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An alert coastwatcher spotted a Japanese TF hugging the New Guinea coasts.
The two CV tf's near Palau make full speed and find two large TF, one is attacked with 4 ships damaged.

If it had not been for the coastwatcher I would not have suspected!

Tommorrow should bring more carnage.

Mgen Vasey tours the coast around Noumea and mutters "Not a single Japanese soldier appears to be left"

His aide nods, looks down at his clipboard and says "Yes sir, yesterday there were over 5,000 of them we did an attack, surrounded them then poof, they dissapeared"

Mgen Vasey, "Very strange, you know they count this stuff back at headquarters, did we get the points for that many?"

aid "No sir, Like I said we only recieved points like the several hundred we killed, not 5,000 worth, although I understood this happened to the American Division that was on Nandi, remenants there were attacked when all of a sudden they appeared in Frisco! Seems there was some sorta paperwork coverup to explain they were always there"

Mgen Vasey "Interesting, what is the state of that division now?"

aide "All its dispersed elements have been brought back together and it is getting battle ready again"

Mgen Vasey "Very well, it seems our work on Noumea is done, lets get back to the troops and get them prepared for their next target!"

Meanwhile on the bridge of the Enterprise north of New Guinea

Cpt Murray listens to the crackle of the radio as his bombers report in, 5 more transports hit "Dam, it looks like there going to get away, whats the status of the Yorktown and Lexington"

Aide #2 "Sir they report heavy cloud cover, unable to launch"

Cpt Murray "Well it appears those slippery ships got lucky and slipped past us, It looks like we will only bag about 8 to 10 of over 30 or more transports, Send a message to York and Lex, continue one more day but be prepared Kendari is loaded with Nells and Betties, it appears the ships are making for that anchorage"

We are up to Nov 2nd, things are pretty tranquil around the pacific. The only ominous noise is the british BB's after a rest show up to wake up the defenders of Padang then withdraw.

Below is the total score, the allied command has a lead. We hold the Marianas completely down to Wolei, All ships at palau have been sunk.

We are pleased with the advantage but cannot rest.

While total ships sunk are close, As will be seen in the next few post Scott has lost his CV force, while mine while damaged, have not been turned into fish amusement parks.

Japanese air losses are higher, but this is skewed due to CV's sunk and his use of Nates

Below are the top scoring ship losses from both sides.

Here are the totals
CV/CVL Japanese lost 7/4 [:'(] allied 1/-
CVE Japanese lost 2 allied -
BB Japanese lost 2 allied 1
CA/CL Japanese lost 2/7 allied 1/8
CS Japanese lost 1
DD Japanese lost 31 allied 34
APD Japanese lost 6 allied 3
AP Japanese lost 103 allied 46
AK Japanese lost 173 allied 168 [:(]
AO Japanese lost 2 allied 9
TK Japanese lost 8 allied 14
SS Japanese lost 26 allied 14
Aux Japanese lost 4 allied 6
Mine Japanese lost 26 allied 15
Patrol Japanese lost 29 allied 51 (31 are PT boats)

Here are the top aircraft losses.

Things would be even if the KB had not been sunk and he had just grounded his Nates as they account for the most losses.
I have yet to see a useful role for the Nate except pilot training in China once the air is dominated.
Although in CHS he probably has no choice if there are not enough of the other frames, I have not looked at CHS from the Japnese side.

Just wait until my super secret weapons start to show up. [X(][:'(][:D]

We are up to Nov 6th, and I must confess the British BB's did not continue withdrawing after the first day bombardment. Instead they turned around and protected a Transport fleet which unloaded a division, bde and BF's eng unit all of which captured Sabang and pushed 3 baseforces out! Japanese airplanes flew from the coast but have only done minor damage, the threat was considered minor so I sent the CV"s and BB's home and allow the transports to continue unloading [:)]

In addition to this the base Sawahloo finally went to level 3 and my British torpedo planes moved up, at the same time a transport convoy shows up at Singapore 4 hexes away and for two days gets its fair share of british torpedo's. This was a surprise to me and probably Scott as well as my search planes did not detect incoming but I was moving up to prevent a reinforcement and interdict shipping to aid Sabang.

