Part 36: Operational Report: 11/01/42
One of the Dutch subs engages a light freighter, possibly attempting to emulate Jarman and his crew, but things do not go to plan when O19 surfaces to engage the ship. The freighter returns fire on the Dutch, and its first shot rips the deck gun from the sub and forces the captain to withdraw.
We have something of a disaster, as a couple of subs that for some reason decided to use the Manilla harbour to resupply. An enemy raid caught them there and destroyed them.
The battle for Clark Field continues to rage, but the enemy has settled down from trying to rush the defences to a more steady approach.
They also land troops in the south at another base, and our troops can only watch as the enemy masses their forces and bombards them.
The Pike finally manages to get a hit that is not a dud – but not before she had to use four of her fish. But the heavy damage is well worth it.
Kuantan continues to get bombed daily, and today we lose a couple of planes defending it.
The enemy also launch several raids against Langsa in Sumatra. Although there is little in the base of value, this may indicate a future invasion of the area, which would not be a surprise, as it would be foolish of the enemy to allow us such a close landing area for any future operations.
Their ground troops continue to close on Singapore, taking Malacca today with another large haul of prisoners.
They have now advanced to within two hundred miles of Singapore, and we only have a few defended bases between them and the British port.
The other main enemy carrier group is now off New Caledonia, and strike at Noumea with little effect, I sincerely hope that they do not swing east towards the area our troops are loading into their ships.
The planes from Ambon continue to raid the enemy across the wave without effect, but at least they are putting up a good showing in the area.
There are more enemy carriers in the area, as an air based attack on Samarinda occurs, whether the enemy are going to give us another shot at sinking them or not is unknown at this time, but we will have to watch the area carefully.
The enemies advance continues, and their carriers seem to be ever present across the waves.
There are reports of a enemy cruiser moving around.
The Saratoga and Yorktown have both finally arrived. They will each need a few days in port to repair the wear and tear damage from their crossing, but apart from that, they are all ready to rock and roll, we now have four carriers in the area.
The Hornet is due to arrive in 33 days. So if we can avoid losing a ship until then, we should have a strong carrier force to deploy.
I don't know if I mentioned this before, but I am awaiting the battleships HMS Warspite and USS Colorado. These ships have been in Seattle since the start of the war undergoing some repairs, and the Warspiteis now ready for action, and the Colorado will be ready in a week. Once they have finished repairs and made it to Pearl, I will use them to support the attacks planned on the Marshall Islands. With four Carriers in support, we should be able to strike at the enemy with ease.
Our only other planned attack - on Luganville is under more threat.
Those carriers could real mess us up, for once, I'm hoping they swing towards Australia, we may lose a few ships there, but no real troop losses, Getting the invasion force sunk would be a disaster.
The Repulse has made Soerabaja, and will get as much support as possible there. 30 days at the pier should help to remove some of that shipping water, and to prepare the ship for the trip to Cape Town.
The Prince of Wales has still not reached Cape Town hopefully she will soon.