Cuttlefish
Posts: 2454
Joined: 1/24/2007
From: Oregon, USA
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June 3, 1942 – June 7, 1942
Carrier battles. They don’t happen very often. Even in a violently contested game there will only be a handful of them in several years of war. But they are the most exciting actions in the game, and always significant, sometimes game-changing. Certainly for many players they are the most psychologically significant. On 7 June the first carrier battle of this war erupted, with action and carnage aplenty.
Pacific: The Battle of Canton Island. Kido Butai, as previously described, had passed just north of the Marshall Islands and then set course to the southeast, hoping to prey upon Allied forces shuttling between Pearl Harbor and the Gilberts. My carriers passed 4 June without seeing any Allied ships. On 5 June, however, as they moved further into Allied waters, they found and destroyed an Allied task force.
This task force consisted of DD Dale, four APs (Harris, Wharton, U.S. Grant, and Tasker H. Bliss) and two AKs. A nice prize. My carriers continued on to the southeast on 6 June without finding any enemy ships. They were, however, shadowed by Allied recon. I ordered a course change to the southwest for 7 June, intending for my carriers to loop back south of the Gilberts and then return home.
Morning found Kido Butai passing between Baker and Canton Islands. Allied carriers were spotted three hexes due southwest, with Allied transport TFs scattered about nearby. Both sides launched planes.
My best guess is that four Allied carriers were present, very likely Lexinton, Saratoga, Enterprise, and Wasp. I had all six CVs, of course. The Japanese strike went in first:
Morning Air attack on TF, near Canton Island at 151,141
Weather in hex: Severe storms
Raid detected at 160 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 60 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 58
B5N2 Kate x 119
D3A1 Val x 73
Allied aircraft
F2A-3 Buffalo x 6
F4F-3 Wildcat x 32
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed
B5N2 Kate: 6 destroyed, 26 damaged
D3A1 Val: 2 destroyed, 22 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
F2A-3 Buffalo: 1 destroyed
F4F-3 Wildcat: 4 destroyed
Allied Ships
CV Saratoga, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
CV Lexington, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
CA Indianapolis, Torpedo hits 3, heavy damage
CL Helena, Bomb hits 4, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
CA Chicago
CA Portland, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
DD Van Ghent
DD Lawrence
CL Honolulu, Bomb hits 1
CL Phoenix, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Piet Hein
DD Vendetta
DD Tenedos
This was not bad, though my planes showed a distressing tendency to ignore the Allied carriers in preference for attacking lesser targers. The Allied counter-strike met a distressingly low number of Zeros on CAP and hit hard:
Morning Air attack on TF, near Canton Island at 153,138
Weather in hex: Light cloud
Raid spotted at 40 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 35
Allied aircraft
F2A-3 Buffalo x 5
F4F-3 Wildcat x 31
SBD-2 Dauntless x 28
SBD-3 Dauntless x 36
TBD-1 Devastator x 30
No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
F2A-3 Buffalo: 2 destroyed
F4F-3 Wildcat: 10 destroyed
SBD-2 Dauntless: 1 destroyed
SBD-3 Dauntless: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged
TBD-1 Devastator: 2 destroyed, 5 damaged
Japanese Ships
CV Zuikaku, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
CV Soryu, Bomb hits 3, on fire
CV Shokaku, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires
CL Abukuma, Bomb hits 1, on fire
BB Kirishima, Bomb hits 5, on fire
CA Furutaka
CA Chikuma, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Isokaze
DD Urakaze
No torpedo hits (I only saw one torpedo actually strike its target, and it was a dud). Still, good work by the Allied dive bombers.
The second Japanese attack did a lot of damage – to a nearby Allied transport TF.
Morning Air attack on TF, near Canton Island at 152,141
Weather in hex: Light cloud
Raid spotted at 25 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes
Japanese aircraft
B5N2 Kate x 16
D3A1 Val x 16
Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 2 damaged
Allied Ships
xAK Steel Navigator, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 4, and is sunk
AP American Legion, Torpedo hits 1
xAK President Quezon, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Admiral Williams, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
AP Thomas Jefferson, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 2, on fire
AP Crescent City, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Rangatira, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
Now, I’m as big a fan of sinking enemy shipping as anyone, but I really don’t think these guys were the primary target at the moment. But my guys weren’t done. There was another transport TF nearby:
Morning Air attack on TF, near Canton Island at 151,139
Weather in hex: Light cloud
Raid spotted at 31 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 10
D3A1 Val x 23
Japanese aircraft losses
D3A1 Val: 2 damaged
Allied Ships
xAK San Angelo, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DMS Perry, Bomb hits 3, and is sunk
DMS Lamberton, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Maine, Bomb hits 7, and is sunk
So much for them. We move on to the PM phase, which Japan opens by deciding, oh, why not, let’s go after that pesky enemy carrier force again:
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Canton Island at 151,141
Weather in hex: Light cloud
Raid detected at 120 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 51 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 42
B5N2 Kate x 50
D3A1 Val x 55
Allied aircraft
F2A-3 Buffalo x 2
F4F-3 Wildcat x 12
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed
B5N2 Kate: 1 destroyed, 14 damaged
D3A1 Val: 2 destroyed, 24 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
Allied Ships
CA Indianapolis, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
CV Saratoga, Bomb hits 2, on fire
CA Chicago, Bomb hits 3, on fire
CA Portland, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
DD Vendetta
DD Lawrence
DD Tenedos, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Dewey, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
CV Lexington, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
CL Honolulu, Bomb hits 1
CL Phoenix
DD Piet Hein, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
DD Van Ghent
CL Helena, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
The Allies respond by launching two small strikes. The first is butchered but the second one breaks through and does heavy damage to Kaga:
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Canton Island at 153,138
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid spotted at 40 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 20
Allied aircraft
F4F-3 Wildcat x 3
SBD-3 Dauntless x 11
No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
F4F-3 Wildcat: 1 destroyed
SBD-3 Dauntless: 5 damaged
Japanese Ships
CV Akagi
BB Hiei
CV Kaga, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Murakumo
Japanese planes launch a pair of small strikes against what is left of enemy shipping in the area, sinking DMS Lambertson and AP Crescent City. And with that the day’s combat comes to an end.
Losses: On the Japanese side CV Shokaku and CA Chikuma are both sunk. Zuikaku and Kaga both have a lot of system damage and fires in the 40s and these carriers are in peril as well.
The Allies seem certain to lose Lexington. I’m not sure about Saratoga but I doubt it. Confirmed losses are CAs Portland and Indianapolis, CL Helena, and DDs Dewey and Piet Hein. Oh, and two DMS and three xAKs. DD Tenedos is almost certainly sunk, as are another two xAKs and four APs. Not that the little guys matter a lot under the circumstances.
Japan loses 30 planes in air-to-air and to flak; Allied losses are closer to 70. But Japan loses 125 planes on sunk or damaged carriers; carrier pilot losses on the day are about 50, which is acceptable. Allied carrier planes destroyed “on deck” are listed at 15.
Analysis: This battle could go either way, depending on what sinks. If it turns out to be a swap of Lexington for Shokaku I would call it a Japanese victory because of the Allied cruiser and destroyer losses, losses they can ill-afford right now. If, however, I lose Zuikaku or Kaga or both then it clearly becomes an Allied victory.
Either way it could have gone better for me. Japan failed to use its assets to best advantage, frittering away a chance to really pound the Allied fleet by attacking nearby shipping. In this regard the outcome has to be seen as a triumph for the Allies. I am disappointed in the results but carrier battles are always a uncertain thing in AE. When you send your carriers into enemy waters you really have to be prepared to not get all of them home again.
I am not going to entirely discount the eight APs, destroyer, two DMS, two AKs, and five xAKs sunk before and during the battle. Allied shipping losses have been heavy.
Scoreboard: For those who have not been keeping score at home here is what major ship losses look like at this point:
CVs: Japan 1, Allies 1
BBs: Japan 2, Allies 4
CAs: Japan 4, Allies 10
CLs: Japan 1, Allies 8
DDs: Japan 4, Allies 32
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