A Day That Will Live In Infamy...
Moderators: wdolson, Don Bowen, mogami
RE: A Day That Will Live In Infamy...
Well, the first time my back went out (about 15-20 years ago) it seemed to help quite a bit. This time, it doesn't seem to be helping that much. The best chair I have is a Herman Miller aeron chair at work, but I don't think they would like it very much if I took it home to play WITP with. Costs around $800 I think. I'm hoping I can get my doc to write a prescription for it...
RE: A Day That Will Live In Infamy...
Urk - thanks for pointing that out - I will correct my prior posts.[:)]
RE: A Day That Will Live In Infamy...
January 11, 1942
Submarine Action:
The IJN sub I-154 hit MSW Bungaree with one torpedo, and she sank quickly after that attack with heavy loss to her crew.
Meanwhile, the Dutch sub KXVII hit the troop-carrying AK Takaosan Maru with one torpedo, and the resultant fire and heavy flooding resulted in almost 50 casualties in her hapless passengers.
The USS Grayling put 2 torpedoes into the side of TK Eiyo Maru, and she then surfaced to finish the tanker with her deck gun, but the tanker still had fight in her. After a brisk firefight, the tanker took two hits from the Grayling’s deck gun, but the Grayling broke off the attack after a hit damaged her.
The USS Cuttlefish ran into the TK Shinkoku Maru in low visibility, and damaged her with two hits from her deck gun, but the tanker escaped into the fog before a torpedo good setup for a torpedo attack, and the four fired at the tanker either missed or malfunctioned.
An air attack on Brunei by combined ABDA forces found three heavy cruisers in the form of the CA Atago, CA Takao, and CA Maya, all escorting CVL Ryujo. The bombers consisting of B-17C’s, Martins and bomb-carrying Brewsters were intercepted by Claude fighters, shot up and did not achieve a hit, but lost only 1 bomber forced to ditch on the way back. The Dutch struck again at this target, this time also finding the CA Chokai providing AA cover. The results of this attack were similar: many damaged bombers, no hits.
Beaufort bombers struck a convoy near Brunei, hitting AP Seizan Maru which was noted to be burning as the bombers exited.
The Japanese unloaded troops at Tarakan without much opposition.
In China, a deliberate attack by the IJA at Wuhan was repulsed in a bloody mess that resulted in almost 3000 Japanese, and about 800 Chinese casualties.
At Singapore, the fortifications were reduced to a mere shell in another deliberate attack, causing over 900 Allied casualties, and over 500 Japanese to be lost.
ABDA continued the defense and assaulted at Menado, causing about 80 Japanese casualties.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
January 12, 1942
Singapore falls:
The British had been evacuating men from Singapore since the war broke out (primarily taking out support troops and engineering units) by aircraft, submarine and fast surface convoys. However, about 49,000 men were captured, and about 200 more killed and wounded in the final defense of the “Gilbraltor of the East”. The Japanese had been bombing the city almost continually over the last week, and a shock attack was too much for her demoralized defenders. Extensive propaganda in the form of radio broadcasts and newsreel footage bolstered Japanese morale.
Submarine action:
The USS Sealion’s crew thanked their lucky stars after an alert lookout caused her skipper to crash dive and set her on the bottom. They had been patrolling off southern Mindanao when what appeared to be “the whole damn Jap navy” (according to her report) passed over her. Her sonar man claimed at least 10 destroyers, three minesweepers, and a patrol boat tried to find them, and said he could also identify the individual ships, but Allied intelligence in Washington, D.C. discounted this as a figment of an overactive imagination.
Nearby and shortly thereafter, the USS Argonaut escaped being detected by three destroyers. Washington DC intelligence denied there could be any connection between the incidents.
The Japanese continued to unload troops at Tarakan. Three Beaufort torpedo bombers attacked and managed to hit AP Somedono Maru with a single torpedo. The Japanese staged a shock assault later in the day, causing nearly 300 Allied casualties, while losing just over 60 men. The defeated Allied troops retreated towards Balikpapan, except for the troops manning the fortifications who surrendered.
At Kuching, the usual ritual of ABDA aircraft dumping bombs into the ocean on attacking IJN heavy warships continued. Later , the Dutch hit a softer target (a supply convoy), and AP Huso Maru was hit by two bombs which started fires on board her.
At Hsinyang, another Japanese attack met a bloody fate, with almost 2400 Japanese killed and wounded, while the Chinese lost about 250 men.
At Menado, the cornered Japanese suffered another 30 troops lost from ABDA’s pounding.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Submarine Action:
The IJN sub I-154 hit MSW Bungaree with one torpedo, and she sank quickly after that attack with heavy loss to her crew.
Meanwhile, the Dutch sub KXVII hit the troop-carrying AK Takaosan Maru with one torpedo, and the resultant fire and heavy flooding resulted in almost 50 casualties in her hapless passengers.
The USS Grayling put 2 torpedoes into the side of TK Eiyo Maru, and she then surfaced to finish the tanker with her deck gun, but the tanker still had fight in her. After a brisk firefight, the tanker took two hits from the Grayling’s deck gun, but the Grayling broke off the attack after a hit damaged her.
The USS Cuttlefish ran into the TK Shinkoku Maru in low visibility, and damaged her with two hits from her deck gun, but the tanker escaped into the fog before a torpedo good setup for a torpedo attack, and the four fired at the tanker either missed or malfunctioned.
An air attack on Brunei by combined ABDA forces found three heavy cruisers in the form of the CA Atago, CA Takao, and CA Maya, all escorting CVL Ryujo. The bombers consisting of B-17C’s, Martins and bomb-carrying Brewsters were intercepted by Claude fighters, shot up and did not achieve a hit, but lost only 1 bomber forced to ditch on the way back. The Dutch struck again at this target, this time also finding the CA Chokai providing AA cover. The results of this attack were similar: many damaged bombers, no hits.
Beaufort bombers struck a convoy near Brunei, hitting AP Seizan Maru which was noted to be burning as the bombers exited.
The Japanese unloaded troops at Tarakan without much opposition.
In China, a deliberate attack by the IJA at Wuhan was repulsed in a bloody mess that resulted in almost 3000 Japanese, and about 800 Chinese casualties.
At Singapore, the fortifications were reduced to a mere shell in another deliberate attack, causing over 900 Allied casualties, and over 500 Japanese to be lost.
