The Whale Has Wings Vol 3 - Holding the Barrier (28 page)

18th May

The USAAF's 7th Air Force in Hawaii is placed on alert in anticipation of a possible attack on Midway Island. For the next ten days the old Martin B-18's will be used on sea searches to supplement the B-17's.The VII Bomber Command receives an influx of B-17's during this period, and one squadron is converted from B-18's to B-17's.

Meanwhile the Marine Corps is sending more Corsair fighters to Midway. Before the start of the war against Japan the fighter, although showing very high performance, was considered dangerous to operate and had been refused deck-landing clearance. Since hostilities commenced the peacetime rules have been relaxed, however the Marine squadrons flying the plane have been scattered and it is only with the expected invasion of Midway that they have been given priority to build up on the island itself. It is hoped to get at least one squadron onto the island in the next week.

Force Z arrives at Fiji, where a number of tankers have been sent to provide the force with fuel. The force pauses only to refuel and take on water, then heads north, destination Pearl Harbor.

19th May

A strong German counterattack at Kharkov in the Ukraine against the Russians begins.

General MacArthur is recalled to Washington to discuss possible operational commands - there have been rumours circulating in the War Department about a new Allied commander being needed in China.

21st May

Task Force 39 with the battleship USS Washington, the aircraft carrier USS Wasp, the heavy cruisers USS Wichita and Tuscaloosa and six destroyers, arrives at Singapore after a high speed transit from Alexandria. The Task Force is assigned temporarily to work under Admiral Somerville while Force Z is with the USN. The opportunity is also taken to carry on the work started in the Mediterranean to integrate common procedures between the RN and USN to facilitate future combined operation. The Japanese attack in the mid-Pacific is now considered too close for the Wasp to arrive in time to aid it.

22nd May

Mexico declares war on the Axis from 1 June.

The German and Russian armies are involved in mutual offensives south of Kharkov. The Germans are in danger of surrounding part of Timoshenko's force, but he has to convince Stalin that the best course is to pull them back.

US submarines sail to patrol positions from Hawaii to counter the Japanese Midway operation.

23rd May

The Japanese 1st Carrier Fleet, under Admiral Nagumo, leaves the Inland Sea to begin their part in the Midway operation. The following day the main Japanese Invasion Fleet sails from the Marianas toward Midway.

The Americal Division of the US Army is constituted. It is organised as a square division, from units assigned to Task Force 6814.

25th May

The Japanese army issues orders to the Second and Seventh divisions to begin preparing for an amphibious attack against Hawaii. Training for the assault is to be completed by September 1942.

The light cruiser USS St. Louis arrives at Midway and disembarks Companies "C" and "D," 2nd Marine Raider Battalion, and a 37 mm gun battery of the 3rd defence Battalion. The aircraft ferry USS Kitty Hawk brings Marine reinforcements including a detachment of a 3-inch (76.2 mm) antiaircraft group of the 3rd defence Battalion, a light tank platoon and additional personnel for Marine Air Group Twenty Two. The Japanese operation is now imminent, and these will be the last supplies to reach the island before the Japanese attack.

Task Force 16, centred around the carriers Enterprise and Hornet, returns to Pearl Harbor. They are under orders to replenish as quickly as possible and be ready to sail on the following day. This is disappointing to the crews, who had hoped for shore leave after their last mission. No indication of the Midway operation is given to the crews until the ships are back at sea, to maintain security.

The remainder of the Japanese forces sail to join the Midway operation. This includes a number of ships tasked with diversionary missions.

26th May

Vice Admiral Lyster, the commander of Force Z, lands at Pearl Harbor by carrier plane to discuss the operation with Admiral Nimitz and his staff. In view of the operation planned, command of the RN force has been given to him due to his experience in multi-carrier operations. Admiral Somerville had seriously considered commanding in person, but his responsibilities in SE Asia and the issue that he would be the senior officer afloat (causing a problem as the operations are under US overall control) has forced him to remain in Singapore. The size of the RN force has made discussions of who is to command somewhat delicate (the USN and RN forces are of a similar size), but Somerville has already decided with Nimitz that the American local knowledge and territory mean it is best for them to be in overall command. Nimitz has agreed that Lyster will have as free a hand as possible over the use of his ships, particularly if the RN carriers can get off a night strike, something outside of the USN capability.

