Matrix Games Forums

June 29 – 30 1942

The victorious army at Lae rests today. Tomorrow I will send half to destroy the Japanese forces now trapped (trapped I say!) at Salmuana. The other half will return to Nadzab to be airlifted to PM. Lae airfield has 99 service and runway damage… this even though I haven’t bombed the base for over a week. A testament to the strength of allied air power.

The Battle of PM remains a stalemate. Japanese have been content with launching only bombardment missions. If they don’t attack for another two turns I should have a Level 5 fort. Bombardment of the airbase continues.

The naval situation remains dreadful though. My carriers refuel at Rockhampton, while Lee readies for his assault on Basilaki. The carriers should be in postion to strike at shipping tomorrow. My subs are left doing all the work for now.

SS S-46 sinks 2 (!) PCs, but misses all the APs. SS-47 torpedoes the CA Furutaka, but is sunk in return (poor Captain Reynolds, remember him?). IJN carriers remain in the Solomon Sea, North of Gilli, where SS Tautog takes a swipe at CV Shokaku and misses!!!! How could he!!! [:@]

Despite thunderstorms, my bombers put holes in another two APs. I realize that for some reason HQ has deemed it fit not to send me any B-17 replacements. I will send a letter to the highest authorities to rectify this oversight.

Meanwhile, getting reinforcements for PM has turned out to be more difficult that expected. Despite all attempts Northern Command refuses to board transports. I suspect some union at work. Looks like I’m going to have to look to SOPAC to bring in more troops.

[font="Trebuchet MS"][/font]VEER... They (Nortern Command) don't like US ships or planes. Try airlifting them with Ausie Transport planes! That always worked for me.
Sergeant--------*
[:D]
p.s... I Left you a reply to your comments in my AAR.

End of June 1942 stats:


Bases controlled

..............| Jap : Allied
End May | 16 : 18
June 30 | 15 (-1) : 19 (+1)

Aircraft Losses This Month:

Jap – 111 – 31 Bombers, 39 Fighters, 3 Dive Bombers, 8 Torpedo Bombers, 30 Misc

Allied – 267 – 53 Bombers, 38 Dive Bombers, 16 Torpedo Bombers, 119 Fighters/FBs, 41 Misc.
(includes AC sunk with Yorktown)

Aircraft Losses YTD:

Jap – 183 – 64 Bombers, 72 Fighters, 3 Dive Bombers, 8 Torpedo Bombers, 36 Misc

Allied – 351 – 72 Bombers, 46 Dive Bombers, 16 Torpedo Bombers, 147 Fighters/FBs, 70 Misc

Ships confirmed sunk (this month):

Jap – 2 DD, 7 AP, 3 Misc*

Allied – 1 CV, 4 CA, 2 CL, 6 DD, 1 SS, 2 AK, 4 Misc*

* PC, PG, SC.

Ships confirmed sunk YTD:

Jap – 2 DD, 1 SS, 7 AP, 3 Misc
Total = 13

Allied – 1 CV, 4 CA, 2 CL, 6 DD, 1 AP, 3 AK, 2 SS, 4 Misc
Total = 23

Army Loss points YTD:

Allied : 24
Japan : 125

Allied Operational LBA in theatre: 333 (-120)
At start of month: 453

Overall Score:

Japan | Allied
5408 | 3695

CAxis lead increases since may end: +502

Dear Admiral King,
Hello and greeting from the South Pacific! Let me first humbly express my gratitude to you continuing efforts to make the Pacific the deceive area of the war. We (the fighting grunts) need more men like you in Washington – of course we could do with a few more here as well, if you know what I mean. I hate to interlude on your busy schedule, but events are now moving quickly. To put it plain, the sneaky japs have launched an invasion of New Guinea – the last line of defense before Australia. I have doubts that Port Moresby can hold against this onslaught without immediate reinforcements of men, planes and ships. Secret intelligence has determined that the South Pacific will be the decisive area of the war – and one we cannot afford to lose. Intelligence has determined that our minimum requirements are atleast another 3-4 divisions, 4 more carriers, several battleships and forty tons of ice-cream.

