January 2, 1943: Second Naval Battle of Little Andaman
Well, for a loose definition of "naval battle". Not that action wasn't grand, but capital ships on both sides failed to fire a single shot at each other.
First, Japanese taskforces went in, brushed aside some PT boats, and then my cruiser group ran into the minefield CA
Suzuya and DD
Asakaze rammed mines, and fell into an escort TF, which wasn't able to move out of the hex until daytime.
However, my battleships were able to proceed with naval bombardment unmolested, and caused damage that proved to be decisive:
Night Naval bombardment of Little Andaman at 44,59
Allied aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 5 destroyed on ground
P-38G Lightning: 4 destroyed on ground
Hurricane XIIb: 6 destroyed on ground
A-24 Banshee: 2 destroyed on ground
Hurricane IIc Trop: 2 destroyed on ground
F4F-4 Wildcat: 1 destroyed on ground
Japanese Ships
BB Mutsu
BB Nagato
CL Jintsu
Allied ground losses:
279 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled
Non Combat: 25 destroyed, 8 disabled
Engineers: 3 destroyed, 4 disabled
Guns lost 6 (2 destroyed, 4 disabled)
Vehicles lost 14 (10 destroyed, 4 disabled)
Airbase hits 11
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 47
Port hits 7
E13A1 Jake acting as spotter for BB Mutsu
BB Mutsu firing at 18th British Division
E13A1 Jake acting as spotter for BB Nagato
BB Nagato firing at Little Andaman
E13A1 Jake acting as spotter for CL Jintsu
CL Jintsu firing at RAF 222 Group Base Force
At morning, the Allied convoy moved into Little Andaman, weathering a few subs attacks (only one xAK got damaged), and somehow not engaging my cripples, while not being engaged by other surface forces, which fell back to Trinkat. Vals and Kates from Port Blair, and Betties from Victoria Point attacked Allied ships in both phases. Japanese sweeps came after raids, and escort fighters suffered significant losses, particularly hapless 13th Sentai from Victoria Point, as its Nicks proved to be useless in dogfight. But due to damage suffered by Allied aviation on the previous day and on ground, they were able to ensure clear airspace for bombers. Results of attacks:
BB Prince of Wales, Torpedo hits 4,
and is sunk
BB Ramillies, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 3, heavy damage
CL Leander, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAK El Madina, Torpedo hits 2,
and is sunk
xAK Jalaganga, Torpedo hits 1,
and is sunk
xAK Jalayamuna, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
xAK Jalaputra, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage
xAK Wing Sang, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
9 Kates (which did all of the torpedo runs on battleships) and 2 Vals were shot down by flak, or written off after return, despite flying from 2 hexes... And Helen skipbombers from Victoria Point did not sortie, only their escort flew (including above-menioned 13th Sentai) flew.
Unfortunately, Dauntlesses from Little Andamn flew too this day. LRCAPs and leaking CAPs shot down a lot of them, but the raid in the morning phase numbered 56 bombers, and many got through. As they faced a slowed-down taskforce with pretty puny AA armament, results were predictable:
Morning Air attack on TF, near Little Andaman at 44,59
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid spotted at 43 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 16 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 13
A6M3b Zero x 10
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 3
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 13
Allied aircraft
A-24 Banshee x 20
SBD-3 Dauntless x 36
No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
A-24 Banshee: 3 destroyed
SBD-3 Dauntless: 11 destroyed, 10 damaged
Japanese Ships
DD Matsukaze, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
CA Suzuya, Bomb hits 5, heavy fires
CL Yahagi, Bomb hits 2, on fire
Suzuya sank later in the day.
Yahagi and
Matsukaze might be able to escape, unless Allied ships crush them on the next night.
Asakaze barely holds above the water and must be scuttled.
Air losses for the day:
