War in the Pacific AAR Thread - ML vs JFranzen

[mapuc]

I recall that USA had some problems with their main torpedoes in the start of the war, but this was solved after some years or so.

In the end of -42 I thought they had solve to problems.

Well I may remember things wrong.

Markus

[Ostfriese]

Originally Posted by mapuc

I recall that USA had some problems with their main torpedoes in the start of the war, but this was solved after some years or so.

In the end of -42 I thought they had solve to problems.

Well I may remember things wrong.

Markus

You are quite right. Both the submarine launched Mark 14 as well as the surface launched Mark 15 had serious technical problems. They ran too deep (solved around September 1942), and both their detonators (contact and magnetic) were faulty. It took the Americans almost two years to correct the problems (until about November 1943).
After that the Mark 14 was a very reliable weapon and was the main reason the American submarine force obliterated the Japanese merchant marine. It was used by the US Navy until 1980.


Molon Lobe has already mentioned that at some point the torpedoes will become more reliable in WiTP as well. I don't know, however, how the earlier Mark 10 is modelled in the game, which -while outdated- was a more reliable weapon in the early stages of the war.

[Molon Labe]

15 August 1942
Loose lips sink enemy troop ships

Marshall Islands

Three days ago, we received SIGINT indicating elements of the 4th Division were loaded on a ship headed to Kwajelein in the Marshalls. The 4th Division was previously known to be deployed to Lihue and Johnston, and we were monitoring an evacuation of Johnston at the time. So, assuming the report was accurate, I might have had both a point of origin and a destination for this ship. I already had subs in the Marshalls patrolling as a KB-early-warning network. Looking at the reefs and shallows and the likely direction of approach, I thought it likely the incoming transport would pass north of Wotje, so I placed 2 of 3 subs in that corridor, with the 3rd playing goalkeeper closer to Kwaj.

Today, a troop-carrying Aden class cargo ship was intercepted in that corridor by USS Saury. The cargo ship was unescorted, allowing Saury to attack on the surface. It hit the transport with 9 Mk14s (of 12 fired), 3 of which actually detonated, for a confirmed kill.

That looks like a rare intelligence success in this game. I don't actually know for a fact that the ship is the same one from the report, but the odds are pretty likely since it definitely came from the east.

Sumatra
Sweeps over Palembang eventually cleared the skies of my CAP, but enemy bombers didn't exploit that. 2 Oscars and 1 P-40 were lost.

Thailand
At Tavoy, our bombers hit the enemy troops in a thunderstorm, unmolested by fighters as they were sweeping Pisanoulke aggressively instead. The bombing was mostly ineffective due to the weather. We lost 2 bombers to flak. The enemy base forces shelled our troops, causing light casualties but enough to eliminate an infantry squad, which is discouraging.

The sweeps at Pisanoulke cost a Mohawk and a Zero.


Solomons
Our B-17s severely damaged an enemy sub in port at Guadalcanal.

Hawaii
Kingfishers reported another hit on an enemy submarine. We had a few engagements by surface ships as well, but no successful attacks. I thought I'd have taken care of this problem by now. We've detected 8 subs this turn, that's down from a peak of 10 a few days ago, but even without damage they have to return to port sometime.

Reinforcements and refits
The second Canadian squadron being deployed to Thailand has arrived in Calcutta, India, to have its planes assembled to fly to Rangoon.
SS Sturgeon taken out of commission to begin refit at Pearl Harbor (yes, I still have subs that haven't completed their 4/1942 radar installation. 5 left after this one.)

[Molon Labe]

Originally Posted by Ostfriese

You are quite right. Both the submarine launched Mark 14 as well as the surface launched Mark 15 had serious technical problems. They ran to deep (solved around September 1942), and both their detonators (contact and magnetic) were faulty. It took the Americans almost two years to correct the problems (until about November 1943).
After that the Mark 14 was a very reliable weapon and was the main reason the American submarine force obliterated the Japanese merchant marine. It was used by the US Navy until 1980.


Molon Lobe has already mentioned that at some point the torpedoes will become more reliable in WiTP as well. I don't know, however, how the earlier Mark 10 is modelled in the game, which -while outdated- was a more reliable weapon in the early stages of the war.

