Old Gamer New to WITP AE - Questions

[Yaab]

- Island next to Soerabaja - Again, the troops refuse to get on the planes from Soerabaja from like 2 hexes away.

The base is Pamekasan. The Dutch unit there is yellow-restricted (R), which means it first has to be bought out with PPs and attached to an unrestricted HQ. Cheapest option is to change its HQ to ABDA Command. Changes within the same command structure cost 1/4 of the nomninal PP cost. Here it will be 1/4 of 110 PPs, so you pay 28 or 29 PPs for the HQ change.

Once they are bought out, form an Amphibious TF in Sorebaja with two small xAPs and sail to Pamekasan to pick up the unit. Set the Pamekasan unit to Combat mode in order to load it on the ships. Since the unit is big, the TF will have to go to Pamekasan 2-3 times to load the entire unit.

[Skyros]

Just use the Dutch transport aircraft to pick them up.

[BBfanboy]

Just use the Dutch transport aircraft to pick them up.

I tried that, but they would not transport them. Patrol aircraft using the "Pick Up Troops" mission worked.

[Skyros]

That’s weird I do it all the time. Put them in Soerbaja and use the pickup command.

[Scott_USN]

- Island next to Soerabaja - Again, the troops refuse to get on the planes from Soerabaja from like 2 hexes away.

The base is Pamekasan. The Dutch unit there is yellow-restricted (R), which means it first has to be bought out with PPs and attached to an unrestricted HQ. Cheapest option is to change its HQ to ABDA Command. Changes within the same command structure cost 1/4 of the nomninal PP cost. Here it will be 1/4 of 110 PPs, so you pay 28 or 29 PPs for the HQ change.

Once they are bought out, form an Amphibious TF in Sorebaja with two small xAPs and sail to Pamekasan to pick up the unit. Set the Pamekasan unit to Combat mode in order to load it on the ships. Since the unit is big, the TF will have to go to Pamekasan 2-3 times to load the entire unit.

Your map looks great. I should look those up someday.

[krakowca]

I'm back again. First off thanks to all your help. It really help a lot. I do read the manual and research answers, but your added tips and tricks help.

From my last post of questions:
1) Picking up troops using air does work, but it is slow. I got several groups of PAs just going back and forth to pick up a few outlying detachments.
2) I did get most of the ships out of Hong Kong. I did lose a few once they got into the sea west of Luzon, but only a few.
3) I do see how to move damaged ships from one overloaded port to another. Right now, Pearl has more work than they can handle. Got a few banged up ships, and the 3 big BBs that are still half sunk are causing a lot of OT. Once the FLT damage is fixed, those big boats are headed to the West Coast.
4) I see where the time estimates are for off map movement. Handy little feature.

So onward to the update:
I am playing against a Very Hard AI opponent. I am around Dec 22, 1941. Points that really stick out to me so far:
- IJN subs are just deadly and almost impossible to chase away / sink. I got 3 at Pearl non stop. 3 ASW TFs and 6 squadrons running ASW cannot hit them. But the subs sure hit back. Also got 3 IJN subs in the Moresby - Noumea - Suva area that are racking up kills, plus 1-2 in the DEI. On the flip side, I got 2 dozen subs all around Japan and Formosa, and they miss a lot more than they hit. Really looking forward to that torpedo upgrade.
- I got all the ships I could out of the Singapore, Philipines and Hong Kong (except the subs). Also got most of the planes out as well. The troops, well, they are going to all get medals. the Japanese got 3 invasion sites on Luzon and 1 at Davao. The have most of northern Borneo. They are near Temuloh on Malaysia. I am not sure the damaged CL at Singapore will make it out.
- Funnest battle so far ... I sent up the Dutch fleet (2 CLs and a bunch of DDs) to contest some invasions near Signawak and they ran into an IJN SC force. They got bloodied badly, but sunk the Ise!
- I have all of the Dutch cargo fleet and a good portion of the BR and CW fleets drying out Palembang and the Borneo fuel sites. I wn't get them empty, but they will be a lot lower than they were. Destinations are Perth, Darwin, and Koepang (my last Dutch stronghold if all goes badly. Also, those Dutch SS are pretty good!
- I did have one catastrophic event {accident). A TK blew up and sank near Pearl. No sub hit, just one of those things.
- Got my island chain going. Also reinforcing Midway. Thinking of putting a sub ship there.
- Moresby has been a pain. I got most of the Rabaul and Kavien detachments out. And have been sending a lot of supply and fuel up there. Also got a few more troops up there. Lots of planes are up there as well.
- Have not really started a lot of cross ocean to Australia yet. Got a few Fuel once from LA to Sydney going and a couple from Capetown to Perth. A lot of the US fleet has been getting stuff to the islands, and a lot of the BR / CW / D have been taking fuel out of the DEI.
- I sent about 20 large AKs and 6 or so of the biggest tankers to the Atlantic. I see now that the Eastern US and Canada can send some stuff over to the West Coast, but the UK is just sitting there. I will get them all emptied out in the next few months while I build up my convoy system in the Pacific.
- Looking forward to getting the Yorktown into the Pacific. It is just getting to Cristobal now. Then I will have 4 CVs to play with.