Please respond soon, or I fear the next communiqué you get from Noumea may come via Yamamoto.

With much longing,

Veer
_______________________________________________End Message

The current situation:


Click here for image


The Batlle of Lae evaluation.

Naval:
Minimal forces committed. Jap losses were 3 APs and 2 DDs. Allied lost 1 SS.

Ground:
Botched! Eventual victory, but took much longer than expected.

Air:
Precise figures aren’t avail, but the allies committed the bulk of their attack aircraft (over 300 AC) and the Japanese committed hardly any. Overall, the allies lost about 20 bombers, 45 F/FBs, and 20 Misc AC for a total of 85 aircraft lost. Japanese loses amounted to approx 20 aircraft lost (all fighters – Rufes and Claudes mainly).

******
Overall the battle took a lot longer than expected, and there were several missed opportunities. Most crucial was on getting the ground forces to Lae – had they all arrived on schedule I believe the base would have fallen on June 15th as planned, which would have allowed sufficient time to get the troops back to PM. Nonetheless the grunts fought well. All failings can be attributed directly to high command. [:o]

I learnt a few things though – such as troops without support are useless. I had thought that the Army squads did all the fighting, while support squads simply helped fatigue and disruption levels. As such most my troops were airlifted to Nadzab without their support elements. Too late did I discover that troops without support don’t fight at all. [:o] Plus, I failed in my intention to force the Japanese to commit significant forces to reinforce Lae – they didn’t take the bait, so at best it was a Pyrrhic victory.

On the good news, 220 crates of Beer were liberated, and a major Sake conversion facility was destroyed! [:)]

Overall I would say – 2.5 Beers out of 5.

July 01 1942

*groan* First days of the month never seem to bring good news. It turns out that the Japanese transports retreating from PM were actually heading towards PM bearing reinforcements. The Japanese force at PM has grown in size to over 80K troops, including some I never expected. Other than the 2nd and 38Divs, we have 2 more Brigades, a bunch of Nav Gsn units (including the 4th - the one from Rabaul), 2 large CD units, engineers galore and even base forces!! He throwing everything at me, including the kitchen sink!!!!!



I have a bad feeling about this...

Meanwhile, Lee is still positing himself for his raid. My carriers arrive in position S of PM, but no strikes fly - possibly the range was too great, or they were out of OP points? Anyway even though my CVs were not spotted, the IJN CVs have moved closer to the Coral Sea, so i'm withdrawing them to Townsville. The Death Star launches over 125 Vals 'over the hump' to attack my troops at PM, - 4 are lost to flak, but I don't want to face that kind of fire-power.

I am going to have to do something about PM, but i'm wondering what????

July 02 1942

Lee pulled off his raid last night, but hit thin air - somehow the Japanese withdrew all their ship during the night - to Gilli Gilli Harbour nonetheless!!! [:@] A small SNLF unit landed at Gilli. General Gilmour (the Hero of the first Gilli battle) launches an attack and crushes it [:)] . Lee prudently retreated back to Townsville, which is where my carriers are. IJN carriers remain about a hundred miles N of Gilli.

PM airfield is sufficiently open to launch strikes. Some FBs make a strike at naval forces off the base and I get hits on CA Kumano and CA Myoko. Once again they get shredded by CAP though. I lose 14 planes to 5 Zeros. All level bombers are switched to ground attack. Good news is that the Japanese haven’t achieved 2-1 odds (yet!), so the base may hold a few more turns.

