“Scout 1 heading home, but they have what they think is a flight of fighters in pursuit.”
“Don’t worry about them,” said Fukada to the Captain. “Our Zeros can outrun anything the British have, and out fight them if they do try to intercept.”
“Very well,” said Harada. “Track those fighters, but take them off the missile targeting board.
“If they do persist,” said Fukada, “they may get close enough to spot us.”
“Lieutenant Otani, how far out are they?”
“47 nautical miles at a little over 12,000 feet and now climbing through 12,500. Speed 160 knots. If they continue on their present heading they’ll pass about 10 to 12 miles east of us.”
“Given all these other contacts reported, we’re sailing towards a lot of trouble. Helm, let’s come to 270.”
“Aye sir, coming to 270.”
“Mister Fukada, what is our Admiral likely to do here?”
“He’s about 200 sea miles southeast of the reported position of those enemy carriers. His dive bombers could get up there, but the Torpedo planes will only have a 160 mile strike radius, so he’ll hold those until the range closes.”
They did not have long to wait before Fukada’s prediction was verified. Otani reported planes forming up over Hara’s carriers, at 13:40, and soon they began to head northwest.
* * *
Aboard HMS Formidable, Admiral Somerville was still stinging from the loss of those first eight planes. Enemy rockets—a most unexpected development, to say the least.
“Opinion, Mister Wells,” he said to his new Captain. A rising star in the Navy, Wells had just come over from HMS Glorious, the ship he had single handedly saved from almost certain destruction when it was caught unawares by the Twins in the Norwegian Sea.
“Well sir, and with all due respect, I don’t think I would want to be here just now, not with the whole of the Carrier Squadron, and not for Port Blair.”
“You would not defend it? There it sits, like a good pawn in the center of the board. From there we can get search planes well down into the Strait of Malacca.”
“True sir, but we have very little at risk there beyond that single utility, and we haven’t even got planes there. Its usefulness now is limited to coast watchers, and its proximity to both Singapore and Rangoon will make it a very difficult square to cover.”
“Do go on,” said Somerville, wanting to hear Wells out.
“So we’re the gallant knight, sir, posted here to cover that pawn. And you’ve sortied the Slow Force battleships like a rook to watch this file we find ourselves on, but Vice Admiral Willis can’t really offer us much in the way of support. We’ve called it the Slow Force for good reason. The Japanese won’t come after us with a surface action group. They’ll strike with their carriers. It’s a fairly good bet those Zeros are on a heading back to their mother ships as we speak, but we don’t know just how far out those carriers are. Our fighters reported one contact, a lone ship passing south of Sentinel Island, but no carriers and only that single ship.”
“Most likely a picket,” said Somerville, “which could mean the main body is southeast of Little Andaman.”
“Yes sir, but those Zeros have a good long mission radius, 800 nautical miles for a recon like this. That could put the enemy carriers anywhere from 200 to 400 miles out.”
“All the same, wouldn’t you get a strike group ready?”
“If I had to stay here, yes sir, I would.”
“Yet you would rather be elsewhere. I see…”
“It isn’t that I’ve lost my stomach for a fight, sir,” said Wells.
“Of course not.”
“It’s just that I would take the fleet west of Ceylon, and not operate here where they could cut us off by simply turning southwest now, and bottle us up here in the Bay of Bengal. We can’t get around the north tip of Ceylon. The reefs and shallows there make such a move impractical.”
“I see. Yet it was my thinking to keep the fleet interposed between the enemy and his obvious objective.”
“That would have been a fine strategy, sir,” said Wells, “assuming…” He hesitated now.
“Assuming what, Mister Wells? Go right on and speak your mind.”
“Assuming we could at least match them.”
That pricked at an inner sore spot Somerville had been rubbing himself for a good long while. He knew his carriers were tough with their armored flight decks, and he had good, experienced crews. But they did not have the planes to match those of the Japanese, nor the skill to match their pilots in a duel like this.
