The Whale Has Wings Vol 2 - Taranto to Singapore

by David Row

  5th Nov

  General Marshall and Admiral Stark send a six-point memorandum to the President outlining the position taken by the Joint Board on November 3. He is specifically informed that there would be insufficient B-17's in the Philippines to serve as a “positive threat” to the Japanese until mid-December and that it would be February or March before air power in the Commonwealth was sufficient to be a “deciding factor in deterring Japan”. This memorandum further sets out that a Japanese attack on British or Dutch possessions or a threatening Japanese assault on Siam would lead to an American declaration of war.

  The RAF is having growing problems with the new Fw190 fighter in Europe. It has a better performance than the current SpitfireV or the GoshawkIII. A new two-stage supercharged Merlin 61 engine has been tried in one of the pre-production Spitfire VIII, and the increase in performance is said to be huge over the current SpitfireV. This engine is specified for the production run of the Mk8, and it is hoped to have these operational in March 1942. There has been pressure from the RAF to try the new Gloster Sea Eagle in operation, but the Navy is strongly resisting this as they claim it is not yet operational - the first carriers to carry the plane are still working up their air groups, and they are only just coming into full production. They also point out that it will not necessarily solve the problem; the Spitfire is more manoeuvrable, although the Sea Eagle has far more power, and the Sea Eagle has been optimized for performance under 20,000feet. The SpitfireVIII with the new engine is expected to have better performance above this height. In any case, numbers of the Fw190 are at the moment small, and with a steadily increasing prospect of war in the Far East, they would prefer to keep the performance of the Sea Eagle a secret.

  Another four U-class boats arrive in Ceylon. The first half of the squadron arrives at Singapore yesterday, their arrival and deployment kept as secret as possible.

  The 12th African Division arrives in Burma via India. This division has been freed up from East Africa by the finishing of the Ethiopean campaign; it is hoped its experienced troops, already used to hot conditions, will be able to be operational soon. The same convoy brings 40 additional tanks for the armored brigade in Burma, although these will need some weeks of tropicalisation before they can be put to use.

  9th Nov

  General MacArthur meets with Admiral Hart and advises him to “get a real Fleet”. Hart bitterly resents this comment.

  The first squadron of the new Mosquito light bomber becomes operational. The initial squadrons have been allocated to the bombing pathfinder squadrons; it is considered an ideal plane for them, and they do not need a heavy bomb load to carry their marking indicators. The pathfinder concept has slowly been improving the accuracy of the RAF bombers; a report by Justice Butt some weeks ago pointed out that while the accuracy was still poor, it was a great improvement on a year ago. As the marking planes skill increased, and new aids such as Gee were employed, it was felt the delayed heavy bombing campaign could go ahead in the spring as scheduled.

  11th Nov

  Battleship Mushashi, the largest warship in the world, is launched in Japan.

  General Brereton, Air Force USAFFE Commander, is dispatched by General MacArthur on a three-week, 11,500-mile trip to Rabaul, Port Moresby, Townsville, and Melbourne, to comply with Marshall's directive of 30 September regarding the use of airfields in British Empire areas by the USA.

  Although the largest island in the Dodecanese group, Rhodes, is now occupied and fortified by the British, low level air and sea activity continues across the islands. Italian and RAF and French planes stage raids and patrol the area, and the Italians have staged two raids by light craft against the small coastal ships supplying the British, in one case sinking or damaging a number of ships.

  13th Nov

  The Germans today resume their attack on Moscow now that frost has hardened the ground enough for operations. They have launched one of their customary pincer movements in a final attempt to capture the city before the winter

  The plan is for the 2nd Panzer Group to take Tula, to the south of the Russian capital, and then sweep up behind Moscow to Kolemna. 3rd Panzer Group is to form the northern arm of the pincer with the task of driving eastwards to the Volga Canal and then wheeling towards Moscow while 4th Panzer Group attacks in the centre. The initial reports of the fighting show that it is going to be much harder for them to take Moscow than seemed possible last month when panic gripped the city.

