Uncivil Engineer
Posts: 1014
Joined: 2/22/2012 From: Florida, USA Status: offline
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Apr 2 - 4 I'll admit I charged into Milne Bay with too little intel, as you'll see below. Another mistake was setting my BB TF to a 1 hex reaction, which it did (to the SW) to start the fracas with Nevada and West Virginia on Apr 1. That 1 hex moved the engagement hex 10 hexes from Rabaul (and Betties set at range 9), and 8 hexes from my carriers (near Shortland and set at range 7). Too bad! Anyway, my pell mell dash into Milne Bay on Apr 2 encountered 2 Allied TFs (not counting a sub) - quote:
Night Time Surface Combat, near Milne Bay at 101,133, Range 11,000 Yards Japanese Ships BB Mutsu BB Yamashiro CA Maya DD Shikinami DD Amagiri DD Mutsuki DD Kisaragi DD Oite DD Hayate PC Ashi PB Myoken Maru PB Shoei Maru SC Ch 27 xAK Melbourne Maru xAK Yamakaze Maru xAK Sanko Maru xAK Kaiko Maru, Shell hits 1 xAK Hino Maru #3 xAK Osaka Maru xAK Seian Maru xAK Hankow Maru xAK Eihuku Maru xAK Kasagi Maru xAK Ikoma Maru xAK Aso Maru xAK Rokko Maru xAK Nanman Maru xAK Senyo Maru xAK Shinkyo Maru xAK Sensan Maru xAK Tomitu Maru xAK Seisyo Maru xAK Kuritake Maru xAK Zyunyo Maru xAK Hokutai Maru xAK Syoto Maru xAK Koyu Maru xAK Daigen Maru xAP Hikawa Maru xAP Buenos Aires Maru xAP Mizuho Maru Allied Ships PT-36 PT-37 PT-38 PT-39 PT-40 PT-43 PT-46 Improved night sighting under 96% moonlight Maximum visibility in Partly Cloudy Conditions and 96% moonlight: 11,000 yards Range closes to 11,000 yards... CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 11,000 yards CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 11,000 yards Wagner I. gains tactical advantage xAP Mizuho Maru , xAP Buenos Aires Maru , xAP Hikawa Maru , xAK Daigen Maru , xAK Koyu Maru screened from combat - escorted by DD Mutsuki xAP Mizuho Maru , xAP Buenos Aires Maru , xAP Hikawa Maru , xAK Daigen Maru , xAK Koyu Maru , xAK Syoto Maru , xAK Hokutai Maru , xAK Zyunyo Maru , xAK Kuritake Maru , xAK Seisyo Maru , xAK Tomitu Maru , xAK Sensan Maru , xAK Shinkyo Maru , xAK Senyo Maru , xAK Nanman Maru , xAK Rokko Maru , xAK Aso Maru , xAK Ikoma Maru , xAK Kasagi Maru screened from combat - escorted by DD Hayate , DD Kisaragi , DD Mutsuki , DD Amagiri , PC Ashi DD Shikinami engages PT-40 at 11,000 yards PT-38 engages xAK Osaka Maru at 11,000 yards PT-46 engages xAK Hino Maru #3 at 11,000 yards Range closes to 8,000 yards DD Hayate engages PT-46 at 8,000 yards DD Oite engages PT-43 at 8,000 yards PT-46 engages xAK Kasagi Maru at 8,000 yards Range closes to 4,000 yards xAP Mizuho Maru , xAP Buenos Aires Maru , xAP Hikawa Maru screened from combat - escorted by PB Myoken Maru DD Hayate engages PT-38 at 4,000 yards... The IJN destroyers did a good job shielding the transports from the PT boats. But then - quote:
Night Time Surface Combat, near Milne Bay at 101,133, Range 11,000 Yards Japanese Ships BB Mutsu, Shell hits 10, on fire BB Yamashiro, Shell hits 1, on fire CA Maya DD Shikinami DD Amagiri DD Mutsuki, Shell hits 1 DD Kisaragi DD Oite DD Hayate PC Ashi, Shell hits 1 PB Myoken Maru PB Shoei Maru, Shell hits 6, and is sunk SC Ch 27 xAK Melbourne Maru xAK Yamakaze Maru, Shell hits 1 xAK Sanko Maru, Shell hits 3, on fire xAK Kaiko Maru xAK Hino Maru #3 xAK Osaka Maru xAK Seian Maru xAK Hankow Maru xAK Eihuku Maru xAK Kasagi Maru xAK Ikoma Maru xAK Aso Maru xAK Rokko Maru xAK Nanman Maru xAK Senyo Maru xAK Shinkyo Maru xAK Sensan Maru xAK Tomitu Maru xAK Seisyo Maru xAK Kuritake Maru xAK Zyunyo Maru xAK Hokutai Maru xAK Syoto Maru xAK Koyu Maru xAK Daigen Maru xAP Hikawa Maru xAP Buenos Aires Maru xAP Mizuho Maru Allied Ships BB Maryland, Shell hits 1 BB Oklahoma, Shell hits 2, on fire BB Arizona, Shell hits 2 BB Pennsylvania BB Idaho, Shell hits 6, on fire BB New Mexico, Shell hits 1, on fire BB Mississippi, Shell hits 14, heavy fires, heavy damage DD Ellet, Shell hits 1, on fire DD Edsall DD Stuart DD Vendetta DD Napier DD Nizam Japanese ground losses: 11 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Allied Ships Reported to be Approaching! Japanese TF suspends unloading operations and begins to get underway Improved night sighting under 96% moonlight Maximum visibility in Partly Cloudy Conditions and 96% moonlight: 11,000 yards Range closes to 21,000 yards... CONTACT: Allies radar detects Japanese task force at 21,000 yards Range closes to 16,000 yards... Range closes to 11,000 yards... CONTACT: Allies radar detects Japanese task force at 11,000 yards Spruance, Raymond A crosses the 'T' As would be expected, the combat ships engaged each other, allowing the transports to escape in fairly good order. I count shell hits on BBs as 26 IJN on Allied and 11 Allied on IJN, so my assessment is - I got lucky. This time my carriers were closer - quote:
Morning Air attack on TF, near Milne Bay at 100,135 Weather in hex: Clear sky Raid detected at 36 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 13 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 4 B5N2 Kate x 13 D3A1 Val x 9 Allied aircraft Kittyhawk IA x 5 Japanese aircraft losses B5N2 Kate: 3 damaged Allied aircraft losses Kittyhawk IA: 1 destroyed Allied Ships BB Oklahoma, Bomb hits 5, on fire BB Idaho, Torpedo hits 4, on fire, heavy damage quote:
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Milne Bay at 100,135 Weather in hex: Severe storms Raid spotted at 11 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 3 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 5 D3A1 Val x 17 Allied aircraft Kittyhawk IA x 1 Japanese aircraft losses D3A1 Val: 1 damaged Allied aircraft losses Kittyhawk IA: 1 destroyed Allied Ships BB Oklahoma, Bomb hits 5, on fire DD Napier Heavy smoke from fires obscuring BB Oklahoma On Apr 4, a sub in the western part of the Bay of Bengal sighted CV Indomitable, BB Prince of Wales, and BC Repulse. So, none of them were sunk on Apr 1, but the sub did put another torpedo in the CV, before being forced to surface and then sunk. Several dot bases in the DEI were captured during the past week. In Burma, Katha was captured by 2 tank regiments and the defending battalion surrendered.
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