Dutch AVP Arend: Scenario 1 Exploits

[WEXF]

26Aug found the AF at Carnarvon 3%>L4. On Arend FLT Young saw his "Exp", "NavS" and "Defn" skills improve.

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However, the big news at Geraldton was the arrival of ABDA Command HQ and Air Marshal Brooke-Popham. It had been a long a rough trip from the DEI to Australia for the ABDA Command and it was only going to be another 45 days before it would be withdrawn, but for the next month and a half all of the ABDA units and bases were looking forward to the benefits of having their HQ, with its CR9, finally with them again.

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[WEXF]

As all of the officers arrived for the daily intelligence briefing there was little expectation that anything significant would be reported. Enemy activity on the west and northern coasts had been pretty quiet. As the meeting started it was clear from a series of charts at the front of the room that today's meeting was going to be different.
The first chart showed the composition of Bombardment TF 522 containing 3 destroyers. It had orders to bombard Koepang, a strong enemy base.

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TF522 had orders to move at full speed to attack Koepang and to "remain on station" following their attack rather than return to the home base at Port Hedland. The briefing officer went into detail on the ships in TF522.
DD Russell, a Sims Class US Navy DD was armed with 5" guns, was radar equipped and had excellent AA and ASW armament.

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DD Wilson, a Benham Class US Navy DD was similarly armed but had additional torpedo capability.

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DD Vendetta, an Admiralty Class Australian DD carried 4.5" guns, that had superior range and although the smallest of the three ships, it had the highest AA rating. The crew also had the highest "night" experience rating on the three ships.

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[WEXF]

The briefing officer explained that TF522 had been organized several weeks earlier and placed under the command of CDR. Burke, Arleigh A. who had been selected because of his high naval and aggression skill levels (81/85). CDR Burke would be on SS Wilson during the mission.

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The next part of the briefing covered the weather and the latest intelligence on enemy strength at Koepang. SS Seal had been ordered to get as close as possible to the port of Koepang. Seal was spotted and attacked by an enemy PB but managed to avoid being hit. Seal reported that thunderstorms were in the region. Fortunately, no mines were detected at Koepang.

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Another submarine S-40, had been positioned in the region and reported that current weather at her location, about 80 miles SE of Koepang, was "clear sky".

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[WEXF]

Enemy forces on Koepang are significant, if our intelligence is correct.
7 units of 29000 troops, 203 guns and 144 AFVs. 4 ships in port (PG, AMC, AG +1) and a TF of 4 ships (PG, PB, PB +1), believed to be the ASW TF that attacked Seal.

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However, it was the strength of the air power at Koepang that was the primary concern.

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It had been known for some time that large numbers of aircraft had been based at Koepang. Various types of enemy planes had been spotted performing "recon" missions along the north coast for months. The mission of TF522 was to damage as many of the almost 200 aircraft at Koepang as possible. The weather looked like it may help the attack. With thunderstorms at Koepang there was a good chance that enemy air missions might be minimized. The DDs had radar that should help. They were small and fast.
If the intel was correct, any ships that might be encountered by the TF would not likely outgun the DDs. If there was an issue with the plan it was the fuel that was needed by TF522. Command ordered TF522 to "ROS" to maximize the ability to do damage. DD Vendetta had the biggest potential for a fuel problem and it was unclear how much ammo would remain after the attacks, so a decision would have to be made by CDR Burke after the initial attack on how the three ships would proceed.
The briefing concluded with a simple statement. The attack by TF 522 had been executed. No results were yet in.

[BBfanboy]

I don't understand the "Remain on Station" orders after bombardment. Reasons not to:
1. 3 DDs are unlikely to shut down the airfield and the 48 bombers there will have enough undamaged to hurt the DDs badly
2. the DDs will be low on ammo which means they will not have much main gun ammo for surface engagements or AA
3. even if they outgun the enemy PBs, they could receive hits that slow down their return and allow enemy retaliation
4. the Intel could be wrong about the types of vessels there

[WEXF]

I don't understand the "Remain on Station" orders after bombardment. Reasons not to:
1. 3 DDs are unlikely to shut down the airfield and the 48 bombers there will have enough undamaged to hurt the DDs badly
2. the DDs will be low on ammo which means they will not have much main gun ammo for surface engagements or AA
3. even if they outgun the enemy PBs, they could receive hits that slow down their return and allow enemy retaliation
4. the Intel could be wrong about the types of vessels there