“A point well taken,” he said slowly. “Yet match them we must. Ceylon is at stake here, and we’ve got to stand up.”
“I understand, sir. Shall we get a strike spotted?”
“I think we should.”
“Aye sir. May I suggest a mixed group, Albacores and Fulmars armed with the 1000 pound bombs. Seafires in escort.”
“Give the order and the fleet will come to 265. The wind has cooperated with us today. As we turn into it now, this new course will also take us off that enemy sighting vector, and towards our Cruiser Force.” And it will also take us west, he thought, for much in what Wells had argued stuck to him now, and he was beginning to see the potential trap he might find himself in here.
“Shall I pass the ready order on to the other carriers?” asked Wells.
“Please do so. Have Illustrious post a squadron of Martlets on CAP.”
Somerville knew he was at a decided disadvantage here. They could not match their enemy. The Japanese Admiral now had his location, and planes that could reach him, while he had nothing more than a good guess as to the position of the enemy carriers. He had to be ready to launch in any case, but now he wanted the support of his cruisers and destroyers. The game was on, but who would move next?
A moment later, they saw the enemy making their first big move. “Sir, Type 281 reports a large contact out at maximum range and bearing on our position. 130 miles out.”
Somerville looked at Wells. “Here they come,” he said. “Notify Indomitable to spot a second squadron of fighters.”
“Sir,” said Wells. “If those are strike planes, then they would be Vals or Kates. The former would probably launch no more than 250 miles from its intended target, the latter 160 miles. So I would now estimate their mother carriers to be somewhere here.” He circled a finger on the plotting table. “If I’m right, sir, we can hit them. At the very least we should clear our decks of anything armed and get it airborne while we can.”
“A wise precaution,” said Somerville. “Make it so.”
“We’ve got those two Martlets returning now. I’ll launch as soon as they are recovered.”
They saw Illustrious spotting aircraft as well, and Indomitable was already sending out a group of Martlets, the American Wildcats renamed by the British. Aboard Takami, the screens were suddenly alight with over 36 contacts, all designated friendly as the British planes launched and then were vectored southeast to look for the enemy.
As the British squadrons proceeded, there was one pair of Japanese Zeros out on long range CAP that spotted them, and went after a flight of Barracudas, downing one in a swirling fight that sent the others off in wild directions. The planes carried on, and the fact that they were not massed into one coordinated group would now weigh in their favor. A group of six Seafires with 1000 pound bombs were out in front, but by the time they had expended half their fuel, they had seen only a pair of enemy destroyers entering the gap between the islands. One by one, they began to reach Bingo fuel, and were forced to turn for home.
Other squadrons in the long train pressed on through the Channel, but more Zeros greeted them east of Little Andaman Island and they still had not spotted the enemy carriers. In the meantime, the enemy planes were drawing ever nearer, but Somerville’s sideslip to the west now paid him good dividends. The Japanese Vals had carried on with the heading given them for the initial contact, and they missed the British ca
rriers. For a time, they persisted north, a few chasing and attacking a lone British destroyer, before the strike leader realized his error and turned. Seeing enemy planes to their southwest, he reasoned those must be British planes returning to their carriers, and turned in that direction.
The Vals were almost at the point where they would have to head home, but at least now they were headed the right way, the costly hunt to the north behind them. Finally, they saw the large wakes of enemy ships scoring the cobalt sea beneath them, and began to make their attack run. They were going to be too late. Most would be nearing Bingo fuel soon, but they pressed in to attack, with none of them dropping bombs on Formidable as the skies began to light up with Ack Ack fire. Most bombs fell wide of the mark, but one was very close, no more than 150 feet off the starboard side of the ship. The blast sent shrapnel raking over the flight deck, damaging several Fulmars spotted there, and effectively putting them out of the game.
