Cap Mandrake
Posts: 23184
Joined: 11/15/2002 From: Southern California Status: offline
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**************April 3, 1943(c)************** PI: @^#&@** Atago slips in through the Surigao Strait (on the eastern side of Mindano between Mindanao and Leyte) at night either to raid Butuan or, more likley, Cagayan harbor which has dozens of transports unloading. They do catch a small fast transport taffy flat-footed after a run to Naga, Luzon...but they can't clear in time.... Day Time Surface Combat, near Butuan at 80,89, Range 6,000 Yards Japanese Ships CA Atago CL Sendai DD Michishio DD Shirakumo DD Sagiri Allied Ships APD Alden, Shell hits 10, and is sunk DE Foxhound, Shell hits 5, and is sunk APD Stringham, Shell hits 9, and is sunk And the payback... Morning Air attack on TF, near Surigao at 81,88 Weather in hex: Light cloud Raid spotted at 12 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 5 minutes Japanese aircraft Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 7 Allied aircraft Beaufighter VIc x 3 P-38G Lightning x 3 TBF-1 Avenger x 10 No Japanese losses Allied aircraft losses Beaufighter VIc: 1 destroyed TBF-1 Avenger: 5 damaged Japanese Ships CA Atago CL Sendai Nope...the SBD's moved to San Jose..maybe..2 hits out of 27 drops Morning Air attack on TF, near Surigao at 81,88 Weather in hex: Light cloud Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 7 minutes Japanese aircraft Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 6 Allied aircraft P-39D Airacobra x 4 F4U-1 Corsair x 4 SBD-3 Dauntless x 28 No Japanese losses Allied aircraft losses SBD-3 Dauntless: 8 damaged SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 destroyed by flak Japanese Ships CL Sendai, Bomb hits 1 CA Atago, Bomb hits 1 3 hits...the targets are slowing down Morning Air attack on TF, near Surigao at 81,88 Weather in hex: Light cloud Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 7 minutes Japanese aircraft Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 4 Allied aircraft P-40K Warhawk x 10 SBD-3 Dauntless x 15 No Japanese losses Allied aircraft losses SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged Japanese Ships DD Michishio CA Atago, Bomb hits 2, on fire CL Sendai, Bomb hits 1 Another group of TBF's from Cagayan carrying bombs. I blame the staff. Morning Air attack on TF, near Surigao at 81,88 Weather in hex: Light cloud Raid spotted at 16 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 7 minutes Allied aircraft TBF-1 Avenger x 17 No Allied losses Japanese Ships DD Michishio CA Atago, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage CL Sendai, Bomb hits 1, on fire DD Shirakumo, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires More TBF's. The TBF's with bombs are at 5000 ft and are more deadly than torpedo attacks Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Surigao at 81,88 Weather in hex: Light cloud Raid spotted at 15 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 7 minutes Allied aircraft Beaufighter VIc x 2 P-38G Lightning x 3 TBF-1 Avenger x 23 No Allied losses Japanese Ships CL Sendai, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage DD Shirakumo, Bomb hits 1, on fire CA Atago, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage Aircraft Attacking: 7 x TBF-1 Avenger launching torpedoes at 200 feet Naval Attack: 1 x 22in Mk 13 Torpedo 16 x TBF-1 Avenger bombing from 5000 feet * Naval Attack: 2 x 500 lb SAP Bomb And finally, more SBD sorties from San Jose. Looks like the tally will be Atago, Sendai and a DD. Atago's luck runs out. Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Surigao at 81,88 Weather in hex: Light cloud Raid spotted at 17 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 6 minutes Allied aircraft P-39D Airacobra x 4 P-40K Warhawk x 9 F4U-1 Corsair x 3 SBD-3 Dauntless x 20 Allied aircraft losses SBD-3 Dauntless: 2 damaged Japanese Ships DD Sagiri, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires DD Michishio CL Sendai, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage CA Atago, heavy fires, heavy damage
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