Shall we play a DBB-C game? - CT Grognard vs Arnhem (no CTG pls)

[Arnhem44]

ORIGINAL: Cannonfodder

Very interested how this will play out.. I understand most of your moves but. Just wondering why you are withdrawing your CVs south and then east.. why not south to get more distance between you and KB?

Am interested too but been cooling my heels waiting for the turn for the past couple of days now, lucky I have that traffic jam in our game to untangle. Doesn't usually take this long for turns so I guess he's planning his next move with some care. Which could be good or bad for me, waiting for turns like this one does terrible things to the imagination.

As to why south then east. Short version is, KB was indicated as heading SE in the mouseover and my amphibs would in that direction and definitely not out of the woods yet so while I was running away I wanted to cover my bases in case KB came further east instead of retreating. Also, I guess in a sense I'm still spoiling for a fight as I feel with the losses on both sides the next engagement would be about even and as long as CTG loses more flight decks as I lose mine I'll still be ahead.

[KenchiSulla]

Ok, so you are trying to prevent a slaughter of your transports if he does come SE... I am betting he isn't though... (but that might just be a bit to much self reference)

[Arnhem44]

31 May 1942
As with turns like these when something major happens it seems that time stands still when it comes to the rest of the map.

CENPAC
The turn starts with the bombardment of Tabi as Mississippi and New Mexico pass it while withdrawing due east (true) towards PH. The bombardment seems to have had little to no effect as only Mississippi engaged. On hindsight perhaps it wasn't a good idea to have her waste her ammo on Tabi, read on to find out why.

It's the BBs who continue to be the centre of attention as they are the ones who KB blunder into come daybreak. KB moved a total of 4 hexes for the turn so there are some hurt ships out there.

It's basically New Mexico vs KB. She takes shots at just about every surviving flattop save Shoho. At least 2 14" hits on Kaga were observed while Akagi seems to have gotten away with being hit by the secondary armament of the BBs. The 3 IJN BBs tore New Mexico apart in the course of the battle while Mississippi was largely confined to dueling with the cruisers and taking the odd shot at a CV.

Day Time Surface Combat, near Beru at 138,134, Range 11,000 Yards

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
OS2U-3 Kingfisher: 1 destroyed

Japanese Ships
CV Kaga, Shell hits 7, heavy fires, heavy damage
CV Hiryu
CV Shokaku
CV Akagi, Shell hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
CVL Shoho
CVL Zuiho
BB Hiei
BB Fuso
BB Yamashiro
CA Takao
CA Atago
CA Myoko
CA Haguro
CL Yubari, Shell hits 6, and is sunk
DD Yugumo
DD Kazegumo, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Makigumo
DD Kagero
DD Maikaze
DD Isokaze
DD Shiranui

Allied Ships
BB New Mexico, Shell hits 26, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
BB Mississippi, Shell hits 11, on fire, heavy damage
DD Phelps
DD Balch

Poor visibility due to Rain
Maximum visibility in Rain: 15,000 yards
Range closes to 21,000 yards...
CONTACT: Allies radar detects Japanese task force at 21,000 yards
Range closes to 16,000 yards...
Range closes to 11,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 11,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 11,000 yards
BB New Mexico engages CV Akagi at 11,000 yards

With this engagement it seems almost certain that Junyo, Soryu and Zuikaku have gone down. Glugglug sounds during the replay probably mean that at least one of the 2 wounded CVs has joined them. It's 4-2 in favour of the USN at this point.

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Arorae at 143,138
Weather in hex: Light cloud
Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 34 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 8
B5N2 Kate x 6

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
CL St. Louis
DD Mustin

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 6000 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb

This engagement is interesting, Kates dropping bombs probably means they're flying off Tabi. The rather small raid points to CTG keeping his remaining Zeroes in a defensive posture over his CVs as they limp north.

There is an opportunity here to gut the IJN's CV fleet once and for all but I'm kind of leaning towards quitting while I'm ahead, going to chew on it for a couple of hours while I go through the turn and my options.

In other news
Came across a line in the operations report which I had never seen before.

[Arnhem44]

So here's how things stand at the start of June '42 and the end of the second day of the Battle of Tabiteuea.

Mississippi (Sys-Flt-Eng-Fire 73/24/22/65)has suffered heavy damage and is on fire, she'll try and limp out of the danger area by heading due east but the situation does not look rosy for her. Oklahoma SFE-31/59(30)/28(11)and Colorado SFE-12/53(44)/34(20) look to be in a slightly better position and I hope to be able to extricate them.

