桜 転落する. Falling Cherry Blossoms. No CrackSabbath

[1275psi]

you are doing well, and I wish i had such a command of the japanese lingo as you........a fine skill

[kaleun]

昭和 17 3月十四日
Day 14

The 56th infantry division reassembles at Singapore.

At Manila, the carriers and seaplane carriers of the second strike force disband to repair Kaga and Zuiho will require 6 days to repair. The rest less.

Only Tokyo’s heavy industry failed due to lack of resources today.


昭和 17 3月十五日
Day 15

Milne Bay

Kido Butai hits an enemy task force reinforcing Milne Bay. Light cruiser Perth takes 3 bomb hits, xAK Liran 9, DD Napier one. DD Isis and xAK Centurion escape unscathed.

Osaka/Kyoto and Tokyo HI fails to produce again due to resource shortage. Tokyo LI also paralyzed for the same reason.

In Manila Taito upgrades it’s A5M1 to A6M2.

Production of Zero-sen restarted.
 
昭和 17 3月十七日
Day 17

Tokyo and Sendai LI fails due to lack of resources. Tokyo LI is paralyzed too.

However, a convoy bearing 32045 tons of resources shall arrive at Tokyo tomorrow.

Medan captured with oilfields almost intact.

[kaleun]

昭和 17 3月十九日
Day 19

Tanaka’s surface combat task force sucked Singapore’s fuel tanks dry. As a result, the heavy industry shut down for lack of juice. Osaka’s and Tokyo light industry also failed to produce due to lack of resources. As a temporizing measure Tokyo and Osaka are ordered to stockpile resources. The plan is to have separate cargo task forces unloading at this two important locations while the rest of the country will be served from Nagasaki, Ominato and Maizuru.

Additional changes made in the aircraft industry include allowing the factories researching the A6M2 floatplane fighter to convert to production factories, expanding the production of the D3A1 dive bomber as well as a very heavy expansion in the production of the Ha-32 engine.

The 264 Sendai using Ki 45KAia 屠龍 fighter bomber has formed up in Nagoya. It transfers to Tokyo from where, soon, it is hoped to send to Truk It is hoped that the Toryu will live up to its name and slay many dragons.

The 16th Infantry Division will arrive tomorrow at Truk from Manila. There it will reorganize into three brigades, and proceed to Milne Bay where the four SNLFs are holding their own against the enemy.

[kaleun]

昭和 17 3月二十二日
Day 22

The 58th Infantry Division captured Tjilajap on the 20th.

Submarines I-15 and I-159 found that their damage, slight though it was, was too much for the rudimentary facilities at Truk to handle. They departed Truk for Japan on the same day.

"The enemy submarines seem to have a problem with their torpedoes. Almost daily reports are received of torpedoes passing harmlessly underneath our ships or banging against the hulls and not exploding."

“I am not the one to complain about good fortune Hattori-san, but please send a note to all the shipyards. I want every small ship that can carry a depth charge to be converted. Even if the sailors have to toss the depth charges by hand, every ship that can be converted to kill subs must be converted.”

“Hai!” Since Kobayashi’s departure for his training camp, Hattori added Kobayashi’s duties to his own.

“Stop production of the Ki 27b at Harbin. We have 90 on stock and there is no way we need more. Shutter the factory until it is time to retool for Shokis.

[kaleun]

昭和 17 3月二十三日
Day 23

フィリピン諸島

Ships repaired, Rear Admiral Yamaguchi Temon’s second strike group, 機動部隊二, departs Manila for Singapore. The ships form a stately line steaming behind their destroyer screen.

The carriers Kaga, Junyo, light carriers Ryujo, Shoho, and Zuiho, seaplane carriers Nishin, Chitose and Chiyoda, and the heavy cruisers Myoko, Haguro and Nachi, slowly make their way past Corregidor and so to the open South China Sea. Once they reach open water, the carriers turn into the wind and the combat patrols begin to launch. In this particular stretch of ocean the probability of an air attack on the carrier group is infinitesimal so the B5N1 and N2 launch first, loaded with bombs and, remaining at 1000 feet, they follow their assigned patrol routes looking for enemy submarines. The fighters launch next, their combat air patrol a training exercise, followed by the dive bombers that, also at low altitude, look for submarines around the task force.

