GC Diary: L0ckAndL0ad (A) vs AI

[tarkalak]

Surface radars don't see further than the horizon, so they will not help you to detect a ship better in daylight and good visual conditions.

[L0ckAndL0ad]

ORIGINAL: tarkalak

Surface radars don't see further than the horizon, so they will not help you to detect a ship better in daylight and good visual conditions.

Yeah, I know about the radar. I was more concerned about the fact that it did not help running away, allowing the enemy close to 8KYD. Lexington was 100% repaired and able to go @ 33 knots, while other ships, including IJN ones, were limited by 32 knots. It might have been an officer/crew experience problem, I guess.

June 20, 1942

Koepang fell. Parts of the 8th AusDiv were evacuated. 8th assembles in Sydney. Burma, Malaya, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Celebes, Soemba, Timor, Andaman Islands.. all lost. They also moved into India, taking Cox'sBazar. Perry would've been outraged if he knew he had a Bazar and I gave it away to Japs.

In other news, I lost Bora Bora and Tahiti. I just took my men from Bora Bora, thinking nobody wants to live there. Apparently, I was wrong.

Aaaand there's been a landing on Dutch Harbor. I failed to reinforce it so far, but redirected a US Army tank battalion to let the North Pacific HQ and the base force some fighting chance. In the mean time, 22nd Marine Regiment is several days out. Should be fun when they get there: US Marines + US Army Tanks + Japs_on_an_island = great adventure.

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Ground combat at Dutch Harbor (171,50)

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 162 troops, 14 guns, 6 vehicles, Assault Value = 13

Defending force 344 troops, 2 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 9

Assaulting units:
North Pacific
103rd USN Base Force
2/250th Coastal Artillery Battalion

Defending units:
1st Engineer Co
303rd Ind.Infantry Bn /1


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Buuuut I have to actually start managing all these USMC aviation squadrons. I've been neglecting them as well, due to lack of planes, but now that I have to start offensive operations, I need to come up with at least something. Their OOB is kind of strange though. VMD squadron with just 3 recon planes. VMO squadron with some short ranged camera equipped fighters. VMO squadron with dive bombers and no cameras. Lots of obsolete and unarmored dive bombers (SBC-4/SBD-1/SBD-2) that I don't want to use in combat.. And they all have to rotate, meaning pilot management nightmare.. Ugh... What am I going to do with you?

[L0ckAndL0ad]

July 21, 1942

BB Yamato is reported to have been sunk near Niihau on Jun 28, 1942
DD Kamikaze is reported to have been sunk near French Frigate Shoal on May 05, 1942

Yippee ki-yay! BB North Carolina indeed sunk the mighty Yamato!

Now I can't decide if I should rename one of the upcoming CV Essexes to North Carolina, or should that honor be given to a Baltimore-class cruiser?

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: L0ckAndL0ad

July 21, 1942

BB Yamato is reported to have been sunk near Niihau on Jun 28, 1942
DD Kamikaze is reported to have been sunk near French Frigate Shoal on May 05, 1942

Yippee ki-yay! BB North Carolina indeed sunk the mighty Yamato!

Now I can't decide if I should rename one of the upcoming CV Essexes to North Carolina, or should that honor be given to a Baltimore-class cruiser?

Carriers were mostly named after Revolutionary War and Civil War battles. You could rename one after the battle that sank Yamato.

[L0ckAndL0ad]

CV Niihau that is then!

July 24-26, 1942

22nd Marines arrived at Dutch Harbor. Trying not to repeat my Port Moresby mistake of letting the enemy consolidate its forces, I immediately ordered a deliberate attack by the whole Marine regiment, supported by US Army 192nd Tank Bn. With 0 preparation, but great help of local Command HQ, provisional RCT cleared the Dutch Harbor of Japanese forces in two days, suffering no permanent losses. 22nd Marines should be relieved ASAP by some Separate Infantry Regiment of the US Army that I need to scrounge from somewhere, to be able to start preparing the invasion of Canton Island.

Enterprise and Hornet completed a small refit at Sydney and are ready for ops again.

Three other carriers and all heavy cruisers except for Northampton are also operational again. I'm thinking about attacking Wake again. There are at least 40 aircraft on the airfield that I can target. Another target would be Canton Island, but I doubt that there are any valuable units there at the time. Badly need long range recon planes. Navy PB4Y-1Ps are whole 5 months away. But I can try using Catalinas instead.

In other news, Pearl Harbor is fully fortified (lvl 9 fort).

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July 24, 1942
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Ground combat at Dutch Harbor (171,50)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 5778 troops, 111 guns, 141 vehicles, Assault Value = 194

Defending force 496 troops, 2 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 18

Allied adjusted assault: 84

Japanese adjusted defense: 5

Allied assault odds: 16 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
187 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 13 disabled

Allied ground losses:
59 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Assaulting units:
22nd Marine Regiment
192nd Tank Battalion
103rd USN Base Force
North Pacific
2/250th Coastal Artillery Battalion

Defending units:
1st Engineer Co
303rd Ind.Infantry Bn /1


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July 25, 1942
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Ground combat at Dutch Harbor (171,50)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 5748 troops, 111 guns, 141 vehicles, Assault Value = 187

Defending force 382 troops, 2 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 6

Allied adjusted assault: 54

Japanese adjusted defense: 1

Allied assault odds: 54 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
337 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 23 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 2 (2 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 1

Allied ground losses:
8 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
22nd Marine Regiment
192nd Tank Battalion
North Pacific
103rd USN Base Force
2/250th Coastal Artillery Battalion

Defending units:
1st Engineer Co
303rd Ind.Infantry Bn /1


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1st Engineer Co Wiped Out at Dutch Harbor by attrition!!!

