Speedy vs Fabertong: Death to the Penguin!

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

A pretty decent day all round. Looksee:

Sub attack at 36,61

Japanese Ships
BB Hiei, Torpedo hits 1
DD Nenohi
DD Oshio
DD Nowaki
DD Amatsukaze
CL Yura
CL Noshiro
CL Agano

Allied Ships
SS Corvina

No heavy damage reported but this is all handy. This took place 180 miles east of Tarakan.

SS Whale sank AP Keizan Maru with 2 torpedoes 60 miles NW of Tori Shima. The escorts landed 2 x DC nearby - 29/7/0.

SS Scorpion was attacked by convoy escorts 120 miles east of Balikpapan. 1 x DC near miss - 13/9/0.

SS S-37 strangely enough surfaced to attack AK Thames Maru but only landed 4 x 4" shells but all 4 torpedoes missed. This took place 60 miles NW of Macassar.

Air sightings = 8
Air attacks = 2

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

Air attacks in Burma and Marshalls. Bangkok now has very few resources left.

The sweer over Hanoi was pretty disappointing. 14 x Zeke were shot down but 7 x P38G were lost.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

All troops should be ashore at Akyab over the next 2 days.

Pagan is heavily attacked by Liberator's.

Bangkok has no resources left now.

Rangoon was shelled again by 2 x BB divisions.

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AK Thames Maru (of SS S-37 fame) was smacked today. SB2C's and TBM's were despatched from Maumere to attack her sneaking along the south coast of Sulawesi. I assume Faber is desparately trying to sneak single ships in and out. 8 bombs reportedly hit the ship leaving her burning fiercely. Nick's were flying CAP. 2 were shot down but one of them managed to shoot down a Spitfire VIII.

Almsot all supplies are ashore at Maumere now.

Amboina was hit by Heavies. 4 x Dinah recon were torched on the ground and the airfield shut. Tomorrow we hopefully go for the oil depots.

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SS Sculpin evaded convoy escorts throughout the day. 1 x DC landed nearby.

SS Drum heavily damaged the oil laden TK Tonan Maru 3 with 1 torpedo 60 miles NW of San Marcelino.

SS Scorpion sank MSW Banshu Maru with 2 torpedoes 120 miles east of Balikpapan.

SS Sea Rover blew up ML Ma 4 with 2 torpedoes west of Singapore. That's good. Both of the small ML's are now gone.

Air sightings = 16
Air attacks = 3

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Away at work this week so less time for gaming.

A good day for my submarines:

SS Parche sank the troop laden AP Atuta Maru with 3 torpedoes deep in the Phillipine Sea. Elements of Southern Fleet HQ were rescued.

She then aggresively attacked again heavily damaging AP Nichiren Maru with 2 torpedoes.

SS Burrfish damaged AK Kinshu Maru with a torpedo 180 miles west of Sasebo.

SS Hackleback evaded CL's and DD's NE of Tawi Tawi. I believe this to be the Hiei/Kirishima group due to CL Noshiro and CL Agano being spotted.

SS Pompon heavily damaged AK Nasusan Maru with a torpedo east of Balikpapan.

Air sightings = 14
Air attacks = 2

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

Rangoon was bombarded by heavy surface units throughout the night.

Bangkok's Resources are down to 25 remaining now. We go for Heavy Industry next.

All troops should be ashore at Akyab by tomorrow.

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

Amboina's remaining Oil was damaged.

All AK's have unloaded at Maumere and are now returning to Koepang before moving to Australia.

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

A DD arrive in theatre tomorrow.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

A further fairly quiet day.

The Heavy Industry at Bangkok has been reduced to rubble. Next stop for my Moulmein heavies is Tavoy's resources............

CV Formidable is leaving Moulmein today to head back to Columbo for repairs. She is at 56 SYS damage.

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

A poor day for my submarines:

SS Sculpin evaded 4 x ASW craft 180 miles east of Tarakan.

SS Burrfish evaded a DD ASW TF 180 miles west of Sasebo.

