War in the Pacific

[alanschu]

Lol just preoccupied with FO3 at the moment.

[alanschu]

Okay, starting things off again:

 

 

 

Japan opened up with a series of attacks, landing troops in Malaya, Philippines, Guam, and Wake Island. The big attack of course, is Pearl Harbour, and the results of that attack can be seen in the picture below.

 

 

 

In response to the landings in Malaya, the British sent BB Prince of Wales and BC Repulse to engage the landing forces up north. Unfortunately Prince of Wales was hit by a Torpedo from a "Betty" level bomber. Damage isn't serious however, but it will limit her effectiveness in combat. They TF was unable to engage ships in the area on the first day. Dutch Submarines in the area are also moving to cut off shipping lanes to impede further landings in Malaya. Numerous bombing runs from the Singapore region were taken the first two days, but none of them were met with any success.

 

With some US light cruisers already in the Java region, CA Houston departed from Iliolo near the Philippines to rendezvous with them, to prevent being surrounded. All 32 submarines based in Manila have been charged with missions. The majority of them are patrolling the coast of Indochina, and off the coast of Taiwan, including the Luzon straits. Some submarines are also patrolling the east coasts of the Philippines. The Clark Field Airbase was decimated by airfield attacks, and has for the most part been inoperable the first two days. B-17 Flying Fortresses out of Davao have been trying to hit CVL Ryujo off the east coast of the Philippines, to limited success.

 

Guam didn't last a day, but Wake Island did. As a result CV Lexington, not too far away, has sped to the region to provide air support and possibly interdict any ships in the region. The coastal guns at Wake Island scored several hits on cruisers and transport ships landing troops. Unfortunately the landing ships have departed, leaving no targets for Lexington to attack, but she will send one squadron of dive bombers to assist ground troops.

 

 

Pearl Harbour ships are heavily damaged, and the Hawaiian Islands are surrounded by submarines. Every available ship with ASW capabilities has been put into task forces to engage the submarines. While most of the airforce is damaged, and the runway inoperable, the PBY Catalina flying boats are still able to take off, and have been roughly 50/50 split between naval searches and ASW missions. A mine laying task force consisting of several destroyer minelayers, as well as a genuine mine layer, have mined some of the waters off the Hawaiian islands in hopes of catching an unsuspecting submarine. This task force actually engaged a submarine the evening of December 8th. The next day, another submarine in the region was recorded as hit from a Catalina.

 

Below are the Pearl Harbour ships:

 

 

While no ships were sunk (permanently lost...I guess this isn't THAT surprising. I think only two of the ships were considered permanent losses in Pearl Harbour, even though several were sunk right in port. Most of them were later raised and still used in the war), several are heavily damaged and will be out of commission for a long time. All capital ships aside from the Oklahoma will eventually be returning to the West Coast for repairs.

 

There are however several submarines operating out of Pearl Harbor. Most of them have been assigned duties off the coast of Japan. A few of the shorter range submarines will be patrolling near Truk, Saipan, and the Marshall Islands. The CV Enterprise is continuing her mission to deliver planes to Midway, and will then return to Hawaii to regroup.

 

 

On the continental US front, troops and planes assigned to the Central Pacific have begun loading onto transports en route to Pearl Harbor. Included in these are 4 AA regiments to fortify against any future air attacks in the area. It is likely that some of these will be stationed at Midway Island eventually, and some of the troops are preparing to reinforce Wake Island as soon as possible.

 

 

 

Significant reinforcements are expected in 35 days, with CV Yorktown, numerous escort ships, and a wealth of merchant ships becoming available to the Pacific Theater. Dutch Harbor in the Aleutians is beginning to build up defenses, in case the Japanese attempt to head north and threaten Alaska.

[alanschu]

Up to December 15th

 

 

The Prince of Wales and Repulse engaged a surface task force off the coast of Khota Bharu, in northern Malaya. Both sides exchanged a fight, with the results shown below. Now while the Prince of Wales and Repulse were both hit by a large number of shells, in both cases what caused the majority of the damage was the hits from the 24" Long Lance torpedoes. As the British task force retired, Prince of Wales was disconnected from the task force, and while suffering from serious flooding, made way for Singapore at a maximum speed of 6 knots. Repulse was fortunately able to maintain 20+ knots, and was able to return to Singapore in a day and a half. While the Prince of Wales was limping home, she was attacked by Nell and Betty bombers, and another torpedo hit was scored on her. At this time the order to abandon ship was given, and the Prince of Wales was lost.

