Galland's Gambit: Operation Donnerkeil

The German Kriegsmarine’s surface fleet suffered a disastrous 1941. Bismarck was sunk and the other capital ships were all laid up in ports for repairs or refitting by the end of the year. This made them easy targets for the RAF’s Bomber Command. At the port of Brest, on the west coast of France, the battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau as well as the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen had all suffered bombing damage. 

As the calendar turned to 1942, it was clear that those ships needed to return to the relative safety of the German home ports. The obvious route around the British Isles and through the North Sea was well defended by the Royal Navy. So a more daring plan was hatched intending to catch the English off-guard; sail the ships directly between England and France. Luftwaffe fighter arm general Adolf Galland convinced the Kriegsmarine planners that the best timing would have the fleet set out under the cover of darkness and arrive at the narrowest point of the English Channel at midday, allowing the Luftwaffe to cover the ships against air attack. The three available fighter wings of JG 1, JG 2, and JG 26 along with the night fighters of NJG 1 would provide the escort from before dawn until after dusk on February 12th. The Luftwaffe’s portion of this operation was codenamed “Donnerkeil”(Thunderbolt).

In England, preparations were made for the German ships to attempt a return sortie to German waters. That action was just one contingency of a broader plan of action against the German ships deploying from Brest. A coordinated effort by the RAF, Fleet Air Arm, and Coastal Command was expected to engage the German vessels and sink them in the Channel. Spitfires and Hurricane fighters would cover attacks by Hampden and Wellington bombers and also torpedo attacks by Beauforts and Swordfish. The English operation was codenamed “Fuller”.  

This FSO will recreate the combat over the German flotilla in a battle that will be forever known as The Channel Dash.     

Side Split: Allies 52% / Axis 48%

First Sortie Aircraft

Subsequent Sortie Aircraft

Ordnance Restrictions:

• 20mm Cannons only available on the Hurricane Mk. II on the first sortie.
• TBM (Beaufort) must attack with Torpedos. All bombs disabled.
• B-25C limited to the 8x 250lb bomb load only. Straffer noses are also disabled.
• All bombs and rockets disabled for fighters.

Event Rules and Clarifications

• Alt Cap is 12K for fighters, 8K for all bomb//torpedo carrying aircraft.
• Minimums and Maximums are for the first sortie of each frame. CiC’s satisfy the requirement for aircraft with minimums by assigning squads whose combined minimum commitment level meets or exceeds the aircraft minimum.
• Fighters may not strafe down ships.
• B-25’s  must be used with formations as level bombers.
• Dense clouds are to be expected between 4 and 12K to simulate the stormy weather of the historical event.
• Target fleets will be placed as close together as possible and follow a fixed track for the entire frame. The tracks will be shown in the objectives.
• Ship target fleets consist of two BB groups and one CV group (CV destroyed before the frame begins). Total ship numbers are 8 Destroyers, 2 Battleships, and 1 Cruiser. 
• Ship Hardness: Destroyers =  4,000 pounds / Cruiser = 20,000 pounds / Battleships =40,000  pounds
• Sunken ships will remain down for the entire frame.
• Ship auto ack will respawn after 30 minutes. 
• Manned guns are disabled. 
• Any non-target object that is destroyed will be restored at the earliest convenience by a CM. 

Scoring

Arena Settings 

- Terrain: BoF44

- Fuel Burn: 1.0

- Icons: 3K Friendly/Enemy for aircraft.

- Ack: .3

- Object hardness mults[shp]: 1.0

- Object shape settings[bb]: 40.0

 -Object shape settings[ca]: 10.0

- Object shape settings[de]: 2.0

- Fighter and Bomber warning range: 63360 (about 12 miles)

- Tower range set to 63360 (for display only to match the above setting)

- Haze/Fog: 15 miles

- Radar: Off

- Enemy collisions: on

- Friendly collisions: off

- Killshooter: off

- Time: Frame 1 = 1000 (10AM) Game Clock

Frame 2 = 1200 (12PM) Game Clock

Frame 3 = 1400 (2PM) Game Clock

- Clouds:light1kmed3kmed5k.awa

- Wind: 0K-2K NO WIND

2K-12K: SW to NE  - Speed 10

12K+: 45MPH downdraft