Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J)

[apbarog]

30 Jan 42

No sync bug today, rejoice!

S-36 spots huge transport xAP Miike Maru near Balabac, but misses with 4 torpedoes. Would have been a nice catch.

Ambon is bombarded again. Dutch CD guns don't hit anything today.

Enemy DMS start to clear mines at Georgetown, so shipping is now moving north from Singapore.

Tjepoe and Merak on Java are invaded. Tiny HDMLs battle briefly at Tjepoe but don't get into range during the daylight. One HDML is sunk. Torpedoe boats also engage, but also don't get into range. No losses.

Dutch sub KXVII spots transport shipping at Tjepoe, but takes some minor damage from ASW.

SB-IIIs and B-17s hit enemy troops in the clear in China. Bad weather prevents lots of enemy casualties.

The Dutch Air Force sorties against enemy invasion shipping. Enemy CAP is very light. OPilot is using just a CVL/CVE task force to protect Tjepoe. Merak must have LRCAP. I list the attacks to show my excitement with the attacks.

Morning Air attack on TF, near Kalidjati at 50,99

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 17 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 3

Allied aircraft
139WH-3 x 6
B-339D x 10

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
139WH-3: 2 damaged
B-339D: 3 destroyed

Japanese Ships
CA Ashigara
AK Sakura Maru
********************
Morning Air attack on TF, near Kalidjati at 50,99

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 14 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 1

Allied aircraft
139WH-3 x 14
B-339D x 12

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
139WH-3: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
AK Sasako Maru
CL Kuma
CA Ashigara
DD Yugiri
***************
Morning Air attack on TF, near Batavia at 49,97

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 7 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 2 minutes

Allied aircraft
139WH-3 x 6
CW-21B Demon x 10

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
DD Murakumo
DD Ayanami
****************
Morning Air attack on TF, near Kalidjati at 50,99

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 24 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Allied aircraft
139WH-3 x 3

Allied aircraft losses
139WH-3: 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
CL Kuma
*************
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Tjepoe at 55,101

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid detected at 37 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 9

Allied aircraft
139WH-3 x 24
B-339D x 14

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
139WH-3: 2 damaged
B-339D: 6 destroyed

Japanese Ships
DD Kawakaze
CL Yura
CVL Zuiho
CVE Hosho

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x 139WH-3 bombing from 6000 feet
Naval Attack: 3 x 300 kg SAP Bomb
6 x 139WH-3 bombing from 6000 feet
Naval Attack: 3 x 300 kg SAP Bomb
3 x 139WH-3 bombing from 6000 feet *
Naval Attack: 2 x 300 kg SAP Bomb
7 x 139WH-3 bombing from 6000 feet
Naval Attack: 3 x 300 kg SAP Bomb
2 x 139WH-3 bombing from 6000 feet *
Naval Attack: 2 x 300 kg SAP Bomb
3 x 139WH-3 bombing from 6000 feet
Naval Attack: 3 x 300 kg GP Bomb
************************************************
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Tjepoe at 55,101

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid spotted at 40 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 3

Allied aircraft
139WH-3 x 5

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
139WH-3: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
139WH-3: 1 destroyed by flak

Japanese Ships
CL Yura
*************
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Tjepoe at 55,101

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid spotted at 29 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 1

Allied aircraft
139WH-3 x 4

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
139WH-3: 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
CVL Zuiho

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x 139WH-3 bombing from 6000 feet
Naval Attack: 3 x 300 kg SAP Bomb
*************************************************
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Tjepoe at 55,101

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid spotted at 41 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 20 minutes

Allied aircraft
T.IVa x 3

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
CVL Zuiho

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x T.IVa bombing from 8000 feet
Naval Attack: 3 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
*************************************************
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Merak at 48,97

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 7 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 2 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 6

Allied aircraft
139WH-3 x 6
75A-7 Hawk x 9

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
75A-7 Hawk: 2 destroyed

Japanese Ships
xAP Yoshino Maru
CL Naka
*************
The Dutch fighters sacrifice themselves bravely to protect the bombers, and do an excellent job. 16 B339Ds and 6 Hawks are lost. Just 3 bombers are lost. But not a single bomb hits. So many bombers got through to the small carriers, but no hits. Expectations are always low with the Dutch aircraft, but I had my hopes up when the plan of attack worked.

