apbarog -> RE: Deja Vu All Over Again - apbarog(J) vs OPilot(A) (4/23/2021 4:09:11 PM)
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30 Mar 42 Cruiser battle at Norfolk Island. Night Time Surface Combat, near Norfolk Island at 113,170, Range 10,000 Yards Japanese Ships CA Haguro, Shell hits 2 CA Nachi, Shell hits 1 CA Aoba DD Natsushio DD Hayashio DD Amatsukaze DD Tokitsukaze DD Murasame DD Harusame Allied Ships CL Achilles, Shell hits 2, on fire CL Trenton CL Helena, Shell hits 1 DD John D. Ford DD Litchfield DD Peary DD Humphreys DD Sands DD King, Shell hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk DD Lawrence, Shell hits 4, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk The 2 US destroyers were hit by torpedoes fired by Japanese destroyers. Then a second engagement at Norfolk. Night Time Surface Combat, near Norfolk Island at 113,170, Range 12,000 Yards Japanese Ships CA Haguro CA Nachi CA Aoba DD Natsushio DD Hayashio DD Amatsukaze DD Tokitsukaze DD Murasame DD Harusame Allied Ships APD Manley, Shell hits 2, on fire APD Colhoun, Shell hits 2, heavy fires APD Gregory, Shell hits 3, on fire APD Little, Shell hits 2 APD McKean, Shell hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage If there were troops on the APDs, they had unloaded by the time of the battle. Could have been a supply run. I've been bombing Norfolk occasionally. The Japanese then did bombard Norfolk, doing minor damage to the base. I mentioned the risk that I took landing at Kendari, landing a division on nice xAPs with no real escort. Kendari was successful, as the landing occurred in one day and the ships were ordered out immediately. I did the same type of operation at Namlea, but wasn't happy that little supply had unloaded in one day, although all of the troops had unloaded. At Namlea, I used just big xAPs and no xAKs with just supply. Mistake one. I rushed the invasion to beat the end of the amphibious bonus. So the task force lingered an extra day. Mistake two. Night Time Surface Combat, near Namlea at 76,108, Range 8,000 Yards Japanese Ships DD Kuri xAP Argentina Maru, Shell hits 3, on fire xAP Hakozaki Maru xAP Katori Maru, Shell hits 1 xAP Suwa Maru xAP Kanzyu Maru, Shell hits 1 xAP Hoten Maru, Shell hits 16, heavy fires, heavy damage xAP Tsingtao Maru, Shell hits 2, on fire Allied Ships CA Houston CL Marblehead CL Boise DD Barker, Shell hits 1 DD Edsall DD Stewart DD Paul Jones DD Whipple DD Parrott DD Pillsbury DD Pope The Japanese task force moved out of Namlea, and would have escaped for the most part, but its setting ordered it back to the base, where the burning transports were engaged again. Mistake three. DD Kuri, Shell hits 6, heavy fires xAP Argentina Maru, Shell hits 10, heavy fires, heavy damage xAP Hakozaki Maru, Shell hits 9, heavy fires, heavy damage xAP Katori Maru, Shell hits 7, on fire xAP Suwa Maru, Shell hits 7, heavy fires, heavy damage xAP Kanzyu Maru, Shell hits 6, heavy fires xAP Tsingtao Maru, Shell hits 10, and is sunk Another battle finished off xAP Katori Maru. xAP Katori Maru, Shell hits 24, and is sunk Lesson learned, again. If you are going to invade with little protection, have surprise and don't linger longer than one day. Land and run. Kudos to OPilot for keeping the US combat ships near the front, despite Japanese carriers being in the approximate area. 6 of the 7 xAPs were sunk. The last is xAP Suwa Maru, and it is SYS 78/FLOT 42-7/ENG 38-0/FIRE 69, disbanded in the size one port of Namlea. It will burn up today. Incredibly, destroyer Kuri may survive. It is SYS 51/FLOT 14-1/ENG 19-1/FIRE 4, and is also in Namlea's port. The Allies swept Tjepoe and bombed the airfield. They did well against the 43 Zeros with elite pilots at Tjepoe. The airfield's minor damage was patched up by the end of the day, but 20 Zeros were shot down. The Allies lost 14 139WH-3s, 12 Hurricanes and 2 B-25s. P-40s swept late and had an easier time with the tired Zeros. Japanese shipping with supply and more airbase support had moved back to Tjepoe to continue to unload, and weren't attacked. Kendari was captured, as was Namlea. Another attack at Makassar lowered the forts to 0 and was a 1 to 1 attack, with heavier Dutch losses. Makassar should fall very soon. Madang was captured on New Guinea.
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