24 July 1942
Successful Allied torpedo bomber strikes wipe out an ASW task force and sink a merchant full of troops; KB's general whereabouts known
Hawaii and CENTPAC
We haven't spotted the actual KB again, but we have something almost as good-Kates attacking the USS Thresher near Kona. Thresher was damaged, along with a Kate, but at least we know the KB is somewhere southeast of Pearl--possibly trying to cover transports covering troops.
If that's what it's doing, though, it's doing a **** job. 3 PBY Catalinas attacked a retreating merchant, hitting it with 3 torpedoes, sinking it instantly. 1759 land unit casualties were reported. 2 of the 3 Catalinas crash landed at Hickam due to the damage they sustained during their attack runs. VT-5 has let them know they'll take it from here.
At Johnston, the S-47 hit the AO Shiriya with a Mk10, setting its fuel cargo on fire. The Pollack also hit the tanker Tatekawa Maru with a Mk14, but of course it didn't explode.
Malaya and Sumatra
At Singapore, we got 4 fighters in the air on CAP, which was enough to shoot down a Zero and 2 Sallies. 5 more Sallies were shot down by flak as the enemy split his bombing altitudes at 10,000ft and 20,000ft. The guys at 10,000 are apparently quite vulnerable.
The Albacores that rebased to Palembang flew a sortie along with Fulmars and a pair of Aussie P-40 escorts. The Albacores did so well the Fulmars didn't even attack. An ASW squadron was wiped out--a PB, and 2 SCs. That's only going to work once, the next will have a CAP.
China
I've pulled back a bomber squadron from the Chengchow frontline because replacement Hudsons are available at larger bases in the rear. The ongoing air battle over Chengchow claimed 2 P-40s, a 1 P-43, and 2 Zeroes.
Thailand
The enemy has reinforced the base opposite from Raheng, which is good news because it keeps them away from Bangkok. Our escort situation was a mess again, 4 Blenheims were shot down; the escorts that did fly with the bombers shot down a Nick.
Solomons
I sent my B-17s to Guadalcanal after hitting Rabaul uncontested for a few days. 10 Oscars were protecting Guadalcanal-they shot down 1 B-17 while the gunners shot down 2 Oscars. We lost another B-17 to flak from the base. We slightly damaged the airbase, but in the port we found a sub and hit it twice. Regretfully, the bombers reported that the damage to the sub wasn't all that bad.
Reinforcements and refits
SS Whale arrives at Mare Island - assigned to Dutch Harbor
TK Mobilube arrives at Cristobal
AMc Sanda arrives at Auckland
38th BG/405th BS arrives at Eastern USA - B-25s, unrestricted, full strength
DD Porter beginning refit in shipyard at Los Angeles
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