June. 4
Burma goes approximately as expected; Japanese efforts to defend the Inf. Group intensify...just not enough. We trade 12 P-40 and 5 P-39 for 18 Zero and 10 Oscar; a good performance from these aircraft especially as I'm flying them around 10-15k while the Japanese are up at 20. Interestingly, even though we're having these fights over Japanese LCUs we're only down six pilots. The bomber force meets no opposition and consequently the Japanese are now down about 25% of their ground force. Whether to continue...well, everyone's well-rested and I can cycle in squadrons from Calcutta, so until something goes badly wrong we'll keep the effort up.
First hints of Japanese interest in the Aleutians; Guards Mixed Bde is reported prepping for Adak. Tempting to pre-empt; I think I will give it some expendable stuff just to get in the way of a cheap take.
SoPac is on the move...
Combined Chiefs of Staff's Supercomputer's Report [no Saros]
Moderators: wdolson, MOD_War-in-the-Pacific-Admirals-Edition
RE: Jakes of June
June. 5
Escalation is a wonderful thing, isn't it?
I think it's fair to say we had a good day. P-40s drag'em down, P-39s lift them up, then Hurricanes and P-38s dive on them. Unfortunately, all this effort is putting a bit of a strain on the maintenance chaps at Chittagong:
Pilots are getting a little tired, too. We have a fresh batch of aircraft flying in from Hyderabad, newly released by the base merger down in southern India, so it's not immediately an issue, but if Chittagong is bombed at all it's going to take a while to fix. I will continue for one, possibly two more days; I expect losses tomorrow to be somewhat higher on our end as we will have the 'B' team going up out of Chittagong, and there are more of them - whether that's a good thing is a little up in the air. Still no effort to bomb any of the airfields involved; the Japanese bomber force in Burma is off harrassing the Chinese in Yunnan. I'm going to try and take a shot at them tomorrow; I have enough supplies at Paoshan for one or two days' operations and it'd be the first effort for a while.
What else...USS S-44 sinks a 1250t tanker and accompanying patrol boat off Fiji; I wish it hadn't, as that's going to discourage running battleships locally. Carriers still on the move. We are up to 24,000t of fuel at Rarotonga, so everyone can gas up once they arrive there.
Decided to throw caution to the wind and garrison Adak; it'll take about two weeks to get everyone into position. Some of the troops have diverted at sea off Hawaii; I suppose this is the sort of thing that produces military disasters in the real world. "Hey, change of plan - you're going to Alaska, not Fiji! Er...hope the tropical uniforms work out..." We do at least nearly have an airfield at Dutch Harbor, which will enable troops to come in by air if necessary.
Escalation is a wonderful thing, isn't it?
I think it's fair to say we had a good day. P-40s drag'em down, P-39s lift them up, then Hurricanes and P-38s dive on them. Unfortunately, all this effort is putting a bit of a strain on the maintenance chaps at Chittagong:
Pilots are getting a little tired, too. We have a fresh batch of aircraft flying in from Hyderabad, newly released by the base merger down in southern India, so it's not immediately an issue, but if Chittagong is bombed at all it's going to take a while to fix. I will continue for one, possibly two more days; I expect losses tomorrow to be somewhat higher on our end as we will have the 'B' team going up out of Chittagong, and there are more of them - whether that's a good thing is a little up in the air. Still no effort to bomb any of the airfields involved; the Japanese bomber force in Burma is off harrassing the Chinese in Yunnan. I'm going to try and take a shot at them tomorrow; I have enough supplies at Paoshan for one or two days' operations and it'd be the first effort for a while.
What else...USS S-44 sinks a 1250t tanker and accompanying patrol boat off Fiji; I wish it hadn't, as that's going to discourage running battleships locally. Carriers still on the move. We are up to 24,000t of fuel at Rarotonga, so everyone can gas up once they arrive there.
Decided to throw caution to the wind and garrison Adak; it'll take about two weeks to get everyone into position. Some of the troops have diverted at sea off Hawaii; I suppose this is the sort of thing that produces military disasters in the real world. "Hey, change of plan - you're going to Alaska, not Fiji! Er...hope the tropical uniforms work out..." We do at least nearly have an airfield at Dutch Harbor, which will enable troops to come in by air if necessary.
RE: Jakes of June
June. 6
Japan gives up trying to defend the Akyab-bound force in favour of bombing Calcutta. Why not Chittagong? Well, apparently the B-17 force was the target - the slight catch that they'd be in the air by the time the Japanese get there appears not to have registered. Far be it from me to complain...120 bombers arrive, and somewhat less depart:
Untroubled by enemy fighters, our bomber force hits units in the open, again, causing about 80av in disablements. Again. I suspect these two regiments are essentially combat-ineffective at this point, so I'm giving everyone a day off from bombing them in favour of bombing the Japs up around Lashio. They're certainly not going to be in any state to take Akyab; any effort in that direction will probably have to come by sea. I suspect we may see an attempt at Chittagong tomorrow, anyway - I thought it'd happen before Calcutta, actually - so I want everyone there on their best behaviour.
Elsewhere...not very much happens, actually.
