See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-B Scen28

[apbarog]

10 Jan 43

Amberjack fired on an xAK and missed near Ponape Island.

29 Zeros swept Woodlark Island. I had swept it yesterday. Neither attempts found anything.

I had a small xAKL and escort unloading some vehicle support and supply at Vangunu. 21 Vals targeted the xAKL, but I provided LR CAP, and there was no escort for the Vals. All Vals were shot down with no bombs dropped. I'm guessing that the Vals were hoping for something to show up at Woodlark.

A large Sally and Helen raid hit my troops at Woodlark. Damage was almost none.

The hunting has been good lately around Phuket, as long as the hunters were Dutch subs. Today KXVII hits xAKL Kaishi Maru with a torpedo, doing heavy damage. No troops are spotted.

On a sad note, Dutch sub KVII sank east of Rabaul. It had been hit with a bomb yesterday, and was badly damaged. I gave it a chance to make it to Tulagi, but it didn't last a day.

Finally, the enemy attacked at Woodlark. The recent DD/APD task force apparently dropped off a third of the 21st Infantry Division. The attack went at 9 to 1 (with the enemy still holding the dot base), but losses were much heavier for the attackers, losing 223 while I lost 79. Unfortunately, there aren't many undisrupted troops left. I had landed about half of the 102 Combat Engineer Regiment here, and I will lose it.

I'm ok with that. This was my furthest north attempted conquest of the islands. My recon had shown it unoccupied, but that was wrong. My unit there has been a focal point of enemy activity for awhile, and that means that the enemy wasn't focused as much elsewhere, and elsewhere is my priority.

I won't try some type of rescue operation, but I am sending in battleship Indiana, some cruisers, and some destroyers to bombard the enemy today. Let's hope they get in and get out safely. Another cruiser force is standing by at bombardment range.

My bases continue to build. More engineers are being distributed, mainly with APDs and then followup single xAKs carrying the support.

There are 3 dot bases very near to Milne Bay that are Allied control. They have been empty, but I've started to allocate units for them, starting with some amphibious boat support units, to be followed with engineers. I will fly in units slowly, one by one, by Catalina, to get construction started. Non-flyable fragments of these units will stay behind until the area is much safer, and that will be awhile.

So I continue the "thousand points of might" strategy, building more targets than the enemy can deal with, but ones that I will find very useful. With the area from New Guinea over to Shortlands so heavily contested, this is the way I think it is best to proceed. With enemy sizable bases, I will be able to contest the air over the enemy. And make every enemy base unsafe from the heavy bombers.

[apbarog]

11 Jan 43

Did I say that I'd just run in and run out of Woodlark? It didn't quite work out that way.

First, sub Salmon spots a tanker task force hugging the north coast of Borneo, east of Brunei. It fires on an escorting DMS and hits it, probably sinking it. Salmon takes one depth charge hit and begins the long return to Perth.

During the night, the US battleship Indiana and friends moves to Woodlark Island to bombard. It finds a task force of 2 cruisers and 3 destroyers. The fight goes very well for the US, except that one of the enemy cruisers got a torpedo hit on BB Indiana. Cruiser Suzuya is very badly damaged and should sink. Destroyer Kuroshio is sunk. Only a few minor hits on US ships, except for that torpedo.

Back at Woodlark, daylight comes, and my task force not only didn't bombard, but it's still at Woodlark Island! I knew that things were going to go from bad to worse.

The first daylight action was engaging one cruiser and one destroyer from the enemy's original task force. All of my ships were still in one task force. Cruiser Mikuma and destroyer Kagero do very well despite being vastly outgunned.

****************************************
Japanese Ships
CA Mikuma, Shell hits 14, on fire
DD Kagero, Shell hits 3, on fire

Allied Ships
BB Indiana, Shell hits 13, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
CA Indianapolis, Shell hits 1, on fire
CA Northampton
CA Houston
CA Chester, Shell hits 2
CL Achilles, Shell hits 1
CL Nashville, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Duncan, Shell hits 1
DD Patterson, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Mahan, Shell hits 1
DD Smith
DD Cummings
****************************************

Cruiser Mikuma was at least moderately damaged, but Indiana took another torpedo. Not good. Cruiser Mikuma is then spotted one hex north of Woodlark as it withdraws, sub Grouper fires 4 torpedoes, but none hit.

