The Robyn C. Quincey Incident & The Battle of Grand Manan Island

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Note: Please keep all OOC discussion to this thread.

This thread will cover the whole of events between the United States and United Kingdom during the period of 6th February to 30th June 1904. While detailed stories are still being written and finalized, the timeline of events below along with the battle report are being made available now so game-play can be continued knowing what happens.

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February 9th: The HMS Prometheus rams and sinks the fishing vessel Robyn C. Quincy in the Gulf of Maine approximately 30 nautical miles from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.

March 14th through March 18th: The United Kingdom files formal charges that the Robyn C. Quincy was fishing in a area she should not have been, and therefore the fault for the accident lies with her, rather than HMS Prometheus. The United States files countercharges claiming that the ramming was intentional rather than accidental. Given the nature of both charges, a neutral arbitrator is selected. Germany will host the proceedings

April 4th through April 15th: Both the UK and US complaints in what has been dubbed the Robyn C. Quincy Incident are heard by a International Maritime Court in Germany. The German court reaches the conclusion that neither side was in the wrong during the events of February 9th and the incident was purely accidental. The United Kingdom accepts the ruling. The United States accepts the ruling in principal, but maintains that the HMS Prometheus was only as close as she was due to an attempt to intimidate US fishing ships and announces that additional United States Naval patrols will begin in the Gulf of Maine on May 1st to "Ensure the protection of United States and other nation's shipping from Royal Navy intimidation."

May 16th: The Royal Navy announces it will commit capital units to patrol in the Gulf of Maine to ensure the United States Navy "acts in accordance with maritime law".  The escalation comes without any number of verifiable complaints, tho some are produced they are discredited in the following days. The first patrol of two battleships is sent out that afternoon.

May 18th: After the USS Portland is almost rammed by HMS Warspite, the United States Navy announces it will be deploying several capital ships to "provide a bulwark against continued Royal Navy intimidation."

May 23rd to June 5th: An escalating number of warships are sent to the Gulf of Maine, eventually culminating with the numbers below
Royal Navy
6 battleships
2 Armored Cruisers
2 Large Protected Cruisers
6 Protected Cruisers
12 Destroyers
United States Navy
6 Battleships
3 Frigates
8 Protected Cruisers
36 Destroyers

June 6th: Both fleets are fully formed when a distress call from the Dutch freighter Flinterstar is received by the ships of both sides. Ships from both arrive, but neither side is able to render assistance in time, and the Flinterstar's cargo of fertilizer detonates. After deliberation, the commanding Royal Navy Admiral on the scene determines that the United States Navy fired on the Dutch ship to cause its destruction. Given the action could not be tolerated in such proximity to Canadian waters, the Royal Navy fleet opens fire on their USN counterparts. What will become known as the Battle of Grand Manan Island takes place. Once word of the battle reaches respective capitals, diplomats hurry to figure out what happened while both militaries begin preparations for war.

June 7th through June 23rd: Frantic diplomatic meetings take place in Washington, London and Ottawa trying to avert war. Several small skirmishes take place along the US-Canadian border on land and at sea. On June 23rd, an agreement is announced and hostilities draw to a close, tho both sides remain on high alert.

June 29th: Theodore Roosevelt  give a speech to a joint session of Congress condemning the United Kingdom actions over the last several months as overtly hostile to the United States. As such, he calls on Congress to take all necessary action to not only allow the United States to defend itself, but also the other nations of the Americas from British Imperialism.

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[NOTE: This is written in encyclopedic style to convey the events of the battle as clear as possible. IC knowledge can expect some blurring of fine details.]

First Contact

Both battlelines and supporting ships had been steaming in approximately the same area for some time before the explosion of the Flinterstar at 1118 Eastern Standard Time, a privately owned cargo ship registered in The Netherlands. The Flinterstar accident was ultimately ruled to be a reaction set off by a careless worker igniting a fire which spread to the stores of fertilizer that she was carrying. This was only confirmed via analysis by submersible of the wreck in 1965, and was not known to either of the commanders. Following the explosion, the two forces aligned approximately parallel heading out into the Gulf of Maine. By 1125 EST, the commander of the Royal Navy force had determined that "[the freighter] was destroyed by hostile action from the United States naval forces and such [an action] in immediate proximity of Crown possessions could not be tolerated." At 1127 EST at a range of 7000m, the Royal Navy line opened fire. The US line responded at 1128.