To be sure all of the issues you raised are real possibilities.
I decided to use the ROS order because:
1. I knew the TF would make a night bombardment as the range to Koepang was 10 hexes, exactly the distance the TF would move during the night phase at full speed. What I didn't know was whether all of the ammo on the DDs would be used up in the night attack. I have seen bombardments where quite a bit of ammo remains after an attack. By using the ROS command the DDs would remain after the night phase and then attack again during the day phase, assuming they still had ammo. I do not understand the rules well enough to know whether the DDs would have automatically attacked both during the night and day phase w/o using the ROS command. I didn't want the DDs to head for home after the night phase, especially if the weather was still terrible and reducing their accuracy. The weather was a big question mark???The objective was to get as much fire on the base as possible.
2. The guns on the DDs, I agree, would not be enough to "shut down" the airfield, but I hoped that they could disrupt activity to the point where the ships would not be easily attacked. I expected none of the aircraft to be in the air at night.
3. I wasn't worried about the PBs or other enemy ships I expected to be in the area. Even without main gun armament, the DDs still had full torpedo loads and depth charges so they could defend against subs or small craft. I also doubted that enemy PBs would take the chance of attacking 3 larger, better armed destroyers. Of course, if there were Japanese cruisers or BBs, or even DDs, it could be a total disaster for TF522. But that would likely be true with or without the ROS order.
4. I was really worried about the fuel and ammo situation, especially on the Australian DD. By using the ROS command, I would have the ability to redefine the orders for each ship, assuming they survived, and therefore have a better chance for saving each of them.
Time will tell.
WEXF

[WEXF]

27Aug found the AF at Carnarvon 6%>L4, up from 3%. At this rate it would take about a month to complete the engineering work. The plan was to continue the effort and expedite the final construction when the additional engineers arrived from Geraldton.
At Geraldton, and everywhere else, all attention was focused on what would be reported at the morning intel briefing. What details would be presented on the Koepang raid? The briefing started with a "weather" status review of the area between Koepang and the north coast of Australia that provided one piece of critical information.

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TF522 was intact and had reached their objective, none of the DDs had been sunk! TF522 was listed as "Mission Surface Combat", not "Bombardment" indication that an event had occurred that caused the TF to change its mission. They could have encountered enemy shipping or most likely used up enough of their ammo to trigger the event Rule: 6.3.5.
"A TF is considered to be “Low on Ammo” when the TF is an Air Combat, Surface Combat, or
Bombardment TF and it is in a surface combat engagement and a ship in the TF has less than
1/3 of normal main gun ammunition."
The night was bright with 100% moonlight but the weather for the region was forecasted to be "thunderstorms". At Koepang, the weather was "Heavy Rain". Three subs in the Timor Sea were reporting weather ranging from Extreme Overcast > Heavy Rain > Thunderstorms (cloud symbols). On the Australian coast the weather was much better with Broome reporting only light clouds, Derby had clear sky, Wyndham heavy cloud and Darwin was overcast.
Only a single chart was presented at the briefing to detail what was currently known about the outcome of the raid.

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There was a lot of information on this chart of the "Night Bombardment". The briefing officer pointed that there was no report of any "Day Bombardment".
All 3 DD took part in the raid with 2 firing at "Koepang", meaning the base that could include the port and AF, while DD Wilson attacked the "48th Division", a unit that had been suspected of being at Koepang. The 48th Division was a veteran of the fighting in the Philippines.

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No enemy aircraft attacked TF522 during the night raid. The runway, port and airbase were hit. Only 2 planes were reported as "destroyed". 28 others were listed as "damaged". The attack confirmed that there were Betty bombers, Mavis patrol planes, Zero fighters and Dinah recon planes at Koepang. Everyone knew that what actually happened would likely be different from this report but it was felt that it would take the enemy some time to repair the damage.
As the briefing concluded, the intel officer mentioned that another meeting was planned for later that day to provide more details on the raid.

[WEXF]

Early in the afternoon of 27Aug, a second intel briefing was held covering some enemy air action against TF522 following their raid on Koepang. It was clear that the bombardment did not sufficiently damage the air base at Koepang to prevent strikes by G4M1 Betty bombers escorted by A6M2 Zeros to be launched. Attacks were made in both the morning and afternoon.

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The morning attack against the 3 DDs of TF522 by 18 escorted bombers had no effect on either side. 18 Japanese Type 91 torpedoes were gone. It is interesting that the weather for this attack is listed as "Clear Sky". All previous indicators suggested that there were significant storms in the Koepang area.

