1st - 8th August 1942
Burma
Port Blair bombers attacked Moulmain port. Recon detected that no fighters protected this base.
Morning Air attack on Moulmein , at 55,55
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid detected at 37 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes
Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 3
No Allied losses
Japanese Ships
AKE Sydney Maru, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires
SC Ch 30, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
Japanese ground losses:
11 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Port hits 1
Port fuel hits 1
Both ships sunk
Fiji
Because of events in Central Pacific (I wrote about them later). Enemy decided to send supply convoy to Nadi. Allied planes attacked enemies ship.
Morning Air attack on TF, near Nadi at 129,160
Weather in hex: Partial cloud
Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 25
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 8
Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 10
F4F-3 Wildcat x 5
SBD-3 Dauntless x 17
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 1 destroyed
F4F-3 Wildcat: 1 destroyed
SBD-3 Dauntless: 6 destroyed, 2 damaged
Japanese Ships
xAK Sumatra Maru
xAK Bengal Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAK Atlantic Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire
Aircraft Attacking:
6 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
2 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
2 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
---------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Nadi at 129,160
Weather in hex: Partial cloud
Raid spotted at 12 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 16
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 6
Allied aircraft
TBF-1 Avenger x 17
No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
TBF-1 Avenger: 10 destroyed, 2 damaged
Japanese Ships
xAK Bengal Maru, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Karachi Maru
Aircraft Attacking:
11 x TBF-1 Avenger launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 22.4in Mk 13 Torp.
---------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Nadi at 129,160
Weather in hex: Partial cloud
Raid spotted at 10 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 10
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 3
Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 7
SBD-3 Dauntless x 2
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
Japanese Ships
xAK Karachi Maru
Aircraft Attacking:
1 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
---------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Nadi at 129,160
Weather in hex: Partial cloud
Raid spotted at 22 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 7
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 3
Allied aircraft
SBD-3 Dauntless x 15
No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 destroyed, 4 damaged
Japanese Ships
xAK Karachi Maru, Bomb hits 2
Aircraft Attacking:
3 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
4 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
---------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Nadi at 129,160
Weather in hex: Heavy rain
Raid spotted at 7 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 2 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 6
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 2
Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 11
SBD-3 Dauntless x 5
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 2 destroyed
Japanese Ships
xAK Karachi Maru, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Italy Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
Aircraft Attacking:
1 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
4 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
---------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Nadi at 129,160
Weather in hex: Heavy rain
Raid spotted at 16 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 16
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 3
Allied aircraft
F4F-3 Wildcat x 1
SBD-3 Dauntless x 12
No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 destroyed, 5 damaged
Japanese Ships
xAK Bengal Maru, and is sunk
xAK Italy Maru, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
PB Sonan Maru #6
xAK Atlantic Maru, heavy fires, heavy damage
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring xAK Bengal Maru
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring xAK Italy Maru
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring xAK Atlantic Maru
Survivng ships were attacked by DM ships that mined Suva base.
Night Time Surface Combat, near Nadi at 131,160, Range 1,000 Yards
Japanese Ships
PB Sonan Maru #6, Shell hits 5, and is sunk
PB Shuko Maru #5, Shell hits 4, and is sunk
Allied Ships
DM Gamble
DM Ramsay
DM Montgomery, Shell hits 1
Central Pacific
Last time I wrote about Carrier TF mission that got their orders to intercept Tarawa reinforcements. What I didn’t wrote about was that I also moved convoys to land on Tabiteuea and build base there.
First mission was a mistake that brought doom to second mission.
Allied carriers arrived near Tarawa and found nothing. Japanese troops probably were to far from Tarawa. But carriers near this base put Japan forces to alert. Japan moved forces to intercept Allied CV’s especially that KB was once again ready for battle.
Allied CV patrolled zone for two days and moved east to protect incoming troop convoys for Tabiteuea.
On next day Japnese naval search planes detected Allied convoy. Allied CV raid alerted Japanese navy so they brought more search planes into zone and they detected convoy quicker then they should (I tried few times how close can I get to Tarawa and I could get there almost undetected).
When Japan detected transport ships it was clear for them that they are facing invasion. They moved land based Zero planes and put Jake planes to attack.
