by gerald hall
“The Americans have no idea of what they are about to experience, it seems.” Captain Gendu Isokoro noted.
“I know. The question is how the American people will take this. I don’t know if they will be bloodied and choose to withdraw back to their own shores or if they will be so angered that they come back looking for vengeance. I know that General Tojo believes that it is the former. I fear the latter however.”
“Either way, we will be fighting in a glorious battle against a powerful enemy. We will be triumphant, I am certain.”
“I wonder what price victory will exact upon us in the end?” Yamamoto quietly mused as the roar of carrier aircraft flying overhead constantly filled the air.
After watching the battles in the skies for two hours, Admiral Kimmel got the message that he had been waiting for.
“Our scout planes have just reported sighting the main Japanese force. Initial reports indicate that it is composed of seven battleships, ten cruisers and over twenty destroyers. We have not yet located the Japanese carriers however.”
“That puts us just about even then regarding our surface force, since we have eight battleships. Three of them have been damaged by submarine and aerial attack, but I have been assured by their captains that they are still ready to fight. We have also lost four of our cruisers as well. So our screening forces are a little sparse right now.
We will have to keep looking for their carriers with our scouts. I’d still like to give our ‘brown shoes’ a chance at eliminating their Japanese counterparts.
But for now, it is time to close with the enemy and destroy them, once and for all.”
Slowly, the fighting tops of the Japanese battle line started to come into view. Even before then, West Virginia’s CXAM radar operator was telling his duty officer that the radar was showing one hell of a large blip out there in the Japanese formation.
“What the hell is that?” Rear Admiral Walter Anderson asked after seeing through his binoculars the massive superstructure of IJN Yamato for the first time. The commander of the Pacific Fleet’s battle line had been eager to fight in what was imagined to be the largest capital ship battle since Jutland.
“I don’t know. But it is the biggest damned thing that I have ever seen.” Captain Mervyn S. Bennion replied.
“How far away is she?”
“About forty-two thousand yards, according to my fire control people.” Captain Bennion said after talking on the bridge telephone for a few moments.
Just as both officers looked through their binoculars again, the massive Japanese battleship erupted in smoke and flame as it fired its first salvo in anger at the American battle line. Fifteen seconds later, a massive rippling noise that sounded like over half a dozen enormous freight trains passed over the flagship. An instant later, nine massive towers of water erupted just past West Virginia’s bow. It was clear that the huge Japanese battleship was armed with weapons far heavier than anything in the American battle line. Water from the near misses soaked everyone on West Virginia’s deck. The battleship’s flag bridge was silent for a few moments after the Yamato’s first salvo landed so close aboard.
“Sir, I think that we are royally screwed here.” Captain Bennion quietly said in what would best be described as a classic understatement.
Less than a minute later, the massive Japanese battleship closing at the head of the enemy formation erupted in fire and smoke once again. This time, Yamato’s salvo straddled the American flagship. Not only did the shells once again soak the West Virginia’s decks with water, hundreds of metal fragments from the Japanese shells splattered all over the battleship’s hull and superstructure, causing dozens of casualties among exposed gunners and other crewmen. Blood was already running down the decks.
“Alright, gentlemen. We may not be able to get that big bastard. But there are six other battleships out there that we do have a chance of sinking. I need a fire plan drawn up in the next couple of minutes to allocate our firepower. Let’s make it happen now.” Admiral Anderson quickly told his staff.
Less than three minutes later, Anderson’s Chief of Staff, Captain Milton Campbell came back with a large rolled up sheet of paper that he quickly spread over the plotting table. It had ship positions, identification markings, speeds and courses.
“Sir, this tactical plan is based on what we have gotten from our radar, scout planes and existing intelligence. While we don’t know anything about the new Japanese battleship, we have assessed that the other six are Nagato, Mutsu, Ise, Hyuga, Fuso and Yamashiro. All of these ships are faster than the fastest of our battleships. So we cannot try to extend the range to take full advantage of our radar.
In terms of numbers of guns and caliber, the Japanese ships are at least as good as or even better than our own. However, we believe that they had to have traded off some armor protection to get that extra speed. What we are recommending is that we deliberately close with the enemy battle line and engage them in a slugging match. They may destroy us all. But we sure as hell will take some of them with us.”
“What about the enemy lighter combatants? I’m afraid we already have learned how deadly Japanese torpedoes are.”
“That is also one of the reasons why we are recommending closing with the enemy. If the Japanese destroyers and cruisers fire torpedoes at all in the middle of such a melee, they will be just as likely to hit their own ships as they would be to hit ours. This could be a real problem for the Japs if their lighter surface combatants have also traded off protection for speed and firepower. We are more likely to be able to survive a torpedo hit than a Japanese warship is.”