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The afternoon attack took place during "Severe Storms" showing how unpredictable the weather in the region actually was (lots of die rolls). Only 3 Zeros escorted 18 bombers in this attack against 2 of the DDs. 1 Betty was damaged. Another 18 torpedoes were gone.
The "combat animations" provided some interesting intel.

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The attack was made by planes from Takao Ku K-1 Squadron, a unit of the 23rd Air Flotilla of the 11th Air Fleet. If both HQs are present on Koepang they would provide the aviation support needed by the close to 200 aircraft at the base.
Command has been wondering if the decision to order TF522 to "Remain on Station" was correct. So far there seems to have been no advantage to the ROS order. No daytime bombardment happened and TF522 was subject to 2 enemy air attacks so far. Luck was with the TF but that could change.
Command Note: In the next few posts I will look at the details of each DD in TF522 to better understand how everything happened. One of the goals of this AAR is for me to learn how our game works. I hope it is helpful to others as well.

[WEXF]

Here is the screen of TF522 following the bombardment of Koepang and the Japanese air attacks on the TF.

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TF522 is listed as a Surface Combat TF with ammo for its main guns at only 19% of its original load remaining. Since the rules say that once a bombardment TF has a ship with an ammo load for its main guns below 33% it will convert to "surface combat" this seems like what happened in the night attack. (There was no day bombardment of Koepang.) 56% of AA ammo remains, but there is no way to tell when the AA ammo was used from this screen. None of the TF's torpedoes or ASW ammo had been expended.
Command had been concerned about what the "full speed" orders would mean for potential damage to the attacking ships. Prior to the attack only DD Vendetta had any damage at all (only 1 system damage). Interestingly, no additional damage occurred on Vendetta. The two other DDs suffered both system and engine damage, although none sufficient enough to reduce their speed.
Fuel was also a concern, especially for Vendetta. After the action Vendetta has only endurance of 588 while the other DDs are in much better shape.
Much more on these issues will be clear when the individual ship data is listed shortly. But first, here is some information from the "combat animation" of the bombardment attack. All three DDs took part in the attack and each DD started firing at 12-13,000 yards. All three moved closer but ended their bombardment at no closer than 4,000 yards. The animation reported that the only guns that fired were the main batteries of 4.5" and 5" guns. No listing of any AA gun firings were reported. This tells us that the AA ammo fired by the destroyers was during the air attacks by the Bettys.
TF 522 had been set to bombard at "Min Bombard 0". Here is a forum post that explains what that means:

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In the attack on Koepang all three DDs were equipped with 20mm AA guns with a maximum range of 4,000 yards. It seems clear that it was these guns that dictated the closest the TF attacked from, although the AA guns themselves did not fire in the attack. It seems that once the main guns fired sufficient ammo to convert the TF to a "surface combat" mission the firing ended.

[BBfanboy]

WEXF: Only 2 planes were reported as "destroyed". 28 others were listed as "damaged"

For clarification - there were not 28 different aircraft damaged, there were 28 bits of damage to an unknown number of aircraft. Our former Guru, Alfred, explained that feature.

[BBfanboy]

You can help DD Vendetta by reducing speed to "Mission". If that does not give her sufficient range to get to home port, you can use the "Refuel At Sea" button to share fuel from one of the other DDs. But refueling uses ops points so I recommend getting away from Koepang immediately and refueling at the start of the next turn.

[WEXF]

WEXF: Only 2 planes were reported as "destroyed". 28 others were listed as "damaged"

For clarification - there were not 28 different aircraft damaged, there were 28 bits of damage to an unknown number of aircraft. Our former Guru, Alfred, explained that feature.

Completely agree. My mistake. Thanks for the clarification.

[WEXF]

You can help DD Vendetta by reducing speed to "Mission". If that does not give her sufficient range to get to home port, you can use the "Refuel At Sea" button to share fuel from one of the other DDs. But refueling uses ops points so I recommend getting away from Koepang immediately and refueling at the start of the next turn.

It turns out that Vendetta does have enough fuel to move at full speed to a new objective this coming turn. The movement plan for TF522 will be in a posting shortly. The plan is based on the need to get the DDs out of danger from Japanese bombers to the extent possible.

[WEXF]

Looking at the details for each of the three DDs in TF522 provides some interesting data.

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DD Wilson fired almost all of its main armament ammo (only 17% remains) but still has almost all of its AA rounds left. DD Wilson was attacked by Betty's in the AM raid but not in the afternoon. The "night experience" of Wilson's crew improved from 43>44 as a result of the bombardment. Wilson's fuel went from 439>325, a use of 114. Endurance went from 170 hexes >125, a reduction of 45. That calculates out (if I got the numbers right) to a bit over 2.5 fuel/hex at full speed for this Benham Class DD. Some system and non-major engine damage happened but Wilson's speed was not reduced.

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DD Russell fired less of its main armament ammo (30% remains) and also has almost all of its AA rounds left. DD Russell was attacked by Betty's both in the AM and PM. The "night experience" of Russell's crew does not show an improvement from 55 but, if I understand the way the process works correctly there was an improvement but just not enough to register an increased number in the screen. Russell's fuel went from 411>281, a use of 130. Endurance went from 139 hexes >95, a reduction of 44. That calculates out to a bit more than 2.9 fuel/hex at full speed for this Sims Class DD. Some system and engine damage happened (1 major engine) but Russell's speed was also not reduced.

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DD Vendetta fired almost all of its main armament ammo (only 17% remains) but still has almost all of its secondary armament ammo and AA rounds left. DD Vendetta was attacked by Betty's in both raids. The "night experience" of Vendetta's crew did not register an improvement from 64. Vendetta's fuel went from 288>72, a use of 216. Endurance went from 58 hexes >14, a reduction of 44. That calculates out to a bit over 4.9 fuel/hex at full speed for this Admiralty Class DD.
What actually happened during the air attacks is a bit unclear. Which guns fired on each DD is not known as all of the armaments had AA capabilities. It does look like the bombardment attack used the bulk of the main armament ammo, causing the change to a "Surface Combat" TF.
Of the three DDs, Vendetta is in the worse fuel situation but does still have sufficient fuel left to hopefully return safely to a friendly base along with the other DDs.
It seems very clear that there must have been a large number of "die rolls" during all of the attacks that determined which guns fired, what targets were selected and which ships sustained damage during the full speed move. What happens is always somewhat of a surprise!

[WEXF]

As Command was deciding what orders were to be given to TF522 they looked over all of the latest intel they had. Detection levels at Koepang remained unchanged. There was still a report of several ships in port including a PG, AMC and AG. Troop levels were basically unchanged. However, there was no longer any indication of the ASW TF that had attacked SS Seal. In fact, SS Seal, although still spotted, had not been attacked or taken any part in the attack on Koepang. SS Seal was ordered to reposition in the Timor Sea.
What was very interesting was that the number of enemy aircraft at Koepang had changed. Fighter strength was down a bit from 70>62. However bomber strength was down from 48>24 and the number of Aux. went from 78>56. Although there was no clear understanding of what happened everyone was glad the numbers were going in the right direction.
Another observation was that there had been no indication of any transport aircraft at Koepang. There had previously been a thought that an airborne mission was going to be attempted from Koepang. Although it certainly was possible that transports were at the airbase but just not detected, less thoughts were directed toward a possible para drop.
A detailed plan for TF522 was worked out and orders were issued.

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TF 522 would move at full speed away from Koepang heading directly at Broome, 12 hexes away. It was felt that since TF522 would move 10 hexes at night it stood a good chance of avoiding enemy air attacks for the majority of its trip. The TF should be able to reach hex 62-125 just 80 miles from Broome, where it would be under air cover by supporting fighters from both Broome and Derby. It was not thought that the enemy would attempt a night attack on the TF. If a night attack did happen, it was hoped that the weather or the lack of night experience of the enemy pilots would minimize the risks. In any case, TF522 did still have quite a bit of AA ammo.

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[WEXF]

28Aug found the AF at Carnarvon 9%>L4 with the progress being exactly as expected.
All along the west and north coasts of Australia everyone was anxiously awaiting the report on the fate of TF522 and their full speed retreat after the raid on Koepang. Needless to say, there were sighs of relief when intel officers reported that TF522 had safely returned to Broome. The enemy had not attempted to intercept the TF and the fuel situation worked out exactly as planned. Each of the three DDs suffered some slight systems and engine damage. Upon reaching Broome all ships fully refueled and reloaded ammo for all guns other than their main armament.

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The screens for the individual ships are very similar to this screen for DD Wilson.

