Asian Jumbo
Monthly Donor
Another is HMS Ulysses by Alistair Maclean. He served on the Artic convoys and this was his first book I believe. Followed by the likes of The Guns of Navarone and Where Eagles Dare etc
Keynes' Cruisers Volume 2
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While that might prevent the odd destroyer or cruiser from getting too close, that still does absolutely nothing to address the air superiority the Japanese have over the region. Any ship large enough to carry these skiffs is still going to operate for a good 24 to 48 hours or so deep in enemy territory with no friendly aircover whatsoever. Sending battleships in, as mentioned, is a suicide mission, and these transports are not going to be able to absorb near the punishment. You could hit an Iowa or North Carolina with half a dozen 500lb bombs, and while the ship might be out of the fight, it might still be seaworthy enough to sail around the world if need be. With a skiff transport, something a lot smaller and less robust in terms of taking damage, even a near miss by a single 500lb bomb could cripple it.
I could easily imagine such a mission being spotted and attacked 500 miles from Bataan and blown out of the water.
This also doesn't address the possibility of running into Japanese warships 100 miles from Bataan on the way in or out.
It's also not going to stop the IJN or IJA from putting a couple dozen aircraft up to bomb or strafe the beaches.
Also recommended: C.S.Forester's The Good Shepherd, the story of an Atlantic convoy and it's US-commanded escort group. Tom Hanks has filmed (or is filming it) as Greyhound, due out next year.
Not sure that operational Typhoons ever had the 12xMG armament - they were fitted with 4 Hispanos.
Ramp-Rat
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I think that you will find, that it should be nine rows of five ships, as standard practice was always to have the convoy wider than it was long. There were major problems with ships in line, especially merchant ships, and IMSR, standard practice was never to have more than five ships in a column.
RR.
Bad book, too much concentration on the hero (as you might expect from the Title)
Bad history ... pure propaganda lauding the USN (so not surprised it's chosen by Hollywood)
In fact the early multinational escorts where a US Officer took command because of higher rank equivalent but zero real experience were just as bad as any early RN escorted convoys where the CO was green.
They learned very quickly of course but the price was too high and unnecessary if NIH had been avoided.
For a meaningful insight into what it was like to crew a warship read his earlier novel The Ship.
Still a bit propaganda-ish (and very pro navy) but told with multiple POV and very varied characters
but much more historically accurate (fictionalized version of the surface action at Second Sirte)
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Driftless
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The first time I read "The Ship" I was in high school - waaaaaaay back in the previous millennium... I've read and enjoyed the tale several times over the years.
I still have my copy bought over 50 years ago using a book token I was awarded as a maths prize from my grammar school.
I was frustrated that I could not take it home to read but had to leave it at the store to be delivered to the school.
The compensation was that it was presented on Prize day with my parents in the audience
(and a nice bookplate stuck inside the front cover)
Interesting - Tiffs in service and ranging across France no less which explains the 12 x MG armament over (which only armed the first 100 or so early production aircraft OTL) the OTL 4 x 20mm HS 404s
I don't think it's a bad book. It's many years since I read it, but I remember it as mainly concerning the decision-making (and constant self-doubt) of the central character. I thought it very good on the constant stress and exhaustion faced by the people who had to fight the maritime war.
Yes, but I can't find any data on what combat this variant saw, particularly in late '42.
135 of the first 142 suffered "serious non-combat accidents due to engine or airframe failures at one time or another".
Decent info here.
Story 1645
Yokosuka Naval Arsensl, November 7, 1942
Emptiness greeted the ecstatic engineers. One of the largest construction slips in the Empire was finally empty. The half completed battleship had been launched the previous evening. Another two years worth of work was scheduled to make the massive ship ready to destroy the gaijin. Even as other crews completed Shinano, the engineers would soon oversee the laying down of a fleet carrier that would be ready to fight in 1945.
Emptiness greeted the ecstatic engineers. One of the largest construction slips in the Empire was finally empty. The half completed battleship had been launched the previous evening. Another two years worth of work was scheduled to make the massive ship ready to destroy the gaijin. Even as other crews completed Shinano, the engineers would soon oversee the laying down of a fleet carrier that would be ready to fight in 1945.
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The last mystery of the submarine Surcouf.
In OTL the loss of the FN's Surcouf was not well understood. And if the most likely explanation is true her sinking was a tragic and useless waste.
In fester's time line the Surcouf was tasked with a vital mission and her crew repeatedly carried it out well. However there is still some mystery surrounding her ATL loss. From chapter 9602.