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July 26, 1942
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Pearl Harbor expands fortifications to size 9

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[L0ckAndL0ad]

August 1, 1942

Now that I more or less studied Allied OOBs, arrival schedules and device reinforcements, I need to reassess the whole strategic situation and my plans.

Indian Ocean Area
Brits/Indian/Commonwealth forces are tasked with defending India. I'm organizing a defensive line on Indian side of the border with Burma, while keeping some reserves in Madras/Calcutta/Delhi. I'll go for triangular structure, with 3 division per corps, 3 brigades as divisional analogue, 3 corps per army, etc. For now, having enough HQs seems to be a problem, cuz there's only 4 HQc, and one of them is to withdraw soon (HQc Burma Corps).

Going on offensive to re-capture Burma seems like a bad idea right now. There are only two valuable things to be gained by doing so - 2000VP Rangoon and some oil/RES/LI possessions. VPs are not a concern, and the industry can be bombed by British air units from India.

If Jap ground forces would make a move, I'll try to encircle them and rout.

British and Dutch fleets are tasked with securing naval supply lines to Oz. Maybe raid something and recapture Cocos Island.


China
100k Japs in Hankow are to be surrounded. There are only two hexes that I'm yet to seal, and then the enemy will have only two choices. 1) stay in Hankow and starve; 2) try and break out of Hankow, allowing my 162k force there to re-capture the city itself. I should be able to gather sufficient forces not to allow reinforcements to Hankow. Other areas are ignored for now. Major cities get priority.

Chinese air units are VERY slow to train. Until they train up to 65-70 skills, I won't use them. USAAF also trains in India for future deployment in China, so ground forces have to wait for a couple more months before they can get air support.

SOPAC/SWPAC
Port Moresby holds. US units prepare for invasions of Tanna and Espiritu Santo. Maybe Canton and Guadalcanal next, but it's too early to tell. Generally, a simultaneous thrusts in SOPAC (Tanno -> Espiritu Santo -> Guadalcanal -> New Britain) and SWPAC (Phoenix -> Ellice -> Gilberts -> Marshalls) is needed.

NORPAC
Adak will serve as my main air base there. All local air groups will get priority for new aircraft models, because I neglected them all this time, and some still have B-18 Bolo. Adak should be built up pretty fast and air raids will follow. Recapturing the island chain is low priority.

CENPAC
As with pretty much everywhere else, all depends on carrier battles. I haven't seen IJN carriers for a while now. I'll keep raiding Wake and maybe Gilberts/Marshalls, getting crew experience for USN ships and carrier pilots, while watching how the enemy reacts. And in doing so see if I can get him to decrease the pressure on Port Moresby.

[L0ckAndL0ad]

The Second Raid on Wake Island - August 3-6, 1942

Another raid against Wake was in order. A proper one. Under decent weather conditions, to facilitate a good airstrike. So, in late July, TF1 formed a cruiser-based surface action group (5 CA 3 CL 7 DD), a carrier fleet (3 CV, 3 CLAA, 1 CL, plus some DDs) and an oiler fleet (2 AO 2 DD). They gathered at Midway and refueled on August 1.

Watching for good weather was a priority. As soon as forecast indicated "CLEAR SKY", TF1 rushed to Wake at full speed, even though it was still far enough to make a night bombardment within next 24 hours. Daylight shore bombardment had to be risked.

Giving orders is one thing. Executing them is whole another. SAG TG 1.2's commanding officer refused to approach Wake at daylight on August 3. And forecast was completely false - thunderstorms raged around Wake island.

But the Japs were not afraid of some rain and lightnings. And launched four airstrikes against TG 1.2 on the afternoon of August 3. All were either repelled by TG 1.1's CAP, or resulted in no damage to USN ships.

RADM Reeves (Ldrshp 72 Insp 62 Nav 46 Land 26 Air 62 Admin 54 Aggr 58), having 3 carriers under his command, also decided to play stupid. Instead of launching a good alpha strike, he sent only ~40% of all aircraft to attack Wake. Yes, there were severe storms, but he then repeated the same behavior for the whole duration of the raid.

Despite a dozen of recon flights, aerial attack on Wake was a complete failure. Almost no aircraft were caught on the ground.

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Afternoon Air attack on Wake Island , at 136,98

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 32 NM, estimated altitude 6,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 2
Ki-27b Nate x 8

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 59
SBD-3 Dauntless x 36
TBF-1 Avenger x 15

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-27b Nate: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 1 destroyed, 4 damaged

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

Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 11

Aircraft Attacking:
24 x F4F-4 Wildcat bombing from 100 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 100 lb GP Bomb
8 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
4 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
15 x TBF-1 Avenger bombing from 5000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 500 lb GP Bomb
6 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
4 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
10 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
4 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
3rd Ku S-1 Det A with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 14000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 14000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 2 minutes
3rd Ku S-1 Det B with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 6000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 6000.
Raid is overhead
4th Sentai Det A with Ki-27b Nate (0 airborne, 3 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 12000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 5 minutes
4th Sentai Det B with Ki-27b Nate (1 airborne, 3 on standby, 0 scrambling)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 12000 , scrambling fighters between 8000 and 10000.
Raid is overhead



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August 4 started with yet another exemplary shore bombardment mission by TG 1.2. 47 aircraft were reported damaged or destroyed on the ground, and severe damage done to enemy ground forces and base facilities. The report can speak for itself:

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August 4, 1942
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Night Naval bombardment of Wake Island at 136,98 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 12 damaged
Ki-27b Nate: 17 damaged
Ki-27b Nate: 2 destroyed on ground
Ki-46-II Dinah: 16 damaged

