Nothing Up My Sleeve: Magical Moose Tricks--Bullwinkle58 vs.1EyedJacks

[Bullwinkle58]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

Thought you said you were sending 5 BB/BC. The spreadsheet only shows four. Did one have to drop out?

There are five. That's a damage report.

Nevada, Idaho, Mississippi, Colorado, New Mexico. Plus five DDs.

[Bullwinkle58]

ORIGINAL: catwhoorg

*waits with baited breath*

Well, just sent the turn back. It may not be as exciting as I'd hoped.

The IJN BBs bugged out due west, two hexes. Looks like all five are together, although one reads as a CA again. Mutsu I assume is having speed problems. Still, the slowest one is faster than my BBs, so I slowed them from Full and left them on naval for Johnson.

At the island it looks like he left all the small fry. The ASW types, minelayers, etc. read as heading EAST, maybe to try to eat BB ops points, maybe to try to get a torpedo into one or two. At the island at least one tanker and one xAK read as still being there.

Left BBs on course, slowed, left on naval, gave Do Not Withdraw orders. They will hit what they can that floats, then stay to bombard. The relatively healthy survivors from yesterday (some have half their main gun ammo left) I reversed back to Johnson to hunt and assist the BBs. The damaged ones I put on Cruise for Pearl. Fires may get one more CA.

I organized another surface TF at Pearl of about 10 DDs and sent it to Johnson at Mission.

Johnson reads as having a much larger fighter presence today--about 29 from memory--and a few more bombers. Auxiliaries were up in the 20s as well.

I spent half an hour juggling subs and counting hexes, adjusting speeds, worrying about fuel loads, and making new patrol areas with some Linger settings to try to cover retirement courses for the IJN BBs. I assume they're going to Truk eventually, but the question is how long do they stay on course 270? I compromised, but put most of the subs which can play on that base course with React=1 orders. From yesterday I assume they have about 3 DDs with them, but that could be low depending on what was at Johnson and not in a TF.

All this might be for nothing, but the after-battle planning is fun and can lead to good things. If the KB was at Kwajalein though I don't have more than a day to hang around. Or less.

[BBfanboy]

You may have to send out a replenishment TF to get those BBs home - they are fuel pigs at mission speed, must be gluttons at full speed!
Speaking of missions, what did you mean by "DDs ... sent it to Johnson at Mission" ?

About the CA fires, I am not certain but it seems to me that when I have an Escort TF with a burning ship and I put a nearly undamaged ship with it the fires go down faster ... help in firefighting? Undamaged ships help with pumping so why not fires?

If the IJN BBs have any flotation damage they will have to head for a dry dock - nearest one being Yokosuka, I think.

[Bullwinkle58]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

You may have to send out a replenishment TF to get those BBs home - they are fuel pigs at mission speed, must be gluttons at full speed!
Speaking of missions, what did you mean by "DDs ... sent it to Johnson at Mission" ?

About the CA fires, I am not certain but it seems to me that when I have an Escort TF with a burning ship and I put a nearly undamaged ship with it the fires go down faster ... help in firefighting? Undamaged ships help with pumping so why not fires?

If the IJN BBs have any flotation damage they will have to head for a dry dock - nearest one being Yokosuka, I think.

I'll look at fuel on the next turn. The BBs only did about ten hexes at Full. I think they'll be OK.

The DDs went at Mission speed, not Full. Sometimes I write in shorthand. Sorry.

The Escort Tf with the Fires has an undamaged DD in it, plus some damaged, but not burning cruisers.

If the BBs have any float it'll be minor. Mutsu is the best candidate. What I'm hoping for is system in the high 20s or 30s. Even if it can be fixed at Truk if there are several like that I might get a month or six weeks to really pound Johnson. If he wants to stop that then he'll need carriers. And I have some of those too, untouched.

[Bullwinkle58]

February 19, 1942--Overnight Movie Time

Operation NEUMAN Phase 1.5

I have the movie as well as the next turn. Given I can only put one screenshot in a post I thought I'd offer the below. This was my best effort, over a couple of movie viewings, to capture an expanding "red flower" at Johnson Island which pulsed open over several frames in the night portion of the turn. A very good job by Mike of a wholesale bug-out which makes the BBs, with the code as it is plus the BB TF having Reaction=6 orders, do exactly what I did NOT want them to do.

