South Pacific 1942: US ships try to interfere with Japanese landing in Dutch East Indies (GQ3.3 Rules)

A continuation of our South Pacific focus on WW2. The aim of this fictional General Quarters 3.3 Naval Wargame was to try out some aircraft rules and my new sea mat with islands. So we had a (static) Japanese Amphibious Landing Scenario on one of the Dutch East Indies islands, which had to be defended against a (mainly) US Taskgroup, looking for it. We used known 1942 units who mostly participated in the 1942 Java Sea Battle as well. To add to the expected confusion of fighting at close range within a Sea Strait, we used general counters for ship miniatures. They only would be replaced by the actual ship miniatures if they were properly detected and acquired. Damage was written down at the ship data cards, but only damage which was visible to the enemy (fire, list due to flooding, etc.) was displayed with proper counters.

The ‘what if?’ scenario

The Japanese Navy consisted this game of 2 destroyer divisions, each consisted of a 1920s Sendai-class light/scout cruiser (WW1 design), leading 2x 1925s Fubuki-class destroyers or 2x 1930s Akutsuki-class destroyers. These were ‘special type’ large 1700 ton destroyers with six 5-inch guns and nine 24-inch torpedo tubes. The 1930 London Naval Treaty tried to limit the development of this type of warship to 1850 ton. In addition there were two brand new, but underarmed and lightly armoured 6-inch light cruisers, IJN Agano and IJN Oyodo (the latter equipped with several unarmed F1M ‘Pete’ floatplanes). The Landing Force consisted of 1 oiler, 1 troopship and 3 LST’s.

        The US attackers had 1 slightly larger destroyer division (the WW1 design scout cruiser USS Marblehead leading 4 old Clemson-class 1000 ton destroyers [WW1 design 4 stackers]). Their cruiser division was the 8-inch 1920s USS Houston (Northampton-class) and 6-inch 1930s HMAS Perth (UK Modified Leander-class), both within the Washington 1925 and London 1930 Naval Armament Treaty limitations. USS Houston was a typical ‘Treaty cruiser’: within the treaty limit of 10,000 ton a fast 8-inch light cruiser. However, her armour could not withstand incoming 8-inch shells. As reconnaissance asset they had a modern but unarmed PBY-5 Catalina flying boat. 

The Japanese combatants had together 25 Victory Points and the US fleet 18,5 VP. As expected most Japanese combatants had Type 90 ‘Long Lance’ torpedoes (60 tubes in total with some reloads), although IJN Agano & IJN Jintsu had the longer range Type 93. The US attackers had 62 torpedo tubes in total, although much shorter range, less damage and without a reload capacity.
The close vicinity of the islands would hamper radar reception; so this type of sensor was no use in the scenario.

Set up
On a 4 x 6 feet table, both 1:3000 scale ships and 1:600 aircraft. Unknown Japanese ships were yellow wooden counters; unknown US ships were red. Distance scale: 1 cm. = 200 m. Wind: from Northeast, Bf 3, visibility: 22.000 yds (determined by dice). Cloudbase at 7,000 yds; density 40%. 

Each Japanese Div. (speed 10 kts) guarded 1 Sea Strait (between islands); DD Div 1 the Southeastern Strait, DD Div 2 the Southwestern Strait and the Cruiser Div. the Northwestern Strait. 

The 2 US divisions sailed in line astern formation with 15 kts. towards the Southeastern Strait. At start of game their Catalina flying boat had just made rendez-vous with them. IJN Oyodo was about to launch 1 ‘Pete’ floatplane into the NE wind.

Turn 1
Japanese Amphibious ships at anchor near the beach. 3 LST’s were used for ferrying troops and supplies towards the undefended beach. All Sea Straits leading towards this beach were guarded by a Japanese DD- or cruiser-division. 