Task Force 16, carriers Enterprise and Hornet under Admiral Spruance, and Task Force 17, carriers Yorktown and Ticonderoga under Admiral Fletcher, sail from Pearl Harbor for Midway. Once on their way, the crews are ordered to paint large US flags on the flight deck to allow easier identification. Tricolour striping is painted on the turrets of the other ships. Admiral Halsey, originally intended to be in overall command, is in hospital with a skin condition and reported to be furious.

27th May

Czech partisans ambush SS Obergruppenführer Reinhardt Heydrich, the deputy Reichprotector of Bohemia and Moravia.

B-17's on detached service at Midway Island begin search operations. U.S. Navy PBY Catalinas concentrate their searches to the northeast, from where the Japanese invasion fleet is expected to approach.

The Royal Navy Force Z arrives at Pearl Harbor under as much security as the base can manage. Overnight the fleet is refuelled and a stream of US navy communications personnel and their equipment is hurried on board. Preparations have been made during their voyage to Hawaii to add the US radio equipment to allow them to communicate with the US Task Forces and aircraft. A US light cruiser will also accompany the force to aid in this. Engineers are also onboard helping with the inevitable small problems that have cropped up during the high-speed run. Fortunately, only one of the destroyers is forced to remain behind due to serious problems. The carriers also take on a USN deck landing officer each in case any US aircraft need to be recovered (the landing procedures and signals are different in the two navies).

It had been hoped that Force Z would arrive in time to integrate it with the US carrier group now on its way to Midway, but there was not time before the Japanese sailed. Current intentions are for the Force to move southwest of Midway, to catch the Japanese force between the two groups. The worry is that if the Japanese have concentrated their carriers, they will be able to defeat either of the two Allied groups in detail. If this proves to be the case, the orders are to pull back and draw the Japanese onto the combined carrier forces. As with the USN ships, flags and markings are painted on the ships to reduce the chance of mis-identification.

28th May

Force Z sails from Pearl Harbor - due to the size of the ships, especially HMS Audacious, the sailing was delayed to high tide, just in case, as the bridge crews are unfamiliar with Pearl. For additional security the force leaves harbour flying the US ensign to help disguise their origin - although the size of the Audacious makes this problematical, she is nearly twice the displacement of the US carriers.

29th May

The Germans complete encirclement of the Russian forces west of the Donets. 250,000 Russian soldiers are killed or captured.

A RN T-class submarine operating south of Formosa spots a Japanese force of 'a couple of cruisers and destroyers' steaming south towards the South China Sea during the night. The submarine is unable to make an attack, but Somerville asks the RAF to conduct a reconnaissance of the area to try and find out what they are up to.

30th May

Three Russian destroyers joined up with convoy, PQ-16 today to help escort it through the last stage of what has been the most hazardous Arctic journey so far. The convoy - with 35 ships - set sail on 21 May for Murmansk and Archangel. For the last three days, it has been under attack from no fewer than 260 German aircraft.

The convoy was joined on 25 May by a force of four British cruisers, HMS Norfolk, HMS Nigeria, HMS Kent and HMS Liverpool, and two escort carriers Only one ship has been sunk by U-boat, but three have been sunk by air attack despite the efforts of the escort carriers, one of which was heavily damaged by Stuka dive bombers. The attacks proved costly to the Luftwaffe, a heavy toll being taken of the attackers by the defending Goshawks. Nevertheless, 93,000 tons of new war material has been delivered to the USSR, including 320 tanks, 125 aircraft and 2,500 military vehicles.

Task Force17 under Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher and Task Force 16 under Rear Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, rendezvous about 350-miles (648 km) northeast of Midway Island. The joint force, under tactical command of Admiral Fletcher, is composed of four aircraft carriers, seven heavy cruisers, 16 destroyers and two oilers. Supporting are 25 submarines deployed around Midway. The two forces sailed separately in case they were spotted by Japanese patrols.

