AAR - WiTP:AE - Guadalcanal. CCIP(A) vs. Egan(J).

[CCIP]

(this is a sister thread to Egan's AAR of the same scenario on the other side - http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=190204 . Please be mindful of the fact that neither of us can read each other's threads until the scenario is over, so, sorry for any repetitions and please don't spoil anything! Should be interesting to follow these reports side by side)



INTRODUCTION

Morning, August 6, 1942 - Operation Watchtower

The Allied invasion of Guadalcanal and Tulagi is ready to begin. 57 ships slip from their final resupply stop at Luganville on Espiritu Santu, enroute to the Solomons: 21 destroyers, 6 heavy cruiser, 2 light cruisers and 28 transports, split into 5 task forces with orders to bombard and invade their objectives the following day. Aboard is the 1st Marine Division, with over 27,000 personnel standing by to be landed on the islands. They are supported by a support force of another 24 ships to the north, including 3 carriers providing air cover for the operation. The operation is expected to be a surprise, with IJN's heaviest units still recovering from the results of Midway and likely more than a week away. This leaves the road to Guadalcanal open.





The Japanese have started building an airfield at Lunga Point on Guadalcanal, and a naval base on Tulagi. Taking these will not be difficult - there are no large garrisons present, no big fortifications built, no substantial air cover in the immediate area. Still, we cannot linger for long - and to keep the landings short, the supplies being landed with the invasion troops are minimal. Once on Guadalcanal, the Marines will have to make do. At least the initial landings should be unopposed - and if the Japanese do send cruisers after the invasion force, we expect to make them pay with merciless air attacks!

However maintaining our position on the islands may be a different matter entirely. Once the Japanese reinforcements arrive, a bitter battle can be expected. Although seriously reduced by our victory at Midway, Japanese carrier strength is still greater than ours, and their air crews have more experience. This is probably another week away, so we have a brief window of time to take over the airfield, secure our positions, and prepare to fight back.



Meanwhile on the Kokoda Track in New Guinea, Australian troops prepare to face yet another assault by the Japanese. Having failed to invade Port Moresby during the Battle of Coral Sea, they now attempt to take it by land. One of the aims of the Solomons operation is to divert manpower from this operation - which cannot be allowed to succeed, because it would threaten the Allied supply network, and provide the Japanese with a launch pad for a future invasion into Australia itself. A long battle in the jungle looms ahead...



My plan of operations for this one is simple and conservative: to draw the Japanese into three battles of attrition on as favourable (for us) terms as possible. The first of these showdowns has already started on the Kokoda Track. The second, on the ground in the Solomons, is about to open. The third and most complex will be at sea across this theater. As long as we are able to hang on to Port Moresby, Tulagi and the Lunga airfield on Guadalcanal, and avoid major losses at sea, this operation will be a complete success. It is not in our interest to look for a decisive showdown with the Japanese here, but once our troops are on the ground in the Solomons, we cannot allow them to be cut off from supplies. So, chances are, that there will be battles and they will be bloody. But, for now, all of that is just ahead - there is a lull in fighting across the theater, a calm before the storm as the invasion force steams silently to the north...



Come back tomorrow for the first daily combat report of this saga

[elephantium]

Ah, excellent. I'm looking forward to reading this AAR, especially with the opportunity of getting both sides of the story

[Krauter]

Excellent this sounds interesting.

Will you eventually be aiming to strike at Rabaul either by land, air or sea? Also, what about the possibility of him starving out your Marine division of supplies?

[Oberon]

The Kokoda trail is a mire, but thankfully it's one that has the advantage to you. Thankfully, this soon after Midway it's questionable if the IJN can launch a major offensive towards Moresby, so you just need to worry about the IJA coming over the mountains.

Good luck.

[CCIP]

Originally Posted by Krauter

Will you eventually be aiming to strike at Rabaul either by land, air or sea? Also, what about the possibility of him starving out your Marine division of supplies?

Well, Rabaul would be a pretty bold target! The only way that might happen in the short term is in the first couple of days, I manage to defeat his cruisers and shoot down most of his Betties. I don't really have land bombers that I can use to reach it under escort, and I definitely don't want to lose any carriers before his arrive on the scene. We'll see how it pans out afterwards, but Rabaul is a very distant objective for us. It's not really worth much, anyway, except what we gain by destroying his units there.

Starving out my Marines is a real possibility on the other hand
I'll try to send them some relief very quickly, even by air if necessary (I have a couple dozen B-17s available from New Caledonia that I can throw towards that once we capture the airfield). But then it's all up to who controls the sea! And it's almost definitely going to be me for the first week, then him for a couple of weeks afterwards.

[CCIP]

August 6, 1942

The invasion task force departs in stormy weather. Against heavy seas, they make limited progress over the course of the day - but on the bright side, they are not detected by the Japanese scouts.

