Aurorus
Posts: 1314
Joined: 5/26/2014 Status: offline
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It was well-played by Apbarog to withdraw. The day would have belonged to Japan, I suspect, if he had stayed for a CV battle. The CVs and the heavy cover moved down 3 hexes SW of Luganville, 7 hexes from Noumea. 41 A6M2s with crack pilots and low fatigue were flying LRCAP over the CVs in addition to their own CAP. The strikes, which would have been against the U.S. CVs came off very well. Oscars began by sweeping Noumea at 8K. They encountered 44 allied fighters and performed as Oscar Ics do... losing 2-1 to the allied fighters. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Morning Air attack on Noumea , at 115,160 Weather in hex: Light cloud Raid detected at 41 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 14 minutes Japanese aircraft Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 34 Allied aircraft P-39D Airacobra x 15 P-40E Warhawk x 29 Japanese aircraft losses Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 8 destroyed Allied aircraft losses P-40E Warhawk: 3 destroyed Aircraft Attacking: 4 x Ki-43-Ic Oscar sweeping at 8000 feet Next, however, came the surprise that would have gone in on the U.S. CVs had they remained. 68 A6M2s escorting 13 Betties at 4,000 feet. The A6M2s were sweeping ahead. I was hoping for this result, and I achieved it. I have given away many trade secrets in this AAR, and I will not reveal how I induced the Zeros to sweep ahead. Had his CVs been there, they would have been swept by Zeros at 4K before the main CV strike arrived and their CAP would have been drawn down. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Morning Air attack on TF, near Noumea at 115,160 Weather in hex: Light cloud Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 31 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 68 G3M2 Nell x 13 Allied aircraft P-39D Airacobra x 11 P-40E Warhawk x 15 Japanese aircraft losses A6M2 Zero: 4 destroyed G3M2 Nell: 8 damaged Allied aircraft losses P-39D Airacobra: 1 destroyed P-40E Warhawk: 4 destroyed Allied Ships DD Mahan DD Fanning CL Durban Aircraft Attacking: 13 x G3M2 Nell launching torpedoes at 200 feet Naval Attack: 1 x 45cm Type 91 Torp 8 x A6M2 Zero sweeping at 4000 feet 6 x A6M2 Zero sweeping at 4000 feet 7 x A6M2 Zero sweeping at 4000 feet The first CV strike then came in at 12K far above the allied fighters. The attack splintered, and appeared to attack multiple TFs. A follow-up strike was launched in the PM phase consisting only of Kates. Here are the results of the strikes. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Morning Air attack on TF, near Noumea at 115,160 Weather in hex: Light cloud Raid detected at 119 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 44 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 54 B5N1 Kate x 18 B5N2 Kate x 51 D3A1 Val x 35 Allied aircraft P-39D Airacobra x 2 P-40E Warhawk x 2 Japanese aircraft losses B5N1 Kate: 1 destroyed by flak B5N2 Kate: 1 damaged D3A1 Val: 1 destroyed by flak Allied aircraft losses P-39D Airacobra: 1 destroyed P-40E Warhawk: 1 destroyed Allied Ships PC Pulaski, Bomb hits 4, and is sunk xAKL Sinabang, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk DD Witte de With AM Kalgoorlie, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk CL Durban, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 1 CL St. Louis, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 1 xAK Era, Bomb hits 1 xAKL Sipirok xAKL Luzon, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk DD Dunlap CL Dragon xAKL Meroendoeng, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk DD Van Ghent xAK Diamond head, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk xAK Cardross, Bomb hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage xAKL Mulubinda, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk xAK Tuscaloosa City, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage DD Preston -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Morning Air attack on TF, near Noumea at 115,160 Weather in hex: Light cloud Raid detected at 105 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 39 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 27 B5N1 Kate x 6 B5N2 Kate x 26 D3A1 Val x 13 Japanese aircraft losses B5N1 Kate: 1 damaged B5N2 Kate: 1 damaged Allied Ships xAK Mormacrey, Bomb hits 6, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk CL Durban, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage KV Dundas, Bomb hits 1, on fire CL St. Louis CL Dragon -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Noumea at 115,160 Weather in hex: Partial cloud Raid detected at 115 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 49 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 81 B5N1 Kate x 33 B5N2 Kate x 89 Allied aircraft P-39D Airacobra x 8 P-40E Warhawk x 15 Japanese aircraft losses A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed B5N1 Kate: 2 damaged B5N2 Kate: 2 damaged Allied aircraft losses P-39D Airacobra: 2 destroyed P-40E Warhawk: 2 destroyed Allied Ships xAK Goulburn, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk xAKL Boelongan, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk CL Dragon, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk DD Witte de With CL St. Louis, Torpedo hits 2, heavy damage xAK Tuscaloosa City, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk xAK Ulooloo, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk xAK Elisavet, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk xAKL Corrimal xAKL Silindoeng, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage DD Evertsen DD Van Ghent DD Drayton xAKL Escalante, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage DD Preston xAK Aroona, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk xAKL Siberoet xAKL Lepus, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk xAK Crown City DMS Chandler, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage xAKL James Cook DD Cummings xAKL Soerabaja, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk DD Fanning The bomb hits were all 60Kg bombs, so that were not very effective. While it was pleasant to sink some CLs and some cargo ships, this was very well-played by Apbarog. This day would have gone poorly for him if he had stayed, I suspect. What is more, he gained valuable information as to how I arrange a CV battle, and he will be wiser for it, I believe. The low-strike, with escorts sweeping ahead, is a nasty surprise to those who are unprepared for it. In this case, the low strike came into a hex that had already been swept by the Oscars, so he had good detection time. At 4K altitude the detection time for a raid, even with radar, is usually bad, 10 minutes or less. So the sweeping Zeros may have been able to engage F4Fs scrambling off the deck.
< Message edited by Aurorus -- 1/14/2018 5:47:21 AM >
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