JocMeister
Posts: 8262
Joined: 7/29/2009 From: Sweden Status: offline
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Legaspi - 25th November -44 ______________________________________________________________________________ One of the biggest aerial battles of the war raged over Legaspi this turn. This is the first strike. A Sweep/LRCAP combo. quote:
[size=1]Morning Air attack on Legaspi , at 82,82 Weather in hex: Heavy rain Raid detected at 14 NM, estimated altitude 35,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 3 minutes Japanese aircraft Ki-84a Frank x 49 Allied aircraft P-38J Lightning x 24 P-38L Lightning x 13 P-47D25 Thunderbolt x 41 F6F-3 Hellcat x 15 F6F-5 Hellcat x 19 Japanese aircraft losses Ki-84a Frank: 8 destroyed Allied aircraft losses P-38J Lightning: 1 destroyed P-47D25 Thunderbolt: 1 destroyed Aircraft Attacking: 3 x Ki-84a Frank sweeping at 31000 feet Personally I don´t use LRCAP for this purpose. My experience is that its counterproductive. This sweep is followed up by the first of many strikes. Here are some of them. quote:
Morning Air attack on TF, near Legaspi at 82,82 Weather in hex: Heavy rain Raid detected at 116 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 34 minutes Japanese aircraft J2M3 Jack x 36 N1K1-J George x 30 N1K2-J George x 15 P1Y2 Frances x 18 Allied aircraft P-38J Lightning x 14 P-38L Lightning x 12 P-47D25 Thunderbolt x 36 F6F-3 Hellcat x 13 F6F-5 Hellcat x 16 Japanese aircraft losses J2M3 Jack: 7 destroyed N1K1-J George: 10 destroyed N1K2-J George: 2 destroyed P1Y2 Frances: 3 destroyed, 9 damaged P1Y2 Frances: 1 destroyed by flak Allied aircraft losses P-47D25 Thunderbolt: 1 destroyed F6F-3 Hellcat: 2 destroyed Allied Ships BB Prince of Wales, Torpedo hits 2 CA Vincennes APA Dauphin Morning Air attack on TF, near Legaspi at 82,82 Weather in hex: Heavy rain Raid detected at 79 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 23 minutes Japanese aircraft P1Y2 Frances x 36 Allied aircraft P-38J Lightning x 9 P-38L Lightning x 7 P-47D25 Thunderbolt x 17 F6F-3 Hellcat x 5 F6F-5 Hellcat x 7 Japanese aircraft losses P1Y2 Frances: 13 destroyed Here comes the first massed Frank "R" sweep. Considering my planes had been flying LRCAP for 3 days, the 3 minute detection time and that this was perhaps the 7th strike that day I would say it looks pretty underwhelming. Afternoon Air attack on Legaspi , at 82,82 Weather in hex: Partial cloud Raid detected at 13 NM, estimated altitude 42,270 feet. Estimated time to target is 3 minutes Japanese aircraft Ki-84r Frank x 49 Allied aircraft P-38J Lightning x 6 P-38L Lightning x 1 P-47D25 Thunderbolt x 28 F6F-3 Hellcat x 9 F6F-5 Hellcat x 16 Japanese aircraft losses Ki-84r Frank: 3 destroyed Allied aircraft losses P-38J Lightning: 3 destroyed P-38L Lightning: 1 destroyed P-47D25 Thunderbolt: 1 destroyed F6F-3 Hellcat: 1 destroyed F6F-5 Hellcat: 2 destroyed Aircraft Attacking: 25 x Ki-84r Frank sweeping at 38270 feet Here is the last sweep of the day! Afternoon Air attack on Legaspi , at 82,82 Weather in hex: Partial cloud Raid detected at 29 NM, estimated altitude 36,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 7 minutes Japanese aircraft Ki-84a Frank x 49 Allied aircraft P-47D25 Thunderbolt x 11 F6F-3 Hellcat x 1 Japanese aircraft losses Ki-84a Frank: 3 destroyed No Allied losses And then the worst strike of the day...by now my LRCAP is completely worn down Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Legaspi at 82,82 Weather in hex: Partial cloud Raid detected at 110 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 32 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M3a Zero x 15 J2M3 Jack x 10 N1K1-J George x 36 P1Y2 Frances x 13 Allied aircraft P-47D25 Thunderbolt x 2 Japanese aircraft losses P1Y2 Frances: 2 damaged P1Y2 Frances: 4 destroyed by flak No Allied losses Allied Ships CA Vincennes BB Prince of Wales, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk Considering everything I can´t complain on the result. My LRCAP did admirable fighting off 200-300 Franks on Sweep. Obviously losing the PoW at this point in the war is a sad affair. She was struck by 3 TTs in Soerabaja harbour in 42 yet managed to not only sneak out under heavy Japanese aircover but sail all the way to Cape Town. She has been invaluable for me in 43 fighting the SOPAC. While the actual loss doesn´t mean anything at this point its still sad. At least she did what she was there for. Divert damage from the troopships.
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