Last Stand at San Diego (no Richard please)

[ADB123]

February 28, 1943 –

The Night Phase saw Amberjack take a shot at an SC near Tanegashima but miss. The 4-SC Japanese ASW TF couldn’t find Amberjack so the US sub sailed away safely.

Then I waited and waited and waited. But nothing happened at Cooktown or anywhere nearby.

Huh? What happened to the Japanese Bombardment TF that was one hex offshore? [X(][X(][X(]

Daylight showed nothing off of Cooktown or anywhere near northeastern Australia. One Japanese TF showed up in the middle of the Coral Sea, sailing southeast.

So what happened? Did my opponent pull back because his Bombardment TF ended up one hex short last turn? Or was it because I pulled all of the planes out of the coastal hexes? In any event it was an interesting move that surprised me.

The Air War also took an odd turn as19 Oscar Is flew a Long Range Sweep over Tennant Creek. The Oscars were met by 16 Spitfire Vcs. The initial reports called 1 Oscar shot down against 2 Spitfires lost. The 3 more Oscars flew in and faced 4 Spitfires. This time 1 Oscar was shot down.

Next the action moved to the Far East as Allied 2Es hammered Japanese troops that are sitting to the southeast of Kalemyo. Those attacks were quite successful, but the planned 4E attacks on Lashio stayed on the ground.

Finally, Chinese Fighters and Bombers attacked the Japanese troops on the Nanning-Liuchow road, but missed their target.

At the End-of-the-Day, the Air Combat results were better than initially reported, likely thanks to the long flight home that the Oscars faced after their battle over Tennant Creek:

Oscar Is – 8 A-to-A, 1 Ops

Spitfire Vcs – 4 A-to-A, 1 Ops

No experienced Spitfire pilots were lost.

So March 1943 has come around, and hundreds of Allied ships are due for upgrades. Most important of those upgrades will be the upgrades to APA, LSI and other Amphibious types. The Allied Shipyards will be busy this month.

[ADB123]

Here are the Air Loss Stats:

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Here is northeastern Oz

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Here is northwestern Oz

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Here is the Indo-Burma region:

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Here is China:

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Here is the North

[DanielAnsell]

Wow. No matter what else happened, he just burned a lot of fuel for nothing. If that fleet count is anywhere like accurate, he had enough gunpower to level a city or two pretty hard, even if he did take a bit of banging from shore guns.

[ADB123]

ORIGINAL: Carny

Wow. No matter what else happened, he just burned a lot of fuel for nothing. If that fleet count is anywhere like accurate, he had enough gunpower to level a city or two pretty hard, even if he did take a bit of banging from shore guns.

I'm guessing that there is a lot of FOW in that mouse-over because the TF that was off of Cooktown had a couple of BBs and some CAs, not most of the Combined Fleet. Of course, it might be a different TF, but I won't know until more of my Patrols check it out.

And the shore guns that I have in northeastern Oz are all 6 inchers at best, so the BBs wouldn't be bothered much at all. So I'm also surprised that he didn't spend his shells. Of course, it's a pain to re-load BBs in AE, so maybe he didn't want to use the shells up when there wasn't anything too exciting to hit.

Oh well, I've got more surprises around, so maybe I will get another chance.

Thanks for the comments!

[ADB123]

March 1, 1943 -

The Night Phase saw USS Sunfish pass on firing a torpedo at an xAKL near Hirosaki/Aomori. The escorts in the surprisingly large Japanese Transport TF didn't find Sunfish as it slipped away. I'm not too happy with that performance so I'll definitely change that sub commander the next time the sub goes back into Port.

Daylight brought 10 Tojos Sweeping Liuchow where they were met by 11 Chinese H81-A3s. The old P-40 clones showed their age as 2 were shot down and the rest weren't really competitive. Next 10 Oscar Is Swept in and shot down the lone H81 that was left to meet them. Afterwards the Japanese Bombers came in and were unopposed.

In return, the motley collection of remaining Chinese bombers attempted to bomb the Japanese troops on the Nanning-Liuchow Road again, but once again they missed the target, even in the absence of any Enemy CAP. Afterwards I sat them down rather than have them fail again next time and maybe run into Japanese CAP too.