SS Peto was heavily damaged by the convoy escort PC Manju 240 miles south of Iwo Jima. 1 x near miss DC, 2 x hit DC - 54/89/0. Trying to make Wake Island.

SS Pampanito missed AK Hohuku Maru with 4 torpedoes 240 miles NNE of Guam.

Air sightings = 11
Air attacks = 1

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

2 x AK, a DE, MSW and an LST arrive in theatre tomorrow.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Well the last day of February 1944 passes..................

All men are ashore at Akyab and the advance has been ordered to move through 120 miles of trail towards Rangoon.....I hope this works out. If I can just break though Burma so much real estate lies ahead of me - Malaya and Indochina.............

Tavoy's Resources were hit today. We hopefully go again tomorrow.

Rangoon shelled again.

Akyab bombed again by Liberators and troop positions by FB's. Once his AV reaches below 350 I may attack again. The bombing seems to be slowly but surely attriting his men there:

Ground combat at Pagan

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 32634 troops, 292 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 775

Defending force 21050 troops, 59 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 420


Japanese ground losses:
41 casualties reported

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More forts and airfield construction on going over Timor and Maumere.

Several TF's are moving through the narrows between PNG and Australia. Once the majority of these reach Darwin i'll have a lot of force available.

Next stop Raba.............

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

Marshalls bombed heavily.

CentPac forces resting at PH.

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

Good ol' Submarines:

SS Sculpin sank ML Kurosaki with 2 torpedoes 60 miles east of Balikpapan.

SS Drum damaged the empty Tanker Koryu Maru with a torpedo west of Lingayen. DC's were dropped by PC Sonan Maru #5 to no avail.

SS Angler damaged the empty AP Zenyo Maru with a torpedo 240 miles WNE of Tori Shima.

SS Sand Lance achieved her first kill of the war by sinking MSW Toshi Maru #5 with a torpedo 60 miles NE of Brunei.

AP Nichiren Maru was confirmed sunk today carrying elements of Southern Fleet.

Air sightings = 7
Air attacks = 1

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

An AK, DE and DD arrive in theatre tomorrow as does an SBD Squadron at San Francisco.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Points:

Japanese: +921
Allied: +2074

Bases:

Japanese: -1 base (-13 points)
Allied: +1 base (+32 points)

Planes:

Allies lost: 451
Japanese lost: 1189

Troops:

Allies lost: 59 points
Japanese lost: 216 points

Ships:

Allies lost: 7 ships - 424 points. The big losses here are from CV Victorious and CV Illustrious.
Japanese lost: 61 ships - 760 points. The big losses here are from CVL Chiyoda showing in the points CVL Ryuho and CVE Hosho. My submarines accounted for 30 ships this month - a mixture of AK, AP, TK, AO, MSW and ML ships. The other ships were accounted for by my British CV's in their SRA foray and the sinking of AK's at Rangoon harbour (7 of them).

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

Thoughts:

Overall not a bad month. It would've been great if I hadn't lost my British CV's but other than that good air loss ratio and happy with the number of enemy ships sunk.

Next month will still see a quiet CentPac but both the SRA and Burma could see more action.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Well a disappointing start to the month..............

My submarines had a bad day:

SS Drum missed the large TK San Luis 60 miles NE of San Marcelino[:-]

SS Triton was attacked by convoy escorts NW of Brunei. MSW Wa 12 dropped 1 x DC near miss - 20/0/0

SS Pampanito missed DD Hibiki with 4 torpedoes 240 miles NW of Ulithi[:-]

SS Peto sank today due to her wounds sustained a few days ago[:(]

Air sightings = 14
Air attacks = 1

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

Some of my convoys passing past Gili Gili and upto Darwin were attacked by LBA from PM and Gili Gili.

2 x empty AK were hit near Gili and Gili and troop laden AK's were hit past Thursday Island. They had just moved out of CAP range[8|] 1 x AK carrying SeeBee's is heavily damaged by a torpedo another AK is lightly damaged.

Airfield symbols also indicate Faber has moved planes back into Lunga.

As such i'm routing convoys further south again before moving up to Darwin.

