05 May 1943
The Battle of Ceylon continues.
It started off innocently enough...
Night Naval bombardment of Colombo at 29,48
Japanese aircraft
no flights
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 46 damaged
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 2 destroyed on ground
Ki-45 KAIa Nick: 54 damaged
Ki-45 KAIa Nick: 2 destroyed on ground
N1K1-J George: 19 damaged
N1K1-J George: 1 destroyed on ground
Japanese Ships
DD Maikaze, Shell hits 1
Allied Ships
CA Frobisher
CA Hawkins
CA Sussex
CA Shropshire
DD Isaac Sweers
Japanese ground losses:
187 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 14 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Guns lost 9 (2 destroyed, 7 disabled)
Vehicles lost 10 (1 destroyed, 9 disabled)
Airbase hits 32
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 38
CA Frobisher firing at Colombo
CA Hawkins firing at Colombo
CA Sussex firing at Colombo
Seagull V acting as spotter for CA Shropshire
CA Shropshire firing at Colombo
DD Isaac Sweers firing at Colombo
He had to have known what was in the works, as the rats started to flee.
Sub attack near Koggala at 28,51
Japanese Ships
E Otori, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
Allied Ships
SS Kingfish
SS Kingfish launches 2 torpedoes at E Otori
Sub escapes detection
Then he set up something to catch me on the way back. I wouldn't have done this. The guns on the DDs and CLs will barely scratch the paint of a real cruiser. Torps tend to hit so infrequently as to make this risky. On the other hand,
Oi must have 8" of armor everywhere, as she was shedding 8" and 7.5" shells.
Day Time Surface Combat, near Trivandrum at 27,44, Range 13,000 Yards
Japanese Ships
CL Yura
CL Oi, Shell hits 13, heavy fires
DD Hagikaze
DD Oshio
DD Arashio, Shell hits 1
DD Asagumo
Allied Ships
CA Shropshire, Shell hits 3
CA Sussex, Shell hits 3
CA Hawkins, Shell hits 1, on fire
CA Frobisher
DD Isaac Sweers, Shell hits 2, heavy fires
Reduced visibility due to Rain
Maximum visibility in Rain: 15,000 yards
Range closes to 19,000 yards...
Range closes to 13,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 13,000 yards
Japanese open fire on surprised Allied ships at 13,000 yards
CL Oi launches Long Lance Torpedoes at CA Frobisher at 13,000 yards
CL Oi fires at CA Hawkins at 13,000 yards
CL Oi fires at CA Sussex at 13,000 yards
DD Arashio launches Long Lance Torpedoes at DD Isaac Sweers at 13,000 yards
DD Hagikaze launches Long Lance Torpedoes at DD Isaac Sweers at 13,000 yards
Range closes to 9,000 yards
CL Oi engages CA Frobisher at 9,000 yards
CL Oi engages CA Hawkins at 9,000 yards
CL Oi engages CA Sussex at 9,000 yards
CL Oi engages CA Shropshire at 9,000 yards
DD Arashio engages DD Isaac Sweers at 9,000 yards
DD Isaac Sweers engages DD Hagikaze at 9,000 yards
Range closes to 5,000 yards
CL Oi engages CA Hawkins at 5,000 yards
CL Oi engages CA Sussex at 5,000 yards
DD Arashio engages DD Isaac Sweers at 5,000 yards
DD Isaac Sweers engages DD Arashio at 5,000 yards
DD Hagikaze engages DD Isaac Sweers at 5,000 yards
Range increases to 7,000 yards
CL Oi engages CA Frobisher at 7,000 yards
CL Oi engages CA Hawkins at 7,000 yards
DD Asagumo engages DD Isaac Sweers at 7,000 yards
DD Asagumo engages DD Isaac Sweers at 7,000 yards
DD Hagikaze engages DD Isaac Sweers at 7,000 yards
Range increases to 10,000 yards
CA Sussex engages CL Oi at 10,000 yards
CL Yura engages CA Hawkins at 10,000 yards
CL Yura engages CA Sussex at 10,000 yards
DD Isaac Sweers engages DD Arashio at 10,000 yards
DD Arashio engages DD Isaac Sweers at 10,000 yards
DD Hagikaze engages DD Isaac Sweers at 10,000 yards
Range increases to 14,000 yards
CA Frobisher engages CL Oi at 14,000 yards
CA Hawkins engages CL Oi at 14,000 yards
CL Oi engages CA Sussex at 14,000 yards
CL Yura engages CA Shropshire at 14,000 yards
CA Shropshire engages DD Hagikaze at 14,000 yards
Range increases to 15,000 yards
CL Oi engages CA Frobisher at 15,000 yards
CL Oi engages CA Hawkins at 15,000 yards
CL Yura engages CA Sussex at 15,000 yards
CL Oi engages CA Shropshire at 15,000 yards