The Air War then switched to Burma where Oscar IIs Swept in over the Allied troops that are northeast of Akyab. A single Hurricane IIc drifted over from its station and danced with the Japanese fighters a bit before flying off.

Next Lily IIs and Oscar Is showed up at low altitude to bomb the Allied troops. They were met by 4 more Hurricane IIcs which again danced with the Japanese escorts but didn't do anything else. The Lilys were hit by a surprisingly strong AA from the Allied troops and missed their target.

I didn't have any Bomber Attacks planned this turn and instead had most of my bombers set to Long Range Search and Recon. I want to understand just where my opponent has put his Forces – I don't want to waste time and effort hitting the same empty bases when there might be better targets available.

The plan already started to bring in results – for example I found out that my opponent is now using Wyndham to base Fighters and Bombers, and is only using Darwin as a CAP Trap. So I am sending out more Search and Recon Flights this turn in order to get an even better idea of what is really going on.

The Retrofit-Tsunami started this turn as hundreds of Allied ships started getting upgrades all around the Pacific Rim. Around 2 dozen ships were upgraded to APAs and almost a dozen to LSI(L)s. Surprisingly, some ships ended up with upgrade damage that required them to be in a Shipyard, but the upgrade didn't automatically put them there. So I had to scroll down the list of upgraded ships, pick out those exceptions, and manually move them into shipyards.

BTW – The big Japanese TF in the Coral Sea turned out to be that CV TF. It is now heading east, roughly in the direction of Ndeni. So I started moving Bombers back to the Coastal Bases in northeastern Oz.

[ADB123]

March 2, 1943 -

The Night Phase saw a dot base in the DEI called Selaroe get occupied automatically by the Japanese, but other than that things were quiet.

Daylight brought Tojos and Oscar IIs Sweeping the empty skies over Liuchow multiple times before Japanese Bombers flew in to attack. The Japanese Bombers are now attacking Chinese troops in the Rail Line Cities in China, instead of the Air Bases, and are causing surprisingly high casualties. There is nothing that I can do about it, other than to grimace. Japan Bombers also hit Chinese troops at Hengyang with similar effectiveness.

Most Allied Flights, including Recon Flights, were Rained Out. [8|]

USS Growler was whacked by a Japanese Bomber off of Etorofu and is now limping home.

An Allied sub near Rangoon reported a number of Japanese ships in Port. But Allied Recon also reported 150 or so Japanese Fighters there, so I'm not trying to do anything about those ships.

And to add to an overall irritating day, a US TF reported being spotted by a Japanese “Fighter Bomber” near Perth. I initially assumed that it was one of the TFs that I have moving in and out of Perth being spotted by a Glen. But when I checked the Perth region I didn't find that particular TF. So I checked the TF list, located that TF, and checked it out.

Uh-oh... it is a large empty Transport TF that is heading back to Cape Town, and it is around 6 hexes from the western edge of the Map. That means that somewhere in that vicinity there is one of three things:

- A Glen-equipped Japanese sub
- A Japanese Surface Combat TF that contains Floatplanes
- Some number of Japanese CVs

I've been moving a lot of TFs back and forth through that region and have been happy about the lack of Japanese Forces, but it appears that my luck has changed.

So I split the TF into individual ship TFs and ordered other TFs in the region to move away. I also ordered a TF that can “take care of itself” to move towards that region in case there is something there that I can sink.

[ADB123]

March 3, 1943 -

Japanese troops started landing at the unoccupied DEI base Taland-eilanden during the Night. I forgot that it wasn't under Japanese control.

Daylight brought a flurry of Japanese Flights over the Allied transports that are now at the last hex before the grey western edge of the map, due west of Perth. Most of the reports were of “fighter bombers”, but one was of a Jake.

The fact that Kates didn't rain bombs upon the AKs suggests to me that the Allied Transports were found by a Japanese Surface Combat TF, perhaps containing a CS. (If I had a CS in that position I would have set some of the Jakes to Naval Attack.) In any event, I hope that the Japanese TF sticks around for two more turns, then I might have an opportunity to accomplish something.

