Rumble in the N. Pacific. Kaleun vs Alex L

[kaleun]

Jan 3, 1942

Hong Kong falls. Nothing more need be said.

SS-41 At Port. Soerabaja

Short stay for the old boat. Just the time to refuel, get food aboard, including as much fresh fruit as the resourceful sailors can secrete in odd corners and, at night, set sail for their new patrol area NW of Bara. The objective is to block access to the Ceram Sea to the Japanese light CVL force, if and when they return from the Indian Ocean.

Doctrine.
Doctrine is the spirit that drives a Navy. It is the guideline for the officers absent higher command. The US Navy’s doctrine is that of calculated risk. Do not risk your ship, your forces, unless there is a chance of hurting the enemy more than he can hurt you. The battle in the north Pacific, where three US carriers tangled with KB was an example of the above.

The IJN and the RN have a different doctrine.

Acceptable risk.

It means that, if there is a chance of hitting the enemy, you take it.

Recon out of Perth reports a CVL force approaching from the north. The port is evacuated. A second task force, with two escort carriers approaches Darwin from the NW.

Palliser knows that force. He’s tangled with their Kates at Tilatjap. He can deal with them, he believes. And he did not have Hermes then.

The Swordfish are ordered to load up with torpedoes. The ships turn to a heading of WNW and go to full speed.
One strike, that is all, then turn about and head for Sidney and, hopefully, fuel.

[kaleun]

Jan 4th 1942

Dawn finds the ten biplanes on Hermes’ deck ready and armed. Shiny, deadly torpedoes hang from the fuselage. The pilots, briefed, chain smoke cigarettes in the ready room. Just before daybreak, all of Darwin’s Hudson patrol airplanes took off seeking the enemy task force. Palliser’s ships continue on course, closing in on the enemy ships.

But they are not to be found.

The two enemy task forces vanished into thin air or, into the salty ocean.

The pilots, young and inexperienced, feel the strain. Hours pass by and still they do not receive the order to take off and seek the enemy. Lunch is served, but no one eats. Coffee and tobacco is all they want, that is all they can stomach.

The sun runs west and, in the tropical evening, plummets towards the horizon. It is too late now; the order comes to stand down. Palliser orders the task force to turn about. They slow down to a more reasonable, economic speed and head east, toward the coral reef clogged Torres straits.

What happened?

Jan 5th 1942

The concept of a raiding task force, as thought of by the British, is tossed about. The raiding force created at Darwin had to flee before the superior Japanese forces and it is now half way to Port Moresby. The idea however might have merit.

Heavy cruisers, fast and powerful, may savage smaller enemy forces, those escorted by light cruisers and destroyers, if deployed to places unexpected. They may hit and run, punch and duck.

Necessity is the mother of invention and, at Pearl Harbor, RAdm Chas McAdams takes command of Raider force 1. CA Louisville, San Francisco, light cruiser Raleigh & Detroit, and the destroyers Hurly, Reid, Tucker, Selfridge. That is all that can be spared. The ships, at anchor, armed and fueled, wait at Pearl Harbor.

There is, of course one big problem. From Pearl, they cannot strike, fast and undetected, anywhere. They could do it from the south, Suva, or better yet, Noumea and Luganville. And here is the problem.

There is no fuel, down south.

Palliser, on Repulse, is now east of the tip of Australia. In waters under the command of the US Navy. But the US Navy gives him no orders, except to acknowledge his presence and say simply “Carry On.” In fact, the radio message tells him that there is a light cruiser force at Port Moresby, the Dutch cruisers with a couple of US light cruisers that he may use if needed.

What there isn’t, not at Port Moresby, or at Cooktown, nor anywhere north of Sidney is a drop of fuel to move those ships. Only what they have in their tanks. That is all.

And now, the Japanese task force makes an appearance. At Darwin. The battleships bombard the empty harbor, unhindered.

Dans çe pays, il est bon de tuer an admiral, de temps en temps, pour encourager les autres. "In this country, it is good to shoot an admiral, from time to time, to encourage the others." Voltaire.

Traditions die hard in the Royal Navy. It is true that they haven’t shot an admiral for a long time, but memories are long and Palliser carries, within, all the institutional memory and tradition of the Royal Navy. A navy that once shot an admiral who, provided with an inadequate force, on leaking ships, was shot for not doing “his utmost” to defeat the enemy.

