19 January 1944
USS Seawolf lost off west coast of Luzon
Japan cedes Wuchang back to China
Philippines and surrounding seas
It seems the days of our subs easily picking off their pursuers may be at an end. In another case of "maybe pick a different target", USS Seawolf fired at an ASW task force, missed, and was successfully prosecuted. Seawolf had been in the Asiatic fleet since the beginning of the campaign and ended up with surprisingly few confirmed sinkings, perhaps due to how much time she spent under repair from close calls. 3 ships total, 16335 tons.
USS Swordfish did choose a better target, putting two fish into a 4875-ton cargo ship off the northern tip of Luzon for a kill.
Air raids:
Ilolio (airbase): 10 casualties, 23 base hits, 1 Judy destroyed on the ground
China
-Another night raid on Amoy, no damage
Allied air raids:
Wuchang (ground forces): 42 casualties
Land combat:
Allied Shock Attack in Wuchang: Base captured, casualties 1031 to 247 favoring us. There was essentially no resistance, just 1000 troops defending a major base. I asked my opponent about this and he said he just didn't think it was worth holding onto, so he moved out.
Burma and Thailand
A P-47 sweep over Bangkok shot down 3 Tonies. 45 B-24s followed that up by bombing the airbase, destroying 1 more Tony on the ground along with scoring 47 airbase hits. Bangkok's airbase is effectively neutralized at this point.
Other raids:
Pisanuloke (ground forces): 74 casualties
Java Sea
USS Hake was spotted and depth charged while transiting away from the Malacca Strait area. Moderate damage.
DEI
Air raids:
Koepang (ground forces): 14 casualties
Kendari (ground forces): 0 casualties
Reinforcements
DE Foreman arrives at San Francisco
PF Everett arrives at Mare Island
VMB-433 arrives at Eastern USA
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