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Kitakami -> RE: Yamamoto's War: BtS Lite Kitakami-J v Revthought-A - No Revthought (5/9/2016 11:50:03 PM)
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Ok... time for the full report for Dec 11-12, 1941.
The sub war
Submarines have been quite effective, on both sides. It is one of the reasons I am very happy at having sunk several USN subs in Manila. The more I get to sink, the less problems they will give me now... and later. Anyway:
- ML No. 311, Mine hits 1, heavy damage, at Singapore. The last damage done by turn-1 mines.
- SS KXI, hits 13, near Kota Bharu. If true, this makes me very happy.
- xAK Siantar, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage, near Toboali.
- xAK Jarapa, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, near Merak.
- xAP Mijer, Mine hits 1, on fire, heavy damage. Another sub-laid mine doing what it should.
- xAKL Princess of Negros, Shell hits 9, near Balikpapan.
- SS I-154, hits 2, on fire; xAK Doryssa, Shell hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, near Pamekasan.
- AM Mildura, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage, near Port Moresby.
- SS I-172, hits 6, near Johnston Island.
- CA Maya, Torpedo hits 1, near Bataan. Ouch!
- xAK Nagara Maru, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage, near Batan Island.
- SS I-170, hits 1 near Pearl Harbor.
- CVL Ryujo, Torpedo hits 3, heavy damage, near Kuantan. This one hurt! Ryujo will live, as long as she does not swallow another fish, but it is not a sure thing.
- xAKL Tatsuha Maru, Shell hits 3, on fire; SS Searaven, hits 1.
My esteemed opponent has been very good at ASW. I forgot to shift my subs, and I paid the price with several boats damaged. I am very, very rusty. It seems I have forgotten more things than I remember about how to play this game.
The Pacific
As I stated in a previous post, last turn my Jakes noticed the presence of an enemy CV at anchor in Palmyra. I decided to position my carriers between Palmyra and Pearl, 5 hexes from Palmyra. It was not one CV, but two, with their escorts. They tried to sail towards Pearl, and it was a rather bloody exchange:
- CV Enterprise, Torpedo hits 3, Bomb hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage.
- CV Lexington, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires.
- CA Portland, Bomb hits 4, on fire.
- CA Astoria, Bomb hits 1.
- DD McCall, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires.
- CA Northampton, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage.
- DD Balch, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires.
I will pursue. I am of the mind that bagging one CV for sure is better than dividing the TF and going for a long shot. The fate of Lexington depends on her speed, and since I hit her with bombs only, I don't think she is slow enough for me to give chase. We will see.
The Philippines
If the action in the Pacific was hair-raising, what developed in the Philippines almost gave me a heart attack. The cruiser force I had covering the entrance of Manila Bay was attacked by Houston, Chicago, and their escorts! But Ameterasu smiled upon the admiral in charge, and this was the result:
Round 1: daytime surface action
- CA Maya, Shell hits 1.
- CA Chokai, Shell hits 12, on fire.
- DD Sagiri, Shell hits 3, heavy fires.
- CL Minase, Shell hits 2, on fire.
- CA Houston, Shell hits 2.
- CA Chicago, Shell hits 9, on fire.
- CL Marblehead, Shell hits 2, on fire.
- DD Barker, Shell hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage.
- DD Stewart, Shell hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage.
- DD Paul Jones, Shell hits 2, heavy fires.
Round 2: afternoon carrier air strike
- CA Chicago, Bomb hits 4, on fire, heavy damage.
- DD Barker, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage.
- DD Paul Jones, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage.
Round 3: daytime surface action
- CL Natori, Shell hits 1
- DD Fumizuki, Shell hits 2
- CA Chicago, Shell hits 22, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk.
- DD Paul Jones, Shell hits 11, and is sunk.
- DD Peary, Shell hits 4, heavy fires.
- DD Pillsbury, Shell hits 1.
Round 4: daytime surface action
- DD Peary, Shell hits 13, and is sunk.
- DD Pillsbury, Shell hits 6, and is sunk.
