Dec 13, 14 1943
Another stupid mistake. Another chance lost.
For a still-not-identified mistake during the orders phase, the amphib TF never reached Munda...instead it unloaded at Tulagi :-/ ...while the landing craft TF with the HQ, a tank BN and part of a marine CD unit effectively arrived and landed...[:@]
Anyway...Rader was waiting for us...but he didn't send in any SCTF....only waves and waves of planes... our CAP did a great job...we lost 1 LCI, 1 LST and one PG (with aboard 600 men from an Eng rgt) and got the CL richmond out of order for a couple of months...but we shot down nearly 600 enemy planes, losing 122 on my own...only 22 pilots are reported KIA plus 12 MIA...not bad i'd say...Rader really took a bloody nose in terms of air attrition...
Anyway...we landed...and we found that his evacuation has done a good job...only the rest of a regiment...nothing more...
We now have to load our divisions once more...cause the LCUs dropped at Munda aren't enough to take the base...even if they won't be repulsed...
The air battles were incredible...his zeros and judys have been decimated...yes he has many more, we know...but it must be hurting him somehow...
We'll get back there with our main force within the next 2 turns...occasion lost...but it could have gone much worse...
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Morning Air attack on Munda , at 111,134 *sweep to clean the skies*
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud
Raid detected at 43 NM, estimated altitude 37,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 18 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 12
N1K1-J George x 6
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 10
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 15
Ki-84a Frank x 1
Ki-100-I Tony x 16
Allied aircraft
Spitfire VIII x 13
P-38H Lightning x 19
P-40N5 Warhawk x 25
F6F-3 Hellcat x 107
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5 Zero: 2 destroyed
N1K1-J George: 4 destroyed
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 2 destroyed
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 2 destroyed
Ki-84a Frank: 1 destroyed
Ki-100-I Tony: 5 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
P-40N5 Warhawk: 2 destroyed
F6F-3 Hellcat: 2 destroyed
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Morning Air attack on TF, near Munda at 111,134
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud
Raid detected at 120 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 40 minutes
Japanese aircraft
D4Y3 Judy x 23
Ki-100-I Tony x 1
Allied aircraft
Spitfire VIII x 6
Kittyhawk III x 5
Spitfire VIII x 6
P-38H Lightning x 5
P-40N5 Warhawk x 15
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 18
FM-1 Wildcat x 8
F4U-1 Corsair x 6
F4U-1A Corsair x 6
F6F-3 Hellcat x 176
Japanese aircraft losses
D4Y3 Judy: 8 destroyed
No Allied losses
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Morning Air attack on TF, near Munda at 111,134
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud
Raid detected at 113 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 37 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M3a Zero x 38
B5N2 Kate x 39
D4Y3 Judy x 15
N1K1-J George x 27
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 2
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 2
Allied aircraft
Spitfire VIII x 6
Kittyhawk III x 3
Spitfire VIII x 6
P-38H Lightning x 5
P-40N5 Warhawk x 15
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 15
FM-1 Wildcat x 8
F4U-1 Corsair x 6
F4U-1A Corsair x 6
F6F-3 Hellcat x 160
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3a Zero: 7 destroyed
B5N2 Kate: 12 destroyed, 1 damaged
D4Y3 Judy: 8 destroyed, 2 damaged
D4Y3 Judy: 1 destroyed by flak
N1K1-J George: 13 destroyed
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 1 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
Spitfire VIII: 1 destroyed
F6F-3 Hellcat: 2 destroyed
Allied Ships
SC PC-1080
CL Boise
LST-462
LCI-218
LST-463, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
LST-476
LCI-223, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
AM Geelong
PG Warrego, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
Allied ground losses:
431 casualties reported
Squads: 8 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 54 destroyed, 12 disabled
Engineers: 12 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 12 (12 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 16 (16 destroyed, 0 disabled)
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Morning Air attack on TF, near Munda at 111,134
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud
Raid detected at 103 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 34 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 37
D4Y3 Judy x 39
N1K1-J George x 26
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 1
Allied aircraft
Spitfire VIII x 5
Kittyhawk III x 3
Spitfire VIII x 5
P-38H Lightning x 2
P-40N5 Warhawk x 13
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 15
FM-1 Wildcat x 7
F4U-1 Corsair x 6
F4U-1A Corsair x 2
F6F-3 Hellcat x 118
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5 Zero: 5 destroyed
D4Y3 Judy: 16 destroyed, 10 damaged
N1K1-J George: 11 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
P-40N5 Warhawk: 1 destroyed
P-47D2 Thunderbolt: 1 destroyed
F6F-3 Hellcat: 8 destroyed
Allied Ships
CL Richmond, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires
DD DeHaven
DD Chevalier
DD Foote
