tons (Protection 11) and carrying 8 x 15-inch guns (Strike 8)

As luck would have it, a three day storm had accompanied the squadron for almost the entire passage of the Omez Strait. It had been rough going - and only this morning hot food and drink had been served out to the hands and officers, the first for two days and three nights. The Vice-Admiral reminded himself that the unknown and unwelcome smoke might have no hostile import at all, and even if it did, might not have seen his own smoke against the dark eastern horizon. But if it did, he would fight it.

The rival squadrons on converging courses, Kiivar's due south
Ra'esharn's roughly SSE.  

What was happening aboard that distant ship - or ships? This transpired to be a powerful battle squadron under Admiral Hideki Mojo, himself. He had indeed ordered several hunter groups to patrol the strait in search of the vanished enemy, but the coming of bad weather rather reduced their chances ever of finding even four large ships of war. Taking personal command of a powerful squadron of four Cacodaemon Class battleships, he planned to patrol the southern exit of the Omez Strait, the last line of battle. It was bad luck engine failure had forced IRS Azi Dahaka back into port. His remaining three monster warships would be none too many to take on four enemy capital ships.

It was well along the eastward leg of his back and forth patrol that the lead warship, IRS Akem Manah reported a long line of smoke, just barely visible, fine on the port bow.  Whatever was making that smoke was headed due south, making for the vastnesses of the Great Southern Ocean. Aboard his flagship, IRS Aeshma, Admiral Mojo signed to the ship captain to signal a change of course to converge upon that of the unknown smoke. 'Lay us on a 150-degree course,' he said. He knew in his bones he had guessed right.  Judging by the reaction on the bridge, his officers were of like mind.  It would soon be time to sound the 'beat to quarters'...

The Kiivar line of battle.  Vice-Admiral Wu Bai's
has hoisted his flag in the second vessel, Argus Panoples.

The Ra'esharn Squadron comprised:
Hideki Mojo, Admiral of the Blue.
IRS Akem Manah (102)
IRS Aeshma (103) Flag
IRS Agra Mainyu (101)
All three vessels are from the Cacodaemon Class:  65,000 tons (Protection 16); and carrying 9 x 18-inch guns (Strike 12).

As the weather cleared, the wind gradually veered around to the southwest. By this time, both sides had identified the other. Their converging courses led inexorably to battle, for, knowing it would sooner or later come to a fight and mindful of the fuel situation,  Vice-Admiral Hai Tee disdained to edge away from his heavier opponents. He resolved to fight.

The Ra'esharn battle squadron, reduced to three vessels
with the storm-damaged Azi Dahaka having to
return to port.

The Fox and the Hounds - Battle of the River Salver.

Kitsune in the foreground sailing on a northerly bearing;
the hunting squadron, Basenji, Staghound and Greyhound on a
240-degree bearing crossing Kitsune's bows just beyond gunnery
range.

Right from the outset of the war, the Raesharn Imperial war leaders were fascinated to discover just how their super-large battleships would perform. The first of these laid down and completed, the Kitsune, had spent a few leisurely pre-war months on 'goodwill' tours, but with certain secret orders to be opened when certain events transpired or certain signals were received. So the Kitsune was at sea when war was declared. Ship captain  Hideo Sokituya duly opened the secret orders, but by this time could scarcely have been surprised at the orders given.  Commerce raider. Not an especially honourable mission, so the rather traditionally-minded ship captain thought, but as whatever he took, sank or burned was intended to strengthen the enemy sinews of war, such were legitimate targets. Meanwhile the Imperial Naval High Command waited with what patience they could muster for news of their wonder child battleship.

The fox was among the geese, a metaphor the more avidly seized upon by the Press when it was learned the Kitsune's first victim was the SS Clement Gosling. In several weeks the Kitsune pretty much cleared the Southern Ocean of commercial shipping. After a week's search following the capture and scuttling of SS Saabia Shell, Captain Sokituya thought it time to make for home. Pickings were becoming too thin to justify the commitment of a major naval unit far from the main theatres of war.

Meanwhile, the Kiivar and Saabian navies had begun to cooperate in forming hunter groups to track down the nuisance. A three vessel group, under Commodore Weatherby Jack, hovered about the western end of a major sea lane that terminated at the River Salver and the bustling city of Monteaudeo. It was fortunate for his squadron that he had, for Capt. Sokituya had it in mind to do some damage in those waters en passant during the voyage home. In the early morning the Kitsune lookouts spied smoke almost due north upon the horizon, with more to the westward. Imagining this was some busy merchant traffic, Sokituya ordered full speed ahead as the smoke gradually passed across his front, some 20 miles distant, on a 240-degree course.

