Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J)

[apbarog]

18 Dec 42

Tunny fired 4 torpedoes at small tanker Mitu Maru near Medan. Tunny is patrolling in the shallow water there. A torpedo hit, but it was a dud. That's the 2nd dud hit for Tunny in 2 days. Soon it will be 1943 and the torpedoes will get some improvement to the dud rate. So far there have been 76 dud hits out of 92 total hits, for the applicable US subs with dud issues.

US 43 Infantry Division arrived at Capetown. It is ordered to load up and head to Ceylon. One day to load and 14 days to get onto the map. The movement of many units for the Burma invasions continues from Bombay to Ceylon.

5 Tinas were ops losses today, most ever. They may have flown in supply to the troops isolated southeast of Darwin. Just a guess.

Unloading of troops continues at Rennell Island, south of Guadalcanal. I had many good APs disbanded in port, waiting for the next invasions in the area, but they were spotted, so I pulled out most of the shipping, and ordered them to stand off of the islands to the south until it is time to load. Soon troops will load for Munda, Vangunu, Rossel Island and Tagula Island.

[apbarog]

19 Dec 42

Near Boela, Seawolf fired 2 torpedoes at destroyer Shiranui but missed. 2 seaplane carriers, cruisers and destroyers are spotted. It turns out, later in the day, that this is KB.

Sailfish fired 2 torpedoes at PB Kinsyo Maru #4. One hit but was a dud.

Oscars swept Dobo, finding Spitfires and P-40Es. 8 Oscars were downed, for the cost of 5 Spits and 3 Warhawks.

37 Tojos swept Chungking for the first time. 4 squadrons of Chinese fighters, with decent pilots, defended. The Tojos came in at 30000 feet, and tore up the Chinese. 13 P-66s and 6 P-43s were downed, as were 4 Tojos. This is a bad development. Up until today, the Tojos have been flying escort duty in China, doing so for months. I would very occasionally try a CAP trap somewhere in China, and this kept the enemy using many fighters for escort.

Now Chungking is vulnerable. The Chinese cannot defend it alone. I order the few operational planes out of the capital. If I want to protect the capital, and the industry there, I can either send in 2 or 3 non-Chinese fighter squadrons. Anything less will get torn up by the Tojos. Right now, I don't think I can afford to send quality airframes to Chungking. I may change my mind though. One thing I cannnot do is hit his airbases. Supply is critical in China.

Let's hope that the upcoming Burma invasions will be successful, and ultimately open up a supply route to China.

In the meantime, Changsha was attacked heavily. All of the following groups attacked in the morning, so no duplicates.

Ki-21-IIa Sally x 22
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 12
Ki-48-IIa Lily x 5
Ki-49-IIa Helen x 5
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 36
Ki-48-IIa Lily x 20
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 25
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 30
Ki-49-IIa Helen x 20

The one remaining B-17D squadron hit Buna's port. The "D" model is inadequately armed with guns, so I send them on relative milk runs. OPilot got lucky and had LRCAP over Buna. 18 Zeros hit the bombers and downed 9 of them.

4 B-17 squadrons flew to Kendari and hit the port. There was no CAP. Here's a summary of ship hits:

PB Tatsumiya Maru, Bomb hits 1
ACM Wa 10, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk

AKE Clyde Maru, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires
AG Aki Maru, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
PB Tatsumiya Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire

AG Aki Maru, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
PB Tatsumiya Maru, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires

There obviously weren't a lot of ships in port. Hopefully there's a shortage of AKEs in the area now. That could help Taberfane and Dobo. It's interesting to note that I now see multiple ADs at Koepang, in a task force, not in the port. I have the range to hit the port with B-17s but not the range to hit ships in task forces.

OPilot moved a single subchaser to Lae. At least most of the CAP was over Buna instead of Lae.

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Lae at 99,126

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 20 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 3
A6M3 Zero x 5

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 14
SBD-3 Dauntless x 16

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 2 destroyed (6 lost)
SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
SC Ch 34, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk

[apbarog]

20 Dec 42

Dobo is bombarded by an enemy 4 battleship task force. 3 already damaged planes are destroyed. 706 casualties and massive base damage. Dobo is out of action now. Taberfane has repaired quite a bit since its last bombardment. Taberfane has mines now too.

