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Hi all,

Previous battles:

ORIGINAL: AmiralLaurent

This is the state of the Allied CV TF

Intact: CV Hornet, CV Enterprise II, CV Victorious, CVL Independence, CVL Belleau Wood: 285 AC

Damaged but probably still operational (at least some Essex airmen were captured during the last day battle, whether they flew from their CV or another is unknown): CV Essex, CV Indomitable: 130 AC

Damaged and probably out of order: CV Yorktown II, CVL Princeton, CVE Sangamon: 150 AC

Sunk: CV Lexington II, CV Illustrious, CVL Cowpens, CVL Monterey, CVE Chenango, CVE Suwannee

By the way, the number of AC launched by the main Allied TF in last day battle seemed to indicate 3 SBD units (so three CV), 5 TBM units (so three CV and 2 CVL) and 1 or 2 Barracuda units (no sure of the size of FAA squadrons, but only 3 British fighters escorted a strike).

So the Allied CV TF has probably a capacity of 415 AC and lost 165 today (other losses were suffered by the CVE TF that was sunk)

Last Battle:

ORIGINAL: AmiralLaurent

CVL Independence (already identified) and two brand-new ships, the CV Bunker Hill and the CVL Cabot.

They were the main targets and were all heavily damaged, the Bunker Hill by 2 torpedoes and 2 bombs, the Cabot by 3 torpedoes and 1 bomb and the Independence by 1 torpedo and 3 bombs.

Are the two newy identified, attacked and damaged CV Bunker Hill and CVL Cabot big surprise?

Can you be 100% certain that they didn't participate in previous battles?


Leo "Apollo11"

Yes these new CV were big surprise for me, as the number of air units that attacked my ships were consistent with my estimates of the numbers of remaining enemy CV.

I also had forgotten the habit of WITP to have material and unit arrive way before the date IRL. Bunker Hill was commissioned in May 1943 and first engaged for Gilberts operation in Nov 1943 and could have been used in July, but Cabot was commissionned on 24 July 1943 in New York... OK, just let's say that the US shipyards were accelerated after the 1942 battles.

By the way, none of these CV was seen in the first battle of PJ (on 12 July). They probably joined the Allied CV TF before the second round of CV battles or maybe arrived between both days of the last CV battle.

Hi all,

ORIGINAL: AmiralLaurent

Yes these new CV were big surprise for me, as the number of air units that attacked my ships were consistent with my estimates of the numbers of remaining enemy CV.

I also had forgotten the habit of WITP to have material and unit arrive way before the date IRL. Bunker Hill was commissioned in May 1943 and first engaged for Gilberts operation in Nov 1943 and could have been used in July, but Cabot was commissionned on 24 July 1943 in New York... OK, just let's say that the US shipyards were accelerated after the 1942 battles.

By the way, none of these CV was seen in the first battle of PJ (on 12 July). They probably joined the Allied CV TF before the second round of CV battles or maybe arrived between both days of the last CV battle.

Luckily Allies didn't adhere to basic war rule #1:

Never attack piecemeal - always concentrate!

[:)]


Leo "Apollo11"

I guess beyond naval losses, the whole battle unhinges on whether Allies take PJ or not.. If they do they will have time to regroup, build the base, stack it with Corsairs, wait for more CVs, than go for sikkha en force, etc...

If they don't get it, then they will be in dire straits...

Well this game is again running faster than I can complete the AAR... We are now on 4 August after a busy WITP week-end.

30 July 1943

After the heavy submarines losses suffered in the Kuriles and Aleutians, the Japanese High Command decided to call back to Japan a part of the Japanese submarines deployed elsewhere. In fact in the big ports of the Empire, half of the docked submarines were sent back to Japan.

Northern Pacific

Well, the Japanese naval command made the bad choice yesterday. The idea was to not chase damaged CV as they might be covered by BB, but to hit the main group of Allied convoys and their light escort 240 miles west of Attu. In fact, this group was escorted by what was probably the best Allied surface TF remaining, five US cruisers (CA Indianapolis, Houston, Louisville and Northampton, and CL Minneapolis II) and five US DD led by Admiral Lee. This TF engaged three times the Japanese raiding force (CA Maya, CL Kinu and 6 DD) and each time repulsed it away from the transports. And this time Lee wasn’t surprised or confused at any time during the night.
The first round was not so bad for the Japanese, the CL Kinu and a DD being hit by 8in shells and set on fire while the DD USS Perkins was heavily damaged by a torpedo and several shells, and another US DD was set on fire by two 5in shells.
But at this stage the Japanese commander (the captain of the Maya) should have retreated. He tried again to reach the transports and the next duel between the two was not at all in his favor. The CL Kinu (hit vy several new 8in shells) and the DD Asagumo (hit by a torp and shells of 4 Allied ships) were heavily damaged, while 4 other Japanese DD were hit and set on fire. On the other hand, only the two US DD already hit were hit again in this phase.
The Allied ships then chased the retreating Japanese and managed to engage them another time. The Asagumo was sunk by a rain of shells from the DD Downes, one of them hitting the magazines that exploded. The Kinu was hit again, and two new Japanese DD were heavily damaged, the Hatsuzuki (hit by 8in and 5in shells) and the Suzunami (hit by a torp and 5in shells). Only an US DD was slightly hit in this pursuit.
Also during this battle, the Maya received two penetrating hits by 6in shells fired by the CA Minneapolis… but both failed to explode and the ship received minimal damage. The retreating Japanese took a tiny revenge just before dawn when they met an ASW group of 4 SC, and sank one and heavily damaged another with gunfire.
Anyway, the night losses were a Japanese DD sunk, a CL and 2 DD heavily damaged, and 2 DD set on fire, while the Allied had a SC sunk, a DD and a SC heavily damaged and a DD set on fire.

During the day, Japanese airmen didn’t fly much. Only one raid was sent from Toyohara with 11 Betties, and they returned without having found the target. On the other hand Allied heavy bombers based in Aleutians had a busy day.
43 B-24D and 14 PB4Y from Attu were sent to attack Japanese troops in PJ and met 15 A6M3a from the KB over the target. The fighters shot down 2 B-24D and 1 PB4Y for the loss of one of their number. AA fire shot down another B-24D but the bombs hit the targeted artillery positions and the 14th Japanese division lost 129 men and 12 guns.
At the same time, Allied airmen were busy searching at sea the Japanese ships engaged during the night. The badly damaged DD Suzunami was seen 300 miles west of Kiska and was attacked and sunk by 6 Liberator VI and 4 B-26B from this base escorted by 16 Kittyhwak I, one of the latter being lost to engine failure. And 17 PB4Y and 9 B-17E attacked the last two intact ships of the raiding TF, the CA Maya and a DD, 240 miles ESE of PJ but only scored two hits on the Maya that bounced on her armor (damage of the Maya at the end of the day was only 3/0/3).

Admiral Yamamoto was not happy with the day results: two DD sunk, the CL Kinu (damage 73/55/31) and the DD Michishio (58/64/16) too heavily damaged to be probably saved (but that will nevertheless try to reach PJ), and two other damaged DD, the Kagero (41/32/10) and Hatsuzuki (44/31/20) heavily damaged too but probably able to reach Etoforu Jima quickly enough to be saved.
But his intelligence officers had good news for him: first the DD Bennett, heavily damaged the night before by Tanaka’s ship, had been heard on the radio sinking 180 miles E of PJ in the evening. Second the PJ garrison captured some wrecked sailors from the cruiser Birmingham, heavily damaged during the second battle of PJ and scuttled off the beached. And in the end, there was an unconfirmed report that the CVL Cabot, torpedoed 3 times yesterday, was scuttled by the Allied (this was concluded by watching the score rising by 150 today for no good reason).

Both SS patrolling west of Kiska reported today several Allied TF and the Glen of the I-36 reported 7-8 TF from Kiska to 240 miles west of it (I just like the WITP naval search model.. LOL!!) before being shot down by a fighter. Betties reported an Allied CV TF just west of Attu and another 360 miles west of Kiska, but neither it nor the KB reacted today. It was a big surprise that an Allied CV TF remained in the area.

