DesertWolf101
Posts: 1445
Joined: 11/26/2016
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The Naval Battle of Port Moresby
Well, turns out there was no bombardment at all! Wirraway informed me that he suspected I would rush his bombardment task forces and decided to keep them on patrol stations for another turn. This was a good move on his part, as his fully stocked fleet severely damaged my first three task forces as can be seen bellow:
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Day Time Surface Combat, near Port Moresby at 98,130, Range 16,000 Yards
Allied aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft losses
SOC-1 Seagull: 1 destroyed
Walrus II: 1 destroyed
Japanese Ships
CA Tone
CA Chikuma, Shell hits 3, heavy fires
CA Chokai, Shell hits 2, on fire
CA Haguro, Shell hits 2
DD Hamakaze
DD Tanikaze
DD Natsugumo
DD Yamagumo, Shell hits 2
Allied Ships
CL Leander, Shell hits 10, heavy fires
CL Achilles, Shell hits 39, and is sunk
CL Detroit, Shell hits 32, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
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Day Time Surface Combat, near Port Moresby at 98,130, Range 16,000 Yards
Allied aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft losses
SOC-1 Seagull: 2 destroyed
Japanese Ships
BB Fuso, Shell hits 4, on fire
BB Yamashiro, Shell hits 9
CL Sendai
DD Yukikaze, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Tokitsukaze, Shell hits 3, heavy fires
DD Isonami, Shell hits 1
DD Uranami, Shell hits 1, on fire
Allied Ships
CL St. Louis, Shell hits 6, heavy fires, heavy damage
CL Helena, Shell hits 6, and is sunk
DD Cummings, Shell hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Stuart, Shell hits 7, heavy fires, heavy damage
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Day Time Surface Combat, near Port Moresby at 98,130, Range 20,000 Yards
Allied aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft losses
SOC-1 Seagull: 2 destroyed
Japanese Ships
CA Aoba
CA Kinugasa, Shell hits 2, heavy fires
CA Furutaka, Shell hits 2
CA Kako
DD Kagero, Shell hits 1
DD Hayashio
DD Isokaze, Shell hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Shiranui
DD Urakaze
Allied Ships
CA Indianapolis, Shell hits 16, on fire, heavy damage
CA Louisville, Shell hits 6, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
DD Helm, Shell hits 25, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Mugford, Shell hits 7, heavy fires, heavy damage
These first three engagements were to the clear benefit of Japan, the Allies losing one heavy cruiser, five light cruisers, and four destroyers for little direct impact on the Japanese fleet. Nevertheless, the Japanese did take some damage and more importantly all their ships had largely exhausted their ammunition. This created an opening for the Allies to dish out their own significant damage in the next two engagements as can be seen bellow:
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Day Time Surface Combat, near Port Moresby at 98,130, Range 20,000 Yards
Japanese Ships
CA Tone, Shell hits 3, heavy fires
CA Chikuma, Shell hits 12, heavy fires, heavy damage
CA Chokai, Shell hits 2, heavy fires
CA Haguro, Shell hits 14, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Hamakaze, Shell hits 4, heavy fires
DD Tanikaze
DD Natsugumo, Shell hits 4
DD Yamagumo, Shell hits 4, heavy fires
Allied Ships
CA Pensacola, Shell hits 2, heavy fires
CA Minneapolis, Shell hits 6, on fire
DD Ralph Talbot, Shell hits 11, and is sunk
DD Henley, Shell hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage
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Day Time Surface Combat, near Port Moresby at 98,130, Range 20,000 Yards
Japanese aircraft
no flights
Japanese aircraft losses
F1M2 Pete: 1 destroyed
E13A1 Jake: 2 destroyed
Japanese Ships
CA Tone, Shell hits 6, heavy fires, heavy damage
CA Chikuma, Shell hits 15, and is sunk
CA Chokai, Shell hits 7, heavy fires, heavy damage
CA Haguro, Shell hits 28, and is sunk
DD Hamakaze, Shell hits 7, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Tanikaze, Shell hits 6, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Natsugumo, Shell hits 1
DD Yamagumo, Shell hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
Allied Ships
CL Phoenix
CL Honolulu
DD Patterson, Shell hits 2
DD Jarvis, Shell hits 1, on fire
During the air phase Japanese Nell bombers attempted their torpedo strikes but thankfully they all missed. Finally, the last action of the day goes to my submarines:
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Sub attack near Port Moresby at 97,130
Japanese Ships
BB Fuso, Torpedo hits 2, on fire
DD Yukikaze
Allied Ships
SS S-28
SS S-28 launches 4 torpedoes at BB Fuso
Summary
Allied losses: 1 heavy cruiser, 5 light cruisers, and 6 destroyers sunk; 1 heavy cruiser badly damaged, 2 heavy cruisers moderately damaged. The Indianapolis is the badly damaged cruiser but I think I have a decent chance of bringing her home.
Japanese losses: 3 heavy cruisers confirmed sunk (float plane losses factored in) with another heavy cruiser almost certainly sunk, another heavy cruiser badly damaged, a battleship moderately damaged. Hard to say how many destroyers were sunk, but I estimate 4 sank or will sink.
Overall I think my ships did a very good job and I am more than happy with the balance of losses on both sides. Essentially it comes down to the fact that I can easily afford these losses while the Japanese can't. The next turn will be interesting. I have one light cruiser task force with considerable ammo still available and one Australian heavy cruiser task force that was not at all engaged now in the immediate battle area. I will see if I continue the battle over the next day and my submarines will continue to attempt to pick off some Japanese ships as well.
< Message edited by DesertWolf101 -- 2/5/2022 5:53:55 AM >
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RE: A War to be Won - DesertWolf101 (A) vs Wirraway_Ace... - 
(i.e. the first battle against 3 CL's) I would imagine there is a 25 pages long topic about this someplace. 
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