Maybe Admiral Byng's fate is in his memory when he calls the captains of his fleet aboard the flagship.

“Respectfully sir,” Capt A. Newman, CL Boise, objects, “I must object. We cannot reach the enemy task force, and if we do, we shall be outgunned. Two battleships, heavy cruisers and destroyers, not to mention the two escort carriers.”

The admiral sighs, “We are not going to reach the enemy captain. We shall just protect Hermes with our flak. We just need to get Hermes near enough for the Swordfish to attack. A single torpedo will sink one of those small carriers. Two or three will get us a battleship.”

“I must still object sir,” Newman insists.

“Put it in writing,” Palliser says curtly.

“I will.”

The fleet turns yet again and steams back across the Torres straits.

[BBfanboy]

Too late to catch that bombardment force, I think - but I like the spirit of the attempt!

[kaleun]

Jan 6th 1941.

The 12 Swordfish biplanes, their engines roaring at full speed, lumber down the short flight deck. They drag their torpedoes into the morning air and set out seeking the enemy.

Palliser orders a course change; the task force turns and heads ENE, opening the range to the enemy, now that the strike package is airborne. Repulse takes her station, port of the carrier, along the most likely threat axis. The AA gunners, on all ships, eyes peeled watch the sky. Most likely, a strike is heading their way, and that is as the Admiral planned it. The fighters, escorting the Kate bombers will not be there to protect the enemy ships and the swordfish, inexperienced or not, will hit their targets.

But that is not what the Japanese planned.

How they knew or guessed will never be known. The twelve biplanes met a CAP of a dozen Zero fighters over the enemy task force. Unprotected, slow, lumbering crates, the miracle is that only seven biplanes were destroyed. Even so, not one of them got through.

Nineteen Kate bombers, unescorted, find the allied task force. All the AA guns that bear, and some that don’t, open up. The Kates are armed with bombs, whether because they are out of torpedo range, or the small carriers are out of torpedoes is a moot question. CL Boise takes a bomb on her deck. Four bombers hit the flagship, but all the bombs bounce off her armor and the damage is minimal. Hermes is hit by four bombs that do not do much damage. It is the fifth, at first as ineffective as the prior four and then, the carrier seems to expand on the water. A huge fireball blows through the deck. A magazine exploded. The old, veteran ship lies dead in the water. Around her, destroyers pour water on the blazing inferno. She might yet swim; two destroyers surround her. She might make it to Townsville. While there is hope, the Royal Navy will fight on.

Toungoo, Singkiang and Pegu are captured by the enemy.

Off Suva, AD Dobbins finds a torpedo, fired by an enemy submarine and drags herself into the small harbor. Systems damage 35, Flotation 87, Engine 2 Fires 1.

[BBfanboy]

Like attacking a steel shield with a bronze sword - brave, but dangerous and hopeless.
Someday you will have the right tools at the right place ... with fuel too!

[kaleun]

January 7th 1942

Through the night, the damage control teams on Hermes fight a heroic battle to save the ship. Flooding is not too bad but the damage to the ship’s pumps and fire suppression systems is such that the fires rage out of control and flooding increases, with the few pumps that are working unable to do much more than slow it down some. In the end, a paradox, fire and water, overwhelm the brave British tars and the ship is abandoned.

East of Timor, SS Seal takes a pot shot at BB Ise, but misses.

At Baker Island, SS RO 68 torpedoes AM Grebe. The Japanese captain must wonder what that little ship is doing here. An operational sea plane base is located here, with a small seaplane tender and a complement of Catalina patrol aircraft to provide early warning about Japanese intentions. Kavieng is close by and the allied lifeline to Australia and Suva passes very close to the enemy controlled waters. The floatplanes, currently, are assigned to ASW patrol; the waters teem with enemy subs.

One of the bombers at Suva reports hitting a Japanese submarine. The commander reaches for the salt shaker.

There are so many subs around Suva that the allied carriers deviate to Noumea. The harbor at Noumea is too small to be a suitable base (Not that Suva is much bigger but at least it can store fuel) but there is no fuel anywhere, anyway, so one base is as good as another.