I don't know the actual dud rates of any of the weapons, although I'm sure there's a database editor I could find and use that to find out. But by observation, the Mk14's dud rate is over 50% and the Mk10's is probably lower than 25%.

Per the manual, on January 1943 any torp with a dud rate over 49% will have its rate reduced BY 20%. In September 1943, any torps with a dud rate over 20% will have the rate reduced TO 10%.

[Molon Labe]

16 August 1942
Enemy bombardment task force shot up by Palembang's aircraft

Solomons
Our bombardment task force ran into an enemy sub on the way in and damaged it with depth charges. Then we ran into a pair of mine tenders--replacements for the ones blown up by the B-17s--they were easy prey. We shelled Guadalcanal after that, but the ships were were going after had already left. We shot up the airbase pretty good, though.

Sumatra
An enemy bombardment task force of 2 CL and 2 DD made its way up the channel between the mainland and the island off Palembang, running into the KXIII. The destroyers spotted it and depth charged it before it could attack, but, I may have received the benefit of delaying this task force. Usually these bombardment task forces hit me before sunrise--not this time.

We attacked the enemy in waves just outside Palembang's port. The first was a group of Fulmars making a low-level attack, which ended up being ineffective. They were being chased by 3 Zeroes, which may have affected their accuracy. Next came 12 Albacores, escorted by 15 Mohawks. The Mohawks kept the lone Zero still covering the ships at bay, but the small and manueverable ships were mostly up to the task of defending themselves. We got one hit on the CL Naka. 6 Beaufighters came in next, hitting the CL Isuzu with a pair of 250lb bombs and starting a fire. The Fulmars made a second attempt in the afternoon--one was shot down by a Zero, but they got a 250lb bomb hit on the torpedo-damaged CL Naka. The Albacores returned next and whiffed, but they reported that both cruisers were burning and the Naka appeared to be heavily damaged. And finally, the Beaufighters returned, strafing one of the destroyers with 20mm cannons.

The enemy is hitting Palembang with bombers hard--probably about 90 bomber sorties. Damage on the ground is accumulating and our fighter squadrons are wearing down. We got 1 Oscar at the cost of a P-40 and a Hurricane.

Thailand
I'm resting my Tavoy troops and bombers during stormy weather. When it breaks I'm going to hit them again. I also have a reserve brigade on the way down to reinforce my Tavoy army. At Pisanuloke we traded a Mohawk for a Zero

The enemy is hitting Port Blair with massive amounts of naval bombers--at least 60. I think they intend to invade--if they succeed, it's going to make landing reinforcements at Rangoon difficult. I've recalled the Brit CVBG from the southern Indian Ocean--it might be available in time to stop this.

China
The air war over Chengchow is picking up again, 43 Zeroes swept it. We shot down 4, losing 3 P-40s.

Hawaii
Suddenly the submarine threat is diminishing. If I remember correctly, there were only 4 subs detected and all reported heading west.

Reinforcements
BB Washington arrives at Balboa
SS Kingfish arrives at Eastern USA
18th FG/333rd FS arrives at Pearl Harbor (2/25 P-39)

[Molon Labe]

17 August 1942
Why so many unescorted troop convoys?

Sumatra
The enemy bombarded Palembang despite their task force getting shot up yesterday, but it was just the two destroyers. I guess the 20mm Hispano wasn't enough to deal serious damage, how disappointing. The cruisers will probably get fixed up in Batavia or Surabaya.

Heavy bombing of Palembang continued, we got 2 Zeroes for 1 P-40. But that P-40 squadron, just having received new aircraft days ago, is down to 4 remaining planes.

Palembang turned away a land attack. Forts have been reduced to Level 1. Casualties 2376 to 762. As discouraging as it is to see the forts come down, the enemy probably needs 2x as many troops as it has here to actually overrun my base, so we're really seeing the consequence of putting so many divisions into Hawaii. But it also means he might be able to put himself over the top of the evacuated troops turn up here.

Japan
USS Cachalot encountered a pair of ships transporting troops near a chain of atolls leading to/from Tokyo harbor--no escorts. It made a submerged attack on one, hitting it with 1 of 4 torpedoes and inflicting what is likely to be lethal damage. The best move for this guy is probably to drop off the troops on the closest atoll before the ship goes down. Cachalot attacked the next on the surface, firing all 14 of its remaining torpedoes, scoring only 1 hit--a dud. We got a few hits on it with the deck gun, but so did the enemy--one of which actually took out the Cachalot's gun. Back to base it goes...