ABDA continued the defense and assaulted at Menado, causing about 80 Japanese casualties.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
January 12, 1942
Singapore falls:
The British had been evacuating men from Singapore since the war broke out (primarily taking out support troops and engineering units) by aircraft, submarine and fast surface convoys. However, about 49,000 men were captured, and about 200 more killed and wounded in the final defense of the “Gilbraltor of the East”. The Japanese had been bombing the city almost continually over the last week, and a shock attack was too much for her demoralized defenders. Extensive propaganda in the form of radio broadcasts and newsreel footage bolstered Japanese morale.
Submarine action:
The USS Sealion’s crew thanked their lucky stars after an alert lookout caused her skipper to crash dive and set her on the bottom. They had been patrolling off southern Mindanao when what appeared to be “the whole damn Jap navy” (according to her report) passed over her. Her sonar man claimed at least 10 destroyers, three minesweepers, and a patrol boat tried to find them, and said he could also identify the individual ships, but Allied intelligence in Washington, D.C. discounted this as a figment of an overactive imagination.
Nearby and shortly thereafter, the USS Argonaut escaped being detected by three destroyers. Washington DC intelligence denied there could be any connection between the incidents.
The Japanese continued to unload troops at Tarakan. Three Beaufort torpedo bombers attacked and managed to hit AP Somedono Maru with a single torpedo. The Japanese staged a shock assault later in the day, causing nearly 300 Allied casualties, while losing just over 60 men. The defeated Allied troops retreated towards Balikpapan, except for the troops manning the fortifications who surrendered.
At Kuching, the usual ritual of ABDA aircraft dumping bombs into the ocean on attacking IJN heavy warships continued. Later , the Dutch hit a softer target (a supply convoy), and AP Huso Maru was hit by two bombs which started fires on board her.
At Hsinyang, another Japanese attack met a bloody fate, with almost 2400 Japanese killed and wounded, while the Chinese lost about 250 men.
At Menado, the cornered Japanese suffered another 30 troops lost from ABDA’s pounding.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RE: A Day That Will Live In Infamy...
January 13, 1942
Off Tarakan, the British and Dutch struck furiously (but too late) at the invading task force with the limited forces they had. A combined force of 10 aircraft composed of Martins and Beaufighters came in low and hit AP Hakuyo Maru with two torpedoes and AK Tihuku Maru with one. The Hakuyo Maru looked to be in danger of burning up and capsizing according to coastwatcher’s reports. About 50 Japanese troops were reported drowned after they jumped overboard to escape the flames on the ship.
An ABDA destroyer force bombarded Menado in support of ABDA’s efforts there. Allied spotters reported there were more than 100 casualties for the Japanese. Later Japanese bombers hit the ABDA garrison which caused 90 killed and wounded.
At Kuching, the Dutch tried to prevent the AP Batavia Maru from visiting its namesake city later in the war, hitting her with one bomb. Patrolling aircraft also claimed at hit on Tamaki Maru.
At Kwajalein, AK Nissan Maru struck a submarine-layed mine. Further details were unavailable from the SigInt that gave them this scant information.
Desultory bombardments occurred in China and the Philippines, which accomplished little in tactical or strategic significance. These “paltry” actions did manage to kill, maim, and wound dozens of men on both sides.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
January 14, 1942
Submarine Actions off Australia
Off the coast of Australia, an ASW force of four Allied minesweepers surprised IJN I-5 on the surface recharging her batteries. They steamed over her dive location, and dropped depth charge barrages, severely damaging her, and she broached briefly before sinking forever. IJN I-170 tried to avenge her sister and attacked the small minesweepers with torpedoes, but missed. A counterattack failed.
SigInt reported AP Gotake Maru sank. This ship had been hit by bombs on the last day of 1941. Washington D.C. intelligence refused to acknowledge this sinking, however.
AP Hakuyo Maru was hit by a torpedo in the continued attack by Beaufighters off Tarakan. Coastwatchers reported a fire was burning out of control, although they did not think the ship was severely damaged.
The attack of the supply convoy off Kuching also continued. PG Yoshida Maru was hit three times by bombs from five Dutch Martin bombers, and AP Hakka Maru was also hit once. The patrol boat looked like it was listing 25 degrees and burning fiercely, and Hakka Maru was burning with smaller fires.
At Menado, a Japanese fast transport taskforce picked up the battered survivors of its invasion force.
Bombardments continued at Rangoon, China, and in the Philippines. Multiple air attacks on Sindkep Island accomplished little.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Off Tarakan, the British and Dutch struck furiously (but too late) at the invading task force with the limited forces they had. A combined force of 10 aircraft composed of Martins and Beaufighters came in low and hit AP Hakuyo Maru with two torpedoes and AK Tihuku Maru with one. The Hakuyo Maru looked to be in danger of burning up and capsizing according to coastwatcher’s reports. About 50 Japanese troops were reported drowned after they jumped overboard to escape the flames on the ship.
An ABDA destroyer force bombarded Menado in support of ABDA’s efforts there. Allied spotters reported there were more than 100 casualties for the Japanese. Later Japanese bombers hit the ABDA garrison which caused 90 killed and wounded.
At Kuching, the Dutch tried to prevent the AP Batavia Maru from visiting its namesake city later in the war, hitting her with one bomb. Patrolling aircraft also claimed at hit on Tamaki Maru.
At Kwajalein, AK Nissan Maru struck a submarine-layed mine. Further details were unavailable from the SigInt that gave them this scant information.
Desultory bombardments occurred in China and the Philippines, which accomplished little in tactical or strategic significance. These “paltry” actions did manage to kill, maim, and wound dozens of men on both sides.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
January 14, 1942
Submarine Actions off Australia
Off the coast of Australia, an ASW force of four Allied minesweepers surprised IJN I-5 on the surface recharging her batteries. They steamed over her dive location, and dropped depth charge barrages, severely damaging her, and she broached briefly before sinking forever. IJN I-170 tried to avenge her sister and attacked the small minesweepers with torpedoes, but missed. A counterattack failed.
SigInt reported AP Gotake Maru sank. This ship had been hit by bombs on the last day of 1941. Washington D.C. intelligence refused to acknowledge this sinking, however.
