Chasing Tokyo Rose (Allied PBEM) DBB-C (no SheperdN7)

[Jorge_Stanbury]

Congrats!!
hard lesson for your opponent: Taiyo+Ryujo is not the KB; moving into the Java sea with such a weak force was reckless

Moreover, mixing a fast CVL (29kts) with a very slow CVE (21kts) force the entire TF to the slowest speed; and it is hard to run away from battleships at 21 knots

[Anachro]

Jorge. Yup seeing the CVE in the TF is what made me conclude I could catch up to her in the first place. Too bad that first action wasn't during the day. Probably could have scored some hits. Oh well. We can probably catch her again going through Makassar.

I think taking Palembang early is doable, but it needs to be done with appropriate concentration of force, which he doesn't have with his invasion force. He'll be back, but chastined with perhaps some BBs and maybe the KB with him. He is also now making a move for Singkawang, which should help provide air power for any push down towards the Java Sea.

[BBfanboy]

Does he have a DL on your three TFs? If so, he may decide that it would be better to head back NW to link up with his BBs and CAs rather than returning to Babeldaob. Probably the only reason he is down in the strait again is that he did not reset the CVL TF home base to one in the South China sea and the encounter with POW TF caused them to RTB. If he fixes that mistake he will not continue back to the Philippine Sea area.

[Anachro]

BBfanboy, you might be right. I suspected that the POW caused his TF to head back that way. My assumption is that he will move away because he will call off the invasion for now and try to get whatever transports he still has back safely. If he continues to try forward, he will lose them all. My goal is to sink these without engaging the BB or CA TF and then retire south, but we'll see...he might go full speed towards the south. My DDs will retire into Singapore. If his ships come down farther south, my torpedo bombers might cause them some damage without LCAP.

Currently, the only TF with a DL is the CA/CL task force (Boise, Houston, etc.) at Palembang, which has a DL of 1/4. The rest are undetected, including POW down by Batavia. Based on your comments I have now set POW to first move north of the Ryujo before heading south...at full speed. Hopefully this can catch her either way she goes.

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On a personal note, I was quite sad to lose the Caledon...that was the one CL I really didn't want to lose as she can convert to a CL-AA. Oh well.

[Jorge_Stanbury]

To get Palembang that early (mid December) you need carriers; real carriers. I would say a couple big ones: Kaga, Akagi or the 2 Kakus.
Otherwise, as you demonstrated, you get mobbed by the locally superior Allied forces

With local forces, (no KB), you need to wait until the old battleships arrive and also need to get some airbase. You can expect to get Palembang by the twenty something of December at the earliest. This is why in my current game I am so keen in getting Singkawang or (to a minor extend) Kuching. You then can get some air support that will be critical for the naval operations.

You should take advantage of fighting close to 2 big ports; you can rearm/ refuel and hit again. He in the other hand will need to go back to Camh Rahn or wherever the lonely Japanese AKE is located (probably near Takao or Babeldaob by now)

[Anachro]

December 15th, 1941

My supposition turned out to be rights and the Ryujo is heading back through the Makassar Strait. Prince of Wales should catch up with her unless he decides to break off a delaying surface force from his carriers. It will most likely be a night action, which I would rather avoid. If we goes full speed, I might not be able to catch her...and Prince of Wales' DL is 10/10. Meanwhile, he has re-positioned what is left of his Palembang invasion force towards Singkawang, probably to kill two birds with one stone by saving troops on his sinking ships and securing an air base from which to command the approaches to Singapore and Palembang.



Meanwhile, while there was no surface action today, and ineffectual air action, we scored some success through Dutch submarines on a few of the stricken Japanese transports.

Submarine attack near Singkawang at 53,88

Japanese Ships
xAK Hakodate Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire

Allied Ships
SS KVIII

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

Submarine attack near Singkawang at 53,88

Japanese Ships
xAK Yuzan Maru, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage

Allied Ships
SS KVIII

Japanese ground losses:
Guns lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Discussion

Let's hope for a successful action tomorrow against his carriers. Meanwhile, do you have any suggestions for how best to disrupt his landings at Singakawang or at least make it less effective for him to use planes based from there? Also, I still am bringing troops down from northern Malaya and it will be a few days before I can get the last of my Burmese troops out of Singapore.

