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11Aug found the AF at Geraldton more than 90% of the way to L5 and it seemed clear that only one more day would be needed before work would start to get the base a L6 AF. On Arend no improvement was recorded on any of the skills of the pilots. There was no sign of enemy submarine activity, however the daily intel briefing confirmed that our north coast defenses had surprised an enemy TF and sank 3 Momi Class APDs. It was not known if the ships were carrying any troops. These small ships were were fast and decently armed but were most useful for their ability to carry troops and supplies quickly to small bases. The enemy did not have many of them and the loss of 3 would put a damper on activity in the region. One more confirmation on the ability of Port7 bases on the US west coast being able to handle ship withdrawals can be seen in this screen of Tacoma. It had been enlarged to L7 and the arrows clearly show the ability to withdraw ships.

Those APDs were sunk by Mark 13 torps which US DDs carry. Can you tell us what the battle was like (ship types on both sides, night/day, loss or damage on Allied side, etc)?

BBfanboy wrote: Tue Feb 27, 2024 10:48 pm Those APDs were sunk by Mark 13 torps which US DDs carry. Can you tell us what the battle was like (ship types on both sides, night/day, loss or damage on Allied side, etc)?

Actually, the action was not between ships but was the result of successful air searching and naval attack orders given to a squadron of PBY-5 Catalinas. The attack started in the morning when 5 PBY-5 (armed with torpedoes) made an attack in bad weather (thunderstorms). APD Fuji was sunk but an attack on APD Tsuta failed. In the afternoon the weather had cleared and 10 PBY-5 made a torpedo attack sinking both APD Tsuta and APD Tade. Interestingly, the attack in the morning actually had 2 separate actions, probably caused by the bad weather. 5 PBY-5 made an attack on APD Fuji and CM Natsushima that completely failed. All of the PBY-5 returned safely with only one receiving any damage. One pilot was wounded, LCDR Jones, C.B. a veteran of 126 missions.

Very interesting! Thank you for posting that! I think you are right that Japan will miss those APDs. They are important vessels for FT of small units among the many islands.

Thanks for asking for the details. I find there are many little known ways of enjoying this game of ours. The detail available is astounding!

12Aug found the AF at Geraldton 3%>L6. On Arend no improvement was noted for any of the air skills for either pilot.
In general it was a quiet day. No unusual enemy activity was detected on the west or northern coasts. The excitement was at the AF where some newly arrived LB-30 Liberator heavy bombers were getting lots of attention. They were not the latest bombers available to the Allies but they were really impressive. They had a normal range of almost 800 miles and if necessary, they could reach targets almost 1000 miles from Geraldton. The base had come a long way in a short time!

13Aug found the AF at Geraldton 12%>L6, an improvement of 9% in a single day. This suggests that the work will be complete in less than 2 weeks. On Arend WO Hazard saw his low naval skill improve to 38. No significant reports of enemy activity were reported on the west or north coasts of Australia. At the Officer's Club there was a lot of talk about significant events at Perth but no one knew exactly what was happening. At Perth, LDCR Gorek was well aware that TF 451 had just arrived under the command of Captain J. Farley. This TF contained the first American aircraft carrier to be seen in Australia since the start of the war. It was the USS Long Island, a CVE. Certainly not the biggest carrier in the Allied fleet but its arrival was a giant morale boost for all the troops at Perth. In addition the battleship North Carolina and CA Pensacola and a number of other ships were part of TF 451. The mission of the TF was unknown.

14Aug found the AF at Geraldton 21%>L6 up from 12%. It was clear that work would be done well before the end of the month. On Arend WO Hazard's low naval skill had improved from 38>39. PO Caruthers saw his overall experience level rise from 55>56 and his low naval skill improve from 61>62. At the Officer's Club all of the talk was about news that TF462 had arrived at Sydney carrying large numbers of troops from San Francisco. The network of Dutch officers in Australia had confirmed that although TF 462 mainly carried an American infantry regiment, there were two ships that carried re-formed Dutch units, the Kendari Base Force and the Dili Detachment. The Dili Detachment would head to Portland, on the south coast, near Melbourne. Dili had fallen in late March. Although the detachment was now at 74% TOE, it was about as strong as it would get given the non-availability of Dutch "devices". Word was that the plan for the Kendari Base Force was going to be a part of the bigger picture for the defense of the west coast of Australia. Everyone expected a detailed briefing on how the surviving Dutch units would be used going forward. Many of the men at Geraldton had lost close friends when the DEI fell and all hoped that their loss would soon be revenged.

