Battle of the Sabri Sea

Battle of the Sabri Sea
Part of Western Theater of the Siduri War
Members of HMS Iralia Acapollo's gun crews prior to the final engagement.
Date 22 November 1935 – 24 November 1935 Location Sabri Sea, near Andria Result Common Axis Victory
Belligerents
Cacertian Empire	Republic of Syara Allamunnika
Commanders and leaders
Andrea Doria Eugenia Davion Ulisse Barbato	Hristijan Rajcevski
Units involved
Center Fleet Southern Fleet Andria Fleet
Strength
26 battleships 2 fast battleships 12 battlecruisers 18 heavy cruisers 16 cruisers 6 light cruisers 50 destroyers	18 battleships 8 battlecruisers 11 heavy cruisers 14 cruisers 42 destroyers
Casualties and losses
1 battleship scuttled 2 battlecruisers sunk 12 destroyers sunk	3 battleship sunk 1 battleship scuttled 1 battlecruiser sunk 4 cruisers sunk 14 destroyers sunk

The Battle of the Sabri Sea was a decisive naval battle in the Western Theater of the Siduri War that took place between 22 and 25 November 1935. Fought between the combined naval forces of Syara and Allamunnika against three fleets of the Cacertian Royal Navy, the engagement is the largest full-scale clash of battleships in Tyran’s history. After two days of scattered and confused skirmishing brought about by bad weather and stormy seas, the Cacertian fleet finally engaged the Inner Sphere navy on 24 November resulting in a decisive Cacertian victory. The damage inflicted on the combined Inner Sphere forces was devastating and proved irreparable, permanently affecting the Inner Sphere’s ability to make war at sea for the remainder of the conflict.

The Inner Sphere’s operation sought to drastically hinder or eliminate the Cacertian Empire as a strategic power in the Sabri Sea, thereby giving Syara a free hand in controlling the waters of the Western Theater. Since the war on land had ground to a halt, the Inner Sphere hoped that a major demoralizing defeat would force Cacerta to turn its focus away from the ongoing land campaigns and draw its massive industry back to the construction of its navy. The strategy of the battle was also in response to the long range raids of Cacertian warships against Syaran shipping along the Nuandan Ocean.

Cacertians learned about the plan via second hand intelligence through the Ruvelkan Resistance who later managed to determine the date and location of the planned attack, enabling a forewarned Royal Navy to prepare. Although the Syaran Navy remained a fleet-in-being, it's losses effectively neutralized any posibility of future major naval operations and it remained largely in Syaran waters for the rest of the war.

Background and planning

Cacertian dominance of the high seas was widely considered a strategic deterrent to greater Inner Sphere operations in the Western Theater and the Empire’s entrance into the war as part of the Common Axis proved unfortunate, if not unexpected. From their naval base in the island protectorate of Andria, the Cacertian Empire possessed the capability of launching attacks directly against Syara and safely retreat before being properly engaged. Fleet Admiral Dicho Wasilew, senior member of the Syaran Admiralty, recognized that the inability of the Inner Sphere to disrupt Cacertian shipments of goods and resources to Quenmin and Tennai put the IS at a significant disadvantage. By mid-1935 pressure was on the Syaran Navy to do something about the situation. Eventually the Admiralty concluded following engagements with the Cacertian Royal Navy in the Sundering Sea that no major offensive could be launched singularily; it would have to be conducted in stages.

The Cacertian Protectorate of Andria was selected as a target; the isolated island located 700 miles south-west of Nalaya was home to the Andria Fleet and was Cacerta's farthest western holding. It was devised that the Inner Sphere would seize control of Andria, which could then be used as a staging area for incursions on Tennai's southern coastline. Fleet Admiral Rajcevski, a veteran of the Divide War was chosen to lead the Syaran National Fleet. Rajcevski was personally aprehensive regarding the plan, pointing out that it would almost certainly involve direct egnagement with the larger Cacertian battle fleet, but the operation went ahead anyway. Starting around August 1935 the Syaran Navy began amassing off the coast of southern Syara. In total the Syaran fleet was composed of 18 battleships, 8 battlecruisers, 11 heavy cruisers, 14 cruisers, and 42 destroyers. The operation was fairly simple; the Syaran fleet would sail south, engage and destroy the Andria Fleet, and would be followed by amphibious landing of Syaran troops in a follow up task force, who would attempt to capture Andria and her port installations intact.

