27 April 1942
Radio silence exists for a reason
West Coast
I noticed this as I was finishing up my turn: SIGINT reporting radio transmissions just outside of my existing patrol zones. My best guess is this is a submarine looking to pick off damaged ships returning for repairs. So, I've taken a Catalina squadron off training duty and put it on ASW duty--just barely has the range in this mode to make it there. I've also steered the Saratoga and the battleship task force around it so they can hopefully make it back to San Fran without incident. Oh, and 3 destroyers from the Lexington's old battle group are headed there to investigate as well.
Japan
USS Pompano made a night surface attack against a rather large cargo ship 80 miles southeast of Kyoto. It bounced several dud Mk14s off it but did get one detonation, plus a few gun hits. The torpedo hit didn't appear lethal by itself, but maybe with the gun damage too she'll go down before she can get back to port.
Sumatra
Palembang got swept, costing us 7 Kittyhawks and 2 Buffalos. We got 4 Zeroes in exchange. The air campaign in Sumatra is going to be short.
Hawaii and Line Islands
The cargo ships unloaded but were hit on the way out. We have two survivors, one of which is damaged and is going to take its chances docking at Pearl. But Pearl is now fairly well-stocked. I'll have a projection in a few days for how long it can hold out. If the battleships were still there it might be as little as 1-2 weeks, but I suspect we can do much better now.
I estimate the KB could be at the Line Islands as early as 4/30 if they started heading this way the last time we spotted them. I have some troops that still need to move, but it's essentially time to go. Enemy sub activity has dropped off, so that's helpful.
China
The army trying to cut off Chusien was weak, we handled them easily.
Recon is giving me good news in the Keifeing area in the northwest. It looks like the balance of forces is favorable for an offensive.
Still no CAP at Hong Kong. We hit the Hyuga again with a single bomb.
Thailand
My bombers got back to work but I couldn't solve my escort problem. We ended up losing 4 Hurricanes, 1 Blenheim, and 3 Wellingtons. Losing the Wellingtons in particular hurts. We got 2 Zeroes and an Oscar. Damage on the ground was relatively light, it looks like they're going to hold Pisanuloke instead of retreating to Rangoon. That's fine, I need my bombers to hit that pesky unit that cut off my southern group's supply anyway, and at least for now my sweeps aren't running into fighters there.
Malaya
Another attempt at ships in Mersing, another 4 fighters down with no hits to show for it. I'm turning these raids off until my fighters can recuperate. We just got a delivery of Mohawks so we should be stronger in a few days.