John 3rd
Posts: 17178
Joined: 9/8/2005
From: La Salle, Colorado
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Combat Report
June 9-13, 1942
It has been nearly a week since I updated the AAR. Some of that has been spent in mourning and the rest has been due to simply being crazy-busy. There has been a major drudging given to the Imperial Fleet. I will run the various sectors through their normal report and then cover the second carrier vs. carrier battle of the war.
Now to the weekly Combat Report:
North Pacific
No activity.
Central Pacific
Midway After the bombardment there at the beginning of June, not much occurs. A large air raid of 37 B-17 hit the island on the 13th destroy 3 Bettys on the ground and slightly damage the airstrip.
Precautionary moves: I think that my adversaries will be back for Midway. I take several steps to ensure a ‘hot’ reception:
1. I start loading supplies at several ports to get Midway to around 30,000+ supply. This will allow the CD units to re-arm.
2. Move Bettys into the area: a Daitai is at Wake, another Daitai plus a Chutai is at Kwajalein (36 planes).
3. Midway has a Chutai of Bettys there presently and I add a Chutai of Emily for long-range Recon.
4. Will be sending a Daitai of Zeros and Sentai of Tonys there ASAP. That should help deter these B-17 raids.
Pago-Pago My LBA ASW manage to hit SS Grunion TWICE on the 10th.
Engineering: Kwajalein AF 5 and Tinian AF 4
SE Pacific
Suva With the Invasion Force away, Suva settles down some. I have a convoy of fuel and supplies due to arrive on the 15th and then I should be able to leave this area a lone for a while.
Noumea Have 3 Infantry Divisions resting in Noumea. Next report, I will begin to chronicle their recovery from the Pago-Pago Campaign. They will be used to attack the North Island of New Zealand.
Norfolk Island Continue to expand airstrip to Sz-2--now at 38%. Begin to mine the waters here in case my opponents get frisky. Have a small group of PT boats here as well.
ASW Attack: SS Grouper is hit by 2 DC south of Suva on the 11th.
New Zealand
Continue seeing several Allied TF around Wellington during the week. Order a Glen Recon, as possible prelude to KB Strike, on the 13th.
My SS deploy and I have over 25 SS working in the area. His ASW LBA is driving me NUTS! I have SS hit by either Liberators or Hudsons day after day: June 12th I-173, June 13th I-15 and I-168. These SS are anywhere from 4-6 hexes from Wellington but they are smacking them hard! Grrr…..
I send R0-63 into Wellington for a closer look and only manage to get her sunk by 2 US DD on the 12th.
To the east, the Battle of the Eastern Seas occurs!
NW Aussieland
Koepang Since I now know where ALL the American CVs are at, I begin the loading of the troops for Operation Southern Fury. This begins on the 10th and is nearly complete by the 13th. The loaded convoys will move up to Waingapu over an Allied ‘dot’ and will, hopefully, be reported heading North/Northwest. Perhaps the Allies will think that they are headed for Burma…
Troops that are loading: Infantry Divisions: 16th, 38th, 48th, and Imperial Guards, Infantry Brigades: 35th, 56th, 65th, plus 3 Artillery Regiments, 3 Engineering Regiments, 1 Special BF, 3 smaller BF, 5th Air Division, and 15th Army. This is a MASSIVE force!
Western DEI
The Allies are mining heavily the waters around Muntok, Palembang, and Singapore. In return, I have been mining Andaman, Rangoon, and Panang.
Engineering: Manila Port-7
Burma
Akyab Things quiet down here.
Mandalay A large B-25 unit (65+ planes) has taken to hitting the oil resource here about every 2-3 days. Will have to move fighters into the area (again) to deal with that.
35,29 Nate tries a Zero ambush over the troops here and manages to execute it. 11Z hit 38 fighter-bombers strafing troops. Unfortunately, we lose 4 Zero to 3 Allied planes. NEED MORE ZEROs!
Rangoon Most of my in-theatre Fighters fly CAP here. Nearly 80 Fighters are here split between Zeros and Oscars. A large supply convoy unloads without interference.
China
Yenen After a positive assault reducing the Forts from 8 to 7 on June 6th, a little frustration hits Nate as he tries to knock this base down. He attack again on the 9th and gets a 0-1 result. He shifts to daily bombardment as the disruption comes down. Nearly 200 Chinese troops are taken out with 2-5 guns each day. A new assault is scheduled for the 14th.
In the south of China, Zeros flying out of Hanoi manage to ambush a group of planes hitting the Japanese division SW of Yunan: 26 Z hit 30 F-B and 6 Chinese Bombers. In a lopsided fight, 1 Zero is lost for 15 Allied Fighters and 1 Bomber. That is nice!
So ends the Combat Report, let us shift to the Naval disaster!
The Battle of the Eastern Seas
The weakest of my KB TF is moving southwards from Suva looking for Allied shipping. A love American CV had been spotted on the 8th and Admiral Nobutani moved with caution to the SW.