Basenji and Staghound view the distant raider, still out of range.

But Kitsune had caught a Tartar - or someone had. Eventually discerning the enemy warships for what they were, Sokituya at once ordered battle stations, and eagerly hastened to face the enemy in real battle. The forces were:

Raesharn:

Battleship IRS Kitsune, Ship-Captain Hideo Sokituya:

• Protection: 16 
• Strike: 12 (9x18-inch guns)

Kiivar/Saabia:

Battleship KNS Basenji, Commodore Weatherby Jack

• Protection: 11
• Strike: 8 (8x15-inch guns)

Battlecruiser SNS Staghound, Captain Galesforth Mower

• Protection: 8
• Strike: 5 (9x11-inch guns)

Battlecruiser SNS Greyhound, Captain Rainsbury Mattock

• Protection: 8
• Strike 5 (9x11-inch guns)

The vessels were based on Yamato and Bismarck battleships, and Scharnhorst and Gneisenau battlecruisers.

The following were pretty much KEV's rules, with the following adaptations to my hex board. 
Maximum speed: 2 hexes.
One 60-degree turn allowed per move.
Short range: 1-2 hexes; 4,5,6 to hit.
Medium Range: 3-4 hexes; 5,6 to hit.
Long range: 5-6 hexes; 6 to hit.

In the following pictures, hits are designated by explosion or shell splash markers. Just for the 'look' of the thing.

Kitsune scored a couple of hits on Basenji earlier; return fire
does the more damage to Kitsune.

As the range closed, the Commodore ordered his group to split, Basenji to turn to the southerly bearing whilst the two battlecruisers would turn onto a 120-degree bearing to cross the enemy front. Kitsune's first salvo scored a couple of hits upon Basenji, but the return fire from all three hunter group vessels doubled the account. The battlecruisers had rapidly shortened the range, with damaging effects.  But that could cut two ways...

A devastating salvo almost puts Staghound under - almost,
but not quite.

Meanwhile, the battle cruisers
shorten the range.

Beginning to edge away onto a 60-degree course, Kitsune pumped a whole salvo into Staghound. The battlecruiser reeled under the barrage: seven hits in quick succession left her in almost a sinking condition.  

The seven hits on Staghound.  Splashes and explosions
both signify hits.

... and Basenji still scoring the occasional,
as well

But at this short range the comparatively puny battlecruiser return fire, especially from Greyhound, was in turn being felt by the raider. Closing the range with as much speed as she could wring from her engines, Basenji could fire only the forward battery, but was still scoring the occasional hit at long range.  

Accurate return fire from Greyhound...

Towards the close of the action, perhaps the 6 hits recently
taken knocked out some of Greyhound's guns...

Once more Kitsune edged away, onto a 120-degree bearing, but those battlecruisers were clinging on like terriers, even after a salvo scored six hits upon Greyhound. Both battlecruisers in desperate condition, Kitsune was in no better shape. Staghound's gunnery, hitherto unimpressive, landed four hits on the raider, which was now also in a near-sinking condition.  

... whilst Staghound's gun crews finally hit their straps.

But was the distant Basenji that delivered the coup de grace. At no time closer than medium range, and only her forward turrets in action, Basenji put one 15-inch shell aboard the raider. That was enough: holed and on fire in several places, Kitsune slid beneath the waves, last seen in the early morning sun, screws slowly rotating as she plunged to the bottom of the sea.

One hit from Basenji at medium range at last delivers the quietus
to Kitsune.

The following picture and battle map tell the story (substituting the names given in the narrative). Formidable as Kitsune (Yamato) was, taking on the hunting group trio had to be a losing proposition. Even taking on a Bismarck class with just one of the battlecruisers would have been chancy, to say the least. This turned out to be a very quick - maybe 20 minutes - and interesting play test of a promising concept....

How the action unfolded.  

Damage to the respective vessels.  Both battlecruisers were
barely afloat as the action ended.

In the absence of direct news, Raesharn High Naval Command had to wait upon their enemies' press agencies to discover what had happened to the vessel into which they had sunk so many hopes. The elation displayed in these accounts were inclined to depress their spirits more than somewhat, until a relatively junior officer pointed out that their tenor indicated a strong admixture of relief attending their celebrations. The 'Salver lining' they called it.  It was suggested, with a thick ladling of tact, that the expenditure of a major unit upon merchant vessels was scarcely a bargain.  The loss of Kitsune was not to be squared by the account of the mere 90,000 tons of shipping it had destroyed.

The super-battleship programme was allowed to continue, but... not for commercial raiding.