32 Zeros then sweep Rossel Island and down 15 US planes, losing about 6.

Vangunu is then swept by 31 Zeros but find nothing to fight.

My troops on Munda are then bombed by about 80 Army bombers, doing almost no damage.

Then the real pain begins. The enemy moved some number of carriers from Rabaul to one hex southeast of Rabaul. 7 hexes from Woodlark Island.

The morning carrier strike arrives. The Vals carry just 60kg bombs due to the long range.

****************************
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 72
B5N2 Kate x 20
D3A1 Val x 56

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 1 damaged
B5N2 Kate: 1 destroyed by flak
D3A1 Val: 7 damaged

Allied Ships
CL Nashville, Bomb hits 9, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
CA Indianapolis, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires
BB Indiana, Bomb hits 6, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Smith
DD Cummings
****************************

Then the afternoon carrier strike hit.

****************************
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 74
B5N2 Kate x 70
D3A1 Val x 23

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 7 damaged
D3A1 Val: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
OS2U-3 Kingfisher: 2 destroyed
SOC-1 Seagull: 3 destroyed

Allied Ships
CA Indianapolis, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 4, and is sunk
DD Cummings, Bomb hits 1, on fire
BB Indiana, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
CL Nashville, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
DD Smith, Bomb hits 7, heavy fires, heavy damage
*****************************

I scuttled destroyer Smith. It was a goner with 99 fires.

I could start a discussion now about how my task force made it to Woodlark at night, didn't bombard, but didn't leave the hex and was still there during the day, but there's no point. Chalk it up to another bombardment gone astray.

The lesson learned here is to order bombardment missions AT YOUR OWN RISK. Your ships may not move, they may move away from target to get to the right run-in distance. If anything happens on the way in, all bets are off. They could stop short, stop at target, not bombard at all, or stay at the target.

I took a risk and threw away another battleship. A good one this time. I need to back off being so aggressive on missions that don't really justify the risk.

This was a kick in the gut, but after an afternoon of contemplating things, it's just a bump in the road.

[jwolf]

Argh, that was painful. [:(] I read the report of this battle in Walker's AAR; the impression I got was that the real hero on the Japanese side was the CA Mikuma commander as the second surface combat went surprisingly well for the Japanese and kept your TF pinned (that's my speculation) at Woodlark, a perfect target for his carriers. Rats, those were some nice ships you lost. [:(]

[WriterNotViking]

I've been reading this AAR since you started, and I have to say the way you handle setbacks is inspiring. This match has been a joy to follow, in large part due to the respect and integrity shown by you and your opponent.

[apbarog]

jwolf, I agree. CA Mikuma did amazingly well in the second surface battle. All I can hope for is that the other cruiser sank.

WriterNotViking, thanks for the kind words. We do have a good game going, with respect on both sides. It's important to find opponents that want the same type of gameplay. You can play the game to win at all costs, or you can play the game in a fashion that keeps some resemblance to the real thing. With so much time devoted to playing this game, this is very important.

Thanks for posting. Despite reading this forum daily for a decade, I rarely posted until this AAR. I've been enjoying the whole process.

12 Jan 43

Little action today. Sub Tautog finds a big tanker convoy on the New Guinea coast near Sorong, but misses with torpedoes. No doubt that the convoy is either going to Truk or coming from it.

Near Torokina, a squadron of B-25s attacks a subchaser group. No hits are achieved at 1000 feet. Not really what I wanted with these bombers. I'll restrict their range a bit more.

The news today is that there's a big carrier group and a big surface group west northwest of Nauru. He's seen that I have ships in port and planes on the ground here. Yesterday I took badly damaged destroyer O'Brien out of Pier mode, but it will take 2 more days to be able to move it. It doesn't have that long. I'm running an ACM from Nauru to Ocean, hoping to get away. Another ACM remains at Nauru, out of fuel. Nauru is going to get pounded. It rarely happens, but let's hope that some ships hit some mines. I have 200 mines there now.

But that is the kind of attention I invited by coming to Nauru and Ocean. Anything short of losing the islands is fine by me. It starts to spread the enemy's attention over a wider area.

My carrier fleets are doing some minor repair at Luganville. I'm not reacting for now.

CV Wasp has just 3 days left of repair at Sydney.