The 2 northernmost SAGs are in a position to try for a swipe at KB if I run 'em in at flank speed but their AA ammo is mostly shot out and I don't fancy the odds of prewar CAs going up against what is still a substantial amount of steel protecting KB, all that is on top of assuming they'll make the intercept in the first place. There's also the temptation to run the 3 remaining USN CVs north and try for a strike against the remnants of KB before it enters Nettie cover in about 2 turns based on their 4 hexes per turn speed. 2 days of continuous combat for KB has got to mean they're low on ammo across the board.

On the flip side, the neutered Kate strike could mask a larger number of planes on Tabi that would react to my CVs moving north, he's got a good fix on them courtesy of I-boats in the area and with that BB intercept he'll be even more paranoid about what I could do when he did his planning. The lack of an air HQ and possible overcrowding on the airfield is against him though.

As for my subs, you can see half of them are out of position and will have to do a stern chase if I want to have a shot at KB. Needless to say I'm more than willing to run 'em all into the ground for a shot at whoever remains of the duo of heavily damaged CVs. I figure I should have a good fix on them for at least 1 more turn. Am moving boats I have camping the waters around Truk south in a bid to sink me a fifth IJN CV.

All told, with the losses sustained on both sides thus far I'm leaning towards conserving the assets that I still have left. I might try to pull a LRCAP trap over the 2 western BBs in case he tries to take a stab at them the next turn but the battle of Tabi is over.

Allied Losses: Enterprise, Saratoga, Idaho, New Mexico
IJN Losses: Confirmed - Haruna, Yubari. Certain - Soryu, Junyo, Zuikaku Probable - Kaga

As a footnote, I am considering turning the amphibs around, my 3 CVs have plenty of gas and ammo for the ships and still pack a decent punch, I'm tempted to strike while I know he's running away.

[BBfanboy]

Nice fluke intercept! It is certainly worth the trade of an old BB for making sure Kaga "glug-glugs"![:D] I agree with your assessment that she went down.

I think you are also right to be wary of the surviving aircraft from KB landing on Tabi. Any chance you can use B-17s to shut down the airfield??

Now, are you gonna tell us what that strange line in the ops report was or were you just dangling a tidbit to make us read every word! [&:]

[Arnhem44]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

Nice fluke intercept! It is certainly worth the trade of an old BB for making sure Kaga "glug-glugs"![:D] I agree with your assessment that she went down.

I think you are also right to be wary of the surviving aircraft from KB landing on Tabi. Any chance you can use B-17s to shut down the airfield??

Now, are you gonna tell us what that strange line in the ops report was or were you just dangling a tidbit to make us read every word! [&:]

No B-17s anywhere near the AO, no airfields big enough to fly them off from anyway. I replayed the turn, the strike came off a CV, not Tabi, probably one of his CVLs that he forgot to set to a defensive posture or something. Kaga ate 4 14", of which one hit her engine spaces and at least one more started fires below deck. Akagi took at least 1 14" but that one hit her belt armor so I don't expect her condition to be much worse than when she started the engagement although the "heavy fires, heavy damage" was nice to see.

And oops, thought I'd copied and pasted it. It was this line.
CV Junyo determined to have been sunk on or about May, 30, 1942

[KenchiSulla]

Excellent result Arnhem. He is still able to launch aircraft from the remaining carriers but he is probably out of torpedoes.. I say go for it and finish the job...

[BBfanboy]

I think that line about Junyo just means there was some SIGINT that confirmed what was a near certainty from the battle on May 30. Too bad it didn't read "CV Akagi determined to have sunk on May 31". THAT would be some useful Intel.

[Arnhem44]

1 June 1942

China
There's a stack of 16 IJA LCUs moving in on Liuchow. Am diverting units from nearby Kweilin and Nanning to bolster the defences.

CENPAC
Mississippi is caught to the east of Tabi and goes down after KB's flyers put 7 fish into her side. Elements of Soryu and Kaga airgroups were spotted, I don't know if he's amalgamated his airgroups on his remaining decks or flying off Tabi but I'm not risking a Pyrrhic victory by going after him even though he's on the Tabi hex itself and that would automatically give him a CAP penalty iirc. The subs will have to do, they're moving into or are in position in an arc starting from W to NE relative to Tabi.

