Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J)

[jwolf]

How long do you think you have before the KB intervenes?

[apbarog]

It could happen as soon as today. OPilot has shown a willingness to move KB at full speed. The question is whether or not he wants to go up against 5 US and 1 Brit carrier, and 2 CVEs. At some point, he will. The longer he waits, the worse the odds get for him.

The Milne Bay part of the operation is more exposed than Port Moresby's. I'm not using the good APs here, so unloading will be slower. But I'm risking less on the ground, using an Australian brigade instead of a US division. I think it's more likely that he'd send in a surface group to Milne Bay.

It's up to my opponent. He has a couple of days to do so here, then we go to Horn, where he probably won't be able to intervene, then Gove and Wessel, then Taberfane and Dobo. I hope to catch him with KB on the eastern side of New Guinea instead of the western side then.

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: apbarog

It could happen as soon as today.

Makes for exciting reading and playing![:)]

[apbarog]

1 Nov 42

Small Allied minesweepers find a new enemy minefield dropped at Port Moresby. All mines are cleared.

I-28 fired two torpedoes at large transport xAP Duntroon a bit south of Norfolk Island. The convoy routes to Australia have been essentially untouched so far, but the sub got onto one of the east-west routes. Both torpedoes missed.

Milne Bay is invaded. A large surface group is protecting the landing, and I elected not to bombard yet. Unloading is slow using ordinary xAPs. The enemy defense appears to be four units but nothing big. Allied carriers were protecting from nearby but there was no interference.

A big Allied transport task force went past Horn Island and turned south towards Normanton, but a Betty spotted it a couple of hexes south of Horn. This may raise an alert beyond Horn Island. The task force had only 2/2 detection levels, so there's no telling what the enemy thought they saw.

Followup units continue to unload at Port Moresby. The runway is almost repaired and is in use.

Loading for the Horn Island invasion will start tomorrow if all the required shipping has unloaded all of the loaded supply that didn't get unloaded at Port Moresby.

The 1st Marine Division, which has been at Nauru for awhile, is now retasked to prep for Kavieng instead of Buna. Buna will be taken by a division marching from Port Moresby. I don't know if I'll go to Kavieng in the first part of '43, but if I do, the plan will be to surround and isolate Rabaul.

But for now, it's on to Horn Island and Gove and Wesel and Taberfane and Dobo and Darwin.

[apbarog]

2 Nov 42

Troops continue to slowly land at Milne Bay. No enemy interference.

Two sub encounters between Truk and Kavieng show that enemy forces are headed closer to Milne Bay. Thresher spotted CS Chiyoda, a couple of cruisers, and a bunch of destroyers. Thresher, in the same area, spotted battleships Haruna and Kongo and two destroyers. 6 torpedoes were fired at Haruna, and one hit, but it was a dud. Multiple task forces southbound, and I'm guessing that KB is there also.

APD Colhoun has been bravely running fast tranport missions into Kusaie Island, dropping off supply. Colhoun finally got unlucky and ran into CL Kinu and 4 destroyers that came to Kusaie and stayed. Colhoun was sunk very quickly, by the first torpedo launched. I have torpedo equipped Catalinas at Nauru but they didn't fly.

Dutch sub O19 hit patrol boat Aso Maru #3 with a torpedo near Roi Namur.

Oscars swept Cox's Bazar and 54 Sallys bombed the port, doing very minor damage in severe storms.

A squadron of SBDs, newly deployed to Port Moresby, found and sank tiny AMc Nikki Maru with 2 bombs at Finschhafen. There's more small targets at Lae, but Lae has 68 fighters, so I'm glad that the SBDs haven't gone there yet.

I moved fighters back into Kusaie. 14 P-39s and 14 P-40Es intercepted 15 Bettys with 11 A6M2 Zeros. 10 Bettys and 1 Zero were shot down. No US losses. The enemy light cruiser task force stayed here during the day but hadn't bombarded. I pull the planes out again.

I decided to stop landing troops at Milne Bay. Any more is probably pushing my luck. There's a lot of shipping at Rabaul now, and as I stated, more coming from Truk.

