12-20-41
A Japanese cruiser force and allied PT boats engage in one of the longest series of night actions I’ve ever seen in WitP. Five separate engagements occurred between the two forces one right after the other, finally resulting in the destruction off all allied PT boats with very minor damage inflicted on the Japanese.
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Night Time Surface Combat, near Legaspi at 45,54
Japanese Ships
CA Myoko
CA Haguro
CA Nachi
DD Yamakaze
DD Kawakaze, Shell hits 2
DD Umikaze
DD Suzukaze, Shell hits 4
DD Shiokaze
Allied Ships
PT PT-41, Shell hits 1
PT Q 111
PT Q 114
PT Q 115
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Night Time Surface Combat, near Legaspi at 45,54
Japanese Ships
CA Myoko
CA Haguro
CA Nachi
DD Yamakaze
DD Kawakaze
DD Umikaze
DD Suzukaze
DD Shiokaze
Allied Ships
PT PT-41, Shell hits 108, and is sunk
PT Q 111
PT Q 114
PT Q 115, Shell hits 35, and is sunk
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Night Time Surface Combat, near Legaspi at 45,54
Japanese Ships
CA Myoko
CA Haguro
CA Nachi
DD Yamakaze
DD Kawakaze
DD Umikaze
DD Suzukaze
DD Shiokaze
Allied Ships
PT Q 111
PT Q 114, Shell hits 3, and is sunk
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Night Time Surface Combat, near Legaspi at 45,54
Japanese Ships
CA Myoko
CA Haguro
CA Nachi
DD Yamakaze
DD Kawakaze
DD Umikaze
DD Suzukaze
DD Shiokaze
Allied Ships
PT Q 111
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Night Time Surface Combat, near Legaspi at 45,54
Japanese Ships
CA Myoko
CA Haguro
CA Nachi
DD Yamakaze
DD Kawakaze
DD Umikaze
DD Suzukaze
DD Shiokaze
Allied Ships
PT Q 111, Shell hits 6, and is sunk
Japanese naval forces bombard Miri causing very light damage. A battleship squadron bombards Kuching causing moderate damage there.
Japanese troops land at Sorong and Kuching. Later in the turn Japanese troops also landed at Butuan and Nauru Island.
Japanese sub I-162 puts 2 torpedoes into the tanker George G Henry just south of Balikpapan and sends it and its precious cargo of oil to the bottom.
Two large Japanese air raids strike Johore Bahru in Malaya causing moderate overall damage.
A very large unescorted Japanese air raid hits Rabaul, but the now veteran Wirraway pilots rise to meet the bombers and break up the formation. Although no bombers were shot down, many were damaged and the raid caused very little damage.
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Day Air attack on Rabaul , at 62,90
Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 79
G4M1 Betty x 23
Allied aircraft
Wirraway x 6
Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 12 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 2 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
Wirraway: 3 damaged
Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 5
Aircraft Attacking:
13 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 10000 feet
15 x G3M Nell bombing at 10000 feet
8 x G3M Nell bombing at 10000 feet
15 x G3M Nell bombing at 10000 feet
6 x G3M Nell bombing at 10000 feet
4 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 10000 feet
7 x G3M Nell bombing at 10000 feet
9 x G3M Nell bombing at 10000 feet
3 x G3M Nell bombing at 10000 feet
3 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 10000 feet
3 x G3M Nell bombing at 10000 feet
3 x G3M Nell bombing at 10000 feet
3 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 10000 feet
3 x G3M Nell bombing at 10000 feet
4 x G3M Nell bombing at 10000 feet
3 x G3M Nell bombing at 10000 feet
And just to show they were unaffected by the raid, the heroic Wirraway pilots put another bomb into an AK near Kavieng. Treespider must HATE these guys by now. [:D][:D]
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Day Air attack on TF, near Kavieng at 62,88
Allied aircraft
Wirraway x 3
Hudson I x 1
No Allied losses
Japanese Ships
AK Tokiwa Maru, Bomb hits 1
AK Gosyu Maru
Aircraft Attacking:
3 x Wirraway bombing at 2000 feet
1 x Hudson I bombing at 6000 feet
Japanese surface units are detected northeast of Palembang at the little island of Singkep, Japan pays the price for bringing naval units so close to allied land based air and the CL Sendai gets an 18 inch torpedo smacked into its mid section.
Several other allied strikes fail to locate the ships due to inclement weather and still more miss completely. With overcast weather predicted for tomorrow, better results are to be expected should the Japanese remain in the area.
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Day Air attack on TF, near Singkep at 22,53
Allied aircraft
Swordfish x 6
Wirraway x 4
Buffalo I x 6
Allied aircraft losses
Swordfish: 1 damaged
Japanese Ships
DD Fubuki
CL Sendai, Torpedo hits 1
Aircraft Attacking:
4 x Wirraway bombing at 2000 feet
2 x Swordfish launching torpedoes at 200 feet
6 x Buffalo I bombing at 2000 feet
4 x Swordfish launching torpedoes at 200 feet
In another attempt to close Rabaul, Japanese planners have brought in a battleship task force to bombard the base. Results against the facilities there were light and the air groups were unaffected.
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Naval bombardment of Rabaul, at 62,90
Allied aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft losses
No Allied losses
Japanese Ships
BB Mutsu
BB Nagato
CA Kako
CA Furutaka
Allied ground losses:
244 casualties reported
Guns lost 5
Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 3
Port hits 2
Port fuel hits 1
Port supply hits 4
Japan continues to bombard Naga with its two Infantry divisions there, achieving limited results.
An overwhelming assault at San Marcelino drives out the static base force unit and captures the base for Japan.
Japan captures Taiping and Nauru Island.
Jim