Opening Moves

The first several salvos caused minor damage between the two lines as the range began to come down. Several micro-engagements began to develope at this point, the Armored Cruisers being the most notable. As shell impacts began to rise, it became clear that the more modern US 12"/40 on the Maine class ships was having a greater effect than the thick armor of the Royal Navy line. The Royal Navy line began to out-maneuver the USN line due to the speed disadvantage of the latter from the Oregon class ships. Damage occurred across most every ship at this phase of the battle. The first casualty happened during this phase, as the cruiser HMS Iris was struck by a 7" shell from the USS Kearsarge, which detonated her magazeen and Iris sank quickly after.

The Armored Cruiser Battle

Given their speed advantage, the armored cruisers on both sides (HMS Orlando, HMS Warspite, USS Kearsarge, USS Newtown) opened up space from the battleships and proceeded to have a concentrated duel of there own. The US ships spread their fire evenly, Kearsarge to Warspite and Newtown to Orlando, while due to communications failure both Royal Navy ships focused on the Kearsage. Kearsarge took the pounding for 45 minutes (until 1215 EST) before being forced out of line with the Newtown, at which point Newtown had mostly sustained superficial damage. Newtown's commander, Captain Whitaker Paquet, disengaged seeing how severe the damage to Kearsarge was. The Royal Navy cruisers also chose to disengage at approximately this point (roughly 1220 EST) as the damage was mounting. The three remaining ships skirmished on and off until nightfall, with Kearsarge succumbing to her battle damage and sinking at 1538 EST.

Main Battle: Beginning phase

The two battle lines continued to close to approximately 6300m before the Royal Navy's speed advantage allowed them to hold the range between 5000m and 5500m for the remainder of the battle, rendering the 7" guns of the American line ineffective. All ships traded fire, with the most focused being HMS Majestic, HMS Magnificent, and the USS Virginia. Reasons for this differed, Majestic and Magnificent were at the rear of the Royal Navy line, making them the primary targets of the three Oregon's, which were slowly falling behind. The Virginia was mistaken as the flagship of Admiral Dewey, this was really the USS Louisiana. At the tail of the American line was the USS New York, which suffered several shell hits that compromise the watertight compartments severely. As hits that started flooding mounted, New York fell further and further behind and eventually turned out of the line at approximately 1304 EST. By that point, the flooding was beyond control and New York would sink at 1339 EST, becoming the first modern battleship to be sunk by gunfire alone.

Main Battle: Splitting Phase

Shortly after the New York was forced out of line, HMS Majestic received several hits that pushed her far into territory where she was in danger of sinking. Pulling out of the line was all that saved her, and she spent the remainder of the day slowly returning to  Saint John, arriving back in the middle of the night. Majestic's withdrawal spelled doom for her sister Magnificent, which quickly fell out of line battered into scrap. Magnificent sank shortly after at 1347 EST.  At this point the lines began to break in two as the distance between the remaining Oregon's and the Maine's created a noticeable gap. It was about this time that the USS Virginia was forced out of line with crippling damage. Virginia would limp home to Boston. The fight split into the remaining Royal Sovereign's against the remaining Oregon's and the Canopus vs Maine classes. The split became distinguishable at approximately 1409 EST.

Main Battle: Main Phase

A two on two battle of ships completed almost a decade before, the Oregon's were outmatched in totality. Both HMS Royal Sovereign and HMS Ramillies had been recently refit, where USS Oregon and USS Alabama had little work done and were in serious need of yard time. The ships continued to pound away at each other, damage mounting. The two Royal Sovereigns, wary of what had just happened to the Majestic and Magnificent, began to pull range at 1448 EST. The Oregon's, not having speed to keep up, were unable to pursue and chasing fire ended at 1459.

Unlike their older counterparts, this phase of the battle did not result in massive damage being done to either of the Canopus or remaining Maine's. Nether could appear to do much, and by the time the battle behind them was breaking up Dewey began to organised a disengagement as the Royal Sovereign's were beginning to creep back into range.

Main Battle: Disengagement Phase

As the Royal Sovereigns return threatened Dewey's two remaining battleships, the decision was made to commence a withdrawal. To facilitate such, a torpedo attack was ordered and at 1504 the USN destroyer flotillas accompanied by cruiser began to close the gap as the battleships turned away. At 1514, the light ships of both sides clashed and torpedos were flung at the Royal Navy line. The resulting attack was devastating for both sides. HMS Albion was struck by three torpedoes, HMS Goliath and HMS Ramillies by one each. In trade, nine USN destroyers were sunk, with most receiving some sort of damage. The attack forced the Royal Navy line to break off from engaging the USN line in a pursuit as the USN began to withdraw to Boston. Given the damage sustained, the Royal Navy commander did not opt to pursue and began a withdrawal of his own. The main guns of the battleline fell silent at 1540 EST, bringing the four hour battle to a close. HMS Albion would sink due to flooding at 1638 EST.