An enemy force, possibly the carriers that did a number on Hermes seems to be penetrating the Arafura Sea. The US carriers are notified and swing their course a few degrees west. If the decision to penetrate the Coral Sea is made, they will be a few miles closer.

SS Perch, Salmon and Sailfish start another supply run to Bataan.

South of Rabaul, only Lark Battalion remains to be rescued.

[kaleun]

Jan 8th 42.
Off Sidney, SS I-16 sinks a small cargo ship. NE of Baker Island, another Japanese submarine, seen by escorts is forced to submerge. An explosion at Perth turns out to be an enemy submarine hitting a mine.

Kuching falls.

Jan 9th. Battle of Torres Straits.

Escorts are finally available and Yorktown leaves San Diego bound for the South Pacific.

Palliser finally gets his battle.

Off Portland Roads, Nagato meets two destroyers, the remains of Hermes’ escorts. The faster allied ships evade battle but warn Palliser who finds the enemy task force. CL Caledon fires torpedoes at Nagato, one of them is seen to hit the battleship but fails to explode. Caledon, undaunted fires a second spread and this time, her torpedo penetrates the battleship’s side and explodes. There is a cost to this as DD Kinigasa scores a torpedo hit on Caledon that sinks the light cruiser. CL Glasgow is also sunk at this battle.

Japanese Ships
BB Nagato, Shell hits 24, Torpedo hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
CA Kinugasa, Shell hits 6
CA Furutaka, Shell hits 16, heavy fires
DD Oboro
DD Mutsuki
DD Kisaragi
DD Oite
DD Hayate
DD Asanagi, Shell hits 1
DD Yunagi, Shell hits 8, heavy fires, heavy damage

Allied Ships
BC Repulse, Shell hits 11, heavy fires, heavy damage
CA Canberra, Shell hits 2
CL Perth, Shell hits 1
CL Enterprise, Shell hits 2, on fire
CL Dauntless, Shell hits 2, on fire
CL Glasgow, Shell hits 4, and is sunk
CL Marblehead, Shell hits 6, heavy fires
CL Boise, Shell hits 4, on fire
CL Caledon, Shell hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Bulmer, Shell hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Edsall, Shell hits 2
DD John D. Edwards, Shell hits 3, on fire
DD Paul Jones, Shell hits 1
DD Parrott, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Whipple, Shell hits 1
DD Stewart, Shell hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage.

BC Repulse gave as good as she got but, in the end, heavily damaged, she must break off from the task force and make for Cooktown. Palliser moves his flag to CA Camberra.

[BBfanboy]

Jan 8th 41? You time traveled back to catch this TF in training? Good show! [:D]
Seriously, for this stage in the war this is a very good result. The Allies rarely get torpedo hits in a surface battle.
I hope your cripples can make it to port. Where is his nearest port?

[kaleun]

Jan 8th 41?

Fixed!

[kaleun]

Jan 10th 1942

Operation Cold Comfort, the rescue by Port Moresby based floatplanes, of Rabaul’s defenders is put on hold as all the patrol craft are tasked with naval search duties to locate the enemy task force that yesterday engaged Repulse off Portland Roads. An unconfirmed report indicates that Japanese dive bombers were seen at Portland roads.

BC Repulse, unable to cope with flooding sinks almost within hailing distance of Cooktown.

Palliser tells his adjutant: “I hope you like cold weather.”

“Why sir?”

“Because after this, I shall command only the North Cape convoys to Murmansk.”

[kaleun]

With fuel running out, the US Navy plans a riposte.

[kaleun]

Jan 11th
At Suva, SS I-174 sinks xAK Alaskan.

Off Cooktown, CL Boise, DD Parott and CL Marblehead come under attack by Zeros. 11 B5N bombers follow. CL Boise is hit by a 250Kg bomb.

Jan 12th Battle of Cairns.

Enemy sub activity around Suva continues to be extract a heavy toll. Today, xAK J.L. Luchenbach sinks after being attacked by SS-171. SSI-172 attacks xAK Julia Luchenbach on the surface and sinks her, then goes on to hit TK Larry Dohey and sink the tanker. The escorts report a depth charge hit. SSI-18 torpedoes APD Water sinking her too.

