SierraJuliet
Posts: 2319
Joined: 2/23/2009 From: Brisbane, Australia Status: offline
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12 August 1942 The invasion forces continue to come ashore at Tulagi. Near Tulagi SS I-10 runs afoul of Allied warships and suffers 11 hits. Lunga is targeted by Allied cruisers for a night time bombardment. CL Hobart is hit by 1 shell in return. 217 Japanese casualties reported as well as airbase hits 4, airbase supply hits 1, runway hits 12, port hits 19, port fuel hits 1 and port supply hits 4. During daylight Lunga is also subject to invasion support gunfire. During this DDs Dewey and Blue are each hit by 1 shell. Offshore from Tulagi at 116,137 SS I-16 lines up CV Wasp in her sights. 3 torpedo hits are reported plus reports of the carrier being on fire and suffering from heavy damage and an ammo storage explosion. SS I-16 manages to elude the furious response from the escorts. SS I-21 launches a spread of torpedoes against CLAA Atlanta at 116, 137 but misses. She too escapes the attention of the escorts. SS I-11, also in the same patch of water, launches torpedoes against CV Saratoga but misses. The escorts fail to locate the submarine. During the afternoon carrier aircraft again give plenty of attention to Lunga. B-17s come sniffing around the Track again, whilst on the ground, the Japanese launch a deliberate attack which garners assault odds of 1 – 2. The 3000 strong Australian force is using the terrain to their advantage to hold off the 8000 strong Japanese force. I can see that this course of action is not likely to achieve much without a big investment of AV strength and the backup supply necessary to support it. At Tulagi the defenders shell the invading Americans to little effect.
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