Most of the Australian brigade is unloaded, minus some guns and support. The unloaded troops will go back to Townsville and return when possible. The big support task force with battleship Warpite, 6 cruisers and 6 destroyers will bombard Milne Bay and return to Townsville. The carriers will move south and cover the transports heading home. A minelayer will mine the dot base northeast of Milne Bay and another will do the same at the dot base east of Milne Bay. The followup support units for Milne Bay will divert to Port Moresby and help build that up until they can be ferried to a conquered Milne Bay. We attack for the first time today. There may or may not be enough to take the base.

Loading at Luganville[EDIT: Townsville, not Luganville] for the Horn Island invasion begins today. Followup units for Horn will load tomorrow. Units for Horn and beyond will start loading at Normanton tomorrow or the next day.

My light cruiser force just west of Merauke will continue to patrol that hex, still unseen. The separate 4 destroyers there will go to Normanton to help protect the base with so many transport ships arriving, some of which were spotted.

[apbarog]

3 Nov 42

Dutch sub KXZVIII spots several troop transports northbound near Victoria Point. 4 torpedoes missed destroyer Karukaya. Looks like more troops headed north to Akyab, or at least to Rangoon.

Near Buna, Seawolf spots a lone landing barge and surfaces to sink the tiny ship with one shell.

Allied ships bombard Milne Bay.

Night Naval bombardment of Milne Bay at 101,133

Allied Ships
BB Warspite
CA Dorsetshire
CA Vincennes
CA San Francisco
CL Mauritius
CL Adelaide
CL Hobart
DD Jupiter
DD Express
DD Encounter
DD Isaac Sweers
DD Porter

Japanese ground losses:
362 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 11 destroyed, 49 disabled
Engineers: 5 destroyed, 9 disabled
Guns lost 9 (5 destroyed, 4 disabled)

Airbase hits 16
Airbase supply hits 9
Runway hits 23
Port hits 24
Port supply hits 3

After some ineffective US bombing, the enemy base is attacked.

Ground combat at Milne Bay (101,133)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 1911 troops, 19 guns, 37 vehicles, Assault Value = 111

Defending force 1857 troops, 12 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 24

Allied adjusted assault: 41

Japanese adjusted defense: 3

Allied assault odds: 13 to 1 (fort level 0)

Allied forces CAPTURE Milne Bay !!!

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

Japanese ground losses:
703 casualties reported
Squads: 11 destroyed, 9 disabled
Non Combat: 31 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 16 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 6 (2 destroyed, 4 disabled)
Units retreated 4

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

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
7th Australian Brigade
2/10th Armoured Rgt /1

Defending units:
5th Indpt SNLF Coy
21th JNAF AF Unit
5th Naval Construction Battalion
A/50th JNAF Coy

The base falls easily, with only a single combat company defending. The defenders retreat northward. With KB approaching, the Australians are on their own for awhile.

Port Moresby and Milne Bay complete. Next is Horn Island, and on to Gove and Wesel Islands, then Taberfane and Dobo. With no indications that I'm headed that way, KB is currently on the wrong side of New Guinea.

[CaptBeefheart]

Good luck with the KB. What kind of forces do you have at Port Moresby (especially engineering-related) and what level is the port and airfield?

Cheers,
CB

[apbarog]

No support units at Milne Bay. For safety, they went to Port Moresby instead. Milne Bay has most of an Australian brigade and most of an Australian armor unit. I think there are 12 engineers and 1 engineering vehicle total. The port is size 0 and the airfield is size 2, and both have damage. I'll move the support into Milne Bay when I can. Some may fly in. But with KB inbound, now isn't the time.

Milne Bay is vulnerable, and I'm ok with that. It is going to get the enemy's attention, while Port Moresby is the important base, and that is where I'll start projecting airpower soon.

[apbarog]

4 Nov 42

South of Norfolk Island, I-28 spots another very big fast transport. 2 torpedoes were fired at xAP Monterey but missed. I'm altering my convoy routes now, and I sent some ASW aircraft to Norfolk. A few small ships are on the way also to hunt the sub.

