The USMC paras at Lotobato are duly despatched. Some Corsairs out of Kendari perform a Sweep over Balikpapan, where they are met (unsuccessfully) by some non-radar directed Nicks. This is the first time that this base has been attacked.
Ponape, Ternate and Bangkok get bombed, as per normal.
Looking forward to the 44 posts. Economic stuff will be especially interesting. Nearly there.
"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm." - Winston Churchill
A quiet day to end the year, except at the IJN pilot schools where they are having a party.
[font="Courier New"]Accelerated training for 422 IJ Navy pilots from month-cycle 10
IJ Navy instructors accelerate training of 159 pilots from month-cycle 10
Accelerated training for 397 IJ Navy pilots from month-cycle 8
IJ Navy instructors accelerate training of 400 pilots from month-cycle 7[/font]
The air ratio is under -2 and the army ratio is over +4. If I can maintain at those levels and also sink a lot of his ships then I might stand a chance.
Fuel has been going down, but I still have over 5m tonnes available not including that which is in ships' bunkers. There is also around 1.5m tonnes of oil yet to be converted, most of which is in the Home Islands.
Supply still feels comfortable at this point and I am not even slightly concerned about Resources.
Armaments and Vehicles are draining rapidly now what with the number of reinforcements and destroyed units to re-build, however I am not too worried given the pool sizes.
There are 5,300 planes on the map, but due to the recent obliterations of various bases and subsequent re-building of airgroups only 4,800 or so are Ready.
I have 8 CVs and 8 CVLs. Another 8 CVs will arrive by the end of August. So that's 16 CVs + 8 CVLs. Still a useful force if employed in the right context I think.
He is advancing a big stack on Bangkok from Ayuthia. Elsewhere in Thailand the various local units are getting beaten up by British Empire armoured units. It won't be long before Japan is completely booted out of Siam.
The Pilot Tax is going to be a problem this year. There are now about 16,000 pilots in the queue which will cost 80,000 HI points a month. That is more than half the surplus I am generating.
I have 4 of these beauties now, out of a total of 50. They are training up to their maximum initial exp level of 25/25 at Shimonoseki. En masse they will be very useful for moving armour, flak and arty around quickly in the Inner Hive and combine well with the 22kt APDs which I will also start getting shortly.
These are only ships being built by Merchant Shipyards now, and they are all being accelerated.
The first 27kt Matsu class destroyer arrives in 67 days. Along with the very similar Achibana class I will get a total of 73 of these ships. Although they are not really fast enough that doesn't mean they are useless.
Of actual proper DDs I will eventually have 152, assuming I don't lose any in the meantime. Only 9 of these are yet to arrive.
So in total that's 225 destroyers, most of which carry the Long Lance.
The first of 227 Class C Escort ships will arrive in 16 days. I have no intention of using these to deliberately fight subs. They are more than capable of taking out unprotected transport ships and also have a useful troop transport capability.
I have 90 of these on the map and there are 44 in the build queue. These are used on anti-submarine escort duty but at some point I need to sift out the ones which have torpedoes since they will be better used as surface combatants.
Well I am going to have to revise those ship numbers I just splurged. Today I lost 6 Fubuki class DDs because once again the Fast Transport routine did not behave as expected. They were picking up an SNLF from Lotabato, the second of two TFs to do so. The earlier one got in and out at night without a hitch.
There were some compensations elsewhere in the turn but it's still very frustrating. I will just have to desist from using FT in the presence of Allied anti-naval air.
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Submarine attack near Tockangbesi-eilanden at 71,109
Japanese Ships
SS I-175, hits 32, and is sunk
Allied Ships
BB Arizona, Torpedo hits 1
CL Richmond
AP Gen. G.O.Squier
xAP Tabinta
xAP Edward Livingston
xAP Golden Eagle
xAK Robert S. Bean
xAK Michael Casey
xAK John S. Bassett
DD McKee
DD Hoel
SS I-175 launches 4 torpedoes at BB Arizona
DD McKee attacking submerged sub ....
DD Hoel attacking submerged sub ....
SS I-175 forced to surface!
DD Hoel firing on surfaced sub ....
BB Arizona firing on surfaced sub ....
DD McKee firing on surfaced sub ....
DD Hoel firing on surfaced sub ....
BB Arizona firing on surfaced sub ....