31st May

The heaviest attack yet by the RAF targets the city of Cologne. Some 600 bombers, including 150 Coventry high-altitude planes, led by Pathfinder Mosquitoes, drop over 3,000 tons of bombs, half of them incendiaries. The city is left in flames, and the chemical works 90% destroyed. So heavy were the fires that reconnaissance planes were unable to get photographs on the following day due to the thick clouds of smoke.

The fighting south of Kharkov which started so well for the Red Army has ended in disaster. The Germans, who launched their counter-thrust, Operation Fridericus, at the base of the Soviet breakthrough, have destroyed the five Russian armies caught in their pincer movement. Throughout the battle the Russians were poorly supported by their air force, and the Germans had complete supremacy over the battlefield. They now hold a line along the Donets and are preparing to launch further offensives against their badly mauled enemies.

A force of Japanese midget submarines (the Japanese submarines HIJMS I-22, HIJMS I-24 and HIJMS I-27) each launch a Type A midget submarine which penetrate the harbour defences of Sydney and attack shipping. They fire torpedoes that miss the heavy cruiser USS Chicago but sink the accommodation ship HMAS Kuttabul and damage the Dutch submarine HNMS K 9 beyond economical repair. All the attackers are killed in the attack.

The Japanese Invasion Group is spotted by land-based aircraft from Midway. This is a few days later than expected, but getting the ships into position has taken the Japanese a little longer than anticipated.

This describes some of the aircraft in use by the Royal Navy and other air forces during the period covered by this book (1932 - 1941). Only naval aircraft or aircraft encountered in actions in the book have been included.

Gloster Goshawk Mk III (fighter)

The Goshawk is a single-engine fighter powered by the improved version of the Bristol Hercules engine. Performance is similar to that of the historic Spitfire at low level, but inferior above 20,000 feet - as was the usual practice with carrier aircraft of the period, performance was optimised for under 20,000 feet (since bombing above this altitude was too inaccurate for success against ships). Armament had increased to 4x20mm cannon over earlier version of the fighter. As with most naval planes, the Goshawk had rather longer range than its land-based equivalents, at the cost of a heavier aircraft (compensated for by the more powerful Hercules engine)

Fairy Swordfish (TBR - Torpedo, Bomber, Reconnaissance)

Developed in the early 1930's as a private venture, the 'Stringbag' as it was known would be used throughout the war in many different roles. No longer the frontline torpedo/bomber (although it was still to be found used in this role in the more remote theatres), due to its versatility and its ability to operate off of very small carriers in all sorts of weather, it would carry on as the anti-submarine plane on escort carriers and conversions throughout the war.

Martin-Baker Cormorant  Mk III(Divebomber)

Developed in the 1930's, the Hercules-powered Cormorant was the Royal Navies first dedicated dive bomber. Initial versions carried either a 500lb HE bomb (on longer missions) or a 1,000lb against larger targets. With a later-version Hercules (with more power), it could also carry the 1,600lb AP bomb designed for use against battleships and similarly armoured targets

Boulton-Paul SeaLance (TBR - Torpedo, Bomber, Reconnaissance)

The replacement for the Swordfish, the SeaLance was an interim deign using the Griffon engine. Faster than the Swordfish, it was much more survivable against defended targets. With its increased performance, the Royal Navy carried on development of its aerial torpedoes to allow them to be dropped at a higher speed and from a greater height, also giving the crews more chance of surviving the attack.

Fairy Spearfish (TBR - Torpedo, Bomber, Reconnaissance)

The replacement for the SeaLance (which had originally been seen as an interim design), this plane was operational in late 1941. Performance was much better, thanks to the powerful Centaurus engine, but the limited availability of the engine limited initial deployment. It was the first carrier-based plane to carry the new, heavy MkXV torpedo, and  it could deliver this at over 250kt. It was the first strike aircraft deigned to have an ASV radar equipped as standard, but production  issues meant that at first only some aircraft were so fitted.

Gloster Sea Eagle (fighter)

This fighter started to replace the Goshawk in the autumn of 1941. Powered by the Centaurus engine, it was then the fastest fighter in the world, carrying 4x20mm guns. It could also carry some 1,600lb of bombs, allowing  it to act as a naval attack aircraft as well as a fighter. Production was initially limited by low production of the Centaurus, and the weight of the plane meant it only operated off the later or modernised fleet carriers.