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Howland Island at 144,134
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid detected at 61 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 26 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 35
B5N2 Kate x 19

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 2 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
OS2U-3 Kingfisher: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
BB Mississippi, Torpedo hits 7, and is sunk
DD Phelps

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 45cm Type 91 Torp
3 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 45cm Type 91 Torp
10 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 45cm Type 91 Torp

In other news
I bit the bullet and spent something like 600odd PPs to reconstitute the 2 lost carrier airgroups and their attached VMFs minus the Scouting squadrons.

[Arnhem44]

2-3 June 1942
Turns will get a little slower from here, my opponent has enrolled for a course that hopefully will translate to more cha-ching so he can buy more bling bling.

Battle of Tabi
Nothing much to report these past 2 turns except to say that Pensacola succumbed to her wounds, KB is between Tabi and Tarawa and heading north. My S-boats decided that now was the best time to RTB for gas so my best chance of scoring a hit took itself out of the equation, the longer legged fleet boats will try for a last attempt at interposing themselves between KB and Truk, which is where I suppose they're headed. I have another bunch of boats doing picket duty near Truk so they're my last hope. Whatever it is I won't be seeing much CV action for the next month or so I reckon.

So what can I do with the time that I've bought? I did have a chat with CTG and asked him to if he could update his currently stalled AAR with his perspective of the Battle of Tabi when he could, with the conclusion of this battle it pretty much confirms the limit of his expansion in the CENPAC/SOPAC AOs. It also means that with my losses I can't do much about pushing back for a while so the next couple of months will see the Allies strengthening the Pacific subcommands in preparation for the long road to Tokyo. I'm still eying Tabi but will have to wait for Wasp the other CVs and escorts to pull into PH for rearm and refit which would mean a return to action sometime in July at the earliest, later if I choose to let the CVs do their June/July '42 upgrades. ON the bright side, I'm seeing some holes in his defence which look to be exploitable but I reckon I won't be able to do anything about those till 4Q '42 at the earliest, the way I see it, if he still hasn't covered these holes by then the lack of activity around there would server to lull him into a false sense of security anyway so it's all good.

Elsewhere on the map, the concern I've had with regards to holding China has gone up a fair bit, with the rough handling of KB at Tabi I'm pretty sure CTG will be looking to areas of the map where he can do well if he commits assets to them. India is out at this point in the game and I honestly don't think he's going to try for north Oz so that leaves China. I expect a major effort against the "rail line" MLR soon with Liuchow the first to be attacked, possibly within the next couple of days game time. I know he's been prepping units for Changsha and up north near Lanchow, a stack of IJA units has reappeared so the pressure is on everywhere, I do not think there is realistically anything I can do to stop him if he chooses to make a real effort at conquering China so the only thing would be how dearly I can sell China and what kind of position would I be left in when the turnaround point comes.

[KenchiSulla]

Darwin is still a posibility. He could cover an attack with land based air, which is pretty much mandatory for him now..

[Arnhem44]

Ya think? He's been awfully quiet on that front, putting troops ashore in Oz could mean more trouble than it's worth for him, I kinda want him to do that tbh.

[Arnhem44]

4 June 1942

SIGINT
61st Infantry Brigade is planning for an attack on Lanchow.

China
Liuchow is invaded, I expect an attack the next turn.

Sub War
An I-boat puts 2 into the side of Oklahoma, sinking her, that's the 5th BB I've lost thus far in game.

[Arnhem44]

My apologies to the the handful of loyal followers of this AAR, real life intruded in a major way these past few months between the last update and the present but I'm happy to report we've been back at it the past month or so, the pace has slowed down a lot from our peak and I do hope to get back to daily turns as soon as possible. With that out of the way, here's an update of the highlights of the past few turns.

China
Pressure all through the front, from Liuchow in the north through Patung, the IJA has taken some terrible losses but so has the Chinese army, there is a general attack across the Liuchow-Patung line, whether this was by design or if it was influenced by the beating the IJN took at Tabi I don't know but I'm not confident of holding China at this point.