Meanwhile, i'm sending DD Dale on a suicide mission to Lunga. Coasties have been reporting several APs there - and i'm curious as too why? As per my calculations, every single unit avail to the Japanese is at PM, so what could APs be doing at Lunga?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 07/02/42
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Gili Gili

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 3528 troops, 41 guns, 0 vehicles *** being airlifted out***

Defending force 404 troops, 2 guns, 0 vehicles

Allied assault odds: 116 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 545 *** unit destroyed*** [8D]
Guns lost 2

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 12

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Port Moresby

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 62340 troops, 751 guns, 34 vehicles

Defending force 35211 troops, 216 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 3

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 2

Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 421

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 158

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I am going to have to do something about PM, but i'm wondering what???? "
VEER... Why do anything at all? It was US strategy to Leap-frog our way to Tokyo. Soviet Strategy today is that if the nut is too hard to crack - Nuke it or go around or both.
If he has emptied key bases to throw them all at PM - Then who's minding the store?
Suggestion - Rabaul is probably a supply hub with lots of planes - right? Next storm - side step EAST swing wide (stay away from all shorelines) and then strike at Rabaul with element of suprise. See if that doesn't make him pull back? Even an unsuccessful strike will make him think twice before commiting forces.

SERGEANT-----*

ORIGINAL: Veer

Just have to say, keep up the great AAR and good luck at PM! [8D]

Regards,

- Erik

July 3 1942

Well, this was unexpected…

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 07/03/42
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground combat at Port Moresby

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 81339 troops, 892 guns, 66 vehicles

Defending force 35245 troops, 216 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 1

Japanese assault odds: 4 to 1 (fort level 1)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Port Moresby base !!! [X(]


Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 1789

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 1350
Guns lost 13

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Truly shocking…
I had hoped the defense would last atleast a week, but it seems sneaky_jap was playing with me… including base forces there seem to be over 100K Jap troops at PM. Over 100 allied aircraft are destroyed/captured on the ground – most of these P-40s and P-39s though, I got most of my bombers out. [:@]

My carriers have refueled at and will return to strike tomorrow. DD Dale has done a splendid job already, masquerading as a CV to an over flying Mavis boat. I think the emperor has issued his troops too much sake….

Jap troops entering PM [:(]



July 4 1942

More bad news - one of my DD TFs, hoping to intercept a transport TF, runs into the Japanese main battle force (in daylight!!). 2 are sunk. I guess it could have been worse.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Time Surface Combat at 18,43

Japanese Ships
CS Chitose
BB Hiei
CA Tone
CA Chikuma
CA Maya
CA Mikuma
CA Suzuya
CA Kumano
CA Aoba
CL Jintsu
CL Yura
DD Kuroshio
DD Oyashio
DD Hayashio
DD Isokaze
DD Tokitsukaze
DD Minegumo
DD Harusame

Allied Ships
DD Ellet
DD Cushing, Shell hits 24, on fire, heavy damage **** 2 14" inch shells! ****
DD Hull, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
DD Monaghan
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, my carrier are in position, but my strike craft refuse to fly (3rd time!). Or actually they do fly (all SBD squads suddenly have a fat of 25-30), but I’m not sure where, because they certainly didn’t hit anything.

KB is near woodlark, so I may have to scoot out…
DD Dale hits a mine at Lunga – at least now I know what SJ was doing there! She should make it back home allright.

Operation ‘Hold PM’ now becomes “Operation Evacuate all troops while you still can’.


July 5 1942

IJN CVs reported nearer the Coral Sea, so I’m pulling my CVs out. With my SBDs not flying for some reason I don’t think it’s wise to stick around until I’ve given them all a good walloping in port! Besides, I have a strange premonition that if I do go toe-2-toe with his CVs all mine will be sunk for none of his. Well, still 2 weeks until Wasp gets here, and another 3 before more surface reinforcements.

I’m reorganizing all my surface units for FT missions to Lae Lae.

DD Dale gets reported as an CV this time... that boat is truly amazing.

The officer in charge of the PM defense has been identified and fired!

ORIGINAL: Sergeant
If he has emptied key bases to throw them all at PM - Then who's minding the store?

The answer? Probably no one. 170 Rgt (21st Mixed Bde) and 4th Nav Gsn both are destoryed/trapped at Salmuana. 8th Nav Gsn, South Sea Detch, Yazawa Detach, 2nd Div, 38th Div are at PM. One SNLF unit was destroyed at Lae, another 3 are at PM. 4 Nav Gsn units similarily at Lae, another 4 at PM.
Basically SJ may have 1-2 small Nav Gsn units, and possible the 65 Bde and 35 bde (don't know if those have arrived yet).

