PROPWASH
November 2012
11
Australian Battle Group World Championships
The Great Typhoon of 2012
By Wreno Wynne
NAMBA Combat Chairman
Several captains, including the Chesapeake
Battle Group, took advantage of the limited
service pre-North American Big Gun Open
shipyard days on June 30, 2011 and July 1,
2012 to come in and get organized, do
additional maintenance on ships, and generally
socialize.
The shipyard was quite busy this year, as the
DKM Bismarck refit was completed, the SS
Nathanael Greene refit was completed and fine-
tuned, the IJN Musashi refit was completed
enough to report to battle, and the USS Bogue
neared completion. In addition, numerous other
ships received upgrades or fine-tuning.
The shipyard was quite busy this year, as the DKM Bismarck refit was completed,
the SS Nathanael Greene refit was completed and fine-tuned, the IJN Musashi refit
was completed enough to report to battle, and the USS Bogue neared completion. In
addition, numerous other ships received upgrades or fine-tuning.
Once the battling commenced, there were several rookie captains on the pond for
their first taste of NABGO combat (one rookie, Cameron, had traveled about 300
miles just to see the battle, not knowing that he would not only be actually
participating, but even winning an award). The deadly dance was shaping up, and
cargo was getting delivered.
However, just as the dance was picking up pace, the Technical Officer blew the
whistle and called for immediate return to port, all ships. He had spotted what is now
known as the "Great Typhoon of 2012" (you can see a snippet on youtube.com under
NABGO Storm) headed our way. IJN Musashi was too far out in the Gulf so the
captain wisely brought her to shore at the Peninsula, and hard beached her stern just
before the storm hit.
On attempting to return, the recovery float of the USS Indianapolis was blown off
and cost her maneuverability, acting as a sea anchor, so she relinquished control to the
TO, Jeff Burns, known for his rescue abilities for ships in dire circumstances. He was
able to get her beached in the rocks on the far side of the Gulf even after her
Superstructure was blown off by a strong gust. The Richelieu, which was mostly
sheltered by the roof of the boathouse still ended up with water inside her that was
above the waterline while still sitting on shore!
The rest of the ships made it back to port, but the increasing winds made recovery
by ship handling crane difficult to impossible, so most just hunkered down in what lee
they could find (luckily, the lake levels were low, so there was a lot of lee available,
even as the winds changed direction when the storm passed directly over us).
No ships were lost, but all of the sun shelters, including those strapped between trees,
were a mass of twisted metal by the end of the (relatively short) storm. However, since
there appeared to be a lightning storm moving in, it was quickly agreed to pack up and
move back to the shelter of the Shipyard, so pack up and move out we did, with all
haste.
The Great Typhoon had cost us significant battle time. So the next day we made the
most of it and got in as much battling as possible combining several, normally separate
events at the same time.
All in all, it was a fun, productive, and memorable NABGO.
The shipyard is busy as repairs are
made and strategies are mapped out on
boards in the background
Two warships line up to do battle
The result of taking on too much fire
power from the enemy
Not even adverse weather conditions
prevent the battles from continuing