The Cautionaries: jwilkerson vs Capt(re-started)

[Rysyonok]

Good luck

[jwilkerson]

Well with about double the AV on the Japanese side ( and about 20% less on the US side ) vis-a-vis CAPT and my first run through this scenario .. the first attack by IJA against Bataan went much better this time ...

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 07/14/22

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TF 87 troops unloading over beach at Taytay, 39,53


Japanese ground losses:
46 casualties reported

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TF 1108 encounters mine field at Midway (95,61)

Allied Ships
MSW Widgeon

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TF 72 troops unloading over beach at Dadjangas, 41,62


Japanese ground losses:
150 casualties reported

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TF 87 troops unloading over beach at Taytay, 39,53


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TF 1108 encounters mine field at Midway (95,61)

Allied Ships
MSW Widgeon


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Ground combat at Bataan

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 186780 troops, 997 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 50734 troops, 302 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 6

Japanese assault odds: 3 to 1 (fort level 6)

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 6


Japanese ground losses:
1291 casualties reported
Guns lost 38

Allied ground losses:
1124 casualties reported
Guns lost 17


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Taytay

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 1390 troops, 3 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 12 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Taytay base !!!



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Ground combat at Bataan

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 27496 troops, 266 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 211264 troops, 1042 guns, 0 vehicles

[jwilkerson]

Two days later we attack again ( with 3800+ AV after adding in the 2nd Div ) ... might be too easy this time !?



AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 07/16/22

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ASW attack at 101,73

Japanese Ships
SS UB-143 (O7)

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Day Air attack on Corrigedor CI Fort , at 42,51

Japanese aircraft
Sopwith Pup x 13

Japanese aircraft losses
Sopwith Pup: 2 destroyed

Aircraft Attacking:
11 x Sopwith Pup bombing at 2000 feet

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Bataan

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 205537 troops, 1061 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 49391 troops, 279 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 5

Japanese assault odds: 4 to 1 (fort level 5)

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 5


Japanese ground losses:
1941 casualties reported
Guns lost 41

Allied ground losses:
1083 casualties reported
Guns lost 10

[jwilkerson]

Three days later, we try again at Bataan .. things are getting worse ... no effect on forts and combat odds have dropped to 2 to 1 ... will try an immediate continuation attack as we are too badly beat up .. but if this one fails, we may need to bring in 2 more engineers and one more Division that are available.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 07/19/22

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Sub attack near Johnston Island at 102,74

Japanese Ships
SS UC-90 (O4)

Allied Ships
DD Schley
DD McCawley
DD Edwards
DD Gamble
DD Radford
DD Taylor

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Johnston Island at 102,74

Japanese Ships
SS UC-90 (O4)

Allied Ships
PC Eagle 17
PC Eagle 16
PC Eagle 14
PC Eagle 13
PC Eagle 12

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 57th PS Infantry Regiment, at 42,51

Japanese aircraft
Sopwith Pup x 11
Mitsubishi C1M1 x 1

No Japanese losses

Aircraft Attacking:
11 x Sopwith Pup bombing at 2000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Johnston Island at 102,74

Japanese Ships
SS UC-90 (O4)

Allied Ships
MSW Grebe
MSW Kingfisher
MSW Brant
MSW Partridge

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Time Surface Combat, near Johnston Island at 102,74

Japanese Ships
BB Nagato, Shell hits 2
BB Mutsu, Shell hits 2
DD Kiku, Shell hits 1
DD Hagi, Shell hits 1
DD Susuki, Shell hits 1

Allied Ships
DD Taylor, Shell hits 1
DD Schley
DD Radford, Shell hits 3, on fire
DD Gamble, Shell hits 3
DD Edwards
DD McCawley

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Time Surface Combat, near Johnston Island at 102,74

Japanese Ships
BB Nagato, Shell hits 2
BB Mutsu, Shell hits 2
DD Kiku
DD Hagi, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Susuki, Shell hits 2, on fire

Allied Ships
DD Taylor, Shell hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD Schley, Shell hits 1
DD Radford, on fire
DD Gamble, Shell hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
DD Edwards, Shell hits 1
DD McCawley, Shell hits 1, on fire


Even catching the US DDs during the day time by surprise accomplishes little. Our best BBs still cannot sink any US DDs even though the US DDs hang around and fight 2 rounds with us. "THere is something wrong with our bloody ships today ( and every day ) !!!" [:@]

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Day Time Surface Combat, near Johnston Island at 102,74

Japanese Ships
BB Nagato, Shell hits 1
BB Mutsu, Shell hits 1
DD Kiku
DD Hagi, on fire, heavy damage
DD Susuki, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
DD Taylor, on fire, heavy damage
DD Schley
DD Radford, on fire
DD Gamble, Shell hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Edwards
DD McCawley, Shell hits 2, on fire, heavy damage

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Johnston Island at 102,74

Japanese Ships
SS UC-90 (O4)

Allied Ships
DD Edwards
DD Radford, on fire
DD Schley

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Johnston Island at 102,74

Japanese Ships
SS UC-90 (O4)

Allied Ships
DD Kennison
DD Babbitt
DD Lea

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Johnston Island at 102,74

Japanese Ships
DD Hagi, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
SS H-4

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Johnston Island at 102,74

Japanese Ships
DD Hagi, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
SS H-4

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Johnston Island at 102,74

Japanese Ships
SS UC-90 (O4)

Allied Ships
PC Eagle 4
PC Eagle 3
PC Eagle 2
DD Meyer
DD Moody


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Ground combat at Bataan

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 204744 troops, 1031 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 47009 troops, 267 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 5

Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 5) Odds have significantly worsened [&:]

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 5


Japanese ground losses:
1966 casualties reported
Guns lost 35

Allied ground losses:
2359 casualties reported
Guns lost 11

[jwilkerson]

The "useless" battle where we surprise some US DDs during the day, with our best BBs, and even get the US DDs to fight 3 rounds with us ( and they are in ASW mode we suspect ) but still we accomplish nothing. But at least this is typical !

[jwilkerson]

Well the immediate follow-up attack at Bataan didn't work - so the mysterious "doubling" of the defense strength at Bataan has been sustained ( wasn't a fluke ! ) ... as we still have 3700 AV even after this attack - it is in explicable as to how this happened - and we doubt he was able to reinforce, we have enough sub and surface forces out there, not to mention air search that we should at least have had a whiff of something going by ( and there was none ).

So we have one additional division waiting aboard transports at Pescadores, 2 more CE just unloaded at Lingayen .. and this turn we paid PP for 2 additional CE in Sasebo, loaded them aboard transports and headed them to Lingayen. It will take about a week to get these additional forces in place ( about all we can do until we save up another 2500 PP for another infantry division - for the next 60 days ).

Also we've noted the last 3 subs we sent to Johnson have either been sunk or driven off heavily damaged ( and have gotten no hits ) ... and our attempt to disrupt ASW operations at Johnson even for one turn, by employing a daylight raid by our best BBs ( exp 70+ ) accomplished nothing .. so we've finally got the message that our ability to offensively operate subs in an attempt to disrupt USN build up at Johnson ( or Midway ) are not useful efforts. The subs will be withdrawn and redeployed defensively to cover the Marshalls, as we begin our build up there.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 07/20/22

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Sub attack near Johnston Island at 102,74

Japanese Ships
SS UC-90 (O4), hits 2, on fire

Allied Ships
DD Babbitt
DD Kennison
DD Lea

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Johnston Island at 102,74

Japanese Ships
SS UC-90 (O4), heavy damage

Allied Ships
DD Morris
DD Bulmer
DD Roper
DD Badger
DD Ramsay
DD Champlin

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Johnston Island at 102,74

Japanese Ships
SS UC-90 (O4), heavy damage

Allied Ships
DD Shirk
DD S. P. Lee
DD Selfridge
DD Robert Smith
DD Percival
DD Farragut