AP Hakuyo Maru was hit by a torpedo in the continued attack by Beaufighters off Tarakan. Coastwatchers reported a fire was burning out of control, although they did not think the ship was severely damaged.
The attack of the supply convoy off Kuching also continued. PG Yoshida Maru was hit three times by bombs from five Dutch Martin bombers, and AP Hakka Maru was also hit once. The patrol boat looked like it was listing 25 degrees and burning fiercely, and Hakka Maru was burning with smaller fires.
At Menado, a Japanese fast transport taskforce picked up the battered survivors of its invasion force.
Bombardments continued at Rangoon, China, and in the Philippines. Multiple air attacks on Sindkep Island accomplished little.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RE: A Day That Will Live In Infamy...
January 15, 1942
Another I-boat success:
The same four minesweepers that had sunk I-15 the day before now became the prey of an IJN submarine, and MSW Lithgow was hit by two torpedoes from I-19 off Rockhampton and sank almost immediately, taking most of her crew.
At Singapore, AK Fukuyo Maru struck reportedly struck two mines and sustained heavy damage (according to Allied SigInt.) She was reportedly carrying troops, and over 50 were lost.
The Dutch struck again at IJN troop convoys, and AP Anrugu Maru was hit by two Martin bombs and lost about 20 troops. Nearby, another convoy was attacked, and AP Keisyo Maru was hit by another Dutch bomb.
Another Japanese attack at Hsinyang hit a buzzsaw, and the IJA lost over 2500 men, while the Chinese lost about 1100 troops.
Japanese troops arrived at Rangoon and attacked, and were repulsed with about 1000 casualties, while the British forces lost about half that.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
January 16, 1942
Wake Island Surprise!
In the early morning hours, a Japanese task force, missed by search aircraft, arrived off Wake Island and started unloading troops. American artillery pounded the landing Japanese troops causing almost 400 casualties, and hit PC Ch 29 with three shells and
PC Ch 30 with one shell. U.S. land forces bombarded the Japanese troops that did get ashore, causing another (nearly) hundred troops.
The IJN also unloaded troops at Lae. The landing was unopposed.
The Dutch continued to hit Japanese troop ships. AP Meiko Maru was hit by one bomb south of Singapore. U.S. Catalina’s joined in a night attack, and hit TK Kaizyo Maru with three torpedoes near Brunei.
Japanese aircraft pounded troops at Rangoon, and Japanese troops joined in with artillery, but did not try to repeat their general assault. Over 200 Allied troops were killed or wounded.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Another I-boat success:
The same four minesweepers that had sunk I-15 the day before now became the prey of an IJN submarine, and MSW Lithgow was hit by two torpedoes from I-19 off Rockhampton and sank almost immediately, taking most of her crew.
At Singapore, AK Fukuyo Maru struck reportedly struck two mines and sustained heavy damage (according to Allied SigInt.) She was reportedly carrying troops, and over 50 were lost.
The Dutch struck again at IJN troop convoys, and AP Anrugu Maru was hit by two Martin bombs and lost about 20 troops. Nearby, another convoy was attacked, and AP Keisyo Maru was hit by another Dutch bomb.
Another Japanese attack at Hsinyang hit a buzzsaw, and the IJA lost over 2500 men, while the Chinese lost about 1100 troops.
Japanese troops arrived at Rangoon and attacked, and were repulsed with about 1000 casualties, while the British forces lost about half that.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
January 16, 1942
Wake Island Surprise!
In the early morning hours, a Japanese task force, missed by search aircraft, arrived off Wake Island and started unloading troops. American artillery pounded the landing Japanese troops causing almost 400 casualties, and hit PC Ch 29 with three shells and
PC Ch 30 with one shell. U.S. land forces bombarded the Japanese troops that did get ashore, causing another (nearly) hundred troops.
The IJN also unloaded troops at Lae. The landing was unopposed.
The Dutch continued to hit Japanese troop ships. AP Meiko Maru was hit by one bomb south of Singapore. U.S. Catalina’s joined in a night attack, and hit TK Kaizyo Maru with three torpedoes near Brunei.
Japanese aircraft pounded troops at Rangoon, and Japanese troops joined in with artillery, but did not try to repeat their general assault. Over 200 Allied troops were killed or wounded.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RE: A Day That Will Live In Infamy...
January 17, 1942
Wake Island Struggle:
The IJN Task Force 119 continued to unload troops at Wake Island, despite shelling from American troops. PC Ch 30 took two shell hits and AP Monji Maru took three hits, and both were set on fire. Later, AP China Maru moved in to unload and took nine hits, and started to list dangerously, while fires billowed from her superstructure. The landing troops took over 300 casualties, and then they staged a shock assault, suffering about another 150 casualties, while the Americans lost about the same.
Manilla Surprise!
Somehow, the IJN manage to sneak a task force past the defending forts at Corregidor, and started landing troops at Manilla. AP Kiri Maru took a dozen hits and showed every sign of sinking, while the landing troops took over 300 casualties.
Allied aircraft struck at an IJN task force to the south of the landing, and Beauforts reported they had put two torpedoes into DD Fumizuki, which appeared to have her bow blown off with a heavy list and fires aboard.
Off Singkawang, the Dutch continued striking at the IJN troopships, and Martins dropped a bomb onto the decks of AP Kasuga Maru.
The Japanese continued to pound at troops in Rangoon and China with their bombers to little effect. They also heavily raided Sinkep Island, which was engaged in trying to extract Dutch troops from bases at Sumatra. Little damage was reported to installations there, however, several Brewster fighters were destroyed on the field.
At Rangoon, the Japanese were paused in their assaults, although they fired artillery at the defenders inflicting about three dozen casualties.
At Lae, the Japanese captured the undefended base.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
January 18, 1942
At Manilla, the Japanese continued to unload while their transports were shelled. Over 500 troops and seven guns were lost by the Japanese in this landing effort. Another troop convoy moved in and also unloaded troops, with horrible results for the Japanese. AP Daigen Maru hit a mine, and then was hit by over a dozen shells. AP Jinsai Maru was also hit by at least nine shells. Both ships were burning furiously and listing heavily. Almost another five hundred Japanese troops were lost in this effort. Japanese bombers struck at the American and Philippino defenders, inflicting over 200 casualties. This did not stop MacArthur’s forces, who attacked the landing forces, inflicting about 140 casualties, while the Allies lost about 65 troops. The Japanese marched around Manilla and then retreated southwards.