Meanwhile, The Americal Div is actaully at sea... [:D]

But Rabaul and Short are out of the question - The KB is lurking around the Solomon Sea and can react to an invasion of any of those pretty quickly. The only option is Turk... [;)]

OK, but who's minding your store (Australia)?

You can't have much there besides the Northern Command...

sneaky_jap should've went for Townsville, Cooktown, and Cairns...and let PM rot for awhile until 18th Army arrives....

He did you another favor by not capturing Lea Lea!
If he'd done that then your entire PM garrison would be on the Buna Death March right now....

Chad

ORIGINAL: Juggalo

OK, but who's minding your store (Australia)?

You can't have much there besides the Northern Command...

sneaky_jap should've went for Townsville, Cooktown, and Cairns...and let PM rot for awhile until 18th Army arrives....

He did you another favor by not capturing Lea Lea!
If he'd done that then your entire PM garrison would be on the Buna Death March right now....

Chad

That's true, all I got in Australia is Northern Command. But I get the 1st Marine in a week, and 41st Div @ Brisbane in 2. Plus I would have prefferd an assault on Australia rather than PM (I admitted as much to him [:)]) Without capturing PM or Gilli it's a long way back to Rabaul to supply his troops, and a lot easier for Allied naval forces to inetervene.
Yes, he did go easy on me by not capturing Lae Lae first - but then maybe he didn't have any troops to spare? [:D] Besides, he would be deprieved of the fun of watching my troops starve to death... [X(]

July 6 - 7 1942

My carriers retire to Townsville and thence to Rockhampton since there is no fuel at Townsville. [:o] The QM chooses today of all days to inform me that fuel does not miraculously transport itself up the coast of Australia (duh!).

The Kido Butai seems to have returned to Shortlands. Not far away enough I think! Significant Axis surface forces remain in and around PM though. I’ve put most of my subs on Sub transport missions and ordered them to rendezvous at Lae Lae. Maybe we can save something…

SS I-24 pus a 2 lances into DD Anderson just out of Crains. How I hate subs! [:@] Anderson is hurt bad (70+ Flt), but should make it to Crains....

Meanwhile, back on New Guinea, my pursuing force has pursued the enemy to Salamaua. Yes! Time for revenge! Though as it turns out, Salamaua seems to have a secret warp exit leading to Nassau Bay. How is this possible? I suspect Commander Sulu may be involved [:-]. Oh well, I guess the pursuit continues…

Beam me to Nassau Scotty!
Aye Aye Sulu!



July 8 - 9

The emperor has obviously ordered the return of his troops (and kitchen utensils) from Moresby. Several AP TFs are seen loading troops from the base. My surface forces would intervene, but there seems to be a large SC TF consisting of BBs at PM as well. Besides, my ships are all busy evacuating troops from Lae Lae. 3 APs are hit by bombs though. Good Good!

Meanwhile, SJ seems content to try and interdict my Fast Transport TFs with subs… DD Monaghan ends up ramming SS I-27 off the coast of New Guinea, while SS I-29 is caught and destroyed off Cooktown. All in all, 1 DD lost for 2 subs. I can live with that.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 9,51


Japanese Ships
SS I-27, Shell hits 3, on fire, heavy damage ***sunk*** [:)]

Allied Ships
DD Monaghan, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage ***sunk*** [:(]
DD Ellet


Allied ground losses:
Men lost 50

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Sub attack at 7,55

Japanese Ships
SS I-29, Shell hits 3, on fire, heavy damage ***sunk*** [:)]

Allied Ships
SC 638
SC 520

----------------------------------------------------------------------

July 10 – 11 - 12 1942

The Sydney express takes on a new mission – all surface forces have been reorganized into several FT TFs for maximum efficiency (this leaves much to be desired though, I can't seem to get the number of ships in a TF right). Thunderstorms keep most air activity down, though I’ve begun airlifting troops out of Nadzab and Gilli Gilli (using PBYs). All SBD squads are placed on ASW search. Maybe we can hit something…

The Kido Butai has arisen from it’s slumber at shortlands and is once again on it’s way South. A TF consisting of 6-7 MLs ([X(]) is spotted just N of Gilli.