All in all, been really interesting.
SO, a couple of questions:

1) What do you do with China? I studied all of the War Areas and what they control. I am trying to consolidate the more scattered ones into general areas. But most of the time they just seem to get run over by the Japanese. The coast, especially around the 3rd War area has been getting hit hard of late. I waffle between trying to free up a large force and hit the Japanese somewhere versus just digging in and making them pay.

2) I have been using some Political Points to buy out a few units I want to move around, and I did save Douglas McArthur's hide out of the Philipines. I am wondering If I should think about replacing top HQ leaders, then Army leaders, Air Leaders and Naval Leaders, or just mix and match with units. At this point, I am more on defense and building up bases than attacking, so moving units around seems more important.

3) Those automatic convoys that arrive at Capetown. When they disband, do their ships join my pool or do they just disappear?

[Bo Rearguard]

1) What do you do with China? I studied all of the War Areas and what they control. I am trying to consolidate the more scattered ones into general areas. But most of the time they just seem to get run over by the Japanese. The coast, especially around the 3rd War area has been getting hit hard of late. I waffle between trying to free up a large force and hit the Japanese somewhere versus just digging in and making them pay.

For starters if you gather together all the spare Chinese corps in the Ichang/Nanchang area you can usually create an army large enough to besiege and defeat the Japanese garrison at Sinyang.

3) Those automatic convoys that arrive at Capetown. When they disband, do their ships join my pool or do they just disappear?

Before the ships disappear they add all the squads/devices/vehicles/fuel/supply they carry to your various pools. They represent the periodic large infusions of military resources into the theater from the Atlantic as opposed to the replacements you receive on a day by day basis.

- IJN subs are just deadly and almost impossible to chase away / sink. I got 3 at Pearl non stop. 3 ASW TFs and 6 squadrons running ASW cannot hit them. But the subs sure hit back. Also got 3 IJN subs in the Moresby - Noumea - Suva area that are racking up kills, plus 1-2 in the DEI. On the flip side, I got 2 dozen subs all around Japan and Formosa, and they miss a lot more than they hit. Really looking forward to that torpedo upgrade.

Japanese subs are thorn in the side the whole game. But as time goes on your ASW ships will pick up experience, and a number of upgrades which add more DC launchers and advanced radar fits to your ships which level the playing field considerably. Getting your patrol air groups well trained in ASW and search also reduces the threat by keeping the enemy subs spotted so you can route around them. They'll even hit one now and then with a bomb. Rare but it happens.

[RangerJoe]

Don't attack in China, use your supplies to repair devices. Do NOT give any Chinese units replacements until their devices are all repaired unless they have been bought out and have made it to India. Before buying them out, make sure that the units are trashed so they are cheaper. The Chinese units with Allied armour and artillery make a pretty good punch with lots of infantry replacements.

There is no need to buy out Douglas, there is another one that shows up in SWPAC!

Your ASW will continue to be bad until the ships and pilots are trained. I personally have found that the British and Australian DDs are the best for the ASW job due to their large number of ASW devices.

Don't move your battleships until all system and non-major damage is repaired. They will have long upgrades anyway so there is no need to rush things. They are also fuel hogs. They are best to absorb damage during invasions while bombarding enemy positions plus they are torpedo magnets and are much more likely to survive than other ships.

As far as ships in the Atlantic, use them to haul supplies and fuel to Cape Town and Panama. Ships come in at Panama and later on they can haul those supplies to Australia, New Zealand, and other places. I like to use the APs and AKs that convert to APAs and AKAs for this since it keeps them safe, after all there is no concern about submarines in the Atlantic theatre!

