RE: December 11th, 1941 - Landing at Ambon

RE: December 11th, 1941 - Landing at Ambon (Full Version)

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LoBaron -> RE: December 11th, 1941 - Landing at Ambon (12/27/2011 9:28:45 AM)
Good start Feurer Krieg! Subscribed. Noticing your screenshots just a small hint: recommend you install Cathartes planeside/planetop mod, link is available from the art link sticky in the Scenario Design and Modding forums. Looks so much better.

FeurerKrieg -> RE: December 11th, 1941 - Landing at Ambon (12/27/2011 3:58:13 PM)
Thanks - I'll check it out when I get a chance. I spent a lot of time adding art to WITP and then when I switched to AE I was sort of 'over it' on the art front, but with another long weekend coming up maybe I'll add some in.

FeurerKrieg -> December 12th, 1941 - No joy at Ambon (12/31/2011 5:31:26 AM)
December 12, 1941 Malaya & DEI Worries of surface attack at Mersing are unfounded and our ships reach the base safely and begin unloading. The worst damage is inflicted by the SS KXI which manages to hit xAK Naruto Maru with a torpedo and a deck gun shell. The ship is sunk but most of the troops onboard are picked up by other ships in the area. [image]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj283/bfeurer/121241-dutchsub.jpg[/image] Enemy sub gets a hit On the peninsula, our forces at Kluong seize the base, cutting the rail line to Singapore. Within 5-6 days four more divisions should arrive at Mersing. A couple regiments and tanks will secure the northern flank, but the bulk of the incoming troops will lay siege to Singapore to take the base ASAP and get ready to sail for Ceylon. [image]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj283/bfeurer/121241-kluong.jpg[/image] Rail Line to Singapore is cut Air attacks are lighter than past days, with very few Allied air units seen. Our JAAF bombers continue to hit various ground units across the peninsula. The Imp Guards division and parts of the 55th Division begin unpacking from the trains in Singora and will soon start the march down the peninsula, hitting Alor Star first. Supplies are unloaded at Kuching and one xAK takes a 6" shell hit, but suffers only light damage. The attack on the base goes well and the base is captured (3:1). Two units surrender and a RN Base Force retreats to Sambas. 1964 casualties for the enemy and 48 for our troops. Recon planes will be flown in immediately to start providing intel on the south coast of Borneo as well as northern Java & southern Sumatra. A Nell flying search from Singkawang scores a hit on the DD Thracian that we saw in action with a few days back. Damage is unknown. Other Nells and some Vals from KB manage to sink three small Fairmile (HDML) ships near Singapore. At Ambon, supplies and troops continue to be unloaded. An engineering unit arrives and is unloaded in good order, although not in time to take part in the assault on the base defenders. One of the xAKLs is hit by a 150mm shell from the CD guns and may not make it home. The assault fails to take the base (1:3), and doesn't reduce the forts (currently level 1), but they did trade even casualties (58 Jap to 74 Dutch). As mentioned yesterday, we will wait another two or three days for the last part of the planned Ambon attack force to arrive to do another assault. The empty ships will be needed to jump to the next base, but I am wary of a surface attack since my heavy cruiser keep trying to retire away from Ambon. Therefore I have moved them a couple hexes away to an empty coastal hex where they will hopefully stay out of trouble until Ambon is captured. Philippines Three B-17's hit Vigan at night, but do no damage to the facilities there. In the daylight, Sallys and Lilys assist with an attack at Tuguegarao by our paratroops, Yokosuka 3rd SNLF backed up by the 1st Sasebob SNLF Coy. These troops force the 3rd/12th PA Inf Bn to retreat south. At Atimonan our troops secure the unprotected base. An armor unit will head south to Legaspi to secure those bases, while the bulk of the forces at Altimonan moves to secure the approaches to Manilla. The air support and engineers will park at Lucena to create another major airbase to help keep enemy ships from resupplying Luzon. Pacific Ships keep sailing in preparation for both small island grabs in the deep SoPac, as well as the Rabaul/PM offensive. A couple Battleships are almost to Truk and once there will rearm and refuel so they are ready to go shortly for the assault. The only evidence of US carriers would seem to indicate they are heading west towards Rabaul. China A pair of battles just east of Changsha are inconclusive, with both resulting in 1:1 results. We will try again tomorrow since another of our divisions has arrived in the hex immediately east of Changsha. The assault on Hong Kong went as well as could be expected. 1:1 odds, 928 Japan Casualties and 406 Chinese out of action. Forts are dropped by one level. Another attack is ordered tomorrow. Submarines I-123, while laying mines at Soerabaja, takes a shot at the damaged DD Electra, but misses. It avoids ASW counterattack, finishes the mining job and heads for Cam Rahn Bay. Near Pearl Harbor, I-5 dodges enemy ASW. Here's the sub tracking I'm doing in Excel. I'll use this log to eventually make a leader board as well as some interesting statistics for my subs. I don't expect a lot of action from them early on since I am gathering them up initially to deploy en mass at specific theaters in support of offensive operations. [image]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj283/bfeurer/121241subsheet.jpg[/image]

