- Cruisers in the Mediterranean? -
An analysis on a seemingly out-of-place class becoming the norm (10/27/2024)
H.M.S. Neptune fires torpedoes into a Thracian destroyer while it is boxed in by Alliance forces in the Mediterranean
Last Week's Mediterranean siege saw an overwhelming victory by the Alliance over the Coalition, with a total of 10 Coalition ships sunk and 0 Alliance ships sunk. These numbers on their own are quite remarkable, but a deeper look may unveil something rather fascinating.
More cruisers were used in last week's Mediterranean siege than in recent history
A half-dozen or more cruisers were deployed by the Alliance against Coalition's destroyers and single dreadnought. Numerous cruisers were also deployed by the Alliance in the last several Mediterranean sieges alongside destroyers. The cruisers very effectively disposed of the destroyers but ran into numerous issues regarding getting stuck and not being able to enter the regions.
Why were cruisers deployed and how were they used?
A cruiser fires on a destroyer in a duel
Alliance forces deployed mostly cruisers in this siege and used them to circle the Mediterranean region, firing into the region at Coalition destroyers. In the latter half of the engagement, most Alliance ships were clustered in the north, disposing of the remainder of the Coalition forces. One cruiser nearly sunk after getting stuck on debris, but it was eventually saved. All this begs the question: Why?
Cruisers, being slower, larger, and less agile than destroyers, seems like a counterintuitive choice in such a cramped area as the Mediterranean Sea, however their heavy armour and quick-firing 9-inch guns seemed to counteract that. The Alliance did deploy several destroyers to actually enter the region and herd Coalition ships towards the Alliance cruisers and to assist in sinking the single dreadnought that the Coalition interestingly chose to deploy. The cruisers were chosen as the Alliance has been, historically, outnumbered in naval battles, so heavier ships were chosen. They did struggle when fights became more close-quarters.
How can cruisers be countered?
Other than simply deploying ones own cruisers, therefore creating more of a cruiser-engagement rather than a destroyer one, leading to actual region combat being rather small, one possible method would be torpedo boats; destroyers that sacrifice the majority of their cannons for extra torpedoes. Torpedo boats are very effective at sending large spreads of torpedoes downrange at enemy formations, causing chaos and potentially devastating damage. Although powerful, torpedo boats are somewhat of a glass cannon, as they have a 90 second reload and are much more vulnerable to cannonfire and armament loss than normal destroyers. A mix of normal destroyers and torpedo boats would make an effective counter to cruisers.
The future?
Most likely, cruisers will be deployed once again by both sides in the Mediterranean in an attempt to outarmour and outgun the other side's destroyers. It is extremely unlikely, however, that the Mediterranean region will open up to cruisers being able to enter the region and collect points. While cruisers were extremely effective at sinking the lightly armoured and armed destroyers, they did have trouble avoiding torpedoes and from getting their drilled while mostly stationary due to the confined space. Regardless, the rapid increase in use of larger ships in the Mediterranean is both interesting and game-changing for all nations interested in the region.
