Wild Sheep Chase - obvert (J) vs JocMeister (A)

[obvert]

[font="Times New Roman"]EASTERN NEW GUINEA[/font]
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This area is the immediate Allied focus, as seen in the extensive use of 4Es to neutralize air bases in area and the large naval presence in NE OZ. This includes the 3 fast BBs bombarding Port Moresby occasionally and a CL led SAG, plus innumerable smaller craft and amphibious ships.

Terapo is built and functioning as a an advanced fighter base. So far he has not introduced bombers here. I have to tread carefully as I know this could be next, so fleet movements and troop/supply drops must all be CAPed. The new HQ at Umboi will help these matters a lot, as now I have a place for 100+ fighters to defend the area and/or provide escort.

His 4Es have kept a number of bases closed indefinitely, but lately he has changed tack and has both bombed troops at Port Moresby and has begun night bombing Woodlark Island, figuring this is where many of my strike planes originate, apparently. This base actually supplies 5 other bases with TT as well, so I still have good capability to strike in the area. Milne Bay and Port Moresby are now flyable again, so I've begun basing fighters in each; an escort group in PM and a crack group of Tojo IIc in Milne Bay.

Port Moresby is a stalemate on the ground. I'm waiting for another big troop drop here with a few more divisions, but maybe he is still deterred by my air force? He did drop an HQ next to it on a jungle hex. We discussed and I okayed an HQ drop on any hex to combat an HQ bug present in this version, which does something to HQs when landed in base hexes but not in non-base hexes. I don't understand, but it's all fine with me either way, especially if I get 8 or so APDs as part of the deal! [8D]
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[font="Trebuchet MS"]There is almost no surface force in the area currently after the recent clash with the US Navy. A 2 CL 4 DD force is sitting on patrol near Milne Bay, and some DDs are also near, but other surface vessels are upgrading at Singapore and it'll be another month before significant forces return to the area. Air forces and subs will have to hold the line for now. [/font]
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[obvert]

[font="Times New Roman"]VP and INFO[/font]
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Here is a look at some information for the game so far.

From what I can tell, the ship losses on the Japanese side are still somewhat moderate. I feel very lucky to have lost only 3 CVs, 3 CAs and no BBs so far. There have been many more close calls, and although I've endured about 5-6 successful Allied TT attacks by sub against CVs, none have resulted in a loss of the ship (so far). Where is the praying symbol when I need it?

The air losses are about 3k over Jocke's Allied losses. This is significant, and i may still pay for negligence in using the best pilots especially so freely, but I feel the longer I can hold him back the better. He seems to have a healthy fear of my air assets, and that is exactly the affect I'd like to produce, even if it results in greater losses. Consistent strikes will make him have to cover and worry every time he tries something.
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[font="Trebuchet MS"]I have to get a tracker game loaded for the Allied so I can see the totals again. Even though I feel I've done fairly well against his navy, I know it's all made up 3-4 times over in late 43-45. [/font]
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[obvert]

[font="Times New Roman"]ECONOMY[/font]
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Here is a look at things economically.

The oil is getting scarce, and I'm running convoys intensely just to give Japan about 3-4 weeks of oil for the refineries. Overall at 500k oil, some of which is in places that don't seem they'll ever release it, (like Urumchi), so the days of all refineries operating will be over soon.

I've drained Palembang to around 50k fuel and 20k oil and holding there, sending all for distribution to Singapore. At Singers i've got levels down to around 500k fuel and 50k oil now. Manila is the other major hub and is at about 100k fuel and 20k oil now. Babeldaob has 50k oil from New Guinea that I only remove periodically.

Otherwise supply levels seem sufficient. Fuel numbers aren't bad, as far as I can tell. I'm going to bump up resources in the HI anticipating more difficulty doing this in the future. I'd like to have half a year's worth surplus there and ready to use at least. I'm just adding a bunch of engine factories to get ready for a build-up of airframes in 44, so that will eat supply for a few months.

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[obvert]

[font="Times New Roman"]13 - 14 October 1943[/font]
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[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]SUBS: [/font] A lot of Allied sub misses today, luckily, including on an empty AP near Biak just after it dropped off an HQ. RO-60 takes a shot at the 5 DMS that have been mine-sweeping Port Moresby for the past few days, but misses. They leave after the 13th, finally. All mines gone.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]SOUTH PACIFIC:[/font] The only news here is that some very shiny fast BBs hit Port Moresby, doing minimal damage. The terrain and forts are really protecting these guys well. It'll be a hard nut to crack without a few more divisions, I think.

P-47s hit the Tojos at Lae again on the 14th, getting 7 Tojos for 5 Thuds. Again, the Tojo holds it's own well, even flying at 15k only against higher sweeps. Hellcats hit Port Moresby taking out Oscars at a 2:1 clip, then Lightnings blew through about 7 for no losses. Still, 4 Oscars showed up to harass a bombing run which got no hits against dug-in troops. Well done.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]BURMA: [/font] At Mandalay the Jacks on night CAP on the 13th suffered at the extremely accurate defensive fire of the bombers, losing 7 Jacks to NO bombers downed! Plus more planes destroyed on the ground as the CAP did little to throw off aim either. Again, I prefer this to the day version with 4Es, but it seem slightly inaccurate. Flak did nothing, fighters did nothing and were destroyed doing it, and the bombers hit the base. Oh, well.

Same story on the 14th, but the Jacks move out to rest up and replenish. The fields are left at 37 damage and 23 to the service. Another 5 fighters destroyed.
[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]CENTRAL PACFIC:[/font]

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AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR October 13, 43
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Night Air attack on Mandalay , at 59,46

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 75 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 26 minutes

Japanese aircraft
J2M2 Jack x 15

Allied aircraft
Liberator II x 8
Liberator B.III x 6
Wellington Ic x 11
B-25C Mitchell x 18

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied aircraft losses
Liberator II: 3 damaged
Liberator B.III: 1 damaged
B-25C Mitchell: 1 damaged

Airbase hits 2
Runway hits 6

Aircraft Attacking:
11 x Wellington Ic bombing from 12000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
Zuikaku-1 with J2M2 Jack (0 airborne, 9 on standby, 2 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
4 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 10000 and 16000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 17 minutes

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Night Air attack on Mandalay , at 59,46

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 73 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 20 minutes

Japanese aircraft
J2M2 Jack x 6

Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 43
B-26 Marauder x 6
B-26B Marauder x 8

Japanese aircraft losses
J2M2 Jack: 1 destroyed
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied aircraft losses
B-25C Mitchell: 2 damaged
B-26B Marauder: 1 damaged

Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 4

Aircraft Attacking:
8 x B-26B Marauder bombing from 12000 feet
Airfield Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb

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Night Air attack on Mandalay , at 59,46

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 38 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
J2M2 Jack x 3

Allied aircraft
B-24D1 Liberator x 12

Japanese aircraft losses
J2M2 Jack: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
B-24D1 Liberator: 1 damaged

Runway hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
12 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 12000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

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Night Naval bombardment of Port Moresby at 98,130

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 13 damaged
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied Ships
BB Prince of Wales
BB Massachusetts
BB Indiana

Japanese ground losses:
39 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 5 (3 destroyed, 2 disabled)

Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 14
Port hits 8

BB Prince of Wales firing at 22nd Division
BB Massachusetts firing at Port Moresby
BB Indiana firing at 22nd Division

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AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR October 14, 43
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Night Air attack on Mandalay , at 59,46

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid detected at 75 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 26 minutes

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 11
Liberator II x 9
Wellington Ic x 12
B-24D Liberator x 12
B-24D1 Liberator x 18
B-25C Mitchell x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 1 destroyed on ground
N1K1-J George: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied aircraft losses
B-24D1 Liberator: 1 damaged

Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 8

Aircraft Attacking:
11 x Blenheim IV bombing from 12000 feet *
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 lb GP Bomb

... + many fragments

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Morning Air attack on Lae , at 99,126

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 45 NM, estimated altitude 37,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 30

Allied aircraft
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 20

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-47D2 Thunderbolt: 1 destroyed

Aircraft Attacking:
12 x P-47D2 Thunderbolt sweeping at 33000 feet

CAP engaged:
26th Sentai with Ki-44-IIc Tojo (0 airborne, 7 on standby, 20 scrambling)
7 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 15000 and 36740.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 18 minutes

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Morning Air attack on Lae , at 99,126

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 65 NM, estimated altitude 38,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 19 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 10

Allied aircraft
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-47D2 Thunderbolt: 1 destroyed

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Afternoon Air attack on Port Moresby , at 98,130

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid detected at 46 NM, estimated altitude 24,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 19 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 32

Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 16

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 7 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F6F-3 Hellcat: 4 destroyed

CAP engaged:
68th Sentai with Ki-43-IIb Oscar (0 airborne, 5 on standby, 15 scrambling)
2 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 16000 and 26000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 30 minutes
73rd Sentai with Ki-43-IIb Oscar (10 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
10 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 11000
Raid is overhead

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Afternoon Air attack on Port Moresby , at 98,130

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid detected at 30 NM, estimated altitude 34,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 14

Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 22

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 4 destroyed

No Allied losses

Aircraft Attacking:
18 x P-38G Lightning sweeping at 31000 feet

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Afternoon Air attack on 22nd Division, at 98,130 (Port Moresby)

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 27 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 4

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 23
B-24D Liberator x 23
B-24D1 Liberator x 53
B-24J Liberator x 7
PB4Y-1 Liberator x 7

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
B-24D Liberator: 1 damaged
B-24D1 Liberator: 1 damaged

NO DAMAGE! [:)]

Aircraft Attacking:
7 x PB4Y-1 Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

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Reinforcements: This is one of those big base forces with DP guns and all. I'll be sending it to the Southern DEI area. The subs will be moving to the Coral Sea.

[font="Trebuchet MS"]TK Kikusui Maru arrives at Osaka/Kyoto
13th Base Force arrives at Maizuru
AMc Wa 22 arrives at Tokyo
AO Takasaki arrives at Nagasaki/Sasebo
SS I-179 arrives at Nagasaki/Sasebo
SS I-183 arrives at Nagasaki/Sasebo
SS I-185 arrives at Hiroshima/Kure
SC Ch 45 arrives at Hakodate
SC CHa-68 arrives at Kumamoto[/font]

Losses: None.

Ships Sunk: None.

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[font="Trebuchet MS"]Armament and Vehicle pool points have been building in anticipation of extensive reinforcements beginning in Novemebr. I'll see what those do to the pools and then assess what to do for the preparation for even more in 44-45. Right now Armaments are at around 75k and vehicles at about 35k. [/font]
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[obvert]

[font="Times New Roman"]15 October 1943[/font]
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A BIG day!!!

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]SUBS: [/font] Jocke hit Port Moresby at night again with BBs, but this time it was the slower ones. The I-2 gets the first shot in, firing 4 TT at DD Monssen, missing all but not getting hit much after, luckily.

After the bombardment the I-174 fires 2 at DD Russel. Then the I-172 pops in and nails Arizona with 2 out of a spread of 4 TT. That's what we were looking for! [&o] No damage listing in the report, but in the replay engine damage was noted after one TT hit.

Up North on the approaches to Tokyo the Dace again appears, sinking a rather useful Kyushu AK. This time the escorts did their job, and extensively pounded the sub, forcing it to the surface and then shelling it mercilessly until it sank. Banzai!

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]SOUTH PACIFIC:[/font] The bombardment of Port Moresby was decent, with even the DDs letting loose, but not spectacular. After the Arizona was slowed by 2 TT though the TF became very vulnerable hung out in the middle of the Coral Sea in daylight.

The first to get a run were 30 Jills from two nearby bases no New Guinea that coordinated but left their escorts behind somehow. [&:]

I feared the worst when P-38s showed up in force on LR CAP, but probably due to 'heavy rain' some Jills came through the squalls to make a strike on the slowed ships and got 3 TT into the Colorado! [8D]

That certainly will not improve Jocke's mood. He's been very uneasy about planes getting through CAP lately.

Anyhow, two more strikes went in at the BBs in the afternoon, one with escorts that got 3 TBs through to attack the Idaho, but all missed. The last strike of 9 solo Jills was wiped out.