China
The overwhelming number of Zeroes at Chengchow is wearing my CAP down. But we still managed to get the jump on them in a rainstorm, shooting down 3 with no losses. If they were to restart bombing missions, we'd be in trouble.

Thailand and Bay of Bengal
Another day of forecasted storms, so I'll be resting my bombers again tomorrow, as I did for today.

The enemy bombed the hell out of Port Blair again. There's a large task force approaching as well--likely an invasion force. I'm ordering my carriers to step on the gas--I don't think I can stop the landings but I can probably catch them on the beaches. I'll be in Betty range, but too far for the Zeroes to escort them, so hopefully any enemy strike on the carriers will be swatted down.

An enemy army is approaching my Bangkok invasion force, currently holed up in the mountains to keep from being bombed until we can take Tavoy and have a decent CAP over them. I don't have a good force estimate on them, but I think even if it's a large force I'll be OK if I don't try to attack.

Hawaii
For the first time since we moved back into Pearl, we hold no submarine detections in the area. I'm routing a number of convoys that had been going around this area to dock at Pearl, including base forces for upcoming amphibious operations and a squadron of F-4 Lightnings (P-38 recon variants).

Reinforcements
AM Tamworth arrives at Brisbane
SC-699 arrives at Eastern USA (bad planning on my part--I don't have a cargo ship left here to act as a "tanker" to get this guy all the way to the Panama Canal. I noticed this awhile back and I'm rebasing several ships from LA to Eastern USA to keep this from happening again, but this one will be delayed about a week)
SS Peto arrives at Eastern USA

[Molon Labe]

18 August 1942
Narrowing down coastal convoy routes

Solomons
More tanker activity at the northern atoll, Ontang Java. The S-42 tried to take a shot at a tanker but was spotted by a PB and depth charged for light damage.

Sulu Sea
The KX detected an enemy convoy and torpedoed a cargo ship in it. The cargo ship was transporting fuel and was set ablaze. This convoy was previously detected on 16 August near Brunei, so we have a pretty good idea where the enemy is routing its fuel convoys out of Brunei/Miri. Also helpful was a convoy contact on 17 August that may narrow down which they this convoy is going, as there are two routes through the Philippine Islands:

Sorry about the hexes, but the colors are pretty important here: ships need blue or white hexsides to move through. So, we've been spotting traffic at Bataan Island in the Luzon strait, so it's entirely possible that that's where this shallow-water convoy route terminates, and that corroborates with the Northeast heading of the 2nd convoy. But we can't rule out Legaspi or Leyte just yet.

There is some bad news in this: this route might have been active for months without me ever spotting it. We could only spot these guys near Japan before we started specifically looking for coastal routes. So his fuel situation might not be so bad right now.

Thailand and Bay of Bengal
The enemy task force approaching Port Blair split, the cruisers bombarded the port while the phibs landed adjacent to the base. Our carriers are nearby but did not arrive in time to launch a strike today--maybe tomorrow.

Japan
USS Grayling intercepted troop transport near Aogoshima, more or less in the same spot the Cachalot had an intercept yesterday. It hit it with 1 of 4 torpedoes with a good detonation--and a confirmed kill. The transport appears to have been empty.

China
Despite being outnumbered, our CAP at Chengchow got 2 Zeroes with no losses--plenty of planes headed back to base full of holes, though.


Sumatra
Another day of being pounded by something like 100 bomber sorties. We're losing planes on the ground and facility damage is accumulating. Flak downed 1 Sally--hardly unacceptable losses.

Reinforcements, Refits, and Withdrawals
Some bad news on this front--I have a transport ship, the Tasker H. Bliss, due to withdraw tomorrow. The ship was severely damaged in the KB's raid on Noumea, and the loss of the repair tender there limited my capacity to repair anything there. The base is something of a junkyard of immobile ships right now. I knew about this withdrawal so I've been prioritizing its repair. I managed to get it out of Noumea to Sydney to be serviced by a real shipyard a few weeks ago. But even there, repairs were slow. I put it to sea with partial repairs about 10 days ago, bound for San Fransisco where the withdrawal will be complete. It's barely limped past New Caledonia in that time. So, starting tomorrow, I'm going to start losing political points due to this ship still being in theatre.