An unusually good day for a US fleet sub in 1942. Gurnard spots 2 xAKs and a patrol boat east of Saipan. 2 torpedoes are fired at xAK Sinsei Maru. One hits and is NOT a dud. The ship is on fire with heavy damage, and there are troops loaded on it. 42 casualties. Then Gurnard attacks again, this time firing 2 torpedoes at the other cargo ship, xAK Kamikaze Maru. One hits and is NOT a dud. No damage noted, but there are troops on this ship too. 19 casualties. A very nice day for the silent service, with just 11 days to go until some improvement in the dud rate.

Zeros swept Taberfane but found no CAP. Then KB launched a strike on Taberfane, with 23 Vals, 26 Judys, 20 Kates and 95 A6M3a Zeros. Moderate damage to the airfield. This is the first appearance of the Judys.

Lilys bombed Dobo.

What will KB do next?

[apbarog]

21 Dec 42

Wahoo is patrolling south of Tokyo. 2 ACMs, apparently moving unescorted, are spotted. 2 torpedoes were fired at ACM Keinan Maru. One hit (maybe 2) and one was a dud (maybe both). It can be hard to tell how many dud hits were duds when they occur consecutively. The dud message just lingers a bit longer. The ACMs escape.

Enemy cruisers Myoko, Nagara and Yura, with 4 destroyers, move into Taberfane, and engage 6 PT boats. 2 PTs are sunk. The ships then bombard Taberfane, causing 273 casualties and doing moderate damage to the base. During the day, the ships were re-engaged by the remaining 4 PT boats. Another PT boat was sunk. The PT boats are now just about out of fuel and disband into the port. There's no fuel at Taberfane and Dobo. There had been a tanker convoy inbound, but they got spooked when KB appeared inbound.

An enemy task force with 3 cruisers and 6 destroyers bombarded Cox's Bazar, causing 615 casualties and doing moderate to heavy damage to the base.

US subs make a first appearance west of Sapporo. Silversides spots a big cargo convoy, and fired 4 torpedoes at xAK Senko Maru. 3 torpedoes hit, and none of the hits were dud hits. The ship is thought to have sunk.

The usual enemy bombing in China.

It was a very bad day over Lae. An enemy combat task force appeared, consisting of destroyers and maybe a couple of cruisers. The bombers at Port Moresby attacked. The first 17 SBDs flew with 19 Wildcat escorts, but there were over 50 Zeros on CAP. Only 3 SBDs dropped bombs and none hit. And it got worse from there. 16 SBDs flew unescorted. Then 16 more SBDs attacked unescorted. The lucky pilots were the smart ones that turned around when they realized there was no escort, and that it was going to get ugly. Total losses were 32 SBD-3s and 9 F4F-4s. One Zero was an ops loss. A terrible day. The reinforcement rate for the SBD-3s is 21 per month, so that's a month and a half of losses, and the SBDs are more needed on the carriers.

I get disgusted with the results but I get over it. I've relearned (for the millionth time) to be more careful.

It's almost time for the invasions in the Solomons and the islands east of Milne Bay. These landings are not particularly important. They are meant to inch closer to Rabaul and keep the enemy's attention for awhile. We know that KB is on the other side of New Guinea, so the Allied CVEs should be relatively safe covering the island landings. Only one CVE has divebombers; the rest all have fighters.

[apbarog]

22 Dec 42

Southeast of Truk, Dutch sub O19 spots a convoy of small cargo ships. 2 torpedoes are fired at xAKL Naruo Maru. One hits. The ship is carrying fuel and burns, and probably sank later in the day.

Greenling spots a convoy of tiny yard oilers near Ominato. 2 torpedoes are fired at tiny YO J-3999. Both hit but one is a dud. The oiler is carrying oil, and burns, and is most certainly sunk. Greenling and Silversides are patrolling west and southwest of Sapporo. Enemy patrol boats are arriving in the area, hunting for them. No sign of air ASW yet.