Rossel Island's airfield became size 3.

[apbarog]

13 Jan 43

You never know when the fortunes of war will change. Just after my naval disaster at Woodlark Island, I get a good turn.

First sub Sawfish spots a big task force west northwest of Nauru. It doesn't see any carriers, but it turns out later that this task force did contain at least one carrier. Because Sawfish immediately reattacks, and gets a working torpedo hit on CVL Ryujo! No heavy damage or fires spotted, but it's a hit!

Later in the night and 2 hexes away, sub Runner spots the same task force, and it also gets one working torpedo hit on the same carrier, CVL Ryujo. Heavy damage is reported. All hail the (slightly better) torpedoes!

With daylight, Nauru Island is swept by 30 Zeros coming from Kusaie Island to the north. There is no CAP. I flew off the 12 fighters yesterday, knowing what was coming.

Then Nauru is bombed by 30 Bettys escorted by 15 Zeros, coming from the east. The bombers target the port, doing minimal damage to it, but they do get one 60kg bomb hit on badly damaged destroyer O'Brien. O'Brien's damage went from 19 SYS, 68/44 FLOT, 0 ENG damage to 41 SYS, 75/45 FLOT, 6 ENG damage. Not looking good for the destroyer, and it is stuck there one more day, coming out of pier repair mode.

Finally, in the afternoon, there's a carrier strike of 50 Kates escorted by 26 A6M2 Zeros, and 24 A6M3 Zeros from an unknown location. The Kates strike the airfield, but do minimal damage.

By the end of the day, neither the port or airfield has any damage.

Is this all about sinking destroyer O'Brien? Unknown at this time. But it's time to celebrate two working torpedo hits on the CVL!

In other news, Deboyne airfield is now level 2. Rabaul has a lot of task forces, more than can show up on the mouseover. One is a big transport task force. I believe KB is still there. I'm getting the feeling that the enemy may land some troops somewhere, having gained confidence at Woodlark Island.

My 4 carriers leave Luganville and start to move west. I'm not reacting to the enemy near Nauru. That is apparently a "mini-KB", and I don't see any invasion shipping on the way there.

[apbarog]

14 Jan 43

I sent a subchaser up towards Horn Island, knowing that there are subs on the route. They find I-165, but don't engage. I also wanted to show activity toward Horn Island. Activity that isn't really going there. Yet.

Near Nauru Island, sub Sawfish spots a couple of cruisers and a destroyer making a run toward the island. No torpedoes are fired.

At Nauru Island, enemy ships arrive, and destroyer Yamagumo hits a mine, lighting it on fire and doing heavy damage. It's a probable sinking, in my opinion. Good to see that my 200 mine field doing some good.

Then the big ships of the task force bombard. Battleships Hyuga and Ise and cruisers Furutaka and Chikuma bombard. One shell finds destroyer O'Brien, raising its system damage to 51. It's too damaged to run away now, so it stays, but I'm not putting it in pier mode.

Damage from the bombardment is heavy to the troops. Lots of non-combat troops are disrupted, with 11 guns destroyed and 42 disabled. 11 vehicles are disrupted. The guns that were destroyed were mostly coastal guns, ones that did fire on the ships but got no hits.

Today no enemy ships are seen near Nauru, but I have no real search arcs in the area. I do see high detection levels between Nauru and Truk, which is logical.

My carriers continue west, south of the Solomons. CV Wasp will be fully repaired at Sydney tomorrow, and will join the other carriers. There are still a huge number of ships at Rabaul, including KB, and many other types of ships. I have to think that something big is brewing. Why else would they all be there and just sit there? I will prepare with this in mind, until it is time to make my next move.

Fun item for today is that I have a Brit battleship task force bombarding Cocos Island tomorrow. Cocos is just an airfield 1, and my ships are not spotted. This is just a nuisance raid that I hope raises some alarm bells on the other side of the map.

[apbarog]

15-16 Jan 43

I landed a tiny Australian raiding unit at Choiseul Bay, just east of Shortlands. This was danger close to the enemy. I used 2 APDs to unload at night. Unfortunately they didn't leave during the day, and KB moved one hex southeast of Rabaul, just within range. One APD was sunk. The base appeared to be empty, so I set it for attack for tomorrow.

