Breaching the Brisbane Line: Sierra Juliet v Ambassador

[SierraJuliet]

08 December 1941 (Yikes with all the angst of our animations issue I neglected to write up the actions of the day before the sortie by Force Z….. here it is)[align=left] [/align] [/b]
[/b]
[/b][align=left] [/align]Malaya[align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align]Air:  24 Oscar hit the airfield at Alor Star and destroy 1 Buffalo.  92 Nell escorted by 23 Zero hit Singapore.  7 Buffalo rise to meet them without success.  The raid nets 1 Buffalo and 1 Catalina destroyed and 9 airbase hits and 24 runway hits.  A number of strikes are made on Japanese fleets without success until a strike of 5 swordfish escorted by 5 Wirraway and 4 Buffalo locate one of the invasion fleets and manage to guide 1 torpedo into AP Kasui Maru.  8 Vildebeest surprise the fleet at Songkhia and put one torpedo into AP Atago Maru for the loss of 1 Vildebeest.   (39 casualties)[align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align]Land:  Troops make landfall on Khota Bharu[align=left] [/align] [/b][align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]
[/b][align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align]China (Hong Kong)
[/b][align=left] [/align]Air: [/b]Air strikes cause 33 casualties and 1 gun lost 80th Chinese Corps, [align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align]Land:  A shock attack at Hong Kong results in Japan losing 462 casualties and 7 guns to 112 allied casualties and 6 guns lost.  The result is a disappointment for Japanese High Command.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align]Philippines
[/b][align=left] [/align]Land:  [/b]Vigan, Lingayen and Laoag are all subject to assault from the sea and all 3 bases are captured.  42 allied casualties are reported lost along with 2 guns and 9 P-35A destroyed on the airfield at Laoag.  At Vigan Japan loses 39 casualties to 46 allied casualties and 2 guns lost and 8 P-26A destroyed on the airfield.  Why would Ambassador leave planes on these bases when my ships were swarming around here last turn?[align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align]Sea:  23 Betty and 24 Ann escorted by 16 Zero locate and annihilate AK Si Kiang with 19 bomb hits and 3 torpedo strikes.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]
[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align]Subs
[align=left] [/align]PCs Ch7 and Shimushu, PG Tatsumiya Maru and MSW W.2 and W.1 manage to obtain 4 hits on KXII.[align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align]I-15 runs afoul of Destroyers Ward, Chew, Litchfield, Allen, Ayllwin and Monaghan and reports 11 hits.[align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align]I-9 finds DMS Wasmuth, Chandler, Perry, Hovey, Lamberton, Zane and Trevor but runs quiet and only hears the sound of depth charge attack from a distance.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align]Naval Losses for the Day 
[/b][align=left] [/align]Nil confirmed reports today.[/i]

[Capt. Harlock]

Raising whatever extra steam could be cajoled out of the engine rooms the tiny fleet attempted to outrun the Japanese warships.  Before night time closed in and provided an opportunity to escape Repulse and Vendetta had both been hit by 1 shell each without any apparent hits on the enemy.  The long range shooting fell away soon after. 

For once, the habit of giving British ships more guns on the bow than astern has proved troublesome. (Good job it wasn't a Nelson-class battleship!)

[SierraJuliet]