Cacertian intelligence had been alerted to the buildup of Syaran ships by the Földalatti, the Ruvelkan resistance movement in occupied Ruvelka. Recognizing the only likely target was Andria, Cacertian Grand Admiral Andra Doria was chosen to lead the Cacertian navy in defense of Andria. Under her command the Cacertians assembled the Center, Southern, and Andria Fleet to meet the Syaran naval force.

Naval tactics and doctrine of both sides

Although Cacerta had shifted away from the Decisive Battle Doctrine of the pre-Divide War years, heavy battleships and battlecruisers remained the mainstay of the Cacertian fleet, this time with more emphasis on maneuverability and speed than just pure armor and firepower. By the Siduri War the Cacertians fielded a sizeable navy composed of a mixture of destroyers, cruisers, battleships and battlecruisers. Conventional surface combatants remained the decisive arm of the Cacertian fleet. Although Cacerta fielded two aircraft carriers by 1935, poor performances in the Sundering Sea had limited their usage and they remained a secondary consideration. Noticeably poor weather in the Sabri Sea around fall and winter contributed to Cacerta's decision to sally forth without their carriers.

Syara's navy remained focus on fast moving ships, but in the inter-war yeras had developed a number of more conventional heavy ships, including the Zovahr and Makedon-class battleships, and the Moddra-class battlecruiser. In battle the Syarans preferred to divide their ships into "battle clusters", usually a dozen destroyers supported by a mixed squadron of battleships, battlecruisers, and heavy cruisers. Once engaged in battle, the clusters were to move and operate together as a miniature fleet. Syaran intelligence had identifed the Cacertian fleet movements within three days of the Center Fleet and Southern Fleet moving west towards Andria, which was then relayed to Rajcevski whom was preparing to set sail. Despite his private reservations Rajcevski sailed south anyway, mostly likley recognizing this as Syara's only real chance to deliver a crushing blow to the Cacertian Royal Navy. Rajcevski banked his success on the hope he could pick apart the Cacertian fleet bit by bit and make use of his fast ships to avoid a pitched engagement where Cacertian gunnery skills and armor gave them a significant advantage. The only other major advantage the Syarans had was in torpedoes, which had longer range and were faster than their Cacertian equivalents.

Order of battle

Main article: Order of Battle for the Battle of the Sabri Sea

The Cacertian force was commanded by the Royal Navy's Grand Admiral, Andrea Doria, and was split into three sections. The Royal Navy's Center Fleet, with which she sailed, formed the main force and consisted of twenty battleships and four battlecruisers. The battleships were formed up into two sections of ten ships that were further subdivided into divisions of five. Accompanying them were eight heavy cruisers, eight cruisers, four light cruisers, and thirty destroyers.

Cacerta's South Fleet sailed with the Center Fleet from the Cacertian Isles commanded by Eugenia Davion. Most of her battleships had been reassigned to the North Fleet and, as a result of their faster speed and maneuverability, they provided the reconnaissance for the Cacertians during the battle. Eugenia's force consisted of two fast battleships, eight battlecruisers, six heavy cruisers, and eight cruisers.

The thirty-two ship fleet stationed at Andria formed the third part of the Cacertian force. Under the command of Ulisse Barbato, the Andria Fleet consisted of six battleships, four heavy cruisers, two light cruisers, and twenty destroyers.

The Syaran fleet consisted of ten main clusters, for a total of 93 ships including 18 battleships, 8 battlecruisers, 11 heavy cruisers, 14 cruisers, and 42 destroyers.