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Johnston Island at 102,74

Japanese Ships
SS UC-90 (O4), heavy damage

Allied Ships
DD Moody
DD Meyer
DD Edwards
DD Schley

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Johnston Island at 102,74

Japanese Ships
SS UC-90 (O4), hits 4, heavy damage

Allied Ships
DD Bailey
DD Turner

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Kwajalein at 79,79

Japanese Ships
DD Nokaze
DD Kaki
DD Kuwa
DD Enoki

Allied Ships
SS R-27


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Ground combat at Bataan

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 202887 troops, 972 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 43702 troops, 249 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 4

Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 4) US strength remains doubled for the second attack in a row ! [&:]

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 4


Japanese ground losses:
2380 casualties reported
Guns lost 59

Allied ground losses:
2344 casualties reported
Guns lost 19

[jwilkerson]

Things are a bit slow right now, so I'll show a map of the Marshalls area.


Again, we expect this area to be the first stop on the road back to the P.I. for the USN. Currrently we have subs deploying to cover the approaches. ASW DDs and patrol planes covering Eniwetok and Kwajalein ( the 2 Level 3 ports in the Marshalls ) and a float plane squadron flying from each port. A Surface Minelayer group is shuttling back and forth between Kwaj and Eni and with an MLE in each port we are able to lay mine fields at each end of the shuttle run. this will double the minelaying rate !

Additional ML and ASW DD are enroute. Once P.I. falls we will move all the CA/CL and their supporting DD to the area, though these will be based at Truk they will stage through the Marshalls to be nearby if the enemy approaches. Also the Dreadnoughts will move down to Truk once they have fininshed training up and refittted. The OBB will continue training in the PI until it is completely secured, then they will refit ( in Japan ) and then they will stage down to the Marianas. These plans may change, but this is approximate.

As in the previous game, we do not expect to fight the decisive battle for the Marshalls but merely to attempt to attrite the USN dreadnought force. In the previous game through a combination of factors we were able to sink 3 unanswered USN dreadnought in the battle for the Marshalls. That will be a tough act to follow, and sinking one ( unanswered dreadnought ) will still be considered a victory. Enemy putting significant damage on a few will be useful, as this will delay the next step.

[jwilkerson]

Finally with addition of a 9th Infantry Division and 4100+ AV, we are able to reduce Bataan ( at end of 60th Day of Campaign ).

Monthend wrap up next turn will summarize losses to date and plans for asset redeployment.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 07/30/22

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Sub attack near Kwajalein at 79,79

Japanese Ships
DD Kaki

Allied Ships
SS R-21, hits 1 We hit them

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 71,78

Japanese Ships
AP Nissho Maru, Shell hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage They hit us

Allied Ships
SS S-9


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Ground combat at Bataan

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 238441 troops, 1052 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 36209 troops, 225 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 2

Japanese assault odds: 9 to 1 (fort level 2)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Bataan base !!!


Japanese ground losses:
1775 casualties reported
Guns lost 30

Allied ground losses:
33155 casualties reported Finally a present for the Emperor [8D]
Guns lost 130

[Rysyonok]

Ohhh I'd love to see what happens next

In my game Americans stayed back for a month after Bataan fell. Let's see what Capt does...

[jwilkerson]

With the fall of Bataan all of Luzon is in our possession etc. Laoang which we have left US for a while to serve as a place to train up our fighters a bit. Of course since we have troops adjacent and aircraft flying over the base, it could convert to Japanese any day. But we will enjoy it while we can.

As to plans, we will continue to beef up the ASW capability in the Marshalls and begin to do so in the Carolines as well. All search and patrol planes will be transferred to these areas. Also all cruisers and destroyers will be transferred to these areas as well, except for the destroyers that will be direcctly supporting the battleline. The OBBs will continue to train up a bit more in the Southern PI. The dreadnoughts will all refit and then we will decide where to base them.

The US counterattack could come fairly soon - and will probably be directed at the Marshalls. The other possibility is Wake .. and we will consider building up Marcus to support an attack on Wake and even considering moving more ground forces to Wake.

But the primary build up will be in the Marshalls. All minelayers will be transferred there and will proceed on mining operations based on port size as the priority. Also essentially all subs will be transferred there as well to patrol the approaches and give warning of the approaching invasion.