昭和 17 3月二十五日
Day 25

広島
“Sumimasen,” Hattori knocks at the open door to Yamashita’s office. The minister waves him in.

“Take a seat, Hattori-san. What’s on your mind?”

“I think I have found the problem with the decreasing heavy industrial material production.”

“Is it not the delivery of resources?”

“Hai, that is part of it, and that part is coming under control. I am pulling resources out of Shikuka, Sapporo and Port Arthur as fast as the convoys can take them. But that will not be enough to reverse the shortage.”

Yamashita steepled his fingers underneath his chin, “so desu ka?”

“The problem is that expanded engine production swallows up more and more of the heavy industry available, to the extent that, even at full production with no resource shortages we can barely keep up, if at all.”

“Shōganai, we had to increase engine production. We surely will need to increase it even more.”

“I know, we need to expand our heavy industry.”

“Will that be possible, we can barely keep what we have supplied as it is?” asked Yamashita.

“What we need to do,” Hattori replied, “is to expand industry in Manchukuo. There are lots of resources there.”

Yamashita raised his head, “Ahh.”

“Also, we should expand the heavy industry in Singapore. There is just about everything they need in that peninsula.”

“Make it so.”

“Hai, I will hold off on expanding Singapore until they are done repairing the damage. They are taking their sweet time fixing things up.”

“Sasuga Hattori-san, Well done.”

[kaleun]

昭和 17 3月二十六日
Day 26.

At sea.

Commander Ikeda runs a tight ship, or submarine. The KD4 class submarine I-162 distinguished itself on his first patrol by sinking TK Hufru near Batavia with two torpedo hits. That was then. This is now.

Now is a rough cold sea, even in summer. Hard to see anything through the periscope, hard to keep the submarine at periscope depth in these latitudes. The roaring forties they used to be called. But there is a nice juicy tanker dead ahead, and four of I-162s torpedoes have the tanker’s name, British Duchess, written on them.

Unfortunately the name must have been misspelled because the tanker zigs at exactly the wrong time and the torpedoes miss her entirely.

“Kuso!”

Ikeda sends his ship chasing after the enemy tanker but, on the surface, he spots a second ship, way to the west. Another tanker! The enemy ship steams directly towards him, towards Perth. Loaded with fuel, surely, from Capetown or perhaps all the way from Aden. He orders the ship to periscope depth.

Two torpedoes slam into TK Peik. That load of fuel will never arrive at Australia. In these stormy seas, there were no survivors.

[kaleun]

昭和 17 3月二十七日
Day 27

Cl Naha bombards Milne Bay covering the landing of 16th Division A Brigade. In the skies over Milne Bay A6M2 Zero-sen fighters meet the fire dragons, the B17 for the first time. The pilots report mixed feelings. The big, lumbering aircraft have no maneuverability at all, yet they sport many guns. Also, they are fast, and tough. No enemy bombers were lost, though several were hit, many times.

東京

A convoy docked in the harbor. An army of coolies swarm over the ships unloading on their backs sacks of minerals while a forest of cranes extracts bales, boxes and what have you from the cavernous bowels of the merchant ships. 27000 tons of resources from Sapporo head to the waiting Tokyo heavy industries.

No industry failed their production requirements today. HI 210,839

昭和 17 3月二十八日
Day 28

The Japanese forces shock attack at Milne Bay and dislodge the American and Australians forces that retreat in disarray.

East North East of Milne Bay, Kido Butai steams in circles while overhead searching seaplanes from Rabaul scout the seas surrounding them. The American carriers, last seen at Ocean Island, could be anywhere. They could be here, waiting to pounce on the transports that are now evacuating one of the SNLF that needs to recover and rearm in Rabaul, as well as the A brigade of the 16th.

東京

SS-I-15 and SS-I-159 disband at Tokyo for repairs.

HI 213796 

[kaleun]

昭和 17 3月二十九日
Day 29

The transports sit at Milne Bay under a series of tropical rainstorms that obscure the sky. At least today, the enemy airplanes will not come.