Allied spies in Singapore, combined with SigInt reported that AP Seiwa Maru struck no less than three mines while coming into the harbor. Over 100 troops were reported lost.
In Borneo, the Japanese attacked Balikpapan and Singkawang almost simultaneously. They were attacked by artillery, and about attacking 150 troops were cut down. At Balikpapan, Allied aircraft hit AK Sinsei Maru with a torpedo, setting her on fire and inflicting over two dozen casualties in the troops she was carrying.
Off western Borneo, the Dutch struck again and struck AP Hikawa Maru and AP Heiyo Maru with one bomb each.
The Japanese army attacked again at Hsinyang, but again hit a buzzsaw, losing over 3100 casualties, while the Chinese lost about 775 troops.
The Japanese also tried assaulting at Rangoon, and over 1000 troops were lost on each side, although the Japanese lost more than twice and many guns and vehicles.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wake Island Struggle:
The IJN Task Force 119 continued to unload troops at Wake Island, despite shelling from American troops. PC Ch 30 took two shell hits and AP Monji Maru took three hits, and both were set on fire. Later, AP China Maru moved in to unload and took nine hits, and started to list dangerously, while fires billowed from her superstructure. The landing troops took over 300 casualties, and then they staged a shock assault, suffering about another 150 casualties, while the Americans lost about the same.
Manilla Surprise!
Somehow, the IJN manage to sneak a task force past the defending forts at Corregidor, and started landing troops at Manilla. AP Kiri Maru took a dozen hits and showed every sign of sinking, while the landing troops took over 300 casualties.
Allied aircraft struck at an IJN task force to the south of the landing, and Beauforts reported they had put two torpedoes into DD Fumizuki, which appeared to have her bow blown off with a heavy list and fires aboard.
Off Singkawang, the Dutch continued striking at the IJN troopships, and Martins dropped a bomb onto the decks of AP Kasuga Maru.
The Japanese continued to pound at troops in Rangoon and China with their bombers to little effect. They also heavily raided Sinkep Island, which was engaged in trying to extract Dutch troops from bases at Sumatra. Little damage was reported to installations there, however, several Brewster fighters were destroyed on the field.
At Rangoon, the Japanese were paused in their assaults, although they fired artillery at the defenders inflicting about three dozen casualties.
At Lae, the Japanese captured the undefended base.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
January 18, 1942
At Manilla, the Japanese continued to unload while their transports were shelled. Over 500 troops and seven guns were lost by the Japanese in this landing effort. Another troop convoy moved in and also unloaded troops, with horrible results for the Japanese. AP Daigen Maru hit a mine, and then was hit by over a dozen shells. AP Jinsai Maru was also hit by at least nine shells. Both ships were burning furiously and listing heavily. Almost another five hundred Japanese troops were lost in this effort. Japanese bombers struck at the American and Philippino defenders, inflicting over 200 casualties. This did not stop MacArthur’s forces, who attacked the landing forces, inflicting about 140 casualties, while the Allies lost about 65 troops. The Japanese marched around Manilla and then retreated southwards.
Allied spies in Singapore, combined with SigInt reported that AP Seiwa Maru struck no less than three mines while coming into the harbor. Over 100 troops were reported lost.
In Borneo, the Japanese attacked Balikpapan and Singkawang almost simultaneously. They were attacked by artillery, and about attacking 150 troops were cut down. At Balikpapan, Allied aircraft hit AK Sinsei Maru with a torpedo, setting her on fire and inflicting over two dozen casualties in the troops she was carrying.
Off western Borneo, the Dutch struck again and struck AP Hikawa Maru and AP Heiyo Maru with one bomb each.
The Japanese army attacked again at Hsinyang, but again hit a buzzsaw, losing over 3100 casualties, while the Chinese lost about 775 troops.
The Japanese also tried assaulting at Rangoon, and over 1000 troops were lost on each side, although the Japanese lost more than twice and many guns and vehicles.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RE: A Day That Will Live In Infamy...
January 19, 1942
Japanese command inflexibility manifested itself by refusing to cancel the orders to land more troops at Manilla despite the fact that the main Japanese units had already been forced to retreat. AP Jinsai Maru struck a mine in her haste to close on the beaches and unload her troops. Artillery opened fire on the IJN taskforce, and AP Hino Maru and AP Daigen Maru each #3 took six hits from the artillery. All three ships appeared to be listing heavily and burning as they staggered out to sea in retreat.
At Balikpapan, the Japanese also continued with their landing, and MSW Shintohoku Maru took four shell hits. American B-17's struck at the landing fleet, and AK Sinsei Maru took a single hit and AK Kirisima Maru three hits from 500-pound bombs. Both ships had fires aboard, and the Kirisima Maru was struggling to stay afloat. The Japanese attacked, but could not penetrate the ABDA defenses with about two dozen Japanese casualties, and half that for the Allies.
At Sinkep, six ABDA destroyers which had been running fast transport ran into the harbor, and ran into CA Takao, CA Chokai, CA Myoko, CA Haguro, CA Mogami, CL Sendai and at least nine IJN destroyers. The ABDA fleet was shot up, with DD Bulmer taking eight hits before sinking, DD Kortenaer took seven shell hits and a Long Lance torpedo before sinking, DD Van Ghent was struck by almost a dozen hits, and staggered out of the battle before sinking. DD Piet Hein was hit a single shell, and eventually was ordered back to Australia for repairs. DD John D. Edwards and DD Tjerk Hiddes were the only ABDA ships to come off undamaged. The destroyers managed to score two hits on the heavy cruisers which only bounced off their armor. The Japanese task force then moved in to bombard the base at Sinkep, chewing up the airbase and port and inflicting almost 500 casualties.
In action off Singkawang, the Dutch saw AP Tsunushima Maru hit a mine while entering the harbor. The Japanese unloaded more troops, and then assaulted, causing the Allies to retreat.
January 20, 1942
At Palembang, IJN Task Force 114 unloaded troops without opposition, losing a few dozen troops in the landing operation. The captured the base later in the day.
Off Singkawang, the continued to strike at their antagonists, hitting AP Higashiyama Maru, with two bombs, AK Hokkai Maru with one bomb, and AP Daifuku Maru with three bombs. All three were on fire when last seen by the coastwatchers.