It would be nice to accomplish something – anything – for once. The rest of the turn was pure frustration for me.

Japanese Army Bombers hit dug-in Chinese troops in Cities and in the Countryside all along the Rail Line in China, causing heavy casualties with each raid.

The massed Allied 4Es hit the Japanese troops that are 1 hex to the east of Akyab and caused pitifully few casualties. And the Allied 4Es in northeastern Australia didn't fly their Bombing Mission at all, despite being in 4 different Air Bases.

However, the Australian Mitchells that were in a fourth northeastern Australian Air Base flew all the way to Lae to try to attack some Japanese Freighters that are there. The Mitchells were met by Oscar Is, A6M2s and Tojos. The Mitchells fought their best, and even shot down one A6M2, but 5 bombers were lost to Japanese Fighter Attack, and the one Bomber that got through missed its target.

So I set the Indian 4Es back to Air Base Bombing for next turn, since it appears that is the only thing they can do with some effect. And I left the Australian 4Es with their current orders. The only thing else I can do is to continue to move Forces forward and to upgrade ships.

[DanielAnsell]

The air strike mechanics in WITP (both pre and post AE) have always mystified me too. Even if you do all the fiddly stuff that supposedly maximizes sortie rate, accuracy, and coordination, you still get turns like you just had, where for no apparent reason, planes don't fly, or fly where they shouldn't, or seem to randomly drop tons of bombs everywhere but on what they were aiming at.

I don't play PBEM anymore. I lack the courage to try a third one after real life hammered me out of the first two I started. But against a human opponent, I can only imagine its much more frustrating to see apparent successes by him, while your air efforts fizzle.

Keep at it, though. Check your headquarters locations, airbase densities, all that fiddly stuff, and see what happens down the road.

[ADB123]

ORIGINAL: Carny

The air strike mechanics in WITP (both pre and post AE) have always mystified me too. Even if you do all the fiddly stuff that supposedly maximizes sortie rate, accuracy, and coordination, you still get turns like you just had, where for no apparent reason, planes don't fly, or fly where they shouldn't, or seem to randomly drop tons of bombs everywhere but on what they were aiming at.

I don't play PBEM anymore. I lack the courage to try a third one after real life hammered me out of the first two I started. But against a human opponent, I can only imagine its much more frustrating to see apparent successes by him, while your air efforts fizzle.

Keep at it, though. Check your headquarters locations, airbase densities, all that fiddly stuff, and see what happens down the road.

This is one of the problems of playing the Allied side - I've been waiting so long to be able to go on the offensive and actually win some battles that I find every lost opportunity drives me nuts, when in reality I should just shrug off what doesn't work and focus on what does.

The same things plague my Japanese pbems, but at least there during the early months of the game I have the forces available to be on the offensive. But even then the Random Actions of the Game are still frustrating, although in those games I can see something akin to equal levels of frustration on the part of my opponents because they are experiencing what I have experienced in this game, but they can't do anything about it either.

Oh well, if it really bothered me I'd go fishing instead of waiting for the next turn... [:D]

Thanks for the thoughts -

[ADB123]

March 4, 1943 -

The Japanese TF at Talaud-einlanden continued to unload its cargo, a Japanese Garrison unit. That base is just too central to leave empty. The Japanese unit captured the base at the end of the turn.

USS Haddo missed a Japanese Tanker a little ways to the southeast of Truk. The ASW Escorts missed Haddo too.

The Air War continued in China, but this time the Chinese Air Force put up its best in an attempt to stop the relentless carpet bombing by the Japanese near Liuchow. The Chinese Best was far from good enough.

First 10 Oscar Is Swept in and were faced by 4 P-66s and 9 H81-A3s. The Oscars had a field day, shooting down 3 H-81Es for the loss of 1 Oscar. Next, 2 more Oscar Is flew in and were faced by 2 P-66s and 1 H81E. A P-66 was shot down this time. The the Japanese Bombers came in, escorted by 6 more Oscar Is. They were met by 1 last P-66 and 1 last H81E. The Japanese Aircraft blasted past the Chinese Fighters and hammered the Chinese troops again. After this Japanese Bombers blasted the Chinese troops at Hengyang again.

