Re: [GZG] The internal workings of Fleets

Thanks Indy, Mike and Mr Beast,
>
> From: Indy <indy.kochte@gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [GZG] The internal workings of Fleets
> The project is kinda stalled at the moment. <snip>time is a commodity
that
keeps being filled with too many other things as of late. :-(

I hear you, work is the curse of the gaming classes :)

<snip>
> I say...write something up! :-)

Well, since you mention it, I'm seriously thinking of doing some notes.
Wanted to get some info straight first so I don't sound like a complete
prat
:)

Mike's comments on the RAN were informative and tally with what I know
of
the RNZN's operations in places like the Gulf.	Modern fleets seem to be
very fluid constructs with ships passing through operational areas,
being
picked up and handed off to other areas constantly.  Would this be the
case
in a full blown naval shooting war?

I found an interesting History of the US 5th Fleet (while looking for
the
website of the NAC 5th Fleet) which indicates that this may very well be
the
case.  The US began numbering their Fleets in 1943 as "a basis for task
force designations and for specific geographic areas".

US 5th Fleet under Vice-Admiral Spruance was set up to operate under
Halsey's 3rd Fleet.  In 1944, the two fleets were combined for
operations in
the Central Pacific with the title alternating between 3rd and 5th
Fleet,
depending on who was in command - one admiral serving afloat for an
operation while the other was ashore planning the next one.  This would
indicate that the "Fleet" was actually the admiral and his staff and
executive officers!

I'm still trying to get my head around how this would work.  There seems
to
be a 'continuity' gap here, or is it usual for a command chain to swap
heads?	Not being a WWII or Moderns gamer, I guess I'm used to thinking
of
units as building blocks that lead directly upwards towards an army, or
fleet, commander, not as modules that can either operate individually,
or as
part of this force or that force.

Where all this is leading is that I'm trying to work out, at a strategic
or
campaign level, how fleets would function in the future by considering
how
they operate in the present.

It would appear from what Mike indicates as an ex-RANer, that the basic
naval unit is the ship (land equivalent, the battalion or regiment), and
to
the average service person, this would be where their immediate
loyalty/feeling of group lies.	Formations larger than ship are
ephemeral as
they seem to be more for OrBats and accounting purposes and are
constantly
subject to change.  Having said that, some formations do seem to acquire
longevity and a sense of history - DesRon 50, a part of US 5th Fleet,
seems
to claim descent from a Desron of that number from the Pacific War, even
though the WWII DesRon 50 was dis-established in 1945.	The modern
DesRon 50
is stationed in the Gulf where it seems to form the central core of 5th
Fleet, co-ordinating elements from the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets as
these
are sent to the Persian Gulf, in the absence of a Carrier Battle Group
(this
info seems prior to Gulf War II, so I have no idea what the current
situation is).

How would this work at a command level?  It seems that general mission
requirements originate from the Admiralty or equivalent Naval
Headquarters.
These are passed down to area commands (CENTCOM in the US for instance)
where the actual orders for the formation of a Task Group and where they
are
to be deployed are drawn up.  The area command must be able to tell the
local commander what ships to expect to accomplish his mission, and to
tell
another area command which type of ships he needs to pass over to the
operational commander.	I'm guessing they would be by class, rather than
specific ships - though it is possible that specific ships might also be
ordered to go.	Otherwise, the local commander might be tempted to play
silly-buggers and send off his worst ships and most refractory captains.

Are CruRons and DesRons to be considered 'units' in that the ships in
them
usually serve together?  If Task Force Sigma is ordered to send four FFs
to
Task Force Beta, does CinC TF Sigma send a DesRon or peel a FF off each
of
four DesRons?

There's also the issue of communications in the FT universe, which,
briefly,
I think fall into a similar technological model as to those of, say, the
Dreadnought period on Earth.  Rapid comunications between Home and Fleet
Stations (via ansible or some sort of large, powerful, handwavium
transmitters) with courier boats passing messages to patroling
detachments.

Can anyone tighten up on some of my surmises, here?  Am I heading
towards
something useful, or is this level of detail irrelevant?

Regards

David

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