22 Bettys with 15 Zero escorts hit Nauru. I had movced 24 F4F-4s in, and many Zeros and Bettys are shot down. A few Bettys drop bombs on the port, doing almost no damage, and DD O'Brien is not hit.

But the Zeros from Kusaie come to Nauru sweeping, and many F4Fs are lost. Total losses are 9 Zeros, 7 Bettys, and 9 F4Fs.

Some of my B-17s in Australia hit Port Moresby's airfield, just to keep it damaged. I don't know how many engineers are there, but the airfield repair is almost nonexistent. I don't have to revisit often at all.

On the 16th, I-30 sights sub Swordfish near Rossel Island, but misses with 4 torpedoes.

I moved 6 PT boats to Woodlark Island and they do find 2 APDs and a DD, but the fight is brief and no hits are achieved for either side.

At Cocos Island, my Brit battleships finally bombard the island. They were supposed to hit on the 15th, but moved to within 2 hexes of the island instead. I wasn't spotted thought. Damage was poor considering 2 battleships were used. Minimal damage to the airfield and port. Useful intel was gained though. I knew that 1/3 of the 32nd Infantry Division was here. I discovered that both A and B are here. I already know that C is at Christmas Island(IO).

I sweep Woodlark from Rossel Island with F4F-4s, but find no enemy. My carriers moved near Tagula Island, hoping to hit ships at Woodlark, but they are gone. One of my carrier task forces is spotted. I'll move south and disappear again. CV Wasp is ready at Sydney, but I'm waiting for 2 battleships to finish repair in the next 2 days, and then all will rejoin the carriers.

At Choiseul Bay, many Sallys and Helens bomb my troops. My deliberate attack finds that there are enemy troops here! That was a surprise. The attack goes off at 1 to 99 and I lose almost my whole unit (which was only 11 or so squads). The enemy shock attacks and finishes off the 1st Fiji Commando unit.

Was this unit para dropped onto me? I don't know. It was a shock attack. I hadn't seen any units before, but I could have just missed them. Regardless, it's a tiny setback. It was just a probing landing and provoked a response.

I did try an artillery attack at Munda, now that my infantry regiment has all of its support devices, and has supply with a controlled hexside from Vangunu, but I found evenly matched sides, so Munda will remain contested but still controlled by the enemy for awhile.

[apbarog]

17 Jan 43

Little activity. An APD slightly damages I-35 near Tagula Island. I did another artillery bombardment at Munda. Forces are about even here. I disable 1 squad. There is steady small boat activity between Rabaul and Shortlands. Supply and men probably outbound from Rabaul. KB is not sighted today, but is probably at Rabaul.

I send my 4 carriers to Townsville after disappearing today. They've shown themselves near Rossel Island, that's good enough for now. They will go to port and do some minor repairs. Townsville is a port size 7 now.

Next on the agenda is an invasion of Tabiteuea. This is waiting on Lexington and CVEs from Pearl Harbor.

It was amusing to see 2 SigInt messages of enemy activity at Cocos Island. No doubt that my bombardment stirred up some excitement.

I have 8 Fletcher class destroyers now. They will be due a nice refit in February, so I've tracked them down and they will do that upgrade here and there. Then I will be bringing them together. Not having played Allied before, I'm interested to see what they can do. They've never been used collectively and aggressively against me when I played the Japanese.

Big things are planned after Tabiteuea.

Turns will be more sporadic through the next holiday week.

[BBfanboy]

Townsville seems a little close to the front for CV repairs with KB hanging around the Coral Sea. It could easily sprint down to Townsville and hit your CVs while they are repairing. All he needs is a sub/Glen recon or some other indication they are there.

[apbarog]

You're right BBfanboy. I won't be disbanding the task forces entirely, just swapping a ship or two into port to get rid of some SYS damage. I want to stay as close to Milne Bay as possible, ready to counter anything coming my way. I don't think anything is coming, but I want to be ready. Other than that, I'm just waiting for all of the pieces to come together for future ops.

[apbarog]

I actually have 12 Fletcher class DDs now, not 8. I have 8 at ports, with another 4 in task forces. I will refit them all as fast as possible.

[apbarog]

18 Jan 43

Between Saipan and Truk, sub Sargo takes a shot at destroyer Akigumo, but misses. I wonder if there is a damaged ship here heading north.

No other action.

