IdahoNYer
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Joined: 9/6/2009
From: NYer living in Boise, ID
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18-19 Oct 42
Highlights – Horn Island liberated; Heavy air losses for both sides over Horn and Mandalay.
Jpn ships sunk:
SS: 1 (I-24)
AMc: 1 (old)
Jpn ships unsunk:
SS: 1 (RO-64)
Allied ships sunk:
KV: 1
AMc: 1
Air loss:
Jpn: 95
Allied: 77
Subwar:
Jpn: 4 Attacks, 1 ship hit (AMc sunk)
SS I-24 sunk by DEs north of Portland Roads
Allies: 2 Attack, 0 ships hit
Jpn Amph Inv:
Terempa (DEI)
Allied Amph Inv:
Horn Is (SWPAC)
Bases lost:
Terempa (DEI)
Trinkat (Burma)
Bases Liberated:
Horn Island
SIGINT/Intel: Gds Mixed Bde is reported in the New Guinea jungle, midway between Lae and Terapo – likely moving to defend Terapo on the southern coast – which is fine, since I’m not landing there.
West Coast/Admin. I’m starting to preposition ships for the 11/42 upgrades – primarily some 15 US DDs, including the newly arrived Fletcher class, but also the North Carolina Class BBs. Won’t be a major impact to operations, but want to make sure those that need upgrades are in place to do so. Its going to take much of November just to re-gather the currently refitting CVs together (2 in Capetown, one in Seattle, Bremerton, Sydney and Auckland.
In NOPAC, it remains pretty quiet. US LBA begins hitting ground targets on Attu, and I’ll demonstrate with a transport TF in the Bering Sea to see if it draws any attention.
In SOPAC, USMC paras complete redeployment to Funafuti via PBY, and a CD Bn is enroute via transport TF, escorted by a CL TF (CLAA, 3DDs). Once established, will start bringing in the engineers and build up the base.
In SWPAC, the big news is Horn Island is secured in the first attack! The invasion goes about as well as could be hoped. Starts off with SS RO-68 sinking an AMc of the minesweeping force just off Portland Roads, but DEs on one ASW TFs damage the sub enough where it doesn’t execute any further attacks. Another sub, SS I-24 misses DE Hatfield, and the DEs Lawrence and Peary bring her to the surface and sink her. CL TF (2CL, 4DDs) bombard without much success, but the two Amph TFs land the troops without serious problems. With the AM turn, Allied bombers pound the defenders, the Maizuru SNLF, with good effect, but, as expected, L_S_T throws in large numbers of Bettys at the invasion. Fortune is with the Allies for a change, and the 70+ Bettys come in without escort – the LRCAP out of Portland Roads does well (despite me messing up the altitude settings), shooting down 41 of the attackers over the two days, and the Bettys only sink a KV, and heavily damage the CLAA San Diego and an xAP. Zeros sweep on the second day, and do well as the F4Fs and P-40Ks were pretty tired. All told, 45 Bettys, and a single Zero are lost in exchange for 7 F4Fs and 5 P-40K. I expected better from AA, but I’ll take it. Troops take the island in the first assault, with the SNLF destroyed. All troops except a couple of motorized support and most (over 4000) supplies were successfully landed by the end of the two days, and the ships will depart for Portland Roads and Cairns. CLAA San Diego (87float) and the xAP (46float) are disbanded at Horn, and fingers are crossed. Surprisingly, the AF (level 1) is fully repaired, and an Aussie Kittyhawk squadron is quickly based there, as I’ll start flying in aviation support troops, as well as more engineers via sea transport. Goal now will be to build up the AF as quickly as possible to support the next operation – Merauke, while keeping the pressure on NG AFs with sweeps and B-17s. Screenshot below shows dispositions at bases at the time of Horn Island’s liberation.
In WAUS, PBYs report the IJN is approaching Exmouth! Better here than against Horn Island! An unknown CV TF lurking behind the usual 1-2 punch; a BB TF leading a CA TF, heading towards Exmouth. With CVs in the area, I elect to weigh anchor, and the CA TF providing support to the USMC Def Bn landing, along with the TR TF, will depart back to Carnarvon. The USMC Def Bn is “mostly” offloaded, and once the threat has gone, will bring the ships back to finish the process. Was tempted to send the BC TF (BC, BB, 4DDs) to Exmouth from Carnavon and intercept the potential incoming BBs, but decided to play it safer – if L_S_T decides to hit Carnavon instead, the BC TF will be waiting – along with over 100 fighters avail for CAP, should the CVs come in range. The Illustrious and Warspite TFs, still out to sea, will clear the area further in case the IJN makes a wide sweep to the SW. With the Horn Island landings, my bet he aborts and heads back to base (which I’m assuming is Koepang).
In China, fighting begins at Kienko with the IJA forces attacking across the river with a Shock attack – and suffer 1600 casualties in exchange for 360. Although successful, Kienko is outflanked and doomed – no supply anyway. Trying to extract the troops to the west/northwest.
In India/Burma, the B-24 strike at Mandalay is costly to both sides. Fighters sweep, but meet over 80 fighters (Tojos/Oscar IIa/bs), and there are still enough fighters to give the bombers a hard time. After two days, losses are heavy for both sides. 7 B-24s are either written off or shot down and many damaged. Fighter losses are about even: 16 Oscar IIa, 13 Tojo, and 7 OscarIIb vs. 16 Hurri IIb, 6 P-40K, 8 P-39, and 9 Martlets. On the positive side, few pilots are lost, as many planes are written off on landing, and the AF suffered moderate damage (37). On the negative side, the B-24s will need some rest, and while losing 7 bombers isn’t catastrophic, it’s almost half a month’s replacements – and as expected, Mandalay wasn’t a base for those fighters – L_S_T looks like he’s concentrating at Magwe – which right now, is hard to reach effectively with fighters. Will focus on shorter range targets as we build up the B-24s and await reinforcements. On the ground, the IJA succeed in pushing back the US 87th Mtn Reg across the river towards Kohima will heavy loss – expected, but still painful.
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< Message edited by IdahoNYer -- 1/12/2016 12:38:28 AM >
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