All that you need to do is to pull out a few squads from the buyable Dutch units to a safer location. If the main unit gets destroyed or disbanded, then any fragment becomes the unit and will be cheaper to buy out while if they are disbanded they return with few devices. Don't give your Dutch infantry replacements until your militia squads upgrade otherwise you may not have enough infantry squads to upgrade your militia squads. After the DEI is gone and any surviving Dutch units have just the common devices like support squads, they can help other units that need extra support to become fully functional. The base forces will be quite useful. The same goes for other Allied formations, some will be able to be moved even if it appears that they won't be. Also, check your database to see what your squad devices upgrade to. Some of the squads that appear to be dead ends with few replacements actually convert to Indian squad devices. In the same concept, don't upgrade all of your devices to be the latest and greatest. The Commonwealth devices are in short supply so use up your older ones while saving the newest for your best units in offensive actions. Until you get 1943 squads, your firepower can be anemic for some devices. Especially use up your 18 pounder cannons and your older AA guns since you will otherwise be short of the 25 pounders and 3.7 inch AA guns. The same for tanks, use up the older versions since you can't downgrade devices if you run short of the latest and greatest devices. Some of these Commonwealth units can perform the garrison function with relatively few combat squads.

I would not haul too much fuel and oil to Darwin, it is a trap for either side but especially the Allies since it is hard to keep supplied and fueled. Any ships there can easily be destroyed with no safe place to run towards. The most that you can support beyond Alice Springs is one division. That is also the most that the Japanese can send to attack Alice Springs from Darwin. There are better uses for troops instead of starving them on defense.

To support Port Moresby, fly supplies and engineers to Milne Bay. You want to build up the port there and then the airfield. It is a nice position to help Port Moresby since PT boats and minefields in the area can interfere with Japanese ship movements from Rabaul to Port Moresby. Fighters there with a base force and radar is a must but you need a level 2 port and/or lots of naval support to unload it at a level 1 port. Otherwise, use amphibious TFs to unload things at Milne Bay.

[RangerJoe]

Oh, something else. Your Clemson class DDs can become APDs with a 6 ASW rating. I convert all that I can to those ships. They are useful escorts for convoys and can carry supplies for invasions as well as performing fast transport missions. What I like to do is to get them some training as destroyers in the DEI area to increase their crew experience before I convert them. The Wickes class can also convert to APDs but they need to have their February 1942 upgrades before they can do so. But that conversion is no longer available after the June 1942 upgrade so be aware of that.

Congratulations on sinking the Ise but what was your cost? Those Dutch ships are somewhat expendable but they are still useful ships.

[BBfanboy]

To add a point about the reinforcement convoys - there are no actual ships. Note that the 'convoy' is represented as an LCU. That was done to prevent players from trying to hijack the ships for their use. Do not change anything on the Reinforcement convoy - just take note of what goodies they bring for the pools and review your units to decide which ones should get them (set other units needing those devices to not take replacements nor upgrade).

[btd64]

3) I do see how to move damaged ships from one overloaded port to another. Right now, Pearl has more work than they can handle. Got a few banged up ships, and the 3 big BBs that are still half sunk are causing a lot of OT. Once the FLT damage is fixed, those big boats are headed to the West Coast.

The BB's at Pearl. What I do is get the flood damage under 50 and repair all of the system damage and is much of the engine damage as you can. In fact, I would put the BB's into peer side repair to get the system damage. And any other non-major damage repaired. And get the flood damage under fifty in the shipyard.
Then, move them to the west coast....GP

[krakowca]

Congratulations on sinking the Ise but what was your cost? Those Dutch ships are somewhat expendable but they are still useful ships.
[/quote]



I lost the CLs Java and DeRuyter. I did not intend to do that. My recon saw several invasion fleets heading for Singawang and Kuchin. I decided to intercept them. When they got near those fleets, this IJN SC TF just popped up. How my planes missed that big BB sitting there is beyond me as it was very close to Borneo (3 hexes away). My Dutch TF ran right into them. At first they only heavily damaged the Ise, so I sent every plane and Sub in the area after it. Eventually the Ise slipped under the waves. A couple of DDs got banged up as well, but they made it back to port.

[RangerJoe]

Congratulations on sinking the Ise but what was your cost? Those Dutch ships are somewhat expendable but they are still useful ships.