In the meanwhile, Oscar Is Swept over the Indian troops that are northeast of Akyab. No Allied Fighters contested the Skies. This was followed by Nicks and Helens who bombed the Allied troops. The Brits and Indians have better AA in their units so they damaged a few Japanese bombers.

At this point I was beginning to believe that my planes would stay home once again, but instead the 4Es started to fly late in the Afternoon. First 4Es hit the Air Base at Magwe, re-closing the Air Fields.

Then in a First Time Attack, the Australian-based 4Es attacked the Air Base at Milne Bay. There was no CAP, which was good, because the Allied Bombers came in all spread out. They hit the Air Base reasonably well, but not nearly enough to close it.

The End-of-Day results were as follows:

H81-A3s lost: 6 A-to-A, 2 Ops
P-66s lost: 1 A-to-A, 1 Ops

Oscar Is lost: 2 A-to-A, 1 Ops

Fortunately, the Chinese lost only 1 pilot, but it really hurts to lose any of those planes.

And the Freighters at the western edge of the Map made it out before being caught by the pursuing Japanese. My opponent commented upon it in his email and he was a bit disappointed. Now if my incoming forces can only find his ships. The main problem is that there is SO much ocean there. There is also a problem that something was spotted near my TF by an Avenger on Patrol. If it was a Japanese sub, and if my opponent got word, he will know that I've got something beyond xAKs in the area. Despite this I'm still going to sail ahead and hope that I get lucky for a change.

[ADB123]

March 5, 1943 -

This week it has been my opponent's turn to have Real Life get in the way of Game Life. But he did get a turn out this evening.

The Night Phase saw USS Steelhead shot a half dozen torpedoes at a Japanese PB near Truk, and miss with all of them. Steelhead got away from the Escorts in the Japanese TF, but it is too bad that one of those wayward torpedoes didn't hit one of the Tankers in the TF.

Daylight saw Japanese Fighters repeatedly Sweep over the Chinese troops on the Nanning-Liuchow road. Then the Fighters were followed by multiple large Japanese Bomber attacks. At the end of the day the beaten-up Chinese Corps were on the receiving end of a Deliberate attack by 2 Japanese Tank Regiments, 3 Japanese Infantry Divisions and a Japanese Infantry Regiment. The Japanese assault obtained a 3:1 result and the shattered Chinese troops retreated to Liuchow.

The Japanese troops now appear to be heading towards Nanning. My opponent has finally found the weak spot in my Chinese Defence, and he is systematically unravelling my efforts. Oh well, in reality my whole Chinese strategy has been something between a big bluff and smoke-and-mirrors, so I'm rather lucky that it has held up so long.

My Air Crews in northeastern Oz got “bluffed” out of flying again this turn. I went in and fine-tuned some of the crews in the hopes of improving the odds for Flying, but I don't really have any confidence that the odds will be any better next turn.

However, in Burma my 4Es hit Mandalay very hard and closed it up again. I've got the Bombers set to fly out again next turn, but if the Pattern of the Game continues the planes will sit out next turn.

[ADB123]

March 6, 1943 -

The Night Phase saw USS Pickerel hit a mine at Etoforu Island in the western Kuriles. There are a number of Japanese ships there, so I ordered some Subs to take a look last turn. Now I've ordered the the subs to stand off a ways.

Daylight started out with Oscars Sweeping over Nanning. I've got nothing left in China that can stand up against even Oscars any more, so the Sweepers and the ensuing Bomber runs were left alone to do their worst against the two Chinese Corps that are starving behind the Fortifications. I expect the first Japanese Troops to arrive within a few days.

Allied planes flew as ordered for a change this turn, but with mixed results. First off, the Allied 2Es hit the Japanese troops that are sitting to the east of Kalemyo in multiple waves without any enemy CAP present. But the overall damage was light. The Allied 2Es just can't seem to do the same amount of damage on Japanese Troops in Burma that Japanese 2Es can do to Chinese Troops in China.