        US Catalina at level 5 (5,000 m.) had eyes on the Southeastern Strait and detected the Japanese 1st DD Div. at approx. 8,000 yds. Her enemy report was not completely accurate: she reported 3 DD’s and 1 CL. As she closed to 5,000 yds IJN Sendai was unable to engage her (her 1917-design old 5,5-inch guns had no AA capacity!) but the more modern destroyer IJN Ushio (Fubuki class) destroyed the flying boat with a lucky salvo from her forward twin 5-inch gun at max. elevation. 

In the meantime IJN Oyodo launched 1 ‘Pete’ floatplane into the NE wind, which climbed to flight level 3 (3,000 m.). Both Japanese DD Div 1 and all US ships became visible & acquired each other. Both sides fired at each other at ranges of 5,000 - 8,000 yds, resulting in several hits. USS Pope and USS Marblehead on fire, as well as IJN Ushio.
The US Taskgroup Commander got word that a fresh reconnaissance plane could not provided within 1,5 hrs. There was no ‘plan B’ as the Allied ships left their float planes at the Dutch Naval Base of Surabaja, because of the fire risk during a naval battle (and the promise from the Allied Air Commander that air cover would be provided during this Raid….).

Turn 2

Japanese Amphibious ships (still undetected) kept unloading their cargo. IJN Commanding officer of DD Div 1 had reported US enemy towards Japanese Taskgroup Commander (onboard light cruiser IJN Agano). Both (undetected) Japanese light cruisers were ordered to help DD Div 1; Undetected DD Div 2 had to expand their cover of the Southwestern Strait into the Northwestern Straits as well. The ‘Pete’ floatplane first flew East (check the Northern direction for any further Allied threats) to turn later towards south towards the incoming known US attackers.
IJN Ushio managed to exterminate her fire, but both US ships were less lucky. Both the US and the Japanese ships accelerated towards each other into the Southeastern Strait. 

The Japanese ‘Pete’ floatplane turned southwest eventually, dived to flight level 1 (1000 m.) and kept a 1800 m. mountain between herself and the US line of ships (right picture). 

        The US and Japanese ships kept firing at each other: IJN Sendai had been hit 6 times at very short range (2,000 yds) but was able to hit the nearby USS Parrott 5 times. However, both ships didn’t show visible damage, like fire, smoke or a severe listing. During the close encounter between the US and Japanese DD Divisions in the 4,000 yds narrow Strait, US and Japanese cruisers in the rear (like USS Houston, HMAS Perth and approaching IJN Jintsu) were unable to engage some enemy targets as they were obscured by ‘own units’ closer by.

Turn 3
The brave crew of the leading IJN Sendai had been able to repair the bulkhead damage and stopped the flooding but the 3 ships of the 1st Japanese DD Division were now very close to the 5 ships of the US DD Division and there was insufficient water space in this narrow Strait to turn around and lure the enemy towards the other Japanese (undetected) cruisers… So the Japanese Div. Commander ordered a torpedo-attack on the enemy and hope for the best. As you would expect, the US destroyers were also preparing a torpedo-attack!

        Suddenly the ‘Pete’ floatplane became visible and turned towards the bigger Allied cruisers with a speed of 350 km/hrs. Most of the US warships opened fire on the floatplane, but all missed! Due to the heavy AA fire the Japanese floatplane turned North finally and left the scene.
        Both IJN Agano and Oyodo cruisers were turning and accelerating towards the incoming enemy, but starting at a very slow speed of 10 kts. that maneuver took a lot of time. Same with DD Div 2: they had to make a great turn with insufficient speed…

In the meantime in the Southeastern Strait both sides fired torpedoes at each other at close range. IJN Fubuki fired 9 torpedoes and did hit USS Paul Jones with 1, which was devastating to her. IJN Sendai was only able to fire 2 torpedoes from port side (the other mount was destroyed during the gun duel), but USS Pope was able to evade those. The 6 torpedoes fired from IJN Ushio missed their target completely as the US destroyers Div. had slowed its speed in response. [after game end I discovered that 50% of the US DD Div. was at that stage limited to 15-20 kts. speed due to battle damage]. 