What I'm calling Mini-KB is sighted near Truk, reportedly heading to Truk. KB is still at Rabaul.

My 4 carriers will arrive at Townsville. North Carolina has joined Wasp waiting to leave Sydney. Some troops and supply are unloading at Nauru and Ocean Islands. Small convoys continue to come and go at Milne Bay and my islands to the east. All continue to build.

An interesting note for today was an enemy recon of an Allied dot base east of Timor. That's way behind enemy lines, but there's enough paranoia to warrant a search. Dot bases along the Australian coast southeast of Darwin have also been occasionally looked at. I haven't dropped any troops into places, but there may come a time to do so.

Lots of stuff moving around. Shuffling some island garrisons to maximize future offensives.

[apbarog]

I did get confirmation that cruiser Nachi was sunk on 22 Nov 42. This was the cruiser that hit mines at Milne Bay during a bombardment/raid. Always good to find out that something really did sink.

I did receive a turn today, which was unexpected with the holiday. I'll do my turn and update later tonight.

[apbarog]

19 Jan 43

Sub Grampus takes a depth charge on the enemy route from Rabaul to Torokino. The enemy subchasers are getting more effective, especially the ones dropping 4 charges at a time. I've moved most of my subs a bit farther south of Rabaul for now.

At Nauru Island, Zeros from the north sweep. P-39Ds engage. 7 P39s are lost, while downing 4 A6M2 Zeros. Not great but not terrible. DD O'Brien is still here repairing, and small convoys continue to come and go, so it's worth protecting.

I've moved some Bolo bombers to the northern tip of Australia near Horn Island. The bomber pilots are well-trained for ASW. I have a B-25 doing ASW also, between bombing missions. The B-25s get the first reported hit on a sub in this area.

KB moved one hex southeast of Rabaul, as usual. It's almost always at Rabaul or here lately. I've tried mining this coastal hex, but been unsuccessful, with the mines being found immediately. I do have the enemy spending fuel on hunting mines in lots of places.

A few of my cruisers and destroyers are swapped out of my carrier task forces at Townsville, with some now taking care of minor repairs. CV Wasp leaves Sydney heading north to join the other flattops. BBs North Carolina and Washington are with Wasp, with their repairs done also, including the fixing of the main front gun on Washington.

Lots of movement going on for the Allies, but little action at the moment. It's coming, I promise.

[apbarog]

20 Jan 43

My subchasers near Portland Roads find I-174, and get a good hit on it. Not enough to sink it though.

At Buna, I send my B-17s. They find Oscars and Zeros on ranged CAP from Lae, but only about 30 of them. Only 1 bomber is lost, but damage to the airfield is only moderate.

Some B-25s and B-26s hit Port Moresby's airfield, finding no CAP, and do moderate damage.

My subchasers near Ontong Java find I-38 and get a good depth charge hit.

My more aggressive use of ASW in the Solomons has resulted in the enemy pulling back subs a bit. They are no longer between Guadalcanal and Luganville and Noumea. All are near enemy bases in the Solomons, with some by Ontong Java, and some near the Horn Island approaches. The Horn Island ones are the ones being spotted and attacked by bombers now, with my subchasers patrolling also.

Mouseover recon at Munda shows that the enemy has been reinforcing, with 4360 men reported, when the total was in the 3 thousands recently. I know that SSTs have been used, and there's been an uptick in very small boat traffic, probably some barge traffic here. Too many enemy fighters based in the area to contest. I don't really mind the stalemate at Munda right now. I have the adjacent base and control the hexside, allowing for supply to flow. Vangunu is building.

It is also worth noting that Nauru AF became level 2 today, and Milne Bay's AF became level 4.

[apbarog]

21 Jan 43

Enemy troops land at Wessel Islands, one of a few Allied dot bases between Normanton and Darwin along the Australian coast. The enemy has been watching the bases for awhile now. Now a couple of ships have used fast transport to land a small unit.

Near Portland Roads, my subchasers get a good hit on a sub. There's a chance that it's the same sub damaged yesterday.

A few of my heavy squadrons bombed Horn Island's airfield. No CAP is found, but damage is minimal.

I've ramped up my use of Cats for transporting in troops to my dot bases near Milne Bay. I hope to use these islands for mutual air support for Milne Bay.