I had set React=6 for the Full speed transit. I didn't know what would happen when the cruiser TF hit Johnson and right after. I hoped the IJN BBs would stay there, but I also figured that was long odds, so I gave my BBs reaction orders to increase the chance I would get an intercept. Instead my BBs latched onto something going south, not west to hunt the IJN BBs. Moonlight at 14% did not help any.

This is the "flower" at about the maximum I saw before the movie shifted to the Java Sea.

[Bullwinkle58]

February 19, 1942

Operation NEUMAN Phase 2, Such As It Is

1) A picture is worth a thousand words. Here's a couple hundred at least. Stutus as I open the new turn file:





The two Escort TFs to the NE are a lone DD (Wilkes I beleive) with medium damage, but survivable, and a multi-cruiser plus healthy DD TF which is limited to 1 knot due to CA Portland. Flooding to 85, Fires increase to 77. She's a goner 98%, but I'm going to give it one more turn because miracle DC rolls can happen. I'll eat the scuttle VP bonus to give her a chance.

The surface TF half way to Johnson is the ten DDs sent at Mission speed.

The surface TF at Johnson is the healthy survivors from yesterday on Do Not WIthdraw. Mixed CA/CL/DDs.

The surface TF to the SE of the island is the BBs, now at Mission speed, and having no contacts after reacting last night to the wrong rabbit. The IJN icon due west of Johnson is the IJN BBs, which have not moved a whit during the turn. (Comparing the last screenshot above to this one makes me feel like I'm examining the Zapruder film.) That this TF is still here is both exhilirating and terrifying.

I have to run errands and will do the turn later, but right now my thoughts go in these directions:

A) Is there more damage than I thought and he needs to get one or more back to a pier? Maybe he's hoping I leave as I did in the cruiser raid last month.

B) There's more damage than I thought and this is all the speed the TF can make. In that case my BBs can easily catch it.

C) There's less damage than I thought and it's coming back to get the cruiser TF I left. He knows the exact composition of that one at max, and at max he roughed it up a lot. He also knows what sank before his eyes, plus a good guess that at least two more CAs are really broken. Even with minimal main gun ammo he can do a lot more damage through fires.

D) He's baiting me to stay since the KB is coming. During the movie I got the "Sighted Main Body!" sound effect. Examination of all three text report files shows no sighting detailing carriers. It's also posisble this was a stray sighting of the MKB transiting north of Timor.

E) He only saw the Colorodo yesterday in the Betty attack. He might think the TF to the south, which is five BBs, is one BB and some more cruisers, with his FOW over-reporting. If so he might be hanging around with his five, even low on ammo and damaged X amount, to pound on Colorado.

F) Any of any number of other possibilities I haven't thought of. This is the one I'm really afraid of.

Additionally, the detection level at Johnson is 6/8, and no, zero, nada aircraft show on the mouse-over. I have not counted hexes, but can Zeros make the eastern Gilberts/Marshalls? Can they make Palmyra? Or is the report FOWed?

What to do? I will ponder while I'm out. Safe to say though that Operation NEUMAN is now ad hoc.

2) Two tankers and a PB are attacked in deep water by a Dutch sub in the Makassar Strait. Miss, but I now have confirmation he is running tankers through the sub wall. I don't know if they were going or coming. But there are finally targets here other than pee-wee ASW craft.

3) RO-3 sneaks into Port Blair harbor and exchages gunfire with an unloading xAK for one hit each. So there are subs up here too now. I have nearly no escorts for this whole sub-region, so a lot of small convoys are running bare. That will be the case for some time. Pt. Blair has most of an Aussie division in place plus a base force. The port was too small to unload all heavy equipment, which went back to Colombo. The port is being prioritized for build. Supply here is in the mid-20,000s. I really want to hold Pt. Blair.

