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11/29/43

Battle of Kusaie: The Allied strike is also an alpha - no secondary strikes following. The enemy CAP is about 60 Zeroes - far too few to handle what's coming. The first target is Junyo.

11/29/43

Battle of Kusaie Island: Next is Hiyo.

11/29/43

Battle of Kusaie Island: Then CVL Mizuho...and thereafter more and more and more capital ships targeted and hit. It is a one-sided bloodbath.

This looks like a rare miscalculation by Dave. Congrats for some long-awaited revenge!

11/29/43

Battle of Kusaie Island: The carnage in the a.m. phase is great:

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

11/29/43

Battle of Kusaie Island: The carnage in the a.m. phase is great:

Oooh, pretty!

Five second-line carriers gone, given the position and IJN damage control a good chance two more will sink on their own, and you even sliced up the screen pretty well!

There should be some Navy Crosses for this action!

11/29/43

Battle of Kusiae Island: There are no Japanese aircraft in the sky during the afternoon phase. There is again a solitary and major Allied strike, which does a good job of hitting good ships.

In the end, confirmation of all carriers sunk plus CA Mikuma. The two BBs are clearly crippled, so DS will try to finish them off tomorrow.

Allied losses are minimal. No ships hit. Even aircraft losses less than about 20. Just the greatest day - almost the exact opposite of what happened in the Bay of Bengal five months back. This is as lopsided as the Allied carrier victory vs. John III near the Marshalls, and involves bigger ships.

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

11/29/43

Battle of Kusiae Island: There are no Japanese aircraft in the sky during the afternoon phase. There is again a solitary and major Allied strike, which does a good job of hitting good ships.

In the end, confirmation of all carriers sunk plus CA Mikuma. The two BBs are clearly crippled, so DS will try to finish them off tomorrow.

Allied losses are minimal. No ships hit. Even aircraft losses less than about 20.

Encore! Encore!

With that enemy carrier force destroyed, the Japanese just lost their flexibility. They still have the KB, which I assume is still ferocious and very dangerous. But they have nothing else, and can only cover one area at a time. Conversely, your ability for force projection will only grow (unless you suffer a really major defeat).

Is this interpretation correct?

Well done CR!

ORIGINAL: jwolf

With that enemy carrier force destroyed, the Japanese just lost their flexibility. They still have the KB, which I assume is still ferocious and very dangerous. But they have nothing else, and can only cover one area at a time. Conversely, your ability for force projection will only grow (unless you suffer a really major defeat).

Is this interpretation correct?

That's exactly right. Dave has to guess now and deploy KB accordingly. He fears an attack in the Andaman Sea or Indian Ocean but the Allies are weighted in the Pacific. He'll counter. I'll probably counter his counter by moving into the Coral Sea for ops against New Guinea or in the Gulf of Carpentaria. If I can keep tabs on KB or accurately predict where it isn't, I can proceed with major amphibious ops. I think that's the end result of this action.

As I pointed out in another AAR, as some people would say, payback is a female canid . . .

You could even consider diving your forces and start attacking even more places as long as you know where the KB is, but that might need a few more carriers to be safely done.

I think Dave is sending every carrier this way (that's his way, anyhow), with projected date of arrival perhaps as soon now as six days. I'm trying to shoe-horn in an invasion of Ponape, which I probably don't have quite enough time to do. Can my carriers take on his? Part of the equation is that I can't deplete sorties chasing merchantmen, etc.

Dave has a history of high speed runs with KB when he senses the need. Maybe you should hold off on Ponape; collect your winnings and leave the casino for the night.

That's a possibility too. But his KB is coming from Singers, so if he's sprinting, that's wear and tear.

Well played CR

Nice work, Dan!

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

I think Dave is sending every carrier this way (that's his way, anyhow), with projected date of arrival perhaps as soon now as six days. I'm trying to shoe-horn in an invasion of Ponape, which I probably don't have quite enough time to do. Can my carriers take on his? Part of the equation is that I can't deplete sorties chasing merchantmen, etc.

I'd be tempted to call it a win and go back to port to replenish - sure, with only ~20 A/C lost today you're probably at 90%+ air group strength, and after that short, smashing victory fatigue, sorties, and morale are probably all pretty good.

But pretty good isn't the same as great. Your strength will only increase, and now he only has one carrier force. If you did get into a long running battle it could turn against you and undo the advantage you've gained here.

Go home, polish out the dents, and be ready to face KB at 100% next time.

There are other factors, most importantly the pending arrival of the CVE TF from Wake Island. I think the escort carriers carry 300 aircraft, 75% of which are fighters (including some F4U-1As). With that force added to DS, and with the likelihood (not certainty) that Singers KB can't arrive before the Ponape invasion, I'm presently inclined to see things through.

In steaming from Pearl towards Ontong Java, hoping to make an intercept, DS used one flank-speed run. The carriers were set to the usual offensive/CAP settings and were split from the CVEs. All of that is contrary to my usual practice, which Dave is fully aware of. So, for the record, I do use flank speed on occasion! (The most recent occasion prior hereto was in my game with John III, in late 1944, trying to chase down some raiding CVs near Ndeni.)

11/30/43 to 12/2/43

CenPac: In the aftermath of the battle, no cripples were located. I think it's 100% that one of the BBs went down; 70% that the other did (by scuttling).

DS swept the area and got close enough to Truk to take out some merchantmen.

In this calm interlude, a YMS's sudden report of an air threat due N of Truk caused consternation. Even while waiting for the Ponape invasion TFs to move up, DS will retire somewhat. I hope to develop the situation before making a final decision. I definitely won't proceed if there's any chance of a large scale surprise.