Part 94: Operational Report: 10/03/42

The gunners at Batavia continue to make life hell for the attacking Japanese forces.



The set five ships on fire and send two task forces retreating due to damage, if only all our coastal gunners were this good.





Apparently unhappy with the damage that she did to the Hornet Yesterday, the I-24 once more penetrates the destroyer screen around the damaged carrier and puts another two torpedoes into her side.



Unsurprisingly, with over 60% flooding yesterday, the Hornet, who was already listing badly, soon rolls over and sinks beneath the waves.

Gentlemen, we have lost our first large carrier.
To a submarine.





The enemy land troops at Malang, just south of Soerabaja, and our planes go out to try and harass them, but are unable to get a hit on any of the attacking ships.



The guns at Batavia continue to damage the unlaoding troop ships, while the men on the gorund take heavy losses trying to hold back the Japanese Army.







There is a small raid of Nells on the Yorktown, but the CAP is able to deal with the three planes easily enough.



It seems that the large attacks yesterday have depleted their numbers somewhat.

There are also several raids on Eniwetok, but they are all beaten off by the flack put up from the defenders of the island.







For anyone missing the bloodbath that is Sinyang, the enemy make another push today after having a break from getting slaughtered yesterday.



This place must be the worst area a Japanese soldier can be posted to, akin to Stalingrad for the Germans – thousands of men are dying daily for a peace of land with dubious tactical value.





The Japanese advance in Burma continues at a slow rate, it takes time to travel any distance in this terrain, and that is giving us time to build up our defences in India.









Nothing really to say here, we lost the Hornet, and the Japanese carrier in Wake got away, I now need to withdraw the Lexington and the Yorktown, as they are now the full sum of my active carrier forces, and look like being so for a while now, until I get the other two repaired.

On the bright side, I do get the British carrier HMS Formidable in two days, and then the HMS Illustrious in 38 days, but its June before I see another large American carrier in the shape of the Wasp.

Either way, this is a major blow, and one the Japanese will be crowing about for a long time to come.