24 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
CA Vincennes, Shell hits 1
CA Quincy
CA San Francisco
CA Minneapolis
CA Louisville
CL Boise
CL Phoenix
CL Helena
DD Downes
DD Cassin
DD Tucker
DD Wilson
DD Sterett
DD Stack
DD Lang

Japanese ground losses:
744 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Non Combat: 12 destroyed, 100 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 52 (9 destroyed, 43 disabled)

Airbase hits 11
Airbase supply hits 5
Runway hits 45
Port hits 29
Port supply hits 4

OS2U-3 Kingfisher acting as spotter for CA Vincennes
Wake Coastal Gun Battalion firing at CA Vincennes
CA Vincennes firing at Wake Coastal Gun Battalion
OS2U-3 Kingfisher acting as spotter for CA Quincy
CA Quincy firing at 52nd Naval Guard Unit
CA San Francisco firing at Wake Coastal Gun Battalion
Wake Coastal Gun Battalion firing at CA San Francisco
CA Minneapolis firing at Wake Coastal Gun Battalion
Wake Coastal Gun Battalion firing at CA Minneapolis
OS2U-3 Kingfisher acting as spotter for CA Louisville
CA Louisville firing at Wake Island
CL Boise firing at Wake Island
CL Phoenix firing at Wake Coastal Gun Battalion
Wake Coastal Gun Battalion firing at CL Phoenix
CL Helena firing at Wake Island
DD Downes firing at Wake Island
DD Cassin firing at Wake Coastal Gun Battalion
DD Tucker firing at Wake Island
DD Wilson firing at Wake Island
DD Sterett firing at Wake Island
DD Stack firing at Maizuru 2nd SNLF
DD Lang firing at Wake Island


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So, good job TG 1.2. But RADM Reeves deserves no praise, because he launched only two small 40% strong airstrikes on the 4th. The morning one was performed under perfect weather conditions (actual Clear Sky). RADM Reeves failed to exploit such an opportunity. The following afternoon raid was done under thunderstorm again. Little damage was dealt by both.

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Morning Air attack on Wake Island , at 136,98

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 10
Ki-27b Nate x 8

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 33
SBD-3 Dauntless x 36
TBF-1 Avenger x 15

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 damaged
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed on ground
Ki-27b Nate: 2 damaged
Ki-27b Nate: 2 destroyed on ground
Ki-46-II Dinah: 2 destroyed on ground

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 1 destroyed
SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged
TBF-1 Avenger: 1 damaged

Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 14

Aircraft Attacking:
12 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
15 x TBF-1 Avenger bombing from 5000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
6 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
8 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
6 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
3rd Ku S-1 Det A with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 1 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 2 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 14000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 21 minutes
1 planes vectored on to bombers
3rd Ku S-1 Det B with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 3 on standby, 3 scrambling)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 9000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 21 minutes
4th Sentai Det A with Ki-27b Nate (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 1 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 2 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 13000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 23 minutes
4th Sentai Det B with Ki-27b Nate (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 3 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 2 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 13000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 22 minutes
2 planes vectored on to bombers



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Afternoon Air attack on Wake Island , at 136,98

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 31
SBD-3 Dauntless x 36
TBF-1 Avenger x 15

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed on ground

Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 damaged

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

Airbase hits 2
Runway hits 4

Aircraft Attacking:
14 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
10 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
15 x TBF-1 Avenger bombing from 5000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 500 lb GP Bomb
8 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
4 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb



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Being frustrated with the weather and RADM Reeves, I gave him an order to stay near Wake until he gets his skipper's hat out of his a$$ and lands a good airstrike on the damn island.
The weather on the 5th was so bad that no airstrikes were launched at all. On the 6th, only one strike was launched (in the afternoon), but resulted in insignificant damage yet again.

TF1 ordered back to Pearl Harbor.

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August 6, 1942
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Afternoon Air attack on Wake Island , at 136,98

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 33
SBD-3 Dauntless x 34
TBF-1 Avenger x 14

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-27b Nate: 1 destroyed on ground
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed on ground

Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 2 damaged

Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 3

Aircraft Attacking:
11 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
10 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
14 x TBF-1 Avenger bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 500 lb GP Bomb
5 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
8 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb



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[L0ckAndL0ad]

The Battle of Port Moresby, August 7-21, 1942

By August 7th, fortifications on PM were built up to level 4. Having a decent supply reserves there (just under 50 tons), I decided to get rid of the invaders once and for all.

My main combat forces on PM were: 6th and 7th Australian Divisions, plus 3rd, 30th and the Port Moresby Brigades. Five Australian artillery regiments (4 active, in 1 reserve) were supporting the infantry. Most units were at 90-100% strength, with combined AV of ~1700 on the 7th.

Japanese forces at PM were severely damaged and undersupplied by this point, but still packed ~500 AV, with most coming from the 23rd Division and several Brigade/Regiment sized units.

For the first few days, the odds were 3 to 1 in allied favor. So were the casualties. 6th and 7th AusDivs had to be rotated back and forth, along with 3rd and 30th AusBdes, to facilitate continuous day-to-day attack.

By August 10th, strength ratio shifted to 10 to 1 in allied favor, but casualties on our side were still moderately high.

By August 15th, enemy strenght was reduced even more, but he still had a lot of men, who had to be smoked out somehow, so the fighting kept going.

Japanese forces were completely surrounded, and one by one, got wiped out.