Crews ran to move the planes below decks while others were already rising on the elevators, this time armed with 1000 pound bombs. The last of the Vals swooped through the flak, then the formation swarmed off like angry bees, heading south. They had put one stinger into their enemy, and those results were none too good considering that these were veteran pilots. Two stubborn pilots still had bombs when they got the order to return to base, but they could not go without attacking and bear the shame of having to jettison those bombs. Ignoring their fuel situation, they turned, braving the flak, and bored in on that carrier.
They each got off two 125kg bombs, but all fell well over 500 feet from the carrier. Wells and Somerville had dodged the first enemy attack, and now Formidable had frantically launched another group of Fulmars to try and follow those Vals home and find their unseen enemy.
Down south, the other squadrons of Barracudas had still not sighted the Japanese carriers, but they did find what looked to many like a battleship below. It was actually the Heavy Cruiser Tone, out in front of Hara’s group by some 30 miles. The British had come that close to finding the carriers, but now, in desperation, low on fuel, they decided to take the bird in hand. The first two Fulmars put their bombs nearly half a mile from the target in their haste, and the gunners aboard Tone actually laughed at their enemy. Most of the other British squadrons got hung up about 40 miles north of Taiho, where Hara had posted his long range CAP. The slashing attack of the Zeros was enough to so disrupt the enemy formations, that the strain on their fuel was now forcing them to turn for home.
So it was that these initial probing attacks saw both sides frustrated, shadow boxing with an enemy that neither one could clearly see. But Hara now had a very good idea where his enemy was, and he was determined to strike again with the remaining daylight. At 15:40 he gave orders for all carriers to launch a second wave. He would get those planes up and off the decks just as a group of eight Zeros were returning. As his squadrons headed out, he saw more Zeros launching from Hiyo as ordered to replace his defensive CAP. They were soon in a wild fight with anything the British had near Tone, as the Fulmar was a fighter bomber, and those pilots too far off to get an attack in, could jettison their bombs and take on the role of that fighter. Both side would take losses, but the net effect was that Hara would effectively parry and block the last punched the three British carriers had thrown at him.
An hour later, by 16:40, the first groups of that strike wave had already arrived at the last reported location of the carriers, and then turned west to look for those long wakes. The British could see them coming on radar, and they would surely vector in all the other groups in their train.
“We had better look to our defense,” said Somerville.
“Indomitable reports they have six Seafires ready on deck for immediate launch. Illustrious has two more on ready standby. I’ll have them scrambled at once. As for us, I’m afraid we’ve just got the Barracudas left below deck.”
“Leave them there for now. But we must be ready to arm them at a moment’s notice. Not just now, however. Particularly with enemy planes coming at us. Gentlemen, it may soon be every man for himself, but we’re likely to take the heat first, trailing the other two carriers as we are now. Let’s get off this heading and see if we can dodge another arrow.”
“Aye sir,” said Wells. “Helm, come to 320 and ahead full.”
Chapter 8
Those eight Seafires were not going to be enough. The long range CAP already up for the British had pounced on one of the squadrons of Vals, and took down five in a heated duel, but now they could see lower flying formations of Kates, and more Vals coming in higher up. They radioed home, telling their comrades the enemy was throwing the kitchen sink at them.
This time Somerville’s dodge would not work.
It was Lieutenant Ichihara off the Taiho that saw the carriers first, leading in two Shotai of B5N2 torpedo bombers. At a little after 17:00 the enemy planes swooped low over the water and began their attack runs, racing in at very high speed, which was a hallmark of the Kate. Soon the long wicked wakes of the torpedoes were clawing through the water, and one struck Formidable amidships, blasting through the torpedo bulwark and achieving partial penetration of the main hull.
The resulting explosion buckled the second deck where those Barracudas sat in open parking, but thankfully, only two were then armed with torpedoes, and neither of those were damaged. Several flak guns on that side of the ship took bad splinter damage, the crews cruelly clawed by shrapnel caused by the explosion. A fire broke out and a call came up to the bridge to report minor flooding amidships.