With the enemy's successful fighter sweep of Chungking 2 days ago, OPilot waited a day to gauge my reaction (there was none), and today hit the capital hard. Enemy strikes were out of order, but there was no CAP, with the Chinese squadrons mostly evacuated to India.

22 Sallys with 48 Oscars bombed, hitting 2 heavy industry.
28 Tojos swept, finding nothing.
27 Oscars swept, finding nothing.
20 Lilys with 48 Oscars bombed, damaging the airfield.
20 Helens bombed, damaging the airfield.

I'm not sure whether to send in significant Allied fighters to Chungking and defend the captial, or leave it undefended and let the enemy destroy the industry, and supply, at will. I decide, for today, to send in help. 2 P-40K and 2 Hurricane squadrons move to the capital and will stack the CAP.

I don't have the supply to keep so many aircraft in China, but I can't afford the loss of so much industry and supply. Two options, neither is very good. We'll see how today goes. Hopefully the enemy appears again today.

Americal and support will attack the isolated enemy southeast of Darwin.

Solomons invasion shipping moves out today. Some will go to Tassafronga, to invade Munda tomorrow. Others will join the CVEs to the southeast of Tagula Island. The CVE task force was not spotted, but the escorting combat ships were spotted, as were the minesweepers with it. It has to look like something is ongoing, but what exactly is probably unknown.

[apbarog]

Something to look forward to

[apbarog]

23 Dec 42

3 US destroyers have been patrolling around the Aleutians for awhile. They get spotted by a Glen now and then, but I hadn't run into that sub until today. I-9 was hit by 2 depth charges and many near misses from destroyer Buchanon. The sub may or may not make it home.

The CAP ambush at Chungking didn't happen. The enemy switched the target for those planes to Ankang, and the Allied squadrons moved to the capital were spotted. I make a wild guess and move the fighters to Changsha today.

It's good to see more concern from the enemy about the situation in eastern Burma near Myitkyina. 53 Sallys with 42 Oscars bombed an Indian division showing movement northeast of the base. It's a feint. More importantly, there's enemy ground movement out of Myitkyina shown, to the east, into the jungle. This is great news. The 33rd Infantry Division had pulled back south to Myitkyina when my movement was shown, and this division may be moving into the jungle to meet my apparent advance. In the jungle, this unit will be slower to try to react to the huge invasion of Burma coming in the next few weeks.

B-24s from Townsville hit Woodlark Island, damaging the airfield. Woodlark, and airfield size 2, is the closest threat to the invasion bases of Tagula and Rossel. These invasions, along with Munda, will take place tomorrow. Allied shipping was spotted south of Tagula, but again, the CVEs were not spotted.

Reduction of enemy forces southeast of Darwin continues.

Ground combat at 77,126 (near Fenton)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 12055 troops, 233 guns, 239 vehicles, Assault Value = 331

Defending force 9121 troops, 73 guns, 33 vehicles, Assault Value = 56

Allied adjusted assault: 68

Japanese adjusted defense: 20

Allied assault odds: 3 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
1325 casualties reported
Squads: 60 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 37 disabled
Engineers: 3 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 27 (9 destroyed, 18 disabled)
Vehicles lost 6 (1 destroyed, 5 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
105 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 11 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
193rd Tank Battalion
Americal Infantry Division
762nd Tank Battalion
154th Field Artillery Battalion
223rd Field Artillery Battalion

Defending units:
16th Division
Yokosuka 3rd SNLF
25th Field AA Machinecannon Company
1st Medium Field Artillery Regiment
48th Field AA Battalion
5th Air Division
10th RF Gun Battalion
57th Construction Battalion
34th JNAF AF Unit
3rd Construction Battalion
14th Army
55th Const Co
28th JAAF AF Bn

The attack will continue today.

[apbarog]

24 Dec 42

Near Russell Islands, RO-67 missed slow light cruiser Adelaide with 6 torpedoes. Adelaide is escorting the invasion ships to Munda. Had Adelaide been slowed, the timely arrival at Munda at night may not have occurred.