DD Isaac Sweers engages DD Oshio at 15,000 yards
DD Hagikaze engages DD Isaac Sweers at 15,000 yards
Warwick R. orders Allied TF to disengage
Range increases to 19,000 yards
CA Frobisher engages CL Oi at 19,000 yards
CL Yura engages CA Shropshire at 19,000 yards
CL Oi engages CA Shropshire at 19,000 yards
DD Hagikaze engages DD Isaac Sweers at 19,000 yards
Range increases to 20,000 yards
CL Yura engages CA Frobisher at 20,000 yards
CL Yura engages CA Frobisher at 20,000 yards
DD Asagumo engages DD Isaac Sweers at 20,000 yards
CA Shropshire engages DD Arashio at 20,000 yards
DD Oshio engages DD Isaac Sweers at 20,000 yards
Range increases to 21,000 yards
CA Frobisher engages CL Oi at 21,000 yards
CL Yura engages CA Hawkins at 21,000 yards
CL Yura engages CA Sussex at 21,000 yards
CA Shropshire engages CL Yura at 21,000 yards
Range closes to 20,000 yards
CA Frobisher engages CL Oi at 20,000 yards
CA Shropshire engages CL Yura at 20,000 yards
CA Sussex engages CL Yura at 20,000 yards
CA Frobisher engages DD Arashio at 20,000 yards
CL Yura engages DD Isaac Sweers at 20,000 yards
CA Hawkins engages DD Hagikaze at 20,000 yards
Range increases to 21,000 yards
CA Hawkins engages CL Oi at 21,000 yards
CL Yura engages CA Hawkins at 21,000 yards
CL Yura engages CA Sussex at 21,000 yards
CA Shropshire engages CL Yura at 21,000 yards
CA Frobisher engages DD Hagikaze at 21,000 yards
CA Shropshire engages CL Oi at 21,000 yards
CL Oi engages CA Hawkins at 21,000 yards
CA Frobisher engages DD Asagumo at 21,000 yards
CA Hawkins engages DD Oshio at 21,000 yards
CA Frobisher engages DD Hagikaze at 21,000 yards
Range increases to 22,000 yards
Range increases to 24,000 yards
Range increases to 29,000 yards
Task forces break off...
I was happy to live with this until his sub covering the whole affair chimed in.
ASW attack near Cochin at 28,40
Japanese Ships
SS I-157
Allied Ships
CA Shropshire, Torpedo hits 2, heavy damage
SS I-157 launches 6 torpedoes at CA Shropshire
I-157 bottoming out ....
Escort abandons search for sub
Shropshire should make it back. Flt was over 50, but she's close enough to Cochin. I'm wishing that RN carrier was around at this point.
Elsewhere, my first squadron of P-47D2s arrive in Eastern USA, fully stocked. The production line doesn't start up for another two months. I thought about going to India with them, but the drop tanks aren't available yet, so range is the same as a P-40E. I'll eventually get them over to one of the Samoa bases.
An Indian division arrives at Aden. Not enough xAPs to send it all, so I'm debating doing it in chunks.
I'm launching a massive airfield raid on Colombo next turn. Lots of B-24s, B-25s, Wellingtons and the like. Escort will be handled by two squadrons of P-38Es, one of P-38Gs, Two F4U-1 and a little group of Boomerangs, which can just make it from Madras, with tanks. Hopefully CAP is weak after the bombardment. If it works well, I'll keep it up for a week.
Forgot to mention... I caught his CL/DD force with some A-20s, but like a dummy, I didn't watch the altitude and they bombed from 9,000 ft, with predictable results.
Morning Air attack on TF, near Trivandrum at 27,44
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud
Raid spotted at 17 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes
Allied aircraft
A-20A1 Havoc x 16
P-38E Lightning x 17
No Allied losses
Japanese Ships
CL Oi, heavy fires
DD Asagumo
Aircraft Attacking:
16 x A-20A1 Havoc bombing from 9000 feet
Naval Attack: 4 x 500 lb SAP Bomb
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring CL Oi
---------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Trivandrum at 27,44
Weather in hex: Partial cloud
Raid spotted at 18 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes
Allied aircraft
A-20A1 Havoc x 15
P-38E Lightning x 16
P-40K Warhawk x 19
No Allied losses
Japanese Ships
DD Asagumo
CL Oi, heavy fires
Aircraft Attacking:
15 x A-20A1 Havoc bombing from 9000 feet
Naval Attack: 4 x 500 lb SAP Bomb
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring CL Oi