Near Penrhyn island, SS I-20 scores a hit on CA Pensacola.

In the Coral Sea, Fletcher, his ships running on fumes, orders a final burst of speed to close on the Japanese escort carriers.

Fletcher’s Air 1 TF’s dive bombers find and attack the enemy task force near Cairns. Dauntless bombers score on BB Hyuga nine times; unfortunately, none of the bombs penetrate the battleship’s armor, but four of them report significant damage on the ship. BB Ise, DD Natsuguno and Huyoshio were also attacked and missed.

In the evening, Fletcher orders the carriers to a new course NW to try and cut off the enemy retreat. Fuel situation is however critical and tomorrow, regardless of results, the carriers must break off the pursuit and turn east to rendezvous with a replenishment task force that steams west to join them.

[kaleun]

Jan 13th
CL Leander sinks and, at Soerabaja, CA Houston succumbs in the harbor to air attack.

Beaufort and Prome captured by the Japanese.

Jan 14th

A task force, composed of heavy cruisers is spotted to the east of Espiritu Santo. Chas H McManus’ raiding force, led by heavy cruisers Louisville and San Francisco, currently at Suva sets sail to intercept.

Palliser arrives at Sidney. Instead of a rebuke, he finds a telegram from the Prime Minister congratulating him on his actions. “In war, errors, towards the enemy,” he wrote, “must be forgiven.”

Jan 15th 1942

Suva is still a nest of enemy submarines despite incessant efforts by allied ASW task forces and air assets.

East of Espiritu Santo, an enemy cruiser task force, including Aoba and Kako, intercept an allied transport task force. The task force, escorted only by a few destroyers is savaged by the heavier enemy ships. The 57th Coastal artillery battalion, and the 112th USA Base force suffer heavy losses.

Soon after, McManus intercepts the enemy cruisers. It is an even slugfest in which Louisville and San Francisco suffer two impacts apiece, Kako 7 and Aoba one. The allied force withdraws towards Sidney to repair damages. McManus hopes that the Japanese do likewise.

Yorktown arrives at Pearl Harbor but there will be no shore leave for anyone. She refuels and sets out again.

[BBfanboy]

Your ASW only starts to get better after some of your DDs get their upgrades in February, a few more in March, and lots of them in April. The addition of depth charge throwers gives them a bigger pattern, and radar helps detect the subs when they are surfaced. Experience in ASW patrols also helps, so don't despair of no results just yet!

[kaleun]

January 17th

CV Indomitable arrived at Aden on the 16th. There were no escorts in harbor, so the ship must wait for some destroyers to arrive. The crew enjoys the limited pleasures of port while they wait.

January 18th.

The Java Sea appears, for the moment, empty of enemy shipping. An attempt will be made to evacuate most of the assets at Soerabaja and Batavia.

Task Force Air one, finally, met the fuel tankers and is refueling. The carriers shall try and intercept the retreating cruiser task force that was intercepted by Mc Manus.

January 20th.

Fletcher must accept that the cruiser force has escaped him. After chasing north for two days, he must accept that they got away. Lexington has accumulated enough systems damage that it would be imprudent to approach Kwajalein any closer. Reluctantly he orders the ships to return to Sidney to repair and await Yorktown.

January 21st.

At Pearl Harbor, BB Pennsylvania returns to the shipyards. A light cruiser and a seaplane tender, almost completely repaired leave the shipyard to finish repairs pierside. PA has 78 system damage, 48 flotation and 25 engine damage. Estimates place the duration of repairs at 569 days. That is, if no other vessel needs the shipyard.

[kaleun]

January 25th 1942

Meitkila was occupied by the Japanese on the 21st, Rangoon on the 22nd. Kavieng fell on the 24th. A Japanese task force identified in the vicinity of Timor seems suspiciously like an invasion force headed for N Australia. The 27th Australian Brigade at Perth ordered to pack up and head by train to Alice Springs. The 2/4 Infantry Coy at Sidney and the 1st Australian brigade also head to Alice Springs. From there, a strenuous march through the outback will take them near Darwin, but where exactly will they end up is anyone’s guess at this time.

At Akyab,8th Gurkha and the 21st light AA begin to unload from their transports.

