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Thayne -> Sunday, January 25, 1942 (4/2/2005 3:53:27 AM)
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Sunday, January 25, 1942
Henry:
I has been 50 days since the war began. 49 days and 18 hours, actually. A lot has happened in 50 days. Coincidentally, I can talk about it, because it happens to coincide with my weekly summary report.
Losses
Naval Losses: 25 Ships. In the last week: 1x CL, 1x DD, 3x PT
BC Repulse
CAs: Houston, New Orleans
CLs: Du Ruyter*, Danae
DD Panther*
SSs: S-38, KXV
Ass: Otus, Canopus
MSW Penguin
PTs: PT-21, PT-31, PT-32, PT-34, TM-13*, TM-14*, TM-15*
AP President Madison
AKs: Steel Voyager, Taurus
TKs: Gertrude Kellogg, Manataway
* represents a newly sunk ships
In addition, it is significant enough to report that CV Saratoga suffered light damage from a Japanese torpedo at American Samoa. Its proximity to a port meant that the damage was brought quickly under control.
Air Losses: 832 Planes - 56 in the last week
305 planes shot down (+39)
381 planes destroyed on the ground (+4)
21 planes destroyed by flak (+1)
125 planes lost due to accident and wear (+12)
Top 12 Air Losses by Type
127x P-40B Tomahawk (+3)
89x Buffalo (+13)
57x P-40E Warhawk
43x PBY Catgelina (+1)
37x Hurricane (new to list)
35x Hudson (+1)
33x Martin
33x Brewster 339D (+1)
28x SB-2c
28x Blenheim IV (+1)
27x P-36A Mohawk
24x P-26A
The biggest losses were inflicted against the Hurricanes and Buffalos on the India/Burma front. Together, they account for 42 of the 56 losses in the last week.
Damage Inflicted
In the past week, we have scored a couple of successes.
21x Betty, 3x Zero, and 3z Nell shot down over Diamond Harbor
Submarine sunk at Noumea
Submarine sunk at American Samoa
Other than that, we have not been able to do much.
North Pacific
the biggest change in the North Pacific is the arrival of a troop transport, AP Name. This transport dropped off elements of the 11th Air Force at Dutch Harbor this week, then headed off for Anchorage. Anchorage, Alaska, has a number of units that would better serve our defense if they were relocated to Kodiak Island and Dutch Harbor, and other forward bases. It will start a regular ferry service between the islands.
In the mean time, Canadian sea planes continue to receive orders for reassignment to India.
Central Pacific
Pearl Harbor is not as well defended as I would like. I tend to think that an attack on the islands is not possible. However, that is a dangerous assumption to make.
A tank brigade is heading toward Pearl Harbor, and an infantry division is on its way to Big Island. Engineers have built an airbase on French Frigate Shoals and plan on completing another airbase at Laysan Island sometime in early March. These airstrips will be useful in relaying planes to Midway in case of attack.
CVs Enterprise, Yorktown, and Lexington are northeast of Midway at this time, considering a raid into the Japanese shipping lanes near Marcus Island. However, negotiations with Australia mean that we may be forced to move at least two of the carriers into the South Pacific.
South Pacific
At the start of the war, we gave Nimitz an order to secure the bases from Pearl Harbor to Samoa, as a part of securing the supply line to Australia.
At this point, I am willing to say that he has accomplished his job. In the last week alone, reinforcements have landed on Johnson Island, Palmyra, and Christmas Islands. Canton is will defended with the 2nd USMC Defense Battalion and the 2nd USMC Division.
Samoa is still week. The Marines that were supposed to be stationed here are on Canton Island. However, I suspect that Japan may not know how weak these bases are.
Japanese submarine-based airplanes have just watched a task force with a half-dozen troop transports entering American Samoa. Those transports were carrying the remnants of the Marine division on Samoa. However, Japan has no reason to think that this is the case. They could just as easily be regular reinforcement. The transports were escorted by a carrier, which suggested that they held a very important cargo. They stayed for a few days. Then, the transports started back to the USA West Coast, meaning that they were now empty.
The Saratoga has also left. However, VF-3, VT-3 and VB-3 all stayed behind to contribute to the defense of the island.
Eventually, I want to get some of the Marines off of Canton Island and over here to Samoa. However, I do not think that we need to rush, except to east the burden of the daily lives of the soldiers at Canton Island.
At Fiji, TF1154 just arrived carrying two New Zealand brigades. This means that the New Zealand part of the supply line is secure as well.
