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Molon Labe · 01-10-23, 07:15 PM

14 October 1943
The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot

Japan
USS Haddo sustained siginifcant depth charge damage after a failed attack on a cargo convoy near Aogashima and is returning to Adak for a repair assessment.

USS Tautog turned the tables on an ASW task force hear Torishima, sinking a PB with a torpedo hit.

CENTPAC
Major air battle in the Mariannas today as the enemy tried to coordinate a strike against my carriers between Palau, Truk, recent arrivals in the Mariannas themselves, and the KB (or whatever of it is left and operational at the moment). The first strike was against my phibs at Tinian still landing supplies by 15 Betties and 4 Nicks. 10 Hellcats intercepted, shooting down 7 of the Betties after their attack run. The bombers carried only bombs and attacked from high altitude...rather harmless. I think they were from Palau.

Next was 36 Betties and 3 Kates... the Kates carried torpedoes. We failed to get any aircraft to intercept, but again, these aircraft were mostly harmless, the Betties bombing from 15,000 ft. Again...probably from Palau, if they were from Truk they'd have had torpedoes.

Speaking of which, the next raid did have torpedoes; 9 Betties, 3 Nicks. Again, we failed to get any fighters to them. Two Betties were shot down by flak, leaving 7 to attack--all missed.

The next raid targeted our task forces standing off from Tinian a bit, intentionally out of torpedo range from Truk. This group includes phibs standing by to land base forces intended for Tinian and Saipan had our troops taken them as planned. Those phibs have a total of 7 CVEs protecting them (and an 8th arriving as a reinforcement just a little behind). The group also includes 3 CVBGs, comprised of the Essex, Yorktown, the recently-arrived Bunker Hill, and five CVLs. So, this enemy strike of 8 Zeroes and 14 Judies faced a CAP of 181 Hellcats--but clearly not all at once. We got 5 Zeroes and 12 Judies while losing 2 Hellcats... 2 of the Judies made attacks targeting the CVL Princeton, but missed.

Shortly after 27 Zeroes arrived with 26 Judies; my CAP strength was down to 163, but the proverbial hornet's nest had been stirred up at this point. With no friendly losses, we took down 16 Zeroes and 22 of the Judies. 7 Judies made attacks on the Princeton and the light cruiser Montpelier; no hits.

6 Judies arrived at Saipan unescorted, where we had a pair of destroyers patroling for enemy landing barges. 1 Hellcat was able to divert and intercept, shooting down 2 of the bombers. The four survivors picked a destroyer and missed.

Then 12 Judies attacked the task force at Tinian with 3 Nicks escorting. This time, we had 53 Hellcats available to oppose...maybe the commanders figures out what direction the attacks were coming from and cheated a little with the CAP? With no losses, the Hellcats shot down all 3 Nicks and 10 of the Judies. No enemy aircraft made it to our ships. Right behind this group was 19 Kates and 2 Judies...no escorting fighters... our CAP was now at 46 strong. The enemy raid was wiped out completely with no losses. Three straggling Judies entered the fray, none escaped.

The afternoon phase opened with 6 Betties--with torpedoes--attacking our task force at Tinian. The CAP was down to 16 Hellcats--about what's expected. All 6 Betties were shot down...only one of them before they dropped on the heavy cruiser San Fransisco. But again, all missed.

In all this chaos, we managed to make a strikes of our own on Tinian; 33 Hellcats, 33 SBDs and 71 Avengers; they sank a general tender in port and caused some minor casualties to their land forces. Once Nick tried to intervene but was driven off. We also hit Saipan's airbase with 26 Avengers, they caused substantial base damage while blowing up a Judy on the ground. 38 Avengers sortied to Tinian expecting to find enemy ships but found nothing.

Meanwhile over Guam, Japan had one of its few bright spots of the day. Our raid of 6 Hellcats and 12 Avengers was opposed by a single George--who shot down 3 of the Hellcats and GTFO'd. The Avengers caused light airbase damage.

