obvert
Posts: 14050
Joined: 1/17/2011 From: PDX (and now) London, UK Status: offline
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MAY 3-5, 1942 INDIAN OCEAN: Had a bit of a dust-up out here. I had Enterprise, Formidable and Hermes cruising to protect a bombardment run-in, and two days before the strike the TFs were seen by Mavis patrols. I made the decisions to go ahead, thinking that if he started out then it would be tot late. Unfortunately I kept strike planes on for a hit at Diego and a very good 15th Ku S-1 was on station there. That was on the 2nd. On the 3rd a British cruiser TF ran in and met IJN CLs. Strangley the TFs met only at 2k yards (due to thunderstorms) as Allied radar failed to spot the IJN TF in the first encounter, and from there the long lances are nasty. Exeter took one early, dooming the ship to more punishment before she could disengage after the first action. Terribly, the Exeter retreated with her DD escort toward the Indian coastline! Her home base was Mombasa, but she made for Karachi, still doing 5 hexes (!!!) travel in the day phase, only to be crushed by air strikes from a mini-KB moving in. The US CVs did their job as well though and took out a DD while severely wounding at least two CLs at Diego. No sign of them after the battle, but I'm guessing they are in port at Diego fighting fires after 3 x 1000 punters. Losing Exeter took what would have been a decisive Allied victory to a very marginal one. Nice to get another DD and a CL, but the old CLs for Japan are increasingly less useful as the war goes on. If another one or two go down, then I'd be much happier. Still, feels good to meet the enemy and come out at least a bit better. SUBS: A Dutch sub gets an xAKL off of SW OZ, and the S-36 takes out one of the PBs from Diego. Every little bit helps. Especially escorts. If reports are correct each side has now lost 18 DD so far. That is a good amount for Japan, not even a year into the conflict, and about half were modern. INDIA: The 4E from Karachi bombed what turns out to be a vacant base. I'm guessing he took a bunch of bases in order to know for certain when we were moving forward as they are taken later. The base has decent damage after the turn and at least won't likely be used by Japan now for anything sneaky. Recon is here in the form of 4 F-4 Lightnings, and another RAF unit is just landing at Karachi with the B-25 recon planes. Looks from first view as if Hyderabad is not strongly held. Only 11k troops listed there although I've had reports of the 55th division being there. Pacific: Troops move toward Noumea and Tanna in So Pac. Search planes at Noumea scour the oceans in search of enemy activity, but none found recently. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR May3, 42 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Night Time Surface Combat, near Diego Garcia at 11,62, Range 2,000 Yards Japanese Ships PB Ginyo Maru, Shell hits 16, and is sunk PB Tokotsu Maru, Shell hits 3, on fire Allied Ships CA Dorsetshire CA Exeter CL Glasgow CL Newcastle DD Stronghold DD Isis DD Paladin DD Panther Reduced visibility due to Thunderstorms with 89% moonlight Maximum visibility in Thunderstorms and 89% moonlight: 2,000 yards CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 2,000 yards CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 2,000 yards DD Stronghold engages PB Ginyo Maru at 2,000 yards CA Exeter engages PB Ginyo Maru at 2,000 yards CA Dorsetshire engages PB Ginyo Maru at 2,000 yards CL Glasgow engages PB Ginyo Maru at 2,000 yards Matsuki N. orders Japanese TF to disengage CL Glasgow engages PB Tokotsu Maru at 6,000 yards Task forces break off... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Night Time Surface Combat, near Diego Garcia at 11,62, Range 3,000 Yards Japanese Ships CL Sendai, Shell hits 7, on fire CL Jintsu, Shell hits 1 DD Kuroshio DD Oyashio, Shell hits 1 DD Oshio DD Natsugumo, Shell hits 3, on fire DD Kawakaze Allied Ships CA Dorsetshire CA Exeter, Shell hits 9, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage CL Glasgow CL Newcastle DD Stronghold, Shell hits 1, on fire DD Isis DD Paladin, Shell hits 1 DD Panther, Shell hits 1 Reduced visibility due to Thunderstorms with 89% moonlight Maximum visibility in Thunderstorms and 89% moonlight: 3,000 yards CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 3,000 yards CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 3,000 yards CA Exeter engages CL Sendai at 3,000 yards Range closes to 2,000 yards CL Sendai engages CA Exeter at 2,000 yards Range increases to 3,000 yards DD Oyashio collides with DD Kawakaze at 11 , 62 CA Exeter engages CL Jintsu at 3,000 yards Range increases to 9,000 yards CL Jintsu engages CA Exeter at 9,000 yards DD Stronghold engages DD Oshio at 9,000 yards Range increases to 10,000 yards CL Sendai engages CA Exeter at 10,000 yards Task forces break off... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Night Time Surface Combat, near Diego Garcia at 11,62, Range 2,000 Yards Japanese aircraft no flights Japanese aircraft losses E13A1 Jake: 1 destroyed Japanese Ships CL Sendai, Shell hits 21, and is sunk DD Oyashio, Shell hits 1 DD Natsugumo, Shell hits 1, on fire DD Kawakaze, Shell hits 1 Allied Ships CA Dorsetshire CL Glasgow CL Newcastle DD Stronghold, Shell hits 1, on fire DD Isis, Shell hits 1 DD Paladin Low visibility due to Thunderstorms with 82% moonlight Maximum visibility in Thunderstorms and 82% moonlight: 2,000 yards CONTACT: Allies radar detects Japanese task force at 13,000 yards Range closes to 11,000 yards... CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 2,000 yards CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 2,000 yards Reed, A.D. crosses the 'T' CL Sendai engages CL Glasgow at 2,000 yards DD Stronghold engages DD Natsugumo at 4,000 yards Range increases to 5,000 yards DD Stronghold engages DD Kawakaze at 5,000 yards Japanese Task Force Manages to Escape Task forces break off... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Morning Air attack on TF, near Diego Garcia at 15,60 Weather in hex: Partial cloud Raid detected at 59 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 21 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 46 B5N2 Kate x 9 D3A1 Val x 18 Allied aircraft no flights Japanese aircraft losses B5N2 Kate: 1 destroyed by flak D3A1 Val: 1 damaged Allied aircraft losses Walrus II: 1 destroyed Allied Ships CA Exeter, Bomb hits 9, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk DD Panther Aircraft Attacking: 4 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000' Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb 8 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet Naval Attack: 1 x 45cm Type 91 Torp 5 x D3A1 Val releasing from 1000' Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb 1 x D3A1 Val releasing from 1000' Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb 4 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000' Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb 4 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000' Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb Heavy smoke from fires obscuring CA Exeter -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Morning Air attack on TF, near Diego Garcia at 11,62 Weather in hex: Thunderstorms Raid spotted at 32 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 14 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 12 Allied aircraft Martlet II x 12 F4F-3A Wildcat x 14 SBD-2 Dauntless x 24 No Japanese losses Allied aircraft losses Martlet II: 2 destroyed F4F-3A Wildcat: 1 destroyed SBD-2 Dauntless: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged Japanese Ships DD Tokitsukaze, Bomb hits 1, on fire CL Naka, Bomb hits 1 CL Kinu, Bomb hits 2, on fire Aircraft Attacking: 4 x SBD-2 Dauntless releasing from 2000' Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb 15 x SBD-2 Dauntless releasing from 4000' Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb 5 x SBD-2 Dauntless releasing from 3000' Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb CAP engaged: 15th Ku S-1 with A6M2 Zero (12 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling) 12 plane(s) intercepting now. Group patrol altitude is 20000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 20000. Raid is overhead Massive explosion on DD Tokitsukaze -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Diego Garcia at 11,62 Weather in hex: Thunderstorms Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 8 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 11 Allied aircraft Martlet II x 9 F4F-3A Wildcat x 10 SBD-2 Dauntless x 22 No Japanese losses Allied aircraft losses F4F-3A Wildcat: 3 destroyed SBD-2 Dauntless: 1 damaged Japanese Ships CL Kinu, Bomb hits 1, on fire CL Naka, Bomb hits 2, on fire Aircraft Attacking: 8 x SBD-2 Dauntless releasing from 3000' Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb 6 x SBD-2 Dauntless releasing from 2000' Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb 8 x SBD-2 Dauntless releasing from 3000' Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb CAP engaged: 15th Ku S-1 with A6M2 Zero (11 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling) 11 plane(s) intercepting now. Group patrol altitude is 20000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 20000. Raid is overhead Heavy smoke from fires obscuring CL Naka -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR May 4, 42 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sub attack near Addu at 18,58 Japanese Ships PB Tokotsu Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage Allied Ships SS S-36 SS S-36 launches 2 torpedoes -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sub attack near Carnarvon at 47,136 Japanese Ships xAKL Kakyu Maru, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage xAKL Bichu Maru xAKL Totai Maru xAKL Turusima Maru PB Shonon Maru #11 Allied Ships SS KXVIII SS KXVIII launches 2 torpedoes at xAKL Kakyu Maru KXVIII diving deep .... PB Shonon Maru #11 fails to find sub, continues to search... Escort abandons search for sub -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ships Lost: CA Exeter Ships Sunk: CL Sendai is reported to have been sunk near Diego Garcia on May 03, 1942 PB Ginyo Maru is reported to have been sunk near Diego Garcia on May 03, 1942 SSX Ha-17 is reported to have been sunk near Diego Garcia on May 03, 1942 xAKL Kakyu Maru is reported to have been sunk near Carnarvon on May 05, 1942 DD Tokitsukaze Exeter could easily have made Mombasa, but retreats the opposite way and gets five hexes out from the battle and lands just within range for the IJN CVs. Too bad.
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< Message edited by obvert -- 7/1/2014 12:16:32 PM >
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"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm." - Winston Churchill
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