For tomorrow I've got every sub in range heading that way, both to the hex they're in now if they can make it during the night phase, and to the area around them toward Cooktown and Cairns. There should be 10 subs at least getting in the path, which likely means I'll lose a few. The Frances are moved to Rossel Island and escorts are there with them. The G3M3s are transferred to Woodlark but could fly anywhere with their 19 allocated range, so I hope my commander makes the right choice! Should be interesting.

A group of Bettys from Rabaul really wanted to get into the action, but flew into a wall of CAP at Terapo instead of at the BBs. I think they were out of range to be fair, but at Terapo they were after some LSTs and DDs and I lost about 20 plus another 25-30 escorts. Yuck. The IJN pools need some topping up.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]BURMA: [/font] No night bombing today.

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AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR October 15, 43
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ASW attack near Port Moresby at 97,130

Japanese Ships
SS I-2, hits 1

Allied Ships
DD Monssen
BB Idaho
DD Gwin
DD Waller
DD Dale
DD MacDonough
DD O'Brien
DD Russell

SS I-2 launches 4 torpedoes at DD Monssen
I-2 diving deep ....
DD Dale fails to find sub and abandons search
DD MacDonough fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Russell attacking submerged sub ....
DD Russell fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

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Night Naval bombardment of Port Moresby at 98,130

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 2 damaged

Allied Ships
BB Idaho
BB Arizona
BB Colorado
DD Dale
DD MacDonough
DD O'Brien
DD Russell
DD Mustin
DD Hobby
DD Monssen
DD Gwin
DD Waller

Japanese ground losses:
36 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Airbase hits 3
Runway hits 21
Port hits 1
Port supply hits 1

BB Idaho firing at 22nd Division
BB Arizona firing at 22nd Division
OS2U-3 Kingfisher acting as spotter for BB Colorado
BB Colorado firing at 22nd Division
DD Dale firing at 22nd Division
DD MacDonough firing at Port Moresby
DD O'Brien firing at 22nd Division

Sub attack near Phuket at 48,68

Japanese Ships
DD Kisaragi
DD Satsuki
DD Uzuki

Allied Ships
SS Trusty, hits 1

SS Trusty launches 2 torpedoes at DD Kisaragi
Trusty diving deep ....
DD Satsuki fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Uzuki attacking submerged sub ....
DD Uzuki is out of ASW ammo
DD Uzuki is out of ASW ammo
Escort abandons search for sub

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Sub attack near Aogashima at 113,67

Japanese Ships
AK Kagu Maru, Torpedo hits 2, heavy damage
DD Shigure
xAP Shanghai Maru
xAP Tenzan Maru
xAP Kobe Maru
DD Sawakaze
DD Hayate
DD Oboro

Allied Ships
SS Dace, hits 30, heavy fires, heavy damage

SS Dace launches 2 torpedoes at AK Kagu Maru
DD Sawakaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Hayate attacking submerged sub ....
DD Sawakaze fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Hayate fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Hayate attacking submerged sub ....
SS Dace forced to surface!
DD Oboro firing on surfaced sub .... the sub was hit with mostly 25mm guns, about 10-12 times, until at last Oboro came in to sink it with 2 12.7cm rounds
Sub slips beneath the waves

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Sub attack near Port Moresby at 97,131

Japanese Ships
SS I-174

Allied Ships
DD Russell
BB Idaho
DD Hobby
DD Monssen
DD Dale
DD MacDonough
DD O'Brien

SS I-174 launches 2 torpedoes at DD Russell
DD Dale attacking submerged sub ....
DD MacDonough fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Russell fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Dale attacking submerged sub ....
SS I-174 eludes ASW attack from DD Dale
Escort abandons search for sub

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Sub attack near Port Moresby at 98,132

Japanese Ships
SS I-172, hits 1

Allied Ships
BB Arizona, Torpedo hits 2 [:)] No extra explosions or anything here, so maybe these didn't do too much damage. The one report was engine damage, so that helped later with the airstrikes being in range.

BB Idaho
DD Monssen
DD Dale
DD MacDonough
DD O'Brien
DD Russell

SS I-172 launches 4 torpedoes at BB Arizona How about maybe 6 TT??? [&:]
I-172 diving deep ....
DD Dale fails to find sub and abandons search
DD MacDonough attacking submerged sub ....
DD O'Brien attacking submerged sub ....
DD Russell fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

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ASW attack near Terapo at 96,127

Japanese Ships
SS RO-68, hits 7

Allied Ships
AM Latrobe

SS RO-68 is sighted by escort
RO-68 bottoming out ....
AM Latrobe attacking submerged sub ....
AM Latrobe fails to find sub, continues to search...
AM Latrobe fails to find sub, continues to search...
AM Latrobe attacking submerged sub ....
AM Latrobe fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

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Morning Air attack on TF, near Cooktown at 97,136

Weather in hex: Heavy rain The weather most likely helped a number of Jills get through undetected by the P-38s and make a run.

Raid detected at 77 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 25 minutes

Japanese aircraft
B6N2 Jill x 30

Allied aircraft
P-38H Lightning x 14

Japanese aircraft losses
B6N2 Jill: 5 destroyed, 6 damaged
B6N2 Jill: 2 destroyed by flak

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
BB Colorado, Torpedo hits 3, on fire Again, engine damage was the only 'extra' during the replay. I'll take it! [8D]
BB Idaho
BB Arizona

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x B6N2 Jill launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
12 x B6N2 Jill launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo

CAP engaged:
35th FG/39th FS with P-38H Lightning (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 8 minutes
35th FG/41st FS with P-38H Lightning (5 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
5 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000
Raid is overhead
347th FG/67th FS with P-38H Lightning (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 5 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 8 minutes

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Morning Air attack on 14th Garrison Unit , at 98,130 (Port Moresby)

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 27 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 29
B-24D Liberator x 29
B-24D1 Liberator x 80
B-24J Liberator x 7
PB4Y-1 Liberator x 10

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 1 damaged
B-24D1 Liberator: 1 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
31 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Aircraft Attacking:
10 x PB4Y-1 Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

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Morning Air attack on TF, near Terapo at 96,127

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 65 NM, estimated altitude 6,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 22 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M3a Zero x 15
G4M1 Betty x 21
N1K1-J George x 10

Allied aircraft
Spitfire Vc Trop x 13
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 5
F4U-1 Corsair x 26
F6F-3 Hellcat x 57

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3a Zero: 6 destroyed
G4M1 Betty: 5 destroyed
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed by flak
N1K1-J George: 5 destroyed

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
LST-450
DD Walke
DD Voyager

CAP engaged:
VF-35 with F6F-3 Hellcat (0 airborne, 7 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 32000 , scrambling fighters between 1000 and 38800.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 33 minutes
10 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-37 with F6F-3 Hellcat (0 airborne, 8 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 25000 , scrambling fighters between 4000 and 7000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 24 minutes
7 planes vectored on to bombers
VRF-1F with F6F-3 Hellcat (0 airborne, 10 on standby, 0 scrambling)
4 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 20000 , scrambling fighters between 4000 and 20000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 19 minutes
2 planes vectored on to bombers
VRF-2F with F4U-1 Corsair (0 airborne, 9 on standby, 0 scrambling)
4 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 25000 , scrambling fighters between 2000 and 25000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 27 minutes
9 planes vectored on to bombers
VRF-3F with F6F-3 Hellcat (0 airborne, 10 on standby, 0 scrambling)
4 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 20000 , scrambling fighters between 1000 and 20000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 25 minutes
14 planes vectored on to bombers
VMF-123 with F4U-1 Corsair (0 airborne, 9 on standby, 0 scrambling)
4 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 31000 , scrambling fighters between 7000 and 31000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 27 minutes
8 planes vectored on to bombers
VMF-441 with F6F-3 Hellcat (0 airborne, 6 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 20000 , scrambling fighters between 6000 and 20000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 23 minutes
8 planes vectored on to bombers
No.75 Sqn RAAF with Spitfire Vc Trop (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 7 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 9000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 1 minutes
7 planes vectored on to bombers
No.54 Sqn RAF with Spitfire Vc Trop (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 6 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 9000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 6 minutes
318th FG/73rd FS with P-47D2 Thunderbolt (0 airborne, 4 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 31000 , scrambling fighters to 2000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 23 minutes
1 planes vectored on to bombers

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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Cooktown at 97,136

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 77 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 25 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 10
B6N2 Jill x 7

Allied aircraft
P-38H Lightning x 14

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5 Zero: 5 destroyed
B6N2 Jill: 2 destroyed
B6N2 Jill: 1 destroyed by flak

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
BB Idaho

CAP engaged:
35th FG/39th FS with P-38H Lightning (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 6 minutes
35th FG/41st FS with P-38H Lightning (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 5 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 7 minutes
347th FG/67th FS with P-38H Lightning (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 5 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 6 minutes

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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Cooktown at 97,136

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 77 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 25 minutes

Japanese aircraft
B6N2 Jill x 9

Allied aircraft
P-38H Lightning x 9

Japanese aircraft losses
B6N2 Jill: 5 destroyed

No Allied losses

CAP engaged:
35th FG/39th FS with P-38H Lightning (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters to 4000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 57 minutes
35th FG/41st FS with P-38H Lightning (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters to 4000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 79 minutes
347th FG/67th FS with P-38H Lightning (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
4 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters to 4000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 61 minutes

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Terapo at 96,127

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 117 NM, estimated altitude 4,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 41 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 18
G4M1 Betty x 7
N1K1-J George x 4
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 42

Allied aircraft
Spitfire Vc Trop x 13
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 5
F4U-1 Corsair x 26
F6F-3 Hellcat x 56


Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 3 destroyed

No Allied losses

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/font]

Reinforcements: Every DD that comes into the queue gets an acceleration now.

[font="Trebuchet MS"]DD Hayashimo arrives at Kobe[/font]

Losses: At least the sub went down next to it.

[font="Trebuchet MS"]Loss of AK Kagu Maru on Oct 15, 1943 is admitted[/font]

Ships Sunk: We'll likely know more tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

[font="Trebuchet MS"]SS Dace is reported to have been sunk near Aogashima on Oct 15, 1943[/font]
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[font="Trebuchet MS"]The I-172 gets the prize today. Here is her sister the I-171 looking shiny shortly after completion in Kobe in 1935.[/font]
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[obvert]

[font="Times New Roman"]16 - 17 October 1943[/font]
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]SUBS: [/font] None of the subs made contact with damaged BBs during the night or the day phase, and no sign was seen of which direction the undamaged BB Idaho went with her escorts. I-122 was hit hard by AM Skylark and might not make it back home.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]SOUTH PACIFIC:[/font] None of the reports for night search or day search show evidence of BBs in the area between New Guinea and NE OZ. All that are left in the area are ASW TFs hunting my subs. What does this mean, based on yesterday's events?

Maybe the BBs were not as badly damaged as I would suspect and made it to port. This would be strange, as with 3 TT hits, Colorado at least must have been slowed to half it's speed, which would mean it couldn't make it to port in one day. Arizona was also slower than usual after an engine damage hit, so I would doubt she could make it at anything less than full speed either. Nothing is reported in port in either Cooktown or Cairns ports. So, we have a mystery.

Both ships are listed as sunk, but no ground losses were seen to Kingfishers on the day. I don't trust it, but i see few other possibilities based on the other evidence.

At Port Moresby another tank unit was landed plus 3 Arty units. They might not have all of their gear though as the Kitakami and Oi came in with five DDs and took apart the LSTs dropping the units. At least six were sunk or in sinking condition. I lost another 35 planes when Judys went for small ships at Terapo and my good Tojo IIc decided to to escort. Not great. But the Nells and Frances did sortie for the right ships and took out another LST, and strangely the Nells used bombs again in spite of TT being plentiful at the HQ.

