Hey, everybody. Here with Chapter 2.

Let's get to it.


Chapter 2- Battle off Tol Eressea

(January 27, 1946)

Aboard the bridge of the battleship New Jersey, Admiral Halsey is watching the horizon with binoculars. Reports from submarines and PBYs have put today as the day that the Numenorean fleet will arrive off Tol Eressea. Today is the day that he will engage Numenor's navy in battle.

Halsey had received explicit instructions from the valar. One reason the Valar had not yet ordered Ulmo, who was essentially the god of the sea, to sink the Numenoreans was because they wanted to give the Numenoreans every chance to repent. In fact, he been ordered that he could not attack the Numenoreans until they were within 15 miles of his fleet, and he had to fire a warning shot first to give the Numenoreans the chance to turn around and give up their folly. However, if the Numenoreans did not give up, Halsey had clearance to destroy the entire fleet. However, the Valar have asked, if possible, for them to take Ar Pharazon prisoner if it is possible. Halsey is hoping it isn't, but intends to follow his orders.

The entire fleet is waiting anxiously for the Numenoreans to appear. On the aircraft carriers to the north, the fighters and bombers are waiting, fueled and armed, for the signal to launch. However, Halsey has refused to issue that signal until the Numenoreans have been spotted.

Halsey sighs as he puts his binoculars down and turns back to the radio man. "Any more word from our PBYs?" he asks. PBYs have providing the most up to date coverage on the Numenoreans, with two Catalinas covering the Numenoreans at the moment.

"Nothing, sir. Last report was two hours ago," the sailor replies.

Halsey mutters under his breath, saying, "Where is that damn fleet?" He looks back out at the sea, seeing nothing with his eyes, before he brings his binoculars up to his eyes. He scans the horizon for a several seconds, not seeing anything at all at first. Then, as he looks almost due west, he sees something. A dot on the horizon.

Halsey fixes his gaze on the dot. As moments pass, the dot solidifies into the shape of a ship. As the ship grows more clear, it's clear to him from photos provided by recon flights that the ship is Ar-Pharazon's flagship. At the same time, Halsey sees more ships appearing on the horizon. Dozens, then hundreds.

"Ships sighted! Enemy fleet sighted!" Halsey calls out. He looks back and shouts, "Sound general quarters!" He then looks at his radioman and orders, "Signal the carriers. Launch all aircraft!"

In seconds, general quarters alarms sound throughout the New Jersey and across the fleet. Sailors race to their battlestations, shouting and pushing past each other to get to their battlestations as fast as possible.

To the north, Halsey's order reaches the carriers. The 14 captains of the carriers immediately order all available aircraft to launch. In a matter of a few minutes, Hellcats, Bearcats, Corsairs, Avengers, and Helldivers begin taking off from the carriers

Halsey looks out across his fleet. His fleet has been arranged into a U-shape. His battleships and cruisers have formed a battle line running north to south, along with about 24 of the destroyers. The remaining destroyers are divided into two equal forces of 18 ships, and are stationed at either end of the battle line, with the intention of making torpedo runs on the Numenorean fleet. As he watches, turrets begin turning in the direction of the incoming fleet, the mighty guns ready to unleash their firepower.

From the bridge of the New Jersey, Halsey watches as the Numenoreans slowly approach.

Aboard the Numenoreans ships, the Numenoreans have begun to spot the fleet up ahead of them. Ar Pharazon is one of them. As he looks through a spy glass, he sees the ships of the Third Fleet up ahead, less than 20 miles away. Although he can see that most of the ships ahead are bigger than his, he doesn't yet realize they are made of metal, not wood, and he feels that his massive fleet can overwhelm this relatively small fleet of about a hundred ships.

"The Elves must have prepared a fleet to challenge us! They have been planning this! They have been planning war against us! We will show them who deserves to rule this land!" Ar-Pharazon declares, and the men who can hear him roar with cheers in support. The fleet presses on.

Halsey watches as the Numenoreans continue on their course towards his fleet. A man responsible for manning the ship's radar continues counting down the distance left.

At a distance of 25,000 yards, Halsey orders, "Alright, let's give 'em a warning shot!"

"Fire center gun, number one turret!" the captain orders.

"Yes, sir," one of the other men on the bridge replies, and the order begins its journey to the gun plot. In the gunplot, the gunners train the gun for a shot of 24,000 yards, close enough to be visible and hopefully scare the Numenoreans. Then, the gunners pull the trigger, and the center gun in the number one turret fires.

