Rumble in the N. Pacific. Kaleun vs Alex L

[kaleun]

March 13th

40 Kates with 28 Zeroes attack Noumea yet again. This time, the allies retaliate. 7 P40E escort 13 A24 Banshees to the vicinity of the enemy carrier task force. After punching through the enemy CAP 3 Banshees get through and miss CV Akagi. Later in the day 11 Banshees, unescorted, attempt to attack the carriers and are wiped out.

Darwin also comes under carrier borne air attack. 27 Kate bombers and 9 Zero fighters.

Milne Bay is captured by the enemy.

[kaleun]

March 21, 1942
News, all of them bad.

Lunga, bombarded and invaded on March 16th falls on the 18th. The 34th Infantry Regiment and the 2nd USMC engineer regiment surrender.

SS Pompano, SE of Truk duds on DD Kasaragi on the 16th. SS Grayback duds on xAK Ikushima Maru near Lunga and SS Seawolf, NE of Billiton duds on xAP Hussimi Maru on the 19th. S of Koggala, SSI-164 misses on BB Resolution and takes two depth charge hits in return.

On the 20th, SS RO34 torpedoes and sinks DD Gilmer 120 nautical miles East of Sidney. SS Pompano duds on SC ch3. Samarinda invaded. The base will fall the next day.

March 22, 1942.

It gets worse. CV Indomitable, approaching Perth is hit by a torpedo. The enemy submarine escapes in the confusion. The carrier enters Perth with 19 SD and 20 flotation damage. The shipyard at the harbor cannot handle a ship of that size; neither can any shipyard in Australia. Emergency repairs begin, but the ship will have to withdraw to Cape Town for final repairs. To make matters worse, the Admiralty requires that she be returned to the United Kingdom by July the 21st.

[kaleun]

March 25th

SS Cachalot misses CVL Shoho E of Nauru. OTOH the torpedo would probably be a dud anyway since, later in the day, she duds on DD Yamakaze. Nearby, SS Cuttlefish duds on DD Shirami.

An enemy fleet is seen approaching Attu Island.

The flotation damage on Indomitable drops to 9, but system remains at 18. No further repairs possible with the limited resources available. The ship will make steam and attempt to crawl to Cape Town at reduced speed.

March 27th
Not a good month.

SS KXIV scores on xAK Zazan Maru, then duds on her. In the Ceram Sea, SS Seal duds on Yamashiro, and then duds again on PB Tyoya Maru.

Feverishly, engineers and soldiers complete the first level of fortifications on the windswept, desolate island. The enemy invasion fleet continues to approach.

Malang and Zamboanga invaded.

A large enemy fleet was detected East of Efate.

[kaleun]

A few words need to be said about the Aleutians.

The Aleutian Islands, as everyone knows, extend from mainland Alaska, like a chain of rosary beads, extending towards the Japanese held Kuriles. Early in the war, the Navy decided to expand the facilities at Dutch Harbor and create a submarine base there. A sub tender, and other support ships were dispatched, as well as engineering, coastal defense and other support crews. US submarines could reach the Japanese home islands easily from this base, instead of the long, wasteful ocean crossing from Midway where, by the way, a second advanced submarine base will be constructed as soon as the harbor is expanded enough to allow for adequate fuel storage.

The S class submarines, the pig boats, could reach the Japanese island of Sakhalin, and the oil port of Shikuka and Toyohara. They lacked the range to reach the other, larger islands.

No problem.

Dispatch engineers to Attu and create a submarine base there.

Easier said than done. The engineers and support troops have been struggling to build a harbor for more than a month. There is now a small harbor, and a seaplane tender in the island. But as yet, not much more.

Now, for reasons of his own, Alex-san wants the island, it seems.

[kaleun]

March 28th 42
Attu invaded.

Near Malang, in Java, 9 Bllenheim bombers, escorted by 7 Hurricanes score, at last, on an enemy ship. xAKL Hachirogata Maru takes two, 250 Lbs bombs and is left on fire.