I got my first PB4Y long-range recon planes. I'm splitting the 8 plane unit. One fragment has moved to Nauru, and will start doing recon of Truk. THAT should stir up some concern. The other fragments will move to Alice Springs and Portland Roads, where they will watch northern Australia and beyond.

Munda now shows 4900 troops. The number is slowly increasing.

[apbarog]

22 Jan 43

A US group of 4 destroyers on ASW duty finds a sub between Cooktown and Milne Bay, but does minimal damage.

At Nauru, the Zeros from Kusaie Island sweep again, and this time get the better of the P-39s on CAP. 7 P39s are lost, shooting down 2 Zeros. I swap out the P39s with P40Ks.

I bomb the newly arrived troops at Wessel Islands, north of Normanton, Australia. The unit there is the 69th JAAF AF Company, so a very small unit.

It is interesting to note that there are enemy troops on Kiriwina Island now. This is northeast of Milne Bay. Also, I got SigInt that a part of the 9th Infantry Division is at Umboi Island. This island guards the route up the east coast of New Guinea.

My Brit battleships that bombarded Cocos Island will return to Diego Garcia today. One battleship will withdraw very soon.

I move my carriers and most of my combat ships from Townsville to Rockhampton. The base got a minimal detection level today. I don't think it was from recon. Townsville has been ignored so far. To be safe, I'll stay a bit south until needed.

[apbarog]

23 Jan 43

The only activity today involved Nells flying out of Lae. In the morning, 9 Nells with 9 Zeros attacked one of my subchaser groups near Portland Roads, but the torpedoes missed. One Nell was shot down by flak. I figured that my subchasers would get some attention soon, and was right. Unfortunately for me, in the afternoon, the same Nells targeted an xAK convoy that had just left Milne Bay, and was one hex south of the base. An xAK and a PC were lost. I'd gotten a little lazy here, I admit. I've been careful plotting task forces inbound to Milne Bay, making sure that they would arrive at the base and not be caught almost at the base. But with the lack of enemy bomber activity recently, I stopped being careful with ships finishing unloading, and was letting them leave immediately. I should have kept ships there and had them depart at night, allowing them to put as much distance as possible from the enemy bases by daylight. I will do so again. At least the ships were leaving and the supply had been delivered.

I'm now doing recon of Truk every day from Nauru. That has to be a bit unnerving for the enemy. I look at Rabaul every day. (KB is still there). I am now starting to look at Koepang on Timor, as well as Kavieng. Those PB4Y's are awesome for recon with their long range.

[apbarog]

24 Jan 43

I-169 finds the 4 unescorted nice sized xAKs that departed Milne Bay, but misses with 2 torpedoes. This is the task force that lost an xAK and the escort to Nells yesterday. The ships are running south unescorted and hoping for the best. I was fortunate that the sub didn't attack with guns also.

The big show today was at Tagula, where 41 Tojos swept the skies, finding 20 P40Ks on CAP and downing 11 of them, for no loss to themselves. Not even an Ops loss. My forward bases with just one squadron of fighters, no matter the type or pilot skills, are vulnerable to the big sweeps. After the Tojo sweep, 28 Zeros swept also, but only found 1 Allied plane still flying.

I have to either stack multiple fighter squadrons, like I'm doing at Milne Bay, or not defend a base at all. I don't have enough fighters to stack everywhere, so for now I'll pick and choose what to defend on, changing it up daily. I will defend bases when convoys arrive to unload, but I'll be more selective otherwise. My time for air dominance will come, just not yet. I still don't have the extra airframes.

Some extra SigInt today. 9 Div/B is at Lae. I already know that 9 Div/A is at Umboi Island. There is another full division at Lae, I just don't know which one yet. I got 3 bits of intel about Palembang: 13 Garrison Unit, 22 Air Flotilla, and 23 Tank Regiment are there. I find the tank unit most interesting. This is definitely a defensive arrangement. I just wonder what if any the effect was of my bombarding Cocos Island. I wanted an effect, and I'm hoping that units are beefing up that area.

Today I did long range recon again of Truk, Koepang, and Kavieng. Truk has very few fighters but almost 90 ships in port. No carriers spotted, but with so many ships there, that is not conclusive.

I switch to looking at Darwin today.

My carriers are now at Rockhampton, with many ships tidying up their SYS damage.