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

Intel indiactes 2nd Amphibious Brigade is at Bali now. Thank you SigInt. I will attack that place in force then.

I thnik i'll be going for Raba within 2 weeks. I just need to get some SeeBee's and supply ready to go since the place is empty.

LBA from Maumere can cover the area.

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A Catalina spotted 2 x AK at Andaman Island. Luckily I have CV Formidable passing nearby. As such 2 x DD will leave that TF and move to Andaman to investigate.

Pagan hit.

Bad weather prevents most other air raids.

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

2 x AK and an AO arrive in theatre tomorrow.

[rtrapasso]

Be sure to see the new movie opening today - you might get some clues as to faber's plans...



PS - Be sure to see the correct version - there is also one for Onime, and a "general release" film as well...

[Speedysteve]

[X(]
 
Atom Bomb is secretly being tested[:D]

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Well Lashio in Burma has been reached by the Chinese.....HQ unit[:D] Infantry is another 4-7 days away. At least they can establish a brothel and cocktail bar in the meantime[;)]

The DD's strangely found nothing at Andaman Island.

Tavoy resource production down to 10%. LBA moving onto Bandou's resources next.

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

Sorong's airfields will be targetted by Darwin Heavies tomorrow.

Very soon both Kendari and Maccasar will be closed leaving more free sea space for me......

Japanese LBA hit 2 troop convoys today. Firstly, a SeeBee carrying AK was heavily damaged by Betties near Thursday Island. As such 2 x heavily damaged AK will unload at Merauke instead.

The other TF was due SW of Lunga. SC SC-709 was blown up by a torpedo and 3 AK's are damaged (all be ok if no more damage is sustained).

My complacency is damaging here. I saw Faber move planes out of the area so I moved through it.

All being well no major damage will be sustained from now on.

Screenie below shows the current disposition.

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SS Drum finished off her torpedo supply by sinking AK Boston Maru with 2 torpeodes 60 miles NW of San Marcelino.

SS Apogon heavily damaged AK Yamatsuru Maru with a torpedo 240 miles south of Iwo Jima. Later on in the day she missed AK Gyokurei Maru and DD Chidori landed 1 x DC nearby - 12/0/0.

SS Corvina evaded 3 x APD convoy escorts 180 miles east if Tarakan.

Air sightings = 7
Air attacks = 2

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CVE Santee, an LCI, LSD and DE arrive in theatre tomorrow.

[DuckofTindalos]

ORIGINAL: Speedy

[X(]

Atom Bomb is secretly being tested[:D]

How do you test an A-Bomb "in secret"?

[witpqs]

In Denmark. [:D]

[DuckofTindalos]

Sorry, half the country sinking into the sea from the tectonic effect might be a little hard to keep secret...[:'(]

[niceguy2005]

SPEEDY!!!

I'm shocked to see that PM is still under Japanese control! Did you ever try to take it?

[DuckofTindalos]

He's too lazy...[:D]

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Hi Niceguy - don't be shocked[;)] It was never part of my plan to go through the Solomans/NG........never tried to take it.

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

Usual day in most theatres with Pagan being heavily bombed, Rangoon being shelled, men advancing from Akyab - 10 miles gone.

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

4 x AK were hit by Faber's LBA from Lunga and Gili Gili today. 3 by torpedoes SE of Lunga (all should be ok) and one empty one by 6 bombs from Judy's SE of Gili Gili (will sink).

I am slowly routing convoys out of these areas and fighter protection has been further increased on the NE Australian coast.

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

SS Sculpin evaded 4 x ASW craft 60 miles east of Balikpapan.

SS Mingo probably sunk the troop carrying AP Surabaya Maru with 2 torpedoes 60 miles east of Tarakan. An escorting APD landed 1 x DC hit - 35/59/0. Returning to Darwin.

SS Pogy damaged the empty transport Iwaki Maru with a torpedo 240 miles ENE of Tori Shima. The escorts landed 3 x DC nearby - 10/0/0.

Air sigthings = 12
Air attacks = 2
Air hits = 1 - SS Triton by a Lilly NW of Brunei - 15/52/0. Returning to Darwin.

