Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J)

[DOCUP]

What forces does he have at Kluong? Nice intercept at Sorong.

[apbarog]

Unknown TF. Still has transports at Mersing. KB has gone back and forth between Mersing and Borneo.

Elsewhere, I'm pulling as much fuel out of Borneo, Sumatra, and Java that I can. Palembang was off-limits right away, but I'm using small tankers at Oosthaven to pull out some fuel and take to Batavia. Same for Palembang, using mostly small tankers and going to Java with it. Large tankers loading at Soerabaja. All refineries were turned off on day 1. If I get all the fuel, I'll take oil if I can.

Prince of Wales and Repulse have left Soerabaja and are leaving the area.

[apbarog]

12 Dec 41

Landings continue at Guam and Davao.

Destroyers Scout and Thanet, already involved in 2 successful naval battles, runs into a surface group near Miri, led by CA Chokai and with 6 DDs. The enemy attempts to evade combat, and neither side gets a hit in the short fight. Good thing, as Scout and Thanet are nearly completely out of ammo.

Enemy subs finally appear near Soerabaja, with I-156 sinking unescorted xAK John Lykes. I-158 then sinks unescorted xAP Van Outhoorn.

Near Legaspi, the 2 Philippine PT boats engages the 3 enemy TBs, to no effect for either side.

Dutch sub KXVI braves the shallows in the port of Davao, and fires 2 torpedoes at DMS W-8, but misses.

Enemy cruisers Ashigara and Kuma bombard Cagayan, damaging some fighters and causing 446 casualties to troops. Minor damage to the airbase and port.

Hollandia is invaded.

Northwest of Babeldaop, a small enemy force with an AG runs into xAKL Latouche fleeing the Philippines. Both transport forces decline combat.

2 xAKLs fled east from Leyte yesterday, and were hit by Bettys from Formosa. Sarangami and Taurus were sunk with 2 torpedoes each.

Enemy artillery attack at Hong Kong. Davao is lost. Guam is lost. Wewak is lost. Sorong is lost.

[apbarog]

Side notes:

3 xAKs and 3 xAKLs had loaded up supply at Hong Kong and went to the Chinese base of Pakhoi to the west to unload. They haven't been spotted. That's an additional 10k or so of supply for the Chinese defense. 3 large groups of subs from Manila also unloaded supply there. One group of about 8 subs will return to Manila and load more supply, then head south.

Where are the US carriers? Two are now south of Nauru Island, and will move north of the Solomons to attempt to catch any incoming task forces. If nothing is seen, and if the carriers are not spotted, I may try a port strike of Truk.

[apbarog]

13 Dec 41

Brunei is invaded.

Dutch destroyer Evertsen is headed from Soerabaja to Balikpapan to escort tankers. It finds I-156 on the way but can't hit it.

Near Davao, Dutch sub KXVI fires 2 torpedoes at PB Saiko Maru, and misses.

3 Dutch 139WH-3s fly from Tarakan to bomb shipping near Brunei. Bombs miss xAK Kaiko Maru. The flight is repeated in the afternoon, with the same results.

Another enemy artillery attack at Hong Kong. Cargo ships continue to unload supply at Pakhoi, and remain unspotted.

On Luzon, Naga is lost to 2 SNLF units. I'm seeing just 2 units here, and 2 others at Legaspi. This is not a big invasion, not one that can threaten Manila.

I've completed extracting fragments from unrestricted units in Malaysia. Most fragments go to Soerabaja and are loaded on small Dutch xAPs. The Malayasian peninsula is now cut to the north of Singapore. Units in Malaysia will mostly defend outside of the bases, in jungle terrain, on the rail lines.

KB has moved to the west of Singawang. It's within one day's sailing of bombing Palembang, Batavia, and even Soerabaja.

SigInt shows an engineering regiment and an infantry regiment going to Babeldaop, Miura Detachment going to Tarakan, and a tank unit planning for Alor Star.

No signs of enemy activity around Kavieng, Rabaul, Shortlands, or Tulagi. My guess is that my cruiser at Rabaul frightened the enemy's small TF invasions off. Lark Force is now mostly at Tulagi, with some of the vehicles on a ship headed from Rabaul.

[apbarog]

13 Dec 41 - Solomons

[apbarog]

14 Dec 41

RO-64 spots 4 DMS leaving Pago Pago. 2 torpedoes miss DMS Dorsey. The minesweepers are headed to Auckland.

