One of the key tasks of the World of Warships alpha test is the introduction
and testing of new, original gameplay modes. One of these is a Historical
Battles mode. We tried to reconstruct the Battle of Savo Island, also known
to enthusiasts as the First Battle of the Solomon Sea.
WOWS Alpha的首要目的之一就是測試原創的新遊戲模式，其中一種就是歷史模式。
我們試著重演薩沃島海戰，也稱為第一次所羅門海戰。
(翻譯君註：英文多半用前者，後者對應到日文的第一次ソロモン海戦)
The idea of our battle was to fully reproduce the events of August, 9 1942
that happened in the Pacific Ocean. Two days before, Vice-Admiral Mikawa
arranged a strike group in order to interrupt the deployment of US forces at
Guadalcanal. His plan was simple yet very effective: enter the Ironbottom
Sound and perform night-time torpedo attacks on the ships and, most
importantly, the transports of the US expeditionary forces, and then
instantly retreat.
戰鬥的點子是全盤重演1942年8月8日晚間到9號在太平洋上發生的戰鬥。
三川軍一中將在兩天之前編組了一支打擊艦隊以阻撓美軍在瓜達康納爾島的行動。戰鬥
計畫簡單明瞭：進入鐵底海峽，對美軍艦艇（特別是載運遠征軍的運輸艦）發動夜間雷擊
，然後立刻閃人。
（翻譯君註：戰鬥序列如下
第8艦隊 三川軍一中將
旗艦 鳥海(高雄級)
第6戰隊 五藤存知少將
青葉、加古 (青葉級)
古鷹、衣笠 (古鷹級)
第18戰隊 松山光治少將
天龍、龍田 (天龍級)
第29戰隊
夕凪 (神風級)
The US forces were battle-weary and exhausted; they weren’t expecting any
night-time ambushes. That’s why there was almost no recon arranged and
Japanese forces managed to approach unnoticed and assess the situation.
Japanese cruisers almost ran into the USS “Blue” on their way to Savo –
the ship was patrolling the western part of the bay. Japanese vessels aimed
at her but didn’t fire, unwilling to sacrifice their disguise so
prematurely. The first fire contact took place 30 minutes thereafter – the
ambush resulted in 4 US cruisers being sunk and 2 destroyers receiving heavy
damage.
美軍歷經久戰且精疲力竭，並未預料到日軍的夜襲。這導致美軍僅派出極少的艦艇警戒，
使日軍得以悄悄接近並對狀況作出評估。日軍的巡洋艦編隊在開往薩沃島途中差點撞上
美軍的 USS Blue號驅逐艦，後者正在巡邏海灣的西半。日軍瞄準了Blue，但是出於不想
早早放棄奇襲優勢考量，並未開火。第一輪交火在三十分鐘之後開始，最終戰果是美軍四
艘重巡被擊沉，兩艘驅逐艦重創。
（美軍戰鬥序列如下
第62特遣艦隊(TF62) Richmond K. Turner少將
TF62.6西方屏護艦隊
Victor A. C. Crutchley少將 (皇家海軍)
外圍警戒艦
Blue (Bagley class)
Ralph Talbot (同上)
南方集團
Crutchley少將
HMAS Australia (flag) (皇家澳洲海軍，Kent Class，旗艦)
HMAS Canberra (同上)
Chicago (Northampton Class)
Bagley (同級首艦)
Patterson (Bagley Class)
北方集團
Frederick L. Riefkoh上校
Vincennes (以下三艘都是New Orleans Class)
Quincy
Astoria
Helm (Bagley Class)
Wilson (Benham Class)
TF62.4東方屏護艦隊
Norman Scott少將
San Juan (旗艦，Atlanta Class)
HMAS Hobart (Modified Leander Class，皇家澳洲海軍)
Monssen (Gleaves Class)
Buchanan (同上)
獨立
Jarvis (Bagley Class)
Despite causing significant chaos, Mikawa had not succeeded in fulfilling his
primary task: eliminating the transports that were deploying ground forces.
Therefore, the US still managed to seize control over Guadalcanal, basically
meaning the loss of a key strategic edge for the Japanese forces in this
region.
即使造成盟軍劇烈混亂，三川仍然沒有完成主要任務目標：擊沉正在運輸地面部隊的
運輸艦。因此，美軍仍然成功奪下瓜島的控制權，基本上代表日軍在這個區域的戰略
局面出現了重大損失。
(翻譯君註：接下來就是為期約一年的瓜島爭奪戰以及東京特快車。）
Reconstruction of the battle in World of Warships
在WOWS中重建戰鬥
The task for the event crew was to arrange teams that would resemble the
fleets from both sides. The Japanese side got: 4 Aoba heavy cruisers, 1
Takao, 2 lightweight cruisers Tatsuta and one Minekaze. Unlike the US
vessels, the Japanese team were allowed to launch their recon planes right
from the beginning, that kept them concealed from enemy spotting. The
opposing force consisted of 4 USS New Orleans, one USS Pensacola, and five
destroyers (4 USS Farragut and a USS Fletcher).