On Paramushiro Jima, the activity was again reduced to artillery exchanges with no Allied loss and 37 casualties on the Japanese side. Reports showed 112 696 Allied men (+1194), 1082 guns (+34) and 338 vehicles (+6) for 1771 AV (+34), and 36 664 Japanese men (+1686), 182 guns (+8) and 5 tankettes for 703 AV (+29). The evening report of the base listed damage as 86/51/90, 220 engineers and 47 126 supplies (-252). The barge convoy from Etorofu Jima arrived off the island at sunset and will unload 1500 more men of the 14th Div on the island during the night.

The AP convoy bringing the four South Seas Detachment to PJ (it’s time to rename them…) was now 300 miles SW of this base and was ordered to sail at full speed to arrive just 60 miles SW of it. To be sure to reach this spot in time both ASW groups that might need refueling and so will delay the convoy were separated from the convoy and will instead chase Allied submarines west of Onnekotan Jima. The Kido Butai (with now 133 fighters, 89 dive-bombers and 98 torpedo bombers) will sail to the same spot to cover the convoy and will be joined by the CL and DD TF coming from Japan.

More west Tanaka’s ships refueled in Shikka and will sail at full speed eastwards again, to a point 180 miles NW of PJ. Then tomorrow evening, the AP convoy will sail to PJ and start to unload while Tanaka and a surface TF detached from the KB will escort it, while the KB will remain in the area “just in case”.

Finally the BB Yamato will not be used again (with SYS 17) and will remain in Sapporo until the other ships with her will have their FLT damage reduced to zero and then all will be sent to repair shipyards.

Central Pacific

Eight submarines left PH, but not to return to Japan as was done in all other important Japanese bases. These submarines will form one or two patrol lines south of Alaska and chase Allied damaged ships returning to West Coast repair shipyards.

Southern Pacific

Five submarines left Suva to return to Japan.

New Guinea-New Britain- Solomon Islands

During the night 3 Betties were sent from Truk to bomb Goodenough Island but failed to hit anything again.

Rabaul was attacked in the afternoon by 60 B-24D and 22 PB4Y from Port Moresby escorted by 62 P-38G that did 98 casualties, disabled 4 guns and scored 4 hits on the airbase and 61 on the runways for the loss of two B-24D and a PB4Y to AA fire, and another B-24D in an accident. The base reported in the evening damage as 75/78.

Allied engineers opened a port (size 1) in Dobodura.

Timor-DEI-Australia

Again only Dili was bombed, by 8 PB4Y from Wyndham that hit nothing.

The evening area report listed the airfield status as: Maumere 56/75 (system/runway), Koepang 100/38, Dili 99/71, Lautem 72/21/38, other bases undamaged.

SRA

The former Burma Naval Squadron (2 CA, 1 CL, 3 DD) refueled in Singapore, was joined by a 4th DD and then sailed eastwards again in the evening to return to Japan via Legaspi.

Three submarines left also Singapore to return to Japan, and three others did the same from Soerabaja.

Burma

Allied airmen continued to attack only Myitkyina. The airfield was attacked by 6 B-25J from Ledo escorted by 22 P-40N and reported 1 hit on supplies and 12 on the runways. Four units of the garrison (17th, 33rd and 104th Div, 21st Bde) were bombed by 10 Beaufighter VIC, 18 Vengeance I, 54 Liberator VI, 47 B-25J, 29 B-24D, 46 B-25C, 22 Blenheim IV and 22 B-17E from Ledo, Dacca and Imphal escorted by 59 P-40N and 6 P-40E and lost 230 men, 1 tank and 8 guns. In the jungle SE of Imphal, the 11th NLF was attacked by 39 Hurricane II from this base escorted by 4 Spitfire Vb. Japanese AA fire shot down 3 Vengeance I and 2 Blenheim IV over Myitkyina while 2 P-40N, a Liberator VI, a B-17E, a B-25J and a B-25C were lost in accidents. On the Japanese side a Ki-15 was shot down by an Allied fighter over Chandpur.

In Myitkina. Allied artillery fire hit Japanese troops that lost 164 men and 4 guns. The report showed 2682 Allied AV (-373 in two days, after the failed attack of yesterday) and 1690 Japanese AV (-238 in two days, but two Tk Rgt left the town in this period).

The evening report gave the airfield status as: Myitkyina 35/18 (system/runway), other bases undamaged. The state of the 11th and 12th NLF was the following: 11th (0/24) and 12th (0/24).

China

The 64th Div reached Hengchow from the north and a regiment of the 116th Div from the south. Both confirmed that only one Chinese unit held the town, and both will attack it tomorrow.

More north, the regiment of the 26th Div that cut the Chungking-Changsha road reported now 10 units west of it (coming from Chungking) and 3 to the SE (retreating from Central China). It continued to march to the NE to return into Japanese territory.

Hi all,

Interesting idea crossed my mind... possibly Allies have problems with CV battles because they lost best admirals that went down with sunk CVs/CVLs7CVEs...


Leo "Apollo11"

Are you in danger of running out of undamaged surface combatants? If you do the allies can easily run in more forces to take PJ. And then you will be in trouble.

ORIGINAL: Apollo11

Interesting idea crossed my mind... possibly Allies have problems with CV battles because they lost best admirals that went down with sunk CVs/CVLs7CVEs...

Interesting idea, Leo. It seems to me that I saw one Allied CV admiral die in one of the 1942 battles, I don't remember if he was Spruance or Mitscher. I don't remember seeing another of the Allied CV admirals being lost but I may have forgotten it. But few of the sunk Allied CV were lost outright, almost all were damaged one day and sunk later after being detached from their CV and so probably had no more admiral aboard.

ORIGINAL: String

Are you in danger of running out of undamaged surface combatants? If you do the allies can easily run in more forces to take PJ. And then you will be in trouble.

Right now I have around PJ 4 BB, 4-5 CA, 4-6 CL and 40-45 DD to fight surface battles and escort CV TF. Allied forces have now probably less BB, a comparable number of CA/CL, several CLAA to escort CV, and tens of destroyers. So I am not running out of surface ships, or at least I am running out at a slower rate than the Allied.

Surface ships scattered in the Empire are also sailing back to Japan to be redeployed in the Kuriles if necessary: a BB, 4-6 CA, 2-3 CL, 12-16 DD.

By the way my opponent was extremely disappointed by the performance of his surface ships in battle. So I don't think he will commit them again while I am in the area.

And I also don't think he has many combat troops remaining in the area. Troop reinforcements will have to come from the West Coast, and will take weeks to arrive there.

I'm more worried about keeping the control of the air around PJ (more about this later in this AAR)..

Between two WITP turns last week end, I managed to spend a full afternoon playing war in another fashion: a paintball session. It was my first and it was fun. By the way I was good in maintaining my detection level and managed twice to sneak inside the enemy ranks, killing respectively 3 and 4 opponents and surviving both times. By the way the first time was amazing. We were attacking a hill and I managed to "climb" on a face (not difficult to do it, but there was no marked path) while the five defenders were firing on both sides. I managed to "kill" 3 before the last two noticed me. And then they had no more cover (I was on one side of the defence, and other attackers were on the other side) and were hit while trying to move (I myself didn't fire on them at the time).

The rest of the games (there were 7 "battles" on 3 different "battlefields") I was killed 3 times (the last time "trying a bayonet charge" after running out of ammo...) and I may have hit up to 3 more opponents but each time we were several to fire and it's difficult to know who shot who.



By the way, I have the same beard than PzB, or so it seems on the picture, but we are two distinct people with no link outside our AAR. There is no JFB clone factory hidden somewhere in Norway or behind Notre-Dame at Paris.

31 July 1943

Northern Pacific

During the night, the SS USS Paddle attacked 180 miles west of Onnekotan 3 ML sailing to Paramushiro Jima but missed the Takashima and was then depth charged by the Saishu and set on fire by 5 near-misses.