09 December 1941 [/b][align=left] [/align] [/b][align=left] [/align]Malaya[/b][align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align]Sea:  Refer to my previous posts.  It was gut wrenching at the end of the turn to see Mogami head the list of ships sunk.  I’m sure everyone must find it hard to lose their first major warship when starting out.  In retrospect though I think the battle didn’t go too badly as the heavy cruiser screen did their job of protecting the transports and damaged Force Z badly enough to allow the follow up day time air strikes to make major inroads.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]On the interesting side of things I’ve had a look at the damage states for [/i]Hagikaze on WitPTracker and she is listed as being 99 103 99.  It seems that she must have gone up in one massive conflagration after she was hit by that last torpedo.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]A force of 5 swordfish escorted by 3 Wirraway find a surface action group and for the loss of 1 Swordfish put a torpedo into Haruna 12 07 13.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]6 Vildebeest IV and 6 Blenheim surprise shipping at Songkhia and achieve 1 torpedo hit on PC Ch 9   76 83 33, 1 torpedo on AP Heiyo Maru 33 03 11 and1 bomb hit on AP Awa Maru 31 01 12.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]2 Blenheim sneak in and plant 1 bomb on AK Sakura Maru 12 01 11 and cause the loss of 18 casualties and 2 guns.[align=left] [/align] [/b][align=left] [/align]Air:  52 Oscar raids the air field at Alor Star and destroy 2 Buffalo and achieve 1 airbase hit, 2 airbase supply hits and 4 runway hits.[align=left] [/align]17 Nell raid Singapore and destroy 1 Buffalo, 1 Hudson and 1 Vildebeest and achieve 2 airbase hits, 2 airbase supply hits and 5 runway hits.[/b][align=left] [/align] [/b][align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align]Burma[/b]
[align=left] [/align]Air:  Ambassador has started making night time air attacks on Bangkok with 9 Blenheim flying in from Burma.  No damage is sustained in Bangkok but the attackers lose one Blenheim to flak.[align=left] [/align] [/b][align=left] [/align] [/b][align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align]China (Hong Kong)
[/b][align=left] [/align]Air: Air strikes on Chinese land units achieve 13 casualties and 1 gun lost from 80th Chinese Corps.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Bombers out of Hong Kong strike at Canton and destroy 1 Tojo, 1 Sonia and 1 Babs fo the loss of only 1 SB-2c.  The airbase is hit 8 times, the airbase supply takes 2 hits and the runway is hit 22 times.[align=left] [/align] [/b][align=left] [/align]Land: Japanese bombardment attack at Hong Kong causes 27 casualties and 4 guns lost against 6 Japanese casualties and 1 gun lost.[align=left] [/align]At Yenen a bombardment attack costs the Chinese 118 casualties and 1 gun lost.[align=left] [/align]An allied bombardment attack on Nanning results in 40 Chinese casualties and 40 Chinese casualties and 9 guns lost.[align=left] [/align]Allied bombardment attack costs 24 Japanese casualties at Canton.

[SierraJuliet]

Philippines[/b][align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align]Sea:  One of my surface combat task forces lurking around the sea lanes out of Manila gets jumped by a force of PTs.  PT-32 suffers 15 hits and is sunk. [/i] PT-34 gets an unlucky 1 hit and is sunk and PT-35 is hit 7 times and is also sunk.  My ships don’t have it all their own way with destroyers Minazuki getting 1 shell hit, Harukaze 2[/i] shell hits and Nagatsuki is hit by 6 shells and worst of all manages to stumble into the path of a torpedo launched from the PTBs.  She has massive damage and staggers away suffering 99 65 37.  She has a few hexes to go before she can make a safe habour in the Philippines….. if [/b]the crew can control the flooding and if the allied subs don’t find her. [align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Air: 21 B-17 flying out of the Philippines successfully raid Pescadores (beginners error in not having CAP over this port) and score 1 bomb hit on each of the following 4 ships; [/i]AK Hiyama Maru 41 14 06, AK Akashi Maru 44 20 04, MSW Hinode Maru #20 99 63 16 and AP Karachi Maru 23 18 06.  22 ground casualties and 1 gun is lost as well as 1 port hit and 1 port supply hit.  As if this first raid wasn’t bad enough 9 IL-4c flying from Hong Kong also made a raid and for the loss of 3 of their number managed to put 1 bomb into AP Jinsan Maru 13 00 04.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]29 Nell escorted by 32 Zero tangle with 16 Tomahawk and 36 Warhawk over Manila.  4 Nell are chopped from the sky and 2 Zero are lost.  In return 6 Tomahawk and 6 Warhawk are destroyed.  A follow on raid by 23 unescorted Betty sees 4 Betty destroyed by the 19 planes that rise up for CAP duty before aborting their mission.  [align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]North of the Philippines 30 Betty escorted by 10 Zero locates AK Taurus and sends 3 torpedoes into her.  In the same area 17 Kate from Ryujo locate TK Manatawny and dispatch her with 6 torpedo hits.  A second strike by 14 Kate puts 8 bombs onto AK Governor Wright.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Subs[/b][align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align]KXIII is hunted at Khota Bharu and receives 1 hit and in return she evades the screen and scores 1 torpedo hit on AK Atutasan Maru 47 34 20 damage.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align] [/b][align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align]Naval Losses for the Day
[/b][align=left] [/align] [/b][align=left] [/align]CA Mogami, DD Hagikaze, [align=left] [/align]CL Danae, DD Electra, DD Vampire, PT-32, PT-34, PT-34, TK Manatawny, AK Taurus.[/i][align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Comments[/b][align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align]Ambassador has moved his planes around very well and had sent them off on some audacious strikes causing a couple of harbour masters some acute embarrassment.  Fortunately I shouldn’t loss too many ships from these attacks but my repair yards will start filling up shortly and at this early stage must surely be course for concern.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]The loss of Mogami has been off set by the ships lost in Force Z.  The trick will be to see if the IJN can clean up Repulse and Prince of Wales without any further loss to themselves.