At Davao, Dutch sub KXVI hits tiny minesweeper AMc Kyo Maru #1 with 2 torpedoes, destroying it.

Near Balikpapan, I-155 fires 2 torpedoes at tiny AMc Jerantut, missing.

More enemy troops landing at Brunei.

Near the east coast of Borneo, xAKL Compagnia Filipinas is found by cruisers Maya and Natori and 4 destroyers, and sunk.

Dutch sub KXVIII is found by a subchaser in shallow water south of Thailand, and is damaged moderately by a depth charge.

7 Dutch bombers from Tarakan again go after the 2 xAKs at Brunei, but miss in the morning and in the afternoon, again.

Well east of the Philippines and well north of Babeldaop, 13 Kates sink xAKL Escalante and small xAP Elcano as they flee the Philippines.

Hong Kong is deliberately attacked for the first time, and the Chinese do rather well.

Ground combat at Hong Kong (77,61)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 27052 troops, 353 guns, 181 vehicles, Assault Value = 761

Defending force 8027 troops, 132 guns, 72 vehicles, Assault Value = 219

Japanese adjusted assault: 340

Allied adjusted defense: 245

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 3)

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 2

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), leaders(-), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
1890 casualties reported
Squads: 39 destroyed, 85 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 27 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Guns lost 7 (1 destroyed, 6 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
465 casualties reported
Squads: 9 destroyed, 87 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 8 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
67th Ind.Infantry Battalion
68th Ind.Infantry Battalion
1st Ind.Inf.Group
66th Infantry Regiment
19th Ind Engineer Regiment
38th Division
20th Ind Engineer Regiment
5th RF Gun Battalion
1st Hvy.Artillery Regiment
10th Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
3rd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
2nd RF Gun Battalion
21st Mortar Battalion
2nd Mortar Battalion
2nd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
20th Ind. Mtn Gun Battalion

Defending units:
1st Middlesex Battalion
Winnipeg Grenadiers Battalion
Rifles of Canada Battalion
Kowloon Brigade
102nd RN Base Force
Hong Kong Fortress

US carriers not spotted north of the Solomons.

[apbarog]

15 Dec 41

xAKL Mapele is at Noumea unloading supply. With no escort, it's a sitting duck for RO-68, which engages with guns and torpedoes, sinking the ship. It's impossible to escort every ship at the beginning of the war, but soon everything will be escorted.

I-157 sinks xAK Cape Fairweather near Tarakan. Another Manila ship gone.

Near Tawi Tawi, cruisers Maya and Natori and 4 DDs engage AM Whippoorwill and AS Canopus. Canopus is sunk, and the escort is left burning in the port, with too much damage to survive and not enough to scuttle. All 3 AS from Manila are now sunk. The Allied ships were supposed to disband at Tawi Tawi but didn't make it.

On Luzon, troops at San Fernando are bombed by Sallys. Could be a sign of another invasion coming, or a misdirection.

The Dutch bomber squadron at Tarakan tries again, today targeting CA Maya and xAKL Raizan Maru, but missing with bombs again. Nearby, the enemy accidentally amphibiously invades a non-base hex east of Tarakan. It was a mistake. It will take some time for OPilot to pick the troops back up.

In the same area, the enemy CVL task force launches 12 Kates and bombs xAK Capillo and AO Pecos. 2 more Manila ships sunk.

Kluong, north of Singapore, is lost. Just an artillery attack at Hong Kong today. Victoria Point is lost, as is Brunei.

There's an enemy task force NW of Rabaul, direction of movement unknown. US carriers are still not observed. They will be 6 hexes east of Kavieng at the end of the next day.

[Bif1961]

I wonder what a burning Whippoorwill smells like I know what a burning Canopus smells like. [:'(]

[apbarog]

16 Dec 41

Near Balikpapan, I-155 spots big transport xAP President Madison, torpedoes it twice, and sinks her. President Madison was one of the huge ships from Manila. It almost made it to safety, having eluded combat TFs and the CVL TF, but found a sub.

xAKL Kumakawa Maru hits a mine at Peleliu. It is heavily damaged, and troop losses are reported. I snuck a small minelaying ship into Peleliu just recently.

Near the coast of China, YO-42 runs into xAK Yamagata Maru. Both non-combat ships decline combat. The tiny oiler just dropped off some fuel at Pakhoi, and is headed to Hong Kong, hoping to refill before the base is lost.

East of Palembang, I-122 torpedoes AVP Poolster and sinks her. The AVP fled from northwestern Borneo.

