SUBSIM Radio Room Forums - View Single Post - War in the Pacific AAR Thread

Molon Labe · 02-16-22, 09:18 AM

14 December 1942
Japanese subs add their own minefield to Babar, US and UK subs rack up kills

Java Sea
HMS Truant put two fish into an unescorted fuel carrying cargo ship off the west coast of Borneo. This was about 120 miles south of where it sank a similar ship yesterday.

Just 240 miles south of that, USS Grampus put a functioning Mk14 into another one of these cargo ships, almost certainly from Surabaya based on its location--and the fact that it was also carrying fuel that immediately burned. But Grampus wasn't done. Yet another one of these singleton fuel-carriers showed up; Grampus engaged on the surface in broad daylight, taking a few gun hits in the process, but successfully getting 1 Mk14 to explode after about 5 duds (and lots of misses), and getting several deck gun hits on the highly flammable ship. This sub was actually transitting to a patrol area in the South China Sea, and she used up all her torpedoes in these two attacks, so I'm ordering her back to Darwin.

It's an interesting route that they seem to be taking, avoiding the Strait of Makassar in favor of the South China Sea. The furthest north of them has turned slightly east, so we can rule out destinations like the Strait of Malacca and Bangkok--they're either headed for Japan or stopping somewhere along the way. These don't look like especially long ranged ships and solo ships aren't going to have an easy time getting through the Strait of Luzon, so I wouldn't be surprised if they're running a medium-range shuttle to Cam Rahn Bay or Manila and letting a proper tanker convoy take it from there.

CENTPAC
We got another midget sub at Midway. We've moved a Catalina squadron here to start bringing the new base to life. Fuel and a sub tender to follow.

Burma, Thailand, and India
Six destroyers shelled our airbase at Chittagong, India. This is further northwest than they've been for awhile. Damage was minor.

We had some air battles over Magwe and Mandalay, total losses there were 3 Zeroes, 2 Oscars, a Nick, and 1 of our Hurricanes. Our bombers took the day off while we tried to get a handle on the enemy fighter presence. I'd like to do better than 6 kills before we send the bombers back.

I made a probing attack at Uttaradit to see if it made sense to try to attack here, and unfortunately it looks like his presence has surged to over 3 divisions. My total assault value is greater, but I need to discount that for my supply shortage and take into account the defensive bonus conferred by the jungle. I'm better off letting him try to attack first.

Japan
USS Whale torpedoed and sank an escorted small tanker 320 miles south of Tokyo.

Banda Sea
We lost 2 PTs to a minefield. I'm sure it was just planted here. Will need to get on this soon. We had some supplies land today, I'm glad the PTs found the minefield instead of the transports. There was also a sweep by 4 Oscars that splashed a P-40 and got out before we could retaliate.

I took a bit of a chance and ordered the O24 to approach a convoy at a non-sub proof port on Timor--it got spotted and took moderate depth charge damage. At least we got a contact report out of it: 2 AMCs, 1 AO, 2 DD.

Solomons, New Guinea, New Britain
I split up the B-17s raids from Port Morseby to see if I could find diverted planes from Shoho at any of the airstrips on the northern coast of P-NG. No luck. We hit Rabaul too with P-38s escorting, 1 P-38 was lost along with 3 Zeroes, minor damage to the airbase. Actually, that this recently empty airbase had a substantial CAP--13 Zeroes (reportedly from Akagi's airgroup) and a Tojo, is the most significant fact about this raid.

With the Wasp bugging out to prevent the KB from reappearing in range of it, the followup strike on the troop transport convoy at Guadalcanal went to the B-17s at Efate. We hit and sank a minelayer, and damaged a cargo ship. 6 Zeroes, reportedly from Ryujo's airgroup, tried to stop the raid, one of which was shot down by the bombers.

Philippine Sea
USS Saury took a shot at the same tanker convoy the Seawolf engaged yesterday. It missed, but now I know which direction it's going--northwest, back towards the Philippine coast. So it looks like he thought he was far enough out to sea to avoid my patrol areas, but I snagged him, and now he's headed back to the shallow water I mostly avoid. Which is fine by me, because I know this route ends with the littorals of the Luzon Strait, and I'll have multiple boats waiting for him there.