3 enemy heavy cruisers and 6 destroyers bombarded Cox's Bazar, doing minimal damage.

Munda, Vangunu, Tagula and Rossel Islands were invaded. No mines spotted anywhere.

My guess to move fighters to Changsha pays off. 21 Sallys with 39 Tojos arrive and find 44 P-40Ks. Only a couple of the Tojos actually engaged the Warhawks, who tear into the bomber group. 10 Sallys and 1 Tojo are downed, with no Warhawks lost. I redeploy the fighters back to the capital today.

Enemy troops on Munda and Tagula are bombed.

24 P-38Gs sweep Lae from Port Moresby, finding 33 A6M3 Zeros on CAP. 7 Zeros are downed for the loss of 3 Lightnings.

In the afternoon, 22 Bettys with 40 A6M2 Zeros attack invasion shipping at Munda, flying from Rabaul. 18 F4F-4 Wildcats are on LRCAP. The Wildcats do well, but the Zeros are too numerous and keep the US fighters from getting to the Bettys. All 22 Bettys drop torpedoes. All target CL Adelaide, and all miss in severe storms.

Then 26 Bettys arrive, unescorted. 5 Wildcats are still patrolling but don't find the enemy. The Bettys target CL Adelaide and hit it with a torpedo. SYS 19/FLOT 32-25/ENG 0/FIRE 0 About half of the Bettys went after PT boats, missing.

In both strikes, no Bettys attacked the few valuable APs unloading troops at Munda.

Another reduction in the isolated enemy southeast of Darwin. I'm assuming that since there's been no enemy retreat from this hex in 2 attacks, the path to the nearest enemy base, far to the west at Wyndham, is too far. The enemy will be eliminated completely within a few days.

Ground combat at 77,126 (near Fenton)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 12454 troops, 239 guns, 325 vehicles, Assault Value = 331

Defending force 7905 troops, 63 guns, 31 vehicles, Assault Value = 17

Allied adjusted assault: 127

Japanese adjusted defense: 8

Allied assault odds: 15 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: disruption(-), supply(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
968 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 63 destroyed, 33 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 7 (5 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Vehicles lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Units destroyed 2

Allied ground losses:
6 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

US troops will attack today at Tagula, Munda and Vangunu. Rossel Island has no enemy.

[jwolf]

Seems like luck was with you during those Betty raids in the Solomons. OPilot was probably very frustrated with the results.

[apbarog]

25 Dec 42

US subchasers hit RO-67 with a mousetrap near Russell Islands.

Supply unloads at all of the invasion targets in the Solomons. B-24s hit Woodlark's airfield again.

Destruction of the enemy southeast of Darwin continues:

Japanese ground losses:
2845 casualties reported
Squads: 77 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 117 destroyed, 47 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 40 (40 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 16 (16 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 6

Vangunu is captured in a battle of small units.

Ground combat at Vangunu (111,135)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 1262 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 53

Defending force 273 troops, 1 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 11

Allied adjusted assault: 47

Japanese adjusted defense: 19

Allied assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 0)

Allied forces CAPTURE Vangunu !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(+)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
89 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
45 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
3rd Marine Raider Battalion
2/7th Ind Coy

Defending units:
I/19th Naval Guard Unit

Enemy strength at Tagula is stronger than expected. It's still weak, but so are the attackers.

Ground combat at Tagula Island (104,137)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 984 troops, 4 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 42

Defending force 607 troops, 3 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 17

Allied adjusted assault: 16

Japanese adjusted defense: 17

Allied assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 1)

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

Japanese ground losses:
12 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Allied ground losses:
26 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
NG Vol Rifles Battalion
5th Port Maint Engineer Battalion

Defending units:
4th Indpt SNLF Coy
C/50th JNAF Coy

No reinforcements are on the way. I'll rely on ship bombardments and air attacks to wear down the enemy.

The questions now are what is the task force coming down the Solomons, and where is it going?