BB South Dakota arrives at Balboa
DD Nepal arrives at Cape Town
129th Infantry Regiment arrives at San Francisco

[Molon Labe]

20 Aug 1942
British CVW defeated by Bangkok's fighters

Sumatra
The enemy dropped his bombing altitude down to a shockingly low 5000 feet. Damage was severe to both sides. We shot down at least 17 bombers with flak, and probably damaged all of the rest of them. Air-to-air losses were an Oscar, a Mohawk, and a P-40.

Airbase damage is at 60%, we lost 10 aircraft on the ground this turn.

Bay of Bengal
The British CVBG launched a strike on the Port Blair invasion task force, which was met by 20 Zeroes and 9 Oscars on long-range CAP from Bangkok. That's a number I wasn't prepared for this far away from their base--we only had 7 Martlets escorting the strike of 4 Swordfish and 12 Albacores, with most of the fighters standing by to protect the fleet against Betties that never came. The enemy CAP nearly obliterated the British carrier air wing. 3 Marlets were downed and they tore into the bombers, taking down 3 Swordfish and 11 Albacores. Only two bombers reached the enemy fleet--the enemy just turned into the attack and avoided the torpedoes.

The enemy bombers kept hitting Port Blair, ignoring our CVBG. They also hit the base with paratroopers, and thanks to the severe disruption caused by the bombing, we weren't able to wipe them out.

This is really highlighting the inadequacy of the Wildcat/Martlet--I'm having great success against the Zero with a lot of other fighters, mostly fighters that are faster than the Zero. But the Zero can outturn and outrun the Wildcat, so it's not like we can hit and run. Worse than the Wildcat are the biplanes that the Brits think are adequate attack aircraft. British Avengers can't get here soon enough.

Reinforcements
AM Gladstone arrives at Melbourne
No.23 Sqn RAAF Det arrives at Brisbane (6/6 P-39, restricted)
No.321 Sqn RAF arrives at Trincomalee (1/6 Catalinas, officially a Dutch command but with access to British aircraft; transitioned to British PBYs and assigned pilots for training)

[Molon Labe]

20 August 1942
Carrier battle in the Bay of Bengal - CVE Unyo likely disabed

Luzon Strait
USS Sargo hit a cargo ship with a Mk14 in deep water for a confirmed kill.

90 miles to the south, in the shallows, USS Trout also hit a cargo ship, inflicting severe damage that we expect will sink the ship. The Trout later engaged another ship on the surface, hitting it with 4 Mk14s, one of which exploded. It dealt decent damage with its deck gun as well before it broke off, we also expect this ship to sink.


The Battle of Port Blair - Day 2
I kept my carriers on station another day because they were close enough for replacement aircraft to fly in from Colombo. So we went into this fight at close to full strength despite yesterday's thrashing. We also learned why his long-range CAP from Bangkok was so effective--because it wasn't a long range CAP at all. IJN Hiyo--last seen at the beginning of the month limping away from here with torpedo damage--was back, and it brought its friend, the Unyo.

The enemy made the first strike - 28 Zeroes escorting 12 Kates and 9 Vals. We had 18 Martlets on CAP. They took out 5 Zeroes, but never got to the bombers. We got a lucky break here as my opponent screwed up his altitude settings--the Vals level bombed instead of dive bombed. So they all missed. The Kates attacked as they should, but they also missed. This is a fairly strong task force on flak, but it didn't take any aircraft down.

Our counterattack was 12 Martlets escorting 15 Albacores and 5 Swordfish, they had 46 fighters on CAP. They shot down 4 of the fighters and massacred the Albacores, taking down 14 of them. With 6 bombers getting through, we managed a decent attack, hitting the Unyo with a torpedo--no secondary explosions, fires, or other indicia of serious damage. Intel reported 8 "operational" losses of Vals today, which suggests to me that the Vals he sent on the strike had trouble finding someplace to land.

The Betty attack we were expecting finally came, but in much smaller numbers than we expected--9 aircraft, unescorted. The CAP let them all in. Fortunately, my carriers were more nimble than the enemy pilots were accurate. The CAP took 7 of them out after they attacked. A total of 24 Betties and Nells bombed Port Blair--I bet he wishes they were on Naval Attack orders this turn.

