Tokyo Rose was a Hussy! Chez (J) vs. Canoe (A)

[princep01]

Platoon.....and CR, on movies, we'd probably not agree on much:).

[Canoerebel]

12/01/42

Borneo: The Allied army arrives at Singkawang in good shape. I spend about 50 PP swapping out leaders to ones with high aggression ratings (and high in other categories too). These guys are rated "assault leaders." Tomorrow, a deliberate attack to test the strength of the defenses. No sign that Steve is reinforcing by air or sea. SigInt reports he is reinforcing Kuching. He did not withdraw his units from Singkawang - the single unit that moved a hex to the east must have been to control the hex to prevent the Allies from isolating his army. The Washington and the South Dakota TFs (plus a CA TF) will patrol at Singk tomorrow.

Singkep: The Allies transferred in part of 5th Marines by air from Ketapang, bringing the AV to 120. Singkep should be too close to Singapore for the Allies to hold for long, but the effort is worth it - Steve is clearly fixated on the base.

Malaya: Three USN CVs are ready for duty at Colombo. Saratoga will be ready in six days. Lexington is 18 days away. Whatever is available can cover an invasion of Victoria Point if and when the Allies confirm that 26th Indian Div. isn't needed at Singkawang.

[Canoerebel]

12/02/42

Singkawang: My coutenance fell when I received the new turn and an email message from Steve. "Just one day too late," he wrote. Then I opened the combat report to find that a massive IJ reinforcement convoy had arrive at Singkawang A big sea battle ensued:

Round One

Night Time Surface Combat, near Singkawang at 56,88, Range 11,000 Yards

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
No Japanese losses

Japanese Ships
CS Chiyoda, Shell hits 5, and is sunk
BB Kongo
BB Hiei
BB Kirishima, Shell hits 4, on fire
BB Nagato, Shell hits 9, on fire
DD Kazegumo
DD Takanami, Shell hits 5, on fire
DD Yukikaze
DD Ikazuchi
DD Uranami
DD Shikinami, Shell hits 1
DD Sagiri
DD Yuzuki, Shell hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Oite
DD Yunagi
LSD Shinshu Maru
xAP Teiko Maru
xAP Teia Maru
xAP Hie Maru
xAP Miike Maru
xAP Yoshino Maru
xAP Atsuta Maru
xAP Dairen Maru, Shell hits 3, on fire
xAP Hoten Maru, Shell hits 3, and is sunk
xAP Tsingtao Maru, Shell hits 3, and is sunk
xAP Shanghai Maru
xAP Ukishima Maru, Shell hits 2
xAP Teifu Maru
xAP Teison Maru
xAP Teibi Maru
xAP Umezaki Maru

Allied Ships
BB Washington, Shell hits 26, heavy fires, heavy damage
CA Canberra
DD Voyager
DD Vendetta
DD Arunta, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Banckert, Shell hits 6, heavy fires
DD Stronghold, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Encounter

Japanese ground losses:
3971 casualties reported
Squads: 99 destroyed, 51 disabled
Non Combat: 84 destroyed, 60 disabled
Engineers: 7 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 35 (33 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Vehicles lost 17 (15 destroyed, 2 disabled)

Round Two:

Night Time Surface Combat, near Singkawang at 56,88, Range 11,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
BB Kongo
BB Hiei
BB Kirishima, Shell hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
BB Nagato, Shell hits 9, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Kazegumo
DD Takanami, on fire
DD Yukikaze
DD Ikazuchi
DD Uranami
DD Shikinami
DD Sagiri
DD Yuzuki, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Oite, Shell hits 2
DD Yunagi
LSD Shinshu Maru, Shell hits 1
xAP Teiko Maru, Shell hits 3, on fire
xAP Teia Maru
xAP Hie Maru, Shell hits 3, on fire
xAP Miike Maru
xAP Yoshino Maru
xAP Atsuta Maru
xAP Dairen Maru, Shell hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Shanghai Maru
xAP Ukishima Maru
xAP Teifu Maru
xAP Teison Maru
xAP Teibi Maru
xAP Umezaki Maru

Allied Ships
BB South Dakota, Shell hits 5, on fire
CA Pensacola
CA San Francisco, Shell hits 1
CLAA Juneau
DD O'Brien
DD MacDonough
DD Jupiter
DD Napier
DD Nestor