Allied AV at Port Moresby is at 1000 to our 850. Not enough to take the base most likely. The arty will try to break us down first I'm sure.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]WEST OZ: [/font] Gove makes level 3 fields for the Allies.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]BURMA: [/font] Meiktila is moving right on toward level 6 forts. Most other bases are at level 5 or 6. Bassein is still at 4.5+ and Pegu is at 3.8+ which both worry me.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]CENTRAL PACFIC:[/font] I'm starting to get concerned with bases like Marcus not having sufficient garrison. I've diverted a brigade I was sending to Kusai Island and it will go to Marcus.

[font="Trebuchet MS"]--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR October 16, 43
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ASW attack near Milne Bay at 101,134

Japanese Ships
E Fukue
E Tsushima

Allied Ships
SS Permit, hits 2

SS Permit is located by E Fukue
Permit diving deep ....
E Tsushima attacking submerged sub ....
E Tsushima fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Air attack on Portland Roads , at 91,132

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 77 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 28 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M3 Nell x 16

Allied aircraft
P-70 Havoc x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M3 Nell: 8 damaged

No Allied losses

Aircraft Attacking:
16 x G3M3 Nell bombing from 7000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
15th FG/6th NFS/C with P-70 Havoc (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 1 scrambling)
2 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 6000 , scrambling fighters to 12000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 46 minutes

Some CAP have air radar

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Port Moresby , at 98,130

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid detected at 11 NM, estimated altitude 31,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Japanese aircraft
J2M2 Jack x 3
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 21

Allied aircraft
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 19
F6F-3 Hellcat x 44

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 3 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-47D2 Thunderbolt: 1 destroyed

Aircraft Attacking:
12 x P-47D2 Thunderbolt sweeping at 31000 feet

CAP engaged:
902 Ku S-1 with J2M2 Jack (0 airborne, 2 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 9000 , scrambling fighters between 28000 and 29000.
Raid is overhead
68th Sentai with Ki-43-IIb Oscar (0 airborne, 4 on standby, 15 scrambling)
2 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 15000 and 35000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 39 minutes

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Port Moresby at 98,130

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid detected at 37 NM, estimated altitude 4,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 15
P1Y1 Frances x 6
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 7

Allied aircraft
Spitfire Vc Trop x 5
F6F-3 Hellcat x 40

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5 Zero: 7 destroyed
P1Y1 Frances: 2 destroyed

No Allied losses

CAP engaged:
VF-35 with F6F-3 Hellcat (7 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
7 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000
Raid is overhead
VF-37 with F6F-3 Hellcat (7 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
7 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000
Raid is overhead
VRF-1F with F6F-3 Hellcat (10 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
10 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000
Raid is overhead
VRF-3F with F6F-3 Hellcat (10 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
10 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000
Raid is overhead
VMF-441 with F6F-3 Hellcat (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 6 scrambling)
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters to 5000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 42 minutes
No.75 Sqn RAAF with Spitfire Vc Trop (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 3 scrambling)
Group patrol altitude is 9000 , scrambling fighters to 5000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 34 minutes
No.54 Sqn RAF with Spitfire Vc Trop (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 9000
Raid is overhead

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Port Moresby at 98,130

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 50 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 16 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 9
B6N2 Jill x 10
J2M2 Jack x 2
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 2

Allied aircraft
Spitfire Vc Trop x 5
F6F-3 Hellcat x 37

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5 Zero: 1 destroyed
B6N2 Jill: 3 destroyed
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F6F-3 Hellcat: 1 destroyed

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Cooktown at 96,136

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 2,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 15
P1Y1 Frances x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
P1Y1 Frances: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied Ships
DD Gillespie

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x P1Y1 Frances launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Port Moresby at 98,130

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 33 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 2
D4Y2 Judy x 10
J2M2 Jack x 2
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 2

Allied aircraft
Spitfire Vc Trop x 5
F6F-3 Hellcat x 33

Japanese aircraft losses
D4Y2 Judy: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged
D4Y2 Judy: 1 destroyed by flak

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
DD Walke
DD McCalla
LST-18

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x D4Y2 Judy releasing from 3000' *
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
4 x D4Y2 Judy releasing from 1000' *
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Port Moresby at 98,130

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 56 NM, estimated altitude 1,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 17 minutes

Japanese aircraft
J2M2 Jack x 1
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 26
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 24
Ki-49-IIa Helen x 44
Ki-49-IIb Helen x 12

Allied aircraft
Spitfire Vc Trop x 4
F6F-3 Hellcat x 32

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 4 destroyed
Ki-49-IIa Helen: 2 destroyed, 18 damaged
Ki-49-IIa Helen: 1 destroyed by flak
Ki-49-IIb Helen: 1 destroyed, 4 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
F6F-3 Hellcat: 4 destroyed

Allied Ships
LST-452
LST-451, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Voyager
DD McCalla
DD Walke
LST-20
LST-450, Bomb hits 1, on fire
LST-18
LST-467, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage

Allied ground losses:
Guns lost 15 (5 destroyed, 10 disabled)
Vehicles lost 4 (2 destroyed, 2 disabled)

Aircraft Attacking:
21 x Ki-49-IIa Helen bombing from 1000 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
20 x Ki-49-IIa Helen bombing from 1000 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
12 x Ki-49-IIb Helen bombing from 1000 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on 22nd Division, at 98,130 (Port Moresby)

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 69 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 23 minutes

Japanese aircraft
J2M2 Jack x 3
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 1

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 24
B-24D Liberator x 23
B-24D1 Liberator x 48
F6F-3 Hellcat x 10
PB4Y-1 Liberator x 6

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 1 damaged
B-24D1 Liberator: 1 damaged
F6F-3 Hellcat: 1 destroyed

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x PB4Y-1 Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on 22nd Division, at 98,130 (Port Moresby)

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 48 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
J2M2 Jack x 1
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 1

Allied aircraft
Spitfire Vc Trop x 2
B-24D1 Liberator x 6
B-25D1 Mitchell x 18
F6F-3 Hellcat x 5

No Japanese losses

No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
10 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Aircraft Attacking:
9 x B-25D1 Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet *
Ground Attack: 3 x 500 lb GP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on 22nd Division, at 98,130 (Port Moresby)

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 64 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 21 minutes

Japanese aircraft
J2M2 Jack x 1
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 1

Allied aircraft
Spitfire Vc Trop x 2
B-24J Liberator x 6
F6F-3 Hellcat x 6

No Japanese losses

No Allied losses

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x B-24J Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Port Moresby at 98,130

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 69 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 22 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 9
B6N1 Jill x 16

Allied aircraft
Spitfire Vc Trop x 2
F6F-3 Hellcat x 8

Japanese aircraft losses
B6N1 Jill: 1 destroyed, 3 damaged
B6N1 Jill: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
Spitfire Vc Trop: 1 destroyed
F6F-3 Hellcat: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
DD McCalla
LST-23, Bomb hits 1
DD Voyager

Allied ground losses:
Guns lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Aircraft Attacking:
14 x B6N1 Jill bombing from 2000 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Cooktown at 95,138

Japanese Ships
SS I-172, hits 2

Allied Ships
AM Wagga
AM Skylark

SS I-172 launches 2 torpedoes at AM Wagga
I-172 diving deep ....
AM Skylark fails to find sub, continues to search...
AM Skylark attacking submerged sub ....
Escort abandons search for sub

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

Ground combat at Port Moresby (98,130)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 22190 troops, 154 guns, 42 vehicles, Assault Value = 847

Defending force 25682 troops, 447 guns, 600 vehicles, Assault Value = 1021

Japanese ground losses:
46 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
91st Infantry Regiment
6th Garrison Unit
47th Engineer Regiment
22nd Division
14th Garrison Unit
31st Fld AA Gun Co
16th AA Regiment
30th Fld AA Gun Co
22nd JNAF AF Unit
6th Shipping Engr Rgt /1

Defending units:
1st USMC Corps Tank Battalion New unit just landed. Looks like we got a few guns and vehicles before they were unloaded.
25th Infantry Division
1st Marine Division
754th Tank Battalion
102nd Combat Engineer Regiment
1st USMC Tank Battalion
I US Amphib Corps

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR October 17, 43
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Invasion Support action off Port Moresby (98,130)

138 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
DD Walke
DD McCalla
LST-450
DD Voyager
LST-20
LST-19
LST-18

DD McCalla firing at 22nd Division
Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 2,000 yards

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Port Moresby at 98,130, Range 9,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CL Kitakami
CL Oi
DD Arashi
DD Ariake
DD Shinonome
DD Akebono
DD Tachikaze

Allied Ships
DD McCalla, Shell hits 1
DD Walke, Shell hits 3, on fire
DD Voyager, Shell hits 2
LST-18, Shell hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
LST-19, Shell hits 23, and is sunk
LST-20, Shell hits 5, on fire, heavy damage
LST-23, Shell hits 20, and is sunk
LST-450, Shell hits 9, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
LST-451, heavy damage
LST-452, Shell hits 9, heavy fires, heavy damage
LST-467, Shell hits 11, and is sunk

Japanese Ships Reported to be Approaching!
Allied TF begins to get underway
Improved night sighting under 78% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Partly Cloudy Conditions and 78% moonlight: 11,000 yards
Range closes to 26,000 yards...
Range closes to 23,000 yards...
CONTACT: Allies radar detects Japanese task force at 23,000 yards
Range closes to 20,000 yards...
Range closes to 17,000 yards...
CONTACT: Allies radar detects Japanese task force at 11,000 yards
Range closes to 9,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 9,000 yards
CL Oi engages DD Voyager at 9,000 yards
CL Kitakami engages DD Voyager at 9,000 yards
Range closes to 7,000 yards
DD Shinonome engages DD Voyager at 7,000 yards
DD McCalla engages DD Ariake at 7,000 yards
DD Ariake engages LST-19 at 7,000 yards
Range closes to 6,000 yards
CL Oi engages DD McCalla at 6,000 yards
Range closes to 4,000 yards
DD Walke engages DD Tachikaze at 4,000 yards
DD Tachikaze engages DD McCalla at 4,000 yards
Range closes to 2,000 yards
CL Oi engages DD McCalla at 2,000 yards
DD Voyager engages DD Tachikaze at 2,000 yards
Range increases to 4,000 yards
LST-467 sunk by CL Oi at 4,000 yards
Range closes to 3,000 yards
DD Ariake engages LST-19 at 3,000 yards
Range closes to 2,000 yards
CL Oi engages DD Voyager at 2,000 yards
LST-18 sunk by DD Arashi at 2,000 yards
Range increases to 4,000 yards
DD Shinonome engages DD McCalla at 4,000 yards
DD Voyager engages DD Shinonome at 4,000 yards
DD McCalla engages DD Ariake at 4,000 yards
Range increases to 6,000 yards
DD Tachikaze engages DD Voyager at 6,000 yards
DD Walke engages DD Akebono at 6,000 yards
Allied Task Force Manages to Escape
Task forces break off...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Milne Bay at 101,134

Japanese Ships
E Fukue, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage
E Tsushima

Allied Ships
SS Sealion

SS Sealion launches 2 torpedoes at E Fukue
Sealion diving deep ....
E Tsushima fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Tsushima attacking submerged sub ....
Escort abandons search for sub

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Cairns at 92,140

Japanese Ships
SS I-122, hits 15, heavy damage

Allied Ships
AM Skylark

Captain of SS I-122 elects not to launch torpedoes at this target
I-122 bottoming out ....
AM Skylark fails to find sub, continues to search...
AM Skylark attacking submerged sub ....
AM Skylark fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Port Moresby at 97,130

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 31 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M3a Zero x 15
A6M5 Zero x 26
G3M3 Nell x 16
P1Y1 Frances x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M3 Nell: 2 damaged

Allied Ships
DD Walke
DD Voyager
LST-452, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk
LST-20, on fire, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x P1Y1 Frances launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
16 x G3M3 Nell bombing from 2000 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Terapo at 96,127

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 64 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 16 minutes

Japanese aircraft
D4Y2 Judy x 10
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 23

Allied aircraft
Spitfire Vc Trop x 13
F4U-1 Corsair x 43

Japanese aircraft losses
D4Y2 Judy: 4 destroyed
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 13 destroyed

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
SC-643

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x D4Y2 Judy releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 500 kg SAP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Port Moresby at 97,130

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 8
B6N2 Jill x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
B6N2 Jill: 1 damaged

Allied Ships
LST-451, heavy damage
DD Walke, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x B6N2 Jill launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo

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

Ground combat at Port Moresby (98,130)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 22168 troops, 154 guns, 42 vehicles, Assault Value = 844

Defending force 26196 troops, 488 guns, 636 vehicles, Assault Value = 1034

Japanese ground losses:
78 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
6th Garrison Unit
47th Engineer Regiment
22nd Division
91st Infantry Regiment
14th Garrison Unit
22nd JNAF AF Unit
16th AA Regiment
30th Fld AA Gun Co
31st Fld AA Gun Co
6th Shipping Engr Rgt /1

Defending units:
754th Tank Battalion
102nd Combat Engineer Regiment
1st Marine Division
1st USMC Corps Tank Battalion
25th Infantry Division
1st USMC Tank Battalion
131st Field Artillery Battalion
1st USMC Field Artillery Battalion
I US Amphib Corps
148th Field Artillery Battalion

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/font]

Reinforcements: A plethora of new subs arrive in about 2-3 weeks. I'm thinking to create an early warning stem in the Central Pacific. Concentrating so much on the New Guinea and DEi the middle Pacific has a lot of large holes to exploit. I can defend them but I have to know early on

[font="Trebuchet MS"]SS I-184 arrives at Yokohama/Yokosuka

Aircraft Ki-43-IIIa Oscar advances R&D[/font]

Losses: None.