Here are the first and the last combat reports:

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August 7, 1942
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Ground combat at Port Moresby (98,130)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 31910 troops, 575 guns, 912 vehicles, Assault Value = 1231

Defending force 16352 troops, 171 guns, 75 vehicles, Assault Value = 285

Allied adjusted assault: 1672

Japanese adjusted defense: 527

Allied assault odds: 3 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
884 casualties reported
Squads: 20 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 61 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Guns lost 17 (11 destroyed, 6 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
326 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 31 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled

Assaulting units:
I Aus Corps Engineer Battalion
6th Australian Division
30th Australian Brigade
7th Australian Division
3rd Australian Brigade
Port Moresby Brigade
Rabaul Det. Base Force
2/9th Field Regiment
I Australian Corps
2nd Medium Regiment
2/11th Field Regiment
1st Medium Regiment
15th RAAF Base Force
21/22 Field Regiment

Defending units:
88th Infantry Regiment
23rd Division
18th Naval Guard Unit
26th Recon Regiment
40th Brigade
62nd Naval Guard Unit
III./90th Infantry Bn /1

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August 8-20
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26th Recon Regiment Wiped Out at Port Moresby by attrition!!!

18th Naval Guard Unit Wiped Out at Port Moresby by attrition!!!

62nd Naval Guard Unit Wiped Out at Port Moresby by attrition!!!

88th Infantry Regiment Wiped Out at Port Moresby by attrition!!!

Japanese Unit(s) surrounded at Port Moresby

Japanese Unit(s) Wiped Out at Port Moresby by attrition!!!

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August 21, 1942 (Port Moresby is free!)
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Ground combat at Port Moresby (98,130)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 20087 troops, 340 guns, 590 vehicles, Assault Value = 1186

Defending force 3172 troops, 27 guns, 30 vehicles, Assault Value = 1

Allied adjusted assault: 711

Japanese adjusted defense: 1

Allied assault odds: 711 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(+), disruption(-), fatigue(-)
experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
3135 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 547 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 38 (38 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 41 (41 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 1

Assaulting units:
7th Australian Division
I Aus Corps Engineer Battalion
6th Australian Division
3rd Australian Brigade
30th Australian Brigade
Port Moresby Brigade
1st Medium Regiment
2nd Medium Regiment
2/9th Field Regiment
I Australian Corps
Rabaul Det. Base Force
15th RAAF Base Force
2/11th Field Regiment
21/22 Field Regiment

Defending units:
23rd Division

[L0ckAndL0ad]

The Third Carrier Battle

Prelude

One of the goals of my attacks on Wake Island were getting the attention of IJN. USN's CarDiv 2 was still in SWPAC, guarding vital reinforcement convoys on their way to Efate and Noumea.

On August 9th, enemy carriers were spotted NW of Midway. Several CV/CVE and two CA were reported, with 27 fighters and 56 bombers on board. USN's TF1, with 3 CVs, was just passing by near Midway on their way home after Wake Island raid, and the separation between the two carrier groups was just 13 hexes.

Enemy carrier fleet was reported moving east. Past Midway. To the West Coast. I wasn't sure they'll go so far as to actually reach West Coast, so Midway was reinforced with two USMC divebomber squadrons and one USAAF B-17E squadron.

TG 1.1's carrier planes were somewhat beaten up, but given RADM Reeves's reluctance to launch major strikes against Wake, enough ammo for sorties was still on board.

I still wasn't sure about the enemy composition. Previous major battle (the one with Yamato) taught me that I should not attack forces that I have no strong intel on. So, as modern doctrinal publications teach, I let the situation to develop itself. I let the enemy carriers pass eastward.

TF1 had to be restructured. Surface action group was reduced to 2 CL 2 DD (TG 1.4) and got tasked with scouting duty, while the rest of the cruisers and destroyers were distributed between the carriers, forming three separate carrier TGs. TG 1.1 with CV Lexington led the way, still commanded by RADM Reeves. TG 1.2 with CV Yorktown and TG 1.3 with CV Wasp, commanded by their CV skippers, followed TG 1.1.

The quickest way for me to get TF1 ready for carrier battle was to visit Midway again, to get some replacement planes and refuel from an oiler. Enemy carriers moved far enough east for me to feel more or less safe to make such a move. Going for replenishment at Pearl was a safer, but more time consuming option.

On August 12 (and later on 18th) USN submarine spotted IJN's CVE near Rabaul. I established routine patrols between Truk and PM a while back, so that I can get early warning of possible carrier movements to Solomons. This idea paid off, as you can see. But I could not act upon this intel, unfortunately. TF2 was guarding the convoys unloading at Efate. Few days earlier I was thinking about sending TF2 to Pearl for the upcoming carrier battle, but decided not to. Trying to catch enemy CVE at PM was a tempting thought, but I disregarded it too. Safely reinforcing Efate was top priority.

But what did the IJN carriers do? They moved east and attacked my SanFran-PH supply route, sinking several cargo ships and tankers. I made sure that there were no APs around, so the damage was relatively insignificant. IJN CVs made several small air attacks on August 13th, with 10 A6M2 Zero, 12 B5N2 Kate and 18 D3A1 Val sighted in the morning, and 10 Zero, 11 Kate and 31 Val sighted in the afternoon.

My guesstimate at this point was that there are two IJN CVs. So TF1 made ready for battle, TF2 kept guarding Efate convoy.

August 12, 1942
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Sub attack near Feni Islands at 108,125

Japanese Ships
CVE Taiyo
DD Namikaze

Allied Ships
SS Spearfish

SS Spearfish launches 4 torpedoes at CVE Taiyo
DD Namikaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Namikaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Namikaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Namikaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Namikaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

[L0ckAndL0ad]

August 14, 1942

Neither PH nor Midway PBYs could reach the raiders so far out. In order to locate the enemy, TGs 1.1 through 1.3 were led by TG 1.4's 2 CL 2 DD scouts. But it was not that hard to know where they are, given their attacks on local shipment.

USN CVs started out 14 hexes away from IJN CVs and were ordered to follow scout CLs, all going at full speed two hexes apart. Almost all float planes were set on patrol duty, both day and night.