FeurerKrieg -> December 13th, 1941 - Busy Day (12/31/2011 7:17:41 AM)
December 13, 1941 Malaya & DEI On the peninsula, air to ground attacks continue. Unloading at Mersing continues as two heavy cruiser TF's patrol the waters for enemy ships. All task forces that were originally planning to head to Khota Bharu are now being sent to Mersing instead. We may adjust if significant resistance is encountered, but thus far enemy air activity over Mersing has been non-existent. Army dive bombers attack some motor launches at Medan, but no hits are scored. With air support now in place at Patani and Singora, recon planes are being stationed there and order to search the exits to the north, as well as reconing Sumatra. Nells on ground attack at Johore Bharu are hit by Buffalos and we lose a couple planes there. In a move that will hopefully make the enemy feel less secure, Nells from Singkawang sink an xAKL in Balikpapan harbor. Our troops from Singkawang also set sail tomorrow for Billiton. KB and Kongo force are covering, and several construction groups are coming right behind. We will build up the bases as quickly as possible and that should cut off Java from the north. Two more days and four infantry regiments will sail from Hanoi to land on Java. At Brunei, our troops unload against only light resistance. We expect the base will be captured tomorrow and then we will reload to head for Tarakan. At Ambon, the removal of our empty transports turns out to be a good move. Through the night, our heavy cruisers patrol the base, but are apparently drawn off in the morning hours to the hex one space to the west of the base. The enemy cruiser Marblehead and four destroyers move in during the day and attack the remaining four transports that had been unloading supplies. The transports are sunk easily, but thankfully it is just those four ships. Tomorrow evening, the cruisers have waypoints set to sail the three adjacent hexes of Ambon and then end in the base hex itself. With any luck, we will catch the enemy ships and put them under. [image]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj283/bfeurer/121341ambonsurface.jpg[/image] The Allies get one in today Our newly combined CS/CVL/CVE force launches two strikes at Marblehead and the destroyers, one of Kates and floatplanes and another of just a dozen Kates in the afternoon, but no hits are scored by either strike. The difference between these pilots and our more experienced aviators is in evidence, as just a few hundred miles northwest, a handful of Vals (15) from Kaga and Akagi manage to sink two xAKLs. [image]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj283/bfeurer/121341CVsambon.jpg[/image] Misses near Ambon, but the pros show how it is done farther north The other bright spot in the theater is that CL Natori and company, getting ready to head to Babeloab to rearm and refuel, continue their winning ways as they put a ton of shells into three enemy ships, two of them quite large. AM Bittern is sunk, and AS Holland takes 26 hits and xAK Cape Fairweather takes 35 hits. While the two big ships aren't reported sunk, it is highly likely they will not make it home. [image]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj283/bfeurer/121341natori.jpg[/image] CL Natori bags another on its tour Philippines A bit of a rough day here. The night starts bad as two PT Q-Boats find their way into the last few ships still unloading supplies and put two torpedoes into DMS W-10, sinking the ship. They also manage to hit xAK Kumagawa Maru, which sinks later the next day. All our ships are now leaving though as the rest finished unloading through the day. [image]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj283/bfeurer/121341vigan.jpg[/image] Our ships will be glad to leave the shark filled waters off Vigan Apparently the enemy airfield are back in operation as many enemy fighters are found in the air. Our bombers and fighters do a poor job of coordinating and we lose several planes in the air, 26 for the whole day everywhere compared to 7 enemy planes. Now that our ships have left, the need to shut down their airfields has lessened, so our planes have had their ranges cut back to one hex to prevent a repeat of today's losses. Our troops will hopefully be taking most of the airfields on the island shortly, and once the enemy is down to one or two, we can resume heavy airfield attacks. At San Fernando, our lead elements attacked and although they reduced the forts to zero, they only attained a 1:1 result. More units are now present so the attack tomorrow should take the base with ease. Then it will be onwards to the south. On the south end of the Luzon, Lucena is occupied ahead of the advancing ground forces. Enemy troops can be seen to be falling back to Manila, so we shouldn't see much resistance until reaching the city. Pacific The AMC Kinryu Maru, hit by the shore guns at Wake is unable to contain flooding and sinks while en route to Saipan. It was a pretty big ship so it is a bummer to lose her, but such is to be expected when taking an atoll with no heavy surface or air support. China Near Changsha, the attack that is closer to the city goes well, hitting 6:1 odds and forcing 2 Chinese Corps to flee to the city. Casualties are 677 to 4211 - over a month's worth of Chinese squads are destroyed in the retreat (452 squads destroyed). The attack one hex east of there comes off at 1:2 but trades even casualties. Our two divisions will move into Changsha along with another that is still on its way. The assault on Hong Kong continues, but only hits 1:2 odds today. Forts were dropped to zero however, and casualties were 585 for us, and 739 for the British. Our troops will rest for a day and then attack again. Transports have been rounded up in the Home Islands are sent to Pescadores for loading up the 38th division as soon as Hong Kong falls. That division will them go on to help take down Singapore & Ceylon. Submarines SS Shark misses an xAK near Swatow today, but that's it.

cantona2 -> RE: December 13th, 1941 - Busy Day (12/31/2011 3:54:36 PM)
FK I can recommend the Submarine Tracker Tool. Excellent resource that collects a lot of information such as tonnage sunk, sub doing sinking, name of target and dates, which you can arrange in different formats. Its in the tech support forum I think. If you want it and cant find it Ill mail it to you

FeurerKrieg -> RE: December 13th, 1941 - Busy Day (12/31/2011 5:23:42 PM)
Thanks for the tip, cantona - I'll check it out!

PaxMondo -> RE: December 13th, 1941 - Busy Day (1/1/2012 12:02:47 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: cantona2 FK I can recommend the Submarine Tracker Tool. Excellent resource that collects a lot of information such as tonnage sunk, sub doing sinking, name of target and dates, which you can arrange in different formats. ... +1 luv it ...[sm=00000289.gif]

FeurerKrieg -> RE: December 13th, 1941 - Busy Day (1/1/2012 6:42:01 AM)
Downloaded and tried it, but no go. Probably because I'm using Excel 2003. I am in the process of building a new PC though, so either the tool will be updated to work on 2003 or I'll be running 2010, either way I'll have access to it soon enough.

FeurerKrieg -> RE: December 13th, 1941 - Busy Day (1/12/2012 5:30:01 AM)
It is rather fitting that an AAR that makes reference to a technological tool would be hobble for a few days by a computer crash. The good news is that one of our subs took out a light cruiser, if fog of war is to be believed. I am just now getting back to normal on the reformatted PC, so I'll be back to reporting on the war in just a couple more days - sorry for the delays!

cantona2 -> RE: December 13th, 1941 - Busy Day (1/13/2012 5:41:18 PM)
Hope your PC woes are over and the war and AAR can continue

FeurerKrieg -> RE: December 13th, 1941 - Busy Day (1/13/2012 7:57:17 PM)
The PC woes are over with for the moment - I managed to get half the turn done last night so I should be able to wrap it up tonight and then hopefully get back to the AAR! It has been a lively couple days for sure. CL Natori has taken out yet another group - the experience for that whole task force is all in the 70's now.