We try again tomorrow, still with lots of bombers but very few fighters to escort. 4 A-24s arrive from Australia to hopefully put a 1000 pound bomb on something.

ARD Dewey moved a hex today.

[BBfanboy]

What is that Japanese TF down near Makassar?

[apbarog]

Nothing significant. I think is heading back from the Denpasar invasion.

[zuluhour]

I withdrew the Dutch too early. I would have liked an ambush about now by Dutch surface units from both north and south, at flank, right into that mess. Unfortunately
They do not have much in the way of captains for a seafaring nation to really count on them pressing attacks.

[apbarog]

31 Jan 42

Enemy landings continued at Tjepoe, Kalidjati and Merak.

7 tiny Dutch HDMLs go to Merak to counter the landings. They run into 4 heavy cruisers and 4 destroyers, and all are sunk, and in very quick succession.

A similar fight with 3 HDMLs occurs at Tjepoe going up against 4 battleships and escorts. All HDMLs are sunk. 4 torpedo boats then go after the battleship task force. One torpedo boat fires its torpedo at a destroyer but misses. Later, 3 of the TMs are sunk by the battleships.

Well east of Hawaii, I-6 is on the prowl, and finds a big task force of tiny support ships: YOs, AMcs, and ACMs. The sub elects not to attack. Later, it declines to attack again, but a depth charge from PC Aridane hits the sub.

The Dutch Air Force again goes all out against enemy invasion shipping. Again, some bombers target the CVLs and CVEs, but again all bombs miss. Dutch losses, as predicted with far fewer escorts today, are heavy. 24 139 WH-3s, 7 Demons, 3 B339Ds, 2 Falcons, and 1 T IVas are lost. There is one bright spot:

Morning Air attack on TF, near Sampit at 56,99

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 25 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Allied aircraft
A-24 Banshee x 4

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
CVL Zuiho, Bomb hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x A-24 Banshee releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb

Carrier support unable to supply air cover..
********************************************

This is a tiny A-24 unit. The bigger squadrons that appear in Australia start with completely untrained pilots, and the units withdraw in March 1942. This small unit has only 5 or 6 planes, but its pilots had some degree of training. So I sent them to Java.

At Tulagi, RO-66 finds my task force unloading a coastal gun unit. APD Paul Jones is hit by a torpedo and sunk. Some of the unit was unloaded. The shipping will now head to Luganville to unload the rest of the unit. It's not worth risking the shipping to unload a unit that disbands in 28 days.

Kalidjati and Merak on Java are lost. An enemy attack at Ambon fails at 1 to 2 odds.

I don't regret withdrawing the Dutch navy after being aggressive with them initially. OPilot is heavily covering his landings with battleships and cruisers. He did surprise me by not using KB though. His air coverage has been weak, and his shipping has been vulnerable. The Dutch Air Force just wasn't up for the job though. I did as much naval bombing training as I could, and got most pilots to between 55 and 60, but it wasn't enough.

[apbarog]

I have two cargo ships at Wake Island unloading supply. They were spotted today. I decided to leave them there for another day to continue unloading. If there weren't any enemy ships already coming, I should have another day before something from Kwajalein can arrive. Of course, Bettys can and have reached Wake already, so that's another risk. But the troops need the supply.

And at Tulagi, with my task force spotted there unloading the coastal guns, my plans have changed. OPilot knows that I'm there and paying attention to Tulagi, so he won't do a blind invasion with a small unit now. He'll bring enough to do the job, after doing good recon. With combat ships spotted at Shortlands, I cancel any plan to extract the Lark unit. I'll hold as long as I can with what I have.

[apbarog]

1 Feb 42

Haruna and Kongo and friends bombard Ambon, doing moderate damage to the troops there.

A few hexes west of Pearl Harbor, I-24 spots my task force heading to Johnston Island. The sub fires 2 torpedoes at AK Alchiba, hitting it once. The cargo ship has moderate damage, with FLOT over 50, and it does have some fire. I split it off with and APD and head to nearby Lihue and hope to save the nice AK. My ships were heading to Johnston to pick up the Island Defense Battalion there. I am removing it, and sending in an infantry regiment to strongly defend the island. Stacking limits prevents me from keeping the battalion there also.