Japan gives up trying to defend the Akyab-bound force in favour of bombing Calcutta. Why not Chittagong? Well, apparently the B-17 force was the target - the slight catch that they'd be in the air by the time the Japanese get there appears not to have registered. Far be it from me to complain...120 bombers arrive, and somewhat less depart:
Untroubled by enemy fighters, our bomber force hits units in the open, again, causing about 80av in disablements. Again. I suspect these two regiments are essentially combat-ineffective at this point, so I'm giving everyone a day off from bombing them in favour of bombing the Japs up around Lashio. They're certainly not going to be in any state to take Akyab; any effort in that direction will probably have to come by sea. I suspect we may see an attempt at Chittagong tomorrow, anyway - I thought it'd happen before Calcutta, actually - so I want everyone there on their best behaviour.
Elsewhere...not very much happens, actually.
RE: Jakes of June
June. 7
Chittagong is hit as expected - just from the sea, rather than the air. Fortunately the coast artillery took most of the hits and we only lost five fighters (out of 150). Now, I'd expected Japanese attention to be on Chittagong, but I kept aircraft over the Lashio force just in case; consequently, the Chinese were able to have some fun:
Completely unescorted. I expect Paoshan (where the Chinese are flying from) will be attacked tomorrow; or, at least, the hope is that it will be attacked and the army won't, given that it's one or at most two days away from crossing the border back into China safely. Our lot also bomb the army attempting to prevent them from reaching Yunnan.
Movement continues in the South Pacific. Fuel is about two days out from the fleet. Guess we'll be jumping off around the 11th. Troops for Niue are loading up, where they haven't already; don't anticipate any problems on land, though being at sea may be uncomfortable for a day or two.
USN 108th Base Force is the first to arrive at Adak, bringing with it a full complement of stevedores. You really don't appreciate those guys until you're in this sort of position...
I also filled out the VVS; Soviet pilot pools are now completely empty - there isn't a pilot on the map not with a squadron, and we still have space for a couple of months' replacements.
Chittagong is hit as expected - just from the sea, rather than the air. Fortunately the coast artillery took most of the hits and we only lost five fighters (out of 150). Now, I'd expected Japanese attention to be on Chittagong, but I kept aircraft over the Lashio force just in case; consequently, the Chinese were able to have some fun:
Completely unescorted. I expect Paoshan (where the Chinese are flying from) will be attacked tomorrow; or, at least, the hope is that it will be attacked and the army won't, given that it's one or at most two days away from crossing the border back into China safely. Our lot also bomb the army attempting to prevent them from reaching Yunnan.
Movement continues in the South Pacific. Fuel is about two days out from the fleet. Guess we'll be jumping off around the 11th. Troops for Niue are loading up, where they haven't already; don't anticipate any problems on land, though being at sea may be uncomfortable for a day or two.
USN 108th Base Force is the first to arrive at Adak, bringing with it a full complement of stevedores. You really don't appreciate those guys until you're in this sort of position...
I also filled out the VVS; Soviet pilot pools are now completely empty - there isn't a pilot on the map not with a squadron, and we still have space for a couple of months' replacements.
RE: Jakes of June
June. 8
Bombing continues in Burma; one of the regiments has made it into heavy terrain and is therefore "safe"; the other hasn't, and is bombed. Unfortunately our fighters didn't fly today - one B-17 is shot down by the Japanese while on a bombing run. It's the third, so far, I think, which isn't too bad for six days of operations.
USN carriers are in position for Fiji and have fuelled up. RN carriers and the surface combatants will arrive and fuel tomorrow, so I guess we'll 'go' on the 10th. Idea is that we visit Fiji, attempt to blow whatever's there out of the water, and then fall back on Niue to cover unloading there. Sounds simple...
Chinese 66th Army makes it into Yunnan safely. Our position here now seems pretty secure; the Japanese seem to agree, as they're heading back towards Burma.
Bombing continues in Burma; one of the regiments has made it into heavy terrain and is therefore "safe"; the other hasn't, and is bombed. Unfortunately our fighters didn't fly today - one B-17 is shot down by the Japanese while on a bombing run. It's the third, so far, I think, which isn't too bad for six days of operations.
USN carriers are in position for Fiji and have fuelled up. RN carriers and the surface combatants will arrive and fuel tomorrow, so I guess we'll 'go' on the 10th. Idea is that we visit Fiji, attempt to blow whatever's there out of the water, and then fall back on Niue to cover unloading there. Sounds simple...
Chinese 66th Army makes it into Yunnan safely. Our position here now seems pretty secure; the Japanese seem to agree, as they're heading back towards Burma.
RE: Jakes of June
June. 9
Southeast Asia after the bombings:
124th Rgt has reached the Arakans and is...turning away, apparently. Maybe it's going to Ramree Island; it's certainly not a threat to any of our forces around Sittwe/Akyab, having been blasted into stupefaction over the last week. 41st Rgt has turned around and is heading back into Burma. So, a "victory". Possibly one with some negative consequences; any further attempts at Akyab will probably come through the Arakans from the beginning. Still...for now, we can relax a little. IV Corps will dig in behind the river, while Chittagong will be emptied of aircraft so the maintenance crews can get some rest.
Stars of the campaign:
Not bad, that - especially as the losses were all down around Ceylon, weeks ago. The RAAF also has some fun today, a Beaufighter squadron shooting down eight Ki-48s south of Darwin for no loss.
USN Base Force has completed unloading at Adak; a civilian engineer unit will land tomorrow, a combat engineer unit on the 12th (hopefully), a heavy coast artillery and a heavy coast AA Rgt about the 15th, and an infantry regiment and 12 6" guns whenever the ships moving the combat engineers get to Dutch Harbor and back. The equivalent of a Canadian Div. is ready to go from Victoria on a moments' notice, but Ottawa won't agree to it at the moment. Shame...
