24 February 1942
Lexington/Enterprise CVBG raids Marshalls for a second day; Java invaded; Bataan falls
Java
Landings began at both sides of Java. In the west, one of our cargo ships hit a mine causing moderate damage. In the east, we flushed out a minesweeper that was sunk by our covering force. Both groups came under air attack, and both groups had Oscars circling overhead waiting for them. In the west, the enemy lost 11 CW-22s, 5 139WH-1s, plus one more 139W and a Vildebeest to flak. In the east, our air cover was less effective, shooting down a T.IVa, while several 139WH-1s got through, one of which was shot down by flak, but another scored a hit on a cargo ship and sank it.
Marshalls
The CVBG detached CA Chester and CL Danae to shell Kwajelein, the main port of the Marshalls... but I evacuated it the previous turn, so they did little damage. For their trouble, coastal batteries pounded both ships, probably causing moderate damage.
The Lex and Enterprise sent their bombers to pound Maloelap and Wotje, and again the damage was unimpressive. The Mavises had been evacuated, but we still had 9 Claudes at Maloelap which again went unharmed--perhaps because they tried to escort a flight of Nells out of Roi, which failed to find the enemy CVBG. Both bases suffered light facility damage.
Philippines
We attacked Bataan and the holdouts surrendered. That's 17,514 to the POW camps. My forces here did not lose a lot of strength; I'll let them rest a bit at Manila while we clear out the mines and then ship them to another theatre.
Reinforcement
SS I-29 arrives at Port Arthur - assigned to Indian Ocean
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