Cap Mandrake
Posts: 23184
Joined: 11/15/2002 From: Southern California Status: offline
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**************SOUPAC naval HQ, Darwin, 07:45************* Sparks: Message from task force 27, that's Colroado sir. OOD: Read it. Sparks: Have slowed to admire wonderful fluorescent wakes encountered west of Roti. Many dolphins and flying fish spotted near Roti. Very lovely. Heading East now toward Koepang. End. OOD: "Very lovely"? It actually says that? Sparks: Yes sir. That's how it decodes. OOD: Sweet baby Jesus! Get me the Admiral on the phone. *****************************Jan 23, 1943(c)************************* Koeapng: Things went precisely NOT as planned. To begin, both Colorado and Washington are exactly 1 hex west of Koepang adjacent to Japanese held isrands. I should have put them on sprint. D'oh! The P-38's show up to tangle with the CAP. They had been moved up to Darwin because there were insufficient supplies for drop tanks at Katherine. This is a good thing. The fighter sweep before the bombers. Morning Air attack on Koepang , at 68,116 Weather in hex: Light cloud Raid spotted at 34 NM, estimated altitude 36,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 6 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 52 Allied aircraft P-38G Lightning x 12 Japanese aircraft losses A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed Allied aircraft losses P-38G Lightning: 1 destroyed Here come the annoying LYB's. The BB's have outdistanced their LRCAP from Bathurst. I might have left the carriers closer but there was no way to cover both Lautem and the BB's. Morning Air attack on TF, near Roti at 67,116 Weather in hex: Clear sky Raid detected at 58 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 20 minutes Japanese aircraft G4M1 Betty x 8 Japanese aircraft losses G4M1 Betty: 3 damaged G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed by flak Allied Ships BB Washington BB Colorado, Torpedo hits 1 Aircraft Attacking: 4 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo 3 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo Gaak. At least it doesn't look so bad. It might have been worse. I think the Bettys came from Kendari. There seesm to be no attack from Koepang. Probably the runway damage. Here come the B-24's Morning Air attack on Koepang , at 68,116 Weather in hex: Light cloud Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 13 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 42 Allied aircraft B-24D Liberator x 58 Japanese aircraft losses A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed, 21 damaged A6M2 Zero: 9 destroyed on ground D3A2 Val: 4 destroyed on ground L3Y2 Tina: 1 destroyed on ground Allied aircraft losses B-24D Liberator: 1 destroyed, 4 damaged Japanese ground losses: 6 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Airbase hits 10 Airbase supply hits 4 Runway hits 49 Darned effective. Now there is more runway damage. Hard driving SOB CO of the P-38 squadron sends them BACK in the morning (they only had 15 operational aircraft at daybreak)? I have never seen this. Morning Air attack on Koepang , at 68,116 Weather in hex: Light cloud Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 33,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 4 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 12 Allied aircraft P-38G Lightning x 2 Japanese aircraft losses A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed No Allied losses 3 more Bettys go after Washington <makes Dominican good luck sign> Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Roti at 67,116 Weather in hex: Thunderstorms Raid detected at 76 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 26 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M3a Zero x 6 G4M1 Betty x 3 Japanese aircraft losses G4M1 Betty: 1 damaged Allied Ships BB Washington Gracias a Dios! Sallys from somewhere go after Colorado. Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Roti at 67,116 Weather in hex: Thunderstorms Raid detected at 69 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 20 minutes Japanese aircraft Ki-21-IIa Sally x 8 Japanese aircraft losses Ki-21-IIa Sally: 1 damaged Ki-21-IIa Sally: 1 destroyed by flak Allied Ships BB Colorado
< Message edited by Cap Mandrake -- 7/22/2012 3:12:10 PM >
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