Ships Sunk: At least we're causing some damage for advances.

[font="Trebuchet MS"]LST-18 is reported to have been sunk near Port Moresby on Oct 17, 1943
LST-19 is reported to have been sunk near Port Moresby on Oct 17, 1943
LST-23 is reported to have been sunk near Port Moresby on Oct 17, 1943
LST-450 is reported to have been sunk near Port Moresby on Oct 17, 1943
LST-452 is reported to have been sunk near Port Moresby on Oct 17, 1943
LST-467 is reported to have been sunk near Port Moresby on Oct 17, 1943
Previous report of sinking of SS Spearfish incorrect. Intelligence reports ship is still in service[/font]
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[font="Trebuchet MS"]Did the Colorado and the Arizona both go down? It may be some time before I know for sure. [/font]
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[jrcar]

Obvert is there enough room at Marcus for a bde? I agree it is an important base, usually have a CD gun unit of some type, a baseforce or similar with airsupport to support Float planes and 1-2 Naval Garrisons.... otherwise your SLOC to Truk / Rabaul can be easily interdicted without much warning...

Cheers

Rob

[Empire101]

ORIGINAL: obvert



[font="Trebuchet MS"]Did the Colorado and the Arizona both go down? It may be some time before I know for sure. [/font]
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Are they not showing up in any Naval Search reports?

I would have thought that two or three torps would have slowed them down quite a bit, but hopefully sent them to the bottom! Keeping my fingers crossed......!

[obvert]

ORIGINAL: jrcar

Obvert is there enough room at Marcus for a bde? I agree it is an important base, usually have a CD gun unit of some type, a baseforce or similar with airsupport to support Float planes and 1-2 Naval Garrisons.... otherwise your SLOC to Truk / Rabaul can be easily interdicted without much warning...

Cheers

Rob

Good point. Yes, there would not be enough for a brigade. I just looked at it and it's the 13th Independent Regiment, so a bit smaller than a brigade at a stacking cost of around 3k. All I have is a construction unit there now, but the forts are up to 5.6+, so the regiment should give some security for now. Then there would be room for another Naval Guard or something later.

There is also a 9 plane group of Jakes scanning the oceans supported by and AV in port, and 4 midget subs to ward off any small incursions or try to get lucky with a raiding surface group.

I've just moved a 4 plane Mavis group from Funafuti to Wake to get a more extended search ability into the area. The two plane Betty fragment is here as well.

Other than that, there are Mavis at Canton Island and a group of Jakes in the Marshalls. That's it. I've gone sparse in the Central Pacific at least until more groups come online. Jocke's failed attempt at Canton taught me two things:

1. These atolls are tough if prepared well and maxed out in the garrison.

2. The limited support and great distance between islands makes any air defense of the outliers very diluted and not strong enough even to hurt a CVE led invasion force.

3. Any surface force should be small and quick, built for only raiding and getting out fast if the enemy leaves a door open. I have a 4 DD force at Kwaejalein for this purpose.

4. The more he does to the West of Truk/Marcus, the better in late 43 onward. I would encourage activity out here and hope that some of the well-prepared defenses would be challenged at this point. As we move forward, if nothing is happening out here by April or so of 44 I'll begin to reallocate forces back to the Carolines and Marianas, or before even if there is a breakthrough somewhere.

[obvert]

[font="Times New Roman"]18 - 19 October 1943[/font]
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]SUBS: [/font] Subs around Port Moresby pick off several more stragglers from the surface and air battles of recent days as they attempt to get back to safety. The Ro-65 and I-174 both knock off LSTs and the I-23 misses a smoking DD Voyager before I-153 sends two fish into DD Walke which had already taken one from the air the day before.

An ASW TF hits the KXII near Moulmein, but the sub strikes back, sinking a small 11 knot PB and we can't locate it to hit back. I'd like to get a few of these British and Dutch subs while he's risking them in the shallows.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]SOUTH PACIFIC:[/font] The IJA units at Port Moresby are doing well in spite of all going on around them lately. I hope that the air strikes and surface incursions not only weakened some Allied units coming ashore, but hit the ships before they could deliver all of their supplies. I'm getting a good stream over the Owen Stanleys, so my units are in supply for a good long time.

All air strike units in the area were stood down to recover from the past few days efforts. At Port Moresby Corsairs came in and nailed Jacks and Oscars for 10 planes with no losses. I've stood these down for tomorrow as well. I'll keep them up intermittently.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]NORTH PACIFIC: [/font] All forward bases have had guard units reduced and the fragments are on the way back to the Kuriles. The construction units will also be moving out, as all bases have reached level 4 forts.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]WEST OZ: [/font] I'll have to keep good tabs on movement through the Gulf of Carpenteria until proper garrisons are in place in the Southern DEI. I'm alternating recon at Mornington and Gove to see anything developing and give the KB time to react.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]BURMA: [/font] I've still not upgraded Tojo units to the IIc here. I should have one starting tomorrow. I'm building 160 a month, but the groups in the South Pacific have taken all of the planes so far.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]CENTRAL PACFIC > DEI:[/font] After really looking at this area I realize that most of the forts are built and some of the bases will not require base forces moving forward. About 4 engineer units and 2-3 base forces will be shifted back to the DEI to garrison and build up islands between Timor and new Guinea. I'm wary of paratroops and raider units landing at dot bases and the Allies attempting sneaky buildups. It'll be hard to sustain anything like that, but it would be annoying, and my major garrison troops don't arrive for 4 more weeks. A regiment a week is moving in though and more air units are arriving soon as well. They will likely be set up as training units in Ambon, Koepang and Biak until needed for combat in forward bases.

[font="Trebuchet MS"]--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR October 18, 43
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sub attack near Port Moresby at 97,130

Japanese Ships
SS I-23

Allied Ships
DD Voyager

SS I-23 launches 2 torpedoes at DD Voyager
DD Voyager fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Port Moresby at 97,130

Japanese Ships
SS RO-65

Allied Ships
LST-451, Torpedo hits 2, heavy damage
DD Voyager

SS RO-65 launches 2 torpedoes at LST-451
DD Voyager fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Port Moresby at 96,129

Japanese Ships
SS I-174

Allied Ships
LST-20, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Voyager

SS I-174 launches 2 torpedoes at LST-20
DD Voyager fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Air attack on TF, near Horn Island at 91,128

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 10 NM, estimated altitude 3,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M3 Nell x 14

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M3 Nell: 5 damaged

Allied Ships
SC-707
LCT-131

Aircraft Attacking:
14 x G3M3 Nell bombing from 2000 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Port Moresby at 96,129

Japanese Ships
SS I-153

Allied Ships
DD Walke, Torpedo hits 2, heavy damage

SS I-153 launches 2 torpedoes

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Moulmein at 54,57

Japanese Ships
PB Daitei Maru
SC CHa-48
PB Hozugawa Maru

Allied Ships
SS KXII, hits 5

SS KXII is located by PB Daitei Maru
PB Hozugawa Maru fails to find sub and abandons search
PB Daitei Maru attacking submerged sub ....
PB Daitei Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Moulmein at 54,57

Japanese Ships
PB Daitei Maru, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage
SC CHa-48
PB Hozugawa Maru

Allied Ships
SS KXII

SS KXII launches 2 torpedoes at PB Daitei Maru
KXII bottoming out ....
PB Hozugawa Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR October 19, 43
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Afternoon Air attack on Port Moresby , at 98,130

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 48 NM, estimated altitude 32,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 18 minutes

Japanese aircraft
J2M2 Jack x 14
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 6

Allied aircraft
F4U-1 Corsair x 21

Japanese aircraft losses
J2M2 Jack: 4 destroyed
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 1 destroyed

No Allied losses

Aircraft Attacking:
20 x F4U-1 Corsair sweeping at 31000 feet

CAP engaged:
902 Ku S-1 with J2M2 Jack (0 airborne, 4 on standby, 8 scrambling)
2 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 15000 and 33000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 16 minutes
68th Sentai with Ki-43-IIb Oscar (0 airborne, 4 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 12000 , scrambling fighters to 34000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 27 minutes

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/font]


Reinforcements:The next service 2 George is advancing nicely.

[font="Trebuchet MS"]Aircraft N1K2-J George advances R&D - 5/44 [/font]

Losses: I've converted many Kiso-E to ACMs and only a few are working as escorts or ASW. In the shallows they should still be effective, and one did drop five light hits on the KXII, but then one was sunk as well. I've still not figured out the magic formula to make the 10 knot SC do anything, even though they have the 8 ASW rating.

[font="Trebuchet MS"]Loss of PB Daitei Maru on Oct 18, 1943 is admitted[/font]

Ships Sunk: Good to finish a few more off.

[font="Trebuchet MS"]DD Walke is reported to have been sunk near Port Moresby on Oct 18, 1943
LST-20 is reported to have been sunk near Port Moresby on Oct 18, 1943
LST-451 is reported to have been sunk near Port Moresby on Oct 18, 1943[/font]
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[font="Trebuchet MS"]The Sims class Walke in August 42. [/font]
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[obvert]

ORIGINAL: Empire101

ORIGINAL: obvert



[font="Trebuchet MS"]Did the Colorado and the Arizona both go down? It may be some time before I know for sure. [/font]
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Are they not showing up in any Naval Search reports?

I would have thought that two or three torps would have slowed them down quite a bit, but hopefully sent them to the bottom! Keeping my fingers crossed......!

No sign of them after the hits in spite of extensive night and day search all over the area, multiple subs moving in and recon on nearby ports. During the latest not posted turn, the Arizona was removed from the sunk list! It doesn't really matter what the list shows of course, it could go back on in two days.

Either way they'll be out for a while, and as this is a critical time for the Allies to push forward, that is a very good thing. I also believe they would likely have to get to Pearl or the West Coast to get the serious damage fixed up, which could add some drama and take a while if the damage is severe.

[obvert]

[font="Times New Roman"]NIGHT SEARCH[/font]
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

An interesting question posed by Jocke during the past few email exchanges. He has been noticing most of his TFs near New Guinea picked up by night search. He asked;

[font="Trebuchet MS"]Wanted to bring something up I have been wondering about for quite some time but I always forget to ask you. How much info do you get from your "night naval search"? From my end it looks like 100% detection of my TFs. If that is correct its sound pretty wonky to me since finding ships without lights in pitch black should be harder then finding them during the day. Not accusing or anything. Just wondering!

But if it indeed is working like it looks like from my end I think we need to discuss it a bit.[/font]

Should night search be so accurate? The several Jake units here do pick up many traversing task forces and seem to give good intel for the night phase. My intention is that they would help my ASW units, help increase DLs for TFs moving into LBA range, and help identify surface targets or threats early so reaction or fleeing can occur.

