See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-B Scen28

[apbarog]

30 Dec 42

North of Nauru Island, sub Haddo fires at cruiser Maya, but misses. Maya is with the 4 destroyers that I spotted west of here yesterday.

Near Port Blair, S-23 sights an xAK task force but cannot engage.

At Buna, I try a fighter sweep from Milne Bay. There are no fighters at Buna, but Buna has been capped from Lae for quite awhile. First a squadron of Kittyhawk IAs sweep, and the defense gets the better of things. Then a squadron of P-40Ks sweep, and do very well. Total air losses are 5 A6M2 Zeros, 3 Oscars, and 3 A6M3 Zeros. I lose 4 Kittyhawks.

At Horn Island, I sent a squadron of Beaufighter VIcs on the deck to strafe and bomb the troops. Damage is minimal. There is no CAP. Then 12 B-26s hit the airfield, an almost daily occurrence now. Damage is low but has been accumulating.

Back at Port Blair, S-23 gets another shot at the cargo shipping, and sinks xAK Nissen Maru. The sub does get hit with a depth charge, and will now return to Colombo for repairs. Nearby, at Little Andaman, sub KXII fires at at minesweeper in an xAK task force, but misses. SigInt has said that Port Blair and the islands nearby are being reinforced. Possibly another reaction to my steady bombing of Port Blair awhile ago.

At Butuan on Mindanao, the Japanese 4th Infantry Division crushes the remaining Philippine troops. The stragglers retreat northeast to the jungle base that I just "captured". The end is finally near for the troops on Mindanao....in January 1943!

KB is sighted one hex southeast of Rabaul. The Ontong Java invasion will take place in a few days. Ships are northbound on the Australian coast for the Horn Island Invasion Part Two.

I will almost guarantee that KB will move to the hex circled in black when I hit Horn Island. The enemy did so last time, and had good luck striking shipping at Horn Island from that spot.

I've prepared a plan for this.

Task forces for the Nauru and Ocean Island invasions are near Luganville and are starting to gather and move north.

Milne Bay's port became size 2 today.

[apbarog]

31 Dec 42

Big day at Milne Bay. The enemy applies maximum effort to hit the airfield. First 27 Bettys and 26 Nells attack, escorted by 43 A6M2 Zeros. 16 Spits, 17 P-40Ks, and 23 F4F-4s defend, and do well. Many enemy planes are shot down, and damage to the airbase is slight. The next raid is a 30 plane Zero sweep, and the Allied CAP is tired. More Allied fighters are lost. The next raid has 23 Helens and 33 Sallys, escorted by 29 Oscars. Fewer than 10 Allied fighters remain on CAP. Plane losses are low for both sides, but the airfield takes moderate damage. Then another raid, with 20 Sallys, 13 Oscars, and a few Zeros. Losses and damage are very slight. The final raid is a sweep of 30 Tojos, and they find only 2 planes on CAP, and there are no losses.

Total aircraft losses for today are 41 A6M2 Zeros, 16 Nells, 14 Bettys, and 7 Oscars. Allied losses are 9 F4F-4s, 5 P-40Ks, and 2 Spits.

At Little Andaman, sub KXII gets 2 torpedo hits on xAK Gozan Maru, probably sinking it. But the DUtch sub is pummelled with depth charges, sinking it.

KB has moved west, just east of Gasmata. It is 6 hexes from Milne Bay. Buna is operational and has fighters and bombers. I'm sending B-17s today.

My plan is that I'm invading Ontong Java in the next turn. KB will jump east to hit it. I'll be gone, using mostly APDs for the landing. Horn Island invasion will take place. He'll jump west. Hopefully I'll be gone and be successful taking it this time. Then I may do the Nauru and Ocean Island invasions. My carriers support that, expecting cruisers and destroyers in the area.

[apbarog]

1 Jan 43

A new year and slightly improved US torpedoes.

During the night, battleships Hiei and Kirishima, with many escorts, storms into Milne Bay. They engage 6 PT boats, gaining surprise, and sinking one PT. Range was short but the PT boats didn't get a hit. The 2 battleships and 2 cruisers then bombard, and do very little damage. A few planes are damaged, but the base is barely scratched.