Lexington and Yorktown were tasked mainly with launching strikes, while Wasp was acting as a "duty carrier". Its reduced DB complement (25 SBD-3 total) served for scouting at the distance of 7 hexes, 5000 ft altitude, no arcs. Every other squadron was set on 10000 ft altitude, to facilitate bigger, preferably alpha strike. Fighters were ordered 50/50 CAP/escort duty. DBs and TBs were limited by the distance of 6, so that they'll always be escorted. The settings remained the same for the whole duration of the battle.

First contact was made by the scouts of the TG 1.4. They approached the enemy TF in broad daylight, on August 14th. Radar advantage was again apparent, giving USN contact marks 28 KYD out. 2 CV 1 CA 8 DD were spotted. CVs were apparently new, identified as CV Junyo and CV Hiyo. Both task forces evaded each other.

But even though we managed to successfully locate enemy carriers, RADM Reeves ordered no airstrikes on 14th. NONE. Zippo. So the scouting surface group took the blow. Two raids against TG 1.4 were launched on 14th. USN's Wildcats were unable to do much about that, with only 11 planes being in the air at maximum. CL Helena, CL Nashville and DD Lang were struck several times, all set on fire.

So, why? I don't know exactly. Maybe the weather. Maybe it's all Reeves' fault. Nobody will know.

Morning Air attack on TF, near Lahaina at 191,89

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid detected at 36 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 10
D3A2 Val x 16

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 11

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
D3A2 Val: 2 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
DD Lang, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
CL Helena, Bomb hits 3, on fire
CL Nashville

Aircraft Attacking:
11 x D3A2 Val releasing from 1000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
5 x D3A2 Val releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb

CAP engaged:
VF-2 with F4F-4 Wildcat (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 10000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 10000.
Raid is overhead
VF-42 with F4F-4 Wildcat (6 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(6 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
6 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 10000.
Raid is overhead
VF-71 with F4F-4 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

Heavy smoke from fires obscuring CL Helena


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Lahaina at 191,89

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 38 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 9
D3A2 Val x 14

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 1

Japanese aircraft losses
D3A2 Val: 4 damaged
D3A2 Val: 1 destroyed by flak

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
CL Nashville, Bomb hits 2, on fire
CL Helena, Bomb hits 1, on fire

Aircraft Attacking:
9 x D3A2 Val releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
4 x D3A2 Val releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb

CAP engaged:
VF-2 with F4F-4 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

[L0ckAndL0ad]

August 15, 1942

The decisive day of battle.

It started with TG 1.1 closing with the enemy CVs at night, as close to as 26 KYD. I'm not even sure if they spotted each other. But they repeated the approach on the morning, evading each other again.

But despite such sightings, no airstrikes, from both sides, were launched in the morning. There was a single exchange of strikes in the afternoon. IJN's planes came at 10000 feet - 10 Zeroes, 22 Kates and 28 Vals. 49 -4 Wildcats were defending. IJN planes managed to spot only CV Lexington and a nearby destroyer, and focused heavily on the carrier. 6 bomb and 1 torpedo hits were scored against Lexington.

Wildcats focused heavily on Kates, with just 9 out of 22 TBs reaching the carrier. 23 out of 28 Vals also managed to reach their target, though.

CV Lexington was heavily damaged and kept burning.

USN's alpha strike was launched perfectly. 48 Wildcats, 81 Dauntlesses and 45 Avengers managed to link up and fly together in a good, cohesive manner. The execution of the strike was unsatisfactory, though. Many DBs and TBs tried attacking nimble enemy destroyers, instead of carriers, scoring only a single bomb hit, so lots of ammo was wasted there. Enemy CA also received one bomb hit.

As to the enemy carriers, 7 bomb and 1 torpedo hits were reported in total on both CVs. Heavy damage and fire was reported on CV Hiyo, while CV Junyo was reported to have suffered multiple internal explosions, possibly in ammo storage area.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Time Surface Combat, near Lahaina at 192,89, Range 26,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CV Junyo
CV Hiyo
CA Suzuya
DD Amatsukaze
DD Arashi
DD Kasumi
DD Akatsuki
DD Hibiki
DD Usugumo
DD Oboro
DD Nagatsuki

Allied Ships
CV Lexington
CA Louisville
CA Minneapolis
CLAA San Diego
CL Phoenix
DD Monssen
DD Wilson
DD Fanning
DD Drayton
DD Flusser

Maximum visibility in Overcast Conditions: 20,000 yards
Range closes to 25,000 yards...
Range closes to 24,000 yards...
CONTACT: Allies radar detects Japanese task force at 24,000 yards
Range closes to 23,000 yards...
CONTACT: Allies radar detects Japanese task force at 23,000 yards
Range closes to 22,000 yards...
CONTACT: Allies radar detects Japanese task force at 22,000 yards
Range increases to 23,000 yards...
Range increases to 24,000 yards...
CONTACT: Allies radar detects Japanese task force at 24,000 yards
Range increases to 25,000 yards...
CONTACT: Allies radar detects Japanese task force at 25,000 yards
Range closes to 24,000 yards...
Range closes to 22,000 yards...
Range closes to 21,000 yards...
CONTACT: Allies radar detects Japanese task force at 21,000 yards
Allied TF attempts to evade combat
Range increases to 26,000 yards...
Range increases to 30,000 yards...
Both Task Forces evade combat


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Lahaina at 193,89

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 49 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 18 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 10
B5N2 Kate x 22
D3A1 Val x 15
D3A2 Val x 13

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 49

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed
B5N2 Kate: 6 destroyed, 1 damaged
B5N2 Kate: 1 destroyed by flak
D3A1 Val: 4 destroyed, 2 damaged
D3A2 Val: 2 destroyed, 4 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 3 destroyed