Next was a wave of 20 Zeroes and 12 Kates. 6 of the Kates were carrying bombs--apparently one of the carriers is already out of torpedoes. The 6 Kates with bombs imitated the Vals' high-altitude level bombing from earlier in the day and missed. But one of the torpedo-armed ones got a hit on HMS Illustrious. The only aircraft shot down in this wave was one of my Martlets. (Going from 46 Zeroes to 20 on CAP is another good sign the Unyo is disabled; we didn't shoot down anywhere near 26).

My commanders actually sent a second wave, you have to wonder why--5 Swordfish and 4 Marlets against 21 Zeroes. We lost 2 Swordfish to the Zeroes and 1 more to flak, and the survivors missed.

Our air wing is spent and we don't have more extra squadrons laying about at Colombo, so it's time to RTB. The damage to the Illustrious is minor, nothing that won't buff out in the docks. As for the land battle--the paratroopers took the base today, so the entire amphibious landing has proved to be irrelevant, aside from the massive aircraft losses and possible disabling of an escort carrier.

Thailand
We bombed Tavoy, losing a Blenheim to flak. Our armies attacked but failed to break through. We also confirmed the enemy army advancing out of Bangkok is just 1 division. I'm going to stick to bombardment attacks for now, we outnumber them significantly but they're already in the mountains and have a defensive bonus.


Sumatra
We lost a 17-kill ace over Palembang today; 3 P-40s total were shot down with no victories. The base was bombed again from 10,000 feet, that wasn't nearly as bad as yesterday.

China
We lost 3 Lancers over Chengchow with no victories. Enemy bombers attacked the city instead of the airbase today, causing massive fires.

Solomons
An enemy task force is headed southeast from the Solomon islands towards the New Hebrides. I'm calling up a response from Australia and Pago, but I think local airpower is going to have to deal with this more or less alone.

Japan
USS Grayling was bombed by an ASW aircraft near the Aogoshima chain. Damage is severe--she's headed back to port but there's no guarantee she makes it.

Refits and Reinforcements
DD Mahan beginning refit while under repair in shipyard at Brisbane
DD Reid beginning refit while under repair in shipyard at Brisbane
---overdue AA upgrades for these 2
AD Cascade arrives at Balboa
YMS-130 arrives at Tacoma
81st RAAF Wing arrives at Sydney (unrestricted support unit)

[Molon Labe]

21 August 1942
From Hell's heart, I stab at thee

Japan
In the Okinawa passage, the Grenardier botched a surface attack against a cargo ship, wasting a bunch of torpedoes and only damaging the target lightly with its deck gun.

To the east, the Grayling is losing its damage control fight. We keep getting messages that the flooding is getting worse. It's not going to make it.

Sumatra
2 of ours down, 1 of his. 90+ bombing sorties, we're holding out.

China
3 of ours down to 1 of his at Chengchow, more bombers getting in unmolested. My B-24 squadron is finally online, maybe instead of hunting the tankers, I'll look for the Unyo. With now fast the Hiyo was repaired, I don't think it went all the way to Hong Kong, probably just Saigon.

Thailand and Bay of Bengal
We sent a massive number of sweeps into Tavoy because intel reported he'd moved his fighters there from Bangkok. But our pilots reported no joy...the massive fighter force moved again, they're in Port Blair now. Why? I'm going to start hitting Tavoy hard again, and my reinforcements are about to arrive. Once Tavoy is down, I'll be able to cover my troops pushing into Bangkok, and once Bangkok falls, the enemy supply lines through Malaya will be cut and our armies will start pushing south.

Port Blair will be a problem as a bomber base, no doubt. I may hit it with battleships if I think I can do it with one fleet carrier and one light carrier supporting (I'll pull the Hermes of training duty, but one of the two CVs is due to withdraw soon). But, assuming I can't suppress the new bomber base, I probably can't reinforce Rangoon directly anymore. Kind of late for that, though, I've been reinforcing since the beginning of the war, the damage to his strategic position is done.

Espiritu Santo and the New Hebrides
The task force includes carriers, and they're headed for Efate. I'd say this is another evacuation--a very high-risk one. How desperate for troops is he?