FeurerKrieg -> December 14th, 1941 - Less Busy Day (1/15/2012 7:40:44 AM)
December 14th, 1941 Comparatively speaking this was a quiet day, but several bases were taken and that is always a good thing when we are doing the taking. Malaya & DEI At Malaya, early in the day, the rowboat contingent from Mersing secures Tioman Island for the Empire. Throughout the rest of the day our standard air to ground attacks continue across the peninsula. The 56th Recon unit also takes Malacca since the base had been evacuated by Allied forces. Southwest of Khota Bharu, the 56th Inf Reg helps keep the enemy moving, forcing the FMSV Bge, 8th Indian Bge, and the 3rd ISF Base Force to retreat farther down the rail line. Ann's continue to attack the small boats at Medan without success, but it is good practice. A Hudson is destroyed on the ground at Kuantan. Our troops unload through the night at Billiton without incident. During the day however, a well coordinated raid from several Dutch airbase sees a strong attack against our ships. 23x 139WH-3 bombers escorted by 11x B-339D's attack. Thankfully, 36x A6M2 from Car Div 1 are present to protect our ships. 3 enemy fighters and 7 enemy bombers are hit. Several do make it through but they all miss their targets. Billiton is undefended and should be secured tomorrow. Engineers for the base are two days out from landing and the 23rd Base Force is a few days behind them. The goal is to be able to have fighters here by the time our mini-invasion of Java comes through in about a ten days. [image]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj283/bfeurer/121441billiton.jpg[/image] Dutch air attack at Billiton At Brunei our troops easily capture the base, forcing two RN Base Forces to retreat east. An attack at Sambas only gets 1:1 odds, but forts are taken down and the enemy is in a bad way so the attack will continue tomorrow. Near Ambon, we continue to wait for reinforcements, but in the meantime some Vals from Akagi and Kaga put several 60gp bombs onto the AO Pecos and PG Asheville. Both ships should sink soon as they were seen to be burning badly. Jakes from the CVL/CVE/CS force find AVP Reiger near Gorong and hit that ship. They also find a small xAKL farther east, but miss the target there. We have a pair of destroyers in range of the xAKL so we will try a mid ocean intercept to see if we can sink the fleeing ships tomorrow. Philippines A Ki-30 Ann and a Dinah both report hitting an enemy submarine just south of Formosa. Hopefully that will be enough damage to put the ship out of action for a while. If nothing else, it should need to take a long trip home. With our ships retired from Vigan, there are no PT boat attacks today. Or troops continue to march on Manila from the South, while today San Fernando was captured by our northern troops. Lots of air support and engineers will move in from Vigan to turn San Fernando into a significant airbase. The troops will meanwhile continue their southward march. Pacific All quiet in this theater. US CVs are nowhere to be seen which is always scary when we have troops at sea with no air cover. One such TF should reach Nauru Island tomorrow. China The attack east of Changsha goes well and we force a retreat. Farther north an attack near Kaifeng fairs less well, but at least we know what the enemy has in the hex. We also retreat a Chinese unit that was sitting on the rail line between Suchow and points farther south. Shelling continues at Hong Kong while our troops rest for their next assault on the city. Submarines I-124 takes a shot at an AVD near Kangean but misses.

FeurerKrieg -> December 15th, 1941 - US CVs in SoPac (1/16/2012 4:31:43 AM)
December 15th, 1941 A lively day, and not all the results were good. Malaya & DEI In today's air attacks, a concentrated attack is launched at Kuantan to make sure the base is closed. One Swordfish is destroyed on the ground further reducing the risk of bi-plane torpedo attacks. One Blenheim I is also destroyed. The airbase is heavily damaged, but loses to AA are not as low as we'd like so for now, we will go back to hitting the scattered ground targets on the peninsula. Ann's continue to practice at Medan on HDML ships, but continue to miss. At nearby Kuching, the enemy runs three xAK's into the harbor. Nells from Singkawang easily sink all three ships, xAK Ming Sang, Hai Lee and Nanning. Our DA attack at Sambas still only gets 1:1 and our troops need a day to rest. However, Billiton is captured and made ready for the engineers that should arrive tomorrow. At Ambon, with the enemy ships gone, the 21st Air Flotilla unloads. The base isn't ours yet, but rather than take the chance of the HQ getting sunk at sea (it was only loaded on two ships) we go ahead and unload now. The xAK Asahisan Maru takes a couple big hits from the 150mm CD guns. It unloads but I'm not sure the ship will make it home. The HQ is unloaded in pretty good order so the base will be torpedo ready as soon as it is captured. The final reinforcement infantry unit should unload tomorrow, and capture of the base should follow the next day - regardless of how seasick the new guys are. At Manado our invasion force successfully unloads as well. Several air support units and infantry units are present. They are fairly disrupted from being as sea for 8 days, but after a day or two of rest we will be ready to attack the base. Then the infantry will load up and move on to Kendari. Air units from Formosa will fly in via Vigan to provide some air power to the base once it is captured. Philippines The rowboat brigade from Atimonan and Lucena occupiy the Philippines Island of Boac today. B-17s hit Vigan at night to little effect. Otherwise, it is largely quiet on the island chain. Pacific The good news of the day in this theater is that east of New Guinea, our destroyers managed to run down the xAKL spotted yesterday and find out there are three of them sailing together. All three are easily put under by the pair of DD's. [image]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj283/bfeurer/121541surface.jpg[/image] IJN Destroyers on the hunt The bad news is that the US CV's show up near Nauru Island. Our transport ship had arrived, but had not yet unloaded when the enemy airplanes attacked. The xAP Kashima Maru and two small PB's were all sunk. The ships aren't so bad but the Nav Gd unit on board was lost as well and that one is a bummer. Now a different unit will need to be detailed to take Nauru and Ocean. With luck our other unit that is headed towards Tabiteuea won't get hit tomorrow. [image]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj283/bfeurer/121541nauru.jpg[/image] A Naval Guard unit is lost at sea China North of Anking the 48th Chinese Corp is dislodged and forced back towards Kweiteh. A river crossing north of Chengting into the mountains only gets a 1:2 attack, but after some rest we should be able to force the Chinese out of this pass. Submarines I-124 more than makes up for its miss yesterday by finding the CL DeRuyter in the straights near Balikpapan. I-124 was en route to lay mines at a Java base, but that didn't stop it from putting a torpedo into the light cruiser. The ship was reported sunk so we'll go with that until we hear otherwise. [image]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj283/bfeurer/121541subi124.jpg[/image] I-124 scores!