Near Rangoon, in shallow water, British sub Trusty fired 2 torpedoes at AMc Yusen Maru #3 and got a hit, sinking the ship.

My surface group patrolling west of Merauke finally found the enemy. But it wasn't the APDs that had been seen going back and forth to Merauke.

Day Time Surface Combat, near Merauke at 88,124, Range 8,000 Yards

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
SOC-1 Seagull: 4 destroyed

Japanese Ships
CA Takao, Shell hits 2, on fire
CA Maya, Shell hits 2
CA Chokai, Shell hits 2
CA Myoko, Shell hits 1
CL Jintsu
CL Nagara
DD Kuroshio
DD Oyashio, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Natsushio, Shell hits 14, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Hayashio

Allied Ships
CL Boise, Shell hits 9, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
CL Nashville, Shell hits 7, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
DD Sims, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Hughes, Shell hits 1
DD Hammann, Shell hits 8, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Russell, Shell hits 7, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD O'Brien, Shell hits 1, heavy fires
DD Morris, Shell hits 7, and is sunk

I have to say that the enemy performed brilliantly. Rain limited visibility to 15,000 yards, and the fight really started at 8,000. The Japanese heavy cruisers were very accurate throughout the fight. The range closed to 2,000 and eventually moved all the way out to 30,000 yards. Nashville was hit hard first, followed by torpedo hits. Boise came next, sunk in the same manner. There were only a couple of penetrating hits on the enemy heavy cruisers, and the first was a tower penetration by a destroyer shell. The enemy cruisers managed to engage 2 previously undamaged US destroyers at ranges of 28,000 and 30,000 yards, and hit them both hard. This was one of the most effective displays I've seen for Japanese heavy cruisers.

Hammann sank just after the combat. Russell was SYS 64/FLOT 22-14/ENG 13-4/FIRE 89 and was scuttled. Sims is SYS 30/FLOT 12-6/ENG 4/FIRE 0 and O'Brien is SYS 35/FLOT 37-23/ENG 6-1/FIRE 1, and will flee with Hughes to Normanton.

The US force was outgunned and outmatched. Congrats to OPilot on this victory. Now let's sink the victors with carrier aircraft. But not today, unless comes closer. Allied carriers will continue with the Horn Island invasion plan.

What will KB do? It's not obvious yet that I'm going for Horn Island. Lots of Allied shipping was spotted at Portland Roads, but none were transports or combat ships. Those, and the carriers, weren't spotted. KB could attack Guadalcanal, or it could go for Port Moresby. Another option is to head southwest further into the Coral Sea. It's a possibility that KB could try to cut all of my shipping off from eastern Australia once it passes west of Horn Island. That would force a monumental battle to reopen the passage. I think that's a battle the Allied would win, with airfields in the area, so I don't think OPilot will do that.

But enemy AO's spotted northeast of Rabaul are definitely in trail of KB, so KB's has options.

[Bif1961]

Ides of November come calling.

[apbarog]

OPilot mentioned in an email three interesting events in this battle. I'd mentioned to you the penetrating destroyer hit on the Japanese heavy cruiser and the US destroyer getting hit at 30,000 yards. I'd forgotten to mention that two enemy ships collided during combat, although I didn't notice more smoke from any with that event.

[apbarog]

5 Nov 42

Gudgeon fired 2 torpedoes at destroyer Kagero near the Treasury Islands, and missed. Kirishima is in the task force.

Near Timor, Pollack fired 2 torpedoes at a patrol boat. One hit but was a dud.

The enemy is still heavily bombing Ankang in China every day, ever since I ambushed a raid by basing Chinese fighters here.

Torpedo equipped Catalinas flew from Nauru to Kusaie twice, targeting a light cruiser and destroyers that have sat on Kusaie for two days now. In the morning, a torpedo hit light cruiser Kinu but it was a dud. Others missed destroyers. In the afternoon, the Catalinas flew with bombs and missed everything. The unit on Nauru has plenty of torpedoes, so I'm not sure why no torps for the afternoon raid. Maybe they suspected that they were defective.

The graphic shows the situation in the Coral Sea. I decided to ignore KB and press on with the invasions as planned.