Allied Ships
CV Lexington, Bomb hits 6, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Flusser

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x D3A2 Val releasing from 1000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
1 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
3 x D3A1 Val releasing from 1000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
6 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 12000 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
7 x D3A2 Val releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
2 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
2 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
8 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb

CAP engaged:
VF-42 with F4F-4 Wildcat (16 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(16 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
16 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 10000.
Raid is overhead
8 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-71 with F4F-4 Wildcat (17 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(17 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
17 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 10000.
Raid is overhead
1 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-2 with F4F-4 Wildcat (5 airborne, 11 on standby, 0 scrambling)
5 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 2000 and 13000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 8 minutes
16 planes vectored on to bombers

Heavy smoke from fires obscuring CV Lexington


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Lahaina at 193,88

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 27

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 48
SBD-3 Dauntless x 81
TBF-1 Avenger x 45

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 5 destroyed
SBD-3 Dauntless: 15 damaged
SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 destroyed by flak
TBF-1 Avenger: 1 damaged
TBF-1 Avenger: 1 destroyed by flak

Japanese Ships
CV Hiyo, Bomb hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage
CV Junyo, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires
DD Amatsukaze
DD Hibiki
DD Kasumi
DD Akatsuki
DD Usugumo, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Oboro
DD Arashi
CA Suzuya, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Nagatsuki

Aircraft Attacking:
8 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
4 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
15 x TBF-1 Avenger launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 22in Mk 13 Torpedo
8 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
4 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
14 x TBF-1 Avenger launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 22in Mk 13 Torpedo
5 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
15 x TBF-1 Avenger launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 22in Mk 13 Torpedo
8 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
10 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
4 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
10 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
7 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
1 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
4 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
3 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
4 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb

CAP engaged:
Junyo-1 with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 6 on standby, 5 scrambling)
6 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 12000 , scrambling fighters between 11000 and 12000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 20 minutes
Hiyo-1 with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 9 on standby, 0 scrambling)
9 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 4 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 13000 , scrambling fighters between 9000 and 13000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 23 minutes

Ammo storage explosion on CV Junyo
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring CV Junyo
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring CV Hiyo
Ammo storage explosion on CV Junyo


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[L0ckAndL0ad]

August 16, 1942

On 16th, CV Lexington was still heavily burning. Its planes landed and were distributed among the other two carriers. But the mission remained the same. I was confident that both enemy CVs were made non-operational on the previous day. So I sent the Lexington and other damaged ships to Pearl, and pressed on, following the retreating IJN ships.

Enemy group separated into at least two fragments. We've found damaged CV Junyo being escorted separately, and the remainder of the destroyers led by CA Suzuya. CV Junyo was hit 11 times again and reported sunk. CV Hiyo not sighted, presumed sunk on the previous day (from either heavy damage or heavy fire that was reported).

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Pearl Harbor at 192,83

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 38 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 18
SBD-3 Dauntless x 21

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
CV Junyo, Bomb hits 11, and is sunk
DD Nagatsuki

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
2 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
3 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
4 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
8 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb

Heavy smoke from fires obscuring a Soryu class CV
Ammo storage explosion on CV Junyo


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Lihue at 189,84

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 18 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 4
SBD-3 Dauntless x 33
TBF-1 Avenger x 30

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
CA Suzuya, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires
DD Kasumi
DD Oboro
DD Arashi, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Akatsuki
DD Hibiki
DD Usugumo

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
8 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
15 x TBF-1 Avenger launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 22in Mk 13 Torpedo
5 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
12 x TBF-1 Avenger launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 22in Mk 13 Torpedo
3 x TBF-1 Avenger bombing from 10000 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 500 lb GP Bomb
8 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
1 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
4 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
4 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb

Heavy smoke from fires obscuring CA Suzuya
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring DD Arashi

[L0ckAndL0ad]

August 17, 1942

By this point, I set half the remaining Wildcats on naval attack mission, at 100 ft. With both enemy carriers presumed sunk, remaining DDs and CA would be hard to target. And fighters are good at kicking the destroyers around.

The bad news is, CV Lexington did not survive. And despite his surviving planes being placed on Yorktown and Wasp, neither of the two carriers were overcrowded and were able to continue operating. Meaning I've lost a carrier worth of planes. But the pilots should be more or less okay.

This was the last day of battle. After losing Lexington, I did not even try to account for damage on remaining enemy ships. I just let the boys have a day of revenge, and then ordered them all back home. The fuel was almost out anyway, and the oilers were kept away from combat area.

Of all USN ships, only CV Lexington and DD Lang were lost. CLs came back home safely.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
August 17, 1942
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near French Frigate Shoal at 183,81

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 18
SBD-3 Dauntless x 51
TBF-1 Avenger x 21

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 1 damaged
SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
DD Hibiki, Shell hits 10, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
CA Suzuya, Bomb hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Akatsuki, Shell hits 3, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Kasumi, Shell hits 5, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
DD Oboro, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk
DD Usugumo, Shell hits 2, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Amatsukaze, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
5 x F4F-4 Wildcat bombing from 100 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 100 lb GP Bomb
4 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
2 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
13 x F4F-4 Wildcat bombing from 100 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 100 lb GP Bomb
3 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
8 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
6 x TBF-1 Avenger launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 22in Mk 13 Torpedo
2 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
15 x TBF-1 Avenger bombing from 10000 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 500 lb GP Bomb
8 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
5 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
11 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
4 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
4 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb

Heavy smoke from fires obscuring CA Suzuya
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring DD Usugumo
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring DD Amatsukaze
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring DD Kasumi
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring DD Akatsuki
Magazine explodes on DD Oboro
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring DD Hibiki


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Morning Air attack on TF, near French Frigate Shoal at 183,81

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 18 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 17

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
DD Hibiki, Shell hits 2, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Usugumo, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk
DD Kasumi, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires

Aircraft Attacking:
17 x F4F-4 Wildcat bombing from 100 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 100 lb GP Bomb

[BBfanboy]

Congrats on wiping out that enemy TF! You did the right thing in almost every action. I would not have used flank speed to close initially since the enemy almost certainly had to return to base just north of Midway again.