At Rangoon, the Japanese attacked again after resting a day. Each side lost about 1000 troops in the ensuing struggle, but the fortifications remained intact.
The Japanese that had conducted the surprise landing at Wake Island tried a shock attack, but were repulsed with over 100 troops cut down. The US lost about 30 troops.
The Japanese attacked with their troops at Balikpapan, but again accomplished little with about 20 casualties on both sides.
The Chinese assaulted at Pakhoi, but could not capture the base, inflicting a couple of dozen casualties on the Japanese.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Japanese command inflexibility manifested itself by refusing to cancel the orders to land more troops at Manilla despite the fact that the main Japanese units had already been forced to retreat. AP Jinsai Maru struck a mine in her haste to close on the beaches and unload her troops. Artillery opened fire on the IJN taskforce, and AP Hino Maru and AP Daigen Maru each #3 took six hits from the artillery. All three ships appeared to be listing heavily and burning as they staggered out to sea in retreat.
At Balikpapan, the Japanese also continued with their landing, and MSW Shintohoku Maru took four shell hits. American B-17's struck at the landing fleet, and AK Sinsei Maru took a single hit and AK Kirisima Maru three hits from 500-pound bombs. Both ships had fires aboard, and the Kirisima Maru was struggling to stay afloat. The Japanese attacked, but could not penetrate the ABDA defenses with about two dozen Japanese casualties, and half that for the Allies.
At Sinkep, six ABDA destroyers which had been running fast transport ran into the harbor, and ran into CA Takao, CA Chokai, CA Myoko, CA Haguro, CA Mogami, CL Sendai and at least nine IJN destroyers. The ABDA fleet was shot up, with DD Bulmer taking eight hits before sinking, DD Kortenaer took seven shell hits and a Long Lance torpedo before sinking, DD Van Ghent was struck by almost a dozen hits, and staggered out of the battle before sinking. DD Piet Hein was hit a single shell, and eventually was ordered back to Australia for repairs. DD John D. Edwards and DD Tjerk Hiddes were the only ABDA ships to come off undamaged. The destroyers managed to score two hits on the heavy cruisers which only bounced off their armor. The Japanese task force then moved in to bombard the base at Sinkep, chewing up the airbase and port and inflicting almost 500 casualties.
In action off Singkawang, the Dutch saw AP Tsunushima Maru hit a mine while entering the harbor. The Japanese unloaded more troops, and then assaulted, causing the Allies to retreat.
January 20, 1942
At Palembang, IJN Task Force 114 unloaded troops without opposition, losing a few dozen troops in the landing operation. The captured the base later in the day.
Off Singkawang, the continued to strike at their antagonists, hitting AP Higashiyama Maru, with two bombs, AK Hokkai Maru with one bomb, and AP Daifuku Maru with three bombs. All three were on fire when last seen by the coastwatchers.
At Rangoon, the Japanese attacked again after resting a day. Each side lost about 1000 troops in the ensuing struggle, but the fortifications remained intact.
The Japanese that had conducted the surprise landing at Wake Island tried a shock attack, but were repulsed with over 100 troops cut down. The US lost about 30 troops.
The Japanese attacked with their troops at Balikpapan, but again accomplished little with about 20 casualties on both sides.
The Chinese assaulted at Pakhoi, but could not capture the base, inflicting a couple of dozen casualties on the Japanese.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RE: A Day That Will Live In Infamy...
January 21, 1942
At Wake Island, the US Carrier Force returned for some valuable live-fire training when they bombed the hapless 61st IJN Naval Guard which had been landed at Wake. Over 200 Allied aircraft participated in the raid, inflicting over 200 casualties. The American ground forces advanced on the small IJN beachhead, inflicting a few more casualties, but somehow the attack foundered through poor coordination of the relatively green troops. There were no US troops lost in this fiasco, however.
The Japanese played tit-for-tat, hitting Sinkep Island heavily with over 150 aircraft from Singapore. They destroyed at least one Brewster on the field, and damaged ABDA supply depots.
ABDA aircraft in turn struck at Palembang, hitting AP Chicago Maru with a torpedo, AP Kisogawa Maru with two bombs, and PG Eifuku Maru with two bombs and 2 torpedoes, causing heavy damage to the last ship, and starting conflagrations on all three.
The Dutch continued their yeoman work against Japanese troop convoys, hitting one about 120 northeast of Singkawang. AP Anrugu Maru was hit by 3 bombs, AK Nako Maru and AP Hakozake Maru by one bomb each. The Anrugu Maru had her bow blown off and was in severe distress as the aircraft exited the scene, according to the Dutch airmen.
At Pontaniak, a fast transport convoy came in the dead of night and picked up troops from the maintenance and communication support, and left in a hurry in the dead of night. At dawn, the Japanese struck and forced the surrender of the remaining 1400+ troops.
At Hsinyang, the Japanese conducted a deliberate assault, and it failed as its predecessors had with the loss of over 2800 IJA troops, while the Chinese lost less than 1/3 of this number.
Allied SigInt continued bringing in valuable intelligence: Hino Maru #3 was reported sunk off North Luzon coast due to 14" shell hit. This was also seen by coastwatchers. Although not previously reported damaged, Allied SigInt units think she may have been damaged when the IJN made its ill-advisded landings at Manilla a few days before. Also, Tihuku Maru was reported sunks in Pacific off Southern Philippines, due to the effects of 18" aerial torpedo hit suffered on 13th of Jan in air attack near Tarakhan.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
January 22, 1942
“All we found were the dead and dying...”
At Wake Island, live-fire exercises continued, and this time it was the heavy surface units turn as they moved in and plastered the spit of land the Japanese landing force still held with ordinance from 4 inch destroyer shells up to massive 14" battleship rounds. The effects of this were not immediately apparent in the dark, and at dawn another massive carrier raid struck the hapless remaining Japanese. That afternoon, the ground units advanced, but found no resistance at all - the 61st IJN Naval Guard had apparently ceased to exist. “All we found were the dead and dying Japs” said one Army major.
The Dutch minefields at Brunei find another victim. This time TK Nissyo Maru struck a mine which (according to the few coastwatchers in the area) caused a fire and heavy damage.