I lost the CLs Java and DeRuyter. I did not intend to do that. My recon saw several invasion fleets heading for Singawang and Kuchin. I decided to intercept them. When they got near those fleets, this IJN SC TF just popped up. How my planes missed that big BB sitting there is beyond me as it was very close to Borneo (3 hexes away). My Dutch TF ran right into them. At first they only heavily damaged the Ise, so I sent every plane and Sub in the area after it. Eventually the Ise slipped under the waves. A couple of DDs got banged up as well, but they made it back to port.

Believe me, that trade is well worth it. Especially this early.

[krakowca]

Don't attack in China, use your supplies to repair devices. Do NOT give any Chinese units replacements until their devices are all repaired unless they have been bought out and have made it to India. Before buying them out, make sure that the units are trashed so they are cheaper. The Chinese units with Allied armour and artillery make a pretty good punch with lots of infantry replacements.

As far as ships in the Atlantic, use them to haul supplies and fuel to Cape Town and Panama. Ships come in at Panama and later on they can haul those supplies to Australia, New Zealand, and other places. I like to use the APs and AKs that convert to APAs and AKAs for this since it keeps them safe, after all there is no concern about submarines in the Atlantic theatre!

I would not haul too much fuel and oil to Darwin, it is a trap for either side but especially the Allies since it is hard to keep supplied and fueled. Any ships there can easily be destroyed with no safe place to run towards. The most that you can support beyond Alice Springs is one division. That is also the most that the Japanese can send to attack Alice Springs from Darwin. There are better uses for troops instead of starving them on defense.

To support Port Moresby, fly supplies and engineers to Milne Bay. You want to build up the port there and then the airfield. It is a nice position to help Port Moresby since PT boats and minefields in the area can interfere with Japanese ship movements from Rabaul to Port Moresby. Fighters there with a base force and radar is a must but you need a level 2 port and/or lots of naval support to unload it at a level 1 port. Otherwise, use amphibious TFs to unload things at Milne Bay.

- I identified 4 Chines Corps and 12 Chinese Divisions I can buy out and move to India. Some are skeletons and cheap, while others are beefed up and very expensive. I will need to whittle them down a little first. What is the fastest way to get these units to Calcutta? From the map it looks like these troops are going to wear out several pairs of shoes getting through the non RR hexes in China and the forests of Burma. My map does not show any direct link from any Chinese cities to cities in India. I was thinking of buying out 1-2 of theseunits every week and start them on their upgrade path.

- I sent like 20 AK (Mostly the Luchenback Ships as they are all very big and the 6 biggest tankers to the Atlantic. I did identify like 8 APs that can convert to APAs later on. Luckily none have been sunk, so they will make the trip there as well. Unfortunately, I was not lucky enough to save any Clemson DDs. I had converted them all to DMS, so I missed that one.

- Thanks for the tip on Darwin. It got some built up Cargo and Fuel, but I moved all of the ships based there out and diverted them to Perth. Darwin was a good spot to get fleeing US ships and planes out of the SW Pacific.

- Moresby is doing fine. I did get an engineer and some supplies to Milne Bay. They are working as fast as they can to build a base there. I do have a good amount of Supplies and Fuel at Moresby, plus a few more extra troops. The Japanese have invaded PNG, up the coast from Lae a bit. It will take them a while to make it down further. They have not gone after Kavieng and Rabaul yet. I decided to not try to keep Rabaul as I want to see how much of a fight the Japanese will make for the Solomons. This is my learning game.

- Question: What makes some units buyable after they have been destroyed? For example, the 2 small Aussie detachments at Nauru and Ocean were both bombed out of existence. Nauru is buyable but Ocean is not. ?

[RangerJoe]

Don't attack in China, use your supplies to repair devices. Do NOT give any Chinese units replacements until their devices are all repaired unless they have been bought out and have made it to India. Before buying them out, make sure that the units are trashed so they are cheaper. The Chinese units with Allied armour and artillery make a pretty good punch with lots of infantry replacements.

As far as ships in the Atlantic, use them to haul supplies and fuel to Cape Town and Panama. Ships come in at Panama and later on they can haul those supplies to Australia, New Zealand, and other places. I like to use the APs and AKs that convert to APAs and AKAs for this since it keeps them safe, after all there is no concern about submarines in the Atlantic theatre!

I would not haul too much fuel and oil to Darwin, it is a trap for either side but especially the Allies since it is hard to keep supplied and fueled. Any ships there can easily be destroyed with no safe place to run towards. The most that you can support beyond Alice Springs is one division. That is also the most that the Japanese can send to attack Alice Springs from Darwin. There are better uses for troops instead of starving them on defense.

