Henry:
I’m not certain whether to count the battle at Diamond Harbor this morning as a win or a loss.
Losses
Naval
• Sunk: DD Panther
• Heavily Damaged: DD Paladin, PG Hollyhock
Air
• 7x Hurricane
• 5x Buffalo
Damage Inflicted
• 21x Betty
• 3x Nell
• 3x Zero
I am certainly not complaining about the destruction of 27 Japanese airplanes. Up until today, only 4x Betty had been shot down in air-to-air combat. The new numbers are quite an improvement.
However, the battle report gave details that give me a cause for concern.
(1) The Japanese Zeros came in first in order to sweep allied CAP out of the way. My first item of concern is that they continued to do an excellent job. As you can see by the numbers, they shot down 13 allied airplanes at a loss of 3 of their own. This is a 4:1 margin of victory. The only good news here is that some of our pilots actually learned how to hit a Japanese Zero.
(2) Half of the enemy bombers shot down (17 total; the rest were brought down by flak) were shot down by two pilots. G2 credited FLT U. Greenwood and PO K. Kirkpatrick, both of 232 Squadron, each with 4 kills. We cannot have the fate of Diamond Harbor rest on two pilots.
A high-altitude strike would have probably had the same results as other Japanese strikes. They would have mauled our air force, but yet still done little damage with the bombers. This means that I have no reason to hope that the air war has taken any type of turn for the better. Japan tried a new strategy, and it cost them. They still have the option of going back to their old strategy.
The good news is that, if they go back to their old strategy, we do not have to worry so much about how much damage they will do to ships in places like Diamond Harbor. I am certain they cannot afford those types of losses for long. I think that the sting of this defeat will keep them from making many low-altitude strikes against allied harbors in the future.
Air Reinforcements in India
The air defense of India improved somewhat when the 6th Fighter squadron unloaded their new P-39D Airacobra fighters. Right now, the squadron has 10 pilots that flew in from Bataan in a couple of PBY’s – right over enemy territory. New pilots are on the way to bring the 6th up to strength as a fighter squadron. They have enough airplanes for a full squadron. These had been originally intended as lend-lease airplanes for Russia, but we needed them in India instead.
The 21st Fighter Squadron has also been scrounging up spare airplanes. I have been told that the problem with the Warhawks is that we just do not have enough of them for all of our commitments. The 55th fighter group in Seattle is being converted over to Warhawks in order to free up Tomahawks for the Tomahawk squadrons flying in the Pacific. The greater range of the Tomahawk makes them a much better choice here in the Pacific. More importantly, we have commitments to reach to keep the AVG flying in China. They exclusively use Tomahawks.
Another area where the India Air Force has squadrons without planes is the Buffalo squadrons. The four Buffalo squadrons in India have 27 airplanes between them. This is another plane that we do not seem to be able to produce fast enough.
Dutch Attack at Ambonia
Naval Losses
• Sunk: PT Boats: TM 14, 15
• Damaged: PT Boat TM 13
Japanese Zeros strafed a Dutch PT Boat squadron at Ambonia this afternoon, destroying two of the boats and damaging a third. The squadron was trying to get out of enemy controlled waters, hopping from port to port that had fuel. Ambonia was just the next port along the way.
Dutch Air Force prepares to return
The Dutch are looking for the best way to get their air force back to Java. They have filled out three fighter squadrons and two torpedo bomber squadrons from the replacements that arrived earlier this week. However, since they are in Adelaide (at the request of the Australians) it will be difficult to get these planes to the front line. They do not have remarkable range.
It will probably take until early February until the Dutch air force can rejoin the fight for the Dutch East Indies. However, they are determined to try. They have named Derby as their assembly point. From there, they will attempt to fly to Bali through the best route available.
CV Saratoga Leaves American Samoa
As I write this, CV Saratoga is just pulling out of the harbor here at American Samoa, bound for San Francisco. She had been patched up well enough to make the trip. Captain Ramsey tested her just outside of port to see how she would handle if she had to fight. They got it up to 27 knots. Right now, they are inspecting the repairs and, if it looks like they will hold, the task force will head out.
Reinforcements Heading for Canton Island
Admiral Nimitz is preparing to deliver the support troops for the 2nd USMC Defense Battalion and 2nd USMC Division to Canton Island by emergency transport. The Australian navy is due here in a couple of days. They will join up with the ships that we have left to transport the support staff from here to Canton Island.
Canton Island is also going through supplies remarkably fast. I am beginning to get an appreciation of how much it takes to keep a Marine division in the field for any length of time. TF1179 with AK Makiki is a couple of days away with 7,000 tons of supply. TF1260 with 1700 tons of supply loaded up on a dozen cruisers and destroyers will probably arrive the day after, if the weather holds.
That will help a lot. Hopefully, there will be no more interference from the Japanese carrier fleet.
Why is it that I suspect that they do not wish to cooperate?
Japanese Carriers
We gave no idea where the Japanese carriers are at this point in time. If the Japanese had intended to sail from Canton Island to Johnson or Midway for a strike, they would have reached their destination by now. Submarines near Wake Island and in the Marshalls have not picked up any signs of the carriers either. They have truly vanished.
That is it for today.
Thayne
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