The Pacific War... in models!

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I guess this is a good enough topic for me to mention this. If anyone is interested, there will be a two-hour program on the History Channel tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. that's basically about how America and President Roosevelt reacted to the attack on Pearl Harbor within the first 24 hours.

Same here.

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Today is the 70th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

At around this time (a little after 10:00 Eastern, 5:00 Hawaiian), the heavy cruisers Tone and Chikuma launch floatplanes from their catapults, sending them out on a reconnaissance mission to Pearl Harbor. The Strike Force is now between 300 - 200 miles north of Hawaii. The seas are still rough, with the flight decks of the carriers pitching and rolling.

Outside of Pearl Harbor, the destroyer USS Ward is currently searching for a reported submarine that has been sighted by the converted minesweeper USS Condor. Condor sighted a periscope at around 3:42 Hawaiian time, and signalled the Ward by blinker. Ward has been on search ever since, sweeping the waters in an attempt to locate this mystery submarine.

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At 6:00 Hawaiian time (11:00 Eastern), the carriers turn north, into the wind, and the first wave is launched. The Japanese embassy in Washington is supposed to deliver the declaration of war to Secretary of State Cordell Hull before the surprise attack, but incredible inefficiency prevents this from happening. By 6:15, the first wave is in the air and heading for Hawaii. It conists of: 40 "Kates" armed with torpedoes, 49 equipped with bombs, 51 "Val" dive bombers, and 43 "Zeke" fighters.

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At 6:33, a patrolling PBY Catalina flying boat spots what could be the same submarine or perhaps a different one. It's tailing the USS Antares, a repair ship that's towing an empty steel barge into the harbor (probably trying to sneak in under the barge's wake). The PBY drops smoke pots over the midget sub, and alerts the USS Ward, which is still in the vicinity. The destroyer immediately alters course and begins heading for the smoke pots.

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Two five inch shells from USS Ward slam into the conning tower of the midget sub, which turns out to be a Japanese Type A Ko-kyoteki, one of five which had been sent out from larger I class submarines to attack Pearl Harbor, or attempt to stop ships from fleeing. This occurs at 6:45

The midget begins taking on water, and slips beneath the waves. Ward circles the spot and drops depth charges just to be sure, but this sub's career is over for good, as the shell hits ensure a swift death. The "Advance Expeditionary Force", as the midgets were called, were mostly a failure. One was sunk by the Ward, another ran aground on Oahu (where her crew become the first prisoners of war for the US), a third is rammed and sunk in action by USS Monaghan during the air attack, a fourth is lost in action to one of the cruisers in Pearl (mostly likely USS St. Louis, with the assistance of destroyers), and the fifth managed to penetrate the harbor successfully, and photo evidence indicates she fired torpedoes into Battleship Row.

This last was found outside of Pearl Harbor, and she was most likely scuttled by her crew, as those were the orders for the midgets after they made their runs.

At 6:54, the Ward radios in her contact with the enemy midget. Due to a delay in decoding the message by a yeoman (who wasn't exactly on the ball), the 14th Naval District duty officer, Harold Kaminsky, doesn't receive the message until 7:12. Kaminsky passed it on to Admiral Bloch, who ordered the duty destroyer, USS Monaghan, to get up steam and assist the Ward. At around 7:25, Admiral Bloch passes this message onto Commander V. R. Murphy, the Cincpac duty officer, who belatedly relays it to Admiral Kimmel, commander of the US Pacific Fleet. Congestion in the switchboards slows the arrival of this message, and Admiral Kimmel is on his way down to Pearl Harbor HQ in response to this when the first bombs begin to drop. Hence, Ward's first shots of the war are not passed on in time, and this first action gets swept under the rug.

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Morning colors are about to be raised (8:00), when at 7:55 the attack begins. A bomb explodes on Ford Island, and soon, the battle is on. The senior officer afloat is Rear Admiral W. R. Furlong, aboard the minelayer USS Oglala. He commands Mine Force Pacific Fleet, and upon seeing the "meatball" insignia on the attacking planes, signals for all ships to sortie, though many do not have steam up, and a sortie proves impossible under the conditions.

Regardless of the attack, the American crews gallantly hoist their colors and begin firing back, the sporadic bark of the anti-aircraft batteries mixing with the explosions of bombs and torpedoes. From Ford Island, Rear Admiral Patrick Bellinger broadcasts: AIR RAID, PEARL HARBOR - THIS IS NO DRILL.