FeurerKrieg -> RE: December 15th, 1941 - US CVs in SoPac (1/27/2012 5:55:26 AM)
I am still alive! We had a last minute grant proposal come up at work the other day and we've been cranking away on it about 16 hrs a day that past week. Needless to say, WITP AE took a back seat to 15 million bucks. However, while I attempt to get this AAR caught up later this weekend, you, dear readers, can check out this war from the other side of the fence as my opponent has started up his own AAR. I'm not privy to it, so please no leaks here, but I know some among you like to see both sides of the story. The title is "If Bertram Wooster Ran the War - TheGreatWent vs Feurer Krieg: Da Big Babes 28C" Here's the url: http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=3020527

PaxMondo -> RE: December 15th, 1941 - US CVs in SoPac (1/28/2012 9:41:33 AM)
FK, glad to see you back. Had been worried.

vicberg -> RE: December 15th, 1941 - US CVs in SoPac (1/29/2012 12:26:27 AM)
I'm playing Babes 28c also.� It's a bit early for you in the war, but I'm stuggling big time with the transport reduction.� I have to commit large numbers of transports to resources and then supplies, fuel, etc..� How are you going to handle India with this reduction?� I'm already getting stretched in Feb 42.� Forget transports losses to subs, planes etc.� Just basic logistics.� India?� It's hard for me to conceive.�

FeurerKrieg -> RE: December 15th, 1941 - US CVs in SoPac (1/29/2012 5:07:42 AM)
. . . . . I agree the transport capacity issue is a challenge, but I'll be doing my best to keep the merchant yards humming and keeping my convoys as efficient as possible. If I can do well in China, the land route from Sing to Fusan/Port Arthur can help a lot with shipping too. As to India, I don't have any intentions to go to India, just Ceylon.

FeurerKrieg -> December 16th, 1941 (1/30/2012 6:18:13 AM)
December 16th, 1941 US CV's continue their meddling and we have a Boise sighting. Malaya & DEI The night starts off pretty well as our two DD's heading back to Babeldoab come across a couple more ships - the AM Tanager and TK Hai Kwang. They sink the ships easily with gunfire and torpedoes and continue on their way home. Farther west however, at Manado, the CL Boise makes an appearance in the deep dark night (3% moonlight) and shoots up some transports. The TB Hiyodori and APD Fuji both take some hits but might make it home. An AMc and one xAK are sunk outright, two more sink a few hours later. Although we hate to lose ships, there was another large TF of transports in the same hex and thankfully Boise left after the first combat - probably because it was so dark. Most of our supplies are unloaded now, so the remaining transports will stand off one hex away while they wait for the base to fall. [image]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj283/bfeurer/121641manado.jpg[/image] Boise shows up and gets in some hits At Ambon, supplies and troops continue to unload. APD Hagi takes a five hits from the 150mm CD guns. The ship will likely not make it home, so we order it to continue unloading as much as possible before it sinks. The xAK Asahisan Maru damaged by the same guns previously sinks today. Near Batavia, some of the KB's planes attack some ships ships. The one B-339D doesn't put up much a fight, and the Kate's and Val's take out 3x AMc, 2x CMc, and 1x HDML. In Malaysia, some of our Sally's get intercepted by Buffalos who manage to bring down a couple of our bombers. Outside of that, the routine continues - ground attacks and target practice on HDMLs. Philippines Rowboat brigade takes Babuyan. B-17's hit Vigan at night, but otherwise it is quiet. Troops marching toward Clark and Manilla, while the enemy consolidates their positions. Pacific Allied intelligence seems to read us pretty well, as today the US CV's hit the 61st Nav Gd before it is able unload at Tabiteuea. Thankfully, the escorting PB manages to pick up some of the unit. One xAK is still afloat and we will give it orders to unload in the evening phase before it sinks, but suspect the captain will not listen. The PB will convert to a fast transport mission and since it is undamaged, we think it will unload. It is only three squads, but that is enough to rebuild the unit if we can get it unloaded. [image]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj283/bfeurer/121641cvgilberts.jpg[/image] US CV's take out a couple more transports - and the troops on them China Two hexes northeast of Loyang, we force a retreat and continue on the back road towards Sian. However, northwest of Kaifeng we are unable to do as well. However, a division and some armor have arrived, so we expect a victory there tomorrow. Farther north, in the pass north of Chengting, two brigades are not enough to dislodge the Chinese just yet. At Hong Kong, we get 2:1 and drop forts to 0. Hopefully tomorrow the base will go down. Submarines No action today, although lots of subs are heading into the Solomons and New Britain area to support the upcoming Rabaul/Port Moresby offensive.

LoBaron -> RE: December 16th, 1941 (1/30/2012 6:40:05 AM)
The US CV�s are a bit on the noisy side. Any plans to employ an IJN type sound suppressor? [;)]

FeurerKrieg -> RE: December 16th, 1941 (1/30/2012 6:46:07 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: LoBaron The US CV�s are a bit on the noisy side. Any plans to employ an IJN type sound suppressor? [;)] Yes, noisy indeed. No plans at present, although in another day, CarDiv2 (Kaga, Akagi and all the CVL & CVE) will start the trip to Truk to join up with the Rabaul & Port Moresby invasion force. So if the US CV's come back to New Britain and expect easy pickings again, they will get a bit of a surprise. And if they head there right now, they will find about 40 I boat and a dozen or so R boats out looking for them. The high level plan is to not worry about the Pacific until the DEI, Solomons, Northern Australia and Ceylon are dealt with. Then all of our carrier strength can hang out in the Pacific and we'll see how far east we can push the line.

LoBaron -> RE: December 16th, 1941 (1/30/2012 6:55:28 AM)
Ah, the good old Japanese tradition of sinking carriers with submarines. Good luck there!

