War in the Pacific AAR Thread - ML vs JFranzen

Molon Labe · 06-26-21, 01:46 AM

3 January 1942
Joint Defense of Kendari, and an Ace in a Day

CENTPAC
The morning started with a PT raid on Lihue. This has to be something like 3 in 5 days, but he was unprepared. My PTs found 9 transports loaded with troops (loading to move somewhere else?) defended by only 4 PBs (militarized cargo ships). The PTs found themselves not outgunned at all, so not only did they get close enough for torpedoes, they stuck around to rake the ships with .50cal gunfire. 4 transports were hit with torpedoes, 2 sank while the PTs were still there. The other two will probably sink as well. Enemy casualties were reported as 2854. One PT was lightly damaged by return fire.

For some reason, his Kates flew to Pearl today without fighter cover. My CAP probably can't withstand the KBs full force, but it can handle unescorted torpedo bombers. 20 Kates showed up, none went home. P-40 pilot D. Billings got 5 of them by himself, the campaign's first Ace-in-a-day.

The weather was supposed to be bad, so I used the opportunity to get some more ships out of Pearl. This time is was seaplane tenders and tankers. The tenders ran into a sub, but the sub missed. They managed to get far enough away by dawn that an airstrike never came.

Dutch East Indies
I really tried to exploit the fact that my enemy is trying to fight from inside a minefield at Kendari. PT attacks will continue, but today it was time for subs and light bombers to take a crack at the invaders. The sub O19 entered the landing area and found a destroyer already crippled from hitting a mine. She torpedoed and sank it. Another destroyer detected the O19 and tried to get some revenge, but the sub escaped with minor damage. After sunrise, two Falcon bomber squadrons attacked, one dropping from 5000 feet and the other coming in low for strafing and bombing. Just wanted to see if it made a difference. Both squadrons managed two hits each. Sadly their bombs were only 50kg, basically oversized hand grenades, so damage was minor. But they got to watch an AKL sink from damage sustained from hitting a mine earlier in the day. One Falcon was shot down by AA.

Near Surabaya, a minesweeper and a pair of destroyers went after the sub that sank the cargo ship two days ago. We actually found two. The minesweeper tracked one down and caused minor damage with depth charges.

The light cruiser Ceres got within 1 hex of Batavia, but her luck ran out. Efforts to control the flooding failed, and she went down.

A portion of the Cebu base force that was on a different transport convoy than the one that got sunk last week has made it to Surabaya.

Philippines
I was wondering when he'd actually start bombing Clark--not the hex, the actual airbase. He hit it today, with about 110 bombers. The airfield is now damaged to 33% and almost nothing is flyable anyway. I did manage to get some B-17s off the ground first, they hit an overstacked enemy airfield at San Fernando, destroying at least two bombers on the ground. But flak downed one B-17 and two more had to be scrapped after the lander.

Burma
The army that I sent into Thailand and got surrounded has surrendered.

SouthPAC
I believe I've reacquired the small SAG that was sitting outside of Suva, they've merged with a troop convoy on an atoll north of the Solomons.

EDIT: Japan
USS Cachalot was bombed by an ASW aircraft and is returning for repairs.

06-26-21, 01:46 AM	#29
Molon Labe Silent Hunter Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Along the Watchtower Posts: 3,810 Downloads: 27 Uploads: 5	3 January 1942 Joint Defense of Kendari, and an Ace in a Day CENTPAC The morning started with a PT raid on Lihue. This has to be something like 3 in 5 days, but he was unprepared. My PTs found 9 transports loaded with troops (loading to move somewhere else?) defended by only 4 PBs (militarized cargo ships). The PTs found themselves not outgunned at all, so not only did they get close enough for torpedoes, they stuck around to rake the ships with .50cal gunfire. 4 transports were hit with torpedoes, 2 sank while the PTs were still there. The other two will probably sink as well. Enemy casualties were reported as 2854. One PT was lightly damaged by return fire. For some reason, his Kates flew to Pearl today without fighter cover. My CAP probably can't withstand the KBs full force, but it can handle unescorted torpedo bombers. 20 Kates showed up, none went home. P-40 pilot D. Billings got 5 of them by himself, the campaign's first Ace-in-a-day. The weather was supposed to be bad, so I used the opportunity to get some more ships out of Pearl. This time is was seaplane tenders and tankers. The tenders ran into a sub, but the sub missed. They managed to get far enough away by dawn that an airstrike never came. Dutch East Indies I really tried to exploit the fact that my enemy is trying to fight from inside a minefield at Kendari. PT attacks will continue, but today it was time for subs and light bombers to take a crack at the invaders. The sub O19 entered the landing area and found a destroyer already crippled from hitting a mine. She torpedoed and sank it. Another destroyer detected the O19 and tried to get some revenge, but the sub escaped with minor damage. After sunrise, two Falcon bomber squadrons attacked, one dropping from 5000 feet and the other coming in low for strafing and bombing. Just wanted to see if it made a difference. Both squadrons managed two hits each. Sadly their bombs were only 50kg, basically oversized hand grenades, so damage was minor. But they got to watch an AKL sink from damage sustained from hitting a mine earlier in the day. One Falcon was shot down by AA. Near Surabaya, a minesweeper and a pair of destroyers went after the sub that sank the cargo ship two days ago. We actually found two. The minesweeper tracked one down and caused minor damage with depth charges. The light cruiser Ceres got within 1 hex of Batavia, but her luck ran out. Efforts to control the flooding failed, and she went down. A portion of the Cebu base force that was on a different transport convoy than the one that got sunk last week has made it to Surabaya. Philippines I was wondering when he'd actually start bombing Clark--not the hex, the actual airbase. He hit it today, with about 110 bombers. The airfield is now damaged to 33% and almost nothing is flyable anyway. I did manage to get some B-17s off the ground first, they hit an overstacked enemy airfield at San Fernando, destroying at least two bombers on the ground. But flak downed one B-17 and two more had to be scrapped after the lander. Burma The army that I sent into Thailand and got surrounded has surrendered. SouthPAC I believe I've reacquired the small SAG that was sitting outside of Suva, they've merged with a troop convoy on an atoll north of the Solomons. EDIT: Japan USS Cachalot was bombed by an ASW aircraft and is returning for repairs. __________________ Last edited by Molon Labe; 06-26-21 at 10:13 AM.