Keynes' Cruisers

[fester]

Probolinggo, Java 1130 May 3, 1942

Thirty merchant ships lingered offshore. Lighters and whale boats and barges scuttered between the ships and the shore. Two cargo ships were tied up at the fishing docks. Prisoners and civilians were lined up carrying sacks and crates off of those ships. Already 17,000 soldiers had disembarked. They were motivated as a raid of American A-24 dive bombers sank a destroyer and another transport just after first light as they were entering the long bay.

A regiment had come ashore in an assault wave and overwhelmed the Dutch infantry company. Runners and cyclists had managed to escape. Bombers from Zuikahu and Shokaku had already hit the Canadian brigade which was dug in near Pasuraun while the fighters from those two carriers maintained constant patrols over the invasion fleet.

Just before noon, a quintet of Dutch Douglas Dragon bombers roared at tree top heights. Six Zeroes from Shokaku dove from their patrol altitude. Two bombers were shot down, only one before bombs were released. The other three bombers escaped, having caused some damage and far more importantly, some delay on the unloading operations in the small, modest port. A warehouse full of sugar and mangoes was now on fire and three dozen civilian stevedores laid wounded and dying from the air raid.

 

[mudhead]

It only took 1 torpedo to sink the Prince of Wales IOTL

It only took one to sink Ark IOTL.

 

[AlanJWhite]

It only took one to sink Ark IOTL.

But more than one to sink POW though only one to cripple her.
(In the screws and rudders rather like the Bismarck)

 

[Crowbar Six]

Ark in OTL was hit by a full size 21" torpedo the Ark in this one was hit by two much smaller warhead.

 

[NHBL]

Ark Royal also had a huge chunk of hull ripped off, which is not normal. IMVHO, sinking is plausible, but so is not sinking.

 

[Zheng He]

Didn’t ARK sink OTL because her captain didn’t believe in counter flooding?

 

[Shadow Knight]

Last update needs threadmark. Also awesome recent updates.

 

[JudgeKing]

Didn’t ARK sink OTL because her captain didn’t believe in counter flooding?

That and the crew didn't bother closing the watertight doors on the way to the flight deck.

 

[AlanJWhite]

Didn’t ARK sink OTL because her captain didn’t believe in counter flooding?

My understanding was that the captain thought the ark would go down quickly and worried that there would be heavy crew loss. He ordered abandon ship and mustered the crew on deck almost immediately.
By the time he realised that some preventative work was possible too much flooding and secondary damage had happened

 

[Winestu]

Surabaya 0930 May 3, 1942

Flames reached for the sky like a crying baby reached for his mother. Annulus smoke columns reached skyward from the naval base’s fuel tanks. The airfield was in worse shape than the port as the entire air wing from Kaga focused on it. Level bombers dropped heavy bombs with instant fuses on the runway and hangers while dive bombers used their lighter bombs to destroy a dozen fighters on the ground before hitting the control tower and bomb dumps.

Zeros were qualitatively and quantitatively superior to anything that was able to rise to defend the port. Almost thirty fights, an even mix of American P-40s and Dutch Buffaloes, had scrambled to meet the raid but only seven aircraft would be able to fly within a day. Twelve pilots were still capable of taking to the air.

Bombers from Akagi had split their attention. Half hit the port. Two submarines, a trio of mine craft and four merchant ships were either on fire, underwater or still in the process of exploding. The other half hit the a variety of targets around the port including the radio station and the garrison’s barracks. The Dutch battalion was out in the field so those dozen sorties were wasted but the rest were quite useful.

So, why were so many aircraft, especially the fighters, caught on the ground? They have to know an attack is coming today. Is MacArthur’s (hack, spit) ghost in charge of the air defenses?
Seriously, that seems like a lot of aircraft caught flat footed.

 

[fester]

So, why were so many aircraft, especially the fighters, caught on the ground? They have to know an attack is coming today. Is MacArthur’s (hack, spit) ghost in charge of the air defenses?
Seriously, that seems like a lot of aircraft caught flat footed.

A couple were down with damage/mechanical defects and then the dawn patrol landed on an already damaged field so turn-around time to get pointed in the right direction with half a tank of gas took more time than they had.

Remember this field has been getting hit on a not quite daily basis for the past few weeks. Sometimes the raid is just a single night time Washing Machine Charlie and sometimes it is multiple squadrons of Nell's/Betty/Lily's with fighter cover

 

[Zheng He]

A bit of a quibble on the air combat. I think the results should be a bit more even. By this time in the war, Allied pilots should know how to counter the Zero fairly well and Dutch Buffalo pilots flying point defense missions should be flying with half loads of fuel and ammunition (they did this a lot earlier OTL).

 

[fester]

A bit of a quibble on the air combat. I think the results should be a bit more even. By this time in the war, Allied pilots should know how to counter the Zero fairly well and Dutch Buffalo pilots flying point defense missions should be flying with half loads of fuel and ammunition (they did this a lot earlier OTL).

45 on 28 does wonders to the kill ratio. The Allied pilots got their share of kills too but they went up in inferior machines with inferior numbers to face some of the best squadrons on Earth at this point in the war.

 

[NHBL]

Good stuff--it just feels real

 

[Cryhavoc101]

It only took 1 torpedo to sink the Prince of Wales IOTL

Only took 1 to sink the Ark!

 

[Cryhavoc101]

On Ark Royals Sinking

The RN had been shocked by the suddenness of HMS Courageous loss in sept 1939 capsizing with 500 of her crew

Also with the loss of the majority of the crew on HMS Glorious the following year that pair of losses represented a large % of the FAAs trained personnel and in view of that I think that the Captain of Ark Royal choosing his crew including a highly effective FAA detachment over the ship (especially given her rapid 'list') was a forgivable choice and his court martial agreed.

Still it is accepted now that they abandoned her too soon (as she did not immediately capsize) and she probably could have been saved had damage control efforts continued

Somerville can still end up suffering the worst defeat since Jutland depending on how things go.

If by defeat you mean the Japanese will run for their home base as the Germans did at Jutland then I think Somerville has done his job!

 

[fester]

If by defeat you mean the Japanese will run for their home base as the Germans did at Jutland then I think Somerville has done his job!

What are the victory conditions? What are the have to happens for each combatants strategic position to be maintained or improved. The Malay Barrier has a lot of conflicting incentives

 

[Zheng He]

45 on 28 does wonders to the kill ratio. The Allied pilots got their share of kills too but they went up in inferior machines with inferior numbers to face some of the best squadrons on Earth at this point in the war.

I guess my quibble is the inferior machines part. Outnumbered yes but IMO the record shows the P-40 to be the Zeroes equal (and arguably slightly superior) provided the pilot knew how to handle his machine. No biggie though, as you say, they were outnumbered and that airfield was under a lot of pressure.

Looking forward to the next update. Can't wait to see Somerville's next move...

 

[steamboy]

It seems the main force of the KB is busy elsewhere so Sommerville should be safe from that threat, but he's got to get the Ark out of there, and thats going to be the hard part as you can bet that every IJA bomber in the area is now heading towards the British fleet.

 

[TimM]

It seems the main force of the KB is busy elsewhere so Sommerville should be safe from that threat, but he's got to get the Ark out of there, and thats going to be the hard part as you can bet that every IJA bomber in the area is now heading towards the British fleet.

And there as they say is the rub - sounds like a Malta convoy. The real question is what can the FAA/RAF do to interdict the IJA.