2 Oscar squadrons continue to sweep Rangoon. Most troops have already left. The last unit leaves today. Pegu was already empty and flipped to the enemy today. Sallys do bomb Rangoon's port, doing minor damage. No ships there.

The Dutch sortie again to try to hit invasion shipping. Today the strikes are weaker, with almost no escorts, and the defensive CAP is stronger. No bombs hit and 15 more Dutch bombers are lost. The 4 US A-24s flew in both the morning and the afternoon, and targeted a light cruiser and a destroyer, but missed both. I pull back the unit to Timor. The Japanese now have bases on Java, so the opportunity to hit unprotected shipping is gone.

Tjepoe, Medan and Iloilo were lost.

ARD Dewey and xAK Ethel Edwards are now just off the northwestern tip of Luzon and will start to head east. They haven't been spotted.

Battlecruiser Repulse escorted a convoy back to Pearl Harbor. Repulse is SYS 1/FLOT 6/ENG 0/FIRE 0, and will require 15 days of repair at Pearl.

About a half dozen heavy cruisers start a refit at Auckland, and about the same number of destroyers start a refit at Sydney.

[apbarog]

2 Feb 42

Milne Bay is invaded by fast transport. (see map)

Another Dutch HDML lost at Banjoewangi.

Port Moresby's airfield is bombed by Bettys with Zeros from Rabaul.

Enemy attack at Ambon again, and again the Dutch hold, despite almost daily naval bombardments. I'm hoping more enemy troops have to be brought in, allowing the big Dutch coastal guns to get another shot at some shipping.

Ground combat at Ambon (76,109)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 3597 troops, 24 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 115

Defending force 2462 troops, 48 guns, 4 vehicles, Assault Value = 53

Japanese adjusted assault: 47

Allied adjusted defense: 106

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 2)

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(+), disruption(-), experience(-)
Attacker: fatigue(-)

Japanese ground losses:
278 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 28 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
91 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 3 (2 destroyed, 1 disabled)

Assaulting units:
15th Naval Guard Unit
16th Naval Guard Unit

Defending units:
Molukken KNIL Cdo
Molukken Mil'ie Cdo
Laha ML Base Force
Amboina Defenses
AP-VLG-IV Sup Afd

[apbarog]

3 Feb 42

Dutch sub O20 fired 4 torpedoes at TB Hato but missed. Hato does some minor damage to O20 with near misses.

Haruna and Kongo again bombard Ambon.

Tagula Island is invaded by the enemy by fast transport. See the map.

Some bombing in China and Sumatra. Nowhere that I can CAP trap. Port Moresby is bombed.

Enemy attack in the woods southeast of Sian. It looked favorable for OPilot but 2 Chinese units arrived to reinforce today. The Chinese did ok despite the 2 units being in movement mode.

Ground combat at 85,43 (near Nanyang)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 25229 troops, 198 guns, 182 vehicles, Assault Value = 1231

Defending force 28102 troops, 115 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 759

Japanese adjusted assault: 448

Allied adjusted defense: 1660

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 3

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), op mode(-), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
1771 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 180 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 13 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 13 disabled

Allied ground losses:
1216 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 80 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 15 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled

Assaulting units:
27th Division
35th Division
3rd Tank Regiment
12th Tank Regiment
36th Division

Defending units:
85th Chinese Corps
80th Chinese Corps
96th Chinese Corps
1st War Area
4th Group Army

I'm trying something interesting in the Solomons at Milne Bay. It's still an Allied dot base, with no defense, and an enemy unit arrived by fast transport recently. The enemy didn't attack, and the base didn't autoflip. It would have autoflipped if the enemy had at least some combat value. So it must not. I'm flying in a very small combat unit from Townsville, using Catalinas. Maybe they can clean out the enemy non-combat unit, they be evacuated by Cats. KB has reappeared, as the map shows.

[jwolf]

It would have autoflipped if the enemy had at least some combat value.

Not necessarily, to the best of my knowledge. I've run into this situation and after a couple of days I made a pro forma attack to take a dot base that wouldn't flip. On the turns when it didn't flip, other bases did. I speculate only one base can flip each day. I might be way off on that, but that is consistent with what I have seen.

[apbarog]

I've always thought that what you say is true for enemy bases not occupied by either side, with friendly troops nearby, causing a base flip. For an enemy base with no enemy, and friendly troops, I didn't think there was a limit to this flipping.