  The House of Representatives voted by 212 votes to 194 to revise the Neutrality Act of 1939 to allow US merchant ships to unload munitions in British ports..

  15th Nov

  The final four T-class boats arrive at Ceylon. This completes the two submarine squadrons deployed in the Far East. The rest of the U-class boats arrive at Singapore to take up their patrol stations. The T-class boats are headed further north, closer to the Philippines; they will refuel at Singapore at night then head out under cover of darkness.

  The first of the latest version of the Valentine tank, mounting a 6pdr gun in a turret designed for the Canadian Grizzly tank arrive in North Africa. The first of the new Grizzly are expected to arrive in Britain shortly, and a small number will be shipped on to Alexandria for examination in the field by the British and French armoured divisions. Planning has been going ahead steadily for an invasion of Sicily in the spring and a more powerful tank has been eagerly awaited. General Montgomery has already pointed out that as amphibious forces are limited by sealift, especially until a port can be captured, having the best equipment in the initial landings is of especial benefit.

  General Alexander approves plans for food rationing in Singapore. The engineers have been working on possible solutions for water; if the island is invested the water supply is so far north as to be very vulnerable to enemy attack. Singapore receives regular rain which can be collected; additional storage is being looked at. The administration is also drawing up plans for evacuation of civilians if Malaya is attacked; these will leave on small coastal shipping and on returning supply convoys for Ceylon and Australia.

  18th Nov

  General Brooke replaces General Dill as Chief of the Imperial General Staff. General Dill is assigned to Washington, DC. General Paget becomes C. in C. British Home Forces. These appointments will become effective in December.

  General Brooke has a passion for innovation in military mobility, mechanization and gunnery, and this is expected only to increase the current progress for better mechanised forces in the Imperial Armies.

  The Japanese Imperial Diet secretly approves a "resolution of hostility" against the United States. Admiral Yamamoto informs his staff to plan for an attack on the Royal Navy at Singapore once the strike at Pearl Harbor has been completed. This will have to be finalised later, as it will depend on how costly (and successful) the attack on the Pacific fleet is, and what force the Royal Navy have in Malaya at the time, but in principle and assuming the Pacific fleet is hit as heavily as he hopes, he wants to swing his forces around and cripple and drive back the Royal Navy Eastern Fleet as soon as possible.

  Five mother submarines, each with a midget sub lashed to the deck, depart Kure Naval Base for Pearl Harbor. The submarines arrive off Oahu, Hawaiian Islands, on 6 December. Nine submarines from Kwajalein also sail for their stations.

  A convoy containing supplies and a considerable amount of ammunition starts to unload in Singapore. In addition to army supplies, it carries additional shells for the ships which will be operating from the base, as well as torpedoes for the submarines and the new Torpex MkXV aerial torpedo. A similar convoy docked two days ago at Trincomalee.

  The Dutch army in the Dutch East Indies receive their first shipments of the US 'Stuart' tank. These had originally been ordered by France, but after the actions in North Africa had shown they were really too light for use against German tanks, had been passed on to the Dutch - it was felt that it would be a very useful vehicle against the much lighter and poorly-protected Japanese tanks. The Dutch for
ces have been eagerly looking forward to their first modern tanks.

  21st Nov

  The Navy Department sends the following message to the Commanders of the Asiatic and Pacific Fleets. "Have been informed by Dutch Legation that they have received a dispatch as follows: "According to information received by the Governor General of The Netherlands East Indies a Japanese expeditionary force has arrived in the vicinity of Palau. Should this force, strong enough to form a threat for The Netherlands Indies or Portuguese Timor, move beyond a line between the following points Davao (Philippine Islands) Waigeo (Island, Netherlands East Indies) Equator the Governor General will regard this as an act of aggression and will under those circumstances consider the hostilities opened and act accordingly." Inform Army authorities of foregoing. Request any information you may have concerning development of this Japanese threat against the Dutch East Indies and your evaluation of foregoing information."

