FeurerKrieg
Posts: 3397
Joined: 6/15/2005 From: Denver, CO Status: offline
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War Report 4/22/42 Jambi (north of Palembang) was captured today by light naval landing forces. The AP Kuroshio Maru was hit by a Martin attack on the troops ships sitting off the coast. Haruna and some heavy cruisers bombarded Bankha for a second day, destroying some enemy aircraft on the ground. Zero's and Betty's attacked ships at Batavia, putting a torpedo into the AK Steelmaker. The TK hit at Amboina yesterday was confirmed sunk today. Feurer Krieg Area Report Rufe's and Oscars flew sweep over Amboina today, however a rookie Rufe pilot was shot down by an enemy Brewster. The heavies did indeed give Koumac a continued break today, instead they pounded the ships at Lugainville. The attack force consisted of: 20 - B25C Mitchell 81 - B26B Marauder 94 - B17E Fortress 85 - LB30 Liberator The enemy planes all came in low at 6000 ft, and decimated the ships there. Seven troop ships were sunk outright, with more likely to sink tomorrow. Some of the gunboats managed to avoid being hit. The good news is that the SS Detachment was fully unloaded before sunrise, along with a significant amount of supplies, 3x what the unit requires. Also, a Glen spotted large enemy surface ships approximately 350 miles from Lougainville, just in range to reach the base for a nighttime bombardment. The plan for tomorrow is as follows: The carriers will stay to the east of Lougainville. All float planes and Vals will attack the airfields and ground units on the island. Kates will stay on naval attack. A dozen Zero's will fly high level sweep, some will fly escort and the rest will remain on CAP over the carriers. If the Allied ships try to do a fast hit and run, the remaining gunboats have spread out and will attempt to slow down the big ships, reducing the effectiveness of their bombardment. If they are slower, and come into the base during the day, (or they are fast, but stay at the base) then the Kates should have the chance to hit some major capital ships. Our gunboats will certainly be sunk, but if it allows the capture of the island, or the sinking of enemy capital ships, then the price is worth it. The SS Detachment will launch a full offensive, hopefully taking the island before the enemy heavy bombers start to suppress them. If they are unsuccessful, they will likely have to wait until reinforcements arrive after Lunga is (hopefully) captured. As far as I know, the carriers have not been spotted, nor have we launched any strikes over Lougainville. It may be possible that the Allies think the coast is clear and will keep their heavy ships in range of our carriers. It will take some luck, but the possibility is there for a minor victory tomorrow.The situation in the South Pacific. Sub Ops: No activity today. Non-Ops Air Losses Allies Hudson I - 4 Brewster 339D - 2 CW-21B Demon - 2 Hawk 75A - 2 Sea Gladiator - 1 Imperial Air Force Ki-46-II Dinah - 1 A6M2 Zero - 1 A6M2-N Rufe - 1 At-Risk Damaged Ship Report PC CH32 41/77/0 (Balikpapan) AP Hokumyo Maru 79/74/0 (Jambi) AP Kuroship Maru 23/10/16 (Jambi) I-169 50/49/0 (La Foa) I-175 29/16/0 (Koumac) PG Daido Maru 36/39/9 (Lougainville) AP Zukai Maru 87/49/49 (Lougainville) PG Choko Maru #2 98/84/49 (Lougainville) PG Edo Maru 50/74/49 (Lougainville) AK Hokkai Maru 99/73/49 (Lougainville) AK Jinmu Maru 99/66/49 (Lougainville) AP Senkai Maru 97/60/49 (Lougainville) AP Gotake Maru 99/56/45 (Lougainville) MSW Eguchi Maru 81/47/49 (Lougainville) PG Nagata Maru 38/29/29 (Lougainville) Mutsu's flooding is reducing rapidly, the ship should be safe now. Ships lost today, all at Lougainville: PC Ch29 AP Hokoku Maru AP Kaijo Maru #2 AP Kembu Maru AP Kotobuki Maru AP Mikage Maru #20 AP Shinwa Maru AP Konsan Maru
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