Krieghund,
So, to further clarify, here’s the following situation:
My Fleet of 9 Super Subs, 2 Destroyers, and 1 Battleship attack my opponents fleet of 3 transports, 3 Aircraft Carriers, 1 Cruiser, 1 Battleship, and 6 Fighters.
My Super Subs all hit, but my other ships all miss. My opponent must choose all of his ships as casualties, including his 3 transports, right? Then his Fighters fire back hitting 3. I “soak” 1 hit on my Battleship, and take the 2 Destroyers as casualties. Round 2, I choose to retreat, because the only units firing would be my lone Battleship against the 6 Fighters.
Is the correct interpretation of the rules?
If so, then my opponents big mistake was having no Destroyers with his fleet.