SWPAC
If there was any doubt that the smackdown KB received at the start of June had any effect on the CTG's aggressiveness that was dispelled when the IJN showed up in a big way around the Santa Cruz/New Hebrides islands, the past 4 turns have seen major surface TFs comprised of most of the IJN's cruiser inventory as well as Kongo and Kirishima showing up to the west of Luganville and Ndeni. Army B-25s and a Marine SBD squadron were the only meaningful opposition in the local area and so far only the SBDs seem to be finding their targets, they've knocked about a pair of CLs but nothing flying a meatball flag has been sunk. I'm terribly disappointed with the performance of the B-25s, I know I'm trying to fit round pegs into sqaure holes but the pilots have all trained to high 60s/low 70s in NavB and all a BG of 3 squadrons has to show for is a hit on a CL and a whole lot of dead seawater. Naval assets in the immediate area are mostly destroyers or smaller escorts and a horde of merchies so he's got nothing to fear on the surface for miles.

At first I thought CTG was trying for a deep penetration raid but this last turn Kongo and Kirishima bombarded Luganville and TFs have been spotted coming from the direction of Tabi and are making their way towards either Ndeni or Luganville. I'm beginning to wonder if he's trying to take either one of these bases on the cheap by counting on the USN CVs being out of position as he assumes (correctly) that they would be headed for PH or the West Coast for refit or repair.

As mentioned, DDs were the biggest threat to the IJN in the New Hebrides/Santa Cruz area but Warspite and Prince of Wales have been sitting in Sydney Harbour for want of something to do and the former (PoW still has system damage in the early teens) sortied with a scratch force of Aussie/Brit CLs and 4 DDs headed due east once I assessed that the IJN was just interested in a drive-by. Last turn they ended up a hex away from an enemy STF and course was duly set toward the direction of the sound of the guns, which produced this night action.

Night Time Surface Combat, near Lord Howe Island at 104,167, Range 11,000 Yards
Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
E13A1 Jake: 1 destroyed

Japanese Ships
CA Aoba, Shell hits 2
CA Kinugasa, Shell hits 22, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
CA Furutaka
CA Kako
CL Sendai, Shell hits 7, on fire
CL Naka
CL Jintsu, Shell hits 1
DD Amatsukaze
DD Asashio, Shell hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Oshio
DD Michishio
DD Shiratsuyu
DD Shigure
DD Murasame
DD Harusame
DD Yudachi
DD Samidare
DD Yamakaze
DD Kawakaze
DD Umikaze
DD Suzukaze
DD Inazuma
DD Fubuki
DD Shinonome, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Usugumo

Allied Ships
BB Warspite, Shell hits 26, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
CA Exeter, Shell hits 1
CL Hobart
CL Danae
CL Durban
CL Glasgow, Shell hits 1
DD Dale, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Worden
DD Nestor, Shell hits 25, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Griffin, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk

Reduced sighting due to 7% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Clear Conditions and 7% moonlight: 12,000 yards
Range closes to 17,000 yards...
Range closes to 11,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 11,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 11,000 yards

Considering the Brits were outnumbered I'm very happy with the result, Warspite was the champ, smacking Kinugasa around and putting at least 1 heavy round into the 2 CLs hit as well as absorbing most of the heavier stuff of the return fire. The low light conditions also meant that the numerical advantage of the IJN STF was negated to a large degree, only half the IJN ships engaged the Allied TF. Warspite has suffered moderate damage and will put into Sydney for repairs, PoW won't be fully operational for another 3 weeks so cue the Americans.

Hornet, Yorktown and Lexington are on their way back to the SWPAC after doing a hurried turn around at PH. Planes and pilots have been replaced and the most damaged of the escorts swapped out for fresh ships. I'm probably too late to stop whatever is going to happen but no harm trying. Wasp, together with North Carolina will come on the map in about 6 days.

[BBfanboy]

Good to see you back Arnhem!
I hope Warspite gets back to Sydney before the enemy DDs with torpedos left find her. She must be low on ammo.

[perkinh]

Thank you Arnhem for a most enjoyable AAR so far. I just found this one today after the recent bumps and have spent several cold ones catching up. Very entertaining and i will try to keep up from now on. As a JFB i find myself squirming as i read, but i guess we all like to see a horror show now and again.

I had losses similiar to your opponent in a recent game , at about the same time in game. We still went to mid 44' but it was a different game from this point on. I was gun shy with what i had left, and went on the defensive. We had one large carrier battle in 43', when i ran out of options and had pulled him into LBA range, and had hopes of evening the odds. That didnt work out too well either. He can still fight a good war with LBA, but you will probably not see his Carriers much till they are forced. Just hard for a JFB to change mindset so suddenly, but honestly i really enjoyed haveing to think outside the carrier based answer. Good luck going foward.