[apbarog]

6 Nov 42

The combat task force accompanying KB had four battleships.

Night Naval bombardment of Milne Bay at 101,133

Japanese Ships
BB Kirishima
BB Hiei
BB Haruna
BB Kongo
CA Kinugasa
CL Tatsuta

Allied ground losses:
128 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 6 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 5
Port hits 6
Port supply hits 4

This is a very weak bombardment. On the way home, destroyer Hatsuharu hit a mine at Normanby Island. At least 5 of the ships of this task force moved no further than Normanby by the end of the day, within range of many bombers at Port Moresby. But the enemy had good luck, with bad weather covering the task force.

For most of 1942, I've awaited an enemy air strike at Ledo. At times, I kept multiple P-40 squadrons here, discouraging any attack. No attack ever came, even with a weaker air defense. Until today. With so much Japanese air power in Burma, I'm surprised this didn't happen sooner.

32 Oscars swept, finding 32 Hurricane IIc Trops on CAP. The British were mauled. 25 Sallys with 12 Oscars then arrived and went up against what was left, which was just 7 Hurris. The Hurricanes did well, but planes started to be hit on the ground. Then a bigger strike of 29 Sallys with 36 Oscars ran up against just 3 Hurris. Flak was about the only defense. More planes destroyed on the ground.

On the other side of Burma, I had spotted ships at Akyab, and another big task force about to arrive there. I assigned a strong sweep, heavy bombers hitting the airfield and port, and all of the naval bombers I could muster set up in Chittagong.

First 25 P-38Fs swept, doing well against 42 Oscars and 12 Tojos. Then 25 P-40Ks swept, also doing well against 25 Oscars and 9 Tojos. Then the heavy bombers arrived: 15 B-17s and a few B-24s. They did very little damage to the airfield and port, but they helped wear down the CAP some more. Then 9 more B-17s. Then 8 B-24s, which did hit I-153 with a bomb in port. The naval bombers didn't fly until the afternoon, but CAP was much reduced.

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Akyab at 54,45

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 19 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 8
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 2

Allied aircraft
Fulmar II x 12
Hurricane IIc Trop x 31

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Fulmar II: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged
Hurricane IIc Trop: 1 destroyed

Japanese Ships
xAP Suwa Maru, Bomb hits 3, on fire
xAP Keihuku Maru

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

Aircraft Attacking:
8 x Fulmar II bombing from 100 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 lb SAP Bomb

and

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Akyab at 54,45

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 12 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 5
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 1

Allied aircraft
SBD-3 Dauntless x 17

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 3 destroyed, 3 damaged

Japanese Ships
xAP Keihuku Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire
xAP Argentina Maru
xAP Baikal Maru

Japanese ground losses:
17 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 5 (1 destroyed, 4 disabled)

and

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Akyab at 54,45

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 7 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 2 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 1
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 1

Allied aircraft
Vengeance I x 15

No Japanese losses

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
AMc Choun Maru #7, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk

Unfortunate choice of target by that squadron of Vengeances.

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Akyab at 54,45

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 5 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 1 minutes

Allied aircraft
Vengeance I x 12

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
xAP Baikal Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAP Kongo Maru, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires
xAP Keihuku Maru, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Heian Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires

Japanese ground losses:
115 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 8 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 4 (1 destroyed, 3 disabled)
Vehicles lost 14 (10 destroyed, 4 disabled)

Nice xAPs hit and they all had men loaded on them. Audio of something sinking after the combat.

Total air losses for all activity today were 26 Oscars, 9 Sallys and 6 Tojos for 21 Hurricanes, 9 C-47s on the ground, 5 SBD-3s, 5 P-38Fs, 4 DC-3s on the ground, and 3 B-24s, 2 of which were on the ground.

Finally, the Allied troops at Horn Island shock attacked, which was unexpected. Horn Island is a medium sized atoll according to the manual. In some old version of WitP, shock attacks occurred with atolls. When the size of the island started to matter, I thought the rule was that shock attacks occurred with very small and small islands, regardless of being an atoll or not. Obviously I've gotten this wrong.

Allied troops land at Horn Island.