[SierraJuliet]

ORIGINAL: Capt. Harlock

Raising whatever extra steam could be cajoled out of the engine rooms the tiny fleet attempted to outrun the Japanese warships.  Before night time closed in and provided an opportunity to escape Repulse and Vendetta had both been hit by 1 shell each without any apparent hits on the enemy.  The long range shooting fell away soon after. 

For once, the habit of giving British ships more guns on the bow than astern has proved troublesome. (Good job it wasn't a Nelson-class battleship!)

Yes, I suspect that those 2x15 inch guns at the stern end of Repulse wouldn't help too much in escape mode. Then again perhaps Fisher's mania for speed could be the difference in escaping into the night and making a safe return to Singapore.

[SierraJuliet]

Well the psychological warfare with Ambassador is gathering pace.   [align=left] [/align] 
[align=left] [/align]I’m not sure that he would look on it as being intentional but if he is dabbling in that direction I’m cool with that as this seems to be one of the interesting dynamics of the game.   He has, though, communicated with me via email and in John III’s new AAR about how happy he is to trade a BB, a CL and 2 DDs for 1 Japanese CA (and a DD thrown in for good measure) at this stage of the war.  I do accept that this is a war of attrition and every loss for the IJN is critical but am I right in thinking that loses in British ships are crucial to the Allies too in respect of ships that must be sent back or incur a points penalty.  From what I have seen many allied players take the option of withdrawing Force Z for future operations probably with the ship return issues also in mind.  So well done to Ambassador for taking that difficult command descision to use that fleet for what it was meant to do.  I’m thinking that as the Japanese player I would much rather take on Force Z up front and hopefully deal it a fatal blow rather than have those ships lurking around and forming the basis of a much stronger Royal Navy in the not too distant future.  [align=left] [/align] 
[align=left] [/align]On thing I'm hoping from Ambassador is that he is correct in his acceptance that Prince of Wales is lost… to date I have not received confirmation of this even though I have received reports of her being hit by 4 torpedoes.  I’m awaiting Ambassador’s response as I have a lot of naval assets out there looking for Repulse (not to mention my many Nells on naval attack) so I’m hoping to pick off Repulse and hopefully not pick up too much damage from his LBA and submarines.  I wonder if those Zeros I set for LRCAP are up to the job.[align=left] [/align] 
[align=left] I should have the turn tomorrow so I can see if I should be deliriously happy or despondent and devastated.[/align]

[SierraJuliet]

Just having a go at some colour in this AAR.  Damian I've followed you steps for using photo bucket.  I might have some issues to sort out as the photo looks a bit small in the preview box.




Hmmm.... just as I thought. This is a bit on the micro side of things. Good start though as least there is a map there. [:)]

[Durbik]

remember to use "direct link to image", otherwise sizes may go fubar

[n01487477]

ORIGINAL: SierraJuliet

Just having a go at some colour in this AAR.  Damian I've followed you steps for using photo bucket.  I might have some issues to sort out as the photo looks a bit small in the preview box.

your code

Code: Select all

[img]http://i594.photobucket.com/albums/tt26/SierraJulietWhiskey/th_test.jpg[/img]

my code

Code: Select all

[img]http://i594.photobucket.com/albums/tt26/SierraJulietWhiskey/test.jpg[/img]

Hmmm.... just as I thought. This is a bit on the micro side of things. Good start though as least there is a map there. [:)]

I think the th_ indicates thumbnail ... [;)]

[SierraJuliet]

Thanks guys.... I'll play with this some more soon.

[SierraJuliet]

As I feared; Repulse has managed to evade the all attempts at determining her location.  [align=left] [/align] 
[align=left] [/align]I did, however, establish that Prince of Wales was not quite lost from the battles of the previous day.  She must have been in a bad way though for Ambassador to have inferred that he was considering her as a loss.  In an overnight action Kongo and Haruna escorted by CA Takao and DDs Asashio, Akatsuki and Hibiki make a mid ocean intercept and locate Prince of Wales escorted by DD Tenedos.  4 rounds of combat see the Japanese fleet hunt down the already damaged battleship.  The sea is soon alive with torpedoes and Prince of Wales is subjected to another torpedo hit.  Before long Kongo has found the range and 14 inch shells start hitting the doomed battleship.  Not long after battleship Prince of Wales slips beneath the waves.  Tenedos is soon rounded up by the Japanese fleet.  Without missing a beat Kongo shifts fire from the sinking hulk that was Prince of Wales and turns her attention of the British destroyer.  Against 14 inch shells the destroyer can only put up paper thin resistance and within a very short time Tenedos has disappeared to leave the survivors of her crew clinging to life in an oil covered sea.[align=left] [/align] 
[align=left] [/align]For the Hibiki fans out there the combat report credited her with scoring a number of shell hits on Prince of Wales.[align=left] [/align] 
[align=left] [/align]The price of the British attempt to force the beach head at Khota Bharu now stands at 1 battleship, 1 light cruiser and 3 destroyers off set against 1 heavy cruiser and 1 destroyer lost to the Japanese.[align=left] [/align] 

