11/1/43
Big Tent: The herd makes five more hexes and is now a bit SW of Wake Island. Enemy subs picked off a TK, an xAK carrying a bit of equipment, and an xAK carrying fuel. I'm very worried about his subs - it's my biggest concern - but the occasional merchant ship is not why I'm worried.
Other than those encounters, nothing amiss happens today. The herd is 53 hexes into its journey with just 30 remaing to target one. The temptation is to sprint now given the threat posed by enemy subs. But I think the better course is to have a rendezvous point to allow as many trailing TFs as possible to catch up, particular those carrying fuel. A few laggard will probably be left behind, no doubt, but mostly the armada is drawing together in good order. Tomorrow the herd slows to just three hexes west. In that hex, most of the refueling will take place and I'll make final decisions as to which lagging TFs can still make it. Then perhaps one more slow day moving west. Then the armada moves out in force, probably at 5 hexes per day. So I think D-Day takes place in six or seven days.
No signs of KB or enemy combat ships. There are still enemy ships at Eniwetok and vicinity. I'm hoping that John isn't configuring a soak-off operation. I don't think he will, but I'll monitor.
SigInt, recon and other intel is still all good. John may surprise me here, but it's highly unlikely. I haven't gotten one single report of a unit at any of the 20 or so targeted bases. Nor has there been any base building activity whatsoever. The closes thing I've seen is at one base on the periphery, and that hasn't been anything dramatic. It still seems like he's focusing forward. Also, a few days ago SigInt reported 2nd Div. at Paramushiro.
Eldorado is gold now. This special op has been successful. I should be able to reveal it in about four days.
Meanwhile, the Allied PBY bases at Bikini and Rongelap are up and running. John would ordinarily handle these by quick counterinvasion (they're very weakly held), but he doesn't want to risk good ships with Death Star moving in behind these bases.
Lion Tamer: The island base west of Koumac autoflipped today. That unit will reload and move to a dot hex. The amphib force targeting Tamma (NE of Noumea) will arrive in about three days. And a TF aiming for Vanua Lava is loading at Norfolk Island.
The Good The Bad & The Indifferent
Moderators: wdolson, MOD_War-in-the-Pacific-Admirals-Edition
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Canoerebel
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RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent
"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent
Eldorado is gold now.
Wasn't he always? [;)]
On topic, I am very curious to see just how strong a response the Japanese make. Also I'm worried about the constant losses to subs. [:(]
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Canoerebel
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RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent
I think these are the first three losses to subs in this op. They are a major concern, but thus far everything's going well.
If John's going to respond with his navy, he'll have one good window. But he might not realize that's his best window until it's closed. That's my hope. Once the window closes, though, any battle should favor the Allies in terms of comparable OOB.
If John's going to respond with his navy, he'll have one good window. But he might not realize that's his best window until it's closed. That's my hope. Once the window closes, though, any battle should favor the Allies in terms of comparable OOB.
"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
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Bullwinkle58
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RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent
ORIGINAL: Canoerebel
The best perspective I have on time is this, from just a few years ago. My dad, who was a WWII veteran, was born in 1923. When I visited him in 2013, when he was about to turn 90, I realized that less than double his lifetime would include the Civil War years and even the Cherokee Trail of Tears and less than triple his lifetime was the American Revolution. That's crazy!
Your dad, and mine, could have had a conversation with Civil War veterans when they were boys. And ex-slaves.
The Moose
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Canoerebel
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RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent
Funny we should be discussing this topic right now, because I've written a story along these same lines for the next issue of the magazine:
Vanishing Georgia
The Old Timers
On a sunny spring afternoon in 1981, I stood at my second-story dormitory window and looked down at the green expanse of the Myers Hall quadrangle. Scores of college students filled that park-like space. Some mingled in small groups. Others tossed Frisbees, sunbathed, or played softball. It was a scene of youthful vigor. Everyone seemed to be in the prime of life: healthy, happy, and apparently carefree.
As I took in that view, a campus bus pulled to a stop on the opposite side of the quadrangle. A dozen or more students disembarked and quickly melted into the teeming throng of young men and women. Then a frail, primly-dressed lady who seemed to bear the full weight of years upon her shoulders stepped from the bus to the sidewalk. She straightened her sweater, adjusted her hat, and began walking slowly across the quadrangle.