Finally, the 1st Marine Raider battalion, the 2nd Marine regiment and the 205 Coastal AA regt begin to prepare for operation Counterpunch.

[netjam99]

I am enjoying your AAR, well written. Good hunting!

[kaleun]

Thanks Netjam.

[kaleun]

January 26th 42

Naval search reports 4 enemy task forces wandering around on the Indian Ocean. 2 of them are reported off the southern coast of Java. 2 in the Timor Sea.

A tanker convoy unloads 81560 barrels of fuel at Sidney.

4 Battleships, Colorado, Mississippi, New Mexico and Warspite set off from San Francisco to Pearl Harbor.

January 27th 42.

Truck! Enemy submarines have a field day, and more.

SSI-15 attacks Tenedos off Suva and misses. SS RO-64 sinks AD Dobbins off Suva. SS-I-6 chased by escorts off Noumea is forced to submerge.

SSI-18 fires on DD Cunningham and misses off Suva. SS I-1 misses AM Delaroise off Sidney.

Then comes the clincher.

SS I-16 scores one torpedo hit on CV Lexington off New Castle. She is close to Sidney and, barring other encounters with the prowling submarines she will survive. However, Halsey is down to one carrier, Saratoga, and that one damaged by her recent exertions.

Scanty good news for the allies. SS-O21 scores on AO Notoro off Samarinda. The oiler is left, burning brightly on the sea. Also, intelligence confirms that BB Nagato did sink.

[kaleun]

Jan 28th 1942

Lexington disbands at Sidney. The news is not good. The flotation damage is 48% of this, 38% is too severe to be repaired in harbor at Sidney. The ship needs to go into dry dock but the shipyard at Sidney cannot accommodate a vessel of Lexington’s size. She will have to be patched up, as best as she can be, and then make the long trip to Pearl, or the US West coast. Saratoga disbands too to repair the damage done to her systems and engines. It will take 22 days to set her up.

Counterpunch will be launched on time, by February 25th. Lexington will not be available but Saratoga will.

BB Maryland enters the shipyard again at Pearl. The repair estimate is 499 days, that is assuming that she does not need to leave the yard again to make room for another vessel.

And disaster strikes again.

Allied transport task forces plying the sea lanes between Pearl Harbor and Australia have been provided with escorts against the deadly Japanese submarines. The number of escorts is insufficient in any case and the DDs and DMSs have to speed around the convoys like chickens without a head. Often only two escorts are assigned to protect forty or fifty ships. The enemy submarines though, elect to wait at Suva, Sidney and Noumea for the fat juicy transports to come to them. The escorts, impotent, can only watch as the enemy torpedoes slam into merchant hulls.

But Japan now tries something else. Something new, something that will change the game, yet again.

An enemy cruiser force intercepts an allied transport force near Baker Island. CA Aoka, CLs Tatsuta, Tenryu and Yubari with two destroyers, Isokaze and Kasumi attack the allied transports. Due to a fortunate or unfortunate twist of fate, CA Chicago happened to be in the task force, transiting to the SPAC area of operations. She fights gallantly, in vain.

After savaging the Chicago task force, they tangle with a tanker convoy. The cruisers make short work of the 3 corvettes escorting the laden tankers that are decimated. Before the day ends, a third tanker force escorted by two destroyer mine sweepers falls under the enemy guns and torpedoes.

CL Tatsuta and Yubari are reported to be on fire though.

The enemy move has been bold and methodical. The US-Pearl-Sidney line has been effectively shut down as all transport task forces flee to safe harbors. The loaded ones return to Pearl, the empty ones head back to Sidney.
A new escort scheme has to be devised. From now on, convoys from the mainland to Hawaii (Designated USP (Westbound) and PUS (Eastbound) will continue to be escorted against submarine attack) Hawaii to Australia convoys, (PS and SP) will now have to be escorted by heavy surface units, preferably battleships. Colorado, New Mexico, Missisipi, and the old Warspite will leave SFCO for Pearl to participate in the new escort scheme.

Palliser, with his light cruiser force is recalled to Sidney.

AO Sabre sinks to torpedoes from SSI-159 at Noumea.

Manus is captured by the Japanese.