June 9th A TF of AP/AK is spotted moving NE and KB-3 moves to intercept it. Planes are set as follows: Zeros--60% CAP, Vals and Kates (0% Search). The 4 CA have 12 Floatplanes and these Jakes and Alfs go looking.
June 10th KB-3 spots the Convoy and launches 3 small strikes at it: 21 Z/17V/46K, 4 Z and 24 V, and finally 5 Z and 12 K. A total of 4 AK are hit with 3 sinking that day. The fourth sinks on the 11th.
Sensing more game, I order the TF to move due W and NOT proceed SW! I think about detaching a CA and pair of DD to check things out but decide against it. I REALLY regret this decision!
June 11th Early in the morning (about 0645), an SBD Dauntless spots KB-3. Admiral Nobutani immediately orders all ready CAP to the air. By 0700, 40 Zero take up patrol positions around the fleet.
Japanese recon planes drone out and spot…HOLY COW…five separate Allied TF about 180 miles SE of KB-3. With considerable nervousness, the Floatplanes reports not 1, not 2 but 3 separate American CV TF with two STF nearby.
Admiral Nobutani knows that his TF is quite probably done for; however, the Japanese CV immediately begin spotting a massive strike (30Z, 38V, 57K) and, commendably get it into the air BEFORE the American attacks commence. As this aerial strike force takes a heading of 145*, the inbound American strikes are spotted at 0920.
0920-0935 The initial attack is comprised of 21 F4F and 72 SBD! Starting humming the Japanese Naval March… The Zeros swarm all over this large group of planes. The F4Fs put up a heroic fight losing 2/3 their number. As the Dauntlesses reach their tipping over point, the Zeros manage to shot down 7 of them.
This leaves 65 to drop their deadly 1000lb bombs…all four Japanese CV are hit by multiple bombs and are left in flames.
0945-0950 A smaller wave of American planes arrive and 37 Zero tangle with 10 F4F and 26 SBD. Two demoralized Zeros fall but claim 2 F4F and 5 SBD. This raids adds at least 1B to EACH of the 4 Japanese CV!
1045-1110 The Japanese Aerial Strike Force, knowing that they have NO BASES to land on arrive over the American Fleet. Cmd Oshima decides to concentrate the assault on the largest of the American flattops. CV Saratoga’s TF becomes the focus of the entire attack. The 30 Zero desperately deals with the 44 F4F flying CAP--7 American fighters fall in exchange for 17 Zero. This said, only a few Japanese bombers fall to CAP! Well done!
With high hopes for avenging their sinking and shattered homes, nearly 90 bombers attack. Almost immediately things don’t go well. The Saratoga, steaming at 30+ knots proves to be quite nimble. Numerous bombs and TT just miss as she wildly maneuvers about.
In trying to clear a path for the Torpedo planes, Cmd Oshima makes a terrible mistake and orders nearly 25% of the Strike Force to attack CA Louisville and DD Tucker. While a bomb does hit the CA and TT does slam into the hapless DD, this diversion of strength ensures the failure of the attack. Only ONE bomb hits Saratoga! In a futile gesture to atone for his failure, Oshima tries to Kamakaze his plane into the CV without success. His Kate falls to her guns just 25 yards to the starboard side of Sara’s massive conning tower.
1325-1430 An afternoon follow-on strike by the Americans (22 F4F and 60 SBD) finish off three of the Japanese flattops. Down go Junyo, Hiyo, and Zuiho… Only CVL Shoho survives the night and limps towards Suva.
Admiral Nobutani successfully transfers his flag from Junyo to CA Kumano and moves the remains of his command NW towards the Operation Typhoon Invasion Force…
END NARRATION What the HELL happened??!! As soon as I saw the opposition, I knew that KB-3 was finished. How can nearly 90 attack planes ONLY score 2 Bomb and 1 TT hit??!! Additionally, the American strikes saw nearly ALL of the SBDs (90%) attack the Japanese CV while my strike saw over 25% of it attack other ships.
I am angry! I knew that I would loss the 4 carriers but expected at least one American Fleet CV in compensation.
The only positive thing about this is that the Americans continue moving east. This leaves New Zealand open for attack and I WIL TAKE IT! It is the only compensation that I can hope for…
Totals for the Week:
Ships Sunk
Japanese 7 Total--2 CV, 1 CVL, 1 Ro-SS, and 3AK
Allied 4 Total--4 AK
Aircraft Losses
Japanese 152 Planes--27 Fighters, 6 Bombers, 9 DB, 19 TB and 91 planes on the CVs.
Allied 42 F, 2B, 3 4EB, and 10 DB---Total: 57 aircraft
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Printable Version
RE: Battle of the Eastern Seas - 
Then, I can do a little practicing against the AI before trying out a PBEM or two (want to do them from both sides). I feel like BigB's will be one (probably as Japan) and probably CHS as the Allies. I am also watching the development of RHS level 7 which will allow the Allies to use shipping channels to navigate the globe. I have decided that I cannot go back to stock game and map. AB's map only.
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