20 August 1942
Carrier battle in the Bay of Bengal - CVE Unyo likely disabed
Luzon Strait
USS Sargo hit a cargo ship with a Mk14 in deep water for a confirmed kill.
90 miles to the south, in the shallows, USS Trout also hit a cargo ship, inflicting severe damage that we expect will sink the ship. The Trout later engaged another ship on the surface, hitting it with 4 Mk14s, one of which exploded. It dealt decent damage with its deck gun as well before it broke off, we also expect this ship to sink.
The Battle of Port Blair - Day 2
I kept my carriers on station another day because they were close enough for replacement aircraft to fly in from Colombo. So we went into this fight at close to full strength despite yesterday's thrashing. We also learned why his long-range CAP from Bangkok was so effective--because it wasn't a long range CAP at all. IJN Hiyo--last seen at the beginning of the month limping away from here with torpedo damage--was back, and it brought its friend, the Unyo.
The enemy made the first strike - 28 Zeroes escorting 12 Kates and 9 Vals. We had 18 Martlets on CAP. They took out 5 Zeroes, but never got to the bombers. We got a lucky break here as my opponent screwed up his altitude settings--the Vals level bombed instead of dive bombed. So they all missed. The Kates attacked as they should, but they also missed. This is a fairly strong task force on flak, but it didn't take any aircraft down.
Our counterattack was 12 Martlets escorting 15 Albacores and 5 Swordfish, they had 46 fighters on CAP. They shot down 4 of the fighters and massacred the Albacores, taking down 14 of them. With 6 bombers getting through, we managed a decent attack, hitting the Unyo with a torpedo--no secondary explosions, fires, or other indicia of serious damage. Intel reported 8 "operational" losses of Vals today, which suggests to me that the Vals he sent on the strike had trouble finding someplace to land.
The Betty attack we were expecting finally came, but in much smaller numbers than we expected--9 aircraft, unescorted. The CAP let them all in. Fortunately, my carriers were more nimble than the enemy pilots were accurate. The CAP took 7 of them out after they attacked. A total of 24 Betties and Nells bombed Port Blair--I bet he wishes they were on Naval Attack orders this turn.
Next was a wave of 20 Zeroes and 12 Kates. 6 of the Kates were carrying bombs--apparently one of the carriers is already out of torpedoes. The 6 Kates with bombs imitated the Vals' high-altitude level bombing from earlier in the day and missed. But one of the torpedo-armed ones got a hit on HMS Illustrious. The only aircraft shot down in this wave was one of my Martlets. (Going from 46 Zeroes to 20 on CAP is another good sign the Unyo is disabled; we didn't shoot down anywhere near 26).
My commanders actually sent a second wave, you have to wonder why--5 Swordfish and 4 Marlets against 21 Zeroes. We lost 2 Swordfish to the Zeroes and 1 more to flak, and the survivors missed.
Our air wing is spent and we don't have more extra squadrons laying about at Colombo, so it's time to RTB. The damage to the Illustrious is minor, nothing that won't buff out in the docks. As for the land battle--the paratroopers took the base today, so the entire amphibious landing has proved to be irrelevant, aside from the massive aircraft losses and possible disabling of an escort carrier.
Thailand
We bombed Tavoy, losing a Blenheim to flak. Our armies attacked but failed to break through. We also confirmed the enemy army advancing out of Bangkok is just 1 division. I'm going to stick to bombardment attacks for now, we outnumber them significantly but they're already in the mountains and have a defensive bonus.
Sumatra
We lost a 17-kill ace over Palembang today; 3 P-40s total were shot down with no victories. The base was bombed again from 10,000 feet, that wasn't nearly as bad as yesterday.
China
We lost 3 Lancers over Chengchow with no victories. Enemy bombers attacked the city instead of the airbase today, causing massive fires.
Solomons
An enemy task force is headed southeast from the Solomon islands towards the New Hebrides. I'm calling up a response from Australia and Pago, but I think local airpower is going to have to deal with this more or less alone.
Japan
USS Grayling was bombed by an ASW aircraft near the Aogoshima chain. Damage is severe--she's headed back to port but there's no guarantee she makes it.
Refits and Reinforcements
DD Mahan beginning refit while under repair in shipyard at Brisbane
DD Reid beginning refit while under repair in shipyard at Brisbane
---overdue AA upgrades for these 2
AD Cascade arrives at Balboa
YMS-130 arrives at Tacoma
81st RAAF Wing arrives at Sydney (unrestricted support unit)
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