Shattering the Sword. Cantona2 (a) vs Herbiesan (j)

[cantona2]

Message from CVL Langley, Solomon Sea.

"CAP of Hellcat fighters come into contact with Ki-44's from Rabaul and other enemy fighters. 50% of enemy planes shot down. Request support of P-38's at Lunga to fly LRCAP over Rabaul to clear way for bombers. TBM's confirm one torpedo hit on enemy small vessel at Gasmata.Out"

[cantona2]

Message from Admiral Halsey, CV Bunker Hill to the NW of Shortlands.

To the fleet,

Congratualtion to all Hellcat pilots. 53 enemy comfirmed killed for 4 losses. One more last effort required tomrrow over Rabaul. USAAF P-38's from Munda will accompany you. Clear the way for the bombers boys! Hit the hard and hit them fast.

Halsey

[cantona2]

Current situation in the Solomon Sea.



It seems to me that the Japanese High Command has its eye fixed on northern OZ. Recon flights are on the up, attacks on Broome and Wyndham and sub recon of Broome. I have the CVE Long Island there as a decoy and lots of LCTs and LCIs shuttling uspplies to Darwin. If he lands and takes a few of the Northern bases then good for him, he wont be going anywhere. If he commits and I can delay then an attack on Rabaul might be a real option. Getting his CV's from northern oz to the Solomons means going around PNG or running the gauntlet of the Torres Straits and PM. Interesting times. Oh and I am sure Herb hasnt got wind of a second invasion of Majuro that is assembling ot the south of Mili.

[cantona2]

3rd day of battles over Rabaul, 3-0 for the allies as 20 more enemy planes are shot down for 5 on our side. Land based P-38's from Shortlands add their cannons to the Hellcats firepower. Bad weather over the carriers however grounds the bomber strikes. PM is also socked in. I aim for two more days of these assualts on Rabaul then an intense bombardment of the airfield there as four divisions load for an assualt on Gasmata and overland march to Rabaul. Recon over Woodlark Island has suggested a well developed and unguarded airfield. A M10 unit will support a unit of SeeBees in securing the base while a base unit follows in the second echelon.

[cantona2]

Our top aces so far. Many veterans of the Solomon Campaign and Port Blair.

[cantona2]

Solomon Sea SitRep

Enemy air power over Rabaul has been broken. Gasmata operation has been given the go ahead. Heavies in Eastern Australia will begin rebasing to PM, Woodlark (when it falls), Munda, Shortlands and Wyndham and Derby. Herb has revealed he is coming for Northern Oz to premept an invasion of DEI from there. My ruse has worked. He's welcome to the Northern Oz coast while i gobble up the Solomons. Once my carrier force is reconstitued i shall move up the NG coast and strike the West of the DEI's and into the PI's.

[cantona2]

Second Invasion of Majuro is about to hit the beaches!

[paullus99]

If he's coming for Northern Australia, how expensive can you make it for him (since you just don't want to hand those bases over to him)? You should have some fairly experienced LBA at this point & with proper fighter cover, you should be able to chew up with air wings pretty easily - plus any damage to his carriers is bonus.

How long before you have a reconstituted carrier force?

[cantona2]

ORIGINAL: paullus99

If he's coming for Northern Australia, how expensive can you make it for him (since you just don't want to hand those bases over to him)? You should have some fairly experienced LBA at this point & with proper fighter cover, you should be able to chew up with air wings pretty easily - plus any damage to his carriers is bonus.

How long before you have a reconstituted carrier force?

The northern oz bases are well covered but thinly manned on the ground. Im moving several veteran squadrons from the Coen/Townsville area to Katherine and Darwin. In Darwin itself I have a strong veteran force and some RN elements along with Long Island at Broome. I'm going to move these elements off the Australian coast near Exmouth and wait and see. Perth's air power is also being reinforced as well. As to my carriers, I recon that by 2/42 i should have a core of 5 fleet carriers, including one RN in the NG area. My priority aim is to have Rabaul subjugated completely by years end.

[cantona2]

16th October 1943 was the day that changed the war. It was not a maginficent military victory, or a shattering defeat but it did change.

Majuro had fallen and while clearing battlefield debris, several mass graves were discovered. Semi decomposed bodies of uniformed men began to be disinterred. Some wearing the uniform of the US Army but most that of the Marines. As they day progressed the mood on Majuro darkened and the assumption was quickly made that these bodies were not battlefield casualties. Many of them had had their hands tied and a lot of them exhibited wounds at the nape of the neck. These soldiers were not killed in battle but rather murdered in cold blood. The survivors of the 1st Marine Division had been herded like cattle and shot in cold blood.

At a press conference the next day to announce the fall of Majuro, the massacre was made public. The high command exhibited the necessary level of guilt for having abandoned those men in the face of the naval defeat off Jaluit but righteous indignation was also in evidence. The will to fight to the end against a now obvious barbric and merciless enemy was proclaimed. Unconditional surrender would be the only end to this war.