[jwolf]

Admittedly, all I know for sure is that the process is not as automatic as I had supposed. That's a good thing. [:)]

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: jwolf

It would have autoflipped if the enemy had at least some combat value.

Not necessarily, to the best of my knowledge. I've run into this situation and after a couple of days I made a pro forma attack to take a dot base that wouldn't flip. On the turns when it didn't flip, other bases did. I speculate only one base can flip each day. I might be way off on that, but that is consistent with what I have seen.

On very rare occasions I have had two bases flip - one because a DA was ordered at a vacant base (the base flips at the beginning of the turn execution without any actual attack, but there is always a small amount of port/AF damage), and the other just before the land combat part of the game when an empty base threatened by troops in the next hex flipped on its own.
There appears to be a lot of random die roll to the autoflips with no troops attacking. I started taking islands in the Marshalls and had one dot island flip within three days of a nearby island changing sides ... but then it took three or more months for another dot base island, the same distance away as the first, to autoflip.

[apbarog]

4 Feb 42

More troops arrive at Ambon, and xAK Johore Maru gets hit with a 150mm CD shell. Later, the same cargo ships gets hit by a Dutch seaplane bomb on a search mission. Defenses on Ambon have been broken, so a rested enemy will take the base.

The Dutch make another attempt, today all targeting 2 armor units in the clear near Semarang. Zeros are on CAP though, and about a dozen bombers are lost. Moderate rain helps prevent any hits on the armor. Might as well keep using the Dutch Air Force, to the point of non-existence. They are restricted and will be lost anyhow. I'll disband what I can, eventually, when the planes are lost, in an effort to "save" the pilots.

Batavia, mostly evacuated, is lost. Roxas, in the Philippines, is lost. Tagula Island is lost, and Milne Bay today autoflips to the enemy. No Allied troops are flown in to try and save Milne Bay, since the base flipped at the beginning of the turn.

KB is on the move in the Coral Sea, and enemy ships are southbound towards Milne Bay, probably headed to Port Moresby. It's tempting to send out the fleet and the 4 US carriers to engage, but I decline. It's only February '42, and it's early. A Brit carrier is between Perth and Melbourne and will augment the US carriers, and battleship Prince of Wales has finished upgrading at Sydney and is headed to the carriers at Auckland. Very nice AAA ship for this point in the war. I'm going to fight, but not yet, and not until the enemy comes to me further.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: apbarog

4 Feb 42

More troops arrive at Ambon, and xAK Johore Maru gets hit with a 150mm CD shell. Later, the same cargo ships gets hit by a Dutch seaplane bomb on a search mission. Defenses on Ambon have been broken, so a rested enemy will take the base.

The Dutch make another attempt, today all targeting 2 armor units in the clear near Semarang. Zeros are on CAP though, and about a dozen bombers are lost. Moderate rain helps prevent any hits on the armor. Might as well keep using the Dutch Air Force, to the point of non-existence. They are restricted and will be lost anyhow. I'll disband what I can, eventually, when the planes are lost, in an effort to "save" the pilots.

Some of the Dutch units can convert to the B-25C. Those are worth buying out and keeping. I have no idea how many pilots the Dutch get after game start though!

[apbarog]

Just checked all of my Dutch squadrons, and all are restricted and can't be bought out. I see several 139WH-3 bomber units that upgrade to B-25Cs in March '42, but they are restricted. I will withdraw them soon, and if I have them come back in however many days, maybe they won't be restricted. I don't know how that works, but it can't hurt to find out. Otherwise, they are restricted units and would be lost. This is a DBB game. Maybe whether they are restricted is different in a vanilla game, I don't know.

[BBfanboy]

Some of the Northern Australia bases can be changed to KNIL command to allow the Dutch aircraft to move. ABCD HQ might work as well since KNIL HQ is under it.

[ericv]

ORIGINAL: apbarog

Just checked all of my Dutch squadrons, and all are restricted and can't be bought out. I see several 139WH-3 bomber units that upgrade to B-25Cs in March '42, but they are restricted. I will withdraw them soon, and if I have them come back in however many days, maybe they won't be restricted. I don't know how that works, but it can't hurt to find out. Otherwise, they are restricted units and would be lost. This is a DBB game. Maybe whether they are restricted is different in a vanilla game, I don't know.

in my scenario 2 PBEM (version 1.11.24), I withdrew a bunch of 139WH squadrons, and they came back unrestricted under ABDA command in Aden.