[apbarog]

26 Dec 42

Cruisers Australia, Marblehead and Trenton with 3 DDs bombard Tagula, causing 117 casualties and minor base damage. Medium and heavy bombers hit the base and troops there also. Woodlark Island, to the north, was bombed.

Zeros swept Vangunu, expecting ships to be unloading with LRCAP provided, but there was none.

20 P-38Gs swept Lae and found 24 A6M3 Zeros. 15 Zeros were downed for the loss of one Lightning.

Tojos swept Hengyang, but no Allied fighters to be found. They went to the capital.

Halibut found a convoy at Hollandia, which is being built up. 4 patrol boats and one yard oiler spotted. 2 torpedoes were fired at PB Fumi Maru. One hit but was a dud.

The enemy is finished off southeast of Darwin.

Ground combat at 77,126 (near Fenton)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 12489 troops, 239 guns, 325 vehicles, Assault Value = 336

Defending force 4609 troops, 23 guns, 12 vehicles, Assault Value = 6

Allied adjusted assault: 168

Japanese adjusted defense: 1

Allied assault odds: 168 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: disruption(-), fatigue(-), experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
6715 casualties reported
Squads: 49 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 439 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 27 (27 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 15 (15 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 3

Assaulting units:
193rd Tank Battalion
Americal Infantry Division
762nd Tank Battalion
154th Field Artillery Battalion
223rd Field Artillery Battalion

Defending units:
16th Division
14th Army
34th JNAF AF Unit

The 3rd Marine Raider Battalion did a cleanup attack at Vangunu. The enemy should be gone in a week.

Another Allied attack at Tagula:

Ground combat at Tagula Island (104,137)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 961 troops, 4 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 39

Defending force 458 troops, 3 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 16

Allied adjusted assault: 12

Japanese adjusted defense: 15

Allied assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 1)

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(+), disruption(-), fatigue(-)
morale(-), experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
100 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)

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

Assaulting units:
NG Vol Rifles Battalion
5th Port Maint Engineer Battalion

Defending units:
4th Indpt SNLF Coy
C/50th JNAF Coy

Desperate fighting by small units. The enemy is out of supply and should be defeated, but with losses. More aircraft bombing should ensure victory.

There was a gold nugget in SigInt today. There's an AKE at Georgetown. Doesn't sound like much, but enemy support ships mostly left Rangoon after my last port bombing. They may have gone to Georgetown. This is good information and may be useful after Port Blair is taken. Heavy bombers from the Andamans could hit Georgetown, I think. Lack of support ships would hinder an enemy response to what is coming soon in Burma.

[apbarog]

27 Dec 42

US APDs unload troops at Deboyne Island. The island is not defended.

Cox's Bazar is attacked by 53 Sallys and 42 Oscars. Another 40 Oscars sweep later.

Allied bombers target Japanese troops all along the Indian/Burma border. Not significant.

30 B-17s hit Buin's airfield from Port Moresby, doing moderate damage. No fighters there now, and no ships for them to protect.

The interesting development today was at Taberfane. KB appeared on the east coast of New Guinea, but within range of Taberfane. In the afternoon, a strike hit Taberfane. I figured that the ships there were doomed.

Afternoon Air attack on Taberfane , at 82,117

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 119 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 44 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M3a Zero x 30
B5N2 Kate x 59
D3A2 Val x 23
D4Y1 Judy x 27

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 12
P-40K Warhawk x 25

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3a Zero: 3 destroyed
B5N2 Kate: 2 destroyed, 8 damaged
D3A2 Val: 2 destroyed, 6 damaged
D3A2 Val: 1 destroyed by flak
D4Y1 Judy: 2 damaged
D4Y1 Judy: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 2 destroyed

Allied ground losses:
10 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Airbase hits 7
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 33

Surprisingly, to me anyway, the enemy planes went for the airfield. Some damage was done to the base, but the enemy did pay a price, going up against very good pilots. I breathed a sigh of relief that the ships there were not targeted.

And then they were targeted.

