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December 30, 1941: Somewhere in the Pacific.
A visitor to San Francisco would see the frantic activity in the harbor. Some convoys, are loaded Willy Nilly, with all the supplies, food, fuel, ammunition, guns, they can carry and sent off to their destinations in the Pacific Ocean. These are bound for large harbors where they will unload their cargo, which, once sorted, will be sent on, in smaller ships to wherever it is needed.
Other convoys, like 132 are loaded in a different fashion. It is called a war load. Units, guns, and supplies are married so that when they land, the men will have the precise equipment they need to fight, or build, whatever it is they are fighting, or building, wherever it is they are going.

Deceember 31st 1941: Annus Horribilis.
The world ends the year embroiled in a war with the forces of evil, and the bad guys are winning. They are not invincible, and the good guys get in their punches, if they bide their time.
Today is a good time to review the capital ships at Pear, and how their repairs are coming along.
The harbormaster’s office at Pearl informs us that the battleships will not finish their repairs at Pearl, rather, as soon as they are fit for the crossing, they will move to the shipyards on the West Coast, leaving Pearl Harbor available for the more urgent needs of combat operations.

January 1st 1942. Happy New Year.
The Imperial Japanese Navy had one last gift for our Australian allies on the last day of the past year. As the citizens of Sidney prepared their muted New Year celebrations, the skies over Sydney resounded with the shriek of air raid alarms and the roar of aero engines. 16 Kate bombers and 17 Dal dive bombers escorted by zero fighters attacked Sidney harbor scoring a hit on light cruiser Perth moored in the harbor. The antiaircraft guns, caught by surprise put up an ineffective barrage and the enemy aircraft returned to their ships with just a couple of airplanes damaged by near misses. Later in the day a second raid attacked the harbor and again scored a hit on Perth. There were no fighters on CAP over Sidney. The thought of such a daring raid, so deep into enemy territory being inconceivable to the Australian authorities.
In Malaya, Samarinda and Georgetown fell to the enemy yesterday.

January 2nd 1942. Sidney raided again!
Once again, Japanese carrier aircraft attack Sidney harbor. The enemy launched only one raid yesterday, but this time, it was much larger than the previous day. Assured that there were no allied fighters near, the Japanese carrier launched a full strike of 39 Kate and 41 Val bombers. Australian flak scored hits and near misses on the single engine bombers, with a total of eighteen planes reportedly damaged. This time however the enemy was much more successful.
For a start, earlier in the day, a midget submarine crept into the harbor and scored a torpedo hit on CA Australia. The air raid compounded the problem, in spades.
Canberra took 5 bombs, Australia four, in addition to the midget’s torpedo, Perth six, adding to the damage from the first raid. A tanker and two small cargo ships were also hit.
Rabaul still holds against the determined Japanese assault.
In the Dutch East Indies, baby KB launched an attack on CLs De Ruyter and Java near Kendari. The cruisers avoided the torpedoes and may have damaged some of the bombers.
In China, Hwaiyin is reported to have been taken by the Japanese.

January 3rd 1942. CV Enterprise lost.
Only yesterday did allied intelligence announce that CV Enterprise sunk on December 12th, as it was returning to Pearl. When only one or two days out from safe harbor, the emergency repairs failed, and the ship foundered. All of the crew were saved by its escorts, however the aircraft went down with the ship. It was considered important to hide this loss from the Japanese until the attacks on Sidney rendered the information moot.
The pesky enemy submarines continue to prowl Hawaiian waters despite the incessant efforts of several destroyer asw task forces to chase them down. Near Lahaina, on the second, DD Conyngham was hit by an enemy torpedo. The destroyer suffered heavy damage and is returning to Pearl for repairs.
In Malaya, the British retreat to the fortress of Singapore is almost complete. Allied forces are holding the Japanese back at Mersing, to allow for the last remnants of the British army to retreat to the Gibraltar of the East.
It is perhaps appropriate now to provide a map showing the current extent of the Japanese advance.

January 4th. Kiido Butai visits Sidney yet again.[/b] In a show of arrogance, the Dals and Kates of the Kiido Butai return to Sidney and attack the ships that sought the doubtful protection of the weakly defended port. Australia suffered four additional bomb hits and sunk, Perth, hit three more times is still afloat, but heavily damaged. Other ships were hit too. The naval command is caught between a rock and a hard place. They do not dare to send the ships elsewhere with the Japanese carriers prowling between Southeast Australia and New Zealand/ Noumea, but at the same time, they are sitting ducks in the harbor. Fighter have been requested from the US, and promised, but it takes time for them to arrive, assuming that KB doesn’t sink the transports that carry them. The long suffering citizens of Sidney wonder where the vaunted American carriers are. In Malaya, outgunned, outnumbered, flying obsolete aircraft, and confined to the southern corner of the island, the RAF proves that it still has fight left in it. 10 Vildebeest biplanes, escorted by 8 of the, by now proven inadequate, Buffaloes, fought through an escort of eleven Oscar fighters and scored two hits on AP Buenos Aires Maru and one on AP Asama Maru. Unfortunately they used bombs and not torpedoes, but the pluck of the British pilots cannot be overstated.    

