Mike Solli
Posts: 15792
Joined: 10/18/2000 From: the flight deck of the Zuikaku Status: offline
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The 51 xAPs will be used to move LCUs from the Home Islands to a hub near where the LCU destination will be. They will not be used in combat (hopefully). Given this, I do not see the need for many -t conversions. Here's my intent on the xAK(L)s by class: AK Yusen-S (10) - They're already AKs. They will remain AKs. xAK Lima (46) - 6 will convert to AKV and 7 will convert to AKE leaving 33. Initially, they will form 3x TFs of 10 + 3 Ansyu-C PB. Two will be at Pt. Arthur and one at Shanghai. They will send resources to Japan and the Shanghai TF will move supply to China as needed. Hopefully, the Pt. Arthur TFs will be reassigned when the flow out of Keijo and Fusan becomes adequate. xAK Yusen-N (56) - These are nice 15 kt cargos that have 300 liquid capacity. They will be used to haul between major ports. I'm not sure where I'll use them yet. xAK Yusen-A (7) - Convert to AK. xAK Kyushu (32) - These are the nice 18 kt cargos that have 300 liquid capacity. They are allocated to move resources/oil from Singapore to Takao. xAK Aden (189) - These are the workhorses that will move resources/supply (and if needed, fuel) between major ports. Unfortunately, with their large capacity, they take a long time to load so they are relatively slow. Couple that with their 12 kt speed and it takes forever to get them somewhere and unloaded. We're stuck with a lot of them so they'll be used for normal movement of stuff and it'll just take more of them. *Sigh* xAK Husimi (25) - Six will convert to AR and the remaining 19 to AK. There just aren't enough of them to go around. xAK Akasi (57) - Four will convert to AD and the rest will be used between medium sized ports. xAK Ehime (58) - Eleven (at least) will convert to AG and the remainder will be used between medium sized ports. xAK Toho (53) - I like these guys. They aren't too big and their 14 kt speed makes them relatively quick. I'll use them in TFs of 10 ships to haul resources (and fuel if needed) between Taihoku and Kagoshima. xAK Std-C (17) - All of this class will be converted to TKs. Lots more are in the reinforcement queue. xAK Ansyu-C (54) - They will all be converted to PBs. With the 52 that start the war as PBs, I'll have over 100 of them. I suspect I'll need them. They have nice endurance (6000) and make nice ASW TFs as well as convoy escorts for 12 and 14 kt TFs. Their only down side (aside from their horrible starting experience levels) is that they are relatively large (2980 tons). xAK Gozan (58) - This is the smallest of the xAK classes. Their slow speed (10 kts) is, in my opinion, countered by their low tonnage (2375 tons). This allows them to be used in small ports. I'm planning on using them on the Fusan-Fukuoka and Toyohara-Wakkani routes to move resources. xAKL Miyati (59) - The largest of the xAKLs, they will haul resources for the most part. Right now I have 5 TFs of 5 Miyatis and 2 Kiso PBs to move resources from the 5 resource producing islands south of the Philippines to Naga. I haven't figured out the rest but you can count on it being something similar somewhere else. xAKL Kasu-D (46) - These are my favorite xAKL class because of they are "blessed" with being small and having a 12 kt speed. Right now I have half of them allocated to the resource run between Nauru/Ocean Island and Truk. They would make "fast" cargos useful in moving troops to front line locations, although I don't think they'll last long in that capacity. xAKL Daigen (68) - These are the smallest "useful" cargo ships. With only a 10 kt speed, and a capacity of 125 troops/1570 cargo, they will be used to move small quantities of troops and/or supplies to small garrisons here and there, preferably not near enemy air power. I see them used in the southern SRA in that capacity. xAKL Kiso-E (69) - My intent is to convert them to ACM (40) and PB (29). With the 31 existing, I'll have 60 PBs. I like them because they have an endurance of 4000 and have 3 DC racks. Their 11 kt speed will pretty much force them to escort the multitude of 10 kt cargos. I really wish it was 12 kts. Ah well.... xAKL To'su (37) - My intent is to convert them to ACM (17) and PB (20). With the 34 existing, I'll have 54 PBs. They're blessed with a 12 kt speed but their small endurance of 1700 reduces their capabilities. Overall, I'll have 220 PBs (106 Ansyu-C, 60 Kiso-E and 54 To'su). With luck, they'll last long enough to get the nice escorts later in the war to replace them.
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