South of the Mariana's my 3 very tired CV's moved north of truk and begin attacking shipping in and around Truk, there are a reported 119 ships there, The airfield is being suppressed by B-24's/B-17 from Mariana's and P-38 sweeps from Waluei sp?. Not sure when and if he will try to make a breakout but my forces will try to take out as many as possible. The only significant deterant is his strong airforce at Rabual, but without cover at Truk they will get eaten by my CAP as I am making sure to stay North of Truk.

Elsewhere in the Pacific many ships are continueing the Oct 42 upgrades and I am moving more supplies and troops to the front as well as repairing many damaged ships.

The last few days air attacks at Singapore and Truk have mumped the Japanese ship losses from 428 on the 2nd to 450 on the 6th, most are transports and patrol craft.

When the weather clears, the 3 CV's get targets, surprise to me Tone is in port. After battle it shows 50 ships in harbor not the 118, did some escape south to Rabaul[&:], or did recon get better with this raid. None sink yet, hopefully a clear day tommorrow

Nov 8th 1942
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Truk , at 66,78

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 29
SBD-3 Dauntless x 96
TBF Avenger x 48

Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 4 destroyed, 27 damaged
TBF Avenger: 1 destroyed, 21 damaged

Japanese Ships
AK Akiura Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AP Nishiki Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AP Unkai Maru #3, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AK Gyoku Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
CS Chitose, Bomb hits 2, on fire
ML Okinoshima, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AP Ryofu Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AK Nojima Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CA Tone, Bomb hits 5, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
CS Chiyoda, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AP Kotobuki Maru #3, Torpedo hits 1
AK Kotohira Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AK Shino Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AK Amagisan Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CS Nisshin, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AP Kashima Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
AK Nanrei Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
PG Hokoku Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
PC Ch 31, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
ML Takashima, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AP Nagaragawa Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
MLE Katsuragi Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AP Heizan Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
SS RO-68, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Japanese ground losses:
89 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

Port hits 8
Port fuel hits 1
Port supply hits 2

We are up to Nov 12th, my 3 CV's causing havoc on truk are withdrawing to Saipan, their sorites are empty. Meanwhile 2 CVE's have dectected and chasing a convoy of 10 ships hugging the New Guinea coast just past Hollandia, after two days only 1 APD is hit, seems the dauntless's on CVE's are not that experianced. Guess I will have to move a regular CV down here to shut this activity off.

South Pacific all is quiet we stand at our own bases. Rabual shows fighters but no activity and Truk sits there helpless some 40 ships in harbor most must be damaged.

Burma/DEI all is quiet except the 7th AID division pushes the 3 engineer units that started in sabang down to Medan, it will be liberated in a couple of days.

Many ships are repairing, but the war will not wait for them. I am already planning my next offensives.

November 16th

Cpt Boyles peers thru the binoculars at the Northern New Guinea coast, No enemy shipping was close to oppose his landings, intell had proved correct, there were no military defenders at Hollandia. This was apparent in the fact that Captain Boyles, commander of a 5,000 ton freighter was the commander of this assualt which consisted of numerous transports and two minesweepers for protection. Testimony to the fact that the entire Northern New Guinea coast was unoccupied.

Suddenly the battle stations signal is heard throughout the ship, looking up 11 betty bombers are seen in the distance, they fly over the transports and drop their bombs to no affect.

Boyles turns to his exec "Order the CVE's 120 miles to the NE to form up on the landing and give us fighter protection no need to give them a free shot, I believe those betties came from Rabaul as Truk is neutralized"

Boyles turns back to view the beach where the 123rd USN Baseforce continues its unloading, hardly a combat unit, it does have combat infantry so it will be enough to secure Hollandia and then Truk, Rabual, Luganville, Fiji and the Marshalls will be cutoff from Japan.

History fact

When Allied codebreakers lifted the veil shrouding Japanese defenses, it became evident that MacArthur's next landing, scheduled for 26 April in Hansa Bay, midway between Madang and Wewak, could expect strong ground opposition. Moreover Japanese aerial reinforcements were filling up the major air base complex at Hollandia from where they would support the land defense of Madang. Conversely, Hollandia's land defenses were almost nonexistent. The soft Japanese center remained vulnerable to an Allied landing.