RE: Lexington, did you use cruise speed for the escort TF?

I think you expect too much of Adm. Reynolds. He can get the CVs into position to strike (which he did), but weather and the leadership of CAG squadrons also counts. Another factor is the strength of enemy CAP vis-à-vis your own escorts. Bomber squadron leaders will balk if they think losses will be too high. Sometimes the first strike should be a sweep of enemy CAP before any bombers are launched.

[L0ckAndL0ad]

Re: Lex. Yes, of course. I always use cruise speed for damaged escort TFs.

But you raise a good point there. I guess I rushed at the enemy CVs because 1) I managed to resupply and restructure my forces pretty quick; 2) enemy was out of range of PBYs, and kept moving, so I had to jump on him while he was preoccupied sinking my supply ships, which gives away his location and was my best way of getting good DL on him at that area.

Oh, and 3) I'm not sure who exactly is the main scenario designer behind scen 06 campaign, but as far as I can tell I should praise Andy Mac for his superb AI scripting work, cause the AI's behavior so far was excellent! And in this particular case, enemy CTF managed to slip by avoiding my strike aircraft and got dangerously close to San Francisco, not to mention attacking SanFran-PH supply route. So, enemy CTF could've used the same route when returning, again avoiding most LBAs. So allowing enemy CVs run unopposed in my backyard wasn't looking as a great option as it looked before I a) resupplied; b) got better intel on enemy CVs.

Also, all TF1 ships were at sea for 3 weeks by that point (and several days of active combat near Wake) and delaying the battle even further would've added yet another portion of ops damage to my already somewhat dented ships.

As for RADM Reeves (do they actually call Rear Admirals "the rears", as I heard?), as you could've seen in those reports, there was nothing scary about the Wake Island. Especially after that good shore bombardment mission. But you are right in saying that it is the squadron commanders that were the cause. So far I quite often see them ordering no strikes even when they should (while given no target, but being in range of a good one).

I think it happens this way. Even if squadron is in good status (high morale, enough a/c, pilots, supplies, no runway damage, etc), if the target has 1) low DL (as was often the case when I was trying to launch air raids against my contested Port Moresby, where no allied recon flights took off, and DL was always at 1 or 2 tops); 2) situation would not benefit from sending more aircraft against the target - meaning there's nothing or not much you can damage (TF1 sent good alpha strike against enemy CTF in the first attempt, but aircraft on Wake Island were already damaged or in the air, and not present on the runway, and the runway itself was pretty damaged already). Aggression and weather are also factors to consider, I guess.

Although I'm not happy with Lexington being sunk, I'm okay with trashing so many IJN ships. Still wonder if enemy CA would manage to limp back home. Not sure if they used only 1 CA for escort because others are already sunk or damaged, or it's just a fluke.

I'm in the middle of my monthly inspection of units (September 1, 1942). Rethinking pilot training strategy. I used to fill training group up to max 130% with pilots. But they train rather slow, the less aircraft per pilot they have (especially past 55-60 skill levels). So now I'll try using 1:1 pilot to plane ratio in my training groups and see if it makes it faster than 130% ratio.

At the same time, I'm wondering what planes to assign to which groups. B-24 is built at 15 a/c per month so far, but B-17 are more plentiful (-17F is 24/mo). B-17F's range of 13 is not super duper cool though, so I need to decide where I apply new 17s, where old 17Es with range of 15 (still ~150 in stock/in units), and where go full B-24.

Then there are fighters to be figured out. P-40K and P-38F are here. Love the Lightning (as everyone did back in 1940's). No opportunities for its usage yet. It's going to be my primary sweeper. Escort secondary. Tried sweeping with 38Es from Darwin, but there's no enemy air opposition in range there yet. Port Moresby is not ready to receive additional aircraft for offensive missions yet. But I've already allocated considerable amount of engineers and aviation support squads to make PM my first point of aerial offensive in the SWPAC. As soon as it's built up (AF is still at level 5), I'll launch air attacks against the nearby Japanese bases.

In other news, there are these CVEs with special replacement squadrons that I've never seen or used before. First thought - what an excessive way of using carriers. Should replace the uhm.. replace the replacement squadrons with some ordinary ones and use these as proper CVEs. But maybe I'm not yet seeing their true value, I dunno. I've seen some mention of them in other AAR, but in my game, such a situation is yet to occur.

Biggest question yet - do I send my two carriers from SWPAC back to Pearl and keep them together from now on? I'm down to 3 Yorktown-class CVs and 1 Wasp. I was asking myself this question for a while now. But with the loss of Lexington, I should really figure out a way of being ready for major carrier combat and protect PH and CENPAC yet still keep my presence in SWPAC and defend there. Keep 2 in Pearl, and send occasional 2 on patrols in SWPAC? Or leave all 4 at PH and use all together in every future operation?

[BBfanboy]

August 1942, you get some CVEs - just a few for now but a steady stream later - but no US CVs or CVLs until around March 1943. So I say keep your force together and it will be able to handle KB once you get TBFs/TBMs. I think Hellcats are still quite a way off.
Train your CV squadrons and run occasional raids, but don't seek the clash with KB unless it is threatening something vital. By June next year you will be clearly dominant in all categories.

