Hi all,
A very eventful day in the Pacific War..................
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Burma -
Allied units are still moving towards Bandou. A further 3 x Division + 4 x ARM Bn's are moving there as well now in preparation for the move into Malaya.
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SRA -
A very good day here. Hope remains in the saving of
CV Hancock and
CV Bennington[:)]
IJN CV's remained on station and launched a full strike towards my shipping at Jesselton. They were clearly rookies or mediocre at best since most of the DB/TB's turned back:
Day Air attack on TF, near Jesselton at 35,56
Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zeke x 34
D4Y Judy x 77
B7A Grace x 35
Allied aircraft
FM-2 Wildcat x 15
F6F Hellcat x 8
F4U-1D Corsair x 15
P-38J Lightning x 5
P-51D Mustang x 29
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5 Zeke: 34 destroyed
D4Y Judy: 32 destroyed, 4 damaged
B7A Grace: 24 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
P-38J Lightning: 3 damaged
Quite a few annoying counterstrikes by my now land based CV TBM's. In total 15 x TBM dropped torpedoes against
CV Shokaku,
CV Zuikaku,
CV Akagi and
CV Taiho for no hits[:-]
A recently vectored submarine (
SS Seawolf) scored a hit though.......on the escorting
DD Maki causing heavy damage.
I suspect Faber will retreat now since his CV's must be low on planes and Jesselton is getting stronger by the day with P51D's and Corsairs..........
In total 174 enemy planes were lost today to 47 Allied. B29 raids on Brunei and Tarakan helped this tally by c.20.
I'll keep a heavy CAP and a strong SC TF presence at Jesselton in the hope of saving both CV's. I feel
Bennington has a decent chance of survival but
Hancock is in the balance for sure.
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CentPac -
Iwo Jima was a hive of activity throughout the day. If the number of hits achieved on my ships were reality, or the number of troops allowed on Iwo Jima, or Uber CAP etc.....anyhow look at this as an example[X(]:
2204 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Allied Ships
MSW Sheldrake, Shell hits 305, on fire, heavy damage
MSW Pursuit, Shell hits 191, on fire, heavy damage
MSW Gladiator, Shell hits 280, on fire, heavy damage
MSW Signet, Shell hits 233, on fire, heavy damage
DMS Zane, Shell hits 203, on fire, heavy damage
DE Connolly
DE Gendreau
DE William C. Cole, Mine hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
LST LST-21, Mine hits 1, on fire
DE Snyder
DE Hemminger
DE Paul G. Baker, Mine hits 1, heavy damage
LCI(G) LCI(G)-398, Mine hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AP Sarasota, Mine hits 1
LST LST-45, Mine hits 1, on fire
AP Henry T. Allen, Mine hits 1
LST LST-72, Mine hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
LST LST-27, Mine hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
LCI(G) LCI(G)-403, Mine hits 14, on fire, heavy damage
LSD Carter Hall, Mine hits 1, on fire
LCI(G) LCI(G)-401, Mine hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AP Moreton Bay, Mine hits 1
LST LST-171, Mine hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
LST LST-175, Mine hits 1, on fire
AP Olmsted, Mine hits 1, on fire
Overall another 17 ships (LCI(G), LST, MSW, DE mainly) sank today but a lot of troops are now ashore. I am actually very happy with how the landings have gone. Saipan cost me 70ish ships andmy men were 25-33% disabled. Here my men are in good shape. Check out the attachment. This is the general state of my men who will attack tomorrow.
Faber launched a CL/DD force into the fray overnight. It was a fairly one sided battle with only the American
CA Pensacola recieving heavy damage from a torpedo and 3 x 6" shells (76/48/10):
Night Time Surface Combat, near Iwo Jima at 63,53
Japanese Ships
CL Oyodo, Shell hits 4
CL Yahagi, Shell hits 14, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD Yamakaze, Shell hits 3, on fire
DD Suzukaze
DD Wakaba, Shell hits 4, on fire
DD Yuzuki, Shell hits 11, on fire, heavy damage
DD Hasu, Shell hits 1
Allied Ships
BB Nevada, Shell hits 2
BB California
BB Tennessee
CA Pensacola
CA Salt Lake City
CA New Orleans
CL Detroit, Shell hits 2
CL Montpelier
CL Santa Fe, Shell hits 1
DD Isherwood
DD Jenkins, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Kidd
DD Kimberly
DD LaVallette
DD Luce
DD McDermut
DD McGowan
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Night Time Surface Combat, near Iwo Jima at 63,53
Japanese aircraft
no flights
Japanese aircraft losses
F1M2 Pete: 1 destroyed
Japanese Ships
CL Oyodo, Shell hits 4, on fire
CL Yahagi, Shell hits 6, and is sunk
DD Yamakaze, Shell hits 15, and is sunk
DD Suzukaze, Shell hits 8, on fire, heavy damage
DD Wakaba, Shell hits 4, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
DD Yuzuki, Shell hits 9, and is sunk
DD Hasu, Shell hits 3, on fire
Allied Ships
BB Nevada, Shell hits 1
BB California, Shell hits 2
BB Tennessee
CA Pensacola, Shell hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
CA Salt Lake City, Shell hits 2
CA New Orleans, Shell hits 2
CL Detroit
CL Montpelier
CL Santa Fe
DD Isherwood
DD Jenkins, on fire
DD Kidd
DD Kimberly
DD LaVallette
DD Luce
DD McDermut
DD McGowan
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Night Time Surface Combat, near Iwo Jima at 63,53
Japanese Ships
CL Oyodo, Shell hits 70, and is sunk
DD Suzukaze, Shell hits 5, and is sunk
DD Hasu, Shell hits 9, and is sunk
Allied Ships
BB Nevada, Shell hits 1
BB California
BB Tennessee, Shell hits 1
CA Pensacola, Shell hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
CA Salt Lake City
CA New Orleans, on fire
CL Detroit
CL Montpelier
CL Santa Fe
DD Isherwood
DD Jenkins, on fire
DD Kidd
DD Kimberly
DD LaVallette
DD Luce
DD McDermut
DD McGowan
I am moving 2 x CV division to the NW/NE of Iwo Jima to try and interdict any other shipping. I still have 8 x BB patrolling but better to get things with airpower............
SS S-43 was lost with all hands patrolling near Hokkaido[&o]
