Speedy vs Fabertong: Death to the Penguin!

[rtrapasso]

Well, i think we need to see the pounding of the IJN the next day by air power...[;)]

As for retreating - i would think carefully. These folks will recover over the next few days, and if you pound the IJA with air and naval power, the situation may be reversed. Maybe.

[Speedysteve]

Maybe Robert. Maybe. We'll see what my CV air can do.

Oh you want the pounding of the IJN fleet. Here you go[;)]:

Day Air attack on TF at 80,66


Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 67
F6F Hellcat x 8
SBD Dauntless x 78
TBF Avenger x 37


Allied aircraft losses
SBD Dauntless: 3 destroyed, 8 damaged
TBF Avenger: 10 damaged

Japanese Ships
BB Yamashiro, Bomb hits 10, Torpedo hits 5, on fire, heavy damage
BB Hyuga, Bomb hits 17, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
CA Aoba
CL Kuma, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage

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Day Air attack on TF at 80,66


Allied aircraft
SBD Dauntless x 59
TBF Avenger x 18


Allied aircraft losses
SBD Dauntless: 3 destroyed, 18 damaged
TBF Avenger: 1 destroyed, 7 damaged

Japanese Ships
BB Nagato, Bomb hits 5, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
BB Musashi, Bomb hits 8, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
CA Kumano, Bomb hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 80,66


Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 6
SBD Dauntless x 30
TBF Avenger x 15


Allied aircraft losses
SBD Dauntless: 2 destroyed, 8 damaged
TBF Avenger: 5 damaged

Japanese Ships
BB Nagato, Bomb hits 5, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
BB Musashi, Bomb hits 5, on fire
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 80,65


Allied aircraft
TBF Avenger x 54


Allied aircraft losses
TBF Avenger: 5 damaged

Japanese Ships
BB Fuso, Torpedo hits 7, on fire, heavy damage
DD Hatsuzuki, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 80,65


Allied aircraft
TBF Avenger x 9


Allied aircraft losses
TBF Avenger: 4 damaged

Japanese Ships
DD Akatsuki, on fire, heavy damage
DD Hagikaze, on fire

Aircraft Attacking:
1 x TBF Avenger launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x TBF Avenger launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x TBF Avenger launching torpedoes at 200 feet

[Mynok]

Great googly moogly!!!! [X(] Iron bottom sound has moved north!

[1275psi]

fantastic battle
But i fear we will see a lot more allied guys complaining that taking atolls is unrealistic ect, ect.
PLEASE NOTE -in real life the allies pounded days and days at a time, some times for weeks.

As A Japan player I can tell you that bombardments do hurt -but 1 day, 2 days, even 3 or 4 days is not going to be enough.

You did not prepare properly -the imperial divisionis waiting, you need to pound for days.
I think you just gave japan a chance to drag this out forever by wrecking so many divisions!

Great battle but.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Thanks for the comments guys. 1275psi interesting view. Thanks. I do think i'll be ok for the future. Yes these divisions will take time to recover but the good news is they are just disabled. Very little is destroyed. I'm evac'ing now. It will take time for these to recover but as I say I do have other divisions to use.

For example none of the Aussie formations have been used. There are 2 divisions in the South Pacific, 1 at Midway, 1 at PH, 1 at San Francisco + 2 more arriving there within 3 weeks.

In short approx 40% of my total Pacific force has been used. I will use the other 60% whilst the 40% recovers.

Shipping losses have not been too bad. The main blow has been in MSW/DMS. I have lost 2 x BB's, will lose Pennsylvania and may lose another.

Having said that I have lost no CV's which is fantastic. I am now getting Hellcats + other goodies.

In short I see this as a setback but only by a couple of months. On the flip side I have inflicted significant losses on the IJN.

Known capital ship losses:

CV Soryu
BB Fuso
BB Yamashiro
BB MUSASHI (SANK TODAY)
BB NAGATO (SANK TODAY)

I think Hiryu must be close to sinking. He's also lost a fair few DD's.

