Quote:
Originally Posted by Ostfriese
Good to see that the reports are finally back. I hope you are well  |
Thanks, I hope you're doing well too.
15 January 1943
Ghost ship Kako reappears, only to be sunk again
That pair of cruisers near Wake was actually just the heavy cruiser Kako, a ship that graced these pages after she tried to get through the Strait of Malacca, out of ammo and alone, eating a torpedo from bombers based out of Singapore around May 1942. Kako originally appeared to have been saved by Aoba and a few destroyers, but intel later reported she sank after all. Intel was wrong.
Kako approached Wake at night and ran into a blocking force consisting of the CA Indianapolis, CL Houston, and two destroyers. We fought two rounds; in round one Kako took a penetrating armor hit early, but otherwise we mostly exchanged shots that weren't getting through each other's armor. Houston eventually took a penetrating hit, nothing too serious. Kako realized she was outgunned eventually and ran off.
But the non-penetrating hits were still starting fires. Kako lost control of those and entered round 2 at a disadvantage. We closed range and got a lot of hits on her. The cost of closing was one of the destroyers took a devestating main battery hit, incapacitating her. And Houston ate enough rounds that she'll be at Pearl for a week or two for repairs. Kako disengaged again, severely damaged. Our ships lost track of her on radar and our scoutplanes never found her in the morning. Pretty sure she's gone this time.
A lot of the phibs that cleared out from Wake when I suspected there was a threat before are now back, hopefully we get the frontline Marines out and the base forces in efficiently now.
Rabaul now has Nicks on CAP. They were no match for the sweeping P-38s, we shot down 5 with no losses.
At Mandalay we got another Tojo, but their CAP stayed strong enough to claim a B-25 later in the day.
Not much else going on. Still no KB.