Ground combat at Horn Island (91,128)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 14614 troops, 231 guns, 213 vehicles, Assault Value = 486

Defending force 8793 troops, 111 guns, 18 vehicles, Assault Value = 228

Allied adjusted assault: 604

Japanese adjusted defense: 104

Allied assault odds: 5 to 1 (fort level 2)

Allied forces CAPTURE Horn Island !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender:
Attacker: shock(+), fatigue(-)

Japanese ground losses:
1085 casualties reported
Squads: 41 destroyed, 64 disabled
Non Combat: 23 destroyed, 17 disabled
Engineers: 46 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 62 (51 destroyed, 11 disabled)
Vehicles lost 14 (14 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
395 casualties reported
Squads: 9 destroyed, 40 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 12 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Assaulting units:
3rd Marine Division
627th Tank Destroyer Battalion
21/22 Field Arty Regiment

Defending units:
18th Naval Guard Unit
4th/A Division
4th/B Division
39th JNAF AF Unit
1st Naval Construction Battalion
29th Fld AA Gun Co
47th JNAF AF Unit

But the attack goes well and the base falls. The enemy still needs to be mopped up, but the attackers need a day or two of rest. No rush here though, the mission is accomplished.

So the first 3 targets of this continuous set of invasions have been taken: Port Moresby, Milne Bay and now Horn Island. Carriers will support landing of the followup troops today, then move to cover the occupation of the Allied dot bases of Gove and Wesel Islands. The two CVEs will leave today to cover transports coming from Normanton. Then it's on to Taberfane and Dobo.

KB was in a threatening position yesterday, but it pulled back to the north, not wanting to go after the US carriers, Port Moresby, or Lunga. At least not so far. KB did run a gauntlet of Allied subs without being engaged. That luck has to run out eventually.

[apbarog]

7 Nov 42

4 enemy heavy cruisers and 6 destroyers bombarded Chittagong. I had left Chittagong loaded up with fighters and naval bombers for a second day, hoping for another big strike at Akyab, and this bombardment could have really messed up those squadrons. But it didn't. 208 casualties and no base damage.

Slow battleships Mississippi and New Mexico bombarded Merauke, doing good work.

Night Naval bombardment of Merauke at 89,124

Allied Ships
BB Mississippi
BB New Mexico
CA Pensacola
CL De Ruyter
DD Clark
DD Phelps
DD Selfridge

Japanese ground losses:
462 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 17 destroyed, 19 disabled
Engineers: 4 destroyed, 4 disabled
Guns lost 9 (4 destroyed, 5 disabled)
Vehicles lost 17 (7 destroyed, 10 disabled)

Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 6
Runway hits 40
Port hits 18
Port supply hits 1

It must look like I'm about to invade Merauke, but I'm not. Bypassing it for now.

The pesky enemy light cruiser and destroyers are sitting at Kusaie. I love these Beaufighters. The range was too far for bombs, but they do a nice job with the guns, enough to leave a couple of destroyers smoking.

Morning Air attack on TF, near Kusaie Island at 125,118

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 27 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Allied aircraft
Beaufighter Ic x 14
P-39D Airacobra x 10
P-40E Warhawk x 7

Allied aircraft losses
Beaufighter Ic: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
DD Hamakaze, Shell hits 3
DD Tanikaze, Shell hits 16
DD Urakaze, Shell hits 17

Aircraft Attacking:
14 x Beaufighter Ic strafing at 100 feet *

Then 12 torpedo wielding Catalinas arrived. One torpedo hit light cruiser Kinu and it was a dud. This is the second Catalina dropped dud on Kinu in 3 days! In the afternoon, the Catalinas returned, and this time there was a good torpedo hit on Kinu, setting the ship on fire. I have fighters here now, and the base is repaired. Tomorrow it should become a size 2 airfield. Sitting on the base with ships isn't going to work. If he wants to keep Kusaie suppressed, he'll have to send KB and/or the battleships.

In the Chinese capital, I have 3 Chinese fighters squadrons. I had a US P-40 squadron there yesterday but it got recalled to help protect Ledo. The enemy came today, and the Chinese did very well.