Meanwhile a third enemy sub is sunk! 3 in 3 days, that must hurt! [:)]

Weather: Partly Cloudy

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 07/12/42
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 9,40

Japanese Ships
SS I-31, Shell hits 3, on fire, heavy damage ***sunk***

Allied Ships
DD Morris

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Run Morris Run!




July 13 – 14 1942

Some news now… The Kido Butai is a few miles north of Gilli, and the entire 38 Div (4 Rgts) + 3 Eng units have landed there. Elements of the 25 Bde (7th Aus) is all that remains of the proud force that captured the base almost 2 months ago. Most combat troops have been withdrawn from Gilli, as have all recon squads. Brig. Gen. Pots chooses to remain with the rearguard however, and shares in the captivity of his men.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 07/14/42
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Gili Gilip

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 22479 troops, 244 guns, 0 vehicles ***Overkill***

Defending force 1507 troops, 41 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 67 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Gili Gili base !!! [:(]


Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 109

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 1869 *** mostly base force units and support squads***
Guns lost 36
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

But there is some good news…

A small Jap SC TF attempts to interrupt t he Sydney express and promptly pays the price.
The Japanese gain the initial advantage by crossing the ‘T’, though this helps them not. At a range of 7000 yards, R Admiral Lees ships pump the Japanese full of 8” shells. CA Kinugasa is left burning, as are several DDs. The allied ships are pretty much untouched until the end of combat, whereupon DD Ushio gets a luckily torpedo strike on the Swanson. Swanson falls out of formation and falls prey to the Roving I-5, which sends her to the bottom with 3 torpedoes.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Lea Lea at 9,39

Japanese Ships
CA Kinugasa, Shell hits 4, on fire, heavy damage [8D]
DD Yugumo, Shell hits 18, on fire, heavy damage ***sunk*** [8D]
DD Kazegumo, Shell hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
DD Asagiri, Shell hits 6, on fire, heavy damage
DD Ushio
DD Yayoi, Shell hits 9, on fire, heavy damage
DD Uzuki, Shell hits 3, on fire
DD Akikaze

Allied Ships
CA Northampton, Shell hits 1
CA Salt Lake City
CA Vincennes
CL St. Louis, Shell hits 1
DD Meredith, Shell hits 2
DD Swanson, Shell hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, on fire *** subsequently sunk buy sub***
DD Wilkes
DD Hughes, Shell hits 2, on fire ***pfft!***[:'(]
DD Hammann
DD Mustin

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Trust the subs to ruin a perfectly good day! As I suspected, the surface force was to provide cover for the MLs (now spotted at PM). The Sydney express has been given new orders for the time being, pending the arrival of 2 DMSs form SOPAC. Meanwhile some allied subs are dispatched to PM to extract retribution for the Swanson.

July 15 1942

For some reason my order canceling the Sydney express doesn’t reach the ears of Admiral Smith. His TF of 6 DDs blunders into Lae Lae and DDs Lang and Maury both hit Type 93 mines. Damage isn’t too bad, though the ships will need to head back to Pearl.

After a long hiatus my air forces make a re-appearance today. While I made it clear to my commanders that the ML TF (now just south of Gilli) was Target No.1, the bombers choose to fly to PM instead. 3 DDs and 1 AP are hit by bombs (some of the DDs were already damaged). CS Chitose, hanging around Buna, also takes a nice 500 pound hit from a B-17. [:)]

July 16 1942

My subs succeeded in their mission. SS-39 sinks DD Yayoi, while SS-40 sinks the DD Uzuki, as well as putting 3 torps into the CA Kinugasa while attempting to flee PM. She flounders and sinks. The first Japanese capital ship loss of the War! And there was much rejoicing.


[:)]

In other news the CS TF at Buna has retreated to Finschafen, so the damage to the Chitose could not have been too bad. SS-37 reports TKs at Gilli. IJN carriers remain just S of Woodlark. My carriers are safe in Rockhampton undergoing some needed R&R (rust & repair), awaiting the arrival of the Wasp.

