ADB123
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Joined: 8/18/2009
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March 9, 1943 –
The Night Phase started with reports from US subs Pickerel and Sargo that their Floatation repairs were failing. Then the skipper of USS Amberjack decided not to shoot at a Japanese SC in a 4-SC ASW TF near Tanegashima. Amberjack was able to sneak away from the Japanese Patrol Boats.
Daylight started with a report that my CV TF 30 was reacting to a Japanese CV TF. I was a bit surprised that my TF found the Japanese TF, but I figured that it was worth a chance. Little did I know what was about to occur.
The Reports then switched to China where Japanese Fighters Swept over Nanning, followed by several large Japanese Bomber attacks.
A New Flash then came from the Indian Ocean that US CV TF 30 had run into much, MUCH more than expected:
Morning Air attack on TF, near Perth at 18,147
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid detected at 120 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 45 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 54
A6M3a Zero x 51
B5N2 Kate x 89
D3A1 Val x 143
F1M2 Pete x 3
Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 22
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
A6M3a Zero: 2 destroyed
B5N2 Kate: 4 destroyed, 23 damaged
D3A1 Val: 1 destroyed, 29 damaged
F1M2 Pete: 1 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 2 destroyed
Allied Ships
CV Yorktown, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
CV Hornet, Bomb hits 4, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
CLAA Juneau, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
DD Henley, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
DD Lang
DD Downes, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
CL Concord, Bomb hits 2
DD Perkins
CLAA Atlanta, Bomb hits 2, on fire
DD Ralph Talbot
DD Smith
DD Stack, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Benham
DD Reid
DD Mugford
CL Marblehead, Bomb hits 10, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Tucker, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Preston, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Cassin
DD Flusser
Instead of finding a small scouting or Surface Combat TF, TF 30 had run into a large portion of the KB. 
The US Counterattack got off and faced a reasonably light Japanese CAP, although the presence of Petes on CAP was a surprise:
Morning Air attack on TF, near Geraldton at 16,143
Weather in hex: Light cloud
Raid detected at 120 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 47 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 27
A6M3a Zero x 25
F1M2 Pete x 21
Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 50
SBD-3 Dauntless x 58
TBF-1 Avenger x 29
Japanese aircraft losses
F1M2 Pete: 8 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 6 destroyed
SBD-3 Dauntless: 13 destroyed, 17 damaged
TBF-1 Avenger: 8 destroyed, 16 damaged
Japanese Ships
CV Hiryu, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CV Soryu
CV Shokaku, Bomb hits 1, on fire
BB Kongo, Bomb hits 1
BB Kirishima
CA Chikuma
CA Suzuya, Bomb hits 1
CA Mikuma
The Petes tied-up the Wildcats and allowed the Zeros to ravage the incoming USN Bombers. But beyond that, there was a second Japanese CV TF there, so the USN planes only attacked a portion of the Japanese Forces.
The End came in the Afternoon:
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Perth at 18,147
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid detected at 120 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 45 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 16
A6M3a Zero x 49
B5N2 Kate x 85
D3A1 Val x 130
Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 17 damaged
D3A1 Val: 1 destroyed, 25 damaged
Allied Ships
CV Hornet, Bomb hits 6, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
CV Yorktown, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
DD Henley, Bomb hits 6, and is sunk
CL Concord, Bomb hits 6, Torpedo hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
CLAA Atlanta, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
CLAA Juneau, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Mugford, Bomb hits 1
DD Reid, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Lang, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
DD Ralph Talbot, Bomb hits 2, on fire
DD Benham, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires
DD Smith
DD Flusser, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Tucker, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Perkins
DD Cassin
The Cream of the USN Naval Air Corps was wiped out after 15 months of intense training. The TF was too far from Land for any aircraft to survive. Most of the remaining US ships are too damaged to survive more than another day or so, and the KB is heading towards them to make certain that they go down.
So I threw away a good USN Carrier Task Force because I had poor INTEL and I misinterpreted the situation. I thought that a small Japanese Force was retiring from the area – instead I sailed my TF directly into the teeth of the Japanese Naval Air Might.
I also saw another horrific lesson of how useless Wildcats are – sure, they shot down a number of Petes, but against normal Japanese Carrier Fighters they weren’t worth the air volume they took up. And of course, when everything goes wrong, EVERYTHING goes wrong and none of my Avengers got in a single torpedo hit, despite being well within torpedo range. 
So that was a painful and frustrating lesson. It will likely encourage my opponent to use the KB more aggressively in the future too. I now have zero faith in my Navy’s ability to accomplish anything against the IJN, and I am going to adjust my plans to even more of a Great Asian War in the near term, rather then throw away more ships and naval planes.
Afterwards my 4Es in India flew unhindered and hammered the Air Base at Toungou, as if to make the point how much better an option they are than trying Naval Battles.
In any event, the Intel Screen for March 9, 1943 is below. I will also post the detailed Air Loss Screen and the Ship Losses Screen in subsequent posts.
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Did the IJN Blink? - 
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