|
wobbly -> (11/13/2003 7:07:40 AM)
|
Buna does appear to be the target. Transport ships are approaching in droves and my fly boys go out to meet them. I am running into a morale issue. All my pilots are on the verge of packing up and going home. I know I have been pushing them reasonably hard, and they have been shot at, but I no longer have fighter squads with enough morale to guarrantee they will stay in a fight. The one consolation is that herbie-san appears to be having the same problem with his fighter jocks - in two of the catfights today - his fighters started breaking off.
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 11/10/42
Weather: Clear
Air attack on Port Moresby , at 10,40
Allied aircraft
B-26B Marauder x 5
no losses
Attacking Level Bombers:
5 x B-26B Marauder at 6000 feet
Umm, alright already, I'll take them off night flights THIS TIME.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Buna, at 12,38
Allied ground losses:
Men lost 22
Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 2
Port hits 1
As I expected Herbie-san tries a bombardment run into Buna. I have no surface ships there for him to munch on - the damage will congregate as I have no engineers here.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Air attack on Buna , at 12,38
Japanese aircraft
H6K Mavis x 2
no losses
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Air attack on TF, near Buna at 12,38
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 29
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 5
Allied aircraft
SBD Dauntless x 16
TBF Avenger x 13
P-40E Warhawk x 9
P-38G Lightning x 21
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero x 4 destroyed
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 1 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
SBD Dauntless x 1 damaged
P-40E Warhawk x 2 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk x 1 damaged
P-38G Lightning x 2 destroyed
P-38G Lightning x 1 damaged
LCDR S. Itaya of BI-1 Daitai is credited with kill number 6
LTJG V.Kawamura of F1/Tainan Daitai bails out and is CAPTURED
Japanese Ships
AP Kyosei Maru
AP Tama Maru #2
AP Sado Maru
AP Hokuyo Maru
AP Shoan Maru
Escorted by the P-38s (I didn't want to use them as I was trying ot get enough planes in the reserves to allow another another squad to convert) the bombers get through, only to have them miss everything!!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Air attack on TF, near Buna at 12,38
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 18
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 5
Allied aircraft
SBD Dauntless x 27
Wirraway x 10
P-39D Airacobra x 21
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 1 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
SBD Dauntless x 4 destroyed
SBD Dauntless x 3 damaged
P-39D Airacobra x 1 destroyed
P-39D Airacobra x 1 damaged
LTJG I.Nojima of BI-1 Daitai is credited with kill number 4
Japanese Ships
AP Otori Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire
AP Nojima Maru, Shell hits 12, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AP Hiyoshi Maru, Shell hits 12, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AP Shinko Maru, Shell hits 8, Bomb hits 2, on fire
AP Shinwa Maru, Shell hits 8, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AP Tenzan Maru
AP Nagisan Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
Instead I have to rely on my fighter bombers again, I don't care what the board says, Wirraways and P-39s are worth their weight in gold! Only one of these bomb hits was from the dauntlesses.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Air attack on Buna , at 12,38
Japanese aircraft
H6K Mavis x 2
no losses
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Air attack on TF, near Gasmata at 17,32
Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 1
Allied aircraft
TBF Avenger x 10
no losses
Allied aircraft losses
TBF Avenger x 1 destroyed
TBF Avenger x 5 damaged
Japanese Ships
DD Fumizuki
CA Myoko
DD Uzuki
Poor, badly lead Avengers again head off to Gasmata to take on the surface warships there. They are bombing rather than torpedoing and the flak just hammers them out of the sky.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Air attack on TF at 13,36
Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 12
Allied aircraft
Wirraway x 7
P-40E Warhawk x 8
P-38G Lightning x 18
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3 Zero x 2 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
Wirraway x 1 damaged
P-38G Lightning x 1 destroyed
P-38G Lightning x 1 damaged
2LT B. Davis of 67th FS is credited with kill number 3
Japanese Ships
AP Kenryu Maru, Shell hits 4
AP Iwaki Maru
Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 8
A very well escorted raid of 7 Wirraways. I actually only loose 2 P-38s during the day. This leaves me with 26 planes in reserve, just short of an upgrade.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Port Moresby
Japanese Bombardment attack
Attacking force 1770 troops, 30 guns, 0 vehicles
Defending force 25433 troops, 202 guns, 24 vehicles
Herbie-san has returned to bombardment - can't say I blame him.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Gili Gili
Allied Bombardment attack
Attacking force 530 troops, 10 guns, 0 vehicles
Defending force 10907 troops, 150 guns, 0 vehicles
Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 9
I want to set the aussies to attack again but the suppression bombers are unlikely to fly so it will have to wait.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The weather this turn is thunderstorms. This of course means my bombers are going to be unlikely to hit his invasion. Instead Scott - who left from Townsville yesterday - is now in the GG straits and will attack the invasion forces. I know Herbie-san bombarded last turn, I am hoping he hasn't got enough fuel on board the ships that did the bombardment to be there two nights in a row.
Lee is at Cairns and he refuels and heads to the GG straits again.
Another BB is arriving in Pearl tomorrow, there are plenty of ships to escort her so I hope she is released.
|
|
|
|