We will also be using some of our cruisers and destroyers to screen us against the lighter Japanese ships. Our cruisers from Divisions Four, Five and Nine are to provide long range screening fire against enemy destroyers and cruisers. The rest of our destroyers will engage in a preemptive torpedo attack on the largest of the Japanese battleships. They will be supported by the remaining cruisers from Division Three. That should force that behemoth to divert more of her focus towards dodging our torpedoes rather than shooting at our battleships.” Anderson’s chief of staff said before looking out the bridge windows once more as another half-dozen massive plumes of water erupted around West Virginia.
The grim-faced commander of the US Pacific Fleet battle line paused for a moment then told his staff.
“Send out signals to the main body of the fleet. Move at best speed towards the enemy and attack. Give them hell for as long as you can, then get back home the best that you can. Send orders to the carrier force to give us as much support as they can, but get back home to Pearl. They must protect those troopships and shepherd them back home also. Those troops don’t have a chance in hell if the Japanese catch up to them.
Lastly, please keep us all in your prayers. We are certainly going to need God’s help here this day.”
A remote voice could be heard on the battleship’s bridge announcing that they were now thirty-five thousand yards away and that their guns were now in range of the Japanese force. The bridge of the West Virginia shook as the American flagship fired her big sixteen-inch guns for the first time in anger. They were soon joined by scores of other big guns as the rest of the American battle line opened fire.
The White House
Washington, DC
3 January, 1942
President Franklin Roosevelt was sitting in the Oval Office that morning when the Secretary of War arrived.
“We have news about the Pacific Fleet, Mister President.” Harry Stimson said, but the grim expression on his face already informed the President that the news was bad.
“How bad were the losses?”
“Admiral Anderson’s force was able to get the carriers Saratoga, Lexington and Enterprise out in good order along with the troop ships. The carriers had taken some damage from Japanese air strikes but were still operational. The carrier air wings took heavy losses during the operation though.”
“What about the battle line? Have
we heard from Admiral Anderson?”
“Sir, I’m afraid that all of the battleships were lost, along with over half of the cruisers and destroyers that were with them. Admiral Anderson was lost with his flagship when it sank. The survivors of his force were able to rejoin the carriers and cover the troop ships’ withdrawal to Pearl Harbor.”
The extent of the disaster hit President Roosevelt like a physical blow. He sharply sat back in his chair and, as an afterthought, put down his cigarette into the nearby ashtray. He was silent for at least a minute after learning the news, not knowing what to say as he looked down at his trembling hands.
Finally, the President looked back up and quietly asked a question.
“Do we know what the enemy losses were, Harry?”
“The accounts from the battle indicate that the Japanese did lose three of their battleships and took significant damage to two others. Enemy losses also included six cruisers and at least fourteen destroyers. We also believe that losses among their carrier-borne aircraft were also very heavy though there are no reports of losses among the Japanese carrier force itself.”
“I better start writing a speech then. We are not going to be able to keep this debacle away from the American public for very long.”
“I know. Admiral Kimmel is already trying to reorganize the Pacific Fleet back at Pearl Harbor. We are rushing the refit of USS Colorado to get her back into service. He has requested that the fast battleships USS North Carolina and USS Washington be transferred to the Pacific Fleet as soon as possible along with the aircraft carriers Yorktown and Hornet.”
“Get Kimmel whatever he needs to ensure the security of Hawaii, Alaska and the West Coast. Were there any success stories at all coming out of this mess?”
“Yes, sir. The destroyers out there fought valiantly and saved more than a few of our cruisers. The carriers themselves did alright, but many of the aircraft that they carried were badly outclassed by Japanese carrier aircraft.
I suppose that the real stars were the submarines from Manila and the fleet boats that went with Kimmel. One of those battleships sunk was accounted for by an old S-boat submarine. The fleet boats sank two heavy cruisers and a destroyer. They also hit and heavily damaged a big Japanese carrier though it did survive the attack.”
Sadly, the President replied. “Well, maybe Congress will at least give us some more money for destroyers and submarines.”
Within two weeks, Congress did increase spending for the construction of more destroyers and submarines. This was at the expense of suspending construction for all of the new Iowa and Montana-class battleships and the Alaska-class large cruisers. Only the remaining South Dakota-class battleships were allowed to be completed since they were all nearly finished anyway.
Aircraft carrier and cruiser construction continued, but at a lower rate than before. The focus was also on smaller designs rather than the larger classes that the Navy had planned on building. Congress also decided to fund more aircraft development to support the existing aircraft carrier fleet, spurred on by support from Charles Lindberg in spite of his isolationist leanings.
Chapter Eight:
Royal Australian Air Force Base, Brisbane
Brisbane, Australia
January 31, 1942
Harold Cavill had flown in to the Australian air base the evening before. After having had a good night’s sleep, he got up the next morning and walked over to the side of the base currently in use by American aircraft and personnel that had recently evacuated from the Philippines after the Japanese invasion there.
Harold began asking around for one particular American aviator. After about half an hour, Harold was directed towards one of the small metal shacks next to an aircraft maintenance hangar. Harold walked inside, took a seat and simply waited for that specific American to come in.
“Good afternoon, Captain Gunn. Won’t you please take a seat?” Harold asked as soon as a lanky, cigar-chewing American in maintenance coveralls walked inside the shack.
