It was calm and dark as the Battleship Prince of Whales and her accompanying smaller ships of task force Z slipped in behind the Japanese task forces unloading troops at Khota Bharu. Suddenly the primitive allied radar picked up a large formation of Japanese ships steaming towards them at high speed. Japans keen eyed lookouts had spotted the Allied task force almost as soon as they had entered the coastal waters around Khota Bharu.
Now with little time to prepare both fleets opened fire. In the dizzying confusion of the opening salvos, water spouts rose up 4 and 5 stories above the ships of both task forces as gunners tried to find their range. Japanese training paid off though, as their shells began to land after the fleets had closed to just 5,000 yards. Soon several allied ships were afire and the sky was aglow for miles in all directions.
But at these ranges, the allies couldn’t miss and several hits were scored on the Japanese ships as well. Things looked as if they could go either way until the Japanese managed to score with a Long Lance torpedo against the proud Allied Battleship. The ship was hurt and afire and the fleets broke contact after four punishing rounds.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Kota Bharu at 24,45
Japanese Ships
BB Kongo, Shell hits 3
BB Haruna, Shell hits 1
CA Takao
CA Atago
CL Jintsu
DD Asashio, Shell hits 1
DD Oshio, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Michishio, Shell hits 6, on fire, heavy damage
DD Arashio
DD Akatsuki, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Hibiki
Allied Ships
BB Prince of Wales, Shell hits 6, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
CL Danae, Shell hits 2
DD Electra, Shell hits 1
DD Encounter
DD Express, Shell hits 9, on fire, heavy damage
DD Jupiter, Shell hits 23, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
Alas but this was just the beginning of a very long night. Battle Cruiser Repulse, late in arriving at her scheduled link up with force Z at Singapore on the 7th, had been steaming at full speed to try and catch up and she now quietly slid into the waters off Khota Bharu. With ships afire in all directions, the BC and her two small escorts desperately scanned the night sky for any sign of the enemy fleet. The first sign of the enemy was when lookouts reported water spouts bracketing the small group.
By the time firing solutions could be passed below decks, all three ships had already taken heavy damage and the next few minutes proved fatal as more shells continued to pound the hapless group. A few shots were returned, but in the end the small group was almost completely wiped out.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Kota Bharu at 24,45
Allied aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft losses
Walrus: 2 destroyed
Japanese Ships
BB Kongo, Shell hits 1
BB Haruna, Shell hits 2
CA Takao
CA Atago
CL Jintsu, Shell hits 1
DD Asashio
DD Oshio, on fire
DD Michishio, on fire, heavy damage
DD Arashio, Shell hits 1
DD Akatsuki, on fire
DD Hibiki
Allied Ships
BC Repulse, Shell hits 18, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
DD Tenedos, Shell hits 9, on fire, heavy damage
DD Vampire, Shell hits 47, and is sunk
Japans reserve cruiser force then entered the fray and began mop up operations. By the time the sun broke the horizon not an allied ship remained in the waters off of Northeast Malaya.
I must admit it was very painful to watch all this, but man what a blast too. Surface actions like this are awesome even when it’s your ships going down.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Kota Bharu at 24,45
Japanese Ships
CA Mogami
CA Mikuma
CA Suzuya
CA Kumano
DD Maikaze
DD Nowaki
DD Arashi
DD Hagikaze
Allied Ships
DD Tenedos, Shell hits 23, and is sunk
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Kota Bharu at 24,45
Japanese Ships
CA Mogami, Shell hits 1
CA Mikuma
CA Suzuya, Shell hits 1
CA Kumano
DD Maikaze
DD Nowaki
DD Arashi
DD Hagikaze
Allied Ships
BB Prince of Wales, Shell hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
CL Danae, Shell hits 5, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
DD Electra, Shell hits 3, and is sunk
DD Encounter, Shell hits 6, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Express, Shell hits 11, and is sunk
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Kota Bharu at 24,45
Allied aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft losses
Walrus: 3 destroyed
Japanese Ships
CA Mogami, Shell hits 2, on fire
CA Mikuma, Shell hits 3
CA Suzuya
CA Kumano, Shell hits 1
DD Maikaze
DD Nowaki
DD Arashi
DD Hagikaze
Allied Ships
BB Prince of Wales, Shell hits 31, Torpedo hits 5, and is sunk
Just outside of Rangoon harbor, Japanese sub I-122 puts several torpedoes and shells into AK Thedens. The ship was lost along with a large detachment from the No. 107 RAF Base Force based out of Tavoy.
Japans first large air strike was seen in the skies above Manila. Although the airfield saw little damage, several valuable P-40’s were lost.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Manila , at 43,52
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 53
G3M Nell x 50
Ki-46-II Dinah x 2
Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 11
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
G3M Nell: 1 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 9 destroyed
Allied ground losses:
48 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 2
Aircraft Attacking:
20 x G3M Nell bombing at 20000 feet
25 x G3M Nell bombing at 20000 feet
5 x G3M Nell bombing at 20000 feet
A large Japanese bombardment task force pounded Wake Island causing massive damage to the troops stationed there. The Marines were not asleep at their posts though, as they managed to land several hits on two of the large naval vessels conducting the bombardment with their heavy Coastal Guns.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Wake Island, at 85,72 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!
Allied aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft losses
F4F-3 Wildcat: 1 destroyed
21 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Japanese Ships
BB Mutsu, Shell hits 10
BB Nagato
CA Kako, Shell hits 2
CA Furutaka
CA Kinugasa
CA Aoba
Allied ground losses:
1075 casualties reported
Guns lost 15
Vehicles lost 4
Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 9
Port hits 2
Port fuel hits 2
Port supply hits 4
The poorly trained troops at Cagayan managed to repulse an early Japanese assault on that city. Local commanders on scene said, “It appears the Japanese thought no one was about. They simply jumped out of their landing boats and charged our positions without even a preparatory bombardment first”.
With such disdain for allied fighting prowess, the cream of the Japanese empire will soon find itself impaled on the cold steel of allied resolve!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Cagayan
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 2772 troops, 12 guns, 0 vehicles
Defending force 1035 troops, 4 guns, 0 vehicles
Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 2)
Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 1
Japanese ground losses:
96 casualties reported
Guns lost 4
Allied ground losses:
7 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
The Japanese landings at Naga without taking Legaspi first proved a bit of a surprise. Luckily Reinforcements rushed forward from Manila managed to arrive at the vital little town just as a major Japanese assault was launched. Although the poorly trained Philippine troops were pushed out of their last foxhole, they held firm as reinforcements arrived just in time to bolster their lines. Allied commanders are confident Naga can hold against its current opposition indefinitely now as long as supplies don’t run out. Washington has promised a relief convoy will be sent any day now…
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Naga
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 24343 troops, 259 guns, 27 vehicles
Defending force 17941 troops, 88 guns, 0 vehicles
Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 1
Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 1)
Japanese ground losses:
412 casualties reported
Guns lost 9
Allied ground losses:
96 casualties reported
Guns lost 4
Japanese troops storm ashore and capture the unoccupied atoll of Tarawa. Landings have also been reported at Admiralty Is., Kavieng and Lunga.
Jim