[Capt. Harlock]

The sea is soon alive with torpedoes and Prince of Wales succumbs to another torpedo hit. Before long Kongo has found the range and 14 inch shells start hitting the doomed battleship.

Pretty well written AAR, but "succumbs to" implies that Prince of Wales was sunk outright by the torpedo. "Was subjected to" might have been a better way of putting it.

[SierraJuliet]

Thanks Capt. Consider it edited.  [:)]

[John 3rd]

ORIGINAL: SierraJuliet

As I feared; Repulse has managed to evade the all attempts at determining her location.  [align=left] [/align] 
[align=left] [/align]I did, however, establish that Prince of Wales was not quite lost from the battles of the previous day.  She must have been in a bad way though for Ambassador to have inferred that he was considering her as a loss.  In an overnight action Kongo and Haruna escorted by CA Takao and DDs Asashio, Akatsuki and Hibiki make a mid ocean intercept and locate Prince of Wales escorted by DD Tenedos.  4 rounds of combat see the Japanese fleet hunt down the already damaged battleship.  The sea is soon alive with torpedoes and Prince of Wales is subjected to another torpedo hit.  Before long Kongo has found the range and 14 inch shells start hitting the doomed battleship.  Not long after battleship Prince of Wales slips beneath the waves.  Tenedos is soon rounded up by the Japanese fleet.  Without missing a beat Kongo shifts fire from the sinking hulk that was Prince of Wales and turns her attention of the British destroyer.  Against 14 inch shells the destroyer can only put up paper thin resistance and within a very short time Tenedos has disappeared to leave the survivors of her crew clinging to life in an oil covered sea.[align=left] [/align] 
[align=left] [/align]For the Hibiki fans out there the combat report credited her with scoring a number of shell hits on Prince of Wales.[align=left] [/align] 
[align=left] [/align]The price of the British attempt to force the beach head at Khota Bharu now stands at 1 battleship, 1 light cruiser and 3 destroyers off set against 1 heavy cruiser and 1 destroyer lost to the Japanese.[align=left] [/align] 

I managed to sink a Japanese CA and 2 DD for moderate damage to Repulse from a Torp in my start of the war. Prince of Wales remains at large....

[SierraJuliet]

Mighty pleased to hear from you John.

I have been following your latest exploits with much interest.  Coming hard on the heals of my losing Mogami and one destroyer I took a lot of heart from your exploits.  I felt that I had come out of the escapade in far better shape than your opponent.  Ambassador is very pleased with bagging one of my modern cruisers, however, I think that protecting the transports was the paramount concern.  That and sufficiently mauling the British force with long lances to give my air force the opportunity to score hits during the day action.  In the end I felt that accounting for Prince of Wales, one CL and 3 DD was a good result.  Catching Repluse would have been icing on the cake and I came so so close.

[SierraJuliet]

Plenty of action of 10 Decmember 1941,  Here is the round up of events in and around the Philippines.

Philippines[align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align]Sea:  DDs Shikinami, Ayanami, Asagiri, Yugiri and Amagiri operating in the straits south of Tawi Tawi have an action filled night.  All night long the crews are sent to action stations as numerous small allied task forces fleeing the Philippines attempt to make passage through the straits.  This little force of destroyers was well positioned to cause plenty of heartache for Ambassador.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]In the first action of the night AKs Don Jose (4 hits and 2 torpedoes) and Anakan (2 hits and 3 torpedoes) are located and sunk[align=left] [/align]In the second action AS Holland (25 hits) is sunk whilst AP President Madison (1 shell hit) manages to slip away in the darkness whilst all attention was on Holland.[align=left] [/align]In the third action PG Asheville is sighted but not engaged whilst AO Pecos (2 hits) also manages to elude her attackers.[align=left] [/align]In the fourth action AV Langley (14 hits) is hit hard and whilst not seen to have sunk was reported to be on fire and appeared to have suffered heavy damage.  AO Trinity was also sighted but made the most of the attention that was focused on Langley.[align=left] [/align]In the fifth and final action of the night AS Otus is located (20 hits) and is sunk.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]By the end of the night this small group of destroyers has claimed 2 AK and 2 AS and quite likely 1 AV.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Air: 20 Nell attacks the base at San Marcelino and scores 1 air base hit and 2 runway hits.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Land:  Troops land on Batan Island and after a sharp battle costing 110 Japanese casualties and 1084 allied casualties and 4 guns lost the Island is captured.  Amazingly Ambassador had just deployed Catalina to the island in order to get some deep penetration going for his recon.  As a result 7 of these machines were destroyed on the ground…… holding off my attack on this base for a few days came up trumps.