Then the Allied 4Es roared in over the Air Base at Myitkyina and hammered the Air Fields in a truly impressive manner. My opponent now keeps his Fighters back at Rangoon, and for good reason. The 4Es are under orders to go out again next turn against another Burmese target. It would be nice if they would actually keep up some level of pressure in the Region, but they will undoubtedly continued to be hindered most of the time by Bad Weather.

And finally, the Air Assault on PNG restarted this turn, but with less-than-satisfactory results. First in to PM were 22 P-38Es. These were flown by good pilots, but the pilots in the Japanese CAP – 5 Tojos, 5 Tonys, 2 Oscar 1s, 10 A6M3s and 7 A6M2s - were likely equally good, and the Japanese were fighting at short range rather than at long range like the Lightning Pilots. The P-38s had a rough time, losing 2 planes over PM and more on the way home, against 1 Tony and 1 A6M3 lost for the Japanese.

Next in was the Main 4E Attack – 29 B-17Fs, 11 B-17Es and 24 B-24Ds. They faced 4 Tonys, 3 A6M3s, 3 A6M2s, and 1 Tojo. The Bombers blasted past the Japanese Defenders and hit the Air Base and Runways at PM fairly well. This was followed by 8 more B-24Ds who straggled in late. They were met by 1 A6M3 and 2 A6M2s. This time one B-24 was damaged and the Bombers didn't do a lot of extra damage.

Finally, 3 Very Late P-38Es showed up and found 2 A6M2s and 1 A6M3 on CAP. The Lightning Pilots shot down one each of the enemy planes.

But the End-Of-Day results were fairly ugly, primarily because of the distance that the P-38s had to fly:

A6M3s lost – 5 A-to-A
Tonys lost – 1 A-to-A, 1 Ops
Tojos lost – 1 A-to-A
A6M2s lost – 1 A-to-A

P-38Es lost – 9 A-to-A, 4 Ops

I now have insufficient P-38Es left to rebuild the Squadron, so I converted them to P-40Ks.

In a surprising, but not really unexpected move, Japanese Paratroops landed on and Captured the little DEI base at Alor, which is just to the north of Timor.

And in a somewhat irritating way, the US CV TF that is not far from the Western Edge of the Map (and due west of Perth) was spotted by a Japanese “Recon” this turn. Nothing showed up around the US TF, despite multiple US planes on Naval Search off of the various ships, so I'm guessing that the so-called “Recon” flight was a Jake, which out-distances anything that the USN can fly.

What I don't know is if the Japanese plane correctly identified the US TF as a CV TF or reported it as something else. I do know that the Detection Level of the TF is now “10/10”, but I don't know if that means my opponent has “perfect” INTEL or not. (I only wish that my SIGINT Report would tell me something useful once in a while, rather then repeatedly telling me which Japanese units are sitting at which Japanese Rear Bases... )

I'm guessing that the Japanese TF is to the north of the US TF, but I'm setting US TF to head southwards because there are a couple of US Transport TFs to the south that I want to protect if possible. We'll see if my opponent decides to chase my TF or not.

And to add to my general level of irritation, I just realized that a number of Indian LCUs will be withdrawing in a couple of months time, and that a number of them are providing Garrison Duty in Indian Bases that require Garrisons. So I have started to shuffle units around so that I can cover the Garrison Requirements in time to prevent getting “punished” while at the same time not disrupting my Unit Disposition in India too much.

[ADB123]

March 7, 1943 -

There was no Night Action this turn.

Daylight brought Oscars out Sweeping over Nanning. This was followed by massed Japanese Bomber attacks on the Air Base. The initial Japanese Ground Troops also reached Nanning this turn.

This was followed by Oscars Sweeping over the Australian Armoured units that I have pulled back out of Daly Waters, followed by attacks by Japanese Bombers.