I watched for ten minutes as she made her way through that sea of students. As far as I could tell, none of them took notice of her. Finally she reached the dorm building, opened the door, and entered.
When she disappeared from view, I felt a momentary pang of regret – a brief melancholy feeling of time passing relentlessly, accompanied by a dawning awareness of my own mortality. It was a feeling as though life was slipping through my fingers, slowly at that moment but destined to accelerate as first years and then decades would pass.
The juxtaposition of age and youth was striking; so striking that I briefly considered walking downstairs. I had a fleeting notion that I ought to find the lady, ask her name and where she was bound, and invite her to share her memories. I wondered what she thought about the sprawling University of Georgia campus, the young people who hadn’t noticed her, and the passage of decades that had created such a chasm between her and them.
But the moment passed. I didn’t walk downstairs. I didn’t find her and ask those questions. And I never saw her again.
That moment has remained with me for 35 years. To this day, I wonder what she might have told me about a much younger Athens and her own youthful years. Did she yearn for earlier days, remembering a time when she was lithe and the world seemed young? Did she wistfully recall an evening walk beside a handsome suitor, strolling hand in hand beneath the glow of a gas lamp illuminating a sidewalk and nearby storefronts? Had she once marveled at streets teeming with wagons loaded high with cotton?
Perhaps as a young lady she had attended the Lucy Cobb Institute, a school for girls that stood on Milledge Avenue until 1931. Perhaps she had known pioneer aviator Ben Epps, who operated a “flying field” a few miles outside town. And perhaps she remembered the so-called Road Lab killings that had taken place on the university campus in 1918.
Had I taken the time to ask, she might have told me of these things. How grateful she might have been for the opportunity.
Sometimes, when I think about her, I wonder if she once stood in the place I would stand. During the prime of her life in the 1920s, had she ever watched an old timer make his shuffling way across an expanse of parkland? Did she ponder who he was, who he might have known, and what he might have seen? Did she look in wonder but shrink from asking?
Maybe she knew a wizened gentleman who in his youth had wrestled with the question of secession from the Union. Maybe she had walked beside a frail woman who remembered dancing gaily at a splendid ball in the company of ante bellum grandees like Thomas R.R. Cobb, Howell Cobb, and Joseph Henry Lumpkin. Maybe she had once, so very long before, made acquaintance with an old timer who could tell of traveling to Athens by stagecoach, before the era of the railroad.
Given the magic of generational knowledge, such things are possible. In such manner, while I viewed the Myers Hall quadrangle that afternoon in 1981, just one or two lifetimes may have separated me from memories of momentous people and events of the first half of the 19th century. The lady might have known someone with memories of the discovery of gold in north Georgia, the removal of the Cherokee from their homeland, or the fearsome scourges of yellow fever that swept our southern seaports.
Sometimes we don’t recognize the power of generational knowledge until it’s too late. Then we lament, “I wish I had asked Mom (or Dad) about their childhood, who they knew, and what they saw. Now it’s too late.”
I didn’t know enough local history to ask well-informed questions of that lady in 1981. But that isn’t what stopped me from finding her to ask. What stopped me was the notion that it wasn’t important; that there would be other opportunities; that there would be no shortage of old timers to talk to when the notion struck.
So I missed that chance. Then days turned into weeks, months into years, and old timers who could have answered those questions passed away, one by one, and their firsthand knowledge vanished from living memory.
Gradually I learned to stop and ask. Sometimes, anyway. As I drove down a rural mountain byway one Labor Day in the 1990s, I saw a withered man in faded denim overalls and soiled button-down shirt puttering across his lawn on a rickety riding lawnmower. To his rear stood his worn, unpainted country-style house, its pine-planking weathered as dark as fine walnut.
I’m not sure what prompted me to stop that day. I think I had been working on a story about the Rosedale Cyclone, which killed thirteen people on March 13, 1913. Perhaps he appeared to be the proper vintage to have memories of that calamity.
I recall discussing the cyclone with him, though I don’t remember exactly what he said. But I’ve never forgotten a story he recounted. He told me that many decades before, he’d had a dream in which lightning struck a tree that stood between two other trees in his pasture. When he awakened, he knew what the dream meant: a man would come between him and his wife. Not long afterwards, he said, his wife left him for another.
Less than three months after my talk with that man, he passed away. I’m glad I stopped to chat with him, but I regret the many other times I have been too busy to do so. How many opportunities have I missed to pass the time with those holding keys that would unlock the past?
Last summer, while slowly jogging along a dirt road on the Berry College campus, I approached a group of ten students coming my way. Each of them seemed to be in the prime of life: healthy, happy, and apparently carefree. It was a scene of youthful vigor.
As I passed by, they were deep in conversation. None of them took notice of me. None of them wondered who I was, where I had come from, or who I had known in my own youthful years. I rounded a curve, entered the shade of deep forest, and left them behind.
Then it dawned on me. I was the old timer.
Vanishing Georgia
The Old Timers
On a sunny spring afternoon in 1981, I stood at my second-story dormitory window and looked down at the green expanse of the Myers Hall quadrangle. Scores of college students filled that park-like space. Some mingled in small groups. Others tossed Frisbees, sunbathed, or played softball. It was a scene of youthful vigor. Everyone seemed to be in the prime of life: healthy, happy, and apparently carefree.
As I took in that view, a campus bus pulled to a stop on the opposite side of the quadrangle. A dozen or more students disembarked and quickly melted into the teeming throng of young men and women. Then a frail, primly-dressed lady who seemed to bear the full weight of years upon her shoulders stepped from the bus to the sidewalk. She straightened her sweater, adjusted her hat, and began walking slowly across the quadrangle.
I watched for ten minutes as she made her way through that sea of students. As far as I could tell, none of them took notice of her. Finally she reached the dorm building, opened the door, and entered.
When she disappeared from view, I felt a momentary pang of regret – a brief melancholy feeling of time passing relentlessly, accompanied by a dawning awareness of my own mortality. It was a feeling as though life was slipping through my fingers, slowly at that moment but destined to accelerate as first years and then decades would pass.
The juxtaposition of age and youth was striking; so striking that I briefly considered walking downstairs. I had a fleeting notion that I ought to find the lady, ask her name and where she was bound, and invite her to share her memories. I wondered what she thought about the sprawling University of Georgia campus, the young people who hadn’t noticed her, and the passage of decades that had created such a chasm between her and them.
But the moment passed. I didn’t walk downstairs. I didn’t find her and ask those questions. And I never saw her again.
That moment has remained with me for 35 years. To this day, I wonder what she might have told me about a much younger Athens and her own youthful years. Did she yearn for earlier days, remembering a time when she was lithe and the world seemed young? Did she wistfully recall an evening walk beside a handsome suitor, strolling hand in hand beneath the glow of a gas lamp illuminating a sidewalk and nearby storefronts? Had she once marveled at streets teeming with wagons loaded high with cotton?
Perhaps as a young lady she had attended the Lucy Cobb Institute, a school for girls that stood on Milledge Avenue until 1931. Perhaps she had known pioneer aviator Ben Epps, who operated a “flying field” a few miles outside town. And perhaps she remembered the so-called Road Lab killings that had taken place on the university campus in 1918.
Had I taken the time to ask, she might have told me of these things. How grateful she might have been for the opportunity.
Sometimes, when I think about her, I wonder if she once stood in the place I would stand. During the prime of her life in the 1920s, had she ever watched an old timer make his shuffling way across an expanse of parkland? Did she ponder who he was, who he might have known, and what he might have seen? Did she look in wonder but shrink from asking?
Maybe she knew a wizened gentleman who in his youth had wrestled with the question of secession from the Union. Maybe she had walked beside a frail woman who remembered dancing gaily at a splendid ball in the company of ante bellum grandees like Thomas R.R. Cobb, Howell Cobb, and Joseph Henry Lumpkin. Maybe she had once, so very long before, made acquaintance with an old timer who could tell of traveling to Athens by stagecoach, before the era of the railroad.
Given the magic of generational knowledge, such things are possible. In such manner, while I viewed the Myers Hall quadrangle that afternoon in 1981, just one or two lifetimes may have separated me from memories of momentous people and events of the first half of the 19th century. The lady might have known someone with memories of the discovery of gold in north Georgia, the removal of the Cherokee from their homeland, or the fearsome scourges of yellow fever that swept our southern seaports.
Sometimes we don’t recognize the power of generational knowledge until it’s too late. Then we lament, “I wish I had asked Mom (or Dad) about their childhood, who they knew, and what they saw. Now it’s too late.”
I didn’t know enough local history to ask well-informed questions of that lady in 1981. But that isn’t what stopped me from finding her to ask. What stopped me was the notion that it wasn’t important; that there would be other opportunities; that there would be no shortage of old timers to talk to when the notion struck.
So I missed that chance. Then days turned into weeks, months into years, and old timers who could have answered those questions passed away, one by one, and their firsthand knowledge vanished from living memory.
Gradually I learned to stop and ask. Sometimes, anyway. As I drove down a rural mountain byway one Labor Day in the 1990s, I saw a withered man in faded denim overalls and soiled button-down shirt puttering across his lawn on a rickety riding lawnmower. To his rear stood his worn, unpainted country-style house, its pine-planking weathered as dark as fine walnut.
I’m not sure what prompted me to stop that day. I think I had been working on a story about the Rosedale Cyclone, which killed thirteen people on March 13, 1913. Perhaps he appeared to be the proper vintage to have memories of that calamity.
I recall discussing the cyclone with him, though I don’t remember exactly what he said. But I’ve never forgotten a story he recounted. He told me that many decades before, he’d had a dream in which lightning struck a tree that stood between two other trees in his pasture. When he awakened, he knew what the dream meant: a man would come between him and his wife. Not long afterwards, he said, his wife left him for another.
Less than three months after my talk with that man, he passed away. I’m glad I stopped to chat with him, but I regret the many other times I have been too busy to do so. How many opportunities have I missed to pass the time with those holding keys that would unlock the past?
Last summer, while slowly jogging along a dirt road on the Berry College campus, I approached a group of ten students coming my way. Each of them seemed to be in the prime of life: healthy, happy, and apparently carefree. It was a scene of youthful vigor.
As I passed by, they were deep in conversation. None of them took notice of me. None of them wondered who I was, where I had come from, or who I had known in my own youthful years. I rounded a curve, entered the shade of deep forest, and left them behind.
Then it dawned on me. I was the old timer.
"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
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Canoerebel
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RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent
Speaking of noticing things, a final glance at the map showed an IJN carrier TF of three CA and one CVL. It's probably some DDs and a few CVEs or the like, either returning from detached duty in the lower Solomons or heading on a raid to New Caledonia (in response to the bait I set before John, as described previously). I probably won't get another sighting, so I may never know what it was doing and which way it was heading.
"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent
ORIGINAL: Canoerebel
a few CVEs
Do the Japanese actually have any of those left? [&:]
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HansBolter
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RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent
ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58
ORIGINAL: Canoerebel
The best perspective I have on time is this, from just a few years ago. My dad, who was a WWII veteran, was born in 1923. When I visited him in 2013, when he was about to turn 90, I realized that less than double his lifetime would include the Civil War years and even the Cherokee Trail of Tears and less than triple his lifetime was the American Revolution. That's crazy!
Your dad, and mine, could have had a conversation with Civil War veterans when they were boys. And ex-slaves.
Just reread Andrew Chaiken's (SP?) seminal work on the history of the Apollo Space Program, A Man on the Moon, which was the basis for the late 90's HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon (highly recommend both for any unfamiliar with them).
He documents an event during the launch of Apollo 17 wherein the oldest living American at the time, a former slave, 130 years of age was given a seat in the VIP gallery for the launch.
Hans
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Canoerebel
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RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent
ORIGINAL: IJV
ORIGINAL: Canoerebel
a few CVEs
Do the Japanese actually have any of those left? [&:]
Good point. If my "reconciliation" of the Japanese naval OOB last week was correct, I don't think he has any CVEs letf. The mouseover showed it as a CVL, so perhaps for once it's accurate. I can see John having a Mini KB down there to ambush Allied combat ships or small carriers.
"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
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Canoerebel
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RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent
Big Tent screen shot on the first day of November.
- Attachments
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- 103143BigTent.jpg (494.8 KiB) Viewed 296 times
"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
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Cap Mandrake
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RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent
Man, that is a heck of a monitor you have there.
Why not jog NW one hex? It's like all the wildebeasts crosses at one point with the crocs lined up like teenagers at In and Out.
Why not jog NW one hex? It's like all the wildebeasts crosses at one point with the crocs lined up like teenagers at In and Out.
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Canoerebel
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RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent
There have been course changes, and there will be at least one more that's significant. But the main thing is to get there as soon as possible, and each hex sideways is a hex added to the trip. The "thundering herd" group of TFs has lots of ASW, so my hope is that they'll keep the nasty subs at bay. They may not, but that's the hope. So, steam in strength and get to the beach as soon as possible.
At this point, I don't think John can react in time to seriously augment his defenses in the target hexes, even if he suspects the ultimate destination. I don't think he does, yet. I think he's still mostly focused on the Marshalls, Truk, and the Marianas. But if my analysis is right that he has a soft underbelly, then already his thoughts may be turning there, somewhat like this; "Man, what if he's heading there? I have nothing!. That's why I think speed is more important than deception. But I can engage in a bit of deception while the trailing TFs catch up.
The course is set no matter how John reacts now, but my hope is that he'll be a bit tentative, hoping to figure out what the target is and to then configure an effective strike of ships, carrier aircraft and LBA. If that's the case, I might be able to slip by the most worrisome stretch before he's certain enough to strike. So I'll give a zig there to try to throw him off balance.
At this point, I don't think John can react in time to seriously augment his defenses in the target hexes, even if he suspects the ultimate destination. I don't think he does, yet. I think he's still mostly focused on the Marshalls, Truk, and the Marianas. But if my analysis is right that he has a soft underbelly, then already his thoughts may be turning there, somewhat like this; "Man, what if he's heading there? I have nothing!. That's why I think speed is more important than deception. But I can engage in a bit of deception while the trailing TFs catch up.
The course is set no matter how John reacts now, but my hope is that he'll be a bit tentative, hoping to figure out what the target is and to then configure an effective strike of ships, carrier aircraft and LBA. If that's the case, I might be able to slip by the most worrisome stretch before he's certain enough to strike. So I'll give a zig there to try to throw him off balance.
"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
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Cap Mandrake
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RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent
So what is due "west" (on the WITPAE map) from 2 hexes S of Wake [:D] Perhaps split the Guam/Truk gap and keep going to Sulawese, Tarakan, Balikpapan, Mindanao etc. [:)]
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Canoerebel
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RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent
11/2/43
Big Tent: John's subs run amock today, putting torps into CA Birmingham, an xAP, three xAK and an LCI. Birmingham has moderate damage and will retire to Wake; one xAK is in bad shape; the other four ships went under. It was startling to watch this series of attacks, with the attendant worry of "what if, what if, what if...the worst occurs?" A tip of the cap to John for doing what's he's doing - his subs are well placed and probably have very good commanders.
The herd, culled a bit, is 55 hexes out of Pearl and 27 from the first beach. SigInt that radio signals are detected at Wolei, so he may be looking that way.
Tomorrow the herd will jink, either NW towards the Marianas or SW towards Eniwetok.
Enemy strike aircraft sortied from Enewitok: 36 AM4J Zeros and 43 Judys. The CAP handles them, downing 60 aircraft.
But here's an important question for those of you that have experience to evaluate this: in the first place, I was surprised that LBA would sortie against Death Star. Usually air superiority ratios would dissuade this. But more suprising and alarming to me is that only 86 Allied fighters were involved in the intercept. All of my carriers are within limits (all show "orange" levels of aircraft, none show red). Is it possible that the carriers simply recognized the threat as a small one so didn't sortie the full compliment? Or is this indicative of some weirdness - some problem with my carrier deployment that I haven't considered?
All fighter squadrons were set at 40% CAP and 10% rest (I'm bumping that to 50%/10%). And each kind of fighter was represented in small numbers: Corsair, Wildcat, Hellcat, and FM-1.
Bottom line: if 500 Japanese aircraft were inbound, would my CAP respond accordingly? Or does the modest CAP against a modest raid suggest that something's wrong? Would you have expected 500 fighters to take wing against a raid by 79 aircraft?
The pertinent part of the combat report is excerpted below.
I think everything's okay, but I wanted to run it by you gents.
As for what happens next - Yes, the subs have me grimacing. But I'm proceeding. If something bad happens in the next turn of two, I can still divert to Eniwetok, the alternative objective. But if things quiet down a bit, Big Tent rolls on.
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Wake Island at 131,100
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud
Raid detected at 50 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M4-J Zero x 36
D4Y1 Judy x 43
Allied aircraft
F4F-3A Wildcat x 2
F4F-4 Wildcat x 16
FM-1 Wildcat x 9
F4U-1A Corsair x 6
F6F-3 Hellcat x 53
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M4-J Zero: 16 destroyed
D4Y1 Judy: 23 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 1 destroyed
FM-1 Wildcat: 1 destroyed
F6F-3 Hellcat: 1 destroyed
CAP engaged:
VF-1 with F6F-3 Hellcat (5 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(5 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
5 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 15000.
Raid is overhead
4 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-2 with F6F-3 Hellcat (4 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(4 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 15000.
Raid is overhead
VF-3 with F6F-3 Hellcat (4 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(4 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 20000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 20000.
Raid is overhead
VF-42 with F6F-3 Hellcat (3 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(3 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 15000.
Raid is overhead
3 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-6 with F6F-3 Hellcat (4 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(4 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 20000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 20000.
Raid is overhead
4 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-8 with F6F-3 Hellcat (4 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(4 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 20000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 20000.
Raid is overhead
4 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-9 with F6F-3 Hellcat (4 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(4 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 20000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 20000.
Raid is overhead
VF-16 with F6F-3 Hellcat (4 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(4 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 20000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 20000.
Raid is overhead
4 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-18 with F6F-3 Hellcat (4 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(4 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 20000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 20000.
Raid is overhead
4 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-22 with F4F-4 Wildcat (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 15000.
Raid is overhead
2 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-23 with F4F-4 Wildcat (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 10000.
Raid is overhead
2 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-25 with F6F-3 Hellcat (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 15000.
Raid is overhead
VF-31 with F4U-1A Corsair (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(1 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 25000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 25000.
Raid is overhead
VC(F)-33 with FM-1 Wildcat (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(1 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 10000.
Raid is overhead
VF-35 with F4F-4 Wildcat (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 10000.
Raid is overhead
2 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-37 with F4F-4 Wildcat (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 20000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 20000.
Raid is overhead
VC(F)-39 with FM-1 Wildcat (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 15000.
Raid is overhead
VC(F)-41 with FM-1 Wildcat (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 10000.
Raid is overhead
VF-60 with F4F-4 Wildcat (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 15000.
Raid is overhead
VC(F)-63 with FM-1 Wildcat (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 10000.
Raid is overhead
Big Tent: John's subs run amock today, putting torps into CA Birmingham, an xAP, three xAK and an LCI. Birmingham has moderate damage and will retire to Wake; one xAK is in bad shape; the other four ships went under. It was startling to watch this series of attacks, with the attendant worry of "what if, what if, what if...the worst occurs?" A tip of the cap to John for doing what's he's doing - his subs are well placed and probably have very good commanders.
The herd, culled a bit, is 55 hexes out of Pearl and 27 from the first beach. SigInt that radio signals are detected at Wolei, so he may be looking that way.
Tomorrow the herd will jink, either NW towards the Marianas or SW towards Eniwetok.
Enemy strike aircraft sortied from Enewitok: 36 AM4J Zeros and 43 Judys. The CAP handles them, downing 60 aircraft.
But here's an important question for those of you that have experience to evaluate this: in the first place, I was surprised that LBA would sortie against Death Star. Usually air superiority ratios would dissuade this. But more suprising and alarming to me is that only 86 Allied fighters were involved in the intercept. All of my carriers are within limits (all show "orange" levels of aircraft, none show red). Is it possible that the carriers simply recognized the threat as a small one so didn't sortie the full compliment? Or is this indicative of some weirdness - some problem with my carrier deployment that I haven't considered?
All fighter squadrons were set at 40% CAP and 10% rest (I'm bumping that to 50%/10%). And each kind of fighter was represented in small numbers: Corsair, Wildcat, Hellcat, and FM-1.
Bottom line: if 500 Japanese aircraft were inbound, would my CAP respond accordingly? Or does the modest CAP against a modest raid suggest that something's wrong? Would you have expected 500 fighters to take wing against a raid by 79 aircraft?
The pertinent part of the combat report is excerpted below.
I think everything's okay, but I wanted to run it by you gents.
As for what happens next - Yes, the subs have me grimacing. But I'm proceeding. If something bad happens in the next turn of two, I can still divert to Eniwetok, the alternative objective. But if things quiet down a bit, Big Tent rolls on.
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Wake Island at 131,100
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud
Raid detected at 50 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M4-J Zero x 36
D4Y1 Judy x 43
Allied aircraft
F4F-3A Wildcat x 2
F4F-4 Wildcat x 16
FM-1 Wildcat x 9
F4U-1A Corsair x 6
F6F-3 Hellcat x 53
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M4-J Zero: 16 destroyed
D4Y1 Judy: 23 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 1 destroyed
FM-1 Wildcat: 1 destroyed
F6F-3 Hellcat: 1 destroyed
CAP engaged:
VF-1 with F6F-3 Hellcat (5 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(5 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
5 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 15000.
Raid is overhead
4 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-2 with F6F-3 Hellcat (4 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(4 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 15000.
Raid is overhead
VF-3 with F6F-3 Hellcat (4 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(4 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 20000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 20000.
Raid is overhead
VF-42 with F6F-3 Hellcat (3 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(3 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 15000.
Raid is overhead
3 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-6 with F6F-3 Hellcat (4 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(4 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 20000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 20000.
Raid is overhead
4 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-8 with F6F-3 Hellcat (4 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(4 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 20000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 20000.
Raid is overhead
4 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-9 with F6F-3 Hellcat (4 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(4 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 20000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 20000.
Raid is overhead
VF-16 with F6F-3 Hellcat (4 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(4 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 20000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 20000.
Raid is overhead
4 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-18 with F6F-3 Hellcat (4 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(4 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 20000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 20000.
Raid is overhead
4 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-22 with F4F-4 Wildcat (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 15000.
Raid is overhead
2 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-23 with F4F-4 Wildcat (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 10000.
Raid is overhead
2 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-25 with F6F-3 Hellcat (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 15000.
Raid is overhead
VF-31 with F4U-1A Corsair (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(1 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 25000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 25000.
Raid is overhead
VC(F)-33 with FM-1 Wildcat (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(1 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 10000.
Raid is overhead
VF-35 with F4F-4 Wildcat (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 10000.
Raid is overhead
2 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-37 with F4F-4 Wildcat (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 20000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 20000.
Raid is overhead
VC(F)-39 with FM-1 Wildcat (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 15000.
Raid is overhead
VC(F)-41 with FM-1 Wildcat (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 10000.
Raid is overhead
VF-60 with F4F-4 Wildcat (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 15000.
Raid is overhead
VC(F)-63 with FM-1 Wildcat (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 10000.
Raid is overhead
"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent
A 'round the world cruise - it's the Great White Fleet! [:D]ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake
So what is due "west" (on the WITPAE map) from 2 hexes S of Wake [:D] Perhaps split the Guam/Truk gap and keep going to Sulawese, Tarakan, Balikpapan, Mindanao etc. [:)]
Intel Monkey: https://sites.google.com/view/staffmonkeys/home
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Canoerebel
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RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent
I'll be sending the turn back within the 1/2 hour. So if any of you experienced guys has insight into the carrier CAP (see bold print two posts above), please post. If I don't hear anything, or if nobody thinks its an issue, the herd will lumber onward, culled and spooked just a bit, but determined to vanquish to foe.
"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
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Canoerebel
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RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent
Specifically, is it odd that no planes are on standby or scrambling, or does this suggest that the raid was small so that the air commander just didn't bother preparing other aircraft?
That's a bit spooky.
That's a bit spooky.
"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
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Canoerebel
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RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent
Probably nobody's quite sure. We do this all the time, but sometimes it's hard to know for certain, and we're reluctant to make a wrong answer, so we err on the side of the "certainty standard."
Here's what I'm going to do: the herd will move four hexes NW (the course of action Cap suggested a turn back). SW towards Eniwetok is preferable, but John still has ships there. I don't want to lose sorties against riff-raff this early in the operation. Death Star will be operating deep for a long time, so sortie percentage is more important than usual.
I'll be holding my breath next turn.
Here's what I'm going to do: the herd will move four hexes NW (the course of action Cap suggested a turn back). SW towards Eniwetok is preferable, but John still has ships there. I don't want to lose sorties against riff-raff this early in the operation. Death Star will be operating deep for a long time, so sortie percentage is more important than usual.
I'll be holding my breath next turn.
"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent
CR,
I'm not the droid you are looking for. Hopefully one of the big boys can answer before you send the turn, but you are seem to have most things figured out.
Go Navy!
T Rav
I'm not the droid you are looking for. Hopefully one of the big boys can answer before you send the turn, but you are seem to have most things figured out.
Go Navy!
T Rav
RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent
I will take a stab and say that it was just a case of a single small strike and the air commander did not want all the CAP committed to that one strike. Think of Midway when the entire Japanese CAP was pulled down chasing TBDs just when the SBDs came in.