[SierraJuliet]

10 December 1941 [align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Malaya[align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align]Sea:  See my previous post regarding the battle involving Kongo and Prince of Wales.  Kongo reported 1 hit and Haruna 2 hits without any real damage being caused.[align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align]Air:  3 Blenheim and 3 Hudson escorted by 19 Buffalo make a strike on shipping.  A LRCAP of 10 Zero inflicts 5 Buffalo and 2 Blenheim destroyed.  Another strike by a mixed force of allied bombers is met by a CAP of 4 Oscar and for the loss of 1 Vildebeest the attacker manages to strafe Kumano.  At Songhkia 3 Swordfish make an attempt on shipping.  They are met by 8 Claude on CAP and 2 Swordfish are downed.  In yet another attack on shipping 6 Vildebeest escorted by 5 Buffalo are opposed by 4 Oscar and at the end of the attack the Oscars and flak have claimed 3 Buffalo and 2 Vildebeest destroyed.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]My heart sank when I saw 36 Sally on a bombing run over Khota Bharu take on a CAP of 16 Tomahawk.  Expecting something of a bloodbath I was surprised to see the bombers holding their own with many attacking fighters driven off by the defensive fire from the bombers.  In the end only 2 Sally were destroyed and 8 of the Tomahawk reported as damaged.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Land:  Last turn Ambassador evacuated the base at Khota Bhura and my forces there looked a bit silly launching a bombardment attack on an enemy that had taken to the hills.  This turn the base is captured.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Burma[align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align]Air:  Ambassador is continuing with night time air attacks on Bangkok.  To date they have not achieved much success and during this raid he loses 1 Blenheim to flak.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]9 far ranging Nell make an attack on Shipping at Akyab.  No damage caused but should give Ambassador something to think about in the rear areas of Burma.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]China (Hong Kong)[align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align]Air: Air attacks inflict 43 casualties on 83rd Chinese Corps, 56 casualties and 1 gun lost on 46th Chinese Corps, 20 casualties on 46th Chinese Corps, 10 casualties on 80th Chinese Corps, 8 casualties on 27th Chinese Corps for the loss of 1 Ann[align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align]Land:  A shock attack is ordered at Yenen but it fails get odds any better than 0 to 1.  My forces suffer 2214 casualties, 39 guns lost and 2 vehicles lost.  Chinese loses are reported as 426 casualties and 2 guns lost.  This is a set back and my forces will need some time to recover.  Ambassador has lots of troops on the move in China especially around Yenen so things could hot up here for a while.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]In something of a mirror image to the failed assault of Yenen Chinese forces (lots of them –the 62nd, 63rd, 66th, 83rd, 46th, 64th and 39th Chinese Corps) launch a deliberate assault on Canton.  My forces here are a little light on with the siege of Hong Kong underway but the level 4 fort a Canton is a big help and the Chinese forces only achieve assault odds of 0 to 1.  Japanese losses are reported as 41 casualties and 1 vehicle lost to Chinese 881 casualties and 41 guns lost.  I recall reading in another post in a time long ago that the Chinese find it very difficult to replace lost guns so these lost guns are hopefully a good result.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align]South East Pacific
[align=left] [/align]Land:  Troops are ashore at Makin and capture the base.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align]DIE
[align=left] [/align]Sea:  A strike of 16 Kates from Ryujo locates AK Dos Hermanos and put 3 torpedoes into her.  This AK is later reported to have sunk.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Subs[align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align]SS I-121 finds DD Express and manages to score 1 torpedo hit.  Express was reported the previous day to be in company with Repulse….. shame I-121 couldn’t locate Repulse.[align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align]SS I-18 operating off of San Francisco is located by and takes 3 hits from DDs Crosby, Kilty, Crane, Kennison, Dent, Talbot and Waters.  I-18 has been hit hard and is located again by Kilty, Crane and Kennison and suffered another 3 hits.  She is eventually lost later that day.[align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align]SS S-37 locates a convoy and hits AP Arizona Maru with 1 torpedo.  The PC escort in turn scores a reported 6 hits on S-37 [align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align]Near Lingayen a small ASW task force comprised of DDs Asagumo, Minegumo and Natsugumo locate SS Permit and score 3 hits.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Naval Losses for the Day[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]BB Prince of Wales, DD Tenedos, AS Holland, AS Otus, AK Don Jose, AK Anakan, AK Dos Hermanos, AK Governor Wright[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]SS I-18[align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align]Comments
[align=left] [/align]I now have a toehold in Malaya with the capture of Khota Bharu.  China looks to be hotly contested for the time being.  [align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align]On the naval side of things the mopping up of Prince of Wales is a good result.  Ambassador advised that he had been hoping to hang on to her but that was not to be.  The result of the naval interdiction south of Tawi Tawi was also a good result.  My first submarine has been lost but some of Ambassador’s subs have also taken hits.[align=left] [/align] 