Across America indignation turned to fury and agner and most of this was channeled into industrial output. Line after line of bombers rolled out from factories, onto ships and into the advancing frontline, that soon would have Japan itself within range.

Two units in particular, however, felt the hurt more than most. The reconstituting 1st Marines at Pearl Harbour held countless remembrance services and vowed to avenge thier fallen brothers. The 3rd Marine Division, boarding its attack transports at Lunga in preparation for the attack on Gasmata, heard the news as the movement orders came through. Each trooper vowed not to take a single prisoner in the incoming invasion. On Shortlands, where Japanese troops were still resisting in the hills and jungles, the order of the day was simply Kill Japs.

Press Photograph used by the War Department during Majuro Press Conference

[cantona2]

PS to above post.

As I'm still not allowed to read Herbs AAR he wrote an extract from it in his last email with turn. He allued to this Majuro massacre as being part of his narrative so I am also including it in mine.

[cantona2]

With Majuro secured US airplanes could now start to soften up the surrounding bases. They had already destroyed Kwajelein's por facilities and so the Marshall Islands were given a lesser prority than the Solomons and in particular New Britain. Allied planners hoped ot have allied ground units fighting at Rabaul by December 43, this left one month to land and capture Gasamata as well as getting two corps worth of men and material on New Britain and march on Rabaul.

Sit Rep 24th October 1943

[gladiatt]

Still reading !!

[cantona2]

25th Ocotber 1943, two seperate reports confirmed the location of the Combined Fleet. Mariner V-45 confirmed enemy carrier sightings to the west of Mussau Island. SS Muskallunge reported engaing carrier escorts. Depth charge attack reported, sub last transmission stated it was attacking again. Operation Gearhart, the Gasmata Invasion hung on a knife edge south of Woodlark Island. Intell suggested at least 7 fleet carriers in the Japanese arsenal, as opposed to two in the Solomon Sea on the Allied side. Land based bombers would have to make up for the lost decks.

[cantona2]

'Enemy fleet reported on SW heading due SW of Mussau. SS KXIII reports torpedo hit on enemy heavy cruiser. Mariners out of Shortlands report two enemy columns heading SW to the east of the Bismarck Archipleago'

Such was the state of play as Opeartion Gearhart headed NW towards Gasmata.

[cantona2]

Carnage was the word the signal intercept guys at Shortlands had said the Japs had used to describe their victory in the Bismarck Sea. Indeed carnage it was. 4 carriers lost and numerous trnasports. Losing merchant ships was not a problem as nearly 200 were in reserve in Lunga, Noumea and Sydney, not to mention the vast amount of shipping in San Francisco. Losing the carriers definitely meant the end of operations beyond New Britain until 1944. The plus side, 3 divisions and support units and 30,000 tons of supplies on Gasmata. Susbtantial support from LBA. The toehold on New Britain was almost established. The Navy's sacrifice was to be made worth while by the USMC and Army.

[cantona2]

As the situation began to clear the scope of the losses became evident and public opinion in the US was spared much of the details, instead they were fed a diet of brave Marines ashore killing japs! The President and General Marshall had of late began to take a harder line on casualties. Roosevelt in particular using the Red Army's struggle as Stalingrad, and its subsequent victory as evidence. Marshall wanted to get the job done and if the Navy lost ships then more would have to be built, a land lubbers perspective on naval losses.

What was obvious was the undeniable quality presented by the IJN's carrier arm. Until the fleet of Essex class carriers in dry dock hit the seas, the USMC and Army would have to take the fight to the IJA at the point of the bayonet. The Massacre at Majuro and the Battle of Gasmata had turned the war into oneof annihialation and hatred, akin to the Eastern Front in europe. Already the 3rd Marines were progressing against the main Japanese line at Gasmata while the 1st Cavalry, making use of its mobile elements were encircling and destroying enemy strongpoints with fire and steel. So far the grand total of POW's taken was zero.

As the battered USN limped home, they came across two task forces led by CVE's and three new BB's. Those going south were heartend by the fact that despite their losses more men and material joined the battle zone. Those going north saw the scarred, blistered and battered hulks of once proud ships and shuddered in disbelief.

[gladiatt]

ORIGINAL: cantona2

Carnage was the word the signal intercept guys at Shortlands had said the Japs had used to describe their victory in the Bismarck Sea. Indeed carnage it was. 4 carriers lost and numerous trnasports. .

you loose 4 cv ??? [X(];
can we have a bit more info on this battle ?

[cantona2]

I will when i have more time on my hands. Very busy time at the moment, its a miracle i have time to get turns out

[cantona2]

The question now was wether the losses were justfiable to a war weary public. In pure military terms they were. The Navy ministry confirmed the delivery of 6 new CV's in the first quarter of 44, which means losses would be made up. Most of the capital ships that were damaged would be easily patched up and the number of destroyers were huge. More importantly, 3 divisons on New Britain, two more on their way, Rabual isolated and the Japs on the retreat. Let 44 be the year when Japan would pay, for what was left of 43 the Solomons would be liberated and New Guinea would be cleared of enemy forces.