At Ontong Java, many US APDs unload 2 Marine Raiding Regiments. A port support unit is partially unloaded. The invaders find that the island has been evacuated. There are no enemy troops here. I'll bet that the clear terrain had something to do with that decision. It's debatable whether I should have bothered landing here. I wanted some eyes further north, but I'm sure that my base and troops will pay some price for the clear terrain now. I will immediately start pulling out one raiding regiment by flying boats.

In the morning, Deboyne Island is targetted in a big way. 18 Bettys with 23 Zeros arrive and find 10 Kittyhawks on CAP. The Bettys are mauled. Then 21 Sallys arrive with 37 Oscars, and only 5 Kittyhawks are left on CAP. Most are destroyed. The base takes minimal damage. Then the Tojos show up, always a little late lately, but find no CAP left. With the skies clear, KB then launches a huge strike on the airfield, with 129 Vals, 85 Kates, and 83 Zeros. Damage to the base is severe and planes are lost on the ground. I had some SBDs here doing ASW work, and I think that the bombers got the enemy's attention.

My B-17s go after Buna, and find rather light CAP of fewer than 20 planes. Damage to the airfield is moderate, and I will attack again today. My opponent did mention how my bombers can fly without escort and do well. This is true, sometimes. Light CAP can be brushed aside. Heavy CAP can be a problem. And some enemy fighters do a lot better against bombers than others. Remember Diamond Harbour? I had a very difficult time with my heavies there. So, it is true, the bombers are a great Allied weapon, but that's just a reality of the war. Now that it is 1943, I think that more difficult realities will become apparent for the Japanese.

Elsewhere, I bomb Port Moresby and Horn Island's airfields.

So I took Ontong Java without a fight.

Air losses for today were 11 Bettys, 10 Zeros, 5 Oscars, 1 Tojo, and 1 Sally. I lost 6 SBDs and6 B-17s.

Now it's time to make KB dance!

I fully expect KB to jump east toward Ontong Java. They can be in range in just one day, so why not. My Horn Island task forces have not been seen. They will move north and stop 3 hexes from Horn, and probably be seen. I expect KB to then jump back to the west, but it'll take a couple of days to get to that spot on the eastern New Guinea coast to hit me. I hope to be gone.

In the mean time, my Nauru and Ocean Island task forces are now east of Ndeni. They are at a dot base, and my big amphibious task force was spotted. My carriers were not. Everything will move due east and hope to disappear for a day. If fully spotted, KB could ignore my Horn Island activity and continue east. So we'll see what happens.

With PDU off in this game, more care has to be taken in planning for the air units that upgrade to better planes. I'm starting to get Marine F4Us now, slowly. I have a unit at Suva that I upgraded with just one plane, since it had SBDs prior, and I'm filling with excellent pilots. Another P-39 unit will be upgraded also once the pools fill out some.

[jwolf]

I'm anxious to see -- as you are, no doubt -- how his carriers will react. You've clearly set it up so that his carriers can interfere in only one of the two places (that is, Horn or Nauru/Ocean islands) but I wonder if he has other good assets which could sabotage your efforts, as he did last time at Horn Island for example.

I hope you'll soon see more success with the US subs.

[apbarog]

2 Jan 43

On the way to Horn Island, my ships run over I-16, and get solid depth charge hits. The sub is badly damaged, and my ships are spotted.

The daylight starts with a big Oscar sweep of Deboyne Island. There is no CAP. Sallys and Helens then arrive, doing rather weak damage considering the numbers.

At Milne Bay 34 Tojos sweep, finding some Kittyhawks, Spits, P-40Ks, and F4F-4s. The Japanese lose fewer planes. Then KB strikes, finding transports unloading. I took a chance by moving the ships in, hoping to unload some fragments of units already at Milne Bay. I thought KB would jump east toward Ontong Java, but it did not. One good xAP is sunk, another is damaged, and 3 AMs are sunk. Some support vehicles are lost. It could have been worse considering only 80 bombers attacked.

