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Molon Labe · 11-24-21, 01:22 PM

31 July 1942
Carrier battle in Bay of Bengal leaves IJN Hiyo crippled--KB remains at Lahaina despite severely degraded fighter squadrons

Hawaii
The S-32 took a shot at the seaplane carrier Nissin as it approached Lahaina and missed. I don't normally report failed sub attacks, but in this case, this task force appears to be an amphibious transport group to evacuate the remaining troops on Lahaina. Which means the enemy's operation here will probably conclude within the next 2 days. More on this later.

The KB launched another raid on Pearl, but it was a high level bombing attack from 25,000 feet and did little damage. The destroyer-escort that hit the enemy sub a few days ago was damaged. At the cost of 2 Wildcats, our CAP shot down 4 Zeroes, 4 Kates, and 4 Vals.

The KB did not leave after this. So, it appears he's committed to this evacuation. I've decided to raise the stakes. I'm giving replacement aircraft to the USMC dive bomber squadron that was wiped out about a week ago. I'm also transferring another USMC dive bomber squadron from Palmyra--yes, now that it's mine again, some of my planes have the range to fly from Pearl to my southern holdings. Wasp is about a day away--I was just going to drop off USMC Wildcats and a weakened USN dive bomber squadron. But I'm actually doing to drop off the Wasp's own fighters and one of its bomber squadrons. So, unless his two battleships blow the hell out of Hickam (which they probably would have done already if they were going to), within 2 days, I should have 3 operational SBD squadrons, 1 TBF squadron, and 50 more Wildcats to add to the number of operational fighters there (currently about 40). To try to slow him down from leaving, my heavy bombers are hitting the port at Lahaina tomorrow and my medium bombers are going to the port at Hilo (SIGINT reported enemy tanks being loaded there), unescorted. I'll take losses, but the heavy bombers are going to wear down his fighters even more. My fighters will all be on CAP to try to prevent him from bombing my attack squadrons on the ground while I'm preparing to hit him.

I've warned him that hanging out around my bases like they aren't a threat is going to cost him someday. Let it be now.

Lex and Sara are back at sea, but I expect they'll be late for this party.

Sumatra and Malaya
We lost a P-40 and a Hurricane over Palembang. At Singapore, recon is notes a significant decrease in the enemy troop presence at Johore. Wouldn't it be nice if that was the infantry regiment moving out? Hard to confirm who unless we're able to spot them around Bangkok in another day or two.

Bay of Bengal
So those "3 ships, 2 classified as destroyers" was actually the Hiyo CVBG. They tried to strike first, sending 19 Vals after my Brit CVBG unescorted. 9 of them turned around when they saw my CAP of 31 Martlets (Wildcats) waiting for them. The other 10 were wiped out.

Our strike wasn't that great. One torpedo bomber squadron somehow lost its escort despite taking off from the same ship. They'd arrive late with no fighter cover. The first wave was 6 Albacores and 6 Swordfish with 4 Martlets escorting. There were 19 Zeroes on CAP, which shot down 3 of the Marlets and moved on to the bombers, shooting down 5 of the 6 Swordfish before they got to the ships. Flak got another 2 Albacores on approach, leaving 1 Swordfish and 4 Albacores to actually attack. That was enough for the Albacores to perform an anvil attack on the battleship Hiei, which took one of the two torpedoes fired at its side. The surviving Swordfish went after the Hiyo and missed.

While the enemy CAP was fixated on that raid, my 6 remaining Albacores arrived unescorted. The CAP failed to react in time. 1 Albacore was shot down by flak on approach, and the remaining 5 managed to score 2 hits on the Hiyo. There were no secondary explosions, fires, or any other overt signs of severe damage. But the Hiyo is a converted ocean liner--I'm fairly confident that 2 torpedo hits is enough to remove it from the fight.

I don't want to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory here--Bangkok is very close, and if my CVBG gets much closer it will be facing torpedo-armed Betties with Zero escorts. So I'm only moving in a little--if the Hiyo is crippled badly enough to still be in range, I'll hit her again. But I won't chase her into Bangkok's protective umbrella.