Across among the Numenorean fleet, the Numenoreans can see the flame and smoke of the New Jersey's gun firing, but don't know what it means yet. They get more of an idea when the shell impacts the water about 800 yards ahead of them, sending up a pillar of water.

Some of the Numenoreans begin to fear as they see the size of the splash. However, Pharazon is even more determined, so entrenched is he in Sauron's lies and determination to seize eternal life, declares to his men, "They have attacked first! We must strike back!"

The men on his ship sound a war horn, and men across the fleet bellow in challenge. They begin preparing weapons to attack this mysterious fleet, and do what they can to speed up their ships.

On the New Jersey, Halsey is watching the fleet intently through his binoculars. After several minutes, he says, "Well, they're not stopping. All ships will engage at 12 miles."

All the ships finish loading shells into their main guns and train the guns towards the incoming ships with their targeting radars, then just wait as the fleet slowly closes in. Almost an hour later, Halsey watches as the leading edge of the fleet comes within 12 miles.

"Open fire!" Halsey orders. Seconds later, the New Jersey's nine 16 inch guns fire, sheets of flame exploding from the guns. The shells streak across the waves before plunging down around some of the lead ships of the armada.

The Numenoreans are shocked at the size of the splashes. Then, as the New Jersey begins reloadings its gun, the remaining battleships and cruisers begin to open fire as the destroyers throttle up and start their torpedo runs.

Within a minute, dozens of shells are landing around the Numenorean ships, slowly closing in on the ships. Then, the first hit is landed when a sixteen inch shell from the North Carolina grazes the side of one of the ships. The weight of the shell combined with the wooden construction of the ship is enough to tear open the side of the ship, causing water to flood in. A second later, as the ship is listing heavily, a 5 inch shell from one of the charging destroyers hits the ship, killing half of the surviving crew. The few survivors abandon ship and dive into the sea as the ship sinks.

"Admiral, we've got a hit and a ship going down!" a lookout calls out on the bridge of the New Jersey.

"Good," is Halsey's simply reply.

The ships of the fleet continue firing, their advanced fire control radars guiding the guns. Soon, five more ships of the Numenorean fleet are hit, killing most of their crew, and one of the ships is completely blown apart.

Aboard his flagship, Ar-Pharazon is growing concerned. He's already lost 6 ships and has a long way to go. However, his pride continues to hold his heart, and he does not issue orders to back down.

However, by now, as a seventh ship is hit and blown apart by two shells from the New Jersey, the destroyers have closed to a distance of 7 miles. On their decks, their torpedo crews ready the torpedoes, ready to make their attack.

The destroyers press on, their engines running at full power, driving them at 34 knots. The destroyers, mostly Allen M Sumners with a few Fletchers in the mix, are firing their 5 inch guns the whole way as they prepare to launch their torpedoes.

On the bridge of the USS Laffey, one of the charging destroyers, Captain Becton is watching through his scope as the Numenorean ships gets bigger and bigger. After the war ended before Laffey could finish repairs, Becton thought he wouldn't see combat again, but he's now about to see combat again. But then, nothing can ever top the kamikaze attack off Okinawa.

Finally, Captain Becton sees that the distance has closed to just 5 miles to the Numenorean fleet. Laffey, which is leading the northern group of destroyers, will launch her torpedoes first. Becton calls out, "Torpedoes ready?"

"Ready, captain!" comes the response.

"Fire!" Becton orders.

Down on the deck, the torpedo crews press the buttons, and sharp blasts of compressed air hurl the Laffey's ten Mark 15 torpedoes into the water. The torpedoes dive into the water, instantly accelerating to 40 knots. Seeing the Laffey fire, the rest of the destroyers fire their own torpedoes. Then, each destroyer slams their engines into full reverse, slowing themselves down so they don't get caught in a torpedo crossfire, but staying in position that they can still fire on the approaching fleet.

In a matter of seconds, a full 280 torpedoes are in the water, swimming towards the Numenorean fleet. The Numenoreans have no idea of the approaching danger until the torpedoes have reached the fleet. As the torpedoes near their targets, Numenoreans on the ships begin to see milky white tracks in the water, streaking towards their ships. Then, a torpedo strikes one of the leading ships, and its 800 pound warhead detonates after the torpedo has partially smashed through the wooden hull. The explosion blows the somewhat smaller ship in two and instantly kills half of its crew.

