12 February 1942
Invasion fleet approaching Balikpapan
Coral Sea
Got another one! RO-64 was attacked two separate times today, it escaped with some damage the first time, but the second it was forced to surface and shared the fate of its sister ship yesterday.
Borneo
Oscars swept Balikpapan apparently in advance of an amphibious landing to take place tomorrow. The Oscars got two of our fighters without loss. Torpedo bombers from the CVL/Soryu made another attempt on my ASW patrol but only managed to lose one of their own. There are at least two task forces in the Makassar Strait headed south now, one of them includes a battleship and cargo ship, a combination that must indicate a landing force. Our level bombers made several attempts throughout the day but came up empty. Few to zero enemy fighters were protecting the fleet.
Lexington and Yorktown have been sitting just south of the Java Sea waiting for a development along these lines. I had intended to have them for the battle that neutralized the Indomitable, but they were a day late. I'm a little concerned about the possibility of land based bombers wrecking things up, but all indications for the last two weeks have been the bombers are usually torpedo-less and rarely escorted. Plus those task forces aren't having CAPs flown on them. It's looking favorable. Balikpapan is a major strategic objective, so the size of the army they're deploying should be substantial. Sending them to the bottom would be a major blow to their ability to continue their expansion in this area--it's worth a bit of risk to the carriers, so into harm's way they go.
China
6 Oscars swept Wuchow in what I assume was a probing attack. They found obsolete I-15 and -16 fighters on patrol and shot down 1 each with no losses. He hasn't shown any interest in anything this far south since repelling me from Swatow, so this may be a sign that something new is afoot.
Sumatra
The Nells came back and attempted a port attack on Palembang, but no one was home. Escorting fighters took out a Buffalo on CAP.