Morning Air attack on Chungking , at 76,45

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid spotted at 24 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 36
Ki-49-Ia Helen x 21

Allied aircraft
P-43A-1 Lancer x 24
P-66 Vanguard x 12

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 2 destroyed
Ki-49-Ia Helen: 8 destroyed, 4 damaged

No Allied losses

Airbase hits 2
Runway hits 4

and the sweep came late, and still the Chinese performed well:

Morning Air attack on Chungking , at 76,45

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid spotted at 32 NM, estimated altitude 25,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 26

Allied aircraft
P-43A-1 Lancer x 21
P-66 Vanguard x 9

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 4 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-43A-1 Lancer: 1 destroyed
P-66 Vanguard: 1 destroyed

Back at Akyab, first 19 P-40Ks sweep and do well against 52 Oscars. Then the naval bombers started to arrive, just like yesterday. Hurricanes were escorting the first raids, and the Oscar CAP was reduced significantly in the morning.

8 Fulmars attacked:

Japanese Ships
AK Sasako Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAP Suwa Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Japanese ground losses:
152 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 28 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 8 (1 destroyed, 7 disabled)

Aircraft Attacking:
8 x Fulmar II bombing from 100 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 lb SAP Bomb

12 SBD-3s attacked:

Japanese Ships
xAP Ussuri Maru
xAP Argentina Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAK Heian Maru, heavy fires, heavy damage

Japanese ground losses:
233 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 10 destroyed, 15 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 13 (2 destroyed, 11 disabled)
Vehicles lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)

15 Vengeances attacked:

Japanese Ships
xAP Palau Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Argentina Maru, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires

Japanese ground losses:
178 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 18 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 10 (1 destroyed, 9 disabled)

Then it was afternoon, and the Oscar CAP was rejuvenated. 6 Fulmars arrived with 6 Hurricanes and most were shot down. Then 10 SBD-3 flew and targeted a sub chaser instead of the juicy transports. SC Ch 25 was hit with 2 1000 lb bombs and most certainly sunk.

Then 11 Vengeances arrived:

Japanese Ships
xAP Ussuri Maru, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Argentina Maru, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
AK Sasako Maru, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage

Japanese ground losses:
481 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 23 destroyed, 32 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 8 (1 destroyed, 7 disabled)
Vehicles lost 4 (2 destroyed, 2 disabled)

A very successful operation at Akyab. Lots of men drowned. There's been sinking audio, so there are ships sunk, just not during combat. On those, judging from the casualties from just damaging hits, the toll could be enormous. OPilot congratulated me by email, so I'm thinking this was a big loss of men.


The other big operation was a first attempt at bombing Magwe's oilfields. It was a complete failure. 42 Oscars were on CAP and the flak was incredibly heavy. Liberators, Fortresses and Mitchells all bombed from 12,000 feet, but there was heavy rain, and not a single hit was achieved.

A big day of air warfare. The total losses were:

41 Oscars
18 Helens

14 Hurricane IIc Trop
7 SBD-3
7 P-40K
6 Fulmar II
5 B-25C
5 Vengeance
4 P-66
3 Liberator II
2 P-43A
2 B-17

The Allies had 20 pilots KIA. That's a lot, considering that the Allies have now lost only 463 KIA for the entire war, which is about 330 days old. Cpt. W.E. Dyess USAAF still leads with 10 kills, but now British and New Zealand Hurricane pilots are tied for second with 8 kills. Now there's a Chinese pilot with 4 kills.

The graphic tells the story for the plan today.

[CaptBeefheart]

I'm with you on the search arcs.

Cheers,
CB

[Lowpe]

In theory 1 search plane has a high percentage chance of returning to base on the first enemy task force spotted...at least according to the manual. In addition, it should only search 4 hex radius and one 10 slice at random of the naval search pie.

However, it seems to me that I get much better results not setting search arcs for naval search than for setting them.

Arcs have their place though, and are very good at restricting naval search or concentrating it.

Kudos to the Allies who have seemingly gained the initiative. Japan is in more trouble if they can't stymie the offensive.