It is the start of 1,364 days of war for the United States.

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The second wave swoops in at 8:40.

A breakdown of damage to the Pacific Fleet is as follows:

West Virginia: 6-7 torpedoes (one probably from a midget sub), and two bomb hits. Prompt counterflooding by her crew eases her list, and she settles into the mud on an even keel. 105 (including her Captain, Mervyn Bennion) dead, and 52 wounded.

Tennessee: Two bomb hits. 5 killed, 21 wounded.

Arizona: 1 torpedo and 8 bombs. One bomb in particular explodes in a forward magazine, creating a massive blast that kills both Rear Admiral Isaac Kidd, and Captain Franklin Valkenburgh. Her men are entombed below in a mass of flames as she becomes a total wreck. 1103 killed, 44 wounded. Four-fifths of her entire complement are casualties.

Nevada: The only battleship to get underway that morning, she took one torpedo and 2-3 bombs before moving out of her quay, heading for the harbor entrance. Dive bombers notice her moving however, and focus on her, pounding her before she manages to safely beach. She takes 2-3 more bombs, but is hard aground. 50 killed, 109 wounded.

Oklahoma: 5 torpedoes. She capsizes in rapid succession, a total loss. 415 kiled, 32 wounded.

Maryland: 2 bombs, one exploding on the forecastle awning ridgerope. 4 killed, 14 wounded. Least damaged of the battleships at Pear Harbor.

California: 2 torpedoes and 2 bombs. She settles into the mud very slowly. 98 killed, 61 wounded.

Utah: 2 torpedoes. She rolls over rapidly, being a converted gunnery training ship with no weapons, and becomes a total loss. 58 killed.

Raleigh: One torpedo and one bomb, the latter which passes completely through the ship, and explodes underneath. No dead, only a few wounded. Her anti-aircraft fire was particularly effective, and she shot down five planes.

Detroit: Near missed by a torpedo. No casualties.

Curtiss: A seaplane tender which downed several attackers that day, she suffered a crashed aircraft on her crane and a bomb hit, killing 20 and wounding 58.

Helena: One torpedo which passes under Oglala and hit Helena amidships. 20 killed, but her anti-aircraft fire is very effective, and discourages dive bombers from making runs on her.

Oglala: Capsizes from the torpedo damage to Helena. A bomb explodes in between the two ships, and seals Oglala's fate, though she is later salvaged.

Pennsylvania: Flagship of the Pacific Fleet, she takes one bomb that explodes inside a 5 inch casemate. Currently in dry dock, she can't sink, and loses 18 killed and 30 wounded.

Cassin and Downes: Two destroyers in dry dock ahead of Pennsylvania. Burning oil from the next dry dock over engulfs these two ships, whose crews made remarkable efforts in reassembling her weaponry. Ammunition is touched off however, and the Cassin falls against the Downes, burning, though their machinery is later used in rebuilt hulls.

Shaw: Destroyer in drydock near the Pennsylvania, she takes three bombs, one of which blows off her bow. She is repaired.

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Air power is also dealt a great blow at Pearl Harbor today. Ships could fight back, but grounded planes were useless and many were destroyed on the ground. A list of airfields hit is as follows:

Ford Island Naval Airstation: 33 of 70 aircraft destroyed.

Kaneohe Seaplane Base: 27 of 36 PBYs destroyed.

Ewa Marine Corps Airstation: 33 of 49 planes destroyed. Heavy anti-aircraft fire from here minimizes further bombing runs, and keeps casualties down.

Hickam Army Air Force Base: 18 of 51 planes destroyed.

Wheeler Army Air Force Base: Almost all aircraft destroyed (Around 38 aircraft).

Bellows Army Air Force Base: Almost all aircraft destroyed (Around 38 aircraft).

Haleiwa Army Air Force Base: Escaped attack. No plane losses. Planes from here contributed to shooting down several Japanese attackers.

The Army's contribution to the defense of the island was minimal. The Japanese reported almost no counter battery fire coming from Army installations untill the attack nearly ended, as most of the ammunition was locked away for safe keeping.

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With increasingly effective and more numerous anti-aircraft fire, the attack peters out and ends around 10:00. The planes return to the carriers, and Nagumo weighs the option of launching a third strike. But several things help make up his mind. The first is of course that the base is now on alert, biting back more fiercely with each passing minute. The carriers are not present as well. Where are they? They could happen upon the Striking Force by sheer chance and catch them unawares. Third, the heavy smoke is making targets more and more difficult to pick out. Fourth, every minute he spends at his launching point is another minute the US can use to locate him.