The Kendari Base Force, like many Dutch units, had been rebuilt following the loss of the DEI. It now stood at 82% TOE and consist mainly of support troops, engineers and AA artillery. Once unloaded from xAP Poelau Laut it will move to Carnarvon on the west coast. The Kendari BF is a sub-unit of the Celebes Base Force that also includes the Makassar BF and Manado BF, two other rebuilt Dutch engineering units stationed at Geraldton and Carnarvon respectively. All are assigned to ABDA. The plan is to reform the Celebes BF at Carnarvon ASAP. Carnarvon is the next west coast base to be enlarged with work already in progress but scheduled to be sped up as soon as the AF at Geraldton reaches L6. Lots of work is planned at Carnarvon but it will not be easy. Carnarvon, 320 miles north of Geraldton, is a P2(0) and it will take some effort to get it to its maximum size of 3(0). Having started as a (0) port there will be some difficulties in loading and unloading so some Naval Support is planned but has not yet been authorized. There is no RR serving Carnarvon, only a secondary road so time will be needed to move troops to the base. The surrounding terrain is all desert with an absence of any road network. The AF is already at L2 and is 93% of the way to L3. An AF5 is currently planned. On the plus side there is already a significant minefield in place with an attending ACM. Aircraft include mainly patrol planes and a squadron of torpedo bombers doing naval searches, although there is no source of torpedoes currently at the base.

15Aug found the AF at Geraldton 30%>L6 and on Arend WO Hazard's "defn" skill had improved from 61>62. No new reports of enemy activity had been received. At Sydney the Kendari Base Force had unloaded and was packing for the long 2484 mile RR trip to Geraldton, a prelude to the final road trip to Carnarvon. It would be a long trip taking between 1-2 weeks.

If you have an Air HQ with range 9 and a stock of torpedoes at Geraldton, it should be able to provide them to Carnarvon (8 hexes from Geraldton from the looks of the map).

BBfanboy wrote: Wed Mar 13, 2024 3:31 pm If you have an Air HQ with range 9 and a stock of torpedoes at Geraldton, it should be able to provide them to Carnarvon (8 hexes from Geraldton from the looks of the map).

My HQa at Geraldton has a command range of 3. Are there HQa with a command range of 9? I know there are Command HQ with a 9 but is there a HQa with a 9? Some have a 5.

Probably the only HQa in Australia with range 9 would be the RAAF HQ. Otherwise. you can look at some of the US # Air Force HQ.

Correction - those larger HQa do only have a range of 5, so the ability to supply beyond that would depend on torps being available at double the HQa range.

16Aug found the air field at Geraldton 39%>L6. On Arend, PO Caruthers saw his low naval skill improve from 62>63. No unusual enemy activity was detected on the west or north coasts. At Carnarvon work was completed on getting the AF to L3 and a decision was made to shift efforts towards getting the port up to size 3 as earlier work had reached 12% completion. There were only 13 engineers and 2 engineering vehicles at the base so there was concern that the time needed to reach a Port level of 3 would be too long. Some suggested that working on improving the fortifications might be a better mission until more engineers arrived.

17Aug found the AF at Geraldton 48% >L6. At the rate of 9% a day it looks like the work to get to L6 will be done in just under one more week. At that time no additional engineering efforts are planned at Geraldton so a reallocation of engineering assets will need to be addressed. Likely a portion of the current engineer force at Geraldton will be shifted north to Carnarvon. On Arend, WO Hazard saw his Defn skill go from 62>63. At Carnarvon, it became clear that the decision to apply engineering assets to enlarging the port from L2>L3 was not the wise way to go. The day saw only a 1% improvement in the port's progress. Command revised the engineering plan and shifted work to improving fortifications >L2. Enlarging the port will just have to wait.

It is painful trying to raise the level of an SPS (0) port - and there are so many of them!

18Aug found the airfield at Geraldton 57%>L6. About 5 more days will be needed to complete the work. On Arend WO Hazard's low naval skill improved from 39>40. At Carnarvon work on improving the fortifications was now at 13%>L2. Clearly, the decision to use the existing engineering assets on this project was the correct one. Command was thinking that the existing minefield would be sufficient to protect the port from enemy submarines.

At Command a small group of officers were meeting to review the status of the two British pilots that were assigned to Arend to see if it was time for a change. It had been almost 4 months since the pilots started their trip to Perth on 23April. At the time their skills were: Now the skills looked quite different. What is really interesting is that WO Hazard had not flown a single "mission" since joining Arend. His skills had improved from training alone.
No decision was made at the meeting, but it was clear that the future might be somewhat different for these two British pilots.

Recon is also a useful skill for FP pilots, since they could be sent to a cruiser or battleship in future. Bombardment results are affected by the Recon skill of the spotting pilot.

BBfanboy wrote: Sun Mar 24, 2024 3:33 am Recon is also a useful skill for FP pilots, since they could be sent to a cruiser or battleship in future. Bombardment results are affected by the Recon skill of the spotting pilot.

Understood. The recon skill is useful all across the board.
Your post raised an issue I have been thinking about for awhile. Yes, the pilots on Arend are flying a Float Plane. In the game's Pilot Reserve Pool there are 5 categories of airframes: Fighter, Bomber, Patrol, Transport and Recon. I believe when a pilot is moved from a float plane squadron to the reserve pool, he is added to the "Patrol" category. There actually is no "float plane" separate category. Am I correct?
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