The ABDA aircraft continued its air assault at Palembang, however, the IJN had moved in some heavy units to protect its thin-skinned transports. This had spelled the demise of any Allied air attacks in the past, as the bomber pilots would attack the Japanese heavies, and either get shot up or shot down without accomplishing any damage. This time almost repeated the pattern, but for a single hit. The hit was a good one though, and actually caused more than putting some scorch marks on armor. A torpedo hit the CA Mikuma and started a fire reported by multiple aircraft.
The Japanese air assault on Sinkep Island continued, damaging and destroying a few aircraft there. The Japanese also attacked Batavia, and the fighters their gave a relatively good account of themselves, with the heavily outnumbered Dutch shooting down 8 Nates, losing a total of 12 Hawk and Demon fighters.
Various bombardments continued virtually wherever Allied and Japanese troops came in contact: throughout China, at Rangoon, through the Dutch East Indies, and Philippines, howver, no practical results (except for attrition to both sides) occurred.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At Wake Island, the US Carrier Force returned for some valuable live-fire training when they bombed the hapless 61st IJN Naval Guard which had been landed at Wake. Over 200 Allied aircraft participated in the raid, inflicting over 200 casualties. The American ground forces advanced on the small IJN beachhead, inflicting a few more casualties, but somehow the attack foundered through poor coordination of the relatively green troops. There were no US troops lost in this fiasco, however.
The Japanese played tit-for-tat, hitting Sinkep Island heavily with over 150 aircraft from Singapore. They destroyed at least one Brewster on the field, and damaged ABDA supply depots.
ABDA aircraft in turn struck at Palembang, hitting AP Chicago Maru with a torpedo, AP Kisogawa Maru with two bombs, and PG Eifuku Maru with two bombs and 2 torpedoes, causing heavy damage to the last ship, and starting conflagrations on all three.
The Dutch continued their yeoman work against Japanese troop convoys, hitting one about 120 northeast of Singkawang. AP Anrugu Maru was hit by 3 bombs, AK Nako Maru and AP Hakozake Maru by one bomb each. The Anrugu Maru had her bow blown off and was in severe distress as the aircraft exited the scene, according to the Dutch airmen.
At Pontaniak, a fast transport convoy came in the dead of night and picked up troops from the maintenance and communication support, and left in a hurry in the dead of night. At dawn, the Japanese struck and forced the surrender of the remaining 1400+ troops.
At Hsinyang, the Japanese conducted a deliberate assault, and it failed as its predecessors had with the loss of over 2800 IJA troops, while the Chinese lost less than 1/3 of this number.
Allied SigInt continued bringing in valuable intelligence: Hino Maru #3 was reported sunk off North Luzon coast due to 14" shell hit. This was also seen by coastwatchers. Although not previously reported damaged, Allied SigInt units think she may have been damaged when the IJN made its ill-advisded landings at Manilla a few days before. Also, Tihuku Maru was reported sunks in Pacific off Southern Philippines, due to the effects of 18" aerial torpedo hit suffered on 13th of Jan in air attack near Tarakhan.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
January 22, 1942
“All we found were the dead and dying...”
At Wake Island, live-fire exercises continued, and this time it was the heavy surface units turn as they moved in and plastered the spit of land the Japanese landing force still held with ordinance from 4 inch destroyer shells up to massive 14" battleship rounds. The effects of this were not immediately apparent in the dark, and at dawn another massive carrier raid struck the hapless remaining Japanese. That afternoon, the ground units advanced, but found no resistance at all - the 61st IJN Naval Guard had apparently ceased to exist. “All we found were the dead and dying Japs” said one Army major.
The Dutch minefields at Brunei find another victim. This time TK Nissyo Maru struck a mine which (according to the few coastwatchers in the area) caused a fire and heavy damage.
The ABDA aircraft continued its air assault at Palembang, however, the IJN had moved in some heavy units to protect its thin-skinned transports. This had spelled the demise of any Allied air attacks in the past, as the bomber pilots would attack the Japanese heavies, and either get shot up or shot down without accomplishing any damage. This time almost repeated the pattern, but for a single hit. The hit was a good one though, and actually caused more than putting some scorch marks on armor. A torpedo hit the CA Mikuma and started a fire reported by multiple aircraft.
The Japanese air assault on Sinkep Island continued, damaging and destroying a few aircraft there. The Japanese also attacked Batavia, and the fighters their gave a relatively good account of themselves, with the heavily outnumbered Dutch shooting down 8 Nates, losing a total of 12 Hawk and Demon fighters.
Various bombardments continued virtually wherever Allied and Japanese troops came in contact: throughout China, at Rangoon, through the Dutch East Indies, and Philippines, howver, no practical results (except for attrition to both sides) occurred.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RE: A Day That Will Live In Infamy...
January 23, 1942
“It was raining bombs...”
The Dutch tried to evacuate some troops from Sinkep Island. They had some transport aircraft there, pulling troops out of Sumatra, and had planned to use a fast transport task force out of Sinkep. Last time, three destroyers had been sunk when they were unloading supplies, and an IJN bombardment task force showed up. This time, the Japanese through their air forces at the two ABDA destroyers. US DD John D. Edwards and Dutch DD Tjerk Hiddes tried to make their way to Sinkep, and the Japanese reacted violently. At first, about 125 aircraft attacked the two speedy destroyers at high altitude. “It was raining bombs” claimed one survivor. However, the destroyers managed to dodge the “raindrops” and escaped damage in this first attack. A second attack added some Sonia divebombers, and about 25 aircraft came after the miniature ABDA force. They also missed. Then another attack with about 90 aircraft churned the sea around the two destroyers, which kept on with their mission, still unhit.
Dutch and British aircraft continued to hammer at the IJN troop task forces and struck at a convoy off Muntok. AP Hakozake Maru was hit with one torpedo, AP Gosei Maru was hit by one bomb, and PG Zuiko Maru took one bomb and caught on fire.
Meanwhile, off the northeast coast of Australia, the Allies tried to get revenge on the subs that had sunk one cruiser, and had severely hurt another and a destroyer. A hunter-killer force of four minesweepers used radio direction finding and homed in on I-122 and attacked, and at least severely damaged her.
Bombardments and counterbombardments continued throughout the theater from Wuhan to Balikpapan.