The Numenoreans quickly realize that these mystery enemies have deployed underwater weapons as well. As several more torpedoes find their mark, the Numenoreans begin to try evasive manuevers to avoid the incoming torpedoes. A few manage to cheat death, but most cannot turn fast enough.

As the torpedoes swim through the Numenorean fleet, they begin finding their targets. Torpedo after torpedo strikes a Numenorean ship, either blowing them in half or causing devastating damage. Dozens of ships are soon sinking.

Not all of the torpedoes find their mark. Over a third miss their targets. However, with the Numenoreans packed so relatively close compared to what these destroyer crews faced in the Pacific, this a record breaking success rate. They scored 166 ship kills out of 280 torpedoes fired. The rest of the torpedoes swim through the fleet and out of it, not hitting anything.

Pharazon is now extremely concerned. He's lost about 180 ships already, and hasn't even gotten within five miles of any of these enemy ships. He only had about 1,500 ships to begin with, and he's already lost over a tenth of the fleet.

As Pharazon orders the fleet to press full speed ahead and ready all weapons, he suddenly hears something. A faint rumbling in the distance. Pharazon looks at the fleet up ahead, and can see the gun flashes as the fleet is firing, but realizes the rumbling he's hearing is constant. Then, looks up into the sky, and is shocked to see hundreds of aircraft bearing down on his fleet.

The aircraft launched by the carriers of Halsey's fleet have finally reached the Numenoreans. The strike force is being led by the fighters, including over 300 Hellcats and 40 brand new F8F Bearcats. Following behind them are 382 SB2C Helldivers and and 160 TBM Avengers.

In the cockpit of one of the Hellcats, the pilot leading the strike force calls out, "Alright, boys. Pick your targets, and let's hit 'em!"

The Hellcats and Bearcats dive down, ready to make their attacks. In addition to their machine guns and cannons, each one is carrying underwing bombs or 5 inch rockets. As the Hellcats and Bearcats are diving, the Avengers descend to make their torpedo runs, and the Helldivers are preparing to start their bomb runs.

As Halsey sees the aircraft beginning their attacks, he issues orders to the fleet to cease firing to avoid putting the aircraft in danger. Immediately, the fleet ceases fire.

The Hellcats and Bearcats are in first. The fighters open fire with their machine guns, strafing the ships of the Numenoreans. Many Numenoreans are cut down by the flying machine gun bullets and shrapnel thrown out by the impacting rounds.

Keeping low, the fighters switch over to their bombs and rockets. The lead Hellcat pilot fixes his eyes on a medium sized ship less than hundred yards from Pharazon's flagship. The pilot lines up, then presses the pickle button, dropping his pair of 500 pound bombs hanging under his wings. One of the bombs misses, sending up a huge splash, but the second hits dead center, breaking down to the bottom deck before exploding. A fireball tears through the ship, blowing out the siders and sending smoke billowing into the air.

From his ship, Pharazon watches in shock as the Hellcat streaks past his flagship before the ship the pilot just attacked explodes. He had never thought of machines that could be made to fly through the air. Now, hundreds of such machines are literally raining fire down on his fleet.

Then, Pharazon hears something. A very shrill, screaming roar. Looking up, Pharazon feels chills run down his spine as he sees the several hundred Helldivers launched diving on his fleet.

In the cockpit of one of the Helldivers, a Lieutenant Francis Ferry from the USS Bennington is diving on one of the larger ships in the fleet. Ferry has seen his share of combat, including being one of the pilots who had a hand in the sinking of the battleship Yamato. However, now, this mission is one of the easiest he's ever had. And now, he has his eyes fixed on the ship below him.

Ferry knows he has to keep his sights fixed on the ship, as this will be far harder to hit than the Yamato. Ferry starts firing his 20mm cannons, hoping to draw a bead on the ship below. Watching carefully, he sees the initial rounds splashing down into the water. Finally, he sees his rounds hitting the ship. A number of men aboard are killed by the rounds. Then, right at his drop threshold, Ferry punches the pickle button, releasing his 1,000 pound bomb. Ferry pulls out of his dive, levelling off just a hundred feet above the water before pulling into a climb. As he does, the bomb he dropped plunges through the top deck and explodes. The bomb blows out the sides of the ship and puts multiple holes in the hull, and the ship begins quickly sinking. Ferry looks behind him at his handiwork. He found it hard bombing the Yamato, especially given many of its crew were very young. However, bombing the Numenoreans is much easier for his conscience, knowing who they are and what they've done.