My damaged xAP runs southeast hoping to hide at Tagula Island for a day. There is some CAP there. Other ships run toward Australia. Another task force, not attacked, had a bunch of small xAKLs with supply. I take a chance and disband it in Milne Bay's port.

So KB wouldn't dance. Now it's a real danger to my Horn Island invasion. I do think that KB will move to the coast hex northwest of Buna 1 hex. If KB wants to get adventurous, it could round Milne Bay and trap my ships. I don't think that the enemy knows where the Allied carriers are though.

In any case, I decide to postpone Horn Island Part Two and my ships will run back near Cooktown.

This activity should still help keep KB near where it is now, as my Nauru and Ocean Island task forces turn north. Today, all of these task forces were in thunderstorms and were not spotted. It would be awesome if the bad weather occurred again tomorrow. I want to make my final approach to the islands from 2 or 3 hexes away, so it will still be 3 days until I land.

It is worth noting that my B-17s did not fly to Buna today, and my bombers also did not fly to Horn Island or Merauke. I rest my B-17s today, since if KB moves adjacent to Buna, it could have ranged CAP there.

[apbarog]

3 Jan 43

At Milne Bay, 6 enemy destroyers show up and fight 5 PT boats at 1000 yards. The PTs, unfortunately, hadn't replenished torpedoes from the last fight, having to go to Australia for this. One PT boat is destroyed.

Near Kiriwina Island, just north of Milne Bay, Dutch sub KXV sights a carrier task force, finds carrier Hiyo, and fires 6 torpedoes at it. All miss. One of these days...

Those 6 destroyers that were at Milne Bay then move southeast and intercept my damaged xAP President Taylor and escort AM Cairns. Both are sunk. Not sure if the destroyers were lucky and were somehow retiring that direction, or if a reaction move was involved. Either way, it wouldn't have mattered, as KB would have hit anything that it didn't.

Near Gasmata, sub KXVIII finds the Kirishima and Hiei task force, but fires on a destroyer and misses.

In the morning, 15 Zeros sweep Milne Bay, and the Allied CAP does well. That wears down the CAP, however, so when 26 more Zeros show up, the Allies take slightly more losses. Then 20 Tojos sweep, and more losses.

Deboyne is hit with a couple of Sally raids. Damage is minimal. There is no CAP and the airfield is badly damaged and shut down.

At Merauke, my B-25s finally fly, but find 36 Oscars. The bombers take heavy losses and achieve little damage.

A small raid of 12 B-26s hit Port Moresby's port, as I had seen something there, but all they do is some minor port damage.

In the afternoon, there's another Helen raid on Deboyne Island.

KB is very close to Milne Bay now, just 3 hexes to the northeast. I almost hit the jackpot with a torpedo hit on a carrier today, but it didn't happen. As you can see, I have many subs in that confined part of the Coral Sea, and KB just keeps moving around there. I will get lucky eventually.

My ships for the aborted Horn Island invasion continue south to Townsville. My invasion task forces for Nauru and Ocean Islands will position themselves 2 hexes from both targets, ready to invade tomorrow. I can't discount a possible mini-KB to the north of Nauru, as my subs have been lit up with detection. My carriers should handle that, and I've brought 2 strong surface groups to protect the landings. Bettys will certainly be in range from Tarawa.

[jwolf]

With your carriers committed at Nauru/Ocean, this would be a good time for the Japanese to bring in some ground reinforcements to various bases around the Solomon Sea. I wonder if they'll do that. I also wonder if Hiyo's near miss will cause the Japanese to rethink the KB's deployment. How long will it take for your ground troops to complete the movement to Munda?

[apbarog]

They certainly could reinforce, or even counter-invade. I've seen no indication of either type of activity after I sank his transports at Munda before they could unload, destroying 1/3 of an infantry division (I think).

It's slow going walking from Vanunu to Munda, seems about 2 or 3 km/day. They have about 10 days to go to get to Munda, and it's not an overwhelming force. It's the rest of the regiment that is at Munda, and consists mainly of all of the guns, support, and vehicles for the regiment. It will help hold my position at Munda, but probably not take the base. That will happen eventually. I'm prioritizing getting more engineers to build my base before I take his.