More east, the last two remaining Japanese submarines were more luckier. The SS I-36 saw during the night the damaged CL Montpelier 180 miles west of Attu and sank her with two torpedoes (and 4 Seagull aboard). She was bombed and hit during the afternoon by a patrolling B-17E but was only moderately damaged (23/23/0) and will return to Japan without problems.
The I-15 was patrolling 240 miles west of Attu. She was chased during the night by 3 SC but escaped undamaged, and saw another damaged ship just after dawn. It was the destroyer USS Charles Auburne and she sank her with two torpedoes. In the evening the I-15, now the last available submarine in the area, received orders to patrol just east of PJ and so sailed west to be farther from the Allied air bases.

But the main news of the night were that radio messages sent by the CV Bunker Hill were intercepted and decoded as “we’re sinking”. The Essex-class CV (second of her class to be lost after the Lexington II) had been hit by two torpedoes and two bombs two days ago and sank before dawn 240 miles west of Kiska, with 2 F6F and 1 SBD aboard. That was certainly unexpected, Allied damage control was not at his best here…
A fourth ship was added to the Allied loss list in the evening when the DD USS Perkins, heavily damaged in yesterday’s night battle, finally sank 60 miles west of Attu.

Toyohara airmen saw few Allied ships today and sent no attack. Only small groups of SC or damaged ships were seen west of Attu. One of the Daitai here received orders to now fly only naval search at maximum range, another was grounded and converted to the G4M2.

On Paramushiro Jima, the activity was again reduced to artillery exchanges. Allied lost 6 men, Japanese 37 men and 5 guns. Reports showed 113 419 Allied men (+723), 1105 guns (+23) and 338 vehicles for 1816 AV (+45), and 39 562 Japanese men (+2898), 224 guns (+42) and 5 tankettes for 805 AV (+102). The evening report of the base listed damage as 86/22/90, 220 engineers and 46 805 supplies (-321). The barge convoy from Etorofu Jima had finished unloaded at dawn and sailed back to its base. A PBM Mariner was shot today over PJ by AA fire.

The AP convoy bringing the four South Seas Detachment to PJ was late and only arrived 120 miles SW of this base. The KB so could not cover it but it was not detected, and so not attacked by Allied airmen. It will sail tonight to PJ and start unloading. Two surface TF will cover it, one sent by the KB with the BB Kirishima and Mutsu, 1 CA, 3 CL and 5 DD, and the other led by Tanaka with the BB Haruna and Hiei, 3 CA, 2 CL and 3 DD was now 180 miles NW of PJ and will also arrive there tonight.

The KB will sail 60 miles NW of PJ and continue to fly CAP 90% and naval search 80%. The air cover of the ships off the base will be done from the base itself. Most of the runways had now been repaired (damage 22) and the base had 228 AS points. So in the evening the fighters gathered in Sapporo flew to PJ: 36 Ki-61, 35 Nick, 34 Ki-44 (two were lost in bad weather and disappeared with their pilots), 30 Oscar II and 27 A6M3a (with 26 pilots). All the IJAAF units had no combat experience, except one battle for the Oscar unit. The Zero unit was the F2/Tainan that had been very active in the first months of the war, participated then in the Second Battle of Hawaii last summer and since them has flown uneventful patrols from PH.

New Guinea-New Britain- Solomon Islands

During the night the airfield of Kiriwima Island was bombed and missed by 3 Betties from Truk. One was hit by AA fire and crashed on the way home. These raids will now stop, and Betties will instead lay mines off Goodenough Island.

Rabaul was attacked in the afternoon by 54 B-24D and 16 PB4Y from PM escorted by 43 P-38G that disabled 36 men and 2 guns and scored 7 hits on the airbase, 1 on supplies and 24 on the runways. The base reported in the evening damage as 86/83 (airbase/runway).

The damaged CA Nachi (SYS 28) sailed with one escort DD from Truk to return to Japan for repairs.

Timor-DEI-Australia

There was no Allied raid today. The evening area report listed the airfield status as: Maumere 56/71 (system/runway), Koepang 100/4, Dili 99/63, Lautem 72/14/38, other bases undamaged.

An AP started to load troops of the 23rd Eng Rgt in Kendari and will bring it to Maumere.

SRA

The submarine HMS Trident that had been heavily damaged a week ago NE of Palembang by an ASW group sank in the evening east of Nicobar Islands.

A small convoy started loading 14k supplies in Toboali and will bring them to Rangoon.

Burma

Allied airmen flew 500 sorties over Burma, hitting a base and 5 units. Manadalay airfield was attacked by 66 Liberator VI and 44 B-25C from Dacca escorted by 43 P-40N and reported 10 casualties, 1 disabled gun, 16 hits on the airbase, 8 on supplies and 32 on the runways. Four units of the garrison of Myitkyina (17th, 33rd and 104th Div, 21st Bde) were bombed by 44 Beaufighter VIC, 42 Beaufighter Mk 21, 39 B-25J, 30 Lysander I, 24 Vengeance I, 22 B-24D, 20 Blenheim IV and 20 B-17E from Jorhat, Kohima and Imphal escorted by 37 P-40N and lost 99 men and 4 guns. In the jungle SE of Imphal, the 11th NLF was attacked by 39 Hurricane II from this base escorted by 4 Spitfire Vb. AA fire shot down over Myitkyina 1 B-25J, 1 Vengeance I and 1 Beaufighter VIC, while a P-40N and a Lysander I were lost in crashes.

Allied troops in Myitkina bombarded Japanese troops and hit 51 men and 2 guns. The report showed 2728 Allied AV (+46) and 1685 Japanese AV (-5) here. There were now only 27 Allied units here, one had left the battlefield to return to Ledo. Maybe it had been wrecked in the former Allied attacks, or it was a non-combat unit that will be more useful in India (as no drop of AV was seen).

The evening report gave the airfield status as: Mandalay 34/59 (system/runway), Myitkyina 35/10, other bases undamaged.

All Japanese troops marching to the Katha-Indaw area (120 miles west of Myitktina) should be in place tomorrow and the attack will be launched the next day.

China

The 64th Div and a regiment of the 116th Div launched a combined attack from north and south against Hengchow and took it easily. The city had impressive defences (fort 9) but most of the garrison had left and only the 7th Chinese Air Base Force was still there and was easily defeated (at 177 to 1). This victory cost only 15 casualties and 1 gun to the Japanese, while Chinese losses were 72 killed and wounded and around 200 prisoners. Strangely the Chinese didn’t retreat to the NW, but eastwards, so ending surrounded by Japanese units and base.

The 11th Army main body (W of Changsha) will send a regiment of the 39th Div to eliminate this unit before it raises a efficient guerilla in the area. In Hengchow the 64th Div was divided to garrison this city, the road SW of it and Kweilin, so relieving the experienced 116th Div that will gather in Canton and then be sent on another theater of the war.

More north the regiment of the 26th Div that cut the Chungking-Changsha road had now marched back 45 miles and will probably leave the area tomorrow, before Chinese units may catch it.

Japan

The Japanese Minister of Air Production had a busy day. He had to prepare for the inauguration of several A6M5 that will start production tomorrow (and to manage the susceptibility of all their directors because he can’t be present at each inauguration… so finally decided he would go to none). He was also following the preparation of the conversion of the existing A6M3a factories.

Another matter he dealt today was the production of new fighters. After the heavy losses of the Kido Butai, the Navy had finally decided to withdraw its opposition to the production of the J2M Jack and promised to create units that will train on this model in some months. The problem was that there was no (more?) factory able to produce the Jack (I probably converted it to something else, but I don’t remember. By the way I checked twice each Japanese city because I was sure I had somewhere a Jack factory fully disabled). And the factories producing IJNAF aircraft could not be diverted to the new project. On the other hand, IJAAF factories had some buildings that might be transformed. The minister had been an active supporter of this idea and had led the negotiations between the both services and the producing firms. It was finally concluded today. A Ki-46 III Dinah and Ki-57 Topsy factories will be converted to produce the Jack (and both will be expanded to size 24). Both IJAAF aircraft had two factories. The one remaining for the Dinah will be enough (size 31), the remaining for the Topsy will be expanded from size 5 to 10. And the Army was allocated credits to start the research of the Ki-84 Frank.