On his ship, Pharazon watches in shock as the bombs are raining down on his fleet. Many miss, but many also hit home. At the same time, torpedoes dropped by the Avengers are also finding their targets, all while the Hellcats and Bearcats are strafing ships of the fleet.

Then, one young Hellcat pilot, seeing Pharazon's flagship, decides to go after the big target in his sights and flies right at Pharazon's flagship. He centers his gunsight on the ship and squeezes the trigger, spraying machine gun bullets onto the forward part of the ship. Dozens of Numenoreans are cut down by the spray of bullets. Even Pharazon ducks for cover to avoid getting hit by a bullet or shrapnel. As the Hellcat streaks over the ship, Pharazon gets back on his feet, and stares in shock at the damage the bow has taken from the strafing attack.

All across the Numenorean fleets, hundreds of ships are either in flames or sinking. The aircraft have sunk over 400 ships and critically damaged about 70 more with strafing and rocket attacks. The fleet has now lost just over 600 ships, almost half of the fleet, with more damaged.

As the aircraft begin to pull away and start heading back to their carriers. Seeing this, Halsey orders, "All ships, resume firing." Seconds later, the New Jersey fires all nine guns, and the battle line resumes firing. At the same time, the destroyers that had made the torpedo attack start firing their guns as they move to flank the fleet.

Shells are crashing down all around the ships of the Numenoreans, and some crashing through the ships of the fleet. One ship takes a pair of 8 inch shells and a 16 inch shell from two different ships and all but disintegrates.

The fleet continues firing relentlessly, the distance between the fleet now down to about 7 miles, well within striking range. At this distance, their fire control radars are making their gunfire extremely accurate, with most of their shells finding their targets. Ship after ship is blasted to pieces as American shells find their marks.

On the New Jersey, several lookouts grin as they see yet another Numenorean ship blasted apart by a salvo from the New Jersey. "Damn. This is easier clubbing baby seals," one says.

"You got that right. And they can't do a thing," another says.

For over an hour, the American fleet fires relentlessly on the Numenoreans, blasting ship after ship to pieces. Many Numenorean captains have started to get the idea and tried to turn around, but they're being picked off by the destroyers' 5 inch guns.

After almost an hour, the fleet ceases fire. The fleet is starting to run a little low on ammunition. However, in the process they've almost destroyed the entire fleet. Of the original 1,500 ships that made up the Numenorean fleet, the Americans have sunk 1,178 of them. Only 322 of them are left, and a number are damaged.

On the bridge of the New Jersey, Halsey orders, "Send our destroyers in the line to make a torpedo run. But make it clear that the Numenorean flagship is not to be targeted."

Halsey's orders are quickly relayed to the destroyers sitting amidst the battle line, and one by one, the destroyers turn towards the Numenorean fleet to make their torpedo attack. The destroyers separate to either side of the fleet, closing to within three miles of the outer parts of the surviving fleet, and they begin firing their torpedoes. Over 150 torpedoes are in the water in seconds, with more being fired as the seconds pass. At such close range, it doesn't take long before the torpedoes begin hitting their targets. Ship after ship is blasted apart by the torpedoes, fragments of wood sent flying everywhere as columns of water and fireballs soar into the air.

As the last of the torpedoes either hit their target or go sailing past, the Numenorean fleet is shattered. The great Armament, which had darkened the waters of Arda, is now reduced to just 168 ships. Most of these ships have scattered, going north, south, or fleeing back towards Numenor. The few ships that have not turned away, including the flagship, Alcarondas, remain where they were, numbering only 16.

Halsey assesses the situation, then orders, "Send orders to the carriers. Once the planes return, I want 200 refuelled, re armed, and launched to hunt down these ships trying to flee. All battleships and cruisers are to close in and fire at point blank range."

The battleships and cruisers finally break their battle line and move to engage the surviving ships at close range. At a range of just 4.5 miles, the battleships and cruisers begin firing their guns. Their advanced fire control radar combined with the close range virtually guarantees a hit with every shot. In a matter of seconds, all ships but the Alcarondas have been blasted to pieces.

The fleet surrounds the Alcarondas, circling, guns aimed at the ship. Aboard the ship, Pharazon watches the circling ships. He realizes by now that the situation is hopeless. He's lost almost his entire fleet, and those ships he hasn't lost have fled, and he is completely surrounded. The Alcarondas has sustained heavy damage. Her bow was strafed by the Hellcat, and the ship also took a 5 inch shell from the destroyer Waldron amidships, as well as minor shock damage from a near miss from the Alabama. Most of her masts are destroyed and the forward part of the ship is on fire.