By late March, Kenney knew from deciphered Japanese communications that about 350 enemy warplanes were concentrated near Hollandia where they believed themselves safely beyond the range of Allied air strikes. Employing new model P-38s whose extended range
made them ideal as escorts, Kenney sent sixty B-24 heavy bombers against Hollandia on 30 March. Follow-up raids demolished nearly all the operational Japanese aircraft at Hollandia on the ground. Never again would the enemy contest air superiority over New Guinea.

For MacArthur to bag all of Eighteenth Army, it was imperative that Adachi continue to believe that MacArthur's next blow was aimed at the Madang-Hansa area. A well-designed deception effort fed General Adachi and his staff a steady diet of false information about an Allied landing in Hansa Bay that the Japanese were predisposed to believe. The deception was so successful that on 22 April the 24th and 41st Divisions, led by Lt. Gen. Robert L. Eichelberger, commander of I Corps and the RECKLESS Task Force, landed unopposed twenty-five miles apart at Hollandia. The 163d Regimental Combat Team simultaneously waded ashore against no opposition at Aitape. In one swoop MacArthur had split the Japanese defenses on New Guinea in half, isolating Eighteenth Army in eastern New Guinea.

Once ashore, the 24th and 41st Divisions, moving east and west respectively, conducted a pincer movement to encircle Hollandia's three airfields. The maze of jungle trails, rain-swollen streams, marshy lowlands, and numerous hills and defiles proved a harsher opponent than the Japanese. Although there were 7,600 enemy near Hollandia, most were assigned to service, airfield, and communications units. Only one in ten carried a rifle. Surprised, badly outnumbered, demoralized, and ill equipped for battle, the Japanese fled into the jungle in hopes of reaching Sarmi, about 150 miles to the northwest. On 26 April the pincers closed on the airdromes where GIs discovered an aircraft graveyard of 340 wrecked planes that provided silent testimony to the deadliness of Kenney's earlier air raids.

Actual picture of landings at Hollandia

[X(][:-][8|]

Cpt Boyles paces the deck, it had been a day since the CVE's had spotted the CA Tone, and a CS as well as over 10 transports and assorted ships makinga break along the northern New Guinea coast. He ordered all ships to pull back, even though the Tone had been damaged at Truk, and took another 1000lb from the CVE's she still was bigger then the minesweepers.

Hollandia had fallen the day before, and PBY's had been flown in, the 19th will give them a good picture was this just a few ships or a jailbreak.
Unfotunatly 2 CVE's could not do much damage and even the F4F's had been pressed into naval attack.

He had sent out the message for reinforcements, they must stop this escape of ships. Only time would tell.

Is it a jailbreak or something bigger? [:D][:'(][X(][:-]

Kendari

Top Secret Bunker somewhere around Kendari Base.

Three men were huddled around a table that had seen better days.
"Those American carriers are wreaking havoc on our transports." said Feurer Krieg.
"Planes have been ordered to Ambonia for a future strike." replied thegreatwent.
"Let us hope they can do their part in our diversion or more aptly jailbreak." said Fabertong.

4:15 am Local Time

Night Time Surface Combat, near Hollandia at 52,81

Japanese Ships
CA Ashigara
CA Kinugasa, Shell hits 1
DD Natsushio
DD Maikaze
DD Minegumo
DD Yudachi
DD Uranami
DD Akebono
DD Ushio
DD Oite
DD Hayate
DD Asanagi

Allied Ships that were hit
MSW Swallow, Shell hits 4,  on fire,  heavy damage
AK Challenger, Shell hits 53, and is sunk [:-]
AK Dakotan, Shell hits 2,  on fire
AK Harpoon, Shell hits 13, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk [:-]
AK Lipscomb Lykes, Shell hits 8,  on fire,  heavy damage
AK Dos Hermanos, Shell hits 3,  on fire
3508 casualties reported [:'(][8D]

6 hours later 1:23 pm Local time

"Sir, planes took off from our airbase on Ambonia and engaged the enemy 360 miles northeasterly."
"The carrier Wasp was hit with 5 torpedoes." [:'(][:D]

The Imperial Japanese Navy might be down but we are not out [:-][X(][:'(][:D]

The plan to make the enemy over confident has paid off! On to Pearl Harbor!!
[:D]

A balding man huddles over the drafting table putting the last touches on the pipeing, he grabs the eraser to adjust a slightly overdrawn line.