[Jorge_Stanbury]

check Force Z's speed. drop any damage ships that is slowing it down. Go full speed, but remember to keep Soerabaja as home port to avoid weird route selection when coming back.
Also, check that threat tolerance is absolute. At least one float plane to night naval search, one on day search, snd this is the time for 100% search. check/ change search arcs on your Catalinas

You have the speed advantage, unless he drops CVE Taiyo, even then, sinking Taiyo will be a great achievement.

Also, I can see tankers and transports, throw them on his path. They will not fight, but the "engagement" might delay him a bit or make him change course

Not a lot you can do in Kuching/ Singkawang, other than submarines and ineffective LBAs, don't forget to rebase the planes; you don't want to lose them by ground assault.
If your battleships survive, you might want to try a (risky) naval bombing; with good recon it will do a lot of damage to the airbase; and engineers are at premium with Dababes

[Anachro]

Followed your advice, Jorge. Good results today, but surface action of Allied forces leave much to be desired.

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December 16th, 1941

Excerpts from H.S. Percival's Lost Triumphs: The Early Pacific War in the East Indies

...the actions of the 14th continued to carry weight two days later. With the abrupt end of immediate plans to move on Palembang and the threat offered by Britain's still-operational Task Force Z, Ryujo, Taiyo, and their escorts fled back through the Makassar Strait towards Babeldaob. However, the Prince of Wales was steaming at full speed to intercept them; and the Taiyo's slow speed hindered the chances of a successful escape. Late in the afternoon, east of Palembang, the Prince of Wales and her escorts came into firing range of the Ryujo. The result was a fierce battle in which both sides suffered, but the Allies lacked the experience and heavy firepower to deliver a final knockout punch. General naval theory of the time assumed a need for greater numbers of capital ships than the enemy to achieve victory; and the battle pitted three Japanese heavy cruisers against one British battleship. Nonetheless, the Ryujo suffered damage during the fight, with heavy fires observed on her deck as the forces broke off.




...but this was a day of extraordinary luck and success for the Allies. For not one, but two Japanese light carriers were struck and, ad the least, seriously wounded. The Dutch submarine KXV successfully torpedoed the Zuiho off the coast of Northern Luzon, causing an ammo storage explosion, resulting fires, and counter-listing. For the foreseeable future, if Japan wanted carrier air power to assist its landings in the Dutch East Indies, it would need to use the main carriers of the Kido Butai.



Action Elsewhere

Submarine attack near Sambas at 57,88

Japanese Ships
xAK Sanuki Maru, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage

Allied Ships
SS KVIII

xAK Sanuki Maru is sighted by SS KVIII
SS KVIII launches 2 torpedoes at xAK Sanuki Maru

Submarine attack near Sambas at 57,88

Japanese Ships
xAK Tazan Maru, Shell hits 13, Torpedo hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage

Allied Ships
SS KVIII

Discusssion



The Dutch are really carrying the Allies when it comes to submarine warfare at the moment. Let's hope two stricken carriers will present better pickings for US subs in the coming days as we seek to build on our success and try to confirm that they sink. My intelligence estimates that both the Ryujo and the Zuiho are or will sink, but I doubt. Maybe we will get lucky and the fires will consume them. The situation as it stands right now: my Prince of Wales task force needs to retire to Balikpapan to refuel before moving elsewhere to repair. Prince of Wales can probably repair at Batavia before moving up to try and bombard the Japanese landings at Singkawang once they put planes there. Some of the others will need further repair.

The big problem is that I have one destroyer dead in the water. I'm hoping it will repair enough to get to Balikpapan before heading further west. I'm also hoping my opponent doesn't try to engage in a surface flight, assuming he is out of ammo just like I am. We'll see. For now, I will break off the dead destroyer from the others so it doesn't slow them down. We'll see what happens tomorrow. I have moved a Dutch air wing into Balikpapan to provide air cover and he is harassing with Kates from northern Borneo.



