Rising Sun over the Rockies - F.K. vs OSO - Wake captured by US

[FeurerKrieg]

October 19th, 1943
As our submarines and AMCs maneuver in the US shipping lanes, a large convoy comes across the I-32. Not sure if this is a carrier group looking for us or not, but they managed to hit I-32 with several depth charges sinking the submarine. The picture below shows our current locations and movements.
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Raider and sub movements[/center]

No air transports over Chungking today.

[FeurerKrieg]

October 20th, 1943
Our task force hunting subs north west of Eniwetok took another embarrasing hit. The PC Shumshu was hit by SS Cero and sunk. I think this group of ships will head back to Kwajelein for new leaders, or maybe a long shakedown cruise.

We lightly bomber Chungking today, and again there were not transports flying in or out of the base.

Lingayen expanded its airfield facilities today and Saipan expanded its port facilities. (both sz 4)

[rominet]

Funny!!
With our AMC, you do exactly the same i do against Emek!!
The first time they meet ennemy in the middle of ocean i was very surprised but it works.
Well done!![;)]

[FeurerKrieg]

Stay tuned, more AMC action is upcoming...

[FeurerKrieg]

October 21st, 1943
Chungking is bombed by Nells from Changsa and their A6M3a escorts. Our fighters, now in Kweiyang, intercepted another group of C-46s today and six were shot down.

Akyab is hit by Allied bombers from various points of origin in India.

[FeurerKrieg]

October 22nd, 1943
No real action today. Our AMCs continue to move closer together. No sign of enemy carriers, so hopefully we will be able to stick around a bit longer.

[FeurerKrieg]

October 23rd, 1943
Another quiet day. The airfield at Wewak, in New Guinea, is finished up (sz 4) and the engineers there will move on to another base in the area.

[FeurerKrieg]

October 24th, 1943
Quiet in Asia at thunderstorms rage.

Our AMCs have now met up and will be looking for our Glen subs to report some targets.

[FeurerKrieg]

October 25th, 1943
Our Glens spot what appears to be transports heading back to the US West Coast from Hawaii. Our AMCs will move to intercept.

Near Timor, another Allied cargo ship attempts to run west from Darwin. Our new Frances bombers get to make this run and the ship is easily sunk by two torpedoes and four bombs.

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Another ship sunk near Timor[/center]

The Australian armor and infantry forces finally reach Coen and take the empty base back. We can expect to see the airfield their built up. Hopefully the lack of a major road or rail link will make it difficult to keep the base supplied for heavy bombers.

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A lot of troops for an empty base[/center]

[FeurerKrieg]

October 26th, 1943
No action today, but our Glens spot four separate convoys heading from Hawaii to the US. The northern most one seems to have large capital ships with it, so we will avoid that. Below the next couple days movement can be seen. First, we will try to hit the convoy heading northeast, and then come back to hit the ones farther south. Then, if necessary, we can exit the area to the south and head down to the our friendly airspace and waters near the Society Islands, then back to Suva.

Hokko Maru has already left via that route, leaving Akagi Maru, Aikoku Maru and Ukishima to continue the hunt.

[center]
A target rich environment to say the least[/center]

[FeurerKrieg]

October 27th, 1943
Akyab is hit by enemy bombers again.

On the other side of the planet from Akyab, our raiders find an empty tanker convoy heading home. The small subchaser escorting the tankers was quickly sunk, and then our raiders proceeded to put several shells into as many of the tankers as they could before the tankers spread out. Eventually, our three raiders had to reform and let the tankers get away. It is unclear if any will sink, but several were on fire and with luck one or two won't make it home. It was great practice for the AMC gunners regardless.

The tankers were armed with 3in guns, and all three of our ships took a shell or two, but the small guns did little damage and our ships are eager to try to locate another target ASAP. The status of our ships can be seen in the picture below. The damage report regarding the enemy ships is below that.

