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Molon Labe · 02-10-22, 09:20 AM

6 December 1942
Close call for USS Wasp; Colombo disengaged, more transport losses at Babar while enemy avoids significant losses

Battle of the Timor Sea
Our transport group encountered an enemy surface group (2 C, 4 DD) approaching Babar. They took a few hits as they retreated, but they weren't the enemy's actual objective today and were able to get away.

The PT squadron crept within 1000 yards of the enemy task force before opening fire. The CL Kitikami was raked with .50cal fire (in real life, this would have been aimed at the bridge and searchlights) but we failed to get any torpedo hits against the fast, manuevering ships. One PT was sunk and another was damaged by small-caliber AA gun hits.

At Port Hedland, enemy detachment there hunted down 4 more cargo ships that had been running resources from there to Perth.

Back to Babar--the surface group made it through the minefield without hitting anything and shelled the base. Fortunately, this rather underpowered group didn't accomplish much--1 P-38 destroyed and as many as 10 fighters damaged but probably less (each instance of a plane being damaged is reported, many of which are the same plane being damaged multiple times). Facility damage to the airbase was insignificant.

The O20 and KXIII attempted attacks on enemy surface combat forces near Babar, but both were spotted by escorts and failed to get into attack position.

That was all before the sun rose. During daylight, the enemy would launch airstrikes that finished off all the transports that hadn't bugged out (5 cargo ships and 2 minesweepers--with some equipment lost due to an embarked land unit fragment). They didn't go after the Lex and Sara, in fact the KB even backed off a bit, taking a position where we'd have to expose ourselves to fighter-escorted Betty raids from Koepang if we wanted to take a shot at the carriers. The raids resulted in the losses of 7 Oscars, 10 Betties, 1 Zero, 2 P-39s and 2 P-40s. One of the lost cargo ships had been intended to be used to refuel PTs cycling into Babar, so that loss is going to interfere with my ability to keep PTs on station.

Strait of Luzon
USS Tautog torpedoed and sank an unescorted troop-carrying cargo ship off the southern coast of Taiwan. Two shots, two hits, two detonations, confirmed kill. Not bad at all.

SouthPAC
Near Starbuck Island (south of Palmyra) an enemy sub fired a 6-torpedo spread at the Wasp. We got lucky and all of them missed. I presume this was fired from extreme range due to the number of escorts--12 destroyers in this group. We prosecuted the sub afterwards but only scored one damaging near miss on it before it got away.

This is still a bad result for us, as the enemy now knows the Wasp isn't among the carriers threatening them near Babar.

Burma
I send my second-rate medium bombers to hit Akyab, mostly thinking it would be an easy training run for the rookie pilots in those groups. But they had Oscars protecting them and we lost 1 Blenheim and 1 Hudson.

Enemy land forces (regiment strength) attempted an attack against the brigade serving at the tip of the daschund's tail in the Moulmein area evacuation and once again found themselves understrength for the task. Casualties were 43 to 458 favoring us.

Reinforcements
SS Harder arrives at Balboa
W Flight RAF arrives at Sydney (0/6 Beaufighters Ic, unrestricted--I have enough VIc models to transition a full-sized squadron, that will free up Ic models to bring these to full strength)

02-10-22, 09:20 AM	#508
Molon Labe Silent Hunter Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Along the Watchtower Posts: 3,810 Downloads: 27 Uploads: 5	6 December 1942 Close call for USS Wasp; Colombo disengaged, more transport losses at Babar while enemy avoids significant losses Battle of the Timor Sea Our transport group encountered an enemy surface group (2 C, 4 DD) approaching Babar. They took a few hits as they retreated, but they weren't the enemy's actual objective today and were able to get away. The PT squadron crept within 1000 yards of the enemy task force before opening fire. The CL Kitikami was raked with .50cal fire (in real life, this would have been aimed at the bridge and searchlights) but we failed to get any torpedo hits against the fast, manuevering ships. One PT was sunk and another was damaged by small-caliber AA gun hits. At Port Hedland, enemy detachment there hunted down 4 more cargo ships that had been running resources from there to Perth. Back to Babar--the surface group made it through the minefield without hitting anything and shelled the base. Fortunately, this rather underpowered group didn't accomplish much--1 P-38 destroyed and as many as 10 fighters damaged but probably less (each instance of a plane being damaged is reported, many of which are the same plane being damaged multiple times). Facility damage to the airbase was insignificant. The O20 and KXIII attempted attacks on enemy surface combat forces near Babar, but both were spotted by escorts and failed to get into attack position. That was all before the sun rose. During daylight, the enemy would launch airstrikes that finished off all the transports that hadn't bugged out (5 cargo ships and 2 minesweepers--with some equipment lost due to an embarked land unit fragment). They didn't go after the Lex and Sara, in fact the KB even backed off a bit, taking a position where we'd have to expose ourselves to fighter-escorted Betty raids from Koepang if we wanted to take a shot at the carriers. The raids resulted in the losses of 7 Oscars, 10 Betties, 1 Zero, 2 P-39s and 2 P-40s. One of the lost cargo ships had been intended to be used to refuel PTs cycling into Babar, so that loss is going to interfere with my ability to keep PTs on station. Strait of Luzon USS Tautog torpedoed and sank an unescorted troop-carrying cargo ship off the southern coast of Taiwan. Two shots, two hits, two detonations, confirmed kill. Not bad at all. SouthPAC Near Starbuck Island (south of Palmyra) an enemy sub fired a 6-torpedo spread at the Wasp. We got lucky and all of them missed. I presume this was fired from extreme range due to the number of escorts--12 destroyers in this group. We prosecuted the sub afterwards but only scored one damaging near miss on it before it got away. This is still a bad result for us, as the enemy now knows the Wasp isn't among the carriers threatening them near Babar. Burma I send my second-rate medium bombers to hit Akyab, mostly thinking it would be an easy training run for the rookie pilots in those groups. But they had Oscars protecting them and we lost 1 Blenheim and 1 Hudson. Enemy land forces (regiment strength) attempted an attack against the brigade serving at the tip of the daschund's tail in the Moulmein area evacuation and once again found themselves understrength for the task. Casualties were 43 to 458 favoring us. Reinforcements SS Harder arrives at Balboa W Flight RAF arrives at Sydney (0/6 Beaufighters Ic, unrestricted--I have enough VIc models to transition a full-sized squadron, that will free up Ic models to bring these to full strength) __________________ Last edited by Molon Labe; 02-10-22 at 04:59 PM.