Near Nadi, on 25 B26 Marauders with 18 P40E escorts attack the enemy carrier fleet. 65 Zeros on CAP destroy 5 bombers and damage another 9, 6 P40 also fail to return. 17 Marauders drop their 500 lb bombs targeting CV Shokaku and CV Soryu, but all the bombs miss. 48 Zero and 22 Kate bombers retaliate on Suva. Only 4 fighters remain to meet them, the balance escorting the Marauders. Two P40 are destroyed, for 1 Kate bomber. One further Kate falls to AA guns. AMc South Sea and AMc Futurist both sink.

Zamboanga is captured.

At Pearl, CV Hornet sits at anchor. Her instructions are to wait for the enemy carriers to withdraw before proceeding south to help defend Suva and Noumea.

March 29th
Luganville, Attu, and Nadi (Suva) continue to come under enemy bombardment. After the failure of the B26 to score on the enemy carriers, the islands are defenseless. CV Hornet cannot, of course, intervene against such odds. Yet there are no carriers in the Aleutinas. Perhaps there, she could strike.

[kaleun]

March 30th

Off Sidney, enemy submarines swarm like sardines. Perhaps more as a tripwire against any sortie than anything else. Not that there is much to sortie with.

At Suva, the Marauders score on two invasion ships: Kushima Maru and xAP Kasado Maru.

A shock attack in Bataan reduces the fortifications to level 3.

At Attu Island, the enemy attack against 1:3 odds.

The enemy drops parachute forces at LaFoa where they encounter a warm reception by the New Caledonia detachment.
Darwin boasts a level 5 airfield now.

March 31st
Nadi, Ambon and Toboali are captured by the enemy.

The enemy attack at La Foa collapses. The enemy parachute unit is destroyed.

A cruiser force attempts to intercept the invasion fleet at La Foa. Instead it meets a BB force encompassing Haruna and Kongo. In the ensuing battle, DD Lawson sinks to torpedo hits. The cruisers wi Japanese Ships
BB Kongo, Shell hits 1
BB Haruna, Shell hits 1
DD Yukikaze
DD Hayashio, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Amatsukaze
DD Urakaze
DD Shigure
DD Yudachi

Allied Ships
CA Louisville, Shell hits 1
CL Tromp, Shell hits 1
CL Enterprise
DD Lamson, Shell hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Monaghan, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Barker, Shell hits 2thdraw to Sidney.

[kaleun]

April 1st 42
Enemy forces continue to land at La Foa, just north of Noumea, with heavy support from Battleships Haruna and Kongo.

An attack at Tassafaronga was repelled by the Marines. Langsa (In Sumatra) captured by the Japanese.
The enemy task forces have abandoned the Attu Island area. The Surface combat task force that had been dispatched from Pearl Harbor, as well as the Hornet task force are recalled to Pearl.

April 2nd.
La Foa falls. The attacking forces give us a small peek at the intentions of the enemy. There is a Naval fleet headquarters deployed here, the 4th, as well as an Army headquarters, the 21st. The 6th Guards Division, 5th Amphib. Brigade and more are part of the invasion force. These are, of course not meant to stay at La Foa. The enemy intends to establish a major base at Noumea.

North of Noumea, Vanikoro falls to the enemy. Would that captain Nemo still roamed these waters, and was on our side of course. Maybe Nautilus would succeed where the US Navy failed.

April 3rd.
It gets worse. The Gibraltar of the East fell today. So did Balikpapan.

Enemy shipping abandons Koepang so CV Formidable, dispatched to raid the surface forces is ordered to return to Perth.

April 4th.
SS Triton duds on CV Soryu near Nadi!

An enemy Battleship spotted near Timor. CV Formidable turns around yet again in pursuit of this target. She might yet launch her torpedo laden biplanes against a worthy target.

At Pearl, Hornet disbands in port. While waiting for Lex, she might as well upgrade her air defenses.