 

Repulse only had minor flooding damage, so the hope was to repair that damage, and have her continue to make raids against the Japanese fleets in the area. Unfortunately, after two days in port at Singapore, she was attacked during a port raid, and was hit by a few bombs and another couple torpedoes. While she isn't likely to sink, it has significantly damaged her, greatly decreasing her top speed and extending the repair time considerably.

 

 

 

On the plus side, intelligence intercepted reports of a Japanese destroyer sinking off the not too far from Saigon. The Repulse had scored a hit on one with her 15" shells (the Hagikaze), and we suspect that she is the one that is sunk. The bad news however is that Japan has made further landings and taken some of the coastal bases in Malaya. Khota Bharu is now under Japanese occupation, and Alor Star is being attacked from the North. Victory Point in the southern most part of Burma was just attacked as well. The Japanese have also made landings in western Borneo. Successful counter raids against ships landing troops and supplies in Malaya have also been conducted. These are restricted to night time attacks so that fleets can return to Singapore for protection.

 

 

 

In the Philippines the Japanese have begun pushing Allied troops back to Clark Field and Manila. PT boats and destroyers out of Manila have been running regular patrols in the straits nearby. One flotilla of PT boats was able to intercept a small Japanese task force and inflict some serious damage:

 

 

These attacks have been followed up with some raids from destroyers, and further hits have been recorded on this task force.

 

In that picture you can see to the south Davao under attack. US Cruisers and destroyers in Balikpapan made way at full steam to intercept the landing force. Unfortunately they arrived too late to stop the invasion. However, with the USS Houston as flagship (Northampton class CA), she blockaded the port and prepared to bombard the port, with several ships inside of it. Anticipating this move, the merchant ships attempted to run the gauntlet and break through the blockade, resulting in a night time engagement.

 

 

Only one shell from the enemy task force hit the Allied task force, causing no noticable damage. However several of the transport ships sustained numerous hits, and we believe two to be sunk. The damaged ships have retreated back to port, and the Allied surface fleet continues to blockade Davao. Due to ammunition shortages however, she has started to return to Balikpapan.

 

 

 

To the east, Lexington was able to catch one straggling ship that was damaged by coastal guns at Wake Island, and hit her with two 22" torpedoes and a 1000 lb bomb. She was confirmed sunk shortly afterwards. With Lexington providing air support, and the landing ships forced to cutoff the landing prematurely, the invading Japanese force was starved into attrition and forced to disband. Wake Island in the meantime continues to be a US airbase. With this bright light in the central Pacific, CV Enterprise has diverted her course to assist Lexington in providing cover for Wake Island, as reinforcements from Hawaii are en route.

 

Near Midway Island, 3 ASW task forces continue to pursue Japanese submarines, making numerous depth charge runs on a few contact reports. Munitions are running low however, and the three fleets will be forced to return to Pearl Harbor for rearming.

 

 

From the mainland United States, reinforcements and resupply are en route to Pearl Harbor, as well as a resupply up to Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands.

 

 

In recent news, Japanese troops have been spotted landing off Rabaul, near New Guinea. The Australian forces have moved troops from central Australia to prepare them for possible hostilities against Port Moresby.

[alanschu]

With the situation in Malaya looking more desperate, the brave souls in the Royal Navy continued to leave Singapore and pester Japanese shipping off the eastern coast of Malaya. While numerous ships were sunk, eventually their luck ran out. On December 25th they were spotted by a Japanese air patrol, and was promptly attacked by forces operating out of the Kido Butai, the main Japanese Carrier fleet that attacked Pearl Harbor. The Mauritius was demolished, as were several other ships. 7 Destroyers remained, and the Admiralty decided that it would be best to preserve what was left of her fleet, and fall back to Diamond Harbor. For two days those ships weathered air attacks from the Japanese. Only two of the destroyers survived. With the Royal Navy in full retreat back to India, the only presence she has in the conflict at this time are two submarines operating off the coast of Malaya.