Japanese ground losses:
228 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 14 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Results: I took comfort in these results, for sinking a CS and badly damaging, perhaps sinking two BB, at a cost of one BB (assuming Washington goes down) seems like a good day's work. I figured that alot of IJ reinforcement made it ashore, so I awaited the combat round with this results:

Ground combat at Singkawang (56,88)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 23022 troops, 365 guns, 377 vehicles, Assault Value = 885

Defending force 7689 troops, 70 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 177

Allied engineers reduce fortifications to 1

Allied adjusted assault: 875

Japanese adjusted defense: 245

Allied assault odds: 3 to 1 (fort level 1)

Allied forces CAPTURE Singkawang !!!

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
No Japanese losses

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), disruption(-), preparation(-), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
2541 casualties reported
Squads: 97 destroyed, 14 disabled
Non Combat: 96 destroyed, 44 disabled
Engineers: 21 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 10 (9 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Units retreated 5


Allied ground losses:
249 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 10 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 35 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 14 disabled
Vehicles lost 13 (1 destroyed, 12 disabled)


Assaulting units:
110th Combat Engineer Battalion
2nd Royal Tank Regiment
23rd Marine Regiment
20th Indian Division
25th Indian Division
XXXIII Indian Corps
226th Field Artillery Battalion

Defending units:
114th Infantry Regiment
124th Infantry Regiment
51st Field AA Battalion
12th Base Force
22nd JAAF AF Bn

Singakang by Christmas: The Allied goal of taking Sinkgawang by Christmas comes true. This level seven airfield gives the Allies "broad shoulders" in the Java Sea - a wide swath of water covered by interlocking large airbases. Japan can still encroach in the region, but it does so at elevated risk.

What's Next: I'll post tomorrow after I've had a chance to run the replay and look and the next turn file. This is a key moment in the war. Combined with more IJN capital ship losses, this should be a devastating blow to Japan.

[obvert]

Yet another devastating blow. Strange TF. Why all of the combat ships with the xAPs? It can't have helped the performance of the BBs.

[House Stark]

I'm guessing that he either is unaware of the performance penalty for BBs escorting transports like that, or else he feared that if the ships were in separate TFs an Allied TF could slip by his battleships and completely maul the transports. And it sort of worked that way, in that the BBs took the hits. And due to his previous losses, he probably didn't have enough major surface combatants to heavily escort the transports and provide a surface combat force as well.

[princep01]

Nice going, CR. Excellent timing on your use of those two modern BBs. Washington may be history, but my bet is that Nagato joins her and Kirishima doesn't make it home either. Even if one does, they won't be back for a very long time. A seaplane tender and a DD as a bonus is nice, but the big prize of Sinkawang is yours. Congrats on a well timed and executed offensive.

A note: Had the Japs bombed your advancing column, it is doubtful you would have made it to the objective before he landed those troops. That was a mistake by Chez (noted earlier by you).

It will be interesting to see your decision on the next "great leap forward"...but, the strategic initiative has decisively shifted to you. Keep up the pressure.

At game's end, it would really be interested to know what Chez's oil situation was at this point. I wouldn't think it was critical, but the writing is likely on the wall and apparent to Chez even now.

[paullus99]

Very strange composition - he should have sent in the 4 BBs first (of course, those troops should have been on the ground days earlier).

He doesn't have too many good escorts left for the KB, which will come back to haunt him when your carriers do finally engage. I have a feeling that the next few weeks may be bloody, but also may well spell the end of this game.

[Cribtop]

Great job, CR. Fortress Palembang was the end of the beginning. Singkawang is the beginning of the end (with apologies to Winston Churchill). [&o]

[zuluhour]

+1

[vettim89]

I for one am waiting to see what type of shells pentrated the IJN BBs. If the were 16 " AP hits that pentrated, that could mean their doom.

[JeffroK]

And if damaged enough they may still be within LBA range.

[yubari]

I wonder why the Chiyoda is still around as a CS and not upgrading to a CVL at this point?
Another devastating blow for the Japs, I think that both of those battleships will go down as well, I guess that Singapore is not an option as a safe harbour any more and it is a long way back to Camranh Bay or Manila from there.