Our ground forces on Tinian attempted an attack but suffered the worst of it, 433 to 1290 with the enemy forts holding at level 4. We're clearly not going to win this fight on the ground without reinforcements... so it's either wait for the troops from Guadalcanal or pull out.

Our aircraft on ASW patrol reported 6 hits on enemy submarines this turn.

Total air to air losses: 5
Total air to air victories: 108
(Opponent's report of actual total losses, including flak and operational, was 130)

Meta: My opponent asked for a replay of this turn due to failed coordination of these strikes with the KB. Apparently he meant to order the KB to move at a higher speed, and that error caused the KB to be just out of range this turn. He doesn't realize it at this point, but that probably saved him. I don't think his carrier strength is currently enough to overcome that 180-strong CAP that I have, and I had fighters and strike aircraft on assignment to strike any ships spotted. When it's "safe" to ask, I'd like to find out just how many operational carriers he had available to see how our forces actually stacked up. I suspect he has badly underestimated my force levels.

Luzon Strait
An enemy tanker convoy made its way up the west coast of Luzon, where it was attacked by 12 Beaufighters from China. Probably 3 sunk tankers (Type-1 TS,1120 tons each) and a sunk PB:
TK Juko Maru, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
TK Amatsu Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
PB Zosen Maru, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
TK Nissan Maru, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage

(Yeah, I think the Juko is dead too, they won't control the fires.)

China
We forced another retreat of the 11th Tank Regiment near Nanchang; 65 tanks destroyed at a cost of 417 casualties (but only 1 "destroyed" squad).

Reinforcements
DE Engstrom arrives at Eastern USA
DE Greiner arrives at Seattle
AGC Rocky Mount arrives at Eastern USA
VC-24 arrives at Portland
VMF-121 arrives at Mojave
No.117 Sqn RAF arrives at Aden
30th Group Army arrives at Chungking

