Feb 23 - 25, 1943
Gilberts
No sign of Allied shipping apart from the PT boats and ACMs guarding Nauru and Ocean Islands. I swept Nauru the previous day but when Japanese Netties, strongly escorted by Zeroes, attack the port on Feb 23, a new unit of P-40Ks have moved in and the results make depressing reading:
Morning Air attack on Nauru Island , at 127,128
Weather in hex: Overcast
Raid detected at 115 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 45 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 25
G3M2 Nell x 22
Allied aircraft
P-40K Warhawk x 24
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 6 destroyed
G3M2 Nell: 5 destroyed, 2 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
P-40K Warhawk: 1 destroyed
Allied Ships
ACM Heath, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
ACM Pine, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
Port hits 1
Port fuel hits 1
DEI
On
Feb 23, Japanese army bombers flying from Ambon hit Taberfane for the first time finding no CAP and pound the size 1 airfield quite nicely. Bombardment TFs move into position and the tactical situation receives a nice boost as the Allied carriers are sighted heading towards Horn Island, almost out of range for a quick reaction strike.
Feb 24 proves to be a massive anti-climax. With air HQs recently installed at Ambon and Sorong, masses of torpedo-armed Netties are on naval attack setting, but the Allied shipping has evaporated and no strikes launch. The Allied carriers are now spotted heading down the east coast of Australia so Apbarog has clearly abandoned his landing forces to manage as best they can temporarily without air cover.
Several Allied subs attack my surface ships in various places but, mercifully, all the torpedoes are wasted.
So the attack settings are recalibrated on
Feb 25 and this time modest successes are achieved:
Strike 1
Night Naval bombardment of Taberfane at 82,117
Japanese Ships
CA Kinugasa
CA Aoba
CA Ashigara
CA Haguro
DD Mochizuki
DD Kisaragi
DD Wakaba
DD Nenohi
DD Suzukaze
Allied ground losses:
278 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 31 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 13 disabled
Guns lost 15 (1 destroyed, 14 disabled)
Vehicles lost 9 (1 destroyed, 8 disabled)
Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 15
Runway hits 47
Port hits 41
Port fuel hits 5
Port supply hits 10
Strike 2
Morning Air attack on TF, near Taberfane at 84,119
Weather in hex: Partial cloud
Raid spotted at 4 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 1 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M3a Zero x 27
G4M1 Betty x 13
Allied Ships
TK Aletta, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
TK Petronella, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
AM Cowra, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
Aircraft Attacking:
13 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 45cm Type 91 Torp
Later on, Vals flying from Boela sink the AMc Uki near Dobo, and a separate unit dive bombs what turns out to be 17th Australian Brigade, newly landed at Timoeka, the dot base on the western side of New Guinea. To wrap up, Betties hit the airbase at Taberfane again as the damage mounts up.
Sub war
Submarine attack near Mataram at 61,108
Japanese Ships
CM Sarushima, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
SC Ch 12
CM Hirashima
CM Natsushima
CM Tsubame
E W-22
Allied Ships
SS Greenling, hits 7, heavy damage
SS Greenling launches 4 torpedoes at CM Sarushima
Greenling diving deep ....
E W-22 attacking submerged sub ....
SS Greenling forced to surface!
E W-22 firing on surfaced sub ....
Sub slips beneath the waves
Happy to trade a 1 pt CM for an Allied sub with working torpedoes any day..
