Getting my feet wet at Guadalcanal - Buckaroo(A) vs Gebede(J)

[Lokasenna]

I'd wager that Haguro is a goner. Heavy fires pretty much dooms an IJN ship.

[buckaroo13]

August 22 - 24

the next three days are relatively quiet. Thought I must have hit the Mutsu harder then I thought as the Japanese Battleship shows up on the sunk ship roster the next day.

I'm still taking a pounding by apparently random naval bombardment but by this time my carriers are safely ensconced at Noumea.


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Night Time Surface Combat, near Tulagi at 114,137, Range 6,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
BB Hiei
CA Kumano
DD Ayanami
DD Sazanami

Allied Ships
AK Carina, Shell hits 4, and is sunk





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Night Time Surface Combat, near Lunga at 114,138, Range 6,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
BB Hiei, Shell hits 1
CA Kumano, Shell hits 1
DD Ayanami
DD Sazanami

Allied Ships
AP President Jackson, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
AP President Adams, Shell hits 22, and is sunk
AP President Hayes, Shell hits 9, and is sunk
AP President Monroe, Shell hits 7, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk


Allied ground losses:
5918 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 208 destroyed, 307 disabled
Engineers: 10 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 22 (22 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 11 (11 destroyed, 0 disabled)





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[buckaroo13]

August 25th

It's a quiet day but I need to re-evaluate my strategy so far.

the small convoy concept is not paying off. I've lost over 30 ships so far, most of them AP and AK classes that I need to get supplies and troops to the front lines.

While my forward bases are okay they are getting low on supply. I decide to coincide a major supply effort with the arrival of USS Hornet which is about a week away.

Operation Replenish


The Plan.

From Noumea I would prep several Convoys. A transport convoy carrying baseforce and aviation troops, another carrying supplies. These ships would make for Lunga at best speed. Meanwhile I would try to slip in a couple of smaller convoys into Port Moresby and Milne Bay for a quick supply run.

To Protect my Lunga run I needed to anticipate what the Japanese could defend with. Three things had me worried.

Carriers -

Japanese carriers could definately ruin my supply convoy and anything else I might send. To counter I would need to step up recon and keep a sharp eye on ship sightings. With aircraft on Lunga and my 4 Carriers I felt I would have a decent chance at fighting and either drawing or winning a Carrier engagement.

Surface attacks.

Gabede had shown he was willing to acept surface losses to get at my transports and even with some losses he has inflicted some nasty losses to my transports. To Counter this threat I would support the Lunga resupply with a surface task force made up of my two battleships. This task force would be tasked with the protection of the ships off-loading at Lunga.

Long Range Bettys

I knew from recon that Gabede’s Betty force was stationed at Rabaul. Those bombers posed a terrible threat to every ship in my taskforce. My Counter would be moving the majority of my B-17 force to Port Moresby two days before the start of the Operation. They would make a maximum effort to hit the Rabaul airfields and help mitigate the Betty factor.

[buckaroo13]

August 26th-28th

things are quiet these days. I'm slowly prepping several Convoys for departure for Lunga, Tulagi and a small run into Port Moresby.

The only real action occurs on the 28th as a Japanese Task force shows up to pummel Lunga....

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Night Naval bombardment of Lunga at 114,138 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
TBF-1 Avenger: 3 damaged
SBD-3 Dauntless: 8 damaged
PBY-5 Catalina: 2 damaged
F4F-4 Wildcat: 2 damaged

1 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Japanese Ships
CA Chokai
CA Maya
CA Atago
CA Takao


Allied ground losses:
197 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 19 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 7 disabled
Vehicles lost 4 (2 destroyed, 2 disabled)


Airbase hits 3
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 15
Port hits 7

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

Nothing too bad but I do lose a few valuable planes on the ground.

In revenge my SBDs from Lunga find a Light Cruiser and put a bomb in her, extracting some measure of revenge.

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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Ontong Java at 115,131

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 18 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes


Allied aircraft
SBD-3 Dauntless x 3


Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 destroyed by flak

Japanese Ships
CL Tenryu, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires

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


Lunga is getting very low in supply, that yellow exclamation mark weighs on my heavily.