FeurerKrieg -> December 17th, 1941 (1/30/2012 7:43:38 AM)
December 17th, 1941 Busy day! Malaya & DEI At Ambon another xAK takes a 150mm hit, but should be okay. We finally launch the renewed attack and the base is not quite captured today. Odds come in at 1:1 (74 to 43 adj AV), but forts go down to 0. It was almost 2:1 so hopefully tomorrow will see the base go down. At Manado we also attack and get similar results. 1:1 (77 adj vs 59) but forts again go to 0. This base is more likely to fall tomorrow given the small garrison. CarDiv2 finds a couple little ships - the YO-41 and the xAKL Bisayas are sunk near Morotai. [image]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj283/bfeurer/121741cvs.jpg[/image] Squirrel hunting in the Pacific At Sambas, our troops capture the base and force the KNIL troops into the jungle. At Malaya, newly deployed Betty's from Khota Bharu attack some small ships, but lose three of their number from Buffalos. They do sink one xAKL and two HDMLs for their trouble. Ground attacks continue as normal, a couple Sallys get hit by Buffalos as well. CL Natori and company pull into port at Babeldaob after a productive tour. I'll post the results of that later, but all the ships gained a lot of experience and took out several ships, albeit of the small variety. They will rearm, refuel and plan to head back into breach. Philippines Another 'free' base taken today - this time it is Calapan. On the mainland, our troops capture Lingayen today, destroying the CD unit there and retreating the 11th PA Infantry. The 48th Division reforms and starts the march to Clark Field while two SNLF units are sent west to take Iba. Two other SNLFs are on the left flank of our advance, so both flanks should be secure while the 48th and lots of Artillery move in to lay siege to the defenders at Clark. Recon indicates that the bulk of the defenders have moved to Clark. On the southern end of Luzon, the 16th Recon Regiment captures Naga and moves on towards Legaspi. An AV unit will move via rail to Naga and then march to Legaspi so we can set up an air base there. The goal is to get a siege at Clark and/or Manilla and use air units at Lucena, Legaspi, San Fernando and Vigan to ensure no supply ships reach the enemy. Pacific As expected, the captain of the xAK Terushima Maru, instead of beaching his tranport and allowing 1,100 troops to go ashore at Tabiteuea, he 'retreats' north, going about 100 miles before the sun comes up and Allied dive bombers smash the transport to bits. Thankfully, the PB that had rescued some survivors droops them on the island and then runs north fast and evades destruction. The 3 support squads declare the atoll property of Nippon, and will be happy to see Mavis transports air dropping supplies in tomorrow. Interestingly, both the transport and the PB crossed paths with the CV Lexington in the night phase. Also, it looks like they are making for the east - we'll see if that continues and if so, odds are good they headed to Pearl to restock. We might then take the chance and get our Rabaul forces moving early. Since our carriers will be enroute tomorrow, by the time the US CV's could make it back, our carriers would be there and ready for them, or we would have taken Rabaul and brought in the LBA needed to keep our ships safe. [image]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj283/bfeurer/121741gilberts.jpg[/image] Perhaps the weakest atoll assault ever - 60 men take Tabiteuea China The attack near Kaifeng goes much better today with 6:1 odds and 2266 enemy casualties reported. We have two divisions in Changsha at the moment and bombardment shows AV of 701 vs 2061. We have two more divisions on the way, so we'll see what we can do here. I have not rushed into Changsha so early before, but the low unit count prompted me to see what the place was about. At least I think Changsha won't get supply from factories while we are there. (Unless that has changed). Hong Kong is back to fort 1 again, and we only get 2:1 (and forts back to 0). On the upside, one enemy unit was destroyed so hopefully the end is near. Submarines I-121 hits and sinks the xAKL Benkoelen in the approaches to Soerabaja. Later, in the daylight no less, the ship surfaces and puts 11 shells into the xAKL Boelongan, sinking that ship also. All that on a minelaying mission. [image]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj283/bfeurer/121741subsi121.jpg[/image] I-121 has a busy day Near Bendjermasin, the I-164 put two fish into xAKL Taurus, sinking the ship. So overall, 5 bases taken today - Lingayen, Naga, Calapan, Sambas and Tabiteuea. Hopefully we will add Manado and Ambon to the tally tomorrow. Below is a screen shot of the subs moving in on the Solomon/New Britain area. [image]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj283/bfeurer/121741subs.jpg[/image] Preparing for the move on Rabaul & Port Moresby

FeurerKrieg -> Natori cruise (1/31/2012 5:15:54 AM)
Here's a little interesting bit. Natori and company just finished their first wartime cruise through the Sulu and Celebes sea lasting about 10 days. Below is a table of the experience gained by the ships in this cruise. Pretty good I think. Also they managed to sink 7 ship confirmed (probably 9 once Fairweather and Holland are confirmed). That is a total of 10,350 tons and 26 victory points. [image]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj283/bfeurer/Natoricruise1.jpg[/image] CL Natori et al experience gains TROM to follow!