IJN Sendai was hit by a US 21-inch torpedo which she didn’t see coming and didn’t evade. As the lead ship of DD Div 1 she had accumulated a lot of damage and this torpedo hit finished her off. Both Japanese destroyers were able to evade the rest of the US torpedoes. 

However during the following gunnery exchange both Japanese destroyers were hit badly, resulting in bulkhead damage, severe listing and speed limitations (max speed 10 kts.). All gun turrets of IJN Ushio were destroyed as well, so DD Div 1 was not a fighting force anymore (Div. leader sinking and both destroyers crippled). 

The US DD Div. lost 1 destroyer (USS Paul Jones) and had 2 ships on fire but 2 destroyers didn’t show much damage… Both Allied cruisers were also fully available and the Japanese Taskgroup Commander feared an US attack through the Southeastern Strait on the (still) undetected but now almost undefended Japanese Landing Force…

Turn 4

The Japanese Taskgroup Commander ordered every Japanese unit to come to the rescue. DD Div. 2 accelerated to 25 kts, fired 2 spreads of type 90 ‘Long Lance’ torpedo’s towards the Southeastern Strait and followed these torpedoes in a Line abreast formation in order to be able to fire with the max. amount of front guns (5,5- and 5-inch guns) on the enemy. 

        The Japanese cruiser Div. rushed forward as well but the incoming Allied fleet was obscured by a mountainous island. In the meantime the 2 surviving Japanese destroyers of DD Div 1 tried to turn starboard towards the nearest rocks and beach their crippled ships.

        USS Ford tried to rescue the crew of sinking sister ship USS Paul Jones. As both sides were still very close to each other in the Strait, guns kept firing. IJN Fubuki aft 5-inch guns did hit USS Marblehead a devastating 3 times. The dated US scout cruiser had accumulated a lot of damage during this battle and the crew was exhausted. Morale check: her commanding officer decided to leave the Strait. A couple of officers of the Division Staff onboard USS Marblehead embarked on USS Ford, which was stationary, as she was picking up survivors of USS Paul Jones. USS Ford became DD Div. Commander. 

        The whole US DD Div. slowed down, as they acquired the incoming Japanese DD Div. 2 in the west and apparently expected an incoming Japanese long range torpedo attack. [based on their damage logs, the Div. couldn’t sail faster as 10 kts. I discovered after the game]. The US DD Div. did hit the nearby IJN Fubuki and IJN Ushio with gunfire, resulting in the sinking of IJN Ushio! 

At this long range the Japanese 5-inch guns of the closing DD Div. 2 didn’t hit the US ships. But USS Marblehead did hit IJN Jintsu (flag ship DD Div. 2) at longer range. The slow sinking of IJN Ushio prevented the 8-inch salvo from USS Houston towards IJN Fubuki (at 6,000 yds) to hit her; instead the wreck of IJN Ushio was hit twice.

Turn 5

The devastated crew onboard the battered USS Marblehead was able to repair the bulkhead damage and so they stopped the ongoing flooding. They even managed to repair 1 of the engines. Finally they could leave the Strait to the east… All fires onboard US ships stopped (last one was USS Pope). 

The sole remaining IJN Fubuki was still floating and she crawled with a speed of 5 kts. towards the rocks in order to disembark her remaining crew… 

USS Ford was still stationary next to the sinking wreck of USS Paul Jones. Because no ship from the US DD Div. came round the corner of the Strait, the Japanese Landing Force was still undetected and continued offloading their precious cargo and troops.