Everyone in the South Pacific is fuelled up except the surface combatants, who are just one hex short of the tankers. If I catch definite sight of Japanese battleships around Fiji tomorrow I will launch without them, otherwise there's no harm in waiting.
Southeast Asia after the bombings:
124th Rgt has reached the Arakans and is...turning away, apparently. Maybe it's going to Ramree Island; it's certainly not a threat to any of our forces around Sittwe/Akyab, having been blasted into stupefaction over the last week. 41st Rgt has turned around and is heading back into Burma. So, a "victory". Possibly one with some negative consequences; any further attempts at Akyab will probably come through the Arakans from the beginning. Still...for now, we can relax a little. IV Corps will dig in behind the river, while Chittagong will be emptied of aircraft so the maintenance crews can get some rest.
Stars of the campaign:
Not bad, that - especially as the losses were all down around Ceylon, weeks ago. The RAAF also has some fun today, a Beaufighter squadron shooting down eight Ki-48s south of Darwin for no loss.
USN Base Force has completed unloading at Adak; a civilian engineer unit will land tomorrow, a combat engineer unit on the 12th (hopefully), a heavy coast artillery and a heavy coast AA Rgt about the 15th, and an infantry regiment and 12 6" guns whenever the ships moving the combat engineers get to Dutch Harbor and back. The equivalent of a Canadian Div. is ready to go from Victoria on a moments' notice, but Ottawa won't agree to it at the moment. Shame...
Everyone in the South Pacific is fuelled up except the surface combatants, who are just one hex short of the tankers. If I catch definite sight of Japanese battleships around Fiji tomorrow I will launch without them, otherwise there's no harm in waiting.
RE: Jakes of June
June. 10
- New toys;
- Wasp's big cheese (besides having an awfully odd name for a 1940s USN captain) is surely the worst sailor ever seen in the game:
Weird. Anyway, both are headed for San Diego to work up. I may send them up to the Aleutians for a flying visit if the need arises.
SEAC blasts the airfields at Katha off the face of the earth, 100% damage being estimated after a single raid. Just a recon base, but worth doing to keep supplies in Burma trimmed and the IJAAF on edge. The bombers are all having a day off tomorrow, though, as they've been flying for a while. The IJAAF itself seems to have decamped from Magwe to Mandalay en masse; buggered if I know why, as I haven't bombed Magwe seriously. Possibly a retaliatory raid on something tomorrow?
Still no definite sign of battleships at Fiji; recon flight over Nadi today failed to fly, which is a shame in light of repeated coastwatcher reports of destroyers in port there. We'll keep looking...everyone's fuelled up and ready to go when the time comes.
- New toys;
- Wasp's big cheese (besides having an awfully odd name for a 1940s USN captain) is surely the worst sailor ever seen in the game:
Weird. Anyway, both are headed for San Diego to work up. I may send them up to the Aleutians for a flying visit if the need arises.
SEAC blasts the airfields at Katha off the face of the earth, 100% damage being estimated after a single raid. Just a recon base, but worth doing to keep supplies in Burma trimmed and the IJAAF on edge. The bombers are all having a day off tomorrow, though, as they've been flying for a while. The IJAAF itself seems to have decamped from Magwe to Mandalay en masse; buggered if I know why, as I haven't bombed Magwe seriously. Possibly a retaliatory raid on something tomorrow?
Still no definite sign of battleships at Fiji; recon flight over Nadi today failed to fly, which is a shame in light of repeated coastwatcher reports of destroyers in port there. We'll keep looking...everyone's fuelled up and ready to go when the time comes.
RE: Jakes of June
June. 11
Quiet day; everyone in Southeast Asia is having a day off.
Contractors unload at Adak. Combat Engineer Rgt will unload tomorrow. An AVD has departed Umnak (which has a base force now) headed for Attu, the most westerly of the Aleutians; I'll mate it with a Catalina squadron once there.
Anyway. Fiji. We managed to put recon overflights over Nadi and Suva both today; these revealed some MTBs, some barges, a couple of patrol boats in port and not much else. So, on the face of it, there's nothing to launch at. I find this a little less than credible; coastwatchers have been reporting ships coming and going at a rapid pace, along with multiple specifically identified destroyers at Nadi...if it were one anomalous report I'd be skeptical, but they've been consistent for a while now. Reports of shipping at Luganville have also picked up recently, with three ships reported today. What to do...plan is this:
12th: Marine Raider groups will attempt to seize Eua, Tongatapu and Niue. Parachute troops will do likewise on Raoul Island. Carriers will position for a sprint into the Fiji area. There are no troops reported on any of those islands, so I expect problems will be restricted to one or two of them. If Saros attempts to floatplane troops in (none of them have working airfields) that has the advantage of cutting down on his naval search capability.
13th: Carriers will hit targets at Fiji. There are around 60 fighters and 100 bombers local at present; New Caledonia can supplement that by ~30/30. The RN can put up 72 fighters and 43 bombers; the USN 203 fighters and 255 bombers. So - all being well, we can crack the defenses and hold off attacks enough to permit operations to continue. I expect there will be a few torpedoes in embarrassing places, but at the same time a lot of the Japanese bombers are busy chasing submarines at the moment. Nearest Japanese carriers are believed to be CVE force around Darwin. The Japanese may of course flee outright, in which case all we may accomplish is burning up a lot of everyone's aircraft. We'll live - reestablishing the air link between Hawaii and Australia is the main objective.