I was going to oppose this with A-20s and B-26s, but now that I know this is a part of, if not the whole, KB, I'm going to take a good shot at it. The level bombers are clearing out to make room for the SBDs of Carrier Air Wing 6, flying in from Milne. The Wildcats of VF-6 don't have the range to make it out here, so the USAAF will provide P-39s as escorts. Between them and a pair of submarines, I should hopefully get reliable intelligence on the number of carriers here so I can decide what else to commit. The force coming in from Australia will just be targets, so they'll hold. But the reaction I mentioned yesterday from Pago...is Halsey. If it looks like we outnumber them--and we very well could if they're finally getting their refits--I'll reacquaint Nagumo with my One-sans.

Lots of scores to settle here, between those troops he's pulling out being responsible for wiping out a USMC regiment plus an army battalion and a base force, and CVW-6 looking for revenge for the loss of the Big E.

[Molon Labe]

22 August 1942
KB confirmed near Luganville--but it turns around and leaves

Solomons to New Caledonia

A replenishment group leaving Noumea towards Suva (in case the carriers kept pushing south of Luganville) was attacked by a sub, the PG escort was hit once. Damage is substantial but not fatal. This group will be headed to Sydney now for repairs. I'm sending two minesweepers on an ASW patrol, they'll just run the route between Noumea and Suva that the replenishment group got hit on.

The carrier force detected the S-28 lurking in its path and depth charged it for minor damage. Then it turned around and went back to the Solomons. Not sure why they got cold feet all of a sudden. It doesn't appear any ships actually made it to Luganville. Scoutplanes got a better ID on the task force, and it does appear to be the whole KB.

There's a whole lot more traffic in the area, including a tanker convoy approaching from the northeast and a SIGINT report of radio transmissions to the north.

Halsey is turning around-I wasn't going to take on the whole KB in any case, I'm certainly not going to chase it into the Solomons.

Sumatra
Another naval bombardment of Palembang, plus 90+ bomber sorties. The airbase is practically disabled. I'm turning off all replacements.

China
He's moved a division behind my front lines at Chengchow. My guess is he's trying to attack my northern flank where I'm rather weak, heading around the long way to avoid river crossings. A division won't be enough, though. I've been bombing them for relatively heavy casualties since before they got behind my lines, that will continue. But I'm also going to move up some reserves to encircle and eliminate them.


Thailand
The carrier force helped out at Tavoy, taking out a Hurricane and 2 Blenheims, we got a Rufe. Our bombers got through but the hits didn't appear to be effective. A brigade of reinforcements arrived--we may have enough to take the base now, but I'm delaying ordering the attack for a turn to try to build up supply levels.

He's moved 60 more fighters into Bangkok, so it appears both Bangkok and Port Blair are going to be major airbases. I have to wonder about the pilot quality if he's bringing in so many more from...where?

The force that sallied from Bangkok--the 5th Division--is taking casualties from my artillery bombardments but not doing much about it. I'm tempted to attack for real, but I suppose if artillery is working I should stick with it.

Timor
I noticed some naval traffic at Koepang so I sent the B-17s back. The Nicks were still there--1 B-17 down. We didn't spot any ships so we bombed the port facilities, ineffectively. I had hoped to have P-38s escorting these bombers by now, but the supply levels at Darwin have dipped too low for the transition to occur. I sent a little supply from Port Moresby to try to get over the threshold fast, but this strike burned up enough supply that that shipment won't be enough. I also have an incoming convoy from Sydney, it will do the job but it's going to take time to get there.

Japan
USS Grayling is on eternal patrol.

Reinforcements
90th BG/319th BS arrives at Eastern USA - 8/8 Liberators - and I still don't have any ships left here to take them to India.

[Molon Labe]

23 August 1942

Thailand
An enemy destroyer squadron shelled our troops attacking Tavoy, but their fire was ineffective. A heavy task force, including the Yamato, followed that up, causing over 200 casualties. So, my decision not to attack this turn was fortuitous, the devastation from that shelling probably would have caused the attack to collapse.

In the air, we found ourselves contending with help from the enemy carriers. We shot down 6 Zeroes, a Rufe, and 3 Oscars; lost a Hurricane and a Blenheim.