Once i've fully retired from Wake i'll post a complete run down of what shipping was lost.

------------------

Onto today's events!

As mentioned both Musashi and Nagato are confirmed sunk. CL Kuma also rolled over.

SS Porpoise hit the Jackpot today. BB Mutsu damaged a few days earlier by SS Snook was intercepted by Porpoise inbetween Marcus Island and Iwo Jima. She fired 2 torpedo's both of which hit leaving her heavily damaged [8D]. I'm relocating a couple of subs along potential routes to try and finish her off.

SS Seal heavily damaged the Oil laden TK Nissan Maru off SW Borneo with a torpedo.

My CV's bombed the IGD:

Day Air attack on Imperial Guards Division, at 82,63


Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 12
SBD Dauntless x 113
TBF Avenger x 118


Allied aircraft losses
SBD Dauntless: 11 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
99 casualties reported
Guns lost 3

--------------

Several piecemeal attacks were launched by Betties from Eniwetok. CL Richmond was the only ship to take a torpedo hit causing heavy damage. 28 of them were shot down by Wildcats.

--------------

To give you an idea of how hopeless it is at Wake:

Ground combat at Wake Island

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 56837 troops, 311 guns, 140 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 578

Defending force 52208 troops, 382 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 806

Allied max assault: 514 - adjusted assault: 37

Japanese max defense: 553 - adjusted defense: 881

Allied assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 9)


Japanese ground losses:
831 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

Allied ground losses:
2669 casualties reported
Guns lost 8
Vehicles lost 1

All formations are loading onto AP/AK/LSD/LCI to evacuate. CV's will remain on station to cover this operation.

------------------

July 1943 brings several new toys for the Allies:

F6F Hellcat
Hellcat II
Firefly
TBM
Avenger II
TBM3d
Kittyhawk III
C-46
PV-1n

Also the following babies are ready in:

CV Bunker Hill - 14 days
CV Intrepid - 31 days
CVL Cabot - 8 days
CVL Langley - 36 days

Here's the state of the 40th ID for example:

[Speedysteve]

Sit rep:

[DuckofTindalos]

How's your carrier air groups look? Shouldn't you pursue with your fleet carriers, and let the escort carriers nursemaid the transports?

[Speedysteve]

Hi T,

Main problem is lack of fighters. Lex for example has 6 F4F's operational. Most of the others have 15-25 fighters left.

For some reason my replenishment CVE's are not replenishing my CV's! What type of TF should they be in again? Maybe I have them in the wrong type........

It's a choice thing really. I could pursue and probably catch 5-10 more ships or I can stay and protect my fleets. I'm choosing to protect my transports for this reason:

My CVE's could only field 50ish CAP max. With transport losses due to CD/Mines I literally have enough to squeeze every man into them. If lose any transport (other than 5-6 heavily damaged already) then I will lose LCU men.

I have a couple of Dutch subs moving to the Eniwetok region to try and catch stragglers.

However, if the loading goes well then tomorrow I may shoot down south with my CV's for a one day foray. Have to be careful due to lack of fighters as I say though.

[DuckofTindalos]

Just sounds like his LBA might be pretty disrupted too, but with that few fighters, you definitely shouldn't pursue.

As for replenishment CVE's, they're the bane of Allied carrier operations. They've never, ever worked for me, and I've taken the VR-type squadrons out of my mod altogether for that reason.

[Sneer]

i was very very close to similar battle for wake - in dec 42 but with whole RN supporting US
and i think it could be similar in result
what's the point in using navy in defending wake
i think best use of Japan navy is to stay close to marcus /eniwotek under umbrella of LBA - allied need to choose - risk in going too far to early or have invasion without air support as nobody will dare to switch to ground attack
in my version of history allied cancelled operation after KB did not rush after allied forces

[Rob Brennan UK]

Cor Blimey Guvnor !

bit of a ding dong [:D]

I cant believe you bounced ! .. and with 7 divs .. the AV was hideous mind you . hom much was disrupted vs dead though?

anyhoo.. rather pleased me and 2nd ACR have a one div max on atolls limit. even thats going to be tough.

Loos like you finally vindicated my opionion that long range invasions are risky at best,*+( and wake can eb a graveyard too) i never tend to go much beyond LBA range so i can get decent recon at least. as well as prolonged bombardment. live and learn [;)]

exciting stuff though speedy .. whats next ? swop operations to the south/south west ? at least his CV power will be neutered for a while and the BB kills are a huge help.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Hi Rob - Yes. Good news is that almostall of the LCU elemets are just disabled rather than destroyed. They will recover at PH before returning to action. I have started to ponder on my next move but have decided to wait until everything is back to safety and I can properly assess what I have to play with.

The evac is proceeding well. The Japanese do not appear to be aware of my withdrawel and are staying in their foxholes. All being well all remaing troops should off tomorrow or the day after.

IJN Submarines have attmpted to interfere with my damaged ships heading back to Midway. They have achieved little and several have been damaged and 1 sunk.

I-27 was sunk by DC's from DD Laffey.

I-169 was heavily damaged by DC's dropped from several ships comprising my CV screen

I-39 achieved the only success in heavily damaging AK Candian which is carrying 16 x SBD back to Midway. Hopefully she'll make it. DC's caused minor damage in return.

--------------

Allied subs were also in action but mainly achieved little.

SS Growler and SS Grunion both missed their targets (AK and TK).

SS Trident had sucess though in heavily damaging TK Nisshin Maru with a torpedo 240 miles east of Palembang.

--------------

Heavy air raids by me in Burma. Tomorrow my Myitkyina forces will attack again since they are now fully rested and ready for action.

--------------

Good news. Some replenishment F4F's have flown on board Lexington. Accordingly my CV's are to advance 240 miles SW towards Eniwetok to look for IJN cripples. After that they will return to Midway to refuel and take on board new Hellcat model fighters.

A couple more cripples sank today. DD Urakaze, 2 x USN DD, 1 x AP and 1 x LCI

[Rob Brennan UK]

Watch out if your persuing him, might be a nell/betty trap waiting for you ..

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Rob - no problem. I had over 90 fighters on CAP. My CV's did fiond some limping targets.

DD Akatsuki decided to sink before any raids vcould be launched against her but CA Suzuya capsized after being hit by 4 bombs and 2 torpedos. DD Amagiri and Ikazuchi soon followed her under the sea. All helps towards final victory.

My CV's are now moving back to Wake to cover the final days loading of men. Token echelons of Nells/Betties from Eniwetok and even some Vals launched from Wake to attack transports and damaged ships in the area. The only casualty was AP George Clymer which was hit by a torpedo.

-------------

AP Esperance Bay was hit by 2 torpedo's, from an I-Boat, on the way back to Midway. She is carrying elements of the 37th ID. She may not make it (sorry Mike[:(]).

-------------

My attack at Myitkyina failed but did breakthrough another section of enemy fortifications. Down to level 7 now. Over 6,000 casualties were sustained to 800 Japanese. I am not too unhappy though since most of these are disablements. In a month or so's time my men will have recovered and we'll attack again. In the meantime the Japanese will be continually weakened by Allied LBA.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Woah. CV Hornet had a scare today! I-156 let off 2 torpedos at her....which missed. Mitscher detached DD Fanning and DD Dunlap to hunt the git....which they did and duly sunk her.

A further AP and LCI sank today due to battle damage.

My CV's pounded Wake today destroying 9 enemy planes on the ground and killing over 200 men.

Come on Pee Vee. BB Pennsylvania is 240 miles away from Midway but is at 90 FLT damage!!!!

The first Wake troops were disembarking today.....men and machines of the 754th USA Tnk Bn.