FeurerKrieg -> Natori TROM (1/31/2012 5:17:21 AM)
(The 'new' stuff starts on December 7 if you want to skip down) 14 December 1920: Nagasaki. Laid down at Mitsubishi's shipyard. 16 February 1922: Launched and named NATORI. 15 September 1922: Completed and registered in the IJN. An unknown officer is the CO. 1 December 1922: Captain (later Rear Admiral) Morita Minoru (30)(former CO of TONE) assumes command. 20 November 1923: Captain (later Rear Admiral) Ogura Taizo (31) assumes command. 1 December 1924: Captain (later Rear Admiral) Inoue Shiro (31)(former XO of MUTSU) assumes command. 1 November 1926: Captain (later Rear Admiral) Ichikizaki Keiichi (31), CO of TOKIWA, assumes command of NATORI on "paper". 1 December 1926: Captain (later Rear Admiral) Matsumoto Chuza (32)(former XO of ERIMO) assumes command. 15 November 1927: Captain (later Vice Admiral) Arichi Jugoro (33)(former CO of SHIOKAZE) assumes command. 1 August 1928: An unknown officer assumes command. 1 December 1932: Captain (later Vice Admiral) Matsuki Matsukichi (37)(former CO of TATSUTA) assumes command. 15 November 1933: Captain (later Vice Admiral) Matsuura Eijiro (38)(former CO of TSUSHIMA) assumes command. 15 November 1934: Captain (later Vice Admiral) Kishi Fukuji (former CO of TAKAO) assumes command. 15 November 1935: Captain (Vice Admiral, posthumously) Okamura Masao (38)(former CO of ASAHI) assumes command. 1 December 1936: Captain (later Vice Admiral) Nakahara Yoshimasa (41) assumes command. 10 November 1937: An unknown officer assumes command. 31 January 1941: In 1940, a border dispute between Siam (now Thailand) and French Indochina (Vietnam) erupted into armed conflict. A Japanese-sponsored "Conference for the Cessation of Hostilities" is held at Saigon and preliminary documents for a cease-fire between the governments of General Henri Philippe Petain's Vichy France and the Kingdom of Siam are signed aboard NATORI. 28 July 1941: Captain Sasaki Seigo (45) assumes command. 26 November 1941: NATORI is the flagship of Rear Admiral (later Vice Admiral) Hara Kenzaburo's (former CO of TAKAO) DesRon 5, in Vice Admiral Takahashi Ibo's (former CO of YAMASHIRO) Third Fleet. DesRon 5 is assigned tactically to the No.1 Surprise Attack Unit of the Philippine Seizure Force. Sorties with DesDivs 5 and 22 from the Terashima Strait. 29 November 1941: Arrives at Mako, Pescadores. 2 December 1941: Operation "Z": DesRon 5 receives the signal "Niitakayama nobore (Climb Mt. Niitaka) 1208" from the Combined Fleet. This signifies that X-Day hostilities will commence on 8 December (Japan time). 7 December 1941: Departs Mako as DesRon 5 (TF14) consisting of CL Natori, DD Satsuki, DD Minazuki, DD Fumizuki, DD Harukaze, DD Hatakaze, and DD Nagatsuki. Mission is to rendezvous with 91st Naval Garrison Unit at Zamboanga and provide escort and surface support during amphibious operations to invade at Zamboanga. 7 December 1941: Enroute to Zamboagna encounters small cargo ship Dai Lee. Five ships of the DesRon score hits. Fifteen hits are estimated in total before Dai Lee sinks. Covers landing at Zamboanga. NATORI provides fire support, bombarding the shoreline. 8 December 1941: Once 91st Nav Garrision Unit is disembarked, NATORI and Destroyers sail into Sulu Sea. 9 December 1941: Upon leaving Zamboagna, NATORI encounters DD PEARY and PILLSBURY and opens fire at 10,000 yards. MINAZUKI, SATSUKI and NAGATSUKI launch torpedoes but no hits are registered. NAGATSUKI is hit by fire from PEARY but damage seems contained. No hits are scored on DD PEARY or PILLSBURY and the Allied ships are lost in the night. NATORI next encounters troop ship CANDESA and opens fire a 12,000 yards. No gun hits are scored. At 10,000 yards NATORI launches torpedoes. One strikes CANDESA and ship sinks immediately. Now daylight, NATORI then encounters small cargo ships FOTUNA and PRINCESS OF NEGROS. NATORI Opens fire at 19,000 yards. HATAKAZE, NAGATSUKI and FUMIZUKI open fire at 16,00 yards. 8 hits on FORTUNA and 4 hits on PRINCESS OF NEGROS are registered and both Allied ships sink. In afternoon of December 9, NATORI encounters troop ship ELCANO. HARUKAZE opens fire at 15,000 yards and scores two hit, detonating flammable cargo. ELCANO is abandoned and sinks. 10 December 1941: Flooding on NAGATSUKI due to the damage from battle with PEARY and PILLSBURY worsens and CPT Sasaki order ship to fall out and return to Cam Rahn Bay for repair. NATORI having nearly reached Borneo changes course to head east again. At 0225 encounters sub tender HOLLAND, minesweeper BITTERN and cargo ship CAPE FAIRWEATHER. Allied ships are spotted in moonlight but clouds move in and targets are lost. Later tanker MINDANAO is spotted at 11,000 yards. NATORI launches torpedoes before firing, but no hits are registered. HATAKAZE and FUMIZUKI open fire at 11,000 yards. Remaining ship open fire at 8,000 yards. MINDANAO is hit 28 times and sunk. DD THRACIAN responds to distress call from MINDANAO and engages NATORI. NATORI launches torpedoes at 9,000 yards, missing. FUMIZUKI and NATORI open gun fire at 7,000 yards. No hits are registered and THRACIAN retreats when MINDANAO is discovered to have been sunk. 11 December 1941: DesRon5 loiters in Sulu Sea looking for targets but none are found. 12 December 1941: DesRon5 ordered to Babeldoab via the Celebes Sea. 13 December 1941: Northeast of Manado, NATORI again encounters HOLLAND, BITTERN and CAPE FAIRWEATHER at 1540hrs. Allied ships spotted at 19,000 yards by FUMIZUI and MINAZUKI who immediately open fire. Eventually all ships will engage. BITTERN hit 10 times and sunk. HOLLAND hit 26 times, CAPE FAIRWEATHER hit 35 times. Due to low ammo CPT Sasaki order DesRon5 to disengage and head east towards Babeldoab. Both remaining Allied ships left in sinking condtion. 14-16 December 1941: Sailing east with no encounters. 17 December 1941: Enter port at Babeldoab.

FeurerKrieg -> December 18th, 1941 (2/7/2012 6:24:37 AM)
December 18th, 1941 Five more bases taken today. Malaya & DEI It mostly quiet at Ambon as our troops continue to attack. We still don't take the base, but at even casualties it is just a matter of time. It was nearly captured, as the Adj AV was 49 versus 25 - almost 2 to 1 and forts are at zero. Nearby, we DO capture Manado with a 3:1 deliberate attack. Betty's are moved to Manado and will do some ground strikes against Ambon to try and give our troops a boost there. Our transports offshore of Manado will move back in and load up infantry to attack Kendari ASAP. Our troops at Brunei finish loading up for Tarakan. We have three battleships, but nothing in the way of air cover. So far no enemy planes are present at Tarakan so we will try to take the base pretty quickly. At Pontianak, the II/143rd Inf Bn captures the base, forcing the enemy Base Force to retreat into the jungle. As our ships finish unloading supplies at Toboali, the enemy launches an attack from Batavia. 11x Vildebeest III's and 7x B-339D's come up against our elite KB pilots. All the enemy planes are shot down except for 1x Vildebeest that makes an unsuccessful run against Kongo. By my count this takes the enemy down to 8x Vildebeest and 3x Swordfish remaining, so the enemy TB threat has definitely diminished since Dec 7th. [image]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj283/bfeurer/121841toboali.jpg[/image] Enemy TB's are taken down On the Peninsula, the 5th Recon Rgt captures and unoccupied Port Dickson. This is all the farther we will advance north for the moment. Over the next 4-5 days three or four divisions will be arriving at Mersing so we will make our push on Singapore very soon, hopefully taking the important base by the end of the year or very soon after. AV support is present at Kuala Lumpur now, so we move in some fighter cover that will be much closer to Mersing when needed to cover our unloading troop convoys. Philippines Itbayat Island, near Batan Island is taken by the rowboat platoon. Otherwise mostly quiet here. Pacific A single Allied light cruiser (Leander) tracks down our PB fleeing from Tarawa and put the little ship under. Recon presents an interesting picture. Unfortunately I'm not really sure if the carriers are going east or west. Since I can't be sure, I will wait for our carriers to reach Truk before releasing the Rabaul/PM invasion force. [image]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj283/bfeurer/121841gilberts.jpg[/image] The recon picture in the Pacific China Way up north at Paotow the Chinese have setup outside our base. Today we attack and achieve 1 to 1 odds. Another Chinese unit is enroute, once it arrives it is unlikely we will dislodge them without some reinforcements. The Chinese attempt to push our 15th Division back from Wenchow, but only achieve 1 to 2 odds. We will attempt to make use of the failed attack by launching our own tomorrow. Big news of the day is that Hong Kong surrenders. Transports that had been collecting at Pescadores will move in to load up the Artillery which will head to Luzon, and they will load the 38th Division which will head to Mersing. The rest of the CEF will march towards Wuchow, which already has a third of one division investing it. Submarines Our submarines get a couple more today. Having laid low for the first week or so of the war, they seem to be starting to find unescorted and unarmed targets to beat up on. First up, I-10 shoots up xAKL Bintoehan near Woodlark Island. The reefs in the area create a natural choke point and I-10 benefits from it. The next morning, I-154, also using surface guns, takes out the xAKL Lyemun in the Malacca Strait. Another natural choke point.

