U.S.S. Boise blasts Jap transports in Phillipines!

ACTION SUMMARY: It's been a bad day for Allied forces on the ground. The Japanese have captured three base facilities on Luzon. They have also captured a small base on Jolo Island. While December 7th was dominated by air raids, December 8th sees the naval action heating up.
First the light cruiser (CL) Boise, steaming off Palawan on Dec. 7, sped toward the Japanese beachhead at Jolo Island. She caught two transports anchored off the island disgorging their troops, sinking one and critically damaging another. She then broke off and continued SW to join the ABDA forces concentrating off Java.

That was the one naval success. On December 8th, I see my major naval assets all under threat. The Lexington and Enterprise are now speeding SE from their positions south of Midway to join with a SAG group sailing from PH. They will meet just off Johnson Island in case my opponent gets racy with his KB force and races south between Midway and Frigate Shoals. If he knows my carriers are there, he should. I'm moving subs into position to cover my carrer TFs' retreat.

And there is Force Z, which I'm not sure is in "oh shit" trouble or not. The BB Haruna and Kongo (recon flights report a third BB) along with 1 heavy cruiser (CA) and a few DD's were spotted moving SW at high speed just east of Singapore. He is definitely searching for my wounded battleships rather than keeping them at Khota Bharu to support his landings. About eight air strikes were launched from Borneo and Singapore throughout the day and into the evening against his BB's without success.

By nightfall, however, recon flights reported his TF turned southeast... probably to move out of range of my Swordfish torpedo planes at Singapore, which had already damaged the Haruna. I've moved a Dutch sub to intercept. An escort force of a CL and three DD's is following behind the Repulse TF while the wounded Prince of Wales is barely 150 miles from Singapore. Here is the situation as it stands:


The Battle for the Phillipines is heating up with my sub groups moving in on the beachheads. Dutch subs are in position to guard the approaches to Borneo. A destroyer TF I had cruising the central Phillipines is being recalled to Manila. I'll be attempting a risky withdrawal of Gen. MacArthur and Admiral Hart's staff (12,000 men!) at high speed to Australia. Obviously I can't take all his cooks and typists. I did not expect the Japanese to capture these Luzon bases so quickly.


Elsewhere, I have a convoy TF enroute to the Espiritu Santo in the S. Pacific loaded with an engineering battalion. The Japanese continued to assault Hong Kong and Khota Bharu. Wake Island has held off successive Japanese assaults for a second day and holed three ships, including a CL. Semper Fi! Guam fell easily.

I've also deployed about x4 ASW TF's of 3-4 DD's each to clear out the entrances to PH before my carriers arrive back hom. A Jap sub was spotted off San Diego. Three ASW TF's were deployed from the West Coast to watch for these subs. They are gripping the West Coast with panic.

There is lots of recon flights over central China, which leads me to believe my opponent is following up his victory at Nanchang by advancing westard toward Changsa, though I have no planes in China that have the range to find out if his divisions are marching.

Meanwhile, Operation Fullback has stumbled upon a logistical problem. I have no DD's to escort my transports to Andaman. The ONLY two DD's in the Bengal Sea I sent on a replenishment mission to just south of Andaman, in case the Prince of Wales needs a drink on her way back to Ceylon. My forces continue to withdraw from Rangoon. Here is the situation:


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Night Time Surface Combat, near Jolo at 38,59

Japanese Ships
AP Ryoyu Maru #21, Shell hits 22, and is sunk
AP Sangetsu Maru, Shell hits 5, on fire

Allied Ships
CL Boise