Reinforcements
No.24 Sqn RAAF Det arrives at Sydney - 6 P-39s
USMC AirFMFPac arrives at San Diego - unrestricted air HQ

11-24-21, 01:22 PM	#326
Molon Labe Silent Hunter Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Along the Watchtower Posts: 3,810 Downloads: 27 Uploads: 5	31 July 1942 Carrier battle in Bay of Bengal leaves IJN Hiyo crippled--KB remains at Lahaina despite severely degraded fighter squadrons Hawaii The S-32 took a shot at the seaplane carrier Nissin as it approached Lahaina and missed. I don't normally report failed sub attacks, but in this case, this task force appears to be an amphibious transport group to evacuate the remaining troops on Lahaina. Which means the enemy's operation here will probably conclude within the next 2 days. More on this later. The KB launched another raid on Pearl, but it was a high level bombing attack from 25,000 feet and did little damage. The destroyer-escort that hit the enemy sub a few days ago was damaged. At the cost of 2 Wildcats, our CAP shot down 4 Zeroes, 4 Kates, and 4 Vals. The KB did not leave after this. So, it appears he's committed to this evacuation. I've decided to raise the stakes. I'm giving replacement aircraft to the USMC dive bomber squadron that was wiped out about a week ago. I'm also transferring another USMC dive bomber squadron from Palmyra--yes, now that it's mine again, some of my planes have the range to fly from Pearl to my southern holdings. Wasp is about a day away--I was just going to drop off USMC Wildcats and a weakened USN dive bomber squadron. But I'm actually doing to drop off the Wasp's own fighters and one of its bomber squadrons. So, unless his two battleships blow the hell out of Hickam (which they probably would have done already if they were going to), within 2 days, I should have 3 operational SBD squadrons, 1 TBF squadron, and 50 more Wildcats to add to the number of operational fighters there (currently about 40). To try to slow him down from leaving, my heavy bombers are hitting the port at Lahaina tomorrow and my medium bombers are going to the port at Hilo (SIGINT reported enemy tanks being loaded there), unescorted. I'll take losses, but the heavy bombers are going to wear down his fighters even more. My fighters will all be on CAP to try to prevent him from bombing my attack squadrons on the ground while I'm preparing to hit him. I've warned him that hanging out around my bases like they aren't a threat is going to cost him someday. Let it be now. Lex and Sara are back at sea, but I expect they'll be late for this party. Sumatra and Malaya We lost a P-40 and a Hurricane over Palembang. At Singapore, recon is notes a significant decrease in the enemy troop presence at Johore. Wouldn't it be nice if that was the infantry regiment moving out? Hard to confirm who unless we're able to spot them around Bangkok in another day or two. Bay of Bengal So those "3 ships, 2 classified as destroyers" was actually the Hiyo CVBG. They tried to strike first, sending 19 Vals after my Brit CVBG unescorted. 9 of them turned around when they saw my CAP of 31 Martlets (Wildcats) waiting for them. The other 10 were wiped out. Our strike wasn't that great. One torpedo bomber squadron somehow lost its escort despite taking off from the same ship. They'd arrive late with no fighter cover. The first wave was 6 Albacores and 6 Swordfish with 4 Martlets escorting. There were 19 Zeroes on CAP, which shot down 3 of the Marlets and moved on to the bombers, shooting down 5 of the 6 Swordfish before they got to the ships. Flak got another 2 Albacores on approach, leaving 1 Swordfish and 4 Albacores to actually attack. That was enough for the Albacores to perform an anvil attack on the battleship Hiei, which took one of the two torpedoes fired at its side. The surviving Swordfish went after the Hiyo and missed. While the enemy CAP was fixated on that raid, my 6 remaining Albacores arrived unescorted. The CAP failed to react in time. 1 Albacore was shot down by flak on approach, and the remaining 5 managed to score 2 hits on the Hiyo. There were no secondary explosions, fires, or any other overt signs of severe damage. But the Hiyo is a converted ocean liner--I'm fairly confident that 2 torpedo hits is enough to remove it from the fight. I don't want to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory here--Bangkok is very close, and if my CVBG gets much closer it will be facing torpedo-armed Betties with Zero escorts. So I'm only moving in a little--if the Hiyo is crippled badly enough to still be in range, I'll hit her again. But I won't chase her into Bangkok's protective umbrella. Reinforcements No.24 Sqn RAAF Det arrives at Sydney - 6 P-39s USMC AirFMFPac arrives at San Diego - unrestricted air HQ __________________ Last edited by Molon Labe; 11-24-21 at 02:14 PM.