Jan 5th 1942
The obligatory visit from the enemy carrier aircraft repeated itself over Sidney. It would appear that the IJN is daring the US Navy to commit its remaining carriers to battle at a time and place of its choosing. To date, the US Navy is not responding.
Meanwhile, in other theaters, the war continues its progress, according to the Japanese schedule, of course. Japanese invasions were in progress yesterday at Manado and Mersing. At Mersing, the British Wildebeest tried to attack the invasion fleet but this time, success was not to be had. 12 plucky biplanes attacked with a puny escort of three Buffaloes. Only four torpedo bombers returned, and two fighters, for no ships hit.
The US Navy might be unable or unwilling to commit its carriers near Australia but one of its submarines scored a hit on a Japanese merchant near Ominato, right on the Japs backyard. Yodogawa Maru was hit by a torpedo released by an unnamed US submarine.

I remember KB's visit to Sydney. [:'(] First and only time my midget sub attacked a nice juicy target. [X(][:D]

January 6th 1942, Allied forces report that Manado, Taiping, and Beaufort have fallen to the Japanese. There are rumors about that the US torpedoes may be having a problem. Reports of clear hits and failure to detonate are false according to the Bureau of the Navy.

January 7th.
The news is that KB did not attack Sidney on the 6th. The pesky Japanese submarines continue to prowl around the Hawaiian Islands and the US Navy destroyers continue to hound them.
In the Philippines, allied and Japanese forces continue to trade artillery fire over Clark field.
January 8th.
Rabaul continues to hold against the Japanese invasion. In the Indian Ocean, the British have withdrawn a wing of Wildebeests to the small base of Port Blair in the Andaman Islands. It seems they hope to bottle up the Japanese fleet and prevent it from sortieing into the Indian Ocean.
January 9th. Rabaul falls.
The garrison at Rabaul finally ceded control of the port to the Japanese invaders yesterday. Lark battalion and the Rabaul base garrison are withdrawing in good order towards Gasmata.

January 10th 1941 Any hopes that Kiido Butai had ran out of fuel or ammunition were dashed yesterday when its bombers paid a visit to the idyllic port of Suva. Several tankers were attacked and sunk in the harbor.
Malacca falls to Japanese attack but all the allied forces had withdrawn from the city in good order prior to the enemy assault.
Closer to home, the asw tf of DDs Allen, Ward and Chew reported attacking an enemy submarine near Lanai. This time, they report four hits on the enemy. Since the nearest repair facility in Kwajalein is far far away, we may count that enemy sub as sunk.

January 11th. Enemy bombers revisit Suva and there is nothing the US Navy can do about it.
But this does not mean the U.S. is inactive. On the contrary, at a bunch of small, insignificant atolls in the Pacific, troops of engineers build airfields, harbors, out of coral rock and sand. In fact Palmyra has just acquired a level 2 port.
In other places, fortifications are being hastily built to withstand the enemy attack, bound to come soon.

December 12 42. Pegu falls.
The Japanese score their first success in their drive for the oil and resources from Burma. Pegu fell yesterday. This vital station in the Burma road fell to Japanese attack isolating Rangoon from the resource rich inland forests.
December 13 42 Ships that cross in the night.
Vanikoro is a small collection of coral atolls, of no importance to anyone who had not read 20,000 leagues under the sea, however, yesterday, two task forces crossed each other during the night and, had the allied force been a combat force instead of a tanker one, history might be different. Imagine, if you will the shock on the bridge of DD Cushing, flagship of the oiler fleet when, out of the night’s gloom pour a gaggle of enemy ships; among them, he recognizes two battleships, Hiei and Kirishima, and two heavy cruisers, Tone and Chikuma. Expecting to be blown out of the water, he orders his ships to open the range; he ponders ordering the tanker convoy to scatter, in the hopes of saving at least one or two of his juicy, fuel laden tankers. Only as the two fleets begin to open the range, in divergent tracks he sees the reason why the Japanese did not attack him. Following the battleships and cruisers, CV Hiryu, Soryu, Shokaku, Zuikaku and Akagi.
He has time to issue a contact report and to steam away as fast as his oilers can. Dawn however comes way before he is out of range. The men man the AA guns, and wait.
The results speak for themselves. A transport TF, fortunately homeward bound and empty is found first.
AP Henry T. Allen, Bomb hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAKL Kahuku, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
AP President Polk, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
AP President Jackson, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AP Henderson, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
DD King, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Lawrence
DD Sands
xAP President Buchanan, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 4, and is sunk
xAP President Fillmore, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires
xAP President Taylor, Bomb hits 5, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP President Tyler, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
AP Tasker H. Bliss
AP President Monroe, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
Then it’s the oilers turn.
DD Cushing
AO Patoka, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
AO Neches, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
AO Sabine, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
AO Kaskaskia, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires
AO Kanawha, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
DD Rathburne, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires
DD Perkins

January 15 1942. [/b] Is there no end to the Japanese daring? Now the dreaded KB has moved to the vicinity of Ocean Island where their naval bombers savaged yet another tanker task force. Nine tankers and their destroyer escorts were attacked. In addition to the loss of precious fuel we have to lament the loss of life, of the brave sailors that manned those ships. We have to ask: If it is so important to carry that fuel all the way into Australia, then is it not essential to provide air cover? The allied tactics appear to involve waiting for the enemy to expend all its munitions. This is no way to fight a war.  