Sub slips beneath the waves
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Morning Air attack on TF, near Kendari at 70,106
Weather in hex: Overcast
Raid detected at 158 NM, estimated altitude 20,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 46 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 24
Ki-48-IIc Lily x 25
Allied aircraft
Spitfire VIII x 13
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 18
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-45 KAIa Nick: 7 destroyed
Ki-48-IIc Lily: 4 destroyed, 2 damaged
Ki-48-IIc Lily: 1 destroyed by flak
No Allied losses
Allied Ships
PG Swan, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAP Alcoa Pennant, Bomb hits 2
xAP Boschfontein, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
xAP Archbishop Lamy, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Robin Wentley, Bomb hits 6, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Robert M. Lafollette, Bomb hits 6, heavy fires, heavy damage
DE Express
PG Sacramento, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
Aircraft Attacking:
5 x Ki-48-IIc Lily releasing from 1000'
Naval Attack: 2 x 100 kg SAP Bomb
15 x Ki-48-IIc Lily releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 2 x 100 kg SAP Bomb
CAP engaged:
No.452 Sqn RAF with Spitfire VIII (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(13 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
1 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 7 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 25000 , scrambling fighters between 26000 and 28000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 48 minutes
18th FG/12th FS with P-47D2 Thunderbolt (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 18 scrambling)
Group patrol altitude is 33000 , scrambling fighters to 19000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 44 minutes
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring xAP Archbishop Lamy
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring xAK Robin Wentley
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring PG Sacramento
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Morning Air attack on TF, near Lolobato at 79,102
Weather in hex: Light cloud
Raid spotted at 7 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 2 minutes
Allied aircraft
SBD-3 Dauntless x 17
Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 2 damaged
Japanese Ships
DD Kosugiri, Bomb hits 5, and is sunk
DD Ushio, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Uranami
Aircraft Attacking:
8 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
5 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
4 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring DD Kosugiri
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Morning Air attack on TF, near Lolobato at 79,102
Weather in hex: Light cloud
Raid spotted at 13 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes
Japanese Ships
DD Uranami, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires
DD Tagonami, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Sazanami, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Shirakumo, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires
Aircraft Attacking:
7 x B-25D1 Mitchell bombing and strafing from low level
Naval Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
Massive explosion on DD Shirakumo
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Morning Air attack on TF, near Lolobato at 79,102
Weather in hex: Light cloud
Raid spotted at 9 NM, estimated altitude 5,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 2 minutes
Allied aircraft
B-25D1 Mitchell x 8
No Allied losses
Japanese Ships
DD Tagonami, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Ushio, Bomb hits 4, and is sunk
DD Shirakumo, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Sazanami, heavy fires, heavy damage
Aircraft Attacking:
8 x B-25D1 Mitchell bombing and strafing from low level
Naval Attack: 6 x 500 lb SAP Bomb
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Morning Air attack on TF, near Lolobato at 79,102
Weather in hex: Light cloud
Raid spotted at 3 NM, estimated altitude 3,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 0 minutes
Allied aircraft
B-25D1 Mitchell x 6
No Allied losses
Japanese Ships
DD Tagonami, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Shirakumo, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Sazanami, Bomb hits 3, and is sunk
DD Uranami, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
Aircraft Attacking:
6 x B-25D1 Mitchell bombing and strafing from low level
Naval Attack: 6 x 500 lb SAP Bomb
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Morning Air attack on TF, near Lolobato at 79,102
Weather in hex: Light cloud
Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes
Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 38
SB2C-1C Helldiver x 14
TBF-1 Avenger x 17
No Allied losses
Japanese Ships
DD Uranami, Bomb hits 8, and is sunk
DD Shirakumo, Bomb hits 5, and is sunk
DD Tagonami, heavy fires, heavy damage
Aircraft Attacking:
2 x SB2C-1C Helldiver releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb, 2 x 250 lb SAP Bomb
17 x TBF-1 Avenger bombing from 10000 feet *
Naval Attack: 2 x 500 lb SAP Bomb
4 x SB2C-1C Helldiver releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb, 2 x 250 lb SAP Bomb
8 x SB2C-1C Helldiver releasing from 10000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb, 2 x 250 lb SAP Bomb
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring DD Uranami
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring DD Tagonami
Lilies sink more transports at Kendari, but these units are now rather depleted so will need time to rebuild before having another go.
Meanwhile, we have had the first attack on the ground at Bangkok. I think this must have been triggered by something coming over the river from the NW. There is no way he would have chosen to do a shock attack to start with.
Note that the Southeast Asia HQ is leading from the front. If I could somehow destroy it that would certainly cause him a few problems. However I don't think this is possible.
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Ground combat at Bangkok (56,62)
Allied Shock attack
Attacking force 4663 troops, 168 guns, 394 vehicles, Assault Value = 2511
Defending force 41689 troops, 493 guns, 212 vehicles, Assault Value = 1354
Assaulting units:
72nd British Brigade
50th Tank Brigade
18th British Division
7th Australian Division
25th Indian Division
XV Corps Engineer Battalion
19th Indian Division
20th Indian Division
29th British Brigade
III Indian Corps
IV Indian Corps
XXXIII Indian Corps
24th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
33rd Aviation Base Force
Southeast Asia
8th Medium Regiment
28th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
5th Field Regiment
85th British AT Gun Regiment
8th RAF Advanced Base Force
Defending units:
21st Division
55th Division
6th RTA Division
4th RTA Division
7th RTA Division
RTA Cavalry Division
7th JAAF Base Force
6th RF Gun Battalion
29th Fld AA Gun Co
35th Fld AA Gun Co
Royal Thai Army
5th Field AF Construction Battalion
41st JAAF AF Bn
21st JAAF AF Bn
53rd Const Co
36th Field AA Battalion
35th Field AA Battalion
15th Const Co
7th Field AF Construction Battalion
43rd Const Co
32nd Field AA Battalion
35th JAAF AF Bn
Thai Aviation Coy
8th RF Gun Battalion
3rd Air Div /1