4) At Singers maximum bombing is back. A lot of Marys, Lilys, and Sallys and a lot of damaged planes. The Allies manage to get a little over 2000 supply slipped in. There are no surface or carrier assets seen. Four more transports are loading at Palembang, but the port there is maxed at a 4, so it takes time. Singers by contrast is a vacuum cleaner when unloading. Japan has to make a decision to impose a blockade on Singers whatever the cost or the siege won't end. Morale and disruption in the city are in great shape. If I can keep dripping supply in this can go on. I think the bombing at Palembang is intended to kill the TBs, and it's working to an extent, but in this test of wills I won't pull air forces out of the Palembang--Singers axis. The planes are hard to lose, but the time gained for other areas is invaluable.

5) Forts do 2 more Oil damage at Djambi. My entire B-26 night bombing misison on Djambi AF from Batavia gets lost and RTBs.

6) No ground battles. Much troop bombing in China. Bataan is down to about 7000 supply. I have sent as much low-support engineering LCUs forward to Clark to die as I can and still have enough support at Bataan. There's no more ways to optimize Bataan's defenses I can see. It's just a matter of time now.

[BBfanboy]

Even a heavily damaged TF will move one hex per turn. If that one did not move he is up to something, or maybe he just set "Retirement allowed" after sending it a few hexes away from JI. Another possiblity - he brought up an AE [parked at JI originally] and used up all his Op Points replenishing at sea.

Your B-26s went in at night to hit oil wells in 14% moonlight? That's optimism![:)]

[Bullwinkle58]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

Even a heavily damaged TF will move one hex per turn. If that one did not move he is up to something, or maybe he just set "Retirement allowed" after sending it a few hexes away from JI. Another possiblity - he brought up an AE [parked at JI originally] and used up all his Op Points replenishing at sea.

Your B-26s went in at night to hit oil wells in 14% moonlight? That's optimism![:)]

Just ran the movie. Anti-climax. The BBs suddenly got rocket engines. More tomorrow.

AEs can't rearm at sea until January 1945, and can never do so for Japan.

The B-26s were sent to bomb the airfield. Didn't matter.

[BBfanboy]

Interesting points about the AEs - I always thought the difference between the AE and AKE was at-sea replenishment for the former, starting from day one.
I've seen pictures of high-line transfers of bundles of bombs to a carrier, but I couldn't swear it was before 1945. Fantastic seamanship to keep the ships the right distance apart and neither snap the line nor dunk the transfer package.

[Bullwinkle58]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

Interesting points about the AEs - I always thought the difference between the AE and AKE was at-sea replenishment for the former, starting from day one.

It's on page 276 of the manual. I can't find where it says USN only, but I'm 90% sure that's a rule.

[ny59giants]

The Lassen Class AEs are the only ones that can reload your BBs, so they go into Fast AO category for priority in escorts and trying real hard not to get sunk. The Harriman xAKs can convert to AKEs and are very useful.

I like to use the Argonaut and some of the other older subs in a Minelaying TF that should be making Johnson a dangerous place for his ships unless he has minesweepers there. As Japan, it is easy to forget the need to move some DMSs from Formosa over to the eastern Pacific.

[Crackaces]

The Lassen Class AEs are the only ones that can reload your BBs,

I thought restocking the USN BB's at smaller ports than 7 was a factor of port size, naval support points, and AKE/AE's -- thus a port size of 4 plus the Harriman AKE conversion has enough operation points to stock up one BB .. and the number of BB's restocked depends on total number of operation points provided by multiple AKE's .. am I incorrect ?

I am abstracting the ammo requirement table in my analysis ...

[ny59giants]

The Lassen Class AEs are the only ones that can reload your BBs,

I thought restocking the USN BB's at smaller ports than 7 was a factor of port size, naval support points, and AKE/AE's -- thus a port size of 4 plus the Harriman AKE conversion has enough operation points to stock up one BB .. and the number of BB's restocked depends on total number of operation points provided by multiple AKE's .. am I incorrect ?

I am abstracting the ammo requirement table in my analysis ...

So, the question about reloading warships, especially the BBs, is what is the equation??
1) Is it Port Size + Naval Support = reload
2) Is it Port Size + Naval Support + AE/AKE = reload
3) Is it just AE/AKE = reload

Looking in the Manual (page 284 & 85) under section 20.1.2.2 Ship Rearmament at Port Table, the choices would be option 1 & 3 only. Thus, the Lassen AEs can reload all but the late war BBs, it would seem.