14th: Main landings at Niue. Around 7000 troops and 70,000t of equipment will go ashore over however many days. This force will be covered by Hermes and nine USN cruisers. We also have two fast battleships, nine cruisers and a couple dozen destroyers which are surplus to carrier escort requirements and can make trouble around Fiji if that seems appropriate.
Quiet day; everyone in Southeast Asia is having a day off.
Contractors unload at Adak. Combat Engineer Rgt will unload tomorrow. An AVD has departed Umnak (which has a base force now) headed for Attu, the most westerly of the Aleutians; I'll mate it with a Catalina squadron once there.
Anyway. Fiji. We managed to put recon overflights over Nadi and Suva both today; these revealed some MTBs, some barges, a couple of patrol boats in port and not much else. So, on the face of it, there's nothing to launch at. I find this a little less than credible; coastwatchers have been reporting ships coming and going at a rapid pace, along with multiple specifically identified destroyers at Nadi...if it were one anomalous report I'd be skeptical, but they've been consistent for a while now. Reports of shipping at Luganville have also picked up recently, with three ships reported today. What to do...plan is this:
12th: Marine Raider groups will attempt to seize Eua, Tongatapu and Niue. Parachute troops will do likewise on Raoul Island. Carriers will position for a sprint into the Fiji area. There are no troops reported on any of those islands, so I expect problems will be restricted to one or two of them. If Saros attempts to floatplane troops in (none of them have working airfields) that has the advantage of cutting down on his naval search capability.
13th: Carriers will hit targets at Fiji. There are around 60 fighters and 100 bombers local at present; New Caledonia can supplement that by ~30/30. The RN can put up 72 fighters and 43 bombers; the USN 203 fighters and 255 bombers. So - all being well, we can crack the defenses and hold off attacks enough to permit operations to continue. I expect there will be a few torpedoes in embarrassing places, but at the same time a lot of the Japanese bombers are busy chasing submarines at the moment. Nearest Japanese carriers are believed to be CVE force around Darwin. The Japanese may of course flee outright, in which case all we may accomplish is burning up a lot of everyone's aircraft. We'll live - reestablishing the air link between Hawaii and Australia is the main objective.
14th: Main landings at Niue. Around 7000 troops and 70,000t of equipment will go ashore over however many days. This force will be covered by Hermes and nine USN cruisers. We also have two fast battleships, nine cruisers and a couple dozen destroyers which are surplus to carrier escort requirements and can make trouble around Fiji if that seems appropriate.
RE: Jakes of June
June. 12
Well, we're ashore in all locations and the paras took Raoul Island outright. So far, so good...coastwatchers identify CLAA Tenryu in port at Lunganville overnight, and again in port at Nadi in the morning. So, uh...it's around, somewhere. It was with the battleships last I saw it, and I don't doubt it still is. Trouble is, I can't confirm where - so, rather than diving in and trying to toss bombs everywhere, I'm going to try something a little less direct. They should arrive three hexes off Fiji in time to launch strikes, but there'll be no bomber raids on day 1 - fighter sweeps and Betty-catching only. Instead they'll search their hearts out; if they do find something, we should have enough fuel to sprint at it tomorrow, and if they don't...well, then it wouldn't have mattered anyway.
Well, we're ashore in all locations and the paras took Raoul Island outright. So far, so good...coastwatchers identify CLAA Tenryu in port at Lunganville overnight, and again in port at Nadi in the morning. So, uh...it's around, somewhere. It was with the battleships last I saw it, and I don't doubt it still is. Trouble is, I can't confirm where - so, rather than diving in and trying to toss bombs everywhere, I'm going to try something a little less direct. They should arrive three hexes off Fiji in time to launch strikes, but there'll be no bomber raids on day 1 - fighter sweeps and Betty-catching only. Instead they'll search their hearts out; if they do find something, we should have enough fuel to sprint at it tomorrow, and if they don't...well, then it wouldn't have mattered anyway.
RE: Battle of Kandavu Island
June. 13
When the e-mail carrying the combat replay starts with the words "You are a crazy person you know that right?" you know you've either lucked up or fu...you get it.
All things considered, I think we did fine. Torpedoes in embarrassing places...well, we knew they were coming. A good interception 80 miles out meant few aircraft got through - the Japanese were very lucky to get two hits. Tally for the day:
Around 90 Japanese bombers launched; few made it home, obviously. We lost two pilots missing over Fiji and six killed in various places.
Hornet and Yorktown are both technically out of flight operations after one torpedo each, but the damage is mostly superficial (both can do 25kts) and the other carriers had the room to recover all but ~5 of the airborne aircraft, so they're still good for flying and the other two should be likewise after a couple of days in port. Since we found no battleships, the carriers will head towards Niue at a leisurely pace - I want them far enough out that the Japanese pilots are tired but no so far that they won't attempt a second day of attacks. While that's going on, strike aircraft will hit Tongatapu.
Fiji has been reinforced by aircraft from New Caledonia as expected; the Japanese look able to put up around 50 fighters and 50 bombers.
Niue landings should occur tomorrow as scheduled; Burma is currently a little too damp for any of this 'war' business.