[Arnhem44]

@BBfanboy, good to be back in the swing of things.
@Gabede, thank you for the kind words, we aim to please here at Pegasusland.

17 June 1942

SWPAC
The sole Marine SBD squadron out of Ndeni really steps it up this turn, it had been working over a group of the older CLs to the west of Ndeni the previous 2 turns, here's their scorecard, talk about practice makes perfect

15 June
CL Natori, Bomb hits 1, on fire

16 June
CL Kinu, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CL Natori, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires
CL Nagara, Bomb hits 1, on fire

17 June
morning attack
CL Abukuma, Bomb hits 1
CL Kinu, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
DD Mutsuki, Bomb hits 1
CL Tama, Bomb hits 1, on fire

afternoon attack
CL Kuma, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires
CL Kinu, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
CL Abukuma, Bomb hits 1, on fire

Kuma and Tama are reported dead in the water.

The waters up to a day's sailing around Ndeni and Luganville are clear for the moment, the wounded CL group is tracking northwest trying to get out of range of the SBDs, the CA group that Warspite tangled with is heading north (true) past Noumea to it's east while the STF that was between Ndeni and Tabi seems to have reversed course, there was a TF that looked like the remnants of KB that I tracked a turn ago but that seems to have disappared, the USN CVs are on their second day out of PH, there appear to be enemy ships at anchor at Canton Island, I don't know if they are pickets put there to be early warning against my CVs making their way south or if CTG is trying to make a grab for Canton, am still debating whether I should react to the enemy TFs at Canton or just slip past them and carry on to SWPAC.

China
Kienko is setting up to be the last line of defence when the IJA comes over the mountains to the plains around Chungking, I've left behind an area army's worth of troops to defend Lanchow, everything else not on defence of Kienko proper is setting up roadblocks on the mountain roads coming from Sian and Lanchow.

What next?
So, what's next for the rest of '42? The Battle of Tabi has basically made any further Japanese advance a pretty dangerous preposition, not saying I will not lose further ground but it might become prohibitively expensive for little gain were CTG to try and expand his perimeter, the question is am I in a position to start making advances of my own or am I still too weak to take advantage of the situation, to say nothing of the fact that I don't know what's on CTG's mind, is he shifting over to defence mode or still itching for a fight? been chewing over these questions as I slowly became familiar with the map situation again after the long break and am still weighing my options, stay tuned.

[BBfanboy]

Dead in the Water? I have never seen an enemy or friendly ship, no matter how damaged, get that message on an air attack unless ---- it was out of fuel!
They could pick up speed if he manages to get other ships in there to transfer fuel, but he risks both. Watch for some expendable xAKLs trying to save the cripples.

I'd send a couple of DDs to see if he is putting an AV at Canton to support seaplanes. This keeps the carriers hidden while keeping him honest. If it turns out to be something more at Canton you can always bring in the CVs.

[Arnhem44]

Pair of quiet turns but for some behind the scenes news.

From Tracker...
CV Kaga sunk by 14in/50 Mk 7 Gun at 138,134 near Beru
CV Akagi sunk by 14in/50 Mk 7 Gun at 138,134 near Beru

Terribly good news if true, in game tally still counts Shokaku and Hiryu as the only casualties from the Battle of Tabi so that intel mess is going to take a while to straighten out, it's their sister ships Zuikaku and Soryu in addition to Junyo which have gone down if we assume the combat reports present the more accurate picture. Kaga I was pretty sure wouldn't survive and Akagi is just icing on the cake if she's gone down too. All hail New Mexico, I might just pull up that combat replay just for giggles now...

[Arnhem44]

20-29 June 1942
Updates will be sporadic as turns have been relatively quiet. Don't know what CTG has planned but speaking for myself it's a case of strong enough to hold the line in the Pacific from Australia west to Hawaii east but not strong enough to push into enemy territory. Elsewhere on the map only China sees any sort of activity and it's looking pretty bad for the Nationalists, if I ever get unlazy I'll post up maps. India is deathly quiet, it's like one giant training camp for the Commonwealth forces coming in from offmap.

Just going to highlight some significant events and then maybe I'll do a more detailed wrap up of the map next turn seeing we're halfway into '42.