Further to the East, an H6K4 seaplane comes out of a cloud into a small open area of sky. The radio crackles with code.

“Enemy in sight! Main Body. Two carriers, several cruisers 40 miles south Tagula Island.”

The large seaplane darts ponderously back into the clouds before the enemy fighters get a chance to catch him.

Kido Butai had planned for a day of flying cap over the transports but the dive and torpedo bombers had been armed, ready and fueled for the whole morning in expectation of just something like this.

105 B5N2 and 68 D3A1 fly off the decks with an escort of only 52 Zero-sen. The rest of the fighters has to be held back to repel the enemy strike that will surely be on its way.

[kaleun]

Morning Air attack on TF, near Tagula Island at 104,138

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 30 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 54
B5N2 Kate x 105
D3A1 Val x 68

Allied aircraft
F4F-3A Wildcat x 11
F4F-3 Wildcat x 18

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
B5N2 Kate: 5 damaged
B5N2 Kate: 1 destroyed by flak
D3A1 Val: 20 damaged
D3A1 Val: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-3 Wildcat: 2 destroyed

Allied Ships
CV Enterprise, Bomb hits 9, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
CL Phoenix, Bomb hits 6, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
CA Canberra, Bomb hits 4, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
CA Australia
CA Portland, Bomb hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage
CA Houston, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires
DD Helm, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Blue
DD Drayton
DD Dunlap, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
DD Mahan
CL St. Louis, Torpedo hits 1

Over Kido Butai the fighters circle in succession keeping a constant vigil but no enemy carrier strike comes. Only three ponderous b-17E find the task force and drop their bombs from 16,000 feet. The four engine bombers target Akagi, but the carrier, at full speed, easily evades the three sticks of bombes. 35 A6M2 Zero-sen tear into the bomber formation but despite many hits, all the bombers return to their bases.
9 B5N2 bombers that had become disconnected with the strike package arrived over the enemy task force. 12 F4F fighters immediately tore into the unescorted bombers splashing 2 and damaging 5 others. Even so, 6 bombers attacked and hit Enterprise once more with a single 250Kg bomb to add to her fires.
9 D3A1 stumble unescorted into the melee and are met by 9 F4F. 3 bombers destroyed, the rest return to their carrier.
In the afternoon, 6 Hamaki from Rabaul attack. Flak damages 2 and destroys one. All the torpedoes miss CA Australia and CA San Francisco.
The second carrier raid of the day finds no enemy fighters.
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 50
B5N2 Kate x 96
D3A1 Val x 68

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 3 damaged
D3A1 Val: 19 damaged

Allied Ships
CL St. Louis, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires
CA Astoria, Bomb hits 3, on fire
CA San Francisco, Bomb hits 1
CA Minneapolis, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires
DD Lamson
DD Tucker, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires
CA Australia
DD Jarvis, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Ralph Talbot, Bomb hits 2, on fire
DD Selfridge, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Dunlap, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage

In the evening the men count coup big time. A double ration of sake was doled out to pilots and ground crews and even the sailors got some.

On the bridge, Nagumo signs the message he will send to Hiroshima:

Have destroyed enemy carrier task force in the Coral Sea. One Enterprise class carrier, 2 heavy cruisers and 2 light cruisers sunk. Many other ships damaged. Minimal losses. Returning to Truk to rearm.

Nagumo.

[Lowpe]

The pm strike finds no enemy fighters! I wonder why? Banzai...classic...well done!

[kaleun]

昭和 17 3月三十一日
Day 31

Akagi

Admiral Nagumo enjoys a moment of solitude outside the command bridge. The sunny weather, not too hot, combines with the self created breeze to make the open observation bridge a pleasant place to enjoy a few minutes of repose.

The old admiral notices the midshipman, fresh from Nakajima academy, observing him discreetly from a corner. Nagumo remembers his own days as a midshipman, so long ago, and the sense of awe that he would feel before the demigods of flag rank.

He bows his head a little towards the youngster.

Encouraged by this gesture, the midshipman clears his throat.

“Admiral Nagumo, sir, may I ask a question?”

Nagumo smiles on the inside but keeps a stern face.

“Yes, midshipman, what is it?”