Meanwhile, Adm. Smiths TF reaches port at Cairns – with no Admiral Smith. Evidently fearing my wrath he has mysteriously vanished back to the officers club. I shall deal with him latter…

June 17 1942

Allied subs continue their good run. A TK is torpedoed at Gilli Gilli, and SS-40 puts a torp into DD Ushio just off PM. [8D]

Continuing, the Japanese get a nasty surprise when B-17s and Hudsons flying out of Cooktown find and bomb the CS TF just off Finschafen. Chitose escapes damage this time, but Nisshin takes 1 bomb and the Chiyoda two! IJN carriers seem to have vanished back to Shortlands.

With the end of the Sydney express, the battle of PM is now officially over, so it’s time for an evaluation:

Battle of PM Evaluation

Naval:
The Japanese commit pretty much the entire Combined Fleet – at least 7 CVs, 1CVL, 4 BBs identified by name, along with dozens of cruisers, destroyers and aux ships, and maybe 5 TFs of transports. At the start of the offensive the Allies had 3 CVs, 6 CAs, 2 CLs, and 20 DDs, with reinforcements of 1 CV, 6 CAs, 4 CLs and 12 DDs received by the end. Confirmed losses for the Japanese are 1 CA, 3 DDs, 3 Misc, 3 SS and 7 APs – about an equivalent number may be damaged badly enough to go back to Tokyo. The Allies lost 4 CAs, 2 CL, 9 DDs and 1 SS, with another 2 CAs damaged.

Air:
Major disaster for the Allies here. The Japanese committed atleast 3 land based Zero Datais (80 F) and about 450 carrier based aircraft. Axis bombers took only a secondary role – mainly ASW and Naval search. The Allies had about 70 F, 128 FBs, 160 Bombers and 260(+90 latter) carrier based aircraft. Axis losses came to approx 36 F, 17 Kates/Vals and 26 bombers. The allies lost over 120 F/FBs and 75 Bombers – over 140 aircraft were destroyed/lost on the ground at PM.

Ground:
The Japanese committed around 100K troops, faced by about 35K Allied troops. Allied forces were overwhelmed, thought the troops fought bravely – even after the fall of PM the Allied forces were still up 124 Loss points to 144 loss points. That will change soon owing to the troops now trapped at Lae Lae without adequate supplies.

******

I based my defense of PM on 2 fundamental assumptions – 1 that the Axis forces would not have more than 2 ½ divisions to commit. And 2 – The Japanese would launch a deliberate attempt to shut down PM and capture Gilli before the actual invasion. SJ held to neither assumptions and timed his invasion brilliantly. Had he attacked only a week latter (closer to when I expected it) the allies would have been fundamentally stronger. As it was he caught my 3 carriers off guard, and they had to retire to Noumea to await the Sara This took them out of the battle at the crucial moment of the landing. SJ made no attempt to capture Gilli, and only based planes at Buna AFTER the landing were concluded. His BB TFs shut down the airfield in 1 night and kept it thataway, despite me having 100 engineers at PM. By the time my forces were in position to intervene, the battle was essentially over. He went it, applied enough force to take the base, then got out. This was Blitzkrieg at its finest. [:@]

For the allies, more liquid courage is needed to recover from this blow. Much more.

Overall I would say – 1 Martini please, and leave the bottle

July 18 1942

When I thought that Jap subs had shot their bolt, I obviously thought wrong. DMS Southard is caught by I-121 just off Cairns and damage is heavy. In turn, I-21 sinks SC 638 in a brilliant explosion [:@]. Southard will try for Cairns, where she will join with the DD Anderson, also fighting for it’s life.

Meanwhile, on a hunch, I’m readying a SC TF to make night raid on Gilli – far too many transports there for my liking.


