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Buckeye5 -> RE: July 20-22, 1942 (2/19/2004 5:53:18 AM)
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July 20, 1942
Wow…for the first time in forever, I don’t lose any shipping today. In fact, I catch up a bit…a very little bit. S-39 begins the day’s combat by picking off a damaged patrol gunboat trying to withdraw from Efate. It’s a little victory, but at the very least the IJN’s foray to the southeast Pacific has cost them quite a few of their smaller escort vessels.
The IJN carriers are still there, and they launch their bombers against my ground troops at Luganville. The AA is ineffective, but so, for the most part, is the bombing—saturation bombing isn’t what Vals and Kates were built for. I’m sure my disruption levels are getting unhealthy, but my casualties are pretty low.
Saratoga’s fliers are still in action. Today they actually find a transport task force to attack, which is a nice change from hitting heavily-armored battleships and cruisers. There aren’t enough combat-effective Dauntlesses left in the squadrons to make the strike decisive, but the AP Manju Maru takes two bomb hits, and two of her fellow transports take single hits. The Marauders from Noumea try to add to the tally, but they’re really lousy at naval attack—even bombing from 2,000 feet, they can’t hit anything. I’ve really got to stop using them for missions like this—it’s just wasting planes.
The day’s action ends with a bombardment attack by the IJN troops at Efate. There are a LOT of them there—at least nine or ten ground units, including six infantry, one combat engineer, and even an armored unit. My RCTs stand their ground, but the bombardment reduced their combat effectiveness a little too much for my liking. It looks like I may have to fly in the Marine paratroopers, and maybe the Raider battalion, too, just to be able to hold the place—and that’s if the Japanese don’t reinforce.
It appears that the small IJN transport task force bound for south New Guinea pulled up one hex short of Port Moresby and started unloading a unit of engineers on the beach (I didn’t realize you could do that!). This means that my patrolling cruisers and DDs at PM don’t find them, and they elude my subs as well. But they’re still parked there at the end of the day (my spotters report one MSW and 3 transports). With the IJN carriers still busy mauling me on the other side of the map, I decide to get a bit aggressive with my western squadron. They’re ordered to sail along the south coast of New Guinea with React turned on in the hope they’ll be able to find targets. The only real threats to them are IJN subs and land-based air, and I’m not real worried about either right now. I doubt any subs will be operating in the open ocean, given Marc’s predilection for using them to stake out my ports, and unless he’s gotten a lot of reinforcements he hasn’t been using, his Betties and Nells are pretty much spent.
The harassment of PM will continue. This time, my 3 B-17 squadrons from Cairns will be performing the duty. The medium bombers at Cooktown are put on Naval Attack orders with the hope they can put a couple of bombs into that transport convoy. My own transports are getting closer—they’re about 3 days’ sailing south of Port Moresby—they should pull into port on the night of the 24th and begin unloading. The supply task force carrying stocks for the troops is accompanying them. My low-level recon of Port Moresby appears to show that it’s still garrisoned only by a single SNLF and a small engineer unit, so the 3rd Division shouldn’t have too much trouble evicting them. There’s another SNLF at Lea Lea, and the engineer unit one hex SE of Port Moresby, and if I can get a chance to beat on them, too, that would be an added bonus.
The IJN sub at Townsville warrants a bit of a response from me—several squadrons of displaced carrier bombers are put on ASW patrol, as are the Beauforts at Cooktown. I also form a mine warfare task force consisting of Hobart, a couple of destroyers, and three coastal minesweepers. Again, I’ll try to use them to draw and attack, then kill the sub once it reveals its position. This tactic has worked well before, but I’ve been using bigger hunter/killer groups. I’m not sure I’ve got enough ASW ships present to give me good odds of a kill. I guess I’ll find out.
July 21, 1942
Well, I got the answer I was looking for at Townsville—I didn’t have enough ASW escorts in the task force. I-28 put a torpedo into the CL Phoenix and got away with it. Phoenix isn’t in terrible shape, but will definitely need a few weeks in a large port to bring down her damage levels.
I missed the surface intercept I was trying for with my surface task force near Port Moresby—my ships sailed too far to the east and missed the IJN task force in the night. But this doesn’t mean the Japanese got off entirely. S-38 is patrolling the same patch of ocean, and she puts two torpedoes into the AP Tarushima Maru. This is one of the 1,000-ton capacity Marus, and she goes under quite quickly, taking a few men from the IJN base force with her to the bottom.
My surface ships do see some action today, however—they draw an attack from Vals based at Dobadura. These are either Shokaku’s orphans or a new land-based squadron—I’m not sure which. Fifteen Vals attack my ships, scoring a single hit on the CL Achilles (the combat report said it was the St. Louis). For a single hit, her damage levels are depressingly high, but it’s an expensive bomb hit for the Japanese as well, as flak splashes no fewer than 8 of the 15 attackers. I’m not thrilled that the CL took a hit, but in retrospect it could’ve been worse. Those Vals probably could’ve inflicted more damage if they’d hit my transport task force, and after this attack that squadron should be pretty much neutered.