China
We lost a P-40 and a P-43 with no victories, but our reserve army isn't being harassed yet and our bombers are getting through to their end-around force and causing casualties.

Reinforcements and Withdrawals
The damaged transport Henry T. Allen is underway from Sydney to San Fransisco to be withdrawn from theatre. It's as badly damaged as the overdue Tasker Bliss but I got it underway with about 10 more days to make the trip.
DD Frazier arrives at San Francisco
AR Prometheus arrives at San Francisco (headed straight to Noumea to try to deal with the ship boneyard there).
SC-707 arrives at Eastern USA
16th USN Naval Construction Battalion arrives at Port Hueneme

[Molon Labe]

24 August 1942
Aerial blockade of Rangoon announced with sinking of retiring transport group

Thailand
The heavy bombardment task force hit Tavoy again, but with only a small amount of ammo left over from yesterday, it was ineffective. The air war started to tip more in their favor, as enemy fighters got a Hurricane and 4 Blenheims in the Tavoy area; we had no victories.

I had ordered our Bangkok main force to attack the enemy that had sallied out to greet them in the mountains because more forces were observed coming out of Bangkok to reinforce them. This may have been a bad call, with the terrain and better leaders on their side, the battle favored the enemy. Casualties were 1900 to 1300 favoring us, but we had far more squads actually destroyed. If we can't defeat this force now, we can be pretty sure we can't beat it when their reinforcements get here, especially with the air campaign tipping their way.

In the Bay, a task force of three transports and a corvette that was headed back west after delivering reinforcements to Rangoon was attacked by Betties. A few Hurricanes from Rangoon attempted to defend it, but couldn't get past the 15 Zeroes escorting the bombers. All three transports were sunk, while the corvette managed to avoid the torpedoes. But, it's survival was only temporary, a follow-up raid took it out later.

A second transport convoy--this one just arriving--was attacked, but the bombers missed. Phew!

I have a convoy transporting anti-tank guns set to arrive in a few days, I'm going to have them drop off their cargo in India, reload them for an amphibious landing, and figure out someplace I can land them safely near a road that leads to Rangoon. After that, I might be done sending reinforcements there, further British troops will probably end up in Colombo or India.

Reinforcements and Refits
USS Nevada has completed an AA upgrade
DD Caldwell beginning refit in shipyard at Los Angeles
DD Frazier beginning refit in shipyard at San Francisco (yes, right after it arrived, it arrived at the end of August without its August upgrade already done, argh!)
SS Sailfish begins refit while under repair at Dutch Harbor
VS-8 arrives at San Francisco (Hornet's old squadron, will be on training duty for the foreseeable future)
90th BG/400th BS arrives at Eastern USA (Liberators - headed for China)
178th USAAF Base Force arrives at March Field
4th RAAF M/W Sqn arrives at Sydney
177 Wing arrives at Aden

[Molon Labe]

25 August 1942
Large tanker hits mine on shallow-water route, believed sunk

South China Sea
The Nissin Maru, a Tonan Whaler class tanker (13,340 tons, their largest) hit a very recently laid mine along the shallow-water route from Miri/Brunei to the Philippines. Yes, shallow water helps him depth charge my subs, but it also makes great places to leave mines, and now that I know about this route, it's a deathtrap for him. Skipping ahead a little bit, intel will report this ship sinks tomorrow, which means it was very likely already loaded with fuel/oil and the explosion set it on fire.

Japan
Two of my subs attacked unescorted cargo ships in the Kyushu-Okinawa gap. Gudgeon made a successful submerged attack, getting one detonating Mk14 hit for a likely kill. Tambor made a surface attack, getting 3 detonations with its final salvo after bouncing at least 3 duds off its hull, that's a confirmed kill.

Thailand/Burma
We offloaded that last arriving convoy safely despite a few attacks. Two Zeroes were shot down by Rangoon's CAP. Air losses at Tavoy were a Rufe, an Oscar, and a Hurricane.

Reinforcements and Refits
DD Bailey beginning refit in shipyard at San Francisco
AO Tappahanock arrives at Cristobal

[Molon Labe]

26 August 1942
Tavoy apparently reinforced amphibiously--offensive operations in Thailand are now untenable; US amphibious operations begin in CENTPAC; massive IJA army losses

Bay of Bengal
A pair of motor launches patrolling near Calcutta spotted any enemy sub and were deadly accurate with their depth charges, connecting solidly with four patterns. The damage forced the sub to surface, which was a bit scary because these two boats didn't have a gun bigger than 40mm. Fortunately the sub foundered before any gunfire was exchanged.

