September 20th was a very bloody day as the Japanese made a strenous effort to break the British blockade of Singapore and the British fought back ferociously.
The days battles started at 1am when a force of Japanese CLs and DDs escorting a troop convoy was intercepted by Warspite's battle group (this is the same group that lost Sendai to air attack the day before):
Japanese Ships
CL Jintsu
DD Kuroshio, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Hayashio, Shell hits 4, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
DD Shiranuhi, Shell hits 2
DD Amatsukaze
DD Hamakaze, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
DD Natsugumo
DD Minegumo, Shell hits 1
Allied Ships
BB Warspite, Shell hits 2
BB Valiant, Shell hits 5, Torpedo hits 1
CA Devonshire, Shell hits 1
CL Durban, Shell hits 4
CL Dauntless
CL Birmingham
CL Newcastle
DD Peary, Shell hits 6, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Inconstant
DD Isis
DD Jupiter
DD Nizam, Shell hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Paladin
DD Panther, Shell hits 1, on fire
Combat went 3 rounds with 3 Japanese DDs sinking. Jinstu absorbed tremendous punishment, 13 Shell hits including a 15" shell that destroyed her control room. (how do the British know this? really good lookouts reporting on the fall of shot.[:D])
The Japanese light forces fought very well, too damn well considering they were facing ships with night experience in the 75-85 range and radar but that is the way it goes.
Admiral Pound had replaced the previous commander of this force, who was sacked after defeating the Japanese covering force at Bali and then letting an infantry division ashore unmolested.
This time the covering force did not save the transports and the result was a triumph for the Royal Navy-
Japanese Ships
PC Shonan Maru #17, Shell hits 3, and is sunk
AP Hinko Maru, Shell hits 5, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
AP Meiu Maru, Shell hits 22, and is sunk
AP Taigen Maru, Shell hits 18, and is sunk
-As the entire headquarters and support element of the Japanese 16th army was sunk.
The Japanese made an effort to shut down the British airbase at Johore Baru:
Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 66
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 3 Note there are no Zeros here, this is partly because of the bug but partly because Blackwatch is keeping his existing 188 Zeros in other parts of the world. Though I believe I have enough airpower in Malaya to win anyway this is still a complete screw.
Allied aircraft
Hurricane II x 18
Spitfire Vb x 6
Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 40 destroyed, 24 damaged And look what happens to unescorted Betty. My CAP is set at multiple altitudes as well and there is radar and an air HQ. Say bye bye Betty.
Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane II: 3 damaged
B-26B Marauder: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 4
This is a small bombing attack on Japanese defenders at Singapore, its most interesting because of who they are hitting, only 10 Japanese were hit.
Day Air attack on Sasebo 7th SNLF, at 23,50
Japanese aircraft
Ki-27 Nate x 3
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 3
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 3
Allied aircraft
Wirraway x 7
A surface TF lead by the BB Ise and escorted by long range CAP was caught 30 miles off Singapore by LBA mostly from Johore Baru.
apanese aircraft
Ki-27 Nate x 3
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 3
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 3
Allied aircraft
Swordfish x 3
Mohawk IV x 5
Hurricane II x 4
Kittyhawk I x 6
Beaufort I x 3
Beaufort V-IX x 12
A-24 Dauntless x 2
B-26B Marauder x 3
Planes fell on both sides but the critical damage was the sinking of the Aoba:
Japanese Ships
CA Aoba, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
BB Ise, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
Ise just kept on coming, and a British TF lead by the Royal Soveriegn moved to intercept:
Day Time Surface Combat, near Singapore at 23,50
Some how the British were suprised in broad daylight after the air attack. Maybe they were suprised that anything survived the airstrikes. Either way they recovered pretty fast and prevented the Japanese from accomplishing thier mission though at considerable cost.
Japanese Ships
BB Ise, Shell hits 6, on fire, heavy damage
CA Nachi
CA Mogami, Shell hits 1
DD Akizuki, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Asagiri, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
DD Kikuzuki, Shell hits 5, on fire, heavy damage
DD Okikaze, Shell hits 4, on fire
DD Hakaze, Shell hits 3, on fire
Allied Ships
BB Royal Sovereign, Shell hits 6, on fire
CL Java, Shell hits 2
CL Danae, Shell hits 18, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
CL Dragon, Shell hits 7
CLAA Van Heemskerck, Shell hits 2
DD Mugford, Shell hits 1
DD John D. Ford, Shell hits 1
DD Arrow, Shell hits 5, and is sunk
Then a group of PTs saw their chance and rushed in to put the Coupe De Grasse on Ise:
Allied Ships
PT PT-116
PT PT-117
PT PT-118
PT PT-120, Shell hits 6, and is sunk
Well maybe not...Try it after dark next time guys.
