July 08/09, 1942
Highlights: USN fails off Port Moresby, RN shines in the IO.
Bases lost:
-
Bases liberated:
Exmouth
Allied ships lost:
DD Helm, DD Ralph Talbot, DD Henley sunk by surface action at Port Moresby
PC Bingera and xAKL Kaiping sunk by air attack off Exmouth
Enemy ships sunk:
CVE Taiyo, AMC Awata Maru, E Shimushu sunk by British carrier air between Perth and Cape Town
SS I-164 sunk by ASW near Geralton
Japanese Home Islands:
-
Japanese SRA:
Usual bombings at Bandoeng
CBI:
Making noise in Burma involves air attacks at Warazup, still held by a IJA Tank regiment - B-25s and Warhawks hit the tanks at low-level causing very slight damage.
Western Australia:
Exmouth liberated, one PC and one xAKL shuttling supplies to that base sunk by Betties. A bombardment force led by three R-class BBs plus cruisers and DDs coming up from Perth won't be needed, but made a dent in the IJN submarine force. The British carrier TF - CV Formidable, CV Illustrious, CVL Hermes escorted by British, Australian and Dutch CLs, CLAA and DDs - patrolling in the IO on the Perth - Cape Town track was finally rewarded for weeks of dull going back and forth when spotting and attacking a IJN raiding force build around CVE Taiyo - the poor Japanese carrier didn't even had a chance to strike back.
Northern Australia:
-
SWPac:
Having spotted enemy TFs at Port Moresby the turn before, I have sent a DD strike force and a cover force lead by a CL on a raid - going full-speed from Cooktown to PM to arrive at night, with low threat tolerance. But surprise - night surface battles of the "fire torps and run" kind are not the strong point of the US Navy at this point of the war. 3 DD lost and nothing to show for. The US Air Corps as well wanted show what they cannot do yet - B-26s with pilots in the 70+ skill range for naval bombing attacked into CAP, lost 9 and hit nothing.
SoPac:
Noumea hit hard by US light cruisers.
CentPac:
Funafuti seems to be void of troops, a quick grab might be possible.
NoPac:
Adak Island has reached size 4 port and size 3 airbase and has become the main base in the area, being home of the 28th Composite airgroup and various tenders to support the trip-wire "Yippies" patrolling the Midway - Aleutians gap and the subs patrolling the northern part of the HI. The Dewey ARD provide heavy repair capacities at safer Kodiak for the NoPac striking force - the old and lightly armoured sisters CA Pensacola and Salt Lake City plus the Porter class DDs with their single-purpose 5-inchers. In the lousy weather and with enemy air bases far away, this is the right place for DDs lacking DP guns.
Homefront / Rear areas:
Some reinforcements - BB North Carolina, CV Wasp, bunch of CLAAs and DDs are crossing the Pacific on the way to the front. Ground reinforcements - mostly base forces and engineering assets - start to pile-up in Conus due to lack of shipping available - most ordinary merchies are tied-up with upgrades, the valuable amphib shipping (future APA and AKA) is being repaired and readied in Auckland and Sydney for upcoming ops. BB Royal Sovereign - torpedoes three weeks ago - has fixed all fixable damage at Sydney and left for Cape Town to repair the remaining major damage.
Intel:
-
Selected action reports:
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Night Time Surface Combat, near Port Moresby at 98,130, Range 8,000 Yards
Japanese Ships
CA Takao, Shell hits 1
CA Atago
CA Maya
CA Kako
CL Tama
DD Akigumo
DD Natsugumo
DD Fubuki, Shell hits 3, on fire
DD Usugumo
DD Isonami
DD Uranami
DD Matsukaze
Allied Ships
DD Bagley, Shell hits 4
DD Blue
DD Helm, Shell hits 7, and is sunk
DD Mugford
DD Ralph Talbot, Shell hits 4, on fire
DD Henley, Shell hits 11, and is sunk
Reduced sighting due to 25% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Partly Cloudy Conditions and 25% moonlight: 11,000 yards
Range closes to 20,000 yards...
Range closes to 14,000 yards...
Range closes to 8,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 8,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 8,000 yards
Magazine explodes on DD Henley
DD Henley sunk by CA Atago at 5,000 yards
DD Helm sunk by CA Atago at 12,000 yards
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Port Moresby at 98,130, Range 8,000 Yards
Japanese Ships
CA Takao
CA Atago
CA Maya
CA Kako
CL Tama
DD Akigumo
DD Natsugumo
DD Fubuki, heavy fires
DD Usugumo
DD Isonami, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Uranami
DD Matsukaze
Allied Ships
CL Marblehead, Shell hits 3, on fire
DD Patterson, Shell hits 2
DD Jarvis
DD Craven
DD Gridley
DD McCall
Reduced sighting due to 25% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Partly Cloudy Conditions and 25% moonlight: 11,000 yards
Range closes to 20,000 yards...