I have no idea how much DL is raised by night searches. I would imagine they would increase it less than day searches. For subs this might mean it drops back to near 0 by day anyway, but again, it's all conjecture.

Curious what the experience and opinions are about night searching.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[obvert]

[font="Times New Roman"]20 - 21 October 1943[/font]
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]SUBS: [/font] A nice few hits on another sub operating near Rangoon.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]SOUTH PACIFIC:[/font] The Allies shut down Port Moresby again. I wish I would have let the CAP stay up, but either way I would lose planes, this way I keep the pilots.

Subs don't choose to battle the small craft bringing in another combat unit to PM. This is where some MTBs would help a bit. I also need DDs here. I'll be sending in a solo E for tomorrow night's phase, but on its own not sure what it will accomplish.

Also, sent a sneak attack into Cairns which actually gets to the runways and aircraft on the ground. A rare moment for a Japanese strike these days. Jocke has not been covering rear bases consistently, and recon has illuminated the blind spots quickly enough to let me take advantage. I keep thinking he'll shut the door and comprehensively allocate CAP, but it hasn't happened yet. I'll keep looking for holes.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]BURMA: [/font] The engineers are doing well and Meiktila is now at level 6. I'll redistribute units to other bases now in need of a quick boost.

[font="Trebuchet MS"]--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR October 20, 43
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ASW attack near Victoria Point at 50,63

Japanese Ships
DD Asagumo
DD Michishio

Allied Ships
SS O23, hits 7

SS O23 is located by DD Asagumo
O23 bottoming out ....
DD Asagumo fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Asagumo attacking submerged sub ....
Escort abandons search for sub

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Port Moresby , at 98,130

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 79 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 27 minutes

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 48
B-24D Liberator x 36
B-24D1 Liberator x 83
B-24J Liberator x 12
PB4Y-1 Liberator x 12

Japanese aircraft losses
J2M2 Jack: 3 destroyed on ground
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 3 destroyed on ground

No Allied losses

Airbase hits 31
Airbase supply hits 20
Runway hits 90

Aircraft Attacking:
12 x PB4Y-1 Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Port Moresby , at 98,130

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 74 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 20 minutes

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft
B-24D1 Liberator x 12
B-25D1 Mitchell x 62

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 1 destroyed on ground

No Allied losses

Airbase hits 7
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 19

Aircraft Attacking:
15 x B-25D1 Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet *
Airfield Attack: 3 x 500 lb GP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR October 21, 43
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ASW attack near Port Moresby at 96,130

Japanese Ships
SS I-28, hits 4

Allied Ships
LCM 532E
LCT-469
LCT-467
LCT-366
LCT-361
SC-643

SS I-28 is sighted by escort
I-28 diving deep ....
SC-643 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC-643 attacking submerged sub ....
SC-643 is out of ASW ammo
Escort abandons search for sub

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Port Moresby at 97,130

Japanese Ships
SS I-174

Allied Ships
SC-643
AM Bowen
LCM 532E
LCM 532D
LCT-469
LCT-466
LCT-365
LCT-360
SC-640

Captain of SS I-174 elects not to launch torpedoes at this target [:(]
I-174 diving deep ....
SC-640 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pre-Invasion action off Port Moresby (98,130)

260 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
SC-643
SC-640
AM Bowen


Allied ground losses:
75 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 21 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

SC-643 fired at enemy troops
SC-640 fired at enemy troops
Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 5,000 yards
Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 1,000 yards

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amphibious Assault at Port Moresby (98,130)

TF 73 troops unloading over beach at Port Moresby, 98,130


Allied ground losses:
Vehicles lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Cairns , at 92,140

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M3 Nell x 41

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M3 Nell: 12 damaged
G3M3 Nell: 4 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
Mitchell II: 40 damaged
Mitchell II: 1 destroyed on ground
B-25D1 Mitchell: 4 damaged
B-25D1 Mitchell: 1 destroyed on ground
F-5A Lightning: 1 damaged
C-47 Skytrain: 39 damaged
C-47 Skytrain: 4 destroyed on ground
B-25C Mitchell: 21 damaged
B-25C Mitchell: 2 destroyed on ground


Allied ground losses:
13 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Airbase hits 18
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 47

Aircraft Attacking:
37 x G3M3 Nell bombing from 7000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Port Moresby at 98,130

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 17 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 7
B6N2 Jill x 5

Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 31

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5 Zero: 3 destroyed
B6N2 Jill: 4 destroyed

No Allied losses

CAP engaged:
VF-35 with F6F-3 Hellcat (5 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
5 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000
Raid is overhead
VF-37 with F6F-3 Hellcat (5 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
5 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000
Raid is overhead
VRF-1F with F6F-3 Hellcat (8 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
8 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000
Raid is overhead
VRF-3F with F6F-3 Hellcat (8 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
8 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000
Raid is overhead
8 planes vectored on to bombers
VMF-441 with F6F-3 Hellcat (5 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
5 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000
Raid is overhead

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

Ground combat at Port Moresby (98,130)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 22280 troops, 154 guns, 42 vehicles, Assault Value = 851

Defending force 28844 troops, 487 guns, 645 vehicles, Assault Value = 1113

Japanese ground losses:
68 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)



Assaulting units:
6th Garrison Unit
91st Infantry Regiment
47th Engineer Regiment
22nd Division
14th Garrison Unit
31st Fld AA Gun Co
30th Fld AA Gun Co
16th AA Regiment
22nd JNAF AF Unit
6th Shipping Engr Rgt /1

Defending units:
1st Marine Division
1st USMC Corps Tank Battalion
754th Tank Battalion
1st USMC Tank Battalion
25th Infantry Division
102nd Combat Engineer Regiment
II Aus Corps Engr Bn /7 Another new combat engineer unit
131st Field Artillery Battalion
I US Corps
I US Amphib Corps
1st USMC Field Artillery Battalion
148th Field Artillery Battalion

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/font]

Reinforcements: none.

Losses: none.

Ships Sunk: So, this begins the mystery and confusion about what happened with the two BBs hit a few days ago.

[font="Trebuchet MS"]Previous report of sinking of BB Arizona incorrect. Intelligence reports ship is still in service[/font]
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[obvert]

[font="Times New Roman"]22 - 23 October 1943[/font]
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]SUBS: [/font] A lot of sub action and ASW response lately.

Several subs try both days to hit the small invasion craft heading to PM and they all fail to get a shot off. Can't acquire firing solution.

The Grayback and Sealion are hit by E Tsushima. It does well with both, but succumbs to Sealion's final dying TT barrage after it is forced to the surface. The E sinks later in the day.

The Spearfish is likely sunk near Tavoy.

The I-38 misses a collection of AKEs near Bundaberg, only firing a spread of 2 TT. Grrr.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]SOUTH PACIFIC:[/font] A small craft TF is engaged by our lone fast E but it can't do more than hit the SCs and one LCT. I don't know if the commander if aggressive enough, but it's disappointing to not take out a bunch of weak craft delivering troops. DDs from Truk are now repaired from previous engagements and will move back down. I will also eventually move 2-3 BBs and escorts to So Pac in order to combat enemy SAGs in the Southern New Guinea area.

The Allies now have about 1120 AV at Port Moresby to our 850 behind 5 forts. I still think he'll have a tough time here. I am contemplating sending an SNLF with DP guns to Port Moresby from Lunga. I had forgotten about it down there, but this would make it tough to bring in weak convoys to deliver dribbles of troops every once and a while and make him potentially use valuable ships again.

The 4Es hit Buna and bleeding Tojos meet them both days. The base is closed, but the second day the Tojos take out a few 4Es at least.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]WEST OZ: [/font] Recon shows no fighters yet in Gove or other Gulf of Carpenteria bases. He's very focused on New Guinea.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]BURMA: [/font] Prep for battle continues. A few units are moving from Kalemyo and look to be aiming to sever the rail again. As they go I'll get recon and may try some bombing for better info, so I know how much I need to leave at Katha and Shwebo. Currently a division and two tank divisions are at Katha with several Amry HQs and 5 Arty units. One division and a bunch of Arty is at Shwebo.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]CENTRAL PACFIC:[/font] Troop ships are converging on the area from all corners to evac and redistribute engineer and base force units. All bases are in the 5-6 fort range, so very ready for attacks. I'l also begin to distribute a good deal of supply here so I don't have to worry about it for a good while in case the Allies attack, get a base r two and cut off supply lanes.

[font="Trebuchet MS"]--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR October 22, 43
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Invasion Support action off Port Moresby (98,130)

144 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
SC-640
AM Bowen
SC-643

Allied ground losses:
47 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 12 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

SC-640 fired at enemy troops
Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 1,000 yards

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Milne Bay at 100,133

Japanese Ships
E Tsushima

Allied Ships
SS Grayback, hits 12

SS Grayback is sighted by escort
E Tsushima fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Tsushima attacking submerged sub ....
E Tsushima fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Port Moresby at 99,132

Japanese Ships
E Asagao

Allied Ships
SS S-39, hits 4

SS S-39 is sighted by escort
S-39 bottoming out ....
E Asagao fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Asagao attacking submerged sub ....
E Asagao fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Port Moresby at 98,130, Range 2,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
E Asagao

Allied Ships
AM Bowen
SC-640
SC-643, Shell hits 4, on fire
LCT-360
LCT-361
LCT-362
LCT-363
LCT-364
LCT-365
LCT-366
LCT-368
LCT-369
LCT-379
LCT-466
LCT-467
LCT-468
LCT-469
LCM 532C
LCM 532D
LCM 532E, Shell hits 1, heavy fires

Reduced sighting due to 28% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Partly Cloudy Conditions and 28% moonlight: 2,000 yards
Range closes to 11,000 yards...
Range closes to 10,000 yards...
Range closes to 3,000 yards...
Range closes to 2,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 2,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 2,000 yards
E Asagao engages SC-643 at 2,000 yards
Range increases to 4,000 yards
E Asagao engages SC-643 at 4,000 yards
Range closes to 2,000 yards
E Asagao engages SC-643 at 2,000 yards
E Asagao engages LCM 532E at 2,000 yards
Range increases to 3,000 yards
Range increases to 4,000 yards
E Asagao engages SC-643 at 4,000 yards
Allied Task Force Manages to Escape Silly, as we absolutely should have taken out some of these small craft at 2k yards regardless of light with the weak escorts in this TF. How do they get away from a 30kt ship?

