2 April 1943
Finishing off the CVEs as they try to shelter near airbases
Java
The CVE group came under attack again. The raids cost the enemy 7 Zeroes, 2 Oscars, 9 Kates and a Val. We lost a Wildcat and a P-40. But the CVEs were already disabled from flight ops, so the number of planes we had on CAP wasn't enough to stop the bombers:
CVE Suwannee, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage
CVE Sangamon, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
CA Chester, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
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CVE Suwannee, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
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DD Warramunga, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
Our Western army group (1 Division, 2 Tank Battalions) encountered an enemy regiment and 2/3rd of a marine unit on the way to Batavia; probably previously engaged. We routed them 1475 casualties to nothing.
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