A mostly uneventful day elsewhere, with sporadic air activity across the theater. In New Guinea, the Japanese make no offensive efforts in the air or on the ground; an allied air strike on Lae in the morning ends up with disastrous results for the escort - the Kittyhawks manage to keep the numerically-inferior Zeroes away from the bombing Beauforts, but lose 4 in the air and another written off after landing, while failing to make so much as a scratch on the Japanese fighters. Later in the afternoon, B-17s arrive at high altitude to bomb Buna, but cause no damage.



Meanwhile on Guadalcanal, a first sign of things to come as a wing of 18 B-17s from New Caledonia comes in at low altitude and sends the troops scattering for cover. The bombs are accurate and are reported to cause a few dozen casualties - a good prelude to the invasion.

At sea, as carrier task forces race to meet each other, their scout planes send panicked reports of possible enemy ships in the area. The ships turn out to be the very carriers they are supposed to meet, and the confusion is quickly cleared up. No enemy scouts or submarines are spotted, though a potential sub contact is reported off Port Moresby on the other side of the theater.



No clear indication of where the enemy fleet is, though coastwatchers report two ships moving south of Rabaul, and 4 ships west of Kaiveng. There is heavy radio traffic reported at Rabaul. As cruisers are based at these locations, we have to take this possibility seriously. However, assuming the invasion moves quickly, we should arrive at Guadalcanal well before them. And assuming the Japanese do make a cruiser attack, we expect to be able to give them a surprise - a last-moment change in the roster of the bombardment force may give them a bit of trouble, as a certain trade of ships is made with the carrier force. What is it? Well, you may find out in the next few days...

[CCIP]

(situation in the Solomons at nightfall on Aug. 7th)


August 7, 1942 - The Battle Begins

The battle for Guadalcanal begins in earnest today, as ships race towards the Solomons. Overnight, task forces make final adjustments and begin heading for their final targets. The aim is to bombard Guadalcanal by nightfall, and begin the invasion proper by the following morning.

At dawn, the Japanese (assuming they weren't clued in by yesterday's B-17 strike) get their first indication of the Allied presence, as a Mavis flying boat sights the USS Enterprise and her group east of Malaita, within striking distance of Guadalcanal. The flying boat is promptly shot down by the Enterprise's CAP, but not before reporting the contact. Rufe floatplane scouts return and shadown the carriers later in the day.

There are conflicting coastwatcher reports from Kaiveng and Rabaul, some reporting the harbors empty, others later reporting ships present. The Japanese naval reaction is still not certain. There is heavy radio traffic from their main base at Truk.

In the morning, as the invasion force approaches Guadalcanal, they are greeted by a particular Japanese kind of welcome - a flight of Betties, escorted by at least a dozen Zeroes, appears in the cloudy skies at about 10,000ft.




They are most likely arriving on a lengthy flight from Buka, the nearest airfield capable of supporting such a force.They are detected by radar, fortunately, and Wildcat fighters from the carrier force's CAP are sent scrambling to intercept. The intercepting force gets the jump on the Japanese, who are flying much lower. The Wildcats dive in on the Japanese formation, and score some very early successes.





As the fight develops into a prolonged furball, the Japanese score many hits on the Wildcats, but have trouble downing any - while the Zeroes suffer further losses themselves. The F4F's rugged construction definitely deserves some credit for it.

The claimed results speak for themselves:

A coup for the American fighters - though it is worth noting that two of the damaged Wildcats crash while landing on the carriers. The total air tally for the day is definitely in the allies' favour - 9 Zeroes and 3 flying boats are estimated to be downed at the cost of 4 Wildcats, 1 B-17 and a Kittyhawk lost in a landing accident.

The Betties get through, flying in a V formation, and head not for the carrier forces, but for the transports approaching Guadalcanal - they must be aware of our presence, then. The planes drop their bombs while flying level, missing the transports which are still on the move, many hours away from their landing beaches. They then return to their base - at least the Zeroes have managed to keep Wildcats off them. They'll certainly be back tomorrow....



Back on New Guinea, allied raids continue. A flight of B-17s tries to bomb Buna from high altitude in the morning, and is intercepted by a pair of Zeroes. The bombers put up a wall of defensive fire, making it difficult for the fighters to approach. One of the Zeroes is damaged, and the other manages to make a head-on pass on a bomber, damaging it in return. The bomber doesn't make it back to its base in Australia.

In the afternoon, two separate raids, one of Beauforts escorted by RAAF Kittyhawks, one of A-20s escorted by US P-39s, attack the airfield at Buna from low altitude. These raids are somewhat successful, encountering no resistance and suffering no losses, hitting the runway in the process.

On Guadalcanal, with the Japanese bombers not seeming too keen to return, the carrier cover force launches a large strike on the northern side of the island:


Japanese defenses are non-existent, but the cover of the jungle helps. Another strike of B-17s arrives later in the afternoon on the same location. Both strikes are estimated to have killed about two dozen Japanese troops on the ground.

With allied aircraft over the island, the situation on Guadalcanal becomes clearer. About 10,000 Japanese personnel are estimated to be on the island, with most of them on the northern end. The airfield at Lunga, the main target of the invasion, is fairly poorly defended.

