18 January 1943
- USS Permit torpedoed the heavy cruiser Kinugasa in the Strait of Makassar. She'll survive, sadly.
- Japanese marines took Saumlaki, just east of Babar.
- Our Hurricane sweeps got 1 Tojo near Mandalay. Their flak picked up the slack, downing one of our B-25s later in the day.
- We lost a B-24 to flak bombing Wenchow, China
19 January 1943
- In Burma, we eliminated a small unit fragment occupying Katha, northeast of the frontlines.
- We have an army at Hong Kong. We attack tomorrow.
- I was also hoping to make a land attack against Wenchow, but I think it's too well defended. Going to have to figure out what to do with all those troops in the area now if they're not going to attack.
- The SBD squadrons at Darwin, having been back at full strength for awhile now, targeted enemy merchant traffic near Babar. My read on this is these ships were going to pull the victorious armies out.
Strike 1 (20 SBDs):
AK Arima Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires
AKE Kiso Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Cheribon Maru, Bomb hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage
Strike 2 (16 SBDs)
xAK Hiyoshi Maru, Bomb hits 6, and is sunk
PB Yamabato Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires
Strike 3 (14 Beaufighters)
DD Tsuga, Shell hits 4
DD Yakaze, Shell hits 1
xAK Cheribon Maru, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
AK Arima Maru, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage