LoBaron + Robbrennan vs Offenceman, allied secret AAR

[Rob Brennan UK]

2 more strikes , one on 2 BB's in open water and minumal CAP (2 float planes) B25's miss again. 2nd was vs AP's unloading at oosthaven with NO cap ! .. and every flipping bomber missed AGAIN! , this is getting annoying.

We had torp bombers at batavia just for these BB's .. what happened ? did they come in under escort ? no .. did they die horribly? yes. arghhhh . 2 survived to make attack runs but being heavily disrupted even skills over 70 missed.

[Rob Brennan UK]

6 Beauforts went for the same target , 2 zeros left on CAP , wish the albacores had arrived 2nd [:(] as all bombers made it through but once again 0 hits !

This cheeky little attack is i suspect the last one .. and all bar 2 bombers made it through at the cost of the escorts. BB Hyuga again missed along with several other ships. Once again ALL MISSED. what am i doing wrong here ? low level nav is below 5k alt yes ? set to 4 k bombing and skills 60+ really should hit something stationary and unloading.

Does missed rhyme with pissed ! .. hummm ..

[Rob Brennan UK]

KB hit batavia again and sank every ship in port. Good think soerbaja has been cleared out , even the AS originally there is operating at an isolated base now.

The full power of KB is awesome at this stage of the war , its a truly terryfying weapon.

[LoBaron]

I think what played an additional role was the bad weather. The attacks were under either Thunderstorms or Severe storms, that could have hurt
the chance for a lucky hit.

[Rob Brennan UK]

The final tally .

Time to lick our wounds and think again. This is war and we all know S%i^ happens in war [;)]

[LoBaron]

While Japan is busy doing the "I can destroy the Royal Dutch Airforce in one day" thing, a small window of oportunity opened up for us sneaky US of A. [;)]
On day two of the invasion of Java KB revealed her position (not that the indicators weren´t already quite obvious before) between Borneo and southern
Sumatra, so we decided to shoot at something that is not supposed to shoot back.

To be more clear, Yorktown and Enterprise moved between northern Honshu and southern Hokkaido to sink some.
They did, although the raid was hampered by bad weather, so no AM phase was flown, cutting the potentially dropped presents
to half. Still there was at least the small pleasure of destroying Japanese assets and return the favour they are doing to our Allies at Java.

I am under no illusions that many of the targets will sink, every single target ship was in a port hex, but the ones that were hit by 2 1000pdrs
will still have to roll a good dice one or the other time.

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Hakodate at 119,53

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes


Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 11
SBD-3 Dauntless x 13


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
xAK Hokkai Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAK Calcutta Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires
xAK Hiteru Maru, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Sikisan Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires


Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Hirosaki/Aomori at 118,54

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 26 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes


Allied aircraft
SBD-3 Dauntless x 12


Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 5 damaged

Japanese Ships
xAK Chicago Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAK Taian Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAK Hokusei Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
xAK Italy Maru


Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Ominato at 119,54

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes


Allied aircraft
F4F-3 Wildcat x 8
SBD-3 Dauntless x 13


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
xAK Nitiho Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Mantai Maru, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
xAK Gyoko Maru, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Uga Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage


Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Sapporo at 120,51

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 21 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes


Allied aircraft
SBD-3 Dauntless x 13


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
xAK Tihuku Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAK Seizan Maru
xAK Syoto Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires
xAK Nanko Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage



Other news is that NZ now got more bang. 4 weeks after its departure a large convoy arrived in Auckland unscrached, containing lots of shiny stuff
for either Noumea, Fiji, or both.
Considering that Japanese ressources will be bound to the Java operation this naturally favours some quick decisions, but well, the next days will
show how fast we really are. Auckland is not SF and this convoy is a monster. Will take a few days-

[Rob Brennan UK]

OOPS !

2 torp hits , along with ammo explosion followed by fuel explosion and a glug glug noise .. end of US raid to the marshalls.

Japans oozing down Jave and up sumatra.

[LoBaron]

That definitely hurt.

The original plan was to raid the Marshall Islands, now I am not sure.

This is the situation:

Now got 3 CV´s (originally 4 were intended for the raid) ready to dash into the Marshalls. Thats a bit few for real comfort.
I want to escort strikes in case there is CAP over the islands, so potential CAP over the carriers would be about 50 fighters.
The problem is that this could be just too few to fend of a dedicated escorted Netty attack.

Hornet is ready to go in PH, but I would have to wait for the escorts, which are currently upgrading. I might have just enough
in 2 days to send her to Wake island to join her sisters. But this means that as a whole the operation would be delayed about
5-6 days and KB finished her work on Java 4 days ago.
Considering that I have no idea where Mike will send his carriers of doom next, a time loss of 5-6 days could mean the difference between a successful
raid and a CV battle that happens much too early for my taste.

Third option naturally would be to take a deep breath, cancel the raid, send the CV´s back to Pearl and wait for a new opportunity.
Which would most probably be the wise thing to do... [8|]

Damnit, this game is always hardest when all you want is revenge. [;)]

[witpqs]

The other thing is that they now have location on your carriers...

[LoBaron]

That aint so bad as Mike only knew the location of one group (Yorktown/Enterprise, now only Enterprise) as they were on a raid
against Japan and bombed Marcus Island on the way south in the hope of getting one of those pesky AVs.
He is -hopefully- not aware of the second group with Saratoga and Lady Lex which is now in position to join up with Enterprise.

My reasoning is that he is not afraid of a single US CV to wreck much of a havoc, and I expected him to be prepared in the Marshalls anyway.

Still at the moment I tend to call it a day, dutifully wait for the June upgrades and play good boy. Losing one fleet CV is bad enough,
risking more could unneccesarily extend the supremacy of KB. Marshalls have 2 pumped up Netty squads IIRC, if he upgraded the
fighters there he might also have a couple of Zeros.
Too much risk with the small early ´42 fighter outfits of the US CVs I think.

[LoBaron]

Ok the breaking news is that the RN avenged the demise of Yorktown on May 10, 42,
but the master of desaster in person should have the honour of telling about this battle,
so no details from me. [X(]

The other CV´s should be ok, but it seems the area west of Pearl is infested with subs
(probably some of them in transit).
They will meet with CV Hornet and their oilers SW of pearl and then proceed to cover the reinforcement
operations for Noumea and Suva, and help increase the general defenses of the area.
At least one should be ready soon to defend itself at least for some time.

Auckland is bristling with units from the convoy arrival and the ships are made ready for small amphib
shuttle runs to get troops and light aircraft to both locations.

It will not hold against a major invasion yet but if Mike wants to take them while calculation close
to the limit he will be welcome to try. IF the units get there. IF.

[LoBaron]

And before I forget. US long range subs without working torps are really shortening my life expectancy.
Bad for your blood pressure when you have to watch something like this:

Submarine attack near Marcus Island at 123,85

Japanese Ships
AV Kiyokawa Maru

Allied Ships
SS Pike



AV Kiyokawa Maru is sighted by SS Pike
SS Pike launches 4 torpedoes

PLOINCK!


Submarine attack near Marcus Island at 123,85

Japanese Ships
AV Kiyokawa Maru

Allied Ships
SS Pike



AV Kiyokawa Maru is sighted by SS Pike
SS Pike launches 4 torpedoes

PLOINCKPLOINCK!

Submarine attack near Marcus Island at 123,85

Japanese Ships
AV Kiyokawa Maru

Allied Ships
SS Pike



AV Kiyokawa Maru is sighted by SS Pike
SS Pike launches 4 torpedoes

Third spread missed completely. Probably with the single working torpedo...

A DD is now trying to accomplish what the sub was unable to but its perfectly possible that it will be too late for the party.
A hop from Wake takes a bit.

[Rob Brennan UK]

Revenge time !

Allied SCTF steams into Batavia harbour and has a few encounters to say the least !

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR May 10, 42
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Batavia at 49,98, Range 2,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DMS W-10, Shell hits 7, and is sunk

Allied Ships
CA Cornwall
CA Exeter
CL Sumatra
CL De Ruyter
CL Tromp
CL Enterprise
CL Danae
CL Dragon
CL Mauritius
DD Pope
DD Whipple
DD Van Ghent


Next up

Day Time Surface Combat, near Batavia at 49,98, Range 19,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
SC CHa-4, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
SC CHa-11, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
SC CHa-12, Shell hits 1, and is sunk

Allied Ships
CA Cornwall
CA Exeter
CL Sumatra
CL De Ruyter
CL Tromp
CL Enterprise
CL Danae
CL Dragon
CL Mauritius
DD Pope
DD Whipple
DD Van Ghent


and now to the days main event ! this was made even worse afterwards by allied subs pickig off some lone damaged Ak's/Ap's in the region too.

Day Time Surface Combat, near Batavia at 49,98, Range 18,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
TB Hato, Shell hits 9, and is sunk
TB Kiji, Shell hits 9, and is sunk
PB Tomozono Maru #3, Shell hits 2, and is sunk
PB Aso Maru #3, Shell hits 11, and is sunk
PB Eifuku Maru, Shell hits 15, and is sunk
PB Taiko Maru, Shell hits 21, and is sunk
xAK Kogane Maru, Shell hits 8, and is sunk
PB Marei Maru, Shell hits 18, and is sunk
xAK Teimei Maru, Shell hits 4, on fire
xAK Liverpool Maru, Shell hits 9, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Malta Maru, Shell hits 11, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Sinkyo Maru, Shell hits 10, and is sunk
xAK Asaka Maru #3, Shell hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Syoryu Maru, Shell hits 2, on fire
xAK Anzan Maru #2, Shell hits 8, and is sunk
xAK Bingo Maru, Shell hits 5, heavy fires
xAK Ryuzin Maru, Shell hits 1, on fire
xAK Yoneyama Maru, Shell hits 3
PB Tatebu Maru, Shell hits 15, and is sunk
xAK Kinrei Maru, Shell hits 6, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Asama Maru
xAP Hakusan Maru, Shell hits 9, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Dairen Maru, Shell hits 9, and is sunk
xAP Hoten Maru, Shell hits 6, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Tsingtao Maru, Shell hits 6, heavy fires
xAP Taizan Maru, Shell hits 21, and is sunk
xAP Keihuku Maru, Shell hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
xAP Ussuri Maru, Shell hits 18, and is sunk
xAP Ural Maru, Shell hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
PB Yodozo Maru, Shell hits 24, and is sunk

Allied Ships
CA Cornwall, Shell hits 1
CA Exeter, Shell hits 2
CL Sumatra, Shell hits 1
CL De Ruyter, Shell hits 1
CL Tromp
CL Enterprise, Shell hits 1
CL Danae
CL Dragon, Shell hits 1
CL Mauritius, Shell hits 1
DD Pope
DD Whipple
DD Van Ghent

Japanese ground losses:
10971 casualties reported
Squads: 240 destroyed, 100 disabled
Non Combat: 283 destroyed, 396 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 296 (180 destroyed, 116 disabled)
Vehicles lost 259 (125 destroyed, 134 disabled)





Not all one sided though as we bumpbed into some heavy hitters on the way out (my mistake as i put soerbaja as home port NOT back to christmas island) .. this what getting greedy causes (only soerbaja can load CA ammo) ..

Day Time Surface Combat, near Batavia at 50,98, Range 17,000 Yards

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
BB Mutsu
BB Yamato, Shell hits 5
CA Mikuma, Shell hits 7
CA Suzuya, Shell hits 3
CA Kumano, Shell hits 4
CL Kitakami, Shell hits 3
CL Oi, Shell hits 7, on fire
DD Kazegumo
DD Makigumo
DD Kuroshio
DD Maikaze
DD Tokitsukaze
DD Nowaki
DD Arashi, Shell hits 1
DD Hagikaze
DD Tanikaze
DD Asashio
DD Arashio, Shell hits 1, heavy fires

Allied Ships
CA Cornwall, Shell hits 32, and is sunk
CA Exeter, Shell hits 25, on fire
CL Sumatra, Shell hits 7, heavy fires
CL De Ruyter, Shell hits 2, on fire
CL Tromp, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
CL Enterprise, Shell hits 4, on fire
CL Danae, Shell hits 17, heavy fires, heavy damage
CL Dragon, Shell hits 12, heavy fires, heavy damage
CL Mauritius, Shell hits 6
DD Pope, Shell hits 5, and is sunk
DD Whipple, Shell hits 25, and is sunk
DD Van Ghent, Shell hits 6, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk


Allies strike back with a deadly sub attack .. CL Oi sinks !

Submarine attack near Batavia at 49,97

Japanese Ships
CL Oi, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
SS KXVIII



Thw British CV's were 3-4 hexes away from the yamato but bad weather in the morning caused them to stay on board , come the afternoon the Yamato had sailed out of range but we did find one AK (damaged) and the BB Hyuga !

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Batavia at 50,97

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 33 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 19 minutes


Allied aircraft
Albacore I x 7
Fulmar II x 10


Allied aircraft losses
Albacore I: 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
DD Minegumo
BB Hyuga, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage




Next Day we sent in 3 SCTF with 2 BB's each vs tjiljap /batavia and the other place .. i was hopeing to catch the ~Hyuga inbatavia before she disbanded .. and we DID !

Night Time Surface Combat, near Batavia at 49,98, Range 10,000 Yards

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
No Japanese losses

Japanese Ships
BB Hyuga, Shell hits 12, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
CA Maya, Shell hits 3, on fire

Allied Ships
BB Revenge
BB Royal Sovereign
CL Dauntless, Shell hits 1
DD Edsall
DD Stuart
DD Vampire, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk

Poor old vampire got unlucky and the Jap CA sailed off without a scratch but we did get the main protagonist .. no other engagements today , but the dutch AF continues to die horribly and still cannot hit anything on the seas , killed a few tanks so not all bad.

[Rob Brennan UK]

May 18th 1942

Daily Mail

OUTRAGE as japanese forces attack hospital ships on relief duty near sumatra ! the murderous japanese sank the liner Manoora and killed over 200 medical personell including 160 nurses.

Japan gets a measure of revenge hitting a fast AP convoy west of sumatra retiring from cocos islands. This wasn't realy unexpected but the alternative was to return via cape town and i didnt want the delay, in hindsight i should have done. the BB Royal soverign ate a torp in the morning phase but she is hardly dented. the brit CV's are almost in ceylon and should be fine. We have set all surviving ships to various ports at full speed ahead and try and out run the KB. While hopeing that Offense man isnt brave enough yet to get close to colombo.

Given we could run east to sabang as the closest port i'm hopeing he'll try and catch me there as i have no ships heading in that direction. One upside to this is (i would imagine) he is utterly unaware of my build up at cocos islands and the presence of 2 RN BB's still there [;)]. As i have 0 fighter cover at Cocos they will rely on stealth (cough , cough) to escape detection.

As it is , RAF forces in sri lanka are woefully low/crap .. i just hope he doesnt realise this and close up the range.


Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Sabang at 30,70

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid detected at 33 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 27
B5N1 Kate x 12
B5N2 Kate x 11
D3A1 Val x 27



Japanese aircraft losses
D3A1 Val: 1 damaged

Allied Ships
xAP Lancashire, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AMC Kanimbla, Bomb hits 4, Torpedo hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Hotspur
AMC Manoora, Bomb hits 8, Torpedo hits 4, and is sunk
xAP Moreton Bay
xAP Aquitania, Bomb hits 7, heavy fires, heavy damage

[Rob Brennan UK]

18th May 1942

The USN CChester gets a posthumous medal as unluckiest ship on the high seas today, the same sub attackedA 3 times and finally sank her south of Noumea.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR May 18, 42
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Isle of Pines at 117,162

Japanese Ships
SS I-10

Allied Ships
CA Chester



SS I-10 launches 6 torpedoes
I-10 diving deep ....
Sub escapes detection


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Isle of Pines at 117,162

Japanese Ships
SS I-10

Allied Ships
CA Chester, Torpedo hits 1



SS I-10 launches 6 torpedoes
Sub escapes detection


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Submarine attack near Isle of Pines at 117,162

Japanese Ships
SS I-10

Allied Ships
CA Chester, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage



CA Chester is sighted by SS I-10
SS I-10 launches 6 torpedoes


Tha AVG was posted to changsha today and did very very well vs some decently escorted raids today, only one japanese formation was encountered without escorts vs 6 with Oscar cover. fortunately the P40B with great drivers can eat Oscars for lunch. Stood down tomorrow as i suspect japan will go through a weeks air reorganising as has been par for the course in the past when they had heavy losses.

Over in burma Offenceman has alluded to some secret japanese plan/buildup . given my recon coverage and uninterupted heavy bombing of the imperial guards and the 1st Thai regiment i don't see much changing on his side. On ours however the 7th? aussie division has just arrived in mandalay and has been ordered forward to engage with british armour and some burmese volunteers. I'm hopeing that we can retake magwe and base adjacent while routing the japanese out of the clear terrain in burma. once he moves hi airforce in en-mass however i doubt we can hold it but this advance was never envisaged anyway its just an opportunity to put the hurt on japan where and when we can.

air losses mostly over china, the 4 seagulls on the ground ?? no idea.

