17 February 1942
Port Blair captured
SouthPAC
Kirishima and Hiei bombarded Efate again. Again, little result. No aircraft disabled, light-moderate facility damage.
There was a light cargo ship he was using as a picket/bait east of Efate. Rather than re-reveal the KB or its covering force, I engaged it with one of the subs guarding the retreat lane north of Fiji, sinking it with gunfire.
Another sweep of Noumea took care of 3 of the 4 P-40s on patrol. No losses.
5 Marauders tried to bomb our 'phibs, but the LRCAP from the KB took care of all 5 of them. 7 A-24s followed that up, the Zeroes got 2 of them, only 1 aircraft made it to the target (the rest turned and ran), and it missed. The S-27 also made multiple attempts to attack this task force but failed each time, sustaining slight depth charge damage in the process.
China
China got two I-15s to patrol above the Nanyang stack, my bombers' escorting Oscars took one down.
Burma and Andaman Sea
The enemy lost 1 Hurricane trying to bomb Moulmein. No damage on the ground.
Port Blair has been captured. Now to turn it into an airbase for us...
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