Preliminary maneuvers

The Cacertian Fleet under the command of Andrea Doria reached Andria on 20 November 1935, at which point the Syaran fleet was still between Siduri and Springstile and steaming south at 25 knots. The Cacertians at this point were uncertain which route the Syarans would take towards Andria; a more western route past Nalaya's island holdings approximately 300 kilometers off the Nalayan coast, or skirt between Nalaya and the islands and approach from the North-east rather than directly north. It wasn't until the Nalayan passenger steamer Inshallah radioed it's sighting of the Syaran forward picket that the Cacertian intelligence circuit within Nalaya informed the Cacertian fleet admiralty of the Syaran movements. Recognizing that the Syarans were approaching from the north-east, Doria ordered her fleet to set sail to intercept the Syarans. Doria employed the bulk of Eugenia Davion's South Fleet as a force in recon to attempt to identify the Syaran fleet first, at which point the Andria fleet and the Central Fleet would form a pincer on the Syarans, aiming to annihilate the enemy force in full.

The Cacertians left Andria on the 21st and made for Nalaya. Just as the fleet was leaving, the meteorolgy station on Andria informed the fleet that a major storm front was moving in from the north, leading Doria to dryly comment that the Syarans had brought the storm with them to even the odds. Doria decided to commit to battle anyway, and steamed north-east.

Rajcevski had spread out his fleet over a wide expanse, nearly forty miles, by the time he entered the Sabri Sea. Rajcevski had planned to engage in a defeat-in-detail operation in which his clusters would identify and isolate the Cacertian fleet elements piece by piece. Rajcevski believed if he could inflict enough damage on the Cacertian fleet Doria would be forced to withdraw rather than risking too much of the Cacertian surface fleet in a single engagement so far away from Cacertian home waters.

It wasn't until late evening on 22 November that the Cacertians and Syarans finally made contact about 200 miles northeast of Andria. Davion's Southern Fleet made contact with the Syaran forward Cluster at approximately 16:45, when the crows nest on the battlecruiser Esmeralda Messineo spotted the Syaran Slocova-class destroyer Ardent Piety. Davion's two fast battleships, the Rossana Lamalfa and the Pamela Triolo were well within range and began firing on the Syaran ships while Davion informed Doria of her contact with the Syaran recon picket. At around 17:15 Davion recognized that her fleet was sailing towards the Syarans at an angle of roughly 20 degrees, thus her fleet would be within sight of the Syaran's full broadside before all her own guns could be brought to bear on the Cluster. Davion ordered her fleet to adjust heading further north-east so as to run almost parallel to the Syarans, hoping to take advantage of the superior range of her main guns on the fast battleships and battlecruisers. At approximately 17:30 the Syaran Forward Cluster suddenly turned hard to starboard and began sailing right for the South Fleet. The action momentarily stunned Davion and the Cacertians, whom saw the action as suicidal; the Syarans would be facing the full firepower of the Cacertian Fleet while the Syarans would only be able to fire their forward guns. Davion deduced the logic shortly afterwards; it was late in the afternoon and the Cacertian fleet was becoming silhouetted against the setting sun while the Syaran cluster was becoming increasingly enshrouded in darkness. The Forward Cluster, commanded by Senior Captain Milen Zdravkov Zaikov, hoped to take advantage of the situation and inflict serious damage on the South Fleet before disengaging.

The Cacertians still enjoyed a considerable advantage in firepower for the time being however, and at 17:36 scored the first hit of the battle when the battlecruiser Carolina Arco scored a direct hit on the SRN Rising Spirit. With the Rising Spirit spewing flames the lead Syaran destroyers unleashed a wave of torpedoes against the South Fleet, forcing the main body of Cacertian battleships and cruisers to turn sharply to prevent a collision. None of the torpedoes hit, but at 17:43 the Cacertian cruiser Antelmo Cisco was hit twice by shells from the SRN Unity of Effort. By now the Syarans had closed the range gap and Zaikov ordered a hard turn north to bring about the full firepower of his battle cluster. One of the Syaran ships, the Nemtya-class cruiser Seeker of Glory, did not receive the order, possibly because it could not see the signal lamps, possibly due to the fire from the Rising Spirit (The Syarans were still under radio silence to avoid giving away their position). The Seeker of Glory did not realize it's mistake until 18:10 at which point it was less than 10 miles from the South Fleet's rear guard composed of the Cacertian destroyers Modica, Chieti, and Sanreno. After briefly engaging the rear guard ,during which it inflicted minor damage on the Modica, it abruptly reversed course and headed east.