 

The land battles haven't gone much better. Japan cut the island in half, cutting off the troops to the north, who were forced to surrender on December 29th. The rest of the Allied forces are falling back to Singapore to make a stand there. The air force has been heavily depleted, but continues to make attacks on japanese shipping, scoring an occasional hit. Japanese forces have pushed up through Burma, and now have Rangoon surrounded and cutoff. US fighters from the AVG fighter group have started making ground attacks against Japanese forces to buy the Commonwealth troops more time.

 

 

 

The Dutch East Indies so far has remained relatively untouched, outside of Northwest Borneo. Mili and Brunei, and their oil fields, were attacked and captured at the end of the month as well, facing little resistance outside of Dutch submarines that have scored the occasional hit on transport ships. The US fleet operating out of Balikpapan attempted a raid on the island of Jolo, near the Philippines. Unfortunately as they approached their target during the daytime, planes operating off the island engaged and attacked the surface fleet. With the Northampton class Cruiser Houston having both of her forward batteries (6 8" guns) taken out, the decision was made to pull the fleets back to Soerabaja for repairs and further orders. The Brooklyn class CL Boise has been pulled back to Darwin, as she is a powerful AAA vessel and Darwin is seen as a port that MUST be saved. Houston's batteries have been replaced, and outside of a destroyer that was torpedoed by a submarine off the coast of Balikpapan, the surface fleet is undergoing repairs without issue at Soerabaja.

 

 

 

In the Philippines, the situation has become dire. Clark Field is under assault, and virtually its entire airforce has been decimated. The South Island started with the fall of Davao, and has since been completely occupied by Japanese forces. The US Navy attempted an extraction of troops, but was only able to get out two piecemeal components of a couple of Base forces. They are en route to Darwin. A wing of B-17C bombers was also pulled back to Darwin. From Clark Field, P-40B Tomahawk fighters evacuated to Mandalay, Burma, to join up with the AVG fighter group there. A wing of P-35s evacuated to India via China, and while still there in the meantime, 14 B-17E bombers are expected to pull out of the Philippines soon as well.

 

Full evacuation of Manila's harbor commenced, with ships scattering in every direction to reduce casualties as Japan's bombers can't be everywhere at once. In a rough 50/50 split, some are headed to Darwin and others are headed to Pearl Harbor. Both have tough gauntlets to run, and bombers out of Jolo hit many of the freighters heading to Darwin very hard. 3 ships lost there, but 4 seems to have made it through. The destroyers operating out of Manila, intercepting fleets detected to be flying nearby, was hit hard by a wing of Bettys and Nells, and suffered heavy casualities. A few PT-Boats have had success torpedoing boats, and have currently docked at Tarakan, Borneo, for fuel. They have raided several small merchant task forces throughout the Philippine Islands, with at least 3 confirmed kills.

 

 

 

With the loss of Rabaul, Australia is looking to fortify Port Moresby. Troops just arrived on the 29th, with supplies expected to arrive on the 2nd of January. Planes still need to be delivered to protect it from the inevitable bombing it will get from Rabaul. Outside of that, things are quiet in Australia.

 

 

In the Central Pacific, PBY Catalina's have been established along most of the Islands, granting significant early warning for the Hawaiian islands. Carriers Lexington and Enterprise, currently protecting Wake Island, were refuelled by an oiler. Though a few days Lexington departed for Hawaii to replace her Buffalo fighters with Wildcats. Another base force was brought into Wake Island, and construction on improved ports and airfields is underway, as well as fortifications. In addition to the Catalina's that flew in, a wing of SBD Dauntless dive bombers is en route. Wake Island is surrounded by Japanese Islands, and efforts are being made to make sure she is as secure as possible. The Japanese failure to secure Wake Island is a significant plus for the Allied forces in the area.

 

A large shipment of construction materials arrived at Dutch Harbor, and she is currently expanding her naval base and airfield as well. In other news, the submarines from Pearl Harbor have finally reach the Home Islands of Japan. One sub, Tambor-class USS Tresher, has reported several hits on Japanese shipping already. Submarines operating around Philippines and Indochina have also had much success, though there seems to be issues with the Mk 14 torpedoes they are using. The dud rate has been pretty high.

 

In 12 days there will be a large influx of ships from mainland US. From there she will establish convoys to most of the islands in the North and South Pacific, as well as to Australia. Australia has reported a shortage of oil that has limited their manufacturing capabilities, so tankers filled with oil will also be provided. Britain has already started sending supplies and fuel to Perth/Fremantle on the west coast of Australia.

