Speedy vs Fabertong: Death to the Penguin!

[Elladan]

There are many good bases in DEI, no point in bleeding at an atoll. Overall strategy in this area should be taking easy targets and spreading air supremacy over entire region. That way it will quickly become prohibitively costly for penguin-ships to show there.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Thanks guys. You've confirmed my thoughts. The good news is that now I control Maumere and Raba, Macassar is no longer safe to bring ships in.

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Allied LBA hit 30th IJA Division positions at Pagan heavily from Imphal claiming over 380 men.

Rangoon shelled.

Good good. Recon shows both Rangoon and north of Moulmein weakening. Rangoon only has 30,000 men there and north of Moulmein 50,000 men. The 2 units on the rail north of Rangoon only contain 1000+ men. A picket only. Clearly when my men move north of them he will detect them and then has to decide does he bring in men from out of theatre, Rangoon or north of Moulmein. If either of the later 2 I have him. Over the next 2 months some African units arrive in Karachi for use at Rangoon if he weakens there............screenshot below.

Bad weather prevented Hanoi being bombed.

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Further men and material arrives at Raba. 8th RAA CD Rgt is en route from Darwin to deter seaborne shelling............

Good news. A cnovoy has unloaded 2 x Canadian Bde and a further RCT at Darwin along with 4 x Corsair unit. PBY's etc[:)]

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SS Balao was hunted fiercely by 6 x PC 180 miles SW of Iwo Jima. 1 x hit, 9 x near miss - 29/62/0. Returning to Wake Island.

SS Scorpion blew up MSW Wa 11 with a torpedo 60 miles NW of Brunei. The same ASW TF that Golet attacked yesterday. Since it only contains MSW's i'll stay on station for now.

SS S-38 avoided 5 x MSW 120 miles east of Balikpapan.

SS Devilfish tracked the covnoy further west and sank AK Yamashimo Maru with 2 torpedoes 120 miles ENE of Palembang.

Air sightings = 13
Air attacks = 0

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An AK, AV and a DD arrive in theatre tomorrow.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

More of the same this day...........

Bombing across Burma.

Shelling of Rangoon.

Men marching from Akyab.

Hanoi attacked again with over 200 x P38J escort. 84 enemy fighters were on CAP (Zeke, George, Tony). I lost 10 x P38J to 52 enemy fighters. HI down to 86.

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Forts being constructed at Raba.

Very soon i'll be moving the Heavies from Darwin to Koepang to constantly smash both Kendari and Macassar. In time I will probably go for Balikpapan also.

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SS Taurus sank AK Bizen Maru with 2 torpedoes 300 miles NE of Palembang.

SS Barb missed AK Terukawa Maru with 6 torpedoes 60 miles NW of San Marcelino.

Air sightings = 14
Air attacks = 0

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2 x AK, CL Newfoundland and CVE Begum arrive in theatre tomorrow (CVE Begum at Karachi[:)])

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Allied forces marching from Akyab only have another 64 miles of trail to go!

Heavy attacks on 30th IJA Division at Pagan today.

More heavy shelling of Rangoon. It's clear he has no support forces here since almost no troops are ever hit just supply, port and airfield hits..............

I've started a little campaign i've been keepign to myself. I am also air lifting Chinese forces from Kunming with transports at Myitkyina. I have 2000 AV more than Faber at Kunming hence there are a lot of troops I can airlift out...............from Myitkyina they will march on Mandalay to keep up the pressure. Sicne I have Chinese troops approaching from the east of Mandalay I hope he thinks that's all there is.........

Hanoi HI bombed again with no enemy interference. HI down to 54.

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Fairly quite in the SRA whilst I build up airfields, ports nd forts at Maumere, Koepang, Lautem and Raba.

Recon of Macassar indicates 5 units and 20,000 men. Shouldn't be a major problem.

With Mossie Recon's at Koepang I can now recon all of Java....just to keep him honest......[;)]

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Heavy bombing of enemy bases in the Marshalls.

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SS Scamp blew up the small Minelayer Katoku with a torpedo 60 miles east of Soerabaja. Good good.

SS Sawfish sank AK Momoyama Maru with 2 torpedoes 120 miles north of Macassar.

SS Barb tracked the convoy further east around northern Luzon and damaged AK Koki Maru with a torpedo.

Air sightings = 11
Air attacks = 2

SS Grenadier left Wake for patrol - 69/71.
SS Bonefish left Wake for patrol - 74/74.