Range closes to 14,000 yards...
Range closes to 8,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 8,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 8,000 yards
Tanaka, Raizo crosses the 'T'
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Night Time Surface Combat, near Port Moresby at 98,130, Range 10,000 Yards
Japanese Ships
CA Takao
CA Atago
CA Maya
CA Kako
CL Tama
DD Akigumo
DD Natsugumo
DD Usugumo
DD Uranami
DD Matsukaze
Allied Ships
DD Mugford, Shell hits 1
DD Ralph Talbot, Shell hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage > sank soon after
Reduced sighting due to 14% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Partly Cloudy Conditions and 14% moonlight: 10,000 yards
Range closes to 24,000 yards...
Range closes to 22,000 yards...
Range closes to 20,000 yards...
CONTACT: Allies radar detects Japanese task force at 20,000 yards
Range closes to 10,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 10,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 10,000 yards
Allied Task Force Manages to Escape
Task forces break off...
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Morning Air attack on TF, near Port Moresby at 98,130
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud
Raid detected at 37 NM, estimated altitude 4,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 6
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 8
Allied aircraft
B-26 Marauder x 25
No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
B-26 Marauder: 7 destroyed, 5 damaged
Japanese Ships
CA Takao
CL Kuma
Aircraft Attacking:
1 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 2000 feet *
Naval Attack: 3 x 500 lb SAP Bomb
5 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 2000 feet *
Naval Attack: 3 x 500 lb SAP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Port Moresby at 98,130
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud
Raid detected at 22 NM, estimated altitude 2,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 3
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 3
Allied aircraft
B-26 Marauder x 4
No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
B-26 Marauder: 1 destroyed, 3 damaged
Japanese Ships
CA Kako
Aircraft Attacking:
4 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 2000 feet *
Naval Attack: 3 x 500 lb SAP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Port Moresby at 98,130
Weather in hex: Severe storms
Raid spotted at 17 NM, estimated altitude 5,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 6
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 8
Allied aircraft
B-26 Marauder x 3
No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
B-26 Marauder: 1 destroyed
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 14th Tank Regiment, at 63,41 (Warazup)
Weather in hex: Heavy rain
Raid spotted at 12 NM, estimated altitude 6,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes
Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 9
P-40E Warhawk x 22
Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 1 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
Vehicles lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Aircraft Attacking:
9 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 2000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
22 x P-40E Warhawk bombing from 100 feet
Ground Attack: 1 x 500 lb GP Bomb
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Morning Air attack on 14th Tank Regiment, at 63,41 (Warazup)
Weather in hex: Heavy rain
Raid spotted at 15 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes
Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 3
P-40E Warhawk x 53
No Allied losses
Japanese ground losses:
Vehicles lost 7 (1 destroyed, 6 disabled)
Aircraft Attacking:
3 x P-40E Warhawk bombing from 100 feet
Ground Attack: 1 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 2000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
25 x P-40E Warhawk bombing from 100 feet
Ground Attack: 1 x 500 lb GP Bomb
25 x P-40E Warhawk bombing from 100 feet
Ground Attack: 1 x 500 lb GP Bomb
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Night Naval bombardment of Noumea at 115,160
Japanese aircraft
no flights
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-45 KAIa Nick: 18 damaged
Ki-45 KAIa Nick: 1 destroyed on ground
A6M2 Zero: 5 damaged
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed on ground
Japanese Ships
ACM Hagoromo Maru, Shell hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
Allied Ships
CL Nashville
CL Phoenix
CL Honolulu
CL Helena
CL St. Louis
CLAA San Diego
DD Tucker
DD Reid
DD Cassin
DD Downes
DD Flusser
DD Shaw
DD Conyngham
DD Case
DD Lamson
DD Drayton
DD Cummings
DD Mahan
Japanese ground losses:
727 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 9 destroyed, 89 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 15 disabled
Guns lost 10 (1 destroyed, 9 disabled)
Vehicles lost 18 (1 destroyed, 17 disabled)
Airbase hits 24
Airbase supply hits 14
Runway hits 107
Port hits 2
Port supply hits 1
SOC-1 Seagull acting as spotter for CL Nashville
CL Nashville firing at 14th/C Division
CL Phoenix firing at 14th/C Division
CL Honolulu firing at 14th/C Division
CL Helena firing at Noumea
CL St. Louis firing at Noumea
CLAA San Diego firing at 14th/C Division
DD Tucker firing at Noumea
DD Reid firing at Noumea
DD Cassin firing at 14th/C Division
DD Downes firing at Noumea
DD Flusser firing at Noumea
DD Shaw firing at Noumea
DD Conyngham firing at 14th/C Division
DD Case firing at Noumea
DD Lamson firing at Noumea
DD Drayton firing at Noumea
DD Cummings firing at 14th/C Division
DD Mahan firing at Noumea
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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Exmouth at 50,129
Weather in hex: Partial cloud
Raid spotted at 2 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 0 minutes
Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 11
Allied aircraft
Kittyhawk IA x 6
Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 1 damaged
No Allied losses
Allied Ships
PC Wanaka
PC Melinga
PC Bingera, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
Aircraft Attacking:
11 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 45cm Type 91 Torp
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Exmouth at 50,129
Weather in hex: Moderate rain
Raid spotted at 16 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 9
G4M1 Betty x 8
Allied aircraft
Kittyhawk IA x 5
Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
No Allied losses
Allied Ships
xAKL Kaiping, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
Aircraft Attacking:
8 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 45cm Type 91 Torp
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Ground combat at Exmouth (50,129)
Allied Deliberate attack
Attacking force 5265 troops, 77 guns, 456 vehicles, Assault Value = 281
Defending force 2262 troops, 41 guns, 14 vehicles, Assault Value = 38
Allied adjusted assault: 133
Japanese adjusted defense: 13
Allied assault odds: 10 to 1 (fort level 0)
Allied forces CAPTURE Exmouth !!!