January 24, 1942
Kiss of Death
The intrepid ABDA destroyers DD Tjerk Hiddes and DD John D. Edwards had picked up troops at Sinkep Island, and continued back towards Batavia. However, when they are about 100 miles out, the fourth attack struck. Dutch Demon fighters had been assigned as long-range CAP, but there were only five of them to contest with over 100 Japanese aircraft, including numerous fighters. At least one Demon was shot down, and the bombs continued to rain down, until at the end of the attack, a single Ki-51 Sonia dive bomber struck the John D. Edwards with a 100-pound bomb. This was the kiss of Death. The bomb hit the stern off the ship and touching off the 4-inch ammunition magazine, causing an explosion which set off her depth-charge stores, tearing the stern off and flooding the engineering spaces. The ship sank quickly, killing and wounding many of her crew as well as a good proportion of the troops she had evacuated from Sinkep Island. After the attack flew off, the Tjerk Hiddes circled back and picked up any survivors she could locate. (See also below).
The IJN made their intentions clear, and troop convoys continued to suffer when the troop carrying AK Kenkon Maru was hit by a bomb near Batavia, causing severe casualties to the troops on board. The Allies braced for a landing at the capitol.
Another troop convoy near Palembang was attacked by ABDA (mostly Dutch and British) aircraft. AP Yamato Maru was struck by three bombs and started to burn.
Kiss of Death
Electrician mate 1st class James “Jimmy” Mason liked being a radioman on his ship. The radio room always seemed to be a magnet to crewmen on any ship - they liked to come in and get the scuttlebutt that the radiomen could offer - uncoded transmissions gave the men most of their clues of what was going on. He thought they also liked staring at his girl’s picture taped to the CRV-4614-8 radio receiver. She was quite a knockout in her cocktail singer’s dress, and she had put a lip-sticked kiss on the photo. The guys were always bugging him to know her name, and where she worked... like he would tell them!
Jimmy finished writing down the last of a set of five letter code group in a message to them from Batavia. The coded messages got uncoded next door by an officer, and often he would give clues as to what they said. They could even get ideas of what the Japs were up to - Jimmy could tell from the strength of the signal if they were close. He could recognize the “fists” of some of the Japanese operators, and so he could sometimes guess the direction of the movement on some of their task forces. Aircraft sometimes revealed they were on their way - signals rapidly getting stronger. He thought they were very careless in their transmitting - hell, why not order radio silence? For the last two days, he had been listening to their bombers coming at them. He hoped the coded message was about air cover. He heard transmissions of what he thought were more Jap planes coming in - the signals rapidly increasing in strength.
Sure enough, the General Quarters alarm started, and the ship started to increase in speed. After the alarm stopped, he could hear the drone of the Jap bombers approaching. After a minute, the ship started healing to port as she made a high-speed turn to avoid the bombs being dropped from high-altitude. Then the 3" AA gun opened up with a sharp crack, and he heard bombs exploding to starboard.
The explosions rained around the destroyer and the accompanying Dutch boat for the next fifteen minutes of so, then died out. Jimmy could hear the drone of some new aircraft coming in, and heard excited exclamations of sailors hailing the arrival of Dutch fighter air cover. This cheeriness didn’t last long: not ten minutes after the Dutch fighters arrived, Jap Zeros swooped in on them, and he heard yells of dismay. He peaked out of his radio room and saw a Dutch Demon fighter, wing blown off and on fire, cartwheeling into the ocean not 100 yards from the ship. The rest of the Demons had been driven off by the Zeros, and now the bombers had arrived, too quickly. The John D. Edwards started her dance of evasion, and the Bettys and Nells started dropping boms from high altitude, generally missing the ship by a good margin.
Suddenly, the droning of the bombers engines which floated down from high above took on a new tone - louder, higher pitched, and more threatening. Jimmy heard the AA machine guns open fire on the new target. A dive bomber swooped in off the port quarter, a bomb dropping into the sea. The splash and explosion didn’t look anything as big as the high-altitude ordinance, but it did come a lot closer. A hit in the right spot...
This thought was interrupted by a noise like God’s voice, and Jimmy was thrown against the forward bulkhead with a blinding wave of pain. Something had hit them stern, and hard. At first he couldn’t hear anything. Then he could hear the screams of men, getting louder as his hearing returned, like a station being tuned in gradually on his radio. Louder and louder. Then he heard the crackle of flames. These too grew louder.
He tried to get up, but his legs wouldn’t move. Funny, they didn’t hurt. He could move his arms okay and he used those to lever himself over. His radio had been wrenched from its mount and lay on its side. It didn’t look like it would ever operate again. He noticed the ship was well down at the stern, and seemed to be settling rapidly. He looked back at the radio, and back to Sonia’s picture. Funny, his eyes must be going, too. The picture of Sonia, which had always had a sultry look, now was smiling at him. Smiling, but with a touch of malice, cruelty, as if it was smiling at his predicament, not really smiling at him. He suddenly realized that the ship was sinking, fast, and taking him with it...
The Ki-57 Sonia pilot flew low over the water after pulling out of the power drive and dropping a bomb on the American destroyer. A towering cloud of smoke tinged with flames rose from the stricken ship which was sinking fast by the stern. The pilot, who rarely let any emotions to show, now allowed a smile to show. It was a smile tinged with malice and cruelty.
© 2004 by R. Trapasso - redistribution allowed with attribution
“It was raining bombs...”
The Dutch tried to evacuate some troops from Sinkep Island. They had some transport aircraft there, pulling troops out of Sumatra, and had planned to use a fast transport task force out of Sinkep. Last time, three destroyers had been sunk when they were unloading supplies, and an IJN bombardment task force showed up. This time, the Japanese through their air forces at the two ABDA destroyers. US DD John D. Edwards and Dutch DD Tjerk Hiddes tried to make their way to Sinkep, and the Japanese reacted violently. At first, about 125 aircraft attacked the two speedy destroyers at high altitude. “It was raining bombs” claimed one survivor. However, the destroyers managed to dodge the “raindrops” and escaped damage in this first attack. A second attack added some Sonia divebombers, and about 25 aircraft came after the miniature ABDA force. They also missed. Then another attack with about 90 aircraft churned the sea around the two destroyers, which kept on with their mission, still unhit.