Task forces break off...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Tavoy at 52,57

Japanese Ships
DD Arashio
DD Michishio
DD Asagumo

Allied Ships
SS Spearfish, hits 6, heavy damage

SS Spearfish launches 2 torpedoes at DD Arashio
Spearfish diving deep ....
DD Asagumo attacking submerged sub ....
Debris floats to surface in area of attack!
Escort abandons search for sub

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Port Moresby at 97,130

Japanese Ships
SS RO-64

Allied Ships
SC-643
LCT-468
LCT-368
LCT-362
SC-640

SS RO-64 cannot acquire firing solution on enemy LCT
SC-640 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Bundaberg at 100,152

Japanese Ships
SS I-38

Allied Ships
AKE City of Dalhart
AKE Potter
AKE Maine
AVD Ballard

SS I-38 launches 2 torpedoes at AKE City of Dalhart
I-38 diving deep ....
AVD Ballard fails to find sub, continues to search...
AVD Ballard attacking submerged sub ....
AVD Ballard fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Cairns , at 92,140

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 30 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M3 Nell x 31

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M3 Nell: 24 damaged
G3M3 Nell: 2 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
C-47 Skytrain: 31 damaged
C-47 Skytrain: 4 destroyed on ground
Mitchell II: 3 damaged
Hudson III (LR): 4 damaged
Hudson III (LR): 1 destroyed on ground


Allied ground losses:
5 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Airbase hits 22
Runway hits 18

Aircraft Attacking:
30 x G3M3 Nell bombing from 7000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Buna , at 99,129

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 7

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 32
B-24D Liberator x 25
B-24D1 Liberator x 76
B-24J Liberator x 7
PB4Y-1 Liberator x 9

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 1 destroyed
E13A1 Jake: 3 destroyed on ground

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 1 damaged
B-24D Liberator: 2 damaged
PB4Y-1 Liberator: 1 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
5 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Airbase hits 28
Airbase supply hits 8
Runway hits 133

Aircraft Attacking:
9 x PB4Y-1 Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
26th Sentai with Ki-44-IIc Tojo (7 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(7 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
7 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead

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

Ground combat at Port Moresby (98,130)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 22222 troops, 154 guns, 42 vehicles, Assault Value = 845

Defending force 29636 troops, 487 guns, 660 vehicles, Assault Value = 1119

Japanese ground losses:
63 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
91st Infantry Regiment
22nd Division
47th Engineer Regiment
6th Garrison Unit
14th Garrison Unit
22nd JNAF AF Unit
31st Fld AA Gun Co
16th AA Regiment
30th Fld AA Gun Co
6th Shipping Engr Rgt /1

Defending units:
1st USMC Tank Battalion
1st Marine Division
754th Tank Battalion
25th Infantry Division
1st USMC Corps Tank Battalion
102nd Combat Engineer Regiment
II Aus Corps Engineer Battalion
I US Amphib Corps
131st Field Artillery Battalion
1st USMC Field Artillery Battalion
I US Corps
148th Field Artillery Battalion

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR October 23, 43
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sub attack near Milne Bay at 101,134

Japanese Ships
E Tsushima, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
SS Sealion, hits 8, heavy damage

SS Sealion launches 2 torpedoes
E Tsushima fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Tsushima attacking submerged sub ....
SS Sealion forced to surface!
E Tsushima firing on surfaced sub .... The Tsushima was hit after the surfacing, unfortunately. It sank later. Another good E gone, but it takes out it's prey at least.
Sub slips beneath the waves

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Port Moresby at 97,130

Japanese Ships
SS I-153, hits 1

Allied Ships
LCM 532C
SC-643
LCT-379
LCT-364
SC-640

SS I-153 cannot acquire firing solution on enemy LCM
I-153 diving deep ....
SC-640 attacking submerged sub ....
SC-640 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Buna , at 99,129

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 7

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 30
B-24D Liberator x 26
B-24D1 Liberator x 64
B-24J Liberator x 6
PB4Y-1 Liberator x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 1 destroyed
E13A1 Jake: 3 destroyed on ground

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 1 damaged
B-24D Liberator: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
B-24D1 Liberator: 1 destroyed, 4 damaged
PB4Y-1 Liberator: 1 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
11 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Airbase hits 24
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 45

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x PB4Y-1 Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
26th Sentai with Ki-44-IIc Tojo (7 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(7 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
7 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/font]

Reinforcements: A ton of convertible xAKs arrive and will be made into TKs immediately.

[font="Trebuchet MS"]xAK Jinju Maru arrives at Nagoya
xAK Kinshu Maru arrives at Fukuoka
xAK Jinzan Maru arrives at Nagoya
xAK Hoshin Maru arrives at Hiroshima/Kure
xAK Otoriyama Maru arrives at Osaka/Kyoto
xAK Toan Maru arrives at Yokohama/Yokosuka
xAK Tokuhei Maru arrives at Fukuoka
xAK Shiretoko Maru arrives at Nagasaki/Sasebo
xAK Imaji Maru arrives at Fukuoka
xAK Yozan Maru arrives at Hiroshima/Kure
DD Akishimo arrives at Maizuru[/font]

Losses: Another good E lost.

[font="Trebuchet MS"][/font] E Tsushima

Ships Sunk: These two actually look real. The BB is interesting. It's been on the list for a very long time. Hmmm.

[font="Trebuchet MS"]SS Spearfish is reported to have been sunk near Tavoy on Oct 22, 1943
SS Sealion is reported to have been sunk near Milne Bay on Oct 23, 1943
Previous report of sinking of BB Maryland incorrect. Intelligence reports ship is still in service[/font]
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[font="Trebuchet MS"]The 4Es are pounding Port Moresby troops a lot lately, but having little affect. They stay in the range of 830-850AV and their disruption hasn't gone above 30. I'm glad I reinforced this base and forced him to bring more, both exposing ships to danger and taking a lot of time.[/font]
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[obvert]

[font="Times New Roman"]24 - 25 October 1943[/font]
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]SUBS: [/font] Subs have moved out of the approaches to Rangoon again after extensive ASW put the hit on several subs. Jocke also seems to have pulled back subs in major sea lanes from DEI to the HI, and I'm getting untouched major convoys through daily. Also, each TF is disbanding at Nagasaki for upgrades of the SCs, Es, and extra AA for the TK and AO.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]SOUTH PACIFIC:[/font] Strikes continue daily by both 2E and 4E planes on troops at Port Moresby. The fields are toast but the troops stay strong.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]WEST OZ: [/font] Another sneak attack by G3M3s today, this time on Normanton, which had no fighter CAP but did have craft in port. Small landing ships and LSTs, but still it feels good to continually get some free hits on Allied gear. About 6-8 craft were sunk today for no loss of strike planes.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]BURMA: [/font] I made a mistake today with an ASW TF that had chased Allied subs into the IO slightly WSW of Rangoon. I had noticed a convoy unloading at Akyab for several turns, and I thought, well, there seem to not be any combat ships in the area, so I'll send them in quickly to go for it. Jocke had done well to keep his SAG outside my search area and met my 4 good DDs with a solid British cruiser-led TF. It ripped into the DDs, sinking the Yumagumo outright, and the Asagumo later in the day. At least I know they are around now and I can allocate bait more search to the area toward Calcutta to see what is coming.

Units from Kalemyo are being reconned and now seem a larger collection than when they began their march. I had thought this was a northern diversionary force meant to cut the rail and not challenge the bases. It appears now to be 100k+ troops and 500AFVs. So enough to be a problem. I'm going to send two more Brigade sized units to the Northern area to bring AV to around 1700 at Katha. This with an Area Army HQ, a Corp HQ and 5 Arty units should be a tough challenge behind level 6 forts and in the jungle. North of that there is not much other than garrisons for each base to protect against Chindit drops.

Two new Brigades allocated to Burma Army arrive in 19 days and will form a rather late arriving reserve. Until I know where he will be focused it's tough to know where to send the bulk of my troops.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]CENTRAL PACFIC:[/font] Many TFs are converging now to move out construction and surplus base forces from the Gilberts and Marshalls, heading to NW New Guinea and the DEI.

[font="Trebuchet MS"]--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR October 24, 43
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Night Time Surface Combat, near Akyab at 54,45, Range 3,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Michishio
DD Arashio, Shell hits 5, on fire
DD Yamagumo, Shell hits 2, and is sunk
DD Asagumo, Shell hits 8, heavy fires, heavy damage

Allied Ships
CA Cornwall
CA Exeter
CA Frobisher
DD Napier
DD Nestor
DD Nizam
DD Quadrant
DD Racehorse, Shell hits 1
DD Rapid

Reduced sighting due to 17% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Partly Cloudy Conditions and 17% moonlight: 5,000 yards
Range closes to 19,000 yards...
Range closes to 13,000 yards...
Range closes to 7,000 yards...
Range closes to 3,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 3,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 3,000 yards
Campbell F. crosses the 'T'
DD Asagumo engages CA Frobisher at 3,000 yards
Magazine explodes on DD Yamagumo
DD Yamagumo sunk by CA Frobisher at 3,000 yards
CA Frobisher engages DD Asagumo at 2,000 yards
Range increases to 5,000 yards
CA Frobisher engages DD Asagumo at 5,000 yards
Range closes to 4,000 yards
CA Frobisher engages DD Asagumo at 4,000 yards
Range increases to 9,000 yards
DD Nizam engages DD Asagumo at 9,000 yards
DD Racehorse engages DD Asagumo at 12,000 yards
Iwahashi, Tooru orders Japanese TF to disengage
Range increases to 13,000 yards
DD Asagumo engages CA Frobisher at 13,000 yards
Range closes to 12,000 yards
DD Nestor engages DD Asagumo at 12,000 yards
Range closes to 8,000 yards
CA Frobisher engages DD Asagumo at 8,000 yards
Range increases to 9,000 yards
DD Quadrant engages DD Asagumo at 9,000 yards
Range increases to 12,000 yards
CA Frobisher engages DD Asagumo at 12,000 yards
Range closes to 11,000 yards
CA Frobisher engages DD Asagumo at 11,000 yards
Range closes to 7,000 yards
CA Frobisher engages DD Asagumo at 7,000 yards
Range closes to 6,000 yards
CA Frobisher engages DD Asagumo at 6,000 yards
Range increases to 12,000 yards
DD Michishio engages DD Quadrant at 12,000 yards
Task forces break off...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Port Moresby , at 98,130

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 27 minutes

Allied aircraft
Mitchell II x 12
B-17E Fortress x 25
B-24D Liberator x 20
B-24D1 Liberator x 55
B-24J Liberator x 5
B-25C Mitchell x 38
PB4Y-1 Liberator x 5

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 2 damaged
B-24D1 Liberator: 1 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
54 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled

Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 18

Aircraft Attacking:
5 x PB4Y-1 Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR October 25, 43
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Morning Air attack on Normanton , at 86,138

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid detected at 74 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 27 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M3 Nell x 25

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M3 Nell: 3 damaged

Allied Ships
LST-454, Bomb hits 1, on fire
LCT-352, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
AM Lark, Bomb hits 1
LCT-476, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
LCT-367, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
LST-460, Bomb hits 2, on fire
LCT-461, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
LCT-355, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
LST-21, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
LCT-462, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
LCT-460, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk

Port hits 2

Aircraft Attacking:
25 x G3M3 Nell bombing from 7000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb

Massive explosion on LST-460

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 22nd Division, at 98,130 (Port Moresby)

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 74 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 25 minutes

Allied aircraft
Mitchell II x 20
B-17E Fortress x 20
B-24D Liberator x 25
B-24D1 Liberator x 51
B-24J Liberator x 5
B-25C Mitchell x 21
PB4Y-1 Liberator x 5

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 2 damaged
B-24D1 Liberator: 2 damaged
B-25C Mitchell: 1 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
36 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Aircraft Attacking:
5 x PB4Y-1 Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/font]

Reinforcements: Excited to get the next longer ranged Judy very soon.

[font="Trebuchet MS"]xAK Noshiro Maru arrives at Osaka/Kyoto

Aircraft D4Y3 Judy advances R&D 12/43[/font]

Losses: Tough losing to Yugumo class DDs. I know it's late 43 and i should get used to losing good ships, but it's still a hard transition, especially when the DDs don't perform 'miracles' like they used to at night.

[font="Trebuchet MS"]Loss of DD Yamagumo on Oct 24, 1943 is admitted
DD Asagumo[/font]

Ships Sunk:

[font="Trebuchet MS"]LST-454
LCT-352
LCT-476
LCT-367
LST-460
LCT-461
LCT-355
LST-21
LCT-462
LCT-460
SS Shad is reported to have been sunk near San Fernando on Jul 27, 1943[/font]

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[font="Trebuchet MS"]DD Asagumo[/font]
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[GreyJoy]

I keep on thinking that it would be better to defend more forward, in the jungle and not letting them arrive in the plains from the jungle hexes southwest of Kalemyo

[obvert]

[font="Times New Roman"]26 - 27 October 1943[/font]
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]SUBS: [/font] On the 27th a bombardment TF went in to Port Moresby and took out not one but two RO subs on the way, as well as damaging a third! Not too much luck hitting fast moving Allied TFs with these subs. The bombardment does little again.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]SOUTH PACIFIC:[/font] A contingent of 11 different groups LR CAPed Port Moresby and still could not put a good hit on the mass of 4Es there. It sucks that with 44 of the planes listed below actually intercepting immediately the attack is short and more interceptors are shot down than 4Es. All were at altitudes just above the bombers so should have done much better. It's really silly that 4Es can just fly through waves of fighters with impunity. This surely wasn't the case in the war or there never would have been the need for the P-51.

There was 25 minutes to get into position as well, and all of the late-arriving groups minus 1 had intercept times of between 4 and 9 minutes. In the replay it seemed all showed up, but the combat was still very short. Why?