To support Port Moresby, fly supplies and engineers to Milne Bay. You want to build up the port there and then the airfield. It is a nice position to help Port Moresby since PT boats and minefields in the area can interfere with Japanese ship movements from Rabaul to Port Moresby. Fighters there with a base force and radar is a must but you need a level 2 port and/or lots of naval support to unload it at a level 1 port. Otherwise, use amphibious TFs to unload things at Milne Bay.

- I identified 4 Chines Corps and 12 Chinese Divisions I can buy out and move to India. Some are skeletons and cheap, while others are beefed up and very expensive. I will need to whittle them down a little first. What is the fastest way to get these units to Calcutta? From the map it looks like these troops are going to wear out several pairs of shoes getting through the non RR hexes in China and the forests of Burma. My map does not show any direct link from any Chinese cities to cities in India. I was thinking of buying out 1-2 of theseunits every week and start them on their upgrade path.

- I sent like 20 AK (Mostly the Luchenback Ships as they are all very big and the 6 biggest tankers to the Atlantic. I did identify like 8 APs that can convert to APAs later on. Luckily none have been sunk, so they will make the trip there as well. Unfortunately, I was not lucky enough to save any Clemson DDs. I had converted them all to DMS, so I missed that one.

- Thanks for the tip on Darwin. It got some built up Cargo and Fuel, but I moved all of the ships based there out and diverted them to Perth. Darwin was a good spot to get fleeing US ships and planes out of the SW Pacific.

- Moresby is doing fine. I did get an engineer and some supplies to Milne Bay. They are working as fast as they can to build a base there. I do have a good amount of Supplies and Fuel at Moresby, plus a few more extra troops. The Japanese have invaded PNG, up the coast from Lae a bit. It will take them a while to make it down further. They have not gone after Kavieng and Rabaul yet. I decided to not try to keep Rabaul as I want to see how much of a fight the Japanese will make for the Solomons. This is my learning game.

- Question: What makes some units buyable after they have been destroyed? For example, the 2 small Aussie detachments at Nauru and Ocean were both bombed out of existence. Nauru is buyable but Ocean is not. ?

Depending upon the cost of the unit and where it is located, buy the small units out and move them to an airfield and fly them out. But since your aerial transports are needed to haul supplies, so I would just have the units walk. Just give them the order to march to where you want them and they should take the quickest path which may not be the shortest path by the distance traveled. But wait until they reach India to start building them up. Those divisions do form into large Corp units.

You will receive more APs and AKs and the game goes on. If they will convert to the APAs and AKAs, then I would just keep them moving supplies since you really don't have enough escorts yet. You probably won't make many if any invasions and the smaller xAPs will work fine for those even though they are slower. You just don't want to lose them before you can convert them to their "Attack" versions.

Port Moresby is one Japanese target they you can impale the AI on. It will keep trying to capture it. So build it up accordingly and bring the maximum amount of supplies there that can be safely stockpiled.

I don't know why the Ocean detachment can't be bought back, I usually save most of it except for the two cannons. But remember this, if the unit is going to withdraw/disband later, then it can't be bought back. Also, never buy out any unit that will disband/withdraw.

Check your database for your Australian infantry device upgrades. Make sure that all of your units upgrade to the latest devices before they disband/withdraw. All of their devices go into the pools to rebuild other units. That is one way that you can get a lot of the devices upgraded for your Australian units. The New Zealand units will also need to be upgraded before they withdraw/disband.

Check your Commonwealth squad devices to see which ones upgrade to Indian squads and when they upgrade, that is a nice source of more Indian squads when you need them. In the meantime, those units can perform garrison duty.

[krakowca]

Just thought I would post a short status update on how things are going.....

I managed to get a lot out of Malaysia and the Philipines ship wise and air squadron wise. I left the troops there to slow the Japanese down as much as possible. Singapore may hang on for a few more weeks, but all the Phillipine troops are bottled up at Bataan already.

The game is now at January 14, 42. Palembang is hanging on, but there are daily raids from LBA coming from Borneo. Really hinders task force operations. I do have a few fighter squadrons there to help.