  22nd Nov

  The Japanese First Air Fleet arrives in Hitokappu Bay, Etorofu Island, Kurile Islands. This fleet consists of six aircraft carriers (HIJMS Akagi, Hiryu, Kaga, Shokaku, Soryu and Zuikaku), two battleships (HIJMS Hiei and Kirishima), two heavy cruisers (HIJMS Chikuma and Tone), a light cruiser (HIJMS Abukuma) and ten destroyers.

  The German assault on Moscow continues. After bitter fighting, the Germans are now some 35 miles from the city.

  23rd Nov

  Carrier Striking Task Force Operations Order No. 1 is issued stating:

  "The Carrier Striking Task Force will proceed to the Hawaiian Area with utmost secrecy and, at the outbreak of the war, will launch a resolute surprise attack on and deal a fatal blow to the enemy fleet in the Hawaiian Area. The initial air attack is scheduled at 0330 hours, X Day. Upon completion of the air attacks, the Task Force will immediately withdraw and return to Japan and, after taking on new supplies, take its position for Second Period Operations. In the event that, during this operation, an enemy fleet attempts to intercept our force or a powerful enemy force is encountered and there is danger of attack, the Task Force will launch a counterattack.

  The second unit, the Midway Bombardment Unit (the 7th Destroyer Division less the 2nd section), will depart from Tokyo Bay around X-6 Day and, after refuelling, secretly approach Midway. It will arrive on the night of X Day and shell the air base. The unit will then withdraw and, after refuelling, return to the western part of the Inland Sea. The oiler Shiriya will accompany the bombardment unit on this mission and will be responsible for the refuelling operation."

  24th Nov

  Admiral Stark, Chief of Naval Operations, sends the following message to Admiral Hart, Commander-in-Chief Asiatic Fleet in the Philippine Islands; Admiral Kimmel, Commander-in-Chief Pacific Fleet in the Territory of Hawaii; Admiral Blakely, commander of the Eleventh Naval District at San Diego, California; Admiral Greenslade, commander of the Twelfth Naval District at San Francisco, California; Admiral Freeman, commander of the Thirteenth Naval District at Seattle, Washington; and Admiral Sadler, commander of the Fifteenth Naval District in the Canal Zone: "Chances of favourable outcome of negotiations with Japan very doubtful. This situation coupled with statements of Japanese Government and movements their naval and military forces indicate in our opinion that a surprise aggressive movement in any direction including attack on Philippines or Guam is a possibility"

  27th Nov

  The last Italian forces in Ethiopia have surrendered in Gondar. After holding out for nine months, aided by the mountains and the rains, General Nasi's troops were overwhelmed today. The British have taken 11,500 Italian and 12,000 native troops prisoner.

  The Japanese carrier forces and Combined Fleet sail for the Pearl Harbor operation.

  At 2000 unidentified aircraft were spotted at high altitude over central Luzon by Iba radar. All FEAF units placed on alert. Admiral Hart authorizes reconnaissance flights over Japanese troop convoys.

  28th Nov

  General Brereton requests permission to conduct high-altitude photo reconnaissance of Takao in Southern Formosa. General MacArthur refuses, citing "the War Department instructions to avoid any overt act" and directed that all Army reconnaissance, including that conducted in cooperation with the Asiatic Fleet, be limited to two-thirds the distance from Luzon to Formosa. The USS Enterprise and her escort group sets sail from Pearl Harbor for Wake Island to ferry Marine Wildcats to the island.

  There is a meeting with General Alexander, Air Marshal Park, Admiral Somerville and their aides in Singapore to discuss the readiness of the area against attack.

  While the defensive situation is much improved from even three months ago, it is still not close to what is desired, and it is felt that it will take another 3-4 months to bring the defence up to the standard required. None of the three officers think that they will have this time.