[buckaroo13]

August 29th - Sept 2nd

Again a pretty quiet week for the most part. I am detecting a lot of movement and it is worrisome as Operation Replenish is about to kick off tomorrow.

Already my Carrier, surface and supply ships are closing on their destination.

A few actions of note are when Lunga based Bombers smack a Japanese supply run that got caught in daylight.

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Morning Air attack on TF, near Shortlands at 109,131

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid spotted at 12 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes


Allied aircraft
SBD-3 Dauntless x 7


Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
APD-39, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AMC Akagi Maru, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires


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

The next few days might get interesting...

[buckaroo13]

Sept 3rd - Day 1 - Operation Replenish

I've moved my B-17s to Port Moresby, removing practically all other aircraft there. It's a calculated risk but Gabede hasn't shown his bombers in force in a while so I feel relatively safe...

Uh oh...

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Morning Air attack on Port Moresby , at 98,130

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid detected at 115 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 40 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 57



Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 8 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 4 damaged



Airbase hits 18
Airbase supply hits 6
Runway hits 24

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

Fantastic timing on Gabede's part and my airbase takes a good pounding. But it looks as if most of my B-17s were already departed.

the return punch at Rabaul is more successful, catching planes on the ground and hitting their airbase hard in return.

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Morning Air attack on Rabaul , at 106,125

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 23 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 25



Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 30


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
H8K1 Emily: 2 destroyed on ground
G4M1 Betty: 4 destroyed on ground
F1M2 Pete: 2 destroyed on ground

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 5 damaged



Airbase hits 7
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 29

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

Additionally my small Port Moresby Relief ships are found by subs, uh oh.

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Submarine attack near Port Moresby at 96,134

Japanese Ships
SS RO-68

Allied Ships
xAP Largs Bay, Torpedo hits 3, heavy damage


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



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

Over in the Solomons my Transports start arriving at Lunga and Tulagi. All is quiet though I suspect enemy forces are nearby.

My Surface force consisting of two Battleships will cover the unloading at night and Lunga plus LRCAP from the Carriers will cover it during the day.

Let's see what happens, shall we?

[buckaroo13]

Sept 4th - Operation Replenish day 2



My New Guinea resupply effort continues to fail

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Submarine attack near Port Moresby at 96,135

Japanese Ships
SS RO-68

Allied Ships
xAK Peter Silvester, Torpedo hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage



xAK Peter Silvester is sighted by SS RO-68
SS RO-68 launches 4 torpedoes at xAK Peter Silvester


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

But not without some measure of revenge on the Japanese Sub Corps.

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ASW attack near Rennell Island at 114,140

Japanese Ships
SS I-168, hits 12, heavy damage

Allied Ships
xAK San Vincente
DD Jarvis
DD Patterson

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Meanwhile my interdiction of Rabaul with B-17s continues. not as successful as yesterday but I'm flying with less B-17s. I still manage to take out a few Bettys on the ground. every little bit helps, right?

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Morning Air attack on Rabaul , at 106,125

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 23



Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 15


Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 3 destroyed on ground

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 2 damaged



Airbase hits 6
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 11

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If Gabede didn't know before about my resupply operation before he's on to me now. Bettys show up over Lunga.

I hope my CAP is up to the challenge.

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Morning Air attack on TF, near Lunga at 114,138

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid detected at 38 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 14



Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 9


Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 6 destroyed, 3 damaged

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
AP Wharton
AP Zeilin

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Morning Air attack on TF, near Lunga at 114,138

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid detected at 55 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 19 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 28



Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 17


Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 9 destroyed, 4 damaged

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
AP Hunter Liggett
AP Zeilin
AP Harris
AP Heywood
AP Wharton

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

So while my Port Moresby resupply is floundering my Lunga resupply effort is going as scheduled. No transports were hit and by my count over 20 Bettys were shot down or destroyed on the field.

I expect surface engagement any day and plan to keep my surface combat group on station at night.
I also expect Japanese Carriers to show up at some point. I keep getting whiffs of them to my north.

[Cribtop]

The Lunga effort is key. Odds of a big naval and air battle are very high in those waters. Do you have any nav search or picket ships watching KB's traditional approach from the North or NE?