Feeling that his primary goal (the neutralization of the US Pacific Fleet) has been met, Nagumo orders the carriers to make a fast run for the Marshalls at 13:35, once all the surviving planes had been recovered. The destroyers Ushio and Sazanami are detached to bombard Midway Island. The carriers Hiryu and Soryu, along with the heavy cruisers Tone and Chikuma, and the destroyers Urakaze and Tanikaze, are also detached to support the upcoming attack on Wake Island (which I'll reenact with models).

The Pacific Fleet may have been neutralized, but Pearl Harbor as a base was not. The repair yards and facilities are all left intact, as are the massive tank farms, containing 4,500,000 barrels of oil. Had those been attacked as originally planned, Pearl Harbor would have been unservicable as a base, and the Pacific Fleet would have had to move to the west coast for repairs. As it was, the raid was a stunning short term success, but a strategic failure, as the repair yards commence operations immediately to get the Pacific Fleet back in operation. During the battle, Japanese aviators did not stick to the plan of taking out the repair facilities, and instead focused on the ships, which while their primary goal, were overly focused on at the expense of not touching the land facilities. They most likely got carried away in the heat of battle, as ships made far more promising targets than repair yards. Whatever the reason, it would cost the Japanese in the months to come.

The Japanese now prepared to unleash a massive blitzkrieg style offensive on the Philippines, Guam, Wake Island, Malaya, and the Dutch East Indies.

The Japanese lost 15 dive and high level bombers, 5 torpedo planes, and 9 fighters, as well as five midget submarines. Losses totaled 64 killed, and 1 prisoner of war.

American losses were as follows:

Navy: 2,008 killed, 710 wounded
Marine Corps: 109 killed, 69 wounded
Army: 218 killed, 364 wounded
Civilians: 68 killed, 35 wounded.

Total: 2,403 killed, 1,178 wounded.

I chose not to reenact Pearl Harbor in models, namely for two reasons: The actual battle itself was very confusing, and it would be impossible to meticulously track it minute by minute as I like doing. For this, I apologize, but figured it would be far easier to not attempt to set it up minute by minute, and second by second.

From here on out however, the battles are much easier to follow and track. Therefore, I shall be posting pictures for each of the tactical progressions via my models, and look forward to taking this rather in depth gaze into the Pacific War with you all over the coming years. 1,364 days of war.

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So today, the Japanese blitzkrieg begins in earnest. As this is the Pacific War in Models, I'll be primarily following naval battles as they come up on their 70th anniversaries. The first one I'll be taking an in-depth look at will be...

THE LOSS OF FORCE Z

The Japanese launch a series of blitzkrieg attacks at the commencement of the Pacific War, and one of these is aimed right at the Malay Peninsula in an attempt to wrest Singapore from Britain, which in turn will secure the Japanese right flank for their offensive on the Dutch East Indies.

Japanese aircraft from Saigon conduct bombing raids on Singapore today, and the HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse return fire with their anti-aircraft batteries, though the day is overcast, and no hits are scored on the attacking planes, and likewise, no damage is done to the British ships.

Japanese troops made several landings on the peninsula, swiftly overwhelming the British defenses and catching them unawares (the British had anticipated the Japanese to land further north, on the Kra Isthmus). The Japanese do land there on Kra, but they conduct landings further south as well. They manage to fool the British into thinking their sole objective is Thailand (which they do invade), but they manage to strike multiple targets at once, including Malaya, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Wake Island, something none of the Allied leaders thought the Japanese capable of.

The Japanese have air superiority from the start of their offensive in Malaya, as the few British planes available for defense have their hands full attacking the multiple landing points.

Admiral Tom Phillips, head of Force Z, knows that the Japanese are landing to the north, and also knows that without the carrier Indomitable. he has no air cover, as the RAF is completely occupied. However, he receives assurances from General MacArthur in the Philippines that General Brereton will commence bombing runs on Saigon and other Japanese airfields in Indochina in order to neutralize their air power. Unfortunately, the Philippines are attacked much harder than MacArthur anticipates, and much of Brereton's force is destroyed on the ground while the rest are steadily overwhelmed by Japanese aircraft from Taiwan. Had the Americans in the Philippines struck first, they could very well have taken out Japanese air power in Taiwan and Indochina, but despite their 6 hours' advance warning of the outbreak of war, nothing is done, and the Japanese get in the first blow.