Hoping to pull away the South Fleet towards the main Syaran body the Forward Cluster began sailing back east while keeping within range of the Cacertian ships. By 18:30 the setting sun was proving to be a hindrance for the Cacertians who had increasing difficulty targeting the Syaran ships, while the Syarans were able to use the backdrop of the sun to zero in on the Cacertian fleet. Both sides exchanged damage. The SRN Sanctuary and Forged in Fire suffered direct hits, while the Cacertian battlecruiser Sofornia Talone and fast battleship Pamela Triolo were were hit. With nightfall imminent both sides broke contact, neither willing to entertain a night battle. The Forward Cluster pivoted further south, eventually linking back up with the Seeker of Glory around 18:50. The South Fleet slowed to a crawl and turned north, still on the lookout for the Syaran main body. The night passed with little incident as Doria attempted to reconstitute her fleets with what information she had, but by early morning on the 23rd the Cacertians still did not know the location of the Syarans.

Actions on 23 November

Neither side had a clear idea of the other's intentions as dawn broke on 23 November. Doria redeployed the South Fleet further south to continue to scope out and shadow the Syaran Forward Cluster, which was now nearly 75 miles from the rest of the Syaran body at around 05:30. Doria reoriented the Andria fleet further north, hoping to still pincer the Syaran body once it had been located while she sailed further east. At around 07:25 the Onesta Lucente spotted the SRN Bloodied Spirit and opened fire at extreme range, but failed to score any hits. Doria reoriented her Center Fleet upon this news, and recalled the South Fleet to regroup and continue to probe what she believed would be the perimeter of the Syaran body. Intermediate clashes between the two sides throughout the morning. At 08:40 the first vessel was sunk; the Vechad-class destroyer Colossus was hit by shellfire from the HMS Lucrezia Quintilian; the impact detonated the rear magazine and the explosion ruptured the hull leading to the ship sinking in less than three minutes. Out of a compliment of 453 officers and men only six were picked up by the Cacertians.

Following the loss of the Colossus Rajcevski ordered the main body to swing south while being screened by Beta Cluster. Rajcevski hoped to keep leading the Center Fleet south while Gamma and Epsilon Clusters would reverse course and intercept the Andria Fleet further north and defeat it in detail, at which point the focus could be put on disrupting the Center Fleet. Still shadowing Beta Cluster, which she believed was the main body Doria ordered the South Fleet to intercept. Davion gave up pursuit of the Forward Cluster and swung around, attempting to intersect with the movement of the Syarans. But Cacertian coordination was inaccurate; Doria believed she was shadowing the Beta Cluster which was 30-35 miles away and sailing directly south, but at 10:30 Senior Captain Vasko Langov ordered a "mad rush" south-west to cut across the lane of Center Fleet. Beta Cluster, which had only the faster Makedon-class battleships and not the Galania-class, was able to slip over the Center Fleet and position itself to the west of where South Fleet was expecting to find the Syarans. Meanwhile the Forward Cluster had at this point turned around (not pushing east as Davion had expected) and was now pursuing South Fleet.

At 11:20 Davion found her lead ships suddenly being engaged by Beta Cluster, over 45 miles west of where she was expecting to meet them. Shellfire from the Syaran cruisers Absolute Savior and Ascendant Justice delivered significant damage to the fast battleship Rossana Lamalfa, while the battlecruiser Carolina Arco was hit below the waterline and began to list at 11 degrees to port. Just as the Cacertians were maneuvering to bring their firepower to bear on the Syarans, the Forward Cluster was sighted to the south and began opening fire. Captain Zaikov, aboard the Unity of Effort, was now in position to fire on the South Fleet while most of it's focus was on Beta Cluster.