“Respectfully sir, for my own education.” He stops for a moment, trying to read the impassive admiral’s face.

“Sir, why did we not stay to support the transports at Milne Bay?”

“That is a very good question midshipman.”

“How many carriers do the Americans have?”

The midshipman struggles for an answer, “Well, we sunk Enterprise, and hit Yorktown with one torpedo near Milne Bay, Intelligence reports her sunk.”

“Intelligence be damned!” Nagumo says.

“Yes sir, so they have Lexington, Wasp, Hornet and Saratoga. Four carriers sir.”

“Good, and those carriers doko desu ka?”

“I don’t know sir,” the midshipman replies, “Where are they?”

“I don’t know either midshipman,” Nagumo replies. But I have 5 carriers versus their 4, which could be anywhere. I don’t like the odds that much. So we go back to Truk, rearm, resupply, and try to find them.”

[kaleun]

昭和 17 4月一日
4 Month. Day 1

The first day of the fourth month finds Kido Butai 1 at Truk, refueling, replacing airplanes and generally waiting for orders.

The next step needs to be the invasion of Burma. The Army needs the Burma road closed and that means Burma needs to be attacked. This in turn requires the occupation of all the harbors and bases on the East coast of Sumatra. Port Blair also needs to be neutralized and preferably occupied.

The 55th Infantry division has arrived at Chiang May and is unpacking. The 55th will attack overland towards Pegu while the main thrust will attack the Moulmein road.

The Ki 49呑龍 Donryu, Storm Dragon bomber has entered production as has the float fighter A6M2, and the H6K2L sea plane transport.

At Port Moresby, Hamaki and G3M2 bombers attack shipping in harbor but both ships attacked, destroyer Nizam and xAK Centurion escape damage.

[kaleun]

昭和 17 4月二日
Day 2

80 nautical miles west of Perth, SS I-165 launches two torpedoes at PC Bingera and misses.

12 Cigars from Rabaul and 13 G3M2 escorted by 17 zero-sen attack a task force at Port Moresby. This time the bombers get lucky and CL Danae takes one torpedo. 9 Kittyhawk fighters on CAP tried to protect the task force and were not altogether ineffective. 2 fighters were destroyed, 7 bombers were damaged and one Kittyhawk was destroyed.

In Java, Samarang was captured by air assault.

In Hiroshima the office of naval intelligence maintains that Yorktown as sunk by that single torpedo. It also does not recognize that Enterprise succumbed, as she must have, to 9 bomb hits, eight of them penetrating and one torpedo. The heavy cruisers Houston, Astoria and light cruisers Ceres, St. Louis and Dauntless are also listed as sunk.

A report from the naval shipyards announces that CV Hiyo will join Kaigun in 35 days.

[kaleun]

昭和 17 4月四日
Day 4

SS I-162, 400 nm west of Perth fires at DD Norman, the destroyer counterattacks and scores 3 depth charge hits. Commander Ikeda, regretfully orders the ship to return to Manila. This submarine has scored previously. One TK, Haufru sunk from 2 torpedo hits off Batavia in its first patrol and a second TK, Peik, also hit by two torpedoes near Perth in this patrol.

In Truk, Vice Admiral Kusaka Jinichi orders his command, South East Area Fleet to move to Rabaul.

“The RO class boats are too short ranged to operate from Truk,” he tells his dismayed staff. “Operating from Rabaul they will be able to spend more time on station.”

[kaleun]

昭和 17 4月六日
Day 6

Mostly administrative work occurring on all fronts. 3rd Fleet HQ, in charge of Western submarine operations moves to Singapore. Meanwhile, the lack of contacts by the submarines patrolling the approaches to the West coast ports as well as the routes to the South Pacific Islands make 4th Fleet Admiral Inouye wonder at how are the allies reinforcing and supplying Australia. He orders a reshifting of his submarines. Abandoning the approaches to Hawaii to the Tokyo boats, he moves most of his long ranged boats far to the East, east of the Marquesas. If the allies are moving cargo from Panama to Tahiti, they will find it.

Tavoy invaded.

At Hiroshima, two memos from the Aichi and the Kawasaki engine companies advance the readiness dates for the Aichi Ha-60 and the Ka Ha-60 engines by a month. The Aichi motor will be ready for production by July and the Kawasaki one by January.