Halsey watches the Alcarondas, seeing Pharazon beside his throne on the stern. Then, he orders, "Alright. Move in and board the flagship."

In a matter of seconds, the heavy cruiser USS Boston and the Laffey move in towards the Alcarondas. As the two ships approach the Numenorean flagship, Pharazon shouts, "The enemy comes to board us! We shall fight to the end!"

All of the ship's crew and complement of warriors moves up to the top deck, ready to engage any enemies that attempt to board their ships. However, the Americans are prepared for this eventuality. Both the Boston and Laffey are carrying larger than normal complements of Marines. Most of these Marines are armed with M1903 and Winchester Model 70 sniper rifles.

As the ships pull up alongside the Alcarondas, archers on the ship start firing their bows at the American ships. However, no sailors are out in the open on the main deck.

On the superstructure of the Boston, one of the Marines calls out, "Light 'em up!" He pulls the trigger, sending a slug right through the throat of one of the men on the deck. The man drops dead almost instantly.

Taking this as the signal, the other Marines start firing. Numenorean after Numenorean falls dead as the sniper bullets tear through them, often passing through their armor. Pharazon looks in alarm as his men are falling all around him.

The Boston and Laffey pull up alongside the Alcarondas and secure the ship. Then, Marines begin to board the Alcarondas.

The few Numenoreans not cut down by the snipers rush the Marines. However, the Marines quickly fire their rifle at the charging soldiers, cutting them down with ease, leaving only Pharazon and his two close guards. The Marines then fire their rifles at his guards, killing them quickly.

"Ar-Pharazon. By the authority of the United States Navy and Marine Corps, and by order of Lord Manwe, you are under military arrest. Get down on your knees, and put your hands on your head!" one of the Marines orders as they shuffle towards Pharazon, weapons aimed right at his chest. This Marine had been briefly taught enough of the language of the Numenoreans in order to communicate with the Numenoreans

Pharazon, glaring in anger, draws his sword, Aranruth, the sword of his ancestor Thingol. "You do not know to whom you are speaking. I am Ar-Pharazon the Golden, King of Numenor, descendant of the greatest houses of Middle Earth! I will not be talked as such by such lesser men as you."

"Yeah, blah blah. I don't care who you are. You're under military arrest. You can come quietly, and we can take you much rougher than we have to," the Marine responds.

Pharazon looks at the Marines with a look of great anger. "You will not take me!" he shouts before charging at the Marines.

"Take him!" the lead Marine shouts with a grin on his face. Another Marine then fires his rifle twice, hitting Pharazon in the knee. Pharazon stumbles and falls to the deck.

"Get him!" the lead Marine shouts, and four Marines pounce on Pharazon, pinning him to the ground. Pharazon screams in rage, but the 4 Marines, all very big and strappy guys, are too much for him to throw off. With great effort, the Marines pull Pharazon's arms behind his back and pull out handcuffs, snapping them around his wrist, then adding a second pair just to make sure he can't break out.

"You cannot do this! I am king of Numenor!" Pharazon screams.

"Yeah, and I'm a Marine who used to be a baker. We've all got different positions in life. Yet we're the ones on top of you with your hands behind your back. In this situation, might makes right, and you're coming with us," one of the Marines say.

The Marines haul Pharazon to his feet and force him towards the side of the deck to put him aboard the Boston. They have his head forced down, and all four Marines are wrestling to keep him moving, while two more Marines have their weapons trained on him at all time.

On the New Jersey, Halsey is watching with binoculars. Then, one of his radio operators calls out, "Admiral Halsey! Boston reports that they've captured the king and are bringing him aboard."

"Good," Halsey responds, his mind looking ahead. Soon enough, his aircraft will pick off the remaining ships that fled, while the Boston will transport Pharazon to Valinor to stand judgment as the rest of the fleet will prepare to make their way to Numenor to launch the invasion.

The Great Armament is defeated, but the conflict is far from over. The invasion of Numenor is looming, and it will still be quite a fight.


And, I'll end the chapter there. I hope this wasn't too brief.

Obviously, we don't know exactly how big the Great Armament actually is, only estimates. But, I figured 1,500 ships was a reasonable figure.

I hope the fight didn't seem too mismatched. But the ships of the Numenoreans would be far easier targets than anything the US Navy faced in WWII.

Next chapter will showcase the start of the invasion of Numenor. Until it's up, please leave a review and stay tuned!