A convoy was created in Nagasaki and will carry 56k supplies from Nagasaki to Shanghai (from where they will go to Changsha to repair the factories and mines of this ruined city).

Hi all,

ORIGINAL: AmiralLaurent

The AP convoy bringing the four South Seas Detachment to PJ was late and only arrived 120 miles SW of this base. The KB so could not cover it but it was not detected, and so not attacked by Allied airmen. It will sail tonight to PJ and start unloading. Two surface TF will cover it, one sent by the KB with the BB Kirishima and Mutsu, 1 CA, 3 CL and 5 DD, and the other led by Tanaka with the BB Haruna and Hiei, 3 CA, 2 CL and 3 DD was now 180 miles NW of PJ and will also arrive there tonight.

The KB will sail 60 miles NW of PJ and continue to fly CAP 90% and naval search 80%. The air cover of the ships off the base will be done from the base itself. Most of the runways had now been repaired (damage 22) and the base had 228 AS points. So in the evening the fighters gathered in Sapporo flew to PJ: 36 Ki-61, 35 Nick, 34 Ki-44 (two were lost in bad weather and disappeared with their pilots), 30 Oscar II and 27 A6M3a (with 26 pilots). All the IJAAF units had no combat experience, except one battle for the Oscar unit. The Zero unit was the F2/Tainan that had been very active in the first months of the war, participated then in the Second Battle of Hawaii last summer and since them has flown uneventful patrols from PH.

Best of luck and may the Gods be with you!

The eyes of the empire are pointed towards cold North Pacific where fate of 10000 year Yamato is decided - emperor has full faith in success - BANZAI !!!


Leo "Apollo11"

Monthly report July 1943

Japanese score: 59 156 (+ 4 576)
Bases 16 022 (+ 367)
Aircraft 11 479 (+ 1 366)
Army 20 952 (+ 240)
Ship 9 830 (+ 2 448) 529 ships sunk (+ 66: 3 CV, 2 CVL, 2 CVE, 2 BB, 3 CA, 4 CL, 14 DD, 1 DMS, 1 DE, 4 SS, 5 AP, 13 AK, 5 MSW, 3 LST, 1 LCI, 2 SC)
Scuttled ships 155 (+ 155) (including probably a CVL)
Strategic 718 (+ 0)

Allied score: 9 788 375 (+ 1 413)
Bases 1 329 (+ 4)
Aircraft 5 739 (+ 867)
Army 1 064 (+ 105)
Ship 1 658 (+ 439) 161 ships sunk (+ 25: 1 BB, 2 CA, 2 CL, 11 DD, 6 SS, 1 ML, 1 PC, 1 small AK)
Strategic 0

Economic situation (stocks rounded to the thousand):
Supplies : 4 448 000 (bases) + around 307 000 (TFs) = around 4 755 000 (-261 000) (huge construction and repair program underway)
Fuel : 4 545 000 (bases) + around 78 000 (TFs) = around 4 623 000 (+24 000)
Ressource centers : 19 101 (+ 25)
Ressources : 1 309 000 (bases) + 143 000 (TFs) = 1 452 000 (+ 20 000)
Oil centers : 2 788 (+ 1)
Oil: 1 983 000 (bases) + 296 000 (TFs) = 2 279 000 (+ 63 000)
Manpower centers : 818 (+ 1)
Manpower pool : 991 000 (+ 51 000)
Heavy industry: 14 147 (+ 73)
Heavy industry pool: 396 000 (+ 29 000)
Naval shipyard: 1384 (+ 75)
Merchant shipyard: 1000 (+ 0)
Repair shipyard: 989 (+ 31)
Armament industry: 683 (+ 0)
Armament stock: 179 000 (- 11 000) (probably because of high losses, or of upgrades)
Vehicles industry: 113 (+ 0)
Vehicles stock: 12 500 (+ 2 700)
Aircraft engine factories: 1587 (+ 0)
Aircraft frames factories: 1335 (+ 186) (A6M5 now in production)
Aircraft research: 310 (- 62) (idem)

Aircraft production:
112 A6M3a Zero (230, restarted this month), 101 Ki-61 KAIc Tony (123, restarted), 77 A6M3 Zero (72), 73 G4M2 Betty (86, new model, all G4M1 factories converted), 61 Ki-43-IIa (capacity 159, partly suspended), 58 Ki-46-III Dinah (48), 55 Ki-44-IIb Tojo (57), 28 B5N Kate (68, restarted and expanded), 25 J1N1-S Irving (23), 23 Ki-21 Sally (20), 20 E13A1 Jake (20), 18 D3A Val (41, restarted), 18 Ki-57 Topsy (10), 14 L2D2 Tabby (10), 11 A6M-2 Rufe (14), 7 E14Y1 Glen (4, restarted), 4 L3Y Tina (5), 0 A6M5 Zeke (160, new model on 1st August), 0 Ki-45 KAIa Nick (44, suspended), 0 Ki-48 (capacity 40, stopped), 0 H8K Emily (32, suspended), 0 Ki-45 KAIb Nick (25, suspended), 0 Ki-49 Helen (23, suspended), 0 J1N1-R Irving (16, suspended), 0 Ki-51 Sonia (18, stopped), 0 MC-21 Sally (5, suspended), 0 H6K2-L Mavis (4, suspended)

Total: 705 aircraft (417 fighters (including 11 Rufes), 96 level bombers, 58 recon, 36 transport, 28 torpedo bombers, 27 floatplanes, 25 night-fighters, 18 divebombers, 0 fighter-bombers)



Here is a list of the ship lost by both sides during the battles in the Kuriles (the situation is listed as in the evening of the 31st, some damaged ships of both sides sank later)

Allied losses

63 Sunk
3 CV Bunker Hill, Illustrious, Lexington II
2 CVL Cowpens, Monterey
2 CVE Chenango, Suwannee
2 BB Maryland, Mississippi
3 CA Devonshire, Quincy, San Francisco
4 CL Birmingham, Cleveland, Denver, Montpelier
14 DD Aaron Ward, Bailey, Bennett, Buchanan, Charles Ausburne, Converse, DeHaven, Eaton, Farenholt, Hutchins, Laffey, Lardner, Perkins, Pringle
1 DMS Hamilton
2 DE Burden R. Hastings, Gilmore
1 SS S-30
5 AP John Penn, President Garfield, Sumter, U.S. Grant, Warren
13 AK Cheleb, Empire Brook, Empire Chaucer, Eridanus, Indus, Loa Koeloe, Mildura, Ngow Hok, Prominent, Ravnaas, Sarangami, Sipora, Solviken, Woolgar
5 MSW Heed, Oracle, Rail II, Revenge, Sage
3 LST-22, LST-28, LST-335
1 LCI-221
2 SC-637, SC-638

23 Heavy damage (b = bomb, d=depth charge, m=mine, s=shell, t=torpedo)
2 CVL Cabot (1b, 3t), Independence (3b, 1t)
1 CA Dorsetshire (6s)
1 CLAA Columbo (2t)
8 DD Aulick (1b), Dashiell (1s, 1t), Dyson (4s), Halford (8s), LaVallette (4b), Panther (1m), Philip (7s, 1t), Renshaw (4s)
1 AP La Salle (4b)
4 AK Beltrami (3b), Empire Lak (2t), Proteus (4b), Wosang (1t)
5 LST-19 (1t), LST-23 (1b), LST-27 (1t), LST-32 (1t), LST-340 (2s, 1t)
1 MSW Bobolink (1t)
1 SC-647 (1s)

