Battle of the North Sea (2037)

"With naval superiority kept throughout the war, the appearance of a German supercarrier would change the tide of the war. A fleet on standby consisting of one light cruiser, two submarines, three destroyers, and one ASW ship were sent through the slightly longer but safer path through the British isles with a support fleet of one heavy cruiser, four destroyers, two ASW frigates and three submarines a little further away to provide support. The main attack fleet engaged the Vlarian fleet in the North Sea, with destroyer Galissonniere destroying an enemy destroyer before being sunk by the other Vlarian destroyer escort. With the loss of a destroyer, the task of sinking the carrier were given to Submarines Aigle and Terror. With a lack of ASW systems, the Vlarian fleet failed to detect the two Submarines, and with four missiles, sunk both the Vlarian destroyer and carrier. The two Vlarian submarines were chased away by ASW ship Lyon, and the support fleet mixed with the main attack fleet after realization that a Vlarian escort fleet was on the way to support the now sunk carrier. The combined fleet has begun returning through the same route taken earlier to reach the North Sea into the English Channel, with all weapons on combat readiness in the case of a Central Powers attack."-French News Network, 2037The Battle of the North Sea was a naval battle of the Third Balkan War which took place in late 2037 and involved the naval forces of the République Française (French Republic) against the forces of the Vlarian Federation. The battle began after reports of the Vlarian Federation sending a supercarrier, FGS Erich Raeder to aid the Central Powers reached the French Navy, which quickly dispatched a fleet to deal with the carrier and escort fleet.
The battle ended with the sinking of almost the entire Vlarian escort fleet along with the Raeder, a crushing defeat for the Vlarian Federation's Earth forces. The French Navy only lost one destroyer in the battle, the MNF Galissonniere. Vlarian forces ceased any operations to deploy another of their Masterpiece-class Supercarriers to aid the Central Powers.
== Background ==
The Vlarian Federation joined the Third Balkan War on the side of the Central Powers. Due to a request made by the major Central Power, Germania. however. Vlaria itself did not attack the Balkan Powers, but they lent a carrier to Germany to neutralize any reinforcements coming to reinforce the Dunkirk Fleet, located in France. As the current number of ships built were low, the German government worried about an invasion of Dunkirk with naval superiority in the hands of the Balkan Powers. Although the original intent for the carrier was to damage or even destroy the French Dunkirk Fleet, But, French intelligence discovered the lending of the carrier and new information regarding it worried the French government. A supercarrier in the hands of the Central Powers would change the tide of war to their side. The Vlarian Federation wanted the carrier to be used as a means to stop any reinforcements coming to reinforce the powerful Dunkirk Fleet. 
=== Operation Kriegsmarine Blitzkrieg (Stage 1) ===
Operation Kriegsmarine Blitzkrieig was to attack any ships stationed in Dunkirk starting with the launching of the German K-33 Hawk naval fighter as Vlaria was hesitant to lend Germany any Vlarian aircraft due to unknown reasons. Then, aircraft launched from the carrier would attack the Dunkirk Fleet. Due to the still capable Trinity and Terran ships being present in Dunkirk, the attack will prove only thought to-be-fatal to the older french ships as their outdated, missile defense system will fail against the Vlarian anti-ship cruise missiles. However, the plan was phased out in favor of Operation Bewachen.
== The Battle ==
The Battle of the North Sea began when the French fleet reached the North Sea and began to engage the Vlarian fleet. French destroyer MNF Galissonniere engaged and succesfully destroyed a Vlarian destroyer before being sunk herself. After the loss of a destroyer, the French submarines were given the task to sink the Vlarian supercarrier. The Vlarian fleet did not detect the two submarines and sunk a Vlarian destroyer and the supercarrier FGS Erich Raeder with four missiles. The two Vlarian submarines were driven away by the anti-submarine warfare ship MNF Lyon.
== Aftermath of the Battle ==
After the battle, the French fleet managed to link up with a larger fleet and returned to where they came from, before the other Vlarian escort fleet arrived. Despite reports that all Vlarian ships were destroyed in the battle, one ship, a destroyer escort, managed to return to a Vlarian-controlled port with medium damage sustained over the hull.Category:Battles