[SierraJuliet]

11 December 1941[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]I have been watching with much interest the new allied version of John 3, in particular his very robust response to the Japanese plan of attack.  I’m finding Ambassador is approaching our game in much the same style.  The allied forces do not intend giving anything up without a fight![align=left] [/align] [/b][align=left] [/align]Malaya[/b][align=left] [/align]Air:  31 Lily escorted by 22 Zero launch an attack at Kuantan. A CAP of 5 Buffalo claims 1 Lily destroyed but in return loses 4 of their number.  The airbase is hit once, the airbase supply is hit 3 times and the runway takes 15 hits.  A follow up raid by 48 Sally escorted by 23 Zero claims 1 of the 2 Buffalo sent up as CAP and causes 9 casualties on the ground, hits the airbase 6 times, the airbase supply once and obtains another 14 runway hits.  2 Sally are lost in this raid.  In the third raid of the day on Kuantan 20 Sally escorted by 21 Zero and 27 Oscar cause 1 airbase supply hit and 8 runway hits.  2 Buffalo are claimed as destroyed.

[align=left] [/align]At Singapore 50 Nell escorted by 26 Zero are meet by 18 Tomahawk and 6 Buffalo.  The skies above this once peaceful city ring to the sounds of lead ripping through the air.  5 Zero and 1 Nell drops out of the sky.  In return only 3 Tomahawk are claimed as destroyed.  The stiffness of the aerial resistance results in the bombs falling ineffectually to the ground.  The people of Singapore rejoice at the brave defense of their city…… I think Ambassador did too.