  The ground forces have been reinforced, and more importantly reinforced with experienced troops. Not only has this given Alexander more options, the new forces have allowed him to conduct extensive training of the units already in theatre, which has improved their performance. He is especially pleased to now have armoured units available - despite some pre-war opinions, these have worked perfectly well in the jungle, as have the troops, who have found the plantations in particular quite navigable. He is still short of equipment - in particular AA guns, and as a result of the exercises showing that a considerable quantity of the pre-war stocks had deteriorated (having to be replaced), the stocks are less than optimal, although the reduced numbers of guns balances this out. Even so, only some 35% of the planned number of guns is available.

  The situation of the air force is a little better. Earlier in the year, there were few modern planes in theatre, and the pilots were woefully short of training - indeed, Park would not have accepted them as fit for service when he was running 11 Group in Britain. Improving their training has been a major part of his preparations, and staff has been borrowed from Operational Training Units in Europe to improve efficiency. The quality is still variable, and a considerable number of the pilots need more experience, the general competence has improved. The overall situation has been helped by the arrival of more experienced pilots with some of the new squadrons (often men with combat experience), and judicious use of some of these to stiffen the existing squadrons has helped.

  The radar and control situation has also improved. A number of the Army's AMES stations are in operation, Singapore Island and a considerable distance north of it now being covered. Thought was given to location a set in the north, but Koto Bharu, the best location, was considered far too vulnerable to attack. The control of interception has been improved considerably due to constant practice, although Park is still unhappy about the quality. Progress has been made on the airfields; many of those that were just strips six months ago are now equipped with concrete runways, thanks to the additional manpower made available, which is a huge help in the Malayan climate. Park has also instituted defence and demolition schemes for the forward airfields based on his experience in SE England during the Battle of Britain. Again these are not complete, but the northern airfields felt most likely to be at risk have been covered.

  The air force has been reinforced with more modern planes, which has allowed the coverage of more of the peninsular; in particular he now has a small number of reconnaissance planes with radar for use at sea, and a squadron of night fighters to defend Singapore. More of the older planes than he would like are still in front line service, but some have been kept back for training. Since he has little accurate information on the capabilities of Japanese planes and pilots, he intends to decide later whether these aircraft (mainly Buffaloes) are capable enough to be used in combat.

  The naval force has been heavily reinforced. Somerville points out that a number of his ships are not yet up to his standards operationally, but those are being held at Ceylon while exercises continue. About 2/3 of his force is ready, although he has serious worries as to having too many ships at Singapore - he sees no reason why the IJN cannot
do to him what the RN has done to Germany and Italy, although the static defences of Singapore are rather more prepared and alert than Wilhelmshaven and Taranto were. He intends to keep only a small force at Singapore until more is known about the location of the IJN carrier force, accepting that this means he is less capable of stopping an initial invasion force.

  29th Nov

  A liaison conference among the Service Chiefs and Cabinet of the Japanese Government decides that the final proposal from the US is unacceptable. Their alternative is war. Their decision is prepared for an Imperial Conference, with the Emperor, which is scheduled for December.

  30th Nov

  MacArthur orders Fort Mills on Corregidor put on full alert.

  The continuing reports of Japanese activity, and the reports of what could be troop convoys heading south, are putting Admiral Somerville in a dilemma. He cannot initiate action against the Japanese, yet concentrating his forces at Singapore means leaving them open to the possibility of a carrier strike. The IJN have at least six fleet carriers available, and a strike by them could devastate his fleet. However leaving them out at sea has its own drawbacks, the IJN has a strong submarine force and if spotted they could again be vulnerable to air attack. Once the Japanese commit themselves his task will be simpler, but until then he decides to keep the bulk of his fleet south and west of Singapore.

  He has ordered a patrol line of U-class submarines south of French Indo China and oriented North-South to catch any ships heading for the peninsular. He also orders four of the larger T-class to sail tomorrow for stations between the Philippines and the China coast.