The 2 SNLFs will continue the conquest of the Southern and Central PI and the Luzon Army will remain mostly in Luzon and start fortifying and building up the installations. This scenario is won or lost based on the US recapturing the Bataan and Manilla Hexes, so we know what we have to defend.

Ships sunk after the first 2 months are as follows:

USN Losses
01 OBB
12 DD/DM
11 PG
01 PC
06 MSW
10 AP
02 TK
19 AK

IJN Losses
01 CL
11 DD
02 ML
02 SS
08 AP
03 AK

[Rysyonok]

ORIGINAL: jwilkerson
USN Losses
01 OBB
12 DD/DM
11 PG
01 PC
06 MSW
10 AP
02 TK
19 AK

AS Rainbow got away?

[jwilkerson]

ORIGINAL: Rysyonok

ORIGINAL: jwilkerson
USN Losses
01 OBB
12 DD/DM
11 PG
01 PC
06 MSW
10 AP
02 TK
19 AK

AS Rainbow got away?

Yes, she left early on ... I got 2 shots at her with 2 different subs while she was leaving ... but no hits ...

[Rysyonok]

That's a pity. I guess no submarine rampage around Luzon then?

[jwilkerson]

ORIGINAL: Rysyonok

That's a pity. I guess no submarine rampage around Luzon then?

Early loss of Luzon was anticipated - so rampage was relatively short ( 6 weeks ? )

[jwilkerson]

Typical turn in the Marshalls .. lots of sub/ASW action. Significant reinforcements are on the way from our side. Three more patrol/recon squadrons, and about 80% of the DDs as well as the first new group of 4 PCs ... this should eventually enable us to gain control of at least the ports that we need to function.


AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 08/01/22

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Sub attack near Kwajalein at 79,79

Japanese Ships
DD Hokaze
DD Kagero

Allied Ships
SS R-7

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Naval bombardment of Cebu Island, at 42,58

Japanese Ships
DD Sakaki
DD Umi
BB Fuji


Allied ground losses:
14 casualties reported

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ASW attack near Kwajalein at 79,79

Japanese Ships
DD Kagero
DD Hokaze

Allied Ships
SS R-7

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Kwajalein at 79,79

Japanese Ships
DD Kaki
DD Kuwa

Allied Ships
SS R-7, hits 1 One of our rare hits ...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Laoag , at 45,49

Japanese aircraft
Sopwith Pup x 30 Training up some fighters at the Laoang range [8D]

No Japanese losses

Port fuel hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
13 x Sopwith Pup bombing at 2000 feet
13 x Sopwith Pup bombing at 2000 feet
2 x Sopwith Pup bombing at 2000 feet
2 x Sopwith Pup bombing at 2000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Kwajalein at 79,79

Japanese Ships
DD Kaki
DD Kuwa
DD Enoki

Allied Ships
SS R-7, hits 1, heavy damage oh boy, ohboy ... 2 rare hits inthe same turn - on the same boat ! ... but takes about 5 to sink so they should live to fight another day ...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Eniwetok at 76,74

Japanese Ships
DD Sumire
DD Yukaze

Allied Ships
SS R-10

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Cebu Island, at 42,58

[Rysyonok]

I've seen SS still afloat after 6-8 hits...

[jwilkerson]

Same ole, same ole ... ASW in the Marhshalls, training/invasions of the Southern PI and fighter training on the North Luzon Laoang range ...

We are deploying significant ASW reinforcements to the Marshalls ( and some to the Carolines as well ), we are planning to move the 3rd Division to Wake. All the dreadnoughts are in the Home Islands refitting. All the CL/CA are in pescadores refitting and will then move to the CENPAC ( Marianas, Carolines, Marshalls ) area. About 12-16 good DDs will remain with the battlefleet the others will move to CENPAC.

Also essentially all the SUBs will move to the Marshalls.

Not sure I can supply all this stuff out there - if not portions will need to remain farther to the rear ( Carolines and Marianas or even Bonins ). But currently it looks like the bottleneck will be fuel, not supply.

