Strategy in 'East of Suez'
Operational Scenario 2:
'Operation TRANSOM,' Part 3
By Doug McNair
August 2007

The Allied effort to get the carriers Saratoga and Illustrious to the American base at Manus reaches its denouement in today’s episode of my OPERATION TRANSOM replay.

As Day 4 of the scenario ended, the Japanese carrier Zuiho’s attempt to bring Illustrious to battle in the Savu Sea ended in flames. Admiral Sommerville split Illustrious’ escorts off for a nighttime intercept mission that caught the Japanese carrier by surprise and ended with three torpedoes from the Australian and Dutch destroyers Napier and Van Galen vaporizing Zuiho. The French battleship Richelieu and Sommerville’s flagship Renown sent the Japanese battleship Haruna to the bottom as well, but Haruna sank the British cruiser London, and Zuiho’s destroyer escort put several Long Lance torpedoes into Richelieu and Renown and slowed them down to Speed 2 and 1 respectively.

That, plus an extra turn which Sommerville had to spend refueling his destroyers, means the Japanese air force on Java will have several opportunities to strike at Sommerville’s fleet before it can escape Japanese airspace. And then there’s the Japanese carrier Zuikaku, which avoided a similar maneuver by the carrier Saratoga’s escorts in the straits west of Ceram, and which is now in a position to launch a morning airstrike on Saratoga — if the weather does not interfere.

The battle continues.

Day 5: May 19, 1944

Turn 25

The weather worsens on both halves of the map, turning to Squall in the west and Rain in the east. This is a mixed blessing for the Allies. It will keep Zuikaku’s planes on deck and makes it impossible for the Japanese air force to locate Sommerville’s fleets, but it will also keep Saratoga from putting up ASW aircraft and gives the subs dogging her extra cover against Allied destroyers.

The two surviving ships from Zuiho’s task force make port at Soembawa and will spend six turns there refueling, rearming with torpedoes and getting a new Intercept mission (picking off stragglers is all they can hope for now).

Sommerville steams one zone southeast on the damaged Renown along with the rest of the ships from the task force that sank Zuiho and Haruna, while Illustrious stays in place to let Sommerville catch up and to refuel the New Zealand destroyer Nepal. Saratoga’s task force and that of her rearguard both steam one zone east, since Saratoga has to keep putting distance between herself and Zuikaku (not to mention get away from the Japanese subs). The destroyers of her rearguard are down to only 7 fuel but can’t afford to stay in place and refuel now because that would put them outside the range of Saratoga’s CAP. Zuikaku moves three zones northeast to keep pace with the Allied fleets but stay away from Saratoga’s rearguard (she does not want to star in a sequel to Zuiho’s performance of last night). All three Japanese I-boats fail to get firing solutions on any of the ships with Saratoga.

Turn 26

The weather stays squally in the west but improves to Cloudy in the east. That’s what Zuikaku was waiting for. She puts two steps of Zeroes up on CAP and four steps of Judies up on Search, and leaves two steps of Zeroes and four steps of Jills in the Ready box for a strike on whichever Allied fleet she spots.

Saratoga replies with two Hellcat steps on CAP and three TBM steps on Search, and keeps her dive bombers and her last step of Hellcats in the Ready box for a strike on Zuikaku. Zuikaku’s search planes go out . . . and roll a 1 and a 2, failing to spot either Allied fleet. Saratoga’s search planes go out and roll a 4 + 1 (for three steps searching) – 2 (for range) – 1 (for Cloudy weather) = 2, just barely failing to spot Zuikaku. Neither carrier can launch an airstrike this turn, but there’s one more turn of daylight left.

Illustrious steams two zones southeast to get as far away as possible from the Japanese air force while Sommerville steams one zone east (that’s as fast as the damaged Renown can go). Saratoga and her rearguard steam one zone eastward, and Zuikaku hugs the coast of an island, zigzagging southeast and northeast to avoid Allied surprises while maintaining current range to the Allied fleets.

The Japanese subs in the straits between Ceram and Halmahera fail to contact Saratoga’s group, but one of them rolls a 9 and gets a spotting report on her rearguard while another rolls a 12 and can attack any ship in the group. The I-boat goes in, and the Allied ASW roll of 4 + 1 (for 5 DDs in the group) fails to hit the sub or drive it off. The sub fires torpedoes at the only capital ship in the task force, the battleship Queen Elizabeth. It rolls a 5 and hits, doing 4 Hull damage (12 Japanese VPs).

