apbarog
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Joined: 5/23/2002
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25 Feb 44
Redfin spotted a 3 battleship TF near Naha. Torpedoes missed a destroyer. Bluefish missed I-183 near Babeldaob with 2 torpedoes.
22 P-47s swept Nago, finding 18 Zeros. Many Zeros were shot down.
16 P-38Js swept Naha and found 42 Tojos and 42 Tonys. Some enemy shot down but the Lightnings were massacred. They did soften up the CAP, at least.
11 P-38Hs swept Nago, finding just 3 Zeros. All were destroyed.
35 F4U-1As swept Nago, but found no enemy planes.
Then the fireworks started.
17 Jills, 25 Judys and 15 Jacks attacked the US carriers. The enemy came from Okinawa. Pretty much every enemy plane was shot down before getting to target. CAP was 14 P-47Ds and 312 F6F-3s.
US carrier planes launched, but not against the carriers. They went after targets at Naha.
Morning Air attack on TF, near Naha at 95,66
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud
Raid detected at 77 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 28 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 34
Ki-61-Ic Tony x 36
Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 119
SB2C-1C Helldiver x 34
SBD-5 Dauntless x 34
TBM-1C Avenger x 18
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 1 destroyed
Ki-61-Ic Tony: 3 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
F6F-3 Hellcat: 5 destroyed
SB2C-1C Helldiver: 1 destroyed, 11 damaged
SB2C-1C Helldiver: 1 destroyed by flak
SBD-5 Dauntless: 1 destroyed, 10 damaged
TBM-1C Avenger: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
Japanese Ships
xAP Tatsuta Maru, Bomb hits 4, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Asama Maru, Bomb hits 12, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Akishimo, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
xAP Shanghai Maru, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Shimozuki, Bomb hits 2, on fire
CL Kuma, Bomb hits 4, on fire
Japanese ground losses:
5398 casualties reported
Squads: 60 destroyed, 78 disabled
Non Combat: 89 destroyed, 138 disabled
Engineers: 5 destroyed, 5 disabled
Guns lost 66 (44 destroyed, 22 disabled)
That was it for the morning phase. But in the afternoon, bigger strikes. The weather turned for the worse.
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Iriomote at 90,65
Weather in hex: Light cloud
Raid detected at 119 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 30 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M5c Zero x 50
B6N1 Jill x 18
B6N2 Jill x 53
D4Y2 Judy x 54
Allied aircraft
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 14
F6F-3 Hellcat x 387
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5c Zero: 5 destroyed
B6N1 Jill: 3 destroyed, 7 damaged
B6N1 Jill: 3 destroyed by flak
B6N2 Jill: 33 destroyed, 6 damaged
B6N2 Jill: 2 destroyed by flak
D4Y2 Judy: 34 destroyed, 3 damaged
D4Y2 Judy: 4 destroyed by flak
No Allied losses
Allied Ships
CV Huey
CV Yorktown, Torpedo hits 2, heavy damage
BB Washington
CVL Independence
CV Lexington
BB North Carolina
CVL Monterey
30 bombers got to target to release bombs or torpedoes.
US aircraft returned the favor.
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Naha at 96,66
Weather in hex: Thunderstorms
Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 29 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 6
A6M5c Zero x 54
N1K1-J George x 2
Allied aircraft
F4U-1A Corsair x 18
F6F-3 Hellcat x 82
SB2C-1C Helldiver x 102
SBD-5 Dauntless x 94
TBF-1 Avenger x 18
TBM-1C Avenger x 51
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5c Zero: 5 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
F6F-3 Hellcat: 8 destroyed
SB2C-1C Helldiver: 4 destroyed, 7 damaged
SBD-5 Dauntless: 1 destroyed, 15 damaged
SBD-5 Dauntless: 2 destroyed by flak
TBM-1C Avenger: 2 damaged
Japanese Ships
CV Zuikaku, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
CV Taiho, Bomb hits 5, heavy fires
BB Yamashiro, Bomb hits 4
CV Shokaku, Bomb hits 4, on fire
DD Susuzuki
CV Katsuragi, Bomb hits 11, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
CA Mogami
BB Mutsu, Bomb hits 3
CA Mikuma, Bomb hits 2, on fire
CA Myoko, Bomb hits 5, on fire
BB Fuso, Bomb hits 2
BB Nagato
DD Hamanami
DD Naganami
DD Takanami
CL Kiso
DD Yugumo
DD Niizuki, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Kazegumo
CA Takao
And another.