[apbarog]

8 Nov 42

At Horn Island, destroyer Nestor hits I-21 with a depth charge and some additional minor damage. Not enough to sink the sub but enough that is should leave. There are others in the area to the east and southeast.

At Kusaie, damaged CL Kinu has an escort and is slowly moving away from the island. Dutch sub O23 is patrolling near Kusaie and fired 4 torpedoes at Kinu. 2 hit. Sinking audio is heard immediately after the combat.

Just east of Wake Island, a few small yard oilers are RTB to Pearl Harbor with an AM escort and xAK Oakbank keeping them fueled. Oakbank was left at Wake when other cargo ships unloaded and left. I-27 fired 2 torpedoes at Oakbank and both hit, sinking the cargo ship just after combat.

The enemy bombed various targets in China: Changsha, Ningsia, troops near Wuchow and Sian.

Time for a discussion. I've been thinking more about the plans for the Rangoon area invasions coming up in a couple of months or so. I've always assumed that I'd send all of the good US APs to be able to unload 2 divisions in a day. My thinking was that I'd load 2 divisions for Rangoon, and possibly take it very quickly. That's the positive argument for sending the APs.

The negative argument is that there will be many, many other xAPs used in the landings. Unloading the APs quickly won't free up my carriers any sooner. And the good APs will then have to wait for the invasions to be complete before heading back to Australia with the carriers. And that could take some time, depending on whether or not KB shows up, and I think it would eventually.

And that's the thing. If KB comes running to the Indian Ocean, that opens up opportunities to continue landings north of Australia, or the Solomons, or reinforcing Kusaie and maybe going for Ponape or Kwajalein. If KB sees the big US carriers covering the Burma landings, I think it will be drawn there. Right now I have just 3 CVEs. 2 are covering at Gove Island now and the third just arrived on the West Coast. There will be 2 more in the next days, and more after that. With KB far away in the Indian Ocean, those CVEs could cover small jumps in the Solomons or the other activity I described.

My thinking now is not to send the good APs to the Indian Ocean. Covered by CVEs, they could do some quick and decisive landings elsewhere.

Thoughts?

Here's the visual update around Australia for today.

[ChuckBerger]

You asked for thoughts... well, you're about to complete an operation involving five amphibious invasions over a span of 2,000 km, inside two week, under the nose of the enemy carrier fleet in 1942. You've suffered negligible losses, and sent a division-sized enemy force packing at PM.

My thoughts are this: Beer earned, sir.

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: ChuckBerger

You asked for thoughts... well, you're about to complete an operation involving five amphibious invasions over a span of 2,000 km, inside two week, under the nose of the enemy carrier fleet in 1942. You've suffered negligible losses, and sent a division-sized enemy force packing at PM.

My thoughts are this: Beer earned, sir.

You are doing so well, so early, you need no help from the peanut gallery. [&o]

Speaking from the Japanese perspective, so many reinforcements are tied into hard dates that Japan can never really recover from an early Allied offensive like this. They simply lack the tools and troops to do so.

Just don't lose your focus on saving China.[;)]

[apbarog]

I'm certainly focused on China. The question now is whether to do Darwin before China, and I think the answer is yes. Taberfane and Dobo are very exposed, and I'm not using divisions to take them. Gove isn't built at all yet, which makes Darwin tougher, but also makes supporting Taberfane and Dobo difficult. I could lose Taberfane and Dobo to counterattacks while the navy is off in the Indian Ocean. In a previous game, I did lose both after a similar operation. Then the goal was to progress north in New Guinea from Milne Bay, and getting KB away from Rabaul. Here, I have more options, including the Marshalls.

Taking Darwin first would help Taberfane and Dobo. I have xAPs headed to Tulagi to get Americal Division to Townsville. It and another division will go to Darwin from there. If conditions are right, the Allied carriers could go to the Indian Ocean by heading west from Darwin, shortening the trip. But they could get spotted, and it would be obvious where they were headed. Maybe I'll raid Koepang after Darwin and try to escape with a full speed move to the southwest from there.

I'm already prepositioning AOs at Melbourne to support such a move. The number of xAPs to be used in the Burma operation is staggering. Many are in conversion now. It will be quite an operation.