The bulk of the overseas Army will remain in the PI to continue buildling up forts and installations for the final clash.

Priority for troop releases from the home islands will now be engineers.



AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 08/03/22

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ASW attack near Kwajalein at 79,79

Japanese Ships
DD Kaki
DD Kuwa
DD Enoki

Allied Ships
SS R-12

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Eniwetok at 76,74

Japanese Ships
DD Yukaze
DD Sumire

Allied Ships
SS R-4

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Cebu Island, at 42,58

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Eniwetok at 76,74

Japanese Ships
DD Yukaze
DD Sumire

Allied Ships
SS R-4

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Laoag , at 45,49

Japanese aircraft
Sopwith Pup x 4

No Japanese losses

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x Sopwith Pup bombing at 2000 feet
2 x Sopwith Pup bombing at 2000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Cebu Island, at 42,58

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Naval bombardment of Guiuan, at 45,58

Japanese Ships
DD Kaede
DD Matsu
DD Sakura
BB Suwo
BB Kashima

Port hits 1
Port supply hits 1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Kwajalein at 79,79

Japanese Ships
DD Kaki
DD Kuwa
DD Enoki

Allied Ships
SS R-12


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Ground combat at Cebu Island

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 593 troops, 3 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 20 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 5 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Cebu Island base !!!



Allied ground losses:
205 casualties reported

[Rysyonok]

Have you considered scouting Baker, Johnston, and other island groups between Pearl Harbor and Marshalls? Allied buildup in those areas can aid their invasion considerably.

Have you been seeing any port expansion messages in that area?

[jwilkerson]

I raided both a while back with BB/BC ... sank 3 DDs but didn't clobber the light stuff I was hoping for ... tried to pile subs into Johnson and lost 2 in 4 turns ... so determined ASW strength had reached the point I couldn't afford. Now need to refit BB/BC and redeploy to enable reaction to landings in Marshalls or Wake ... offensive raiding period is probably over.

[jwilkerson]

Continuing same ole same ole ...

ASW in the Marshalls, training/invasions in Southern PI ... fighter training at Laoang ... lots of stuff moving toward the Central pacific ... but unless US invades soon it will be sometime before heavy action begins again.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 08/04/22

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Naval bombardment of Tacloban, at 44,58

Japanese Ships
DD Sakaki
DD Umi
DD Kusunoki
DD Kiri
BB Okinoshima
BB Fuji
BB Asahi
BB Shikishima
BB Iwami
BB Hizen
BB Mikasa
BB Katori
BB Settsu

Port hits 1
Port fuel hits 2
Port supply hits 5

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Guiuan, at 45,58

Japanese Ships
DD Kaede
DD Matsu

Port hits 1
Port supply hits 2

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Wake Island, at 82,63

Not sure if this is just a training mission or the harbinger of things to come.
We are prepaing to move 3rd Div here ... so will probably bring battlefleet with us, just in case.

Allied Ships
DD Wasmuth
DD Young
DD Woodbury
DD William Jones
DD Somers
DD Mackenzie

Japanese ground losses:
14 casualties reported

Airbase hits 2
Runway hits 1
Port fuel hits 2

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Eniwetok at 76,74

Japanese Ships
DD Yomogi
DD Hasu
DD Tsuta
DD Numakaze

Allied Ships
SS R-16

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Laoag , at 45,49

Japanese aircraft
Sopwith Pup x 30

No Japanese losses

Aircraft Attacking:
13 x Sopwith Pup bombing at 2000 feet
13 x Sopwith Pup bombing at 2000 feet
2 x Sopwith Pup bombing at 2000 feet
2 x Sopwith Pup bombing at 2000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Eniwetok at 76,74

Japanese Ships
DD Sumire
DD Yukaze

Allied Ships
SS R-16

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Eniwetok at 76,74

Japanese Ships
DD Sumire
DD Yukaze

Allied Ships
SS R-16

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Eniwetok at 76,74

Japanese Ships
DD Kagero
DD Hokaze

Allied Ships
SS R-16, hits 1 A rare hit ...