I'm not expecting a lot from them since they are headed for west of the Mariana's were little Merchant shipping is found. Important to keep all areas covered with subs though.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Burma should start to get interesting again soon. With Chinese elements building up east of Mandalay and at Myitkyina. Troops advancing from Akyab. Continuous attrition of supply and men at Mandalay and Pagan. Shelling of Rangoon. Also 11th W. African Bde arrives in 5 days time. She'll be kept in reserve IF Rangoon is evacuated.

Hanoi's HI is down to 34 and as such we go for the 600 resources now.

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Raba's CD guns should be unloaded and setup today.

Another 2 x Corsair squadron arrived at Darwin today.

With SO many LCU's around I am embarking more troops at San Francisco for the SRA: 31st USA Division, 98th USA Division, 2 x ARM Bn's, 4 x BF, 1 x HQ, 550,000 tonnes of supply and fuel.

It really is amazing the amount of material the Allies have to play with in 44. More LCU's ARM, BF, ART etc that you can even think of using............

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SS Scamp fired her last 4 torpedoes at AK Nanko Maru 60 miles east of Soerabaja. 1 hit causing damage.

SS Pampanito sank the empty large transport Fukko Maru with 2 torpedoes 240 miles north of Ulithi.

SS Bluegill heavily damaged the troop laden AP Zenyo Maru with a torpedo 60 miles NE of Vigan. A PG dropped 1 x DC near miss - 4/0/0.

Air sightings = 15
Air attacks = 2
Air hits = 1 SS Tuna east of Batavia by a Sally - 32/4/0 forward torpedo tubes gone. Returning to Darwin.

SS Manta is to replace SS Scamp - 60/60
SS Guitarro is to replace SS Tuna - 73/73

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2 x AK arrive in thetare tomorrow. Attached is a screenshot of upcoming bad boys - CV Ticonderoga and the re-born CV Yorktown should arrive in time for action at Saipan. Infact I will wait for them.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

More sterling work by my submarines today:

SS Barb tracked onto the same convoy that SS Bluegill attacked yesterday. Over the course of the day she sank the already damaged AP Zenyo Maru with 2 torpedoes (causing 32nd Ind. Mixed Bde elements to be picked up). Later on in the afternoon she heavily damaged the troop laden AP Otake Maru with 2 torpedoes. The escorts flailed around furiously landing 2 x near miss DC's - 7/0/0. This took place 60 miles NW of Lingayen.

SS Paddle was attacked by convoy escorts 300 miles SW of Iwo Jima. 1 x near miss DC - 4/0/0.

Later on in the day SS Narwhal located the same convoy and heavily damaged AP Osaka Maru with 2 torpedoes 360 miles SW of Iwo Jima. In return the escorts landed 3 x near miss DC's - 13/0/0

SS S-38 missed MSW W.17 with 4 torpedoes 120 miles east of Balikpapan. She received a thorough working over and sustained 1 x hit and 3 x near miss DC's - 41/39/0.

Air sightings = 11
Air attacks = 1
Air hits = 1 - SS Templar hit by a Lilly bomb 120 miles SE of Singapore - 31/38/0. 20mm mount destroyed. Returning to Columbo.

SS Sterlet leaving Darwin for patrol to replace SS S-38 - 70/70.

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Hanoi's resources were hit - 144/600 were damaged.

Moulmein reached level 6 airfields.

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More supplies and material ashore at Raba. Airfields, ports and forts being constructed in the region.

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An LST and a CVE arrive in theatre tomorrow.

The screenshot below show's what will go ashore at Saipan [:)]

[DuckofTindalos]

Only 14 divisions? That may be pushing your luck a bit...[:'(]

[Speedysteve]

[;)]
 
Don't forget the masses of Bde's, ARM, ART and ENG also[:'(]
 
There are 4 divisions in San Francisco just in case[:D]

[DuckofTindalos]

Still... You'll need at least 3-to-1 odds, you know...[:D]

[Speedysteve]

[;)]
 
Pfft. Since it's not an atoll and I will smash the sh*t out of the place 2 days prior to landing I should be ok. Unless of course he has 10 divisions there[;)]

[DuckofTindalos]

That would give him early warning, what with all those Jap soldiers standing on each other's shoulders...

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

The Akyab advance moves forward with troops covering the first 60 miles. Taken just over 20 days.

Bad weather prevented all air raids across Burma.

Shelling of Tavoy, for a change. Back to Rangoon tomorrow.

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Faber pulled a nice move by slipping in a Cruiser/Destroyer force at speed into Raba. They attacked a supply convoy there. The 6 escorts performed their duties well though. MSW Kiama, DD Monaghan and DD Warramunga were all sunk but prevented heavy damage on the AK's. Only AK Morton M. McCarver sustained heavy damage (but she was empty already). All in all no severe damage was taken.