Dutch and British aircraft continued to hammer at the IJN troop task forces and struck at a convoy off Muntok. AP Hakozake Maru was hit with one torpedo, AP Gosei Maru was hit by one bomb, and PG Zuiko Maru took one bomb and caught on fire.
Meanwhile, off the northeast coast of Australia, the Allies tried to get revenge on the subs that had sunk one cruiser, and had severely hurt another and a destroyer. A hunter-killer force of four minesweepers used radio direction finding and homed in on I-122 and attacked, and at least severely damaged her.
Bombardments and counterbombardments continued throughout the theater from Wuhan to Balikpapan.
January 24, 1942
Kiss of Death
The intrepid ABDA destroyers DD Tjerk Hiddes and DD John D. Edwards had picked up troops at Sinkep Island, and continued back towards Batavia. However, when they are about 100 miles out, the fourth attack struck. Dutch Demon fighters had been assigned as long-range CAP, but there were only five of them to contest with over 100 Japanese aircraft, including numerous fighters. At least one Demon was shot down, and the bombs continued to rain down, until at the end of the attack, a single Ki-51 Sonia dive bomber struck the John D. Edwards with a 100-pound bomb. This was the kiss of Death. The bomb hit the stern off the ship and touching off the 4-inch ammunition magazine, causing an explosion which set off her depth-charge stores, tearing the stern off and flooding the engineering spaces. The ship sank quickly, killing and wounding many of her crew as well as a good proportion of the troops she had evacuated from Sinkep Island. After the attack flew off, the Tjerk Hiddes circled back and picked up any survivors she could locate. (See also below).
The IJN made their intentions clear, and troop convoys continued to suffer when the troop carrying AK Kenkon Maru was hit by a bomb near Batavia, causing severe casualties to the troops on board. The Allies braced for a landing at the capitol.
Another troop convoy near Palembang was attacked by ABDA (mostly Dutch and British) aircraft. AP Yamato Maru was struck by three bombs and started to burn.
Kiss of Death
Electrician mate 1st class James “Jimmy” Mason liked being a radioman on his ship. The radio room always seemed to be a magnet to crewmen on any ship - they liked to come in and get the scuttlebutt that the radiomen could offer - uncoded transmissions gave the men most of their clues of what was going on. He thought they also liked staring at his girl’s picture taped to the CRV-4614-8 radio receiver. She was quite a knockout in her cocktail singer’s dress, and she had put a lip-sticked kiss on the photo. The guys were always bugging him to know her name, and where she worked... like he would tell them!
Jimmy finished writing down the last of a set of five letter code group in a message to them from Batavia. The coded messages got uncoded next door by an officer, and often he would give clues as to what they said. They could even get ideas of what the Japs were up to - Jimmy could tell from the strength of the signal if they were close. He could recognize the “fists” of some of the Japanese operators, and so he could sometimes guess the direction of the movement on some of their task forces. Aircraft sometimes revealed they were on their way - signals rapidly getting stronger. He thought they were very careless in their transmitting - hell, why not order radio silence? For the last two days, he had been listening to their bombers coming at them. He hoped the coded message was about air cover. He heard transmissions of what he thought were more Jap planes coming in - the signals rapidly increasing in strength.
Sure enough, the General Quarters alarm started, and the ship started to increase in speed. After the alarm stopped, he could hear the drone of the Jap bombers approaching. After a minute, the ship started healing to port as she made a high-speed turn to avoid the bombs being dropped from high-altitude. Then the 3" AA gun opened up with a sharp crack, and he heard bombs exploding to starboard.
The explosions rained around the destroyer and the accompanying Dutch boat for the next fifteen minutes of so, then died out. Jimmy could hear the drone of some new aircraft coming in, and heard excited exclamations of sailors hailing the arrival of Dutch fighter air cover. This cheeriness didn’t last long: not ten minutes after the Dutch fighters arrived, Jap Zeros swooped in on them, and he heard yells of dismay. He peaked out of his radio room and saw a Dutch Demon fighter, wing blown off and on fire, cartwheeling into the ocean not 100 yards from the ship. The rest of the Demons had been driven off by the Zeros, and now the bombers had arrived, too quickly. The John D. Edwards started her dance of evasion, and the Bettys and Nells started dropping boms from high altitude, generally missing the ship by a good margin.
Suddenly, the droning of the bombers engines which floated down from high above took on a new tone - louder, higher pitched, and more threatening. Jimmy heard the AA machine guns open fire on the new target. A dive bomber swooped in off the port quarter, a bomb dropping into the sea. The splash and explosion didn’t look anything as big as the high-altitude ordinance, but it did come a lot closer. A hit in the right spot...
This thought was interrupted by a noise like God’s voice, and Jimmy was thrown against the forward bulkhead with a blinding wave of pain. Something had hit them stern, and hard. At first he couldn’t hear anything. Then he could hear the screams of men, getting louder as his hearing returned, like a station being tuned in gradually on his radio. Louder and louder. Then he heard the crackle of flames. These too grew louder.
He tried to get up, but his legs wouldn’t move. Funny, they didn’t hurt. He could move his arms okay and he used those to lever himself over. His radio had been wrenched from its mount and lay on its side. It didn’t look like it would ever operate again. He noticed the ship was well down at the stern, and seemed to be settling rapidly. He looked back at the radio, and back to Sonia’s picture. Funny, his eyes must be going, too. The picture of Sonia, which had always had a sultry look, now was smiling at him. Smiling, but with a touch of malice, cruelty, as if it was smiling at his predicament, not really smiling at him. He suddenly realized that the ship was sinking, fast, and taking him with it...
The Ki-57 Sonia pilot flew low over the water after pulling out of the power drive and dropping a bomb on the American destroyer. A towering cloud of smoke tinged with flames rose from the stricken ship which was sinking fast by the stern. The pilot, who rarely let any emotions to show, now allowed a smile to show. It was a smile tinged with malice and cruelty.
© 2004 by R. Trapasso - redistribution allowed with attribution
RE: A Day That Will Live In Infamy...
This pretty much ends up this AAR thread for me - I have restarted my game after upgrading to version 1.30.
I originally wanted to post this on Halloween, but real-world events and procrastination prevented me from posting it until now.
RT
I originally wanted to post this on Halloween, but real-world events and procrastination prevented me from posting it until now.
RT