Eric
Lew: for this campaign – the storyline, execution and outcome are purely based
on IJN players’ point of view with inputs from the GM (YS Oon) and all players
in the IJN faction (Hyiktsay and Chor Ghee). This is in no way a representation
of actual historical battle that had taken place.
“On 7
August 1942, Allied forces landed on Guadalcanal, Tulagi, and Florida Islands
in the Solomon Islands. The landings on the islands were meant to deny their
use by the Japanese as bases for threatening the supply routes between the U.S.
and Australia, and to secure the islands as starting points for a campaign with
the eventual goal of isolating the major Japanese base at Rabaul while also
supporting the Allied New Guinea campaign. The landings initiated the
six-month-long Guadalcanal campaign.
Taking the
Japanese by surprise, by nightfall on 8 August, the 11,000 Allied troops, under
the command of Lieutenant General Alexander Vandegrift and mainly consisting of
United States Marine Corps units, had secured Tulagi and nearby small islands,
as well as an airfield under construction at Lunga Point on Guadalcanal. The
airfield was later named Henderson Field by Allied forces. The Allied aircraft
that subsequently operated out of the airfield became known as the "Cactus
Air Force" (CAF) after the Allied codename for Guadalcanal. To protect the
airfield, the U.S. Marines established a perimeter defense around Lunga Point.
In response
to the Allied landings on Guadalcanal, the Japanese Imperial General
Headquarters assigned the Imperial Japanese Army's 17th Army, a corps-sized
command based at Rabaul and under the command of Lieutenant-General Harukichi
Hyakutake, with the task of retaking Guadalcanal from Allied forces. Beginning
on 19 August, various units of the 17th Army began to arrive on Guadalcanal
with the goal of driving Allied forces from the island.”
Come
19 August 1942, the IJN were notified an important information that the US
Marines are launching a major offensive against Imperial Japanese Army’s (IJA)
position west of the Matanikau river. If they were to breach through, the
western flank would be exposed. To prevent this, IJN had to secure a local
superiority in the area and to shell Allied positions.
Lead
by Admiral Chor Ghee, forming 2 separate taskforce (Task Force 1 and Task Force
3) consisting of 7 warships with its flagship, battle cruiser Kirishima –
Sailed out to Japanese control section of the Guadalcanal Island and arriving past
midnight. The taskforces were flanked by Admiral Hyiktsay’s task force –
codenamed Tulagi, consisting of 2 warships, on intercept mission around Allied
occupied naval base northeast of Guadalcanal.
0500
hours, while patrolling the waters around IJA occupied Guadalcanal Island,
flashes of light can be seen from the distance on the starboard side of Kirishima.
The light cruiser Yubari (part of Task Force 3) while patrolling the same
waters were able to positively identify it to be USN warships totaling approximately
5 warships.
No
sooner, Admiral Hyiktsay’s Tulagi Task Force radioed in and reports roughly 10
USN warships, with a possibility of a battleship, were also spotted on patrol
on their western side position. Without much deliberation, Admiral Hyiktsay
ordered its Tulagi Task Force to converge with Admiral Chor Ghee’s taskforces.
On
a separate location, Admiral Hyiktsay’s 2 other taskforces – Shodo 1 and Shodo
2 – on an airfield strike mission to supplement an attack on Henderson Field, had
to be called off and to reinforce Admiral Chor Ghee’s position, concluding that
by achieving local naval superiority in and around the area would be crucial to
accomplish the Empire’s objectives.
By
0555 hours, the combined IJN fleet of Admiral Chor Ghee and Admiral Hyiktsay
sailed out to meet the USN warships, knowing in mind at least 1 battleship
would be present and having virtually no IJN or IJA air cover.
IJN Order of Battle:
Task Force 1
Task Force 3
Tulagi Task Force
Shodo 1
Shodo 2
|
Battle Cruiser Kirishima
Heavy Cruiser Chikuma
Destroyer Asagumo
Destroyer Yugure
Destoryer Makigumo
Light Cruiser Yubari
Destroyer Shigure
Light Cruiser Tenryu
Destoryer Uranami
Battle Cruiser Kongo
Destroyer Shirayuki
Heavy Cruiser Kako
Destoryer Shikinami
|
For this
battle and at the result of a dice roll off, IJN would be the attacker with
dawn battle chosen – whereby at battle turn 2 will be day. House rules: We are
using our own tested and proven spot & detection rules. Warships were
grouped together and “blinded” (represented by paper) on the table. Only the
faction’s players and GM knows what consist in the blinds – the other faction
will have to spot them.
“Admiral Chor Ghee, this is Captain Wasabi Nabe on-board
I-21. We had received your orders and will be engaging the enemy. Rest assured,
we will do our best to sink the battleship” – coded transcript.
Pre-turn submarine
strike on battleship Washington scored a direct hit and caused fire.
With
the sight of the rising sun on the horizon, cannon fire soon erupted – none hitting
their mark with close and near misses on both sides.
“Scramble the smoke screen, all ships to maintain distance.
Admiral Chor Ghee, our fleet are converging, maintain port” – Admiral Hyiktsay
Both Hyiktsay and Chor Ghee
pulled a maneuver to combine both of their fleet together with hopes that their
warships able to launch their recon planes to shoot thru the smokes being layered
by the destroyers.
“Admiral Hyiktsay!! Admiral-sama!!” – Shouts from midshipman right after a
thunderous shot rip apart battle cruiser Kongo’s bridge.
At turn 6, the
undetected battleship South Dakota revealed itself and open fire at battle
cruiser Kongo – dealing a bridge critical hit. The situation begin to shift in
favor on the USN side, as the IJN soon realized that they were not dealing with
a battleship but 2 battleships.
“That’s for Admiral Hyiktsay!!” – yelled out by the gunner manning
the Kongo’s main armarment.
Despite the bridge damage,
Kongo still managed to find its mark on battleship South Dakota and causing it
to be on fire.
“My fellow admirals, please sound the retreat and
pull away soonest possible”
– Admiral Eric Lew upon receiving battle updates of Kongo’s fate.
Regaining control and
heeding the advice, Admiral Hyiktsay ordered his fleet to pull away. Unaware of
the capability of Kongo to be able to leave the battle, Admiral Chor Ghee
steered his battle cruiser Kirishima to shadow the IJN exit.
“Admiral Chor Gee, we are unable to go any faster,
we are taking too much water coupled with the fact we are also having a fire
on-board” – Reports from battle
cruiser Kirishima
In a twist of events,
turn 7 proved fatal for Kirishima as it was shot by various USN warships causing
fire and double flooding. Admiral Chor Ghee decision to shadow the retreating
Kongo and not heeding retreat advice was costly.
“We found him along with several others. The raft
at starboard” – On-board Light
Cruiser Tenryu
It would take a further
2 turns for Kirishima to succumb from the numerous USN damage coupled with its
speed reduced to a mere 1 inch per turn. By that time, no other IJN warships
were left in play and none of its destroyers were present to provide
smokescreen cover.
As
it turns out, IJN were not able to achieve naval superiority in the area. Blinded
by its own smoke screen and undermining the capability of the enemy had cost
the IJN an unrecoverable lost. The family shame that brought upon with the lost
of Kirishima would haunt Admiral Chor Ghee as he returns to Rabaul.
Although
IJN can still rejoice as there were no other warships were destroyed, however it’s
also can be said the same on the USN side. Despite the shots from IJN, none of
USN warships were sunk.
The
victory that sought by the Empire is yet to come.