[Fritz]

Week 1, June 1944

Much of the naval power in the pacific is tied up getting repairs. All but 5 battleships are in port repairing wear from active operations. Several fleet carriers are in Pearl, upgrading their AAA, and all but 2 are in port somewhere. The critical shortage of navy pilots is keeping air wings from flying full staff, so the carriers have been largely withdrawn.

Without carriers, most naval operations come to halt. So things are slowing down a bit.

The allied submarine campaign is also in a lull, with well over half the undersea fleet in port for repairs.

Central
For well over a month V Corp has battled Japanese forces on Guam. The entrenched defenders are yielding ground slowly though. The pace of the campaign has delayed the invasion of Tinian, but Operations officers say that Guam is in mop up and Tinian can proceed. The remaining at-sea Battleships (all slow battlewagons) along with a collection of cruisers and destroyers operating out of Guam have spent a week pounding Tinian. 20,000 Japanese are estimated on the island, and the Navy has been tasked with reducing that number. Marine and Army air strikes, with a sortie rate of over 200 per day, have been blistering whatever targets they can identify.

The USS Franklin Carrier Task Force operating west and north of Iwo Jima has struck several ships. It looks like the Japanese are moving a lot of men onto the volcanic island. Long range bombers operating from the Japanese home island have launched several strikes against the Task force. The bombers, without escorts, have been easy pickings for the Hellcats of VF13.

South West (NG)
The buildup of forces at Aitape continue. Several new escort carriers have entered the theater and should be in Gili Gili by June 12th. These CVEs will join the forces on the north coast of NG for a push west and north. Army and Marine Paratroopers have been alerted to prepare for potential airdrops.

The 9th AUS division, formerly at Port Moresby, has loaded on transports bound for northern NG. The division will be used in operations against Wewak and Madang.

South West (DEI)

The 1st AUS Cav division has been loaded onto combat transports at Darwin with orders to sail for Samrinda. The lightly armed division will march from Samrinda to Tarakan. With Balikpapan and Tarakan in allied hands, the Japanese will have lost oil rich southern Borneo. The 4th AUS Division, soon to disembark at Darwin, has been tagged as the theater reserve. The Dutch government in exile has pledged their full support in the liberated areas.