Combat modifiers
Defender: experience(-)
Attacker:
Japanese ground losses:
501 casualties reported
Squads: 26 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 14 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 5 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 27 (20 destroyed, 7 disabled)
Vehicles lost 5 (5 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Allied ground losses:
24 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Assaulting units:
2/6th Armoured Regiment
2/10th Armoured Regiment
2/5th Armoured Regiment
3rd Army Tank Brigade
2/9th Field Regiment
2/11th Field Regiment
Defending units:
Kure 2nd SNLF
9th JNAF Coy
9th RF Gun Battalion
10th JAAF AF Coy
NOTE: We have a house rule prohibiting massed Panzer blitzkrieg, i.e. large "tanks only" stacks of multiple tank regiments attacking on their own are not allowed. A lone tank unit can be used as maneuvre unit, for mopping-up stragglers, attacking undefended or lightly defended bases and as recon-in-force for example. But if two or more tank units are involved, a "combined arms" approach must be used, i.e. infantry must participate in the attack. The 3rd Army Tank Brigade is a tank unit by name only, it is in fact an infantry unit.
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Ground combat at Exmouth (50,129)
Allied Deliberate attack
Attacking force 5271 troops, 77 guns, 456 vehicles, Assault Value = 280
Defending force 1708 troops, 22 guns, 5 vehicles, Assault Value = 17
Allied adjusted assault: 159
Japanese adjusted defense: 7
Allied assault odds: 22 to 1
Combat modifiers
Defender: disruption(-)
Attacker:
Japanese ground losses:
484 casualties reported
Squads: 39 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 17 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 11 (11 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 6 (6 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 1
Allied ground losses:
10 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Assaulting units:
2/5th Armoured Regiment
2/6th Armoured Regiment
2/10th Armoured Regiment
3rd Army Tank Brigade
2/9th Field Regiment
2/11th Field Regiment
Defending units:
Kure 2nd SNLF
9th RF Gun Battalion
9th JNAF Coy
10th JAAF AF Coy
Kure 2nd SNLF Wiped Out at Exmouth by attrition!!!
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ASW attack near Geraldton at 48,138
Japanese Ships
SS I-164, hits 5, on fire, heavy damage
Allied Ships
BB Resolution
CA Dorsetshire
CL Newcastle
CL Dauntless
DD Decoy
DD Arrow
DD Van Nes
DD Inconstant
DD Hotspur
DD Griffin
DD Foxhound
SS I-164 is sighted by escort
DD Inconstant fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Hotspur fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Griffin attacking submerged sub ....
DD Foxhound fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Inconstant fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Griffin fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Griffin fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Griffin fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Griffin fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Griffin attacking submerged sub ....
Sounds of submarine breaking up detected!
Escort abandons search for sub
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Morning Air attack on TF, near Perth at 30,147
Weather in hex: Thunderstorms
Raid spotted at 18 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 7
Allied aircraft
Albacore I x 6
Martlet II x 28
Swordfish I x 15
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 3 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
Martlet II: 1 destroyed
Japanese Ships
CVE Taiyo, Torpedo hits 4, and is sunk
AMC Awata Maru, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
Aircraft Attacking:
15 x Swordfish I launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Mk XII Torpedo
6 x Albacore I launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Mk XII Torpedo
CAP engaged:
Chitose Ku S-1/A with A6M2 Zero (2 airborne, 5 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 11000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 9 minutes
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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Perth at 30,147
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid spotted at 13 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes
Allied aircraft
Albacore I x 12
Martlet II x 26
Swordfish I x 15
Allied aircraft losses
Albacore I: 1 damaged
Japanese Ships
DD Mutsuki
E Shimushu, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Yayoi
Aircraft Attacking:
15 x Swordfish I launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Mk XII Torpedo
6 x Albacore I launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Mk XII Torpedo
6 x Albacore I launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Mk XII Torpedo