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Naha at 96,66
Weather in hex: Thunderstorms
Raid detected at 78 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 33 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 2
A6M5c Zero x 23
N1K1-J George x 2
Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 31
SB2C-1C Helldiver x 27
SBD-5 Dauntless x 68
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5c Zero: 1 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
F6F-3 Hellcat: 1 destroyed
SB2C-1C Helldiver: 4 destroyed, 2 damaged
SB2C-1C Helldiver: 1 destroyed by flak
SBD-5 Dauntless: 7 destroyed, 15 damaged
Japanese Ships
CS Nisshin, Bomb hits 4, on fire
CV Shokaku, on fire
CA Mogami
CV Taiho, heavy fires
CV Katsuragi, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Wakazuki
CV Zuikaku, Bomb hits 7, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Takanami
CA Myoko, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
CL Kiso
DD Yugumo
DD Susuzuki, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CA Mikuma, on fire
Fragmented US strikes followed, but fortunately the enemy CAP over the carriers was weakening.
18 TBF-1s found 9 Zeros and a George, losing some aircraft, but missed all targets.
18 TBM-1Cs with 20 F6F-3 found 30 Tojos and 26 Tonys at Naha. US aircraft were lost and no torpedoes were dropped.
18 TBM-1Cs found 5 Zeros and a George over the carriers. 7 bombers missed with their torpedoes.
27 Judys then attacked US carriers unescorted. 383 Hellcats took care of them. No bombs dropped.
18 TBF-1s found 3 Zeros, losing a few aircraft.
CV Shokaku, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
34 SBD-5 arrived, and the enemy CAP had been depleted.
CA Chokai, Bomb hits 2, on fire
CV Shokaku, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
CV Zuikaku, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
CA Mikuma, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CV Taiho, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
18 more TBM-1Cs dropped.
CA Myoko, Torpedo hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
And 18 more TBM-1Cs.
CV Taiho, Torpedo hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
CA Myoko, Torpedo hits 4, and is sunk
CV Katsuragi, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
Yorktown is SYS 22/FLOT 73-57/ENG 23-17/FIRE 0. It shows movement of 2 hexes per phase at full speed and 0 hexes per phase at normal speed. I'll risk additional damage with a full speed run towards Taihoku. It is 5 hexes away.
Total air losses were: (numbers in parentheses were lost on sunk ships)
92 A6M5c Zero (16)
82 D4Y2 Judy (3)
59 B6N2 Jill (8)
29 D4Y1 Judy
21 D4Y3 Judy (21)
17 A6M5 Zero
12 B6N1 Jill
11 Tony
10 Jack
5 Tojo
2 Pete (2)
44 F6F-3
24 SBD-5
22 TBM-1C
19 SB2C-1C
13 TBF-1
12 P-38J
49 US pilots were KIA, 4 of which had been aces. 14 became aces. 1 became a double ace.
The enemy carriers were protecting a big convoy going to Naha. The large loss of life for the troops on the xAPs is even bigger than the numbers show. If any of the other huge xAPs sink, the numbers will be much higher. With the invasion of Okinawa just a week or so away, hitting this convoy was important. Of concern is the enemy battleships. The bomb hits on them were insignificant, and they will be a worry for the invasion beaches. This close to Japan, Japan doesn't really need carriers, and it could be argued, shouldn't have needed carriers to cover troop convoys inbound to Okinawa.
It was interesting to see a number of 250 pound bombs from the SB2C-1Cs not penetrate carrier flight decks, and more than a few others hit hull armor. The battle took place at a range of 6 hexes, which allowed the TBFs to carry torpedoes. They wouldn't have at 7 hexes. And we all know what happens at 8 hexes.
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