IdahoNYer
Posts: 2616
Joined: 9/6/2009 From: NYer living in Boise, ID Status: offline
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8-9 Mar 42 Highlights - Naval Battle at Broome goes surprisingly well, IJN subs become increasingly troublesome. Jpn ships sunk: CL: 1 (Tama reportedly from action off Broome) DD: 1 (Suzukaze reportedly from collision off Broome) Allied ships sunk: DD:1 SS:1 (Sealion by sub) AM:2 AP:1 (Wharton) xAP:1 xAKL:1 Air loss: Jpn: 33 Allied: 14 Subwar: Jpn: 5 Attacks, 3 ship hit (AP Wharton sunk off LA by I-3, SS Sealion sunk off Brisbane by RO-60, APD crippled off Noumea by I-171) Allies: 2 Attacks, no ships hit Amph Inv: None Bases lost: Dinagat (PI) Meitktila (Burma) Djokjakarta (DEI) SIGINT/Intel: NSTR West Coast. Convoy bound for Auckland out of LA is attacked by IJN sub I-3 which sinks AP Wharton in two separate attacks. Wharton was carrying a Port Maint Bn, some of which was rescued by other ships. This highlights the need for the 4-Stacker DD conversion to DEs beginning next month. While I’ve converted about half dozen to APDs, the rest will go to DEs. In NOPAC. NSTR CENPAC. CVs Lex begins refit at PH. In SOPAC, IJN sub cripples APD Waters just off Noumea - she’ll most likely make Noumea, but she’s not going anywhere soon. One convoy has already cleared Noumea, another has just docked, and the third is just off the port. A large fast convoy docks in Auckland out of LA bringing Engineers, 2 AA Bns, Marine Raiders, In Bn and artillery - some will head to Australia. IJN subs are still plentiful, but no sign of any other IJN elements. In SWPAC, action remains hot in the Broome area, but things actually go better than expected with lotsa luck involved here considering the size of the forces involved. Action starts off with a IJN CL TF (3CL DDs) bombarding Port Hedland with minimal effect. At Broome, an IJN CA TF (2CA,3CL,6DD) starts the excitement by damaging the DD John D. Ford, and sinking an AM and an xAP carrying part of the Aus 19th Bde and then bombarding. A second IJN CA (2CA,2CL,4DD) then comes in to sink the John D. Ford, but doesn’t bombard. Then the first CA TF engages the CL TF (CL,4DDs) which escorting the remaining 3 xAPs (which remained unengaged throughout). Despite being surprised, the CL Hobart saves the day, landing numerous hits on the CA Mikuma and apparently crippling the CL Tama which is reportedly sunk the next day. The only misque here is that instead of following their charges into Broome and remaining there, the CL Hobart TF begins to head back to Perth. Amazingly, the 3 remaining xAPs are left untouched by surface forces, as well as missed by a small raid of Betties - AND they actually are able to land some heavy equipment for the 19th Bde. Further west, the prowling AMCs engage, but fail to damage 2xAKs which take refuge at Carnavon. At Darwin, a lone xAKL with AVD escort arrives in port to offload supplies and draws two Betty raids, escorted by Zeros - presumably at long range as P-39 CAP shoots down 9 Betties and 8 Zeroes for the cost of a single P-39. Overall, I expected it to be much worse this turn - just getting any heavy equipment into Broome, let alone getting the best of a superior CA TF was just some very good luck. Lastly, the SS crippled Sealion is sunk by a sub just after setting out from Brisbane to Sydney - tough loss as the Sealion was crippled off Japan and had made it to within 240 miles of its destination. In the Philippines, continued IJA raids continue and IJA ground bombardment resumes. In China, Wenchow is subjected to 14 separate IJA fighter sweeps over two days. The AVG fortunately have redeployed out of the base. In India/Burma, Meiktila falls. In the DEI, IJA advance on Java takes Djokjakarta on the south coast and Semarang on the north coast.
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