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A solid blow struck by our ninjas of the sea[/center]

Allied Ships
SC SC-1065, Shell hits 2, and is sunk
TK A.C. Rubel, Shell hits 8, on fire
TK Victor H Kelly, Shell hits 5, on fire
TK Byron D Benson, Shell hits 4, on fire
TK Edward L Shea, Shell hits 4
TK Robert E Hopkins, Shell hits 2, on fire
TK Watertown
TK Brandywine, Shell hits 1, on fire
TK Gulfbelle

A new convoy was sighted heading southwest and our AMCs will try to catch that one. Heading towards Hawaii means the ships are more likely to be loaded with valuable cargo.

[center]
Plans for the next target[/center]

[FeurerKrieg]

October 28th, 1943
No real action today. Our raiders missed their target, but will try against another nearby convoy that is headed east, as shown below. We don't want to head to far west as we will get so close to Hawaii that enemy carriers could find us in one day.
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Plans for tomorrow[/center]

[FeurerKrieg]

October 29th, 1943
While most of the war is quiet, once again, our raiders have found their mark. This time the found their prey at night. Enemy ships carrying troops were found. The two subchasers present split the convoy into two groups which fled our ships. Our AMCs chased on group, sinking the subchaser that was covering that group easily. They then managed to ignite two of the ships. However, our task force commander was eager to claim a confirmed large ship kill and so order our ships to pound the AK Fort St. James until the ship was sunk. Several enemy personnel were picked up and will be kept as prisoners. Aikoku Maru took one 4" shell hit in the battle which did little damage.

Our ships are now down to about 60% of their 5.5" gun ammo, and are all out of torpedoes. Considering the goals of this mission and the risk of remaining on station, the task force will now run south at max speed and attempt to return home in one piece.

[center]
Another juicy target[/center]

Allied Ships
SC SC-1062, Shell hits 4, and is sunk
SC SC-1067
AK William M. Stewart
AK William S. Young, Shell hits 2, on fire
AK William W. Mayo
AK Fort Columbia
AK Fort La Reine
AK Fort St. James, Shell hits 35, and is sunk
AK Fort Turtle
AK Kootenay Park
AK Mount Douglas Park
AK Nemiskam Park


Allied ground losses:
252 casualties reported
Guns lost 4

[rominet]

Do you have still enough ammo?
After a couple of battle, mine were out of and should come back home[:(]

[FeurerKrieg]

They are out of torpedoes, but still have a fair amount of gun ammo left. But they are coming home regardless. I don't want to press my luck.

[FeurerKrieg]

October 30th, 1943
Our raiders run south, and some Thunderbolt II's fly sweep over Akyab.

[FeurerKrieg]

October 31st, 1943
Our fighter fly a sweep over Chungking, shooting down 4 P-40N Warhawks. Other than that, no action.

Our raiders get safer by the day as they move farther south. I won't consider them 'out of the woods' until they are some ways past the line islands.

[FeurerKrieg]

Here is a little chart I made to show how my 4 AMC ships have gained experience. I haven't used them very much because I wanted to wait until the Allied supply lines got a bit longer.

You can see that two of the ships I should have had on shakedown cruises as they could have been gaining some night experience for a while. Oh well.

Also, you can see how much they gained from the recent fighting. Ukishima Maru especially gain a huge amount of night experience from the two battles she took part in.

I do also have some tracking on how many ships they have sunk through the war, and I'll post that at the end of next month in case there are any ships that sunk but aren't reported until November.

[center][/center]

[FeurerKrieg]

A relatively quiet month. Only one major air combat in Burma. Our raiders had some fun and I learned some ideas for our next foray. This raid saw the loss of I-32 - the sub that put two torpedoes into the Battleship Washington. [:(]

1) Put Glens on the AMCs so they can search without giving away they are AMC immediately.
2) Send about 10 non-Glen subs with the AMC's to kill some of the damaged ships that the AMCs don't finish off.
3) Send more Glen subs to provide a great range of target spotting.
4) Put all 4 AMCs together so that when they do find a target, they are more lethal.

The good news is we made it to November and the Kuriles should be safe for four more months at least. The KB has already relocated to Kwajalein to react to any attack on the Marshall's. CVL Ikoma will be completed shortly, and then our last three carriers, Taiho and two Unryus, will all be finished on December 15th.


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Japanese Empire - November 1st, 1943

















[/center]

[FeurerKrieg]

November 1st, 1943
A very quiet day. Our raiders continue to steam south at full speed.