Under withering fire from two Syaran battle clusters Davion quickly ordered an escape and signaled for the fleet to sail north-east and attempt to re-unite with the Center Fleet. Under heavy Syaran gunfire the South Fleet took numerous hits, the most cataclysmic resulting in the sinking of the destroyer Imola, which was hit by four Syaran 13 inch shells. The resulting explosion split the ship in half and she went down with all hands. By now the Lucrezia Quintilian, which had been hit thrice and was hemorrhaging oil, gave the order to withdraw and began laying down a smoke screen in an effort to conceal the movement of the South Fleet. By 12:50 the South Fleet had managed to slip by the Syaran clusters and was steaming north-east towards Center Fleet. Captain Zaiko ordered a pursuit, hoping to continue to hound South Fleet but Captain Langov of Beta Cluster refused to follow suit. Langov defended his decision by stating he believed the Syarans would not reach South Fleet before escaping Center Fleet, but with it's heavy damage it would have been difficult for South Fleet to outrun the Syarans in time to return to the protection of Center Fleet before losing several ships in the process. The decision to avoid pressing the attack would go down as Syara's biggest missed chance to score a victory in the Sabri Sea.

After failing to engage the South Fleet for much longer the Syaran Forward and Beta Cluster moved south and then swung back north to avoid the reconnaissance efforts of the Central Fleet. Rajcevski meanwhile had spent much of the mid-day attempting to isolate the Andria Fleet, but Admiral Barbato had stayed too close to Center Fleet for the Syarans to risk a confrontation. By 14:00 Rajcevski was back in contact with Forward and Beta Cluster, placing the Syarans roughly 70-100 miles north of the Cacertian main body. Both sides had thus far suffered only minor losses, but the heavy damage done to South Fleet had worried the Cacertians, whom now feared they could be picked apart by the mobile Syaran forces. At approximately 15:20 a Cacertian seaplane identified the movement of the Syaran fleet to the north and transmitted the information back to Doria, whom ordered the Cacertian fleets to sail north. By 17:00 however the major storm front that the Cacertians had been informed of rolled in from the north. Amid 50 foot high waves and turbulent weather Davion wanted to return to port, but Doria refused, arguing they needed to continue action against the Syarans less they let the Syaran fleet slip away. Doria's rank won through and the Cacertian fleet sailed north, but amid the raging storm speed had to be cut down to just 5 knots and the fleets coordination quickly dissipated. Throughout the night the Cacertians attempted to sail north in spite of the ferocious weather, on more than one occasion a ship narrowly avoided capsizing amid the waves. Visibility within the fleet was down to less than 200 meters, not helped by the lack of moonlight and the constant waves.

Main action

By 05:00 on 24 November, after a nightmarish and turbulent period of darkness, steadily moved north, still uncertain the exact disposition of the Syaran fleet. The inclement weather had still not subsided; rainfall continued throughout the morning and visibility was just a few hundred meters, but the waves were calmer and the fleet was steadily becoming more cohesive. Doria was still in the process of reorgnaizing the Center, South, and Andria Fleet when the cruiser XXX radioed in contact with the Syaran fleet. Over the next thrity minutes more and more reports came in, at increasingly close ranges, until it became clear that the Cacertians had stumbled into the Syaran fleet, itself which had been caught up in the storm. In staggered, uneven lines the two fleets began to engage one another, their carefully planned tactics and strategies abandoned in the chaos of battle.

The exact order of events for the main fleet action is difficult to catalog since both fleets were thrown into disarray by the sudden confrontation. Heavy fog limited visibility on both sides and often led to complex maneuver becoming impossible, and in several cases ships engaged one another at point blank range. In some cases the exact fates of certain ships are unknown or can only be pieced together by composite information from other sources. Once the scope of the engagement became clear, Rajcevski ordered Beta and Gamma Cluster to swing east and attempt to outflank what he thought was the edge of the Cacertian fleet, while attempting to disengage the main body from the entaglement. Doria meanwhile ordered the 1st and 2nd Battleship divisions to engage the Syaran Forward Cluster while the 2nd Battle Squadron was ordered to steam to the north-east and attempt to form a solid line running east-west to bring as much firepower to bear on the Syaran main body.

At 06:25 Senior Captain Zaiko of the Forward Cluster ordered his ships to advance and close the distance between themselves and the 1st Battle Squadron. When Captain Dejan Mitreski of the High Devotion pointed out that the Cluster would not last long against the Cacertian battleships, Zaiko agreed but commented "at least we'll take some of them with us". Upon seeing the Syaran ships closing in, Division Admiral Martino Calbi aboard the HMS Adriana Acciaioli ordered the 1st Battleship Division to disperse to avoid Syaran torpedoes, preventing the Division from bringing it's full firepower to bear.