In such a confined area, KB is vulnerable to my subs. He's been driving over them almost daily, but I've had poor luck sighting him and then hitting him. But if he stays, it will happen.

[Crackaces]

The number of hungry ships moving requires a great deal of support .. he has to or is moving fuel to Rabaul this is a good thing for the good guys in my opinion .. the more fuel burned now is less later for a hungry IJ economy ...

I like this strategy so far personally .. you have kept the IJ moving platforms and engaging without risking Allied assets .. plus while he is pinning forces down in the Solomons you are putting pressure elsewhere ... the IJ can't be everywhere ...[8D]

Very nice![&o]

[apbarog]

Thank you for the compliment Crackaces. It's always nice to get feedback, good or bad, from long-time players.

I've been concentrated between Gualdalcanal and Milne Bay, and so has the enemy. And I'm ok with that. I still have bigger plans for this area, but I have plans elsewhere as well.

Nauru and Ocean are an attempt to spread out the area of combat. It may be going out on a limb this early, we'll see. It may also put some fear into the enemy about being flanked.

I have plans to further expand the area of operations. I just need some time to get things together.

Thanks again.

[apbarog]

4 Jan 43

The 5 destroyers that went through Milne Bay yesterday come through Woodlark Island today. 2 PT boats are sunk, and my troops are bombarded, but take little damage.

2 hexes southwest of Rabaul, Dutch sub KXVIII spots 2 xAKs and 2 PBs, and hits xAK Taigen Maru with a torpedo. Troops are reported to be lost. Destination of this task force is unknown, but Woodlark got a lot of attention today.

Just west of Merauke, on the west coast of New Guinea, sub Shad spots I-158 and hit it with a torpedo, and the torpedo works! I-158 is probably doomed.

My troops on Woodlark Island were the targets of choice for the Japanese Air Force today. Over 70 bombers with over 100 escorts hit.

There's a small sweep of Goodenough Island with Tojos. Kind of odd. It's my dot base, and I have a small combat unit there, but nothing else and the base isn't building.

The big show is in the Nauru area. All of my task forces move to within 2 hexes of both Nauru and Ocean Islands. There is bad weather at Nauru, so it is not bombed, but Ocean is. Enemy troops there are a construction unit, the Ocean Island unit that starts there, and the III/84th Naval Guard unit. So not a lot.

On Mindanao, the last Philippine defenders are eliminated. The Japanese 4th Infantry Division is finally freed up for other actions.

Today my carriers move one hex northeast, staying 2 hexes from both Nauru and Ocean. One cruiser and 2 destroyers will bombard Nauru. BB Indiana and escorts will sit on Nauru. A cruiser task force will sit on Ocean. Both will have LR CAP. A DMS will sit on each island. Both islands will be invaded. B-24s will bomb Nauru.

Some interesting SigInt today. A fragment of the 21st Division is loaded on an SST and is heading to Munda. Maybe it will find the minefield at Munda's approach. The enemy is wanting to reinforce Munda, but not willing to risk ships at the moment. That's with KB in the area. It's at Rabaul.

I get information that the 20th Infantry Regiment is moving to Koepang on Timor. Koepang is a big base.

And I get double heavy activity at Kwajalein.

So, tomorrow is an exciting invasion day.

[jwolf]

ORIGINAL: apbarog
Enemy troops there are a construction unit, the Ocean Island unit that starts there, and the III/84th Naval Guard unit.

?? Isn't Ocean Island an Allied base at the start? I don't know what you mean. But in any case I assume you brought along plenty of firepower to take both islands.

[apbarog]

You are right jwolf, my mistake. I saw "Ocean Island..." on the combat report for my bombing, and thought that it was some unit specific to there. It was just the island itself.

I hope that I brought enough also!

[apbarog]

5 Jan 43

A large battleship force is spotted by Shark one hex west of Kusaie Island. It has BBs Ise, Fuso, and Mutsu. Direction is not known when it is spotted at night. During the night replay after that, task forces are spotted two and three hexes west of Kusaie. They may be going west, but that is a guess.