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SS Nautilus tracked the convoy that SS Narwhal attacked yesterday. She located the damaged AP Osaka Maru and put 2 more torpedoes into her turning her turtle.

SS Cabrilla missed AK Saiko Maru with 4 torpeodes 240 miles south of Iwo Jima.

SS Argonaut attacked the same convoy later on 120 miles south of Iwo Jima and damaged AK Meiryu Maru with a torpedo.

Good news. TK San Diego Maru (hit by SS S-38 a while ago) was confirmed sunk at Balikpapan today.

Air sightings = 9
Air attacks = 1

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4 x AK, an LCI(G) and an AO arrive in theatre tomorrow.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Recon indicates only 2 units remain at Rangoon now. Excellent. The West African Bde arrives tomorrow and will be readied for the invasion of Rangoon if the opportunity arrives. It wouldn't surprise me if he has somehow spotted my advance from Akyab now. Ah well. Even if he moves against them he will need a lot of force and all the time Pagan is becoming weaker and weaker. He's lost 80 AV there over the past 10 days due to massive bombings. Even though he reinforced Pagan with another division and a brigade our force levels are almost even again!

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Faber hit a plan carrying convoy just passing Thursday Island. This is it now. LRCAP is not providing enough protection. I will probably lose 4 out of 6 ships and the planes with them. Grrrrrr for my complacency[:@]

As such i've moved B24's and a P38J squadron to Cooktown to squash the b*stards at PM and Gili Gili. PM will hopefully be hit tomorrow. Enough is enough.

I scuttled a further 2 heavily damaged AK's at Raba and Maumere.

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I'm thinking of carrying out a secret missions before the Mariana's invasion. This will remain top secret i'm afraid.

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SS Barb finished a successful patrol by probably sinking the empty TK Okigawa Maru with a torpedo 60 miles NW of Lingayen. The escorts dropped DC's - 1 x hit, 3 x near miss - 22/38/0.

SS Nautilus evaded 3 x ASW vessels 360 miles SW of Iwo Jima.

SS Stingray sank AK Kasii Maru with 3 torpedoes over 2 attacks 180 miles east of Tarakan. The escorts dropped DC's 2 x near miss - 12/0/0.

Air sightings = 19
Air attacks = 2

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An AK arrives in theatre tomorrow.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

An interesting day of submarine action in the sense of a lot of air attacks.

SS Sailfish was attacked by convoy escorts 240 miles WSW of Tori Shima. 1 x DC near miss - 5/0/0.

Air sightings = 19
Air attacks = 5
Air hits = 2 - SS Stonehenge in the Malacca Straits by a Sally - 37/54/0. SS Sculpin inbetween Sulawesi and Borneo by a Sally - 54/67/0.

SS Pipefish leaves Darwin for a patrol - 62/62
SS Tilefish leaves Darwin for a patrol - 63/63
SS Bream leaves Darwin for a patrol - 64/64

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Hanoi was bombed today and resources are at 54% damaged,. We keep going..........

96th Chinese Corps is at Myitkyina. 1st Chinese Cavalry Corps is next...........

2 x CVE are to move towards Andaman Island to hopefully attacks a TF spotted there.

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198 x B24J bombed PM today in retribution for the annoyance they have caused me. 19 x Zeke and 24 x Nick were on CAP shooting down 9 x B24. 20 enemy planes were lost in the air and on the ground. The airfields were heavily hit also. Tomorrow we go to stage 2 = P38J's will fly escorts to attack the (expected) heavier enemy resistance in the air.

Some LBA did hit 2 of the AK's again movign towards Merauke. AK Sterope succumbed and took with her a Helldiver squadron.

I lost 30 planes to Faber's 24 for the day.

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Marcus Island was bombed for the first time today by 22 x PB4Y from Wake. They were escorted by 70 x P38J. No enemy fighters were on CAP and a Dinah was torched on the ground. Just to keep him honest.

I have launched my secret mission today...............

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3 x AK, an SS and a DD arrive in theatre tomorrow.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

More of the same in Burma. Chinese forces being airlifted to Myitkyina. HEavy bombing of Japanese LCU's at Pagan. Troops are 48 miles from the final section of trail before Rangoon.

Bad weather prevented Moulmein bombing Hanoi.

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Faber moved in his Cruiser/Destroyer force to attack my shipping at Raba again. Another annoyance which is to be stopped. He sank 2 x DE and an AK. Another 2 x AK were so badly damaged that I had to scuttle them. I don't have a lot of shipping in th area wioth regard to military vessels but i've scratched together a force around CL Houston and CL Tromp + 6 x DD. They will proceed to Raba to counter this threat.

