RE: Battle Of the Bismark Archipelago

RE: Battle Of the Bismark Archipelago (Full Version)

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Admiral DadMan -> RE: Battle Of the Bismark Archipelago (2/23/2019 9:26:15 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: RangerJoe Rabbits feet are NOT lucky. The rabbit had four of them and look what happened to him . . . If you disband in a port, fly in some AV for defense, some naval support if available, and if there is an airfield, some air support to move the unloaded air units from the base. APDs will also be useful. Collect as many ships as is possible for an escort TF if the Japanese start looking like they will attack the base or even a naval attack on the port. Go from base to base, disbanding at each one if you have to to try and save the Lady. If nothing else, remove the pilots from the air units and save them. Shortland has no airfield and a port that is little more than a sheltered alcove... There is neither time nor sufficient forces of which you write. LEXINGTON must save herself or not at all.

RangerJoe -> RE: Battle Of the Bismark Archipelago (2/23/2019 9:40:08 PM)
Ouch. So no engineers to try and make a level 1 airfield. Of course, the enemy would probably be able to then capture the airfield. But you can still unload the aircraft and try to get them loaded on the small akls. It is better than losing the aircraft and having to buy back the air units for later use.

Admiral DadMan -> RE: Battle Of the Bismark Archipelago (2/23/2019 9:42:42 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: RangerJoe Ouch. So no engineers to try and make a level 1 airfield. Of course, the enemy would probably be able to then capture the airfield. But you can still unload the aircraft and try to get them loaded on the small akls. It is better than losing the aircraft and having to buy back the air units for later use. The future is yet unwritten...

Admiral DadMan -> RE: Battle Of the Bismark Archipelago (2/28/2019 1:39:06 AM)
6JAN42 It's nearly dusk as LEXINGTON crawls her way towards Shortlands Harbour. Captain Sherman knows the battle to save the great ship is lost. All he needs now is a little more time - time she does not have. If he can conn her in to shallow water, she might settle well enough to some day be salvaged. At 17:43, what began as a slow moan of metal builds into a cataclysm of heat, steam, fire, smoke, and shrapnel. Another, then another. Tired, battered, and at the end of the line, Lady Lex shudders to a stop. Fredrick Sherman needs no more convincing. "Pass the word: Abandon Ship". As he moves through the men he watches the officers and chiefs. He's proud of them as they shepherd their charges over the side. Wounded into life boats, able-bodied into the sea. The water is nearly to the flight deck as the last of those who are able to leave the ship for the last time make their way off. Sherman turns to his Exec., "Well, time to get wet," and steps off the deck. What should have been a few seconds was almost immediate. LEXINGTON was under, disappearing to her grave at 31 fathoms. A voice was heard to call out: "She's going with her head up! A lady to the last." LEXINGTON was no more. For the next 3 hours, NORTHAMPTON, MINNEAPOLIS, HELENA, HONOLULU, and the screening destroyers plucked men from the sea. At 21:30, Sherman gave the order to head south. The Battle of Bismarck Archipelago was over. SARATOGA and ENTERPRISE are to retire south. ENTERPRISE has suffered extensive collateral damage, and is estimated to be laid up for several months. Many of LEXINGTON's aircraft were lost with her in the explosions. More were lost with the taking of Rabaul by the Japanese. CAG-2 will fight again... The tally: Japan: -Lost 1 CV, 1 DD -Damaged 4 CV (2 very heavily), 1 CA US/RAN: -Lost 1 CV, 1 CA, 3 DD -Damaged 1 CV, 3 CA, 2 DD Somewhat of a tactical draw, as both sides are left with one undamaged carrier, but more of a strategic Allied win, as this forces Japan to reconsider its options. In other news, a squadron of 4 OMAHA class CL's laid some smack down on the troops at Wotje Island. Force Z has been ordered out of the area of Batavia for upkeep and refit. Dutch RADM Karel Doorman has taken a task force of CL's and DD's north to Tarakan to see what mischief he can cause...

ChuckBerger -> RE: Battle Of the Bismark Archipelago (2/28/2019 2:19:18 AM)
Sorry to hear Lex didn't make it... but it wouldn't be surprising if your opponent lost 2 or 3 CVs. In tactical terms it's a win, and potentially a major win if more IJN carriers go under. In strategic terms, it's a decisive victory - KB has been eliminated as the IJN's naval trump card for the next few months at least, which of course is the critical period for rapid expansion.

mogami -> RE: Battle Of the Bismark Archipelago (2/28/2019 2:50:06 AM)
Hi, In my pregame video AAR covering initial Japanese deployment and plans I stated that Dadman would send his CV to South Pacific because Japan starts with nothing that can oppose them. Then I thought He knows I know he will come. He will expect me to send forces to oppose him so instead he will just stay home while forces I could use in SRA sit idle in South Pacific. Dadman will not risk those CV for some transports. Well I didn't send anything and he came. So when I moved toward Rabaul I sent KB where he would see it. He would say "Well I can't mess with that. My CV need upgrade and the airgroups are in need of upgrade and training as well. " I didn't think he would bet the farm over a base he could not defend. I had my patrol groups looking but I never saw him coming. (why my CAP was at 30% rather then 50) So I was quite devastated by the resulting battle. (anyone who plays this games knows the sick feeling in your stomach after a totally unforeseen disaster.) Kaga, Akagai and Zuikaku were lost. Fortunately their airgroups landed on the other 3 CV or later Rabaul. Hiryu, Soryu and Shokaku left operational I felt like pursing the enemy but couldn't muster the resolve. I knew I had hurt at least 1 enemy CV by the number of AC on Rabaul when it fell. But I still thought my 3 CV would be outnumbered. If disaster frightens you don't play Japan. The Allies can survive 1 disaster Japan pretty much has to overhaul all future plans. Even trades favor the Allies. Now I cannot venture beyond land based air cover.

RangerJoe -> RE: Battle Of the Bismark Archipelago (2/28/2019 12:39:42 PM)
That is the problem with the KB as a spear point - it is very brittle. A little damage can have a rather large effect while if the Allies lose carriers, they get more than enough to replace them, although it will take awhile. Now, you can't make dashing raids across the Pacific without being, as we used to say, "Nervous in the Service!"

Bif1961 -> RE: Battle Of the Bismark Archipelago (2/28/2019 3:27:15 PM)
What this does is force the Japanese to combine the mini-KB and the operating remains of the KB together and continue his operations knowing he probably sank 1 American carrier and heavily damaged a 2nd. The Japanese don't have the time to lick their wound and will push even harder with the combined mini-KB and remnants of the KB. I don't disagree with the assessments that this is an Allied victory but at the begining of the war the Japanese have 10 carriers of all types to the allies 4. He has longer range and torpedo armed land base bombers and will use that to cover the landings, especially in DEI as he moves the mini-KB over to help with the landings in South and Central PAC. This does give the Allies a future benefit that leaves one area uncovered by Japanese carriers. He does get a few CVEs, CVLs and two medium converted carriers in the coming 6 months, while you get Yorktown, Hornet and then the Wasp along to 3 British carriers who also have to leave after a short stay. So timing of your future counter-invasions may have to be coordinated around those arrival and departure dates and when the Enterprise gets repaired. I will warn you that I had the Enterprise receive medium damage and I was sending it to Darwin using cruise to minimize any increase in damage and one day out she went apart and sank. It was just a domino effect over one night that I had no chance to address, so be careful even though you think she is in no danger of sinking and Americans have very good damage control it appears early war damage control is not as good as later in the war.

RangerJoe -> RE: Battle Of the Bismark Archipelago (2/28/2019 4:35:23 PM)
That is true about the damage control. What the US Navy learned from the actual loss of the Lexington would have saved her as it saved many other ships. Fill all gas lines with CO2 gas so if damaged they are less likely to catch on fire. Do NOT turn on fans to spread the gas fumes around the ship which lead to many explosions when the gas concentration reached levels high enough to ignite from a spark. A damaged control officer tried to vent the fumes from an area, That is what really sank her as her main aviation gas tank was cracked. Then they also had fleet tugs (not depicted in the game) nearby so they could tow the damaged ships if needed. Edited because I missed a space. [:(]

Admiral DadMan -> RE: Battle Of the Bismark Archipelago (2/28/2019 10:53:20 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: RangerJoe ...Then they also had fleet tugs (not depicted in the game) nearby so they could tow the damaged ships if needed. Tugs were considered, but determined to be not time effective to code. The expedient of allowing a crippled ship to travel 1 hex every other phase was used instead.

Admiral DadMan -> RE: Battle Of the Bismark Archipelago (2/28/2019 11:18:22 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: mogami ....I stated that Dadman would send his CV to South Pacific because Japan starts with nothing that can oppose them. Then I thought He knows I know he will come. He will expect me to send forces to oppose him so instead he will just stay home while forces I could use in SRA sit idle in South Pacific. Dadman will not risk those CV for some transports. Well I didn't send anything and he came. So when I moved toward Rabaul I sent KB where he would see it. He would say "Well I can't mess with that. My CV need upgrade and the airgroups are in need of upgrade and training as well. " I didn't think he would bet the farm over a base he could not defend. I had my patrol groups looking but I never saw him coming... Vizzini: "All I have to do is divine from what I know of you: are you the sort of man who would put the poison into his own goblet or his enemy's? Now, a clever man would put the poison into his own goblet, because he would know that only a great fool would reach for what he was given. I am not a great fool, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you. But you must have known I was not a great fool. You would have counted on it, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me." Man in Black: "Truly, you have a dizzying intellect." Vizzini: "Wait till I get going! Now, where was I?" Man in Black: "Australia."

Admiral DadMan -> RE: Battle Of the Bismark Archipelago (3/23/2019 3:18:24 PM)
7JAN42 For fun, I formed a cruiser squadron of my old Omaha class CLs and had them hit Wotje. They are surprisingly effective. As dawn breaks over Bouganville, the escorting ships collect Captain (now Rear Admiral) Sherman and his surviving crew of Lexington, then begin to make the long journey south to Australia. These men will form the nucleus of a new ship, one that will take the name of honor of CV-2 they once called home: CV-16 Lexington. Aboard Bill Halsey�s crippled Enterprise, the crew continues to battle system failures as the ship continues to fight for its life. It�s touch and go. Escorting destroyers are tense- Japanese submarines have been surprisingly effective. In the Celebes Sea off Tarakan, Borneo, Dutch Rear Admiral Karel Doorman and his squadron of light cruisers surprises a group of transports unloading. In the melee that follows, a first scrap costs the Japanese a transport and several patrol craft. In Doorman's second attempt to get at the landings, more transports, a destroyer, and CL Kashii are lost. Doorman�s 3 cruisers are relatively unscathed, but 5 of his 7 destroyers are heavily damaged, and 3 of them end up succumbing to their wounds.

Admiral DadMan -> RE: Battle Of the Bismark Archipelago (3/23/2019 6:59:03 PM)
8JAN42 All forces continuing to retire. Manila and Singapore continue to be hammered from the air. Yorktown has arrived at Pearl Harbor and is inspected by Adm. Nimitz.

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