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Taberfane at 82,117

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 95 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 24 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M3a Zero x 63
B5N2 Kate x 35
D4Y1 Judy x 28

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 4
P-40K Warhawk x 14

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3a Zero: 3 destroyed
B5N2 Kate: 1 damaged
D4Y1 Judy: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 1 destroyed
P-40K Warhawk: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
DD Van Nes
xAP Kota Tjandi, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
KV Quesnel, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
xAK Koomilya, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Kota Baroe, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
xAK Sophocles, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
AM Rail
xAK Moonta, Bomb hits 8, and is sunk
xAK Goulburn, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage

Allied ground losses:
90 casualties reported
Squads: 6 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 14 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 89 (82 destroyed, 7 disabled)
Vehicles lost 16 (15 destroyed, 1 disabled)

CAP was overwhelmed with this strike. The US pilots still did well against the Zeros. Ships were lost. Part of a Marine defense unit was lost. One damaged xAK sank after combat. Another is gravely damaged and burning and disbanded into the port. It will probably burn up today. Most of the cargo lost was supply. Unloading was just too slow at the small port.

Total air losses for the day were 20 A6M3 Zeros, 7 Vals, 5 Kates and 2 Judys, for the cost of 8 P-40Es and 1 P-40K. The Warhawks did rather well considering they were up against KB squadrons. About half of each squadron is now out of action. A fresh P-39 squadron, with elite pilots, is moved to Taberfane.

It's always fun to sink ships with your carriers, but this attack doesn't change the situation. And with the upcoming fireworks coming to Burma, I don't mind seeing KB on the eastern side of New Guinea. I expect KB to now move south to harass the new Allied bases south and southeast of Rabaul.

Tagula Island was captured. Enemy troops will evaporate quickly there with no supply. Tagula, Rossel, Munda and Vangunu are now all in Allied hands. Followup support troops need to be moved in. This will be attempted at Tagula today. An attempt to do so at Vangunu, on a much bigger scale, should happen the next day.

[apbarog]

Counting down the days

[apbarog]

28 Dec 42

APDs finished dropping off a small combat unit at Deboyne Island, which flipped today. On the way south, the APDs hit RO-61 with a depth charge.

31 B-17s hit Buna's port and barely scratched it in heavy rain.

Cleanup attacks continued at Vangunu and Tagula. The enemy was wiped out by attrition at Tagula after today's combat.

Doing a big push of followup support units to Vangunu today, covered by LRCAP. A cruiser force and PT boats will protect.

The armada of ships from Australia to Ceylon are now 31 hexes south of Colombo, moving 6 hexes a day. Ships are also on the move from Capetown, and will get to Colombo a few days after the Australian armada. The last big xAP task force, carrying troops, will leave Bombay today for Colombo.

KB did not stick around to hit Taberfane again. I guessed that it would not, and did not withdraw my shipping there, which continued to unload supply.

[apbarog]

29 Dec 42

I-34 fired 2 torpedoes at destroyer Reid southeast of Rennell Island, and missed. The sub spotted 2 AKEs, an AGP and an AG headed to Rennell. I would have rather had them not seen.

21 Sallys from Koepang attacked Darwin's airfield at night. Almost no damage was done in thunderstorms. I respond in kind with a 40 bomber B-17 night raid of Rabaul's port tonight.

12 B-17s hit Myitkyina's airfield and found 42 Oscars defending. 2 Oscars were shot down with no loss to the Fortresses. Minor damage to Myitkyina. Myitkyina's airbase is badly damaged, but apparently not enough to keep planes from flying. Must have been some damaged Oscars on landing. I'd strike again but the weather forecast is poor.

US units attack again at Vangunu, and cause 266 casualties to the out of supply I/19th Naval Guard Unit. The enemy is then wiped out by attrition, clearing the island. Lots of support units are in the process of landing at Vangunu, and they are visible in the combat report. With so many tranports there now, and big combat task forces seen at Rabaul, I decide to stop unloading and pull back to Tassafronga. They'll go back to Vangunu. Maybe tomorrow, maybe after. No rush, and I don't want to throw away the shipping, but I do want to keep OPilot's attention here.