The Wonders of the Game Mechanics make it impossible for me to move sufficient Supplies to Daly Waters so I've had to give up trying to maintain a Combat Ready Force there. [8|]

My opponent commented upon how easy it was to cause significant damage to my units out in the desert, compared to the pitiful lack of damage that hundreds of Allied Bombers are doing to Japanese units in Burma. All I could reply was that at this time the Game Mechanic Decisions are in his favour, so he should enjoy them... [8|]

And yes, hundred of Allied 2Es flew unmolested against the Japanese LCUs that are a hex to the east of Kalemyo and caused pitifully light damage. Oh well, it's good Training Practice for my Pilots... [8|]

The 4Es in northeastern Australia flew against Buna this turn and ran into a substantial Japanese CAP. The first Attack was by 18 B-17Fs, 19 B-17Es and 44 B-24Ds. They were met by 13 Tojos, 24 A6M3s, 25 A6M2s, 13 Oscar Is and 4 Tonys. The 4Es got past the Japanese Fighters and inflicted reasonable damage on the Air Base.

This was followed by 12 B-17Es that faced 13 Tojos, 18 A6M3s, 23 A6M2s, 12 Oscar Is and 3 Tonys. The 4Es got through again and hit the Air Base lightly.

This was followed by the last of the Stragglers as 8 B-17Fs faced 12 Tojos, 1 Tony, 18 A6M3s, 12 Oscars and 21 A6M2s. The 4Es got through but once again only hit the Air Base Lightly. All-in-all, it was a good thing that I didn't send in any P-38s on Sweep, considering the numbers of Japanese Fighters on CAP.

At the end of the turn the 4Es in India hit Lashio without any Japanese CAP. They hammered the Air Base and Air Fields fairly well.

And finally, another Japanese Paratroop Unit captured another empty DEI base – Larantoeki.

The End-of-Day results weren't too bad, all things considered. Overall Air Losses were Japan 20, Allies 17, with a third of the Allied losses being C-47 Ops losses. (I am flying C-47s constantly in Burma and Oz in order to try to bring in Supply to Forward Bases.)

The Losses over Buna were as follows:

Tojos – 1 A-to-A, 1 Ground, 2 Ops
Tonys – 1 A-to-A, 1 Ground, 1 Ops
A6M2 – 3 A-to-A
A6M3 – 2 Ops
Oscar I – 1 Ops

B-24D – 1 A-to-A, 2 Ops
B-17E – 1 A-to-A, 2 Ops
B-17F – 1 Ops

BTW – SIGINT finally reported a high level of Enemy Radio Traffic off in the Indian Ocean, a couple of day's sail west of Geraldton. So it appears that I guessed right and my opponent sent his TF to the North, likely because he spotted my CV TF last turn. In any event, I've ordered my CV TF to go to the northeast to see if they can intercept the Japanese TF.

And HMS Victorious reached Cape Town this turn. It is due for a long, long upgrade, so I pulled off its planes, sent them on Freighters towards India, and set the CV for upgrade next turn. If the CV finishes Upgrade before it has to be withdrawn I'll send it on to India. But at least this way I'll have more British planes in India ahead of whenever the CV finishes upgrading.

BTW II – I've decided to finally put CVE Lost Island to use and have it transporting some planes to the Central Pacific. I'll use it to start to bring planes to some of the Island Bases that I am building up now.

[ADB123]

March 9, 1943 –

The Night Phase started with reports from US subs Pickerel and Sargo that their Floatation repairs were failing. Then the skipper of USS Amberjack decided not to shoot at a Japanese SC in a 4-SC ASW TF near Tanegashima. Amberjack was able to sneak away from the Japanese Patrol Boats.

Daylight started with a report that my CV TF 30 was reacting to a Japanese CV TF. I was a bit surprised that my TF found the Japanese TF, but I figured that it was worth a chance. Little did I know what was about to occur.

The Reports then switched to China where Japanese Fighters Swept over Nanning, followed by several large Japanese Bomber attacks.