--------------------

6th ID arrived at San Francisco today.

Several damaged ships are still en route to Midway, in Midway port or now on their way to PH.........

[Rob Brennan UK]

OK .. worth persuing definately .. nice one ..

Wish I got turns this fast .. been a very very empty mailbox all day ..

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Hiryu has sunk! Intel confirmed just as she was nearing Saipan she rolled over[8D]

The final troops ships will be leaving Wake Island tomorrow morning. The evac has gone well with little interference from enemy forces.

2 I-Boats tried to interfere with my retreatingships but they failed to hit their targets. I-22 received a thorough working over by the escorts leaving her heavily damaged.

----------------

BB Tennessee reached Midway today at 60/60/0. Hopefully she'll survive. Pee Vee is 180 miles away still at 90 FLT. Come on lads.

----------------

A huge strike by me on Wake:

Day Air attack on Wake Island , at 82,63

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 26
SBD Dauntless x 162
TBF Avenger x 127

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-46-III Dinah: 4 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
SBD Dauntless: 1 destroyed, 6 damaged
TBF Avenger: 1 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
169 casualties reported
Guns lost 5

Airbase hits 12
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 86
Port hits 2
Port fuel hits 2
Port supply hits 3

-----------------

A little bit of info for you. The first Hellcat unit to see action has been VF-26 on board CVL Monterey. The pilots and planes have performed well. Credited with 37 kills. In return they lost only 5 planes and 2 pilots[8D]

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Curses! Pee Vee turned turtle 60 miles from Midway! The other 2 key ships to keep an eye on now are 2 x AP carrying Wake troops elements.

My CV's will be leaving Wake over the next 2 days. From there all ships will head to Midway for re-fueling, those that are damaged and flooding will dock, from there onto PH or West Coast ports.

--------------

SS Pompon and Grampus had success in the Eastern South China Sea. SS Pompon probably sank AK Hakkai Maru with 2 torpedo's in the starboard bow area.

SS Grampus hit AK Kyokko Maru with a torpedo.

SS Grunion unfortunately missed TK Kuremente Maru.

All 3 subs are out of torpedo's and are returning to Darwin for R & R. SS Silversides, Sawfish and Salmon are to replace them.

--------------

A P40E FG arrived at Karachi. These have been replaced with P38G's which will in time move to Ledo to bomb and strafe IJA units at Myitkyina.

Here's my upcoming major surface unit reinforcements. The number of CVE's the US receives is staggering.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

The last if the transport leaves Wake tomorrow escorted by my CV's. One thing I have deicded for the immediate future is this:

I am stronger enough and control enough of the sea now to move my CV's into his territory to do what I want IMO. As such once CV Bunker Hill, Intrepid and CVL Cabot and Langley arrive I will form a 4th CV TF. These guys are going to go raiding into Japanese territory whilst I assemble my LCU's for a further invasion.

--------------------

CA Vincennes unfortunately sank as she approached Midway...........

--------------------

My sub arm did ok today.

SS Capelin hit AK Montreal Maru with a torpedo 180 miles ESE of Batan Island.

SS Grouper hit the oil laden TK Gen'yo Maru 240 miles south of Camranh Bay. Hopefully she'll sink.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

CL Richmond is the latest victim of Operation Falcon to sink.....60 miles short of Midway.

Strange, I thought that any CL/CA that sink before 44 come back as a Cleveland or Baltimore class cruiser? Neither Vincennes nor Richmond are showing as futrure reinforcements though.

-------------

SS Trident did her bit for King and Country today by torpedoing AK Nissyu Maru 240 miles east of Palembang.

SS Skipjack hit the empty TK Kuremente Maru with a torpedo 120 miles NE of Jesselton. This is the same TK that SS Grunion missed 2 days earlier.

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Air attacks by my CV's on Wake as they leave the scene.....for now........

LBA bombing across Burma and China as per norm.

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CVL Cabot arrives at San Francisco tomorrow.