Late Skirmishes

The only large engagement after the battlelines seperated took place between the frigate USS Brandywine and the Large Protected Cruisers HMS Gibraltar and HMS Indefatigable. Both units had been detached from the main forces prior to the Flinterstar's explosion and as such did not commence fighting until much later. During the time of the main engagement, the two sides had grown increasingly agitated by each other. At 1705 EST, the Brandywine and the Royal Navy cruisers were approximately 3500m apart. The Brandywine became informed of the engagement that had ended about a hour prior first, and given the hostile intent of the Royal Navy ships the Brandywine's commander, Percival Knight, ordered the Brandywine to open fire. The Royal Navy ships opened fire at about the same time, having received similar notification. The battle was short, but intense, as both sides had also received orders to withdraw. Each side scored several telling hits, but ultimately only HMS Indefatigable would sink. Her sister, HMS Gibraltar, would be quickly repaired while USS Brandywine required more extensive work before returning to service.

Several smaller skirmishes between various light ships took place in the remaining hours until nightfall, but none of these engagements produced any notable result for either side.

Losses

The ships listed below were either sunk by direct gunfire or sank later in the day due to secondary effects such as flooding or fire. The ship or ships determined most likely to have been the killer is listed in parenthesis. Ships are listed in order based on time.
HMS Iris (USS Kearsarge is proven to have fired the fatal shot)
USS New York (HMS Ramillies is credited with the most compromising hits)
HMS Magnificent (USS Oregon had the most hits)
USS Kearsarge (HMS Orlando and HMS Warspite share credit)
[Nine Blandon]
[Five Salmon]
HMS Albion (Combination of torpedos from USN destroyers, exact ships unknown)
HMS Indefatigable (USS Brandywine)

Additionally, the ships below were out of action for more than six months undergoing repairs.
USS Oregon
USS Virginia
USS Richmond
USS Charlotte
HMS Majestic
HMS Royal Sovereign
HMS Ramillies
HMS Orlando
HMS Tartar
HMS Hayacinth
HMS Surprise

Lessons Learned

The battle provided conclusive evidence that the all-big-gun concept was outright superior when a speed advantage was available. The Royal Navy line managed to outmaneuver the United States Navy line and by keeping within a certain range was able to minimise the impact that the superior intermediary guns of the USN ships were able to have on the battle. The US Navy had already been adapting to this concept, as evident by the Vermont class battleships. Where the Vermont's shortcoming was evident was in their speed, as HMS Dreadnaught was planned to have a speed of over 21knts. This led directly to accelerating the order for the Texas class, derived from a design proposal for the Vermont class. While not considered an outright superior ship to Dreadnaught, the Texas order signified the start of a naval arms race between the United States and United Kingdom that would set the tone of world political affairs for the 20th century.

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Morning of February 9th, 1904 approximately 0730. Somewhere in the Gulf of Maine.

The Robyn C. Quincy was by all accounts a by all accounts non-descript fishing ship. Based out of Bar Harbor, Maine, the casual observer would have a difficult time telling her apart from any other of the fishing ships the called the sleepy seaside community home. To her captain, she was the most unique ship in the world. Wilburn Cokes had called Bar Harbor and the ship home for more than 14 years. During that time he had fished Cod and Lobster. For today and the next few weeks, Cod was on the agenda. Having been at sea for hours already, Wilburn had lost track of time. While when the ship had left, the sea had been clear now a thick fog limited visibility to only a matter of yards. Wilburn checked the fog lights again, and for a third time before returning to the pilot house. Shortly after, a crewman stumbling around with a heavy net knocked one of the lights off its mounting, and was unable to grab it as it bounced on the deck and rolled into the Atlantic.

Nearby, HMS Prometheus.

Commander F. C. T. Tudor attempted without success to rub the vestiges of sleep out of his eyes, so he returned to the cup of tea to finish waking him. The Commanding Officer of HMS Prometheus, tired did not become the man. Making the journey from Saint John to the main Royal Navy base at Halifax was not going to take long. Then the real work of the day would begin, satisfying his wife with their new home. Tudor had been assigned to command of the Prometheus mear weeks prior, and his wife had arrived to join him late yesterday. Having supposed to have been in Halifax when she arrived, Tudor could hear the coming argument. He looked around the bridge full of mainly reservists, a theme which echoed throughout the crew. Tudor silently cursed this fog, the delay due to slower speed was not going to please his wife.

High on the observation mast, Landsman Charles Miller peered out into the thickening fog. An Alberta native, he was not used to just how thick the fog could get within the Gulf of Maine. Even so, he peered out into the grey as his duty demanded. A flicker of light caused him to do a double take. A long gase only revealed a single dim source that did not stand out from the fog much. Deciding it was nothing, he continued to scan. When his eyes came back to the spot, the blurred outline of a small ship was visible. With a realisation of pure horror that the ship lay dead ahead of the Prometheus, Charles began ringing the bell with adrenaline fueled ferocity, shouting "Ship dead ahead!"