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

An AK arrives in theatre tomorrow.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Bad weather caused many air raids to be cancelled today. Bandou's resources were hit by Moulmein Heavies though causing 66% reduction in production. We try tio finish the rest off tomorrow.

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

I've started to load up some troops in Darwin for the occupation of Raba. These include: 1 x USN BF, 2 x SeeBee, 1 x EAB, 1 x AA Rgt. Supplies will also be included. Fighter cover will be present from Maumere and even Koepang if needed. After the battering his CV's got in the area a little while ago i'm nit sure he'll contest it anyway.

No attacks on my Darwin bound convoys today.

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

Usual air raids against Tarawa, Maloelap, Kwajalein and Eniwetok to keep them closed and supressed.

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

SS Tuna heavily damaged AK Wales Maru with a torpedo 60 miles east of Batavia. DC's were dropped with 1 x near miss and 1 x hit - 17/25/0.

SS Tinosa heavily damaged PG Kogyoku Maru with a torpeod 60 miles SW of Camranh Bay. They failed to locate my submarine.

Air sightings = 8
Air attacks = 1
Air hits = 1 - Triton again by a Lilly 180 miles ENE of Brunei - 55/16/0.

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

CVE Nehenta Bay, SS Hammerhead, 2 x DE, an MSW and a DD arrive in theatre tomorrow.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Bandou's resource oproduction was brought to a virtual halt today by over 100 Liberator from Moulmein. The next target for demolition is Songkhia. This is all in retribution for the Japanese sinking 2 x British CV..................

Allied troops are 15 miles from Akyab now. Another 105 miles of trail remain.

Rangoon shelled mercilessly again.

Bad weather prevented most other bombing raids in Burma.

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

The Raba occupation forces have formed up and will leave Darwin tomorrow. First stop Koepang, then Maumere and then under fighter cover to Raba.

In conjunction with this advance the Darwin Heavies have been ordered to bomb Kendari's airfields. P38J's from Maumere have been ordered to fly escort with them..........

An empty Brisbane headed TK convoy was attacked by 15 x Betty/Frances from PM. A TK was heavily damaged and an AP moderately damagerd. 3 x plane were shot down by AA. I have had enough of these silly little attacks from PM/Gili Gili. I could divert my heavies and P38J's to squash them but I deem Kendari/Macassar more important. As such 8 x Beaufighter/Kittyhawk FB Squadrons have been flown into Cooktown with a further 4 to follow. These will provide CAP for TF's going in both directions...............

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

More resting in CentPac.

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

SS Sargo blew up PC Sonan Maru #6 with 2 torpedoes 120 miles south of Banjarmasin. The remaining escorts failed to locate my submarine.

PG Kogyoku Maru was confirmed sunk today as it approached Camranh Bay.

Air sightings = 12
Air attacks = 1

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

An AK and a Corsair squadron arrive in theatre tomorrow.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Good news over Kendari. The raid was a total success. Over 180 Liberatior's attacked escorted by 53 x P38J. The enemy put up about 70 planes on CAP. Most of which were dealt with by the P38J's. They shot down 40 enemy planes today (1Lt Reynolds achieving his 12th kill) for no loss to themselves! 4 x Liberator were shot down, 1 more to AA and 3 lost on the way back home but they destroyed a further 46 enemy planes on the ground.

We hopefully fly again tomorrow to finish the place off.

TK A.C Rubel was finished off today by enemy LBA from PM. All other shipping in the area is guarded by LRCAP.

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Usual bombings in Burma. Songkhia's resources are down to 40% operational. Hopefully they will be finished off in the next raid.

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

SS Sand Lance left the large oil laden TK Kokuyo Maru burning atfer a torpedo hit 60 miles NE of Brunei.

Air sightings = 12
Air attacks = 2

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CVE Petrof Bay, CVE Ommaney Bay and 2 x LST arrive in theatre tomorrow.

[castor troy]

50 P38 against a CAP of 70 Jap fighters and not a single P38 lost? Faber must be putting baby penguins in his fighters... [X(]