劇本組的任務就是編派代表雙方的艦隊。日本方有四艘青葉、一艘高雄、兩艘龍田以及
一艘峯風級。和美軍不同，日軍在開場時就可以彈射水偵，使日軍艦隊不至於早早就被
發現。
對抗部隊則有四艘紐奧良級重巡、一艘彭沙可拉級輕巡和五艘驅逐艦(Farragut四艘、
Fletcher一艘)
(翻譯君註：因為澳洲海軍的船都還沒出，Bagley/Benham兩級也還沒，因此Bagley由
Farragut扮演，Benham由Fletcher扮演。Pensacola頂替San Juan，四艘New Orleans有
三艘是史實出場，第四艘則是頂替澳洲海軍的Hobart)
The goals for both teams were conditioned by the terms of actual event. The
Japanese were to destroy the transports, whereas US ships should try their
best to defend them. The “transports” were represented by an unarmored
variant of the USS Independence aircraft carriers, under control of the
players Sub_Octavian and Jluca.
勝利條件是以史實為準，日軍必須摧毀運輸艦，而美軍則必須全力守護。運輸艦是由
無裝甲的獨立級航艦改型扮演，由Sub_Octavian和Jluca兩位玩家操作。
Due to the complete freedom of actions, the Japanese team wisely split into
two parts: one was represented by five heavy cruisers and the other by a
strike squadron comprising two Tatsuta light cruisers accompanied by the
Minekaze, whose purpose it was to eliminate the transports.
因為行動是完全自由的，日軍方將戰力分為兩隊，一隊是五艘重巡，另一隊則是由兩艘
天龍級和一艘峯風級組成的打擊部隊，負責殲滅運輸船。
It should be noted that the event was only based on historical happenings and
wasn’t intended to be an accurate reproduction – the battle would still be
competitive. Based on this fact, the battle went completely differently right
from the outset. For instance, the Japanese instantly attacked the “USS Blue
” represented by the USS Farragut in this reconstruction. The destroyer was
quickly sunk, though this didn’t pass unnoticed — the aggressors were
spotted and quickly got a peppering of return fire.
必須說明，史實戰役只是基於史實做出的，並不必然重演真實發生的戰況──但戰鬥仍然
很具有挑戰性。據此，實際發生的戰鬥與史實基準點完全不同。例如日軍在重演的初期階
段就對USS Blue發動攻擊，迅速的擊沉了她，不過攻擊者很快就被發現並被雨點般的砲彈
回擊。
Takao launched her torpedoes and retreated, allowing the US forces to chase
her.
高雄發射了魚雷並且撤退，讓美軍主力追在她後方跑。
Whilst the main squad distracted the major forces, the rest of the Japanese
team (mainly the light cruisers) approache from another side, seeking
the transports. They suddenly ran into the USS New Orleans, which, alone, was
capable of causing a lot of trouble for the whole squad.
當主力戰隊把美軍本隊注意力引開時，日軍的剩餘戰力(主要是兩艘輕巡)從另一側出現
搜索運輸船。她們很快碰上紐澳良號，後者即使落單也足以對整個打擊隊造成很多麻煩。
The situation was saved by the Minekaze. She managed to set up a smoke screen
to allow the team members to prepare for battle. Afterwards, she sneaked near
the USS New Orleans and consequently spotted the “transport” vessels
staying in-line not far from shore. In a couple of minutes a set of torpedo
salvos ended the battle.
戰況因為峯風而改觀。她放出煙幕使兩艘僚艦得以準備接戰，並且在稍後溜到紐奧良附近
、找到了在淺水區的運輸艦。幾分鐘後一輪魚雷齊射結束了戰鬥。
So the outcome had turned out to be the opposite to that of the original
event. The Japanese stuck to more aggressive tactics acting in an offensive
manner, sacrificing a number of their ships. By being inferior in terms of
casualties they managed to grasp the initiative and eliminate the US
transports.
結果和史實發生的狀況剛好相反，日軍採取了更為攻勢的打法，犧牲了幾艘艦艇，以
遠為輕微的損失搶得了先機，並殲滅了運輸船隊。
We may surely state that our historical battle experiment turned out to be
very successful and productive. Not only has it shown, all the pros and cons
of the mode but, as well, has demonstrated the necessity of playing as a
team. On top of this, the experience brought tons of satisfaction and fun to
all its participants!
我們可以宣布歷史戰鬥的實驗非常成功且成果豐碩，不只是展現了這個模式的優劣勢，
也再度宣示了團隊戰鬥的必要性。最重要的是，所有的玩家都非常滿足也玩得很開心。
=
史實戰鬥還有兩個問題待解決
1.要找出適合的劇本，二戰中也沒發生幾次勢均力敵的海上交戰。
最後大概會做出一些犧牲，例如說把遠在兩百浬外的本隊移過來一起打之類的。
2.如果開放組隊打史實，很快就會出現最佳化戰術→很無聊
但是如果不開放組隊，就要看一堆番茄艦長、馬鈴薯提督亂打→似乎還是很無聊。