obvert
Posts: 14050
Joined: 1/17/2011 From: PDX (and now) London, UK Status: offline
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11 - 12 April 1944 ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ SUBS: The Grouper gets a shot at our retreating surface groups, but luckily misses. S/SW PAC: Wow. Not even two successive combats using capital ships can break through the US DD flotillas right now. Nagato and Mutsu supported by 5 DD went in toward Sarmi first to get a shot at transports moving toward the base and not only did the IJN DDs get crushed but the BBs took significant damage, all for what looks like one US DD sunk and another badly damaged. That's it. Neither commander got the crossed T, which I guess means they were about equal. If BBs can't win a fight with DDs in daylight at normal distances, even getting first engagements by the report, then I'm not sure what to do with naval forces except park them. I've shepherded the BBs into the late game thinking they were maybe the ships that could still make a difference, but that seems not to be the case. Next up Mikuma and Suzuya came in and should have wiped the seas here against slightly damaged ships low on ammo, but again couldn't effectively hit the US ships. On top of that, the Arashio takes ONE 5 inch shell and goes under. I didn't see why, but I'm sure it was a magazine. Bad luck? Not sure. The radar controllers are great, the 5 inch/38 guns get shells out fast. I know these are superior ships. I can't help but feel something changes though in 44 with naval combat. The result are just night and day from before, and these are crews that have HIGH experience, all good DDs and with top commanders as captains and in the TF. Am I still missing something? Totals for the day; IJN - 4 DD sunk, one severely damaged and struggling to make port. 40cm turret taken out on Mutsu, now back the Yokohama yards. Allies - 2 DD sunk, one heavily damaged. S DEI: Nothing new. BURMA: More bombing of the troops near Lashio. Same old. The next fresh troops should arrive tomorrow. CENTRAL PACFIC: Well, a picket NOrth of Wake is hit by US CV aircraft. Not sure what is going on there. Something is up though. The KB is getting ready to move. If it's Marshalls or Wake I'll stay put, If it looks like Marcus we go in. Could be big! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR April 11, 44 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Time Surface Combat, near Sarmi at 90,113, Range 18,000 Yards Japanese Ships BB Nagato, Shell hits 2 BB Mutsu, Shell hits 15, on fire DD Hayashimo, Shell hits 8, heavy fires, heavy damage DD Yukikaze, Shell hits 5 DD Hamakaze, Shell hits 7, heavy fires, heavy damage DD Hatsuharu, Shell hits 6, heavy fires DD Hatsushima, Shell hits 8, heavy fires, heavy damage DD Yugure, Shell hits 2, on fire Allied Ships DD Bullard, Shell hits 2, on fire DD Capps, Shell hits 1 DD Gatling, Shell hits 1 DD Halligan DD Marshall, Shell hits 1 DD Nicholas, Shell hits 1 DD O'Bannon DD Stanly, Shell hits 4, heavy fires DD Strong DD Selfridge, Shell hits 3, and is sunk Maximum visibility in Partly Cloudy Conditions: 28,000 yards Range closes to 24,000 yards... CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 24,000 yards Range closes to 18,000 yards... CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 18,000 yards BB Mutsu engages DD O'Bannon at 18,000 yards DD Hayashimo engages DD Bullard at 11,000 yards Range closes to 7,000 yards BB Mutsu engages DD Selfridge at 7,000 yards BB Nagato engages DD Bullard at 25,000 yards Fujisawa, Takamasa orders Japanese TF to disengage Task forces break off... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Time Surface Combat, near Sarmi at 91,114, Range 24,000 Yards Japanese Ships CA Mikuma, Shell hits 1 CA Suzuya DD Natsushio, Shell hits 2, on fire DD Tanikaze, Shell hits 3 DD Asashio, Shell hits 1, and is sunk Really? DD Arashio, Shell hits 2 DD Yudachi, Shell hits 2 Allied Ships DD Bullard, Shell hits 3, heavy fires DD Capps, Shell hits 1 DD Gatling, Shell hits 2 DD Halligan DD Marshall, Shell hits 3 DD Nicholas DD O'Bannon, Shell hits 3, on fire DD Stanly, Shell hits 4, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk DD Strong, Shell hits 1 Maximum visibility in Partly Cloudy Conditions: 28,000 yards Range closes to 24,000 yards... CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 24,000 yards CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 24,000 yards CA Suzuya engages DD Stanly at 24,000 yards DD Bullard engages DD Yudachi at 10,000 yards Burke, Arleigh A. orders Allied TF to disengage Range closes to 7,000 yards CA Suzuya engages DD Strong at 7,000 yards DD Arashio engages DD Bullard at 16,000 yards Task forces break off... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Morning Air attack on Rabaul , at 106,125 Weather in hex: Heavy rain Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 27 minutes Japanese aircraft no flights Allied aircraft B-25C Mitchell x 18 Hudson III (LR) x 18 Kittyhawk IV x 5 B-17E Fortress x 24 B-24D Liberator x 12 B-24D1 Liberator x 60 B-24J Liberator x 93 B-25C Mitchell x 15 B-25D1 Mitchell x 88 B-25G Mitchell x 28 B-25H Mitchell x 45 PB4Y-1 Liberator x 12 PV-1 Ventura x 11 Japanese aircraft losses E13A1 Jake: 1 destroyed on ground Allied aircraft losses B-25H Mitchell: 1 damaged Japanese ground losses: 17 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Airbase hits 26 Airbase supply hits 3 Runway hits 104 Aircraft Attacking: 12 x PB4Y-1 Liberator bombing from 12000 feet Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Morning Air attack on 2nd RTA Division, at 60,47 , near Mandalay Weather in hex: Light cloud Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 6 minutes Allied aircraft Liberator B.III x 11 Liberator B.VI x 11 Liberator GR.III x 9 Wellington GR.XIII x 12 B-17F Fortress x 8 B-24D Liberator x 15 B-24D1 Liberator x 29 B-24J Liberator x 106 B-25C Mitchell x 59 Allied aircraft losses B-24D1 Liberator: 1 damaged B-24J Liberator: 7 damaged Japanese ground losses: 180 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 12 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 25 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled Aircraft Attacking: 3 x Liberator GR.III bombing from 6000 feet Ground Attack: 8 x 250 lb GP Bomb -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR April 12, 44 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ASW attack near Biak at 87,109 Japanese Ships DD Yukikaze BB Mutsu BB Nagato CA Suzuya CA Mikuma DD Tanikaze DD Natsushio DD Yudachi DD Arashio Allied Ships SS Grouper, hits 1 SS Grouper launches 2 torpedoes at DD Yukikaze Grouper diving deep .... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Night Time Surface Combat, near Hollandia at 93,115, Range 8,000 Yards Japanese Ships MTB G-19, Shell hits 1 MTB G-20, Shell hits 1, and is sunk Allied Ships DD Chauncey DD Chevalier DD Claxton DD Foote DD Waller Improved night sighting under 78% moonlight Maximum visibility in Partly Cloudy Conditions and 78% moonlight: 11,000 yards -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Morning Air attack on Rabaul , at 106,125 Weather in hex: Heavy cloud Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 27 minutes Japanese aircraft no flights Allied aircraft B-25C Mitchell x 18 Hudson III (LR) x 18 PV-1 Ventura x 18 B-17E Fortress x 23 B-24D Liberator x 11 B-24D1 Liberator x 66 B-24J Liberator x 103 B-25C Mitchell x 15 B-25D1 Mitchell x 88 B-25G Mitchell x 29 B-25H Mitchell x 45 F4U-1A Corsair x 12 PB4Y-1 Liberator x 23 PV-1 Ventura x 11 Japanese aircraft losses E13A1 Jake: 1 destroyed on ground Allied aircraft losses B-25H Mitchell: 1 damaged Japanese ground losses: 14 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Airbase hits 50 Airbase supply hits 7 Runway hits 219 Aircraft Attacking: 12 x PB4Y-1 Liberator bombing from 12000 feet Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Afternoon Air attack on 39th/A Division, at 60,47 , near Mandalay Weather in hex: Heavy cloud Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 6 minutes Allied aircraft Liberator B.VI x 7 Liberator GR.III x 13 Wellington GR.XIII x 7 B-17F Fortress x 4 B-24D Liberator x 14 B-24D1 Liberator x 20 B-24J Liberator x 71 B-25C Mitchell x 28 Allied aircraft losses B-24D1 Liberator: 1 damaged B-24J Liberator: 4 damaged Japanese ground losses: 87 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 18 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled Aircraft Attacking: 6 x Liberator GR.III bombing from 6000 feet Ground Attack: 8 x 250 lb GP Bomb -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Wake Island at 143,85 Weather in hex: Thunderstorms Raid spotted at 12 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 4 minutes Allied aircraft F6F-3 Hellcat x 80 SBD-5 Dauntless x 34 No Allied losses Japanese Ships AMc Banshu Maru #8, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk Aircraft Attacking: 3 x SBD-5 Dauntless releasing from 2000' Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb 31 x SBD-5 Dauntless releasing from 10000' Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reinforcements: MGB G-232 arrives at Osaka/Kyoto E No.17 arrives at Tokyo Aircraft D4Y4 Judy advances R&D Losses: Loss of DD Asashio on Apr 11, 1944 is admitted Loss of AMc Banshu Maru #8 on Apr 12, 1944 is admitted Loss of MTB G-19 on Apr 12, 1944 is admitted Loss of MTB G-20 on Apr 12, 1944 is admitted Ships Sunk: DD Stanly is reported to have been sunk near Sarmi on Apr 11, 1944 DD Selfridge is reported to have been sunk near Sarmi on Apr 11, 1944 ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Mutsu is back to the yards, needing some new tubes and the dents knocked out. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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< Message edited by obvert -- 3/26/2013 11:29:35 AM >
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"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm." - Winston Churchill
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