A further BF is en route to Raba to support more planes in the future.

PM was bombed and 18 x Tojo/Jack were on CAP. I lost 11 x P38J against 15 of the enemy planes. A further 50 were torched on the ground by the B24J's - Nicks, Zekes, Betties, Frances, Mavis etc.

Tomorrow we attack both PM and Gili Gili. P38J's going to escort Gili Gili.

In total I lost 22 planes to Fabers 77 today.

I have assembled the reinforcement force in San Francisco that will move ot Darwin ultimately. I have also decided to add a bit of umph to it. With so many CVE's around i've sent 6 along as company = 108 x fighter and 48 x torpedo bomber.

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More bombing in the Marshalls and of Marcus Island.

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SS Whale probably sank the empty AP Hofuku Maru with 2 torpedoes 60 miles NW of Tori Shima. In return PG Akitsu Maru dropped DC's - 1 x hit and 1 x near miss - 48/62/0. She's empty of fish anyway so will return to Wake Island for repair.

Air sightings = 19
Air attacks = 1
Air hits = 1 - SS Templar returning to Columbo already - 50/52/0.

SS Flasher will leave Wake to replace SS Whale on patrol - 79/79

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An AK, LCI, LST and 2 x DD arrive in theatre tomorrow.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Most of the 1st Chinese Cavalry Corps is at Myitkyina now. 8th War Area HQ is next.

30th IJA Division was heavily attacked at Pagan today. Down to 830 AV now.

Hanoi's resources were bombed once more.

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Both PM and Gili Gili were bombed by B24J's today. No enemy planes were on CAP. I will close both of the places closed down and I may keep a BG for each base in the area to keep them closed down.

2 x damaged AK succumbed at Merauke taking with them some Corsairs[:@] At least I managed to rescue the 72 x P47D FG at Merauke.

Faber hasn't seen it but today a lot of TF's left San Francisco, Darwin etc bound for areas carrying men and material.

I've decided to clean up some of the small unoccupied bases in the SRA. 2nd Raider Marines will take Aru Island first.

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Marcus Island bombed again.

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SS Tinosa heavily damaged the empty AP Sangetsu Maru with a torpedo 60 miles SE of Saigon. 1 x DC near miss was dropped by the escorts - 9/0/0.

SS Stingray avoided 4 x ASW vessels 180 miles east of Tarakan.

SS Flying Fish probably sank AK Borneo Maru with 2 torpedoes in the centre of the South China Sea.

Air sightings = 16
Air attacks = 1

TK Okigawa Maru and AK Kasii Maru were both confirmed sunk today[:)]

[Capt. Harlock]

ORIGINAL: Speedy


PM was bombed and 18 x Tojo/Jack were on CAP. I lost 11 x P38J against 15 of the enemy planes. A further 50 were torched on the ground by the B24J's - Nicks, Zekes, Betties, Frances, Mavis etc.

Tomorrow we attack both PM and Gili Gili. P38J's going to escort Gili Gili.

In total I lost 22 planes to Fabers 77 today.

Nice move on your part sending in unescorted bombers the first day, and then escorts to deal with his fighter reinforcements. (sometimes the dark side can be kind of fun . . . [;)])

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Hi Capt. - Thanks. As always it's a risk game but it's a matter of judging your opponent I guess.

Although things may seem quiet to you guys things are frantic behind the scenes with action in all 3 theatres brewing over the next month[:)]

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Hanoi was hit again today. Down to 188 out of 600 resources remaining. I always find it hard to get the last % of them...........

More Chinese untis arriving at Myitkyina. 14th Group Army HQ arriving now.

My CVE's are moving past Andaman Island now. Won't go too deep since only 2 x CVE but lets see if we find anything.

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A PBM spotted what I believe is his SC TF moving out of Soerabaja again. As such my freighters are moving away from Raba for today. My own SC TF should arrive within 2 days.

Aru Island will be taken tomorrow.

Both PM and Gili Gili were bombed today keeping them surpressed but as Faber has withdrawn his air units very few planes are destroyed. Nevertheless it allows a fuel convoy to move to Darwin unmolested.

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SS Tinosa struck again today heavily damaging AP Reiyo Maru with 2 torpedoes 60 miles SE of Saigon.

SS Scorpion damaged the large Tanker Toa Maru with 2 torpedoes 60 miles NW of Brunei. In return the escorts hunted her landing 1 x DC hit and 5 x DC near miss - 24/38/0. Returning to Darwin.

Air sightings = 16
Air attacks = 3
Air hits = 2 - SS S-37 NW of Macassar by a Sally - 37/72/0. SS O-21 by a Sally 180 miles SE of Legaspi - 47/57/0.