[align=left] [/align]At Songkia 3 Blenheim escorted by 4 Buffalo takes on the CAP of 10 Claude.  Some bullets actually manage to hit opposing planes and after a while everyone returns home without much being achieved by either side.  A further attack late in the day at Songhkia by 3 Blenheim brushes past the CAP of 6 Claude and plants 1 bomb on AP Jusan Maru causing 27 casualties and damage of 32 12 05.[align=left] [/align]Sea: The cruiser task force off shore of Khota Bharu is targeted by 6 Vildebeest, 7 Blenheim and 3 Hudson.  A CAP of 12 Oscar is sent up and for the loss of 1 of their number downs 4 Buffalo and breaks up the attack enough that the ships come through unscathed.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Burma[align=left] [/align]Air:  12 Nell locate APs Taiyuan, Ariadne Moller and Empire Tamar at Akyab.  It has been a long flight for the crews of these planes and they come away without result.[align=left] [/align]Land:  Allied forces go on the offensive and capture the undefended town of Rahaeng.
[align=left] [/align]China[align=left] [/align]Land: The fortress at Hong Kong is bombarded with 9 casualties and 1 gun lost to the Japanese and 93 casualties and 7 guns lost by the defenders.[align=left] [/align]At Nanning a deliberate attack by Chinese forces results in 26 Japanese casualties and 2 guns lost for 294 allied casualties and 9 guns lost.  The fort level holds at 3 and smaller Japanese force maintains control of the city.[align=left] [/align]Air: [/b]At Canton 13 Betty hit 66th Chinese Corps and cause 12 casualties and15 Sonia fall on 64th Chinese Corps with 9 casualties reported.  [align=left] [/align]Near Changsa 9 Ann hit 80th Chinese Corps and reports are received of 13 casualties and 1 gun lost.  [align=left] [/align]At Yenen 9 Sonia bomb 27th Chinese/C Corps and score 33 casualties.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Philippines[align=left] [/align]Air: Ambassador has regrouped his forces after apparently scattering them in the opening rounds as a strike of 55 Warhawk descend upon Lingagyen.  A CAP of 17 Zero meets them and the war of attrition has begun.  At the end of the melee 7 Zero are destroyed with 8 Warhawk claimed by the Japanese pilots.[align=left] [/align]38 Betty and 2 Zero target San Marcelino and cause 9 casualties, a hit to the airbase and the airbase supply and 7 runway hits.[align=left] [/align]3 B-17 bomb Laoag.  A CAP of 8 Zero is aloft and damage is taken on both sides but not enough to stop the bombers unloading and causing 18 casualties and 2 runway hits.[align=left] [/align]Sea: 3 PT boats are located by the surface combat task force doing sentry duty at Lingayen.  The PTs are surprised in the first combat round and PT-33 and PT-41 are destroyed in quick time.  PT-31, however, pushes on.   She ducks and weaves through the waters churned up from shell splashes all around.  She gets close enough to launch torpedoes and his rewarded with the sight of an explosion erupting from the stern of a Japanese destroyer.  DD Satsuki reels out of the action suffering serious damage 53 37 09.  The good fortune enjoyed by PT-31, however, has faded as she is struck by 2 shells and is smashed to pieces.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]DEI[align=left] [/align]Land:  Troops are ashore at Brunei.[align=left] [/align]Sea: Chokai and Isuzu conduct the preliminary bombardment of Brunei and cause 7 casualties and 1 gun lost as well as hits to the runway, port and port supply.  The daytime bombardment causes 58 casualties, 1 gun lost, 2 vehicles lost, 5 runway hits and 2 port hits.[/b][align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Subs[align=left] [/align]My 3 destroyer ASW task force operating out of Lingayen locates SS S-41 and report 3 hits.[align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align]SS KXI, operating off Songkhia, finds AP Sanura Maru and lands 2 shell hits and scores 1 torpedo.  This ship has troops on board and 23 casualties are reported.[align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align]Offshore from San Francisco DDs Brooks and Kane and PGs Charleston and Dawson locate SS I-122 and claim 5 hits.  She comes out of this action with 09 02 00 damage.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Naval Losses for the Day[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]PT-31, PT-33, PT-41, AV Langley (reported lost after the night time action off Tawi Tawi the previous day)
[align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align][align=left] [/align]Comments
[/b][align=left] [/align]As mentioned; Ambassador’s opposition to the Japanese aggression is gathering resolve day by day.  I’m expecting Ambassador to kept the pressure up and make me pay for my successes.  The reported loss of Langley now makes the result from the Tawi Tawi action 2 AK, 2 AS and 1 AV.

[SierraJuliet]

I see Ambassador has posted again. I expect to announce that we are back at it.  Real life forced a break but now it is time to jump into the action again.  12 December has been played out and here are the results.


12 December 1941[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Malaya[align=left] [/align]Air: At Khota Bharu an allied force of 3 Swordfish, 4 Wirraway, 6 Vildebeest, 3 Blenheim and 3 Hudson escorted by 6 Buffalo is met by Japanese CAP of 10 Oscar and 15 Zero.  By the end of the action 3 Swordfish, 1 Wirraway, 2 Vildebeest and 3 Buffalo are reported as destroyed.  1 Zero was destroyed by a Hudson.  9 bombers got through to the ships without scoring any hits.[align=left] [/align]A second allied strike comes in at Khota Bharu.  This time 3 Blenheim and 3 Hudson escorted by 6 Buffalo and 6 Tomahawk take on the CAP of 14 Zero and 10 Oscar.  In this action no Japanese planes are lost and reports come in of 2 Buffalo and 3 Tomahawk destroyed.  The attack again fails to damage any shipping.[align=left] [/align]Land: At Alor Star the Japanese launch a shock attack only to find the allied forces have pulled out.  The base is captured.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]China[align=left] [/align]Land: Japanese bombardment attack at Hong Kong causes Japanese casualties of 14 and 1 gun lost to allied casualties of 31.[align=left] [/align]At Nanning Japanese bombardment causes 14 casualties.[align=left] [/align]At Yenen Japanese bombardment causes 125 Chinese casualties and 1 gun lost.[align=left] [/align]Air: At Canton 9 Sally bomb 83rd Chinese Corps and cause 25 casualties.  64th Chinese Corps is hit by 9 Betty with 31 casualties and 1 gun reported lost.[align=left] [/align]Hong Kong is bombed by 28 Nell escorted by 20 Zero.  3 SB-2c are destroyed and the airbase supply takes 1 hit and the runway takes 5 hits.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Philippines[align=left] [/align]Air: 46 Warhawk show up at Lingayen.  Fortunately no small groups of Japanese planes are there so they fly home empty handed.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]DEI[align=left] [/align]Land: Japanese shock attack at Brunei captures the base and causes 16 allied casualties and 2 guns lost and the retreat of No. 106 RN Base Force.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Subs[align=left] [/align]At Lingayen SS S-41 is again located and subjected to depth charge attack.  3 more hits are reported to go with the 3 reported on this sub the day before.[align=left] [/align]SS I-6 is targeted twice but avoids the destroyers on the surface dropping depth charges.[align=left] [/align]At Tainan SS Sargo penetrates the harbour and hit AK Kashii Maru with 3 shells and 2 torpedoes and the freighter is lost.[align=left] [/align]At Takao SS Porpoise finds AV Sanuki Maru and sends a torpedo her way.  The torpedo fails to detonate.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Naval Losses for the Day[align=left] [/align]AK Kashii Maru[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Comments[align=left] [/align]We have been in hiatus since 23 April of this year (not 1941 even though I’m beginning to think my world revolves around the events in the Pacific during ’41-‘42).  The aggressive defending goes on.  The air battle over Kuantan went the Japanese way.  Stacks of allied fighters prowling around Philippines though and very aggressive use of US sub assets…. Thank goodness for allied torpedoes that fails at the beginning of the war.  Canton is a cause for concern with 7 Chinese Corps encamped there.

