January 8, 1942
Soryu changes places with the CVLBG, Shokaku and Zuikaku still out there somewhere
Hawaii
I think the success of the PT squadron at Pearl is at an end. They got lucky and ran into two unescorted AKs on the way to Lahaina, sinking one for sure. I was annoyed with the commander for firing their torpedoes at such long range, only one boat still had torpedoes left after this. They then met an ARG at Lahaina, escorted by Kaibokans and PBs. They pressed the attack to make sure the last boat could shoot its torpedoes...and missed. They got close enough to cripple a PB with .50cal fire and set a cargo ship on fire. The cost of this was two boats sunk by Kaibokans. A destroyer detachment responded to this and sank two more. The PTs, having been cut off from Pearl last turn, and now in 3 combat actions this turn, ran out of fuel.
Sacrifices to Neptune continued with the offering of five midgets. Three destroyer minesweepers were also thrown into the fray, clearing 62 mines before my coastal batteries took care of them. The DMSs actually degraded the minefield significantly. I'm ordering one of my tenders to replace some of them. If that draws an airstrike and I lose the tender, the remaining tenders will be able to manage the mines that are left.
Dutch East Indies
I was wrong about that being the Soryu the moved into Celebes. I'm fairly sure it was the Soryu that hit the Jolo evac group (the damaged AP from that group sank at harbor today, by the way...fires were never brought under control). But the task force moving into the Celebes now is the CVLBG, less the Zuiho (which was hit by a torpedo last time it was here). Attempting a repeat of recent history, the Dutch sub KIX (the same boat that torpedoed the Zuiho) hit the Shoho as it entered the Makassar Strati. But this time, the torpedo did not detonate. Force composition is: CVL Ryujo, CVE Hosho, CS Chiyoda, 4 CA, 10 DD.
Zeroes from the CVLBG strafed the retreating PTs again, but were much more effective than last turn, 3 were damaged at least one pretty badly. Possibly because they aren't the same planes.
Fortunately, the strafing mission kept them away from the carriers when my airstrike came. But unfortunately, Balikpapan does not have an AirHQ and does not organize strikes very well. So we only got 4 of 9 medium bombers in the air, and the light bombers never found the target. The fighter battle was even, 12 Claudes against 11 Demons and a Buffalo. We shot down 3 Claudes, and they got one bomber. The rest tried to bomb the Ryujo but missed. We tried again in the afternoon, the bombers got through again, missed again, and AA shot one more down.
The CVLBG is hugging the east coast of the strait and continued past Balikpapan. My read is that it's going to support further landings in the Ceram Sea area. As for the Soryu, I've lost track of it for now. Supporting landings in the Phillipines makes a lot of sense, so I'm not convinced it's gone. I also wouldn't be surprised if it met up with the missing Shokaku and Zuikaku and showed up in the Solomons, now that he knows I have a bunch of cruisers there.
The S-40 torpedoed a Toho class AK in a Ceram Sea choke point.
The Surabaya ASW forces managed a decent hit on one of those pesky subs, but they continue to generally evade attack.
Solomons
The S-28 found two mine tenders moving towards Tulagi and Guadalcanal. The skipper decided they were not important enough to use ammo on and let them get away. That skipper is getting fired.
That task force headed towards Ndeni landed on the Reef Islands instead. It's a marine garrison unit rather than engineers.
Malaya
Malacca has been captured. I hope my armies got some supplies, because from this point forward it's going to have to be flown in, if at all. The AKLs delivering the supplies were bombed by Nells, one will probably sink. That these guys are using bombs instead of torpedoes probably means he's rebasing his Air HQ.
Our Hurricanes shot down 4 Zeroes and 2 Sonias over Singapore.
China
That army unit that got surrounded in the riverlands has pulled out from the hex it tried to attack and into the hex of the army that cut it off. It's two divisions. This is going to be a major loss for me.
Philippines
Army units commenced an attack on the central airbase of Iolio. This is a potential midpoint to evacuate any fighters I might be able to repair at Clark. For now it looks like they can hold, but supplies are a problem. And they have a task force here that could very well be there to reinforce them.
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Today was the 7th consecutive day enemy air losses were greater than mine.
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