When the e-mail carrying the combat replay starts with the words "You are a crazy person you know that right?" you know you've either lucked up or fu...you get it.
All things considered, I think we did fine. Torpedoes in embarrassing places...well, we knew they were coming. A good interception 80 miles out meant few aircraft got through - the Japanese were very lucky to get two hits. Tally for the day:
Around 90 Japanese bombers launched; few made it home, obviously. We lost two pilots missing over Fiji and six killed in various places.
Hornet and Yorktown are both technically out of flight operations after one torpedo each, but the damage is mostly superficial (both can do 25kts) and the other carriers had the room to recover all but ~5 of the airborne aircraft, so they're still good for flying and the other two should be likewise after a couple of days in port. Since we found no battleships, the carriers will head towards Niue at a leisurely pace - I want them far enough out that the Japanese pilots are tired but no so far that they won't attempt a second day of attacks. While that's going on, strike aircraft will hit Tongatapu.
Fiji has been reinforced by aircraft from New Caledonia as expected; the Japanese look able to put up around 50 fighters and 50 bombers.
Niue landings should occur tomorrow as scheduled; Burma is currently a little too damp for any of this 'war' business.
RE: Battle of Kandavu Island
So, what next?
- The Japanese are unlikely to intervene in a major way against the immediate operations; the numbers just aren't there in the next couple of days, and that's when they'd need them. I'm happy with that as a result, although it's a shame the battlefleet wasn't around.
- Hornet & Yorktown will need some brief shipyard work to get themselves fully operational; figure two weeks not including transit time. Not critical; I had nothing constructive planned for them in that period, so they can stop off wherever. Everyone's in range of Pago Pago, so I swapped out a couple of depleted squadrons - the ones flying over Fiji, basically - for fresh ones from there. We have plenty of aircraft available, so that's not a major issue right now - and probably won't be until the escort carriers start showing up, I guess.
- Naval eyes now turn in two directions; firstly the Indian Ocean, where 1st Marine Division is almost ready to reoccupy Diego Garcia. CVE Long Island arrived at Cape Town today, taking on a Marine fighter squadron for advanced training; the RN will return to Cape Town from the South Pacific, and everything should be ready to go once they arrive. I anticipate the IJN will be screaming towards Fiji at warp 10 right now...hope they've got their refuelling ducks in a row. Secondly, Australia, where preparations for reentry into Port Moresby, Port Hedland and Milne Bay are starting to bubble. That's a few months off, although I'm going to be a pain and bomb Port Hedland a bit - I never built an airbase there, so the port's vulnerable & as a consequence it should take a while for the Japanese to establish one.
Ultimately the intention is to put on a sound and light show directed at Fiji and New Caledonia and then squeeze their supply line northwards from New Guinea; hopefully without involving too much shipping, which will have to keep itself fairly safe in order for the reoccupation of Ceylon etc to go off as hoped for. We'll see...
I commented to Saros in one of our e-mails that this "battle" was more of a live-fire training exercise than anything else; it's certainly been a very educational one, and I feel a lot more comfortable pushing the shipping and (dear god) logistical tails around than I was a couple of months ago. May there be many more...
- The Japanese are unlikely to intervene in a major way against the immediate operations; the numbers just aren't there in the next couple of days, and that's when they'd need them. I'm happy with that as a result, although it's a shame the battlefleet wasn't around.
- Hornet & Yorktown will need some brief shipyard work to get themselves fully operational; figure two weeks not including transit time. Not critical; I had nothing constructive planned for them in that period, so they can stop off wherever. Everyone's in range of Pago Pago, so I swapped out a couple of depleted squadrons - the ones flying over Fiji, basically - for fresh ones from there. We have plenty of aircraft available, so that's not a major issue right now - and probably won't be until the escort carriers start showing up, I guess.
- Naval eyes now turn in two directions; firstly the Indian Ocean, where 1st Marine Division is almost ready to reoccupy Diego Garcia. CVE Long Island arrived at Cape Town today, taking on a Marine fighter squadron for advanced training; the RN will return to Cape Town from the South Pacific, and everything should be ready to go once they arrive. I anticipate the IJN will be screaming towards Fiji at warp 10 right now...hope they've got their refuelling ducks in a row. Secondly, Australia, where preparations for reentry into Port Moresby, Port Hedland and Milne Bay are starting to bubble. That's a few months off, although I'm going to be a pain and bomb Port Hedland a bit - I never built an airbase there, so the port's vulnerable & as a consequence it should take a while for the Japanese to establish one.
Ultimately the intention is to put on a sound and light show directed at Fiji and New Caledonia and then squeeze their supply line northwards from New Guinea; hopefully without involving too much shipping, which will have to keep itself fairly safe in order for the reoccupation of Ceylon etc to go off as hoped for. We'll see...
I commented to Saros in one of our e-mails that this "battle" was more of a live-fire training exercise than anything else; it's certainly been a very educational one, and I feel a lot more comfortable pushing the shipping and (dear god) logistical tails around than I was a couple of months ago. May there be many more...
RE: Battle of Kandavu Island
I think you have some Wildcat upgrades and the Hornet and Yorktown are due upgrades in July. So the time in the "pen' will be well spent. Plus you have some Wildcats to take on replacements.
I have a distain for Betty's for the very reasons stated here .. any number get through the CAP and they will results in a problem ...
I have a distain for Betty's for the very reasons stated here .. any number get through the CAP and they will results in a problem ...
