June 30 - July 4, 1942
Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2022 11:54 am
Central Pacific
The evacuation of the Wake invasion force has failed. I tried to leverage my numerous APDs to get the Marines and Engineers out of there but the KB finally showed up and dished out some punches:
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Majuro at 150,119
Weather in hex: Overcast
Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 36
B5N2 Kate x 54
D3A1 Val x 45
Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 1 damaged
Allied Ships
APD Gregory, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
APD King, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
APD Lawrence, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
APD John D. Ford, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
APD Alden
APD Talbot, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
APD Kane
APD Schley, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
APD Gilmer
APD Sands
APD Fox, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
APD Rathburne, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
APD Stewart, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
APD Brooks, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
APD Whipple, Bomb hits 1
APD Humphreys
APD Pillsbury
APD McKean
APD Dent
In total I lose a dozen APDs in the above strike as well as a smaller one at Wake itself. No regrets however, I had to at least try to get them out. Overall, the Wake invasion has been a clear defeat with Wirraway having performed very well in this battle. I learnt much from the experience however given I have conducted very few real invasions against well defended atolls in the past. Furthermore, with both New Caledonia and Tabi taken and the Japanese drawing major forces away from China, Operation Pegasus can still be considered a strategic success.
Burma
I baited the Japanese into attempting to LRCAP their retreating forces in northern Burma by sending unescorted bomber strikes for two consecutive days against them. I figured that the Japanese will come out to play on the third day and sure enough my sweeps encountered almost a 100 Japanese fighters. The overall result was an Allied victory with almost a 2:1 ratio in terms of air kills for the day.
The evacuation of the Wake invasion force has failed. I tried to leverage my numerous APDs to get the Marines and Engineers out of there but the KB finally showed up and dished out some punches:
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Majuro at 150,119
Weather in hex: Overcast
Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 36
B5N2 Kate x 54
D3A1 Val x 45
Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 1 damaged
Allied Ships
APD Gregory, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
APD King, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
APD Lawrence, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
APD John D. Ford, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
APD Alden
APD Talbot, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
APD Kane
APD Schley, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
APD Gilmer
APD Sands
APD Fox, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
APD Rathburne, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
APD Stewart, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
APD Brooks, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
APD Whipple, Bomb hits 1
APD Humphreys
APD Pillsbury
APD McKean
APD Dent
In total I lose a dozen APDs in the above strike as well as a smaller one at Wake itself. No regrets however, I had to at least try to get them out. Overall, the Wake invasion has been a clear defeat with Wirraway having performed very well in this battle. I learnt much from the experience however given I have conducted very few real invasions against well defended atolls in the past. Furthermore, with both New Caledonia and Tabi taken and the Japanese drawing major forces away from China, Operation Pegasus can still be considered a strategic success.
Burma
I baited the Japanese into attempting to LRCAP their retreating forces in northern Burma by sending unescorted bomber strikes for two consecutive days against them. I figured that the Japanese will come out to play on the third day and sure enough my sweeps encountered almost a 100 Japanese fighters. The overall result was an Allied victory with almost a 2:1 ratio in terms of air kills for the day.