The Allies would really like to reunite their two eastern task forces before nightfall to maximize their destroyer screen, but that will slow down their efforts to get out of the sub patrol zone and keep their distance from Zuikaku, so for now they’ll keep steaming east.

Turn 27

The weather stays squally in the west but worsens to Rain in the east. This will make ASW rolls even harder for the Allies in the sub patrol zone, but will also make it harder for the carriers to spot each other.

Zuikaku puts an extra step of planes up on Search (they make the take-off roll in the rain), but Saratoga doesn’t have the planes to spare or risk in the rain. Zuikaku rolls a 2 and fails to spot Saratoga’s rearguard, but rolls a 5 + 2 (for five aircraft steps up on Search) – 2 (for the fiv-zone range to Saratoga) – 2 (for Rain weather) = 3, which spots Saratoga’s group. And the American CAP rolls a 4 – 1 = 3 and fails to intercept the search planes! Putting up those extra search planes made all the difference. Saratoga’s search planes roll a modified 0 and fail to locate Zuikaku. A Japanese carrier will finally launch an airstrike.

But first the fleets move, with both eastern Allied task forces steaming the one zone they can go without leaving the wounded battleship Valiant behind or exhausting the fuel of the rearguard’s destroyers. Saratoga moves southeast while her rearguard moves to keep itself between Saratoga and Zuikaku.

Zuikaku, emboldened by her sighting of Saratoga and relying on the Japanese subs to slow the Allied fleets, moves two zones southeast to close the range on Saratoga to four zones while getting within two zones of Saratoga’s rearguard. Illustrious moves two zones northeast again since the weather is protecting her from the Japanese air force, and Sommerville continues to steam east, ending up two zones behind her.

Then the Japanese subs try to torpedo more Allied ships. One makes contact with Saratoga’s group but fails to get a firing solution, and the rest get nowhere with Saratoga’s rearguard. It’s all up to Zuikaku.

She launches her airstrike . . . and loses one step of Jills to a bad takeoff roll in the rain (6 Allied VPs). But the remaining two steps of Zeroes and two steps of Jills fly the five hexes to Saratoga’s location and roll a 5 – 1 (for the rain) = 4, successfully locate her and go in for the airstrike.

Saratoga’s CAP rolls to intercept, and rolls a 5 – 1 (for rain) + 1 (for radar) = 5, and intercepts the strike. Two steps each of Hellcats and Zeroes go after each other, and each side scores one hit. Each side scores 6 VPs, and the Zeroes drive off the Hellcats so the Jills can hit the Allied ships at full strength. The Allied player sets his ships up on the battleboard .  .  .

and can put up 10 dice worth of AA fire around Saratoga. Odds are the Jills won’t get through that, and even if a Jill step does it’ll only hit Saratoga on rolls of 6 due to the –1 dieroll mod caused by the rain. But the wounded battleship Valiant is slowed to Speed 1+, meaning they can hit her on a 5 or 6, and the Allies can only muster seven AA around her.

So the Jills go in for the kill on Valiant, since sinking her would not only score plenty of VPs but also take out five AA factors defending Saratoga. The Allies fire AA at the Jills and score one hit, killing one step of them (6 Allied VPs) but failing to screen out the other. The Japanese torpedo planes go in and attack Valiant with three dice . . . and roll two fives for two hits (the fives wouldn’t have hit Saratoga, so it was a good call). They roll a 9 and a 10 for damage, doing 8 Hull and sinking Valiant, which had only 5 hull left! That scores 87 – 27 (the VPs the Japanese had previously scored for airstrike and sub attack damage against Valiant) = 60 VPs.

The surviving Zeroes and Jills head back to Zuikaku with a tale of victory, and prayers to the gods that morning brings clear weather for the final strike on the American carrier. Unfortunately, when they get back to Zuikaku another step of Jills is lost to a bad landing roll in the rain (6 Allied VPs), so the omens for tomorrow may not be as good as they thought.

On the other hand, American omens aren’t that great either, since they lose a Hellcat step to a bad landing roll as well (6 Japanese VPs). Both sides are able to salvage some carrier aircraft that were damaged rather than destroyed due to bad landings (per the Leyte Gulf special rules section), so it’s not a total loss for either side.