Reinforcements
CVE Sangamon arrives at Balboa
CVE Suwannee arrives at Balboa
DD Warramunga arrives at Cape Town
VMF-223 arrives at Santa Ana (2/18 FM-1 Wildcats, restricted)
144th USA Base Force arrives at San Luis Obispo (full strength, unrestricted)
36th Aviation Base Force arrives at March Field (full strength, unrestricted)
1st Manchester Battalion arrives at Aden (hollow command)

SS Gar begins refit while under repair at Seattle

02-16-22, 09:18 AM	#518
Molon Labe Silent Hunter Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Along the Watchtower Posts: 3,810 Downloads: 27 Uploads: 5	14 December 1942 Japanese subs add their own minefield to Babar, US and UK subs rack up kills Java Sea HMS Truant put two fish into an unescorted fuel carrying cargo ship off the west coast of Borneo. This was about 120 miles south of where it sank a similar ship yesterday. Just 240 miles south of that, USS Grampus put a functioning Mk14 into another one of these cargo ships, almost certainly from Surabaya based on its location--and the fact that it was also carrying fuel that immediately burned. But Grampus wasn't done. Yet another one of these singleton fuel-carriers showed up; Grampus engaged on the surface in broad daylight, taking a few gun hits in the process, but successfully getting 1 Mk14 to explode after about 5 duds (and lots of misses), and getting several deck gun hits on the highly flammable ship. This sub was actually transitting to a patrol area in the South China Sea, and she used up all her torpedoes in these two attacks, so I'm ordering her back to Darwin. It's an interesting route that they seem to be taking, avoiding the Strait of Makassar in favor of the South China Sea. The furthest north of them has turned slightly east, so we can rule out destinations like the Strait of Malacca and Bangkok--they're either headed for Japan or stopping somewhere along the way. These don't look like especially long ranged ships and solo ships aren't going to have an easy time getting through the Strait of Luzon, so I wouldn't be surprised if they're running a medium-range shuttle to Cam Rahn Bay or Manila and letting a proper tanker convoy take it from there. CENTPAC We got another midget sub at Midway. We've moved a Catalina squadron here to start bringing the new base to life. Fuel and a sub tender to follow. Burma, Thailand, and India Six destroyers shelled our airbase at Chittagong, India. This is further northwest than they've been for awhile. Damage was minor. We had some air battles over Magwe and Mandalay, total losses there were 3 Zeroes, 2 Oscars, a Nick, and 1 of our Hurricanes. Our bombers took the day off while we tried to get a handle on the enemy fighter presence. I'd like to do better than 6 kills before we send the bombers back. I made a probing attack at Uttaradit to see if it made sense to try to attack here, and unfortunately it looks like his presence has surged to over 3 divisions. My total assault value is greater, but I need to discount that for my supply shortage and take into account the defensive bonus conferred by the jungle. I'm better off letting him try to attack first. Japan USS Whale torpedoed and sank an escorted small tanker 320 miles south of Tokyo. Banda Sea We lost 2 PTs to a minefield. I'm sure it was just planted here. Will need to get on this soon. We had some supplies land today, I'm glad the PTs found the minefield instead of the transports. There was also a sweep by 4 Oscars that splashed a P-40 and got out before we could retaliate. I took a bit of a chance and ordered the O24 to approach a convoy at a non-sub proof port on Timor--it got spotted and took moderate depth charge damage. At least we got a contact report out of it: 2 AMCs, 1 AO, 2 DD. Solomons, New Guinea, New Britain I split up the B-17s raids from Port Morseby to see if I could find diverted planes from Shoho at any of the airstrips on the northern coast of P-NG. No luck. We hit Rabaul too with P-38s escorting, 1 P-38 was lost along with 3 Zeroes, minor damage to the airbase. Actually, that this recently empty airbase had a substantial CAP--13 Zeroes (reportedly from Akagi's airgroup) and a Tojo, is the most significant fact about this raid. With the Wasp bugging out to prevent the KB from reappearing in range of it, the followup strike on the troop transport convoy at Guadalcanal went to the B-17s at Efate. We hit and sank a minelayer, and damaged a cargo ship. 6 Zeroes, reportedly from Ryujo's airgroup, tried to stop the raid, one of which was shot down by the bombers. Philippine Sea USS Saury took a shot at the same tanker convoy the Seawolf engaged yesterday. It missed, but now I know which direction it's going--northwest, back towards the Philippine coast. So it looks like he thought he was far enough out to sea to avoid my patrol areas, but I snagged him, and now he's headed back to the shallow water I mostly avoid. Which is fine by me, because I know this route ends with the littorals of the Luzon Strait, and I'll have multiple boats waiting for him there. Reinforcements CVE Sangamon arrives at Balboa CVE Suwannee arrives at Balboa DD Warramunga arrives at Cape Town VMF-223 arrives at Santa Ana (2/18 FM-1 Wildcats, restricted) 144th USA Base Force arrives at San Luis Obispo (full strength, unrestricted) 36th Aviation Base Force arrives at March Field (full strength, unrestricted) 1st Manchester Battalion arrives at Aden (hollow command) SS Gar begins refit while under repair at Seattle __________________ Last edited by Molon Labe; 02-16-22 at 06:08 PM.