My level bombers from Noumea again hit the IJN troops at Efate, but there’s a new complication—they’re being LRCAPed by fighters from the IJN carriers. I lose a Marauder and a pair of Havocs, with several other bombers damaged, although one Zero is destroyed by return fire from the bombers. Again, the damage to the IJN troops appears to be minimal—I’m not doing much more than keeping their heads down.
The same is true at Port Moresby, where 10 Fortresses from Cairns pay a visit to the 4th Naval Garrison Unit. I’m only doing pinprick damage, but the disruption should add up. This is becoming more important, as my transports have put on a burst of speed, and actually appear to be only one day out of Port Moresby.
The Dauntlesses and Airacobras from Luganville fly again today. Again their target is the massed IJN transports offshore, but they don’t actually hit that much. The Gosei Maru is hit by one bomb and multiple shells, but the other Japanese ships escape unscathed. The IJN carriers respond with another mass Val/Kate raid on Luganville, targeting the ground troops there. My personnel casualties are higher than I’d like them to be, but probably not decisive.
The day ends with a Japanese bombardment attack at Efate Port Vila, which reveals a depressing situation. There are a LOT of IJN combat units on the ground there—it looks like almost twenty, with at least 10 infantry units. In the face of odds like that, I’m not sure how long my troops can hold out. This stinks, as I really wanted to deny the Japanese a forward base so close to Noumea, although it will probably cause some problems in terms of keeping the place in supply. There’s very little left there for them to use if and when the base falls.
The impending fall of Efate prompts me to take a rather rash action. Several of my surviving surface warships are parked in the harbor there shedding floatation damage, and I don’t want to lose them. So I order the heavy cruisers Pensacola and Northampton and three destroyers to form a fast transport task force and run for Noumea. These ships are all in good enough shape that they can make decent speed—if they sprint, they should reach Noumea in one day. They’ll have to go to Pearl Harbor, but if they don’t hit a Japanese surface group on the way out, I may be able to extract them. Five other ships, including the heavy cruiser Louisville, are too badly damaged to accompany this group. They’ll have to try to ride out the storm for a day or two and then evacuate to the south.
My wayward surface ships south of New Guinea are ordered to steam west in another attempt to hit that elusive transport task force southeast of Port Moresby. I’d really like to kill these guys off, preferably before they finish unloading.
A surface squadron of 2 CAs, 1 CL, and 10 destroyers has arrived at Noumea. I don’t want to throw them into the fire in the east, as they’d likely share the fate of my last squadron. So they’re formed into a surface combat task force and ordered to sail for Townsville by way of Rockhampton. That should get them out of harm’s way for the moment, and I may be able to use them to support the landings at Port Moresby.
The powers that be have finally come to the realization that I’m in trouble out here, and decided to release North Carolina and a powerful escort squadron (3 AA-refitted CAs and about 9 destroyers). It’s too little, too late, but I appreciate the gesture. At the very least I can probably use this squadron to screen Noumea, making a repeat of the earlier bombardment run unlikely. By the time North Carolina arrives at Noumea, its fighters will have been reinforced by the Wasp’s contingent and three VMF squadrons, so I should be able to put up a solid fighter defense even if the entire Japanese carrier fleet comes calling.
My attempts to transport more men into Efate are now being thwarted by IJN LRCAP—several Dakotas and PBYs are downed by patrolling Zeroes, so I shift tack and order the Dakotas to focus on moving the 112th Cavalry Regiment to Luganville. I’ve got better odds of holding there then at Efate, anyway, so I might as well roll the dice appropriately.
Wasp is now five days out from Noumea. I’ll probably just order her to drop off her planes and run for Pearl Harbor, as a solo carrier is going to be pretty useless, but the aircraft reinforcements will be most welcome, as will the ships of her screen.
July 22, 1942
This is another in a string of brutal slugging matches, although at least today is more even than some of the other days have been. The night opens with another naval bombardment of Efate Port Vila, this time by a Japanese cruiser squadron. The five ships in port are all hit, most of them seriously, and the airbase and runway both get severely cratered.
My subs strike back quickly. S-46 puts a pair of fish into the IJN destroyer Michishio, breaking her back. But S-46’s life only lasts a couple of minutes longer, as a swarm of other destroyers converge on her position, and the IJN Urakaze finds the range with depth charges, sending the old S-boat to the bottom. I rather suspect that Marc has quite a few more destroyers than I have submarines, so I don’t much like this exchange.
S-42 tries to add to the night’s bag with an attack on the destroyer Arashi, but her spread misses. Fortunately, S-42 is able to dodge the destroyer’s counterattack.
As my convoy of damaged warships from Efate nears Noumea, Northampton becomes the target of the I-19, which scores with a single Long Lance. The big cruiser is a tough ship, however, and sails on undeterred.
