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 – 25 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	1 battleship sunk 1 battleship scuttled 1 battlecruiser sunk 2 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. The Cacertian forces managed to defeat the Inner Sphere after extensive maneuvering and three main combats, finally engaging the Inner Sphere navy at close range and in bad weather conditions. 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 of Cacertian warships that had begun several operations of offshore bombardment of the Syaran homeland.

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. After the battle and the exhausting attrition as a result of a combined Cacertian-Tennaite campaign, the Inner Sphere’s capacity to replace losses and materiel became increasingly more difficult. The Battle of the Sabri Sea is widely considered a major turning point in the Western Theater.

Background and planning

Inner Sphere 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 Rajcevski, a veteran of the Divide War and a progressively-minded strategist, understood that the combined naval forces of the Inner Sphere stood little chance of winning a head-to-head clash. Therefore, the Syarans adopted a divide-and-conquer strategy with the aim of luring or engaging small Cacertian squadrons and destroying them with superior forces.

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.