A New Flash then came from the Indian Ocean that US CV TF 30 had run into much, MUCH more than expected:

Morning Air attack on TF, near Perth at 18,147

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 120 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 45 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 54
A6M3a Zero x 51
B5N2 Kate x 89
D3A1 Val x 143
F1M2 Pete x 3

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 22

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
A6M3a Zero: 2 destroyed
B5N2 Kate: 4 destroyed, 23 damaged
D3A1 Val: 1 destroyed, 29 damaged
F1M2 Pete: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 2 destroyed

Allied Ships
CV Yorktown, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
CV Hornet, Bomb hits 4, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
CLAA Juneau, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
DD Henley, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
DD Lang
DD Downes, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
CL Concord, Bomb hits 2
DD Perkins
CLAA Atlanta, Bomb hits 2, on fire
DD Ralph Talbot
DD Smith
DD Stack, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Benham
DD Reid
DD Mugford
CL Marblehead, Bomb hits 10, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Tucker, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Preston, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Cassin
DD Flusser

Instead of finding a small scouting or Surface Combat TF, TF 30 had run into a large portion of the KB.

The US Counterattack got off and faced a reasonably light Japanese CAP, although the presence of Petes on CAP was a surprise:

Morning Air attack on TF, near Geraldton at 16,143

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid detected at 120 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 47 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 27
A6M3a Zero x 25
F1M2 Pete x 21

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 50
SBD-3 Dauntless x 58
TBF-1 Avenger x 29

Japanese aircraft losses
F1M2 Pete: 8 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 6 destroyed
SBD-3 Dauntless: 13 destroyed, 17 damaged
TBF-1 Avenger: 8 destroyed, 16 damaged

Japanese Ships
CV Hiryu, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CV Soryu
CV Shokaku, Bomb hits 1, on fire
BB Kongo, Bomb hits 1
BB Kirishima
CA Chikuma
CA Suzuya, Bomb hits 1
CA Mikuma

The Petes tied-up the Wildcats and allowed the Zeros to ravage the incoming USN Bombers. But beyond that, there was a second Japanese CV TF there, so the USN planes only attacked a portion of the Japanese Forces.

The End came in the Afternoon:

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Perth at 18,147

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 120 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 45 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 16
A6M3a Zero x 49
B5N2 Kate x 85
D3A1 Val x 130

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 17 damaged
D3A1 Val: 1 destroyed, 25 damaged

Allied Ships
CV Hornet, Bomb hits 6, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
CV Yorktown, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
DD Henley, Bomb hits 6, and is sunk
CL Concord, Bomb hits 6, Torpedo hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
CLAA Atlanta, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
CLAA Juneau, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Mugford, Bomb hits 1
DD Reid, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Lang, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
DD Ralph Talbot, Bomb hits 2, on fire
DD Benham, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires
DD Smith
DD Flusser, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Tucker, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Perkins
DD Cassin

The Cream of the USN Naval Air Corps was wiped out after 15 months of intense training. The TF was too far from Land for any aircraft to survive. Most of the remaining US ships are too damaged to survive more than another day or so, and the KB is heading towards them to make certain that they go down.

So I threw away a good USN Carrier Task Force because I had poor INTEL and I misinterpreted the situation. I thought that a small Japanese Force was retiring from the area – instead I sailed my TF directly into the teeth of the Japanese Naval Air Might.

I also saw another horrific lesson of how useless Wildcats are – sure, they shot down a number of Petes, but against normal Japanese Carrier Fighters they weren’t worth the air volume they took up. And of course, when everything goes wrong, EVERYTHING goes wrong and none of my Avengers got in a single torpedo hit, despite being well within torpedo range.

So that was a painful and frustrating lesson. It will likely encourage my opponent to use the KB more aggressively in the future too. I now have zero faith in my Navy’s ability to accomplish anything against the IJN, and I am going to adjust my plans to even more of a Great Asian War in the near term, rather then throw away more ships and naval planes.

Afterwards my 4Es in India flew unhindered and hammered the Air Base at Toungou, as if to make the point how much better an option they are than trying Naval Battles.

In any event, the Intel Screen for March 9, 1943 is below. I will also post the detailed Air Loss Screen and the Ship Losses Screen in subsequent posts.

[ADB123]

Here is the Air Losses Screen: