apbarog
Posts: 3769
Joined: 5/23/2002 Status: offline
|
27 Dec 42 US APDs unload troops at Deboyne Island. The island is not defended. Cox's Bazar is attacked by 53 Sallys and 42 Oscars. Another 40 Oscars sweep later. Allied bombers target Japanese troops all along the Indian/Burma border. Not significant. 30 B-17s hit Buin's airfield from Port Moresby, doing moderate damage. No fighters there now, and no ships for them to protect. The interesting development today was at Taberfane. KB appeared on the east coast of New Guinea, but within range of Taberfane. In the afternoon, a strike hit Taberfane. I figured that the ships there were doomed. Afternoon Air attack on Taberfane , at 82,117 Weather in hex: Heavy cloud Raid detected at 119 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 44 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M3a Zero x 30 B5N2 Kate x 59 D3A2 Val x 23 D4Y1 Judy x 27 Allied aircraft P-40E Warhawk x 12 P-40K Warhawk x 25 Japanese aircraft losses A6M3a Zero: 3 destroyed B5N2 Kate: 2 destroyed, 8 damaged D3A2 Val: 2 destroyed, 6 damaged D3A2 Val: 1 destroyed by flak D4Y1 Judy: 2 damaged D4Y1 Judy: 1 destroyed by flak Allied aircraft losses P-40E Warhawk: 2 destroyed Allied ground losses: 10 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Airbase hits 7 Airbase supply hits 1 Runway hits 33 Surprisingly, to me anyway, the enemy planes went for the airfield. Some damage was done to the base, but the enemy did pay a price, going up against very good pilots. I breathed a sigh of relief that the ships there were not targeted. And then they were targeted. Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Taberfane at 82,117 Weather in hex: Heavy cloud Raid detected at 95 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 24 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M3a Zero x 63 B5N2 Kate x 35 D4Y1 Judy x 28 Allied aircraft P-40E Warhawk x 4 P-40K Warhawk x 14 Japanese aircraft losses A6M3a Zero: 3 destroyed B5N2 Kate: 1 damaged D4Y1 Judy: 1 damaged Allied aircraft losses P-40E Warhawk: 1 destroyed P-40K Warhawk: 1 destroyed Allied Ships DD Van Nes xAP Kota Tjandi, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk KV Quesnel, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk xAK Koomilya, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage xAP Kota Baroe, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk xAK Sophocles, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk AM Rail xAK Moonta, Bomb hits 8, and is sunk xAK Goulburn, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage Allied ground losses: 90 casualties reported Squads: 6 destroyed, 1 disabled Non Combat: 14 destroyed, 1 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Guns lost 89 (82 destroyed, 7 disabled) Vehicles lost 16 (15 destroyed, 1 disabled) CAP was overwhelmed with this strike. The US pilots still did well against the Zeros. Ships were lost. Part of a Marine defense unit was lost. One damaged xAK sank after combat. Another is gravely damaged and burning and disbanded into the port. It will probably burn up today. Most of the cargo lost was supply. Unloading was just too slow at the small port. Total air losses for the day were 20 A6M3 Zeros, 7 Vals, 5 Kates and 2 Judys, for the cost of 8 P-40Es and 1 P-40K. The Warhawks did rather well considering they were up against KB squadrons. About half of each squadron is now out of action. A fresh P-39 squadron, with elite pilots, is moved to Taberfane. It's always fun to sink ships with your carriers, but this attack doesn't change the situation. And with the upcoming fireworks coming to Burma, I don't mind seeing KB on the eastern side of New Guinea. I expect KB to now move south to harass the new Allied bases south and southeast of Rabaul. Tagula Island was captured. Enemy troops will evaporate quickly there with no supply. Tagula, Rossel, Munda and Vangunu are now all in Allied hands. Followup support troops need to be moved in. This will be attempted at Tagula today. An attempt to do so at Vangunu, on a much bigger scale, should happen the next day.
Attachment (1)
|