The mailboy walking thru the room stops and peers over his shoulder "Mighty complicated what do you call that?"

The balding man looks over his shoulder, finally someone interested "My boy this is an Essex carrier, it will be the pride of the Navy and send those Japs all the way back to Tokyo"

The mailboy who dreams of getting into the war except for his poor vision puts a telegram on the mans desk and says "Whats its name"

The balding man reads the few short words on the telegram .... To drafting room 222 please update all prints for Essex #2 to have the name Wasp"

The balding man exclaims with the air of always having the answer "Its the Wasp"

The mailboy looks confused "Why don't we already have a Wasp?"

The pilot looks scans the sky, he was one of the last bombers to take off from Saipan, but he was not worried. In front of him for as far his eyes could see were B-24D bombers. Truk had become a milk run at least 2 times a week sometimes 3 they would fly out and hit the airfield or harbor. Today was the harbor, no fighters were left to defend the ships.

Later as he arrived over the harbor and he saw the puffs of anti aircraft fire, he knew it would be a good day, still over 30 ships in port, not the over 100 a few weeks ago, but most of these could not risk the seas. The plane lurches up as the bombs release and drift down toward the targets, another day, another milk run!!

Day Air attack on Truk , at 66,78 November 23rd 1942

Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 120

Allied aircraft losses
B-24D Liberator: 1 destroyed, 9 damaged

Japanese Ships
SS I-124, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AK Tsuneshima Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AP Heizan Maru, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
AK Kotohira Maru, Bomb hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
AK Senkai Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AK Takaosan Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AK Shikisan Maru, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
AK Konsan Maru, Bomb hits 5, on fire, heavy damage
PG Hokoku Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AK Yamafuji Maru, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
AP Kongo Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AK Lyons Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AK Yamazuki Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AK Terukawa Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AK San Francisco Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AK Yamabuki Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
SS I-16, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AK Amakasu Maru #1, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AK Tateyama Maru, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
AK Nojima Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AK Hofuku Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AR Shoei Maru # 2, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AK Yamahagi Maru, Bomb hits 1

Japanese ground losses:
79 casualties reported
Guns lost 4

Port hits 7

November 25th 1942

Adm Kimmel sat at this desk planning the next incursions into the neutered Japanese empire.

Suddenly his Kool Aide rushes in and exclaim "Sir Japanese carrier planes have just attacked transports unloading at Hollandia!
He hands Kimmel the attack report.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Hollandia at 52,81

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 22
D3A2 Val x 22
B5N2 Kate x 20

Allied aircraft
P-38F Lightning x 10

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed
D3A2 Val: 2 destroyed, 2 damaged
B5N2 Kate: 1 destroyed, 3 damaged

Allied Ships
MSW Starling
AK Dakotan, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AK American, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AK Atlanta City, Bomb hits 4, on fire
AK Arizonan, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
AK Coloradan, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage

ADM Kimmel "Were any other ships attacked, What about the escort carriers that were operating there 2 days ago?"

Kool Aide "In the afternoon they also launched attacks vs 2 damaged transports and again Hollandia, several ships will sink, as for the CVE's they had moved out of the area luckily for it seems to be more then one carrier!"

ADM Kimmel "More then one, I thought they only had CV Junyo what more could they have and what other assets are in the area?"

Kool Aide "Our spies report they could have completed CVL Ryuho and CVE Chuyo but we are not sure, as for other ships we spotted thier group and it appears at least one battleship and many cruisers are involved. In addition the SS Pompano spotted the CA Kinugasa and 11 destroyers at Rabual which means that after Ashigiru and Kinugasa bombarded Hollandia they did not escape but withdrew back to Rabaul"

ADM Kimmel rubs his face to clear his thoughts "Very well, alert all forces in the area the Japanese have brought in heavy surface forces and possibly 3 small CV's, Make sure the CVE's do not engage with out large CV's or land based support."

Kool Aide "Sir there are at least 10 Japanese transports SE of Hollandia, they could be escaping or trying to reclaim hollandia, what should we do?"

ADM Kimmel "I believe our forces are strong enough there, but begin reinforcement of the area with protection, also order another attack on Rabaul, its time we convinced these imperialist to tuck tail and go home!"