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Morning Air attack on Munda , at 111,134
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 35,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 17 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 4
N1K1-J George x 2
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 5
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 12
Ki-100-I Tony x 6
Allied aircraft
Spitfire VIII x 4
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 1
FM-1 Wildcat x 7
F4U-1 Corsair x 4
F6F-3 Hellcat x 37
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5 Zero: 1 destroyed
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 1 destroyed
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 1 destroyed
Ki-100-I Tony: 1 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
P-47D2 Thunderbolt: 1 damaged
FM-1 Wildcat: 3 destroyed
F6F-3 Hellcat: 6 destroyed
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Afternoon Air attack on Munda , at 111,134
Weather in hex: Light rain
Raid detected at 12 NM, estimated altitude 39,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 12
N1K1-J George x 6
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 12
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 14
Ki-100-I Tony x 17
Allied aircraft
Kittyhawk III x 15
P-38H Lightning x 18
P-40N5 Warhawk x 34
FM-1 Wildcat x 8
F4U-1 Corsair x 8
F6F-3 Hellcat x 115
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5 Zero: 2 destroyed
N1K1-J George: 1 destroyed
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 2 destroyed
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 2 destroyed
Ki-100-I Tony: 4 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
F6F-3 Hellcat: 5 destroyed
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Afternoon Air attack on Munda , at 111,134
Weather in hex: Light rain
Raid detected at 33 NM, estimated altitude 35,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 2
N1K1-J George x 5
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 5
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 10
Ki-100-I Tony x 8
Allied aircraft
Spitfire VIII x 6
Kittyhawk III x 15
Spitfire VIII x 9
P-40N5 Warhawk x 34
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 45
F4U-1 Corsair x 8
F4U-1A Corsair x 4
F6F-3 Hellcat x 79
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5 Zero: 1 destroyed
N1K1-J George: 2 destroyed
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 2 destroyed
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 4 destroyed
Ki-100-I Tony: 1 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
P-47D2 Thunderbolt: 1 destroyed
F6F-3 Hellcat: 1 destroyed
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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Munda at 111,134
Weather in hex: Light rain
Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 26 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 1
D4Y3 Judy x 3
N1K1-J George x 8
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 3
Ki-100-I Tony x 3
Allied aircraft
Spitfire VIII x 4
Kittyhawk III x 3
Spitfire VIII x 5
P-38H Lightning x 5
P-40N5 Warhawk x 10
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 15
FM-1 Wildcat x 5
F4U-1 Corsair x 5
F4U-1A Corsair x 4
F6F-3 Hellcat x 135
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5 Zero: 1 destroyed
D4Y3 Judy: 1 destroyed
N1K1-J George: 2 destroyed
No Allied losses
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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Munda at 111,134
Weather in hex: Light rain
Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 26 minutes
Japanese aircraft
B5N2 Kate x 24
D4Y3 Judy x 2
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 1
Allied aircraft
Spitfire VIII x 4
Kittyhawk III x 1
Spitfire VIII x 5
P-38H Lightning x 5
P-40N5 Warhawk x 8
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 13
FM-1 Wildcat x 2
F4U-1 Corsair x 3
F4U-1A Corsair x 4
F6F-3 Hellcat x 114
Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 5 destroyed
D4Y3 Judy: 1 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
Kittyhawk III: 1 destroyed
F6F-3 Hellcat: 1 destroyed
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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Munda at 111,134
Weather in hex: Light rain
Raid detected at 79 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 33 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M3a Zero x 17
B5N2 Kate x 10
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 1
Ki-100-I Tony x 1
Allied aircraft
Spitfire VIII x 4
Spitfire VIII x 3
P-38H Lightning x 5
P-40N5 Warhawk x 7
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 10
FM-1 Wildcat x 1
F4U-1 Corsair x 1
F4U-1A Corsair x 3
F6F-3 Hellcat x 87
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3a Zero: 4 destroyed
B5N2 Kate: 7 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
F6F-3 Hellcat: 1 destroyed
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Ground combat at Munda (111,134)
Japanese Bombardment attack
Attacking force 1035 troops, 26 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 73
Defending force 4419 troops, 44 guns, 158 vehicles, Assault Value = 109
Assaulting units:
3rd Infantry Regiment
112th JAAF AF Bn
61st JNAF AF Unit
111th Naval Construction Battalion
68th JAAF AF Bn
49th JAAF AF Bn
58th Construction Battalion
2nd Air Div /2
58th JNAF AF Unit /1
Defending units:
110th Combat Engineer Battalion
767th Tank Battalion
I US Amphib Corps
5th Marine Defense Battalion
25th Infantry Div /14