Turn 28

The weather stays squally in the west and turns squally in the east. Night falls, and while Saratoga’s rearguard would love to go in for a torpedo run against Zuikaku, the destroyers that would be doing the torpedoing are down to four fuel. They’re not going anywhere but out of the sub patrol zone.

Zuikaku doesn’t know this, of course, so she retreats four zones northward with plans to refuel at Moratai and then go in for another strike in the morning. Illustrious steams two zones east to try to close the distance with Saratoga while making sure she’s out of Japanese airspace in the morning, and Sommerville follows as best he can.

The subs in the straits west of New Guinea miss Saratoga’s group, and get a spotting report on her rearguard but fail to get a firing solution.

Turn 29

The weather stays squally in the west but turns stormy in the east, slowing Zuikaku down to a maximum move of 2 and preventing submarines from making contact dierolls. This, plus the unlikelihood that Zuikaku will be able to launch an airstrike in the morning, means that Saratoga now has a chance to reunite with her rearguard, refuel the destroyers and thus improve her ASW defenses.

She and her rearguard move into the same zone near Salawati, while Illustrious keeps steaming eastward at maximum speed to close with Saratoga and put herself between the Americans and Zuikaku. Sommerville brings up the rear. Zuikaku steams two zones toward Morotai.

Turn 30

The weather turns to Gale in the east, slowing all movement down to 1 and preventing everyone from doing anything else. Illustrious and Sommerville catch up to Saratoga a bit more, and at the end of Day 5 the score is Japan: 239 to Allies: 324. The Japanese are closing the victory point gap.

Day 6: May 20, 1944

Turn 31

The weather evens out to Storm on both halves of the board, so nobody will be flying or making sub recon rolls. Zuikaku makes port at Morotai to refuel, and Illustrious steams east at maximum speed while Saratoga and Queen Elizabeth start refueling British and New Zealand destroyers.

Turn 32

The weather stays the same, so Illustrious keeps closing the distance while Zuikaku’s fleet refuels at Morotai and Saratoga and Queen Elizabeth refuel a third and fourth destroyer.

Meanwhile, the now rearmed Japanese light cruiser Noshiro and destroyer Yamagumo leave Soembawa to pursue Sommerville’s force in hopes of catching them at night and avenging Zuiho with a Long Lance torpedo run. Their exit from port is very well timed, because an American sub flotilla that failed to catch the Japanese Reaction Force when it entered the Java Sea has spent the time since then moving in on the Japanese ports. Only the stormy weather prevents the American submariners from attempting contact with the Japanese exiting Soembawa.

Turn 33

The weather worsens to Gale in the west but slackens to Squall in the east. Zuikaku, not wanting to get caught between Illustrious and Saragota, steams two zones due east while Noshiro and Yamagumo make their slow way through the Sape Strait in the gale. Saratoga and Queen Elizabeth refuel a fifth and sixth destroyer while Illustrious makes it to the Ambonia Strait and Sommerville keeps steaming east. The Japanese subs moved east of Saratoga into the straits west of Sansapor during the storm, expecting Saratoga to go there rather than hold position all this time, so they’re too far away to make a sub contact roll for now.

Turn 34

Night falls, and the weather goes back to Storm on both halves of the board. Zuikaku steams two zones southeast at an oblique angle to Saratoga, while Saratoga and Queen Elizabeth refuel a seventh and eighth destroyer, which gives all the British Empire destroyers there half a tank while the American DDs have 21 fuel left. Illustrious closes in from the west, and the Japanese subs keep moving eastward through the straits to maximize the number of shots they’ll get at Saratoga and Queen Elizabeth once they get underway.

Turn 35

The weather turns back to Gale in the west but stays stormy in the east. Queen Elizabeth and Saratoga combine task forces and let Illustrious catch up, and Zuikaku steams two zones eastward, putting more distance between herself and the evidently-combining Allied carrier forces.

Turn 36

The weather slackens on both halves of the board, to Storm in the west and Squall in the east. Zuikaku steams three zones southeast to put the Japanese sub flotilla directly between her and the Allied carriers, and the subs move east to close distance with Zuikaku.

