SUBSIM Radio Room Forums - View Single Post - War in the Pacific AAR Thread

Molon Labe · 12-27-21, 12:51 PM

17 September 1942
Stalemate broken: Palembang captured in troop surge, massive enemy casualties at Chengchow

South China Sea
I feel like we haven't been getting too much good news from our subs lately. Well, after four consecutive reports of failed attack from US boats this morning, the KXVI had some good news- it hit the Type-N TL class tanker Akebono Maru (10,000 tons) in the shallow water route from Miri/Brunei to the Philippines. The tanker burst into flames and is believed to have sunk later in the day.

Philippine Sea
Not a good day overall for the Dutch, though. The O23 was caught patrolling the exit of the shallow water route near Legaspi and was severely damaged in a depth charge attack by a subchaser. It's headed for Darwin for emergency repairs before going to Brisbane--I expect the sub will make it but it may be awhile before she's ready for combat again.

Luzon Strait
USS Spearfish attacked an unescorted Aden-class cargo ship on the surface, scoring 2 torpedo hits for a confirmed kill.

Sumatra
It's a different war now. The naval activity that was provoking my Beaufighters into strafing runs was apparently landing reinforcements in large numbers at Oosthaven. That paid off today--the enemy attacked and we were immediately overwhelmed. Enemy bomber raids also ticked up significantly to assist this, and our ground forces did sustain a malus for disruption thanks to that--I think it did make the difference. Because we failed to hold off the surge for even one day of combat, I missed any opportunity I might have had to evacuate pilots--so we have a great deal of dead/MIA British and New Zealand aces now. I did, however, draw down those squadrons weeks ago, sending several highly experienced pilots elsewhere while bringing in fresh blood, so this wasn't quite the decapitation it could have been. We had about 21,000 troops killed or captured, while inflicting 3083 casualties on the enemy before we were overrun. The enemy had the equivalent of 4 divisions present.

I'm expecting the victorious armies will head to Singapore, then Thailand.

I'm a bit disappointed I only managed to get 1 B-24 squadron into China before this happened. I was really hoping I'd get to wreck tankers in port that were standing by for Palembang to open up, but those guys are probably already beginning their runs.

Burma
One of the enemy task forces bombarded Akyab and began landing troops. This task force includes the Hyuga, 2 CAs, and 2 CLs, which are all sending fire ashore--which means my appetite for a surface battle here is increasing; I'd love to catch these guys with depleted ammunition. I've split my British task force into two, a CVBG and a heavy surface group, this way the heavies will try to engage instead of just helping the carriers stay at arm's length. We're still 2 days off from any potential battle as this is a relatively slow task force and I'm swinging pretty far north to avoid bombers from Port Blair (which is now big enough to fully support them).

Solomons
My phibs haven't been spotted. I hit Guadalcanal with 15 B-17s to try to suppress the airbase a bit, we caused light damage to the base--no fighters intercepted us.

China
We held off a massive attack at Chengchow, 123,000 troops strong. Forts held at Level 4 while we dished out 27,000 casualties to our 8,000. Takes some of the sting out of losing 21,000 Dutch/UK/Australian soldiers at Palembang.

CentPAC
I started to get a bad feeling about how many ships were concentrated at Pearl. Lex and Sara are going to lay low for a bit. Wasp will rendezvous with its incoming recon assets...somewhere else.

Intel
Intel reports the Ise has sunk (the battleship that was unescorted when hit multiple times by a Dutch sub)

12-27-21, 12:51 PM	#388
Molon Labe Silent Hunter Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Along the Watchtower Posts: 3,810 Downloads: 27 Uploads: 5	17 September 1942 Stalemate broken: Palembang captured in troop surge, massive enemy casualties at Chengchow South China Sea I feel like we haven't been getting too much good news from our subs lately. Well, after four consecutive reports of failed attack from US boats this morning, the KXVI had some good news- it hit the Type-N TL class tanker Akebono Maru (10,000 tons) in the shallow water route from Miri/Brunei to the Philippines. The tanker burst into flames and is believed to have sunk later in the day. Philippine Sea Not a good day overall for the Dutch, though. The O23 was caught patrolling the exit of the shallow water route near Legaspi and was severely damaged in a depth charge attack by a subchaser. It's headed for Darwin for emergency repairs before going to Brisbane--I expect the sub will make it but it may be awhile before she's ready for combat again. Luzon Strait USS Spearfish attacked an unescorted Aden-class cargo ship on the surface, scoring 2 torpedo hits for a confirmed kill. Sumatra It's a different war now. The naval activity that was provoking my Beaufighters into strafing runs was apparently landing reinforcements in large numbers at Oosthaven. That paid off today--the enemy attacked and we were immediately overwhelmed. Enemy bomber raids also ticked up significantly to assist this, and our ground forces did sustain a malus for disruption thanks to that--I think it did make the difference. Because we failed to hold off the surge for even one day of combat, I missed any opportunity I might have had to evacuate pilots--so we have a great deal of dead/MIA British and New Zealand aces now. I did, however, draw down those squadrons weeks ago, sending several highly experienced pilots elsewhere while bringing in fresh blood, so this wasn't quite the decapitation it could have been. We had about 21,000 troops killed or captured, while inflicting 3083 casualties on the enemy before we were overrun. The enemy had the equivalent of 4 divisions present. I'm expecting the victorious armies will head to Singapore, then Thailand. I'm a bit disappointed I only managed to get 1 B-24 squadron into China before this happened. I was really hoping I'd get to wreck tankers in port that were standing by for Palembang to open up, but those guys are probably already beginning their runs. Burma One of the enemy task forces bombarded Akyab and began landing troops. This task force includes the Hyuga, 2 CAs, and 2 CLs, which are all sending fire ashore--which means my appetite for a surface battle here is increasing; I'd love to catch these guys with depleted ammunition. I've split my British task force into two, a CVBG and a heavy surface group, this way the heavies will try to engage instead of just helping the carriers stay at arm's length. We're still 2 days off from any potential battle as this is a relatively slow task force and I'm swinging pretty far north to avoid bombers from Port Blair (which is now big enough to fully support them). Solomons My phibs haven't been spotted. I hit Guadalcanal with 15 B-17s to try to suppress the airbase a bit, we caused light damage to the base--no fighters intercepted us. China We held off a massive attack at Chengchow, 123,000 troops strong. Forts held at Level 4 while we dished out 27,000 casualties to our 8,000. Takes some of the sting out of losing 21,000 Dutch/UK/Australian soldiers at Palembang. CentPAC I started to get a bad feeling about how many ships were concentrated at Pearl. Lex and Sara are going to lay low for a bit. Wasp will rendezvous with its incoming recon assets...somewhere else. Intel Intel reports the Ise has sunk (the battleship that was unescorted when hit multiple times by a Dutch sub) __________________ Last edited by Molon Labe; 12-27-21 at 01:39 PM.