41 Medium damage (on fire, or torpedo damage) (b = bomb, d=depth charge, m=mine, s=shell, t=torpedo)
2 CV Essex (1t), Yorktown II (2b, 1t)
1 CVL Princeton (1t)
1 CVE Sangamon (1m, 1t)
7 BB California (3s), Colorado (1t), Idaho (12s), Indiana (2t), New Mexico (9s, 2t), North Carolina (1t), West Virginia (15s, 1t)
2 CA New Orleans (4s), Vincennes (2m)
2 CL Emerald (1t), Richmond (1t)
9 DD Anthony (1s, 1t), Bancroft (3s), Barton (1t), Foote (2s), Lansdowne (2s), McCall (3s), McCalla (2s), O'Brien (1s), Welles (3s)
1 DMS Perry (1b)
1 DE Jaccard (1t)
2 SS Capelin (1d), Paddle (5d)
1 LSD Carter Hall (1t)
1 AO Lackawanna (2t)
1 AP President Adams (2m)
9 AK Cape Stevens (3b), Coquina (2s), Forbes Hauptmann (1s), Island Mail (2s), Nord (2t), Siaoe (2b), Tai Sang (2s), Tjisaroea (2b, 1t), Washingtonian (1t)
1 LST LST-17 (3b)

Japanese losses

22 Sunk
1 BB Fuso
2 CA Aoba, Kinugasa
2 CL Nagara, Oyodo
11 DD Akebono, Asagumo, Asashio, Kamikaze, Kazegumo, Minegumo, Natsushio, Onami, Susuzuki, Suzunami, Urakaze
6 SS I-6, I-19, I-20, I-177, I-181, RO-61

10 Heavy damage (SYS > 50)
2 CA Chikuma, Tone
2 CL Kinu, Kuma
5 DD Asakaze, Hatsuzuki, Michishio, Naganami, Nowaki
1 SS I-159

15 Medium damage (SYS > 15)
2 BB Musashi, Yamato
1 CA Furutaka
2 CL Abukuma, Tama
3 DD Kagero, Makinami, Wakazuki
7 SS I-25, I-36, I-38, I-39, I-182, RO-60, RO-66

1 August 1943

Northern Pacific

During the night, an ASW group chased 120 miles W of Onnekotan Jima the SS USS Tuna and the PC Ch 32 scored two hits and two near-misses on her, but she escaped and was apparently not seriously damaged.
At dawn, the SS Paddle saw ships SW of Onnekotan Jima but lost them in the fog without any side firing.

The Japanese troop convoy reached PJ and started to unload troops without any Allied interference by sea or air. Allied floatplanes reported it, and a CAP of 80 fighters now covering them and the base, and also found the KB NW of PJ, but lost 2 PBY Catalina to fighters over this fleet.

The air bridge also continued to bring troops to PJ (with the loss of a Tina and a Mavis in crashes today) and the AP value of the Japanese garrison increased from 805 to 1144 today. Japanese gunners fired on Allied lines and hit 10 men. Alleid forces were reported as 114 973 Allied men (+1554), 1145 guns (+40) and 347 vehicles (+9) for 1865 AV (+49).
And these troops launched another attack today but the Japanese reinforcements allowed it to throw it back (at 0 to 1, 1748 Allied AV vs 1080, adjusted to 1130 vs 3298), while the Allied engineers failed to do more damage to Japanese fortifications. Japanese losses were 781 men and 40 guns, Allied ones 2220 men, 75 guns and 4 guns.
The evening report of the base listed damage as 75/0/90, 290 engineers (+70) and 46 185 supplies (-620). During the night 3 ML had laid 360 mines off the base. Six Emilies arrived from Etoforu Jima to fly naval search and be sure to detect if the Allied fleet sailed to PJ to attack the convoy.
The badly damaged SS I-159 (48/91) reached the port today and was docked, but had few chances of survival. Two damaged ships, the CL Kinu (82/76) and DD Mishichio (67/78) were now 60 miles SE of PJ and will go to this base too tomorrow.

More south the DD Kagero reached Etoforu and was docked with damage 47/45. The AR of the base was able to assist the CA Tone and DD Nowaki already docked there and their FLT damage went down a little. This base will be turned again into a big support base for PJ. Today another AR, a MLE and 6 ML left Wakkanai with 2 escorts to sail to this base. Two convoys loaded in Aomori 52k supplies and 10k fuel and will also bring them here.

Tomorrow the KB and both BB TF patrolling off PJ won’t move. Airmen from Toyohara will fly recons to Kiska and Attu to find the Allied CV and surface TF and detect if they sail west again.

New Guinea-New Britain- Solomon Islands

During the night 9 Betties from Truk laid mines off Goodenough Island.

In the morning the SS I-18 was attacked and hit by a PB4Y 240 miles SW of Gili Gili and with damage of 17/30 was ordered to return to Lunga.

There was no raid today on Rabaul and the evening report of the base listed damage as 86/57 (airbase/runways).
Two small AP loaded in Lunga two NLF and will bring them to Green Island. A convoy loaded 28k supplies in Kwajalein and will bring them to Lunga.

Allied engineers expanded both airfields of Dobadura and Kiriwima Island to size 3.

Timor-DEI-Australia

The only Allied raid today was a small attack by 7 PB4Y from Wyndham against Dili that hit nothing. AA fire shot down over Lautem a Catalina I flying a recon.

The evening area report listed the airfield status as: Maumere 56/67 (system/runway), Koepang 70/0, Dili 99/55, Lautem 72/6/38, other bases undamaged.

Burma

Allied airmen flew 537 sorties over Burma, hitting a base and 5 units. Manadalay airfield was attacked again by 60 Liberator VI and 41 B-25C from Dacca escorted by 29 P-40N and reported 33 casualties, 1 disabled gun, 10 hits on the airbase, 4 on supplies and 122 on the runways. Myitkyina airfield was bombed by 9 B-25J from Ledo escorted by 22 P-40N and 19 P-40E (1 hit on the airbase, 1 on supplies and 15 on the runways) while four units of the garrison (17th, 33rd and 104th Div, 21st Bde) were bombed by 48 Beaufighter VIC, 38 Beaufighter Mk 21, 35 B-25J, 31 Lysander I, 30 Vengeance I, 26 Blenheim IV, 24 B-24D and 21 B-17E from Jorhat, Kohima and Imphal escorted by 38 P-40N and 25 P-40E and lost 143 men and 6 guns. In the jungle SE of Imphal, the 11th NLF was attacked by 39 Hurricane II from this base escorted by 2 Spitfire Vb. AA fire shot down 2 Vengeance I, 1 B-24D and 1 Beaufighter VIC over Myitkyina and a Liberator VI over Mandalay, while a B-25C, a P-40N and a Beaufighter Mk 21 were lost in crashes.

Allied troops in Myitkina bombarded Japanese troops and hit 152 men and 5 guns. The report showed 2769 Allied AV (+41) and 1680 Japanese AV (-5) here.

The evening report gave the airfield status as: Mandalay 52/99 (system/runway), Myitkyina 37/17, other bases undamaged.

All Japanese troops marching to the Katha-Indaw area (120 miles west of Myitktina) were in place in the evening… except the 23rd Bde coming from the east that had still 15 miles to march. So the attack was postponed for one day.

China

20 Ki-51 from Changsha bombarded the 7th Chinese Air BF SW of their base and hit 16 men.

More north the regiment of the 26th Div that had cut the Chungking-Changsha road marched NE and returned to the Japanese side of the river just as 6 Chinese units were arriving in the area from Chungking. This unit will now return to Ichang with the other regiments that had protected its supply path.

Japan

The convoy bringing back from Southern Pacific the 56th Bde and 24th Eng Rgt entered Tokyo Bay. The men expected a hero welcome, and were strongly disappointed when they learned they won’t be allowed to disembark. In fact the transports only stopped some hours for refueling and then sailed NE. The grumbling troops will have been even more demoralized to know that they will be sent to Etorofu Jima for garrison duty and building fortifications. Oh by the way the tiny civilian population of the Kuriles had been evacuated and the nearest Japanese girl was several hundred kilometers away from the base. But the soldiers were lucky enough to not know all these bad news.

The first 6 serie A6M5 were produced today, and a size-16 A6M3a factory was converted to the new type. Production capacity was now: 214 A6M3a, 176 A6M5, 72 A6M3.

A convoy loaded 70k supplies in Tokyo and will ship them to Palau.

Hi all,

Now let's hope Japanese will have unobstructed landing and that all troops and heavy equipement will be safely added to defence!


Leo "Apollo11"

2 August 1943

Northern Pacific

The Kido Butai CV arrived NW of Paramushiro Jima during the night and was welcomed by the SS USS Bluefish that tried to attack the CVL Ryujo but was seen and chased by 6 DD and 1 CL. The DD Sanae depth charged here and scored one hit and a near-miss, but she escaped with fires onboard. The Bluefish was then chased twice before dawn by 4 other DD but was no more hit.
Off PJ, the SS USS Ray was more successful and sank with two torpedoes the badly damaged CL Kinu while she was trying to sneak into the port before dawn. The DD Mischichio reached the port safely at the same time but her state was desesperate in the evening (damage 68/96/0).
Later during the day KB airmen reported and attacked three Allied submarines patrolling off the island but missed them. In the evening, an ASW group chased the SS USS Seahorse west of Onnekotan Jim and the MSW W24 scored two near-misses that damaged her torpedo tubes.

Japanese recons reported a CAP of 54 F4F-4 and 4 F6F over Kiska, a sign that the Allied CV didn’t sail to attack the Japanese ships off PJ. Ten TF (of transports, SC and DD) were reported off Attu, that had 257 ships in port, while a CV and a BB TF were seen off Kiska, where 90 docked ships were counted. No Allied ship was seen west of these bases, except 9 submarines around PJ.

But Allied airmen were not so passive and sent three raids against Japanese troops and ships during the day. The first two raids were sent against two units of the Japanese garrison, a regiment of the 14th Div and the 1st South Seas Detachment.
The first wave was made of 13 PB4Y and 6 B-17E and met 83 fighters flying CAP (20 Ki-61, 20 Ki-45, 18 Ki-44, 16 A6M3a and 9 Oscar II) that shot down 9 PB4Y and 1 B-17 for the loss of a Tony. But the Oscar and Tony units had bad morale and broke contact after taking small damage, and the surviving bombers reached the troops, hitting 39 men and 2 guns.
Just after this attack came the second wave of 24 B-17E and 23 PB4Y. The CAP reduced to 20 Nick, 18 Tojo and 16 Zeroes shot down this time only 4 PB4Y and a B-17E and lost 2 A6M3a and a Ki-44. Bombs hit 139 men and 5 guns in this attack. One more B-17E was lost in an accident.

In the afternoon, Japanese AA fire shot down a PBM Mariner over PJ and then 12 B-24D from Attu tried to attack ships off the island and were intercepted by 22 A6M3a, 20 Tony, 15 Oscar II, 14 Tojo and 9 Nick. This time again the Oscar and Tony Sentai turned back after some failed attacks, and each lost an aircraft. But 9 Liberator were shot down and the 3 remaining missed their target, the BB Mutsu.

During the day, two more damaged Allied ships succoumbed to damage. The AK Nord sank 60 miles west of Attu and the MSW Bobolink II in Attu port.

On Paramushiro Jima, the activity was again reduced to artillery exchanges. Shells hit 32 men and 1 gun on the Allied side, and 97 men on Japanese side. Reports showed 112 613 Allied men (-806 in two days), 1026 guns (-79 in two days) and 344 vehicles (+6 in two days) for 1660 AV (-156 in two days), and 58 931 Japanese men (+19 369 in two days), 443 guns (+219 in two days) and 5 tankettes for 1179 AV (+374 in two days). The evening report of the base listed damage as 26/0/90, 328 engineers (+38) and 48 722 supplies (+2537).

Six Japanese fighters had been lost over PJ during the day, but 3 pilots were saved. The worst problem was the low morale of two Sentai (1 of Oscar and 1 of Tony), and the commander of the Oscar unit was changed to try to cope with this problem.

The convoy will continue to unload troops and supplies tomorrow. All Japanese CV and BB TF won’t move, but both ASW groups operating w of Onnekotan Jima will sail to PJ to chase Allied subs off this base.

The DD Hatsuzuki reached Etorofu Jima and was docked with damage 56/47/1. She should made it (with AR support).

New Guinea-New Britain- Solomon Islands

During the night 9 Betties from Truk laid mines off Goodenough Island.

There was no raid today on Rabaul and the evening report of the base listed damage as 86/2 (airbase/runways).

Timor-DEI-Australia

The only Allied raid was again a small attack by 7 PB4Y from Wyndham against Dili that hit nothing. AA fire shot down over Koepang a PBY Catalina flying a recon.

The evening area report listed the airfield status as: Maumere 56/63 (system/runway), Koepang 36/0, Dili 99/47, Lautem 69/0/38, other bases undamaged.

Burma

Bad weather closed all Allied bases except Jorhat and Ledo and only 91 sorties were flown over Burma, hitting a base and 3 units. Myitkyina airfield was bombed by 11 B-25J from Ledo escorted by 22 P-40E that scored 1 hit on supplies and 10 on the runways while 3 divisions of the garrison (17th, 33rd and 104th) were bombed by 39 Beaufighter VIC, 11 Beaufighter Mk 21 and 6 Vengeance I from Jorhat and Ledo escorted by 21 P-40E and lost only 10 men. On the other hand there was no Allied loss.

Allied troops in Myitkina bombarded Japanese troops and hit 294 men, 1 tnk and 5 guns. The report showed 2805 Allied AV (+36) and 1678 Japanese AV (-2) here.

The evening report gave the airfield status as: Mandalay 52/98 (system/runway), Myitkyina 38/21, other bases undamaged. A squad of the 12th NLF recovered (status 1/24), the 11th NLF remained wholly disabled (0/24).

And finally Japanese troops were ready to attack in the Katha-Indaw area 120 miles west of Myitkyina. The Burma Army HQ will lead the attack with 3.67 Inf Div, 2 Tk Div, 1 Mixed Bde, 1 Amphibious Bde, 3 Mixed Rgt, 6 Tk Rgt and 1 Para Rgt (used as infantry) supported by 3 Army HQ, 1 ART unit and two AA Bns: a total of 183 920 men, 1 666 guns and 2 207 vehicles (probably more than half of Japanese tanks… I think the vehicle count includes also motorized support squads).

As planned the IJAAF units that arrived a week ago in Rangoon, Moulmein and Hanoi moved forward to support the attack. 71 Ki-61 flew to Lashio to defend the airfield, from where 51 Ki-49, 28 Ki-21 and 26 Ki-51 will support the attack. In Pagan arrived 26 Ki-21 and 23 Ki-49, and 20 A6M3 to escort them. And 23 Ki-21 flew to Akyab and will also attack troops to support the attack. 33 A6M3a will fly a sweep from Rangoon over the battlefield to chase Allied fighters.

The Allied forces in the area were reinforced this day by a 12th unit, and 3 more were on the trail coming from Kohima just north of it. The attack will be launched against jungle positions and to be sure to reach 2 to 1 ratio to repulse the Allied army, a schock attack was ordered.



Japan

Two other A6M3a factories of size 72 and 16 converted to A6M5. Now the production capacity was the following: 264 A6M5 and 126 A6M3a.

3 August 1943

Northern Pacific

During the night the SS USS Ray stroke again off PJ and attacked an ASW group, sinking the PC Ch 23 and escaping without being detected. NW of PJ the Bluefish was not so lucky and was chased by two DD that scored a near-miss on her.

Afte dawn, Japanese airmen reported ten submarines in the area: 4 off PJ, 3 SW of it and 3 NW of it (near the KB). In the morning the USS Jack was attacked and damaged by a Kate off PJ.

In the morning, Allied airmen concentrated on Japanese ships off PJ. First a patrolling PB4Y surprised the BB Hiei at dawn and managed to score a hit on her, but did no big damage. And then 17 B-24D, 9 PB4Y and 3 B-17E were sent from Attu to attack Japanese ships. 11 B-24D and 3 B-17E got lost and the other attack in four small groups and met a CAP of 16 Oscar II, 15 Nick, 15 Tony, 13 A6M3a and 9 Tojo, later reinforced by 8 more A6M3a from the KB. But the CAP was very inefficient and only shot down 2 PB4Y for the loss of two A6M3a to return fire. The bombers attacked 3 BB, 1 CA, 1 AP and 1 MSW and claimed a hit on a BB and the AP. If a bomb hit the Hiei and destroyed one of her 5in turret, the AP Meien Maru was only near-missed and almost no damaged (2/0/0). One B-24D hit by AA fire crashed on the way home.