Near Gasmata, sub Hake gets a working torpedo hit on a patrol boat, probably sinking it.

Near Horn Island, I-157 fires 2 torpedoes at sub Narwhal, but misses.

Near Rabaul, sub Perch is hunted by 2 subchasers. They are notable because I see groups of 4 depth charges being dropped. Hadn't seen that in the war so far, that I noticed, anyhow. Perch is not hit.

I-7 fires 2 torpedoes at destroyer Jarvis, which is part of a carrier task force near Nauru. Torpedoes miss, and one good depth charge hit is achieved.

Then the invasion action begins.

Cruiser Louisville and 2 destroyers bombards Nauru. Damage is light but acceptable for such a small task force. Disruption is the goal.

Landings begin at Nauru and Ocean Islands.

With daylight, 7 Tojos sweep Goodenough Island, again. I don't know why. Sweepers wouldn't catch transports dropping supply, which is the only thing I can think of that would justify planes there. I'm not dropping supply regardless.

At Nauru, a squadron of B-24s from Ndeni hit the defending troops, and cause some disruptions.

Near Phuket, sub KXVII hits xAK Reiyo Maru with 2 torpedoes, probably sinking it. No troops. I think this task force is returning to Singapore after going to Port Blair.

After more daytime landings at Nauru and Ocean, the islands are both shock attacked. At Ocean, the fragments that have landed get 31 to 1 attack against level 3 forts, destroying all enemy on the island, which consisted of III/84th Naval Guard unit and the 45th Field Construction Company.

At Nauru, the fragments get a 5 to 1 attack with level 2 forts, capturing the island. One Allied unit is destroyed, the 15th Naval Construction Battalion, but it turns out that it really was just a fragment of the unit, with more still to unload. The Japanese units are reported to be surrounded after the combat, and they don't appear on the map afterwards.

I landed all of my support units with the attacking wave at both bases because I'm concerned that I don't have many days to unload safely. Maybe just the one, we'll see. Unloading will continue today, with combat ships standing by, and carriers still providing LR CAP.

At Nauru, I have a New Zealand brigade, and tank destroyer brigade, 2 naval construction battalions, a coastal AA unit, a base force, a Marine Defense battalion (with 5 inch guns), and a heavy coastal artillery unit (with 155's), and a port maintenance engineer battalion.

At Ocean, I have a New Zealand brigade, an Amphibious tractor engineer unit, a construction battalion, a base force, and a port maintenance unit.

At least, I will have when all of the units have completely unloaded.

I moved some Catalinas to both bases. I expect one or both bases to get bombarded after my carriers leave. That's fine. I won't be using these bases as stepping stones to elsewhere for quite awhile, if ever. I do think taking these bases will spread the enemy defense out some, making it easiers for upcoming operations.

EDIT---forgot to mention that KB (or at least a bunch of carriers with 200+ bombers) is still at Rabaul, so no reaction toward Nauru, from them, anyhow.

[apbarog]

6 Jan 43

Near Nauru Island, RO-62 torpedoes destroyer O'Brien, badly damaging it. O'Brien's only hope is to make it to Nauru and repair there for awhile.

Just south of Ponape, sub Amberjack spots an AO task force, but misses an AO with 6 torpedoes. The task force supposedly had an E, a DD, 4 AOs, and oddly, a CM. This may be a task force fleeing Kusaie for Ponape.

Interesting day at Woodlark Island. A big task force, possibly having destroyers and APDs, is there, either loading or unloading troops. I don't know which. I had 4 OS2U-3 Kingfisher float planes at Rossel Island, and I gave them pilots highly trained in low naval attack. The 4 planes attack the enemy shipping, and destroyer Amatsukaze takes 4 250lb bomb hits. 4 for 4, not bad! There are troop casualties.

Today I spot carriers and battleships east of Rabaul. At first I thought, here comes KB! But it's not KB. KB is still at Rabaul. This is a mini-KB, with a big battleship task force with it. These ships probably came from the Kusaie/Ponape area, where I had seen battleships and high detection levels. They could be setting up to attack Ontong Java, or just going to Rabaul.