Will begin conducting interdiction bombing on Japanese forces in Malaya. I really should have started doing it earlier. Also, I am heavily mining Palembang for any future push towards it with around 350 mines at the moment. However, I am having trouble re-arming my DMs and CMs. They won't fully re-arm at Batavia or Singapore. Any idea why?

Suggestions? Thoughts?

[Jorge_Stanbury]

Congrats! This is a good example of the futility of doing a full sir robin.

You should break the task force into many;divided by speed.
Pow Mauritius and the best destroyers should be saved even if this mean that the rest will die.
Soerabaja is a better alternative to Batavia. Bigger port

You already run out of mines otherwise Singapore would handle.

[BBfanboy]

Congrats on the intercept!
I agree with your doubts about Ryujo but Zuiho should be gone after two torps and an ASE. IJN damage control just can't seem to cope with both heavy fire and flood at the same time.

Oosthaven is the usual landing spot for a move on Palembang. I would put at least 150 mines in that port or a shallow water hex just next to it.

Singapore port starts out damaged. Unless it has been repaired it will not load mines nor battleship gun ammo.
That said, the pools for mines are really shallow and you may not have enough to reload the minelayers. Go to the Intel Report screen, select "Industry/Troops/Resource Pools" at the bottom right and deselect everything except mines. Check the pools and the monthly production rates. Make notes - mines are very specific by nationality and ship/sub class that can use them. Otherwise, they come out of supply like torpedoes so you do not have to go to specific ports to get specific mines.

[Anachro]

December 17th, 1941

Not much action of note today. We had a few sub attacks on convoys with hits that turned out to be duds. However, we did have some action amid the interior waters of Luzon betweeno US PT boats and a Japaneses task force. One boat managed to put a torpedo into a Japanese destroyer, which we expect should sink soon. Sadly, no carriers were intercepted by subs this turn and we expect the Ryujo to survive. The Zuiho wasn't seen however.

Prince of Wales has successfully refueled at Balikpapan and is moving to Soerabaja, as is the rest of my damaged surface fleet from yesterday's action.

Night Time Surface Combat, near Legaspi at 81,83, Range 1,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CL Nagara
DD Yukikaze
DD Tokitsukaze
DD Yamakaze
DD Kawakaze
DD Umikaze, Shell hits 1
DD Suzukaze, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
DD Shiokaze

Allied Ships
PT-31
PT-32, Shell hits 1
PT-33
PT-34
PT-35, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
PT-41, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
PT Q-111
PT Q-112

KB is no where to be seen. Either it's coming down to the DEI through interior lines or preparing (or already moving with) to head towards Midway or the Aleutians with some invasion task force. For now, I have Lexington stationed at Auckland for any push towards Rabaul with surface forces. Hoping his KB is far away.

[Jorge_Stanbury]

For the next few days, check your air losses report. If you see inexplicable operation (or is it ground?) losses on Zeros and Kates, then you will know a carrier is gone. Moreover, Ryujo and Zuiho were attacked far away from Japanese bases, so few airplanes would had rebased to land airfields. The good thing is those two carriers have horrendous durability (the worst and second worst of all CVLs) so, these are the most likely candidates to die from fires or flood. You should still have good patrol capabilities in Manila, Bataan, you should try to figure out where are they, then send submarines to intercept. most likely candidate would be Babeldaob

KB: By December 17th, assuming a standard Pearl harbor strike and "mission speed" return,the carriers should be close to Truk. With his DEI losses, I bet he will move to Babeldaob and Java soon

[Anachro]

December 18th, 1941

A good day in terms of submarine warfare...