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If you compare this screen to the previous one for DD Wilson (immediately after the raid) you can easily see the refueled status as well as the reload of AA ammo. Broome is too small a port to be able to reload ammo for the 4.5" and 5" guns. Interestingly, the night experience for the crew of DD Wilson improved from 44>45 during the return trip from Koepang. The other DDs showed no crew experience improvement.
The latest intel on Koepang was very interesting although the detection level had fallen to 7/10.

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It looks like the amount of damage done by the bombardment was very minor and since the number of airframes destroyed was thought to be only 2, with some damage to several others, the raid was considered as basically a morale lifter. The enemy now knew that they were not totally safe from attack.
The most interesting detail of the intel briefing was the report that there were 10 ships detected in the harbor at Koepang with several of them being midget submarines.

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[WEXF]

Earlier in this AAR a reader asked if I could provide some information on how the war was going in some of the other areas of the Pacific. I said I would give an update at the end of each month. As August 42 is coming to an end here is the status of what is happening in Burma. On 26Aug the dot base of Bhamo (63-44) fell to the Japanese. Command had been concerned about the advances of the enemy throughout Burma and although no enemy forces had yet to enter India, the Burma Road had long been closed, Rangoon and Mandalay were gone and everyone knew India was the next target.
On 27Aug a series of large bombing runs had been ordered against Bhamo. The largest contained over 100 aircraft.

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The combat report provided what certainly looks like a disappointing result. Although there was a clear sky only 2 squads of the 33rd Division were reported as disabled with 4 non-combat also disabled.

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To be sure everything is subject to FOW and Bhamo is in jungle rough terrain so it was somewhat expected that the bombing would have some shortcomings. There were additional raids that fared a bit better, one by 33 B-17F heavy bombers.

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All aircraft dropped down to 6000 for their bombing runs. It was hoped that the amount of damage done to the 33rd Division was greater that actually reported.

[WEXF]

Command knew that the 33rd Division was not alone at Bhamo. The report of the attack that captured the dot base listed 3 units: 33rd Infantry Division, 23rd Tank Regiment and 3rd Ind Mountain Gun Regiment.

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It was the listing in the report that the attacker was "fatigued", that prompted Command (me) to order the airstrikes. It was felt that following the ground attack the units would be even more fatigued and more likely to suffer causalities. The enemy units were significant. The 33rd Division had a scary TOE that included 120 guns of various sizes and even a small amount of armor.

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The artillery unit had a TOE of only 28 guns but 12 of them were 15cm TO4 Howitzers.

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It was however, the 23rd Tank Regiment that was the main concern of Command. Exactly what the composition of this unit contained was a bit of a mystery. Its TOE had a combination of Light and Medium tanks, but the unit had started the war at 153% of TOE.

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[WEXF]

There were also a number of "Medium Tank" upgrades that could have taken place since the war started, but there was no way to know which tanks the enemy was currently equipped with.

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To be sure the Type 3 Medium Tank was not yet available but the Type 1 had been available since June. Had the enemy command decided to upgrade the 23rd?
In terms of game mechanics would the results of air attacks be more effective if an enemy unit was in "move" mode rather that "combat mode" suggesting that it would be "on the road" where the degree of cover would be less than "off the road"? It is also interesting that the artillery unit is not equipped with "motorized support" and does not have a single vehicle in its TOE. Does that slow it down in the jungle rough terrain-secondary road -I don't think so.
Command also has noticed that there is not a single AA gun larger than the 7.7mm T99 AAMG that has a ceiling of 2100 feet. That would explain why little or no damage was suffered by the attacking bombers.
The action at Bhamo was not the only area in Burma where the enemy was advancing. Reinforced division size enemy units were already in Katha and only 40 miles east of Akvab. Burma was in big trouble!

[WEXF]

29Aug found the AF at Carnarvon 12%>L4, consistently improving by 3% per day. Clearly, it would take quite a while for the engineers from Geraldton to reach their new posting. This screen shows where they are now, just having left the Geraldton hex heading north on a secondary road. The two US Navy units are a bit ahead of the others but still facing a long trip.

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At the morning briefing new intel on Koepang was shared that showed, with excellent detection, 10 ships in the port including 5 AO tankers. One had been spotted there before but why were so many now concentrated there? Additionally, a TF of 6 ships, listed as "SSX, SSX", was reported.

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The most interesting part of the briefing was the report that 2 of the DDs that had taken part in the Koepang Raid had detected I-156 near Broome and had scored 4 hits on the pesky sub that had been seen so many times in the region.

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There was a promise of second briefing to be held following the examination of another series of bombing attacks in Burma.