Longer term yes but modern ships exist in theater now, installing radar sets on the older cruisers will take time. One of Somerville's valuable RFAs just got put on the bottom so he will probably be amenable.
April 1942 Alternate Indian Ocean
- Thread starter Zheng He
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Longer term yes but modern ships exist in theater now, installing radar sets on the older cruisers will take time. One of Somerville's valuable RFAs just got put on the bottom so he will probably be amenable.
2000 Hours, 24 November 1942, Trincomalee, Ceylon – The oiler USS Brazos and her escorts, the corvette HMS Aster and the destroyers HMS Paladin, HMS Panther, and HMS Javelin arrived in Trincomalee and Brazos was immediately hooked up to the fuel lines that connected to the base’s tanks. The crews were kept on their ships except for essential officers who needed to go ashore to see to their ships’ needs. Security was tight at Trincomalee. The units assigned to the amphibious portion of the upcoming offensive in Burma were assembled and were now simply waiting for the monsoons to abate.
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0300 Hours, 25 November 1942 Sabang, Sumatra – The Dutch submarine O-19 had just emptied her external mine tubes, sending 20 mines into the harbor at Sabang on the tip of Sumatra. Lieutenant Hendrik Kolling was already taking his boat west at five knots back to the deep waters of the Indian Ocean. He planned to run west until night fall and then he would surface and recharge his batteries and head north toward the Andaman Islands for the next phase of his mission.
0700 Hours, 25 November 1942, Force A Eastern Fleet, 60 Miles South of Colombo Harbor, Ceylon – The carriers HMS Indomitable and HMS Hermes turned into the wind and launched their air groups. Indomitable was headed for the United State for a refit and her planes were staying on Ceylon either to serve as a fleet reserve or to help equip the escort carriers that were inbound. Except for her Fulmar and Albacore squadrons, they going north to India and Burma to support the Army from land bases. For HMS Hermes and her crew, it would be a brief layover in port as they prepared for their next mission, whatever that was. At 0800 hours, the task force turned north for Colombo.
nbcman
Donor
Yep since that is the CL's name back in this post which described the start of the supply run.
0800 Hours, 25 November 1942, Chittagong, India – It was time to start clearing some of the freighters out of the area. Departing for Trincomalee were 24 of the cargo ships and the RFA Eaglesdale escorted by the Indian sloops HMIS Indus, HMIS Sutlej, HMIS Hindustan, and HMIS Cornwallis and the merchant cruiser HMS Corfu. It would be a five day transit. The convoy was going to hug the coast of India to avoid air attacks and submarines but that would add almost 200 miles to the trip.
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1000 Hours, 25 November 1942, Port C, Indian Ocean – With six empty freighters, the destroyer transports USS McKean and USS Talbot and the merchant cruiser HMS Alaunia departed Port C for Fremantle. From their the destroyers would pick up a coastal convoy and head north to Darwin and begin making runs to Timor. HMS Alaunia would continue with the all important but thankless job of escorting convoys across the trackless wastes of the Indian Ocean.
nbcman
Donor
Is there something missing or misspelled in the underlined sentence? Or is it jargon that I am unfamiliar with? Thanks.
Given the distance and escort, I believe the missing word is 'day'.
nbcman
Donor
I don’t think so. I checked the travel time between the two ports and it is more than 4 days traveling at 10 knots in a more direct fashion and faster than what the convoy is most likely doing.
EDIT: According to this site, it is 5.5 days to travel 1314 nm between the two ports at 10 kts in a direct fashion.
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Actually they are going to Trincomalee, not Colombo and by going near the coast it is 1360 statute miles and or about 1180 nautical miles or about a five day trip at 10 knots.
1200 Hours, 25 November 1942, Akyab, Burma – The ongoing lousy weather was hampering both the Japanese and the Allies and their plans for offensive operations in Burma. At Akyab the 21st East African Brigade and 123rd Indian Brigade (11th East African Division) were dug in and had expanded their perimeter in preparation for an expected Japanese attempt to capture the valuable port. South of Akyab, the 47th and 55th Indian Brigades of the 14th Indian Division had begun pushing south along the coast and initially they made good headway but the combination of weather and resistance from the dug in 123rd Infantry Regiment of the Japanese 33rd Infantry Division had brought their progress to a standstill. North of Akyab at Cox’s Bazar the 88th Indian Brigade and 1st Burmese Brigade of the 1st Arakan Division were positioned to support the East African and Indian troops at Akyab and guard against any Japanese attempts to outflank the garrison. They were in turn backed up by the 6th British Infantry Brigade at Chittagong.
For the Japanese things were not any better. Lieutenant General Iida, commanding the 15th Army had made it clear that Akyab was to be taken and further British advances down the coast halted at all costs. The 55th Infantry Division was detailed to capture Akyab but the like the 14th Indian Division’s initial movements down the coast, the weather and dug in defenders made advancements next to impossible. Iida wanted to pull additional troops from the 33rd Division to support the offensive but he needed them to guard against Allied advances along the Chindwin River while the 56th Division guarded Burma’s frontier with Yunnan Province in China.
For commanders on the both sides, the last days of November were a frustrating waiting game where their ambitions were stymied by the same physical forces of nature that military commanders had been dealing with for centuries.
For the Japanese things were not any better. Lieutenant General Iida, commanding the 15th Army had made it clear that Akyab was to be taken and further British advances down the coast halted at all costs. The 55th Infantry Division was detailed to capture Akyab but the like the 14th Indian Division’s initial movements down the coast, the weather and dug in defenders made advancements next to impossible. Iida wanted to pull additional troops from the 33rd Division to support the offensive but he needed them to guard against Allied advances along the Chindwin River while the 56th Division guarded Burma’s frontier with Yunnan Province in China.
For commanders on the both sides, the last days of November were a frustrating waiting game where their ambitions were stymied by the same physical forces of nature that military commanders had been dealing with for centuries.
1600 Hours, 25 November 1942, Trincomalee, Ceylon – Her fuel tanks empty, the oiler USS Brazos and two empty freighters escorted by the corvette HMS Aster and the destroyers HMS Paladin and HMS Panther departed for Colombo where Brazos and the freighters would join a convoy bound for the Persian Gulf.
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