There were continuous small air to air battles as British, Commonweath and even American airplanes tangled with long range cap on their way to bomb the incoming Japanese ships. There were 7 of these attacks in all, I won't bore you with the details since hits were scored but nothing Japanese sank. There is one result worth seeing though:
Japanese Ships
CL Jintsu, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, WHY WON"T YOU SINK!!
Two big air attacks caught Japanese convoys on the way in, the first was from the Fleet Air Arm:
Allied aircraft
Fulmar x 7
Swordfish x 33
Hurricane II x 1
Allied aircraft losses
Swordfish: 2 destroyed, 2 damaged
Japanese Ships
AP Taiyo Maru, on fire
AP Kyushu Maru, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
AP Kiyozumi Maru
AP Yamura Maru, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AP Otake Maru, Torpedo hits 1
AP Tsuyama Maru
And the second included just about everyone else:
Allied aircraft
Fulmar x 4
Swordfish x 18
Mohawk IV x 11
Hurricane II x 16
Kittyhawk I x 16
Wellington III x 6
Beaufort I x 7
Beaufort V-IX x 30
A-24 Dauntless x 9
B-25C Mitchell x 6
B-26B Marauder x 18
No Allied losses
Japanese Ships
AP Tsunushima Maru, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage SANK LATER
AP Kyushu Maru, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage SANK LATER
AP Tsuyama Maru, Bomb hits 4, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage SANK LATER
AP Yamura Maru, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage SANK LATER
AP Taiyo Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
AP Otake Maru, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AP Kiyozumi Maru
AP Anzan Maru
A good sized chunk of the 21st Mixed Brigade went down with the ships.
The Japanese were also active, launching attacks on Royal Soveriegns group:
Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 27
Ki-48 Lily x 3
Allied aircraft
Hurricane II x 3
Spitfire Vb x 11
Where they discovered that the British can use long range CAP too, a few planes did not make it home but no damage was done to the BB.
A small brave group also went after the British CVs where they found a ton of CAP waiting for them.
apanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 13
Ki-48 Lily x 3
Allied aircraft
Fulmar x 47
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 20 destroyed, 1 damaged
Ki-48 Lily: 5 destroyed, 2 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
Fulmar: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged
Allied Ships
CV Indomitable
All I can say is its a good thing there were lots of Fulmars and thier quality is high.
The British are getting ready for a major push on Singapore by land, this turn they launched a prepatory bombardment:
Ground combat at Singapore
Allied Bombardment attack
Attacking force 26362 troops, 339 guns, 0 vehicles Not a lot of guns, but they are very big
Defending force 13813 troops, 19 guns, 0 vehicle
Japanese ground losses:
436 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
In Timor the Japanese plastered Lautem airbase with 200 plane strikes from Kendari, and the Americans sent 100 B17s after the airstrip in Mamuere. The B17s did 31 points damage, which is not even close to shutting the place down but the did kill some planes on the ground. The Japanese turned Lautem into a mimic of the surface of the moon.
The Japanese at Keopang launched another deliberate attack odds are still 0 to 1 but causualties are starting to run in favor of the Japanese:
Japanese ground losses:
676 casualties reported
Guns lost 23
Vehicles lost 1
Allied ground losses:
797 casualties reported
Guns lost 8
Vehicles lost 2
The British also stepped up air attacks in Burma but nothing really exciting happened there.
At the end of the day I think the blockade battle went to the British. As near as I can tell they sunk 8 out of 12 incoming transports before any could unload. They also took out a CA and 4 to 6 DDs and badly damaged the ISE which is unlikely to get away from the huge amount of allied air that is based one hex from her current location.
The British also suffered heavily but they started with more shipping and seem to have won or drawn all the battles. If they can maintian the blockade for a few more days it may be too late for the Japanese to recover, most of the defenders of Singapore are base force units that are heavily disrupted after being chased 180 miles from Malacca.
Timor continues to balance on a knife edge. It is pinning down forces that Blackwatch badly needs in Malaya. If he can win Timor quickly then he may be able to save Malaya for Japan which would be a major defeat for the Allies. On the other hand if he loses Timor and Malaya in 1942 then things will turn ugly very fast when the new American CVs show up in 1943.
While we wait for 1.5 to come out I plan to post another of my periodic looks at the loss rates on both sides. I am also working on a good write up of how I put the Malaya invasion together and what I did to try and achieve the suprise that was essential to the success so far.
Finally I will caution people not to assume that Malaya is won for the British. Blackwatch is very good, as I mentioned in a different thread he has actually beaten me in more battles than I have beaten him. This really is not over until the fat lady sings.