Jun 10
Carrier Raids on SE Australia:
Despite the discovery of KB, I decided to press on with both KB and KB2. Since there was no immediate threat of allied carriers (NZ is watched), I split them, sending KB to attack Melbourne and KB2 to attack Adelaide. I expected Michael would transfer his fighters from the Sydney area to Melbourne. Since KB2 remained unspotted, I thought Adelaide might not have so many fighters.
Firstly, the naval bombardment on Newcastle, that was supposed to occur yesterday, had Tanaka actually followed his orders:
Night Naval bombardment of Newcastle at 92,166 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!
Allied aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft losses
P-39D Airacobra: 17 damaged
P-39D Airacobra: 1 destroyed on ground
46 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Japanese Ships
BB Yamashiro, Shell hits 2
BB Fuso
BB Mutsu
BB Nagato, Shell hits 1
CA Chikuma
CA Tone
DD Oboro
DD Amagiri
DD Murakumo
DD Minegumo
DD Natsugumo
DD Isokaze
Allied ground losses:
694 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 17 disabled
Non Combat: 10 destroyed, 53 disabled
Engineers: 5 destroyed, 12 disabled
Guns lost 17 (4 destroyed, 13 disabled)
Light Industry hits 1
Manpower hits 1
Fires 66
Airbase hits 13
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 19
Port hits 6
Port fuel hits 1
Port supply hits 1
This airfield had 100 fighters yesterday, today it had about 30. They were all damaged I think, but it's too late to actually assist KB.
Not to be outdone by Tanaka, Nagumo also fails to execute his movement orders properly. I intended for KB to cover the last 15 hexes to its final position with a dash and then launch the strike 7 hexes west of Melbourne. Nagumo did not cover the entire distance and launches a strike from 8 hexes away.
Only 16 Zeros escorting. 91 allied fighters are on CAP duty. Enough said:
Morning Air attack on Melbourne , at 82,170
Weather in hex: Light rain
Raid detected at 118 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 50 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 16 [:@]
B5N2 Kate x 144
Allied aircraft
P-39D Airacobra x 18
P-40E Warhawk x 73
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 4 destroyed
B5N2 Kate: 40 destroyed, 2 damaged [8|]
Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 2 destroyed
Allied Ships
xAP Stagen, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
TK Aldegonda, Bomb hits 1, on fire
TK Josefina, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
PC Kybra, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
KV Cyclamen, Bomb hits 1
xAKL Matthew Flinders, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AM Horsham, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
AM Eland Dubois, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
AG Wanaka, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
TK Juno, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
TK Angelina, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
AG Gemma, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
xAKL Silindoeng, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AVP Fazant, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAKL Van Diemen, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAKL James Cook, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAP Morinda, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CM Rigel, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAKL Kanlaon II, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAKL Mauban, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AD Black Hawk, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAKL Chungking, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AG Willebrord Snellius, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
Repair Shipyard hits 1
Port hits 8
Port fuel hits 1
About 30 Kate pilots are lost. The port had about 100 ships! I am left to lament what could have been...
What went wrong?
a) KB encountered an allied convoy two days ago, uncovering its position.
b) As I said earlier, the naval bombardment should have bombarded Newcastle yesterday, pinning 100 allied fighters there.
c) Nagumo launches a 8-hex strike, instead of 7.
And most importantly...
d) I botched the orders to the Zero groups. Two groups were ordered to sweep Melbourne, but I put them on 100% CAP by mistake. Another group simply fails to take off. Hence the low number of escort fighters.
C'est la guerre [8D]
Now for the KB2 raid on Adelaide. Here things were more straightforward:
Morning Air attack on Adelaide , at 75,163
Weather in hex: Thunderstorms
Raid detected at 107 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 45 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 33
B5N2 Kate x 36
D3A1 Val x 15
Allied aircraft
Kittyhawk IA x 14
P-39D Airacobra x 25
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
B5N2 Kate: 1 destroyed
D3A1 Val: 3 destroyed, 1 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
Kittyhawk IA: 1 destroyed
Allied Ships
BB Resolution, Bomb hits 1
BB Revenge, Bomb hits 1
Runway hits 2
I did not expect to see battleships! Recon planes showed nothing of the sort, they just reported 45 transports and other support ships.
A second, weaker package scored another 800 kg bomb hit on Resolution.
Then, the KB is subjected to attack by allied 4E bombers. There were about 60 bombers based at Melbourne in total. Had KB actually been only 6 hexes away, these attacks might be stronger. As it was, my CAP was more than enough to deal with the piece meal strikes. 2 Liberators and 5 B-17s are destroyed, several more are damaged.
SE Australia:
My tanks are attacked by 2e bombers. About 60 are disabled. For some reason, my LRCAP did not work properly today. The infantry divisions are just one day away from joining the armor.
SW Australia:
Michael emptied Esperanza when I entered Kalgoorlie. The 2nd Raiding Regiment is airdropped there, capturing the base.
The 4th Australian Division is chased towards Port Augusta. I will not chase them with the Guards Tank Division.
I will leave the 7th Independent Tank Brigade in pursuit and use the GDT to cut off the Americal Division, after a landing at Port Augusta.
The offensive will be launched when KB has regrouped at Perth.