01-10-23, 07:15 PM	#702
Molon Labe Silent Hunter Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Along the Watchtower Posts: 3,810 Downloads: 27 Uploads: 5	14 October 1943 The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot Japan USS Haddo sustained siginifcant depth charge damage after a failed attack on a cargo convoy near Aogashima and is returning to Adak for a repair assessment. USS Tautog turned the tables on an ASW task force hear Torishima, sinking a PB with a torpedo hit. CENTPAC Major air battle in the Mariannas today as the enemy tried to coordinate a strike against my carriers between Palau, Truk, recent arrivals in the Mariannas themselves, and the KB (or whatever of it is left and operational at the moment). The first strike was against my phibs at Tinian still landing supplies by 15 Betties and 4 Nicks. 10 Hellcats intercepted, shooting down 7 of the Betties after their attack run. The bombers carried only bombs and attacked from high altitude...rather harmless. I think they were from Palau. Next was 36 Betties and 3 Kates... the Kates carried torpedoes. We failed to get any aircraft to intercept, but again, these aircraft were mostly harmless, the Betties bombing from 15,000 ft. Again...probably from Palau, if they were from Truk they'd have had torpedoes. Speaking of which, the next raid did have torpedoes; 9 Betties, 3 Nicks. Again, we failed to get any fighters to them. Two Betties were shot down by flak, leaving 7 to attack--all missed. The next raid targeted our task forces standing off from Tinian a bit, intentionally out of torpedo range from Truk. This group includes phibs standing by to land base forces intended for Tinian and Saipan had our troops taken them as planned. Those phibs have a total of 7 CVEs protecting them (and an 8th arriving as a reinforcement just a little behind). The group also includes 3 CVBGs, comprised of the Essex, Yorktown, the recently-arrived Bunker Hill, and five CVLs. So, this enemy strike of 8 Zeroes and 14 Judies faced a CAP of 181 Hellcats--but clearly not all at once. We got 5 Zeroes and 12 Judies while losing 2 Hellcats... 2 of the Judies made attacks targeting the CVL Princeton, but missed. Shortly after 27 Zeroes arrived with 26 Judies; my CAP strength was down to 163, but the proverbial hornet's nest had been stirred up at this point. With no friendly losses, we took down 16 Zeroes and 22 of the Judies. 7 Judies made attacks on the Princeton and the light cruiser Montpelier; no hits. 6 Judies arrived at Saipan unescorted, where we had a pair of destroyers patroling for enemy landing barges. 1 Hellcat was able to divert and intercept, shooting down 2 of the bombers. The four survivors picked a destroyer and missed. Then 12 Judies attacked the task force at Tinian with 3 Nicks escorting. This time, we had 53 Hellcats available to oppose...maybe the commanders figures out what direction the attacks were coming from and cheated a little with the CAP? With no losses, the Hellcats shot down all 3 Nicks and 10 of the Judies. No enemy aircraft made it to our ships. Right behind this group was 19 Kates and 2 Judies...no escorting fighters... our CAP was now at 46 strong. The enemy raid was wiped out completely with no losses. Three straggling Judies entered the fray, none escaped. The afternoon phase opened with 6 Betties--with torpedoes--attacking our task force at Tinian. The CAP was down to 16 Hellcats--about what's expected. All 6 Betties were shot down...only one of them before they dropped on the heavy cruiser San Fransisco. But again, all missed. In all this chaos, we managed to make a strikes of our own on Tinian; 33 Hellcats, 33 SBDs and 71 Avengers; they sank a general tender in port and caused some minor casualties to their land forces. Once Nick tried to intervene but was driven off. We also hit Saipan's airbase with 26 Avengers, they caused substantial base damage while blowing up a Judy on the ground. 38 Avengers sortied to Tinian expecting to find enemy ships but found nothing. Meanwhile over Guam, Japan had one of its few bright spots of the day. Our raid of 6 Hellcats and 12 Avengers was opposed by a single George--who shot down 3 of the Hellcats and GTFO'd. The Avengers caused light airbase damage. Our ground forces on Tinian attempted an attack but suffered the worst of it, 433 to 1290 with the enemy forts holding at level 4. We're clearly not going to win this fight on the ground without reinforcements... so it's either wait for the troops from Guadalcanal or pull out. Our aircraft on ASW patrol reported 6 hits on enemy submarines this turn. Total air to air losses: 5 Total air to air victories: 108 (Opponent's report of actual total losses, including flak and operational, was 130) Meta: My opponent asked for a replay of this turn due to failed coordination of these strikes with the KB. Apparently he meant to order the KB to move at a higher speed, and that error caused the KB to be just out of range this turn. He doesn't realize it at this point, but that probably saved him. I don't think his carrier strength is currently enough to overcome that 180-strong CAP that I have, and I had fighters and strike aircraft on assignment to strike any ships spotted. When it's "safe" to ask, I'd like to find out just how many operational carriers he had available to see how our forces actually stacked up. I suspect he has badly underestimated my force levels. Luzon Strait An enemy tanker convoy made its way up the west coast of Luzon, where it was attacked by 12 Beaufighters from China. Probably 3 sunk tankers (Type-1 TS,1120 tons each) and a sunk PB: TK Juko Maru, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires TK Amatsu Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage PB Zosen Maru, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage TK Nissan Maru, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage (Yeah, I think the Juko is dead too, they won't control the fires.) China We forced another retreat of the 11th Tank Regiment near Nanchang; 65 tanks destroyed at a cost of 417 casualties (but only 1 "destroyed" squad). Reinforcements DE Engstrom arrives at Eastern USA DE Greiner arrives at Seattle AGC Rocky Mount arrives at Eastern USA VC-24 arrives at Portland VMF-121 arrives at Mojave No.117 Sqn RAF arrives at Aden 30th Group Army arrives at Chungking __________________ Last edited by Molon Labe; 01-10-23 at 08:42 PM.