[Gfted1]

You know, I always wondered how AU avoided a Japanese invasion IRL. Just too much land to try to hold?

[alanschu]

Pretty much The Battle of the Coral Sea.

 

It caused Japan to slow/halt their progress in that part of the region, stopping an attack on Port Moresby. It was the first ever naval battle where neither ship saw an enemy ship.

 

 

 

To be fair I don't think Japan necessarily wanted to invade Australia. I think they were hoping to threaten it, and use that to sue for Peace. I think all they really wanted was Malaya/Burma (to cut off China) and the Dutch East Indies (for the Oil and Rubber).

[Pidesco]

Did you know you're rather awesome?

 

I just wanted to point that out.

[alanschu]

Why thank you?

 

Though may I clarify as to why? My fanboyism of WW2 is rarely praised haha.

[Pidesco]

Well, the War in the Pacific threads are a great source of entertainment. Also, watching your debating ninja skills getting put to work is always awesome.

 

 

I'd like to point out how not gay and, in fact, actually incredibly manly all this praising, is.

[Llyranor]

Aren't you glad I made you buy this game? ^____^

 

I'll probably make an AAR thread on Market-Garden when I finish A Bridge Too Far and actually get around to playing Highway to the Reich.

[alanschu]

Close Combat 2? I looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooove that game!

 

And thanks Pidesco!

 

 

and yes, thanks for signaling the start of this game.

 

 

I realized that if Admiral Edition comes out soon, I'll be restarting the war again, but oh well hahaha.

[alanschu]

Jan 8, 1942.

 

In the past week things have been give and take.

 

 

The submarines have started to really pick things up. Two british submarines recently arrived from Colombo, and are currently engaging forces near Malaya and Borneo. The US subs have scored numerous hits off the coast of Indochina, and a few hits between Philippines and the Home Islands. While a submarine isn't going to stop an amphibious force, all hits lead help contribute to attrition. Even if the transport doesn't sink (and if it's not close to port, it often seems to), incapacitating it hurts Japan's logistics.

 

 

As for regions, starting with Burma region, Rangoon is blockaded and cut off. Planes from Thailand prevent British ships from extracting the troops. The American AVG P-40 wing has unfortunately be grounded several days in a row due to bad weather as well. Rangoon can probably hold out another week tops, but it's not looking good there. In Malaya Japanese forces have finally pushed everyone into Singapore, where the fighting is just about to begin.

 

The Philippines has continued to slip from Allied control. While the Japanese haven't gained any new territory, they have inflicted heavy losses south of Manila. Manila itself was hit hard by an airstrike, wiping out most of its CAP fighters. On the plus side, Japanese forces attacking Clark Field where stopped dead in their tracks, and even pushed to retreat on a counter attack. This small breather has allowed Clark Field to beef up its fortifications, and prepare for the Japanese troops to return.

 

Borneo continues to be attacked, with air support from two Japanese CVLs. The Southwestern coast was attacked, and in an aggressive move, two CLs moved to interdict the landing fleet:

 

 

The landing fleet was forced to retreat. Unfortunately, a significant number of troops had already been landed, and the naval base in the region was taken in the following day.

 

 

 

The carriers proceeded through the Java Sea, where American destroyers hoped to intercept her. Unfortunately that did not go very well:

 

 

The John D. Edwards was sunk the following day. This was about 120 nm off the coast of Soerabaja, which has dispatched the few Dutch Submarines at harbor, and a few torpedo boats, to patrol the nearby waters.

 

 

 

On the plus side for the whole theater there, planes have started to more consistently hit the transport ships, including the B-17s out of Clark Field with their 500 lb bombs.

 

 

Australia remains quiet. They have sent additional base forces and infantry to Port Moresby, which has started to be attacked by Bettys from Truk. The CA Canberra has come under attack, though no hits have been recorded. Currently a fleet is there dropping off supplies. In a worrisome observation, submarines have started to be spotted in that region. Further reinforcements to Port Moresby could be difficult.