[SierraJuliet]

13 December 1941[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Malaya[align=left] [/align]Air: 26 Tomahawk from the AVG take on a CAP of 17 Zero and 35 Oscar in the skies over Khota Bharu.  1 Oscar is lost whilst the AVG has 6 Tomahawk destroyed and 8 damage reports.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Burma[align=left] [/align]Land: Tavoy which is undefended is captured.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]China[align=left] [/align]Land: South of Wuhan Japanese bombardment causes 18 Chinese casualties and 2 guns lost.  The return fire from the Chinese causes 32 Japanese casualties and 1 gun lost.[align=left] [/align]Japanese bombardment at Hong Kong causes 5 Japanese casualties and 1 gun lost to 78 Allied casualties and 2 guns lost.[align=left] [/align]At Yenen Japanese forces go for an early shock attack before all designated forces are in position.  The attackers lose 2688 casualties, 78 guns and 2 vehicles to the defenders 348 casualties and 7 guns lost and don’t damage the forts which are at level 2.[align=left] [/align]Air: Southwest of Changsha 80th Chinese Corps is bombed by 9 Ann is reports 6 casualties and 1 gun lost.[align=left] [/align]Hong Kong is bombed by 22 Nell and reports are received of 3 airbase hits, 1 airbase supply hit and 11 runway hit.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Philippines[align=left] [/align]Air: 13 B-17 set out from their base on the Philippines and make for Taan.  There is no CAP here but the flak is good with reports of 9 bombers taking damage.  It is enough to distract the bombers and no damage is caused.[align=left] [/align]48 Warhawk take to the skies over Laoag and are met by CAP of 21 Zero.  1 Zero is lost for 8 Warhawk destroyed.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Subs[align=left] [/align]In a cat and mouse game SS I-22 targets DD Kane only to see her torpedoes fail to detonate.  The destroyers and PGs on the other hand make a hard job of locating I-22 and in the end fail to score any hits.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Naval Losses for the Day[align=left] [/align]DD Nagatsuki finally succumbed to the damage caused by the PT attack 4 days previous.  The flooding issue was just too severe and a decent port too far away for her to make it.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Comments[align=left] [/align]The aerial battles above Laoag and Khota Bharu have seen good results for the Japanese this turn.  Masses of allied fighters which could have overwhelmed the smaller CAP were repulsed above both bases.  PO2 L. Muto flying his Zero out of Khota Bharu becomes my first ace of this war.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Should have known better than to go early at Yemen but the hotheads on the ground prevailed and now the campaign at this location will take somewhat longer.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]KB which had been moving into a covering position for the assault on Wake Island is now moving east in stealth mode.  The intention is to attempt to move silently between Midway and Johnson in order to possibly spring a trap on a large number of surface ships picked up by subs west of Pearl and reported to be heading in a westerly direction.[align=left] [/align] [align=left] [/align]Canton continues to be a bombardment engagement only but is serving to cause me to draw off some of the forces designated to assault Hong Kong in order to shore up the defense of Canton.