“I really don’t have a lot of time, Mister Cavill. I need to get back to my plane so that I can fly back to the Philippines and try to get my family out of Manila before the Japs do something terrible to them.” Pappy said as he reluctantly sat down in the spartan office that Harold had spontaneously procured on the airbase.
“I understand, Captain. I heard about your family’s plight and sympathize completely. With the current situation here and in the Philippines, a rescue attempt would be a very difficult proposition for you, now that the Japanese have occupied virtually everything there. What if I were to offer you the means to get your family and as many other Americans as possible evacuated from the Philippines? I understand that things are getting pretty desperate out there now with the defeat of the American Pacific Fleet during their attempted relief of the Philippines.”
“What do you have in mind, Sir?” Pappy asked as he leaned closer towards Harold, suddenly very interested in what the wealthy industrialist had to say.
“As you already know, I have a small fleet of large flying boats that I have been operating for the past few years for commercial passenger flights. I am willing to use them to fly into the Philippines to help you get your family out along with any other Americans that can fit inside. I also have armed personnel at my disposal here to provide security during the rescue operation in addition to dedicated fighter escorts. All that I ask in return is for your services with my own aircraft manufacturing and maintenance service here.”
Pappy Gunn thought for a few moments before answering.
“That sounds very appealing. But, you know that I have been called back into service with the Army Air Corps, Sir. They are going to want my services too.”
“As you may have already determined, I do have some very influential friends here. I’m sure that we can make an arrangement where your services here would benefit both America and my interests here at the same time. Plus, you would be reunited with your family in a safe location here in Derby. I assure you, you would be very hard-pressed to find any place in Australia that is better defended than we are right here.” Harold said with a knowing look.
“How long would it take before you are ready to mount this rescue operation, Mister Cavill?”
“If you work with us to coordinate the best places to land my aircraft and personnel, we can get started in less than seventy-two hours. I understand that very few people know the Philippines from the air as well as you do. My flying boats can carry a hell of a lot of people and cargo too. So we can come in with supplies for the resistance forces still fighting the Japanese and leave with dozens of refugees on each aircraft.”
It didn’t take more than a few moments for Pappy Gunn to make his decision.
“Then, I’m in. But I have to be among the people going in for the rescue. You need me there to help guide you in. Plus, I know the people out there a lot better than you do. They trust me. Besides, the Japs have big flying boats too, you know. We wouldn’t want your aircraft to get shot up by our friends out there, would we?”
This was definitely the Pappy Gunn that Harold had read about in the historical archives, Harold thought to himself.
“Captain Gunn, I guarantee you that the Japanese have nothing as large as my flying boats. You may have heard about them over the past few years. But it is nothing like seeing them in person, I assure you.”
10 Downing Street
Prime Minister’s Residence
London, England
February 4, 1942
“What are we going to do about this U-Boat threat, Mister Prime Minister? The Americans will only provide escorts for no more than three hundred miles from their coastlines, Sir.” Admiral John Tovey asked.
“We could consolidate our anti-submarine assets to protect only the convoys going to England rather than trying to protect those going into Russian ports. That would certainly ease the burden on our people. Besides, the Russians have their own navy that they can use to protect against U-Boats and German sur
face raiders.” Churchill opined.
“Stalin will look at this as a betrayal. Even with ours and the Americans logistical support, he is being very hard pressed by the Wehrmacht, east of Moscow, deep within the Ukraine and south in the Caucasus.” Tovey replied. It wasn’t the first time that Tovey and Churchill had disagreed. Churchill had often considered Admiral Tovey to be an obstructionist. But the Admiral of the Fleet was very capable at his job. His performance during the battle against the German battleships Bismarck and Scharnhorst made him a hero with the British people as well.
Churchill already knew from Harold and his mysterious ‘sources’, that Josef Stalin had planned himself to break the non-aggression pact with Germany and attack with an offensive of his own. Hitler had simply beaten Stalin to the punch with Operation Barbarossa. So Churchill had no illusions that a victory by the Soviets would make the world any safer. Stalin was just as devious and genocidal as Hitler. However, if Hitler and the key Nazi leadership could be eliminated by his own people, perhaps then a real peace could be created with their successors. Churchill would have to find some means of making that happen. But something would also have to be done about Stalin as well.
“Admiral, I think that this move will likely be poetic justice for all of the trouble that Stalin and his fellow Bolsheviks have stirred up all over the world since their Revolution.
Oh, we will send Mister Stalin our apologies and explain that we are critically short of resources to escort shipping to Murmansk. Lord knows, we truly don’t have a wealth of destroyers and other warships available to protect all of the ships coming here from America or the rest of the Empire. But I will shed few tears when the Soviets go the way of the Dodo bird at the hands of the Nazis. They can bleed each other to death. Then we will find a way to deal with the Nazis and their Axis allies, once and for all.” Churchill scowled.
“What about the heavy surface forces that we have been using to protect the convoys to Murmansk from German surface raiders?”