By evening, the first bombardment force arrives with our last-minute addition - the battleship North Carolina, which was traded to the carrier force for the AA cruiser San Juan. The 16" guns are a welcome addition to the heavy bombardment. However the defenders of the island are alert, and fire howitzers back at the bombarding force. For some reason, they seem to really hate Australians:


However the guns firing in return are puny in comparison to the allied firepower, and the RAN cruisers shrug off the hits without much worry.

Finally, on the Kokoda track, the Japanese launch an artillery bombardment in the evening. Nothing results from this.

And of course, let's not forget the subs! The silent service is not as silent today as it was on the 6th....

USS Greenling, submerged on patrol south of Truk and watching out for any Japanese reaction from their main base in the South Pacific, spots a Japanese sub on the surface during daytime. It is running too fast to catch up, however the contact confirms that the Japanese are probably aware of the invasion and are scrambling what they can to the Solomons. This contact is further confirmed when the sub radios back to Truk later in the day, its location well to the south of Greenling.
There is a credible report of another possible Japanese sub off Stewart Island, to the east of Guadalcanal. Credible because it's reported by two different scout planes. Our escorts better be on alert...

The invasion is now set to begin. Overnight, further naval bombardments of Tulagi and Guadalcanal are planned. The transports should arrive by morning on the 8th. With the Betties expected back - possibly with some naval company - it will be a race to get the Marines on the ground safely. Stay tuned...

[Falkirion]

This is going to be great. Really looking forward to seeing what strategies you and Egan develop as this scenario goes along.

[CCIP]

Crud, while looking over the op reports from the last turn and waiting for Egan to get back with the next one, I caught on to something that is giving me a really bad feeling...



Just one line of text - an unconfirmed contact report that is easy to miss.

I originally ignored this as very improbable (as in reality, scouts often make totally inaccurate reports), but if it turns out to be true - it could very well be the Japanese force, and if this is where they were as of evening, that puts them within 9-10 hours sailing at full speed of my carriers - the position of which they should clearly know! If they do catch my carriers off guard at night, it will most likely cost me a carrier - the Japanese are better at night fighting and the carriers' screens are no match for Japanese CAs.

The odds are a bit remote, but the numbers (9 ships) and the speed (16kt) do suggest something of the size and quickness of the Japanese cruiser force. The direction reported is totally wrong however.

It'd be bad etiquette to re-do my turn now, but it's going to be a nail-biter waiting for this next one! Fingers crossed that even if it is the Japanese, they won't make it till morning. However the carriers will definitely need to move to a safer position next day.

One line of text is making for some huge suspense here!

[Oberon]

They're probably all merchants or junks, like you say, the scouts do get over-excited. Better hope it's not the Jap Task Force or you are going to have a spot of bother if they Long-Lance you in the night.

Still, that's what it's all about! The tension, the agony, the waiting. Now you are a real military leader.

[CCIP]

Yep, the scouts definitely have a habit of seeing an enemy fleet behind every rock, whale, wave in the ocean, friendly transport, bird. Sometimes they throw up some truly bizzare results. Sometimes I look up the coordinates given and they turn out to correspond to somewhere like Brisbane... or Canberra. I may make a regular feature of "most improbable contact report of the day" in the future

[CCIP]

No turn today since Egan's been away, but in the meantime I did something I thought you might find cool - recreated a few scenes from our last turn with SH4. You can check them out in the SH4 screenshots thread right here:

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...postcount=3595

[Krauter]

I like both of these ideas (the screenshots using Sh4 as well as "Most ridiculous contact sighting of the week" ) Good AAR and hopefully he doesn't catch your carriers off guard.

Just wondering, but what is the escort composition of your Carrier Forces? Do they comprise battleships? How effective would their guns be in the dark?

[CCIP]

These two pictures sort of give it away as far carrier escort...




Enterprise has two AA cruisers and a heavy cruiser with her; the other two carrier task forces nearby have two CAs, plus all of them have destroyers (the carrier forces are operating separately from each other, but in close proximity; afaik in WiTP:AE there is an early-war penalty on sortie efficiency for the Allies if they operate multiple carriers in one TF). Originally the North Carolina was attached to the carriers, but was traded for San Juan, one of the CLAAs that you see.

The Japanese have at least four heavy cruisers, but theirs are faster, heavier and much better trained in night fighting than ours. The one perk that allied ships should have on their side is radar (in an AI game I was able to surprise Japanese cruisers at night once), but all in all this is one encounter I do not want to have.

Historically, the result of this was the battle of Savo Island on the night of 8th-9th (which will be the turn after next). The Japanese cruisers went after the landing force, defeating its accompanying cruisers soundly, only to turn away without attacking the transports.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_savo_island

My bet was that the carriers would be far enough to have due warning, and that the forces at Guadalcanal would need all the help they can get. That's why North Carolina is there as a deterrent (and, if worst comes to worst - a ship better able to deal with damage than cruisers) - we'll see what Egan's reaction to it will be!

[TorpX]

I like the style of your narrative here. This is sort of like an alternative history novel, only better.