January 16 1942.
The allied forces retreat in Burma; British forces are pushed back in New Guinea. A new Japanese carrier task force makes its appearance in the Banda Sea, between Timor and the Celebes islands. The only good news is that this second carrier task force cannot find any shipping to attack, because all the ships have fled the area.

January 17 1942
While in the Philippines, American and Filipino forces continue to hold on to Clark, everywhere else the Japanese continue to overwhelm all their opponents. In China things are not that good either. It appears the Chinese forces, even when they outnumber the Japanese, cannot hold out for even a day before taking off at full speed.

January 18 1942. Kiido Butai visits Luganville. The New Hebrides Islands are the new recipients of KB’s largesse. Will these guys never run out of ammunition? Yesterday, B5N1 Kates from the enemy carriers attacked undefended shipping in the harbor. xAK Royal T. Frank suffered 7 bomb hits and AP US Grant 6.
In the Solomon Islands, the Japanese made an unopposed landing in the island of Guadalcanal.

January 24, 1942. Pesky submarines.[/b] The enemy submarines prowling around the Hawaiian archipelago may not be very effective but they sure are annoying. The naval command has wisely decided to ferry the capital ships from Pearl to shipyards on the West coast for the extensive repairs that they need thus freeing up essential dry dock space for war needs. This decision comes as no surprise to us; it is the logical thing to do and, it seems, the Japanese naval command expected this. This is, of course what the enemy submarines were waiting for. One of them attacked the convoy that was ferrying BB Pennsylvania to the West Coast shipyards. It failed to attack the big warship and had to attack one of its escorts, DD Ellet. Thanks to the quick action of its lookouts, the destroyer evaded the four torpedoes launched at it. DD Blue then attacked the submerged enemy to no effect while Bagley stayed with the capital ship as it steamed, slowly, out of harm’s way.  

January 26 1942.
The war may continue but it did not seem so yesterday, in most theaters of conflict. Indeed, it seemed as if a lunar New Year truce had been declared. The battlefields were silent. On both sides of no-man’s land, combatants stopped and gathered their breath. Only two exceptions:
Near Pearl Harbor, the ASW task force of DDs Allen, Ward and Chew, attacked an enemy submarine with unknown results. In Pakhoi, the 64th Chinese corps traded artillery fire with the Japanese 5th Amphibious brigade, with uncertain results.
That was all the combat that occurred.
Allied forces are not inactive. A spanking new airfield rises out of the desert outside Darwin and has reached level 4. It can now operate twin engine bombers in addition to fighters and scout bombers. These however are not present and on its long runways, only patrol aircraft and the Hudson twin engine patrol/ bomber hybrids operate.
In Luganville, despite the visit of Kiido Butai’s Kates, or perhaps because of them, the fortifications have been improved from the rudimentary foxholes to the next level and work continues to make the island base a tough nut to crack for the enemy, if it decides to try at it.

January 27 1942.
The lull in the fighting continues. US destroyers continue to harass Japanese submarines around the islands while in the Solomon islands, the enemy landed a small force in Tulagi.

January 28 1942. [/b] Enemy submarines stroll through the waters around Hawaii uninhibited by our Navy. Yesterday, off Hilo, the small steamer Nebraskan was shelled first and then torpedoed and sunk.
Johore Bahru and Iloilo fell to Japanese attack.  

January 31 42.[/b] Kido Butai strikes again near Kuria. A transport task force was savaged by enemy carrier planes.
xAK K.I. Luckenbach, Torpedo hits 4, and is sunk
xAK Tuscaloosa City, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
xAK Liberty, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
xAK Dorothy Luckenbach, Torpedo hits 5, and is sunk
xAK Henry S Grove, Torpedo hits 4, and is sunk
xAK Diamond head, Torpedo hits 4, and is sunk
xAK Ohioan, Bomb hits 6,  heavy fires,  heavy damage
xAK Agwimonte, Bomb hits 13,  heavy fires,  heavy damage
xAK Ensley City Bomb hits 7  

February 1st 1942[/b] The war goes on, at a slower pace. Yesterday, allied forces at Clark repelled yet another Japanese attack on the airfield. Pakhoi is also holding on.
Yesterday, Admiral Chester Nimitz in a rare interview offered to answer some of our questions.
Admiral: Is there an allied strategy or are we just muddling along?
“You could say that the strategy is to muddle along. Seriously, the Japanese are looking for oil and resources in the Dutch East Indies, Malaya and Burma. They are on a tight timetable, they need to seize the goods before their economy runs out of oil, fuel, steel and rubber. Our strategy, at this time is to delay their advance, as best we can, until we are ready to mount oor own offensive.”

“When will that be?”

“I would estimate that by June, or July, we should see some limited allied offensives, of course depending on what the enemy does.”

“How about the submarines that are plaguing our shores?”

“We will get them eventually.”