Day 7, May 21, 1944

Turn 37

The weather stays stormy in the west but slackens to Rain in the east. With the current distance to Zuikaku 9 zones, the Allies think it doubtful that they’ll find her in the rain and don’t want to risk losing aircraft to bad takeoff rolls, but they put up one CAP unit each in case Zuikaku gets lucky. Both make it off the deck fine. Zuikaku does the same and rolls a modified 0 on takeoff, just barely avoiding losing a Zero step.

Then the Allies split their forward task force again, leaving one task force in place and sending the other two zones northeast. Zuikaku moves three zones southwest, shortening the range to the Allies to 7 and putting New Guinea and the subs between her and the Allied carriers.

Turn 38

The weather lets up on both halves of the board, turning Squally in the west and Cloudy in the east. There is no danger of bad takeoff dierolls, so the Allied carriers put up seven steps of search planes between them while Zuikaku puts up three. The Allies roll a modified 2 and just barely fail to spot Zuikaku, and Zuikaku rolls two modified 1s and fails to locate either Allied task force.

Both of the closer Allied task forces move two zones due east. This takes them both into the patrol zone of the three I-boats, and one of them spots the southern Allied task force and reports that it has one capital ship and seven light ships, but no carriers. No subs get firing solutions. Zuikaku moves two zones due south, shortening the range between her and the Allied task forces to 6 (the distance her dive bombers can fly with full bomb loads), and hopefully continuing to lure them through the sub patrol zone.

Turn 39

The weather stays squally in the west but turns to Rain in the east. That works in the Allies’ advantage — their superior search strength gives them a better shot at finding Zuikaku than the Japanese have of finding them. The Allies make a search roll, and roll a 5 + 3 (for seven Search steps) – 2 (for the six-zone range) – 2 (for rain) = 4, and spot Zuikaku. Zuikaku fails to spot either Allied task force, so the Japanese will be getting it in the teeth this round unless one of the I-boats can torpedo one of the Allied carriers first.

Both Allied task forces move right through the sub patrol zone to close in on Zuikaku, and one sub rolls a 9 for a spotting report on the carriers while another rolls a 10 and can attack a destroyer, but none can fire at any carrier. Zuikaku zigs east-northeast, hoping to confuse the Allies into staying in the sub patrol zone as long as possible.

Then the I-boat goes in for the attack on the Allied destroyer, and the Allied roll of 2 doesn’t intercept it. The sub rolls a natural 6 and torpedoes the HMS Queenborough, rolling an 11 for 5 Hull damage and sending Queenborough to the bottom (7 Japanese VPs). The Japanese player asks the gods why that couldn’t have happened with a carrier, because next thing he knows there’s a massive airstrike taking off from Saratoga and Illustrious to hit Zuikaku.

Unfortunately, the Anglo-American effort to coordinate the strike throws confusion on the operation, and one step each of Hellcats and Avengers are lost to bad takeoff rolls in the rain (12 Japanese VPs). But that still leaves a powerful strike force, which flies out to Zuikaku’s reported location and spots her.

Zuikaku’s two steps of Zeroes on CAP intercept them and promptly run into two steps of Corsairs on escort. The Zeroes score just one hit, which is not enough to hurt Corsairs (which take two hits to damage). The Corsairs fire back, and score two hits on six dice, blasting the Zeroes out of the sky (12 Allied VPs). The Allied airstrike goes in full strength, with three steps of TBMs and one step of Avengers attacking Zuikaku.

The Japanese ships are heavily armed with anti-aircraft guns and can muster eight AA factors, but they score only one hit, taking out a step of TBMs (6 Japanese VPs) but leaving three steps of Allied attack planes. They attack with nine torpedo factors, and even though the rain means they can only it on sixes, they score two hits. The torpedoes do seven Hull damage, knock out Zuikaku’s tertiary gun and two of her three AA boxes, and destroy three boxes of Zuikaku’s flight deck, reducing her air unit capacity to zero.

Zuikaku has just one hull box left, she can’t launch airstrikes, and her speed is reduced to 2+, so the Allies will have no trouble catching her on the surface or with an airstrike. Despite the problems getting the final strike flight into the air, OPERATION TRANSOM will go down in history as a shining example of successful joint Anglo-American naval operations against the Japanese.

THE ALLIES WIN!

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