In the Makassar straits, Kido Butai 2 exits the straits to enter the sea of Andaman. There are rumors of English carriers patrolling the Andaman sea. KB2 will investigate these rumors together with the surface force

[kaleun]

昭和 17 4月七日
Day 7

Djojakarta falls.

In the Andaman sea, KB 2 seeks the enemy carriers but due to weather and the vagaries of clouds the two task forces avoid each other.

昭和 17 4月八日

Day 8.

Ships that pass in the night.

Only this time, the two task forces that meet, in the dark tropical night are composed of flattops and their escorts. A desultory surface engagement occurs in which both carriers fire at each other with what guns they have. Kaga and Formidable fire at each other while their escorts mill about in chaos. Kaga misses, Formidable scores once, and the task force, finally separate. The British carriers include Formidable, Indomitable and the small carrier Hermes.

In the morning the search planes fly.

[kaleun]

It’s the luck of the draw. The Japanese force strikes first.

47 zero-sen, escort 40 B5N1 and 27 B5N2 into the enemy task force. They meet a determined Cap of 15 Sea Hurricanes and 19 Martlet II that draw a price, 4 bombers destroyed and nine damaged. Flak draws a toll of another two bombers.

Zero-sen destroy 3 Martlet and 3 Sea Hurricanes. Then the bombers barrel in at their targets.

CV Indomitable takes one torpedo, Hermes two. Light cruiser Mauritius escapes unscathed.

The allied strike package arrives over KB 2

Only 3 Albacore and 6 Swordfish find the carriers. There are 47 modern fighters on CAP. The results are predictable.

Later 6 B5N2 try their luck unescorted and are met by 10 enemy fighters. These results, also, are predictable.

Samarinda was captured.

[kaleun]

昭和 17 4月九日
Day 9

KBII chased after the British carriers into the Bay of Bengal. At full speed, the carriers squirted Port Blair leaving it to the north and entered the Bay.

Meanwhile, off Fiji SS I-155 Cdr Ikura, K, espies an enemy cruiser, steaming ENE. The cruiser is making quite a bit of smoke, although she maintains a high speed. Probably injured in one of the battles off Milne Bay, she relies on her speed, and the unusual routing, to get her to the West Coast shipyards. Ikura’s single torpedo hit might make the trip a bit more hazardous.

Off Andaman.

The sighting report comes in, confused, as all such things are. “Enemy carriers, such and such a place.”
KB2 launches everything. 29 AGM2 escort 3 B5N1 and 20 B5N2 meeting a lone Sea Hurricane. 4 torpedoes strike CVL Hermes and a massive explosion blows the old carrier out of the water.

6 Swordfish and 2 Albacore attempt to attack KB2. Met by 45 AGM2, the only surprise was that only one of the Swordfish was destroyed by AA fire.

Later in the day, the main body is sighted. Once more the battle is, to say the least, one sided. 45 AGM2, 29 B5N1, 24 B5N2 and 34 D3A1 vs 5 Sea Hurricanes and 7 Martlet II.

CV Formidable, 5 bomb hits that fail to penetrate the armored deck. Prince of Wales, 3 bombs explode harmlessly against the battleship’s armor. CV Indomitable, 5 non penetrating bomb hits and one torpedo hit. CL Durban, 1 bomb hit that penetrates the cruiser’s weak armor. BC Repulse, three bomb hits, one of which penetrates the battlecruiser’s armor.

The losses: 1 A6M2 destroyed. 1 B5N1 and 1 B5N2 destroyed by flak. 10 damaged. 12 D3A1 damaged, 2 destroyed by AA.

Later in the day, POW is hit by bombs twice more, and Indomitable is hit once, with a report of magazines on fire, which is doubtful.

[PaxMondo]

The British CV's are almost Val-proof ... 250kg bombs just aren't big enough. When hunting them, I generally swap roles, put the VAL's on NavSearch and use the Kates at 6000 ... they will sometimes (if pass leadership? check) carry 800kg bomb. So even when out of torps .... [;)]

[kaleun]

Very True, PaxMondo