[Miller]

Horrible TF organisation by the IJN. I would have put a few DDs with the APs, covered by the BBs and the rest of the DDs in a seperate TF. I would imagine those 2 BBs will go down whilst Washington will survive..........

[obvert]

ORIGINAL: yubari

I wonder why the Chiyoda is still around as a CS and not upgrading to a CVL at this point?

Does it seem like the Empire is planning for the future right now? [;)]

[Canoerebel]

It seems that Japanese TFs have had weird compositions for the past few weeks, going back to the Battle of Muntok in which Yamato was badly damaged.  Sometimes Steve has used huge combat TFs (25 ships, which is way too many) and sometimes (like the most recent battle) in which he embedded four BBs into a transport TF.

In part this may be attributable to the emergency nature of the war at the moment.  Both sides are feeding ships into the meat grinder.  For instance, notice that the Allied combat TFs are a hodge-podge of ships of all kinds - including Dutch and Australian destroyers teamed with top-of-the-line USN fast BBs.  These BB TFs haven't been properly escorted by good USN and RN DDs.  That's just a result of the constant need to assemble TFs from whatever's been handy in order to patrol Pontianak and Muntok and to blockade Singkawang. 

While the exigencies require less than optimal composition, though, I will say that this latest IJ offering was particularly bad.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: Miller

Horrible TF organisation by the IJN. I would have put a few DDs with the APs, covered by the BBs and the rest of the DDs in a seperate TF. I would imagine those 2 BBs will go down whilst Washington will survive..........

Only reason I can think of that he embedded the BBs in his TF was that he thought CR's army would reach and take Singkawang before it arrived and therefore he would be making an opposed landing. Or maybe he just wanted to boost the AA cover for the landing force.

Still, having 4 BBs for covering fire when he is desperately short of them was not making best use of them. Could it be that he is not aware that having an amphib TF follow a SCTF practically guarantees it will be covered against other SCTFs?

[Canoerebel]

About the Battlewagons:  I've opened the file and confirmed that BB Washington sank, victim of a series of big-caliber hits from the Japanese BBs.  In turn, Washington scored multiple 16" hits on Kirishima, Nagato, Chiyoda and a couple of xAPs.  South Dakota also registered multiple 16" hits on Kirishima and Nagato, so hopefully the "heavy fires/heavy damage" reports for those two ships prove accurate.
 
Halsey:  I am pleased that Admiral Halsey, in command of the Washington TF, survived.
 
Allied Combat Power in the DEI:  The Allies keep bleeding combat ships due to the series of bloody and tough engagements of the past three weeks.  South Dakota will need a few months in the yards (14 FLT damage will take some time).  The Allies still have three RN BBs, several good USN CAs (Pensacola and San Francisco), plus CAs Hawkins, Canberra and Cornwall in theater.
 
What's Next?  Steve is trying to reinforce Kuching.  The Allies will bomb and blockade, keeping the pressure up.  In a week or two, a major (but empty) mock invasion TF will move toward Kuching coinciding with the Allied invasion of Victoria Point in Malaya.  That invasion will be covered by Allied carriers and may include a fast transport landing at unoccupied Phuket.  Once the Malaya landings are complete, the Allies will choose between Miri and Balikpapan as the next invasion target.  Both targets offer advantages, but I'm not yet sure which I want to target. 

[paullus99]

CR - you've fought hard in the DEI & although you've had a lot of ships damaged, it doesn't seem like you've actually lost much of vital importance down the road. In terms of Costs vs. Benefits - you've bled your opponent to a much greater extent, and he's lost the surface core of the IJN (not to mention major hits to his carrier force).

Those Kongo's shouldn't survive multiple 16" hits - especially given their distance to potential repair yards (and god help him if they head to Singapore). And if they do, I would expect to see them out of the war for at least a year (so they might as well be sunk).

[Canoerebel]

Paullus, I think Japan has lost alot more than the Allies.  The Battles of the Java Sea commenced on November 15 at Muntok and culiminated at Singkawang on December 2.  Japan has had three BBs and three CAs take heavy or mortal damage, lost a CS, and had several CLs, at least 10 DDs, and a host of transport ships go under. 

The Allies have lost BB Washington, CA Indianapolis. and 10 mostly old DDs (Farenholt, worth 7 points, was the best of the group). 

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: Miller

Horrible TF organisation by the IJN.

Yeah, no kidding. What's up with that?