“They’ve gone and stuck one to us,” said Somerville coolly.
“It seems they have, sir,” said Wells.
The buckled deck had also thrown both elevators slightly off their bearings, and the engineers were now trying to see if they could keep them operational. Above, chaos reigned over the scene, with planes seemingly everywhere. Vals were swarming over Illustrious off their port quarter, and the few Seafires they got up were battling the enemy against steep odds. Between their efforts and the AA fire, at least eleven Vals were taken down in that wild attack.
Bombs were falling around Indomitable, escorted by the destroyer Napier. Vals that had already dropped their bombs then bravely went after the Fireflies. Planes were cartwheeling into the sea on every side, and losses were beginning to mount. Then two Vals got through the intense flak and both were able to put 125kg bombs right on the armored flight deck of Illustrious. Neither were able to penetrate all the way through to the hangar deck, but now came a group of eight Kates off the Junyo, bearing down on both the other two British carriers. One would hit the Illustrious aft with a torpedo that would put most of her remaining planes out of the game for a time when the explosion sent fire and smoke through the hangar deck. The minor flooding would be controlled, and the fires suppressed, but she was out of the fight at a critical moment.
By 18:00 it was all over, the smoke trailing up into the sky from all three British carriers. Formidable had it the worst, her fires spreading to ignite an aviation fuel bunker, with a violent explosion rocking the ship. Wells was thrown from his feet, Somerville holding on to the binnacle as the ship swayed, then righted itself. The Admiral came to his Captain, extending a hand.
“Mister Wells,” he said. “I am beginning to see the wisdom of your earlier arguments. We’ve no business being here now, and perhaps I was rash to put us in harm’s way, but that was my charge. Now we must look to our ship.”
A call came up that the damage control parties were having great difficulty getting the fires under control. The ship’s speed was exacerbating that effort, but if they slowed down, those fast enemy cruisers could find them. The reality of what had just happened finally hit Wells like a blast of cold air.
They were going to lose her.
That was the only thing running through his mind now—no more strategy, and nothing of chess moves as he had put it to Somerville earlier. His ship was going down. The Admiral, being much more experienced at sea, al
so knew the worst. He edged a bit closer and spoke to Wells, his voice low and controlled.
“I think we should see to getting the crew off as best we can. I’ll see to some documents from the plotting room. You see to the men and boats.”
“Very well.” Wells had a defeated look on his face, and Somerville saw it. The Admiral put his hand on the Captain’s shoulder.
“It happens, Mister Wells, and this is my fault, not yours. We get some of theirs, and they get some of ours. I’m afraid the two of us will likely look like a pair of wet dogs when they pull us out of the sea. Nestor is close by, and Napier. They can lend a hand. I’ll have signals sent to all other destroyers to muster on our position. As for Illustrious and Indomitable, they should continue west with all speed until we can sort ourselves out. Rear Admiral Boyd is on Indomitable, and he can manage. I’ll want him to effect a rendezvous with Admiral Willis and the Slow Force. Those battleships can put up a good deal of flak if the enemy comes looking for more trouble. Then I think the whole lot should move southwest…. Where we should have been all along.”
It was as much an effort to shore his Captain up as it was an admission of his own fault. The two men had a lot on their backs in the brief time they had collaborated. There was Mers-el-Kebir, and the dreadful consequences of that action that sent France firmly into the enemy camp. Then there was the action off Dakar, and the Canary Islands, where they got back in the game. This time, another island of great importance was at stake, and Somerville was beginning to doubt if they could defend it.
For his part, Wells realized the Admiral was trying to buck up his morale, but that he was also giving him his intentions as to future operations. When one went over the side in a situation like this, it was never certain where he might end up. The Admiral’s launch was readied for senior officers, but Somerville wanted to see the men off first. He had over a thousand souls on his mind now.
Thor's Anvil (Kirov Series Book 26) Page 7