Sweeps of Corsairs nail bleeding CAP at Buna. I've now restricted the groups to 0 hexes.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]WEST OZ: [/font] A SCTF hits Gove with a bombardment. Not bad. They hit two LSTs that must be damaged in port, as they were not seen previously and didn't have a separate engagement.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]BURMA: [/font] P-47s swept several bases and wiped away all defenses easily. They got about 5 to 1 here. All planes were set low to interdict bombers and suck the sweepers down into a layered range of fighters, but it obviously did not work today. I think numbers were set low as well so that influenced how many were up right away to met the sweeps.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]CENTRAL PACFIC:[/font] No sign of any movement here except my ships in the background moving things out. I get some reinforcements soon that will fill out some air defenses here with TB and MB with escorts. Most of the time this will be a training area but if something arrives then that will switch quickly.

[font="Trebuchet MS"]--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR October 26, 43
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Night Naval bombardment of Gove at 82,127

Japanese Ships
CA Furutaka
CA Nachi
CA Chokai
CA Atago

Allied Ships
LST-458, Shell hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
LST-456, Shell hits 1

Allied ground losses:
289 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 12 disabled
Engineers: 6 destroyed, 35 disabled

Airbase hits 6
Runway hits 26
Port supply hits 1

CA Furutaka firing at Gove
E13A1 Jake acting as spotter for CA Nachi
CA Nachi firing at Gove
CA Chokai firing at Gove
CA Atago firing at Gove

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Buna , at 99,129

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 34 NM, estimated altitude 37,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
J2M2 Jack x 22
N1K1-J George x 14

Allied aircraft
F4U-1 Corsair x 12

Japanese aircraft losses
J2M2 Jack: 3 destroyed
N1K1-J George: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F4U-1 Corsair: 1 destroyed

CAP engaged:
201 Ku S-1 with N1K1-J George (14 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(14 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
14 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead
253 Ku S-2 with J2M2 Jack (22 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(22 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
22 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 12000
Raid is overhead

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Katha , at 61,43

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 43 NM, estimated altitude 39,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 6
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 12

Allied aircraft
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 24

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 3 destroyed
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 3 destroyed

No Allied losses

Aircraft Attacking:
16 x P-47D2 Thunderbolt sweeping at 35000 feet

CAP engaged:
24th Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (8 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(14 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
8 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 4 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 31000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 33 minutes
54th Sentai with Ki-43-IIb Oscar (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(6 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 6 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 5 minutes

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Buna , at 99,129

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 17 NM, estimated altitude 33,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
J2M2 Jack x 17
N1K1-J George x 12

Allied aircraft
F4U-1 Corsair x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
J2M2 Jack: 1 destroyed

No Allied losses

CAP engaged:
201 Ku S-1 with N1K1-J George (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 12 scrambling)
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters to 15000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 8 minutes
253 Ku S-2 with J2M2 Jack (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 17 scrambling)
Group patrol altitude is 12000 , scrambling fighters to 12000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 9 minutes

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 22nd Division, at 98,130 (Port Moresby)

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid detected at 73 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 25 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M3a Zero x 8
A6M5 Zero x 17
N1K1-J George x 13
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 14
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 7
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 15
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 8

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 19
B-24D Liberator x 25
B-24D1 Liberator x 61
B-24J Liberator x 6
PB4Y-1 Liberator x 5

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5 Zero: 1 destroyed
N1K1-J George: 1 destroyed
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 1 destroyed, 8 damaged
B-24D Liberator: 1 damaged
B-24D1 Liberator: 8 damaged
B-24J Liberator: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
PB4Y-1 Liberator: 1 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
5 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Aircraft Attacking:
5 x PB4Y-1 Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Prome , at 55,50

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 7 NM, estimated altitude 36,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 2 minutes

Japanese aircraft
J2M2 Jack x 27
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 10
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 4
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 22

Allied aircraft
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 24

Japanese aircraft losses
J2M2 Jack: 6 destroyed
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 2 destroyed
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 1 destroyed
Ki-45 KAIa Nick: 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-47D2 Thunderbolt: 1 destroyed

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x P-47D2 Thunderbolt sweeping at 32000 feet

CAP engaged:
13th Sentai with Ki-45 KAIa Nick (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(15 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 15 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 34 minutes
27th Sentai with Ki-45 KAIa Nick (3 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(8 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 20000
Raid is overhead
50th Sentai with Ki-43-IIb Oscar (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(10 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 6 being recalled, 4 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 12000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 44 minutes
64th Sentai with Ki-44-IIc Tojo (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(4 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 20000
Raid is overhead
Zuikaku-1 with J2M2 Jack (0 airborne, 7 on standby, 17 scrambling)
3 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters to 15000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 27 minutes

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Prome , at 55,50

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 37 NM, estimated altitude 36,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Japanese aircraft
J2M2 Jack x 10
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 5
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 1
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 13

Allied aircraft
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 34

Japanese aircraft losses
J2M2 Jack: 5 destroyed
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 1 destroyed
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 1 destroyed
Ki-45 KAIa Nick: 4 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-47D2 Thunderbolt: 1 destroyed

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x P-47D2 Thunderbolt sweeping at 33000 feet

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR October 27, 43
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ASW attack near Port Moresby at 98,130

Japanese Ships
SS RO-67, hits 8, heavy damage

Allied Ships
DD Reid
CA Baltimore
DD Balch
DD Perkins

SS RO-67 launches 2 torpedoes at DD Reid
RO-67 bottoming out ....
DD Balch attacking submerged sub ....
DD Reid fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Perkins fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Balch attacking submerged sub ....
DD Balch fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Naval bombardment of Port Moresby at 98,130

Allied Ships
CA Baltimore
CA Wichita
CA Astoria
CA Salt Lake City

Japanese ground losses:
37 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 8 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Runway hits 9

CA Baltimore firing at 22nd Division
SOC-1 Seagull acting as spotter for CA Wichita
CA Wichita firing at 22nd Division
CA Astoria firing at 22nd Division
CA Salt Lake City firing at Port Moresby

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub vs Sub: SS I-153 attacking SS Pogy at 97,131 - near Port Moresby

Japanese Ships
SS I-153

Allied Ships
SS Pogy How can you miss this sub with a spread of 4 TT from 4k yards!!![&:]

SS I-153 launches 4 torpedoes at 4,000 yards

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Port Moresby at 96,131

Japanese Ships
SS RO-63, hits 2, heavy damage

Allied Ships
CA Baltimore
CA Astoria
DD Mustin
DD Balch
DD Reid
DD Perkins

SS RO-63 is sighted by escort
RO-63 diving deep ....
DD Balch fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Reid fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Perkins fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Balch attacking submerged sub ....
Large oil slick appears over area of attack!
Escort abandons search for sub

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Port Moresby at 96,131

Japanese Ships
SS RO-64, hits 2, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
DD Balch
CA Baltimore
CA Wichita
CA Astoria
DD Reid
DD Perkins

SS RO-64 launches 2 torpedoes at DD Balch
RO-64 diving deep ....
DD Balch fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Balch attacking submerged sub ....
DD Balch fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Balch attacking submerged sub ....
DD Balch cannot establish contact with SS RO-64
Debris floats to surface in area of attack!
Escort abandons search for sub

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Buna , at 99,129

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 21 NM, estimated altitude 33,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
N1K1-J George x 3
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 11

Allied aircraft
F4U-1A Corsair x 16

Japanese aircraft losses
N1K1-J George: 1 destroyed
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 4 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F4U-1A Corsair: 1 destroyed

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x F4U-1A Corsair sweeping at 31000 feet

CAP engaged:
26th Sentai with Ki-44-IIc Tojo (8 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(11 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
8 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead
Sasebo Ku S-1 with N1K1-J George (3 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(3 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 12000
Raid is overhead

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Buna , at 99,129

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 17 NM, estimated altitude 35,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 2

Allied aircraft
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 16

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 1 destroyed

No Allied losses

Aircraft Attacking:
16 x P-47D2 Thunderbolt sweeping at 33000 feet

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 22nd Division, at 98,130 (Port Moresby)

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 79 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 23 minutes

Allied aircraft
Hudson III (LR) x 10
Mitchell II x 24
B-25C Mitchell x 38
B-25D1 Mitchell x 84

No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
27 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Aircraft Attacking:
10 x Mitchell II bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/font]

Reinforcements: I'm just bumping up the Ha-43 to advance more quickly now.

[font="Trebuchet MS"]3rd Area Army arrives at Mukden
xAK Ekisan Maru arrives at Maizuru

Device Mitsubishi Ha-43 advances R&D (12/44)[/font]

Losses: Ouch. I'll keep using these a lot in massed groups, but I expect to lose them often. Still, I hope they can get a few good hits. If I lose 8 and get a CA or better, it's probably a good trade.

[font="Trebuchet MS"]Loss of SS RO-63 on Oct 27, 1943 is admitted
Loss of SS RO-64 on Oct 27, 1943 is admitted[/font]

Ships Sunk: none.

[font="Trebuchet MS"]Previous report of sinking of SS Skipjack incorrect. Intelligence reports ship is still in service[/font]
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[font="Trebuchet MS"]A look at I-25 over the past half year. Interesting that it's encountered no task forces in either area of patrol, but has been more of a recon sub for the past year at least.[/font]
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[obvert]

[font="Times New Roman"]28 - 29 October 1943[/font]
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]SUBS: [/font] As usual, one of our subs gets pounded by a fast combat TF. Anything above 22 knots and it seems like the attack is pretty useless so far in this particular game at least. The I-185 tries to limp home after 12 hits and with float damage in the 70s.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]SOUTH PACIFIC:[/font] On the 28th 150+ 4E and 170+ 2E bombers hit troops at Port Moresby for 5 disabled squads. The Allies also bombarded on the ground and got 1 more disabled squad. [:)] The Kure 7th SNLF that has been at Lunga is being transported to Port Moresby. I think the 8cm DP guns will fly in but the 12cm guns will not, even on an Emily-L. I'm not sure it's worth it to try to ship them over with the plethora of Allied units in the area. I'll see as the days go. Even the 8cm guns could help disrupt the landing of the small craft coming in lately.

Lots of sweeps hit empty air as I've puled back most fighter groups to replenish.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]WEST OZ: [/font] I'm thinking of when to strip Exmouth. Should I let him prepare and prep to take it by sea for a bit longer before I move the divisions back to Java? Or should I split one and post it's parts in West OZ along the coast, moving the other back to Java, in order to make sure he has to allocate a lot of force for each base? Or should I just keep them here and see if he can take it? It will still be a tough base at level 6 forts with 50k supply and many supporting units. He would want the 4Es and a lot of bombardment before going in, which could lead to opportunities. Are those worth rebuilding two divisions though? Probably not.

Currently I'm leaning toward removing them in parts beginning next month.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]BURMA: [/font] Another nasty set of P-47 sweeps hit Tongou and wipe out 3 groups there. The low layering is not working, and I'll have to try high and medium with some low (for bombers), but I fear the time of Allied dominance in the air has arrived. I may have to switch to a bait and tea mentality and not keep CAP up each day. We'll see.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]CENTRAL PACFIC:[/font] Movement of useful non-combat units is proceding unhinded, including rescuing a radar unit from Funafuti by fast transport. I'm very surprised Jocke has let me hold that base as a scout post this long, and that none of the other unclaimed dot bases near this area ,near Canton or near Tabiteuaea have been invaded.

