apbarog -> RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J) (3/8/2020 10:11:55 PM)
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24 Sep 43 36 Hellcats from a US carrier swept Palembang, finding 30 Nicks, 36 Tonys and 12 Tojos. Hellcats are lost but more enemy go down. The morning finds clear skies over Palembang. 25 P-47s swept Tarakan, finding 36 A6M5 Zeros. The Thunderbolts do very well, getting about a 5 to 1 ratio. US aircraft from Balikpapan attack shipping at Tarakan. About 90 B-24s hit Balikpapan's airfield, doing moderate damage and destroying a handful of planes. They do help wear down the CAP. Just in time for the almost-always-late-sweeping P-38s, which down a few planes after finding just a few more. In the afternoon, the weather had turned at Palembang. Now it had thunderstorms. Allied carrier aircraft attack, launching from 7 hexes to the west of Palembang. Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Palembang at 48,91 Weather in hex: Thunderstorms Raid detected at 79 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 29 minutes Japanese aircraft Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 2 Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 2 Ki-61-Ia Tony x 5 Allied aircraft F6F-3 Hellcat x 54 SB2C-1C Helldiver x 36 SBD-5 Dauntless x 108 TBF-1 Avenger x 54 No Japanese losses Allied aircraft losses F6F-3 Hellcat: 1 destroyed SB2C-1C Helldiver: 5 damaged SB2C-1C Helldiver: 1 destroyed by flak SBD-5 Dauntless: 6 damaged TBF-1 Avenger: 1 damaged Japanese Ships xAP Atsuta Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire xAP Kowa Maru CMc Enoshima, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage xAK Yuzan Maru, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage xAK Tatsuho Maru, Bomb hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage TK Hakko Maru, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage CMc Toshima, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk xAP Kobe Maru, Bomb hits 1 xAK Kinugawa Maru, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires AMC Awata Maru, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage AK Arima Maru DD Hayanami xAK Meiten Maru, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage xAK Ryugi Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage TK Ogura Maru #3 TK San Diego Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire xAP Horai Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires xAP Shanghai Maru xAK Kazuura Maru AK Awazisan Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire xAK Kashiwara Maru, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage E Yugao TK San Pedro Maru xAK Yamaura Maru, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires Japanese ground losses: 432 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 41 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Guns lost 13 (2 destroyed, 11 disabled) Then another big carrier attack, one that is disappointing in the number of hits and the number of enemy ships attacked. Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Palembang at 48,91 Weather in hex: Thunderstorms Raid detected at 74 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 35 minutes Japanese aircraft Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 2 Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 1 Ki-61-Ia Tony x 3 Allied aircraft SB2C-1C Helldiver x 34 SBD-5 Dauntless x 72 TBF-1 Avenger x 54 No Japanese losses Allied aircraft losses SB2C-1C Helldiver: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged SBD-5 Dauntless: 6 damaged TBF-1 Avenger: 1 destroyed, 3 damaged Japanese Ships TK Eiyo Maru DD Hayanami, Bomb hits 1, on fire TK Ogura Maru #1 TK Kiyo Maru TK San Luis Maru, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires PB Choun Maru #18 CMc Enoshima, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk A final naval strike. Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Palembang at 48,91 Weather in hex: Thunderstorms Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 14 minutes Japanese aircraft Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 2 Ki-61-Ia Tony x 2 Allied aircraft F6F-3 Hellcat x 18 SBD-5 Dauntless x 36 Japanese aircraft losses Ki-61-Ia Tony: 1 destroyed Allied aircraft losses SBD-5 Dauntless: 2 damaged Japanese Ships DD Hayanami, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires BBfanboy's suggestion of moving to within 6 hexes of Palembang was a good one. At 7 hexes, the SBD-5s carried 500 pound bombs instead of 1000 pounders. And the TBFs did not carry torpedoes. But I chose to remain with the incoming transports, keeping that as the primary mission, and had my fighters at range 1 CAP to cover the transports. Ironically, the transports moved an extra hex and ended up with the carriers, so moving to within 6 hexes of Palembang would have worked out. But that extra hex was not expected. The transport shipping was 3/3 movement, and went 7 hexes. Sometimes it happens. I also noted that many dive bombers went for destroyers, and there was only one bomb hit on a destroyer. Over 50 dive bombers missed destroyers. Maybe as many as 75. Bad luck in bad weather. It was still a profitable strike though. While the carriers were spotted by the enemy, due to the air strikes, none of the invasion shipping was spotted, so this could look like a raid. Morning Air attack on TF, near Tarakan at 67,91 Weather in hex: Heavy rain Raid detected at 35 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 16 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M5 Zero x 17 Allied aircraft F4U-1 Corsair x 16 SB2C-1C Helldiver x 27 TBF-1 Avenger x 16 No Japanese losses Allied aircraft losses F4U-1 Corsair: 4 destroyed SB2C-1C Helldiver: 1 destroyed TBF-1 Avenger: 2 destroyed Japanese Ships TK Kyoko Maru, Bomb hits 4, and is sunk TK Zuiyo Maru, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk PB Shonan Maru #6, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk TK Nissan Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage TK Kozui Maru, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk PB Shonon Maru #15, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk PB Takunan Maru #5, Bomb hits 3, and is sunk TK Toen Maru, Bomb hits 4, and is sunk The Corsairs took losses but spared most of the bombers. The tankers hit were small ones. A good attack in heavy rain. The big convoy with AKs and DDs, spotted by subs near Tarakan, was not seen. Total air losses for the day: 21 Tonys 14 Nicks 12 A6M5 Zeros 3 Tojos 15 F6F-3s 9 F4U-1s 8 SB2C-1Cs 5 TBFs 4 P-47s 5 B-24s 1 SBD On Java, Ground combat at 50,101 (near Tjilatjap) Allied Deliberate attack Attacking force 10548 troops, 161 guns, 130 vehicles, Assault Value = 391 Defending force 13503 troops, 137 guns, 158 vehicles, Assault Value = 268 Allied adjusted assault: 41 Japanese adjusted defense: 793 Allied assault odds: 1 to 19 Combat modifiers Defender: terrain(+) Attacker: Japanese ground losses: 90 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Allied ground losses: 937 casualties reported Squads: 6 destroyed, 90 disabled Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 11 disabled Engineers: 2 destroyed, 8 disabled Guns lost 15 (3 destroyed, 12 disabled) Assaulting units: 1st (Spec) Cavalry Division 640th Tank Destroyer Battalion 1st Aus Para Battalion 145th Field Artillery Battalion Defending units: 12th Division 4th Tank Regiment 21st Ind Engineer Regiment 30th Field AA Machinecannon Company 19th Army 1st Medium Field Artillery Regiment The enemy 12th Division arrived in the hex just in time to save the other units. The enemy continues to retreat towards Batavia along the southern coast. It won't matter. US divisions are about to rail to Cheribon and start the move to Batavia. And Sumatra will be invaded today. Sweeping and bombing will switch to Batavia today. [image]local://upfiles/6549/86C30988BC3E467C97ECC2C584BB45E6.gif[/image]
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