CENTPAC
I have invaded Canton Island with the 9th USMC Regiment, plus an artillery unit. Enemy troop levels are higher than expected and fortifications are at level 3, which is also a problem. But we managed to take a beachhead thanks to aggressive bombardment by the Warspite and Colorado plus 3 cruisers. I'm moving some B-24s from Hawaii to Pago to support this, I might also grab another regiment from Pago--but, such a 2nd wave wouldn't be a surprise anymore and the KB might already be on its way. We'll see.

We hit Johnston tomorrow.

Sulu Sea
On the Philippine end of the Borneo-Philippine shallow water route, an enemy LSD came under attack by a US sub and a Dutch sub. The Porpoise bounced a dud Mk14 off its hull, then the O21 connected with 2 torps that detonated just fine and sank the ship.

China
Our reserve army has closed the trap around the enemy end-around force. He figured out what was happening and started bombing these guys instead of my troops at Chengchow and caused some casualties, but it looks like too little too late. We attack tomorrow.

The enemy attacked Chengchow in force, knocking our forts down from level 4 to level 3, casualties 16000 to 7100 favoring us.

Thailand
The air campaign continues to tip towards them as we're both sending bombers to Tavoy, but his fighters are getting to my bombers while mine aren't getting to his. Today's losses were 2 Zeroes, 2 Oscars, 2 Hurricanes, a Hudson and a Blenheim.

But the biggest news here his just that the number of enemy troops at Tavoy being reported by recon has ballooned to over 20,000--so that's why we've been seeing carrier aircraft there for the last 2 days, they landed reinforcements by sea (including the 65th Brigade). The enemy force coming out of Bangkok has similar numbers. I can't beat either force with my current numbers--and with Rangoon effectively blockaded, these numbers are all I'm going to have. So, this frontline looks like a stalemate, or even a potential opportunity for the enemy to start advancing again. We're not going to take Bangkok and relieve Malaya, not for a long time.

The situation in Singapore is dire. There aren't any enemy troops there at the moment, but the only supplies coming in are from a few cargo planes and bombers from Palembang (and those sorties are getting less every day as those planes are destroyed by the bombing campaign there) and the transport submarine USS Argonaut. There is a small resource base supplying local factories, but the rate of production is well below what it takes to sustain the troops there. I had been looking to break out and seize enemy resources, but Johore Bahru was reinforced before that operation began, so I cancelled it, and with troop supply levels dropping off, it's now too late.

All I can think to do now is keep their troops occupied in Thailand, at least while they're there, they're not finishing off Singapore or Palembang.

Java Sea
The KXI attacked a troop convoy, scoring two hits on a cargo ship for a confirmed kill and evading enemy counter-attack.

Sumatra
Palembang endured another shock attack, casualties 6500 to 850 favoring us. Our troop levels are about equal and we have major defensive bonuses--the attack didn't come close to succeeding, I don't understand why he's doing this.

Reinforcements
CVE Copahee arrives at Tacoma (including a Wildcat and a Dauntless squadron, designated replenishment units but I'll probably use them for training so the ship can provide air cover to amphibious ops)
AMC Worcestershire arrives at Cape Town
225th Field Artillery Battalion arrives at Pearl Harbor (full strength, unrestricted)
RAF 225 Group Base Force arrives at Aden
104th Infantry Division arrives at Corvallis (fully restricted, these guys will never see combat unless CONUS is invaded)

Wasp has delivered VS-5 and its own Avenger squadron to Pearl (the Wasp has lower aircraft capacity than most carriers and can't actually carry all four of its own squadrons at full strength--although I could probably reduce the squadron sizes and make them all fit, I'm also trying to KB-proof Pearl, so having torpedo bombers there doesn't hurt). I'm also transitioning one of the USMC Dauntless squadrons to Avengers since I have a lot more Avengers than Dauntlesses right now. Wasp is going to pick up its other Dauntless squadron, get some maintenance, and will start acting like a carrier instead of a ferry after that.