[Crackaces]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

The Lassen Class AEs are the only ones that can reload your BBs,

I thought restocking the USN BB's at smaller ports than 7 was a factor of port size, naval support points, and AKE/AE's -- thus a port size of 4 plus the Harriman AKE conversion has enough operation points to stock up one BB .. and the number of BB's restocked depends on total number of operation points provided by multiple AKE's .. am I incorrect ?

I am abstracting the ammo requirement table in my analysis ...

So, the question about reloading warships, especially the BBs, is what is the equation??
1) Is it Port Size + Naval Support = reload
2) Is it Port Size + Naval Support + AE/AKE = reload
3) Is it just AE/AKE = reload

Looking in the Manual (page 284 & 85) under section 20.1.2.2 Ship Rearmament at Port Table, the choices would be option 1 & 3 only. Thus, the Lassen AEs can reload all but the late war BBs, it would seem.

Ahhhh .. I now understand re-reading with this context ..

What makes me confusied is:

"The Rearm Table shows the number of Naval Support squads, in different size Ports, and/or the types of tenders, required for rearming certain weapons" That 'and/or' lead me to believe that (2) Port Size + Naval Support + AE/AKE = reload was a part of the algorithum.

However, Reading:

"Ports that are normally too small to rearm certain weapons may do so if an appropriate tender is at anchor in the Port. The weapon Rearm Cost must be “less than or equal to” the tender “cargo capacity”.

So this leads me to agree that a AKE/AE big enough to fulfill the armament load requirement fulfills the minimum port requement and then naval support adds to reload. Operation points are not discussed here at all but I note them in my obervation of the game.

Lesson . get those Lassen Class AEs where you can support BB's or seize level 7 ports ... [8D] My misnderstanding is that I thought I had in my 2 PBEM games resupplied BB's at Tabitituea . but maybe only the pre-war and not the New Jersey as an example which were reloaded at larger 7 level ports.

[Bullwinkle58]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

The Lassen Class AEs are the only ones that can reload your BBs, so they go into Fast AO category for priority in escorts and trying real hard not to get sunk. The Harriman xAKs can convert to AKEs and are very useful.

I like to use the Argonaut and some of the other older subs in a Minelaying TF that should be making Johnson a dangerous place for his ships unless he has minesweepers there. As Japan, it is easy to forget the need to move some DMSs from Formosa over to the eastern Pacific.

I have converted over 20 xAKs to AKEs. You can never have too many, especially in the DEI later. AEs in my experience are a nice-to-have by January 1945 when they can do underway replenishment. They're great for restocking AA ammo in kami-land, but OTOH by then the forward bases are pretty far forward.

I mined a whole lot in the first six weeks, and the pools are down to 1s and 2s. Japan has been very conscientious about placing minesweepers where needed. I've mined Johnson at least three itmes, but he takes them down fast. I shifted to some at Palmyra, and the majority at Kwajalein, due to higher traffic. I'm also leaving the SST upgrades undone and maintaining the minelayer subs for the much more powerful mines coming next year.

[Bullwinkle58]

February 20, 1942

Operation NEUMAN--Closing Moves, Lessons Learned

1) The stern chase scenario of BB on BB did not pan out. The five IJN BBs developed some really high speed and skedaddled over the hill, waved at by several subs as they passed. (Can't wait for some (deleted) sub radar!) Why did they hang around that extra day two hexes west of Johnson? I might know in a couple of years when I read Mike's AAR. I can speculate that he didn't see or appreciate my BBs and thought to come back and re-engage the cruisers which stayed to bombard. Or, he might have wanted to wait and see if I withdrew and not waste the retreat fuel, or abandon the base to further attack if a landing force was coming. This was something I did not consider in pre-planning, but it makes sense. That much surface force would, in the general AE community, normally be a precursor to a landing.

Regardless, the tableau looks like this at dawn February 21, after the movie and turn roundtrip in e-mail:





The red surface icons read as CMs and light patrol craft. The BBs were seen during the movie passing the gaggle of subs farther west. They did not shoot. The cruiser remnants have bombarded and are just west of the westernmost Escort TF. That one is damaged cruisers, less USS Portland, which sank from Fires and 85+ System damage. The dice gods did not smile. CA New Orleans in that TF is in trouble. Overnight, Fires increased from 24 to 43. With Portland gone though the speed will increase to full Cruise and she should make Pearl with Fires raging, but more help to put them out. I give her 50/50 odds as of this turn. Losing three CAs, a CL, and a DD on NEUMAN would be beyond my loss budget and would move the operation from a strategic win/tactical loss to a full loss.

The five USN BBs are SW of the island finishing up a Full speed waypoint set which did not get its prey. It will bombard and withdraw to Pearl this turn. To the SE is the 10-DD TF which was vectored based on the bug-out screenshots to try for refugees making for Palmyra. Finding nothing it will return to Johnson to perhaps find some small fry back, or to bombard and retire. In all TFs fuel state is fine. There should be no need for replenishment.

Intel gives huge alerts/radio chatter at Truk and Kwajalein. I would rate the chances that the KB is about to be fairly high, another reason to get the sheep under CAP again.

Assuming disaster is not in the offing, what did NEUMAN accomplish? It did force the BBs to flee; it changed the dynamic at Johnson and by extension around Pearl. Japan knows I will strike it even without carriers. Its use as a sub base is somewhat compromised. (We'll see what the bombardment TFs find/do.) It tells Japan the Allies are confident enough that Pearl is secure that they will risk most of the present surface striking arm of the USN.

Of course, what it didn't do is also important. The IJN BBs are still afloat. Damage is not that bad if that sprint away is an indicator, even of Mutsu's status. It didn't sink any subs or support assets. It didn't devastate the airfield. And it lost the USN at least two CAs, perhaps three, and a CL.

It could have been worse. It could have been better.

For diary purposes, the results of the cruiser bombardment. Apparently, despite recon results, at least a few planes are there:

Night Naval bombardment of Johnston Island at 164,112

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 1 damaged

Allied Ships
CA Salt Lake City
CL Helena
CL Concord
CL Raleigh
DD Blue

Japanese ground losses:
57 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 19 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Airbase hits 12
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 35
Port hits 14
Port fuel hits 2
Port supply hits 8

2) Increasing ASW activity in the Sea of Japan. Silversides is attacked by an SC, the first of these seen. If this makes ASW stay home, good.

3) In the Makassar Strait Dutch subs are attacked (O16) after challenging ASW TFs, and strike home (O19) which sinks xAK Tamashima Maru. This ship was carrying troops.

4) Proving that USN subs did their job, one sighting of the IJN BBs was acomplished. Unclear if this is a partial sighting or if Japan has split the TF by speeds and the Mutsu is in a different one.

ASW attack near Johnston Island at 151,112

Japanese Ships
BB Nagato
BB Kirishima
DD Mochizuki
DD Ariake
DD Yunagi

Allied Ships
SS Argonaut

5) Sweep battles over Palembang favor Japan. Palembang--Singers right now is an interesting rock-paper-scissors. Palembang AF holds naval attack assets needed to deter IJN surface activity to stop the transports to Singers. The transports are needed to make Singers expensive for Japan. So Japan attacks Palembang, to allow the IJN to stop the transports. The Allies shuffle planes in and out, use Oosthaven as an interim repair depot for damaged planes (they can train there from Palembang without eating P's limited aviaiton support), and generally wave a red flag at the bull to buy peace and quiet for the transports. Singers' supplies went to 10,500 today, and more aviation support assets--and mouths to feed--are coming out of Singers on the empties.

6) Daytime AF bombing at Djambi is attempted. B-26s get hurt. Won't do that again. These guys should be geting experimental subject pay in their checks. The Vindicators fly a naval attack mission on Djambi. Djambi has no port, there are no sightings of naval assets there. One is lost, two damaged. A mystery.

7) No ground battles. Lots of China bombing. Japan takes a vacant Chihkiang.

[BBfanboy]

All that missed action because that react setting took your BBs out of play. Rats!

What happened with your burning CA - did it succumb or was there a MLK day miracle?

[Bullwinkle58]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

All that missed action because that react setting took your BBs out of play. Rats!

Yeah, in retrospect. In planning I figured I'd be very unhappy if the BBs went to Johnson with React=0 and sat there with the BBs a hex away laughing. War is hell.