Tudor jolted into full alertness, as he saw it too. The slightly more defined shape ahead of them was definitely not a fog bank. "Full reverse! Rudder hard to Port!" The orders were carried out, but not with the precision one would expect of full time crewmen. Tudor saw that it would not be enough, reserve crewmen or not. The Prometheus shuddered in response to the commands, but the fishing ship continued to grow ahead of her. "All hands brace for collision!"

Robyn C. Quincy

Wilburn noticed the huge form the Royal Navy cruiser begin to materialise out of the fog. He let loose a long, loud blast from the ship's horn. Seeing it was much too close for that to have any effect, Wilburn sprinted out of the wheelhouse screaming at the top of his voice "Abandon Ship! Abandon Ship!" The crewmen on the aft deck hardly had time to start moving before the Robyn C. Quincy was cleaved in two by the massive cruiser and catapulted Wilburn into the Atlantic along with his crew.Wilburn floundered in the water, grasping and any floating bit of wreckage. He finally came to a large piece of hull that was able to support his weight.  The cruiser could still be heard off in the fog bank. After testing the hull fragment again, Wilburn began calling out desperate to find other surviving members of his crew, or help from the cruiser.

HMS Prometheus

The first of the ship's boats hit the water within two minutes of the collision. A small handful of men to each boat, they fanned out along the heading they had come from. Prometheus lit up the scene with all lighting probing the fog for any hint of what they had hit. The true carnage of the scene began to unravel, each boat putting together small pieces of it. Several crewmen of the Robyn C. Quincy, shocked by their sudden ejection into the Atlantic were hauled aboard some of the boats. Others found only bodies, or more hauntingly, a single article of clothing marking where the owner had slipped beneath the waves. One thing became abundantly clear, the Robyn C. Quincy was nowhere to be found. As the search continued the boats with survivors or remains returned to the Prometheus. When the boat containing Wilburn Cokes pulled alongside, Tudor was on deck. "Get him comfortable with the others" Tudor ordered some seamen.

"Are you the captain of this ship?" Wilburn asked through chattering teeth.

"That is correct." Tudor replied. "Commander F. C. T. Tudor, Royal Navy. To whom do I owe the pleasure?"

"Wilburn Cokes." came the cold soaked reply "Captain of the fishing vessel Robyn C. Quincy out of Bar Harbor, Maine."

"Mr. Cokes, I am very glad you survived the accident." Tudor responded, "Please allow my crew to see to the comfort of your and the other surviving men. Rest assured, we will continue to look for survivors as long as practical." He then motioned to the seamen to take Wilburn to the Officers Mess with the other men.

Tudor's first officer approached, and after saluting  spoke. "Sir, the damage to the bow is quite bad. The good news is we are able to control the flooding and it should not much inhibit us being on station as long as necessary. Have we figured out where the ship was from yet? Perhaps Yarmouth?"

Tudor pulled his first officer close before replying in a hushed voice. "I need you to listen very carefully. Your current orders are to ensure anything, and I mean anything of relevance is documented in totality. I don't care how mundane it seems, every detail must be recorded. I just spoke with the captain of that ship we rammed. The Robyn C. Quincy of Bar Harbor, Maine. It seems we have rammed and sank an American fishing ship."

The first officer turned white, realising the additional gravity to what had transpired. "Right away sir."

The Prometheus stayed at the site of the accident for the next several hours while her boats combed the water for survivors. When it was clear in the eyes of Tudor and the professional opinion of the ship's surgeon that no more survivors would be found due to the water temperature, the Prometheus gradually picked up speed and headed in the direction of the nearest port. On arriving at Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, the survivors of the Robyn C. Quincy were transferred to the waiting arms of local hospital staff on the shore. Tudor sent three runners out. One to the City Hall to send a message to Ottawa and the American Embassy there. The second, went to the local telegraph office, to inform his wife of the additional delay. The third, and by far most important, went to the local Royal Navy sation. That message was quickly forwarded to Halifax, and onto London.

HMS PROMETHEUS IN TRANSIT FROM ST JOHN TO HALIFAX. STOP
EN ROUTE ENCOUNTERED DENSE FOG. STOP
IN ACCIDENT, RAMMED AND SANK SMALL FISHING SHIP WITH LOSS OF LIFE. STOP
ALL DETAILS RECORDED. STOP
FISHING VESSEL NOT LOCATED IN NORMAL FISHING AREAS. STOP
FISHING VESSEL AMERICAN. STOP
REQUESTING FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS. STOP