Second Battle of Dragovich

Second Battle of Dragovich
HMNS Orion under fire from Molvanian defences in Dragovich
Date 25th March, 1897 Location Dragovich, Molvani Result Imperial Victory
Belligerents
Vionna-Frankenlisch	Molvani
Commanders and leaders
William Porter Sir Richard Acton James Eccleston (WIA)	Cadensk Dzendrich Ivan Stuk
Units involved
Molvani Fleet Force A Imperial Army Marine Corps	Northern Squadron Dragovich Garrison
Strength
36 ships, 22,000 marines	15 ships, 3,000 men, 18 shore emplacements
Casualties and losses
2 ships lost, 2 ships heavily damaged, 5 destroyers damaged. 3,934 Killed and Wounded	5 ships destroyed, 10 ships captured. 401 Killed and Wounded, 14,255 Captured.

The Second Battle of Dragovich was a major engagement of the Third Vionnan-Molvanian War fought between forces of the Imperial Navy and Imperial Army Marine Corps against the Molvanian Northern Squadron and garrison of the port of Dragovich. The battle, fought on the 25th of March, 1897, ended in an Imperial victory albeit with many casualties. The port of Dragovich was captured along with 10 Molvanian ships and their crews at the cost of almost four thousand men, the destruction of two warships and further damage to seven ships.

Opposing Forces

Dragovich Expedition Order of Battle

Imperial

The Imperial Navy arrayed a force of 36 warships, organised into the Molvani Fleet, a formation of six battleships, ten cruisers and twenty destroyers. Pre-war planning by the Admiralty estimated that this would be the minimum fleet strength required to defeat the Molvanian Fleet of Interception, a formation designed to respond within hours to any naval threat and to intercept it. Unbeknownst to the Imperial Navy, due to outdated intelligence, the Fleet of Interception had been disbanded in 1896 to reinforce the understrength squadrons of the Molvanian Western Fleet.

The Molvani Fleet was commanded by Rear Admiral William Porter, a former merchant captain of insignificant middle-class heritage. He was appointed to the position despite being of completely insufficient rank and without previous combat experience. Evidence suggests that he was chosen to prevent his opposition to various noble-born officers and their politiking had Porter moved to his position without sufficient preparation or experience. Despite these issues, Porter distinguished himself by keeping his disorganised fleet disciplined at the preceeding Battle off Garograd.

Transported aboard two dozen troopships were the 22,000 marines of General Sir Richard Acton's corps. These had stayed out of range during the Battle off Garograd and had been able to pinpoint a good landing beach between Garograd and Dragovich at the fishing village of Dreguvhoviki. The villagers were taken by surprise and locked in a chapel for the duration of the landings, which took three days, preventing the Molvanians from discovering the landings. The transports sailed back to Frankenlisch with skeleton crews, leaving the bulk of their sailors at Dreguvhoviki where, under the command of Captain Ernst Pfefferberg, they were organised into platoons and marched against Garograd. Sir Richard Acton's corps of marines, once landed, began their march immediately on Dragovich. According to the log of Admiral Porter, the landings were completed on the 22nd of March.

Molvanian

The local forces, comprised of the 3000-strong Dragovich garrison, the 500-strong Garograd garrison and a battalion of militia based at Pugodin, were commanded by General Ivan Stuk. Stuk made his headquarters in the citadel of Dragovich's coastal fortifications and, though spared little respect by his fellow officers for his low birth and unprestigious command, he proved a decent officer, taking good care of the men under his command and drilling their gunnery relentlessly. The fortifications under his command comprised of eighteen emplacements entrenched in the heights which surrounded Dragovich, along with six observation posts, all coordinated from the citadel. Each emplacement boasted a twelve-inch gun and a six-inch gun, providing a total of thirty-six large calibre weapons. Though his crews were well-trained in the use of these weapons, Stuk suffered critically from a lack of modern armour-piercing shells.

Admiral Cadensk Dzendrich's Northern Squadron of two battleships, five cruisers and eight lighter ships was based at Dragovich. The Squadron had sallied out on the 12th of March and met the Imperial Molvani Fleet off Garograd where an inconsequential battle was fought, with minimal losses on both sides. The ships were all modern designs, including two destroyers purchased from the Malducian Navy. Their crews were fresh and poorly trained but battle-experienced following the engagement off Garograd. Dzendrich had been wounded during the First Battle of Dragovich and, as a result, was kept on a regime of painkillers which left him confused and drowsy during the battle, damaging his effectiveness as a commander.