[apbarog]

30 Dec 42

Gato fired 4 torpedoes at xAP Shanghai Maru, northeast of Pagan in the Mariannas. One torpedo hit but it was a dud. One more day of terrible torpedoes. Then we have just bad torpedoes until September '43.

We had an amusing display of night attacks between Port Moresby and Rabaul. About 40 B-17s flew in fragmented missions to Rabaul, but neither the port or anything in the port was hit in thunderstorms. Coming the other direction was about 20 Bettys. 3 B-17s were damaged on the ground, with the Bettys bombing in severe storms.

Minimal enemy bombing in China.

The US CVEs got to Luganville, as did the nice APs. They'll sit there until there's a clear opportunity to reinvade Kusaie Island, or go all the way to Kwajalein. Ponape is a possibility too. I anticipate this opportunity to be when KB goes running to the Indian Ocean when the Burma op kicks off.

The Allied armada traveling from Australia to Ceylon is now almost due west of Sabang.

Ships with followup units for Munda and Vangunu fell back to Tassafronga yesterday. No enemy activity was detected in the Solomons, so they'll go back to Vangunu for another day of unloading. LRCAP will be provided from Guadalcanal and Tulagi.

[apbarog]

31 Dec 42

Sub Runner fired 2 torpedoes at xAK Tarayasu Maru east of Formosa. One hit but was a dud. The final statistics for the worst of the dud torpedo era are 82 duds out of 104 hits, which is 78.8% dud rate.

Here's a summary of ships hit with dud torpedoes so far. I believe that two duds hit Junyo and one hit Haruna. A couple of already damaged heavy cruisers in the Solomons were hit by multiple duds as they fled northwest. Other ships hit were two CLs, a DD, 2 CMs, an AKE, 3 AOs, 3 SS, 5 xAPs, 2 AVs, an AMC, a TK, an ACM, a DMS, 13 xAKs, 5 xAKLs, 24 PBs, 2 YOs, and 5 SCs. Some were hit by more than one dud. All of this is affected by fog of war, of course.

Little activity today. Unloading at Vangunu was not interrupted. A big troop convoy arrived at Darwin and started to unload. A Fletcher class destroyer task force is guarding.

The two P-40 squadrons in China moved south to Hengyang, and will LRCAP a rough hex where a Chinese corp has been hit by unescorted Sonias frequently, including the past 2 days.

Still counting down for the fireworks coming to Burma.

[BBfanboy]

Very interesting to see the list of potential victims that were spared by the dud torps - thanks for keeping track of all that. If any new players want to know how frustrating that first 55 weeks is, we should point them here!

[apbarog]

1 Jan 43

25 A6M3a Zeros swept Vangunu in the morning. No CAP, and just PT boats and a small xAKL task force there. 22 Bettys with 32 A6M2 Zeros then went after the PT boats, and all torpedoes missed. In the afternoon, however, the bombers returned, and targeted the 4 small cargo ships there unloading supply. xAKL Minnipa and xAKL Sinabang were hit and sunk by torpedoes. Then 26 more Bettys with 30 Zeros arrived, and got a bomb hit on xAKL Kooyong. The two remaining cargo ships, one burning, will try to get back to Tulagi.

There's a sub 4 hexes southwest of Colombo now. The Allied armada is now 2 days south of Colombo. Today they will move to a point 6 hexes south of Colombo. It would be best if they aren't spotted. The detection levels of Colombo have gone up recently, getting to a 2/2 level 2 days ago, due to the many ships in port.

Recon showed that the Imperial Guard Division is at Akyab. The division was badly hurt in fighting around Cox's Bazar, and retreated to Akyab. I had thought that it had been pulled out and sent south to Singapore to recover. Maybe it hadn't. Maybe it has come back. Either way, that's another division to be bagged in the near future. Hopefully.

P-38s will sweep Magwe today. Various Allied units on the Burma/India front will show movement south into the enemy line. Just trying to draw more attention. Bombers will hit the areas too.

[CaptBeefheart]

I can't remember when the Allies get them, but I found barges are great for moving stuff around in The Slot. Have you tried them yet?

Cheers,
CB