[kaleun]

April 5th.
After evaluating the enemy strength at Noumea, the estimates are sobering. Nothing less than 1 or 2 Divisions are needed to defend Noumea. Those two divisions are not available anywhere near the South Pacific. In addition, in order for those two divisions to be able to land and defend Noumea, air and naval superiority must be established for the time it would take the transports to transit from the embarkation point (Possibly Aukland) and disembark at Noumea. There are, of course, no assets to provide such superiority. The LBA is little more than useless when attempting to hit naval targets as proven by the radical inability of the B26s from Suva to hit anything.

CV Hornet is refitting and will rejoin service in 6 days. For at least that time, the temptation to use the carrier is removed. Lexington is 74 days away from leaving the dry dock and Wasp is expected in 65 days at Balboa.

Things are not good.

Attu expands its fortifications to level 3. The base should hold until reinforcements arrive.

April 6th
CV Formidable, off the NW shore of Australia ran out of fuel! An oiler sets out from Perth to help her back.

[BBfanboy]

You sound anxious to bring the enemy to battle, but you are not running the IJN right now! By your post count and join date it is clear you are not a newbie, but perhaps you have been playing the IJN side most of the time? The Allies don't yet have the stuff they need to defend their empires, let alone invade anywhere.

Now is the time to take a step back from "doing things" and make some long range plans for the next six to eighteen months. Figure out what you want to hold against his attacks, where you want to be ready to attack, and what bases you want to build up to launch an attack.

Then figure out what forces you might need to do the attack and start the land units preparing. Assign HQs to support the units and have them prep too. Look at your fragment units such as Marine Regiments that are part of a division. If the other fragments are arriving later, you can still start them prepping for a target by clicking on the existing unit and then clicking on the OOB button for the division near the bottom left of the unit screen. Select the future arriving unit and set the target to prep for. Click the back button and repeat as required.

Move out the engineers and AA and CD/Marine Defence Bns you need to secure and build your launch bases. It's too early to launch amphib assaults on islands that he has or likely wants.

Don't do a "Good Sir Robin" with your carriers but don't challenge KB yet either. The Wildcats, Devastators, AA and crew/pilot experience are not up to the job. Use the carriers to raid places where it will hurt him, but only after you get a firm fix on KBs location and it is over 20 hexes away. Take on much weaker carrier forces if you find them and KNOW that KB is not nearby.

Raid with the smaller CLs and DDS [British, Dutch, US Omaha class] but use your CAs and Brooklyn CLs to escort your carriers. You will have enough of them doing refits that you will need most of the rest for escort.

This is just an off-the cuff suggestion about planning a strategy. There are much more detailed discussions in the War Room section of the forum and in many AARs.

[kaleun]

Thanks for reading and commenting BB.
Actually, I am not anxious to bring the enemy to battle. I think my Russian friend Alex-san is trying to get me to bring my remaining assets to battle, and I am trying to avoid it. At the same time, I like to play the game within the political constraints that applied in real life. The smart move is to husband your resources and avoid battle until a large carrier fleet can be assembled to fight KB. This would be boring for both sides, and politically unpalatable for the US so, despite the odds, the US Navy must find a way to fight back, or at least make a lot of noise and keep the press boys happy.
Right now, I have channeled FDR and I can tell he is worried about the upcoming (November 1942) mid term elections. [X(]
A victory, even a small one is needed to beef up the home front. Unfortunately I cannot fly B25s off Hornet, otherwise, that would do the trick.[;)]

[BBfanboy]

Sending B25s would be a waste of good aircraft anyway! Load up some of the Dutch Demons and head for Tokyo! [:)]

[kaleun]

April 7th.
Seems like millions of enemy submarines mill about Brisbane. They aren’t very effective, not today, but worry the allied command that they might be acting as pickets for enemy forces to raid shipping moving up the East coast of Australia.

Efate falls.

April 8th
They were pickets. Carrier aircraft raided Darwin bound transports off Rockhampton.

April 9th.
Enemy carriers continue to hit the merchantmen, now off Townsville/Cairns.