Acting under the false assumption that Japanese air power will be destroyed, Admiral Phillips decides to uphold the tradition of the British Navy, and sorties with Force Z at 17:35 today. He has the battleship Prince of Wales, the battlecruiser Repulse, and the destroyers Tenedos, Vampire, Electra, and Express. He is faced by only the Japanese light cruiser Sendai and several destroyers. His force could easily annihilate the Japanese surface forces in combat, but unknown to him, the Japanese transports complete their unloading by nightfall today, and are already starting to head back north.

Admiral Phillips steams into the night, intending to engage the Japanese surface forces in a decisive engagement, not aware that most of General Brereton's B-17s have already been destroyed, and can lend him no assistance in this campaign.

The destroyer Tenedos is absent from these shots for two reasons. She wasn't with Force Z during the battle (she had engine trouble and had to turn back), and they don't make her model, so I just decided screw it. Tenedos isn't present. She would be behind Prince of Wales if she were, though.


Force Z from an overhead angle.


Force Z from the side. Destroyer Electra in the foreground. Repulse behind her, Prince of Wales in left rear, Vampire out in front, and Express on the far side.


Another overhead shot, this time from behind the formation.


HMS Prince of Wales, flagship of Admiral Tom Phillips.


HMS Repulse.


Australian destroyer Vampire.


British destroyer Electra with Force Z in the background.


Force Z steaming toward their date with destiny.


Another frontal shot.

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At 18:30, as Admiral Phillips nears his destination, Japanese search planes are spotted, and Phillips realizes that he's not as well protected as he initially thought. Thinking hard on his next move, the Admiral decides it's no longer worth the risk, and he orders Force Z to turn around and make all steam back to Singapore. He dispatches the Tenedos to go ahead of him, as she's running short on fuel, and also to pass the word onto Admiral Palliser and apprise him of the situation.

Had Admiral Phillips stayed his course through the night, it is likely that he would have reached Singapore safely and saved the battle force, but unfortunately, the night was not over, and fate had other planes for Force Z...

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Receiving inaccurate intelligence that another Japanese landing has been made at Kuantan, Admiral Phillips decides to turn Force Z around back to the north, and search for the landings there. Unfortunately, no landings were made, and Phillips's bravado will end up endangering the entire force and dooming it.

I will be away a good chunk of tomorrow giving a tour, so I won't be able to post photos until later on, but I will be getting those up all the same. The battle starts tomorrow.

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Sorry for the hastily taken photographs, but I was away most of the day, and barely had time to squeeze this in. Better than nothing I guess. Wake Island is coming up tomorrow as well, and I need to start setting that up. Fortunately, I should be around, so I can take my time with it.

Anyway, here is the conclusion to the loss of Force Z.


At roughly 11:15, the first of several waves of bombers attack Force Z as they're heading north. Phillips had been unable to locate the landing site (it never existed in the first place) but stubbornly persisted in trying to find the transports. Because of the unpreparedness of the Japanese squadrons, they're launched in waves rather than a concerted attack. Through skillful weaving and effective anti-aircraft fire, the bombers and torpedo planes all miss, with the Repulse steering a more southerly course, and the Prince of Wales a more northerly one. Only one bomb hit is scored on Repulse, and it does little damage. Five of the eight bombers took hits, and this first wave peels off and retires.


Somewhat back in formation, a second wave attacks the ships at 11:40. Repulse's skipper handles her like a frigate, and she manages to dodge all torpedoes launched at her. However, Prince of Wales takes one torpedo on her port side, right near the stern at the port side propeller shaft. This allows water to start flooding in, and she develops a list, and power is knocked out to her 5.25 inch guns, and only two remain operable after this, meaning the flagship is now almost defenseless against further air attacks. She also slows to 16 knots, cutting her maneuverability down considerably. Her electric steering goes out shortly after as the flooding increases down the propeller shaft, and soon, she becomes completely unmanageable. The rest of the attack scores no further hits.


The third attack swoops in at 12:20, and three more torpedoes slam into Prince of Wales, this time on her starboard side. Repulse, which had been lucky so far, has nowhere left to run as the bombers split into two and attack her from both sides. If she turns one way, she avoids one attack but ends up running into the other. With nowhere to go, the old battlecruiser takes four torpedoes on her port side after having dodged 19 previously.