[buckaroo13]

ORIGINAL: Cribtop

The Lunga effort is key. Odds of a big naval and air battle are very high in those waters. Do you have any nav search or picket ships watching KB's traditional approach from the North or NE?

Yup, I've got a picket line of Subs north of Lunga and have upped the search and ASW searches on Lunga.
Recon identified a CVL to the North but I suspect that the Heavy Carriers are around as well.

[buckaroo13]

Sept 5th - Operation Replenish D-3

My Ships are unloading and the expected Japanese Surface fleet shows up looking for trouble. Instead of finding unarmed merchant ships they run straight into my surface task force!

The Hiei puts up a valiant fight but is overwhelmed by the two American Battlewagons



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Night Time Surface Combat, near Lunga at 114,138, Range 4,000 Yards

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
F1M2 Pete: 1 destroyed

Japanese Ships
BB Hiei, Shell hits 25, and is sunk
CA Kumano, Shell hits 7, on fire, heavy damage
DD Ayanami, Shell hits 8, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Sazanami, Shell hits 2

Allied Ships
BB North Carolina, Shell hits 4
BB Washington, Shell hits 6
CA New Orleans
CA San Francisco
CA Quincy, Shell hits 1
DD Wilson, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Dunlap, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Fanning
DD Cummings
DD Lamson, Shell hits 1
DD Case, Shell hits 1
DD Conyngham

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


The surface engagement saves the vulnerable transports at Lunga for at least a day.

Meanwhile my Port Moresby supply effort continues to fail spectacularly!

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Submarine attack near Port Moresby at 98,130

Japanese Ships
SS RO-64

Allied Ships
xAP Esperance Bay, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage



xAP Esperance Bay is sighted by SS RO-64
SS RO-64 launches 4 torpedoes at xAP Esperance Bay


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Submarine attack near Port Moresby at 98,130

Japanese Ships
SS RO-64

Allied Ships
xAP Moreton Bay, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage


Allied ground losses:
7 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

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

My B-17s continue their assault on Rabaul. I'm getting low on the heavy bombers though and will only be able to continue this pace maybe 1 day more before I need to stand them down.

The Attacks seem to be working as there are no Bettys flying this turn. either they failed to locate me or he's moving them elsewhere.

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Morning Air attack on Rabaul , at 106,125

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 4
A6M3 Zero x 5



Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 11


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
A6M3 Zero: 1 damaged
A6M3 Zero: 1 destroyed on ground
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 10 damaged



Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 1


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


...Meanwhile back at Lunga Air Raid sirens sound. Enemy carrier planes arrive. Not many though, these seem to be from a Light carrier. They take fearful losses from my CAP but do manage to sink a couple of full Merchant ships.

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Morning Air attack on TF, near Tulagi at 114,137

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 34 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 12
B5N2 Kate x 9



Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 23


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
B5N2 Kate: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
DD Conyngham

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Morning Air attack on TF, near Lunga at 114,138

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 98 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 42 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 12
B5N1 Kate x 9



Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 31


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 5 destroyed
B5N1 Kate: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
AK Cetus, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
DD Jarvis
xAK Mormacmar, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk

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

In return my carriers take revenge on the remains of the retreating Japanese surface fleet. The Heavy Cruisers Kumano is used as a punching bag by my SBDs.


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Morning Air attack on TF, near Rekata Bay at 115,134

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid spotted at 16 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes


Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 37
SBD-3 Dauntless x 15


Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
CA Kumano, Bomb hits 4, on fire, heavy damage



Aircraft Attacking:
7 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
8 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb



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

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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Rekata Bay at 115,134

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid spotted at 16 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes


Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 33
SBD-3 Dauntless x 30


Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
CA Kumano, Bomb hits 6, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Ayanami, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk

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Despite the loss of a few Merchant ships it was a good day. Supplies and troops are off loading at Lunga and the CAP is keeping the worst of the Japanese air away. My Surface taskforce did it's job and sinking an enemy Battleship is always a plus.

Tomorrow should be interesting. I'm sending my carriers in range of what I am suspecting is the Japanese main CV fleet. I'm hoping the come in to try and hit my transports... we will see!

[buckaroo13]

Sept 6th - Operation Replenish D 4

This is an exciting day! They day we all look forward to when we play. Hot carrier on carrier action!