A bombardment force hits Suva and Belep island, at the southern tip of Sumatra is seized by the enemy.

April 11th
Enemy carriers continue to harass shipping up and down the NE Australian coast.

April 12th
The Marines at Tassafaronga (3rd Marine Defense Batallion) surrender.

April 13th
Fuso, Yamashiro et al sink an xAKL near Koepang. Formidable refueled during the night and is hightailing it back to Perth. An enemy TF spotted S of Timor might or might not be in pursuit.

Abryn (near Luganville) taken by the 3rd Yokosura SNLF.

The 161st Infantry Rgt. Lands at Attu reinforcing the garrison there.

Hornet is ready for service. Lex still 66 days away.

[kaleun]

April 14th
Enemy task forces shell Koepang, Luganville and Suva.

Meanwhile, at Attu, an enemy task force with battleships Hyuga and Ise attack the task force that was disembarking the 161st. The escorting light cruisers Detroit and Concord, as well as the armed merchant cruiser return fire. Although all the allied ships were sunk, the battle was not as one sided as it could have been.

Japanese Ships
BB Ise, Shell hits 3, Torpedo hits 1
BB Hyuga, Shell hits 11

Allied Ships
CL Detroit, Shell hits 12, and is sunk
CL Concord, Shell hits 20, and is sunk
DMS Wasmuth, Shell hits 5, and is sunk
DMS Elliot, Shell hits 8, and is sunk
AP W.A. Holbrook, Shell hits 9, and is sunk
AP U.S. Grant, Shell hits 7, and is sunk
xAK Kansan, Shell hits 13, and is sunk
AMC Westralia, Shell hits 10, and is sunk

All the men had disembarked already so the only losses were vehicles that, in this desolate, rugged island, are not that important.

Later on, the tables are turned.

Day Time Surface Combat, near Buldir Island at 155,51, Range 14,000 Yards

Japanese aircraft losses
E13A1 Jake: 1 destroyed
Japanese Ships
CA Kako, Shell hits 30, and is sunk
CL Yubari, Shell hits 15, and is sunk
DD Kagero, Shell hits 6, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Minekaze, Shell hits 1, heavy fires
DD Okikaze, Shell hits 8, and is sunk
DD Akikaze, Shell hits 13, and is sunk
Allied Ships
BB Idaho, Shell hits 8
CA Chicago, Shell hits 3
CA Astoria, Shell hits 1
CA Minneapolis, Shell hits 2
CL Leander
CL Java, Shell hits 2
CL De Ruyter, Shell hits 1
CL Adelaide, Shell hits 4, on fire
DD Bagley, Shell hits 5, heavy fires
DD Helm
DD Allen, Shell hits 2, heavy fires
The allied task force ruined the enemy’s day.


Meanwhile, off northwest Australia, the fuel starved Formidable launches a strike.

12 Albacore bombers with 11 Martlet escort launch and, despite the inexperienced pilots, score two torpedo hits on CA Maya. A later flight of 6 Albacores finds only one destroyer, Hagikaze, but the nimble destroyer evades the torpedoes easily.

At Perth, the rebuilt 7th Australian division begins to prep for Koepang.

[BBfanboy]

Congrats on your successes. The IJN will miss those ships sunk and, for a while, the BB and CA with torpedo damage.
Maybe your subs can catch a cripple![:)]

[kaleun]

April 17th
Yesterday, allied forces carried out probing attacks on the Japanese positions at Attu Island. 125 enemy were reported loss at a cost of 65 allied casualties.
BB Idaho and CA Minneapolis bombarded enemy positions at Attu on the 16th. The subsequent attack against the Japanese forces identified the invaders as the 49th Naval guard unit.

Biliton and Lakatoro both fell to the Japanese forces, also on the 16th and, near Perth, an enemy submarine scored a hit on Queen Mary but, fortunately, the torpedo was a dud.

Koepang fell on the 17th At Attu, the allied assault achieved 140 casualties among the enemy.