SS Piranha leaving Darwin today to replace SS Scorpion on patrol - 69/69.

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3 x AK arrive in theatre tomorrow.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Well an interesting day with our first surface combat for a long time. My PBM spotting was accurate it was his SC Tf heading back into Raba. My own SC tF made full speed and met them during the night. The Japanese were surprised and wekll they should be since they were certainly not expecting to find enemy warships at Raba!

The start of the action went to me with CL Houston landing some penetrating 6" hits on CA Kumano. In total 6 x 6" hits landed home. A couple of shells also hit enemy destroyers.

Then the real action started with everyone shooting at everyone. Things were going ok on my side until the Long Lances started hitting home. DD Welles was hit by 1 which blew the ship in 2. DD Dale also took 1 but is still just afloat. CL Tromp was the most disappinting. She hadn't fired a shot at the enemy before CL Isuzu hit her with 2 x Long Lance which left her dead in the water and sinking by the stern.

Post mortem:

CL Tromp sunk.
DD Welles sunk.
DD Dale will sink.
DD Spence, The Sullivans and Young are moderately damaged.

CA Kumano limped away heavily damaged.
DD Hatsukaze limped away heavily damaged.

Night Time Surface Combat, near Raba at 26,71

Japanese Ships
CA Kumano, Shell hits 12, on fire, heavy damage
CL Isuzu, Shell hits 1
DD Wakazuki, Shell hits 5, on fire
DD Onami, Shell hits 4, on fire
DD Hatsukaze, Shell hits 10, on fire, heavy damage
DD Asashio, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Minegumo
DD Asagumo, Shell hits 1

Allied Ships
CL Houston
CL Tromp, Shell hits 3, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD Sigourney
DD Spence, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage
DD The Sullivans, Shell hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
DD Young, Shell hits 3, on fire
DD Welles, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Dale, Shell hits 5, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

During the day Helldivers and Avengers attacked CA Kumano limping back to Java. As always the invincible armour led to all 8 x 500lb bomb hits bouncing off the armour. If she sinks it makes up for the loss of CL Tromp + 2 x DD.

Both PM and Gili Gili were bombed to keep them under.

Aru Island was taken by Marine Raiders today.

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Burma is interesting.

38th Chinese Division is the next target for airlift to Myitkyina.

Faber is starting to reinfiormce the Rangoon rail head. 3 units are now present. As such the element of surprise has clearly been lost on my trail advance.

As such it's time for the Moulmein boys to stop bombing industry but to start swatting troops. The P38J's will attack forces north of Moulmein while the heavies go for troops in the way of my trail attack.

The CVE's found an AK at Andaman Island! AK Matumoto Maru received 3 torpedo hits before she went down. Interestigly Faber has moved a LCU off of Andaman Island. Only 1 unit and a few 100 men remain. Nioce evac'ing Faber.

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SS Truculent just arrived on station 180 miles ENE of Palembang when she hit the oil laden TK Jinei leaving her buirning heavily. Always loved that name.

SS Corvina evaded convoy escorts 120 miles east of Tarakan.

SS Cabrilla hit AK Tatsufuku Maru with dud torpedoes 240 miles south of Iwo Jima.

Air sightings = 14
Air attacks = 0

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

A bumper day for my submarines:

SS Stingray heavily damaged the oil laden TK Hakko Maru with a torpedo 240 miles east of Tarakan. In return a DC hit SS Stingray - 24/38/0.

SS Bluegill damaged TK Kyoko Maru with a torpedo 60 miles NW of Aparri. In return 1 x DC near miss - 15/0/0

SS Tunny blew up AK Kenkon Maru with 2 torpedoes 360 miles east of Lamon Bay.

SS Taurus heavily damaged the oil laden TK Eiho Maru with a torpedo 360 miles ENE of Palembang. In return the escorts landed 5 x near miss DC's and 1 x hit DC - 38/52/0.

SS Sterlet had just arrived on station 120 miles east of Balikpapan when 4 x ASW vessels located her and achieved 1 x hit and 1 x near miss - 28/58/0.

Air sightings = 12
Air attacks = 0

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In Burma heavy bombing by me against IJA positions north of Moulmein, at Pagan and north of Rangoon.

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In the SRA DD Hatsukaze was located today and sunk by Helldivers from Maumere. 4 bombs put her under the sea.

Very soon i'll move back from Raba whilst further defences are constructed.

Both PM and Gili Gili were hit.

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An AVD, AK and LST arrive in theatre tomorrow as does a B25J BG at Karachi.