Not having the modern protection and subdivision that Prince of Wales has, the battlecruiser fills rapidly and rolls over onto her port side at 12:33, sinking shortly after. Captain Tennant had ordered abandon ship, but even so, she takes 513 officers and crew down with her, though Captain Tennant survives.


Vampire and Electra move to pick up the survivors from Repulse while Express goes alongside Prince of Wales to start taking off crew. The final attack comes in at 12:40, and though only two of her 5.25 inch guns remain operable, Prince of Wales defends herself, and takes one bomb hit which unfortunately explodes where many of the wounded had gathered, killing scores of them amid their agony. The last wave departs, and Force Z is left to its fate as Prince of Wales's list gets worse. She's listing to port instead of starboard, where she took more torpedoes, as the damage is worse on her port side.


Prince of Wales rolls over and capsizes at 13:18, taking 327 of her crew with her, including her Captain and Admiral Phillips. Her bottom strikes Express as she rolls over, and nearly capsizes the British destroyer, but Express thankfully rights herself, and continues to pick up survivors.


The survivors of Force Z start making their way back to Singapore, escaping any further air attack for now, but Force Z has been crushed, and nothing substantial now stands between the Japanese and their drive down the Malay Peninsula. The Japanese suffered only the loss of three aircraft in return for the sinking of one battleship and one battlecruiser. Pearl Harbor had been immobile ships, but Force Z was a battle fleet at full steam, and it still aws sunk. Air power was proving its dominance over the protests of the nay sayers who claimed a fully prepared battle squadron could fight air attacks off.

OK, I'm doing the first part of the attack on Wake Island tomorrow! The Allies, and the United States in particular, will finally draw blood on the Imperial Japanese Navy! Stay tuned!

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The next battle I'll be discussing is the:

FALL OF WAKE ISLAND

Wake Island was in the process of being converted to a fully functioning airfield and submarine base by the United States, but was not complete by the time the war broke out. The Japanese needed to secure Wake to protect the Marshall Islands from bombing runs which could be staged from there, and Wake would provide a convenient stepping stone for an invasion of Midway Island.

The island had only been occupied by the United States military since August 19th of 1941, and the garrison consisted of 447 Marines of the First Defense Battalion under Major James Devereaux, a Marine Corps air unit, and 1,146 civilian contractors working for the Contractors Pacific Naval Air Bases Company, a defense contractor that fought very hard for the contract to construct the airfield on Wake. The Marines had six 5 inch coastal defense guns, twelve 3 inch antiaircraft guns, twenty-four .50 caliber machine guns, and some .30 caliber machine guns for beach defense. They also had twelve Grumman Wildcats

The Japanese commenced bombing runs from the Marshalls against Wake on 8 December, destroying seven Wildcats and damaging another, though this one was repaired. Some of the coastal defense guns were damaged, and all civilian facilities were destroyed, including the hotel for the contractors.

The Japanese invasion force responsible for occupying Wake came from the Fourth Fleet, with Admiral Sadamichi Kajioka in his flagship, the light cruiser Yubari. Two ancient light cruisers, Tenryu and Tatsuta, also accompanied the force, which was made up of six old destroyers, the Mutsuki (January), Yayoi (March), Kisaragi (February), Hayate (Squall), Oite (Pursuing Wind), and Mochizuki (Full Moon). Two troop transports carrying 450 troops were scheduled to land after the cruisers and destroyers had softened the island defenses up.

Fortunately for the Americans, all their coastal batteries were still operational, and the Japanese overestimated the effects of their bombing runs. Assuming the Americans were demoralized and weak, the attack force commenced its run on the 11th at 5:00.


The line of destroyers waited in the rear for the cruisers to bombard the island. They slowly inched their way forward toward the island while the cruisers opened up. At this point, Major Devereaux and his men held their fire, giving the impression that the island had no further defenses capable of stopping the Japanese attack.


The three cruisers turned to port, and started the bombardment at 6,000 yards from the island.


Flagship of Admiral Kajioka, the light cruiser Yubari.


Light cruiser Tenryu.


Destroyer Mutsuki. All the destroyers were of the same class in this attack.

The shellfire hits oil tanks on the island, which soon go up in flames, but the coastal batteries remain untouched. At 5:30, the Japanese cruisers turn to starboard, cutting the distance down to 4,500 yards, but still, the Marines hold their fire.