"What gets us into trouble is not what we don't know. It's what we know for sure that just ain't so"
RE: Battle of Kandavu Island
ORIGINAL: Crackaces
I think you have some Wildcat upgrades and the Hornet and Yorktown are due upgrades in July. So the time in the "pen' will be well spent. Plus you have some Wildcats to take on replacements.
I think one squadron's still on Mk. 3As and the rest have modern ones. I'm not sure the Mk. 4 is an improvement on the Mk. 3 in offensive situations like we had over Fiji; the extra speed is certainly worth having, though whether it's worth two guns is an open question. The Marines are mostly still in Buffalos, but then the Buffalo isn't really that much worse than the Hellcat as a fighter and (critically, in this sort of basing situation) its transfer range is about twice as long), so I'm happy for them to remain that way. I think I have about 70 F-4s in stock at the moment.
I have a distain for Betty's for the very reasons stated here .. any number get through the CAP and they will results in a problem ...
Well, they've not had much of an impact so far - I've mostly stayed out of their way, so they haven't had a chance to do much but get shot down when flying beyond escort range. Whether these were the 'good' pilots - and whether there's much practical difference between the 'good' and 'ok' pilots I don't know. Oh well - hopefully we can catch a few more tomorrow. If they do launch they'll be facing more fighters much further from home...
RE: Battle of Kandavu Island
June. 14
Unfortunately, the Japanese launched no further air attacks against the carriers. Oh well. I guess I should have kept them a little closer to Fiji...the expected horde of submarines are closing; we moved southeast overnight and are now in the middle of the Tongas:
Lots of SBDs out on naval search; four of them managed to mess up carrier landings. I think someone may need extra training...
Presumed expectation on the part of the Japanese is that we'll go to Tahiti; that's been the big built-up base for so long, after all. Instead, since everyone's fairly ship-shape - Yorktown actually can fly aircraft, I just assumed it couldn't - silly assumption, since it recovered half a dozen of Hornet's fighters yesterday - we'll head northeast past Pago Pago and refuel off Penrhyn Island - we have two full tankers moving that way at the moment and will have three more tomorrow - then split the fleet - Americans to Pearl Harbour, Commonwealth to the Falklands and Cape Town. From there...well, who knows.
Landing force reaches Niue but just too late in the day to begin unloading. We have about 50 naval support there already and a bunch more with the landing, so it should be pretty quick. Cover force strong enough to stop anything short of battleships, and I don't think they'd dare.
Adak Island is fortifying. Coast Artillery Rgt and AA Rgt should unload on the 16th, along with an infantry Bn in 3-4 days and the rest of its Rgt in about a week. We should be ok here, I think...
First tranche of engineers are approaching Meekatharra, in Western Australia. From here, medium bombers - that's most bombers between Calcutta and San Francisco - can reach Port Hedland, Corunna Downs, Broome etc. Port Hedland itself is suffering cumulative damage from a small number of B-24s; if I can get Meeka operational before he can PH, I can probably keep it from being expanded for weeks, if not months. Which is sensible enough, really - imagine the Japanese trying to build an airfield there...
Cocos Islands - remember them? - have recovered damage due to a lull in bombardments, probably due to the IJN screeching off towards Fiji. AV of the defending forces is not far off what it was when the bombings started, though supplies are down to 6000t. Some ships have been sent from Cape Town to attempt to restock the place, while a long-range Catalina squadron will attempt to evacuate the remnants of the Dutch Armoured Bn, the only unit to suffer significant permanent losses. Handy little recon unit, that...could use it in Australia.
What else...usual Jap BB force approaching Chittagong; they'll wear out their guns at this rate. No moonlight and no aircraft to shoot at makes it amusing rather than threatening - at least I can keep tabs on them. Realised also that I let 134 ships accumulate at the US East Coast; when they all arrive at Cape Town the place will have about 1.5Mt of supplies and half that much fuel, so I think we're good to send more of them on-map - at the current rate I'll never clear Cape Town's backlog.
Matsonia, Monterey and Prez. Coolidge sail from Albany for India via CT with HQ 1st Australian Corps and two RAAF fighter squadrons. Might as well spread everyone around a bit...I Aus's two divisions are currently in India; it's not really necessary to shift it, but it feels appropriate to have them run by their own HQ.
Er...think that's it for today. May tomorrow bring few torpedoes...
Unfortunately, the Japanese launched no further air attacks against the carriers. Oh well. I guess I should have kept them a little closer to Fiji...the expected horde of submarines are closing; we moved southeast overnight and are now in the middle of the Tongas:
Lots of SBDs out on naval search; four of them managed to mess up carrier landings. I think someone may need extra training...
Presumed expectation on the part of the Japanese is that we'll go to Tahiti; that's been the big built-up base for so long, after all. Instead, since everyone's fairly ship-shape - Yorktown actually can fly aircraft, I just assumed it couldn't - silly assumption, since it recovered half a dozen of Hornet's fighters yesterday - we'll head northeast past Pago Pago and refuel off Penrhyn Island - we have two full tankers moving that way at the moment and will have three more tomorrow - then split the fleet - Americans to Pearl Harbour, Commonwealth to the Falklands and Cape Town. From there...well, who knows.
Landing force reaches Niue but just too late in the day to begin unloading. We have about 50 naval support there already and a bunch more with the landing, so it should be pretty quick. Cover force strong enough to stop anything short of battleships, and I don't think they'd dare.
Adak Island is fortifying. Coast Artillery Rgt and AA Rgt should unload on the 16th, along with an infantry Bn in 3-4 days and the rest of its Rgt in about a week. We should be ok here, I think...
First tranche of engineers are approaching Meekatharra, in Western Australia. From here, medium bombers - that's most bombers between Calcutta and San Francisco - can reach Port Hedland, Corunna Downs, Broome etc. Port Hedland itself is suffering cumulative damage from a small number of B-24s; if I can get Meeka operational before he can PH, I can probably keep it from being expanded for weeks, if not months. Which is sensible enough, really - imagine the Japanese trying to build an airfield there...
Cocos Islands - remember them? - have recovered damage due to a lull in bombardments, probably due to the IJN screeching off towards Fiji. AV of the defending forces is not far off what it was when the bombings started, though supplies are down to 6000t. Some ships have been sent from Cape Town to attempt to restock the place, while a long-range Catalina squadron will attempt to evacuate the remnants of the Dutch Armoured Bn, the only unit to suffer significant permanent losses. Handy little recon unit, that...could use it in Australia.
What else...usual Jap BB force approaching Chittagong; they'll wear out their guns at this rate. No moonlight and no aircraft to shoot at makes it amusing rather than threatening - at least I can keep tabs on them. Realised also that I let 134 ships accumulate at the US East Coast; when they all arrive at Cape Town the place will have about 1.5Mt of supplies and half that much fuel, so I think we're good to send more of them on-map - at the current rate I'll never clear Cape Town's backlog.
Matsonia, Monterey and Prez. Coolidge sail from Albany for India via CT with HQ 1st Australian Corps and two RAAF fighter squadrons. Might as well spread everyone around a bit...I Aus's two divisions are currently in India; it's not really necessary to shift it, but it feels appropriate to have them run by their own HQ.
Er...think that's it for today. May tomorrow bring few torpedoes...
RE: Battle of Kandavu Island
June. 15
Not much happened today. The Japanese submarines all went the wrong way, towards Tahiti rather than Samoa; I expect they'll sink a couple of transports at Niue tomorrow, but with all the destroyers in the taskforces we should get a couple in return, hopefully. Carriers are halfway between Fiji and Samoa. 9500 men are ashore on Niue already, and we should have a working airfield by tomorrow.
Not much happened today. The Japanese submarines all went the wrong way, towards Tahiti rather than Samoa; I expect they'll sink a couple of transports at Niue tomorrow, but with all the destroyers in the taskforces we should get a couple in return, hopefully. Carriers are halfway between Fiji and Samoa. 9500 men are ashore on Niue already, and we should have a working airfield by tomorrow.
RE: Battle of Kandavu Island
June. 16
ASW searches running day and night, independent destroyer taskforces in the hex, and submarine I-175, spotted the previous night attacking another cruiser, torpedoes CL Honolulu in broad daylight, sinking it. The mind boggles...anyway, all the troops and 16kt of supplies are ashore at Niue with another 11kt left to unload, and we have a working airfield, so all that's left is to get one up on Raoul Island and we have an air link again! Didn't take long...
Japanese battleships hit Chittagong as usual, damaging a couple of water buffalo.
The engineer troupe are more or less done in southern India, I think - what infrastructure isn't present can be put together by base forces - so they're off back to the Burmese border. Next to mushroom is Comilla...from there heavy bombers can hit Rangoon without payload issues.
ASW searches running day and night, independent destroyer taskforces in the hex, and submarine I-175, spotted the previous night attacking another cruiser, torpedoes CL Honolulu in broad daylight, sinking it. The mind boggles...anyway, all the troops and 16kt of supplies are ashore at Niue with another 11kt left to unload, and we have a working airfield, so all that's left is to get one up on Raoul Island and we have an air link again! Didn't take long...
Japanese battleships hit Chittagong as usual, damaging a couple of water buffalo.
The engineer troupe are more or less done in southern India, I think - what infrastructure isn't present can be put together by base forces - so they're off back to the Burmese border. Next to mushroom is Comilla...from there heavy bombers can hit Rangoon without payload issues.
RE: Jakes of June
June. 17
Not much happens. Carriers are at Ta'u, two hexes west of Pago Pago; their first tanker, irritatingly, is one hex to the north. Hate it when that happens...which it usually does. A second submarine attempts to bother Niue and is chased off by HMAS Voyager; the transports are pretty much done unloading now, so naval forces can remove themselves.
The valiant defenders of Niue; I guess they pick who gets to fly it out of a hat.
Lots of fussing over the lack of Indian infantry squads. I'm tempted to disband 98th, 99th, 100th Bdes and use theirs to rebuild 9th and 11th Divs, but I worry that I'd miss them in 1944. Is rebuilding a disbanded unit possible? Well, we'll find out in a few days...I'm going to try it with a Brit MG Bn which is currently made up of a single support squad.
Not much happens. Carriers are at Ta'u, two hexes west of Pago Pago; their first tanker, irritatingly, is one hex to the north. Hate it when that happens...which it usually does. A second submarine attempts to bother Niue and is chased off by HMAS Voyager; the transports are pretty much done unloading now, so naval forces can remove themselves.
The valiant defenders of Niue; I guess they pick who gets to fly it out of a hat.
Lots of fussing over the lack of Indian infantry squads. I'm tempted to disband 98th, 99th, 100th Bdes and use theirs to rebuild 9th and 11th Divs, but I worry that I'd miss them in 1944. Is rebuilding a disbanded unit possible? Well, we'll find out in a few days...I'm going to try it with a Brit MG Bn which is currently made up of a single support squad.
RE: Jakes of June
June. 18
Another fairly dull day. Lots of submarines chasing around the South Pacific; shots are taken at Hornet and a couple of destroyers, and we whack one or two down by the Tongas.
Yet another Japanese battleship force is approaching Chittagong. Don't these guys have anything better to do? Must be going through supplies like nobody's business...anyway, USAAF and RAF aircraft will attempt to attack them tomorrow, when they'll probably be in range; doubt they'll hit anything (I think the highest naval bombing skill among the level bombing lot is in the low teens) but it's ammunition they won't get to shoot at Chittagong, should give Saros a heart in mouth moment, and if they get really close they might catch a torpedo from one of the Beauforts or a 1000lber from one of the Dauntlesses. Here's hoping, eh?
Er...I think that's it, really.
Another fairly dull day. Lots of submarines chasing around the South Pacific; shots are taken at Hornet and a couple of destroyers, and we whack one or two down by the Tongas.
Yet another Japanese battleship force is approaching Chittagong. Don't these guys have anything better to do? Must be going through supplies like nobody's business...anyway, USAAF and RAF aircraft will attempt to attack them tomorrow, when they'll probably be in range; doubt they'll hit anything (I think the highest naval bombing skill among the level bombing lot is in the low teens) but it's ammunition they won't get to shoot at Chittagong, should give Saros a heart in mouth moment, and if they get really close they might catch a torpedo from one of the Beauforts or a 1000lber from one of the Dauntlesses. Here's hoping, eh?
Er...I think that's it, really.
RE: Jakes of June
June. 19
Boring. Looking over radio reports a large Japanese something left Rabaul yesterday or the day before, on a course towards...well, if you drew a line between Rabaul and a bit north of Fiji, you've got about the right idea; absent any better ideas, probably Japanese carriers looking for 'stragglers'. There are none, really, just scattered merchants sailing independently, so but for the fact that we're stretching tankerage to get everything where it needs to be, I'd be happy to take that fight; as things are with fuel, not so much. Everyone's taking on around Penrhyn Island at the moment, after which a cruiser force will move down to Tahiti, the Americans will head for the USA and the Brits for Panama. Between repairs and upgrades the USN carriers will be out for most of July, which will leave just Wasp doddering around for a few weeks. Time for the USAAF to earn its keep...
Boring. Looking over radio reports a large Japanese something left Rabaul yesterday or the day before, on a course towards...well, if you drew a line between Rabaul and a bit north of Fiji, you've got about the right idea; absent any better ideas, probably Japanese carriers looking for 'stragglers'. There are none, really, just scattered merchants sailing independently, so but for the fact that we're stretching tankerage to get everything where it needs to be, I'd be happy to take that fight; as things are with fuel, not so much. Everyone's taking on around Penrhyn Island at the moment, after which a cruiser force will move down to Tahiti, the Americans will head for the USA and the Brits for Panama. Between repairs and upgrades the USN carriers will be out for most of July, which will leave just Wasp doddering around for a few weeks. Time for the USAAF to earn its keep...
RE: Battle of Niue
June. 20-21
A short, sharp shock in the South Pacific. Japanese forces - thought to be a light cruiser and two destroyers - were observed moving towards Niue on the 20th, presumably on a bombardment mission; three USN destroyers (Meredith, Monssen and Gwin) set out late at night to intercept them. We didn't get off to a very good start; Gwin was torpedoed 45 miles north of the island by a Japanese submarine, and sank immediately; no contact was made overnight. Next morning, we found'em - cruisers Natori and Yura, along with destroyers Nenohi, Hatsuharu and Hatsushima. Not a very equal fight, but we managed to hold them at range for a couple of hours without sustaining or inflicting any damage. Then the USMC wing from Samoa arrived; 35 Vindicators and 15 Dauntlesses. End result is 4000lb of bombs into each of the two cruisers and two 500lbers into Hatsuharu. All three are believed sunk - at least, we didn't pick them up today. Meredith and Monssen both have a full load of 5in ammunition and minimal damage, so they'll attempt to catch the remaining destroyers tonight.
Elsewhere, not much going on; just the usual bombardments.
A short, sharp shock in the South Pacific. Japanese forces - thought to be a light cruiser and two destroyers - were observed moving towards Niue on the 20th, presumably on a bombardment mission; three USN destroyers (Meredith, Monssen and Gwin) set out late at night to intercept them. We didn't get off to a very good start; Gwin was torpedoed 45 miles north of the island by a Japanese submarine, and sank immediately; no contact was made overnight. Next morning, we found'em - cruisers Natori and Yura, along with destroyers Nenohi, Hatsuharu and Hatsushima. Not a very equal fight, but we managed to hold them at range for a couple of hours without sustaining or inflicting any damage. Then the USMC wing from Samoa arrived; 35 Vindicators and 15 Dauntlesses. End result is 4000lb of bombs into each of the two cruisers and two 500lbers into Hatsuharu. All three are believed sunk - at least, we didn't pick them up today. Meredith and Monssen both have a full load of 5in ammunition and minimal damage, so they'll attempt to catch the remaining destroyers tonight.
Elsewhere, not much going on; just the usual bombardments.