"Twelve miles from the harbor mouth, the Free French submarine Surcouf broke through the surface. Soon her diesels roared and she accelerated to twelve knots. Fifty three more minutes and she would be under the American guns and travelling through a carefully marked channel in the defensive minefields. Her captain breathed a sigh of relief as this was the seventh journey to the besieged. The first was from Hawaii via Wake Island while the remainder were shorter jaunts from Singapore. Today, she was carrying enough artillery ammunition to replenish the army’s usage of the past three weeks as well as a dozen replacement radio technicians and enough quinine to keep malaria at bay for the next quarter."
"The large submarine was cutting through the waves when her hull brushed against three steel horns of a freshly laid mine. A few milliseconds later, a massive hole was ripped into the port side near the torpedo room. Water flooded into the heavily laden submarine and within seconds without orders, men began to scramble for hatches."
Why did the Surcouf sink so quickly? She was surfaced which means empty ballast tanks and she was travelling at only 12 knots when she triggered the mine. Yes she was heavily loaded but she was also a very large submarine with plenty of positive buoyancy when surfaced.
The pressure hull of any submarine is very strong. Much stronger than a freighter or destroyer's hull.
How much damage could one mine do? Did it punch a hole into the forward torpedo room only? Would not a well trained and disciplined crew have immediately closed all the watertight bulkhead doors? And the last question. Would the Surcouf have still sunk if only the forward torpedo room was flooded?
Here is a look at the interior of the Surcouf illustrating the size of the submarine and her many compartments.
I think it's possible if there was only damage from the one mine the Surcouf could have remained afloat and limped into Mariveles. Perhaps to be beached somewhere so as not block access to the docks. And unloaded as best as possible before daylight brings the enemy air attacks which would destroy her.
My theory as to why she sank so rapidly? She was loaded to the gills with artillery ammunition and possibly torpedoes were still carried in the forward torpedo room. The mine's initial blast triggered secondary explosions among the artillery shells and/or torpedoes. The unfortunate crew and passengers didn't stand a chance.
In OTL the loss of the FN's Surcouf was not well understood. And if the most likely explanation is true her sinking was a tragic and useless waste.
In fester's time line the Surcouf was tasked with a vital mission and her crew repeatedly carried it out well. However there is still some mystery surrounding her ATL loss. From chapter 9602.
"Twelve miles from the harbor mouth, the Free French submarine Surcouf broke through the surface. Soon her diesels roared and she accelerated to twelve knots. Fifty three more minutes and she would be under the American guns and travelling through a carefully marked channel in the defensive minefields. Her captain breathed a sigh of relief as this was the seventh journey to the besieged. The first was from Hawaii via Wake Island while the remainder were shorter jaunts from Singapore. Today, she was carrying enough artillery ammunition to replenish the army’s usage of the past three weeks as well as a dozen replacement radio technicians and enough quinine to keep malaria at bay for the next quarter."
"The large submarine was cutting through the waves when her hull brushed against three steel horns of a freshly laid mine. A few milliseconds later, a massive hole was ripped into the port side near the torpedo room. Water flooded into the heavily laden submarine and within seconds without orders, men began to scramble for hatches."
Why did the Surcouf sink so quickly? She was surfaced which means empty ballast tanks and she was travelling at only 12 knots when she triggered the mine. Yes she was heavily loaded but she was also a very large submarine with plenty of positive buoyancy when surfaced.
The pressure hull of any submarine is very strong. Much stronger than a freighter or destroyer's hull.
How much damage could one mine do? Did it punch a hole into the forward torpedo room only? Would not a well trained and disciplined crew have immediately closed all the watertight bulkhead doors? And the last question. Would the Surcouf have still sunk if only the forward torpedo room was flooded?
Here is a look at the interior of the Surcouf illustrating the size of the submarine and her many compartments.
I think it's possible if there was only damage from the one mine the Surcouf could have remained afloat and limped into Mariveles. Perhaps to be beached somewhere so as not block access to the docks. And unloaded as best as possible before daylight brings the enemy air attacks which would destroy her.
My theory as to why she sank so rapidly? She was loaded to the gills with artillery ammunition and possibly torpedoes were still carried in the forward torpedo room. The mine's initial blast triggered secondary explosions among the artillery shells and/or torpedoes. The unfortunate crew and passengers didn't stand a chance.
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Is she going to be finished as a battleship or a carrier? Or hasn’t the IJN made up it’s mind yet?
I'm inclined to think in TTL she won't be finished. That doesn't mean the IJN won't attempt to put her to some kind of use.
If she was carrying ammunition, I very much doubt anyone would have survived at all.
Only one survivor. A look out who could swim pretty good. He must have been blown clear. Perhaps only the ammunition load in the forward spaces blew.
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