First up. A second Japanese surface force moves into the waters off Lunga, on the way in they trash a Convoy unloading at Tulagi.

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Night Time Surface Combat, near Tulagi at 114,137, Range 7,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CL Nagara
CL Yura, Shell hits 1
DD Kagero
DD Oyashio
DD Hatsukaze
DD Hayashio
DD Maikaze, Shell hits 1
DD Isokaze
DD Tokitsukaze
DD Hamakaze
DD Nowaki
DD Arashi
DD Hagikaze
DD Tanikaze, Shell hits 1, on fire

Allied Ships
DD Mugford, Shell hits 2
DD Ralph Talbot, Shell hits 2
DD Patterson, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Jarvis, Shell hits 4, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
xAK Manoa, Shell hits 3, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
xAK San Vincente, Shell hits 1, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk

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

And then at Lunga they encounter my surface Task force. The battle is a little inconclusive but the Japanese score more damage.

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Night Time Surface Combat, near Lunga at 114,138, Range 4,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CL Nagara, Shell hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
CL Yura, Shell hits 2
DD Kagero, Shell hits 9, on fire, heavy damage
DD Oyashio, Shell hits 1
DD Hatsukaze
DD Hayashio, Shell hits 3
DD Maikaze
DD Isokaze
DD Tokitsukaze
DD Hamakaze, Shell hits 1
DD Nowaki
DD Arashi, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Hagikaze, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Tanikaze, Shell hits 1, on fire

Allied Ships
BB North Carolina
BB Washington, Shell hits 5
CA New Orleans
CA San Francisco, Shell hits 8, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage
CA Quincy
DD Dunlap, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Fanning, Shell hits 11, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Cummings, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Lamson
DD Case, Shell hits 1

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When the sun rises radar detects incoming attack aircraft, this must be Sho and Zui's punch.
I'm hoping CAP will protect my carriers.

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Morning Air attack on TF, near Lunga at 114,139

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 112 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 41 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 18
B5N1 Kate x 14
B5N2 Kate x 14
D3A2 Val x 31



Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 75


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 3 destroyed
B5N1 Kate: 6 destroyed, 4 damaged
B5N2 Kate: 3 destroyed, 1 damaged
D3A2 Val: 8 destroyed, 9 damaged
D3A2 Val: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
CV Hornet, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
CV Enterprise
CLAA Atlanta
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My Defending Wildcats tear a good sized hole in the attacking formation and I am lucky to receive a non-crippling hit on the Hornet.

My return strike heads in.

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Morning Air attack on TF, near Stewart Island at 120,138

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 79 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 31 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 22



Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 46
SBD-3 Dauntless x 85
TBF-1 Avenger x 37


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 3 destroyed
SBD-3 Dauntless: 7 damaged
SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 destroyed by flak
TBF-1 Avenger: 6 damaged

Japanese Ships
CV Shokaku, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires
CA Chikuma, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CV Zuikaku, Bomb hits 9, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Akigumo
CA Tone
DD Minegumo, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Makigumo
DD Natsugumo

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

My planes make it through his CAP without issue and brutalize the Japanese Carriers.
Shokaku is hit 3 times and Zuikaku is hit 9! times. Both ships are reported on fire.

Zuikaku is most likely doomed and Shokaku is probably unable to continue flight Ops.


Other Air Attacks take place. The Japanese attack my crippled Heavy Cruiser that was unable to retreat out of range.


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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Tulagi at 114,137

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 39 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 16 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 1
B5N1 Kate x 9



Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 12


Japanese aircraft losses
B5N1 Kate: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged
B5N1 Kate: 1 destroyed by flak

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
CA San Francisco, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage
DD Lamson

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

More attacks trickle in on my Carrier task forces but they are easily handled my CAP.

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Morning Air attack on TF, near Lunga at 114,139

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 20 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
D3A2 Val x 13



Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 54


Japanese aircraft losses
D3A2 Val: 8 destroyed

No Allied losses

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

Some minor attacks by land based air reveal new troubles.

The mighty Yamato is in the neighborhood and my Battlewagons are low on ammo.
I didn't even know Yamato was in this Scenario!