All in all, I can't complain. One USN CA and three DDs sunk, while only suffering repairable damage (bar a sub or a Catalina torp hit). The rest of the action in the area was rather one-sided:
- xAKL Escalante, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage.
- xAKL Sarangami, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk.
- xAP Elcano, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk.
- TK Manatawny, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage.
- xAK Governor Wright, Bomb hits 9, and is sunk.
- xAK Ravnaas, Bomb hits 6, heavy fires, heavy damage.
In Manila port:
- AO Pecos, Bomb hits 1.
- xAK Yu Sang, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage.
- TK La Estrella Caltex, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk.
- xAK Ethel Edwards, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires.
- TK Hai Kwang, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage.
- SS Sargo, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk.
- xAKL Don Jose, Bomb hits 1, on fire.
- ACM Colonel Harrison, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk.
- SS Spearfish, Bomb hits 1, heavy damage.
- AS Otus, Bomb hits 2.
- AS Canopus, Bomb hits 1, on fire.
My Manila Bay covering forces are running low on ammo, but their purpose is being fulfilled. They have bottled up the port's exit, and the IJN air is chewing ships up.
Dutch East Indies
I need air and surface covering forces to advance here. Meanwhile, I am strengthening Ternate.
Malaya
Japanese land forces are slowly moving forward. Meanwhile the Brits seem to have evacuated Alor Star, and are in the process of leaving only the barest speed bump in Georgetown.
At sea, things are a little different:
- xAK GG Van Vollenhoven, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk.
- xAK Neleus, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage.
- xAP Van Riebeek, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk.
- AM Astrolabe, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk.
- AM Octant, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk.
- xAK Tai Sang, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk.
- xAP Ipoh, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk.
- xAK Neleus, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk.
- xAK Laos, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage.
- xAK Silverbeech, Torpedo hits 1.
- xAP Kota Gede, Bomb hits 1.
- xAP Swartenhondt, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage.
- CM Kung Wo, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage.
- xAP Perak, Bomb hits 1, on fire.
- MMS-51, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk.
I have committed 5 divisions plus auxiliary units to this theater. I do not recall if this is enough or if I should commit a sixth division. Thoughts?
Burma
I made a grave mistake here. I sent two light bomber chutais to Bangkok to soften up Tavoy. Problem was, I did not send any escorts, so they were chewed up by Flying Tigers for two consecutive days. I lost about 10 planes in that one.
Besides that, I have one division plus auxiliary units moving towards Tavoy, plus an additional division en route from Japan towards Bangkok. No action yet.
China
Besides the air and artillery bombardment of Hong Kong, this is what happened:
Ground combat at 91,39 (near Chengting) - Japanese Shock attack
- Japanese ground losses:
--- 8 casualties reported
----- Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
----- Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
----- Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
- Allied ground losses:
--- 903 casualties reported
----- Squads: 47 destroyed, 11 disabled
----- Non Combat: 26 destroyed, 0 disabled
----- Engineers: 2 destroyed, 1 disabled
----- Units retreated 1
I am still shifting forces in the theater, and several of the big attacks have not started yet. Enemy forces have started to move towards defensive positions though.
Losses
Naval losses are still light (although damaged ships are beginning to mount up):
-xAP Takatiho Maru, (involuntarily) scuttled near Naga.
Air Losses continue to be huge:
- 18 B5N2
- 18 A6M2
- 13 Ki-30
- 10 Ki-32
- 9 G4M1
- 7 D3A1
- 4 Ki-48-Ib
- 2 Ki-57-I
- 2 Ki-43-Ib
- 2 E14Y1
- 2 E13A1
- 2 C5M2
- 36 SBD-2
- 30 F4F-3A
- 14 TBD-1
- 13 Hurricane IIb
- 9 SOC-1
- 9 F2A-3
- 8 Buffalo I
- 2 PBY-4
- 2 P-40E
- 2 B-17D
- 2 H81-A3
Plus single planes here and there. If I had not destroyed a carrier air group, the turn's balance would have been lousy.
Well, that is all for now. Any comments, suggestions, etc. are more than welcome :)
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