In the afternoon, the Allied air commander switched of target and sent 14 PB4Y, 13 B-24D and 12 B-17E from Attu to bomb the airfield of PJ. The base was defended by 54 Japanese fighters (14 Oscar II, 13 Tony, 11 Tojo, 10 Nick and 6 A6M3a) but they failed to stop the raid. 4 B-24D and 1 PB4Y were shot down, and 5 B-24D turned back under attack. No Japanese fighter was lost in the air, but 15 (5 Tojo, 4 Nick, 3 A6M3a and 3 Oscar II) were destroyed on the ground. The attack scored 1 hit on the airbase, 1 on supplies and 22 on the runways.

Bad weather and the new holes on the runways of PJ were responsible of the loss of 9 Japanese aircraft in accidents in the area: 4 A6M3a, 2 Ki-61, 1 Ki-44, 1 Tina and 1 Topsy. But the transport aircraft bringing a regiment of 14th Div from Wakkanai and the 3rd South Seas Detachment from Ominato to PJ both completed their task and were rested in the evening. The air bridge to PJ will only continue from Toyohara to finish bringing in another regiment of 14th Div. The third regiment of this unit was based in Etoforu and barges loaded 1500 more men there and will carry them to PJ too.

On Paramushiro Jima, the activity was again reduced to artillery exchanges. Shells hit 40 men on the Allied side, and 54 men and 2 guns on the Japanese side. Reports showed 113 543 Allied men (+930), 1047 guns (+21) and 348 vehicles (+4) for 1710 AV (+50), and 61 839 Japanese men (+2 908), 467 guns (+24) and 5 tankettes for 1187 AV (+8). The evening report of the base listed damage as 17/0/90, 337 engineers (+9) and 51 813 supplies (+3091). Only 64 of the 105 remaining fighters of the base remained operational and 12 new Oscar II and 18 Rufes were sent as reinforcements. And 13 A6M3a of the KB will LRCAP also the base tomorrow.

The Allied CV were still in Kiska, where recon reported CV fighter on CAP and saw 3 docked CV. Two Chutai of Betties will bomb the port tonight from Shikka and Toyohara (home rule: only one squadron may fly night bombing raids from a given base, except manpower attacks).

Both BB and ASW TFs will so remain one more day off PJ to cover the AP that will finish unload troops and supplies here. The KB refuelled at sea in the evening and will sail 60 miles west of Onnekotan Jima tomorrow to evaded the Allied submarines chasing it. This evening it had 132 fighters (128 serviceable), 89 dive-bombers (89) and 98 torpedo bombers (98).

Ships damaged the previous days continued to be lost: the CLAA HMS Columbo sank in Kiska port during the night, while the DD Michishio sank in PJ in the evening.

Five damage ships (BB Yamato (SYS 31) and Yamato (16), CA Furutaka (29), CL Kitakami (10) and DD Asakaze (49)) left Sapporo with the empty CVL Chitose and 4 escort DD and will sail to Hiroshima for repairs.

Southern Pacific

The Japanese High Command decided to launch the redeployment of the garrisons of the first defensive ring in the Pacific to bases closer from Japan. The first affected unit was the 2nd Div in Canton that was ordered to prepare for Marcus Island. It will be replaced there by the South Seas Detchment (currently at Suva with a Div) that received preparation orders for this base.

Japanese engineers expanded the port of Canton Island to size 5.

New Guinea-New Britain- Solomon Islands

During the night 3 Betties from Truk laid mines off Goodenough Island. Recons during the day of Goodenough and Kiriwima reported CAP of 16 Kittyhawk on the former and 23 F4F-4 on the latter and one of these fighters shot down a Alf floatplane.

In the afternoon the SS I-121 laid a minefield off Gasmata but was seen and attacked by two Allied patrol aircrat. They missed her.

There was no raid today on Rabaul and the evening report of the base listed damage as 27/0 (airbase/runways). A large AK left Truk to bring supplies to Rabaul, while a small one was sent to Kavieng.

Allied engineers expanded the airfield of Dobadura to size 4.

Timor-DEI-Australia

The only Allied raid was again a small attack by 6 PB4Y from Wyndham against Dili that hit nothing.

The evening area report listed the airfield status as: Maumere 56/60 (system/runway), Koepang 2/0, Dili 99/39, Lautem 60/0/38, other bases undamaged.

The AP that loaded the main part of the 23rd Eng Rgt in Kendari left alone this port in the evening to carry this unit to Maumere.

Burma

Bad weather grounded almost all Allied airmen. Myitkyina airfield was attacked by 12 B-25J from Ledo escorted by 20 P-40E that were inetrcepted by 16 Tony drifting from Lashio CAP. Three P-40E and two Ki-61 were shot down in the air battle. The bombers all reached the target and scored 2 hits on the airbase and 2 on the runways, doing 12 casualties. More west the 11th NLF was bombed SE of Imphal by 38 Hurricane II from this base escorted by 6 Spitfire Vb. One of the latter was lost in an accident.

Allied troops in Myitkina bombarded Japanese troops and hit 130 men and 4 guns. The report showed 2849 Allied AV (+44) and 1670 Japanese AV (-8) here.

The Burma Army attacked as planned in the Katha-Indaw area 120 miles west of Myitkyina. It had no air support due to the weather, except for a sweep by 33 A6M3a from Rangoon that met no Allied aircraft. The attack was successful and achieved a 3 to 1 ratio (3716 Japanese AV x 2 (shock attack) = 7432 vs 1494 Allied, adjusted to 6230 vs 1609)…. but Allied field fortifications allowed eleven of the twelve Alleid units to hold their positions. Only a brigade of the 17th Indian Division that arrived yesterday retreated in the jungle. Japanese losses were 5261 men, 130 guns and 13 tanks, Allied ones 2354 men and 41 guns, not counting some hundred of Indian prisoners (12 Allied and 8 Japanese troop points lost today). The attack will continue tomorrow. Air units based in Lashio, Pagan and Akyab kept the same orders despite the fast that the drifting CAP over Myikyina probably alerted the Allied and they might be blasted on the ground. But air support might be critical for the success of the offensive. Japanese forces were very short of a 4 to 1 ratio that might have been enough to throw back more Allied units.



The evening report gave the airfield status as: Mandalay 52/91 (system/runway), Myitkyina 40/17, other bases undamaged. During the day a Dinah III was shot down by an Allied fighter over India.

China

The regiment of the 39th Div sent by the 11th Army SW of Changsha to chase the 7th Chinese Air BF that retreated here from Hengchow arrived in the area today and will attack the Chinese forces tomorrow.

Japan

A big convoy of forty 3000-ton AP left Tokyo for the Souther Pacific to take part in the redeployment of Japanese troops closer to Japan. Their first stop will be Tarawa from wher they will be dispatched in smaller convoys where they will be needed. Another convoy loaded 63k fuel in Hiroshima and will sail to the same area, and also will then be scattered to carry some fuel to all bases in the area.

Two big convoys were formed in Osaka. TK will sail to Nagoya and AK to Sendai. Both of the latter bases had huge dump (> 150k) respectively of fuel and supplies, and no local needs or ships able to carry them to another place. Both convoys will sail empty and load in their destination before being sent elsewhere.

Another A6M3a factory of size 22 converted to A6M5. Now the production capacity was the following: 286 A6M5, 104 A6M3a and still 72 A6M3.

With the coming release of the Judy, the only Aichi factory (size 40) was undersized. Orders were given to double its size, and also to convert a small Nakajima engine factory in Kitakyushu (size 10) to another Aichi factory (size 40).