An enemy combat TF moves into Tarakan, sinking 3 tiny HDMLs there.

Some enemy bombing in Luzon, Malaysia, and China.

14 Nells from Babeldaob sink xAKL Cebu to the west of the island. Cebu was fleeing the Philippines, but with Nells at Babeldaob now, this door is now closed.

An evacuated Wenchow in southern China is lost. Sambas, on northwestern Borneo, is lost.

I believe that KB has retired to Cam Rahn Bay.

Tomorrow is all about the US carriers.

[jwolf]

Now that the Japanese are tipped off about the fuel transfer in China, they may send out a destroyer or two to put a stop to it. But I guess this way you got some use out of the oiler and it couldn't possibly escape anyway.

The raid on Truk looks ... interesting. [8D] Good luck!

[apbarog]

The tiny oiler couldn't make it back to the Philippines without refueling. Regardless, it had to pass through the enemy base on the island SW of Pakhoi, and that's where the enemy ship was. The oiler will try to get to Hong Kong now. The important ships were the 3 xAKs and 3 xAKLs that brought supply from Hong Kong to Pakhoi. They did so without being seen, and are about to arrive at Manila. I'm debating whether to load up 10k supply at Manila and try to get it to Pakhoi. In the long run, I think that 10k supply is more important to the Chinese than to the Philippine army, but there's the risk that it won't make it to China. Fun to try though.

As for Truk, it's a great plan if I hit some important shipping there and there aren't a bunch of Bettys and Zeros. It's a foolish plan if there is. I'm doing this because I know where most (if not all) of the enemy carriers are, and they aren't near Truk. I considered skirting Truk to the south and going up the coast of New Guinea toward Babeldaop. Possibly higher rewards but higher risk, and once spotted, a dangerous trip home with the enemy able to get between me and home.

Here's to some luck for tomorrow!

[apbarog]

17 Dec 41

For just 10 days into the war, today was a good day for the Allies.

First, 2 patrol craft finally spot the enemy sub poking around San Francisco, but can't get a hit on it.

8 British torpedo boats leave Hong Kong to travel to Manila. 2 hexes south of Hong Kong, they run into xAK Yamagata Maru, which is the ship that the tiny YO ran into yesterday to the west of there. The 8 MTBs engage the cargo ship at 2,000 yards and sink her with 2 torpedoes. I've never seen these ships accomplish anything before.

At Pago Pago, RO-64 engages unescorted xAKL Lahaina with guns and torpedoes, sinking her. She was unloading supply. OPilot is going right into the ports with the subs. He can do this, now, but once I get some ASW pilots trained, this will be a lot harder. The problem for me is that this will take a couple of months.

Manokwari on New Guinea is invaded.

Near Miri, Dutch sub KVIII torpedoes PB Shuko Maru #2, sinking it.

25 Bettys bombed Singapore's port, but got no hits. They are flying higher now, up to 17000 feet, to avoid the terrible flak losses taken earlier. This bombing is significant in what it didn't do, which was any damage. Singapore has had damage from the first day in the war, preventing fort building. Today it reached fortification level 1.

At San Fernando on Luzon, Lilys bomb ground troops.

Morning Air attack on 11th PA Infantry Division, at 80,74 (San Fernando)

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 16 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 18
Ki-48-Ib Lily x 25

Allied aircraft
P-35A x 17

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-48-Ib Lily: 4 destroyed, 5 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-35A: 1 destroyed

Allied ground losses:
18 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

I've been resting this fighter unit from the start. It has US pilots. I set this unit to LRCAP San Fernando at range 2, and they did well today. 11 Lilys lost. 2 LT S.W. Robb became the leading Allied pilot, with 3 kills, all today. I thought it was interesting that my leading pilot is flying P-35s. Unescorted bombers hit an adjacent base today, so my fighters will switch to that for tomorrow.

And then the main event...Truk. Lexington and Enterprise launch strikes at TFs at Truk and southwest of Truk, and remaining SBDs hit the port at Truk. There is no CAP, and no sign of enemy bombers either.