July 19 1942

Nighttime brings a nice little surface battle at Gilli. All IJN transports have mysteriously disappeared, but a bunch of PCs and a TK are sent to ship heaven. [:)] My ships are, predictably, not even scratched.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 07/19/42
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Weather: Partly Cloudy

Night Time Surface Combat, near Gili Gili at 17,42

Japanese Ships
PG Heijo Maru, Shell hits 31, Torpedo hits 1, *** sunk*** [8D]
PC Shonon Maru #15, Shell hits 9, on fire, heavy damage *** sunk***
PC Ch 4, Shell hits 8, and is sunk *** sunk***
PC Ch 5, Shell hits 3, on fire, heavy damage *** sunk***
PC Ch 6, Shell hits 7 *** sunk***
PC Ch 16, Shell hits 7, on fire, heavy damage *** ? ***
PC Ch 17, Shell hits 6, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage *** sunk***
DD Maikaze, Shell hits 18, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage *** sunk***
DD Amatsukaze, Shell hits 16 *** sunk***
TK Sacramento Maru, Shell hits 24 *** sunk*** [8D]

Allied Ships
CA Salt Lake City **** Lees Flag ****
CA San Francisco, Shell hits 1 [:'(]
CA Quincy
CA Vincennes
CA Canberra
CL Leander
CL St. Louis
CL Nashville
DD Meredith
DD Wilkes
DD Gwin
DD Grayson
DD Monssen
DD Stockton
DD Bagley
DD Blue
DD Helm
DD Ralph Talbot
DD Henley
DD Jarvis
DD Benham
DD Ellet
DD Sterett
DD Gridley

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Subsequent bombardment of the port yield 4 Fuel hits and 5 Supply hits. While I’m not sure what these mean, I’m happy. [:)]

In other news, DMS Southard sinks in Cairns harbour. With her loss all hope of sealift for the troops at Lae vanishes. It’s now a long hard slog upto Wau.

July 20 - 29 1942

Events slow down considerably, so just a bunch of updates:

Following the fall of PM, and the morale boosting 2nd Naval Battle of Gilli (see above) all allied forces undergo some needed R&R. Many squadrons are withdrawn from the South Pacific, and their planes transferred to other squadrons. All bomber forces are stood down to allow for the plugging of holes in aircraft and for the crew to plug a few of their own. [;)]

In regards to submarine warfare, I lose the SS-42 off Rossel, but achieve hits on 3 APs and 1 TK. IJN subs seem to have vanished.

In recent days the Japanese land a hodge-podge force at Lae – 3 SNLF units, 3 Nav Gsn (including the 4th), a Eng BN and Recon and Eng units from the 2nd and 38th Divs. They find no welcome, since Lae has been abandoned by the allies, though an Eng unit is now trapped at Finschafen.

Meanwhile, SJ has been using my troops in new Guinea as target practice. Everyday a few Vals/Kates/Alfs/Daves and other 4 letter names fly over my troops and drop baskets of rotten vegetables at them. My troops are getting quite adept at making stew, though I’m losing about 20 a day to chronic diarrhea. Don’t worry laddies, we’ll have our revenge! [:@]

In the interim, me and SJ have been playing a bit of South-Pacific-Island-Hop. The rules are very simple. I fly in a small base force, and base some Catalinas to some nondescript atoll in the middle of nowhere. 2 days latter a Japanese invasion force lands, I evacuate my PBYs and fly them to some other nondescript island. 2 Days latter, Japanese troops arrive again. Rinse and Repeat. For now SJ seems content to let me base planes at Irau – though the fact that I have the place heavily mined could have something to do with it. [8D]

A New meaning to Island Hoping

July 30 – 31 1942

A small naval action provides a break to the despondency. DD Balch, escorting DMS Hovey on an FT mission to pick up a few allied troops at PM encounter the IJN DD Akikaze (not damaged before). At a range of 400 yards, DD Balch punchs Akikaze full of 5 inch shells. The poor Japanese destroyer doesn’t know quite what hit her. [8D]


-----------------------------------------------------
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 07/30/42
-----------------------------------------------------

Weather: Thunderstorms

Night Time Surface Combat, near Port Moresby at 10,40

Japanese Ships
DD Akikaze, Shell hits 12, on fire, heavy damage [8D]

Allied Ships
DD Balch
DMS Hovey

-----------------------------------------------------

DD Balch, she's a pretty ship:






