17 May 1942
Another shelling of Pago suggests larger operation underway
SouthPAC
A force of 5 heavy cruisers shelled Pago overnight, which made the day's air operations almost non-existent clearing the way for another airstrike by the KB (only 1 Zero shot down, 4 US fighters lost).:
AP Crescent City, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires
xAKL White Wing, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAK Ohioan, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAK San Simeon, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
xAK Dardanus, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
xAK Arkansan, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
xAK American, Bomb hits 1, heavy damage
AK Fomalhaut, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Missourian, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
The bombardment group appears to be leaving on the same northwesterly course as the last one with the battleships, so, it looks like he's set up an ammo tender somewhere in the Gilberts to rotate 2 or more bombardment groups to Pago and back.
Timor
The only aerial loss over Koepang today was one of our P-39s, as our squadrons are just getting worn down. I could send in more, but the enemy army hasn't attacked yet and I'm not sure how many turns the base can hold out, so I don't want to risk losing entire squadrons on the ground. Our bombers that were attacking his ships almost missed completely--we did get one non-penetrating hit on a battleship, which isn't a big deal. So for now I'm switching to bombing his land forces.
Sumatra
We sent a pair of Fulmars after a task force, only one came back thanks to an LRCAP of Oscars.
China
Our attack on Kaifeng knocked his forts down to 0, but casualties were pretty bad (1500 to 4000). Bad enough that I'm now depending on my own reinforcements to put me over the top.
Burma and Thailand
Giving that troop convoy an alternate route worked splendidly. It wasn't even detected by a floatplane.
Strait of Malacca
There's a large-ish task force making its way up the Strait, and there is a smaller group of cruisers already docked at Georgetown. We may be looking at an attempt to open up a new front in Thailand/Burma with an amphibious landing. This could get interesting.
The larger group drew an airstrike from Singapore as it entered the Strait; one cargo ship was hit with a torpedo from a Vildebeest. It did not appear to be carrying troops, which is curious. I don't know what a supply task force would be doing in the Bay of Bengal right now. Then a second strike by Wirraways from Singapore and Falcons from Palembang hit the convoy, scoring bomb hits on two cargo ships and setting one on fire--this one did result in troop casualties, so that's making a little more sense.
Reinforcement/Refits
CA Portland beginning refit while under repair in shipyard at Sydney
CA Astoria beginning refit in shipyard at Sydney
(these two were from Enterprise/Hornet CVBG, swapped with 2 others recently upgraded)
AM Bunbury begins refit while under repair at Sydney
AM Whyalla begins refit while under repair at Sydney
(I mentioned these the other day)
Repairs completed on SS Grampus at Brisbane, ship returned to service (radar installed)
xAK Rufus King arrives at Portland
214th Coast AA Regiment arrives at San Francisco (35%, restricted)
1st USMC Field Artillery Battalion arrives at Eastern USA (full strength, unrestricted)
637th Tank Destroyer Battalion arrives at San Francisco (full strength, unrestricted)
8th USN Naval Construction Battalion arrives at Port Hueneme (full strength, restricted)
8th Medium (artillery) Regiment arrives at Aden (5% strength, unrestricted. There are enough to this unit's type of guns (4.5" field guns) in the pool to outfit this unit, so the strength should come up quickly).
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