Morning Air attack on TF, near Truk at 112,108

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 17 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Allied aircraft
F2A-3 Buffalo x 22
SBD-2 Dauntless x 18
SBD-3 Dauntless x 18

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
xAK Matsue Maru, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
xAK Kuraido Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires
xAK Daifuku Maru, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Cheribon Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Yokohama Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire
xAK Nishimi Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAK China Maru, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
PB Shuko Maru #5, Bomb hits 3, and is sunk

Japanese ground losses:
695 casualties reported
Squads: 9 destroyed, 21 disabled
Non Combat: 7 destroyed, 14 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 10 (2 destroyed, 8 disabled)
************
Morning Air attack on TF, near Truk at 112,108

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 18 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes

Allied aircraft
SBD-2 Dauntless x 18

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
xAK Daifuku Maru, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk
xAK Cheribon Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Kuraido Maru, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Kogyoku Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Venice Maru, Bomb hits 1

Japanese ground losses:
731 casualties reported
Squads: 19 destroyed, 16 disabled
Non Combat: 18 destroyed, 9 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 19 (11 destroyed, 8 disabled)
*****************
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Truk at 108,113

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid spotted at 8 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Allied aircraft
F2A-3 Buffalo x 22
SBD-3 Dauntless x 17

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
xAK Shinwa Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire
xAKL Taiyu Maru, Bomb hits 4, and is sunk
xAKL Tomozono Maru #3, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
PB Nikkai Maru
*******************
Afternoon Air attack on Truk , at 112,108

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 39 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 17 minutes

Allied aircraft
SB2U-3 Vindicator x 18
SBD-2 Dauntless x 18

Allied aircraft losses
SBD-2 Dauntless: 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
PB Tsuneshima Maru, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
AV Kamoi, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AO Ondo, Bomb hits 1, on fire

Mostly transport shipping hit, but some ships were loaded with men. Some enemy ground unit(s) took a hit today. US carriers will sprint south to meet an AO.

[apbarog]

17 Dec 41 - China

In China, a Chinese Corp did a river crossing shock attack, attempting to break out from being cut off. The defenders were all armor, and there were lots of Chinese lost, but the enemy took losses also, and the Chinese won the hex and the battle.

Ground combat at 87,45 (near Chengchow)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 11230 troops, 38 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 360

Defending force 492 troops, 0 guns, 96 vehicles, Assault Value = 56

Allied adjusted assault: 228

Japanese adjusted defense: 50

Allied assault odds: 4 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+), leaders(+), leaders(-)

Japanese ground losses:
Vehicles lost 41 (16 destroyed, 25 disabled)
Units retreated 2

Allied ground losses:
349 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 60 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
85th Chinese Corps

Defending units:
15th Tank Regiment
5th Armored Car Co

[BBfanboy]

Congrats on the daring raid on Truk! Nice haul of transport shipping (which Japan really needs to stay on schedule with its expansion) plus your CV groups got vital experience!

[apbarog]

Thanks BBfanboy. As I told OPilot, not war-winning, but it was morale-boosting. Something for the newspapers back home to write about. I do wonder what ground unit got hurt. The casualties listed don't include any men on ships that sank after the combat, and at least one ship did, judging from the sinking audio. Looked like a combat unit. Maybe a regiment.

The biggest outcome, though, is that it was an aggressive move, and this will slow OPilot's timetable as he becomes more careful. That's my thinking, anyhow.

[jwolf]

This is admittedly speculation, but it may be that those transports at Truk were setting up for an op toward Rabaul or deeper into the Solomons. It's possible you really fouled up his planning in that theater, aside from all the other good effects as already noted.

[apbarog]

I think you are right jwolf. They were either unloading at Truk to be sent somewhere else very soon, or loading at Truk to go somewhere else immediately. Either way, that unit or units plans have probably changed.

18 Dec 41

A bunch of US cruisers and destroyers from Pearl Harbor are passing south of Suva on the way to Auckland. I-10 spots them, and fires 6 torpedoes at light cruiser Honolulu, but misses.

Just south of the straits northeast of Balikpapan, there's a number of enemy task forces. Dutch subs make 3 separate attacks here today, and fire torpedoes at destroyers each time, and miss. The enemy is probably going to Balikpapan, but could be going to other bases nearby. I've ordered a Dutch task force to Balikpapan at high speed, to hopefully arrive at night. Ships include light cruiser De Ruyter and 5 short-legged Dutch destroyers.

Tarakan is invaded. OPilot picked up the troops accidentally dropped off nearby and got them to Tarakan today. Big xAP Haruna Maru was hit by a big CD gun, but damaged did not appear to be severe.

Manado is invaded.

The enemy launched a carrier strike from a CVL near Balikpapan.