This still leaves a weak spot at New Caledonia. We have recently received news of the construction of a Japanese airbase at Guadalcanal in the southern Solomon Islands. I can only expect that once these bases are built up, Japan will use them as part of a plan to strike south through the Santa Cruz Islands, Espritu Santo, and on to New Caledonia. I still have nothing to defend these islands with.
Australia
I am going to say this one more time, just fbecause it has now become habit. Whatever units are sent to Port Moresby are lost. Japan is going to surround the city, isolate it, and then destroy it, as well as all military units still in the city when it falls.
The casualty list will not only include the defensive units meant for Port Moresby. Australia is determine that the 30th Australian Infantry Brigade, and the 804th US Engineer Aviation Battalion will be counted among the units lost.
I would rather see them used to defend the Australian mainland. However, I am not going to overrule MacArthur on this matter. Perhaps I am wrong.
Australia is beginning to suffer a serious shortage of supplies. The naval base at Sydney has almost used up its fuel stores. Fuel is also being rationed in northeast Australia. The nearest relief is a set of tankers filled with oil about 2 weeks away from Sydney.
Douglas MacArthur should arrive in Brisbane sometime tomorrow to take command of the Southwest Pacific. I have a letter that I am drafting to Sec. Downer that I certainly will see gets delivered before he gets to meet with MacArthur. It will be my last chance to talk to him without Douglas whispering in his other ear.
ABDA Command
Japan is expanding its control of the Dutch East Indies. These include:
Jambi, in central Sumatra. The landing force is moving east to Palembang.
Merak, on Java, just south of Batavia. Japanese forces have moved north and now stand on the outskirts of Batavia.
Pontianak and Benjarmasin on the south coast of Borneo.
Samarinda, on the east coast of Borneo, just north of the oil center at Balikpapan.
This morning, I received reports of a Japanese invasion force approaching Toboali, an island about 250 miles north by northwest of Batavia.
From these locations, we can expect that Japan will take at least a few of the major cities this week. Tobali, Palembang, Batavia, and Balikpapan are all under threat. I would not be surprised to see all of them gone by the end of the week.
The Dutch air force is starting to return from Australia. Many air units went to Australia to get replacement airplanes. The Dutch airforce is now focused at Macassar on the southwest part of Sulawesi, where they have been attacking the Japanese force threatening Balikpapan.
India/Burma
Japan is staying put on this front. It is continually moving reinforcements into Rangoon, but none of those reinforcements are yet moving north to take the rest of Burma.
Chinese divisions are getting closer to Myitkyina in northern Burma. The forward elements are expected to reach the city perhaps as early as the end of this week. Other units are a week or two behind.
The Japanese air force had forced the British to temporarily withdraw from the country. However, after a brief rest and some additional training, as well as the arrival of replacement pilots and planes, the British returned to Mandalay in central Burma with a sizable air force of 100 planes, ready to challenge the Japanese.
General Pownall is no longer moving supplies by sea to Diamond Harbor. A sizable stockpile had been built up. However, recent raids on Diamond Harbor which has sunk one destroyer, and badly damaged a destroyer and a patrol gunboat, suggest that Diamond Harbor has been closed down to all but a few ships. The occasional cargo ship may still make the trip, but the days of the large convoys are over.
China
Japan captured Kweilin, in central China, with its huge army of 200,000 soldiers. Most of the defenders were able to retreat in good order, leaving a substantial force capable of defending Kweiyang further west.
There is now a threat of the army at Wuchow, south of Kweilin, being cut off, so that army has been ordered to retreat. The bulk of the Kweilin army, still in good shape, has stopped on the crossroads north of Wuchow to prevent Japan from cutting off the latter force. If they can hold until the end of the week, the evaluation of Wuchow would have succeeded.
Philippines
All seems to have calmed down here. Japan has not launched any major offensive. Rather, it has shown itself to be content to shell allied lines in the region north of Manila.
The 24th Fighter Group has continued to perform exceptionally well. The top six pilots are in this group, including the first double-ace on the allied side. Captain G.M Mahoney has shot down 12 enemy airplanes. He is followed by:
1st Lt. J.H. Moore: 9 kills
F.O. N. Young: 6 Kills
F.O. P. Arnold: 5 Kills
F.O. O. Hubble: 5 Kills
F.O. D. Wirth: 4 Kills
I still hope to be able to withdraw this unit to India before all of these pilots get shot up. However, right now they are needed to defend the allied forces on the ground. If these units are withdrawn, Japan will have unrestrained control of the air. I am not willing to see them granted that luxury just yet.
This is the status so far.
I will write again tomorrow.
Thayne
[image]local://upfiles/12310/E5F17A7DACFB41CDB08C9866346AC1FE.jpg[/image]
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