[apbarog]

Thanks for the tips BBfanboy and ericv.

5 Feb 42

Dutch sub KXVII tries its luck moving into Denpasar hunting enemy ships, but the shallow water proves too risky, and enemy destroyers get a depth charge hit after 4 torpedoes missed destroyer Natsushio. The sub retires to Darwin to be patched up, then on to the east coast of Australia for complete repairs.

Ambon is again bombarded by Haruna and Kongo and friends. The Dutch are taking an almost daily pounding. An enemy deliberate attack comes up short again at 1 to 2 odds. About 200 casualties for both sides. Forts remain at 2. Most coastal guns are disrupted.

Enemy bombs San Jose, Chinese troops near Sinyang, Iloilo, Langsa, Semarang, Pontianak, and Changsha. Dutch bombers go after shipping at Tjepoe, mostly battleships, and don't hit anything. 7 bombers are lost. The entire Dutch Air Force is withdrawn.

Semarang is lost.

[apbarog]

6 Feb 42

Just northeast of Johnston Island, RO-60 spots the convoy lifting most of the Johnston coastal defense unit out to Pearl Harbor. A torpedo hits APD Ward, sinking her. She had troops aboard, and some are rescued by other ships. This is a similar engagement to what happened at Wake Island recently, where I lost another APD. The infantry regiment inbound to Johnston Island will arrive tomorrow and start unloading. If it makes it past RO-60.

Enemy minesweepers start to clear Batavia.

S-37 was ordered to patrol Shortlands. In the shallow water there, it spots 3 AOs escorted by a destroyer. The sub gets hit by a depth charge but the damage is minor. The sub will repair at Brisbane. AOs are at Shortlands. There is no question why they are there. Shortlands is a tiny base right now. They aren't unloading fuel, at least not much. They are there to support KB, which has swung west to cover the Port Moresby invasion, which occurred today. The enemy 4th Infantry Division is landing, and finding almost no resistance. The 4th Division came from Rabaul, which it invaded. The amphibious bonus makes this type of rapid pace possible. It's February. OPilot will have that luxury until May.

Off the eastern coast of Australia, near Newcastle, I-16 spots a mixed bag of tiny ships heading south. 2 torpedoes are fired at AMc Jerantut but missed. The sub is attacked by AM Colac and is hit by a depth charge. This task force was a gathering of small ships from Darwin. There are 3 MTBs. I think they are British and originally came from Hong Kong.

It looks like the enemy has ceased clearing Malaysia. The Allies still hold a few hexes, and block the eastern rail line, but the western line is clear, so OPilot is content to bomb. I'm going to try to move units to the western rail line. Supply is worse than critical, but it's worth triggering a response. The enemy could be massing at Singapore for other operations. A big CVE task force was spotted there today.

The Dutch Army makes a good showing today.

Ground combat at Buitenzorg (48,99)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 1898 troops, 56 guns, 110 vehicles, Assault Value = 205

Defending force 5643 troops, 82 guns, 3 vehicles, Assault Value = 168

Japanese adjusted assault: 43

Allied adjusted defense: 187

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 4 (fort level 1)

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(-), preparation(-), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+)

Japanese ground losses:
345 casualties reported
Squads: 10 destroyed, 25 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 4 (1 destroyed, 3 disabled)
Vehicles lost 6 (1 destroyed, 5 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
132 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 12 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
48th Recon Regiment
2nd Formosa Inf. Regiment
7th Tank Regiment
48th Field Artillery Regiment

Defending units:
1st KNIL Regiment
I Marechausse Cdo
Batavia Defenses
2e-VLG-V Sup Afd
********************
Ground combat at Soerakarta (53,103)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 3887 troops, 40 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 117

Defending force 1753 troops, 9 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 61

Japanese adjusted assault: 26

Allied adjusted defense: 22

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 1)

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 0

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), op mode(-), experience(-)
Attacker: leaders(-)

Allied ground losses:
25 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
9th Infantry Regiment

Defending units:
Groep Zud (was just transiting through on the rail)
*************

Carrier Hornet will arrive in 17 days.
Light cruiser Sumatra will arrive at Soerabaja in 5 days. It will be very close whether or not Soerabaja is still held by the Dutch by then.