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Morning Air attack on TF, near Ontong Java at 116,131

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 14 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 13



Allied aircraft
SBD-3 Dauntless x 15
TBF-1 Avenger x 15


No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 3 destroyed, 6 damaged
SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 destroyed by flak
TBF-1 Avenger: 2 destroyed, 4 damaged
TBF-1 Avenger: 1 destroyed by flak

Japanese Ships
CA Atago
BB Yamato, Bomb hits 1
CA Chokai

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

Overall the last few days have been good to the Allies. 1 Sunk Battleship and the two best Carriers in the Japanese inventory out of the way for a while.
Since the beginning of Operation Replenish 4 days ago we have destroyed over 150 Japanese aircraft.

tomorrow's plan is to move around the south of Lunga and then head north. Hopefully finish off the Japanese Carrier fleet and scare off the Yamato Task force.

[BBfanboy]

Nice job on those Japanese carriers! [&o]
With them out of the way your CVs have a chance to go after those pesky surface forces, including Yamato.
Do you have enough sorties available to continue the attack? How is your pilot fatigue?

One thing you have to start doing is providing escorts and air cover for your xAKs, xAPs before you run out of them. Better to accumulate ships into a convoy that can move in with escorts than to send them out one at a time and hope they get through.

[buckaroo13]

Sept 7th Or what goes up must come down

I was riding pretty high on yesterday's victory. Though my air crews were getting tired I wanted to make sure I put more hurt on the Japanese navy and make sure that Shokaku is out for the count.

At my high water mark calamity![X(]

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Sub attack near Stewart Island at 117,139

Japanese Ships
SS I-21

Allied Ships
CV Wasp, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
CA Minneapolis
CL Boise
DD Ellet
DD Sterett
DD Stack
DD Lang

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

Wasp goes down with it's entire air wing!

While not completely reversing my Victory on the previous day it does a lot to lessen the impact.

Bad weather is playing havoc with my flight ops, I only get a small strike in on the retreating Japanese.

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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Auki at 122,134

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 20 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes


Allied aircraft
SBD-3 Dauntless x 15
TBF-1 Avenger x 4


Allied aircraft losses
TBF-1 Avenger: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
CA Tone, Bomb hits 1
DD Asagumo
CA Chikuma, Bomb hits 1
CV Shokaku, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage


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

... But it accomplishes my goal and puts three more bomb hits on the Shokaku, which is now reporting heavy damage and fires.

I also clobber a sub, more good news.
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Sub attack near Lunga at 114,139

Japanese Ships
SS I-11, hits 15, heavy fires, heavy damage

Allied Ships
CLAA Juneau
CA Pensacola
DD Blue
DD McCall
DD Gridley
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

But in return another sub hits another Cruiser. My heavy cruisers are taking a beating!

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Sub attack near Lunga at 114,139

Japanese Ships
SS I-175, hits 1

Allied Ships
CA Salt Lake City, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
CLAA Juneau
DD Blue
DD McCall
DD Gridley
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Lokasenna]

IJN subs are deadly in this scenario . He gets a lot of them to play with and the restricted play area makes getting hits....almost easy. Getting attacks off even more so. At least at first.

Shokaku may yet be alive. Yes, 12 bomb hits. Were they all 1000-lb hits, or were some 500? Did they all penetrate (if you watched the replay animations), or did some "bounce"? Still, with fires now after 12 strikes, the Sys damage may be too high for her crew to deal with them. I'd say 90% she's sunk.

The sub you hit is sunk for sure.

[buckaroo13]

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

IJN subs are deadly in this scenario . He gets a lot of them to play with and the restricted play area makes getting hits....almost easy. Getting attacks off even more so. At least at first.

Shokaku may yet be alive. Yes, 12 bomb hits. Were they all 1000-lb hits, or were some 500? Did they all penetrate (if you watched the replay animations), or did some "bounce"? Still, with fires now after 12 strikes, the Sys damage may be too high for her crew to deal with them. I'd say 90% she's sunk.

The sub you hit is sunk for sure.

By my count at this point the Shokaku too 6 1000lb bomb hits all reporting as penetrations. Zuikaku took 9 1000lbs with most if not all penetrating.