AmiralLaurent
Posts: 3351
Joined: 3/11/2003 From: Near Paris, France Status: offline
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26-27 April 1943 Northern Pacific The 26th was quiet, the 27th saw the SS I-178 engage 4 times Allied ASW groups (each time of 3-4 SC) just east of Attu. The first time was during the night and saw the Japanese torpedoes fail, while the submarine was then depth charged and damaged by 3 near-misses. Just before dawn, she sank the SC 708 with a torpedo and escape this group, and then another searching her. Just after dawn 3 SC again found her and scored 2 more near misses. The I-178, now with damage 11 and no more torpedoes, sailed back to base in the evening. The other submarine in the area, the I-177, was ordered to sail directly to Kiska to attack the numerous Allied ships there. Allied engineers expanded Kiska airfield to size 3 and the port of Amchitka Island to size 4. Japanese recon reported 7 units in Kiska and 83 aircraft (32/14/37). On the Japanese side, the 6th Aviation Regiment boarded ships in the Korean port of Hungnam and will sail to Paramushiro Jima. And the Haruna TF arrived back in Onimata and was disbanded here Central Pacific Minelayers continued to be active in the Hawaii archipelago. A survey on the evening of the 27th counted around 55 000 mines in the area, 50% of them off Pearl Harbor. Southern Pacific - New Zealand - New Caledonia – New Hebrides NTR Bismarck and Solomon Islands-New Guinea There was no activity. In the evening of the 27th, three submarines left Truk southwards. They will refuel in Shortlands and then sail south of New Guinea to operated against Allied ships off Australia and between this country and Port Moresby. Timor-Amboina-Australia Starting from the 26th, Allied floatplanes (PBM and PBY) began to fly recon on the Japanese bases in the area, flying daily over Kendari, Amboina, Maumere, Koepang, Dili and Lautem. On the 27th, two PBM were lost, one to AA fire and another in an accident. Allied airmen were very active on the 26th, and Japanese AA was more efficient than usual, scoring 3 victories. Koepang was bombed in the morning by 72 B-25C and 15 B-25J from Derby and in the afternoon by 6 PB4Y from Wyndham and reported 168 casualties, 3 disabled guns, 8 hits on the airbase, 3 on supplies and 68 on the runways. Lautem was strafed by 8 Beaufighter Mk 21 from Darwin that scored 2 runway hits. Maumere was attacked by 20 B-24D that scored 2 hits on the airbase, 1 on supplies and 14 on the runways, while 73 B-17E raided Dili but only scored 2 hits on the airbase and 8 on the runways, doing 27 casualties. Allied losses were 1 B-25C, 1 Beaufighter Mk 21 and a PB4Y, all to AA fire. The next day the only Allied raid saw 9 Beaufighter Mk 21 from Darwin attack Lautem but hit nothing. In the evening, the Dutch submarine KIX was attacked by an ASW group 120 miles SW of Menado and heavily damaged by 2 hits and 7 near misses scored by the APD-46. This ASW group was ordered to sail south to try to chase the damaged submarine, while 27 Ki-30 flew from Tarakan to Amboina to join the chase. Southern Resource Area Two convoys were organized during the period, one to carry 21k supplies from Singapore to Rangoon, the other 17k resources from Toboali to Singapore. Burma During the night of the 25th-26th, 3 Nells from Rangoon bombed without success Kohima, evading the 6 Beaufighter VIF on CAP but losing one of their number to AA fire. After dawn, 47 B-24D, 43 B-25J, 31 B-17E and 10 Blenheim IV from Imphal escorted by 39 P-40B attacked Lashio, destroying two Dinah II on the ground, hitting 65 men and 1 gun and scoring 8 hits on the airbase, 6 on supplies and 86 on the runways. Myitkyina was attacked by 12 B-25J from Ledo escorted by 22 P-40E and by 25 Beaufighter Mk 21 and 2 Beaufighter VIC from Imphal and reported two more Dinah II destroyed on the ground, 7 hits on the airbase, 2 on supplies and 18 on the runways. Then the 1st Tk Rgt was attacked by 48 Hurricane, 40 Vengeance I and 20 Beaufighter VIC from Kohima escorted by 7 Spitfire Vb and reported 72 casualties and 2 disabled tanks. In the afternoon, Pagan was bombed by 48 B-25C, 23 Blenheim IV, 16 B-25J and 6 Beaufighter Mk 21 from Chandpur escorted by 18 P-40B and reported 20 casualties, 1 disabled gun, 2 hits on the airbase, 5 on supplies and 40 on the runways. Allied losses during the day were 1 B-25J and 1 Beaufighter Mk 21 shot down by AA and 2 Hurricane, 2 Vengeance and 1 P-40B in accidents. In the evening, both recon units badly hit during the day flew to Rangoon to receive replacement aircraft there. Two fighter units flew north to provide LRCAP over the 1st Tk Rgt. To reduce the probability of being caught on the ground, they were sent to two bases, 34 Tojos to Mandalay and 24 A6M3 to Taung Gyi. Next night 3 Nells again raided Kohima without success, reporting 9 Beaufighter VIF on CAP. There was no raid on the 27th against Japanese airfields but 42 Hurricane II, 39 Vengeance I and 15 Beaufighter VIC escorted by 36 Spitfire Vb took off from Kohima to attack again the 1st Tk Rgt 120 miles south of their base, but this day 11 Tojos and 9 A6M3 flew LRCAP over this unit. Losses in the air battle were 4 Tojos and 1 A6M3 on the Japanese side, and 10 Spitfire Vb, 7 Hurricane II, 7 Vengeance I and 3 Beaufighter VIC on the Allied one, so a clear Japanese victory, even if another Ki-44 and an A6M3 were also lost operationally. Both fighter units flew back to Rangoon after the battle. In the evening, a new recon unit (having lost a Ki-15 in bad weather during the day) also flew to Rangoon to receive replacement, leaving only the airfields of Pagan and Akyab still occupied by small recon units. China Nothing happened in two days, except some troop moves west of Sian. The five divisions that held the road 120 miles west of the city and defeated all Chinese units going out of the mountains were finally able to leave the area as several days went on without any Chinese unit arriving in their hex. A regiment of the 27th Div was ordered to replace them and arrived on the 27th, the same day a new Chinese unit went out of the mountains (where two other still were). The Japanese regiment will attack it tomorrow with air support from Sian. Japanese engineers expanded Lanchow airfield to size 8, scoring some more points. Japan Two escort TF arrived in Tokyo from Noumea, both of damaged ships hit during operations off New Zealand and New Caledonia. One was made of AP, the other of 7 DD and 1 CL. These ships will be scattered in various Japanese ports.
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