[font="Trebuchet MS"]--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR October 28, 43
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Sub attack near Nadi at 126,161

Japanese Ships
SS I-185, hits 12, heavy damage

Allied Ships
DD Converse
BB Alabama
DD Burns
DD Foote
DD Dyson
DD Dashiell

SS I-185 launches 2 torpedoes at DD Converse
I-185 diving deep ....
DD Foote attacking submerged sub ....
DD Dashiell attacking submerged sub ....
SS I-185 eludes ASW attack from DD Dashiell
DD Converse fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Dashiell attacking submerged sub ....
DD Dashiell fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

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Ground combat at Port Moresby (98,130)

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 540 troops, 40 guns, 36 vehicles, Assault Value = 1129

Defending force 25138 troops, 228 guns, 74 vehicles, Assault Value = 863

Japanese ground losses:
10 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Assaulting units:
754th Tank Battalion
25th Infantry Division
102nd Combat Engineer Regiment
1st Marine Division
1st USMC Corps Tank Battalion
1st USMC Tank Battalion
II Aus Corps Engineer Battalion
I US Amphib Corps
I US Corps
131st Field Artillery Battalion
1st USMC Field Artillery Battalion
148th Field Artillery Battalion

Defending units:
47th Engineer Regiment
6th Garrison Unit
91st Infantry Regiment
14th Garrison Unit
22nd Division
Kure 7th SNLF /1
16th AA Regiment
31st Fld AA Gun Co
30th Fld AA Gun Co
22nd JNAF AF Unit
6th Shipping Engr Rgt /1

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AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR October 29, 43
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Morning Air attack on Toungoo , at 57,50

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 12 NM, estimated altitude 35,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Japanese aircraft
N1K1-J George x 27
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 8
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 14

Allied aircraft
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 25

Japanese aircraft losses
N1K1-J George: 5 destroyed
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 1 destroyed

No Allied losses

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x P-47D2 Thunderbolt sweeping at 35000 feet

CAP engaged:
Zuikaku-1 with N1K1-J George (3 airborne, 7 on standby, 17 scrambling)
15 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters to 15000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 7 minutes
13th Sentai with Ki-45 KAIa Nick (0 airborne, 10 on standby, 0 scrambling)
4 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters to 15000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 24 minutes
64th Sentai with Ki-44-IIc Tojo (0 airborne, 6 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 20000 , scrambling fighters to 20000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 22 minutes

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Morning Air attack on Lae , at 99,126

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 47 NM, estimated altitude 38,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 9

Allied aircraft
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 15

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 4 destroyed

No Allied losses

Aircraft Attacking:
10 x P-47D2 Thunderbolt sweeping at 35000 feet

CAP engaged:
26th Sentai with Ki-44-IIc Tojo (0 airborne, 6 on standby, 0 scrambling)
6 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters to 15000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 2 minutes

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Toungoo , at 57,50

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 29 NM, estimated altitude 35,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes

Japanese aircraft
N1K1-J George x 5
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 5
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 9

Allied aircraft
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 24

Japanese aircraft losses
N1K1-J George: 1 destroyed
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 1 destroyed
Ki-45 KAIa Nick: 4 destroyed

No Allied losses

Aircraft Attacking:
12 x P-47D2 Thunderbolt sweeping at 35000 feet

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Toungoo , at 57,50

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 34 NM, estimated altitude 38,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Allied aircraft
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 25

No Allied losses

Aircraft Attacking:
25 x P-47D2 Thunderbolt sweeping at 35000 feet

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

Ground combat at Port Moresby (98,130)

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 540 troops, 40 guns, 36 vehicles, Assault Value = 1134

Defending force 25305 troops, 244 guns, 74 vehicles, Assault Value = 873

Japanese ground losses:
10 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
102nd Combat Engineer Regiment
1st USMC Corps Tank Battalion
754th Tank Battalion
1st Marine Division
25th Infantry Division
1st USMC Tank Battalion
II Aus Corps Engineer Battalion
1st USMC Field Artillery Battalion
I US Amphib Corps
I US Corps
131st Field Artillery Battalion
148th Field Artillery Battalion

Defending units:
47th Engineer Regiment
22nd Division
6th Garrison Unit
91st Infantry Regiment
14th Garrison Unit
Kure 7th SNLF /1
16th AA Regiment
31st Fld AA Gun Co
30th Fld AA Gun Co
22nd JNAF AF Unit
6th Shipping Engr Rgt /1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/font]

Reinforcements: None.

Losses: None.

Ships Sunk: None.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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[font="Trebuchet MS"]I'm dreading what will happen when he starts getting these babies at 175 a month. [:(][/font]
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[obvert]

[font="Times New Roman"]30 - 31 October 1943[/font]
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]SUBS: [/font] Four different subs make contact with the bombardment TF heading for Port Moresby. None score. Again. Hopefully the dice are waiting for something later to give these guys a bigger better target. At least none were nailed in return by the DDs.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]SOUTH PACIFIC:[/font] Again massive air raids and surface bombardment have little affect at Port Moresby. These guys are tough. I like his fixation here. I hope it continues. It's all bound to come unravelled after a while, but it's been a good long ride.

On the 31st he lands more arty, and the auto bombardment costs our troops more than anything the enemy has done in a week. i really wish these silly auto-controlled features were taken out. If I want them to bombard I would set them to do that, right?

I think the 8cm DP guns have an affect immediately, not hitting the landing craft but taking out a good number of Allied guns during the landing. I have decided to try to fast transport the 12cm guns in. Might be foolish, but I'll only go if it looks clear and I get a fast shot from close.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]WEST OZ: [/font] A few amphib TFs formed at Soerabaja to bring some troops back from Exmouth. I'll at least re-allocate the Naval Guard to Broome, which has no garrison. The arty will be likely pulled back, although the anti-tank guns might just stay for a bit. I don't want his sigint to light up and have him turn those troops around again to come a third time. If they did I'd just have to bring my stuff back, I guess.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]BURMA: [/font] Sweeps of Allied troops show no LR CAP over them. I'll wait a few days before exploring this further.

[font="Trebuchet MS"]--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR October 30, 43
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ASW attack near Portland Roads at 94,132

Japanese Ships
SS RO-60, hits 1

Allied Ships
CA Baltimore
DD Mustin
DD Balch
DD Reid
DD Perkins

SS RO-60 is sighted by escort
RO-60 diving deep ....
DD Reid fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Perkins fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Perkins attacking submerged sub ....
Escort abandons search for sub

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Portland Roads at 94,131

Japanese Ships
SS I-160

Allied Ships
DD Reid
CA Baltimore
DD Balch
DD Perkins

SS I-160 launches 2 torpedoes at DD Reid
DD Balch fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Perkins attacking submerged sub ....
SS I-160 eludes ASW attack from DD Perkins
DD Perkins cannot establish contact with SS I-160
Escort abandons search for sub

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Night Naval bombardment of Port Moresby at 98,130

Allied Ships
CA Baltimore
CA Wichita
CA Astoria
CA Salt Lake City
DD Balch
DD Reid
DD Perkins
DD O'Brien
DD Russell
DD Mustin

Japanese ground losses:
53 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Vehicles lost 3 (1 destroyed, 2 disabled)

Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 16
Port hits 2
Port supply hits 1

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ASW attack near Port Moresby at 97,131

Japanese Ships
SS I-172, hits 2

Allied Ships
CA Baltimore
DD Mustin
DD Balch
DD Reid
DD Perkins

SS I-172 is sighted by escort
DD Balch fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Reid attacking submerged sub ....
DD Perkins attacking submerged sub ....
DD Reid fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Perkins fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

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Sub attack near Port Moresby at 96,131

Japanese Ships
SS I-10

Allied Ships
DD Mustin
CA Baltimore
CA Salt Lake City
DD Russell
DD Balch
DD Reid
DD Perkins

SS I-10 launches 2 torpedoes at DD Mustin
I-10 diving deep ....
DD Balch fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Perkins attacking submerged sub ....
DD Perkins is out of ASW ammo
DD Perkins is out of ASW ammo
DD Perkins fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

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Morning Air attack on Kure 7th SNLF, at 98,130 (Port Moresby)

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 27 minutes

Allied aircraft
Hudson III (LR) x 10
Mitchell II x 12
B-17E Fortress x 23
B-24D Liberator x 28
B-24D1 Liberator x 73
B-24J Liberator x 7
B-25C Mitchell x 21
PB4Y-1 Liberator x 10

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 1 damaged
B-24D1 Liberator: 5 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
17 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Aircraft Attacking:
10 x PB4Y-1 Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

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Morning Air attack on 91st Infantry Regiment, at 98,130 (Port Moresby)

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid detected at 73 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 21 minutes

Allied aircraft
Mitchell II x 11
B-25C Mitchell x 9
B-25D1 Mitchell x 74

Allied aircraft losses
B-25D1 Mitchell: 1 destroyed by flak

Aircraft Attacking:
11 x Mitchell II bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb

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AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR October 31, 43
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Pre-Invasion action off Port Moresby (98,130)

294 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
SC-648
SC-646
SC-636
SC-517

Allied ground losses:
Guns lost 13 (1 destroyed, 12 disabled)

SC-648 fired at enemy troops
SC-646 fired at enemy troops
SC-636 fired at enemy troops
SC-517 fired at enemy troops
Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 6,000 yards
Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 1,000 yards 8cm DP guns working!

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Amphibious Assault at Port Moresby (98,130)

TF 371 troops unloading over beach at Port Moresby, 98,130

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Morning Air attack on III Indian Corps, at 60,42 , near Kalemyo

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid spotted at 21 NM, estimated altitude 34,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 42

No Japanese losses

Aircraft Attacking:
42 x Ki-44-IIa Tojo sweeping at 31000 feet

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Morning Air attack on III Indian Corps, at 60,42 , near Kalemyo

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid spotted at 13 NM, estimated altitude 35,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-61-Ib Tony x 30

No Japanese losses

Aircraft Attacking:
30 x Ki-61-Ib Tony sweeping at 31000 feet *

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Sub attack near Port Moresby at 98,130

Japanese Ships
SS RO-36

Allied Ships
LCT-178
LCT-378
LCT-373
LCT-180
LCT-175
LCT-170
SC-648
SC-646

SS RO-36 cannot acquire firing solution on enemy LCT Again subs are useless against these craft, which is probably historically accurate, but they could at least fire a spread in to go for the escorts.

SC-648 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC-646 fails to find sub and abandons search
SC-648 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

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

Ground combat at Port Moresby (98,130)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 23329 troops, 188 guns, 42 vehicles, Assault Value = 888 In spite of the auto-bombard give-away the AV is popping up nicely here after lifting the 7th SNLF in. Is the extra support helping?

Defending force 29955 troops, 487 guns, 660 vehicles, Assault Value = 1140

Japanese ground losses:
135 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 11 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Assaulting units:
22nd Division
47th Engineer Regiment
14th Garrison Unit
6th Garrison Unit
91st Infantry Regiment
Kure 7th SNLF /1
22nd JNAF AF Unit
16th AA Regiment
30th Fld AA Gun Co
31st Fld AA Gun Co
6th Shipping Engr Rgt /1

Defending units:
25th Infantry Division
1st USMC Tank Battalion
754th Tank Battalion
102nd Combat Engineer Regiment
1st Marine Division
1st USMC Corps Tank Battalion
II Aus Corps Engineer Battalion
I US Amphib Corps
1st USMC Field Artillery Battalion
131st Field Artillery Battalion
I US Corps
148th Field Artillery Battalion

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/font]

Reinforcements: MTBs at last! I didn't realize these were such crap boats. 22 knots? Obviously only useful for annoyance purposes.

Ryuho finally gets her air groups. I have another trained unit working on the ship, so these will be slightly resized and move into a reserve/training role in the DEI, close enough to the action to be ready in a day or two if needed. The same will be the case for the two new zero groups arriving. All new units must train their own pilots even if going into combat missions. I just don't have enough and want to keep a small pool free at least.

[font="Trebuchet MS"]MTB G-151 arrives at Yokohama/Yokosuka
Ryuho-1 arrives on Ryuho
Ryuho-2 arrives on Ryuho
263 Ku S-2 arrives at Genzan
265 Ku S-2 arrives at Kagoshima
SC CHa-69 arrives at Hirosaki/Aomori
[/font]

Losses: None.

Ships Sunk: None.

[font="Trebuchet MS"]Previous report of sinking of DD Smith incorrect. Intelligence reports ship is still in service[/font]
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[font="Trebuchet MS"]Tomorrow is a big day! [8D][/font]
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[Dora09]

Just my opinion but think the Ki84 is one of the most beautiful aircraft ever designed and that photo illustrates it so well. The Japanese designers had a knack for making many of their fighters look tough and beautiful at the same time. Sort of a warrior-poet thing.