As dawn breaks, my bombers from Cooktown pay a visit to Dobadura. Although recon shows a large number of fighters at the base, none of them are on CAP, so the bombers are opposed by flak alone. One Hudson and two Mitchells are damaged, but the airbase takes a beating—there were more than 50 bombers in the strike, and they made their runs count. I don’t think Dobadura is closed down, but it’s certainly a significant portion of the way there.
Now my boys at Luganville get their turn. Dauntlesses, Devastators, and Airacobras target a Japanese transport task force withdrawing to the northwest. There’s a HUGE discrepancy in the combat reports received—if my report is to be believed, than four of the Marus in the convoy probably won’t be making it home, but if the Japanese report is more accurate, that number is probably more like one. I’ll have to check the ships sunk list to see how this turns out.
Near New Guinea, the Vals from Dobadura are flying again, and today they target my transport task force—fortunately, only seven of them are able to fly today. The combat report indicates hits on the transport Ormiston and the PG Swan, but neither appears to have taken any damage (no fires, and neither ship has SYS damage higher than 5).
The day’s air action concludes with a succession of IJN carrier strikes against my shipping at Noumea, but for once I’m well-position to receive the attacks. The carriers are launching at very long range, so the strikes that come in are relatively small and somewhat spread out, and Saratoga’s fighters are in the air waiting for them. Vals and bomb-carrying Kates manage a couple of hits on the already-damaged Pensacola, the destroyer O’Brien, and the destroyer-minelayer Montgomery (this is very annoying, as she’ll have to go back to Pearl Harbor, and she was one of only 3 mine-laying ships in my fleet), while their escorting Zeroes kill 3 of the patrolling Wildcats. But fighters, flak, and operational losses account for ten Zeroes, fourteen Vals, and seven Kates—it really helped me that the IJN carriers were launching from up near Luganville, as lots of cripples evidently crashed on the flight home.
The day ends with Japanese ground assaults at Luganville and Efate. The Luganville attack is a perfunctory shock attack, apparently by only one unit, and it is easily repulsed by my defenders.
The fight at Efate is a strong bombardment attack by what looks like half the IJN army. If he’s trying to probe my defenses, he should have a very good idea just how badly I’m outnumbered here.
While my crippled surface warships took some nasty knocks making the dash from Efate to Noumea, they made it, and the Pensacola and Northampton, along with several destroyers and the luckless Montgomery, are sent on to Pearl Harbor for repairs. They won’t be available for a long time, but at least they survived. The success of their escape attempt prompts me to try again with three of the five ships remaining at Efate. Two damaged transports are ordered to haul anchor and run for Noumea, and the badly-damaged Louisville will also be making the run. I think they’ve got a good chance at avoiding IJN surface forces, as the cruisers appear to have departed. However, I don’t think either task force has the speed to make Noumea (and fighter CAP) in one day, so if they’re spotted, they’re going to be air strike bait. Still, I’m going to try to save them.
A perusal of the sunk ships list reveals a nice surprise—I-22 has joined the four IJN subs previously sunk! The cause is listed as “500 lb. GP bomb”, so evidently one of my much-maligned Mitchells actually hit the thing during the attacks a few days back. This is nice, but it hasn’t solved the problem, as I-28 has been staking out Townsville since at least yesterday in place of the not-exactly-dearly-departed I-22. There’s another IJN sub parked in Noumea harbor, so I assign several squadrons of aircraft at both bases to ASW patrol. Maybe lightning can strike twice.
In other news, a PBY Catalina spots a powerful IJN surface force about 350 miles east of Port Moresby. Reportedly this group contains at least two battleships—far more firepower than I can easily confront. Given this information, the Port Moresby invasion has been scrubbed. My transport task force didn’t actually reach PM—they were parked about 90 miles south, waiting to dash in tonight—so they’re ordered to divert to Cairns, taking a roundabout course to avoid the IJN surface force. I’ll use the 3rd Division to reinforce the New Guinea Force units garrisoning Cairns. This is moderately frustrating, as a successful re-invasion of Port Moresby would’ve been a neat trick if I could’ve pulled it off, but in this case discretion is definitely the better part of valor. I don’t need to lose a bunch more transports while they’re trying to offload troops and supplies. They’ve got enough of a head start that I should be able to comfortably avoid the Japanese vessels, although if I’d spotted them a day later I could’ve had real problems.
My surface squadron, which AGAIN missed the intercept on that IJN transport convoy (now seen safely running east—grrrr…) is ordered to drop by Port Moresby to lob in a few more shells, then head home to Cairns. We’ll be back another day.
I lose several more Dakotas trying to fly troops into Luganville, so evidently the IJN carriers are LRCAPing both there and Efate. However, the weakness of the IJN probing attack prompts me to order a deliberate attack by my troops at Luganville—if the IJN forces are truly weak (perhaps from a lack of supplies?), I’ll follow up with a shock attack tomorrow and try to throw them into the sea. If they repulse the attack, it’ll be time to hunker down behind my underdeveloped fortress walls and hope for the best.
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