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At 6:15, the Marine guns open up after another turn to port was conducted. Yubari is hit about three times, one shot holing her under the waterline. Admiral Kajioka orders his flagship to retire to the southwest. Yubari is seen in the center, retiring. Three destroyers (Hayate, Oite, and Mochizuki, right side of photo) now start following the two remaining light cruisers (center), in order to screen the transports, but they start taking fire as well, which they return.

Another group of destroyers (Yayoi, Mutsuki, and Kisaragi, left side of photo) is making its way northward, hoping to come around Wake on its eastern side and rake it, but they too start taking fire from Battery B on the north side of Wake Island.

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At 6:52, three hits are scored on the Hayate, lead destroyer of the eastern group. Her magazine erupts, and she sinks with the loss of all hands, 168. Mochizuki is hit, as is Oite, the latter suffering 19 wounded, and those two destroyers decide they've had enough, and peel off to the southwest, leaving Hayate's survivors to drown.

The western force, covered by the light cruisers, gets into action with Battery B, which scores a hit on Yayoi, the lead destroyer, killing one of her crew and wounding seventeen. The destroyers start doing damage to Battery B however, and sever its fire control communications in the counter fire. But more hits are scored; one on Tenryu, and several on the destroyers, and this force begins to turn away from the island as well. The Marines get ready to launch their Wildcats in pursuit.

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At 7:24 the retiring western force is attacked by four Grumman Wildcats, which drop bombs over their position. One of them manages to strafe the forward torpedo tubes of the Tenryu, wounding five and disabling three torpedoes as well as putting the launcher out of action.


Another Wildcat, commanded by Captain Henry T. Elrod, manages to plant a bomb on Kisaragi's stern. The rearmost Japanese destroyer, which had been carrying a large number of depth charges, explodes, her depth charges going off and blowing the destroyer apart. She takes all 150 of her crew with her to a watery grave at 7:31.

However, the victory is somewhat soured by three of the Wildcats being so badly damaged that they are no longer operable upon returning to Wake. This leaves the Marines with only two remaining aircraft. However, at the expense of only 1 killed, the Americans have inflicted over three hundred casualties on the Japanese, and repulsed the landing attempt on Wake Island. The Marines were hopeful that reinforcements would be forthcoming from the Pacific Fleet, but an unfortunate set of circumstances would doom Wake to share the fate of Guam, the Philippines, and Malaya. However, December 11th, 1941, would always be a proud moment in history for the United States Marine Corps, as they fended off any further serious Japanese attempt to take the island for a little less than two weeks.

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It was a not a very merry Christmas for the Marines on Wake Island 70 years ago. Yesterday, after enduring intense and punishing aerial bombardments that destroyed the last of the Wildcats, Wake Island surrendered after a hard fight when the Japanese landed. The Japanese detached the carriers Soryu and Hiryu to assist in pounding Wake, an Admiral Kimmel, commander United States Pacific Fleet, sent out the USS Saratoga, newly arrived from San Diego, to attempt to relieve the island.

But the aggressive Kimmel, trying so very hard to remove the stain that Pearl Harbor had left on his reputation, was relieved the day after Saratoga left, and Kimmel's choice for task force commander was unfortunate in that he picked Frank Fletcher, when he should've chosen Saratoga's commander, Aubrey Fitch. Fitch was an experienced carrier commander, but Fletcher, a cruiser commander, was senior, and dallied to the east of Wake, failing to close with the Japanese, and completing his refueling only the day before Wake fell.

Major Devereaux had difficulty in getting his men to surrender, as Marines don't surrender easily, but eventually, on 23 December, 470 Marines and 1,146 civilian contractors became prisoners of war of Japan. 49 Marines, 3 sailors, and 70 civilians lay dead on the island. 820 Japanese were killed in the landings, and 333 were wounded, but the massive Japanese force eventually overcame all opposition, and took the island for their empire.

Fletcher was recalled as he was making up his mind about whether or not to close the island and risk battle. The USS Lexington was nearing his position, and USS Enterprise could easily have been added as well, but Admiral Pye, Admiral Kimmel's interim successor, felt the risk was not worth it once the Japanese had landed on Wake. Exaggerations of Japanese strength cropped up everywhere, and Pye figured it was not worth the risk to the carriers to engage in combat, and recalled them, leaving Wake to its fate. It was too late anyway. Fletcher was still 425 miles from Wake, and most of the Japanese surface forces had already withdrawn out of range by the point that Fletcher was even considering making his attack run. However he STILL could have attacked the defenseless transports and garrison of Wake, and many of his men urged him to do so, but he chose to follow orders, and withdrew.