China
Chungking and Liuchow (where there is a stack of 16 IJA units, probably undersupplied as hexside control is green, don't know if CTG realises it) have been bombed on a daily basis for the past 5 days of game time. Chungking is where most of the CAF is based and they've been grounded in a bid to conserve meagre supplies and the first 2 days of the bombing campaign saw Oscars come in at low level to strafe which saw them lose around 15 airframes to flak, CTG has switched to mediums but I got my licks in! The CAF will probably be left to die on the ground, house rules forbid me from flying them out of China and I cbf to keep transferring them around the local airfields.

Burma
The IJA is on the move in northern Burma after months of inactivity. The Imperial Guards Division has reached Lashio on the last turn, I will flesh out this theatre in the next update.

SWPAC
Broome, Derby and Darwin have also been subjected to bombing raids which started about the same time as Chungking and Liuchow. American fighters are being moved up from the interior.

CENPAC
About the only thing worth talking about these past 10 days of game time is once again, Tabi. Ever since the battle of Tabi at the beginning of June, Cats flying over Tabi have showed a hex busy with transports and smaller escorts. A cruiser force was also spotted on most days. The trio of American CVs arrived too late to intercept the surface raiders that were menacing SWPAC waters but since they were in the neighbourhood and there didn't look like there was any significant opposition around...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Arorae at 139,139
Weather in hex: Thunderstorms
Raid detected at 79 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 29 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 15
D3A1 Val x 14

Allied aircraft
F4F-3A Wildcat x 18
F4F-3 Wildcat x 13
F4F-4 Wildcat x 36

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 3 destroyed
D3A1 Val: 5 destroyed, 4 damaged
D3A1 Val: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
CV Lexington

Aircraft Attacking:
1 x D3A1 Val releasing from 10000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
4 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Tabiteuea at 137,134
Weather in hex: Partial cloud
Raid spotted at 39 NM, estimated altitude 19,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 20
A6M2-N Rufe x 2

Allied aircraft
F4F-3 Wildcat x 12
F4F-4 Wildcat x 26
SBD-3 Dauntless x 89
TBF-1 Avenger x 42

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2-N Rufe: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 1 destroyed
SBD-3 Dauntless: 2 damaged
SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 destroyed by flak
TBF-1 Avenger: 2 destroyed, 4 damaged

Japanese Ships
CA Nachi, Bomb hits 1
CA Mogami
CA Ashigara
CS Chitose, Bomb hits 2, on fire
CA Maya, Bomb hits 3
CL Kitakami, Bomb hits 4, on fire
CA Tone
xAK Utide Maru, Bomb hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Sekiho Maru
CA Mikuma, Bomb hits 2, on fire
CA Chikuma, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Shirakumo, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
xAK Sinno Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire
xAK Ryusei Maru, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage
xAK Toho Maru
CL Oi, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Murakumo
DD Sagiri
CA Kumano
xAK Koki Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAK Tyoyo Maru
xAK Saiho Maru

Heavy smoke from fires obscuring CA Mikuma
Massive explosion on xAK Utide Maru
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring xAK Utide Maru

CAP was courtesy of Chitose Ku S-1 flying A6M2s and 14th Ku S-1 flying Rufes, anyone know where these guys were originally from? Would be nice to have a feel for the movement of Japanese units. Think the IJN cruiser inventory just got a little thin, at least for a while, I'm not wild about sinking of them outright although Oi looks to be in bad shape.

As a footnote, recon reports the IJN flattops at Tabi together with around 90 bombers and 40 fighters flying off the airfields there. There's a handicap for fleet carriers flying sorties while in a coastal/island hex isn't there? So tempted to charge back in there...

Since it's a slow news day
Anyone wondered what the numbers breakdown mean? For the record, all 89 SBDs and 42 TBDs in the strike are accounted for here. What's interesting is the TBDs seemed to have launched by squadrons while the SBDs were a little more fragmented, I'm sure the numbers mean something. The SBDs are 24 hits for 89 lobbed and the Avengers are 2 for 42.

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
11 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
14 x TBF-1 Avenger launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 22.4in Mk 13 Torp.
7 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
7 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
14 x TBF-1 Avenger launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 22.4in Mk 13 Torp.
6 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
11 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
14 x TBF-1 Avenger launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 22.4in Mk 13 Torp.
8 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
8 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
8 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
4 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
8 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
4 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
4 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb