[font="Times New Roman"]March 29, 1942[/font]
The mini-KB did attempt a strike which flew in to Palembang without escort and hit the CAP. Reports show 17 Kates destroyed. A second wave came and somehow missed the CAP, got to a few AMc and sank them ruthlessly. Got to be careful since there is a lot of good combat and transport shipping around. Tomorrow all bases with ships will hunker down and fly 1 hex supporting CAP at layered levels.
After this in the day the air strikes were again very effective at Palembang even though weather still plays up a bit. A total of 30 more hits to the oil!! Now that I've seen the turn file I can say this is getting to the point where I'm nearly finished with the campaign. I'd like to get it to 100-150 oil left, with Djambi at 0, and then go for the base itself.
Overall we've hit Magwe and destroyed about 100 oil points there, taken off another 100 between Balikpapan and Samarinda, hit Boela for minus 20, and destroyed the oil at Sakhalin for another minus 30, plus a few odd here and there. By my count (without tracker) I think the SRA and Burma have about 2,700 oil production points. So if I count up those damaged already plus the goal for Palembang, that would be about 1350, or almost exactly half, of the SRA oil production wiped out in the first 4 months of the war!!
Of course I won't stop there, and Magwe, Miri/Brunei, Balikpapan/Samarinda (plus Soerabaja and Medan/Benkalis if and when they're captured) will still be in range of the 4Es.
Elsewhere the 4Es finally get the big hit o the damaged Pontiniak fields we were hoping for, with another ~30 Japanese planes destroyed, plus one more 500lb hit on the Myoko (only deck armor again, non-penetrating). I'll rest these beasts up tomorrow and not risk getting them embroiled in a fight with the KB CAP.
Out at Sabang the Dorniers flew and hit another APD, likely sinking her. Nice!
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AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR March 29, 1942
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Morning Air attack on Palembang , at 48,91
Weather in hex: Heavy rain
Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes
Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIb Trop x 8
139WH-3 x 18
F4F-4 Wildcat x 9
No Allied losses
Oil hits 7
Fires 272
Aircraft Attacking:
3 x 139WH-3 bombing from 10000 feet
City Attack: 3 x 300 kg GP Bomb
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Morning Air attack on Palembang , at 48,91
Weather in hex: Heavy rain
Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes
Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIb Trop x 2
B-25C Mitchell x 18
B-26 Marauder x 16
P-39D Airacobra x 7
F4F-4 Wildcat x 9
Allied aircraft losses
B-25C Mitchell: 1 damaged
B-26 Marauder: 4 damaged
Oil hits 21 [&o]
Fires 292
Aircraft Attacking:
8 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet *
City Attack: 3 x 500 lb GP Bomb
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Morning Air attack on Pontianak , at 56,90
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud
Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 8
Ki-27b Nate x 1
Allied aircraft
B-17D Fortress x 3
B-17E Fortress x 26
LB-30 Liberator x 3
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 8 damaged
A6M2 Zero: 5 destroyed on ground
Ki-27b Nate: 1 damaged
Ki-27b Nate: 8 destroyed on ground
H6K4 Mavis: 1 destroyed on ground
E13A1 Jake: 2 destroyed on ground
Allied aircraft losses
B-17D Fortress: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged
B-17E Fortress: 9 damaged
Japanese Ships
CA Myoko,
Bomb hits 1, heavy damage
Airbase hits 4
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 27
Port hits 2
Aircraft Attacking:
5 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
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Morning Air attack on TF, near Palembang at 48,91
Weather in hex: Heavy rain
Raid spotted at 18 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes
Japanese aircraft
B5N2 Kate x 13
Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIb Trop x 5
CW-21B Demon x 2
Hurricane IIb Trop x 1
P-39D Airacobra x 3
F4F-3 Wildcat x 5
F4F-4 Wildcat x 8
Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 8 destroyed
No Allied losses
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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Great Nicobar at 46,66
Weather in hex: Light cloud
Raid spotted at 13 NM, estimated altitude 4,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes
Allied aircraft
Do-24K-1 x 2
Allied aircraft losses
Do-24K-1: 1 damaged
Japanese Ships
APD Nadakaze
, Bomb hits 1, on fire
Aircraft Attacking:
2 x Do-24K-1 bombing from 1000 feet
Naval Attack: 4 x 300 kg SAP Bomb
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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Great Nicobar at 46,66
Weather in hex: Light cloud
Raid spotted at 3 NM, estimated altitude 6,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 1 minutes
Allied aircraft
Do-24K-1 x 3
No Allied losses
Japanese Ships
APD Nadakaze, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
Aircraft Attacking:
3 x Do-24K-1 bombing from 1000 feet
Naval Attack: 4 x 300 kg SAP Bomb
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Afternoon Air attack on Palembang , at 48,91
Weather in hex: Light cloud
Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes
Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIb Trop x 8
Hurricane IIb Trop x 2
B-26 Marauder x 7
P-39D Airacobra x 7
F4F-4 Wildcat x 9
Allied aircraft losses
B-26 Marauder: 2 damaged
Oil hits 2
Fires 244
Aircraft Attacking:
2 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 8000 feet *
City Attack: 3 x 500 lb GP Bomb
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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Palembang at 48,91
Weather in hex: Light cloud
Raid spotted at 1 NM, estimated altitude 19,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 0 minutes
Japanese aircraft
B5N2 Kate x 11
Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIb Trop x 5
CW-21B Demon x 3
Hurricane IIb Trop x 1
P-39D Airacobra x 3
F4F-3 Wildcat x 5
F4F-4 Wildcat x 8
No Japanese losses
No Allied losses
Allied Ships
AMc Aroe, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
AMc Bantam, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
Aircraft Attacking:
11 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 45cm Type 91 Torp
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"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm." - Winston Churchill
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