History Fact
Kinugasa and her sister ship Aoba were originally planned as the third and fourth vessels in the Furutaka-class of heavy cruisers. However, design issues with the Furutaka-class resulted in modifications including include double turrets and an aircraft catapult. These modifications created yet more weight to an already top-heavy design, causing stability problems. Nevertheless, Kinugasa played an important role in the opening stages of World War II.

The Battle of Savo Island
In the Battle of Savo Island on 9 August 1942, CruDiv 6, Ch¨­kai, light cruisers Tenry¨± and Yubari and destroyer Y¨±nagi engaged the Allied Forces in a night gun and torpedo action. At about 2300, Ch¨­kai, Furutaka and Kako all launched their reconnaissance floatplanes. The circling floatplanes dropped flares illuminating the targets and all the Japanese ships opened fire. US Ships Astoria, Quincy, Vincennes and HMAS Canberra were sunk. USS Chicago was damaged as were the USS Ralph Talbot and USS Patterson. On the Japanese side, Ch¨­kai was hit three times, Kinugasa twice (once in her No. 1 Engine Room by a 5-inch shell from Patterson and her port steering gear by a shell from Vincennes), Aoba once, and Furutaka was not damaged.

The heavily-laden American invasion transports off Guadalcanal were unprotected, but Admiral Mikawa, unaware that Admiral Fletcher had withdrawn his aircraft carriers covering the invasion, feared an air attack at daybreak and ordered a retirement. Captain Sawa of Kinugasa, frustrated, launched a spread of torpedoes from Kinugasa's starboard tubes at the Allied transports 13 miles distant, but all missed. The following day as CruDiv6 approached Kavieng, Kako was torpedoed and sunk by the US submarine S 44.


Battle of Cape Esperance
Kinugasa straddled Boise and Salt Lake City with 8-inch salvos knocking out Boise's No. 1 and 2 turrets. Kinugasa sustained four hits in the engagement. The following morning, Kinugasa was attacked by five American planes but not damaged, and returned to Shortland.

At the Battle of Cape Esperance on 11 October 1942, CruDiv 6's (Aoba, Furutaka and Kinugasa), and destroyers Fubuki and Hatsuyuki departed Shortland to provide cover for a troop reinforcement convoy by shelling Henderson Field on Guadalcanal. The fleet was spotted by two Vought OS2U Kingfisher reconnaissance planes coming down the "Slot" at 30 knots.

From 24-26 October and 1-5 November, Kinugasa and Ch¨­kai provided cover for replacement convoys of troops and equipment to bolster Japanese defenses at Guadalcanal. On 14 November 1942, during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, Kinugasa was attacked by TBM Avenger torpedo-bombers from the USS Enterprise and USMC Avengers from Guadalcanal. At 0936 a 500-pound bomb hit Kinugasa's 13.2-mm machine gun mount in front of the bridge, starting a fire in the forward gasoline storage area. Captain Sawa and his Executive Officer were killed by the bomb, and Kinugasa gradually began to list to port. Near-misses caused additional fires and flooding and a second attack by 17 more Dauntless bombers knocked out Kinugasa's engines and rudder and opened more compartments to the sea. At 1122, Kinugasa capsized and sank southwest of Rendova Island at 08¡ã45¡äS 157¡ã00¡äE / 8.75¡ãS 157¡ãE / -8.75; 157, taking 511 crewmen with her.

[:D][X(][:'(]

Nov 27th 1942,

Scott landed about 3k troops on Hollandia but then stopped[&:] His 9 transports sit there, bait[:-].

The CV's have moved west and dissapeared, on the 27th paratroopers take to the air and
Allied forces CAPTURE Aitape base !!![;)]

I appears more transports are moving west from Rabaul, things will get interesting. I have ordered another strike on Truk, usually
one or two ships sink with every flight, there was an AR there but it sank several days ago.

Pretty much the rest of the Pacific and Indian Ocean are quiet. I have claimed all of northern Sumatra, Singapore is loaded with fighters.
China is dead quiet neither side making moves.
Aluetians get occasional hits on Japanese bases but no activity other then that.
South Pacific, Suva and Luganville, Port Morseby are all quiet. I daily fly attacks from Lunga vs Tulagi which has 8 units.

Here is a map of NG area