Hi all,

ORIGINAL: AmiralLaurent

On Paramushiro Jima, the activity was again reduced to artillery exchanges. Shells hit 40 men on the Allied side, and 54 men and 2 guns on the Japanese side. Reports showed 113 543 Allied men (+930), 1047 guns (+21) and 348 vehicles (+4) for 1710 AV (+50), and 61 839 Japanese men (+2 908), 467 guns (+24) and 5 tankettes for 1187 AV (+8). The evening report of the base listed damage as 17/0/90, 337 engineers (+9) and 51 813 supplies (+3091).

I am 99.99% sure that your force now is sufficient on PJ (especially with terrain type and for level) to hold off current enemy on beachead - congratulations!

Those 115000 Allied troops are essentially trapped and if you can kill them it would mean monts and months of security from another attack!!!


Leo "Apollo11"

I'm confident too that PJ garrison is now strong enough to hold against the Allied forces being there. But they are far from being able to eliminate them. The terrain (mountain) will help US forces as well as it did for Japanese ones, and troops outside base didn't surrender easily. Also they have probably no supply shortage. And my opponent was clever enough to include several CD units in its first wave, that will protect the other units against my BB and my AC.

I will be happy to have a draw here. At least these troops won't be used elsewhere. Now my next objective is to repair the base and then rebuild fortifications.

Hi, all, the July 1943 report had been upgraded (5-6 posts above this) and includes a list of naval losses of both sides in the PJ campaign (sunk and damaged ships).

4 August 1943

Northern Pacific

During the night the damaged SS I-159 sank in Paramushiro Jima port, while an ASW group chased the SS USS Skate off the base, scoring a near-miss on her. After dawn, CV airmen continued to chase Allied submarines in the area and the SS USS Rasher and USS Raton were hit by Val off PJ.

There was no raid in the morning, but 3 waves of Allied heavy bombers attacked in the afternoon. The first target was PJ airfield that was attacked by 14 PB4Y, 5 B-17E and 3 B-24D from Attu. 19 Oscar II, 13 A6M3a, 8 Rufe, 8 Tony, 6 Tojo and 6 Nick intercepted them and shot down 6 PB4Y and 2 B-17E for the loss of a Tony and an Oscar. But the 14 remaining bombers did a perfect attack and destroyed 14 aircraft on the ground (5 Nick, 4 Tojo, 3 Tony, 1 Rufe and 1 Oscar), disabled 22 men and 2 guns and scored 1 hit on the airbase, 1 on supplies and 15 on the runways.
Two groups of bombers then attacked Japanese ships but the CAP had then been reinforced by 10 A6M3a and 5 A6M5 of 4 different KB units (that shows the poor state of KB air units) that replaced the Tony and Oscar that had fled as the day before. 16 B-24D and 3 PB4Y were repulsed by the CAP in a battle that saw a PB4Y, a Zero and a Rufe being shot down, and then 3 B-17E and 2 PB4Y attacked the AP convoy. One of each type was shot down by the CAP that last of Rufe and then an AP was hit by a bomb and set on fire.
During the return flight, 2 B-17E and 1 PB4Y hit by fighters crashed, as did a PB4Y hit by AA fire. On the Japanese side 2 A6M3a and 1 A6M5 were lost in accidents.

On Paramushiro Jima, only the Japanese artillery continued to fire and hit 13 Allied men. Reports showed 114 345 Allied men (+802), 1065 guns (+18) and 349 vehicles (+1) for 1766 AV (+56), and 1197 Japanese AV (+10). The evening report of the base listed damage as 0/0/75, 337 engineers (+9) and 55 408 supplies (+3595). 95 of the 122 fighters of the base will be available tomorrow

The Allied fleet didn’t move today and the AP convoy will continue to unload supplies in PJ. An AK convoy will arrive tomorrow and will evacuate damaged AC from the base when the fleet and the air units will leave the area. Tomorrow the KB will sail to 60 miles west of Onnekotan Jima to escape the submarines chasing it.

More south a second AR and a ML/MLE squadron returned to Etorofu Jima. The 9 ML immediately began to work: 3 were sent to PJ and 6 will lay mines off Etorofu.

New Guinea-New Britain- Solomon Islands

There was no raid again on Rabaul and the Japanese engineers fully repaired the base and began again to expand the fortifications (now at level 8, 74%). Allied engineers expanded the port of Gili Gili to size 5.

The last AP carrying elements of the 43rd Div reached Wewak and began to unload them.

Timor-DEI-Australia

There was again only one Allied raid. 48 B-25C were sent from Derby to attack Koepang but only 33 reached it and scored 2 hits on the airbase, 1 on supplies and 21 on runways, doing 26 casualties. AA fire shot down one of the bombers.

The evening area report listed the airfield status as: Maumere 56/56 (system/runway), Koepang 4/0, Dili 99/31, Lautem 51/0/38, other bases undamaged.

Burma

Bad weather grounded all Allied airmen and reduced Japanese activity to an uneventful sweep by 33 A6M3a from Rangoon over the Katha-Indaw area (120 miles east of Myitkyina). So the Japanese offensive in this area continued without air support and only achieved a 2 to 1 ratio (2710 Japanese AV X 2 = 5420 vs 1198, adjusted to 2303 vs 925) that was not enough to repulse any of the 11 Allied units. Japanese losses were 4771 men, 130 guns and 10 tanks, Allied ones 1424 men and 15 guns.

Allied troops in Myitkina bombarded Japanese troops and hit 84 men and 4 guns. The report showed 2889 Allied AV (+40) and 1667 Japanese AV (-3) here.

The evening report gave the airfield status as: Mandalay 52/82 (system/runway), Myitkyina 40/4, other bases undamaged.

The offensive in Katha will be stopped to allow Japanese troops to reorganize and recover. No more sweep will be flown, but bombers based in Akyab, Pagan and Lashio kept their orders, but it is still so difficult to fly ground attack in WITP that I will take the risk if having them flying when there is no attack and so draw Allied bombers, rather than resting them and there will never be an attack.

It was at this stage of the battle that I posted on the forum my question about if it was possible to reduce fortifications built by units outside bases. While waiting for the answer (not clear yet, but it sadly seems that they can NOT be reduced) the 4th Eng Rgt was ordered to leave Lashio to join the battlefield.

China

The regiment of the 39th Div sent by the 11th Army SW of Changsha attacked the 7th Chinese Air BF that surrendered without any fight (at 123 to 1). The Japanese had no loss and counted 1327 prisoners. This unit will return to the front W of Changsha.

A Ki-51 unit arrived in Changsha and will start tomorrow to bomb Chinese troops on the other side of the river NW of the town.

Japan

The convoy bringing back the 21st Div from Hawaii arrived in Tokyo, refuelled and was sent to Toyohara where this division will replace the former garrison, a regiment of the 14th Div that was being air transported to PJ.

Three destroyers received orders to upgrade in Osaka port, including the most important ship of the IJN:

This is very detailed AAR. Keep it up.
 
Actually intresting to see whether allied can start making an comeback in 1944. It isn't very likely though considering the current situation and what has happened [:D]

Hi all,

Since enemy Allied expeditionary force is now stuck on PJ shores with no hope of victory the Allies can only do the three things:

#1
Remain there ("Status Quo" - which menas great absence of troops needed elsewhere in the future)

#2
Reinforce (in spite of Japanese sea / air presence - this will bring large losses for sure)

#3
Withdraw (in spite of Japanese sea / air presence - this will bring large losses for sure)


The options #2 and #3 require usage of cargo ships and this, IMHO, brings great opportunity!!!


What if you can heavily (and I mean heavily since Japananese home islands are near by) mine the PJ?


The new (and separate) huge mine fields will be all friendly ones (because you hold the base and know all the mine maps) and will be safe for you but for enemy they will be deadly if he tries either option #2 or option #3?

What do you think?


BTW, I don't think enemy CD units can interfere with you mine laying operations because you hold teh base (and they didn't interefere when you entered the port base with your reinforcements as well)...


Leo "Apollo11"


P.S. [Edit]
Sighted typos fixed...