So no apparent reaction toward Nauru and Ocean Islands, yet.

Most of my invasion shipping will leave the islands today, and my carriers will start to withdraw while escorting transports.

[BBfanboy]

The dance continues .... good luck!

[jwolf]

When your carriers return to the Coral Sea, I wonder if it's time to try Horn Island again. Or maybe Woodlark is the more critical target.

[apbarog]

7 Jan 43

Badly damaged destroyer O'Brien attempted to move 2 hexes to Nauru Island, but one hex away it is found by RO-62. One torpedo hits...and it's a dud! The destroyer makes it to Nauru's port and disbands, hoping to repair some flooding enough to head to safety.

At Ontong Java, 3 enemy cruisers bombard the island. Troop losses are heavy in the clear terrain, and the port is moderately damaged. I've transported one raiding regiment off of the island by Catalinas already. There's still another there with a small port unit. I want this base just for naval search, so I'll have to accept the vulnerability to bombardments for now.

At Buna, I try a maximum effort with B-17s from Australia. Damage is acceptable, but LR CAP from Lae, including Tojos, takes its toll. About 6 bombers are lost, taking down about the same number of enemy fighters.

Today KB has disappeared. Mini-KB, or what looks like a mini-KB, is at the base just east of Rabaul, enjoying the heavy CAP. A battleship task force is here also. Note that this base is a port size 0 and an airfield size 4. East of here, the cruisers that hit Ontong Java are returning to the Rabaul area.

Between Woodlark Island and Rabaul, the big task force of DDs, APDs, and one cruiser are heading north. A damaged destroyer may be slowing the task force down.

The Nauru and Ocean task forces are returning to the Ndeni/Luganville area. AO's await the carriers. APs are heading to Pago Pago, as I contemplate another attempt at Tabiteuea. I continue to land troops, mostly engineers, at Vanunu, adjacent to Munda. Rekata Bay, my dot base east of Munda, was reconned today and my troops are spotted finally. A large task force with many support and engineer units is arriving at Sydney.

Tabitieuea may be my next move. I have other plans, but it just isn't time yet. More base building is required. I will keep applying pressure here and there until the hammer is ready.

[apbarog]

8 Jan 43

Little activity today. My superb low-level Kingfishers at Rossel Island flew again to Woodlark Island, as enemy shipping reappeared there. But it was a trap, with A6M2s and A6M3s flying LR CAP for the task force, and all seaplanes were shot down. I should have figured on this. I didn't expect ships to come back so soon.

As I haven't done my turn yet, I can't say if I see KB or mini-KB. My Nauru and Ocean fleets continued to withdraw to the south and southwest, and did so without incident.

I flew my first recon of Kwajalein. That might stir up some concern.

[apbarog]

9 Jan 43

One of those days where I made the wrong decisions for how things worked out.

Seeing the enemy ships at Woodlark, I loaded up the area with naval bombers. At night, 5 enemy destroyers split off his task force and headed to Rossel Island to bombard. I had a small Dutch tanker and escort there unloading some fuel, and they had been spotted. The enemy sank both ships easily. I did get the fuel unloaded, small consolation. Then the ships bombarded, and I had lots of planes there today. Many P-40s and SBDs were damaged, and about 10 planes were lost. Damage to the airfield was moderate. I took a risk leaving the tiny TK there, and lost. The enemy avoided all of the mines at Rossel, and all of the subs on its route.

During the day, all of his shipping was gone.

I swept Woodlark Island heavily, finding no CAP and no ships there to CAP.

Shipping is heading to bases to prepare for Tabiteuea, round two. (subtitle -- This time it's for real!)

One of my carrier task forces was spotted east of Ndeni. I move to Luganville for now.

I have two surface groups setting up in bombardment range of Woodlark Island. I may or may not use them.

Wasp will be fully repaired at Sydney in a week.

Lots and lots of shipping still at Rabaul. Many combat ships seen but no carriers. Probably still there, but maybe not.