Morning Air attack on TF, near Nikunau at 139,133
Weather in hex: Thunderstorms
Raid detected at 74 NM, estimated altitude 6,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 36 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 8
E13A1 Jake x 23
Allied aircraft
F4F-3A Wildcat x 16
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
E13A1 Jake: 1 destroyed, 4 damaged
No Allied losses
Allied Ships
CVE Long Island, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CA Vincennes
DD Kane
Damage wasn’t serious so Long Island could move forward.
However on next day shocked allied naval forces detected whole Kido Butai just 46 miles away, on next hex.
Battle didn’t went good for Allies
Morning Air attack on TF, near Beru at 138,134
Weather in hex: Heavy rain
Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 19,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 34 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 25
A6M5 Zero x 49
B5N2 Kate x 44
D3A1 Val x 46
Allied aircraft
Martlet II x 18
F4F-4 Wildcat x 35
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 3 destroyed
A6M5 Zero: 3 destroyed
B5N2 Kate: 6 destroyed, 7 damaged
B5N2 Kate: 1 destroyed by flak
D3A1 Val: 1 destroyed, 10 damaged
D3A1 Val: 2 destroyed by flak
Allied aircraft losses
Martlet II: 1 destroyed
F4F-4 Wildcat: 2 destroyed
Allied Ships
CV Wasp, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires
BB North Carolina, Bomb hits 4
CV Yorktown, Bomb hits 3, on fire
CV Illustrious, Bomb hits 2
CA Devonshire
CLAA San Juan
DD Inconstant
---------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Beru at 138,134
Weather in hex: Heavy rain
Raid detected at 78 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 38 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 13
E13A1 Jake x 9
Allied aircraft
Martlet II x 7
F4F-4 Wildcat x 10
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
E13A1 Jake: 2 destroyed, 2 damaged
E13A1 Jake: 1 destroyed by flak
Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 1 destroyed
Allied Ships
BB North Carolina
CV Wasp, heavy fires
Aircraft Attacking:
3 x E13A1 Jake bombing from 2000 feet
Naval Attack: 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb
---------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Beru at 138,134
Weather in hex: Thunderstorms
Raid detected at 79 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 39 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 7
E13A1 Jake x 2
Allied aircraft
Martlet II x 5
F4F-4 Wildcat x 1
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
E13A1 Jake: 1 damaged
E13A1 Jake: 1 destroyed by flak
No Allied losses
Allied Ships
CV Yorktown, on fire
Aircraft Attacking:
2 x E13A1 Jake bombing from 2000 feet
Naval Attack: 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb
---------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Beru at 138,134
Weather in hex: Thunderstorms
Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 20,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 34 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 16
A6M5 Zero x 38
B5N2 Kate x 26
D3A1 Val x 34
Allied aircraft
Martlet II x 2
Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 2 damaged
B5N2 Kate: 1 destroyed by flak
D3A1 Val: 5 damaged
D3A1 Val: 1 destroyed by flak
No Allied losses
Allied Ships
CV Illustrious, Bomb hits 2
CV Wasp, heavy fires, heavy damage
CV Yorktown, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
BB North Carolina, Bomb hits 5
CA Louisville
DD Aaron Ward
DD Inconstant
Allied counterattack was a failure.
Morning Air attack on TF, near Onotoa at 137,135
Weather in hex: Partial cloud
Raid detected at 67 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 26 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 13
A6M5 Zero x 47
Allied aircraft
Swordfish I x 6
F4F-4 Wildcat x 10
SBD-3 Dauntless x 44
TBF-1 Avenger x 18
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5 Zero: 2 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
Swordfish I: 3 destroyed
F4F-4 Wildcat: 3 destroyed
SBD-3 Dauntless: 8 destroyed, 10 damaged
SBD-3 Dauntless: 2 destroyed by flak
TBF-1 Avenger: 5 destroyed, 7 damaged
TBF-1 Avenger: 1 destroyed by flak
Japanese Ships
CV Soryu
CV Hiyo, Bomb hits 2, on fire
CVL Shoho, Bomb hits 1
CVL Ryujo
CV Zuikaku, Bomb hits 1
On next day it was clear that Surface Forces must counterattack to save Carriers.
And that went also wrong.
Night Time Surface Combat, near Onotoa at 137,135, Range 4,000 Yards
Japanese Ships
BB Hiei, Shell hits 2
CA Takao
DD Akigumo, Shell hits 3, on fire
Allied Ships
CA Indianapolis, Shell hits 4
CA New Orleans, Shell hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
CL Achilles, Shell hits 1
CL Danae
CL Raleigh, Shell hits 2
DD Hughes
DD Clark
DD Monaghan
---------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Onotoa at 137,135, Range 2,000 Yards
Japanese Ships
BB Hiei, Shell hits 3
CA Takao, Shell hits 1
DD Akigumo, Shell hits 15, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
Allied Ships
BB Mississippi, Shell hits 12, heavy fires
DD McCalla
DD Bancroft, Shell hits 1
DD Cushing, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Kane, Shell hits 1
---------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Onotoa at 137,135, Range 6,000 Yards
Japanese Ships
CV Soryu
CV Zuikaku
CVL Ryujo
CVL Shoho
CA Aoba, Shell hits 2
DD Kagero
DD Yukikaze, Shell hits 1
DD Hayashio
Allied Ships
CA Quincy, Shell hits 5, heavy fires
CA Vincennes, Shell hits 1
CL Nashville
DD Duncan, Shell hits 1
DD Lang
DD Downes
---------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Onotoa at 137,135, Range 6,000 Yards
Japanese Ships
DD Hayate, Shell hits 2, on fire
Allied Ships
CA Vincennes, Shell hits 1
CL Nashville
DD Duncan, Shell hits 1
DD Lang
-----
Day Time Surface Combat, near Arorae at 138,138, Range 27,000 Yards
Japanese Ships
CV Hiyo
Allied Ships
CA New Orleans
DD Monaghan
Even destroyer and heavy cruiser didn’t manage to hit lonely Japanese Carrier.
But to be honest mission was completed. Allied Carriers run away. Planes attacked only damaged transport and surface navy ships.
Morning Air attack on TF, near Arorae at 138,138
Weather in hex: Severe storms
Raid detected at 73 NM, estimated altitude 19,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 31 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 24
B5N2 Kate x 9
No Japanese losses
Allied Ships
CA Quincy, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Beru at 138,134
Weather in hex: Light rain
Raid spotted at 3 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 1 minutes
Japanese aircraft
B5N2 Kate x 1
Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 1 damaged
Allied Ships
xAP Hong Kheng, Torpedo hits 1
Allied ground losses:
51 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Morning Air attack on TF, near Nikunau at 140,133
Weather in hex: Overcast
Raid detected at 64 NM, estimated altitude 19,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 23 minutes
Japanese aircraft
B5N2 Kate x 3
D3A1 Val x 13
Japanese aircraft losses
D3A1 Val: 2 damaged
Allied Ships
CL Raleigh, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CA Indianapolis
Aircraft Attacking:
2 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
3 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 45cm Type 91 Torp
7 x D3A1 Val releasing from 1000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
4 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
Carrier support unable to supply air cover..
---------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Nikunau at 140,133
Weather in hex: Light rain
Raid detected at 68 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 25 minutes
Japanese aircraft
D3A1 Val x 12
Japanese aircraft losses
D3A1 Val: 4 damaged
D3A1 Val: 1 destroyed by flak
Allied Ships
CL Achilles
CL Danae, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
CA Indianapolis
Aircraft Attacking:
5 x D3A1 Val releasing from 1000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
3 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
3 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
Carrier support unable to supply air cover..
But gods of dice rolls didn’t ended playing with fates of allied carriers.
Wasp sunk on this day. Ship had 70 system damage after battle, 35 float and 33 fires. Nothing strange.
But bad luck really hit Yorktown. Ship had 56 system damage, 44 float damage, 30 engine and 8 fire. On next day crew even quelled fires to 7. But 2 days later ship sunk after fires and float damage skyrocketed.
It was second carrier that sunk in state that normally should survive and get to base. No legendary allied damage control was present.
Part of land forces were successfully unloaded at bases, but some transport were lost. Other ships moved away.
Summary
After careful consideration after events of last turn we both decided to restart game.
Japanese carrier force was strong, but my opponent had problems with trained pilot pools and plane pools. I also had problem with my airframes number. In Fiji zone I got almost empty squadrons or with 2-3 planes. And only one big carrier.
Final Score
Japanese ship losses
Allied Ship Losses
I wanted to add planes losses but I just noticed that numbers between Tracker and Game differs. For example for A6M2 Game claims that over 1000 planes were shot down while tracker shows only 894.
And in the end, I would like to thank all the readers that were reading my AAR (and survived my grammar errors). Sorry that I didn’t end it in 1945.
And of course I would like thank my opponent for very interesting game full of surprises and unexpected moves. Even loosing planes and carriers was fun : )