FeurerKrieg -> December 19th, 1941 (2/26/2012 3:09:56 AM)
December 19th, 1941 Nine (9)! bases captured today make it a good day for the Empire. Malaya & DEI In the night phase, one of our xAK's damaged at Manado by Boise succumbs to flooding and sinks about halfway to Babeldaob. Around Malaya, a couple sweeps by KB Zeros and Army Oscar B's bring down 3x Buffalos. On the ground, now strong enough to resist a counterattack out of Singapore, our troops capture Johore Bharu and begin to prepare for a crossing over the straight to Singapore while they wait for reinforcing divisions - the first of which will begin unloading at Mersing tomorrow. The five enemy units forced out of Johore were mostly small, but did include the 27th Australian Bge and the III Indian Corps. The I/143rd Infantry Bn captures Toboali and begins the march to the other end of Bangka island. A full shock attack effort on Ambon pays off as the base is captured easily (5 to 1). Bettys and Zeros immediately hop in from Babeldoab, ready to deliver torpedoes from Davao to Darwin. Our nearby transports will move in and load up our assault troops for the move on to Koepang. Philippines An interesting occurrence today as Cabanatuan is captured by our jungle infiltrators (ie auto capture), and then later in the move phase, the enemy unit that has been pursued from Tuguegarao moved into the base. Maybe the delay while they retake the base will allow our pursuing units to get in another attack on the enemy unit before it rejoins its comrades at Manilla or Clark. For today though, those pursuers capture Bayombong. The 16th Recon tank units captures Legaspi as an air support unit marches form the train station at Naga. Also, the Miura Detachment captures Batangas to open the southern route into Manilla. Pacific Mostly quiet but we do get a bonus today. The small carrier force that was covering Ambon finds the CL Adelaide prowling around southwest of Woleai. I'm not sure what the ship was doing so far north, but our Kates and Vals make easy work of the ship, hitting with 3 bombs and 3 torpedoes and sinking the ship. [image]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj283/bfeurer/121941adelaide.jpg[/image] A surprise target is put under China Several attacks in China today, with mixed results. First at Wenchow the 15th Division fares badly against the entrenched defenders (1:15), but reinforcements are on the way. An attack on an isolated unit southeast of Sinyang is also unable to win (1:3). Better news at Kweiteh as the 32nd Division ejects a pair of Chinese Corps and opens the rail line from Suchow to Kaifeng and beyond. To the north at Paotow, the 13th Ind Inf Regiment manages to counterattack a Chinese Corp that was besieging the base before another Chinese Corp arrives. Now we have a good chance of bouncing the next unit out if they proceed to move into the hex. Finally, in the south, the C element of 104th Div captures an unoccupied Wuchow before an approaching Chinese unit from across the river is able to garrison the base. The Chinese have rapidly filled up Changsha, so we will do another bombardment tomorrow but then will probably pull out these divisions and use them to accelerate the clearing of southeast China of enemy units. Finally, 70 more mines were cleared from Hong Kong. Lots of transports will arrive here tomorrow. Some to load up the 38th Division for transport to Singapore/Ceylon, and the rest to load up artillery which will be sent to the Philippines to assist with the siege efforts there at Clark and/or Manilla. Submarines Just west (game map) of Oosthaven, I-165 find the Tanker Augustina and puts two torpedoes and a couple guns rounds into the enemy ship, putting the ship under. [image]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj283/bfeurer/121941sub.jpg[/image] I-165 gets a kill

PaxMondo -> RE: December 19th, 1941 (2/26/2012 9:17:08 AM)
Yes, it is nice to see the impact that a little surface action has on ship exp. Even sinking stinking little AKL's will improve exp surprisingly. [8D]

FeurerKrieg -> RE: December 19th, 1941 (3/16/2012 12:09:13 AM)
After some real life intrusions, the last week has seen three turns go by in quick succession. Lots of good news to report, but I have another turn to do first! Sorry for the sporadic posting - I have enough material now to last a bit so I should have something for you all to read very soon.