Submarine attack near Sambas at 57,88

Japanese Ships
xAKL Fukuyo Maru, Shell hits 6, on fire

Allied Ships
SS KXII, hits 2

xAKL Fukuyo Maru is sighted by SS KXII
SS KXII attacking xAKL Fukuyo Maru on the surface
Haag C. decides to submerge SS KXII due to damage

Submarine attack near Sambas at 57,88

Japanese Ships
xAK Nittei Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
SS KXII

...but a dangerous appearance from south of Soerabaja! Thinking he was home-free, Prince of Wales leisurely moved towards Soerabaja with his complement of escorts. This sojourn was rudely interrupted by the appearance of the BB Haruna and other unidentirfied capital ships south of the Prince of Wales. We do not know how they got there. Either they rushed down from the north while avoiding our naval search or they came from the south. Either way the coming night will be nerve-wracking. For now, Prince of Wales shall attempt to move full speed towards the safety of Soerabaja and its minefield b of 500 mines, using the route shown below. It's most likely that the Haruna and her sisters will attempt to intercept at full speed.



Thoughts suggestions? I have a bunch of xAKLs right next to the enemy task force I will try and use to slow it down and deplete its ammo. I also will try, if needed, to use the damaged CL/DD TF next to POW as a decoy. I'd rather not lose POW. Should I run for Batavia instead? I think they can slightly outrun me at full speed. He has another surface force seemingly moving down from Singkawang, so Soerabaja might still be my best bet.

[poodlebrain]

You can always move Prince of Wales northwest during the night phase and then southeast to Soerbaja during the day phase when you should have air cover and the ability to launch airstrikes against Haruna.

[BBfanboy]

His BBs don't have to succeed in intercepting - they just have to get you holed up in Soerabaja until KB get there.
Your move to Soerabaja is predictable and he will try to intercept in that direction. When I think the enemy is going to deke left, I go the other way.
Get out of the Java Sea trap by moving ASAP through a strait into the area south of Java and continue on to Perth or, if you have the fuel, Columbo.
Darwin is not recommended because it is another pocket for KB to trap you in (and it has very little fuel).

[Anachro]

BBFanboy,

Thanks for the advice. I was just thinking that he'd expect me to go up and then over to Soerabaja. I will begin moving ships out of harm's way, because I am pretty sure his KB is heading towards Java. As for POW and my stricken cruisers, I will try to go southeast. Let's hope he assumes I go north.

[Bif1961]

The Japanese deal with heavy fire and flood by sinking, which easily puts out the fires. [:'(]

[Anachro]

December 19h 1941

It's interesting to see how personality traits of one's opponent can be discerned over time. For instance, I have come to recognize a pattern whereby I can tell how the last turn went based on the words of my opponent in his emails along with the new save. Invariably, when he does well, he tends to discuss a lot, or boast, or just put in a lot of banzais in his text. When he suffers or is unhappy, he is either terse or completely silent. Human nature I suppose, but there it is nonetheless. I'm perhaps guilty of being too silent in my emails back to him regardless of a turn's outcome; maybe I should try to recreate the discussions that canoerebel and John seem to have in theirs. Oh well.

The reason I bring his up is because I was very happy tonight to see the save returned without so much as a word from my opponent, leading to me believe things went well. Well, I was right! The Prince of Wales, all my cruisers actually, escaped and will live to see another day at least. Moving south towards Darwin, they escaped the expected route of the enemy task force. Some light cargo ship captains bravely agreed to act as decoys, allowing some distance to be made. Going full speed, however, Prince of Wales will need refueling before she can make it all the way to Darwin.

Japanese Ships
BB Kongo
BB Haruna
CA Takao
CA Atago
CL Jintsu
DD Asashio
DD Oshio
DD Michishio
DD Arashio
DD Akatsuki
DD Hibiki

Allied Ships
xAKL Luzon, Shell hits 7, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
xAKL Magallanes, Shell hits 3, and is sunk
xAKL Princessa, Shell hits 2, and is sunk
xAKL Princess of Cebu, Shell hits 3, on fire

Already, discussions are underway to create a memorial for these brave fellows.

More interestingly, it appears my opponent is once again making a move towards Palembang. This time with a decent surface escort. Heavy cruisers Suzuya, Mikuma, and Kumano are moving with the transports...without air cover! Moving into range of Singapore's air force, bombers quickly dive for such juicy targets and Mikuma suffers a nice torpedo strike, causing an underwater explosion and counter-flooding. Intelligence reckons shes a goner, but no fires observed so we think she'll live unless we can damage her on the morrow.



Frankly, I don't mind them continuing towards Palembang where I have 500 mines waiting. The tankers currently there will break off loading fuel and head south through the southern estuary.



Elsewhere

Submarine Skipjack suffers a mine hit off the coast of Hokkaido. She will need to move back to either Rabaul or Soerabaja, don't know which yet. Hopefully, she can make it.



I guess I should talk about the land war, where the Japanese foot soldier is quickly proving not to be invincible. A SNLF unit landed on Wake Island, but is quickly getting bogged down by the still-functional local air force and suffering greatly in suicidal frontal attacks. It might even get pushed off, marking the first successful defense of an island from amphibious invasion so far.

Ground combat at Wake Island (136,98)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 1652 troops, 19 guns, 2 vehicles, Assault Value = 34

Defending force 1373 troops, 21 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 17

Japanese adjusted assault: 0

Allied adjusted defense: 17

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 99 (fort level 0)

Combat modifiers
Defender: experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+), leaders(-)

Japanese ground losses:
752 casualties reported
Squads: 66 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 10 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 11 (5 destroyed, 6 disabled)
Vehicles lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)

Assaulting units:
Maizuru 2nd SNLF

Hong Kong continues to hold out against the odds and is making the enemy suffer for its incursion. He might need to bring more down from Canton, if he doesn't want to drag the siege out longer.

apanese assault odds: 1 to 9 (fort level 1)

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
206 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 6 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 18 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Vehicles lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
170 casualties reported
Squads: 12 destroyed, 13 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 11 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 4 (2 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Vehicles lost 4 (1 destroyed, 3 disabled)

Discussion



Transports should begin to load from Singapore in the next few days. Late start, I know. How best should I extricate them given Japanese forces in south near Palembang and at Singkawang? Should I attempt to go north through Malacca Strait, with LRCAP? What are your thoughts on conducting a tough defense of Rabaul? Worth it? Regarding Palembang, I suspect he will need to move his cruiser force before he moves out his transports, offering me a window to move in with the Houston, DD's, etc.

[Jorge_Stanbury]

Darwin is within the potential path for KB.. I don't know if I would risk PoW there. besides, it is too small for rearming purposes, do you have a big AKE at Darwin? or did you rearm on Soerabaja? if not I don't see what can you gain at Darwin for the significant risk of finding an angry KB

With Japan fully committed to Palembang, I would use the Malacca strait. Use fast transports, escorted by your fastest escorts. go full speed, hug Sumatra's coast, then avoid the Andaman sea, move west from Sabang... and be prepared for some losses

Rabaul: he will come in force for sure, I personally prefer to do a last stand at Pt Moresby. In any case, use your patrol boat to move some squadrons out, so that the LCU will not be destroyed when he arrives.
Do you have hints of his intentions there?

I am interested in seeing your Palembarg mining results, but I won't be surprised is fleets of DMS are the first to hit the beaches.

[Anachro]

The POW will only be staying at Darwin for refueling purposes before moving further away for repair. I couldn't take it elsewhere due to where I suspected the Japanese task forces were going. I am thinking it will head to Perth for its repairs. I'm confident I can get my transports out through Malacca, as his naval search/strike has been weak there recently. Cap protection over Singapore as the transports load at the moment hoping he does an unescorted strike with his planes.

There has been no sign of the KB or its intentions. My opponent likes to strike Midway early, which he did before, so I have mined Midway. Otherwise, I just got heavy radio traffic over sig int from Truk, which might mean its there in preparation for a push south or to Java. There does seem to be a heavy surface force a tiny bit south of Truk, which means KB might be going elsewhere. I have a number of ships at Rabaul and a reinforced garrison worth 130 AV. I have transports there, might start extracting for relocation further south or at PM. PM has also been reinforced.

As for Palembang, I don't think he has any DMS in his invasion force, so you should see better results from the mines. We'll see.