Afternoon Air attack on Balikpapan Defenses , at 64,97 (Balikpapan)

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A5M4 Claude x 8
B5N1 Kate x 12

Allied aircraft
B-339D x 7
P-40B Warhawk x 11

Japanese aircraft losses
A5M4 Claude: 1 destroyed (4 actually lost)
B5N1 Kate: 7 destroyed (7 actually lost)

No Allied losses

The Dutch fighters tied up the Claudes and the Warhawks went for the Kates.

Near Nanyang, China an enemy division and tank regiment mauls two Chinese corps and a headquarters. The Chinese retreat south, which is very unfortunate.

Just another artillery attack at Hong Kong.

An artillery attack at Malacca in Malaysia. The enemy has an overwhelming advantage here against a very depleted and bombed 22nd Australian Brigade. The Brigade may be eliminated tomorrow. If a fragmented is booted to the north, I may be able to get it to a port and buy it out, to extract a tiny fragment. Seaplanes at Chittagong are flying out fragments from Malaysia and Burma now.

US carriers retired safely to the Solomons from the Truk attack. A nearby AO will rendezvous tomorrow. I think that I'll send the carriers to New Zealand and leave them there for awhile. Fuel is low in the area, and the pilots need some serious training.

SigInt says that the 48th Recon is loaded on a ship and headed to Palembang. It does look like shipping is headed that way, and that an invasion is imminent. I dropped some mines on the approach to Palembang. Let's see if any are hit.

[zuluhour]

A nice turn of events, bold yet calculated.

[apbarog]

19 Dec 41

Enemy landings at Tarakan continues, and at Manado and Ternate.

In the narrows between Celebes and Borneo, northeast of Balikpapan, Dutch sub KX spots light carrier Ryujo, fires 4 torpedoes, and hits the carrier with one. Specific damage or fires are not observed. The Dutch subs are the real heros for the Allies so far in the war.

Sub Triton enters Naga, and finds an xAK task force. 4 torpedoes are fired at xAK Sugiyama Maru, and one hits, but it is a dud. Triton gets hit with a depth charge, and the sub will retire all the way to Pearl Harbor with minor damage.

I had to laugh a bit at this encounter. xAKL Cetus is an escapee from the Philippines. It went east of Luzon, with the aim of getting to Guam and possibly evacuating some of the defenders there. The enemy got there first, so the backup plan, and only other option really, was to continue east to Wake. Cetus ran out of fuel 2 days ago, just 2 hexes northwest of Wake Island. Yesterday, it moved one hex closer to Wake, incurring a little bit of damage due to no fuel. Today, it was going to get to Wake, where fuel awaits, along with an escort and an unloading cargo ship. Well, RO-62 was one hex northwest of Wake. It hit Cetus with one torpedo and sank her. So close, and yet so far. This was the only ship trying to make it to Wake. Around 8 ships have passed between the Bonin Islands and mainland Japan, danger close to the enemy, and made it unseen. They are all now moving toward the Aleutians. Some of these ships started out going up and around Luzon, then east. Others went northeast from the Legaspi area.

South of Mindano, 4 US AMs ran into a big enemy xAP task force. Neither side wanted combat. This is probably a Balikpapan invasion force.

With the enemy arriving at Tarakan yesterday, the AVP based there left today, and got past the ships already there. AVP made it to Tawi Tawi, but was found there by cruisers Ashigara and Kuma and escorts and sunk.

Malacca is lost. The 22nd Australian Brigade was destroyed there by 3 infantry regiments, 2 armor regiments, 2 engineer regiments, and 2 artillery regiments. Defenders to the north are taking to the jungle but staying on the rail lines.

Just an artillery attack at Hong Kong, again.

A Japanese shock attack at Tarakan results in a 1 to 1 battle with about 100 casualties for each side.

The Dutch ships that raced into Balikpapan found nothing. No invasion today. The Dutch are retiring to Soerabaja for fuel.

I messed up the US carrier refueling today. Lexington and Enterprise made it to the Solomons from the Truk strike, but did so at full speed, for safety. An AO was waiting. One of the carrier task forces was much lower on fuel than the other, so I refueled it. That worked, but seriously depleted the fuel on the AO and escort to go anywhere, so I did a refueling at see for the AO task force next. That was a mistake. I expected it to take a bit of fuel from some of the carrier task force ships. It took way too much from the escorts in one of the task forces, so much that it now needs to refuel itself to move.

If my carriers were being chased, I'd be in trouble. Let's hope they are not, anyhow. It will all be fine, as the carrier and a few ships still had maximum fuel, so they'll redistribute some tommorrow. But I lost a day of movement with my attempt. I should have not worried about the AO and sent a rescue task force for it.