April 19th.
After enduring daily attacks by the 161st, the Japanese invaders surrendered at Attu IS.

Not everything is good news. Santa Maria was captured by the Japanese on the 18th. An enemy task force spotted NW of the North Island of New Zealand. It is suspected to be a carrier strike force.

At Cape Town, CV Indomitable enters dry dock to refit.

[kaleun]

April 20th. Pearl Harbor of the South.

The first sign was the sight of a formation of single engine fighters, high up in the sky, almost unnoticed. A second formation came and went later in the morning, unmolested, the fighters returned to their ships.

Soon after, the noise of more than a hundred radial engines got everyone’s attention. 83 torpedo bombers with 34 fighters hit the harbor. CA Indianapolis hit 4 times, CL Helena 4, and many others. The raid returned unscathed to their carriers. Among the fire and rubble, sailors and longshoremen try to put order among the chaos.

At Luganville, the besieged defenders repel an enemy attack that, however, destroyed some of their painfully built fortifications.

Pentecost Island and Bengkolatlen were captured.

At San Francisco, the 32nd Infantry Division arrived.

There are fighters aplenty in OZ, but they lack the range to fly themselves to New Zealand, and they cannot be transported there until the carriers leave. And per the enemy’s prior modus operandi, those carriers may stay a long time prowling around New Zealand.

[kaleun]

April 23rd

Luganville fell on the 21st. On the 22nd, allied submarines had a mixed day. Skipjack duds on DD Shiruyuki at Manado. Trusty missed xAP Hikama Maru near Djambi. Near Biliton, SS Searaven reported a hit on APD Fuji.

Even a Catalina patrol plane reported a hit on a Minekaze class destroyer near Noumea, although this might only be in the pilot’s imagination.

Not in anyone’s imagination was the very real raid by 60 Kate bombers and 17 Zeros on Auckland, again.

Torres Island was invaded by the enemy on the 22nd.

On the 23rd, his forces also invaded Dili and Noumea was bombarded. After Luganville’s fall, all of the enemy’s assets can be expected to bear down on Noumea. A deliberate attack reduced the base’s fortifications to rubble strewn foxholes. The enemy wildly outnumbers the defenders at Dili and Noumea. They will not last long.

Canton Island reports level three fortifications completed.

At Biliton, Seadragon duds on DD Akikaze.

Formidable will move from Perth to Melbourne to complete her repairs. Melbourne also lacks a shipyard large enough for the carrier but the larger port can repair the damage faster.

The enemy expansion at Noumea threatens Suva and from there, New Zealand. The garrison at NZ is completely inadequate and will not hold against an enemy attack if he uses the kind of force that he has used up to now. After deliberation, the 6th Australian Division, that has landed at Perth, will be temporarily transferred to the south Island. This should be achieved without much difficulty.

More complicated is the reinforcement of the North Island, more exposed to the depredations of the enemy carriers that, even now, cause havoc on Oakland’s harbor. The US will contribute the Americal Division, currently at Pearl. The infantry division embarks in a large convoy, TF 195. The route will be, of necessity, circuitous. The task force shall steam East of Palmyra and Christmas Island, then south. The soldiers are prepping for Suva. They’ve been told that they are to reinforce that garrison. Not even the high command knows where Americal will end up.

[BBfanboy]

Are you sure Melbourne is safe from KB, for CV Formidable's repair?
Oz starts with virtually no fighters. Have you been able to bring in some help in that department? AA units too?

[kaleun]

Nothing in OZ is safe from KB[X(]
Fighters won't help that much, it's the threat of dive and torpedo bombers that might keep KB away.
Nevertheless, if he doesn't know its there, he probably won't venture that far south.

[BBfanboy]

I thought KB was prowling around NZ? That would put them south of Melbourne with the possibility of passing by on the way to Western Oz. This has been done in at least one other AAR recently - with AEs [and an island port] and AOs, KB can stay at sea a long time and roam a long way!