 

 

 

On the American front, for the most part not much as happened. Some ASW attacks on submarines near Midway occurred, but mostly Pearl Harbor has been reinforced and resupplied. Further convoys have been dispatched to Anchorage, Dutch Harbor, and most of the island chains south and west of Hawaii, for early detection of any fleets. CV Lexington has returned to Pearl Harbor, and replaced her F2A Buffalo fighters with F3F-4 Wildcats. She also topped up her torpedo bomber wing, which was not quite at full strength to start the war. CV Enterprise continues to patrol near Wake Island, with no incident. She is about to return to Hawaii to replenish her air wings as well. Wake Island has a wing of Wildcats for Escort and CAP duties, a wing of PBY Catalinas, and a wing of SBD Dauntless dive bombers en route. She was just resupplied with supplies and fuel, and her waters have been mined with 500 mines as well (in addition to the few mines laid there by the submarine USS Argonaut). With no contact from the Catalinas, we believe the Japanese feel that Wake Island is a lost cause, and will not attempt to attack her again. Even then, aircraft carriers from Pearl are only a few days away, to support the airforces already present. Expansions to the port and airfield there are already well underway, and another Base force is present providing additional coastal guns for defense.

 

 

In 5 days the first large reinforcement deployment will arrive on the west coast. In the meantime, shipyards have begun repairs on the capital ships that arrived from Pearl Harbor. San Francisco having the largest one, has taken on the bulk of the ships, with Seattle and Los Angeles taking a battleship each, and San Diego taking a group of smaller cruisers and destroyers. ETA is still several months away. CV Yorktown will be arriving in 5 days, complimenting the carrier fleet. They are the best we can do while our primary battleships are out of commission.

[Calax]

You got the crap beaten out of you by the sounds of it. Probably shouldn't send destroyers up against CV's, Air power will usually win. Ever think of trying to harry the main islands with subs? I doubt they'd get through but if they did they could pump out a LOT of damage.

[alanschu]

It was a night engagement and the ships engaged directly. There was no aircraft involved at all.

 

It was a combination of poor night experience (plagues all US Naval forces to start the war) vs. good night experience, and Destroyers versus armored Cruisers. The Carriers didn't engage, unless they had ship guns of their own. If I had some bigger ships it would have likely spelled death for those carriers. My interdiction abilities are pretty good it seems. But my estimation of the Japanese fleet was not. It's too bad because there were in fact cruisers at nearby Soerabaja that could have joined the fight, and perhaps tipped the scales of the battle.

 

 

I do have subs along the coastline of the Home Islands (Home Islands = Japanese islands). There is a fair bit of merchant traffic there, and one of the subs fired off all of her torpedoes except 4 in about 2 days. The problem there is that the traffic comes in surges (they all seem to be leaving at once, and returning at once). It's also a bit harder to narrow things down. I have some subs right outside Osaka since there is only one way in there, but much of that merchant traffic I find ends up traveling through the Luzon strait, just north of the Philippines (which I do have subs infesting), and they seem to encounter ships a bit more frequently. There's also a problem that the US Mk 14 Torpedo has a high dude rate to start the war. The Dutch and British subs have had a bit more success with torpedoes it seems.

[Calax]

Meh, too bad you can't stage sub raids on stuff like dry docks and other logistical targets. Rebuilding a port would probably chop give the Japanese a Logistical NIGHTMARE.

[alanschu]

I don't know how common that was historically though. Are you aware of (m)any examples?

[Calax]

not really, I know bombing of logistical targets (harbors, dams, and factories) took place on the european side, I don't know about the Japanese side because amazingly High school history generally glosses over the Pacific Theatre militarily and focus's more on the Japanese internment camps.

[alanschu]

Well, you can certainly logistically strike naval ports with shore bombardments and airplanes. I did some looking around and while there were some instances of submarines getting into harbors to cause a ruckus, it was usually early war and as a result, harbors tended to have subnets and whatnot to prevent submarines from entering harbors.

 

You can do strategic attacks on airfields, ports, as well as industry and whatnot.

[Llyranor]

Not CC2, jerk. Highway to the Reich.

[alanschu]

Should be an update later this evening. Just been busy! Fortunately the Japanese work around my schedule.

[Llyranor]

Admiral's Edition is out [url="http://matrixgames.com/news/589/War.in.the.Pacific:.Admiral

[alanschu]

ZOMG!!!

 

But HOI3 is right around the corner!!!!!!!

 

 

I'll have to have two AAR threads haha.