The Japanese cruiser Div. finally cleared the island and got full view on the slow moving US DD Div. and Allied Cruisers in the rear. The Japanese DD Div 2 closed in at 30 kts. as well. So the full Japanese Force could engage the closest enemy (and by doing this, protecting the Landing Force). 
        USS Houston saw the danger and fired her nine 8-inch guns at 21,000 yds at IJN Agano but missed. HMAS Perth fired her eight 6-inch guns at IJN Hibiki and destroyed with 2 hits her remaining guns! USS Pope did sunk IJN Fubuki with 3 hits at close range. That was the official end of DD Div. 1. However, during that gun duel, IJN Fubuki managed to hit the shaken USS Marblehead, resulting to (again!) engineering damage!
        All Japanese units focused on the most forward US destroyers, as they could be the first opponents to detect and fire on the Landing Force. IJN Agano hit with her six 6-inch guns USS Parrott 3 times. IJN Oyodo fired her six 6-inch guns as well but missed USS Pope at a range of 15,000 yds. IJN Jintsu did hit USS Ford (Div. Commander) once.
                                        And then reality took over: dinner time!
[After the game I learned that those three 6-inch shells (each 45 kg.) did some serious damage to USS Parrott, resulting in a speed limit of 10 kts., a shattered bulkhead and gunmount. The damage to USS Ford (one 6-inch hit) was less; she was probably the only surviving US destroyer with sufficient speed (23 kts. limit) and all 4-inch guns operational, which could pose a quick threat to the Japanese Landing Force.]

Outcome of this devastating fight:

Although we couldn’t finish the game, this looked a tactical Allied victory (Japan lost more ships) but a Strategic victory for Japan (as the Japanese Amphibious landing was not detected, not interfered with and apparently no Allied plan was expected to prioritize finding these Landing ships). 

Japan lost 1 complete DD Div. (8 VP) and IJN Hibiki lost all her gun mounts (1,5 VP?). 

The US lost 1 Catalina flying boat (1 VP), USS Paul Jones (1,5 VP) and USS Marblehead fled the scene to fight another day (Remark: the rules don’t give VP’s for this?). Looking later at the damage at the end of the game, I noticed that 2 other US destroyers lost quite some fighting value, so USS Parrott and USS Pope lost 0,5 to 1 VP each as well? However on points USA still had a clear tactical win.

        Problem for the US Taskgroup Commander was that he probably didn’t have many torpedoes left and therefor had to send his 2 remaining un-damaged gun-cruisers in the direction of the Landing Force to finish them off. The guns of these 6- and 8-inch cruisers were more numerous and capable compared to the 2 remaining (undamaged) Japanese cruisers (each with only six 6-inch guns), but the Japanese Taskgroup had a better situational awareness (they had visual on all ships), had a simple task (keep the Southeastern Strait closed) and still had dangerous ‘Long Lance’ torpedoes…  So the chance that the Amphibious Landing continued was big.

Verdict
This fictional naval skirmish took us approx. 5 hrs play time to conduct those 5 turns (including making pictures & taking notes). We are still impressed with the Rule Set. So many tactics & scenario’s are possible!
        Lookin at our aims this game: the sea mat with islands was fun. If some Islands influence the game too much in the future, we could use a blue cloth to let some of them ‘disappear’ (so we have more water and less earth).  Hopefully not all games use the tactic of closing the 3 Straits and try to survive (?). Time will tell. 
        In this game we just scratched the surface of Air Operations; only reconnaissance; not even gun splash spotting. Still lots of room of experimenting with air attacks or dogfighting…
        Using the general counters helped realism in the game. In that way an opponent doesn’t know instantly where the big enemy ships are or the biggest threat is, until he actual detected it. 

        We also experimented with not telling your opponent what kind of damage a ship has. Apart from the obvious damage you can see from the outside: fire, severe listing, etc. But damage to torpedo tube, searchlight, DCT, amount of hullboxes hit, etc. you don’t know from an opponent at a certain distance. One learning point: you must tell your opponent your current speed limit. In reality a warship has a decent assessment of the speed of an opponent (based on radar or bearing plot) but within the game that is quite difficult to determine.