FeurerKrieg -> December 20th, 1941 (3/20/2012 5:40:08 AM)
December 20th, 1941 A mild day compared to some we have had, but a good day nonetheless. Malaya The unoccupied Port Swettenham is captured by jungle infiltrators. Near Tavoy Blenheim IV's attack our 14th Tank Regiment as it drives through the jungle, slowing the tanks down. Tomorrow we will put some Nates on CAP and see how they do. AM Ballarat is attacked in the strait by Anns and Bettys, but none of them score a hit. The 41st Guard Battalion captures Victoria Point, pushing out a RAF Adv Base Force. The 41st will leave as we have a JNAF unit arriving in a couple days so we can get some air assets into the Bay of Bengal. DEI The Dutch sub KVIII attacks one of our damaged xAKs returning from Ambon. She misses once but hits on the second try, sinking the ship. Our Ambon Betty patrol finds some targets south of Celebes. A tanker, AVP and PC are found and easily sunk. Near Kendari, two xAKLs are attacked also, but the torpedoes miss the small ships. [image]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj283/bfeurer/122041airtk.jpg[/image] Clearing the DEI of enemy ships Philippines 4x B-17's attack our troops at Clark. 3x Zeros intercept and although they damaged the big planes, none of them go down. No ground casualties are suffered though. Today we do a bombardment at Clark to get a read on what is there. Our artillery units aren't in on the shelling today, so casualties are about even, although the Allies lost 5 guns. Tomorrow our artillery will be shelling. Intel says there are about 36,000 troops at Clark, and far less at Manilla, so it appears Clark will be where the siege takes place. Pacific Nothing to report here. The fleet is nearly gathered up at Truk. At Kwajelein, Some A5Ms will load up on a transport in another two days to head home for upgrade to A6M. China Another 189 mines cleared at Hong Kong. Our transports coming in to pick up the 38th Div and Artillery have missed the mines so far, thankfully. Near Hwainan, we push back a weak Chinese unit as the mop up of the backfield continues. Submarines Near Java one of the much maligned RO subs, RO-33, attacks a small xAKL on the surface, shelling the ship with its deck gun and AA gun until out of ammo. The enemy ship sinks. [image]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj283/bfeurer/122041sub.jpg[/image] An RO boat gets a kill

FeurerKrieg -> Dec 21st Preview (3/20/2012 7:43:26 AM)
Two weeks. It had been two weeks now since Captain Fumio Kurakane found himself at war with the United State of America and her Allies. A bright student, but more attuned to study than fierceness, Cpt Kurakane had ended up with a submarine career after not being as aggressive as some of the other officers in the navy. But his sharp mind did get him his own ship faster than was usual. Fumio was unlike many of his colleagues. At the last brief meeting he had at Truk with some of members of his Submarine Flotilla 20, the other officers had expressed disappointment at having been ordered away from Pearl so soon. Many of them openly complained that the trip to Pearl Harbor had been pointless since the main strikes fell at the Philippines. Fumio felt differently. He was familiar with the Mahan doctrine and understood what the IJN planners were trying to do. Lure the Americans into fighting at sea where the superior IJN air arm could sink the enemy battleships in a decisive battle. Also, despite the bravado of his fellow officers, Fumio was in no hurry to be dodging depth charges or aerial bombers. They had lingered long enough at Hawaii to spot any major departures of enemy ships, although none had been seen. It didn't matter though, since the US carrier attacks near the Gilberts had made the location of the US Fleet clear enough. Fumio's ship, I-173, along with several other Flotillas was now patrolling in the Solomon Sea. IJN High Command believed New Britain was lightly held, and should stay that way. Any reinforcing convoys would be aggressively attacked by submarines until carriers and ground forces could secure the important bases at Rabaul and Port Moresby. Fumio had been on patrol here for about three days and was enjoying the easy routine of listen, move, listen, move. With so many submarines in the area most of the patrol grids were manageable without sailing fast or far each day. This meant his crew was in decent spirits since they weren't trying to get every last drop of energy out of the diesels. It was now December 22, Japan time, and Fumio relieved his XO and took the conn of the ship as the sun was rising. His radio operator reported a message from I-20 reporting sighting an ACM and then being attacked briefly. It was a curious message since if the I-20 was able to transmit it had clearly managed to surface safely. The time of the spotting was just three hours ago, which meant the ASW ship had only spent an hour or so searching for the sub. I-20 would have been an easy target on sonar, Fumio thought, since the sub was one of the big C-class ships hauling a midget sub to Port Moresby. What could that escort have been traveling with to need to return to it so quickly? His sense of curiosity piqued, Cpt Kurakane ordered a course plotted to intercept based on the bearing and speed I-20 reported observing of the ACM before being spotted. He was in luck since he was located northeast of the encounter and it appeared that the target ship had been headed northeast as well - towards Rabaul. They stayed on the surface as long as possible, but as the sun climbed over the horizon Fumio ordered the sub to dive and run on electric. Within two hours, the sonar man could hear screws and Fumio adjusted his course to suit. He ordered the sub to coast to a stop as it appeared they were directly in the path of the oncoming ships. Fumio and his crew waited silently as the hydrophone operator's bearing calls continued. Finally Fumio raised the periscope. As his eyes strained he could see the silhouettes on the horizon coming towards him. After watching for several minutes he was able to see the largest ship in the group appear to be a cruiser. He was amazed at his luck. The ships, if they remained on course would come to within 4,000 meters of his sub - easily within the 9,000 m range of his Type 95 Torpedoes. Lowering the scope, the crew waited again. Fumio directed his weapons officer to prepare several firing solutions so they would be ready in the event of a course change on the part of the enemy ships. After fifteen minutes, Fumio again raised the scope. The enemy ships had indeed turned 45 degrees. However, as Fumio watched they turned again coming back to course that put them on a course that would bring them into an optimal firing position. Fumio and his weapons officer updated their solutions. It was a large ship, and Fumio order a spread prepared that should put at least two of the four torpedoes into the enemy ship, even if they had miscalculated a bit in either direction. The minutes ticked by again until finally the enemy cruiser was in position and Fumio gave the order - "Satsuei!". The four torpedoes whooshed out of the tubes and the crew waited while their captain watched the scope. The large cruiser continued to sail forward, oblivious to the risk rushing towards it at 50 knots. One minute went by... then two... as the end of the third minute approached Fumio saw an explosion hit the ship just behind the bow, near the first turret. The explosion had barely hit when the turret exploded into a huge gout of flame and smoke, splitting the bow from the ship completely. The bow had barely begun to roll forward when there was another explosion near the aft end of the ship. While this one did not create the same amount of fireworks, it was clearly more than the stricken ship could handle. The entire ship began to rapidly settle into the water and Fumio knew he had a kill. He order the sub to dive deep and creep away from the scene. Later that night Fumio finally decided it was safe to surface again. After several hours of listening to depth charges exploding in the distance, the cover of night provided a sense of safety. The crew was excited about the kill, each speculating about how many promotions and medals might come of out the action. Fumio let them have their moment. He was more worried about getting home to even report the action, much less any rewards. He would wait a bit to use the radio. He sipped his sake and enjoyed the night air on the conning tower. Fumio wouldn't know it for some time yet, but despite his lack of desire to be a hero, he had just moved to the top of the tonnage sunk by Japanese submarine captains list and this sinking would be mentioned in history books for many years. [image]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj283/bfeurer/CAAustralia.jpg[/image]

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