What happened with your burning CA - did it succumb or was there a MLK day miracle?

It sank. There is a new burning prospect. Mentioned in the post above.

[Bullwinkle58]

February 21, 1942

"It's a trap, Jim!"

Yeah, I got suckered good. My PBEM lessons continue. Operation NEUMAN wasn't over.





1) Turn starts in night phase with the BBs bombarding Johnson. Not a lot of damage because apparently there's not a lot there. Was it evaced of aircraft and the BBs left as pure bait? Don't know. Despite four of the USN BBs having their planes on recon at 2000-6000 feet, this is all they accomplished:

Night Naval bombardment of Johnston Island at 164,112

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
H6K4 Mavis: 2 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 1 damaged

Allied Ships
BB Mississippi
BB New Mexico
BB Idaho
BB Nevada
BB Colorado
DD Shaw
DD Lamson
DD McCall
DD Jarvis
DD Patterson

Japanese ground losses:
411 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 27 destroyed, 63 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 10 disabled
Guns lost 6 (3 destroyed, 3 disabled)
Vehicles lost 11 (4 destroyed, 7 disabled)

Airbase hits 14
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 30
Port hits 15
Port fuel hits 1
Port supply hits 6

It has a 6000 man limit, and I figure most of that had to be aviation suport, so the KIAs aren't bad, but it's still a lot of effort and risk for not much.

He also left I-23 in the harbor. It didn't get off a shot nor was it damaged in the ASW repsonse.

The BBs left for Pearl, and a good thing. The DDs came up from the south with Do Not Withdraw orders at Johnson, else they would have been headed home by daybreak. I wanted to see if anything came back overnight. Instead the situation in the screenshot above unfolded. I don't know what carriers were there. In the movie comment lines all I saw was air units from Soryu and Kaga. It was not a good day to be a tin can sailor:

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Johnston Island at 164,112

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid detected at 33 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 55
B5N2 Kate x 42
D3A1 Val x 34

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 1 damaged
D3A1 Val: 1 damaged

Allied Ships
DD Cassin, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
DD Farragut
DD Lawrence
DD Monaghan
DD Dewey, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Talbot, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
DD Ralph Talbot

Flooding on CA New Orleans worsened in three pulses, usually a sign the ship is doomed. I merged the healthy cruisers with the Escort TF, so there's more good ships there to help with the DC if the code runs that way, but I don't have high hopes unless the Fires miraculously went out. That, along with the DDs getting jumped and the lack of production at Johnson make this a bust of an operation. No other way to spin it. I got schooled.

2) In the Singers region, mixed events. AG Deneb is sunk after two tries, the first a sub which misses, the second aerial attack by Marys. They also bomb and sink xAK Mariso, a large ship running in supplies. Bombing at Singers is intense.

3) A heavy Betty strike on Soerbaja doesn't go well for Japan. The vector looks like Balikpapan, but it could have been from farther up the coast too. The ancient Dutch fighters do pretty well.

Morning Air attack on Soerabaja , at 56,104

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 31 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 9
G4M1 Betty x 21

Allied aircraft
Blenheim IF x 1
B-339D x 15
75A-7 Hawk x 5

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
G4M1 Betty: 6 destroyed, 4 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
B-339D: 1 destroyed
139WH-3: 1 destroyed on ground
A-24 Banshee: 1 destroyed on ground

Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 12

4) The AA falls silent at Bataan; the base is out of supplies.

5) S-28 offers the only good news of the day, sinking a PB in company with a DD near Johnson, in two separate attacks. Perhpas the CO replacement program is working. I believe this was a refugee TF from Johnson.

Sub attack near Johnston Island at 153,109

Japanese Ships
PB Koei Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
xAK Cheribon Maru
DD Nenohi

Allied Ships
SS S-28

Submarine attack near Johnston Island at 153,109

Japanese Ships
PB Koei Maru, Torpedo hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage

Allied Ships
SS S-28

Three torpedoes in a PB makes confetti. So, we celebrate the end of a bad day. Tomorrow is another try.

[Bullwinkle58]

Just got the next turn back. CA New Orleans did sink. So, three CAs on this op. Rats!