IJN CVs are currently parked just SE of Rossel. A small TF of AVs and DDs is at Rossel, probably bait. The Kido Butai is actually just out of range of my PBYs at Lungaville. I wouldn’t have spotted it if it wasn’t for my planes at Irau. [:-]



************************

End of July 1942 stats:


Bases controlled

..............| Jap : Allied
End June | 15 : 19
July 30 | 16 (+1) : 18 (-1)

Aircraft Losses This Month:

Jap – 62 – 4 Bombers, 25 Fighters, 6 Dive Bombers, 2 Torpedo Bombers, 25 Misc

Allied – 266 – 64 Bombers, 25 Dive Bombers, 106 Fighters/FBs, 71 Misc.

Aircraft Losses YTD:

Jap – 245 – 68 Bombers, 97 Fighters, 9 Dive Bombers, 10 Torpedo Bombers, 61 Misc

Allied – 552 – 136 Bombers, 63 Dive Bombers, 16 Torpedo Bombers, 225 Fighters/FBs, 112 Misc

Ships confirmed sunk (this month):

Jap – 1 CA, 6 DD, 3 AP, 1 TK, 3 SS, 8 Misc*

Allied – 4 DD, 1 SS, 2 Misc*

* PC, PG, SC, DMS.

Ships confirmed sunk YTD:

Ships confirmed sunk YTD:

Jap – 1CA, 8 DD, 4 SS, 10 AP, 1 TK, 11 Misc
Total = 35

Allied – 1 CV, 4 CA, 2 CL, 10 DD, 1 AP, 3 AK, 3 SS, 6 Misc
Total = 30

Army Loss points YTD:

Allied : 193
Japan : 156

Allied Operational LBA in theatre: 432 (+ 99)
At start of month: 333

Overall Score:

Japan | Allied
6832 | 3463

Difference: +3369
Axis lead increases since June end:+1656

Dear General Marshall,

Aloha from the South Seas! Congratulations on your recent promotion, and how are your new offices in the Pentagram? To give you an update of what transpired here last month, the Aussies suffered a cataclysmic defeat in New Guinea, for lack of a better word. Perhaps not as cataclysmic as what the South Africans suffered at Tobruk but you get my point. Much of the month of July was spent recovering from hangovers, cleaning up after beach parties and attempting to scrounge up forces to defend Australia after this ‘mishap’. The Japanese have so far converted over 6000 crates of beer to sake, and you can understand that my Australian friends are very upset. While Australia is now the only Allied continent to face the threat of invasion, I sit here in my lounge chair in full confidence that Supreme HQ recognizes the gravity of the situation and will act accordingly. By-the-way, I haven’t received any B-17 replacements yet. Do you think you could get the 8 USAAF to spare few?

With some trepidation,

Veer

____________________________________End Message.

The Plan for August:


Click here for image

Allied command expects little action in the South Seas in August. It is not expected that the Japanese will be able to muster sufficient troops for an invasion of Australia until September at the earliest. The interim will be used to build up defenses and allow air units to rest and recover.

To resist an invasion Northern Command has about 4 fresh Bdes at Townsville, while 2 divisions (31st and 42nd) are expected in Brisbane by the middle of the month. The towns of Crains, Cooktown and Rockhampton will be denuded of ground forces, since one cannot expect to hold everywhere, and High Command has decided that it will be easier to defend Townsville than Rockhampton (note – this means it will be easier to evacuate Townsville rather than Rockhampton should an invasion come that is too powerful to resist.

In the New Hebrides the Americal and 1st Marine will form the backbone of the defense, aided by several marine strike squadrons. Since this area lacks ground forces, extensive use will be made of mines, provided HQ deems it fit to release more than 1 DM to the South Pacific [:@]. Also, all fleet CVs will return to Pearl – something about intelligence pointing to a possible Japanese strike at Midway. Ridiculous ofcourse, the main blow will fall here in the South, but Nimitz just doesn’t listen. Just for spite I’ll keep the airgroups of the Saratoga and Lexington at Brisbane. Ooops!