Java: Been rewarding and frustrating. The KB sailed down the strait between Borneo and Celebes and got all the way to the Osthaven straight. Then they turned around and went back the same way they got in, all the way to Formosa. I was amazed at that move. I thought an Indian Ocean invasion was coming for sure. But nope. Really messed up a lot of fuel and cargo transfers all through the DEI. Tarakan was basically cut off since there are so many Japanese TFs all over that area. I was still running Balikpapan despite some LRA attacks and then the Japanese invaded with a TF right behind the KB coming through. That battle has been gone on for weeks. I sent the last of the Dutch combat ships there to bombard, and reinforced with a Dutch infantry unit. I was running Fuel TFs in and out and THEN, the KB came back again. Never saw it coming until it was too late. The ships at Balikpapan are trapped and several are in danger of sinking. The KB's second trip has got them close to Batavia. Not sure if they are doing the same manuever or if they are heading to the Indian Ocean this time. BUT the good news: One of those fantastic Dutch SS put 2 torpedoes into the Soryu. Two days later, it sunk. I was wondering what was going on since I always had like 6 Dutch subs shadowing the KB, but never seemed to get attacks going. Some good news there, but even though I slimed down a lot of the cargo TFs out of the area, several are still trapped at Palembang, Balikpapan, and Soerabaja. I need them in the Indian Ocean to start a string of Convoys to Perth.

The Japanese finally invaded Rabaul and Papua New Guinea. Their air at Rabaul is deadly. I am bringing some 4E bombers over from the US to even the score. That will take a week to get there.

Rangoon. The Japanese air switched from attacking TFs to the airfield and decimated my 3 Fighter squadrons pretty quickly. And the Japanese are slowly making their way up the peninsula and are about 5 hexes away from Moulmein.

China: I am not attacking much, just defending. The Japanese have been really hitting hard. I did gather my forces in the 4th War Area and want to do a few small attacks there. Third War Area is fighting in their whole area. I did send the 12 divisions I can buy out for a walk to India. Right now I have 2 divisions in central Burma and 3 more just entered Burma.

The Japanese did invade Dutch Harbor. I sent a BB up there for bombardment. Surface Combat just doesn't happen up there as the Japanese continue to evade. I also sent a battalion reinforcement but will send the Marines soon.

Fantastic Game so far. I am losing some ships, mostly AKs. I lost a few tankers as well, and a couple of APs. The largest combat ships lost have been light cruisers, but a couple of heavy ones have taken a beating and limping back to Australia for repairs. The Japanese so far has lost the Ise and the Soryu. Not sure if the planes from the Soryu made it out to safety anywhere, but I really doubt it as it was in an area between Soerabaja, Makassar, and Blikpapan. The closest base they have is the one 2 hexes East of Sinkawang or Iiolo Island east of Tarakan.




Since the KB is in the Java area, I am going to try a 4 CV raid on Wake and then Marcus Islands and see what happens.

[Bo Rearguard]

The Japanese finally invaded Rabaul and Papua New Guinea. Their air at Rabaul is deadly. I am bringing some 4E bombers over from the US to even the score. That will take a week to get there.

It can take some time to get the engineers and ground personnel there to build up the Allied airbases in the area to the point where 4E bombers can operate consistently and drop their full payloads. But that's part of the fun of the game.

[BBfanboy]

You say Soryu sank 2 days after being torpedoed but you are unsure if the planes were lost? On the turn she sank (I hope you have it saved) you can check the Intel Report for aircraft losses, click on the Daily losses column heading and look for Ops Losses or Ground Losses (I forget which they show up as) of a lot of carrier aircraft - Zeros, Vals, Kates.
It is possible her aircraft were in the air when she was torpedoed so they could have landed on other ships or shore bases in range. It is also possible that she never sank at all despite what the ship loss reports say - that's Fog of War.

[RangerJoe]

You say Soryu sank 2 days after being torpedoed but you are unsure if the planes were lost? On the turn she sank (I hope you have it saved) you can check the Intel Report for aircraft losses, click on the Daily losses column heading and look for Ops Losses or Ground Losses (I forget which they show up as) of a lot of carrier aircraft - Zeros, Vals, Kates.
It is possible her aircraft were in the air when she was torpedoed so they could have landed on other ships or shore bases in range. It is also possible that she never sank at all despite what the ship loss reports say - that's Fog of War.

If the aircraft were on the ship, then they are Ground Losses. If the aircraft were flying and did not make it to a land base or a different aircraft carrier, then they are OPs Losses. If the ship was torpedoed at night and the ship was not conducting night air operations, then all of the aircraft on the ship should show up as Ground Losses.