Battlestations: Midway/Raid on Balikpapan

Primary Objectives
 * Sink the enemy transport ships
 * The USS John D Ford must survive

Secondary Objectives
 * Destroy the PT Boat Dock
 * Destroy the Fortress

Hidden Objective
 * Complete the mission before enemy backup arrives
 * The USS Parrot must survive

This mission should be relatively easy, but difficulties can arise in the form of enemy destroyers and many, many Gyoraiteis. Be careful particularly of fire damage from the enemy destroyers and water damage from torpedoes. Water is the more common and deadly of the two, however.

Simultaneously, seek to inflict fire damage on the enemy destroyers in particular. This easily causes their fuel tanks or ammo magazines to rupture, sinking them almost immediately. The quicker you sink the enemy ships, the better.

The Raid Begins
This mission is relatively easy - you just have to work quickly. Here you can look at the differences between Fletcher-class and Clemson-class destroyers. The Fletcher is the obvious power in these waters - you'll encounter only Minekaze-class destroyers on the Japanese side, so resistance is overall light. You also have had plenty of anti-shipping experience from Running the Palawan Passage, so this mission should be quite easy for you.

Head for the large mass of cargo ships straight ahead. The first enemy you'll encounter is the Minekaze-class Kawakaze. You outnumber and outgun her, so avoid her torpedoes and simply shell the living daylights out of her with your vastly superior cannons.

The enemy cargo ships are at anchor and therefore don't move, so you can fire torpedoes at extreme range and still hit. Do this with the cargo ship that is moored on an island facing you. Torpedoes have a range of a whole nautical mile, so launch when you can and then consider the cargo ship destroyed.

Four Targets
There are four targets now: The PT boat base, the Fortress, the Cargo ships, and a second Minekaze-class destroyer coming around the headland at the north.

Split your forces in two and send the stronger Fletcher-class destroyer to deal with the Minekaze, and the Parrot to deal with the cargo ships. Swap between the two as necessary and destroy your targets in short order by arcing shots over the hull and onto the cargo ship's flammable decks.

Torpedoes work extremely well on the cargo ships, and two torps at point-blank range is enough to scratch one cargo ship. You have a limited number of torpedoes, but don't worry - that's what they're there for, after all.

Once your Fletcher has dealt with the Minekaze-class destroyer, have it shell the fortress and, finally, the PT boat base. Once all that's done and you've worked quickly enough, the mission should draw to a close in relatively short order. Now all you have to do is get out of there - which the computer does for you.

Enemy Reinforcements
In the event you take too long, enemy reinforcements quickly appear in the form of a Kuma-class light cruiser - the Naka - with destroyer escort. Additionally you fail the hidden objective, so if a gold medal is what you were looking for at the end of the mission, hit Escape and restart the mission.

Alternatively, you can choose to fight the Naka as well. Its guns are much bigger than yours, given that it's a light cruiser and you're only a destroyer - however, the Kuma-class in particular have rather light armament (it's the heavy cruiser class and above that are nasty) and, especially if the Parrot is still available, you can take her on.

The enemy destroyer is faster than the Naka as well, so chances are they'll split up and the destroyer will attack you first, followed by the Naka. Sink the destroyer first and then deal with the cruiser. Since you have the speed advantage, keep your throttle set to full and drive circles around the Naka, bringing all your cannons to bear on the enemy warship. If you still outnumber her at this point and have a solid supply of health, the Naka sinks and you can finish the mission unabated.