Next, I will be discussing and showcasing the battles for the Dutch East Indies. With Malaya, the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Burma all in dire straits, and Wake having fallen, the Dutch East Indies were next on Japan's list, and they faced an Allied force that was disjointed and struggling to pull itself together. We'll follow the battles over the next two months, and see what happens.

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While I will not be directly reenacting this engagement, today, January 24th (it's after midnight where I am), is the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Balikpapan. The Japanese were by now well into their offensive into the Dutch East Indies. Malaya was still being hard pressed, and the Philippines had all but been isolated as well. The Japanese started their offensive into the Dutch East Indies with landings on Borneo and Celebes. Dutch forces on Celebes mostly capitulated today, but there was a somewhat significant surface action off Borneo as well.

Admiral Glassford, head of the ABDA Command's striking force, was ordered to break up the landings that were being made at Balikpapan, off the coast of Borneo. Unfortunately, his two light cruisers both missed the action. USS Boise hit an uncharted reef and had to retire, and USS Marblehead had one of her engines go out on her, reducing her to only 15 knots. The four destroyers USS John D. Ford, USS Pope, USS Parrott, and USS Paul Jones were ordered to cut loose, attack the transports, and then rendezvous with Marblehead afterward.

Commander Talbot did a rather good job, and was helped by the fact that the transports had come under Dutch submarine attack earlier in the night. Admiral Shoji Nishimura, in charge of protecting the transports, led his one light cruiser and nine destroyers further out to sea to conduct anti-submarine sweeps, allowing Talbot and the destroyers to sneak in undetected. The transports, silhouetted by the burning Dutch oil fields on shore, were easy targets for the Americans. Unfortunately, many torpedoes missed their mark or were duds. The attack was made at very high speed, and shooting off torpedoes in the dark back then did not always yield fresh results. The battle lasted roughly 50 minutes, from 03:00 to 03:50, during which time the American destroyers sank three transports and a patrol boat before retiring after having expended their torpedoes. The Dutch submarine K-XVIII accounted for a fourth transport earlier that night.

Admiral Nishimura never turned his ships around to protect the transports, as he assumed the attacks were still coming from submarines, and kept his escorts too far out at sea fruitlessly searching for them. He never imagined the Americans would be so bold as to attack with only a mere four destroyers.

This was the first US surface action since the Battle of Manila Bay in 1898, and while four ships were sunk, there were still eight transports remaining, and they had already completed their unloading before Commander Talbot had even shown up. So while the battle was significant for being the US Navy's first surface action since 1898, it did nothing to slow the Japanese offensive, and Borneo fell only a few days later. The destroyers had given a good account of themselves though, and all escaped without harm (save for the Ford, Talbot's flagship, which took a 5 inch shell from one of the transports which wounded four but killed none on the destroyer), and all made their rendezvous with Glassford in the Marblehead at around 08:00 this morning, safely retiring out of harm's way.

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Hey guys, so I know I've been really lax on this, and that's mostly for lack of time (though I've still set up every major battle on its anniversary).

So! Actually... I've had a further idea on this. Since I now have the rules' book for the Micronauts game itself, and I've been playing with a few friends, I was wondering if any naval/air enthusiasts out there would like to join me for a game or two? My fleets are now rather quite large, and I'm working on expanding them weekly. I still only have the Japanese Imperial Navy and the United States' Navy, as well as a few British and Dutch units, but I'll be working on getting others as time and finances permit.

My friend and I are currently doing 70th anniversary reenactments (meaning Cape Esperance is coming up soon) but we're also doing what I call "Campaign Mode" where our ship losses are permanent for the rest of the game and can't be gotten back (this of course adds an interesting inhibition to play, as players are now less likely to act with reckless and wild abandon if they want to preserve their fleets).

I have boards that I set up, and the rules are easy to learn and fairly straightforward as well (with attention given to detail and accuracy). We could play over Skype (which is free to download) and I could use my webcam to give the other player a good view of the overall map and the models. We could also play whenever time permits, as I myself have a busy schedule, but I usually set some time aside on the weekends for this (or slow weeknights).

Anyone interested?