[LoBaron]

The 4 Seagulls where the unlucky planes having a very bad day on CA Chester. [;)]
 
At this phase of US advance into Noumea and the Fijis you cannot safeguard against such situations.
Took the risk, lost, time to move on. At least I now slowly getting a clearer picture of the Japanese
sub dispositions which now seem to try to harrass Noumea and Suva.
 
There is at least 8-9 boats in the area so a combined effort by air and sea will be needed to
keep them in check.
 
As I am trying to secure those bases fast future losses cannot be avoided but the first steps are aleady
in the making, like light ASW forces to both locations and a Marauder squad to Noumea, to minimise them.

[Rob Brennan UK]

This is becoming habit forming !

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR May 20, 42
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Submarine attack near Pamekasan at 58,106

Japanese Ships
SS I-153

Allied Ships
CA Exeter, Torpedo hits 2, heavy damage



CA Exeter is sighted by SS I-153
SS I-153 launches 8 torpedoes


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Submarine attack near Banjoewangi at 57,107

Japanese Ships
SS I-158

Allied Ships
CA Exeter, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage GLUG GLUG



CA Exeter is sighted by SS I-158
SS I-158 launches 8 torpedoes

Exeter had just finished fixing up emergengy flooding in soerbaja and fear of imminent air attack made her captain (me) nervous, so a night excape on cruise speed to broome was ordered . started out 52/7/0 . also lost 2 main gun turrets to japanese battleship fire a week earlier.

Also in Java , japanese bomb soerbaja airfields at will and nobble a few transports and search a/c , the bombers were off raiding jap tank units trying to take Tjiljap on the javanese west coast. We held for 2 more days but i suspect japan will resume fighter cap over this tomorrow so we wont be bombing it again.



Ground combat at Tjilatjap (51,102)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 1023 troops, 0 guns, 183 vehicles, Assault Value = 91

Defending force 1068 troops, 10 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 31

Japanese adjusted assault: 29

Allied adjusted defense: 25

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 0

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), fatigue(-), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+), disruption(-), fatigue(-)


Allied ground losses:
126 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 11 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Assaulting units:
4th Tank Regiment
7th Tank Regiment

Defending units:
5th Coastal Gun Battalion
Pontianak Base Force

Real news happened in china , Japan has unhinged the SW defences , time for a tactical withdrawl. Japanese air power has been huge down here for weeks on end and its telling finally. We will be trying to stay in woods where possible and therefore abamndon luchow ? but what about Wuuchow to the south ? only got token forces there but it has strategic resources and factories, its also still connected by trail to the main chinese lines. Think we'll stay here for 2 reasons , make him come and take it by force and 2) hopefully distract his af for a few days.






Ground combat at 73,55

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 12904 troops, 122 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 424

Defending force 4918 troops, 52 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 126

Japanese adjusted assault: 594

Allied adjusted defense: 49

Japanese assault odds: 12 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+)

Japanese ground losses:
348 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 24 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 16 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled


Allied ground losses:
2097 casualties reported
Squads: 85 destroyed, 8 disabled
Non Combat: 91 destroyed, 17 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 1 disabled
Units retreated 3


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
24th Division

Defending units:
64th Chinese Corps
62nd Chinese/A Corps
16th Group Army

[LoBaron]

Agree 100%.
No need to leave and have built the forts for nothing. Let him come and take it.
 
Worst thing that could happen is that you lose the units. 
 
The only point against that would be if you lack the forces to stall him again, and I don´t think the Wuchow garrison would make a difference.
I think the same applies for Kukong, though I wonder if the two garrisons should be merged to defend Wuchow only...
 

[Alfred]

ORIGINAL: LoBaron

...I think the same applies for Kukong, though I wonder if the two garrisons should be merged to defend Wuchow only...

IMHO, the rough rule of thumb in China is that other than at Chungking, Changsha and Sian, a Chinese garrison of more than 3 Corps will exceed the available food supplies at the base.

Alfred

[LoBaron]

As always valuable info, thanks Alfred.