As for the replenishment CVEs, they are a great and necessary way to keep the fleet CVs/CVLs in action longer if you also have the AE/AO fleet train to take care of that replenishment. Until then, I keep one squadron on the CVEs to act as extra fighter or bomber punch and land the other squadron to train intensively. One could also split the squadrons and keep a mix of aircraft on the CVE. Historical purists will say you should use the replenishment squadrons as designed. It is all in how you want to play it.

[L0ckAndL0ad]

Roger that, BBfanboy! Thank you!

September 2, 1942
USAAF units withdraw from Port Moresby for rest and reorganization before the upcoming offensive there. I'll swap some of their P-39D for P-38s as soon as practical.

Fifth USAAF stats:

8th Fighter Group, Port Moresby (P-39D): 640 kills claimed, 10 pilots lost, 27 planes lost (11 in A2A).
35th Fighter Group, Port Moresby (P-39D): 357 kills claimed, 34 pilots lost, 72 planes lost (43 in A2A).
49th Fighter Group, Darwin (P-40E): 208 kills claimed, 16 pilots lost, 39 planes lost (24 in A2A).

35th entered combat in PM first, and was less experienced. 8th entered later and was more prepared.

Bombers saw little use, but 3rd Bombardment Group (Dutch B-25C) still claims 2 aerial kills

[L0ckAndL0ad]

September 2 - October 1, 1942

CBI Theater
Hankow is sealed tight from all sides. Chinese AF trains super slow. 10th USAAF still not ready to help them there. So no air yet.
British air units get kicked around by superior number of enemy a/c on the border. Don't care much about them, but still adjusted their assignments a bit.

NOPAC
USN's 3 BB 1 CA 3 CL 8 DD plus various aux ships were sent to Adak Island to establish semi-permanent naval presence there. B-24, B-26 and P-40E started operating from there, occasionally hitting enemy transports in the area.

CENPAC
2 fast BB arrived, one is immediately set to refit to get 2000 AA rating armament setup. Second should get about the same by October 20 or so. CLAA number is 4. Fletcher-class DDs start appearing too. Carrier planes are plenty, except for SBD-3. No enemy activity.

SOPAC
4 USMC squadrons arrived to Efate and started looking for trouble. USAAF's F-4 recon planes help with the looking part. But so far, there's not much to attack around Tanna and Espiritu Santo. Not even a single ground unit is spotted so far. Might have to try "recon by fire", using manual attack orders for SBDs.

SWPAC
Two KB stand-off attacks against Port Moresby. From Bismarck Sea. Which is interesting, because they appeared both times just as I was dispatching my very important transports to PM (w/ SWPAC & 5th USAAF HQs + engineers & a/c mechanics). Had to call transports back both times. Even so, Betties were very insistent and kept attacking the convoy. But I was prepared, and used P-38Fs on LRCAP from Cairns. Australian Kittyhawks that are currently guarding PM also helped a lot. Said convoy made it safely to PM and back to Oz. Allied aerial offensive should start shortly.

KB seems to be driving around in full strength, separated into several fleets. Intel said 120 planes in one fleet, 165 in second, 10 in third (CVE probably). All in one hex, during both attacks. Standalone SAG is guarding them too. They want to hold onto their carriers so bad, aren't they?

Submarines tried attacking enemy CVs multiple times, but faulty USN torpedoes aren't helping. No hits. Maybe I should call for some Dutch submariners from Perth?

BTW, statistics says Japanese lost ~ 900-1000 Betties so far. How much is there, anyway?

[BBfanboy]

Well that was a Saury performance by your subs!

Of course you should bring up your Dutch subs, and your British ones too. If PM or Guadalcanal is the focus for the next few months, KB will be hanging around and you should get some more chances!

Also note that those unsuccessful attacks will have increased your crew experience on the subs, especially if they took a depth charge attack afterward. That will help accuracy when you do get better torps.

You did very well getting those troops to PM without loss. Well done on the CAP coverage and decisions on GO/NO GO.

I don't know how many Bettys the Japanese can make, but 1000 lost in less than a year should be devastating to his pilot pools and experience level. Are Nells suffering similarly? They are essentially the IJA version of the Betty, but even more fragile.

[L0ckAndL0ad]

Yeah, Saury is 61/60 now. Overall, my subs get a torp off pretty much every turn. I send PH ones to Home Islands and CENPAC, Dutch ones from Perth to Far East area bottlenecks. Subs that were evacuated from Manila are operating from Brisbane in SWPAC. I stopped counting their victories a long time ago. Especially considering how the game overestimates torpedo damage results.

During the transit, P-38s, assisted by Kittyhawks destroyed 20+ Betties alone. It was pretty hairy. Douglas MacArthur was on board of one of those transports. Maybe they knew, hence the effort with KB & Betty attacks [:)]

I just checked the stats, and it's 892 Betties, but only 122 Nells. 732 Nates and 416 A62M Zeroes destroyed also good to see, though. No idea how accurate these, but even if it's 50% true, I'm still far ahead in aerial warfare. AI seems to be okay with such huge losses. But I can see him trying do his best, especially in CBI Theater now. It changes altitudes, sends escorts where he can. Still very good for an AI. I still regret buying expansion pass edition of HOI4, the AI there is just ridiculous. WITP AE rules [8D]

I'm pretty scared of possible differences in aerial warfare when I would finally decide to PBEM. That'd be completely different opponent than AI, and I'm definitely gonna get more losses. Still, doing a GC vs AI is invaluable experience, learning OOB/logistics/technical intricacies.

But back to pilots... yes. I already noticed Zeroes falling down from the skies much more often than they used to. And I'm yet to transition most of my squadrons to more modern a/c. F4F-4's performance is less than optimal, though. -3 was so much better. But hey, I get drop tanks now, so it's normal range of 8 for escorts, yay!